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Celebrations and other happenings
Nov. 6th, 2013 08:15 pmSo, how 'bout those RED SOX???!!!??? ( Cut to spare those who are uninterested. )
The other night, I was driving to dance/music practice and I saw that the sign in front of the university's Ritchie Coliseum said something like "WELCOME AORE, WWW.AORE.ORG." I wondered what the heck AORE stands for. American Organization of Renal Endocrinologists? Association of Outstanding Reticulated Entomologists? Obviously I figured it out once I got home, but I think my other ideas are more interesting, don't you?
Anyway ... I'm still getting used to Standard Time and the lack of Major League Baseball games, and I really, really ought to write more about the SCA.
The other night, I was driving to dance/music practice and I saw that the sign in front of the university's Ritchie Coliseum said something like "WELCOME AORE, WWW.AORE.ORG." I wondered what the heck AORE stands for. American Organization of Renal Endocrinologists? Association of Outstanding Reticulated Entomologists? Obviously I figured it out once I got home, but I think my other ideas are more interesting, don't you?
Anyway ... I'm still getting used to Standard Time and the lack of Major League Baseball games, and I really, really ought to write more about the SCA.
How 'bout those Red Sox??!?
Oct. 23rd, 2013 11:46 pmGame 1 of the World Series is in the books and it is a SOX VICTORY!!! Boy, those Cardinals need to learn how to catch a ball. This ain't high school, gentlemen!!
Now, I am just finishing off my second bottle of Sam Adams Octoberfest tonight, but I must say, this is one weird (NSFW) music video about Massachusetts by some Norwegian group. Now, that's NOT Boston City Hall, people don't refer to "the Massachusetts" and "the Suffolk County," and the "perfect harmony" bit certainly glosses over the whole Boston busing crisis. And where the hell did they find Pingryville? Even I had to look that one up!
Now, I am just finishing off my second bottle of Sam Adams Octoberfest tonight, but I must say, this is one weird (NSFW) music video about Massachusetts by some Norwegian group. Now, that's NOT Boston City Hall, people don't refer to "the Massachusetts" and "the Suffolk County," and the "perfect harmony" bit certainly glosses over the whole Boston busing crisis. And where the hell did they find Pingryville? Even I had to look that one up!
uugggghhhh....
Sep. 29th, 2011 10:59 amYeah, I stayed up last night and watched the historic Red Sox collapse. Aaarrrrrggghhhhh. I have to admit that, for fans of the Orioles, it must have been an utterly fabulous way to end an otherwise undistinguished season.
But for Red Sox Nation? Gaah, what might have been....
Seems as if a lot of people are now calling for the head of manager Terry "Tito" Francona, but I'm not one of them. I still think he's the best manager for the Red Sox. I don't know enough about baseball to assign blame, but I'd say the team HAS to get rid of Lackey, and probably Crawford too. I see Ellsbury, Pedroia, and Youkilis (when Youk gets over his injury) as the core of next year's team.
Baseball is such a funny game. It's like the opposite of football. The NFL has a 16-game season, so it is not that uncommon to have teams finish 15-1 or 1-15. But Major League Baseball is six months and 162 games. The best teams have a record around .600 and the worst teams are around .400. Regression toward the mean or something like that. Even the best teams have "off" nights when no one can hit or catch properly. Even the worst teams have flashes of athletic brilliance.
Funny, but at the end of the game last night, I was thinking about how I tried to make myself root for the Orioles back in the 1990s, when I was a new transplant to Maryland and DC had no prospects of getting an MLB team. After all, the O's still had Cal Ripken Jr., who I still think is an incredible class act. The O's led the AL East for the entire 1997 season, then lost in the playoffs (ALDS, IIRC) and then Peter Angelos fired Davey Johnson and the O's haven't had a winning season since. I can't stand Angelos as a team owner, and I guess this experience is one reason why I think the Sox should keep Francona. (Incidentally, Davey Johnson is now managing the Nationals, which gives me hope for the future of that team. I would really like to have a good NL team in DC.)
Guess I'll wrap this up with a couple of links.
Chad Finn: Red Sox did this to themselves
Nate Silver: Bill Buckner strikes again
But for Red Sox Nation? Gaah, what might have been....
Seems as if a lot of people are now calling for the head of manager Terry "Tito" Francona, but I'm not one of them. I still think he's the best manager for the Red Sox. I don't know enough about baseball to assign blame, but I'd say the team HAS to get rid of Lackey, and probably Crawford too. I see Ellsbury, Pedroia, and Youkilis (when Youk gets over his injury) as the core of next year's team.
Baseball is such a funny game. It's like the opposite of football. The NFL has a 16-game season, so it is not that uncommon to have teams finish 15-1 or 1-15. But Major League Baseball is six months and 162 games. The best teams have a record around .600 and the worst teams are around .400. Regression toward the mean or something like that. Even the best teams have "off" nights when no one can hit or catch properly. Even the worst teams have flashes of athletic brilliance.
Funny, but at the end of the game last night, I was thinking about how I tried to make myself root for the Orioles back in the 1990s, when I was a new transplant to Maryland and DC had no prospects of getting an MLB team. After all, the O's still had Cal Ripken Jr., who I still think is an incredible class act. The O's led the AL East for the entire 1997 season, then lost in the playoffs (ALDS, IIRC) and then Peter Angelos fired Davey Johnson and the O's haven't had a winning season since. I can't stand Angelos as a team owner, and I guess this experience is one reason why I think the Sox should keep Francona. (Incidentally, Davey Johnson is now managing the Nationals, which gives me hope for the future of that team. I would really like to have a good NL team in DC.)
Guess I'll wrap this up with a couple of links.
