Cat in the Sink

TLM and I found this on YouTube today...


Update 9.19.07
This just got a new tag: time waster (I realize now that's all it really is)
 

It's Official

TLM and I are officially tying the knot. We spent a nice few days in Cape Cod and, after making sure to get the blessings of her parents, I found myself on bended knee Friday night, trying to get through something I had been preparing in my head all week. The good news is I did get the question out. The great news is that she said yes.

Clay Buchholz's No-Hitter

TLM and I got a very pleasant surprise Friday night (as did all of Red Sox Nation) as Clay Buchholz punched through 3 rotations of the Baltimore Orioles lineup without letting up a hit. That's right...in his second major league start ever (and TLM and I were lucky enough to be at the first), the kid threw a no-hitter.

Buchholz struck out 9 and walked 3 to became the 16th Red Sox player to officially throw a no-hitter, and the first rookie to do so (though I think one could make a case for Devern Hansack in 2006). The closest thing to a jam came in the 5th when he led off the inning with back to back walks to Millar and Huff, then got Moore to strike out swinging, House to ground into a fielder's choice, then Payton to fly out to right, stranding Millar at 3rd. At this point both TLM and I noted the lack of hits on the part of Buchholz, and the excitement grew exponentially every inning from then on.


Though some people were leaving their seats as late as the 8th inning (???) it seemed as though everyone there knew what was happening. The feeling in the stands was electric and the most intense I've experienced since 2004. Somewhere during the 9th there was a low-pitch roar that, though almost inaudible, hurt the ears of everyone in our section. At one point a few melonheads in short right field tried to start a "Yankees Suck" chant and were immediately silenced by everyone within earshot, testament to the collective understanding of the importance of what was taking place.

Go Buchholz. Now all we have to do is wait for the Red Sox management to replace the guy in favor of Julian Tavarez...

Monticello

Well, it's been a while, and a lot's happened. The Sox are clinging to what is now a 6 game lead over the Yankees, Merv Griffin has passed away, and ABC family has a new show called "Slacker Cats" which, though funny, should by no means be thought of as a family show.

Also, since my last post TLM and I went to Charlottesville, Virginia for a wedding held in the chapel of the University of Virginia. Somehow, I convinced not only TLM but also two of her younger siblings to get away for a while before the wedding and go to visit Charlottesville's other attraction: Monticello.

Monticello was the residence of our 3rd President, Thomas Jefferson. I'd heard of it before in an architectural context from a friend (uh, who's an architect), and I'd had it on my "list of places to see" ever since, partly because of what he told me, but also because of the enthusiasm with which he described it. Designed entirely by Jefferson, he called it his "essay in architecture", and its first incarnation was heavily influenced by the building of ancient Rome, complete with columns built of solid stone. After a trip to Paris, he returned with some new ideas, and incorporated features like skylights and a dome over the front of the house, which we were told was the first on an American house. All in all, Monticello and its surrounding plantation grounds were designed, constructed, and remodeled over a 40-year period.

"Inside and out, Jefferson incorporated design elements from famous buildings of antiquity" - Monticello Guide for Visitors

It was a hot day (I think it was close to 100 degrees) and we couldn't wait to get inside. The tour was informative, albeit fast paced. Among the interesting features the tour guide pointed out were the many clocks Jefferson owned, something unusual for the day because of their intricate workings (as well as something I can relate to). We also saw dumbwaiters built into the sides of the fireplace in the dining room, said to be the first of their kind. My personal favorite was Jefferson's alcove bed (also a French-inspired feature), placed such that Jefferson could get out on one side to enter his bedroom and get out the other to enter his study (then called a cabinet). The length of the bed was something like 2 inches more than his height, making it a tight fit by today's standards.


photo from monticello.org
One final note: during the tour, the guide glazed over the fact that Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, was also a slave owner, and simply referred to these facts in combination as a "paradox" to be pondered for a long time to come. Though I commend the tour guide for realizing this was something important to bring up, I feel as though it was intentionally condensed to one sentence, perhaps for fear of tarnishing Jefferson's legacy. Who knows.

All in all, I recommend visiting Monticello if you find yourself in the area. Just make sure the temperature is under 100 degrees.
 

The Bonds Novelty is Already Over

Boy, that was quick. All it took was one more home run, and the novelty has already worn off for me. I'm officially back on the "Barry Bonds is a cheater" bandwagon, and am very interested in what will come of the George Mitchell report, which may be coming soon, and with some bad news for Barry if I'm reading Bud Selig correctly.

I saw the related cartoon below in the Boston Globe today, and thought it was post-worthy. (cartoon by Dan Wasserman)

Congrats to Barry Bonds

Well, it finally happened. Barry Bonds broke the all-time career home run record last night by hitter number 756 with a full count and one out in the fifth inning off of Washington's Mike Bacsik.

