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Baseball Ants [UPDATED]

by Crazy Horse Mon Nov 1st, 2010 at 06:55:42 PM EST

Recognizing bread and circus isn't the hottest topic around these parts, not to mention baseball (there, a mention), the david Giants meet up in the 3rd game of the best-of-seven series against the philadelphia cheese steak goliaths.  first pitch at the civilized time for Yurpeens of 10:19 in the evening.

each team has won one, but tonight is the first back in San Francisco, in the world's most beautiful bread and circus arena, for the next three games. some of us are pretty jazzed even to be in this situation.

As debt financing for the Pennant Project is not yet in place, the Giants (or Jints, as they were called when still fighting against the Yankees in Nueva York), are forced to reshuffle their lineup, now stacked with right-handers in a nod to Yurpeen politics. this is the most powerful lineup the Jints can field, but pales against the mighty phillies, who are illiterate rednecks who make signs asking Giant players to fix their teeth.

as there's still over an hour to go 'til first pitch, and the writer has discovered ants and poisonous spiders on his butt and can't sit still, he's decided to offer a screed to the gods of baseball, who are far more worldly and forgiving than most of the other gods running amok around the planet.


baseball is a game built around a diamond, pure and shining.  starting with a diamond, it's hard to go wrong, even though invertebrate capitalists own the teams.  throw equal parts of athletics, chess and ballet into the mix, play the game almost every day from April 'til October, and you've got the makings of a summer-long spectacle best summed up, while remembering summer smells of your youth, as "The Thrill of the Grass."

Sure, football players run more, sometimes even twice a week (respect!), but they don't play every day, and don't have to spend sometimes four or five hours getting loose enough to react in 2/10ths of a second (or less) over and over, sometimes making a decision in that time which will only play out 30 or 40 meters later on the run.

batters have the same amount of time to decide if they should move the muscles enough to swing at the ball, somewhat complicated by having to put the bat where you think the ball will be when you think the ball will be there, not counting that you don't know for sure what kind of a thrown pitch it is, curving this way or that, or not, and coming straight at you at up to 160 kmh.

there are athletics involved for survival of course, as in when Cody Ross breaks up two no-hitters in a row with home runs (adding a second against one pitcher), so the next time this 160kmh pitch is aimed at your lower jaw, or "chin music" as it's called in "the show."

(it's a good idea to spin away, if your muscles can twitch that quickly.) the balls are really hard leather.

scientists have proven that a curve ball doesn't curve, but of course most scientists have never had to hit a breaking ball with 60,000 people watching as if their world only exists if you hit the damn squiggly thing that's bearing in like a rocket.  perhaps they have a point, saying it's the difference between two types of human vision, with the focus only being two degrees wide on either side of the ball, and the rest is peripheral, which our brains can't properly assimilate, much less decide where to put the sweet spot of a two kilo plus piece of wood at full strength over a 2m square of possibility.

i still wake up in the middle of the night because i took a solid, sometimes mighty, swing at an imaginary leather ball thrown into my wheelhouse.  (Conversely, i've picked a bullet one-hopper low to the ground fielding the glove across my body sprawled out full about a half meter above the ground, scrambling to get into some semblance of throwing position, only to find i'm still in bed.)

People wiser than me have said that amurka's given three beautiful things to the world, jazz, baseball, and i forget the third, but it wasn't laser-guided.  jazz and baseball (hold on there, if you include jazz, you have to include the whole melting pot of music, up to and including the history of r'n'b and blues, and from a techno-centric point of view, John Cage.  Well, ok, good point, i'll include it all by saying Duke Ellington was the most influential composer of the modern world.)  where wuz eye?

hell with jazz, less than 40 minutes `til first pitch.  watch me squash those ants.

if you've never seen ballet in sports, you haven't seen when the 2nd baseman or shortstop takes a feed at second as an athletic body with sharpened steel spikes held high and fast is sliding into your legs as you attempt to catch the ball, touch the bag, and wheel and fire a seed to first to complete a double play.  eye remember watching Baryshnikov's face the first time HE saw that happen.

but enough about baseball, i did get to work with Mischa himself (as a choreographed stagehand, at the Zeche Zollverein yurpeen dance center in Essen), and he remembered me when we first met at Tosca's in frisco, though i was more interested in his then girl Jessica Lange, which he also remembered.

but i've never seen Mischa with eyeblack under his eyes to cut the glare, the game is played in summer after all.

