Csquared Thoughts

our perception of baseball

Mark Lamster gave Bottom of the Ninth: Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel, and the Daring Scheme to Save Baseball from Itself a middling review in the Los Angeles Times, but his essay tells the honest truth about baseball fans.

It was Bill Veeck, a true maverick among the sport's moguls, who once declared that "[B]aseball must be a great game, because the owners haven't been able to kill it." Serious fans know they've given it a pretty good try over the years, with a considerable late assist from the steroidal heroes who wear the uniforms. They all get away with it because we fans don't want to know how baseball's sausage is made. We watch the game not just for the aesthetic pleasures of a mighty clout or a well-turned double play, but because it offers a time and space apart from our headaches and aggravations.

walking through life

In memory of Bettelu who loved the walk (thru life). —on a bench next to a walking/jogging/bicycling trail at Mission Bay Park in San Diego

I have no idea who Bettelu was, but I bet she would have been a fun person to know.

letting go

I realized not long ago that I have this odd habit. In the grocery store, I look for what I think will be the fastest line. It may not be the shortest, depending on a number of factors I balance in my head, including what is happening at the cash register and so forth, but I select it as my best guess for being the fastest. If I'm wrong I react to myself as if I have made a mistake, failed, lost the game.

I think I want to change that mind set, slow down, and not worry about a couple of minutes lost here and there.

still gone

If you're close to my age you may remember that in the mid-1970's Spanish dictator Francisco Franco died after a very long illness and being close to death for what seemed like forever. You may also remember that on Saturday Night Live, in his "Weekend Update," Chevy Chase ran with this by repeatedly reporting, "This just in. Francisco Franco is still dead."

I have to report to you that Nick's South Philly Cafe is still gone.

Last Thursday, in what was a totally irrational and emotional act, while in the area running errands I drove by the storefront, hoping to see what, I don't know. It was unchanged from the last time I was there: locked up and empty with all the fixtures gone.

I still crave that Philly Chicken sandwich.

Some losses, even ones that are in reality quite small in the grander scheme of things, are harder to get over than others. 

I did it...I apologize...I couldn't resist

I recently stated that I would not join Facebook. I joined Facebook.

I had had several requests from friends and family to join. And there are a couple public personalities whose most current information is on Facebook. So I joined. Having joined, I was amazed at how many friends and family were already there. Not to mention one interesting six-degrees-of-separation experience.

GIven my reversal, I make three promises.

1. If you want to know what I'm thinking, this is still the place. There may be links from Facebook to here, but not the other way around.

2. I will not invite anyone who is not already Facebook member to join.

3. I will not open a Twitter account.

I promise.

Kodachrome

Kodachrome is being discontinued.

It shouldn't bother me. I've been shooting digital for several years now. Before that, I most recently used Fuji Velvia and Provia and Kodak Ektachrome. There is only one lab left that processes the film.

But it's the end of an era. My grandfather shot with Kodachrome. My father shot with Kodachrome. I shot with Kodachrome into the 1980s.

The loss of Kodachrome doesn't really change my life, but I still have to shed a tear.

Kodachrome They give us those nice bright colors They give us the greens of summers Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, Oh yeah I got a Nikon camera I love to take a photograph So mama don't take my Kodachrome away —Paul Simon

not of this world?

The other day I pulled into a parking space at my local Mexican restaurant for lunch. Next to me was a big, new SUV with a window decal that said "Not of this world." I did question why if the owner was not of this world they would spend so much money on a big, new SUV. Perhaps if they're not of this world, it doesn't bother them that the planet has a limited supply of oil. But that's not my point here.

The story continues: After lunch I pulled into a parking space at the grocery store. I got out of my car and noticed the very same decal on the car next to mine (this one a small, modest, foreign car).

Bizarre, seeing the same decal twice in succession on cars parked next to mine. Especially since at the same time I had been listening to the audio book version of Brian McLaren's book A Generous Orthodoxy, which focuses on living the teachings of Jesus in this world.

West Coast Live

I've mentioned the public radio program West Coast Live in passing, but have never really devoted an entry to it.

It's broadcast live each Saturday morning from 10:00 am until noon Pacific from KALW in San Francisco. It's on a number of public radio stations across the country, some of which broadcast it live, others of which broadcast it at a later time. You can also catch it via KALW's live stream, and well as the live stream from Jefferson Public Radio's News and Information service. (KALW's stream can be a bit flaky at times.)

It's hosted by Sedge Thomson, a sort of Saturday Morning Garrison Keillor who doesn't sing but who does do superb interviews.

The program consists of those interviews wrapped around an eclectic mix of live music. (Much of it surprisingly within the bluegrass-country spectrum, given the highbrow nature of many of the guests. But then you also have the house pianist, the magnificent jazz musician Mike Greensill.)

Here is an entirely random sampling of guests who have been on the program over the years:

• Steve Allen
• Roy Blount, Jr
• T.C. Boyle
• Susan Cheever
• Julia Child
• James Fallows
• Harvey Fierstein
• Mickey Hart
• Wavy Gravy
• Mariel Hemingway
• Tony Hillerman

Of course there's the occasional annoying guest, like the not funny-at-all comedy duo "travel experts" Karl and Karl, but that's the real exception.

For the overwhelming majority of the time, the show is well worth your time and very much worth listening to.

Check it out.

slow down

Slow Down— there is more to life than increasing its speed. —Mohandas Gandhi

courtesy of Tahoe Mom

not an ascot kind of guy

Terry and I both have this thought that when we become independently wealthy, either by winning the California lottery or otherwise, we'll buy ourselves a BMW convertible, so we can buzz down Highway 1 together, looking "mahvelous." Terry sometimes sees me in the convertible wearing an ascot cap.

I've been tempted. When we've been in shops that carry ascots, I've looked.

But really, I'm not an ascot kind of guy. I identify so well with Neil Diamond's, "Forever in Bluejeans," and  by that same token, I'm forever in a baseball cap.

Even if we win the lottery, or by some other means become independently wealthy, and buy that Beemer convertible, as we're tooling down Highway 1 with the top down, I'll be wearing a baseball cap and not an ascot.