I gotta say, I feel differently about it than I thought I would.

I'm happy for the guy. For as much grief as he gets for being by all accounts an a-hole, I'm truly happy for him. Selfishly, by the way, I'm happy I got to see it in my lifetime. As the difference between Bonds's and the baseball legend Hank Aaron's home run totals grew smaller, and the hype around the record and Bonds's alleged steroid use grew more insidious, I was one of those fans who thought that whoever caught the ball should pull out a sharpie and draw a big asterisk on it. I thought the record would be tainted, and that all future baseball fans should know that this record was broken by a player in a time that will become known as the "home run era", or in the eyes of many today, the "steroid era".

After seeing the home run and the subsequent trot around the bases and in-game ceremony at the plate, including a scoreboard message from Hammerin' Hank himself, I found myself not feeling cheated at all. Regardless of how the Balco hoopla turns out, I saw #756...and Barry Bonds is the all-time home run champ, no asterisk required.

Evoloterra - Moon Landing Hoax

Today is Evoloterra. This is an interesting holiday in that it celebrates "human achievement in general", and its date commemorates the anniversary of the first manned landing on the moon. We have all heard those famous words uttered by Neil Armstrong upon his first descent down onto the lunar surface, and I wouldn't be surprised if it were in the top 5 U.S. quotes of all time (though I read he flubbed it a little bit, and actually meant to include an "a" before "man").



I like the idea of encouraging invention and innovation and putting its pursuit in a good light, without a doubt. Having said that, as I looked around for content on the subject, I came upon a lot of stuff on the "moon landing hoax". Now, I love conspiracy theories and I'd heard of this one before (remember Carl Everett's interviews with Dan Shaughnessy? He didn't believe in dinosaurs either.), and as I dug deeper I found lots of articles and vids on the subject. The vids in particular were captivating, and though many were obviously done in jest, some were seriously trying to present a case where NASA, the U.S. Government, and Stanley Kubrick, among others, conspired to film a sequence in a studio that would convince the people of the U.S. (and the world) that men had landed and were walking on the moon. Some approach the topic in "documentary" form, like one I found on YouTube (in pieces) called "Moon Landing: A Fake or Fact?". Others try to prove the hoax by showing inconsistencies or mistakes in the footage, like being able to "see the wires" in the clip below.

Whether these guys really did land on the moon or not, one thing is true: some of the "human achievements" we can celebrate today are those in the realm of imagination, skepticism and doubt.

Yellow Pig's Day

How could I forget this one. Happy Yellow Pig's Day, in recognition of the Yellow Pig and the number 17.

We Didn't Start the Fire (Boston sports version)

I remember watching this back when it was broadcast. The voice is Scott Wahle, if I'm not mistaken. I think it's a classic.

Mr. Butch Dead at 56

Like many other kids who grew up in Boston, I spent a good amount of my high school years roaming around places like Copley, Kenmore, the South End, Harvard Square, and Allston, etc. It is amazing to me how much a part of the city I felt in those days, and much of that I attribute to relatively unimportant things like knowing the ins and outs of the T or being able to rattle off the 5 closest Mortal Kombat machines from any location. More than anything, though, I think it was that I knew and was known by (or at least recognized by) many people in and around town. Red and Pops at Little Stevies, the guys who worked at Captain Nemo's and the Pizza Pad, and even the token taker at Aquarium station who for some reason let us hang around for hours until kicking us out every day for sliding down those long escalators.

And then there was Mr. Butch. I remember him as a tall, lanky, dreadlocked fixture outside the Rat in Kenmore, and though apparently homeless (I think by choice), he stuck out as a kind of celebrity, a man everyone knew. "Hey, Mr. Butch", you'd call, and he'd come right over, grinning, and ask how you were. Maybe he'd crack a joke or say something you didn't understand at all, but you would smile anyway because, for some inexplicable reason, he made you feel like you were old friends.

Mr. Butch unfortunately died in an accident today (July 12) at the age of 56. Below is a short article from boston.com.

(Update 7.13.07 - there's now another, more recent article in the non-breaking-news section)

(Update 7.14.07 - a great Mr. Butch guestbook has been set up and lots of people are sharing their memories. It's amazing how many random people have fond memories of this guy...testament to his persona. He will be missed.)

Mr. Butch, the street icon, dies in a scooter accident


(Mark Wilson/Globe Staff/file)

Mr. Butch, shown above on Harvard Avenue in November, had lived on the streets in Boston for about 30 years.

By Bryan Marquard, Globe Staff

Mr. Butch, the dreadlocked, homeless man who was an icon in Kenmore Square and Allston, was killed today in a scooter accident, friends and family said.

Boston police said there had been a fatal accident just after 7:30 a.m. on Cambridge Street in Allston, but did not release the name of the victim. Mr. Butch's sister, Jeannette Madison of Worcester, said she had been notified of her brother's death.

