Proud Father

Recently, my 4 year-old son (The Moose) was taking an unusually long time in the restroom. Naturally, I wanted to see how he was doing.

Me: Are you okay?

Son: Yeah.

Me: Are you done?

Son: Not yet.

Me: What are you doing in there?

Son: Reading the newspaper.

That's my boy!

Interview With Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog (Part II)

Welcome to part two of my interview of Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog. You can check out part one by clicking here.

This could be completely inaccurate, but my perception is that Ukraine isn't in the news much these days. What is the latest there?

Ukraine has been off the news since the Minsk II agreement in February. I’ve felt for a while that the European powers would rather the Ukrainian crisis go away. The only reason they reluctantly responded with sanctions is because of American pressure and the downing of MH 17 by the rebels using Russian supplied Buk missiles. The EU is in no position to inherit a political and economic basket case like Ukraine except to open its markets to free trade. Sure, they would ideally like to see Ukraine adopt European political and legal standards, but I don’t really see any EU invitation coming. Nor do I see a NATO invite coming for a long time, if ever. Putin put the kibosh on that by showing he was willing to support a proxy war in the east. No one in Europe or the US is willing to go to war with Russia over Ukraine, except for neoconservative hawks, Russophobes, and Cold War re-enactors. This is why the US response has mostly been lukewarm. Ukraine might matter in the geopolitical game board of Risk, but Ukraine is not a vital object of US interests, regardless of Russian paranoid induced fantasies. Plus the US can’t even contain the Middle East. We won’t even mention Africa, which will be the next theater in the “war on terror.” Sure Obama had to do something in response to Crimea and certainly to MH 17. Being the global hegemon comes with that kind of obligation. Sanctions and attempts at isolating Russia from the “West” are pretty much all the US can do. The Obama Administration has the power to subordinate Russia but the will isn’t there because the costs are way too high. The US and EU will sell out Ukraine eventually, and it will be done quietly as not to be perceived as not being tough with Putin. We see indications of this already. In the last few months in particular, the French and Germans have been putting more pressure on Kiev to comply with the Minsk II agreement. The US has almost completely disengaged diplomatically though it still engages in backroom machinations in terms of guiding the outer contours of Ukrainian politics (as best it can) and, mainly, influencing the neoliberal institutional and economic reforms (as best it can). Ukraine remains a pet project for a handful of American Russia obsessed imperialists who salivate at the prospect of Russia’s collapse and neoliberals searching for “live experiments” for their defunct doctrines. But the whole of the American foreign policy establishment has moved on, if they were really ever “on” in the first place. The Ukrainian populace is also tired of the war and polls show that the majority want some kind of resolution in the Donbas. Even the Russians are backing off as attention turns to Putin’s Syria adventure.

Indeed, Ukraine has mostly fallen victim to Syria, which I’m sure is a secret big relief for many in Brussels, Paris, Berlin, and Washington. This is not to say that they would rather deal with the refugee crisis and the Syrian civil war. But Russia’s involvement in Syria allows for a potential diplomatic deal with Moscow. There have been hints of this in the press. Putin may be willing to trade Assad for a neutral Ukraine and some kind of de facto recognition of Crimea. Putin’s main condition will probably be that Moscow has some say so over a post-Assad Syria, in whatever political or geographical form it takes. If a deal is able to be struck (the Americans would have to get the Turks and Saudis to go along), the West can quietly let Ukraine go. That is a big if, though, and a lot of it depends on how far the Russians are willing to go to prop up Assad. Russia faces the danger of getting sucked in to Syria as the Americans, Turks and Saudis double down and prolong the conflict. Ironically, what might happen in Syria is exactly what some were saying would happen if the US supplied weapons to the Ukrainians. Now the situation is reversed.

In all, I think we’re seeing the twilight of the Ukrainian crisis unless something brash and unforeseen occurs. It will likely continue on a low simmer for a while which will benefit Putin. In fact, I’m sure there are Russian elites eagerly waiting for the Russian state to aid in the rebuilding of the Donbas so they can pillage the kitty. This is what happened in Sochi and I’m sure is happening in Crimea. War presents all sorts of economic opportunities and I’m sure there is a tacit agreement between Putin and his elite that they will get access to the spoils in the Donbas in exchange for their loyalty. The only problem with all this is that Russia doesn’t have the money since oil and gas prices are so low. Nevertheless, the opportunity is there.

In regard to Syria, the propaganda response in the US has been incredible. The ramping up of the Russian propaganda machine is expected, because as I said above, this is one of the few mechanisms the Russian state has at creating consensus. But in America, it has been clumsy and transparent—the transformation of jihadists into “moderate rebels” or just “rebels” and the constant harping on the fact that the Russians aren’t hitting ISIS like they said they would. I mean it has been really pathetic. I think this desperate response by the entire US ideological state apparatuses is in part due to Russia interfering on US turf, and by doing so revealing the utter failure of US power projection in the Middle East. You can see this in all the rhetoric about Putin outfoxing Obama, winning, “not letting him get away with it,” etc. It’s like the US’ collective masculinity was insulted by the bare-chested Slav on horseback.

You've spent the past few years in Pittsburgh and I understand that you speak Russia fluently. So have you met and talked with Evgeni Malkin?