When i played hardball up to the age of 45, against guys much younger, i used to say, thinking of my so-called wind energy career, that after playing third base, there wasn't a lawyer in the world who could get one past me.

my reflexes are somewhat dimmed now, what with writing due diligence analysis of the way the kinetic energy in the wind is turned into electrons, but i'd still like to think i learned something by playing the game that has its own gods, who are both merciless and compassionate without end.  old baseball salts used to say, stick around long enough, you'll see something new.  (and that in the game with the most statistical analysis since statistics were first used to analyze stats.)

i suppose i should put up a graph now, comparing two players lifetime at bats against left-handed pitchers with 1-2 count and a man on second, but i won't.

i should also make a prediction on tonight's game, but i won't.  the difference between a superstar and a journeyman is such a small fraction.  i will only say that both teams have superstar pitching, and the Jints are merely journeymen at the plate.  But!

But.  Statistics do tend to underestimate heart, even with linear regression.  Giants take game three behind Matt Cain, because they're able.

I done good, in eight minutes, i get to watch Fox on my cinema screen, if the laptop holds up.

PS.  Baseball is full of amazing writers, in fact, a big part of amurkan writing history.  But the best writer was a Yankee catcher named Yogi even before eastern religion became a buzz mindset for the West.  he said simple things, like "No one goes there anymore, it's too popular."  or perhaps you've heard, "it's not over `til the fat lady sings."

Update [2010-10-29 7:2:42 by Crazy Horse]:

i will update this diary with brilliantly captivating descriptions of the first two Giants' wins, against the demoralized Klansmen, but for now be aware that just in time for Halloween, the old testatment phrase FEAR THE BEARD is entering the amurkan vernacular.


(notice The Machine in the background. and yes, Brian Wilson has a mohawk.)

(dammit, where's the new poll? somebody please help me figure the update editing thing, danke.)

Another UPDATE:

Free ADD thoughts flowing about the game, as i try to keep the nerves down before tonight's 1st pitch in less than two hours.

• the Giant's leadoff hitter is the first player to admit to being attention deficit, which is a good thing. For all the youth with the real disease, and for all the misdiagnosed youth. Go Torres. (Plus, more importantly, Torres gets to play on Ritalin. Eat your heart out, Pete Rose. (ed. Rose played his entire career on speed.)

• there's something very soothing about a sport which allows hundreds of short, quiet breaks, which allows both teams to adjust strategy, and for individual players to be ready for different reactions.

• for fans, this break brings time to discuss ever fluid situational changes.

• Baseball is perhaps the only world sport in which you're allowed to use gris-gris infested voudun chicken bones to rub up your bat before you hit.

• Can any ET'er grok how satisfying it is to see Barbara Bush, sitting between husband and son presidents and criminals in chief, keeping score diligently of a game in which the Giants shut her Texans down 4-0?

• Nach dem Spiel ist vor dem Spiel. A baseball season is almost every day, with each team playing 162 games. (The historic season, before expansion, was always 154 games.) That's a lot of ball.

• One of the greatest managers of all time took over the helm of Helen's NuYorican Mets. Halfway through the season, he asked, "Can't anyone here play this game?"

• My grandfather would hardly say a word if he was around right now, but he would be wound up tighter than a screwball. I love that i paid to put a brick at the entrance to the stadium in his honor.

• There are several thousand ways to grip and throw a baseball, so that it does things which completely confound not only batters, but the physicists who have nothing better to do than study baseball and prove that curves don't curve. Only some of these thousand of ways involve foreign substances... but a spitball is really hard to hit, since nobody knows what it will do until the wave form is already collapsed.

• The selflessness of a well-placed sacrifice bunt is almost holy.

• There is no better feeling in the world, sex excluded, than drilling a belt-high fastball on the sweet spot of the bat. Fouling one off the hands (part of the bat) hurts, and down from the sweet spot you have to muscle it out. There is no feeling, except effortlessness, when you time it right on the sweet spot. The ball is long gone before you experience the exhilaration.

