What a lovely poem by Marly Youmans.
What a lovely poem by Marly Youmans.
So Zlatan scores last night with an outside-of-the-boot flick — from outside the box. I do not believe I have ever seen that before. ⚽️
Malcolm is relaxed but hopeful that there might be more play.
This is a great response by Scott Alexander to the linguistic consequences of our mercilessly legalistic moment.
Not only is Colonel Hercules Huncks a real name from the period of the English Civil Wars, so too is Sir Harbottle Grimston.
TIL that one of the men assigned to guard King Charles I during the trial that led to his execution was Colonel Hercules Huncks.
I don’t comment a lot on 🏀, but I’m a big NBA fan and just have to say something about what’s been happening:
First: Several teams (especially in LA) have taken the two-supermax-superstars-plus-random-dudes approach. They’re all one sprained ankle from dropping four spots in the standings and one ACL from missing the playoffs altogether. I have serious doubts about this strategy, and think that teams that have focused more on depth (e.g. the Bucks) are a better bet for the future.
Second: A week ago Sam Presti of OKC was burdened with two superstar contracts (one of them the second worst contract in the recent history of the NBA, after John Wall’s) and was running a team that had clearly maxed out. Now he has cleared the decks, brought on some young players and a super-smart veteran, and has draft picks out the wazoo for the next five years. He ate the breakfast, lunch, and dinner of the Clips and Rockets. OKC IN 2023!
Three: Daryl Morey is supposed to be so smart, but he is flailing wildly right now. Russ? On that team? I can’t imagine a worse mismatch. Do they expect Russ to spot up for 3s while Harden is breaking down defenses in their 1-4 sets? Please.
Four: The Sixers’ biggest weakness last year was a dearth of shooting. So they got rid of their two best shooters. I think they’ll be taking a significant step back next year (and then blowing everything up the year after that).
Five: The Spurs are gonna hurt some people next year, if their health holds up. Mark my words.
I am missing Better Call Saul. Pretty sure the next season will be the last, and if so, that will make a nice arc, but I will be very sad.
Twitter with a pause button would definitely be better than Twitter without one, but what Twitter really needs is to die.
Biscuit.
LOVE it when my local (Pinewood) has a new beer on tap and it’s one of my very favorites (in this case Community Public Ale, a classic ESB made right here in Texas with English malt and yeasts).
Tim Stanley seems to have liked the saucy bits of my book best, but I’ll take it!
Advertised battery life | my results
Brent Simmons: “These algorithms — driven by the all-consuming need for engagement in order to sell ads — are part of what’s destroying western liberal democracy, and my app will not contribute to that.” Yep.
I was wrong! ⚽️ 🇺🇸
The USWNT are the most talented side in the world, but they’re not playing with great coherence right now (thanks in large part to some dubious personnel choices by Jill Ellis). The England women, by contrast, are singing in harmony. I think England will win this match and then the tournament. ⚽️
I dub thee SQUIRRELBANE 🗡 🐿 😵
When the three new Nets finally play together, KD will be 32 (coming off a torn Achilles), DJ will also be 32 (coming off several years of declining performance), and Kyrie will be 29 (coming off a year of teaching his teammates to hate him). I don’t think it’s gonna work. 🏀
The two Red Sox-Yankees games in London this weekend took over nine hours to play.
History will not be kind to Jony Ive? I am always bemused by people who think that (a) “History” speaks with a single voice and (b) they know precisely what it will say.
Around a year ago I wrote about giving up on baseball after half-a-century of fandom. How do I feel about that decision now? Well, yesterday the Red Sox and Yankees played a 17-13 game that took almost five hours to complete — so I feel pretty good. This is just not the game I grew up with.
Chile’s penalties right now: ⚽️ 🚀 🔥 🥅
I keep thinking about how poorly Rapinoe is playing and she has four goals in the past two games. (Those two clauses do not contradict each other. She has not been her usual incisive-passing self.) ⚽️
Jonny Ive is a great designer, but I’m glad he’s leaving Apple — I just wish he would leave altogether. Apple has for too long been a prisoner of Jonny’s aesthetics. I want to see a new direction.