I’ve been in Pittsburgh for four years. It’s a great place and we decided to stay. The one (of many) things about Pittsburgh that disturbs me is how racially segregated it is. This is not to say that LA isn’t segregated. It is. But LA is a multiracial and multiethnic, albeit balkanized city. Here it’s just black and white. And frankly I’m not so comfortable with all these—what my mother would call—white-white people.

I don’t speak Russian fluently. I wish! I have a constant battle with the language even after all these years. I read a lot better than I speak. I’ve been in Russia for a year at two different intervals—2004-2005 and 2009-2010, in addition to several shorter trips. My Russian got quite good in that period. I think the only solution is for me to spend some extended time in country, and by extended time, I mean 3-5 years. That’s not going to happen under my current situation. I sometimes wonder if I’ll ever get a chance to go back. Maybe when my daughter is older and she can appreciate it. This is too bad because I really enjoy being there. It’s a fabulous country despite all its flaws. In all, I’m just not good with languages. I’m always amazed by those people who have picking up languages as their superpower. Unfortunately, I think languages are my kryptonite.

I’ve never met Evgeni Malkin.

The Original Hot Dog: Great place to get a hot dog and fries or greatest place for a hot dog and fries?

It’s okay. (Sean's note: It's better than okay!) I’ve been there a few times. Honestly, no fast food anywhere beats In-N-Out Burger in Los Angeles. N-o-w-h-e-r-e. Five Guys is a decent substitute. But still . . . I don’t miss a lot of things about LA except three things: In-N-Out, the Lakers, and the weather. Oh, perhaps medical marijuana as well.

(Sean's Note: In-N-Out is very, very good though I'll take the O Fries over In-N-Out fries.)

It seems like your blog has been pretty quiet lately. Are you currently working on anything for the site?

I’ve been real busy this summer. I was in Tanzania for ten days. It was absolutely amazing. I’ve always wanted to go to the African continent so this trip was very special for me. Then my wife and I bought a new house in East Liberty. Moving and setting up the house has taken a lot of time and has been my singular focus for the last two months.

But I’m now starting to reemerge from my hole. I’ve started up the podcast again and I will be writing more.

The big project ahead of me, however, has nothing to do with Russia. I’m embarking on a research project into American non-profit funding of Israeli settlements for the organization my wife works for, Partners for Progressive Israel. The idea is to track, collect, and make publically available information about the non-profit organizations that provide funds to organizations that send money to settlements. Our goal is to make this information available in a searchable database. We’re only getting started and it probably won’t be until sometime next year before it’s done.

Thanks again to Sean for taking the time to participate in this interview. These two posts are probably the most thoughtful entries on my blog ever. I'll get back to my usual posts about kids and other stuff in my life next week.

Please make sure to check out Sean's Russia Blog, follow the other Sean on Twitter, and check him out on iTunes.

Interview With Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog (Part I)

About 100 years ago (give or take 93 years), I wrote a post highlighting other blogs with Sean in the title. Recently, I found another Sean blog, Sean's Russia Blog. The topic itself was intriguing but I also found a connection with the site's author, Sean Guillory, since he was a post-doc at the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Russian & East European Studies. I sent Sean few questions about himself, Russia and Pittsburgh and he was extremely generous in providing excellent and thorough answers. So thorough that I'm dividing this up into two separate posts. This is a little different than my usual posts and topics, and I hope you enjoy this interview.

Plus, this is the first time that "plutocrats" has ever been used on Sean's Ramblings.

Tell me about your background. How did you become interested in Russia and Russian history and decide to get a doctorate in this subject?

I’m originally from California. I was born in the San Francisco Bay Area and moved to Los Angeles when I was ten. I consider myself a Los Angeleno first and foremost. A Laker fan for life. My entire family is from Louisiana, though. Theirs is an interesting story in and of itself. I learned a few years ago that my family was legally categorized as “black” until they moved to California in 1960s. It was a big secret, and some relatives refuse to talk about it. It’s as if they are living in the closet, so to speak. If you look at the census records of both my mother’s and father’s family going back to the 19th century they are all categorized as “negro” in the race column. My mother likes to say that at some point a “black” person entered our genealogy. I’ve come to wonder when a “white” person did.

The reason why I say they were “categorized” as black is because as far as I know none of them self-identified as black. Rather since Louisiana had the “one drop rule” my family was legally designated as black and had to live according to Jim Crow laws. However, I’ve been told that they didn’t identify as either black or white, though given a preference they identified as white and do so today. Instead, the more culturally conscious of them see themselves as Creole.

Like I said, it’s an interesting story, but by no means an uncommon one. It does show the malleability of race in America, and to some extent even its artificiality. In fact, I recently finished a book by Barbara and Karen Fields, Racecraft: the Soul of Inequality in American Life that makes a very strong argument that when we talk about race we are really talking about racism. Race is a fiction, but the category of race, how we understand it, how it functions institutionally and discursively is based in racist ideology, and specifically on the debunked science of biological racism. When we speak about race in America, we do so by unconsciously invoking assumptions based on the fictitious biology of race. This however is not without its problems. I don’t think we can properly call race a “fiction” when we recognize and people identify themselves as members of say African American culture that is rooted in the historical experience of being black in America. Sure, Fields might say that A-A culture is to variegated to reduce it to one “race,” and that suggesting that there are commonalities in the experience of African Americas is based in racist assumptions. We don’t, after all, speak of a “White American” culture. Instead we tend to associate white Americans with the culture of their ethnicity: Irish, Italian, Jewish (a difficult category considering American Sephardic Jews), etc. I don’t know what Fields would say about the intersection between culture and race/racism. It is certainly one of the questions, if not criticisms, I have.

