Before May concludes, I should mention that I played a little bocce today at Dreier Offerman Park (now Calvert Vaux Park?). It got windy. We followed up the fun afternoon times with a trip to L&B Spumoni Gardens. Bring on summer!
This past Friday I loaded into a car with some friends and visited Harrisburg, PA. We passed through a storm and then waited out the middle of that storm to spend two innings (the first completed with just 6 pitches) watching Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg pitch. His Harrisburg Senators were hosting the New Britain Rock Cats. Between bouts of rain, a power outage and a charging of cell phones (unrelated, I swear), we drank a few beers and ended up having a fantastic time.
The revamped Senators stadium could still use a few tweaks as the place still feels a little raw and uncomplete. I hope Momo BBQ doesn't run out of food during my next visit. The hot dog I had from The Spot was top notch, though.
Here are three photos from the game (and more start here on my flickr account):
Yesterday, I joined some friends for a few bocce games deep in Brooklyn.
The courts at Dreier Offerman park now have fences along the siderails. I'm still not sure how I feel about this feature. Perhaps they help keep dogs out of the bocce courts?
As previously mentioned, some friends and I spent an afternoon learning to curl last Sunday. I've posted a few photographs here.
Update: Listmaker has photos and video!
I spent this afternoon in South Plainfield, NJ at the Plainfield Curling Club. After years of wanting to try my hand at curling, I realized putting together a group of friends to join me wasn't so difficult. I'll post more photos soon. I'm ready to curl again, that's for sure.
Check out this list of the best minor league baseball promotions.
Until twenty minutes ago I was unfamiliar with a few of these promotions. BirdZerk!? Myron Noodleman? Skyy Dogs USA?
Here are answers:
BirdZerk! is "The Wildest Craziest Show in Sports..."
Myron Noodleman is "The New Clown Prince of Baseball." He is also a "nerd's nerd" rumored to have made Bill Murray laugh.
Skyy Dogs USA along with Rockin' Ray are "America's most exciting Canine Entertainers."
I spent my Sunday afternoon traversing parts of Queens in search of the status of five bocce courts. Here's my report.
All the photos from Saturday's Urban Bocce event are now located here.
On Saturday I took part in Urban Bocce 2007: Balls in Flight. For the event I became Doctor Chartreuse. My superhero partner for this full day of bocce was Captain Visor. The matches were contested on all sorts of unusual terrain. Part one took place over and across a giant berm on the edge of Floyd Bennett Field in South Brooklyn.
Photos from part one can be found on my flickr account and start here.
C. Larry called the personal finance post a bit of a downer, so I figure the time has come for a bit of an ego boost. I'm a few weeks behind in updating the blog of my bocce team so forgive me for jumping the gun here. A few hours ago I captured the Coffee Flats Terrors' Hot Hand of the Week Award. I couldn't be more psyched. After losing game one of our best of three match to the Po-Town Pallinos, Captain Clutch and I stepped onto the court and helped make short work of game two. I'm happy to report the balls rolled positively for us. I started to fall apart in game three, but managed to grab the seventh and decisive point. The Terrors are now 3 and 1 on the season. The summer trophy is in our sights.
Is anyone up for playing bocce outdoors at Dreier Offerman Park on Saturday?
(Weather permitting, of course)
I just posted a few photos from yesterday's Urban Bocce tournament at Coney Island.
The photos are here.
Beyond bocce, the one summer activity I can recommend is an early afternoon game of wiffleball. Just over a week ago I joined a few friends in pursuit of this delightful sport. Taping up a plastic bat and trying to a hit a small, oddly flutterring ball as far as you can is incredibly fun.
Listmaker lets it go.
Jamie attempts to knock the ball past the trash can and into the fence in the outfield.
Erik put all of his might into a pitch, gearing up for a strikeout.
Jamie's swing is all Pep.
Hot Tub Eric tracks the flight of the ball.
Ezra goes for the clobber. His shorts give him the "best dressed" award.
