SenatorShriv

I've also been lucky enough to catch almost all of the bands on my list over the years. Live music and music festivals was my passion for several years so I clicked most of the big ones off and have seen most of them multiple times. There are still a couple that I have missed that I would REALLY enjoy. Arcade Fire Neil Young Rolling Stones Tom Waits Unfortunately I now have to fly to Seattle to see big name bands so I don't get much live music. Alaska isn't really considered a must stop location on major US Tours.

Lake Geneva could be another interesting day trip for you but public transit likely won't be easy to find. Its closer than Door County (only about an hour from Miller Park.)

Melvin should certainly be allowed to stick around for a few more years but I think it is premature to discuss a RR extension right now. The guy was handed a whole bunch of talnet on a platter. Lets see how he handles players and strategy this year before getting too excited. He'll need to be able to develop young, emerging and scrap heap talent if he is going to stick around. lets see how he does with some of this years projects.

Lots of people in this coffee shop are probably wondering why I just started yelling and jumping up and down. Forget em. This is GREAT news!

My father also has a peanut allergy. I guess that it used to be really bad and that he would have problems just being someplace where he was breathing in lots of dust (like the ballpark or airplanes) but now that the allergy has toned down over the years he just has to avoid eating them. Peanuts are a big part of the baseball experience for many people but I don't think it is unreasonable to have a place for folks with nut allergies to go. Problem is that it is probably not enforceable and most people won't realize they are buying tickets in the peanut free zone which could lead to problems.

I also think that tailgaiting will be an important experiance. I bet that if you post someplace on this forum that you are looking for a tailgate party to crash within a couple weeks of your visit that some generous Brewerfan member will open up their cooler and grill for you. There are lots of great things to do in Milwaukee and lots of smaller local gems that haven't been mentioned yet that you'll discover as you explore the city. I would recommend trying to get out of the city to Madison or Chicago just to break it up a little bit.

Just got an email from MLB.tv asking me to re-up my subscription for 2012 and I thought some of the fine print was relevant to this conversation. Looks like you can get the MLB.tv ap for free this year. That might make it worth it. Also mentions compatability with AppleTV New 2012 MLB.TV Premium Features (included at no additional cost)MLB.com At Bat 12, the top-ranked sports app in the Apple App Store and recent inductee into the Macworld App Hall of Fame, is now included for free with your subscription (separate purchase not required). Enjoy complete portability to iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and select Android phones and tablets. At Bat 12 is available on 2/29/12.* MLB.TV Premium is available on your Xbox 360** in 2012 (coming soon). Simply log-in with your MLB.TV username and password to access live and on-demand baseball. Standard 2012 MLB.TV PREMIUM FEATURES Connected Devices: Sony PlayStation 3, AppleTV, Roku and other connected devices. Click here to see a full list of compatible devices. HD Picture (where available): Speed detection technology delivers high definition video at the industry standard of 720p on any size monitor. Home and Away Feeds: Watch either the home or away teams' broadcasts. Live Game DVR Functionality: Pause and rewind live games. Jump back up to 10 seconds to create your own instant replay. Multi-Game Viewing Options: Watch up to four games simultaneously with the Mosaic® feature. Pitch by Pitch Tracking: Track live the location, type and speed of every pitch. Follow balls and strikes on overlay. Picture-in-Picture: Choose one game and track another or watch in-game highlights simultaneously in a secondary window. Audio Overlay: Overlay the home or away team's radio broadcast over the live video or use the "Park" option to include the ballpark's natural sounds. Clickable Linescores: Go directly to any at-bat or half inning of a game. In-Game Highlights: Real-time highlights and player stats automatically load in the media player. With one click, the clip instantly launches in a picture-in-picture window Player Tracker: Customize a list to feature entire fantasy rosters and receive on-deck notifications to watch live look-ins for each player. Simply click the alert and watch the at-bat live in a Picture in Picture window. * Simply download the free MLB.com At Bat 12 app to your supported smartphone or tablet and log-in with your MLB.TV Premium username and password to access live and on-demand baseball

I enjoyed haveing MLB.tv this last season and will subscribe again this year. That being said, they do really nickle and dime you. The playoffs cost extra, the iPad and iPhone aps cost extra and it seemed like they were always trying to sell me something extra. I stuck with the basic subscription and watched from my computer at work or occassionally set up a projector and watched it on "the big screen" at home. My only real complaint was that the HD video quality NEVER worked - it was always too slow no matter what network or device I was on. I'll probably get the iPhone ap this year just to see if it is something that i would actually use. I have a hard time envisioning watching many games on my tiny phone, but who knows...

