My world has been heavy with history for a month. The last week of May was wall to wall battleship. The USS Iowa's transit through San Francisco Bay made for a peak experience for SturgeUrge and I as we followed the big battlewagon from Richmond to Angel Island on an uncommonly calm afternoon.
Astronomically it was a couple of good weeks with the Annular Eclipse and the Transit of Venus.
I marked the 70th anniversary of the pivotal Battle of Midway in this space.
Last week we marked the 68th year since Allied forces landed on the Normandy beaches. D-Day the beginning of the end of Nazi Germany's reign of terror.
History was made in space when private contractor SpaceX successfully sent a cargo ship named Dragon to the International Space Station, docked, and a few days later, undocked, reentered and slashed down safely in the Pacific off the Baja California coast.
The 96th Indianapolis 500 and the 70th Monaco Grand Prix marked motorsports milestones, and this week I watched Matt Cain pitch his Perfect Game.
Looking ahead, Truckee will be hosting some history the first week of July, when two of the original Tuskegee Airmen will be feted at a dinner kicking off the Truckee Tahoe AirFair & Family Festival.
The Tuskegee Airmen were the first black aviation unit in the Army Air Corps during WWII. The heavily decorated all black 322nd Fighter Group is told in the George Lucas 2012 film "Red Tails"
All this excitement has me plumb tuckered out...perhaps this weekend's 24 Hours of Le Mans will recharge my batteries...
Showing posts with label cinema. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cinema. Show all posts
Friday, June 15, 2012
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Sunday Bonus: Penultimate USS Iowa Update
Now berthed in Los Angeles Harbor, BB-61, the USS Iowa is getting good press in Hollywood. Can an agent and film deals be the next entries in the Ship's Log?
A very good USS Iowa photo album at the LA Times link, too.
As the son of a native San Franciscan, it brings my heart joy that the lead photo in the LA Times story on the USS Iowa is the battleship on San Francisco Bay!
New readers, please feel free to Like my CorduroyPlanet Facebook Page, Thank you!
I expect that the Final USS Iowa Update will be the announcement of Iowa's Grand Opening and hours of operation in July. As for the Big Stick's Hollywood updates, I think that's best left to "Her People"...Ciao, Babies!
A very good USS Iowa photo album at the LA Times link, too.
As the son of a native San Franciscan, it brings my heart joy that the lead photo in the LA Times story on the USS Iowa is the battleship on San Francisco Bay!
New readers, please feel free to Like my CorduroyPlanet Facebook Page, Thank you!
I expect that the Final USS Iowa Update will be the announcement of Iowa's Grand Opening and hours of operation in July. As for the Big Stick's Hollywood updates, I think that's best left to "Her People"...Ciao, Babies!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Going Around In Cycles
Looking around the web for some kind of sign that Winter might miraculously appear on the West Coast, I found this Sacramento Bee story on our La Niña. The tone, or basic climate assumptions displayed by the reporter (and the editor...do newspapers still employ editors?) really fired me up! NOAA's "Year for the Record Books" isn't as scary as it sounds...Irene was the only hurricane to qualify in the Billion Dollar Club, most of the events are Springtime tornado outbreaks.
Incredibly, the reporter likens our "Pineapple Express" to hurricanes! By definition hurricanes are circular, well organized storms...think our weather makers on steroids.
There is hurricane news: We're enjoying a period of low intensity Atlantic Tropical Cyclone activity. In fact each day that passes sets a new record for Days Without a Major Hurricane landfall on the United States.
This is born out by the historical reanalysis by NOAA of the hurricane records. No December forecast for next season's Hurricane Season was issued, and Colorado State University is not defending the long range models anymore. They noted:
"We strongly believe that the increases in atmospheric CO2 since the start of the 20th century have had little or no significant effect on Atlantic basin or global Tropical Cyclone activity as extensively discussed in our many previous forecast write-ups and recently in Gray (2011). Global tropical cyclone activity has shown no significant trend over the past thirty years."
I cooled off and found another Long Period Cycle turning to the Cold Side:
AMO begins negative (cold) phase "This is the first time the November value has been negative since about 1996. It appears the down cycle has started. This portends a cooler period, especially winters."
La Niña will be weak to moderate through late Spring says NOAA's Climate Prediction Center's 90 Outlook issued today.
AO, the Arctic Oscillation is trending to the cold side, though NOAA has some problem with the data at present.
That's a lot of cold. It's probably bad news precip-wise. Cooler ocean temps mean less convection which is the pipeline that fills weather systems with moisture.