Jamie swings like a professional. Without the duct tape, I wonder, how far does a wiffleball travel?
Seconds away from dropping to the ground, Hot Tub avoids one high and inside.
Recovered, he plans to knock one into the handball courts.
Chris gets ready to swing, knowing the strike zone is wider than a roll of tape. A Washington Nationals sweatshirt actually serves as the strike zone. While pitching, I managed to drop the wiffleball into one of the pockets. It was my greatest pitch of the afternoon. It's good that no one drafted me in an obscure fantasy wiffleball league. I had the most HR's allowed all day.
For more photos from the afternoon, check out Listmaker's collection.
The Winter 2006 Bocce Tournament was held this past weekend. Despite winning the whole thing last Fall, my team didn't even make it to the semi-finals this year. A few pictures are located on the team blog - Coffee Flats Terrors. I hope to add new entries all week. When they're ready, and they've overcome the grief, I imagine a few other Terrors will contribute.
the weekend is complete. the brooklyn fantasy baseball league i'm in held our draft yesterday. it was exhuasting. despite showing up with 35 ounces of "smart water" i drafted poorly. it turns out i didn't have the brains to properly run 2006_projectOR.xls with enough proficiency. i've got another draft this coming weekend. i'm going back to paper and pen.
also, i ate a lot of oreos at the draft.
Fantasy baseball is driving me insane. I can think of nothing else.
Also, I am sick of chewing gum. That's the act of chewing...gum. I'm okay with chewing gum in theory. Also fine with the idea of bubble gum. But I've been chewing a lot of gum lately and it's making my teeth hurt.
In my last podcast I mentioned that I'm taking requests for things to do that will change my life in either minor or major ways (if only for a week). I've begun one or two of them. Call my audio comment line and leave a suggestion or two. 206.66.MARC.6
Thanks!
(UPDATE - Friday 11am)
Here's an example of what I'm talking about in regards to fantasy baseball. Within the past hour I sent this email (names, positions, stats redacted & the word "offering" spelled correctly for use on the internet) to someone in my league. I'm becoming the sort of owner I hate!
Dear [OWNER] -
Thanks for thinking about the offer. You've got some good reasons to want to hold onto [PLAYER A]. I'm high on [PLAYER B], which is why I traded [PLAYER C], probably the top [POSITION X] this year, for him.
I'm not sure what your keeper situation looks like, but if I were to sweeten the deal by offering [PLAYER B] and [PLAYER D], would that interest you?
[PLAYER D] can play [POSITION Y] and [POSITION Z]. His [STAT Q] is great and if you look at last year's numbers, remember that he was out for [AMOUNT OF TIME INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK]. [BLANK #] [STAT P]'s this year with a(n) [STAT Q] of [BLANK #] or higher is a possibility. I ran some of my numbers yesterday, comparing projections across a couple of sources, and for our format [PLAYER D] is projecting out better than [PLAYER B].
-Marc
Obviously, I need professional help. Now that I've admitted my problem, I think it can be solved if [PLAYER A] joins my roster.
who knew my hometown was such a hotbed of parkour?
i know i should embed the youtube player thing in here but i'm just not ready for that kind of blogging yet.
here's the link.
http://www.youtube.com/?v=ZwTSKsF1qFk
I know it's ridiculous, but my bocce team, COFFEE FLATS TERRORS, has a blog. So do the folks in If You Want My Bocce.
Both teams play Saturday at Floyd, but not against each other.
on sunday evening the coffee flats terrors won the floyd, ny 2005 fall bocce league championship. our team couldn't have been more excited. podcast coming soon.
did anyone else enjoy mr. koo's appearance at the plate?
Here are a few of my recent del.icio.us links:
Jimmy Page's Sweater Vest: A butterfly in the Amazon flaps its wings...
some talk of a new minor league ballpark for richmond, va
Undeclared - Apatow talks about music, extras, whether or not there will be a special edition, and whether the release is really in July!
i want it on cable and on-demand! i'm so greedy!