Chad Finn: Red Sox did this to themselves
Nate Silver: Bill Buckner strikes again
I have to start by mentioning that I'm watching the ESPN Sunday night baseball game, Red Sox versus Yanks at Fenway. Bottom of the third and the Sox are threatening to score. Hope they do -- this is the rubber game of the series, and the season has not been kind so far to the 1-7 Sox.
Anyhow ... on Saturday I went to Lochmere's Night on the Town event at the Elks camp in Annapolis. I hadn't pre-registered because the boy toy had been wanting to go to the Cherry Blossom Festival, but when the weather forecast was cloudy and cool and possibly damp, he declined. I didn't get there too early -- indeed, I had to dodge a HUGE traffic backup on the Beltway and take the back roads to U.S. Route 50. So lunch was technically sold out by the time I arrived; I had to wait till mid-afternoon and then snag some leftover food.
Fortunately, I was just planning to have a relax-an-event anyway. While awaiting the opportunity to nosh, I sat in on a medieval-pinwheel-making class taught by Mistress Sigrid, and I made my own lil' pinwheel from wood and parchment paper. (I'll probably give it to Eleanor the Naked Baby or any other small children who come visiting at our Pennsic encampment.) I browsed the baronial yard sale known as "Lochmart," I chatted with some of my fellow heralds, and during evening court I worked on the practice tablet-weaving band that has been sitting around the house for a while now. (Actually, I straightened out the cards so that they were all going the same way, and I practiced just the plain old "two turns forward, two turns back" shtick. But even weaving without a pattern can be tricky if you keep getting distracted as I do/did.)
Of course feast was sold out too, so I just came home and noshed on some satisfying leftovers for supper. I do love to feast, but it's probably just as well I saved $9.
Today was mostly cloudy too, even though previous forecasts had said "sunny." *sigh* So I slept kind of late and missed the service again, and then I dawdled and was late for the Wicca 101 class. So I learned something about grounding and centering, but I missed the part about casting a circle. Darn.
Then the boy toy settled in for some laundry and cleaning, and I was OK until I came across a bag that had a lot of stuff from 1981 in it. I could tell it was from 1981 because of the dates on the letters from my parents. Mom wrote most of the letters and signed them "Mom and Dad," but a couple of times, my father wrote a separate message and slipped it in the envelope, and those notes were signed "Daddy." I didn't cry, but I got all sad and thoughtful. Having two parents ... that was such a long time ago now.
(For those of you who don't already know: my Dad died the year after I graduated from college, and my mother died 14 years ago. So this is not a divorce thing.)
Some homemade chicken soup and a great Josh Beckett pitching performance, though, and I'm doing better now.
Anyhow ... on Saturday I went to Lochmere's Night on the Town event at the Elks camp in Annapolis. I hadn't pre-registered because the boy toy had been wanting to go to the Cherry Blossom Festival, but when the weather forecast was cloudy and cool and possibly damp, he declined. I didn't get there too early -- indeed, I had to dodge a HUGE traffic backup on the Beltway and take the back roads to U.S. Route 50. So lunch was technically sold out by the time I arrived; I had to wait till mid-afternoon and then snag some leftover food.
Fortunately, I was just planning to have a relax-an-event anyway. While awaiting the opportunity to nosh, I sat in on a medieval-pinwheel-making class taught by Mistress Sigrid, and I made my own lil' pinwheel from wood and parchment paper. (I'll probably give it to Eleanor the Naked Baby or any other small children who come visiting at our Pennsic encampment.) I browsed the baronial yard sale known as "Lochmart," I chatted with some of my fellow heralds, and during evening court I worked on the practice tablet-weaving band that has been sitting around the house for a while now. (Actually, I straightened out the cards so that they were all going the same way, and I practiced just the plain old "two turns forward, two turns back" shtick. But even weaving without a pattern can be tricky if you keep getting distracted as I do/did.)
Of course feast was sold out too, so I just came home and noshed on some satisfying leftovers for supper. I do love to feast, but it's probably just as well I saved $9.
Today was mostly cloudy too, even though previous forecasts had said "sunny." *sigh* So I slept kind of late and missed the service again, and then I dawdled and was late for the Wicca 101 class. So I learned something about grounding and centering, but I missed the part about casting a circle. Darn.
Then the boy toy settled in for some laundry and cleaning, and I was OK until I came across a bag that had a lot of stuff from 1981 in it. I could tell it was from 1981 because of the dates on the letters from my parents. Mom wrote most of the letters and signed them "Mom and Dad," but a couple of times, my father wrote a separate message and slipped it in the envelope, and those notes were signed "Daddy." I didn't cry, but I got all sad and thoughtful. Having two parents ... that was such a long time ago now.
(For those of you who don't already know: my Dad died the year after I graduated from college, and my mother died 14 years ago. So this is not a divorce thing.)
Some homemade chicken soup and a great Josh Beckett pitching performance, though, and I'm doing better now.
Random bits
Sep. 5th, 2010 06:05 pmBU student falls to death at hotel. I guess this is why the screens were riveted onto the window frames at Warren Towers (the huge 18-story dorm there).
UMass-Amherst mired in second-tier status -- this is sad, and there is no excuse for it. I did what I could while I was still a Massachusetts resident.
Dammit, the Red Sox were ahead and they STILL managed to lose their third game in a row to the White Sox. *grumble* We're never going to get back into the wild-card race now....
Well, I guess I should go enjoy what's left of another gorgeous afternoon.
UMass-Amherst mired in second-tier status -- this is sad, and there is no excuse for it. I did what I could while I was still a Massachusetts resident.
Dammit, the Red Sox were ahead and they STILL managed to lose their third game in a row to the White Sox. *grumble* We're never going to get back into the wild-card race now....
Well, I guess I should go enjoy what's left of another gorgeous afternoon.