• There are many Giants in the Hall of Fame, who never achieved a World Series crown. Would be fitting if this team of misfits and castoffs, coupled with the most awesome homegrown pitching staff in modern times, brought home the crown.

• A fair number of wind energy deals were discussed and/or put to bed sitting along the first base line at the old stadium. Before the first at bat of the Giants, the first base coach, later the manager, would turn and doff his hat to us, as superstition. (i once saw 64 games of a 81 game home season, when the Giants lost 100. so much for superstition.)

• Old man Rentaria was as beautiful as old man Baryshnikov last night turning the double play, even better in slo-motion.

• I lived 7 years in a house alone in the deep woods (where i also had a tipi) owned by Ring Lardner Jr., a great baseball writer. sometimes i paid rent. i had a snare drum made from the same wood used for some of today's bats, and it sounded deep.

• it's time for some breathing exercises, involving an aged liquid made from grapes, as i can't take it anymore. i expect the unexpected tonight, as two of the best pitchers in baseball go at each other.

• The Texas jeezuz freak complained about the smell of good grass being smoked in the bleachers in San Fran. one of my friends said the reason for the humiliating at bats from one of our stars was that he was distracted by the smell of books being burnt in the Texas stands.

• Night all, if my hyperoverampedness comes around again, i'll be in the comments. 1st pitch one hour. Go Giants.

Poll
I love baseball because...
. the grass smells so good 0%
. you're allowed to steal 0%
. you can scratch your balls on TV 20%
. the season's so long, you can play some hungover 0%
. the ballet part is so brilliant, specially with spikes high 0%
. you can sharpen your spikes 0%
. the grass is so green 0%
. the grass smells so good 0%
. the grass has high HTC content 0%
. if you don't like the batter, you play him chin music 20%
. even if you're no toddler, you can throw high cheese 0%
. it has literary content, like "grab some pine, meat" 40%
. it's a self-contained wonder of a world 20%
. it's even played in Yurp 0%
. i can pretend it's a business expense 0%

Votes: 5
Results | Other Polls
Display:
I suppose a chart of curveballs hit with an even count, runner on second in tie ball games and less than two out, with the moon in scorpio, would have been more appropriate.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
by Crazy Horse on Tue Oct 19th, 2010 at 04:03:13 PM EST
we don't wish to overdose on the wasabi pnuts, but it's scoreless after three.point.five, the davids still looking for their first base runner. in fact, they ain't hit the ball hard yet.  but both pitchers are ganz gut.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
by Crazy Horse on Tue Oct 19th, 2010 at 05:23:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]
so of course renteria starts it off with the Jints first hit. guess i jinxed Hamels.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
by Crazy Horse on Tue Oct 19th, 2010 at 05:25:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]
and the Jints score two with two outs. clutch dink hitting. first ribbie from Cody Ross, whose heroics so far defy screenwriting.  when he broke up Doc halladay's no-hitter with a dinger, we discovered his name backwards is Ssory doc. (close, get's the cigar.)

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
by Crazy Horse on Tue Oct 19th, 2010 at 05:38:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]
PPS.  you read this diary for the writing, not for live blogging the game.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
by Crazy Horse on Tue Oct 19th, 2010 at 07:29:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]
You got that right.
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Fri Oct 29th, 2010 at 10:08:59 AM EST
[ Parent ]
the modern political analysis of the game:

2 outs no one on base, pitcher falls behind 3-0.  the fox announcers are talking about teh yankees game, upcoming on fox in two hours. Victorino draws a walk, and they're still talking bout the yanks.  he actually gets a jump on the pitcher and stops, heavy strategy going on here, and they're still talking about the ynaks.

Victorino then steals the base, and fox is still talking about fox.

fuck fox, me back in the game.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Tue Oct 19th, 2010 at 05:50:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I've noticed that. They really suck. I miss Kyper and Krukow. They do a great game.

They tried to assimilate me. They failed.
by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Tue Oct 19th, 2010 at 05:52:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Hey Hey, games on!!!

They tried to assimilate me. They failed.
by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Tue Oct 19th, 2010 at 04:10:43 PM EST
If this becomes a Giants/Yankees World Series I'll get a bottle of Seagrams VO and do a drunken, LIVE play by play. Any takers?

