Alan Mills: Still Scowling

According to this feature from The Lakeland Ledger, life has sometimes taken its toll on former Oriole reliever Alan Mills since he left the game. But there's something tough times can't take from Mills. His signature scowl:

That scowl alone would probably make Mills a league average reliever, even at age 44.

It's a good feature on Mills, who left the game to be with his family and now is back at his high school alma mater trying to rebuild the baseball program.

And if Alan Mills told me to go run a lap, I'd run three just to be sure.

Defying cold:furry boots

YSL Fur detail shoes



Furry boots,yes or no? The mayority of the pics you see above are from Chanel collection.I like them expecially for the heel detail, the frosted heel. I have never worn furry boots before because i didn't want to look like the yeti but this year the designer effort to make them look cool and elegant changed my mind.
Chanel's one are fabulous.
This year i found in shops a funny and clever alternative to yeti boots and it's furried socks.
Before screaming:what are you talking about?Let me explain.These are knitted long socks without the toe covered on the visible part by shaggy or plush fur and they can be worn over a pair of boots you already own turning them in winter fur boots in no time. Your new pair of boots will be chic and elegant and rather cheap. I love them,i would buy a pair in any color!

Oriole Trade Monitors: End of 2010 Update

As part of my end of the year housekeeping, it's time to clean up the Oriole Trade Monitors and that includes retiring a couple of transactions that have run their course. Before I add the trades made this offseason, it's time to put a wrap on the Kris Benson and Rodrigo Lopez trades.

Orioles Trade RP Jorge Julio and SP John Maine to the Mets for SP Kris Benson.

Julio - 0 WAR
Maine - 5.0 WAR


Benson - 0.8 WAR


Advantage - Mets (+4.2)

Before the 2006 season, Baltimore sent Jorge Julio and minor league starter John Maine to New York for Kris Benson, a starting pitcher who was under contract for the next two seasons.

At the time, I loved that deal. Trading a reliever for two seasons of a starter? Sure, why not? Maine was just a throw in.

Benson underperformed in 2006 and he decided to have shoulder surgery in 2007. Julio only lasted 18 games (and was terrible) before being shipped to Arizona for Orlando Hernandez.

John Maine was another story. He turned into a serviceable back of the rotation starter, finding a strikeout pitch and being aided by pitching at Shea Stadium. The highlight was 2007 when he went 15-10, threw 191 innings and a 3.91 ERA. After that, injuries took their toll and after a bad 2010, the Mets non-tendered Maine but still got 542 innings of league average pitching out of the trade. The Mets won, hands down.

SP Rodrigo Lopez traded to the Rockies for RP Jason Burch and RP Jim Miller

Rodrigo Lopez - 1.1 WAR


Jason Burch - 0.0 WAR
Jim Miller - 0.1 WAR


Advantage - Rockies (+1.0 WAR)

Rodrigo Lopez was shipped out after he was unable to secure a spot in the starting rotation before the 2007 season. Disgruntled, he was traded to Colorado for a couple of live relief arms.

Jason Burch never got above AA for the Orioles and last pitched in 2008 for the Blue Jays system.

Jim Miller racked up impressive strikeout totals in the minors and even got a cup of coffee with the big club in 2008. While his 2009 and 2010 numbers in Norfolk were pretty decent, he never got another shot with Baltimore and now has left the organization as a minor league free agent. I would've liked to see him get a shot, especially with the likes of Frank Mata and Pedro Viola taking their turns over the 2010 season.

The Rockies got a half of a decent season out of Lopez before he got hurt so they got a good return on the deal.

"The Crown Prince of Disloyalty"

Jay Homnick lets the bleating Arlen Specter have it with both barrels.

The outgoing Senator from the great state of Pennsylvania gave an oratorical summation, a peroration if you will, in which he waxed more wroth than eloquent. He spoke liltingly of the collegiality of yore and wiltingly of the disloyalty of the nonce. Why, there is political cannibalism today [read: Tea Party], where a sitting Senator [read: Jim DeMint] can work to checkmate a seatmate. In the old days the members of "this body" were above such monkeyshines; it was, in Specter's infelicitous phrase, "conduct beyond contemplation."

Disloyalty, eh? Betrayal, eh? Duplicity, eh? That a brother should be so perfidious?! You gotta be kiddin' me.

LOOK WHO'S TALKING. This man is the crown prince of disloyalty, the grand vizier of betrayal, the court jester of duplicity and the town crier of perfidy. This is a man who less than two years ago turned his back on a party which had supported him for nearly three decades, which had rewarded him with plum chairmanships. He traded his virtue for verdure he thought greener. Not only did he become a Democrat, he became the most docile lapdog of the President. When there were a few holdout Senators on Obamacare, their names were Lieberman, Nelson, Lincoln. The specter of Arlen was nowise visible.

So how many betrayals is that already? One, the Republican Party, as stated. Two, his fellow Republican Senators, the ones who let him take leadership roles. A leader abandoning his troops, a warrior deserting his comrades: apparently none of this is beyond contemplation. Three, President Bush, who backed him in his prior primary against a more conservative candidate. Four, the people of Pennsylvania who elected him under false pretenses.

And then he really unloads.

You Knew This Was Coming

Rated PG-13

Hat tip: Thanks Charlie!

Band of Skulls:patterns

I would like to share with you a tune i'm obsessed with these days:i can't get this out of my head!

Origami T-shirts

Another psot on origami fashion but it's something i'm really interested right now.
I saw this project and i'm really jealous i have no sotware like the one it has been used to make these t-shirts.It would be impossible to project a cloth with all these pieces just with human brain.Modern softwares for pattern making use body scanner,then with the program you can draw the cloth you want and then print it. Perfect fit is assured.

The Digital T-shirt Project, by Mashallah Design and Linda Kostowski, is an interesting integration of fashion and technology. Using the data from three scanned human bodies, a digital pattern is created. The pattern is then laser cut into multiple pieces and then sewn together to create the final garment. The result is a origami-esque sculptural wearable.