Gratuitous Middle of the Night Domestic Observation
Earlier this summer we had all the gutters replaced at Orgle Manor, chucking the old 70's piping that was falling down anyway (and taking the baseboard out with it) in favor of some new double-wide.
However, because it has rained so little this year, it wasn't until about three o'clock this morning -when we had our first heavyish rain in God knows how long - that I finally noticed the difference. Instead of the old drip, drip, drip that I used to hear outside the bedroom window, we now get a flowing sound, like a little creek elevated up to the level of the roof.
Mighty nice.
So whaddaya think, guys? Is Ol' Fred stealing a shrewd flank march with his newly announced immigration platform? Krikorian over at NRO seems to like it, and so does Ace.
I admit that I haven't paid much attention to the issue, but I recognize that it's got a powerful lot o' folks riled up. If Ol' Fred taps into that rile with a hawkish stance, it might be the fire he needs to vault out of the "well, he's doing okay but not as well as I'd hoped" position which seems to have characterized reaction to his campaign so far.
I had thought my poor Miami Dolphins could not possibly be humiliated any more this week. But I was wrong. Which is the worst possible aspect of this article?
A) That somebody came up with the idea to build a 26 foot statue of Jason Taylor that looks like a cross between G.I. Joe and the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man?
B) That somebody decided to set it up in Trafalgar Square in order to promote the 'Fins-Giants game at Wembley next Sunday? (Because for my money, nothing is going to attract the Brits to American-style football like this thing. Right!)
or
C) That the statue is pictured here getting felt up by Christian Slater?
I think I'm going to go home, drink an entire bottle of single malt, and cry the rest of the season away.
(Sobbing Yips! to Dave Barry.)
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Um, yea. Great idea. Did the NFL borrow the inflatable guy from Les Schwab Tires?
It looks like he should holding holding up a banner reading, "Buy a set of tires, get free beef".
Posted by: The Yolo Cowboy at October 23, 2007 09:39 PM (BsffN)
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Jason Taylor, meet Bibendum. Hey, it is Europe, after all.
Posted by: The Colossus at October 24, 2007 06:48 AM (QBuXz)
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Although one doesn't necessarily expect to get felt up by Chrstian Slater in Europe.
Mickey Rourke, possibly.
Under a certain age, Roman Polanski, quite likely.
And Gerard Depardieu, definitely.
Posted by: The Colossus at October 24, 2007 11:59 AM (ivbbD)
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What was that Depardieu movie where he's a pianist who goes to some resort with his teenage daughter but somehow people think she's his child-lover? There's a hilarious scene where he starts singing, "Sank 'eaven for leetle gerls!"
Posted by: Robbo the LB at October 24, 2007 12:21 PM (0JsTF)
The local radio station is currently running a recording of Leopold Mozart's "Hunting" Symphony in G Major (his "Jagdsinfonie"), performed by Donald Armstrong and the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra. (The piece is really more of a concerto for four hunting horns than a symphony.)
I used to have a recording of this piece by Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields that superimposed the sounds of shotguns and dogs in the first movement, as called for in Leopold's score. Armstrong and the boys are doing the same thing here, only it sounds more like cannon-fire.
Speaking of dogs, this is one dog of a piece of musick, and why anybody plays it is a sweet mystery to me. Every time I hear it, I become more firmly convinced that young Wolfgang was taking a dig at the Old Man as much as anybody else with his Ein Musikalischer Spaß ("A Musical Joke").
UPDATE: Now they're playing Georg Philipp Telemann's Concerto in A Major "The Frogs", performed by Philip Pickett and the New London Consort. The violins produce a wonderful effect, like the croaking that fills the woods behind our house after it rains.
I must say again that of all the composers I listen to, Telemann has probably benefited most from the period performance movement. I never liked Telemann as a kid, based on the records Dad had dating from the 50's and 60's. His music seemed slow, sloppy and lugubrious. But under the hands of groups like this one, as well as others like Musica Antiqua Cologne, it really comes alive, singing and dancing.
Posted by: pandelume at October 23, 2007 06:04 PM (4ut58)
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Yes, yes, of course. Sorry about the dyslexia attack. Post fixed.
Posted by: Robbo the LB at October 23, 2007 09:52 PM (IYna/)
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I don't think Mozart was lampooning his father with A Musical Joke, but the mediocre musicians he too often had to suffer. I've never heard Leopold's Hunting Symphony, but Leopold was a fairly competent, if pedantic, composer. In fact, many scholars believe Leopold - an ever shameless promoter of his gifted son - wrote or edited much of Wolfgang's juvenalia. After studying the younger Mozart's lesson notebooks from his time under Padre Giambattista Martini, I'd have to agree with that. Mozart was 15 when he studied counterpoint with Martini, and he was really completely hopeless in the beginning: Aborted fugues with ridiculous subjects and outlandish harmony and the like. Of sourse, he progressed at a phenominal rate.