In regard to Russia, I got interested in Russia in college after taking a class on the history of the Soviet Union. The professor, J. Arch Getty, would become my dissertation advisor. My interest initially was for political reasons—interest in communism and Marxism. That has evolved over the years to include a wide variety of issues and topics like Russian state formation and state craft, social history, and politics and culture of Russian society. Currently, I’ve been spending a lot of time reading about the history of neoliberalism as a way to form a theory and picture of capitalism in Putin’s Russia.

Why did I decide to get a doctorate in Russian history? That’s a good question, especially considering I’m no longer in academia. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I don’t regret it though I wish things would have turned out differently.

Vladimir Putin is a fascinating person. Despite there being a legislative body in Russia, he seems to run essentially a dictatorship. How was he able to assume total power in Russia and is there any possibility of this changing?

I don’t like the word dictatorship and I wouldn’t call Russia one, though it is fashionable in some quarters—in the West and in Russia—to use this terminology. While I agree it is certainly authoritarian, but the concentration of power in the hands of the presidency is granted by the constitution. The legislature is weak because the Yeltsin constitution of 1993 made it such. That said, Russia has always had a top heavy, authoritarian structure. The legal strictures of the Constitution allow for an easy convergence with traditional Russian statecraft. I call it authoritarian because the legal system and state structure are mechanisms of the Russian elite, upon which Putin sits as the head. Moreover, the structures that would allow a politics independent from the state—political parties and civil society (structures which were always nascent in Russia)—have been neutered over the last 15 years under Putin. More tolerate assessments would call this “managed democracy” in which the space of acceptable political participation (which may expand and contact depending on the domestic and international situations) are defined by the state. This is a contrast with liberal systems where the law theoretically sits above the state, and it is the law that defines the rules of the political game. In liberal societies, the law is constructed to serve a class—the political and financial elite who may wage political battles against each other, but do not wage politics as a zero sum game. There is a more or less shared consensus among liberal elites in terms of class interests. However, we can see in the United States at least that the “rule of law” has increasingly become concentrated in the service of plutocrats and the neoliberal state. This best example of this convergence between law and neoliberalism is the Supreme Court’s ruling on Citizens United.

Russia has some elements of this, but there are important divergences. The law is merely reduced to an instrument of elite power and is exercised selectively to not only subordinate the masses, but more importantly as a disciplinary mechanism against the elite. Therefore I would argue that in Russia the elite lacks class consciousness as such. Rather, a small faction of the elite rules for its own benefit and demands that other elites fall in line if they want to maintain the wealth and privileges. The leader, in this case, Putin, maneuvers between these various factions, playing one against the other, ensuring divisions between them, and making sure his indispensability. Here, how Russia is ruled has more in common with feudal relations than modern class relations. Putin sets the rules for the elite: steal but only within certain parameters, understand that your wealth and privileges are in exchange for loyalty, and be ready to mobilize your wealth in service of the state when called upon. Corruption has been both the means for the elite and other bureaucrats to gain wealth at the same time it is a mechanism of discipline.

Now looking at both of these, the United States and Russia, you might see some convergence occurring as wealth and power are concentrated in few hands. There is something to this. I think the main difference is in the relationship between force and consent.

In many ways, this power dynamic within today’s Russian elite reproduces centuries old relations between Tsar and the nobility. In fact, some historians have argued that there is a strong continuum in Russian elite relations along these lines. I think it is too presumptuous to suggest that 17th century Russian elite relations continue virtually unaltered to this day. However, the analysis certainly gives deserves reflection.

Putin was able to become the dominant force in Russian politics through his adept manipulation of this system. He did this in several ways: 1) he broke independent oligarchic power and subordinated Russia’s elite to the state; 2) Utilized the flood of petrodollars in the 2000s to raise Russians’ standard of living; 3) Consolidated the political system by delegitimizing the non-systemic opposition on the one hand and taming the loyal opposition on the other; 4) Returned Russia into a global player capable of defending and prosecuting its geopolitical interests, a process in which we are seeing at the moment in Syria.

At the same time, Russia is a terribly under governed country. The concentration of power into few hands, if not solely into Putin’s, has resulted in micromanagement (in Russian ruchnoi kontrol or manual control) at the top and, as a result, subterfuge below. The centralization of power has resulted in the permanent atrophy of local state structures. The whole system is top heavy and as you burrow down the rung is actually quite fragile. This is why I say, to borrow a slogan from the preeminent Indian historian Ranagit Guha, Putin and his circle have dominance without hegemony. Dominance remains because the consensual apparatus of Russia is so weak. This is why I think the system relies so heavily on state controlled propaganda.

In many respects Putin rules over a country with chronic historical problems: the weakness of law—not in a liberal sense—but in a state sense. There is an absent of a rechtsstaat where the system operates on automatic control. While the bureaucracy is massive and the state bloated, governance is rather weak. The elite, to put it in Marxist terms, is a class in itself, but not for itself. That is too say, that the Russian elite sees itself as a distinct class vis-à-vis the masses, and at times, will even consolidate when faced with threats from within and without. But it doesn’t possess the consciousness to press for its collective class interests, and do so without cannibalizing itself. This is why it still requires a Putin to maintain the balance.