New (sub)Urbanism: Getting Around in Suburbia
with real trolleys you can just jump onto the sideboard, right?
music (for robots) - Smokey Turtle by EYEBALL SKELETON
i just heard this track on WXJM. there's nothing wrong with a good novelty song every now and again.
TEN THINGS I DIDN'T KNOW LAST WEEK at The Hardball Times is quickly becoming one of my favorite things to read. It's just relaxing and informative and slightly off-kilter, but not too much.
here are a few of my more recent del.icio.us links:
MTV.com - Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies) - Video
maybe a bit too literal at points, but i really like it. sadly, subterranean just ran it without any identifying credits
The Podcast-Review Blog (copyright safe music for podcasts)
knowing this kind of stuff could keep me in front of the computer for the rest of my life
ESPN.com - MLB - Caple: Driven to succeed (Bobby Madritsch)
bobby madritsch is my favorite baseball player. there should be a new profile of him every week.
music (for robots) - The Hysterics
new york kids make the pretty rock music you can't help but love
After playing Puerto Rico this afternoon, Kaci went home and found a link to the play-by-play from the final game of the 2004 World Boardgaming Championship. The page also features the box scores from the four players. It's awesome. And a must read if you've ever played Puerto Rico.
If you'll excuse me, I must end this entry early as I need to read the Puerto Rico Strategy Page.
UPDATE:
Apes just sent an email about the 2004 play-by-play:
i wasn't sure i wanted to read the whole thing until i came to this paragraph:
"GM End of turn comment: Already there is a bit of "craftsman fear" creeping
into the group, and most of the moves this turn wind up helping David, who is
now in a position to put the combination of the Hacienda and Construction Hut
into play for a very minimal cost of 1 doubloon when combined the two buildings
would cost 4. The combination of these two buildings obviates the need for
David to take the Settler, as he will always be able to select a random
plantation and a Quarry regardless of what is on display. The downside to
David's strategy is, without a Hospice (a building that is, in most expert
opinion, almost never worth the cost), he is always going to be doing a
juggling act with his colonists."
Please note on your calendars that I will mostly likely be headed to Lancaster, PA for the 2005 World Boardgaming Championships.
competitive bingo is awesome. i am now the proud owner of a purple bingo marker and plastic red bingo spotters.
(outside the bingo parlor, listmaker and youthlarge wait for friends to arrive.)
(after getting my bearrings and learning the ins and outs of how the game is played - it's more complex than you might think - it was time for a self-portrait.)
(youthlarge mistakes a bottle of ketchup for her dabbing marker.)
happy birthday listmaker!
the past few days i've spent most of my time trying to figure out if the mets are going to sign carlos delgado. the latest reports have him headed to florida.
UPDATE: it is the marlins.
A little over a month ago I mentioned board games and the article in the morning news about board games that made great gift ideas.
As a result of the article I purchased a game called PUERTO RICO, which is one of the highest rated games at boardgamegeek.com. (so popular, actually, that there's a Puerto Rico meet up group).
I've had trouble explaining the game, so I've swiped the following bit of text from the publisher's website (and the box copy, if memory serves):
Prospector, captain, mayor, trader, settler, craftsman, or builder? Which roles will you play in the new world? Will you own the most prosperous plantations? Will you build the most valuable buildings? You have but one goal: achieve the greatest prosperity and highest respect! This is shown by the player who earns the most victory points. He will win the game!
The game is more fun than I expected. It's one of those games that I immediately want to play again as soon as it's over. Eight days ago, some friends came by and we played a few games. I took a few pictures.
Unfortunately, these snapshots do little to convey the excitement of the game. Obviously, no one shouts "You sank my battleship!" or "Connect Four. I win!" But winning is part of the fun. The other part of the fun is after the game when you sit around with the other players and discuss strategy.