BTW: The "do, re, fa, mi" theme that underlies the finale of the Jupiter Symphony was a cantus firmus exercise that Martini gave Mozart, so we owe Martini big time for his progress in that area.
Oh, and Leopold Mozart invented the double-dotted note.
I'm just full of it today... Trivia, I mean. ;^)
Posted by: Hucbald at October 24, 2007 11:05 AM (KK16T)
A Georgia toddler emulating Harry Potter was unable to execute a vanishing spell after getting a traffic cone stuck on his head and instead needed to wait for firefighters to work their magic to free him, MyFoxAtlanta.com reports.
Six rescue members worked for 30 minutes on Friday to free the boy, 3-year-old Charlie Thomas, after the boy donned the cone like a wizard’s hat during a game of pretend.
A Somerset Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said it was a rare rescue for the firefighters: "We've had kids stuck in various things and had saucepans stuck on them but never a traffic cone."
Since we're on the subject, I remind readers that it was seven weeks ago today that Robbo begrudgingly succumb to the lure of the Hogwarts assimilation movement and resolved to finally read the books.
Inspired by this move, I too assembled my oldest son's collection of paperback copies of the series and ventured into the tale of wizards and witches for the very first time. I just put down "Chamber of Secrets" and, like "Sorcerer's Stone" it was almost exactly like the movies. This probably helped me get through them so quickly (I just started a few weeks ago).
Having seen the other movies to date I know the darker and more complicated turn the story is going to take, which I look forward to.
So, Robbo. How goes it with you in this venture?
Yips! from Robbo: Well, truth be told, I haven't touched 'em yet. What with one thing and another, my attention has been diverted elsewhere of late. Also, the Llama-ettes are off on other tacks at the moment, so the heat is off somewhat to be able to keep up with Potter-lore, which was really the only reason I said I'd do it to begin with.
And do I even want to know how much time and effort you took to track down that post? I was sort of hoping the memory would just fade away....
Yips! back from Gary:
It's that "search the tasty bits" thingy Steve put in the left sidebar. Doesn't always work, mind you. But I lucked out today.
Eh, wait 'til I'm finished and I'll let you know whether or not to bother. Of course, I have this whole new perspective on Dumbledore going on now...
Follow these rules and I promise you that everyone from the nation’s remaining 44 states will want to rape you with a hammer. But hey, you’re a Boston sports fan now. You’ll be completely ignorant to your own jackassery. That’s the beauty of it. You are now just as f[**]ing annoying as a Notre Dame football fan, or a Duke basketball fan. That's right, Pats fan. That's the level you're at right now. Enjoy your world titles, you f[***]ing c[**]kh[*]g.
Go read. (That'll learn ya to make gratuitous cracks about the 'Fins, Steve-O!) NSFW, as you might gather from my edits, and the no hot beverages rule will be enforced.
Yips! to Jonathan V. Last at Galley Slaves.
YOU TALKIN' TO ME? YIPS from Steve-O: As The Dear One noted last night, "Moosie, you realize all America is rooting for the Rockies except for that little 'Red Sox Nation' thing your Dad keeps talking about, right?"
My message to Robbo on this is best stated in Lord of the Rings Logic: Dear Gandalf---No need to send the Eagles, I tried the ring on and IT.IS. AWESOME. Love, Frodo PS-- Send my best to you and your buddy Dumbledore, you old c*&^s&$#%er.
See, arrogant, disrespectful, overflowing with imminent rueage and LOVING IT. The state of Red Sawx Nation, October 2007.
FURTHER IMMINENT RUEAGE YIPS from Steve-O: More signs Francona's got the Ring: Rudy supports the Sawx.
BOSTON - Sounds like a baseball flip-flop. Rudy Giuliani, a lifelong New York Yankees fan, said Tuesday he's pulling for their most hated rivals, the Boston Red Sox, to win the World Series over the Colorado Rockies.
"I'm rooting for the Red Sox," the Republican presidential contender said in response to a question, sparking applause at the Boston restaurant where he was picking up a local endorsement.
"I'm an American League fan, and I go with the American League team, maybe with the exception of the Mets," he said. "Maybe that would be the one time I wouldn't because I'm loyal to New York."
