Category: Odds & ends

Posted in Odds & ends

Hello again

Posted on by Paul
Here I am, taking a selfie to show that I don't have the sense to come in out of the snow

Um, wow… last time I posted something here I wrote about planting something in our garden. Today we saw our first snow of the season.  😮

This morning, I read something that Jenny Lawson wrote about blogging. The Bloggess talks about how people write blogs for various reasons, ranging from wanting to change the world to wanting to share cat pictures.  

But mostly for me blogging is a way to say, “Hi.  I’m here.  You’re here too.  We’re a little less alone than we were yesterday.”

— Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess

And that really struck a chord with me. Sometimes, I write because I have something to say. Sometimes I want to entertain you. But mostly, I write to share a little bit of myself and feel a little bit less alone if someone reads it.

And lately, I haven’t been writing. Partly that’s been me being busy with other stuff going on in my life. Mostly it’s been me isolating myself and listening to my doubts and anxieties. I don’t want to keep doing that.

So here I am. Here you are. Take a moment to say “hello” if you like.

Posted in Odds & ends

So that happened… (Monday, Sept. 24, 2018)

Posted on by Paul

Balloon-Flowers

Monday might be when you had to go back to work, but it ended up being my day off this week. Happily, the weather cooperated and let me work in our garden today. Mostly, that involved getting areas ready to put to bed for the winter in a few more weeks. But I also planted the balloon flowers I accidentally found and purchased on Saturday. I think they should have enough time to settle in before we get our first frost, and they should look really nice next summer.

* * *

Lord-of-the-PitElections are just a few weeks away… I got my mail-in ballot today. My other piece of non-junk mail? A Magic: the Gathering Lord of the Pit card that I’d purchased from UntappedGames.com last week. Coincidence?

But seriously, make sure you vote in this election. If you’re not happy with the way things are going, this is your chance to make your voice heard.

* * *

There were two passings of note to sci-fi film fans this weekend: Gary Kurtz, who produced Star Wars and The Dark Crystal, died Sunday at age 78 and Al Matthews, who played the cigar-chomping Sgt. Apone in Aliens, died Saturday at age 75.

* * *

I got to watch the new Bleach live-action movie today (thanks, Netflix!) and it is amazing! The film succeeds in bringing the major elements of the first arc of the anime to life. The actors playing Ichigo, Rukia, Renji and Byakuya are all perfect. If you’re familiar with the story from the anime series or the original manga, you should definitely check it out. And if you’re looking for something a little bit spooky for October (and don’t mind subtitles), keep Bleach in mind..

Posted in Odds & ends

So that happened: Monday, September 17, 2018

Posted on by Paul

The world is still falling apart at an ever-faster pace. But trying to be positive, at least the weather cooperated to let me work in my garden on one of my mornings off.

That meant I got to catch up on some podcasts, and I want to share a couple of recent Escape Pod episodes with you. On September 6 & 13, they presented Andrea Phillips’ 2017 story “The Revolution, Brought to You by Nike” and it’s got just the right mix of optimism and cynicism to match my current mood. 

Photo of the Day

Here’s a friendly spider that’s taken up residence on our porch & is helping to keep other insects from bothering us.

I hope you’re all having a good week. Let me know if you’ve found any interesting podcasts that you want me to check out.

Posted in Baseball, Odds & ends

Monday roundup: summer, Magic & baseball broadcasts

Posted on by Paul

PSX_20180904_002312

Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer. Someone should tell Mother Nature, because it’s still 81 degrees as I write this — a half hour before midnight — and we’re looking at highs in the 90s for much of the week.

Looking back, I feel like this was the summer that wasn’t. If I wasn’t working, it was either too hot or too rainy to do a lot of the things that I would’ve liked to do. And then there were the days that it was a challenge to make myself do anything. Here’s hoping that your summer was better than mine, and that fall will be better to us all.

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My local grocery store has a vending machine near the entrance with various sports cards, Pokemon cards and Yu-gi-oh cards in it. Today it had some envelopes of 10 assorted Magic: The Gathering cards for $1. I bought a couple.

I played Magic a bit in the mid-1990s. It’s a fun collectible card game that puts you in the role of a wizard dueling another wizard. You each build a deck of cards, with lands that you can tap for mana to summon creatures and cast spells, creatures that can battle your opponent or her forces, and spells that you can cast that have a variety of effects.

1536024617096-dd5e8ba9-cfe7-440b-9b68-2170d76f7063_ Obviously, I wasn’t going to find anything especially rare or valuable in a repack package from a vending machine. But there were some “new” old cards that have some cool art, and they inspired some nostalgia. I’d like to start playing Magic again, though I’ve gotta admit that I’m a bit intimidated by the thousands of cards that have come out since I last played. And it’s not helping that I don’t know anyone who still plays.

But hey, participating locations will be holding open house events to promote the new Guilds of Ravnica during the weekend of Sept. 21-23. Amazing Heroes in Union is listed to run an open house on Saturday, Sept. 22… if I’m not working, maybe I’ll be able to go and check it out.

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Over the weekend, I read an article by Richard Dyer calling for a revolution in baseball broadcasting. While his modest proposal isn’t entirely practical, he’s not wrong. Baseball’s traditional broadcast formula, which pairs an ex-player analyst with play-by-play man and a sideline reporter, has worked for a number of years and still works for part of MLB’s audience. But it doesn’t work for everyone.

For each baseball broadcast, create a menu of commentary choices for fans. Have just one visual presentation, but allow fans to pick the style of broadcast they want to hear.

Watch your game, but pick from these broadcast menu choices:
1. Traditional play-by-play guy/color guy broadcast.

2. Sabermetric broadcast (which has already been done several times by Brian Kenny on the MLB Network). Brian Kenny, SABR President Vince Gennaro, or ESPN’s Keith Law, to name a few.

3. Comedian and humorist broadcast. Bill Murray, Jerry Seinfeld, Hank Azaria (“Brockmire”), Paul Rudd, or Triumph the Insult Comic Dog (Robert Smigel). Let’s have some real laughs for once.

Dyer suggests five other menu choices which is at least five more than would be feasible. But really, why couldn’t you offer some different options for different fans? You might just manage to build baseball’s audience.