He Knew He Was Right

Unlucky: slipping on some wet leaves and nearly falling backward Lucky: grabbing a low branch and gaining my balance Unlucky: realizing that it wasn't a branch but a poison ivy vine Lucky: tossing it to the side before it touched the rest of my arm Unlucky: having the vine swing back and smack me in the face Lucky: having the presence to catch the vine in the same hand Stupid: pulling the vine so as not to have to worry about walking into it again Comical: how moronic I must have looked tangled up in the damn thing Effective? Just took a cold shower with some old poison ivy wash...

The BPP All-Time Dream Project | Baseball: Past and Present This was a fun little project in which I participated, one that took an interesting turn as I saw the names of some of the voters, making me feel like I was rubbing shoulders with some big boy sportswriters. The appeal of this for me was multifold tho, letting me reflect on my favorite ballplayers over the years--the ones I saw and read about as a kid through the ones I watch now--, and getting to see the opinions and selection reasoning of so many. In my mind, the list of greats started here, with this collection from the 1976 Topps set: This scan of my cards will probably make Sliced Tongue ...check that... Who Made the Grade ...cringe somewhat when his discriminating eye does its reflexive grading (or, he may offer a better example from his vast collection...). Anyway, the 10 cards have been valued ones to me, stirring up my interest in baseball history as they caused me to read about these players ...

For better or worse, I couldn't help noticing the wide-ranging interesting events--some tragic, some just interesting--that occurred on this date... In 1815, the Tambora Volcano in Indonesia claimed over 80000 lives. Simply tragic. I saw several interesting stories about it today, including this one http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2009/04/dayintech_0410 In 1912, 100 years ago, the Titanic left Southampton for its fateful trip, simply tragic as well, ultimately claiming over 1500 lives. Also in 1912, the Yankees debuted their pinstripes. Fifty years later, in 1962, the Dodgers played their first home game at Dodger Stadium, now the third oldest stadium in MLB. Fifty years later, today, in 2012, Matt Groening tells the world that the setting of his Simpsons town is Springfield. Well, no, we knew that. He told us which Springfield, as most every state has a Springfield, and which Springfield was always a mystery. Congrats, Springfield, OR; you are the lucky Sp...