Giuliani's Yankees lost in the first round of the playoffs, then lost their manager when Giuliani's friend, Joe Torre, refused to accept a pay cut and walked away. Giuliani said the Yankees had "a great season."
The former New York mayor said his declaration of temporary Red Sox loyalty was "not just because I'm here in Massachusetts."
"In Colorado, in the next week or two, you will see, I will have the courage to tell the people of Colorado the same thing, that I am rooting for the Red Sox in the World Series," he said.
Note to Rudy: dude, you've already sewn up my Mom's vote, what gives? Folks, I'm officially worried now that Rudy is moving in on my Moms.
Next thing you know the Fonz will come out for the Sawx and then we are officially doomed.
Yips! back from Robbo: I was cringing over what Gregg Easterbrook was going to make of the Pats humiliation of the 'Fins this weekend, but was pleasantly surprised when he used it as part of his brief in support of the argument that the Pats are Hell's Football Team and that Belichick is Satan:
Argument for the New England Patriots as scoundrels in the service of that which is baleful: Dishonesty, cheating, arrogance, hubris, endless complaining even in success. The Patriots have three Super Bowl rings, but that jewelry is tarnished by their cheating scandal. They run up the score to humiliate opponents -- more on that below -- thus mocking sportsmanship. Their coach snaps and snarls in public, seeming to feel contempt for the American public that has brought him wealth and celebrity. Victory seems to give Bill Belichick no joy, and defeat throws him into fury. Belichick and the rest of the top of the Patriots' organization continue to refuse to answer questions about what was in the cheating tapes -- and generally, you refuse to answer questions if you have something to hide. The team has three Super Bowl triumphs, yet its players regularly whine about not being revered enough. The team's star, Tom Brady, is a smirking sybarite who dates actresses and supermodels but whose public charity appearances are infrequent. That constant smirk on Brady's face reminds one of Dick Cheney; people who smirk are fairly broadcasting the message, "I'm hiding something." The Patriots seem especially creepy at this point because we still don't know whether they have told the full truth about the cheating scandal -- or even whether they really have stopped cheating. They say they have, but their word is not exactly gold at this juncture. Ladies and gentlemen, representing Evil, the New England Patriots.
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Great articles, both. No one loved us when we were losers, either.
Belichick is pure evil, but that's why we love him. No one feared coming into Schafer Stadium. As for the Sox, well, there's still some Karma coming Boston's way for those 86 years . . .
Posted by: The Colossus at October 24, 2007 07:01 AM (QBuXz)
Steve-O emailed me this vaguely apocalyptic article about wild turkeys invading the Bahston suburbs and (apparently) panicking the good citizens:
BROOKLINE - On a recent afternoon, Kettly Jean-Felix parked her car on Beacon Street in Brookline, fed the parking meter, wheeled around to go to the optician and came face to face with a wild turkey.
The turkey eyed Jean-Felix. Jean-Felix eyed the turkey. It gobbled. She gasped. Then the turkey proceeded to follow the Dorchester woman over the Green Line train tracks, across the street, through traffic, and all the way down the block, pecking at her backside as she went.
"This is so scary," Jean-Felix said, finally taking refuge inside Cambridge Eye Doctors in Brookline's bustling Washington Square. "I cannot explain it."
Uh, folks? It's just over a month until Thanksgiving. What the hell is the matter with you that you can't do the math on this one? That's dinner strutting its stuff out there!
I know of what I speak, by the way.
[WARNING: SQUEEM ALERT. PETA MEMBERS SHOULD READ NO FURTHER.]
My very first game was a big wild tom that I shot in the Texas Hill Country when I was eight. I was using a little Remington .222 and the shot was, if memory serves, something in the range of 50 or 60 yards (we were in a deer blind working a feeder). Much of my childhood memory has faded over the years, but I still distinctly recollect how proud of myself I was when I came home to show Mom the blood Dad had smeared on my cheeks in honor of the occasion.
It was too late in the year to have my bird for Thanksgiving, so we had it for Christmas dinner instead. Wild turkey, as is usually the case with game, is considerably stronger than the domestic variety, however much you brine it. My other memory of the event was our sitting at the table in the dining room, all decked out in our Christmas finery, and Dad, who had started to carve the bird, exclaiming, "Oh, here's where the bullet struck!" Of course, all of us - my brother, sister and I - wanted to have a look.
Somehow, I don't think such things would go over very well at Orgle Manor, but then we lived in a different time and place. And while I grew up hunting deer, turkey, dove, quail and duck, I must say I've never had any particular urge either to keep it up or to pass it on to the Llama-ettes.
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What's the current distance record for punting a Turkey? Anyone? Bueller?