Finally, there exists very little political flow between the elite and citizens. While Putin and his circle are obsessed with the mass opinion of the population—Russians are some of the most polled people on the planet and the government is very mindful of maintaining Putin’s astronomical approval ratings. At the same time there are very few mechanisms for the masses to have any influence on governance. Hence there is a tendency toward the political stagnation we’ve been witnessing since Putin returned for a third term. There is just little dynamism in the system to perpetuate it or, more importantly, renew it.

As for the possibility of Russia changing, the question is in what direction. The hollowing out of popular politics in Russia has left a space where only Putin dominates. Once he’s gone there will be a vacuum, and who will occupy it is anyone’s guess. The problem is, and this is another one of Russia’s chronic historical problems, is that there is no mechanism for transition. Every succession produces crisis and every one of them has, except for a brief period in the 19th century from Alexander II to Nicholas II. Every other instance has led to conflict, palace intrigue, palace coups, state disintegration, civil war, and revolution.

Substantive political change in Russia has historically occurred in two ways: the rise of a modernizing or reformist leadership that is from above, or through revolution, that is from below. I, as well as others, thought that the Medvedev experiment of 2008-2012 was going to be the beginning of evolutionary process, particularly in terms of leadership transition, but, for whatever reasons, and people have various theories, that didn’t happen. Just the opposite actually.

This may be an odd question, but does Putin care about what the world thinks of him and Russia? He invaded Crimea and the Ukraine with little repercussions and recently delivered weapons to Assad, not at the top of the most popular world leader list, helping him maintain power in Syria. Conversely, he has spent billions of dollars on the Sochi Olympics and 2018 World Cup, two major events to showcase Russia.

Why should he care? He is not a president subject to an election by the world nor is he or should he be in a global popularity contest. He leads according to what he perceives are the interests of the Russian state. Now whether those perceptions are actually in the interests of the state, let alone the Russian people, is another question.

Meanwhile, we're not going to see a Putin-Elton John summit on gay rights anytime soon, are we?

No, and the one that supposedly happened was a prank.


Tomorrow, we'll cover Ukraine, Pittsburgh, The Original Hot Dog and more. (Part II is now available here.)

In the meantime, check out Sean's Russia Blog, follow the other Sean on Twitter, and check him out on iTunes.

Trivia Tuesday: Billion View Club

Last week, See You Again by Wiz Khaifa and Charlie Puth became the 10th video on YouTube to join the Billion View Club. Do you know the other nine? Listed below are the most viewed videos with the gender of the artist and the YouTube publish date. Your challenge is to name the primary artist and song title.

1. Male - July 15, 2012

2. Male (featuring male) - February 19, 2010

3. Female - November 10, 2014

4. Female (featuring male) - February 20, 2014

5. Female - September 5, 2013

6. Female - August 18, 2014

7. Male (featuring a bunch of people; I think all male) - April 11, 2014 (Espanol version)

8. Female - June 11, 2014

9. Male (featuring male) - November 19, 2014

As always, please leave your answers in the comments section below and don't use the internet for assistance. Good luck!

Sunday Video: Renegades

I didn't do a Friday video this week, so I thought I would post a video for Sunday instead. Today's video is Renegades by X Ambassadors.



I first heard this song over the summer, and I feel like it's been in a commercial or two recently. However, it was only in the last week or so that I saw this inspirational video and learned that X Ambassadors are from Ithaca, New York. Anything connected with Ithaca is a plus in my book.

Have a good day!

The Jake Arrieta Tweet

On Sunday, Chicago Cubs pitcher and possible 2015 National League Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta replied to a Tweet by a parody account.

Naturally, Cubs and Pirates fans went crazy. Cubs fans supported their ace as Pirates fans treated Arrieta as a villain. As a Pirates fan, time to pile on!

Jake - You've had an amazing season. You may even win on Wednesday night. However, do you really need to trash talk? Let's look a little closer.

If you're so good, why are you only making $3,630,000? That may seem like a lot of money (because it is), but that's significantly less than these other Cubs pitchers: Trevor Cahill, Jason Hammel, Dan Haren, Tommy Hunger, Jon Lester, Fernando Rodney, Tsuyoshi Wada and Travis Wood.

Before joining the Cubs in July 2013, you were 20-25 with a 5.46 ERA. That's not good. Any chance you might revert back to your Baltimore Orioles form on Wednesday? (Probably not.)

Let's take a look at your post-season record. Oh, you've never been in the postseason. So all of a sudden you're going to become Madison Bumgarner? First playoff game in your career, and it will be at a rocking PNC Park. You might be a little nervous or over-excited.

Most importantly, look at your jersey. You are on the Chicago Cubs. Are you aware of the team's history? The team's last World Series Championship was in 1908. 1908! Maybe hold off on the trash talk a bit until you do something.

Again, maybe you'll win on Wednesday. The Cubs are favored due to Arrieta's dominance this year. However, act like you've been there before. Act is the key word though since you haven't actually been there before.

Let's Go Bucs!

Friday Video

I've been meaning to post Elle King's Ex's and Oh's for weeks now since it's a really good song. Well, today is that day.



One of the ways to look at this song is that Elle King thinks of herself as all that and a bag of chips. By the way, why don't we use this expression anymore? Is it because chips aren't that exciting? If we're talking pretzels, I'm in. Cool Ranch Doritos, definitely. BBQ Fritos, oh yes. Plain old potato chips, nope.

Enjoy the song and your Friday!