They tried to assimilate me. They failed.
by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Tue Oct 19th, 2010 at 04:12:54 PM EST
I have to remind you that Caol Ila is the only whisky ETers are allowed to drink for celebrations.

"Ce qui vient au monde pour ne rien troubler ne mérite ni égards ni patience." René Char
by Melanchthon on Fri Oct 29th, 2010 at 09:31:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Allowed? perhaps you meant preferred?  ;-)

we should be indisputably tolerant of what the uneducated wish to drink. if they all drank Caol Ila, then we couldn't afford it.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Fri Oct 29th, 2010 at 11:35:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I've got a rather good (for Finland) calvados for this evening. But obviously I won't be celebrating ;-)

Though I may be cerebrating.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Fri Oct 29th, 2010 at 11:38:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Assuming we can't get any proper whiskey.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Fri Oct 29th, 2010 at 11:45:50 AM EST
[ Parent ]
about the only thing that I might have positive to say for the place is "beat them Yanks". If you didn't see Lee's gem, you missed something special.

I played third, too - rather well, actually. Tried pitching, but all I had was a fastball right down the middle. Didn't work quite often enough.

paul spencer

by paul spencer (spencerinthegorge AT yahoo DOT com) on Tue Oct 19th, 2010 at 05:06:51 PM EST
They just don't LEARN! I scream "Walk Cody Ross! He's too damn HOT!" but no, they ignore me!

They tried to assimilate me. They failed.
by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Tue Oct 19th, 2010 at 05:36:31 PM EST
no comment on your political analysis, but you don't walk the lead runner to 3rd base.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
by Crazy Horse on Tue Oct 19th, 2010 at 06:01:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]
WOOOOOOO! Did you see THAT!

They tried to assimilate me. They failed.
by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Tue Oct 19th, 2010 at 05:55:26 PM EST
That poor bastard Utley. I'd feel sorry for him if he wasn't a Philly.

They tried to assimilate me. They failed.
by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Tue Oct 19th, 2010 at 05:58:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I was telling my friend back in Boston the other night that this SF team reminds me of the 1987 Twins (who won it all). They had three pitchers, three guys that could hit for power, and the rest of the team were very, very marginal major leaguers. I think either AL team will spank them in the series but then I didn't expect them to compete against Philly either.

As a neutral fan the rest of the way, these are my WS winners in order of preference:

  1. Rangers
  2. Gints
  3. Philly
  4. evil empire


you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Tue Oct 19th, 2010 at 07:11:31 PM EST
you know, this diary was not really about winning shit, bec ause that's not what i'm into.  it's about writing the love of the game.

but i did yell into the phone as i was translating the action into german for those on the other end of the line. fersure, there's something happening here.  they played well enough to get the job done.

but me was just writing, as it were.

YES!  (it's in my blood.)     go migs, fencing is auch kool.

PS. the AL team will spank nobody if they have to face Giants pitching.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Tue Oct 19th, 2010 at 07:27:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]
... he's decided to offer a screed to the gods of baseball, who are far more worldly and forgiving than most of the other gods running amok around the planet.

I take it you've never been a Cubs fan.

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Tue Oct 19th, 2010 at 08:19:45 PM EST
thanks for this, I've read enough baseball books in my time to catch the love, I always liked Roger Angell and it was he who talked me through the wonder of hitting a baseball.

And those scientists know nothing. He told me of the mystery of the knuckleball and, by the by, demonstrated why the Jubilani footballs can't fly straight (they're too round). A fastball will rotate 4 to five times on its way to the plate but a curve ball will do 8 or 9, with a baseball that's about 2 inches displacement and when you're swinging a 2 inch bat, that's a strike.

and even tho' the song isn't really about baseball, this always makes me think of it



keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Wed Oct 20th, 2010 at 07:56:48 AM EST
try W. P. Kinsella, "the Thrill of the Grass."