Posted by: mojo at October 23, 2007 12:17 PM (g1cNf)
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I still hunt a lot of wild turkey here in Texas. What I learned to do with mine, many years ago, was to take them all the way to a little place on Austin Highway in San Antonio called the Bun - n - Barrel - it's a holdover drive-in from the 50's that has a smokehouse (And they still have hot rod shows there all the time). During hunting season they use the smokehouse for nothing but smoking wild game (As required by state law: No mixing wild and domestic fare in the same smokehouse). So, I just have them smoke the birds whole. This also works fantastically well for wild hogs as well, especially the tender young ones that weigh 40-60 pounds.
My hunting buddies and I used to save all our smoked turkeys up and eat them at our anual Superbowl party. Mmmmmm!
Posted by: Hucbald at October 23, 2007 01:58 PM (KK16T)
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I get as many as 25-30 pass through my back yard, from time to time. This was one of Pink Floyd's initiatives in the early 90s (Gov. Bill Weld) -- the turkey was thought to be nearly extinct in Massachusetts, so they brought in a few hundred birds from upstate NY. Now, they're everywhere.
Posted by: The Colossus at October 24, 2007 07:04 AM (QBuXz)
But they're still bears. Unfortunately, we tend to forget this. With dire results.
A male panda at the Beijing Zoo once bitten by a drunk tourist attacked a teenager, ripping chunks out of the boy's legs, officials and a newspaper said Tuesday.
The 15-year-old had jumped over a 4-foot, 7-inch barrier surrounding an outdoor exercise area for pandas on Monday afternoon while 8-year-old Gu Gu and another bear were being fed, said a man surnamed Zhang, the director of the zoo management office.
The teen startled 240-pound Gu Gu, who bit the unwanted visitor on both legs, said Zhang, who would not give his full name.
The Beijing News identified the teen as Li Xitao, citing emergency medical officials who said he was so viciously attacked that his bones were showing. Chunks of flesh were left behind in the ambulance, they said.
Gu Gu was in the news last year when he was bitten by a drunk tourist. The man jumped into the bear's pen and tried to hug him, but was bitten instead. The tourist retaliated by biting the bear in the back.
So remember, kids. If you feel the need to hug a bear, stick with your local "Build-A-Bear Workshop".
And for those who still don't have the whole black bear/brown bear distinction straight:
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There are a couple of sentences in the quoted article that are bothering me. "A male panda at the Beijing Zoo once bitten by a drunk tourist..." and "Gu Gu was in the news last year when he was bitten by a drunk tourist." Okay, let me get this straight... the panda was bitten by the tourist? I can see that happening but is that really what they meant?
Posted by: Lynn at October 23, 2007 09:12 AM (lO+6d)
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Oh wait! Damn! How embarrassing! Somehow I completely missed the last line in bold type. Could you save me from complete humiliation and just delete both of these comments.
Posted by: Lynn at October 23, 2007 09:15 AM (lO+6d)
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"Could you save me from complete humiliation and just delete both of these comments."
Posted by: STEVE at October 23, 2007 09:45 AM (1S5hJ)
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Pandas are NOT BEARS. They are a cousin of the raccoon. Both are very distant cousins of bears. Ask Robbo to tell you about our pet raccoon, Nunzio. On a futher note, koalas are NOT BEARS neither. They are marsupials. Just keeping you guys real. Dog.
Posted by: Sister at October 23, 2007 08:09 PM (igDos)
It needs a little work: frankly, Robbo's LLama is a little bit mangy, probably due to excessive Fins rooting in the offseason.
We also need a slogan. Suggestions?
Yips! from Robbo: Well if your team was imploding like that, you'd be yanking handfuls of wool out, too.
Posted by: The Colossus at October 23, 2007 07:05 AM (QBuXz)
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I was thinking something along the lines of "Yes, as a matter of fact that is the American League Championship Trophy in my pocket and no, I'm not excited to see you"
Posted by: Steve the LLamabutcher at October 23, 2007 07:40 AM (pEXyx)
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Change the background color -- as-is, Steve-Llama's BoSox cap blends in & is almost invisible.
Oh, and please learn how to reduce an image's dimensions in the HTML [___] tag. Right now it's showing full-size, which means that on my monitor the right 15% or so is chopped off. Including the Robbo llama.
Posted by: wolfwalker at October 23, 2007 08:59 AM (ecQz3)
Have you no shame? And if not, I bet you could buy some on Ebay?
Posted by: The Yolo Cowboy at October 22, 2007 11:27 PM (7djnm)
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They suspended my account for trying to sell Dumbledore/Jar Jar Binks Honeymoon in P'town Action figure set. Oh well.
