Comic for Friday, February 29th, 2008

Posted: 7:55 am, Friday, February 29th

The idea of ancient calendar-makers coming up with as crazy of an idea as Leap Year really is one of those things that gives me pause. Let's see what Wikipedia has to say about it before moving on today, shall we?

Alright, that bit of edification out the way: Noble effort last night by the 'Gode, kind of totally let down by the rest of the squad. On the other hand, suck it, Boston Collitch. That's a box score that will probably even make Reggie Ho smile. Speaking of baseball, I'm jazzed about this TBS package, since I very rarely get to see the Sox play in a game involving neither the Goat Fuckers nor Tim McCarver.

Wait, I actually just read a bit more of that Wikipedia article. Years that are divisible by 100 but not 400 are *not* Leap Years? Wow. There is no chance in hell that will ever apply to me, but that is wild. That's the sort of bizarre detail that would be the punchline of an Encyclopedia Brown case.

This bit about Left Behind is going to continue, sorry. I hope you all don't mind too much. It's funny, because right now I'm experiencing three apocalyptic stories at once - I'm reading a blog recap/takedown of Left Behind, 2.0 and I are watching Battlestar Galatica on DVD, and I'm reading Atlas Shrugged, which is only kind of an apocalypse, but early on, it certainly seems like the world is changing in irreversible ways, which m'ise well be an apocalypse. Anyway, two quick selections from the critique today: the first is a theological one, seeking to explain why the rapture nuts think the way they do; the second concerns a remarkably unterrifying vision of what the Antichrist will do when he comes to earth - name countries. Honestly, I think I feared less for America before I knew exactly how awful these books were. I mean, sure, the 44 million copies sold or whatever is scary, but I figured, "Hey, everybody likes a good disaster flick." This shit is just awful.

Um, so, since no one said anything yesterday...

bullfrog

Bullfrog -- Friday, February 29 2008, 07:45 am

Ugh. That is not a beautiful polling tool. I couldn't remember the name of the one I've used in the past, and like a genius, I never bookmarked it.

Lissa's line is "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", by the way. In Hebrew, maybe? I guess?

There's a great article on Paps in Baseball Prospectus today. Towards the end, though, there is a mind-blowing stat.

"After a little over two seasons in the majors, Papelbon’s career line is a thing of beauty: 160 2/3 innings, 103 hits, 45 walks, 193 strikeouts, and an ERA of 1.62. It’s been a long time since someone with that many career innings could boast of having a career ERA that low. In fact, you have to go back to 1916, when Walter Johnson’s career ERA stood at 1.61. (Obviously there's a slight difference between these two pitchers; at the conclusion of that season, the Big Train’s 1.61 ERA had been amassed in 3148 innings. As late as 1920, Johnson’s career ERA was 1.70, in over 4200 innings, with 305 career wins.)"

A 1.61 ERA over 3,148 innings. That is amazing. Different eras, sure, but if you have a guy with a 3.00 in 200 innings these days, that's your Cy Young winner. WOW.

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7184

One more random leap year fact: 2000 was supposed to be a leap year, but because it was a millennium it didn't get the extra day.

Seriously? 2000 wasn't a leap year? I don't recall that.

Grafe and I were just talking about the no leap day in millenium years last night. It's only for years divisible by 400. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_day

I think there was a leap year that year, too. I checked my Outlook calendar for 2000 and it shows a 2/29.

Um, what a dick.

http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/41572

fun leap year thing: my brother and sister-in-law just welcomed a brand new baby boy this morning! AND, this was her due date. she's mighty punctual, that lady.

Congrats to the burgeoning clan, dude.

And people wonder why non-Yankee fans hate the MFYs - from NYTimes Play magazine:

For his part, Hank betrays no worry about the competition in the American League, whether it’s the Cleveland Indians, who eliminated the Yankees last year; the Detroit Tigers, who added Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis this winter; or, above all, the Red Sox, who have not only won the World Series twice in the last four years but are arguably becoming a national phenomenon. “Red Sox Nation?” Hank says. “What a bunch of [expletive] that is. That was a creation of the Red Sox and ESPN, which is filled with Red Sox fans. Go anywhere in America and you won’t see Red Sox hats and jackets, you’ll see Yankee hats and jackets. This is a Yankee country. We’re going to put the Yankees back on top and restore the universe to order.”

Clown.

Zero

I am loving Hank Steinbrenner. It's like he's a mix between Tommy Boy and every blueblood ass from an 80s teen movie. There's no way his tenure with the Goats can end in anything other than gnashing and wailing.

Lockland over on YSFS just described him perfectly - 'Totally, nothing annoys me more than a little rich snot that was born on 3rd base but acts like he hit a triple.'

perfect. Like obnoxious father, like obnoxious son.

Zero

drolett! congratulations! what a fun day to have a kid!

Did anyone else know about this? Sundays don't count in lent? Really? "If you add the Sundays, lent would be 46 days long. Lent lasts six and 2/3 weeks: 6 weeks of 6 days each - 36, plus Ash Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Sundays are never penitential because they celebrate the resurrection of Christ, which is joyous."

See, I thought Red Sox Nation was an NESN production.

Your next poll should be, "Should Lissa do a three martini lunch?" Apparently, that's the new in-thing, three-martini lunches.

Dude, duh. Of course Lent doesn't count.

According to this one kinda weird foodie/libertarian blog I used to read, three-martini lunches were big in the 50s, but martinis were a lot smaller back then. I know if you give me three martinis at any point in time, you're probably not going to want to stick around much longer.

Lissa could drink me under the table, though. She probably gets warmed up with two-martini breakfasts.

That should be, "Of course Sunday doesn't count." Sorry.

I also knew that Sundays didn't 'count'. But, with the leap year, Lent must be one day longer, right?

Oh, man! Video games all night long for me!

well it was news to me.... apparently i knew mean, mean nuns as a kid :)