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
by Crazy Horse on Wed Oct 20th, 2010 at 11:24:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Indeed it is

You can't be me, I'm taken
by Sven Triloqvist on Fri Oct 29th, 2010 at 11:40:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Just to draw a tangent between glorious sports and political worlds:

Leave 'Em in the Locker Room: Pro Athletes Make Lousy Public Officials

As you might know, it was as a Philadelphia Phillies pitcher that [the departing Republican Senator from Kentucky Jim] Bunning tossed a perfect game against the New York Mets in 1964. It was the high point of a 17-year Hall of Fame career. It also gave both sports and political writers license to hurl the word "imperfect" at his two-term senatorial record.  In 2006, Time called him one of the worst five senators of his time. Time dubbed him "the underperformer." In their 2007 conservative/liberal rankings, National Journal had Bunning as the second-most conservative senator trailing only that "Family" man, Jim DeMint of South Carolina.

In his final innings, Bunning notoriously prevented the Senate from extending unemployment benefits for more than 1.2 million workers for more than a month. When fellow senators begged him to halt his filibuster, according to Politico, Bunning's reply was: "Tough shit." Describing Bunning as "loutish, eccentric, and mean," Joe Conason in Salon accused him of using the Jim Bunning Foundation to shelter his fees from the baseball memorabilia shows at which he appeared to sell autographs.

It was the Republican Party that sent Bunning to the showers a couple of months ago. He decided not to run again because of lack of GOP support and funds. Score a rare one for the GOP. Bunning was my quintessential incumbent jerk-jock politician who you should never vote for. And he was stupid. Case in point: He said, "I watch Fox News to get my information."

[Former NBA, WWE, NFL stars] are already campaigning to fit into the woeful tradition of Jim Bunning, Jesse Ventura, Tom Osborne, and Vinegar Bend Mizell, athletic role models whose narcissism, ignorance, and conservatism helped them make a seamless transition from entertaining people to exploiting them.

Keep in mind that the sports-industrial complex tends to produce narrow-minded, self-centered, ethically-challenged mercenaries who are deeply submissive to established authority while being fiercely dedicated to winning by any means possible.  Or as one of my old political advisers, Sam Hall Kaplan, a former New York Times and Los Angeles Times reporter, puts it: "A pol who learned as an athlete just who ultimately butters his bread can be counted on to continue to wave to the crowds while doing the bidding of the owners." And the owners these days, thanks to the umpires (... er, Supreme Court) are likely to be unnamed billionaire warlords donating to right-wing candidates through dummy organizations that have no requirement to open their books to the voters.

by das monde on Thu Oct 21st, 2010 at 12:01:51 AM EST
Now, i love the game for the game itself, but...

there's also some magic about the adrenalin of a key game, and the drive to win.  tonight, the Giants have a chance to go to their second world series this decade, and the first i can watch.  they're up 3 games to one, and have three chances to win.  better they do it tonight at home rather than the following two games in the home of cheez steak.

couldn't sleep to prepare, but i'm ready for 2am first pitch.

must mention, the last time i went to a world series game, we didn't get to see the game, due to a 7.1 earthquake which still has me shakin.  10 days later we lost all four games, ouch.

only in sanfran, some remaining Grateful Dead sing the anthem.

Go Jints!

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Thu Oct 21st, 2010 at 07:46:15 PM EST
That crazy October 1989 day at the Stick lives on . . .
by sgr2 on Fri Oct 22nd, 2010 at 10:56:36 AM EST
[ Parent ]
for sure.  i had my back to the stadium, so was looking out over the fifty rows of cars, when i saw their roofs roll like waves coming in. i knew what it was, spread my legs and surfed it in shock.

i took me almost five minutes to realize, damn, that was a big one. at about 7 minutes i saw the first ashen faces descending the long escalator from the upper deck, then i realized i had also spun and saw the light standards in motion. at about ten minutes came the news a section of the
Bay Bridge was down.

first thought, my car's in the first row, i'm outta here, where's my son. picked my way through so rubble strewn streets and got home to find he'd already gone down to the Marina.

over the next days learned much about the psychology of severe earthquakes.  some great baseball stories too as amurka's baseball elite gathered to drink at the Washbag.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Fri Oct 22nd, 2010 at 07:18:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Your missive brought back many remembrances CH. A day etched forever in the memories of all who experienced it. Some of us thought it was lights out forever. As it turned out, it was lights out for a few days only. One of the things I remember the most was how courteous everyone was to one another. No street lights on busy Van Ness. And four way stops at all the intersections, with everyone motioning for the other guy to go first. Simply amazing.