BTW, it's not the theme for the whole team, just for when the Pabstinator is walking in from the bullpen---currently they play Shipping Up, but I just thought Spicy McHaggis is just a better description.
Posted by: Steve the LLamabutcher at October 23, 2007 10:39 AM (pEXyx)
Total revenue (foreign and domestic) from anti-war films:
A Mighty Heart - $15.4 million
In The Valley Of Elah - 6.9 million
Rendition - 4.3 million
TOTAL = 26.6 million
Total for film about whupping terrorist butt:
The Kindgom - $59.7 million
…I’m just saying, that’s all. Just pointing it out.
Hint: We want to be entertained, not lectured to.
And consider for a moment that maybe it's the terrorists who have a more dire need to do some soul-searching.
Yips! from Robbo: Or, if you insist on making sanctimonious, left wing, anti-American tripe, at least try to get, say, Jennifer Love Hewitt to star in it.
Drooling Idiot Yips! back from Gary:
Whilst navigating the side streets around American University on Saturday (damn Dee Cee for tearing up Foxhall Road!), I came up behind a student car with a bumper sticker which read:
Republicans should never be allowed to vote again.
Now I haven't been over to KosWorld much lately, but I was always under the impression that it was libs who accused conservatives of censorship, of using guv'mint authority for the suppression of differing viewpoints, which is, in fact, exactly the kind of behavior this bumper sticker advocates.
I assume that the kid wasn't being ironic. I can only wonder if it ever occured to him that he was being a moron.
A few year ago I faced off with a college kid that still had braces on his teeth. He told me I was a capitalist pig that wanted to kill "all brown people." I couldn't help but ask him who paid for the braces on his teeth (those damn capitalists Mom and Dad, I am sure)...
There is no way to make any sense out of it. Half of it is mindless entertainment, the other half is evil.
Posted by: Babs at October 22, 2007 01:47 PM (iZZlp)
I ran an EMS call a while back where a subcompact took a turn a little too tight and embedded itself into a guardrail. Said subcompact was wallpapered with liberal bumper stickers mouthing the usual stuff: Men are Stupid, education funding and Air Force bomber bake sales, etc.
The ironic part about it was nearly all of the folks who came to her aid in the middle of the night, Police, Fire and EMS, were men, who likely shared none of her views...
Posted by: kmr at October 22, 2007 06:00 PM (Dl7SW)
This article about attempts to steer hurricanes (you know, so they miss the district of the congresscritter who controls NOAA funding and instead slash into the district of the guy who voted against HillaryCare) reminded me again of something somebody once said to the effect that the ultimate totalitarian pipe dream was to be able to outlaw bad weather.
It also reminded me again of this bit of throw-away utopianism from the Star Trek: TNG episode entitled "True Q":
DATA: I have some information regarding Amanda Rogers' parents. Records indicate that they died in Topeka, Kansas. Their home was destroyed during a tornado.
PICARD: A tornado? Why wasn't it dissipated by the Weather Modification Net?
DATA: Unknown, sir. The bodies were found in the rubble after the storm had passed.
PICARD: (a beat as he ponders) See if you can find out any details. I'd like to know more about that storm.
DATA: Yes, Captain.
As a general matter, I have no sympathy with this kind of trying to play God.
Over the weekend I happened to be listening to Schubert's Ninth Symphony in C Major (called "The Great"). It isn't my favorite piece of musick, but the recording I have - by Sir Georg Solti and the Vienna Philharmonic - is one of my very favorite performances of anything, and it's a delight to hear Sir Georg and the boys get the absolute last drop out of the piece.
As for the musick itself, I love my mother's comment. Putting on a heavy Irish brogue, she says, "'T'Ghreat', is it now? Weeeell, I dunno about that. But it saartinly is 'T'Lharge'."
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Boy, you want to get into a game of "historikal" what if... Schubert died at 31 (The year after Beethoven died!). He revered Beethoven so much that he turned down at least one invitation to meet him, feeling The Great Man's time was to valuable to waste on a kid like him.
I think Schubert's early death was probably the single most tragic loss in music history. Worse than Mozart's death at 35. When Mozart died, Haydn was still going strong for many more years, and Beethoven was rising. With Schubert gone, history was left with Wagner and Bruckner battling with Brahms.
Don't get me wrong, as I adore Brahms, but if Schubert had lived to even 40 years of age, we may never even have heard of Wagner, which would have been a fantastically fine outcome in my opinion. Had he been blessed with a truly long and productive life - say to the age of 60 (Remember, Beethoven died at 56 in 1827) - that would have had him working until after 1850. I think the very existence of someone like Arnold Schoenberg would have been impossible at that point, and I can't think of ANYTHING that would have been better than that.
