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Daily Drivel – Laziness!
I haven’t done shit today! I was still up at around 9am, so I decided to call Mike, expecting to leave a voice mail thanking him again for the check and telling him when to expect the phone and Bluetooth speaker I’ll send out on a less lazy day. He answered, sounding like he just woke up, but we ended up yakking for almost 5 hours! That happens every time unless he’s gotta go somewhere. So many stories! All highly entertaining because it’s Mike and he’s done some entertaining shit! Me too! We went over music stuff, remembered people from high school, and relived our goriest and most troubling life experiences, which was both educational and stress-vanquishing. Lots of gore…
We discussed our respective romantic histories, filled in the blanks of times we weren’t seeing each other much, just all the shit old friends that haven’t talked in 25 years need to cover before they get down to business, which in this case will be getting some kind of documentary or biography of Mike done before it’s too late. It’s an incredible life, a story that’s extremely compelling, with death defying twists and turns (with dog heroes!), famous music personalities even normals have heard of, lots of heartbreak and disappointment, and almost no money to work with ever, but mainly it’s the uplifting tale of a guy that was never taken seriously, had to fight to get anything he’s ever achieved, which is a lot, and somehow came through it all still the same person, still with the burning passion to make music, to show the doubters that he was worthy after all!
Every time we talk the story outline becomes less nebulous, new scenes added, new details added, ever expanding. It’s a story still in progress, which is the best part! After having been away for so long, unable to help or even just be a sounding board, I can finally be with the one person I’ve ever met that genuinely gives a shit about me and vice versa, I can be there for him again at last! Learning that I, lowly me!, have been a big influence on him too has been humbling, gratifying, surprising as hell really. I should really thank dad’s record collection, but I guess Mike liked me too!
It was just about the best way I can think of to start another day, even though technically it was still yesterday, or something. I ended up staying up the whole day, then napped around 4pm, just waking up now, almost 11pm.
So nope, nothing got done today! But in more important ways, a whole lot got done, and that’s left me with a lingering warm glow, a deep happiness that I’m not sure I’m familiar with. I could get used to this!
Tomorrow will be busy, because things are still selling! Guitars, but also some of the other stuff too! Every little bit helps. I’m down to no guitar boxes again so the first decent payout will go to a few guitars to get that cycle back on track. I think I get something at midnight but I doubt it’ll be enough for guitars, which is fine. In a day or two real money payouts will happen and we’ll be rolling again, Keeping my fingers crossed that I can avoid Ebay related catastrophic events until the move! We’ll see!
That’s all I got, friends! Until tomorrow, please avoid being mean, OK? You’ll feel better! Like a smooth pebble…
Later!
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Everything’s broken, with too long to wait before the bad people have to go away. Our only hope is that they won’t have broken everything by the time we start chasing ’em with pitchforks and/or torches. Maybe there are some relatively honest leaders still left that will step up and start rallying folks around causes that help people instead of using them as weapons against perceived enemies, which turn out to be us. We screwed ourselves, and now my own goddamn birthday will forever be remembered as capital riot day, so I’m taking it very personally.
We’re all in survival mode, hoping things can at least stop getting worse. Not sure we’re there yet or will be any time soon. Guess who’s loving it though? Those rascally billionaires, scooping up what little is left from us poors as we work 3-4 jobs to stay just a month behind on bills. In a sane reality they’d be imprisoned, put in solitary, and maybe shackled extra tightly to make extra sure they stay put forever. Or you could just hang ’em all… I could go either way, but I like the maximum security prison thing best, on a live feed 24/7. The orange guy’s bathroom habits will be on display for the world to be repulsed by!
Until tomorrow, just get through today...
Today in Baseball History 8/27
1909 – Inventor George Cahill brings his patented lighting system to South Side Park. Using twenty 137,000 candlepower arc lights, two amateur teams play a night game before 20,000. However, the first American League night game won’t be played there until 1939.
1912 – In response to demands for an alternative way to rate pitchers besides wins and losses, the National League will officially keep ERA’s for the first time; the Giants’ Jeff Tesreau will lead the league at 1.96. Despite an increase in .300 hitters from 22 to 32 this year, there will be 19 pitchers with ERA’s under 3.00. The American League will not make ERA part of its official statistics until 1913.
