Humor

There are two sets of Sox in the playoffs.  And Red runs.

Oh, And...

L'shana tova!

Talking More Baseball

Twins and White Sox tied for first.

You realize of course that this means ... one game playoff.

Those fingers drumming on the bench are:  Tampa Bay (East, and I still call them the Devil Rays); Angels (West, and no, the whole Losangelesangelsofanaheim thing is Their Problem); and Boston (Wild Card).

Both Minnesota and Chicago have won Series in the last 20 years, and neither has had to sacrifice a goat.

Smoke, Mirrors, and Sawn Lady

The stock market is down 700+ points at closing.

Chicago White Sox are down to their very last chance to tie and force a playoff with the Twins for AL Central.  And it's raining.

The Mets...

As something of a jinx, I avoided so much as reading Metsgrrl, who's a pretty fair wordslinger, and the standings (the baseball widget uses red type for eliminated teams, and I avoided looking at anything still in white), and any conversation that veered in that direction.  In short, I did my part.

Still, I had something like a lump in my throat.  William A. Shea Stadium, to give it its formal name, has always been something like my home in Queens, unlike my actual home in Queens or the school I attended for a year.  When we got back, the Mets were still playing in the storied Polo Grounds, but Shea was ready for 1964, same time as the World's Fair on the other side of the railyards and tracks (the signs in the station blared "World's Fair - Shea Stadium."  The  "Willets Pt. Blvd." designation was always "Oh, right.").  It was decorated, if you want to call it that, with orange and blue corrugated steel rectangles suspended on cabling.  I think that was supposed to suggest confetti.  It certainly looked wonderfully festive.  My (then) beloved Mets played there, and I thought of it as a shrine.

Although the first time I got to visit the shrine, it was not for a baseball game.

It was to see (what felt like) 70 one-hit wonders opening for The Beatles.  

I think I got to my first game in '67.  I think my uncle was supposed to have taken me, but I never found him, and I had four dollars.  Heh.

Up until then, I'd never seen a live baseball game.  Isn't that weird?  I watched games on TV or listened to them on the radio (Bob Murphy, Lindsay Nelson, Ralph Kiner--how's that for Tinker to Evers to Chance?).  So I spent the whole afternoon not being able to tell what was an actual hit and what was just a long fly ball because wherever I was sitting hid the left(?) fielder, and I didn't know how to follow the ball.

In '69, I vocally rooted on the Cubs.  That's right.  It was my fault.  Neener neener.  After the miraculous victory, I walked all the way around Shea with the sort of feeling that normal people take alcohol to attain.

I remember noticing that the colors on the confetti squares were fading, but it was still a shock whatever year it was when I took the 7 and discovered them gone.

This really wants to be an essay about baseball's loss of soul, but I'm not ready to go there yet, and besides, that probably happened back in the 1800s; baseball has never been particularly pure.  But, y'know, I'd enjoy going to Seaver Park or Metropolitan Stadium or Hodges Field (hell, or even Strawberry Field, although that really is not an option.  Really!); thinking of going to Citi Field feels like visiting a cousin to whom you owe money.

Talking Baseball

The National League is set:

• Eastern Division--Phillies
  
• Central Division--Cubs
  
• Western Division--Dodgers
  
• Wild Card--Brewers
  

(Growls being suppressed.)

AL results tomorrow.

Much too nice a day for this.

Much too nice a day for this.

Tales of the Economists

From Anglachel's Journal.  Because, yum, maple yoghurt with fresh blueberries.

One By One

Philadelphia stands alone in the NL East.

The NL Wild Card is tied.

Irrelevant Factoid #2

• Since 1908, the names of 6 presidents end with an "n."  


• Only two end in a vowel.
  

Paul Newman

1925-2008.  Actor, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and racer.

ETA philanthropist.  Forgot the word.

Quit Spit-Shining That Grass

Tampa Bay is AL East Champ.  (Boston has the Wild Card.)  The days dwindle down to a precious few, and only NL East and AL Central are still undecided.  (Minnesota may steal it.)