Mr. Butch's real name was Harold Madison Jr. The 56-year-old had been the subject of YouTube videos [as well as at least one independent film], a MySpace tribute page, and a Wikipedia entry. He was so popular that The Boston Phoenix wrote in April that it was considering changing the criteria for its "Readers' Pick: Neighborhood Character" category because Mr. Butch won so regularly.

"He's been in so many local movies, videos, in the Phoenix -- he's like an icon of the neighborhood," said Erin Scott, manager of New England Comics on Harvard Avenue in Allston.

Mr. Butch had lived on the streets of Boston for about 30 years. In Kenmore Square and his neighborhood in Allston -- areas rife with college students and people who cleave to less traditional approaches to living in Boston -- some saw in Mr. Butch a latter-day Thoreau, a man who chose a life that didn't involve taxes, rent, or office cubicles.

Red Sox Mascots

This one's for you, Denise.

So the All-Star break is upon us (go American League - 11 in a row!), and the Red Sox have a double-digit lead after (just over) half of the season. These three days are referred to by many as the slowest time in sports as not much else is going on, and they subsequently cause many a sports talk show to bring up some of the more peripheral topics as talking points.

How can resist peripheral topics?

TLM and I were at a game a week ago and at several points watched as at various times Wally the Green Monster (the Red Sox mascot) was parading around waving a flag, standing up on top of of the dugouts throwing out t-shirts, or just getting the fans excited in general. This is nothing new, of course, as it's been over 10 years since Wally was introduced to us back in 1997. What did surprise us, however, were a pair of big red velvety socks with arms, legs, hats and batting gloves marching up and down the lines. They were even in on the picture taken with Wally and the kid who threw out the first pitch.


Were these odd-looking creatures also Red Sox mascots, like Wally? Did they have a blog, a back-story, several children's books, and small plush versions of themselves for kids of the Nation (and Jerry Remy) to play with? Did they even have names?

The answers to all three questions is yes, they are new "friends of Wally" (though he didn't seem too excited to be with them when we were there), and you can even book "Righty" and "Lefty" for an appearance at your next birthday party if you'd like. One might ask how to tell the difference between the two...well, there is a big (though not very noticeable) "R" and "L" on their respective backs to avoid confusion. To me they looked out of place, though that may be simply because I'm used to Wally and not these two. Then again, maybe it's because the Red Sox management is only letting them out now and then to test the waters, having seen what happens when you formally introduce a new mascot to the Fenway faithful, i.e. Wally's debut.

I was at that first ever "kids opening day" with my father and watched as Wally was introduced with much fanfare, then greeted by an enormous and borderline comical hail of boos and mockeries - truly one of the Fenway moments I'll never forget. For a great recount of the moment, read the first comment on this post at deadspin.com.

What do you think of this new pair of Red Sox symbols? Should they be promoted more or kept in the sock drawer?

I Can Get My Own Transformers, Thank You

When I was a kid out shopping with my mother at a store a toy section, I would always ask her for a Transformer. "No", she would always reply, followed by an excuse like "that's too expensive for a toy" or "I just got you a He-Man" or "I am philosophically opposed to toys that can change shape". Ok, I made that last one up, but after a few Christmases and birthdays of Go-Bot pacification, I promised myself that when I was old enough, I would buy all the Transformers I wanted to.

Well, with the super-CGI Transformers movie about to hit screens, Hasbro has released their new series of the popular toys....and I made good on my promise, as showcased below. I even got the Optimus Prime, Mom, and it cost me over $40. Ha.

Wait...is that too expensive for a toy (for a 31 year old man)?

Schilling Joins the Almost No-Hitter Club

When I get a call from my father saying to me "Are you watching the game? You should be WATCHING the GAME right now.", I know he can only mean one thing. Someone is throwing a possible no-no, but he can't mention it for superstitious fear of cosmic intervention. Such was the case yesterday when Curt Schilling took the mound yesterday in hopes of achieving a different but equally uncommon task (recently, at least): snapping a Red Sox losing streak.

Schilling won the game, and almost pitched his first career no-hitter as he went 2 outs into the 9th before Shannon Stewart smacked a first pitch fastball into right field for a single. There are lots of articles out there covering this in much more detail than I, complete with video highlights and play-by-play breakdowns and recaps of the game, so no more about that.

