When I got seriously into baseball starting in the early 2010s, I read some Wikipedia articles about cricket. I figured it was British baseball, but the articles left me confused.
Earlier this year I stumbled on a streaming channel devoted to cricket. Watching games let me figure out a few basics so when I looked at the Wiki articles again, they now made sense and explained the game to me.
Which definitely isn’t baseball. I think it’s more dissimilar than not, but it can be viewed through a baseball lens. This post is an attempt to explain cricket for those who know the basics of baseball.
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2 Comments | tags: cricket, wicket | posted in Baseball
The Minnesota Twins had another losing season. It was better than last season, but last season was pretty awful (so, a low bar).
This year the Twins finished 77–85 (.475), ranking 19th among the 30 MLB teams (third in their Division). Compared to, in 2025, finishing in 27th place with a 70–92 (.432) record. Of course, no postseason either year.
What’s frustrating is how much potential the team seemed to have this year, yet time after time they just couldn’t leverage that potential.
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Leave a comment | tags: baseball season, Major League baseball, Minnesota Twins, MLB, Twins 2026 | posted in Baseball
I’m starting the draft of this Weather Notes post for this coming Friday on Wednesday mid-morning, the day after the mid-term election. That political weather report revealed the shift that has (at long last) occurred in US politics.
It is much as if the raging storm we were forced to try to find refuge from has finally lost its iron grip. The bluster, darkness, and danger continues, but just maybe an end is in sight.
But that’s all I’ll say about that for now. This post is about the actual weather here in Minnesota this past October.
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2 Comments | tags: snow, Weather Notes | posted in Friday Notes
And, of course:
Hope you did, too. I noticed, and folks working at the polling place confirmed, there was a larger-than-normal turnout. I actually had to wait for a few minutes. Hopefully a good sign! Now the waiting begins…
7 Comments | tags: democracy, Democratic Party, democratic society, Election 2026, Election Day, I voted, vote | posted in Life, Politics
A Substack post caught my eye back in early October. It asked whether the BBC series Sherlock (2010-2017) was “brilliant” or “twaddle” (ultimately concluding the show was, in fact, “brilliant twaddle”).
Ever since the series showed up on Hulu recently, I’ve been pondering rewatching it. That post nudged me over the line. Seeing it again reminded me that, while the show had a lot to offer, it wasn’t at all my favorite modern implementation of the belovèd character.
So, yes indeed, “brilliant twaddle” (and sadly, probably closer to twaddle).
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7 Comments | tags: Elementary (TV series), House M.D., Sherlock (TV series), Sherlock Holmes | posted in Mystery Monday, TV
Damn, another one down! Patrick Stewart died last Wednesday, so now I need to create a new commemoration meme:
We’re starting from the top this time.
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13 Comments | tags: Captain Picard, Patrick Stewart, science fiction TV, SF TV, Star Trek, The Next Generation | posted in Life, TV
Since they were established in 1969, the Milwaukee Brewers have gone without ever winning a World Series championship.
Until last night.
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6 Comments | tags: Milwaukee Brewers, Tampa Bay Rays, World Series, World Series 2026 | posted in Baseball
After 26 years as a good and fully satisfied customer I find myself caught in an extended ‘he said; she said’ back-and-forth battle with Bank of America. Though it’s not what he (let alone she) said, but what they claim I did despite clear and obvious evidence I didn’t. In fact, couldn’t have.
What’s aggravating is that the investigators don’t appear to be actually investigating. They won’t contact me or the merchant, so I’m not sure quite what they’re investigating.
This has been going on all summer, since late May…
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16 Comments | tags: Bank of America, credit cards | posted in Life, The Interweb, Wednesday Wow
With the passing of Walter Koenig last Sunday, memes like this have been making the rounds:
I made the one above from a good quality photo, but I don’t like how Uhura is hidden behind Spock. For that matter, can’t see much of Chekov, either. So, I made another one from a different photo:
Though this photo isn’t as good as the first one.
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12 Comments | tags: Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy, Mr. Spock, Pavel Chekov, science fiction TV, Scotty, SF TV, Star Trek, Walter Koenig | posted in TV Tuesday
Physics geeks are quite familiar with the implications of Einstein’s famous equation, E=mc². Firstly, that energy and matter are different guises of the same thing. Secondly, that the conversion rate between them is astronomical.
To kick off the week, let’s explore that well known equation and its astonishing conversion rate of matter to energy.
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4 Comments | tags: atomic bombs, E=mc2, Joule, mass-energy | posted in Physics
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