The Long Cut ...we'll get there eventually

Photo Friday - 04.29.05

Each week Photo Friday posts a photo assignment. Your mission is the creative interpretation of the week's theme. When you're done, post the picture you took to your website and submit your link to Photo Friday. Photo Friday is about challenging our participants to be original and creative within the constraints of the week's theme. It's not a competition. Anyone with a camera and a place on the Internet to post pictures can participate.

04.29.05 Challenge: Fancy

Nodding Head Brew Pub, 15th & Sampson, Philadelphia, PA.

Friday Random Ten - 04.29.05

Time for Friday Random Ten, where you hit "shuffle" on your favorite digital music player (for me my Windows MediaPlayer at work) and report on the first ten songs that it spits out.

Any typos I make this morning can be blamed on my trip to the dentist: the Novocaine has numbed my lower left eyelid, which is making it hard for me to blink, which is making my contact dry out, which is making my eyesight blurry!

Here goes:

"My Best Was Never Good Enough" - Bruce Springsteen (from The Ghost Of Tom Joad)
"Come To Me" - Björk (from Debut)
"Femme Fatale" - The Velvet Underground (from The Best Of The Velvet Underground)
"High On A Mountaintop" - Loretta Lynn (from Van Lear Rose)
"Maybe I'm Doing It Wrong" - Randy Newman (from Live)
"Down Love's Tributaries" - Morphine (from B-Sides And Otherwise)
"Before I Break" - Uncle Tupelo (from No Depression)
"Made Out Of Steel" - Spanic Boys (from Strange World)
"In My Room" - Danny Gatton (from 88 Elmira St.)
"Maybe" - Alison Krauss & Union Station (from Forget About It)

A Marriage Of Inconvenience

Ah, it's the classic story: Boy meets Girl, Boy marries Girl, Boy and Girl have a family, Boy and Girl spend thirty years questioning their decisions and wondering why they ever married each other.

Okay, maybe it's not a classic love story, but it does serve as the basis for Anne Tyler's novel The Amateur Marriage. It's the story of a couple who fell in love shortly after Pearl Harbor and did what all young couples did back then, they got married and started a family. Friends and family see them as the perfect couple - an example of opposites (he rational and introverted, she flighty and extroverted) attracting, but their differences often cause arguments and doubt. Do other seemingly "normal" couples have these same doubts?

The book takes you completely through their story, from the 1940's to present day, sometimes in his voice, sometimes hers (and later from a grown son's point of view). As the decades roll by the book stops at major events in the life of this family and their impact on an already precarious relationship.

While there's no doubting that this is an Anne Tyler novel (Baltimore setting, family story, dead-on dialog), the almost total lack of optimism kind of threw me. No matter how bad things got in other stories of hers, like Breathing Lessons, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, and The Accidental Tourist, there was always hope, but for most of this book you don't feel hopeful. Those novels also had their moments of humor, something else that is missing from The Amateur Marriage.

And yet this novel is a good read not in spite of what it's lacking, but because of it. It's the story of two people who probably should have never gotten married, and that's not very hopeful or humorous. So it's not a happy story, but that doesn't mean it's not an interesting one. Tyler spends most of the time inside these people's heads and does a fantastic job getting both side's thoughts. You never blame one spouse over the other because neither is completely bad or completely good, they're just wrong for each other. It's not an easy story to tell, but I think Tyler does a good job tackling a tough subject.

Next up for me is The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin by Gordon S. Wood. Where else but Philadelphia can you walk out of a library with a Ben Franklin book and almost crash into a Ben Franklin portrayer?

Where Your Eyes Don’t (Usually) Go

“Every jumbled pile of person has a thinking part that wonders what the part that isn't thinking isn't thinking of” – They Might Be Giants “Where Your Eyes Don’t Go”

Sometimes a band’s talent is so impressive that their music alone simply isn’t enough. Listening to them makes you want to go and find out everything you can about them (without, of course, violating that restraining order they had the judge put on you). A good example of this for me is Wilco, which is why the Wilco documentary I Am Trying To Break Your Heart remains the only DVD I have ever purchased for myself.

After seeing the They Might Be Giants documentary Gigantic: A Tale Of Two Johns, movie number ten in my quest to see 52 new (to me) films in 2005, I think I’m going to have to add another DVD to my collection.

They Might Be Giants could be described as rock music for the Public Radio listener. Catchy, clever, abstract, goofy, off-the-beaten-path, and a lot of times just off-the-wall. The Johns’ (John Linnell and John Flansburgh) songs are packed with so many ingenious lyrics that every time I listen to them I catch something I’d never noticed before.

What separates TMBG from other the other geeky jokey bands out there, other than their superior writing skills, is that there music doesn’t just serve as background to their clever words. These guys know music and they sound great whether they are writing for piano, guitar, accordion, horns (the documentary includes a clip of the Johns being brilliantly backed up by Doc Severinsen’s band), or a giant stick simply being banged on a stage floor (also shown in Gigantic). Fans like me wouldn’t still be listening to twenty-year old songs like “Don’t Let's Start” if its music wasn’t as strong as its lyrics.

The documentary gives you a brief history of the band and spends a lot of time dissecting the dynamic between the two Johns. But like a good TMBG song, Gigantic is happily all over the map. After the film is introduced by the former senator (and formerly living) Paul Simon, the Johns’ story is interrupted with live performance, cartoon shorts, clips of videos, a Ken Burns parody, and somber readings of TMBG lyrics by the likes of Harry Shearer and Andy Richter.

The documentary isn’t perfect. The makers seem to have realized that many of TMBG’s listeners are in that NPR clique, because the movie leans too heavily on interviews with This American Life creator Ira Glass and commentator Sarah Vowell. Despite the fact that Glass adds very little to the story, especially when he laments that the Johns will go through life never knowing what it’s like to be TMBG fans because they are stuck being TMBG (???) or something like that, the director continues to return to him for more of his wisdom. Vowell comes off as more insightful than Glass, but I still think she is used too often by the director. Vowell does, however, make up for her way too many interview appearances by skillfully suggesting that combining the personalities of the two Johns would make for one very well rounded John.

Other problems include the fact that, other than their recent TV work,  TMBG's newer music isn't included, and that Michael McKean's reading of the lyrics to “The End Of The Tour” goes on way, way, way too long, stopping the movie in its tracks.

But these are tiny annoyances that do little to take away from the fun of this documentary. Any of the weaker parts are more than made up for by Syd Straw hilariously refusing to stay on subject while being interviewed and the part of the film where the two Johns speak separately about their admiration for each other's talents.

Next up for me is the copy of Far From Heaven I’ve had for about a month, and then The Life And Times Of Hank Greenberg (which I got while I was with Blockbuster, but never watched) and Hotel Rwanda.

Youthful Indiscretions

Ten on Tuesday

Ten Stupid Things You Did As a Kid (Via Karen)

1. Flushed favorite shirt down toilet (age 5).
2. Got so mad at family that I hid in closet. Got locked inside closet only to be rescued by laughing family.
3. Ate dirt from classmate's dixie cup seedling for a quarter.
4. Drank whole bottle of ReaLemon for a buck.
5. Liked Disco (for a very short time).
6. "Trimmed" bangs on morning of class pictures.
7. Spray-painted blue bike red, but not just any red - the ultra-cool sounding translucent red. Blue + translucent red = ugly purple.
8. Actually asked for the "Pete Rose cut" from my barber. For years.
9. At lunch in first grade, popped inflated sandwich bag with pencil, sending pencil point into my palm. Came back from nurse's office only to be shunned by classmates. Ate rest of lunch alone.
10. Tried on brother's nose protector. Except it wasn't a nose protector, it was his athletic cup.

And that all happened in my first ten years. I won't even mention my awkward teen years.

Hypocrites and Hellraisers

Let's start with the hypocrites:

I'm sure all the political junkies out there have already heard about "Justice Sunday," the anti-filibuster love-in broadcast live from a "church" just outside of Louisville yesterday. In addition to working hard to "Keep Louisville Weird," the Family Research Council and Focus On The Family joined forces to urge Republicans to vote to deny the Senate minority (for the time being, the Democrats) their right to filibuster. They call the filibuster un-American, un-patriotic, even un-Godly.

But here's what the Family Research Council's (again, one of the major organizers of Justice Sunday) Steven Schwalm had to say in 1998 when the Republicans were (gasp!) filibustering against one of President Clinton's choices for an ambassadorship [emphasis mine]:

...the Senate is a -- is not a majoritarian institution like the House of Representatives is. It is a deliberative body and it's got a number of checks and balances built into our government. This is one of those checks, in which a majority cannot just sheerly force its will, even if they have a majority of votes in some cases, that's why there are things like filibusters and other things that give minorities in the Senate some power to slow things up, to hold things up, and let things be aired properly.

But, but, but...

Here's the latest on Tom DeLay:

A plane trip to London and Scotland in 2000 by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R., Texas) was charged to a credit card issued to a Washington lobbyist who is the subject of a federal probe, the Washington Post reported yesterday.

The report adds another question to a series of allegations confronting DeLay in recent weeks about ties to lobbyists, foreign trips funded by outside groups, and the use of campaign funds.

And here's what DeLay (R., Hypocriteland) had to say back in 1995, in the good ol' days of the Contract With On America [emphasis mine]:

The time has come that the American people know exactly what their representatives are doing here in Washington. Are they feeding at the public trough, taking lobbyist-paid vacations, getting wined and dined by special interest groups?... The American people have a right to know. I say the best disinfectant is full disclosure, not isolation.

But, but, but...

Okay, now the hellraisers:

While it may seem that eRobin over at Fact-esque really, really hates Wal-Mart, that's not entirely true. She just really, really hates the way they treat their workers. If I read her right, she doesn't want Wal-Mart to go away, she just wants them to pay a living wage and maybe throw in some healthcare so their workers won't have to rely on taxpayer-funded Medicaid. She long ago realized that politicians that feed off the teat of the multi-kabillionaire Walton family (and that's most of Washington) aren't eager to speak poorly of their labor practices, so she likes the idea of a boycott, or more correctly, boycotts - plural. One for every holiday of the year. She didn't come up with the "Love Mom, Not Wal-Mart" campaign, but she urged her readers to add a link to their blog, so I have. The idea is that that link will be replaced with "Love Dad, Not Wal-Mart" and so on until Wal-Mart's profit margin drops .0001% and Wall Street starts to panic:

There's a holiday in every month - in June it will be Father's Day. And all they're asking is that we don't shop at WalMart for items related to that one day. It's a boycott that practically anyone can manage and it will make a difference if enough of us get on board. Please sign up - please tell your friends.

eRobin knows that a knee to the wallet is the only way you can get these guys attention.

Steven Hart of The Opinion Mill is a freelance journalist whose blog covers both national and Jersey politics well. I keep checking his blog because, let's face it, Jersey politics don't get a whole lot of coverage. I look forward to reading him once the Gubernatorial race heats up.

But here's a good hellraising suggestion from him on how to handle some of the hypocrites out there:

It's high time for progressives to dust off an old taunt used by reactionaries in the 1960s and apply it to the wingers: America, love it or leave it. You don't like the fact that anyone, even an accused criminal, has constitutional rights? You don't like it that Christianity has not been proclaimed the state religion? You don't like it that authority can be questioned, or that the president's supporters may not get everything they want? Then move. Leave.

Great stuff.

That's enough politics for tonight.

Favorite Photo Of The Week IX

Last week I asked you, the readers, to pick the best of my photos from the week past. The winner was the Spring-fever inducing City Garden, from a part of the city I don't get over to nearly enough.

There's a flower shot in last week's photos, too, but you'll have to let me know if it was the best of the bunch (no pun intended). Click here to look at the past week's photos, then come back and post a comment (anonymously if you like) to this post. Next Sunday I'll post the results.

Thanks!

Official Partee Animul

That's what it says on the t-shirt my two three-year old got at Chick-fil-A today (it's got one of those "Eat Mor Chikin" cows on it). I have to say I was very impressed with the Chick-fil-A (or as he says "Chickie Fay") birthday party. The place was very clean and the workers were super nice. We had a few McDonald's parties for the seven-year old when he was younger, but ever since Super Size Me we try to avoid Mickey D's. I know that Chick-fil-A is still fast food, but it offers a lot more healthy stuff than McDonalds. The missus and I also know that fast food birthday parties aren't the greatest party you can give your kid, but trying to host parties at home just gets us too worked up and trying to have an "event" party, like at the local childrens' museum, is just too expensive. Once he gets older we'll get the three-year old's parties out of the fast food joints and into the bowling alleys and skating rinks and pool halls.

Dessert for the party was provide by yours truly. I spent Thursday night making six dozen cupcakes (three dozen for the party at his nursery school, three dozen for the real party). Actually, I made nine dozen cupcakes, but the first batch was bad because for some reason they insist that you remember to put eggs in the batter. Making the batter for cupcakes is easier than it is for making cookies. That's because I use box cake mix (Alton Brown said I could - he said cake mix companies have access to certain helpful ingredients that home bakers do not and he is never wrong). And since a batch of cupcakes takes twenty minutes to cook, you don't have to run around the kitchen as much as when you're making cookies. Still, I prefer the cookie baking. That's either from my satisfaction in making the cookies from scratch or my liking raw cookie batter a lot more than raw cake batter.

After the party was another Little League game. We finally got to play against the seven-year old's best friend/arch-nemesis (who's team was undefeated going into the game). We squeezed in four innings before the thunder started rumbling, and came out ahead, 7-4. The seven-year old walked twice and didn't get hit by any pitches. He also finally got to field a ball and did a great job of getting the ball back into the infield. I'd call that a good game.

Busy day today, but somehow our calendar is miraculous and thankfully blank for tomorrow.

Friday Random Ten - 04.22.05

Time for Friday Random Ten, where you hit "shuffle" on your favorite digital music player (for me my Windows MediaPlayer at work) and report on the first ten songs that it spits out.

Happy Birthday to the two three-year old!

Here goes:

"Worms Vs. Birds" - Modest Mouse (from Sad Sappy Sucker)
"Menopause Diaries" - The Speaking Canaries (from Get Out Alive: The Last Type Story)
"Dating Days" - Violent Femmes (from 3)
"She's A Healer" - Neil Young (from Are You Passionate?)
"I Can't Get Started" - Rickie Lee Jones (from It's Like This)
"Heart Of The City" - Nick Lowe (from Basher: The Best Of Nick Lowe)
"Come On Little Mama" - Ray Harris (from Sun Records: The 50th Anniversary Collection)
"That's All, Amen, Close The Door" - Richard Thompson (from Mock Tudor)
"I Am Weary" - The Cox Family (from O Brother, Where Art Thou?)
"Hanging Blue Side" - Sun Volt (from Wide Swing Tremolo)

Behind The Eight Ball

When I finally got around to watching Annie Hall in January, I realized that after hearing about a classic movie for so long, my mind paints a picture of what I think the movie is going to be like. Since I'm going on so little information (classic quotes from the movie, other works by the movie's actors that I have seen) my expectations are likely to be off. For Annie Hall, this turned out to be a bad thing, but for the Hustler it was a pleasant surprise.

After hearing so much about Jackie Gleason's role in The Hustler (movie number nine in my quest to watch 52 new (to me) films in 2005) all these years, I came to expect the movie to concentrate on the pool matches between Gleason and Paul Newman. I can remember ABC's Wide World of Sports airing grudge matches in the seventies between Minnesota Fats (who took his name from Gleason's character in the Hustler) and Willie Mosconi (who has a cameo in the film and trained Newman for his part). I expected the film to be like those old matches, which were just as much about showmanship as they were about billiards.

But Gleason doesn't have a lot of screen time and the movie really could have been about any con game. The movie is a classic because it deals not so much with pool, but with the struggles Newman's character, Fast Eddie, goes through in his pursuit to scam up enough money to play Fats again after humiliating himself the first time he challenged him.

Fast Eddie, desperate and self-destructive, falls in love with an equally self-destructive Sarah, played by Piper Laurie. While Sarah seems to want a normal life for both of them, she knows that won't happen as long as Fast Eddie stays a hustler. And Fast Eddie makes it clear that he will always be drawn to hustling when he takes on a conniving and degrading manager, played brilliantly by a young George C. Scott.

Although Gleason doesn't have a lot of screen time, his character is central to the movie and Gleason plays it with exactly the right amount of cool. Piper Laurie does a great job in a very strange part, showing wild mood swings without ever overacting. And the more movies I see Paul Newman in, the more I like him. Very much like he did in Hud, he makes you like what should be a very unlikable character.

Next up for me is Far From Heaven, which I forgot I had. I also have to finish Gigantic one of these days.

Station Bragging

Ain't she a beaut? (Click on photo to enlarge).

After months of research and procrastination, I went out Monday night and traded in my '91 Explorer for a '00 Focus wagon. As much as I loved my truck, I had to agree with the missus that it was time for me to get a more reliable vehicle. One that she would feel safe driving. One where you can feel pretty confident that you won't fall through the rusted undercarriage (as my mechanic had warned me about the truck).

Being the owner of an old house, my only demand was that I get something that I could use on trips to the lumber yard. Her only demand was that it had room for two kids in the back seat (which ruled out most cheap pickups). The Focus has lots of room and a roof rack for bigger things so I'm happy with it. But man, I'm going to miss that truck. It was a comfortable and familiar to me as one of my old race shirts (which I also have trouble saying goodbye to).

Since the missus is stuck with the '03 Kia Minivan, there's been a bit of jealousy on her part. I can understand this, seeing how I hate the Kia too. But this is the woman that used to hate station wagons and believed that they were the lowest rung of the coolness ladder, even below minivans. That was before she actually owned a minivan.  A crappy minivan.

In my defense, since even before we were married I've made sure that she has had the more reliable (and usually cooler) car. Here are the cars we've had since our dating days, with the "better" car in bold:

Her: Used Toyota Carolla
Me: Used Renault Encore

No contest. Mine wasn't the cool race-car type Renault, it was the piece of junk type Renault.
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Her: Used Toyota Carolla
Me: Used Ford Escort

Draw. By this point they were both pretty bad.
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Her: Used Ford Escort (my old one)
Me: Used Pontiac T-1000

As bad as the Escort was, the T-1000 was worse. It wasn't even a Chevette, it was a Chevette clone. And of course it refused to die. I ended up having it for seven years.
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Her: New Geo Metro
Me: Used T-1000

The Metro was our first "real" car. How sad is that? I think our lawnmower has more horsepower than that thing did. And it was still better than the T-1000, which by this time had a hole in the roof from a power-screwdriver mishap by yours truly.
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Her: New Saturn SL2
Me: Used T-1000

Our first real "real" car.
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Her: New Saturn SL2
Me: Used Ford Explorer Sport

I get The Truck. As much as I loved it, she still had the better car. By the time I got it, the Explorer already had 96,000 miles on it and most of its paint off it.
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Her: New Kia Sedona
Me: Used Ford Explorer Sport

This one was closer than you would think. What does that tell you about the quality of Kia vehicles? But still, she didn't have to hear, "Dude, do you know your truck's smoking?" every time she got gas.
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Her: New Kia Sedona
Me: Used Ford Focus Wagon

To Be Determined. I'm always afraid that I've been taken every time I buy a car (except when I bought the Escort from my mom, and even then I wasn't so sure). I will say that the wagon looks a lot cooler.
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We have agreed to look into replacing the van in about a year. Until then, something tells me that the missus will be borrowing "my" car as much as she can.

Answer: Bank Park & Cope

Question: What are "Citizens"? Alex.

Two new photo albums on the sidebar over there. No, the other side. Down a bit. A little more. There.

The Citizen Cope concert was another WXPN Free-At-Noon concert last Friday. Packed house and they took all the tables and chairs out. Not cool when it's a lunch-time concert and you don't have anywhere to eat your box lunch. Luckily the balcony still had tables. I ended up staying in the balcony to watch the concert, which explains why the pictures didn't come out as nice as I would have liked. That and the fact that Citizen Cope (aka Clarence Greenwood) wouldn't stop moving and I didn't want to use my flash. Photos here.

The concert itself was great. Cope reminds me a lot of Philly's own G. Love. Actually, Cope's backing band reminded me a lot of G. Love's band, Special Sauce, but Cope wasn't as r & b-ish as G. Love. Cope has a funked-up talking-blues kind of thing going on. Imagine if instead of going electric, Dylan went funk. That's kind of what Citizen Cope sounds like.

I already posted about the Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park. Kind of hard to take good shots in something as big as a ball park, and I was too interested in the game to take a lot of shots. Hey, I love taking pictures but not as much as watching baseball! Photos here.

Fire Up The Wayback Machine, Sherman

Today is April 18th, 2005, the 108th day of the year. If my calculations are right, about 10,000,000 seconds have passed since the ball was dropped in Time Square to welcome in the new year.

And I just realized today that I never posted my favorite song of 2004. Talk about dropping the ball.

Not that I hadn't started whittling down the finalists. While trying to organize my computer files this morning I came across an Excel file from January with my top ten (with an extra Wilco song thrown in good luck). Listed alphabetically by artist name:

"Cherry Blossom Girl" by Air (from Talkie Walkie)
"Everybody's Got To Learn Sometimes" by Beck (from Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind)
"Somewhere Only We Know" by Keane (from Hopes And Fears)
"Portland, Oregon" by Loretta Lynn with Jack White (from Van Lear Rose)
"Float On" by Modest Mouse (from Good News For People Who Love Bad News)
"Lily-A-Passion" by Grant Lee Phillips (from Virginia Creeper)
"Silence Is Easy" by Starsailor (from Silence Is Easy)
"I Met A Girl" by Wheat (from Per Second, Per Second, Per Second... Every Second)
"Static On The Radio" by Jim White with Amiee Mann (from Drill A Hole In That Substrate And Tell Me What You See)
"Just A Kid" by Wilco (from The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie )
"Spiders (Kidsmoke)" by Wilco (from A Ghost Is Born).

First, with a few months between when I picked these and now, I think I can narrow the list down to five finalist. All  eleven finalists are great songs, but I couldn't get these five out of my head (in a good way) last year:

"Portland, Oregon" by Loretta Lynn with Jack White
"Float On" by Modest Mouse
"Lily-A-Passion" by Grant Lee Phillips
"Static On The Radio" by Jim White with Amiee Mann
"Spiders (Kidsmoke)" by Wilco.

Getting down to three finalists was tough, but here they are (By the way, any similarities between this post and the Miss America Pageant is purely coincidental):

"Portland, Oregon" by Loretta Lynn with Jack White
"Float On" by Modest Mouse
"Spiders (Kidsmoke)" by Wilco.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for (cue Bert Parks), the best song of 2004:

"Portland, Oregon" by Loretta Lynn with Jack White!

As much as it scares my family, Loretta Lynn, winner of my best album of 2004, is also the winner of my best song of 2004.  As much as I love Wilco, I didn't get into A Ghost Is Born as much as I did with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. If I were to list the top 25 songs of 2004, Wilco would probably have seven songs on it, but none were the very best of the year. Finally finding Modest Mouse last year was great, and I loved "Float On," but it just wasn't as perfect a song as "Portland, Oregon" was. Loretta Lynn's Van Lear Rose had such a bare-boned and vulnerable feel to it, and "Portland, Oregon" stayed true to that feeling but at the same time was an all-out bawdy rocker. Pure genius.

Congrats to the Coal Miner's Daughter. Please contact me to receive your award.

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"Portland, Oregon"

Well Portland Oregon and sloe gin fizz
If that ain't love then tell me what is
Well I lost my heart it didn't take no time
But that ain't all. I lost my mind in Oregon

In a booth in the corner with the lights down low
I was movin' in fast she was takin' it slow
Well I looked at him and caught him lookin' at me
I knew right then we were playin' free in Oregon

Next day we knew last night got drunk
But we loved enough for the both of us
In the morning when the night had sobered up
It was much too late for the both of us in Oregon

Well sloe gin fizz works might fast
When you drink it by the pitcher and not by the glass
Hey bartender before you close
Pour us one more drink and a pitcher to go

And a pitcher to go [repeat]

GM See

This morning, in the middle of the Deptford Mall, the missus and I were fighting over cell phones. We both agreed that she needs and deserves to get a new one that was made in this century, but we weren't agreeing on the best way to get a new phone - to stick with T-Mobile (which is the cheapest carrier and very reliable) and buy a phone from them or switch to a more expensive (and possibly less reliable) carrier and get a free phone.

Anyway, mid-fight, who's walking towards us but Ed Wade, the much maligned general manager of the Phillies. (Of course, I don't have my camera with me). I try not to stare, but from the look on his face it's obvious he knows he's been spotted. This guy must worry that he's going to be beat up by a disgruntled fan each time he goes out in public, so - real clever like - I say, "Hi, Mr. Wade." He says hi back and I say to the seven-year old (loud enough for Wade to hear), "that's the man responsible for bringing Jim Thome to Philadelphia." I hope that made his day. I'm not real crazy about Wade, but it was one day after seeing my first Phillies game of the year and it was a great game and the Phillies won and guess I was just feeling generous.

Now, I feel kind of bad for posting this picture in December:

Luckily, I was able to find this sign today. I hope it makes up for the first one.

And if you must know, we stuck with T-Mobile and bought the missus a new phone.

Favorite Photo of the Week VIII

Last week I asked you, the readers, to pick the best of my photos from the week past. This week's winner was Surreal, which I almost titled "Thanks For The Balloon, Mr. Santorum." See, he's a big dumb looking "patriotic" clown. But then I realized that couldn't be Rick Santorum because he's never in Pennsylvania anymore.

I'm happy so many of you voted and I'm hoping you all do it again. Click here to look at the past week's photos, then come back and post a comment (anonymously if you like) to this post. Next Sunday I'll post the results.

Thanks!

Let's Play Two

Baseball been very very good to me today. Today was game number three for my son's Little League team. After scoring two runs and winning (game one) and scoring two runs and losing (game two), the floodgates finally opened. Everyone either got a hit or got hit today. The game ball went to the kid on the team who was hit by a pitch three times (my seven-year old was upset that his two hit-by-pitches weren't equally rewarded). Final score- Us 16, Them 0. Great game, lots of fun.

Following Little League my brother treated me to the Phillies-Braves game. Two seats directly behind home plate. Great seats, great beer (Anchor Steam), and I got to catch up with my brother, whom I haven't seen very much of lately. And the Phils snapped a three-game losing streak! Final Score - Us 2, Them 1.

Before all that baseball I had the Clean Air Council 5K Run out by the Art Museum. Since I'm doing the Broad Street 10-Miler in two weeks I had a seven-miler scheduled for today. I did 2 miles before the race, 3.1 miles during the race and about 2.5 miles after the race. I was pretty happy with my race, but I could do better if I started watching what I eat better. One of these days I'm going to get back to doing that.

Overall, a very exhausting day, but a lot of fun.

Tomorrow: Church, Trader Joe's, used car hunting, and a new cell phone for the missus. Hopefully I'll be able to catch some of the Phillies game in between all that.

Looavul

Yesterday I ordered airline tickets for the missus and the seven-year old to go out to Louisville, Kentucky to visit the missus' family after school lets out in June. Her sister had her third child in December and the missus is dying to see the litle guy. The seven-year old is always excited about seeing his southern cousins (pretty much every year we either go out there or they come out here to see us). We'd love for the whole family to be able to go out there but that would mean doubling the airfare and getting a hotel and a rental car and we just can't afford that right now. With just the two of them going they can stay at my sister-in-law's place and have her drive them around.

While they'll only be gone four days (Friday, June 17 through Monday, June 20) this will mark the first time I have been left alone overnight with any kid. When the missus was in the hospital having boy #2, boy #1 was at his Granny's and I went back to an empty house that night. I have left the missus alone with the kids several times due to work-related trips, but that was different because she knows what the hell she's doing. Me, not so much. Ahhh, I'm sure the two-year old and I will survive - but it should be interesting.

[The billboard pictured above is from an ad campaign trying to get people to remember the unique shops of downtown Louisville, rather than always running out to Wal-Mart. I like Louisville, but its downtown could definitely use the help. Here's hoping the campaign works.]

Friday Random Ten - 04.15.05

Time for Friday Random Ten, where you hit "shuffle" on your favorite digital music player (for me my Windows MediaPlayer at work) and report on the first ten songs that it spits out.

Later today I'm going to another WXPN Free-At-Noon concerts. This time it's Citizen Cope.

Here goes:

"Living On The Edge Of The World" - Bruce Springsteen (from Tracks)
"My Head Sounds Like That" - Peter Gabriel (from Up)
"Speak To Me/Breath" - Pink Floyd (from Dark Side Of The Moon)
"This Is How It Goes" - Amiee Mann (from Lost In Space)
"For The Love Of A Girl" - Young Fresh Fellows (from Because We Hate You)
"The Graveyard Shift" - Steve Earle and the Del McCoury Band (from The Mountain)
"Not Tonight" - Shemekia Copeland (from Wicked)
"Joe Harper Saturday Morning" - Van Morrison (from Bang Masters)
"I Got To Let You Know" - Los Lobos (from How Will The Wolf Survive?)
"I've Got A Match" - They Might Be Giants (from Lincoln)

BTW, I just got the They Might Be Giants documentary Gigantic from Netflix. Started watching it last night with the boys and so far, so good. I would highly recommend it to any TMBG fans (and I know you're out there).

I've Suffered For My Art, Now It's Your Turn

Still time to vote for your favorite photo from last week.

[Post title stolen from the great Marshall Crenshaw.]

Hometown Zero

It’s not everyday that a published novelist writes me suggesting that I read their novel, so Jason Headley’s email certainly caught my attention. Headley saw my positive review of a Richard Russo novel and mentioned to me that his debut novel, Small Town Odds, had been favorably compared to Russo’s work. That was enough to get me to read the book.

Small Town Odds documents a week in the life of the twenty-something Eric, a former brainy jock who’s one mistake five years ago forced him to abandon his dream of becoming something and getting out of his tiny rust-belt town. Through Eric’s interactions with his daughter (the product of his one mistake), her mother, his beer-guzzling old pals, his old high school sweetheart, and the regulars down at the bar he tends, Headley paints a pretty convincing picture of a down-on-its-luck community.

While Headley’s email was successful in getting me to buy his book, his mention of Russo also meant that I would be, no doubt unfairly, comparing a first-time author with a Pulitzer Prize-winning one. Small Town Odds does have the same low-key slice-of-small-town-life feel of many of Russo’s books, like Nobody’s Fool and Empire Falls. And just like Russo, Headley’s book has only the slightest of plots to move it along. Russo, like Anne Tyler (another favorite of mine), can rely on his excellent writing to push the reader along even when the story moseys along. Headley’s writing skills, however, haven’t reached that point yet. I often had a hard time staying interested in the story. It wasn’t the kind of book that made me want to read it every free minute I had, like a great novel would. Headley also seemed to have trouble writing dialog, to the point that whenever there was conversation between characters the book read more like a script than a novel.

But I think that these are problems that Headley can overcome as he grows as a writer. His story in Small Town Odds is a good one, and before the book is over you can already feel his writing getting better. Headley should take comfort (if he once again stumbles upon my book reviews and sees this one) that I also think that Russo’s first novel, Mohawk, suffered from some of the same problems and showed the same hint of a writer bound to continue telling interesting stories and getting better and better with each one.

And speaking of Anne Tyler, which I was, I picked up her The Amateur Marriage at the library this week. I think I'm finally back to enjoying reading again.

Temporarily Filling

Even after being totally dissatisfied with his latest novel, I was still willing to give Steve Martin another chance. His choice of roles lately has been disturbing, with most of his movies - like the Cheaper By The Dozen remake - being dumbed-down products more concerned with box office receipts than quality filmmaking. So when Martin signs on for a more interesting part, I take notice. And that's why I chose Novocaine as movie number eight in my quest to see 52 new (to me) films in 2005.

Novocaine is the story of a mild-mannered dentist (Martin) who's stuck in a happy but way-too-predictable life with his fiancee, played by Laura Dern. When a beautiful druggy grifter, played by Helena Bonham Carter, comes into his office he is attracted to both her beauty and her anything-but-predictable life. But after only a few steps on the wild side he's got a dead guy in his foyer and the police on his tail. He's got to figure out who's framing him while avoiding capture. It's a modern-day film noir.

It's also a comedy. Or at least it's supposed to be. Except that the movie doesn't want to let go of its film noir part enough to make the comedy work. Which is fine, since there's nothing wrong with film noir, it's just not the movie I was expecting. And it wasn't a strong enough story to keep my interest through most of the film, although there is a nice plot twist at the end that makes up for most of the movie's shortcomings. I can't say that I would recommend the movie, but it wasn't horrible either.

...And One For My Homie, Pizzy Jizzy Paul II

I've noticed that the White House offers its offical website in both English and Spanish, but not in the language used by the MTV crowd. As a public service to those who are the future of our nation, I have run the President's latest radio address through the Gizoogle Transizlatin' Page (which I found through Becky's blog):

THE PRESIDENT: Good messin'. This week I have been in Rome ta attend tha funeral mass of Pizzy Jizzy Paul II. The ceremizzles were a powerful n mov'n reminda of tha profound impact this Pope had on our world. And on behalf of America, Laura n I were honored ta pay tribute ta this good n holy man.

Dur'n nearly three decades on tha Chair of St . Im a bad boy wit a lotta hos. Pusha this Pope brought tha gospel's message of hizzy n love n freedom ta tha far shot calla of tha Earth like a tru playa'. And over this piznast week, millions of thugz across tha world returned tha Pope's G-to-tha-izzift wit a tremendous outpour'n of affection that transcended differizzles of nationizzle language n religion.

[More (and more vulgar) after the jump]

My Brother Went To Florida And All I Got Was This Lousy Photograph

From his email:

By the way. Here is a picture I took in Fla. Maybe POTD material. Reminds me of the touching scene in City Slickers where Jack Palance tells Bill Crystal to find one thing in life and do it well.

Can we assume that this place also makes the World's Best meatball sandwiches, or is it the parm that puts them atop the world's other delis? We may never know. Despite being thisclose to greatness, my brother somehow chose not to eat at Del's Wholesale Warehouse. I believe he will rue the day he made that decision.

Update: I just noticed this at the bottom of my bother's email:

This e-mail and any files transmitted with it may contain confidential information and is intended solely for use by the individual to whom it is addressed.  If you received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender, do not disclose its contents to others and delete it from your system.

Whoops!

Notable Potables

After you checkout, the cashiers at our local supermarket tell you how much you saved by using coupons and their club card. It’s my favorite part of shopping because it makes the time I spend cutting coupons seem worthwhile. Anyway, Sunday I fended off the seven-year old’s begging for pretty much everything (I swear he would have asked me to get him Tampex if we had gone down that aisle) and ended up saving $35. Thirty-five bucks! You know what that means? Beer run! I just finished off the two sixes of craft beer I had, so the timing was perfect.

One of the beers I picked up last month was Stoudt’s Fest. It’s a seasonal beer, but as far as I can tell not their Oktoberfest. Stoudt’s does list an Oktoberfest on their website and it doesn’t sound like the same beer as the Fest. Anyway, whatever it is, it’s good. It’s the smoothest beers I’ve had in a while. No bells or whistles, but great tasting. It’s something that goes well with a lot of different foods, which is good since I do most of my drinking with dinner. Even the missus admitted it was good, and she hates beer. Or maybe she was just saying she liked it to shut me up. Can you imagine hating beer and being married to me? Can you imagine hating beer? Can you imagine being married to me? Dream on.

The other beer I picked up was the Pale Ale from Geary’s, out of Portland, Maine. As much as I like pale ales I never seem to end up getting them. I tend to get distracted by flasher brews. I’m happy I took the chance on Geary’s (I had never heard of the brewer). Again, nothing spectacular, but I liked it. I don’t know if I would pick it up again real soon, but I didn’t feel like I wasted money on it. I guess that makes it an average beer.

Sunday I picked up two brews from the Granite State. I got a six of Middleberry Ale, a special release from Otter Creek Brewing out of Middlebury, New Hampshire. It promises “hints” of elderberries and blueberries. I just hope it’s not overly sweet. I also got a six of Wolaver’s Brown Ale. Wolaver’s is owned by Otter Creek Brewing and produces certified organic beers. I love their Oatmeal Stout, so I’m hoping their Brown Ale is just as good. I’ll let you know (about both beers) when I finish them off.

Balls And Mics

Being a parent means sometimes you’re happy it’s Monday and you can go back to work and catch a breather. Okay, maybe not happy - it is still work - but this Monday I am relieved that my weekend parenting projects are done.

Friday night was the seven-year old’s school talent show. This is the second year that our neighbor (who’s the mother of the seven-year old’s best friend/arch-nemesis and also works with the missus) voluntarily ran the show (she was the one who thought it up last year). It was also the second time I acted as curtain guy and backstage prop/talent coordinator.

The talent show got a good turnout its first year and even more this year. It amazes me that this many kids want to stand on stage and perform in front of a pretty big crowd. I tried that once as a kid, trying out for my eight-grade “follies.” One person in the class of 60 didn’t get a part and was stuck being the curtain guy. Want to guess who that was? Anyway, my thinking is that in the age of American Idol everyone wants to perform.

Last year’s talent show was held at the high school but they are in the process of building a new auditorium, so this year it was held at a nearby boro’s “caf-a-gym-a-torium.” The big story from the show was that the microphones kept going out. Technically this was the department of the sound guy, but since he was busy with the music, it was up to me to keep finding the one mic that would work. The great thing was, other than one budding Britney Spears crying about it and her ready-for-the-big-time stage-mom flipping out right on stage, the kids couldn’t have cared less. They were having fun backstage and on stage. The missus was out in the audience and saw a different story, one that was directed at my neighbor, the show organizer. Some people have no class. That’s why I’m glad I was on the other side of the curtain with the kids who took the show for what it was, a chance to laugh and act out and have fun.

Saturday was opening day for Little League, my first one as a coach. Man, this is a baseball town. Team pictures followed by a very long opening ceremony (with every diggleberry dignitary wanting to speak) and then the opening game. The seven-year old had a First Communion retreat so I coached even though he wasn’t there (which may have explained why I was so relaxed for once).

I’ll just say that I had a ball, I got a bright red farmer tan, and as I stood there I was amazed that after my less-than-stellar little league career I would ever be allowed back on the field. I thank the Baseball Gods for their forgiving souls.

Oh, and we won!

World's Worst Parents

It's whine time over at the seven-year old's blog. And to think, we encourage him to post there.

No, Moe

When any new Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurant comes into town, I just have to check it out. When the restaurant has a family friendly menu it makes it easier for me to convince the rest of the family to come along. So I was excited when the missus and the seven-year old agreed to try Moe's Southwest Grill (a chain that recently opened in Deptford, NJ) with me (the two-year old doesn't have much say in where we dine just yet).

Sadly, the first visit to Moe's will be our last. First, despite the picture on Moe's website (pictured here), the Moe's in Deptford is in a strip mall. And not one of the newer, more popular strip malls around the Deptford Mall, but an older, sadder one. There's no outside seating and most of the lighting inside is artificial since the only window is at the front of the place.

Second, and most important, the food is disappointing. Moe's serves its food cafeteria style, like Subway. And while it's not as bad as Taco Bell, there is a cheap, fast-food look to the food. I think the Subway comparison is a good one - just as Subway is a step up from regular fast food but would never be confused for real deli food, Moe's is better than Taco Bell but can't even match Don Pablo's food-wise (not that I think Don Pablo's is all that great). It's a dumbed down Tex-Mex menu, and a pretty small menu at that.

And third, there's a weird "trying too hard" vibe to the place. Most of the menu items have pop culture references, but few of them make any sense or are even funny. It's like, "Hey, our vegetarian burrito is named the Art Vandelay, isn't that just so crazy?!?" Take a look at the menu, it's just weird. It's trying to be this wacky place, but the workers (who couldn't have been working there very long since it hasn't been open that long) looked like they hated their jobs and the fact that we were stuck in a strip mall was kind of depressing.

Here's how bad it was: it made us miss Chili's. That's pretty bad. Moe's is a chain located all over the US, but we won't be looking out for them.

Favorite Photo Of The Week VII

Last week I asked you, the readers, to pick the best of my photos from the week past. Most of the votes were for two shots from our Easter trip down to Ocean City, NJ. In the end, Abandoned Pier beat out Seagull.

Lets do it again. Click here to look at the past week's photos, then come back and post a comment (anonymously if you like) to this post. Next Sunday I'll post the results.

Thanks!

Pottersville

Did Duyba really say that the Social Security Trust Fund is nothing but IOUs? So should I stop buying US Savings Bonds now? There’s nothing but paper behind those, too. To quote George Bailey,"The money's not here, your money’s in Joe’s house.  And in the Kennedy house, and Mrs. Macklin’s house and a hundred others!”

Either Dubya’s being real disingenuous or real stupid. (Or both!). Maybe he’s just so wealthy that he’s never had to take out a loan. Although. for a rich guy, he sure knows how to run up a debt.

WTF, Not WTF

I recently (but, I assure you, not on April Fool’s Day) got an email from URISA (the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association, if you must know):

The URISA Website Task Force (WTF) is looking for volunteers to serve on this committee. Members with a background in website design, web applications, online discussion groups, list-serves, etc. are especially desirable. [emphasis mine]

WTF? Did they really name this web-related task force WTF? Either I have to stop reading so many blogs or the leaders of URISA have to start reading more of them.

This task force name is so great that I wish I had the skills they are seeking so I could join it - just so I could get away with writing WTF on memos (something I've been wanting to do for a while). Or so I could have conversations like this:

BOSS: Mark, what are you working on?
ME: WTF?
BOSS: Hey, whoa, I'm just asking.

The worst-named group I've ever been a part of was the State Mapping Advisory Committee. SMAC. Yup, I was on smack.

And once my work named a traffic program PRIMUS, which stood for something, but just made me think of "Primus Sucks."

Friday Random Ten - 04.08.05

Time for Friday Random Ten, where you hit "shuffle" on your favorite digital music player (for me my Windows MediaPlayer at work) and report on the first ten songs that it spits out.

I'll stick with posting the second line from each song like I did a couple weeks ago. Notice that five of the ten songs feature women, a big change for my MediaPlayer randomizer.

Here goes:

“Concrete And Barbed Wire” - Lucinda Williams (from Car Wheels On A Gravel Road)
"But this wall is not real, how can it be real?"

“Mighty Rivers” – Graham Parker (from Steady Nerves)
"I'll never give up now, when love is a passion that can't go to sleep."

"I Wish You Would” – Treat Her Right (from What's Good For You)
"That's when my baby went away."

"In The Middle Of It All” – Arthur Alexander (from Lonely Just Like Me)
"But it was once a happy house."

“Van Lear Rose” – Loretta Lynn (from Van Lear Rose)
"Listenin' to the stories that he told."

“When You Wake Up Feeling Old” – Wilco (from Summer Teeth)
"At this piano filled with souls."

“Bastards Of Young” – The Replacements (from Tim)
"Where you take one step and miss the whole first rung."

“Wild Bill Jones (Live)” – Dan Tyminski & Alison Krauss (from Down From The Mountain)
"He was a’walkin’ and a’talkin’ by my true lover’s side and I bid him to leave her alone."

“He Never Got Enough Love” – Lucinda Williams (from Sweet Old World)
"Just a picture of a girl in a sad blue dress hanging beside a cross on the wall."

“I'll Be Your Mirror” – The Velvet Underground (from The Velvet Underground & Nico)
"Reflect what you are, in case you don’t know."

I See A IKEA

As a respite from painting the dining room (I’m about 97% done), everyone piled into the minivan and hit the new South Philadelphia IKEA last Sunday. In addition to the happy fact that the new IKEA is only 10 minutes away and I no longer have to sit in Schuylkill Expressway traffic for an hour to get to the store they stuck out in the PA suburbs, the new store is also a fun place to visit - bright, spacious, well-organized, and clean.

The older IKEAs (like the original Plymouth Meeting store and the one across from Newark airport) were like casinos - windowless - so you had no idea how long you had been shopping. You'd come out to load your car and find out it you had been in there three days.

The decision to place the South Philadelphia IKEA's parking lot in front of the store rather than behind or under it was a poor one since the large cafeteria windows now overlook the parking lot (and the auto parts store within it) rather than the nearby Delaware River.

A good thing about the cafeteria: if you buy breakfast there they will take the amount of your breakfast off your furniture purchase. So it's like getting a free breakfast. Just don't eat too many of their hash browns or you'll be burping up peppers while you put the furniture together (this comes from personal experience).

The cafeteria even has a baby section (with a microwave, bottle warmer, bibs, and diapers) and a kids section with a TV running cartoons on a loop. This in addition to the playroom where you can drop the brats off (which, despite being located in the hard, cold city, was staffed by nicer people than those in the bright, sunny suburbs).

Who doesn't like IKEA? God bless you, Ingvar Kamprad, you should be awarded the Noble Prize. I guess you'll just have to settle for being the richest guy in the world.

The missus and I had budgeted some of our Home Equity Line funds for new bedroom furniture and ended up getting it at IKEA. We also picked up a couple things for the boys’ rooms but were unable to find a baker’s rack that would satisfy our need for storage but still fit in the small corner of the kitchen. For the past ten years our microwave has sat on an old bedroom dresser and we’re tired of looking at it.

Survey Says

After a bit of begging I was able to convince fellow Philadelphia-area blogger Becky of Good Grief  to overcome her shyness and tag me for a book survey. Sometimes bloggers throw things out there for everyone to do (like Friday Random Ten) and sometimes you have to be "tagged" which is kind of juvenile and sends me right back to waiting (and waiting and waiting) to be picked in gym class.

Anyway, I first must state that Becky insist on calling this a survey, not a meme. She doesn't do memes. Oooooooo kayyyyyyyyy. I briefly considered insisting on calling it a compendium, but I'll stick with survey.

Here goes:

How many books do you read in a year?

If you had asked me last year I could have smugly said 52, but since than my reading has dropped considerably. I'm only on my third book this year, but in 2003 I did read about 20 books (all in the second part of the year). So let's say about 20 a year and cross our fingers that my reading productivity picks up.

What was the last book you bought?

Ever since I got my Free Library of Philadelphia card (a great deal - free to anyone who lives, works, or goes to school in the city) it's been unusual for me to buy a book, unless the vast library system doesn't stock the book. That was the case with Jason Headley's Small Town Odds. Headley emailed me a while back after seeing one of my numerous adoring posts to my favorite author, Richard Russo. Apparently Headley's debut novel had been compared to Russo's writing. I'm halfway through the book now and at best it's Russo-lite, but I'll stick with it and see if it gets any better.

What was the last book you read?

While waiting for Small Town Odds to come in from Amazon I stole Steve Martin's The Pleasure of My Company off the missus' nightstand. As I said at the time, I wasn't too impressed.

List five books that mean a lot to you or that you particularly enjoyed.

I'm a latecomer to the whole "reading for pleasure" idea, so I can't say there are a lot of books that "mean a lot to me" (except maybe To Kill a Mockingbird and a lot of that admiration comes from watching Gregory Peck play Atticus in the movie). So I'll list five authors whose writing I can't get enough of:

Richard Russo
Anne Tyler
Barbara Kingsolver
Jane Smiley (although she usually leaves me feeling about 90% satisfied).
and the Best American Short Stories series.

I've also developed a soft spot for debut novels from new authors.

Who will you pass this on to?

Like I said, I don't like the exclusionary idea of "tagging," so I'll open this up to everybody. Either answer in the comments or on your own blog and leave a link to it in the comments.

Thanks Becky!

Low And Outside

Despite my own complete lack of baseball talents, I have volunteered to help out on the seven-year old's Little League team. Officially I'm called a coach, but really there's the manager, the head coach, and me. I'm kind of the intern of the team, and I like it like that. I don't want too much responsibility and I definitely don't want to be the one teaching the kids how to play. As much as I know and love baseball, I've never been coordinated enough to get down the correct techniques.

So we've had a few practices and I've mostly been stuck with kids like my son, the kids coming out of t-ball and facing live pitching for the first time. The manager shows the kids how he wants them to swing and moves on, and I stay with the kids and make sure they are doing it right. Unlike last fall when I helped out on my son's soccer team but was never seen as a coach (more like a babysitter for the kids on the bench), these little league coaches are cool and do make me feel like I'm a part of the team. I think (I hope) they also realize that I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to be doing.

So imagine my surprise when my son's first scrimmage comes around yesterday and I'm the only "coach" there from his team. As all the parents stand around I try to blend in with them until someone says, "aren't you a coach?" Then all hell breaks loose. Next thing I know the other teams manager is treating me like a real coach, asking who I'm pitching (I have no idea who's pitching since I've only dealt with the first year guys) and telling me I can have the field for warm-ups in a few minutes. I've got no equipment and no idea how to hit a ball directly at a specific player. I also only know about three of the kids names.

The other team's coaches are cool and help me get through the warm-ups ("What's your right fielder's name?" I have no idea. "Hey, kid in right field, heads up!"). My manager finally shows up (after being stuck in traffic) and explains that during scrimmages you call balls and strikes for your own pitcher. He can see I'm not too crazy about doing that, especially since there are tons of parents watching and we're a baseball town and I'm too young to die. He gives me the one-minute umpire training - anything that looks close enough to hit is a strike.

But we're up first and he asks me to be the first base coach. He can see I'm not too crazy about that either and gives me the one-minute first base coach training - don't let them go past first base. That was fairly easy and kind of fun since the kids are all happy when they get on base.

Calling balls and strikes wasn't as easy. It was easy when the pitches were wild (ball) and when the batter swung wild (strike), but every time it was close and the batter didn't swing I doubted myself. Ball? Strike? (I sounded like a teenage girl? Where everything sounds like a question?) I still thought I did a good job until the inning was over and a coach from the other team gave me a piece of advice - if the ball bounces before the plate, don't call it a strike. Oops!

What else happened? I froze my butt off since I was only wearing a long-sleeve t-shirt (if I want to look the part of a coach I apparently gotta get a windbreaker), my son refused to come to bat when it was his turn (he had been hit by a pitch during practice last week and is still in the post-traumatic stage), my son also was under the impression that I could stop what I was doing and come over to him at any time, and I switched a call from a strike to a ball, which thankfully got a good laugh from the parents and coaches. My son even eventually came to bat, watching five pitches go by without swinging and taking the base on balls.

I survived my trial-by-fire and actually enjoy coaching baseball. The manager and other coaches are being real cool and understanding of the fact that I'm a rookie and a couple of them told me that they had all been through the same thing their first year.

I'm afraid my son is taking after me talent-wise when it comes to baseball. Watching him try to play is like an out-of-body experience - it's like I'm watching an old movie of myself at his age. I trying my best to take it easy on him. I not the kind of parent who wants his kids to excel in sports so they can live vicariously through their victories - I just want him to enjoy himself and learn the game, but I'm not going to let him get away with goofing off like I did when I was his age (picking dandelions in left field). It's been tough knowing when to get on him and when to let him go, but hopefully I'll learn that as the season goes along as well.

It should be an interesting time. I doubt this will be my last post on the subject.

Near Beer

Well, according to the folks at RealBeer.com over 5000 votes were cast today in the final round of the Battle of the Beers, and Flying Fish came up short by only about 200 votes. Not too shabby. I think that have to be pretty happy to have made it this far.

But hey, the Phillies won!

Battle Of The Beers 2005 - Championship

This is it.

As predicted here, the Battle of the Beers Championship has come down to Cherry Hill NJ's Flying Fish and Delaware's Dogfish Head. It's pretty amazing that Flying Fish has made it this far, but topping Dogfish Head, the two-time reigning champs, is going to be a huge challenge. You know I'm voting for the good folks of Flying Fish (and I can honestly say that, while it's not my favorite beer of theirs, I prefer their Abbey Dubbel over Dogfish Head's 90 Minute Imperial IPA) and hope you will take a moment and vote for them, too.

Favorite Photo of the Week VI

Last week I asked you, the readers, to pick the best of my photos from the week past. The winner was Trombonist. It was an unusual shot for me since I don't normally take pictures of strangers, especially street performers since I feel obligated to drop money into their hat if I show any interest in them.

This past week was crazy, what with being home with the boys and painting and painting and painting. But I was still able to post a photo a day. So please click here to look at the past week's photos, then come back and post a comment (anonymously if you like) to this post. Next Sunday I'll post the results.

Thanks!

Photo Friday - 03.31.05

Each week Photo Friday posts a photo assignment. Your mission is the creative interpretation of the week's theme. When you're done, post the picture you took to your website and submit your link to Photo Friday. Photo Friday is about challenging our participants to be original and creative within the constraints of the week's theme. It's not a competition. Anyone with a camera and a place on the Internet to post pictures can participate.

03.31.05 Challenge: Hot

10th & Cherry, Chinatown, Philadelphia, PA.

Friday Random Ten - 04.01.05

Time for Friday Random Ten, where you hit "shuffle" on your favorite digital music player (for me my Windows MediaPlayer at work) and report on the first ten songs that it spits out.

Ah, but I'm not at work today. I'm still stuck at home painting the dining room (how long does it take to paint one room?!?). I don't have a lot of music downloaded at home so for a random music selection I put my two-year old in front of my CD collection and had him pull ten discs. I was a little worried about this plan, but when he started out with Late For The Sky, I knew everything would be alright.

Not just songs this week, whole albums:

Late For The Sky, Jackson Browne

Darkness On The Edge Of Town, Bruce Springsteen

Comes A Time, Neil Young

Hearts And Bones, Paul Simon

Dart To The Heart, Bruce Cockburn

Tomorrow The Green Grass, The Jayhawks

The Ghost Of Tom Joad, Bruce Springsteen

Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys

Electric Honey, Luscious Jackson

Guitar Town, Steve Earle

Battle Of The Beers - Final Four

I have let you down.

I misread the revised tourney schedule and missed the elite eight round. I hope nobody missed my beer commentary too much. The good news coming out of the last round is Flying Fish moved on even without my vote. More good news is that they don't have to face reining champs Dogfish Head in this round of the BoB.

I'm predicting a Flying Fish/Dogfish Head fishy final. Today's picks:

Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA vs. Capital Autumnal Fire
90 Minute couldn't let up in its Elite Eight victory over Midwesterner Three Floyds Dreadnaught and now faces another Midwestern beer. Autumnal Fire has come on strong throughout the tournament, after surviving a first round match with neighboring Huber Bock.

My Vote: I was kind of hoping that Dogfish Head wouldn't make it back to the finals, but I have to admit that I would rather have the 90-minute than the Bock. I could vote for Capital so Flying Fish wouldn't have to face the champs, but I don't think there's any stopping Dogfish Head anyway.

Flying Fish Dubbel vs. AleSmith Speedway Stout
As the microbrewery built on the Internet, Flying Fish developed a loyal following well beyond the area its beer is distributed. By brewing cult classics, AleSmith had done the same. When thinking about the breweries, don't forget the beers themselves.

My Vote: This is too easy. I really wouldn't drink Speedway Stout. I'm kind of  surprised that they've made it this far. Their ride ends here. Fish Fish Fish!