Schedule of playoffs is probably out there somewhere.

25 Years Ago

Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov saved your life.  (See also here.)  From Charlie Stross, by way of Making Light.

Nosh from All Over

Linked from a link at Shakesville: A report on gay Republicans just before the realization that the cliff's edge is Back There.

Pilots flying out of LaGuardia eulogize ballpark as landmark.

Nort Spews

1. Arizona has been eliminated; the Dodgers are N.L. West Champeens.  The Twins are keeping it close, however.
2. The hockey season is getting under way.

A Fable

Once upon a time, there was a sly fox.  This fox went skulking around rural areas periodically eating poultry and the occasional egg (to keep its pelt sleek and shiny, of course).

Over time, the farmers in the region developed security for the barnyards, including dogs, passwords, and serious agricultural architecture, including a henhouse with penthouse scratching area and a guarded entrance.  

Eventually, the fox found itself craving the taste of chicken.

So first, the fox went to university and majored in poultry management, minoring in architecture.

Then the fox started telling anyone who would listen that the henhouses as built were bad for the chickens, removing them from the sea-level gravel that their talons craved.  The fox produced studies demonstrating that birds kept more than 20 feet above the ground were scrawnier and therefore less valuable at the poultry market.  The fox touted the superior nutritional value and flavor of the totally free-range bird.

To oblige the farmers, periodically the fox would cull out smaller, weaker, unmarketable chickens and cracked eggs.

Eventually the farmers made the fox commissioner of poultry.

And they were very surprised to discover one day that there were no more chickens or eggs, and that the fox had a pelt like a shampoo model.

;)

Oh, And...

Boston clinches the AL Wild Card.

Getting There from Here

Several of the transit systems I have known:

Got at b3co.com!

No New Jersey Transit, sorry.

Like Some Pommes Frites with that?

Jon Carroll, a San Francisco treasure.  Bonus:  Quotation from Cities in Flight.  (You can stop scratching your head now.)

Talking Baseball

Florida will not be in the playoffs (sorry, but that list was getting long) this year.

In reading the various farewell-to Yankee-Stadium essays (Paul Simon wrote one, of course), I was reminded that, though I am not a Yankee fan (1961-2 doesn't really count; I had rooted for the Buffalo Bisons and the Milwaukee Braves previously, and went on to root for other teams), I have seen a couple of games in the House that Ruth Built.  After the mid-'70s renovation, unfortunately, so I missed out on the 79,000 capacity and the gingerbread facade.  The grass was green, I'll say that for them.

The Seven Reasons

Seven reasons to refuse to bail.  Via the Group News Blog.

Minus 372 Today

When my language cools off, there will be email to my Congressperson, not that I don't trust her to do the right thing, but it never hurts to manifest public pressure.

At the beginning of October 2007, the DJI was around 14000.  Today it closed at 11015.  Just so you know.

During the Fafblog interregnum (July 2006-April 2008), there arose a blog which attempted to step into the breach.

It's still around.

It is now called "I Like Pie, Spot," and last week (I just found it today) MarkC invoked the spirit of Zombie Eugene V. Debs.

I don't endorse socialism, but the analysis is right on the money (ouch).

As Siegfried Would Say...

"Prepare to panic!"

In the morning.  FDR, people.

Musical Pennant

Cleveland, New York (Yankees), Milwaukee, Toronto, Houston, Colorado, San Francisco, Detroit, St. Louis, Kansas City, Texas, San Diego, Atlanta, Baltimore, Oakland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Washington and Seattle all go home in October.

Bad News. Bears.

Arthur Silber lays it on the line:

The frantic activity in Washington is the hysterical scrambling of terrified and not very bright people faced with unavoidable disaster, still trying to convince themselves and everyone else that "something" can be done to avert catastrophe. This isn't a plan, or even hoping against hope: it's panic, pure and simple.

Read the rest.  Then read his blog.

Excuse me, I need to go into headless chicken mode now.