Man, I'm a nerd.
don't forget to watch ESPN 2 tonight. the james madison dukes face off against the montana grizzlies in the NCAA Division I-AA national football championship.
yes, it is true that i only attended one half of only two football games during my four years of college. it's also true that i managed to watch a half a football game from a study room in eagle hall. that wasn't as cool as it should've been. all of said games were watched during my first year at college. it's time to be honest about football - i think my passsion and enjoyment for the game ended sometime during my 8th grade year (my second fall playing on the second string middle school team). riding the bus while chanting songs and getting "psyched" for the game was not my idea of fun. sitting on the sideline listening to some blonde kid named aaron try to beat box was even less fun. tonight, though, i'll leave all that behind and tune in to watch the current football squad of my alma mater trounce the grizzlies. GO DUKES!
everyone should love games. matthew baldwin of THE MORNING NEWS presents a fantastic rundown of new games. one of two of these should appeal to the folks on your shopping list. and i wish i'd seen this list a few weeks before thanksgiving. after my family tired of playing cranium (booster box #1 - are those questions easier, or is it just me?) i headed into my parents' basement and found a game from 1994 called "VISIONARY." by the look of the box, i'd tried to play it once sometime during a college winter break. it's sort of trivial pursuit with visual clues. it was terrible. we completed the game, but no one was happy to have spent time playing it.
UPDATE: matthew baldwin's defective yeti site goes into more detail and is filled with more game suggestions.
i just got in from an entire day spent playing urban bocce. here's a handful of the early photos:
After Thursday night's Twins game, Dan, Jamie and I tried to make the most of our time in Minneapolis and St. Paul. One of the things suggested on the internet was a 3am drunken trip across the Stone Arch Bridge. After a drink at Grumpy's (where the doorman was very friendly and helpful) and a stop for cash at a gas station, we headed toward the bridge around 11:30pm.
As we weren't exactly sure where we were going, we realized that maybe the ATM visit before a trip into a dark, underpopulated section of town wasn't the best idea in the world. At one point the sidewalk split with one part following the road and the other section going down into the trees with no apparent exit. We tried the downhill trek first. After a few more jokes about getting mugged, and with me brandishing my tiny pocketknife, we turned around and folllowed the sidewalk next to the road. That took us directly past a few old mills and right to the entrance of the bridge. And then more walking. Oh, and I was saying "hello" to everyone we passed. I think that bothered Jamie and Dan, but I was trying to figure out how to be Midwestern and whatnot. After crossing the bridge we took a right and eventually crossed through Dinkytown. One guy we passed even said hello to us first. I felt vindicated. This late night walk eventually served as a warm-up for the bicycle ride we'd take the following afternoon.
(Please note that all my entries about the baseball trip may contain half-truths. I often try to capture the spirit of things and fail on getting the details correct. Sometimes I miss the spirit of the event as well. In this case I didn't tell you that Jamie suggested we buy a few beers for the walk across the bridge. I declined. About halfway across the bridge I realized the error of my ways. I almost left that out of the story in order to make myself look better. If there are more stories from the trip, you can be certain I'm leaving things out but only doing so to make myself look better or because I have a terrible memory.)
right handed pitcher john maine is set to make his debut with the baltimore orioles tonight and his minor league team, the ottawa lynx were sad that he couldn't start last night's game there. this is all very exciting news and i wish i'd be able to watch the game. while i haven't talked to john in about 15 years (making him 8 the last time i talked with him), i wish him the best of luck tonight!
i'm guilty of not reading espn's page 2 very often. and i know that bill simmons is out there writing really funny stuff on a regular basis. this weekend i decided to correct my reading habits, and dropped the bill simmons feed into my bloglines account. two days later i finally received the payoff. today's bill simmons column is about the all star game and houston. even if i don't understand half of it (due to probably not at all obscure references to baseball players from fifteen years ago), i love it for paragraphs like this one:
In many ways, memorabilia shows are like strip joints. There's usually a cover charge. Instead of bouncers, there are security guards. You can look around all day without buying anything. If you're in the mood to buy something, it's probably happening whether you run across something worthwhile or not. The music is always terrible. There are always creepy guys by themselves, guys who seem just a little TOO excited to be there. They usually have hot dogs somewhere nearby. It's always uncomfortable when someone asks if you need any help. Both places are infinitely more fun when you're drunk, and there's always a chance you'll wake up the next morning, look into an empty wallet and mutter to yourself, "My God, what just happened?
