June 2006


I’ve been a Red Sox fan since the days of Carl Yastrzemski. When I was a kid playing ball, like all kids of those days, I held my bat way high over my head like Yaz did. I had a number 8 shirt, too. Then in 1975 there was the awesome Carlton Fisk walk-off homer in Game 6 to tie the series against the Reds. I was watching that one with my folks and we all went nuts when it cleared the foul pole. No miracles the next night, though. I was listening on Armed Forces radio in Germany in ’86, ready to celebrate a long awaited World Series victory when the ball went through…well, you know. And I was almost in tears just like every other Sox fan when the ’04 Idiots finally pulled it out against the Yankmees and then walked past the Cards. But tonight against the NY Mets, I saw a team that had it all working at the basics level. They hit big; they hit small. The got the typical clutch homer from Ortiz and they manufactured runs when they needed to. Schilling was strong and Timlin/Papelbon were stingy as ever. But the sense that this is going to be a World Series year for the Sox came with this incredible catch by Coco Crisp. Un-be-lievable.

Sweet catch.

This is a mature team with all the heart and soul they need to make a run for the pennant. They have it all this year and they put on a master class tonight.

Ever since our neighbors moved and took their dogs with them, we’ve seen much more wildlife in our yard. Last week a deer was munching nose-to-nose with a raccoon. Tonight the deer was back.

Visitor

Visitor

This weekend at the Mid-Ohio Grand Am race, driver Joey Hand was bumped off the asphalt and onto the grass. His car hit a newly (and foolishly) installed raised access road and was launched into the air. It nose-dived into the grass and flipped eight times, coming apart in the process. Hand was able to crawl out of the wreck on his own and suffered no serious injuries.

Wreck

Hand has been in wrecks before and probably will be again. He plans to continue racing and was back at the track the next day. Some may say he’s a tad insane for his willingness to risk life and limb again, but today Joey Hand is feeling especially alive; more so than many of us have ever felt. It’s that feeling of living on the edge, I think, which drives people to risk everything for the sport they love.

This wreck also shows how a well-built car and proper safety gear can mean the difference between survival and certain death. It’s a pity so many folks refuse to learn that lesson.

Here’s the full video of the crash.

I’d be slowing down. 😉

Whoa.

1. A bicycle can’t stand alone because it is two-tired.

2. What’s the definition of a will? It’s a dead giveaway.

3. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

4. A backward poet writes inverse.

5. In democracy it’s your vote that counts; In feudalism, it’s your Count that votes.

6. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.

7. If you don’t pay your exorcist you get repossessed.

8. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.

9. Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I’ll show you A-flat minor.

10. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.

11. The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.

12. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.

13. You feel stuck with your debt if you can’t budge it.

14. Local Area Network in Australia: The LAN down under.

15. He often broke into song because he couldn’t find the key.

16. Every calendar’s days are numbered.

17. A lot of money is tainted. ‘Taint yours and ‘taint mine.

18. A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.

19. He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

20. A plateau is a high form of flattery.

21. The short fortuneteller who escaped from prison was a small medium at
large.

22. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

23. When you’ve seen one shopping center you’ve seen a mall.

24. Those who jump off a Paris bridge are in Seine.

25. When an actress saw her first strands of gray hair she thought she’d dye.

26. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.

27. Santa’s helpers are subordinate clauses.

28. Acupuncture is a jab well done.

29. Marathon runners with bad footwear suffer the agony of defeat.

But they produce some awesome images.

Another sunrise.

29 years ago today I reported to the Army and Air Force Entrance and Examination Station (AAFEES) in Boston to begin more than 8 years on active duty. While my time in the Army was rewarding, that first day was no fun at all. After being poked and prodded at AAFEES, I was put on a plane (my first flight in an airliner) and shipped off to Ft. Knox. I got to Knox very late at night and was then treated to the stereotypical recruit harassment. I recall getting to bed about 3AM and being rudely awaken at 4:30AM by a drill sergeant banging on a metal trash can cover. That day was the last time my hair ever covered my ears. 🙂

This little gadget will do more for marital fidelity than Fatal Attraction ever did. Just hide it in a car and track every movement for days. It’s a brave new world out there. 🙂

Tracker