Cubs Clinch

Chicago Cubs are National League Central Division Champions.

(Milwaukee joins the eliminated.)

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

Toronto joins Houston, Colorado, San Francisco, Detroit, St. Louis, Kansas City, Texas, San Diego, Atlanta, Baltimore, Oakland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Washington, and Seattle in the "Let's Preheat the Hot Stove" League.

Dose of truth

Avedon Carol tells it like it is.

Because Good Old American Historical Amnesia is not your friend.  To put it mildly.

Talking Baseball

Houston, Colorado, and San Francisco have joined Detroit, St. Louis, Kansas City, Texas, San Diego, Atlanta, Baltimore, Oakland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Washington, and Seattle in calls to "Wait Till Next Year!"  I am expecting the Yankees and the Blue Jays to fall later today.

(Because someday, this will be an educational children's chant. Heh.)

(ETA:  And in case you were wondering, yes, I finally noticed that I'd forgotten Texas.)

Also, there is a 25% chance that the World Series will be played in either Chicago or Los Angeles.

Honoring Radical Ancestors

1. One hundred twenty-one years ago today, the U. S. Constitution was signed.
2. I have many radical ancestors (and sometimes they scare me, and sometimes I catch why, and sometimes I can hear that 1950s horror of non-conformity in my head), some of whom probably didn't think themselves radical.  I (for suitable values of "I") am where I am (wherever that is) because many people refused to bend to the status quo.
3. Today I honor my Radical Ancestors (religion, class, gender, race, sexual orientation, genetics, education, and previous condition of servitude).  (Thanks are due to Portly Dyke.)

Rolled Eyes

The quote currently under the current photo is taken from a comment made by Sastra in reference to the original posting at Pharyngula (page up), which Tristero at Hullaballoo, er, amplifies.

Traditionalism has a bad enough name.

Mad Tea Party

St. Louis, meet Detroit.  Detroit, meet St. Louis.  Detroit and St. Louis, meet Kansas City, Texas, San Diego, Atlanta, Baltimore, Oakland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Washington and Seattle.

Now everybody play nice...

An Observation

Pelicans hold up their wings as though airing out their wingpits.

The Hundredth Post

In the extremely unlikely event that anyone reading this is an American living abroad and wants to register to vote and to request an absentee ballot, the website with instructions for doing so is www.VoteFromAbroad.org.  Deadline for doing so is September 27, 2008 (that is, your request should be in the mail no later than that, given that it is a three-stage process).

I like to help the Group News Blog now and again.

Yahrzeit.

Yes, Married.

 Felicitations to George Takei and Brad Altman.

Maxim for Today

Drink beer with smarter people.

On Cynicism

Coffeeem speaks for me.

Which is tough, because I am cynical.  Just mostly not that style of cynical.

Phototropic

I have a lot of trouble trying to describe my spiritual journey, not because I don't have the vocabulary, but because I don't know how to arrange it.

(Once I described it working backwards, and it hung together verbally, but when I went to write it down, mucho baggage appeared and kept getting in the way.)

I will, though.

Four Items

1.   A liberal Christian looks at "Christianists" via Arthur Hlavaty.  Money quote:

"When we prey on people's fears and bring out the worst in them so they'll vote for us, then we've succumbed to lust for power and lost touch with what's essential. We diminish ourselves and our faith."

2.  Reading one's 8-year-old on-line maunderings can be very...instructive.

3.  Kansas City joins Texas, San Diego, Atlanta, Baltimore, Oakland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Washington, and Seattle in Playoff Exile.  

4.  Most of my output these days is labored snark.

Seven years.

Welcome, San Diego

Which joins Atlanta, Baltimore, Oakland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Washington, and Seattle on the Mathematical Elimination Island.  (Like a football [feh] pool, but in reverse.)

ETA:  And Texas.  Which means the Angels have clinched (the division) by default.

Got Chops?

Atlanta is eliminated.

Probably the Braves' earliest elimination since the glory days of the '80s.

