One Direction movie is happening
If ever there was a pop culture sensation begging for a movie, it's that darn One Direction band! The 1D craze continues, as these five young guys from the UK take the world by storm. Fans of the band, who call themselves Directioners, collectively, are no doubt in a total frenzy right now. Why?
Because as of today, the word is out: Sony Pictures is bringing One Direction to the big screen, in the form of a special "behind-the-scenes" 3D movie. All together now: "Squeeeeeee!"
One Direction's newest album is expected to hit stores early next week, and the British pop band's popularity shows no sign of wavering. Is it any wonder that Hollywood wants to cash in? Keep in mind, several recent big budget films about pop stars have done very, very well in theaters (Justin Bieber and Katy Perry's movies come to mind immediately).
Here's the scoop on the new One Direction movie, courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter: Famed documentary director Morgan Spurlock is going to direct the movie, which should be out at the end of August 2013. And yes, Simon Cowell is listed as a producer on the project. That's not surprising, given that Cowell literally discovered One Direction a few years ago on The X Factor.
So, what can One Direction fans expect from the movie? According to reports, the film is going to be a mix of live concert footage and some documentary-style footage. It's likely that you'll get tons of interviews and new clips of all the 1D guys.
Parents, are you ready to throttle me yet? Just consider yourself warned: If you've got a crazy Directioner in the house, get ready to shell out big money for the One Direction 3D film next summer!
Army veteran runs cross-country to honor America's fallen heroes
In honor of Veterans Day, I thought all of you would appreciate the story of Mike Ehredt. He is an Army veteran who started something called Project America Run. What is he doing? In short, he's jogging around the country in honor of every single American soldier who has died in the war in Afghanistan. Yes, that means thousands of miles and, tragically, thousands of soldiers memorialized.
Mike Ehredt's journey wrapped up on Veterans Day in Texas, but his tribute to America's fallen heroes will forever be remembered.
Back on August 23, 2012, Mike Ehredt set out on his journey. All total, he ran each day from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, for a total of 2,146 miles. Each mile represented one fallen soldier. And at each mile mark, Ehredt took a small American flag out of a basket, placed it in the ground, gave a salute, and kept going. He stayed with families of some of the soldiers along the way.
Mike Ehredt's Project America Run was a truly beautiful tribute. It also drew attention to the (far too many) soldiers who have died fighting for freedom. Each flag represents a life lost, a family grieving and a soldier remembered forever for the sacrifices they made. When asked why he decided to make his cross-country run, Ehredt said, "I just wanted to do something for them, something genuine and pure that no one would replicate."
At 51-years-old, Mike Ehredt ran an average of 26 miles each day, for 81 straight days. That, friends, is dedication of the highest order. Thank you, sir, for your service to our country and for your genuine efforts to honor the nation's fallen heroes.
Links for November 12, 2012
Many massive pools of contaminated water are spread around Fukushima plant. guilfordian.com
Arnie Gundersen says that cracks were found in the reactor at NJ’s Oyster Creek nuclear plant. enenews.com
Entergy Corp.'s FitzPatrick nuclear power plant on Lake Ontario in New York was shut down by a fire in the plant's main transformer. huffingtonpost.com
iCAD Reports Significantly Improved Medicare Payment for Intraoperative Radiation Therapy. imaging-radiation-oncology.advanceweb.com
Links for November 11, 2012
Links for November 10, 2012
Fukushima's damnably unstable atoms continue to contaminate the Pacific Ocean. rense.com
Germany exported more power than ever despite nuclear phase-out. nuclear-news.net
Exposure to low doses and low dose-rates of radiation from post-Chernobyl cleanup work was associated with a significant increase in risk of leukemia. ehp.niehs.nih.gov
Fukushima air radiation monitors are underreporting radiation levels. english.kyodonews.jp
Links for November 8, 2012
The Fukushima Health Survey recently held a public meeting to address parent concerns about the survey. simplyinfo.org
Somewhere in the Inland Empire a retired steam generator from Southern California Edison's San Onofre nuclear facility is slowly making its way toward a disposal site in Clive, Utah. pasadenastarnews.com
SSI Buys In On Russell Wilson
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Original article from August 25th.
At the bye, the Fran Tarkenton comp gains traction: Fran was amazingly self-possessed and calm during a scramble or rollout, able to see multiple receivers while evading tacklers. He was primarily a precision guy, preferring sure gains, but also very comfortable going down the field when the play was "brainy."