I'm volunteering for a radio show and we're interested in moving our giant music collection to a digital format (we're way behind the times) and need a little advice. For the last couple of weeks I've been going through and downloading all of the cd's into iTunes. I'm currently just using the default import settings on iTunes which is "iTunes Plus." I think that this is 256 kbps. But I got nervous when someone warned me this evening that we needed to be importing FLAC or lossless quality if we are going to transfer the music to multiple hard drives and play it live on the air. They said that we would lose quality every time we transferred the music from one source to another eventually ending up with sub-par quality audio. I don't see a setting that is "lossless" but I can use a larger bitrate if I go into custom settings. The max I see is 320 kbps. Should I be using that setting? Will it actually make a difference?

Sorry if this hijacks the thread... I was also wondering what the status of the link report would be this year? Has anyone stepped up to volunteer to take it on or at least certain parts of it? I usually skipped over the type of "in game comments" that this thread is discussing when scrolling through the link report. I tend to look at the box scores but not a whole lot else as I'm less interested in the day to day stories of the young Brewers, but am very interested in the trends and overall performance of the players.

I've been waiting on news of Braun to post in this thread but I've got the urge tonight so here it goes. I think that Aoki will end up hitting really well and split time with Morgan. We'll take a step back on defense but Morgan will get his starts and come in as a defensive replacement. Aoki / Morgan Hart Weeks Braun Ramirez Gamel LuCroy Gonzales Pitcher Without Braun: Aoki Hart Weeks Ramirez Gamel LuCroy Morgan Gonzales Pitcher You can switch Morgan and Aoki in the non-Braun lineup. Agree with others that with Braun this lineup could still be near the top of the league.

Player of the Year - Weeks Pitcher of the Year - KRod (I think he will be lights out in the set up position and that Axford will regress just a touch.) Rookie of the Year - Aoki (He will see time at all three OF positions with suspensions, injuries and Tplush will be traded to fill an emergency gap that emerges in the bullpen or infield due to injury.) Most Improved - Gamel (I don't get the pessimisim here.) Disapointment - Braun (assuming there is a suspension, which is automatically a disapointment and then takes a while to find his rythme / presses a bit when he comes back.) Extension - Marcum (he matches his 1st half performance from last year and gets a multi-year extension midseason.) 1st Traded - Morgan Position in NL Central - 2nd (behind the Cards) I expect improvement from LuCroy but I have been a big fan for a while and he just didn't fit neatly into either category. I think Hart could surprise some people this year.

I keep having the same thought every time I read a thread about Gamel... where are do all of these reports about his "personal issues", work ethic and character keep coming from? I remember a couple of articles where Brewers brass indicated that they didn't feel that he was mentally ready for the big leagues, but I don't remember ever reading specifics from coaches, teammates or organization reps that really indicated a major character flaw that would prevent him from being successful at first base. I feel like the fan base read between the lines of a few comments and has really blown things out of proportion. Just seems like the echo chamber might be dooming a guy with talent before he ever gets a serious chance.

New York Times also moved to an all paid system (I think). The interesting thing for me is the 20 free views. I live out of state and don't visit the website daily but when I do visit I usually bounce around to the politcal, business and sports blogs. I'll still read select articles but probably won't read all the other stuff anymore which will certainly leave me feeling more separated from friends and family in WIsconsin.