With my head filled with cool thoughts, I decided to stay awake to watch some actual falling snow. I watched the 10 O'clock and 11 O'clock News weathercasts...I watched Luc Besson's "The Fifth Element". Around 2AM I looked at the webcams and saw a little bit of dusting. I looked at my front porch...not a flake yet.
I fired up another SciFi Classic, Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" on Blu-ray I must have fallen asleep around 3AM. I woke up and looked outside a 0430...still no joy. When I looked again, there was a little dust on things, but it wasn't snowing anymore. Blazing sunlight burned through my blinds at 0830. Chain controls were up over Donner Summit for a time, but they'd been lifted in time to cause enough spinouts to cause CalTrans to hold westbound traffic for a time.
I missed the last morning weathercast on the TrainWreck News, so I found one online.
Thanks Channel 8 KOLO Reno!
Incredibly, the reporter likens our "Pineapple Express" to hurricanes! By definition hurricanes are circular, well organized storms...think our weather makers on steroids.
There is hurricane news: We're enjoying a period of low intensity Atlantic Tropical Cyclone activity. In fact each day that passes sets a new record for Days Without a Major Hurricane landfall on the United States.
This is born out by the historical reanalysis by NOAA of the hurricane records. No December forecast for next season's Hurricane Season was issued, and Colorado State University is not defending the long range models anymore. They noted:
"We strongly believe that the increases in atmospheric CO2 since the start of the 20th century have had little or no significant effect on Atlantic basin or global Tropical Cyclone activity as extensively discussed in our many previous forecast write-ups and recently in Gray (2011). Global tropical cyclone activity has shown no significant trend over the past thirty years."
I cooled off and found another Long Period Cycle turning to the Cold Side:
AMO begins negative (cold) phase "This is the first time the November value has been negative since about 1996. It appears the down cycle has started. This portends a cooler period, especially winters."
La Niña will be weak to moderate through late Spring says NOAA's Climate Prediction Center's 90 Outlook issued today.
AO, the Arctic Oscillation is trending to the cold side, though NOAA has some problem with the data at present.
That's a lot of cold. It's probably bad news precip-wise. Cooler ocean temps mean less convection which is the pipeline that fills weather systems with moisture.
With my head filled with cool thoughts, I decided to stay awake to watch some actual falling snow. I watched the 10 O'clock and 11 O'clock News weathercasts...I watched Luc Besson's "The Fifth Element". Around 2AM I looked at the webcams and saw a little bit of dusting. I looked at my front porch...not a flake yet.
I fired up another SciFi Classic, Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" on Blu-ray I must have fallen asleep around 3AM. I woke up and looked outside a 0430...still no joy. When I looked again, there was a little dust on things, but it wasn't snowing anymore. Blazing sunlight burned through my blinds at 0830. Chain controls were up over Donner Summit for a time, but they'd been lifted in time to cause enough spinouts to cause CalTrans to hold westbound traffic for a time.
I missed the last morning weathercast on the TrainWreck News, so I found one online.
Thanks Channel 8 KOLO Reno!
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Changes
Not much change on the weather front this week...or for next week either, say the weather gurus. I'm getting a little verklempt what with all this waiting. I want to have some skin in the game!
Yesterday I put away my builders tools and tidied up the garage to give myself some elbow room for the pickup's distributor project.
Friday I ran down to Reno for some provisioning and a tank of gas. As I entered the Truckee River Canyon, I realized that I forgot to grab my camera.
I'd hatched a little photo scheme in the morning...I'd take the Mt Rose Highway home and maybe get some photographic evidence of the Temperature Inversion Layer that's been giving us fits all month.
As it turned out I didn't need the camera...the air has been so still that the air is heavy with haze...it has been wood-burning cold in the valleys while the higher elevation have been barely freezing. No need to climb Mt Rose I thought...with this heavy haze, I probably couldn't even see the Lake...never mind the inversion layer!
Reno was a madhouse! I pulled right up to the pump at COSTCO, but I couldn't find a parking place anywhere at the warehouse. I bailed, and made my way to WINCO and grabbed a couple of sacks of groceries while the last of my patience evaporated. Way too much hustle and bustle for such a fine fall afternoon.
I cancelled a trip into downtown...those were discretionary shopping lists anyway...I wanted to hit the Truckee Safeway before the rush.