After 10 games, it is clear that Wilson's over-the-top release, and natural ability to move into passing lanes, trump any questions about his height.
Wilson's poise is off-the-charts, the game "slows down" for him, he's improving on a game-by-game basis and it looks 97% clear that the Seahawks have a 21st-century quarterback to move forward with.
As of Nov. 13th, Wilson settles in for Dr. D as a 21st-century interpretation of Fran Tarkenton.
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=== Escapability ===
After the Bronco game, Field Gulls ran a stat that captured what will be the Grand Theme of Russell Wilson's rookie season. The stat ran something like, Wilson dropped back 25 times and got 11 early pressures. Of those 11 pressures, he scrambled left two times, scrambled up the middle two times, scrambled right six times, and got sacked once. The scrambles left and middle all went for 4-11 yards, the scrambles right either went for the 4-11 yard thing or else he threw short.
The takeway: never once did he step up in the pocket and try to punish the defense downfield.
I mean, those aren't the actual numbers, but that was the sense of the numbers.
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Russell Wilson, we're sure, can't see that well when the pocket caves in. He therefore has spent his QB career (1) converting busted plays (dropbacks with 2.0 and 2.5 and 3.0 second pockets) to decent outcomes, as opposed to (2) rolling the dice and heaving the ball downfield for a long gain or a defensive interception.
You can conclude 11,000 different things from this Wilson tendency. SSI's conclusion is this: you've got a rookie QB with the extraordinary skill of limiting damage. It's part of who he is, always has been, as a 5'9" quarterback.
Neither I, nor Pete Carroll, want a QB throwing the dice when the defense has a huge advantage (an early collapsed pocket). If Russell Wilson wants to scramble left, scramble right, and salvage 5 yards out of every collapsed pocket, hey. That is a huge plus. Now let's talk about what he does when the pocket doesn't collapse.
It's like saying that Wade Boggs had a unique ability to foul tough pitches off on 1-2 counts, and work himself back to 3-2. No way am I complaining that he never got me a single home run on 1-2 counts. The bottom line is, his OBP was .300* after 1-2 counts and everybody else's was .200.
I therefore have much less interest, than the awesome analysts at Field Gulls do, in seeing whether Russell Wilson can step up in the pocket under a 6-man rush. He wants to slant for six yards running, or dump it off into the flat, great. We'll get them when the pocket holds up. Conventional wisdom says, learn to beat them downfield. SSI's observation is, there are about three or four QB's in the NFL who should be attempting to do that. The rest should think in terms of damage control.
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=== Ma-ai ===
Discussed elsewhere :- )
Russell Wilson uses ma-ai greatly to his advantage. He already has a very fine feel for when the defenders are closing at his knees. He is very comfortable taking an aikido-style two-step angle off the approach while keeping his eyes downfield.
Friday he had two long runs, and the ma-ai advantage was obvious. Defensive linemen are making drunken charges, so to speak, being focused on beating their men on the line and not able to focus on what Wilson plans to do at the last moment. Wilson then adroitly and calmly steps around the charging linemen at clever angles.
Obviously this dance is not new to Wilson. And unlike most rookie scrambling QB's, Wilson doesn't simply tuck the ball and turn "desperate running back," eyes wide, as the pocket collapses into him. He's used to being nimble, escapable, at the same time he seeks opportunity downfield.
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=== Size ===
Offensive coordinators talk about wanting a QB to be able to see over the line. I think that's mostly for public consumption. I think what they're really talking about, is a quarterback being little, weak, easily injured and unathletic.
Wanting a Jim Everett, Peyton Manning type for the position is, it says here, analogous to wanting a pitcher with a 94 MPH fastball. It's fine to prefer a 94 MPH fastball to an 87 MPH fastball, but that doesn't mean you get to freeze Greg Maddux out of baseball.
Zduriencik is a guy who will trade for Jason Vargas if he thinks he's got the goods; apparently Carroll is a football sabermetrician rather than a football tools scout. So he's into performance and results, rather than into combine stats for their own sake. Seahawk fans may reap the benefits of that courageous decision for quite a few years comin' up here.