When you stop to consider that Schubert's work was all created by a startlingly young man, it becomes a body of work best described as musical shock-and-awe. His effortless lyricism and sublime modulatory schemes - even in tiny pieces of only a few minutes duration - are simply sublime. Had his symphonic style developed into something not so prone to youthful prolixity, the influence on later composers would have been enormous. As it was, The Great C Major inspired Bruckner and later... "what's his face"- I can never remember that guy... to write ever larger pieces that really broke the bounds of even great listener's attention spans.
Alas...
Posted by: Hucbald at October 22, 2007 12:16 PM (KK16T)
Posted by: Hucbald at October 22, 2007 12:21 PM (KK16T)
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Well said, Hucbald (although I think we still would have heard of Wagner). With the innovative directions in which Schubert was going in Symphony No. 8 and his last mass, there's no telling what he might have developed into.
Robbo, I liked Symphony No. 9 more when I was younger. It doesn't wear well on middle-aged years. About the only context in which I still enjoy it is when I'm lifting weights, and it's not my first choice even then.
Posted by: ScurvyOaks at October 22, 2007 12:49 PM (s7sYI)
Scurvy - I listen to the 9th on the treadmill. My theory is that if I miss an idea, I don't have to worry - it'll be repeated three or four more times.
Posted by: Robbo the LB at October 22, 2007 01:04 PM (0JsTF)
Sawx come back again,
Dice-K good enough to hold.
Pedroia rox on.
At least I'll be able to get a couple nights' sleep before the Series starts.
BTW, you know who Pedroia reminds me of? Giovanni Ribisi, the guy who played the medic in Saving Private Ryan. Whenever he comes up to the plate, I keep expecting him to say, "Oh, God! It's my liver!" (Like I said, I need some sleep.)
My daughter was disappointed when I told her the score this morning. I had to assure her that the game was a lot closer than that for the first six innings. Dice-K forced me to drink more wine than I really had planned...
Of course, it's not necessarily his fault when the strike zone seems to change with each pitch, but still.......
Posted by: Robbo the LB at October 22, 2007 12:37 PM (0JsTF)
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I also thought the balls and strikes were extremely inconsistent -- not just within the crew and from game to game, which is to be expected -- but as you note, even by the same umpire, from pitch to pitch. My favorite was when the entire infield began to walk off the field (I think Okajima was pitching) after a presumed called third strike for the third out, only to have the umpire fail to give the signal for a strike. Literally every player on the field thought it was strike three.
I think Westbrook's mysterious revival after the third inning was partially because they stopped squeezing him on pitches and started giving him evey borderline call. The guys who seemed the most upset by the calls were the older guys -- Victor Martinez, Lofton, Manny -- these guys have seen a few balls and strikes in their time, and know when they're gettng screwed.
Part of Manny's insane brilliance is that he can adjust for it -- in that one-twentieth of a second he has to make up his mind, he can see the pitch and say "probably a strike, but this guy's going to call it a ball" and let the pitch go by. He'll take pitches 0-2 that he has no business taking.
Either that, or God just really loves Manny.
Posted by: The Colossus at October 22, 2007 02:22 PM (ivbbD)
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SOMEONE loves Manny, I'm not sure it's the man upstairs though.
Heez a bery bad man.
Posted by: Steve the LLamabutcher at October 23, 2007 10:42 AM (pEXyx)
Well, as promised I attended my very first Mass (apart from weddings and baptisms) this Sunday. Yes, it was the full monty High Mass, all in Latin, all sung or chanted, and with all the smells, bells and sprinklings you could wish. No, I didn't come out of it feeling it was the greatest religious experience of my life. Truth be told, I felt rayther like Arthur Box-Bender at Gervase Crouchback's funeral, lost and a bit uncomfortable and, in keeping with the Anglican 11th Commandment ("Thou shalt not make a fool of thyself in public"), mostly silent.
But that's okay, as I wasn't expecting any more. I could certainly sense the power in the air and feel the Spirit at something of a remove. But even after being received into the Church, I imagine it will be a bit before I can tap directly into that current myself. Baby steps.
BTW, those of you fearing (or hoping) that I would run smack into the guitars and dancing nuns crowd needn't worry. The Father's homily was on the importance of Tradition, in defense of which he roundly blasted and damned (well, not literally) all the mucking about with the liturgy that came in the wake of Vatican II. I get the distinct sense that even when saying low Mass, he is not interested in "innovation".
