Not my practice blog, by Scott Knaster

Mays and Bonds

This week Barry Bonds hit his 660th and 661st home runs. In the 127-year history of Major League Baseball, only three others have hit that many: Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714), and Willie Mays (660). It happens that Mays, like Bonds, was a San Francisco Giant, and in fact is Bonds's godfather and mentor. So Mays was there to hug and congratulate Bonds when he homered. Into the waters of McCovey Cove (named for Willie McCovey, another Giants Hall of Famer). To give the Giants the lead. On Opening Day.

This is why baseball is so cool.

By the way, here is my favorite stat about the great Willie Mays: in his career, he homered in various games in the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th innings. (Most players play in 16-inning games about once every 7 years.) The 16th inning shot won a 1-0 game in which future Hall of Famers Warren Spahn and Juan Marichal pitched the entire game. Most pitchers go their entire careers without pitching as many as 10 innings in one game, let alone 16. Having two pitchers do it in the same game is mind-boggling.

See here for more on Mays.

In-N-Out

In-N-Out Burger makes the best fast food around. Plus, they have the cult thing going full-on with a secret menu (fries well-done are my favorite). Click here for a picture of a 20x20 -- that's 20 meat patties and 20 slices of cheese (warning: it's really gross).

(Picture via Dave McGary)

The Onion taken seriously

Apparently it's not unusual for people to think that stories in The Onion are real, according to this article (via Boing Boing).

"People every single day think The Onion stories are real," says [Onion editor Carol] Kolb.

Some people are just wired to believe stories they read. I'm the other way: suspicious of everything. And I love to produce fake stuff that's taken as real. My greatest triumph was one April Fool's Day when I slipped a fake story into the daily e-mail newsletter at the company where I was working. The story was about our competition licensing its product to anyone who wanted it for $1. My company's senior executives were alarmed enough that they spent an hour in an emergency meeting before it occurred to someone that it might be a fake.

Mad World

There's a pop song called "Mad World", by Gary Jules. It's a cover of an old Tears For Fears tune. (You can hear some of it by going here, clicking "music/lyrics", clicking the popup under "Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets", then scrolling to "Mad World" at the end.) It's one of those beautiful, melancholy songs. I have a strange reaction to songs like this. Although I think it's beautiful, I don't like listening to it, because it makes me feel so sad. The lyrics don't help, either, although sad lyrics alone don't bring me down. "Hopeless Bleak Despair" by They Might Be Giants is peppy, for example!

Underpants!

My friend Liz has become a top fashion designer with the release of her first line of clothing: Snacks shorts. They're hot, they're hip, and they come in a really cool cupcake. Buy some today!

That's crazy talk!

Here's an experience that happened to me recently, told in the language of our day:

Somebody at a startup found out about me on Amazon and wanted to hire me. So he Googled me. Then he found my blog and sent me mail.

It's like talking in Nerd Jive or something.

Imagine saying 10 years ago. It would have been meaningless. They woulda locked you up!

Badgers: behind the scenes

Here is more than you ever wanted to know about the perpetrators of HomeStarRunner, Odd Todd, and Badger Badger Mushroom.

Google strange goodness

Google is the command line of the Internet. Try typing the following lines into a Google search box:

Do the math. Type a mathematical expression and Google will give you the answer:
(755-659)/25

Convert units:
100 km to miles

Get phone numbers:
phonebook: Nob Hill Foods, Campbell, CA

Type an area code to find out where that area is:
559

Enter a UPC code to see the product:
785555874626

Map an address:
5425 E. Kentucky Ave. Denver Colorado

Type a flight number to track the flight:
Alaska 362

Enter a stock symbol to get a quote:
MSFT

Type a FedEx or UPS package tracking number to get its tracking info:
647844652569

Enter a car's VIN number to find out about the car:
LB7WNG1246TR080224

Given a patent number, get the patent:
patent 6498955

Google has been showing up on cable TV lately. Recent episodes of both The Sopranos and The L Word mentioned Google. If they start Googling on Deadwood, now that would be incredible.

I think this Google might amount to something.

Bil Keane is funny

It's incredible, but it turns out that Bil Keane, creator of the saccharine-sweet Family Circus, is actually sarcastic, biting, and funny. He received an award at a dinner I attended, and he stunned the jaded and semi-hip Silicon Valley crowd with a PG-rated, relentess series of one-liners. Here's how the 82-year-old started his speech:

"This award is more than an honor. It's also a damn nuisance!"

And then he said

"They sent a car to get me at the airport. But I managed to jump out of the way in time."

And like that for about 15 minutes. The audience was stunned by this sneak attack, and we were falling out of our chairs laughing. Here's how Keane finished:

"In closing, never raise a hand to a child. It leaves the groin unprotected."

More evidence here.

Deadwood

Barbara and I have been watching HBO's new series Deadwood, and it is excellent: really good writing, wonderfully quirky acting, great dialog (not for kids). If you've been watching it too, you might be interested to know that most of the characters in Deadwood are actual historical figures, including Bullock, Star, and Swearengen.

UPDATE: HBO is repeating the first three episodes (that's all of them so far) on Friday night.