my fantasy baseball team recently jumped to second place, after a long spell in the third slot. apes is making a push for the money, while listmaker is busying himself with his new blog having slipped into third place. also in contention is bile & venom, who is convinced that all his brooklyn internet friends need to belong to some sort of guild.
and, for those of you who don't read baseball musings, last night they pointed to a link in harvard magazine about the history of the catcher's mask.
i am obsessed with my fantasy baseball team. it's pretty much the only thing i can think about these days. thursday night i'm meeting friends for happy hour (i'll be a bit late, by the way) and i am going to make a most concerted effort to avoid talking about baseball. it will be a challenge.
as of this morning i was 2.5 points out of first place in my twelve person league. on april 30th, with a lead of 4 points, i moved into first place for the first time. i've hovered in and around first place for the past month. i had no inkling my rotisserie team would do so well. on nights that don't involve going out for happy hour drinks i find myself at home obsessively flipping from one baseball game to another. the whole thing is well beyond ridiculous.
(image from 30 april 2004)
on another note, is online poker the new day trading?
the internet was made for things like FireArtHowe.com. link about the unable to make good decisions mets manager via joel sherman in today's new york post.
the feel good story of the night
danny graves, a pitcher for the cincinnati reds, lost his wallet while playing on the west coast not too long ago. someone found it and returned it to him. the heartwarming part? graves' $1400 in cash was converted to travelers' checks before the package was sent back to the address on his driver's license (minus shipping costs).
a long time ago (february), some friends and i went bowling at melody lanes in brooklyn. as usual, i took a few pictures. and, as usual, i'm posting the photos long after the event. maybe i was just upset that i can no longer break 100 at the bowling alley.
here are the photos: balgavy.com/rotating150.html
The excellent Doug's Business of Baseball Weblog points to this story about concession stands being staffed by volunteers. during college i volunteered with different groups once or twice at the concession stand during basketball games. it was fun during the first half, but then it got pretty boring. at the professional level, i want my concessions coming from employees making actual money, though.
a few days ago the black table ran my comments about the free preview of major league baseball's extra innings package in the weekly blacklist.
one year from now you won't recognize me. i'm beginning my transition to full-on sports guy. there are dozen of phrases i'll need to pick up. and i'll have to figure out a way to switch my passion for television to a passion for athletic plays, but i'll figure it out. in the meantime, i'll sit in my newly relocated office (no windows!) and wait for jamie to weigh in on the hardball times article about strat-o-matic.
during the next six months you're going to have to put up with the occasional random thought about my rotisserie baseball team. but you're getting the perspective of someone who is just now warming up to the world of fantasy sports. it's going to be slow going at first, but as i surge from the middle of the pack to first place things will get much more exciting.
the brooklyn fantasy league draft was sunday. dan seems to think i did okay, but i just ran the numbers. discounting the fact that projections at this point are probably completely off the mark and that i'm just trying to become a stat geek after reading moneyball, it looks like i'm going to need some serious help. the outcome doesn't look that promising for me.
if i plugged in all the correct values in the correct spots, i've got jamie winning the league by 9 points over dave nelson. coming in third (a full 20 points behind jamie) is mooney. i'm in the lower middle of the pack, tied with dan but just four points away from Matt (which would mean a tie for fourth, and one point behind third). i've got no obvious weak spots, but i am feeling like the third grader who just walked home with a report card covered in "needs improvement" comments.
my current team name is "the parking garage." and, creative guy that i am, the photo that accompanies my team is of (wait for it)... a parking garage!
i'll try to keep this baseball talk to a minimum over the course of the summer. three years ago i wouldn't have let this fly. it's ridiculous that i'm now wrapped up in it. but if i could survive the stress of sunday's draft, then i've got the fortitude to place in the top three this season.
as we all know, dan loves baseball. his annual tradition of giving us a report of the baseball games he attends continues. for all the commentary and dozens of photos, check out dan's 2003 year in baseball.