Fall For Fairfax KidsFest 2015

One of my favorite events of the year, the Fall for Fairfax KidsFest, takes place this weekend (Saturday, 10/3 & Sunday, 10/4) at the Fairfax County Government Center. This free event is a huge hit for my kids. Well, one kid. My younger son (Pedro Tulo) was only six months old last year, so I'm not sure of his opinion of this festival. Anyway, this truly is the perfect event for elementary and pre-K kids. You can read much more about Fall for Fairfax on its website.



Of course, the giant elephant in the room on the internet is the heavy rain expected on Friday and Hurricane Joaquin (Phoenix) which could cause major problems in the DC area (and beyond) this weekend. I know how hard the staff and volunteers of Fall for Fairfax work, so for the event to get impacted by weather would truly be a shame. With that written, wear some clothes and shoes that you don't mind getting wet and dirty and take advantage of possible shorter lines and smaller crowds because of people who may be scared of the rain. I mean, it's not like it never rains in Northern Virginia!

Here are the basic details about the festival:

WHERE - On the grounds of the Fairfax County Government Center, 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax, VA 22035. Plenty of FREE parking is available. Follow signs to visitor parking upon arrival.

WHEN - Saturday, October 3rd from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. & Sunday, October 4th from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

WHAT - 2 stages of FREE entertainment including the Innovation Health Kids Stage, and the Cox Community Stage. FREE to attend! Discount ride tickets for the KidWay MidWay are available by clicking here. Activities include scarecrow making*, pumpkin painting*, public safety and recycling-themed exhibits, pony rides*, petting zoo, model trains, instrument petting zoo, and the KidWay MidWay* (with more than a dozen rides and attractions). Plus more than 75 exhibits, activities and great festival food!

*Indicates program fee applies

Interview With Dr. Christopher Geary About Big Ben's Injury

Mark Barron of the St. Louis Rams sacked Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on Sunday afternoon causing Big Ben to go down and Steeler Nation to go into complete panic mode. Around the time that Roethlisberger was carted off the field, I saw this tweet from Dr. Christopher Geary, Orthopedic Surgeon and Chief of Sports Medicine at Tufts University Medical Center.

While Roethlisberger has an MCL injury to his left knee, multiple reports suggest that the franchise QB will miss approximately 6 weeks, a big difference than being out for the season. Therefore, I reached out to Dr. Geary for his thoughts on the initial tweet and the Big Ben's current diagnosis.

Please tell me and my readers about yourself. How did you get into medicine and decide on your specialty?

I kind of always figured I would go into orthopedics and I really enjoyed it in medical school. And I had played sports my whole life (including playing rugby right through medical school), so sports medicine was a natural choice for me.

You made some waves on Twitter on Sunday by writing that Ben Roethlisberger's season was over. How did you come to this assessment?

Is it difficult to make a medical diagnosis by seeing an injury on television?

At Monday's press conference, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said that there is no timetable for Big Ben's return; however, many sources estimate that he will miss 4-6 weeks. Any new thoughts about this based on your initial tweet? (Sean's note: I combined all of these questions together since Dr. Geary provided this response to all three questions at once.)

As an orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine and also a huge sports fan (mostly Boston, obviously), I watch games for enjoyment but I can't help but be on the lookout for injuries as they happen. Making diagnoses based on what you see on TV is fraught with difficulty - I was actually watching the replays of Roethlisberger's injury on an 8-inch screen while riding an exercise bike at a hotel gym - but you can usually get something of an idea based on the mechanism of injury and the player/trainers reactions.

My initial tweet about his injury was to Scott Zolak, and I actually referenced a bad MCL injury as my first thought but obviously my subsequent tweets got more play. My thoughts were that if he had an ACL/MCL or a fibula fracture that his season would be over - thankfully for the Steelers this isn't the case. It's tough to say when he will be back - it could be anywhere from 4-8 weeks based on what I have seen in my patients. It will depend on how quickly he is able to move without pain and regain his range of motion - MCL injuries do tend to get stiff. He has the advantage of having a great training staff available to work with him every day, so his recovery may be on the short end.

In looking at your timeline, I didn't see any tweets from you to Scott Zolak, only the one that stated "Most likely an ACL/MCL for Roethlisberger-other possibility is a high fibula fracture w/ syndesmosis injury. Either way, season over."

You're right - I went back and checked and that Tweet either never went through or got deleted. It did exist at some point, though - you'll have to take my word on that even though I'm a Pats fan...


I really appreciate Dr. Geary's quick responses to my questions. We both spent time in San Diego (Dr. Geary mentioned that "San Diego was amazing" and that he "would move back there in a heartbeat if it wasn't so damn expensive." I agree!) and are obviously sports fans. He also was a good sport about this question.

Finally, your Twitter profile picture shows you shirtless. Does this make you the Dr. McDreamy of Tufts Medical Center?

I hate Grey's Anatomy.

Please make sure to follow Dr. Geary on Twitter and you can see his complete bio on the Tufts Medical Center website.

My First Season In The LearnedLeague

I finished my first season in LearnedLeague and it went as I expected...sort of. I expected to be overmatched and ended up finishing 25th out of 30 in my division, but I did not plan on losing 11 straight matches to end the season. I feel like I deserved a slightly better fate though. I talked myself out of several correct answers (see below), but overall, I got a little unlucky. Of the 30 members of my division, I was 19th in total correct answers. Not great, but not terrible either. My big problem was that I had the hardest strength of schedule in terms of Correct Answered Allowed. My opponents answered more questions correctly against me than anyone else in my division. It also didn't help that I had the 4th "Most Common Wrong Answers" in the division, meaning that I was in the right ballpark (though still wrong) with many of my answers.