And your mention of SF's most venerable watering hole, the good old Washbag. Everybody's got a story about that swell place. Much better (IMO anyway) before Moose sold it and departed for across the way though. While it wasn't exactly a 'baseball' team, do you remember his beloved Les Lapin Sauvages? Oh, those were the days.

by sgr2 on Sat Oct 23rd, 2010 at 02:08:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Oh yes i do, complete with Ron Fimrite, one of the great baseball writers. There was indeed some brilliant debauching in those weeks, as pretty much a who's who of baseball got souced there each night.

Les Lapin Sauvages?  ja, i remember when they invited a team from russia for a match. i was so enthralled to meet some very famous russians i ran up russian hill (to my home) to get some real amurkan baseballs for them to bring back to the land where baseball and pizza were invented.

god they made great drinks. god we made great conversation.

(i'll be back there 2nd week december, god willing and the creeks don't rise.)

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Sat Oct 23rd, 2010 at 05:26:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]
great drinks + great conversation = a winning combination.

well give my regards to beautiful Baghdad by the Bay and hoist one (or more) for me while you're there, will ya?

(if Uribe keeps hitting 'em like he did last night, the WS will surely be won by your Jints!)

by sgr2 on Sun Oct 24th, 2010 at 10:45:32 AM EST
[ Parent ]
here we go again, 2nd chance for the Giants (affectionately known as the Jints, and sub affectionately known as the gnats for their pesky if rare hitting) to move on to the so-called "world series."  i'm not nervous, just spewing off comment after comment without much sense.

they would do well to win tonight, because it gets harder when both teams have it on the line and the smallest events become earth-shattering. the ifs?

  •  if Sanchez has his head right, w/ confidence
  •  if Burrell and Huff strut their stuff
  •  if Posey continues his fantasy rookie year
  •  if the magic still resides in Cody Ross (Ssory Doc backwards)

then it doesn't matter what the cheez steaks do.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
by Crazy Horse on Sat Oct 23rd, 2010 at 05:31:28 PM EST
The Giants Wind the Pennant!!!

Now to beat Bush's team.  YES!!!

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Sun Oct 24th, 2010 at 12:13:13 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Game 1 Fall Classic, 1st pitch due around 1:57am in greater downtown Bremen.  i've returned from the WAB offshore stammtisch this evening, couldn't even get close to sleeping for an hour or two.

i'll try to find a way to write some more, we'll see how it works with a completely disrupted time zone.  what you all should realize is...

this (so-called) World Series pits the misfits of San Francisco against the aptly named Texas Rangers, formerly owned by George W. Bush. why aptly named, well, with no reflection on the current ballplayers, the historical texas rangers were either klansmen or kriminals, who killed ndns and mexicans equally, with no resort to trial. appropriate for a team owned by a bush.

but now the military jets of destruction have flown over the beautiful stadium, the last act of propaganda equating "america's pastime" with war.  all that's left is first pitch, and finally, the ads, the hype, the propaganda, takes a back seat to a brilliant game which begins with a diamond.

Go Giants!  Beat the Texas Rangers.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Wed Oct 27th, 2010 at 07:51:43 PM EST
really should write something about the incredible first two games. so much unique to baseball happened.  suffice to say the Giants are going to Geo. W. Bushville with a two games to none lead, having demoralized the team named after the lawless plague of the frontier.

one TV commentary (not postable here, thank you nbc) broke into shock as the on air reporter interrupted his report to say, "my god, they're smoking weed over there!"  The center fielder for the fuckin Texans (he's a recovering addict who credits Jesus for saving him, though last time i spoke with Jesus she said quote, "Hardly pay attention to the asshole."), who deserves to play in Texas, complained that the people in the bleachers over his head were smoking dope.

The Jints, notorious season long for just beating one more run than the other team, if they won at all, has demolished the rangers 11-7 and 9-0.  WOOHOO!!!

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Fri Oct 29th, 2010 at 06:15:42 AM EST
[ Parent ]
i need help here. the thing updates weird, with no update in the diary list, and the poll only has the first two answers. what have i done wrong?

