Well, the Cubs won yesterday and begin today in the rarified air of being only 9 games under .500. They are playing the Pittsburgh Pirates who are not having a great year. You cannot get into first place even with a winning streak. You have to win every series you play for a long time. When you're in last place, you have to jump over the team you're chasing one at a time. Even though they will be trading people in the coming weeks, I see signs of some sort of resurgence. My friends and family think I'm crazy but if you will, follow along and let's see if I'm right. I've been a baseball fan for over 50 years. Fan is short for fanatically delusional.
And think, it keeps from writing about, well--- you know.....
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Friday, June 20, 2014
Have mercy
So, into my head popped my humstle - Mercy Mercy Mercy. My best recollection was the instrumental by the the Cannonball Adderley Quintet.
But wait, Chicago's Buckinghams ( I think named after the fountain) did a version of it in the 60's where they added lyrics to this song and fucked it up so badly--- The song without lyrics was really great so why did they add lyrics?
Oh yeah, she's got the kind of lovin, kissin and a huggin- sure is mellow, glad that I'm a fellow and I know that she knocks me off my feet- have mercy on me. Yes she knocks me off my feet. Well, there is no girl in the whole world that can love me like she do-ooo.
How many examples can you think of where some asshole added lyrics so that the band (flavor) of the month could wring another top 40 song out of nothing.
1. This Guy by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass
2. And I love her by the Beatles
3. Grazin in the Grass by Hugh Masakela but fucked up by Friends of Distinction (remember them?), but you were mackin' on the sofa with the girl that said no, can't touch that.
So why is it that I drink? I'll try to remember more. If I could figure out settings where my audience could interact with me, we'd all come up with some great ones. But I'm dumb and I can't.
So the big story in my town is that the Cubs will "flip" two more pitchers at or before the trade deadline. Presumably, this will net 4 or 5 more prospects that other teams and MLB consider "can't miss." You know those five tool phenoms like Corey Patterson. This year, it appears that a hometown, homegrown kid, a former tight end for Notre Dame, Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel will be gone. I can't repeatedly spell Samardzija and I refuse to call him Jeff, so I'll just call him him by his number- #29. Well 29 is 29 years old and just turned down a 5 year $85 million contract offer. He was being offered Homer Bailey* money- roughly 17 mil a year. Now I know pitchers are a major commodity, but the Cubs are in purgatory now. They are are rebuilding and restocking their farm system, something that has served perennial winners for years. It's what the Blackhawks needed to do for years but never did, until ownership took their heads out of of their asses and hired scouts who did their jobs. And that paid off as the Hawks left hockey purgatory in the early part of this decade and have won 2 Stanley Cups in 5 years. When you lose nearly 100 games a year, the following year, you get very high picks in the amateur draft. Add that to getting prospects from "flips" and well, you see where I'm going with this. Eventually, you field a young team with talent and they contend for years and as a fan you don't have to laugh off the haplessness of the Cubs by saying, "well, anybody can have a bad century." The Cubs haven't been to a World Series in 69 years (1945) {"you could look it up" as Casey Stengel used to say} and haven't won a World Series since 1908. If you're a fan, that's more than brutal.
*Homer Bailey is a pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds who went from making $5.3 million last year to a slight raise in pay this year as I captioned earlier in this piece. That's a nice chunk change for a 28 year pitcher whose career record is 56-48. He does have two no hitters. Makes you wonder why many of us get a little cynical when we see people doing a pretty mediocre job and getting paid that kind of money.
As they say, watch this space.
And you didn't think I could write a piece without mentioning-- you know.....
But wait, Chicago's Buckinghams ( I think named after the fountain) did a version of it in the 60's where they added lyrics to this song and fucked it up so badly--- The song without lyrics was really great so why did they add lyrics?
Oh yeah, she's got the kind of lovin, kissin and a huggin- sure is mellow, glad that I'm a fellow and I know that she knocks me off my feet- have mercy on me. Yes she knocks me off my feet. Well, there is no girl in the whole world that can love me like she do-ooo.
How many examples can you think of where some asshole added lyrics so that the band (flavor) of the month could wring another top 40 song out of nothing.
