Category Archives: Uncategorized

Brussels – 0

It’s been several years since I traveled to Europe. I’m not getting any younger, so I felt it was time to go back while I’m still young enough to enjoy it. Being able to afford it now helps.

Why Brussels? Mostly because it’s a little off the beaten path. I also considered London and Paris, but decided against them as they are too common. I wanted someplace more on the unusual side – so people would want to hear my travel tales. Belgium is known for two of my favorite things – beer and chocolate – so I’m sure to have a good time. Also, English is spoken quite regularly there, and there are direct flights from my nearest international airport.

Planning, though, can be a pain.

Continue reading →

Pond in a Jar 10

Well, after nearly two years, it’s still alive! Can’t say I could call it “thriving”, but there are three little snails in there. None of them are visible in the photo – but you should be able to pick out a bit of hornwort that managed to survive getting crowded out by the other plant. The one that we watched grow from a little seedling – and is now trying to push against the lid. Some parts of it are not doing so well (no idea why the leaves are spotty and brown (and I don’t really care)), but others, as you can see, have a nice lush green color.

Still plenty of that ugly fuzz, and not as many swimming dots as before. I hope that’s a seasonal thing. I’ll try and catch some more when I get water for the next topping off – which won’t be too long from now; evaporation in the summer heat is noticeably lowering the water level.

A different viewing angle this time.

At the Halfway Point

Well, not literally, the teams have already played Game Number 81. But it’s still close enough, and the usual time to take a break and assess the season so far.

There’s the usual chatter about Surprises (Tigers) and Disappointments (Orioles), First Half Award Winners – and can they keep it up in the second half (Cal Raleigh), which teams will be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline….but I’m not enough of a fan to speak with any sort of expertise on any of that.

With regards to the All Star Game, we’re so used to interleague play that the prospect of seeing the stars of the two leagues facing each other holds no special attraction to many fans. And 24/7 sports media coverage means we’ve already had the chance to at least become familiar with any star players (even if we haven’t seen them in a game).

As much as some might try to, making the actual All Star Game exciting is a wasted effort. Forcing things so that every player on the rosters – all 70 (is that how many there are these days?) of them – gets into the game means there’s not that much chance for excitement (we were lucky this year). Paul Skenes won’t be staring down Aaron Judge with the game on the line in the late innings…. Heck, the high point of the whole thing is the player introductions – which FOX made a mess of as usual. You had those nice little name and team graphics for the starters; would it kill you to have them for all the other players, too?

Is it really necessary to analyze the Home Run Derby and give us all sorts of pointless stats and “takeaways”? Let the thing be nothing more than what it is – a fun, cool, awesome – and pointless – thing. But a “Home Run Derby” as a tiebreaker is a stupid way to end a game. I understand why they had to do it, but you still can’t make me like it. Especially since there was no hint that it was how a tie would be resolved in the broadcast of the game. By the way, how is the final score recorded in the record books? 6-6? 7-6? 10-9???

At least they didn’t have those garbage special “All Star Game Uniforms” and let the players wear their actual, normal ones during the game.

Jaws at 50

I find it odd that one of the best and most important movies of all time never seems to get the respect it deserves. It spawned sequels and knock-offs, launched the careers of not just Steven Spielberg but John Williams, invented the “summer blockbuster”, and even gave rise to “Shark Week”. Get people talking about it, and they’ll soon agree it’s one of the greatest movies ever – or should at least be in the discussion. But come back to them the next day, and ask them to make a list of the Greatest Movies Ever…….

I think there are a couple of reasons for this neglect.

Continue reading →

Great Moments in Basketball History

I’m not a basketball fan. I can just about follow a game, but I have only the basic knowledge of the sport that one who glances at the sports news every day manages to acquire over the years. For example, I know that the NBA Finals are in full swing – but I couldn’t tell you what teams are involved.

But if you check out the “Book Reviews” page here, you’ll see that I’m a fan of history – and sports history. Recently (inspired largely by Joe Posnanski’s Why We Love Baseball and Why We Love Football), I started wondering what events and incidents would – or should – be included in a list of Great Moments in Basketball History.

There are plenty of lists out there – but I’m taking a much broader view of what belongs.

Continue reading →

City Connections

So Major League Baseball is starting Version 2.0 of the “City Connect” uniforms. Some of the new versions are clear improvements (e.g. Dodgers (though it wasn’t hard to come up with something better for them)); others are along the lines of “What were you thinking? Your first ones were great!” (e.g. Boston) Cynics can see them as just another way to suck money away from fans; others can see them as cool and fun ways to try something different on occasion.

I, of course, have my own Thoughts on the Matter.

Continue reading →

Going to Overtime

The NBA and NHL Playoffs are in full swing, and with a couple of local (to me) teams involved, it’s hard to avoid hearing the latest results. My mind started to wonder – have any Game Sevens in the final championship round gone to overtime? Have the two teams ever been so evenly matched that they needed to keep going past the normal limit to determine a champion?

(NOTE: The year given refers to the year in which the game was played, not the year the regular season began)

Continue reading →

Charm City – 6

I noticed something on the drive down. Everyone, with reason, talks about the foliage of fall. All those brilliant and vivid golds, oranges, and reds on the trees, mixed in with the remaining greens. But in the spring, and lasting for about the same amount of time, one can notice a similar display on the trees as new growth bursts out of its protective coverings. Golds and reds among the many shades of yellow-green, with the occasional splash of pink, white, or purple from an ornamental tree that managed to escape into the wild. The colors are rather less “saturated”, of course, but they are there if you are willing to look.

Continue reading →

Charm City – 4

For those not wanting to leave the Inner Harbor area, there are a pair of Places To Visit right on the Harbor.

The Maryland Science Museum is located at the southwest corner of the harbor. Like almost every science museum these days, it’s got the dinosaur exhibit that shows the geological history of the area, interactive displays illustrating various principles of physics (which kids play with and on without stopping to wonder about the various principles involved), a demonstration theater / lecture hall for showing off visually exciting things in chemistry and physics, and a fairly large exhibit sponsored by one of the area’s major corporations / research centers.

Continue reading →