Garlic Challah and

Fafblog.  Because only Giblets would write "And with the help of God and millions of dollars in energy industry donations, Sarah Palin will give us that dysentery again!"

In This Curious Rhythm

Happy birthday, Mr. Dvořák!

(Interestingly, the Czech-language Wikipedia had the Hubble Space Telescope as the featured article of the day; the English version has the Yellowstone fires of 1988.)

(ETA:  I seem to have gotten the diacriticals misplaced in previous post.)

Yeah, I Know, But...Astroland

Astroland (yeah yeah)

Astroland on Coney Island

Astroland (yeah yeah)

(Yeah yeah yeah)

Ave atque vale, requiescat in pace.

Enough Already

Blah blah blah.

Mr. Silber Hits One Out of the Park

As Theodore Sturgeon once said, "He could not do this to anything he loved."  

(I would cite the source, but I've only the vaguest idea of where I saw it, and several of my Sturgeon collections are missing.  The link goes to an informative post by Arthur Silber.  Good luck.)

The Room was Humming Harder

Baltimore and Oakland joined Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Washington, and Seattle as Officially Out of Contention.

Somewhere, sportswriters are crafting postmortems and resigning themselves to the Playing Out of the String.

You know, I haven't checked the Wild Card races.  [Later] OK, Boston and Milwaukee, but not by huge margins.  

*Ahem*

Irontongue on the Cost of Not Regulating.

Because it has to be said.

Nota Bene

Blog 'n' Roll is a work in progress.  Blogs will get added and subtracted at random.

When I set up the third blogroll (reference/data), life will get interesting.

Meanwhile, I should probably do some research on political parties' attempts to use rock music in the wake of the Wilson sisters' refusing Sarah Palin the use of "Barracuda."  (Yeah, Chuck Berry, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Johnny Cash, Chrissie Hynde, and so on.)

Because, you know, research keeps you young.  

Today's Lesson

Even in a space of likeminded people, someone will invariably and unintentionally release a rat.

(Reference:  This comment thread, which is the response to the post linked in the post above it.  And yes, it is a kerfuffle, but it is one I want to be able to point to when I cite the above postulate.)

Jesus Was a Community Organizer; Pilate Was a Governor

Pass it on.

Community Organizers in History

Community Organizers (as "lolcat").

(From Kali921 by way of Arthur Hlavaty.)

Addendum

Cincinnati is out of the pennant race.  (I shouldn't call it the pennant race anymore.  It's the "division championship."  As Nero Wolfe might say, "Pfui.")  Huh.  27% of the teams go to the divisional playoffs, half of those go to the championship playoffs (ie, The Pennant), and the pennant winners go to the World Series where, lately, one team folds.  

Cincinnati hasn't been in contention for years.  

Talking Baseball

Nationals and Pirates eliminated.

Mmmm-hmmmmmm.

I expect another mess of teams will be eliminated by Sunday.

Another Observation

Anglachel brings up one of the reasons the possible Republican VP candidate (Palin) is so reviled.

Hi Hi

I keep forgetting that I've given out the URL to the members of the apa I'm in.

Welcome, fellow members of Intercourse!  Pull up a chair.  Comments are moderated at the moment, but that may change.  

The blogs on the sidebar at the moment are the ones I checked every fifteen minutes, and this way I don't have to do that.  Separate blogroll, consisting of quirky blogs, goes up soon.  Not as long as Making Light's list.  Not as short as 7, though.

Relax.  That's an order.  ;)

Fall is for Jazz

Fall is for jazz.  And blues.

And throat's nostalgia for summer.

And squashes gold baked

with cinnamon dust.

Odds and Ends

Mustang Bobby (of Shakesville) referred to bloviators on the conservative side as "Wormtongues," after the character in Lord of the Rings, and I'm going to adopt that, giving him the credit/blame.

Les chats ne demeurent pas ici.

Why do I think that if I read about Sarah Palin in a Dickens novel, I would think "A little contrived there, isn't it?"

Nothing like a festival on a sunny day!

Happy Labor Day, everyone!