Before I proceed, a quick explanation of LearnedLeague. This is the trivia league of trivia leagues. Ken Jennings is in this league (naturally in an A division), but finished 20th of 26 in that division. LearnedLeague is played in 25-match seasons, where players compete against one another head-to-head. Each match consists of 6 questions. Besides trying to answer them correctly, you also assign a point value to each question: 3, 2, 2, 1, 1, 0. That is the number of points your opponent gets for correctly answering the questions. The winner of the match is the player who scores the most points. I actually did a good job defensively. Not quite the Steel Curtain defense of the 70s but perhaps at a Greg Lloyd-Kevin Greene level.

Back to me, I've found that I definitely have my strong and weak categories. I was 5 out of 5 in business/economics questions (I guess my International Business minor is finally paying off), 8 of 10 in pop music, 3 of 4 in current events and 4 of 6 in American history. Conversely, I did terribly in literature (3 of 13), geography (3 of 13), science (3 of 16; why are there so many freaking science questions!?!?), 1 of 8 in art (I dominated the Andy Warhol question), 1 of 11 in food/drink and 1 of 12 in world history. That's a lot of bad there. Basically, if there's a question about pop culture, including sports (though I don't understand how I got a 4 of 10 in television), I'm in decent shape. Anything else (especially science), my opponents should feel comfortable assigning me 2 or 3 points.

So now, I'm going to participate in some mini-leagues about college football and 80s pop music until the next season begins in November. I expect to do better in these specific leagues than the next regular season where I'll be in an E division. I feel like I could become an E division regular, particularly since there's not an "F" division, with some potential to get promotion into a D division with some luck. I'm never getting to the A or B divisions, but I've found the competition and the trivia a nice way to start the day. Plus, I think I could break a record for most consecutive losses!


Here are examples of when I out-smarted myself.

What is the common medical term for the mass of lymphoid tissue, considered vestigial in adults, that is sometimes referred to as pharyngeal tonsils?

My son had his adenoids out last year, so my thought was that it couldn't be adenoids since some of these terms would be familiar. I went with goiter since I thought that was in the tonsils ballpark. The answer was adenoids.

While it sometimes includes all modernist painters between the two World Wars, the "School of" this city is a term typically applied by art historians to a certain group known as les maudits, including Amedeo Modigliani, Marc Chagall, Chaim Soutine, and Jules Pascin. Name the city.

I thought Chagall spent time in Paris and figured "les maudits" was French, but Paris seemed to be too easy of an answer. I went with Marseille. The answer was Paris.


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TMI Thursday: Becoming A Sperm Donor

Let me preface this blog post by writing that the content is PG-13. It may even be PG. Sorry if this disappoints you.

Earlier this week, I received a flyer on my car to become a sperm donor. Let's look at the qualifications required to help others "to build happy healthy families."

1. Are healthy.

Check. I still work as a soccer referee, ran a 5K in under 30 minutes earlier this year without training and walk up the Metro escalator daily.

2. Have earned or are pursing a college degree.

Masters degree here, bitches. (Yes, using bitches might move this to a PG-13 post.)

3. Want infectious and genetic disease screening and physicals at no cost.

I think I'm good here but okay.

4. Want to be compensated up o $4,000 in six months.

Extra money is always good.

5. Want to help people by donating once a week, for less than 1 hour.

Wait, what? This isn't a one-time deal. By the way, they are asking me to donate my time or money once a week, right? RIGHT?

6. Age 18-39.

Even though I'm 40 (I'm a man, I'm 40!), apparently, I'm too old to be a donor. Oh well. The dream is over.

If you want to see some old-fashioned TMI Thursdays, feel free to click here.

Asking For Forgiveness

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, begins on Tuesday evening. I'll spend much of the Tuesday evening and Wednesday at synagogue praying for forgiveness while also trying not to think about the fact that I'm not eating or drinking. However, another important part of this holiday is asking those you have wronged over the past year for forgiveness. While I still need to contact several people, in looking at my blog posts, I think there's some atoning I have to do.

I apologize to Chicago Cubs OF Chris Coghlan for essentially calling him a racist. That wasn't fair. He might be a dirty baseball player, but I crossed the line.

I'm sorry for criticizing the grammar used by Dale Lolley, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat reporter for the Observer-Reporter of Washington (PA)

I'm sorry for using Sir Mix-a-Lot's Baby Got Back to describe the 2015 Pittsburgh Penguins draft class.

I'm sorry for making fun of Parents Magazine. I may even read one of the last two or three editions that are sitting in a pile under the newspapers.

I'm sorry that we didn't get Jagoff in the dictionary. That would have been cool.

I'm definitely not sorry for winning free burritos for a year again. They are quite tasty.

I'm sorry for criticizing how Peyton Manning dresses. I mean, you would think with the amount of money he makes, he could dress better. I'm going on a tangent here. Sorry for the tangent and sorry Peyton.


For those of you observing Yom Kippur, have an easy and meaningful fast and day. Now, do I need to look at my Twitter posts from the past year to see what I wrote there?

