Bill the Cat Arrives

Take a gander at my new cat. I adopted him today from some friends of mine; their daughter brought him back from NYC (adopted from the ASPCA) but they can't keep him, and neither can she. I've been thinking about getting a cat in my new place, and so Bill (that's his name -- I might rename him, though) packed up all his gear and moved in with me a few hours ago.

He's a year old and he's really chill. He's been meowing a lot this evening, but I think that's just because he misses his former owner(s). Hopefully he'll take a shine to me soon enough. He's pretty friendly already though :-)

Speaking of the name Bill, I'm aware that there is a much more famous Bill the Cat. This one and him are no relation though; I'm pretty sure that my friends' daughter, who named him, doesn't read Outlander (neither do I). That's part of the reason I'm thinking about a rename. I've always wanted a pet named "Osgood." Ooh, or "Hobbes!" But I'll kick it around in my head for a few weeks. Actually, now that I'm used to calling him Bill, other names seem weird. So he might not get re-named after all.

Anyway, here are some pics of the man himself:







More here.

Jeezum Crow, "Moneyball" is Being Made into a Movie?

How did I not hear about this? Why did none of you tell me? :-)

For those of you who aren't as into baseball as I am, Moneyball is a 2003 book by Michael Lewis that chronicles the baseball draft through the eyes of Billy Beane, the general manager for the Oakland A's. It attempts to explain why the Oakland A's were so successful in the late 90s and early 2000s despite having a payroll the size of a peanut (especially compared to teams like the Yankees and the Mets). It's a great read, and what's even better about it is that it ended up causing such huge controversies in the baseball world. It really shined a light on sabermetrics, which now is like one of the big wedge issues that divide baseball people. Sometimes it seems like you're either familiar with VORP, Win Shares, DIPS, OPS, and so on -- or you're stuck using antiquated measurements like AVG and RBI to measure a player's worth. And each side thinks the other is crazy. Just like so many other things in life :-)

Anyway, I'm not convinced the book will make a great movie, because it has no real plot. Soderbergh even says flat-out, "It needs a gimmick." That's not exactly a promising sign. But Soderbergh is a great director, so I'm really curious to see what he can do with it, and what kind of movie it ends up being.