UPDATE: Speaking of which, there's an old joke that Anglican services can be categorized as low (lazy), middle (hazy) and high (crazy). I wouldn't have dared be so flippant as to think of it during the Mass itself, but afterward it made me smile again. Is there a patron saint of smart-asses? Cos' I fear I'm going to need his or her protection.
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They say Thomas More was one of the great pranksters of all times. He's also the patron saint of lawyers, so he understands smart asses quite well.
I recall the first time I went to Mass and wondering who on earth all these people are and why on earth do they keep their coats on during service. It was a new world. And eventually I was able to see, without understanding a word of Latin so not even trying to attempt to grasp it, a better one.
Posted by: Mrs. Peperium at October 22, 2007 11:14 AM (YS7aO)
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Roasty, toasty St. Lawrence and slick St. Vitus are patrons of comedians...
Posted by: old school lady at October 22, 2007 11:51 AM (FgxCS)
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I've found the homilies at Tridentine masses tend toward the conservative side of things, to be sure. I remember saying to Mrs. C. after one of them, "that's the first Catholic homily I've heard in 25 years." That's a bit of an overstatement, but she understood my point.
What's odd is that to the world outside the church, all Catholics look the same, but within, we have a range of expression of belief (which tracks, in large measure, with liturgy) from the "spirit of Vatican II" parishes to the traditionalist ones, replicating, in many ways, the spectrum of differences one might find across Protestantism. You may not have seen the swinging 60s dancing guitar nuns yet, but you will. You may not have heard the neo-Marxist homilies of a liberation theologian yet, but you will -- keep your ears open for the telltale phrase "preferential option for the poor." One could do a Venn diagram as there are many sets and subsets, but generally speaking, the Tridentine crowd are usually doctrinal conservatives, and the guitar mass crowd are usually doctrinal liberals. But there are exceptions and oddities to be sure. Then there are folks who cross all boundaries such as the Charismatics, or the Neocatechumenal way folks. Conservatives generally distrust those crowds liturgically, but are often in line with them in matters of doctrine.
I've come to the conclusion that all Catholics are different. To each his own. We count on Rome to whack the craziest examples across the spectrum when they verge into clear heresy; but other than that, it is a true three ring circus.
The Tridentine crowd is one of the mansions in the house. It's one I visit a number of times in a year; and I'm glad that it's going to get bigger and maybe get a new coat of paint. I like visiting it, but my wife doesn't love it that much, so we probably won't ever "live" there, so to speak. I'm glad you got to experience it.
As for patron saints, St. Lawrence is considered the patron Saint of comedians, due to his quip while being roasted no the gridiron by the Romans . . .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lawrence
Posted by: The Colossus at October 22, 2007 12:03 PM (ivbbD)
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Definitely St Philip Neri, founder of the Oratorians.
Humility was the most important virtue he tried to teach others and to learn himself. Some of his lessons in humility seem cruel, but they were tinged with humor like practical jokes and were related with gratitude by the people they helped. His lessons always seem to be tailored directly to what the person needed. One member who was later to become a cardinal was too serious and so Philip had him sing the Misere at a wedding breakfast. When one priest gave a beautiful sermon, Philip ordered him to give the same sermon six times in a row so people would think he only had one sermon.
Philip preferred spiritual mortification to physical mortification. When one man asked Philip if he could wear a hair shirt, Philip gave him permission -- if he wore the hair shirt outside his clothes! The man obeyed and found humility in the jokes and name-calling he received.
Philip did not escape this spiritual mortification himself. As with others, his own humbling held humor. There are stories of him wearing ridiculous clothes or walking around with half his beard shaved off. The greater his reputation for holiness the sillier he wanted to seem. When some people from Poland came to see the great saint, they found him listening to another priest read to him from joke books.
As it happens, you can't beat the Oratorians today for smells & bells.
Posted by: Mark S at October 22, 2007 12:31 PM (h4D3w)
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It's my understanding that this particular church is pretty conservative right through - Father G doesn't put up with a lot of "innovation". (Taylor Marshall over at Canterbury Tales used to attend, I believe, before he moved out west.)
The story I heard was that back in the early 70's, whoever the local priest was at the time started screeding about Vietnam in his homilies. This upset the parishioners so much (many of them being military or retired military) that they went to the Bishop and got the priest removed. This, in turn, upset another set of parishioners, who went to the Bishop and demanded some recourse. In the end, another church was established no great way off (I understand that the Kennedys had a hand in it), and the more liberal bloc went over there. At least in general community perception, this split still goes: the second church has a reputation as being more liberal, more elite and more populated with "Cafeteria Catholics" and the Social Reformer crowd. The one I'm trying is knows for being more conservative, more blue collar and more disposed to orthodoxy.