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=== Pocket Passing ===
All that said, I was absolutely blown away by Wilson's classic dropback passing on Friday against the Chiefs. For one thing, he doesn't have problems seeing, unless and until the pocket is being pushed right into him. It's true that you're going to lose a little bit of that Dan Marino last-second flick over the line with Wilson. But other than that, the cost seems minimal. Wilson has seen the field just fine, including down the middle, including down the middle late.
He has an almost supernatural touch - considering his age-arc - for throwing a ball juuuuuust beyond a corner's reach. Looove to watch him feather the ball juuust over the corner.
He also has a very quick release once he spots a receiver, and therefore the ball arrives over the corner and below the safety.
He showed good drive on the ball for down-and-outs and comebacks. Honestly, I just didn't expect him to deliver the football with this kind of authority. I thought he'd be a poor man's Michael Vick, with the success based off mobility. Wilson, three games in, is in the Steve Young category, a passer who happens to be extremely mobile.
He's eerily calm, even when running the ball. Now I know what they mean when they say he could have been a top-5 pick if he'd have been tall. To me, he looks like a franchise QB missing a couple of inches.
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We assume that Wilson is going to be the Seahawks' quarterback for the next eight years. If he didn't do enough to start against the Chiefs, he shouldn't have been in the QB competition to begin with. What were you looking for? Whatever it was, he did it. What are you going to do now, say Oh Well Whatever NeverMind?
SSI enthusiastically signs off. Let's get the Wilson show on the road, gentlemen.
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Nick Franklin at the AFL
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From BJOL:
Is there any way to determine whether switch-hitting is actually an advantage? Of the top 25 or so hitters in the history of baseball, only Mantle was a switch-hitter. That suggests that either switch-hitting is not a great advantage, or that a lot of great hitters passed up the opportunity to be even greater. If the latter, then Ty Cobb, Ted Williams, and Rickey Henderson would seem to have been prime candidates to switch hit, since they were already batting opposite the way they threw. What was up with Henderson batting righty anyway?Asked by: Hank GilletteAnswered: 11/11/2012Batting "right" or "left" is just a figure of speech; all hitters are using both hands in a co-ordinated manner.I used to argue that switch hitting was generally a mistake, because in the 1970s/1980s a great many switch hitters had huge platoon differentials. If the purpose of the tactic is to eliminate the platoon differential and the players who are doing it have larger-than-normal platoon differentials, obviously it ain't workin'.But this is no longer true; many (and I think most) switch hitters today have very small platoon differentials. I don't know that this resolves the larger issue.
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James' global impression of baseball, some years ago, was that switch-hitting was "generally a mistake." Nowadays, switch hitters seem to have gained on the game.
Switch-hitting is basically a defensive reaction; it arises out of the fear that a batter won't be able to cope with a LH-on-LH situation. We remember years ago, the M's radio crew asking Julio Cruz "have you ever considered just hitting right handed?" Cruz was incredulous. "Can you imagine me up there against Goose Gossage? He'd blow me away!"
Defensive reactions CAN (c-a-n) very EASILY become defensive OVERREACTIONS. Fear is a powerful emotion. Dr. D has long argued that in Nick Franklin's case, switch-hitting arose out of a fundamental miscalculation. People underestimated Nick Franklin's powers.
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From the CF camera, by the way, Franklin:
(1) Is kind of smaller than you'd think.
(2) He gets the Ackley bat wrap, but with too-fast-for-the-human-eye quickness. The old SSI take on his swing .... we'll double down. Franklin truly is blessed with a Ken Griffey Jr "natural" swing. From the left side, of course; from the right side he is just as static, and lifeless as ever, no acceleration to speak of.
He's totally sudden from the left side. He's more able to cope with LH-on-LH than other players. Why, for the love of all that was Billy Williams, is anybody still recommending a Nick Franklin LH/RH rearguard action?
(3) He sits back over the rear leg in Adrian Gonzalez style, reads the pitch studiously, and then ATTACKS to drive the ball hard to the pull field. The ball sounds like a rifle shot off his bat.
(4) He naturally gets on top of the ball. His Joe DiMaggio swing shape -- a little loft but not as much as many hitters take -- forms a nice check-and-balance to his extreme weight transfer and torque.
This swing shape looks to make Nicky a pull hitter in the very best sense of the word - a DiMaggio pull hitter, as opposed to a Jose Lopez pull hitter.
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I dunno how much power a 180-lb. player can demonstrate on a baseball field, but baseball's about to find out.
Cheers,
Dr D
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