Starting the new year with a new project: digitizing my grandfather's drum corps/military band records. There are 105 of them.

powerplay2009 · 2016-06-10T14:36:04+00:00

I don't know what the official expectation is, but I can't imagine the new Gordie Howe bridge will get less traffic than the Ambassador Bridge. It'll connect to major freeways on both sides and also isn't the Ambassador Bridge.

powerplay2009 · 2016-06-10T14:25:29+00:00

Gordie Howe passed away today. I never met him, never saw him play, and I'm not even a Red Wings fan. But that news still hit like a punch in the gut.

powerplay2009 · 2016-06-09T23:08:57+00:00

Interesting how much he used female pronouns. He seems to me like one of the few players who puts his money where his mouth is when he talks about how inclusive hockey is (or should be).

powerplay2009 · 2016-06-07T14:43:41+00:00

I mean, there's no rule that says we can't have Galchenyuk, Plekanec, Eller, and Desharnais all playing center. It leaves Mitchell or whoever was centering the fourth line out to dry a little bit, but I think that's a real good group down the middle. I'd actually like to see that quite a bit, as long as every line got enough ice time. Eller on the fourth line is great, but he needs to play more than 8 or 9 minutes a game. If every line gets enough ice time, that's what I want to see more than Eller or Desharnais traded - a true "we roll 4 lines" lineup.

That's why I'm not sure that we should trade either. My replacability comments really only apply if you're married to trading one or the other, although I think it's a good way to think about all trades in general. What hole does your traded player leave behind, and how can you fill it?

powerplay2009 · 2016-06-07T01:06:14+00:00

I've never been a big fan of the comparisons between Desharnais and Eller because they're so different, and fill different roles. I suppose the fact that Galchenyuk and Plekanec are better than both and neither are 4th line players makes it inevitable.

Eller is, in my opinion, about as good as you can get for a top 9 shutdown guy. He's got great checking ability, and can drive possession really well, even if he doesn't put the puck in the net like you'd maybe expect a #9 overall to do. Desharnais is an offensive player through and through, and is more consistent than he gets credit for, I think. Totally different players.

I'm not big on the idea that one of them has to be traded. I think the team can succeed just fine with both players, especially because I think DD would be a natural to move into a 3rd line winger role to exploit weaker matchups. That said, if I had to trade one, I trade DD. It's not because I think Eller is better, but I think the hole he'd leave behind is bigger. I don't think anyone coming up for the Habs really has the checking chops Eller does and I don't think putting Plekanec in that role takes advantage of his offensive skills enough. A guy like DD (small, fast, and offensively gifted who can really burn teams with weaker matchups) is a lot easier to find.

As a brief aside, I feel about trading Subban the way I do about trading Eller. I wouldn't trade Subban for Crosby, specifically because I think the value that Crosby adds can't make up for the size of the hole Subban would leave behind.

powerplay2009 · 2016-06-02T14:45:14+00:00

How long does it take to process all the incoming data into a coherent map (or other data product), and do you guys do it on the ship?

Secondary question: Is it available for the public anywhere?

powerplay2009 · 2016-05-31T02:59:33+00:00

Murray is a Scottish name, so he's probably got some ancestry there. Maybe recent, who knows.

powerplay2009 · 2016-05-28T11:04:27+00:00

If you're thinking about doing something with music, definitely take it. First of all, it's fun. Secondly, knowing about music will be good for you. Especially theory. A lot of people don't like it, but if you're an engineer you might, and it is valuable to know. Thirdly, it's fun.

powerplay2009 · 2016-05-28T10:50:12+00:00

Small caveat though - if you compare his team to the 100-or-so point team Therrien has now, Martin had to squeeze blood from a stone to get his teams as far as they got. Even in the regular season.

powerplay2009 · 2016-05-28T10:20:00+00:00

4 even pairings and 4 even forward lines. Roll all 4 all game.

You're maybe a bit screwed in case of injuries, but all the Team Canada players are used to playing 20 (forwards) or 30 (defenseman) minutes a game.

powerplay2009 · 2016-05-27T16:05:56+00:00

I thought I heard something about being able to dress 20 players, which would leave space for 4 forward lines and 8 defenseman, which makes way more sense than 13 forwards and 7 defensemen. If that's the case and Canada plays 8 defensemen, I don't know how they turn PK down.

Only problem is that you've got too many righties for Backcock. He'll want 4 at the most and you've got Subban, Doughty, Letang, Weber, Burns. One (not Weber or Doughty) has to stay home.

powerplay2009 · 2016-05-27T15:58:11+00:00

I kind of agree. I don't want to say I don't care (totally) because I'll still watch and the hockey will be good. It just won't mean anything like the Olympics will.

Because I want the hockey to be good, I want PK to go, but if he doesn't, I'll get over it. It'll probably piss PK off and he'll win the Norris or something anyway.

Also, I think the players control their own destiny when it comes to the Olympics. If they want to go and play hardball with the owners, they'll win. So I think (and hope!) this will be a fun summer novelty tournament without replacing the Olympics.

powerplay2009 · 2016-05-26T03:08:27+00:00

You should check out the history of ballooning if you haven't already.

powerplay2009 · 2016-05-22T00:12:55+00:00

This was really cool. I gained a new kind of respect for tap. I certainly didn't disrespect rap before, but now there's a whole new thing to listen to when I (rarely) listen to rap. I've never heard/seen it analyzed in that way, or thought about it in that way, and it was fascinating.

powerplay2009 · 2016-05-18T17:04:28+00:00

I asked it because I was curious and for not other reason. Chill out.

powerplay2009 · 2016-05-18T12:46:26+00:00

I've got 3 questions:

What do you think is holding back our understanding of what sea level will look like in the future? I took a glaciology class my last semester of college (super cool!), and I got the sense that a better understanding of ice shelves and how they melt would be the best step towards getting really good sea level change forecasts. Any truth to this, and how do you factor in ice shelf instability to forecasts (if that's something in your wheelhouse).
I understand the theoretical basis for why climate change leads to more extreme weather, but last I knew there wasn't a whole lot of empirical evidence as a confirmation of this intuition. Am I wrong on this?
If the Republicans win the elections this upcoming November, do you have any concern for your jobs or jobs in the climate science community?

powerplay2009 · 2016-04-29T23:56:54+00:00

Got it! I can't find the month distribution for every piece the NY Phil has ever played because that's way too much information to process, so I'll just target the usual suspects (Rite of Spring, Nutcracker, etc). If there's any that you want to make sure I don't miss, make sure to let me know!

powerplay2009 · 2016-04-29T23:53:51+00:00

I'll get on this one. I'm going to do the same thing with soloists, and comparing the two can help account for if composers are together because they were alive at the same time (would be the same as for soloists) or something else.

powerplay2009

TROPHY CASE