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
by Crazy Horse on Fri Oct 29th, 2010 at 07:04:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Whatcha wanna do?

If you want to put in an UPDATE, you've done that. If you want the title to be followed by UPDATE, just type that in to the title field.

If you want to bump the diary in the list, I can do that.

As it stands, the poll only has two options. What do you want to add?

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Fri Oct 29th, 2010 at 07:50:35 AM EST
[ Parent ]
somehow i thought the update would be on its own line.  i even moved it to another paragraph, which didn't show up. also, the photo is placed weirdly.

as for the poll, twice or 3x i put in ten or so answers, which never show up. am i supposed to click update, or am i supposed to click save?

is the [UPDATE] a macro?

don't need to bump it (but thanks), when i'm ready i'll click the new timestamp button, oder?

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Fri Oct 29th, 2010 at 09:13:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]
[UPDATE] is a built-in macro in the story editing interface. [ED] is another one.

Of all the ways of organizing banking, the worst is the one we have today — Mervyn King, 25 October 2010
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Oct 29th, 2010 at 09:39:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]
When you first do a diary, it's by default on Auto Format. When you submit, Scoop draws it into its maw and formats the html. If you come back to edit, you'll see the mark-up that has been added. In editing, add your own mark-up. Mostly, that means putting <p> where you want a paragraph break. (I've done this for the Update etc).

Next, I don't know what the difference between the Update and Save buttons is. Maybe none. [UPDATE] is some kind of system macro, not user-defined in any case. It doesn't kick in on Preview, but when you hit Save or Update.

The image: aligned left by default. Where do you want it?

The poll: aargh I seem to remember people having problems editing or adding to a poll. I can try if you give me the list (by mail if you want).

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Fri Oct 29th, 2010 at 09:42:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Thanks afew and migs; email sent afew w/ poll answers.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
by Crazy Horse on Fri Oct 29th, 2010 at 11:38:50 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Poll done.

I say, it's not cricket, old chap. You're not allowed to scratch your balls in cricket, obviously. Though you may spit-and-polish them.

Do you want that hideous picture in the middle?

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Fri Oct 29th, 2010 at 11:57:50 AM EST
[ Parent ]
nah, it's ok, you've helped enough. i suppose the photo actually is hideous, but there's an explanation.

Brian Wilson is our closer, the pitcher who comes in at the end to preserve a lead.  Lots of tension, one must be mentally very tough.  So often, they're just egotistical assholes.

But Wilson is savvy, he knows how to have intelligent fun with the media. He was being interviewed on some sports show, and had that guy appear briefly at one point in the background.  No explanation, no comment, nothing, just "oh, that's the machine."

don't know if he's gay or not.  he once told the major sports network on another interview show he was a certified ninja.  Certified?  How were you certified?  Had a dream once.

So he goes against any stereotype in baseball, and fits right in with the San Francisco wierdos. Plus he's a hell of a closer.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Fri Oct 29th, 2010 at 01:59:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Closers are supposed to be weird.  

In evidence:

Bill "Spaceman" Lee pitched for 14 years in the majors and said many discerning things about baseball.  IMO the best was:

Baseball's a very simple game. All you have to do is sit on your butt, spit tobacco, and nod at the stupid things your manager says.

[Note: he regularly called, in interviews, his manager Don Zimmerman, "the designated gerbil."]

This interview on Baseball Almanac gives a good idea of his personality.


She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Fri Oct 29th, 2010 at 02:21:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]
:-)

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
by Crazy Horse on Fri Oct 29th, 2010 at 03:28:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]
PS.  If anyone is seriously interesting in the criminal history of the original texas rangers, not the TV ones, check out this historical screed from my friend, pioneer of digital storytelling, Joe Lambert.


During the period of the racist terrorism after the end of Reconstruction it is fair to say the Rangers were Klansmen with badges. Lots of summary executions, assistance with lynchings, lots of extralegal terrorist assualts on African American, Native American and specifically Mexican Americans.  So when you are rooting for Texas, just try thinking Texas Klansmen, and imagine instead of a T for Texas logo, they had a Burning Cross on their hats.  How does that sit?