Chris Coghlan Hates Asians

Let me preface this blog post by writing that this title is (probably) not true. I'm just a little upset that Chicago Cubs outfielder Chris Coghlan ended Jung Ho Kang's season by a dirty slide.

On May 24, 2009, Chris Coghlan, then of the Florida Marlins attempted to break up a double play by sliding hard into second base and into Tampa Bay Devil Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura. Iwamura, from Japan, was injured as a result of Coghlan's slide and did not return to the major leagues until the end of August, more than three months later.

On Thursday, Coghlan again attempted to break up a double play but instead slid right into Kang resulting in the South Korean infielder suffering a torn left MCL and fractured tibia. Kang, a major part of the Pirates success this season and friend of K-Pop star Hyomin, is now out for the season.

So is it a coincidence that Coghlan has now significantly injured two of the few infielders born in Asia? Does Coghlan have something against players from Japan and South Korea (and possibly China, Indonesia, and others)?

I guess we'll let Commissioner Rob Manfred decide.

Car Rant

My 2003 Honda Civic is slowly falling apart. While the car runs fine overall, it's the little things that are adding up. The passenger side rear window hasn't opened in a few years. Last month, my driver's side window stopped working. You can hear the power window mechanism trying to work but the window doesn't move. While this usually doesn't bother me, it's quite awkward to open the car door to enter and exit parking garages. (Fortunately, I haven't gone to a drive-through in my car yet.) However, this inconvenience is not enough to spend $500 to fix this. I miss my Plymouth Acclaim where I could roll down the window.

Now, I have a bigger problem. The airbag light now appears and stays lit on my dashboard. I took the car to the local Honda dealership on Wednesday to determine the issue. A little later in the morning, I received a call from the service department informing me that the airbag is fine (there was actually a Honda recall on this earlier this year) and that the issue is the seat belt buckle switch. The cost to repair this: $545. I declined the repair.

However, I still needed to pay $132 for the diagnostic. Um, what? I did not get this quote when I left the dealership. After some complaining, the representative said that he would help me out. So when I arrived back at the dealership in the afternoon, I learned that I had to pay $112 instead. The staff seemed to feel like I got an amazing deal by having this diagnostic charge reduced by $20. Without much of a choice, I paid the $112 and left. Oh, I also learned that Honda used to replace this at no cost, but apparently, changed their policy a few years ago. If the problem was mechanical, they would repair the airbag stuff for no change. Any electrical issues, though, would need to be paid by the customer. Great.

Finally, it sounds like my car won't pass the state inspection in December with this light on. Wonderful. So I'm going to need to put about $400-$500 into a 12 year-old car (or more if I choose to fix the window) or face the decision to try to sell the car if it fails inspection. Ugh.

By the way, considering that the car is over 12 years old, 118,000 miles really isn't that much. It's still a good car. Well, don't be surprised if I try to sell this car on Sean's Ramblings later this year.

Happy Rosh Hashanah (From Asics?)

I saw this Asics commercial on Tuesday night which seemed extremely appropriate since Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, also concluded on Tuesday evening.



Yes, the guy in the Asics commercial is blowing a shofar. Sure, a shofar is traditionally blown during Rosh Hashanah services, but I guess it could also be a call to action to run up a mountain. Tekiah Gedolah!

So on behalf of everyone here at Sean's Ramblings, Happy New Year!

P.S. It appears that this commercial has been around for months. I just saw it for the first time on Tuesday.

Hyomin Throws Out First Pitch At Pittsburgh Pirates Game

On Sunday, Hyomin, the lead singer of the K-Pop group T-ara, will throw out the first pitch at the Pittsburgh Pirates-Milwaukee Brewers game at PNC Park. I know that you're all big fans of Korean pop music, but in case you're not familiar with Hyomin and T-ara, I asked my Korean correspondent Christine if she knew of T-ara.

Yes, I have heard of T-ara - they were on the K-Pop news quite a bit before their "comeback" this summer and I think a current hit is "So Crazy". It doesn't surprise me that Hyomin would be sending out the first pitch somewhere. South Koreans love baseball (attending one of the games there was sooo much fun) and K-Pop itself is one of the cultural aspects that Korea has made major efforts to export.

Thanks to the power of YouTube, here is T-ara's "So Crazy."



I'm sure that this video reflects commentary on the role of the military and perhaps the privilege of power. Or the director wanted the members of T-ara to dress in cute, little sailor outfits.

Anyway, so why is Hyomin flying probably over 15 hours to throw out the first pitch at a Pirates game? The answer: Jaff Decker Jung Ho Kang. According to allkpop, a website I read daily, Hyomin is friends with Kang. That's quite a long trip to visit a "friend." Even if there is no romantic connection here, I'm sure that Hyomin hanging out with Kang, who maintains a massive following in South Korea, will be good PR for her and her career. Oh, and here's a picture of Hyomin from that allkpop article.

Update: This is proof of Hyomin throwing out the first pitch at PNC Park.

Does South Korea follow the same fashion policy about not wearing white after Labor Day? Anyway, since the Pirates won today, I think we need to start a petition to have Hyomin or another member of T-ara to throw out the first pitch at every Pirates game for the rest of the season and playoffs!

Shy Guy

Do you remember the 90s song Shy Guy by Diana King? The answer is probably no, and even though I consider myself an aficionado of 90s pop music, I still had to look up who sings this song.



Anyway, either Diana Guy lives in Northern Virginia or someone who REALLY, REALLY likes this song does and drives a Hyundai.