1. This Guy by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass
2. And I love her by the Beatles
3. Grazin in the Grass by Hugh Masakela but fucked up by Friends of Distinction (remember them?), but you were mackin' on the sofa with the girl that said no, can't touch that.
So why is it that I drink? I'll try to remember more. If I could figure out settings where my audience could interact with me, we'd all come up with some great ones. But I'm dumb and I can't.
So the big story in my town is that the Cubs will "flip" two more pitchers at or before the trade deadline. Presumably, this will net 4 or 5 more prospects that other teams and MLB consider "can't miss." You know those five tool phenoms like Corey Patterson. This year, it appears that a hometown, homegrown kid, a former tight end for Notre Dame, Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel will be gone. I can't repeatedly spell Samardzija and I refuse to call him Jeff, so I'll just call him him by his number- #29. Well 29 is 29 years old and just turned down a 5 year $85 million contract offer. He was being offered Homer Bailey* money- roughly 17 mil a year. Now I know pitchers are a major commodity, but the Cubs are in purgatory now. They are are rebuilding and restocking their farm system, something that has served perennial winners for years. It's what the Blackhawks needed to do for years but never did, until ownership took their heads out of of their asses and hired scouts who did their jobs. And that paid off as the Hawks left hockey purgatory in the early part of this decade and have won 2 Stanley Cups in 5 years. When you lose nearly 100 games a year, the following year, you get very high picks in the amateur draft. Add that to getting prospects from "flips" and well, you see where I'm going with this. Eventually, you field a young team with talent and they contend for years and as a fan you don't have to laugh off the haplessness of the Cubs by saying, "well, anybody can have a bad century." The Cubs haven't been to a World Series in 69 years (1945) {"you could look it up" as Casey Stengel used to say} and haven't won a World Series since 1908. If you're a fan, that's more than brutal.
*Homer Bailey is a pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds who went from making $5.3 million last year to a slight raise in pay this year as I captioned earlier in this piece. That's a nice chunk change for a 28 year pitcher whose career record is 56-48. He does have two no hitters. Makes you wonder why many of us get a little cynical when we see people doing a pretty mediocre job and getting paid that kind of money.
As they say, watch this space.
And you didn't think I could write a piece without mentioning-- you know.....
Thursday, June 19, 2014
More Signs
Perhaps you've also seen this: a person walking a baby carriage, head tilted and resting on one shoulder or another- talking on a cell phone. When you see it once a day, it doesn't register. But in a short drive this morning, I saw 8 people, all sorts of ages, colors demographics,
Chelsea Clinton is under fire for not being on the air for 4 months, yet is collecting a $600,000.00 salary from NBC. 99% of the comments I read are negative and hateful. I guess that's why Occupy is more prescient than we thought- just too disorganized. Just remember bitchers, SCOTUS only works 8 months a year. And they're not even pregnant;
What could be accomplished if a problem or condition was scrutinized as much as the Washington Redskins are? This is the two faced country we are. Eliminating trademarks and patents adds up to a shitload of lost revenue. I'm just glad Lois Lerner had nothing to do with it.
Lady Gaga is all over twitter today. Maybe she has been and I didn't notice. The dominant hashtag is #artflop. Never could replace Madge as the new Madge. So her status is now what I just described: "has been." We're a country of second chances, though.
A football fan has said that Spain may be eliminated from the World Cup but they will never be forgotten. I tweeted them to say. 'Maybe, but you ain't remembered if you ain't playin'.
Best photobomb of the day: Dick and Liz Cheney with the caption, Brokedick Mouthin'. I liked it. I don't like Dick Cheney. If he were a left wing ex-VP criticizing Bush 43's handling of Iraq, the RW would be calling for him to be tried for treason.
Tomorrow is the day that the Chicago Cubs will begin a torrid stretch of baseball that will never be forgotten. You heard it right here. You will now follow the Cubs through me on a daily basis, so that you can live the dream we are about to witness as well.
How come when I feed my dog as if she was a queen, she still secretly eats the felt guards that you put on the bottom of the legs of the sofa-- and yacks it up all over the house. Apparently she doesn't want more fiber in her diet.