(Getty Images Photo / Jed Jacobsohn)
What I would like to note, however, is that with his performance yesterday, Schilling became the fourth Red Sox pitcher since 1900 to allow a hit for the first time in a game with 2 out in the 9th. According to "Lost in the Ninth" (a pretty impressive website about...wait for it...losing no hitters and perfect games in the ninth inning), the four instances are as follows, with date, pitcher, team, opposing team, and opposing player who got a hit (all singles except for Scott):

1. 6/13/1933—Whit Wyatt, Boston vs. St. Louis, Tedd Gullic
2. 4/14/1967—Billy Rohr, Boston at New York, Elston Howard
3. 7/2/1975—Rick Wise, Boston at Milwaukee, George Scott (HR)
4. 6/7/2007—Curt Schilling, Boston at Oakland, Shannon Stewart

The Billy Rohr game is an integral part of Red Sox lore these days, especially since this year marks the 40th anniversary of the "Impossible Dream" season of 1967. This was a game immortalized by Ken Coleman's call of a Carl Yastrzemski catch to preserve the no-hitter for Rohr in his first major league start...against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium, no less. I've included a segment of the famous "Impossible Dream" record below that talks about that game and includes the now infamous "he dives and makes a tre-MEN-dous catch". (For more clips from the album, check out fleetwoodsounds.com.)



Even our own beloved Jerry Remy once broke up a no-hitter with 2 outs in the 9th, though not with the Sox. On May 26, 1976, while playing for the then-California Angels, he came up to the plate in a scoreless game to face Ken Brett of the Chicago White Sox and smacked a single to break up the no-no. The Angels went on to lose a heartbreaker, 1-0 in 11 innings.

When thinking of no-hitters broken up with 2 outs in the 9th inning, one game sticks out in my mind even more strongly than the Billy Rohr game. That game took place on September 2, 2001, and it was Red Sox-Yankees at Fenway. I had gone out of my way to get some box seats for the game, as I wanted my girlfriend at the time to come to a game with me and she would settle for nothing less (she also pretended to be a Yankee fan to irk me, sign #1 she wasn't right for me).

Come time to leave, all of a sudden she doesn't want to go. I was beside myself, and though I tried all I could to get her to go, her resistance continued to equal the strength of my attempts. Eventually, she won and we both stayed at her place. After a couple of hours she was fast asleep (arg), I turned on the TV to check in on the game, only to see that it was the 9th inning and Mike Mussina was pitching a perfect game. A PERFECT GAME! Bearing witness to an event so rare in baseball would have superseded the fact that it was being done to the Red Sox, and for maybe the second time in my life, I was in a state of shock. All I could do was look at the TV, then over at the sleeping girlfriend, then back to the TV, over and over again, shaking my head back and forth. Ridiculous.


This story has a happy ending, though, as Crazy Carl Everett stepped up to pinch hit with one out to go, and with 2 strikes (1 strike away, Moose) got a single to break up the perfect game. The fans at Fenway became riotous, and I couldn't help but applaud and belt out my own shout of approval, waking up my girlfriend and anyone else in the immediate vicinity. Too bad...

In case you didn't know already, let this be even more evidence that TLM (who by the way shares Red Sox season tickets with me) is the best girlfriend ever.

Who Says You Can't Go in Public?

You find yourself walking around on a nice day in some European city and realize you have to go to the bathroom. One's initial reaction might be to look around for a gas station or restaurant....but wait, what's this? A shiny, mirrored rectangular oasis right in the middle of town square. That's right, pictured above is the most stylish public bathroom in the world.

Ok, maybe that's a bit of a bold statement, I grant you. But if it isn't the most stylish public bathroom, it is cetainly one of the most original, and not just for its external presentation. Once inside, as you can see below, one realizes that the mirrors are only half of the novelty and, in a way, only half mirrors. Building a public bathroom whose walls are one-way mirrors is not only creative, but also an interesting experiment in psychology. Would you be able to go when you can see everyone, even though you know they can't see you?

Looks like the cleanest publc bathroom I've ever seen, too.

Easter Eggs

While browsing through a bookstore the other day, I found myself flipping through a book about easter eggs. No, not the type you always wanted to make with those fancy looking PAAS kits when you were a kid, but rather those little images, messages, games or features that programmers leave in their programs, hidden, of course, for others to find (thus the easter egg analogy).

I'd come across these before, most recently on the web...Google in fact. If you go to google.com and search for "the answer to life, the universe, and everything" (no quotes), your first result is the Google calculator claiming it equals 42. This is a reference to Douglas Adams's classic "Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy" series in which a hypercomputer spends centuries to do essentially the same thing.

There are lots of these eggs out there. Try clicking on Yahoo!'s exclamation point and see what happens. Or go to Google maps and try getting directions from, say, Boston to Prague. Now THAT'S a long swim...

I came across some sites that have pretty good listing of eggs in not only software but also DVDs and music, etc. The Easter Egg Archive claims to have about 10.5 thousand indexed. Egg Heaven also has a good listing.

The Easter Egg Archive had an egg for OS X Tiger I found novel. If you go to the dashboard widget and apple-option-click the weather symbol at the top, the city changes to "Nowhere". If you keep doing it, the widget will cycle through all the available weather symbols it can show. According to the image below, it looks like Nowhere is in for a pretty bad hailstorm...