"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
by Crazy Horse on Fri Oct 29th, 2010 at 06:22:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]


"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
by Crazy Horse on Fri Oct 29th, 2010 at 02:00:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Not much with an effect on solving the existential crisis which dwarfs western civilization will be solved by tonight's baseball game, though fersure there will be lots of stats and graphs.

But it would be sweet to bring it home now, for the first time in Frisco history.  me was in Schland during the last series, and basically missed it 'cept for late nite radio.  But the last Series, 1989, i sold my seats for thousands, and copied a photog's pass into the Stadium.

Had my hands on the batting cage as the Giants took BP, and watched the games from the field (as we lost in four).  Now i sit at my laptop and Apple big screen, and wait for the Boys of Summer to get between the lines.

Ladies and Gentlemen, and ET nurds, we give you Game 5 of the 2010 World (hah) Series. World includes a team from Canada and some players from central america.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Mon Nov 1st, 2010 at 07:40:18 PM EST
Is Mr Horse chewing his fingernails yet? just looked and it's 3-1 to the Giants with 2 innings left (assuming I understand the game)

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon Nov 1st, 2010 at 10:06:23 PM EST
The city is going nuts. Unlike Philly we're not burning the city down, although the night is young.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Mon Nov 1st, 2010 at 11:41:47 PM EST
Done.  The champagne is sweet, after great baseball.  Winning, by a bunch of tokers, is so sweet against the Bush machine.

i can imagine some fireworks and perhaps even some noise taking place within the city confines, that i love.  i can imagine there are some old fans who watched Bobby Richardson snare that liner which broke the hearts of the city.

Karin's here, and there seems to be a celebration.  

i can say, with a bit of perspective, that The Freak pitched, as he would say, fuckin awesome, and the neanderthals from tejas are sent back to their caves.

in the past months, i have seen some good baseball.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Mon Nov 1st, 2010 at 11:54:22 PM EST
Here's a very sweet slideshow showing how San Francisco reacted to the Giants dissection of the postseason opposition, while waking up to the tea bagging reality.

Sweet indeed.   A Million strong.

Young america has no other tradition like this game, and while other sports may capture more fans, this game stands out, and will continue to stand out, long after amurkan football is either outlawed or declawed.  (waves to Drew and ducks)

The euphoria i felt watching the presentation, including for my grandfather, was palpable.  Seeing Willie Mays, greatest ballplayer of all time, and Willie McCovey, Willie Mac in a wheelchair, from the 50's and 60's Giants team which lost to the corporate Yankees in '62 by two inches, beaming (silently) as Timmy mouthed "fuck yeah" and Huff Daddy pulled his Rally Thong out of his pants, well..; sweet.

Over a million people lined the parade route, some say 1.4M.  Since San Fran has a population of 620,000, that's saying something.  I know of  two friends, decked in orange and black on Halloween, who really enjoyed their French Champagne, as the skies lightened in greater downtown Bremen Germany.

Also sweet, to see the Guvornator get booed by the crown his whole speech, even when he acknowledged the existence of the the horrible photo leading off this diary, a prank on the media by our closer.

Well, my vacation's over.  wish i could still swing a bat.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Thu Nov 4th, 2010 at 03:15:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Oh, and it was sweet that one of the players said it smelled like Prop 19 passed. From the stage.  Obama asked if The Beard had magical powers.  And Huff, was he proud?

with the Jints 6 games back in the middle of august, Huff tried to loosen up the clubhouse by dancing around in that thing.  he predicted the Giants would go 20-10 from that day 'til the end of the season, which they did. they then went 11-4 to win it all in the postseason.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Thu Nov 4th, 2010 at 03:26:50 AM EST
[ Parent ]
PS.  sorry for the cluttered Update, they were supposed to be bullet points.  perhaps i should learn html.



"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Thu Nov 4th, 2010 at 03:36:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]
What part of

afew:

that means putting <p> where you want a paragraph break

is hard to understand? ;)

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Nov 4th, 2010 at 05:13:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Done.
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Nov 4th, 2010 at 05:19:43 AM EST
[ Parent ]
i'm just thankful that i remember the beginning of a sentence when i reach the end.  ;-)  und danke.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
by Crazy Horse on Thu Nov 4th, 2010 at 08:20:28 AM EST
[ Parent ]


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