A few highlights:
- april 20th (devil rays v. orioles) -
During the game, my father would not let Sujan or me spend a dime on any food. At one point, Sujan tried to buy my dad a lemonade and he cried out, "I want to be the big man. Will you let me be the big man?"- may 25th (cardinals v. pirates) -
We went to the game only a few hours after the dance party (Archies, Ohio Express) at Eric H. and Carmela�s apartment which shouldn�t be too surprising because we all know that everywhere Eric P. and Amie go turns into a dance party at one point or another. It was also the night I heard Dexter Redding�s (Otis Redding�s teenage son) amazing song about love being bigger than baseball and sweeter than cotton candy. I got drunk, tripped over couches, and proclaimed to the boys that I was going to soon propose to Sujan. They were pleased to hear this but had to convince me in my altered state not to do it on a roller coaster.- august 4th (ironbirds v. cyclones) -
Theme of the night: Every good play that a Cylcone made, Alex would quip, "Watch out for that kid, he won�t be here long."In the 5th inning, Mooney started dancing to "The Cha Cha Slide" when all of a sudden most of the lights in the ballpark went out. That�s right, folks, his moves are that good.
i hate reading books because when i'm reading an enjoyable book, i can't put it down. when i put it down i can think of nothing other than returning to the book. it's ridiculous. reading gets hold of me like some powerful drug and i'll do anything to get more of it. i have no idea why this is. and i hate that i'm powerless to stop it.
this will come as a shock to no one, but books are different than movies and tv shows. admittedly, i love watching tv. and i understand how tv works. for the most part, it's a serialized thing. the idea of waiting another week for another episode is the way things work. it's part of the convention of dramas and sitcoms. i'm okay with that. yeah, i love a "real world" marathon as much as the next guy does, but that's an indulgence i can live without. and movies, well, movies rarely run longer than two and a half hours. i don't mind sitting in a movie theatre for that amount of time. i'm not capable of reading a book in two hours.
this weekend i read moneyball by michael lewis (who is married to tabitha soren!). i didn't want to stop reading. the story it tells is one of those stories that is told best in book form. if it's turned into a movie, i can't imagine how it's going to become more exciting. it's a book about numbers and strategy. it's a book whose structure examines the oakland a's during the 2002 season. lewis had great access to general manager billy beane. and the book is fascinating! it seems to describe a time and place that won't be replicated. i don't know enough about baseball to truly understand everything, but i feel like once the majority of baseball owners and general managers start doing things beane's way, the playing field will change. if everyone's acting the same way, there won't be any inefficiencies in the market to exploit. accurate representations of players skill and value to a team will only become more so. i'm sure there are a million discussions on the web about this. and because it's the internet, i'm able to begin tracking them down. a quick search leads me to a few posts from a month ago by the stats guru at baseball musings. he pointed to this article in the new republic by aaron schatz. unfortunately, it's subscription only. the baseball musings site has a good excerpt and also offers a few opinions. both posts are worth checking out:
What if Everyone Played Moneyball?
it's only been within the past few weeks that i've started thinking about baseball in this manner, but i can really see the fun that dan and jamie have had playing rotisserie baseball all these years.
and that's one of the best things about picking up a book. it puts your head somewhere else. if you're reading something you're interested in you can totally remove yourself from whatever is going on around you. it's incredibly fun. and whenever i pick up a good book, that's what i do. and there's often that unexpected feeling of finishing a good book. you feel like you know more. you feel like you can finally begin having a conversation about a certain subject. obviously, not all books lead to new revelations about life, but the ones that do are better than the best tv shows and movies in the world. i can't wait to figure out what's next on my reading list.
a new website went online today. it's called the hardball times. i'm looking forward to checking it on a regular basis.