Now, I want to find the person who has a Fry Guy license plate!

Creepy or Awkward?

We went to a birthday party at a park on Sunday, and as we were leaving, I noticed that a youth group that I was involved in during high school was setting up in a nearby pavilion.* I approached one of the girls, who was probably about 16, and had the following conversation:

Me: Are you with the [Youth Group name]?

Her: Yes.

Me: I was in [Youth Group name] too when I was in high school. I probably attended the [youth group camp name] before you were born.

Her:

Me: Well, good luck with the event today.

Her: Thanks.


About 7 seconds later out of earshot from the teenager

My wife: You were being creepy there.

Me: I wouldn't say creepy. Since I'm holding [my one year-old son], I'd say that it was more awkward.


We continued to walk towards the exit and saw a few more members of the group.

My wife: Don't say anything to them.

Me: Okay


So creepy that a 40 year-old guy tried to strike up a conversation with a high school girl that was in the same youth group as me (though 20+ years apart) or just awkward since I was carrying my toddler which means that I'm a (hopefully) respectable father (meaning not creepy)?



* There was also a soccer tournament going on in the park, and I was (and still am) appalled by how the adult referees were dressed. Shirts untucked. Plain white socks. Totally unprofessional.

Friday Links

- In honor of Josh of Josh's World getting married, he asked several bloggers to write guest posts while he is away on his honeymoon. I guess this serves as a better gift than towels. Anyway, here are the posts:

- Are You Married or Happy by Nicky D.
- Cards of Love by Alex
- A Piece of Cake by me.

- Check out this amazing goal by Marco Matias of my favorite British soccer team, Sheffield Wednesday.



- A cool story about the Biloxi Shuckers, a minor league baseball team that had a 54-game, 2800-mile road trip. [ESPN]

- Did you know the Steelers have a team chaplain? Did you know his name is Ocho Cinco? Well, actually it's Chad Johnson, but not that Chad Johnson. Here's a fun quote for those of you upset about the Steelers signing Michael Vick.

Winning is important and the NFL is a business, but the Steelers have values beyond that. "It is part of the Steelers' core values. Coach Tomlin is such a phenomenal person beyond football and such a caring man. He is about the business in raising young men. That is the rarity in him. He really cares about these guys beyond football and they can feel that." Johnson said. Johnson's work is an extension of the Steelers mission.

"We care about people. It is not just a mantra or slogan or idea in theory," he said. "This is a service-oriented organization." [Behind the Steel Curtain]

- Congratulations to Ithaca College on being named one of the 25 healthiest colleges in the U.S. Clearly this is a recent ranking as there is no mention of people eating Rogan's pizza 2-3 times a week (or everyday during Finals Week also known as "Week of Rogan's"). [Greatist.com]

- Mike Tunison aka Christmas Ape among many others left Kissing Suzy Kolber. The site is basically dead now. [KSK]

- Finally, Lisa Kudrow joined Taylor Swift to perform "Smelly Cat."

Thank You Pittsburgh by David Nelson

The Philadelphia Phillies recently traded 6-time All-Star and 12+ year veteran Chase Utley to the Los Angeles Dodgers. To thank the fans, Utley purchased ads in two Philadelphia newspapers to express his gratitude. I'm mentioning this because the Pittsburgh Steelers placed WR David Nelson on the team's Reserve/Injured List on Tuesday. Nelson spent time with the Buffalo Bills from 2010-12 and the New York Jets from 2013-14 before signing with the Steelers and played with the team for slightly more than 12 days. Since Nelson doesn't have the resources that Utley has and didn't have the tenure in Pittsburgh like Utley had in Philadelphia, instead of purchasing an ad in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette or Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Nelson is saying thank you here on Sean's Ramblings.

Thank You Pittsburgh

for the opportunity to play for this terrific franchise. Thank you to the Rooney family, Kevin Colbert and coach Mike Tomlin for giving me this chance to continue my NFL career. Thanks to the fans for realizing that I was not Jordy Nelson or Edmund Nelson, the former Steeler that worked as a color analyst for KDKA on the Steelers pre-season games prior to this season. I mean, I don't look anything like Edmund Nelson, so why did Frank from North Versailles and Joe from Dormont call me Edmund?

I'd like to thank my teammates and particularly my wide receiver compatriots. No, using the word compatriots doesn't make me a New England Patriots fan. Antonio Brown is the best receiver in the NFL, and I wish I had the chance to talk with him more to learn how he got those amazing abs. Markus Wheaton, DHB and Martavis Bryant are also class guys.

Heinz Field is such an incredible atmosphere. I mean I've seen it on TV and it would have been cool to have seen it as a member of the Steelers. Maybe the team will give me a souvenir Terrible Towel and let me wave it from a luxury box. 50-yard seats? Okay, the top level of Heinz Field is fine.

Finally, I hope that you will support my i'mMe Foundation, a non-profit organization on a mission to end the orphan cycle and change the lives of children. We have done important work in Haiti, and our mission is to bring the sustaining and empowering structure of family to the orphans of the world through care, prevention, and stewardship. Please check out our website at imme.org and follow the organization on Twitter.

Thanks again, Pittsburgh and Steelers fans across the globe.


(Full disclosure: This wasn't really written by David Nelson. Shocking, right? However, the i'mMe Foundation is real, so h/t to Behind the Steel Curtain for providing information about this great cause.)

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