Ted Cruz has a video linking modern democrats to Farenheit 451. I think he missed his calling. He's no Ray Bradbury and he's certainly no Dr. Seuss. But, what is he?
Why has Larry Storch popped into my head? Yikes!
Chelsea Clinton is under fire for not being on the air for 4 months, yet is collecting a $600,000.00 salary from NBC. 99% of the comments I read are negative and hateful. I guess that's why Occupy is more prescient than we thought- just too disorganized. Just remember bitchers, SCOTUS only works 8 months a year. And they're not even pregnant;
What could be accomplished if a problem or condition was scrutinized as much as the Washington Redskins are? This is the two faced country we are. Eliminating trademarks and patents adds up to a shitload of lost revenue. I'm just glad Lois Lerner had nothing to do with it.
Lady Gaga is all over twitter today. Maybe she has been and I didn't notice. The dominant hashtag is #artflop. Never could replace Madge as the new Madge. So her status is now what I just described: "has been." We're a country of second chances, though.
A football fan has said that Spain may be eliminated from the World Cup but they will never be forgotten. I tweeted them to say. 'Maybe, but you ain't remembered if you ain't playin'.
Best photobomb of the day: Dick and Liz Cheney with the caption, Brokedick Mouthin'. I liked it. I don't like Dick Cheney. If he were a left wing ex-VP criticizing Bush 43's handling of Iraq, the RW would be calling for him to be tried for treason.
Tomorrow is the day that the Chicago Cubs will begin a torrid stretch of baseball that will never be forgotten. You heard it right here. You will now follow the Cubs through me on a daily basis, so that you can live the dream we are about to witness as well.
How come when I feed my dog as if she was a queen, she still secretly eats the felt guards that you put on the bottom of the legs of the sofa-- and yacks it up all over the house. Apparently she doesn't want more fiber in her diet.
Ted Cruz has a video linking modern democrats to Farenheit 451. I think he missed his calling. He's no Ray Bradbury and he's certainly no Dr. Seuss. But, what is he?
Why has Larry Storch popped into my head? Yikes!
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
The signs are there
OK, so lately my posts rail against liars and poseurs from both political parties. Does that make my blogs something of a one trick pony? My blogs are (i hope) fact laden. I have opinions, sure but I do my research as carefully as I can. I have spirited discussions with the Neocon, Cliven Bundy, neo Constitutionalists everyday from Politico to Buzzfeed to The Daily Caller to (eeek!!) Gllenn Beck's The Blaze. Anybody can be a prtisan sycophant so I try to live equally on both sides of the the great river. One day, I'm the Tigris and the next I'm the Euphrates.
Which brings me to my real love. Sports. What's better than writing and experiencing the shit you love, Sports, Music and Poly Sci? But one can write about one subject to an ad nauseum obsession; so maybe politics needs to get it's rightful place for a while. Oh, if something is so obvious, like Thom Tillis's* comments that sick people should band together and conquer the people who are professional takers of healthcare services and government benefits, well, some sun ought to shine on that dog's ass. But there's other things too and maybe I haven't been showing enough interest in those things as well.
So we know that Brad Keselowski and and Kurt Busch are still pissed at each other. Is there a political equivalency to comparing this feud to a staged form of civil road rage? Maybe people still think Denny Hamlin is pissed at Joey Logano, but I think they've patched things up; until one crashes the other and knocks them out of a race again. Will Lebron James opt out from Miami? If so, where would he "take his talents" to? Hell, I'd go to San Antonio or Portland but that's me. I'm also thinking that if my beloved but hapless Chicago Cubs can only get less than 10 games under .500, there would be no stopping them. But that's not true.
Anyway, look for a little more variety- cheers!
*Thom Tillis is the Speaker of the General Assembly in North Carolina and his opponent is Kay Hagen. This is a very big race and since securing the nomination, some very disturbing "clips" have been turning up. Stay tuned. This is what I think is so wrong about the political divide in this country. But enough of that.