and, for those that heard my speaking loudly about cheerios at sarah's birthday yesterday, i am sorry. from now on i will refrain from mentioning my daily consumption of cheerios and bourbon.
last night i think i all but put my registration money on the table (i think it was the excitement from reading mitch's notes from arizona). i confirmed to dan that i will be playing in the brooklyn rotisserie baseball league he's setting up. that means i have to get serious about knowing stats and players - no more getting sabermetrics confused with the number of different flights leaving for california on any given day. no more joking around in front of the tv about how i'm actually familiar with the name tejada. now i have to know that not only is he a major league baseball player, i have to know what position he plays and whether or not he's any good.
a lot of the stuff i'm going to have to know is probably going to come down to pitching, right?
to develop a better insight into that position and understand how players relate to each other, i'll be checking out this graph by colby cosh, which uses pretty colors and variously sized circles to cover ideas about strikeouts and bases on balls. (link via baseball musings, which explains the chart much better than i could ever hope to).
now, where is that copy of moneyball that sujan's been reading?
check out notes from arizona by my friend mitch. he leaves tuesday for spring training. he's going out there for work, but when he gets a few minutes and computer access, he hopes to update the spring training journal we've set up. it should all be pretty exciting. i'm looking forward to the baseball talk and i'm interested to hear about mitch's take on the cities he visits and the random observations he makes.
balgavy the brand continues to expand! jamie paquette's new weblog is online as an extension of balgavy.com. i'm expecting exciting things (he's already got a link to his beard registration page!). it's called "the shrewdness of apes" and can be found at balgavy.com/apes. go enjoy it now. and make sure you bookmark it. please keep all bonobo jokes to yourself. (caution: that bonobo link is filled with bonobo noises!)
i just watched slamball on spike tv. my mind has been blown. seriously. it's like basketball. but on specially placed trampolines. and the show is already on season 2!!!!! whatever resources i've been using to find out what i should be watching on tv need to be reevaluated. how in the world did i miss this show?
actually, i'm serious about collecting new resources that tell me about the good things coming up on television. now that the dvr is in full effect, i'd like to start taping things that have the potential to be good.
i'll admit i'm a little bummed that bobby valentine is no longer the manager of the mets. the first question i'd like his replacement to answer?
have you ever invented anything as good as the wrap sandwich?
i went bowling saturday night and my wrist is in pain today. this sort of silly, non-significant bowling related injury always appears after i bowl more than one game. actually, it's my forearm that hurts. my wrist is fine. i feel like complaining today. if all goes well, i will think of something more profound by the end of the day.
this morning i finally watched a little world cup action as the u.s. team took on germany. i didn't turn on the tv until 35 minutes into the game, but i had a great time watching the soccer action i saw. why haven't i been getting up early and staying up late like everyone else?
i was nervous it wouldn't be much fun because of the nature of the sport - i just don't like watching sporting events when all the action takes place in front of one primary camera. i need close-ups. i want to see the sweat and determination on players' faces. watching a bunch of guys dressed in blue kicking a ball around sounded kind of dull to me. but after 59 minutes of excitement, i have changed my tune. i'm officially hooked!
last night was spent at shea stadium where i watched the mets take on the twins. the mets won in a game that lasted less than three hours. i finally got to enjoy more than a few handfuls of stadium popcorn (which i've been admiring and thinking about all season). and i enjoyed making fun of the teenagers sitting next to us.
i'd mention that i'm going to a minor league game this sunday, but i'm not going to turn this blog into a low rent version of the amazing baseball diaries.
I�m going to make a big assumption and guess that I really won�t be spending the entire weekend tossing horseshoes toward a metal post in the ground. If that turns out to be the case and I find myself on the beach staring at the ocean, there�s one activity that currently fascinates me. Skimboarding.
Yeah, so the chances of me actually finding a skimboard while at the beach (I�m certainly not going out to buy one) are incredibly low. I�m not giving up hope until Friday afternoon. I just like the idea of actually trying it out. If I were to manage to actually ride a skimboard for ten feet I think I will have made some pretty crazy headway. It�s the closest I may ever come to participating in any sort of "extreme" sport (other than that time I rented the Dave Mirra bmx game for my Playstation 2).