Posted by: Robbo the LB at October 22, 2007 12:31 PM (0JsTF)
Seems kind of sluggish 'round here today. So I'm going to go ahead and repost an amusing favorite of mine, the tee-vee reporter vs. the Spitfire (NRSFW at the end):
Grab your egg-and-fours and let's get the bacon delivered!
Dear Sucker Amazon.com Customer,
We've noticed that customers who have purchased or rated books by Fred Anderson have also purchased The French and Indian War: Deciding the Fate of North America by Walter R. Borneman. For this reason, you might like to know that The French and Indian War: Deciding the Fate of North America will be released on October 30, 2007. You can pre-order yours at a savings of $5.10 by following the link below.
[Insert wallet into hoover here.]From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Borneman offers an excellent general-audience version of Fred Anderson's Crucible of War (2000), the definitive academic history of the mid–18th-century French and Indian War and its long-term consequences for America and the world.
Well, if I already own Anderson's book (which I do, along with a couple others - and I love them), why would I want to turn around and buy the, well, dumbed down treatment by Borneman?
I guess Amazon reckons that in reading the email, I'll give most of it the Charlie Brown teacher-speak treatment ("Wha, wha, wha, wha, Book on French & Indian War, wha, wha, wha....") and buy the thing on impulse.
CONVERGENT STREAMS UPDATE: I notice that today happens to be the feast day of Saints Jean de Brébeuf and Isaac Joques, two early missionaries to the Hurons around the Great Lakes who were both brutally martyred by the Iroquois in the 1640's.
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Start following the Saints Days and you'll soon be following me into the spiritual rabbit hole that is the Liturgy of the Hours . . . and then you'll start poking into the Martyrology and the Breviarum Romanum and Trent and the Summa Theologica and the architecture of Cathedrals and God only knows what else.
:-)
A short list might also include . . .
The Rosary, the Scapular, the 40 hours, the Sacred Heart, the Litany of the Saints, the Angelus, the Raccolta, sacramentals, the Rituale Romanum, Guardian angels, the True Cross, the spear of Longinus, Gregorian chant . . .
There's two thousand years of stuff to absorb. There's literally no end to it. There is simply no repository of tradition, history, and belief like it in the world -- and it's all just sitting there. I feel like I've been handed the keys to something like the Smithsonian and told to go poke around for a bit and see if anything interests me.
I'm having to read Jaroslav Pelikan's "Emergence of the Catholic Tradition" just so that I have a blueprint of what the place really looks like inside. The more you learn, the more you realize that there's more to learn.
It's ruined Barnes and Noble for me -- they simply don't have the stuff I'm looking for. For instance, I want the texts of all 21 ecumencial councils. I want the complete works of Irenaeus of Lyons. I want a CD of all the psalms sung in Latin, in plainchant. I want a really definitive, annotated Septuagint with parallel Greek, Latin, and English. When they ask me "did you find what you were looking for" I tell them that their collection of Neo-Thomist philosophers is somewhat light, and there is virtually nothing on why the Orthodox churches reject the eighth council. They look at me as if I'm insane. I tell them that I suspect the books I want do exist, but they are probably in the Bodleian library or in the vaults in the Vatican.
I'm going to need a doctorate or two to make sense of it all. And a spiritual director. And probably will need to become a Deacon, if only to see what the reading list is like.
Posted by: The Colossus at October 19, 2007 03:59 PM (ivbbD)
Fortunately or not, in the divide between foxes and hedgehogs, I am hopelessly one of the world's foxes. I simply don't think I could dive into the Vatican Candy Shop to such depths as to give up my fiddling about with so many other things.
Oh, my apologies to anybody for whom the expression "brutally martyred" induced a fit of eye-rolling. Like there's any other kind of martyrdom. (Well, maybe in the TEC. "We'd like you to consider these other martyrdom options, even if they make you feel slightly uncomfortable.") My bad for redundantly repeating myself twice.
Posted by: Robbo the LB at October 19, 2007 08:30 PM (IYna/)
I think I'm going to go home, drink an entire bottle of single malt, and cry the rest of the season away.
(Sobbing Yips! to Dave Barry.)
It needs a little work: frankly, Robbo's LLama is a little bit mangy, probably due to excessive Fins rooting in the offseason.
We also need a slogan. Suggestions?
Yips! from Robbo: Well if your team was imploding like that, you'd be yanking handfuls of wool out, too.
Your new Red Sox theme song is this:
then again, it probably should be this:
