There are so very many newspapers, magazines, and websites that are publishing lists of “celebrities” that have died this year….. Somehow, they always seem to miss a few people of note. People – and even things, on occasion – that have left their mark or have some claim to fame that makes them worthy of remembrance.
Here’s a final salute to some of those who might not appear in the usual places: Continue reading
Mets 5, Polish All Stars 4
“It was just like the way we worked on it in Spring Training” – Tug McGraw
It was quite the finish. The Mets had a one-run lead going in to the bottom of the ninth, and the Polish All Stars had the top of the order coming up. A leadoff double from Alan Trammel was followed by two quick outs, and it looked like the Mets could get out of it. But Stan Musial dropped a single into shallow left field, putting runners on the corners, and bringing Ted Kluszewski to the plate. “Big Klu” was 3 for 4 so far, with a home run and two singles. On deck was Troy Tulowitzki, who was hitless in four at bats – and had grounded into two inning-ending double plays. Continue reading
Seems every week there’s another article out about people being Concerned over the possible dangers posed by artificial intelligence (AI for short). A lot of the tech people involved in developing it are asking for some government guidelines and regulation, Somehow, they can’t seem to slow down on their own. Can’t afford to let someone else get it first, you see.
The big worry is that somehow, any AI might determine that its goals are not in line with those of humans, and it will take over the world. The one movie that’s constantly referenced is The Terminator (1984), in which the military gave control of its weapons systems to something called “Skynet”, which became self-aware and turned against humanity. Some commenters might mention War Games (1983), where a supercomputer was given control of the US’ nuclear missiles and then, thanks to some glitches, thought that a simulation was a real attack…..
So far, though, I haven’t seen anyone mention what is probably the first of these “give a supercomputer control of the nukes” movies – the adaptation of D.F. Jones 1966 novel, Colossus: The Forbin Project. Continue reading
Because I’m too lazy this year to do anything significant.
Look, you can always click on “Christmas” in the tag cloud over to the right – the stuff there is still good. Not much more I can say after ten years of this anyway.
Mr. Weebl is at it again with another Advent Colander Calendar Camembert:
This is my Christmas Tree:
I’ve had this thing for I don’t know how many years. I keep it in the closet with a bag over it for protection. Sometimes I tinker with the ornaments, which are mostly little charms and tokens I’ve collected over the years.
And why is it so hard to find boxes (or at least multi-packs) of humorous Christmas cards?
That is all. Go deck the halls or something.
The Called Shot: Babe Ruth, The Chicago Cubs, & The Unforgettable Major League Baseball Season of 1932
Thomas Wolf
University of Nebraska Press
Copyright 2020 by the author
It’s one of the most iconic moments in baseball, if not all of sports. In the top of the fifth inning in Game 3 of the World Series, Babe Ruth is at the plate with two strikes on him. He faces / looks at / glares into the Cubs dugout, waves / motions / points emphatically at / towards / in the direction of the pitcher’s mound / outfield / the centerfield bleachers, possibly says / yells something, and then slams the next pitch soaring into the Chicago afternoon for a home run.
Wolf decides not to spend a lot of time and ink going over that moment; instead, he looks at the season that led up to it. Continue reading
Mets 14, Polish All Stars 7
It didn’t go as expected. With two Hall of Fame pitchers facing each other, one would think it would be a low-scoring duel. Nor was it a slugfest; there were only six extra base hits in total.
The Mets jumped out to an early lead, thanks to uncharacteristic wildness from Harry Coveleski. He loaded the bases in the 1st with single and a pair of walks, and paid for it after a pair of singles pushed across a total of three runs. He settled down in the 2nd, but after giving up another three runs in the 3rd, he had to be sent to the showers.
Tom Seaver had his own meltdown in the fourth. Continue reading
People don’t usually give a lot of thought to the origins of the holiday. It’s usually seen as just a day when you stuff yourself silly with family that you mostly like, and then go back to getting ready for Christmas.
If it gets any attention, it’s often depicted as marking the beginning of the conquest of North America by the English. I have to wonder what the natives actually thought of it at the time – if there actually was some sort of celebratory feast.
If there was, I suspect it was about the formation of an alliance between the English and the Wampanoag, the local tribe. As I understand it, the situation in south east “New England” was that there were a lot of small tribes in an ever-shifting network of alliances. The English could have been seen as just another tribe, so any celebration could have marked the acceptance of the English settlers into that network. That it took place at the end of harvest season (so we are told) is a mere coincidence.
Actually, there’s a long tradition of harvest festivals in places where winter is a time of darkness and privation. You’ve brought in and stored all the crops, killed all the livestock you can’t afford to keep alive through the winter – and preserved as much of the meat as you can, and gotten everything else ready for the cold and dark. A perfect time to have a big party and gorge yourself on all the late-ripening crops (nuts, root vegetables….) and what birds haven’t yet migrated away (pheasant). And if you’re lucky, any meat that you don’t have room to store.
So, if you want to get rid of all the political baggage that comes with Thanksgiving these days (and I’m not talking about that uncle who insists on talking about his conspiracy theories and how one political party is going to bring us to ruin), just skip all of it and celebrate the end of the harvest season as you get ready for winter.
And stuff yourself silly.
When you’ve been a baseball fan for a long enough time – and not particularly obsessed with a single team – you might start putting together “All-Time” teams. Not just players from one specific franchise, but perhaps an “all switch-hitters” team or a team where everyone is named “Joe” (or Jose, of course).
I consider myself to be of Polish ancestry, so naturally I thought of a “Polish All-Stars” team. If I am a fan of any one team, I would have to say it’s the Mets. So I’ve often tried to come up with an All-Time Mets team.
Then, with the two teams, might it not be fun to have them face each other in a best-of-seven series?
That’s where “Deadball” comes in.
Almost three months since the original collection, and it’s still thriving! OK, I’m down to just one beetle (that I can see), But there are still plenty of snails of various sizes, and that little sprouting plant has taken over. It’s over six inches tall, and has several side roots and offshoots. I really have to wonder where all the nutrients are coming from. The other plants don’t seem to be growing or dying off, and there’s no sign of any change in the soil level. And I’m keeping it sealed – it’s been a couple of weeks since I last popped the top. The water still has a greenish cast. I wonder if that’s algae floating or sticking to the glass. I don’t intend to shake things up to find out.
I wonder if it will make it through the winter – the heat in the room gets really weird; I sometimes have to open the window to keep from baking.
I tweaked the image a bit to better show details.
Well, that was set of games.
Look, they can’t all be stone-cold classics like 2016 or 2017. Sometimes you wind up with a pair of “meh” teams (2006), or one team that got hot / lucky at the right time, and then was totally overmatched in the Series (2007). This was a case of the latter – the Diamondbacks were a streaky team that barely made it in to the playoffs, and then got just hot enough to take advantage of their opponents’ weaknesses in the first three rounds. Then they ran into the best offense in the American League: the Rangers were first in batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, and tied for first in home runs. They didn’t really stand a chance. The Rangers also had six players selected for the summer’s All Star Game, so we shouldn’t have been surprised at how far they made it. Continue reading
Pure Blather 