1917 – In the 4th inning in New York, Pirates swiftie Max Carey beats out a bunt single, and goes to second base on a single by Tony Boeckel. Both runners steal on the next pitch from Rube Benton and, with Boekel entangled with New York 2B Buck Herzog, Carey steals home as well. Wilbur Cooper makes the one run stand up for the 1 – 0 win. For Carey, it is his 13th steal of home en route to a National League record 33 steals of home.
1929 – Rogers Hornsby has four hits and Sheriff Blake allows six to lead the Cubs to a 4 – 1 win over the Reds. Chicago now leads by 14 ½ games, the greatest lead a National League team has enjoyed at this stage since the 1906 Cubs.
1946 – At the Owners’ Meeting, a committee formed to study integration, which includes Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey, delivers its secretive report defending the covert color barrier which exists in professional baseball. The absurd reasons given why blacks shouldn’t be allowed to play in the big leagues include an absence of skills due to inferior training and lack of fundamentals as well as the need to respect existing Negro League contracts, but another lesser known motivation may have been profit, as revealed later in the report: “The Negro leagues rent their parks in many cities from clubs in Organized Baseball (and) Club owners in the major leagues are reluctant to give up revenues amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars every year” and the fear white fans would be driven away if black players attracted more minorities to the ballpark.
1951 – A prolonged delay occurs at Olean’s (NY) Bradner Stadium when a skunk refuses to leave the infield during a Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York League game between Batavia and the hometown Oilers. The minor leaguers try to shoo the crepuscular (most active at dawn and dusk) mammal away, but results in the players running off the field with the uninvited guest staying put for an hour before moving on, allowing the contest to resume, albeit with a lot less fans in the stands.
1955 – In his second big league start, bonus baby Sandy Koufax two-hits the Reds at Ebbets Field, 7-0. Showing his future dominance of the 1960’s, the southpaw strikes out 14 Cincinnati batters.
1961 – The Orioles’ Milt Pappas is the whole show as he blanks the Twins, 3 – 0. He allows just two hits while belting two homers. Eddie Robinson adds a homer.
1970 – Mike Cuellar wins his 20th game for Baltimore, defeating the A’s, 6 – 4. Chuck Dobson is the loser, giving up four runs in 2+ innings.
1973 – The 1st-place Orioles beat the Rangers, 6 – 1, for their 14th consecutive victory. It is the longest winning streak in the American League since 1960, and in the major leagues since 1965. The streak began on August 12th.
1977 – At Yankee Stadium, Rangers Bump Wills and Toby Harrah hit back-to-back inside-the-park homers on consecutive pitches. Texas wins the game, 8 – 2.
1978 – The Reds’ Joe Morgan belts his 200th homer to become the first player in history to have 200 homers and 500 stolen bases.
1980 – Phillies Steve Carlton (20-7) becomes the first National League pitcher to win 20 games this season, combining with Tug McGraw to beat the Dodgers, 4 – 3. Carlton will win an NL-high 24 games, while pitching 304 innings, the last major league pitcher to throw more than 300 innings in a season.
1980 – Pitcher and coach Hub Kittle becomes the oldest man to play in an organized baseball game when he starts for Springfield (American Association) against Iowa at the age of 63 years and six months. Kittle retires the side in the 1st inning, then tosses one pitch to retire a batter in the 2nd frame before exiting.
1982 – In a 5 – 4 loss to the Brewers, the A’s Rickey Henderson breaks Lou Brock’s 1974 single-season record of 118 stolen bases. By stealing a total of four bases, Rickey ends the day with 122 and will finish the season with 130.
2005 – Jeff Kent becomes the first player to hit 300 homers as a second baseman. The Dodger infielder, who surpassed Ryne Sandberg’s total of 277 last September, is the major league leader at this position with Joe Gordon holding the American League record with 246.
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All Today in Baseball History items are courtesy of either Baseball Reference or nationalpastime.com.
“I am so excited I couldn’t fall asleep. I even took some pills I found on the floor and still nothing.”
Today is National Pots De Creme Day and National Just Because Day. I have no idea either.