It�s highly likely I may have tried skimboarding once in my life. The circumstances surrounding the event are a little fuzzy as it probably occurred in the early 1980s. While at Nags Head with family and friends of my family, one kid did have a skimboard. I remember him being a nice guy and he probably let me run and throw it onto the surf a few times. I was as uncoordinated then as I am now, so my success rate was probably 0% (thus erasing the event from my memory).
While looking for information about Birdwell Beach Britches, I came across this webpage - Skimboard Inland - about skimboarding in the suburbs. It totally reminded me of the sport and made me ready to have a go at falling down repeatedly.
I�m headed to North Carolina�s Outer Banks this weekend, but I�m not sure if I�ll ever make it to the beach. I learned today that the house where I�m staying has a horseshoe pit. For the past three months whenever I�m with a group of people and we�re outside I get the overwhelming urge to pitch horseshoes. And I usually share this enthusiasm with my friends - who don�t seem as keen on the subject. The conversation usually turns to lawn darts and the ridiculousness of legislating backyard sports. That�s cool. I understand why the conversation goes that way. (And I wouldn�t mind tossing lawn darts if the situation presents itself) But I�m serious about fulfilling my desire to pitch horseshoes. It sounds like I�ll get my chance this weekend.
I haven�t actually held a horseshoe (in a non-wall decoration setting) since the summer of 1994. While at a family reunion in the western part of Kentucky a horseshoe game developed. I wanted to enjoy it then, but I just wasn�t able to get into things. The horseshoe pit was rather makeshift and set away from the picnic house in a slightly wooded and shaded part of our party area. I don�t think horseshoes should be played in the shade. It�s a backyard sport that requires full sun. And maybe part of my thinking of the definition of sport requires sweat � and to work up a sweat while pitching horseshoes, I�m going to need to be in the sun.
During the summer of 1989 I became a convert to horseshoes as a full-blown, incredibly fun recreational activity. This time the family reunion was being held in Virginia � at my parents� house. My grandparents lived a few miles away and their yard was bigger, allowing them to host most of the outdoor activities.
I was positively thrilled to have gone shopping one day to purchase an Aerobie. Of course, the real fun came the next day when the horseshoe action got into full swing! My grandfather, his brothers and their wives had set up the stakes and the pits in the old garden area. It proved an ideal spot for the next few days of horseshoe fun. I was (and still am) just a beginner - my relatives had their technique figured out
The simple act of tossing two pound metal horseshoes at a stake in the ground just forty feet away proved to be an excellent way to spend an afternoon. Imaging playing now with a beer in hand sounds even more irresistible. And it�s much easier to chase a horseshoe that�s rolled away than to climb the neighbor�s tree that�s snared an Aerobie. During that weekend I was converted to the world of ringers and leaners. Trying to knock your opponent�s horseshoe away from the stake seems like a much cooler, real world thing to do than the hoity-toitiness of going all "Heathers" on your friend�s croquet ball.
While in North Carolina this weekend, the odds are good I can be found not at the beach trying to impress with my suave bodysurfing, but in the pit showcasing my 1 1/4 turn shoe pitch.
i just watched 30 minutes of professional basketball. i have no idea how it happened. and it was exciting! i'm totally baffled. the game was exciting and i coudn't stop watching. a totally rare, rare moment for me.
and wednesday is over. thursday is here and that means it's a bill paying day.
i got an email earlier today that mentioned roaches and insects and seeing them on the streets. and then one crossed my path on the way home - as if it had just crawled from the subway. and i think it was big enough to derail a subway train. seeing the roach made me want to race home and clean all the cabinets and floors.
but now i've forgotten about cleaning - i got swept up in basketball.
tomorrow night will have to be a night of reading. those books from the library are still around and they need to be read.
basketball has made me boring.
