Friday Miscellany

A great night for the Celts and the Sox last night.

• Beckett was brilliant over seven innings, K-ing eight and giving up a single run. With the 5-1 win, the Sox won the four-game series in Detroit. Very nice start to the road trip. Four in Minnesota up next with a couple games at Camden to round out the away games next week.
  
  
  
  
• For the second game in a row at the Garden, King James appeared mortal. He put up 21, which was far better than his performance on Tuesday. Still, the Celtics' defense has been stellar, making LeBron really work to put up poor shots. The first quarter of last night the Cavs came out swinging, and James looked like he was back in the groove. But the Celtics bench came alive in the 2nd, with Cassell, Posey, Powe, and Brown energizing the team with steals, great D, a couple 3's and some intense offense. Awesome win. Now the Celts have to go to Cleveland for Game 3 on Saturday and see if they can win a playoff game on the road. By all accounts LeBron is far from out of this and can explode at any time, especially on his home court. Let's hope that the Hot 'Lanta performances do not follow the Celts to Cleveland.
  
  
  
  

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Mike-robrew: This one's for Scottexplorer. Endurance Pale Ale. Hoppy, flavorful, and refreshing, with some excellent label copy:

Perhaps the most compelling survival story of our time took place almost 100 years ago. This is a story of heroics, strength, fortitude and endurance. In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton, Second Officer Tom Crean and their 26 man crew launched a voyage from England to become the first polar explorers to traverse Antarctica. And so started the journey known as the Endurance expedition.

Endurance Brewing Company was founded with two clear goals in mind: to bring awareness of this incredibly heroic group of men and to provide beer enthusiasts with award-winning brews that help stir the adventurous nature of the spirit within. For well over 3 years, Endurance Brewing Company has been creating a branding strategy and beer recipe that we think would earn the respect of every man of the Endurance Crew.

Our flagship ale, Endurance Pale Ale, is dedicated to Second Officer Tom Crean, who was regarded by many historians “as close to indestructible as any man that’s ever lived”. This smooth and crisp golden pale ale is rich in hops with a hint of citrus. Look for other Endurance Brewing Company beers shortly, but in the meantime, pour a tall, refreshing glass of Endurance Pale Ale, raise it high in honour of Tom Crean and the Endurance crew and enjoy one of the finest beers around.

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Speaking of Scottinfo, he recently linked to this well-done report on city comparisons based on a variety of interesting metrics. Very cool. The Hub does very well; no surprise there.

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Been reading several interesting articles over at Arts & Letters Daily as of late:

• Atheist Churches: Oxymoron? This article in New York Magazine talks about atheism and the rise of atheist churches. One of the points I liked is that atheism should stand for something rather than just being anti-God. Its very name is an inherent negation.

• Another article taking on an otherwise oxymoronic phrase: "Libertarian paternalism." The Chronicle Review piece's author meets with professors Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler and discusses their theory that good government can be paternalistic through "nudging" people to behave in ways that benefit society as a whole, while remaining as hands-off as can be expected to appeal to the libertarian camp. Pretty intriguing idea. Almost a "Why not?" approach to governance.

• An excellent MIT Technology Review piece about the possibility and probability of other life in the universe. Nick Bostrom has an entirely different view on the matter that I had never heard or thought about: he sees the lack of evidence about otherworldly life as great news for the human race. It's a longer article, but fascinating. Check it out.

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It's Friday. That's always noteworthy.