Which brings me to my real love. Sports. What's better than writing and experiencing the shit you love, Sports, Music and Poly Sci? But one can write about one subject to an ad nauseum obsession; so maybe politics needs to get it's rightful place for a while. Oh, if something is so obvious, like Thom Tillis's* comments that sick people should band together and conquer the people who are professional takers of healthcare services and government benefits, well, some sun ought to shine on that dog's ass. But there's other things too and maybe I haven't been showing enough interest in those things as well.
So we know that Brad Keselowski and and Kurt Busch are still pissed at each other. Is there a political equivalency to comparing this feud to a staged form of civil road rage? Maybe people still think Denny Hamlin is pissed at Joey Logano, but I think they've patched things up; until one crashes the other and knocks them out of a race again. Will Lebron James opt out from Miami? If so, where would he "take his talents" to? Hell, I'd go to San Antonio or Portland but that's me. I'm also thinking that if my beloved but hapless Chicago Cubs can only get less than 10 games under .500, there would be no stopping them. But that's not true.
Anyway, look for a little more variety- cheers!
*Thom Tillis is the Speaker of the General Assembly in North Carolina and his opponent is Kay Hagen. This is a very big race and since securing the nomination, some very disturbing "clips" have been turning up. Stay tuned. This is what I think is so wrong about the political divide in this country. But enough of that.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Who let the dogs in?
It was probably too much to ask. The sight of Jerry Bremer, Doug Feith, Paul Wolfowitz, Bill Kristol and my other favorite neocons returning to nightly media got me thinking about the statute of limitations on lunacy. When you've allegedly sold a country on a war that by most accounts, wasn't necessary; when you've built a case for this war on lie after lie to make it happen; and when the result of that war was and now is causing the middle east to fester once again; and you get another 15 minutes to justify these follies and actually recommend new follies- and the MSM or LSM invites you to come on their shows and start this shit all over again, well need I say more?
People are inherently good. They go about their business, work, play, worship and socializations. Most do the best they can, raise their kids, largely, play by the rules and struggle sometimes even though those rules are set by people who benefit from them more than the people I'm talking about.
We know all about who let the dogs out. Who let them back in?
I think the average person wants to see people of privilege (earned or otherwise) be held accountable if they make decisions that costs lives, money and causes misery to people we'll never meet.
This has been bothering me lately. I wonder if it bothers you too. Even if it did, aren't we all feeling a little bit helpless about how our lives get affected by people who by virtue of a title, get to screw up the lives of so many others?
The sky is blue, though. I just checked my limbs and fingers and toes and I still have them all. I will eat today. I have a bed to sleep in, clothing to wear. I don't take that stuff for granted. But like a lot of people, I have a real sense of resentment when I see people in charge of things in my life, that are flat incompetent.
I think that part sucks.
So vote.
And don't buy products that the Koch brothers make.
No song is humming through my head today. That's almost a first. Unless it was the Beatles song from the White Album, I'm So Tired. Ooops there's always one or two, I guess.
Be well. Tell somebody you love them.
People are inherently good. They go about their business, work, play, worship and socializations. Most do the best they can, raise their kids, largely, play by the rules and struggle sometimes even though those rules are set by people who benefit from them more than the people I'm talking about.
We know all about who let the dogs out. Who let them back in?
I think the average person wants to see people of privilege (earned or otherwise) be held accountable if they make decisions that costs lives, money and causes misery to people we'll never meet.
This has been bothering me lately. I wonder if it bothers you too. Even if it did, aren't we all feeling a little bit helpless about how our lives get affected by people who by virtue of a title, get to screw up the lives of so many others?
The sky is blue, though. I just checked my limbs and fingers and toes and I still have them all. I will eat today. I have a bed to sleep in, clothing to wear. I don't take that stuff for granted. But like a lot of people, I have a real sense of resentment when I see people in charge of things in my life, that are flat incompetent.
I think that part sucks.
So vote.
And don't buy products that the Koch brothers make.
No song is humming through my head today. That's almost a first. Unless it was the Beatles song from the White Album, I'm So Tired. Ooops there's always one or two, I guess.
Be well. Tell somebody you love them.
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