Just to stir the pot a little bit I'll jump in and say that I think El Camino is The Black Keys weakest album to date. Their early stuff is awesome because it is gritty, packed with great lyrics and straight up rock and roll. Their newer albums have been good because it showed the band had some versitility and was still able to produce great music even as their sound evolved. El Camino just feels like they pooped something out to continue the commercial success of their last two albums - strike while the iron is hot type mentality. It doesn't do anything new or different which would be ok except the songs just didn't seem as thoughtful as the majority of songs on past albums have been. I'm fairly sure I'm in the minority here. Someone else mentioned they felt that the Decemberists "King is Dead" album was weak. I'm not going to say that it is a masterpiece by any means but I enjoy it a lot and its been heavy rotation for me since I first downloaded it.

This is about what I expected to get in return for McGehee. Thanks for 2010 Casey and helping to beef up our bullpen for another playoff run in 2012. I'll avoid the topic of 2011... This should ease some of the fears circulating out there that McGehee would platoon at first with Gamel.

Anyone seen a list of the teams that fall into the 10 smallest markets and revenues?

I always wondered how you did it. Finally I gave up on the wondering and just admired the dedication. There were several years in there where I started every day with the link report. The link report combined with the Power 50 propelled me from being a very casual Brewerfan to being obsessed with their minor league system. That obsession (along with the rekindled love of the MLB team) helped me to re-establish a solid relationship with my father and make a lot of friends over the years. Having all of the up to date stats, gossip and arguments that the link report provided at the tip of my tongue was an incredible asset. Thanks!

I tried to aknowledge prior to my dig at McGehee and Yuni that they were playing better this month than they have for the rest of the season. That doesn't change the fact that I cringe almost every time they walk up to the plate. 7-0 Dodgers!

I know that nothing is going to change, but even when McGehee and Yuni as "swinging the bat well" they are pretty brutal to watch. With a pitcher struggling this much and the bases juiced why would they be up there hacking at borderline pitches? If only there were other options...

Wow - reading this thread gave me a new found appreciation for Thome's career. Honestly I've never paid much attention to him and had no idea that his career stats were hitting such lofty numbers. Clearly a first ballot Hall of Famer.

I don't know much about SE Alaska so I would rely on the advice of others, but I live in Anchorage and would be happy to provide some recommendations on stuff to do around the area... The post above is accurate that Anchorage isn't exactly a world class city. I try to spend almost every weekend outside of the city camping, hiking, skiing, hunting or fishing. That being said there are plenty of cool things to do in the immediate area. You could drive to Girdwood and take the hand tram on the Winner Creek trail or take the gondola up to the top of the ski hill for a drink / food overlooking the glaciers and Turnagain Arm. There are tons of hikes right on the edge of the city that are gorgeous (bear precautions need to be taken.) There are good restaurants in the Anchorage, art shops, etc... night life is extremely hit or miss depending on the day you happen to be hanging around. Palmer could be a decent day trip depending on the weather and what you're looking to do / the day of the week. Seward could be a decent day trip as well but you'll see a lot of similar terrain out of Whittier. I love the Kenai - hiking the upper trail at Skilak Lake and grabbing a beer at the St. Elais Brewery would be a decent day for you. I'm not really sure what else I would recommend "to do" on the Kenai. Send me a PM about what you're most interested in and I'm happy to provide more recommendations.

Pitt, Sorkin and others have a big enough following that people will go see it. I'll go check it out, but I have fairly low expectations after watching the trailer.

I've stayed pretty quiet over the years when it comes to bashing managerial decisions but I no longer feel I can sit on the sidelines of the debate. RRR's lineup decisions have been atrocious. His bullpen managing is absolutely brutal as well. The bench is lacking in talent but the decisions regarding who is pinch hitting in situations has been completely mystifying. He obviously has a much better relationship with the team than Macha ever did but right now that's one of the only bright spots I've been able to identify. I would hope that Melvin can find a way to send him a signal at some point to remind him that they aren't afraid to change managers mid-season while in a playoff race. Maybe that will wake him up a bit.

I thought I read someplace that Melvin made the comment that Jungmann and Bradley could possibly see time in the big leagues this year. (I don't remember if it was on this forum or not.) I scanned through the thread and didn't see anything like that, does someone have a link to that comment? I've already come around a lot on these picks from my initial negative reaction... if they can contribute out of the bullpen later this year I would be ecstatic. I would imagine that both have thrown a lot of pitches this year and it would surprise me if that happened.