Author Archives: mpomy

It’s the “Catch-All Social Media Blog” again.

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I continue to view WordPress as my go-to HQ, the hub of my online existence.  The fact that it is now the most ungainly blog platform of the services I use is discouraging, but everything has it’s place.

Twitter is like a text message to the world, with little side-chats, important news stories, and a whole lot of people acting really silly.

Google+ is the upstart, unlimited by any character number, capable of handling photos, blogs, plus ones’s, shares, just about anything.  I love it.

And then there is my dear buried treasure of Tumblr, so sweet, so emo, makes me feel like a real hipster (plus about 75 lbs).  My Tumblr is so vain, I just want people to look at it and think I’m so cool, with my pictures of cars, old movies, genius musicians and freaky artwork.  The Tumblr time-line is a lot like Twitter in that you follow who you like and unfollow who you don’t.  You can give hearts just like on Google+ and reblogs instead of retweets.

I’m joyful to have given up Facebook.  My profile still exists for some reason, but I haven’t looked at it for months now, trying to lead by example.  I equate my recent effort to start yoga with giving up Facebook for good.

And then there’s all that other stuff – Picplz until there is Instagram for Android, Instagram for my iPod Touch, Foursquare, Google Reader, Evernote, Last.fm – the list goes on and I’m always looking for more toys!

So this brings me back to my dear old WordPress blog, my hub.  I shouldn’t have to make an effort to post here – it should be instinctive.  Maybe the extra trouble makes it more precious than those other networks and outlets.  But like the fact that I have to change the background on my phone at least once per week, I’ll revamp this website in the coming days – not to improve your user experience, but just to make it fresh and shiny and new for me.  And then I’ll tell you all about it.

RIP – Hubert Sumlin 1931-2011

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He was a pioneer, making his name as the beloved sideman/guitarist for Howlin’ Wolf.  His riffs on Killing Floor, Smokestack Lightning and Spoonful became an essential part of the electric blues canon, just as elemental as Elmore James’ Dust My Broom and Muddy Waters’ Hoochie Coochie Man.

Here’s Hubert in London with the Wolf in 1964:

Moneyball was just fine. I really had no major problems with that movie.

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I haven’t read any reviews, so I don’t know what the ‘experts’ are saying. My sister keenly observed the theme of emotion vs science, and that runs cleanly through the film.

My issues arise primarily with the last fifteen to twenty minutes, which were completely superfluous. It was not believable that Bean became an evangelist for ‘the cause’ – that transformation is simply not in the movie. One minute all he wants is to win, but the next minute he actually says ‘I’m not in it for the ring.’  When I heard that line it was like an audio typo. He couldn’t have actually said that. But he did. Preposterously, he only wanted to change the game. Well, where the he’ll did that come from?

On the good side, I thought the depiction of professional baseball was loving and respectful. The sequence leading up to the 20 game winning streak was great drama that also broke down the timing of a baseball season in increasingly smaller increments. Months, weeks, days, one game, one inning, one at-bat and, finally one pitch. I found this part of the movie perfectly captured the flow of drama and intensity that makes baseball my favorite professional sport.

Despite the obvious vanity of the film’s star, who also co-produced, his performance is tight, nuanced and understated. Overall, my gripes and criticisms are small compared to the amount of enjoyment I got from the film, especially after expecting to hate it.