Howdy, How Goes It, and Other Salutations! (a brief intro)
I’m a former semi-pro blues musician whose life was very lousy for a very long time. My own fault completely. Not any more. At last I’m controlling my own destiny, selling guitars as my sole means of support, reengaged with music after far far too long, and mostly enjoying life again, maybe for the first time ever! I’m a born again heathen y’all!
I have wide ranging tastes and some weird opinions I suppose, and can’t wait to enthuse about all kinds of things – not just music. I’m also a WB animation nerd, a baseball fan that once worked for the local team (Baltimore Orioles, upper deck usher, NOT vomit patrol), though I’m much less of a sports fan now. I’ve ridden over a hundred roller coasters, love vintage sci-fi novels and eat like an 11 year old boy at his own birthday party.
Big comedy lover too, everything from Chaplin to Conan O’Brien to my longtime best friend Mike Puffer (or Plouffe to be accurate), as seen in cult classic “Where is the Chesterfield King?”. His even more obscure film “In The Bag” is impossible to find, so you know it’s gotta be great. “Not many modern day absurdists taking cues from Jackie Gleason”, said one critic, under extreme duress and nearly homeless. Talking to old friends lately has been quite an experience…
I’m still fumbling my way around in here, adjusting the lighting and testing the plumbing. Liquid Plumr has been metaphorically deployed as I’ve moved some elements around, changed the dark backgrounds to light, and tried to tighten things up in general. There’s still some work to do but less every day, and I think I’m nearing the end of the “fix all the shit the AI got laughably wrong” part finally.
I still don’t feel like I get it yet fully, but I’m getting there. I’m allegedly “smart” y’know… They’ve been trying to convince me of that since first grade but clearly my life decisions prove otherwise. I believe I have smartness in me though. Dumb or smart, I’ll continue to learn on the fly if possible. I just resisted a bad insect-based gag there, so you’re welcome.
Still not much traffic or activity here, and I’m not sure there will ever be. That’s fine I guess, but I’d love to see more likes and especially comments. On the old tumblr blog we had a core group that would comment depending on topic, most often on O’s posts.
Music fans that like the good shit are much less common than sports dorks and I know that. I’ll be happy if we get maybe 2-3 regulars who comment somewhat often, if only to keep me motivated to write fresh stuff rather than more recycling of the old shit, which there’s a LOT of… Be a commenter if you’d rather see new stuff!
Thanks for visiting, and come on back any time! I’ll leave the lights on for you! Coffee maker in every room! Ask about weekly rates! Exclamation points for all! Huzzah!!!
Contact Me?!?
You can reach me by searching/using claudecat17 in the typical places – Gmail, YouTube, tumblr, Ebay, etc. I’m out there. I’m everywhere. Or as Peter Frampton once declared proudly, fresh off the mega-flop Sgt. Pepper movie, “I’m In You!”
Pretty bold statement if you ask me. I think that movie was directed by Nancy Walker, Rhoda’s mom and the Bounty paper towel spokesperson for years, kinda the female Mr. Whipple with less groping. I reserve the right to be wrong naturally… Can’t sue me!
Incidentally, the photos above, quickly thrown together to replace the terrible AI-generated stock photos, are as follows:
On the top left it’s a photo of three former Doggie Diner signs. Doggie Diner was a bay area chain of hot dog restaurants that I have clear memories of from early childhood. These dog heads would be on very tall poles, visible from a distance, and different for every location. They’re fun, though a tad disturbing. I placed it where it is so that the rightmost doggie appears to be ogling Alice Faye on the lower right.
The cat is named Bubba, not by me, and is a real sweetheart, a total love sponge but afraid of his own shadow. He’s the one that enjoys catnip. I call him Bob. I’m gonna miss him a lot…
The cat on the front page is named Gus, again not by me but that name fits him well. He’s got the loudest purr ever, and can use it to express himself in various ways. He has a massive chest and a very substantial tale that reminds me of Godzilla. He’s well over 20 lbs but the most social and friendly fella imaginable. He can fetch! And he’s taken to joining me in the bathroom for my morning shit, often rising up to bump my face as I reach for the tp… He’s built like a bulldog that’s swallowed a bowling ball, and you can whack him on the back at any time, even while eating, and pretty hard too. He loves that! It makes a fun sound! I should sample that for future use as percussion… I’ll miss him too but Bob’s my guy…
Music and more with claudecat17 (aka Chris Davlin)! 