December 2019
This newsletter is a collection of things I have found in the last month that I enjoyed, found interesting, or simply wanted to share.
You can follow me more closely at my personal website or if you or someone you know is looking to buy or sell a home, you can point them to my real estate website.
In the Event of an Apollo 11 Disaster
The Moon Landing: An Undelivered Nixon Speech
Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace…In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.
The MIT Center for Advanced Virtuality has taken audio and video of Nixon and created a fake film of William Safire’s speech in the event of an Apollo 11 disaster.
Related: For All Mankind on Apple TV+ has been very solid to this point.
Houston TrAstros
A medley of stories and videos about the Astros use of video to steal and relay signs:
- Astros Sign Stealing Video Footage Megathread (Summary and example footage)
- The Astros stole signs electronically in 2017 — part of a much broader issue for Major League Baseball (Paywall)
- Breakdown Example from Jomboy
- The Astros’ Sign-Stealing Left A Fingerprint In The Audio Data (Free membership site)
- Jomboy’s Full Update on the Astros Cheating Scandal
- The Compromising Setup
- Astros Strikeout Rate 2013-2019
And for good measure, let’s not forget the disgusting behavior by both the Astros and (former) assistant general manager Brandon Taubman.
“Need tickets?” “Need tickets.”
Sinners, Scalpers and the Search for God: One man’s descent into the underworld of sports
The fans who needed tickets stood out. We called them “straights” because they stand straight up in a crowd protecting the cash they’re unused to carrying, hands stuck in their pockets, and you could make a few thousand dollars in a couple of hours if you knew how to spot them. The game was to sell your tickets for as much cash as the straights could cough up.
I had 30 tickets left with 20 minutes to kickoff. If I didn’t sell them they’d be worthless — deadwood. But with undercovers swarming the stadium, the risk of arrest swelled with every sale. Ticket scalping in Brazil carried a multi-year prison sentence, and I couldn’t speak Portuguese, so I had to be careful. Avoiding capture meant closing deals quickly and moving every five minutes. These were techniques my mentors taught me on street corners, outside the track at the Kentucky Derby, in the parking lots bordering the Masters, the hotel lobbies by the Super Bowl.
Links
- NYC Without People and Cars
- No Context Baby Yoda
- An algorithm that removes the water from underwater images
- The Best Golf Gambling Stories from PGA Tour Stars
Sign Off
Do not hesitate to reply to this months email to share links, wisdom, or thoughts.
Thanks for reading. Have a great month,
Clay
How kind of you to make your way down here.
A bit about me: I can be interested in anything, for better or worse. I love photography, travel, golf, and baseball. My latest pursuit is learning the guitar. I write a rad newsletter that I publish monthly.