Heading up the Truckee River Canyon in the afternoon light, I noticed something new. The hills were golden...golden like California's grassy hills once summer heat toasts them. These hills had always been Sage Green...they were sagebrush scrub on volcanic soils and rock...they were supposed to be sage grouse color, period.
These were the hills that burned in 2001. The Martis Fire burned for two weeks and consumed 15,000 acres between Hirshdale, just east of Truckee, Incline Village, over the ridge on Lake Tahoe's North Shore, and Verdi, NV where the Truckee River Canyon opens into the Washoe Valley. Even Peavine Mountain, south of Stead Field, which has burned annually for a decade, had the new coat on. Whatever had been the indigenous ground cover had burned off and had been replaced by a low growing grass that didn't turn the hills green in spring, but did turn golden before winter.
I wondered how the Sage Grouse were holding up now that their camouflage was useless...
I pulled into Truckee, picked up my mail, and found a parking spot right in front of Safeway. I got everything on my Safeway list except the first item on the list, the best Loss Leader in this week's circular, T-Bone Steaks $6.99/lb in the Extreme Value Pack...damn
Back at the DaveCave, I put the groceries away and fired up the internet...I wanted to know more about that grass that took over the Truckee River Canyon...no luck. I searched and found the Truckee River Watershed Council...no luck...I spent an hour or so before I surrendered. I filled out a Contact Form to email my question to the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest Info Address...we'll see next week...
I watched another Martin Scorsese film, "Casino" I won't belabor the Academy's slights come Oscar time. Scorsese is one of the living legends of American Cinema. Not only does he make amazing films, the music he puts in his soundtracks is sublime.
While I finished dinner and my movie, I opened my mail. BajaBabe wins the Christmas Card Sweepstakes.
She gets me...notice the lack of snow?
Yesterday I put away my builders tools and tidied up the garage to give myself some elbow room for the pickup's distributor project.
Friday I ran down to Reno for some provisioning and a tank of gas. As I entered the Truckee River Canyon, I realized that I forgot to grab my camera.
I'd hatched a little photo scheme in the morning...I'd take the Mt Rose Highway home and maybe get some photographic evidence of the Temperature Inversion Layer that's been giving us fits all month.
As it turned out I didn't need the camera...the air has been so still that the air is heavy with haze...it has been wood-burning cold in the valleys while the higher elevation have been barely freezing. No need to climb Mt Rose I thought...with this heavy haze, I probably couldn't even see the Lake...never mind the inversion layer!
Reno was a madhouse! I pulled right up to the pump at COSTCO, but I couldn't find a parking place anywhere at the warehouse. I bailed, and made my way to WINCO and grabbed a couple of sacks of groceries while the last of my patience evaporated. Way too much hustle and bustle for such a fine fall afternoon.
I cancelled a trip into downtown...those were discretionary shopping lists anyway...I wanted to hit the Truckee Safeway before the rush.
Heading up the Truckee River Canyon in the afternoon light, I noticed something new. The hills were golden...golden like California's grassy hills once summer heat toasts them. These hills had always been Sage Green...they were sagebrush scrub on volcanic soils and rock...they were supposed to be sage grouse color, period.
These were the hills that burned in 2001. The Martis Fire burned for two weeks and consumed 15,000 acres between Hirshdale, just east of Truckee, Incline Village, over the ridge on Lake Tahoe's North Shore, and Verdi, NV where the Truckee River Canyon opens into the Washoe Valley. Even Peavine Mountain, south of Stead Field, which has burned annually for a decade, had the new coat on. Whatever had been the indigenous ground cover had burned off and had been replaced by a low growing grass that didn't turn the hills green in spring, but did turn golden before winter.
I wondered how the Sage Grouse were holding up now that their camouflage was useless...
I pulled into Truckee, picked up my mail, and found a parking spot right in front of Safeway. I got everything on my Safeway list except the first item on the list, the best Loss Leader in this week's circular, T-Bone Steaks $6.99/lb in the Extreme Value Pack...damn
Back at the DaveCave, I put the groceries away and fired up the internet...I wanted to know more about that grass that took over the Truckee River Canyon...no luck. I searched and found the Truckee River Watershed Council...no luck...I spent an hour or so before I surrendered. I filled out a Contact Form to email my question to the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest Info Address...we'll see next week...
I watched another Martin Scorsese film, "Casino" I won't belabor the Academy's slights come Oscar time. Scorsese is one of the living legends of American Cinema. Not only does he make amazing films, the music he puts in his soundtracks is sublime.
While I finished dinner and my movie, I opened my mail. BajaBabe wins the Christmas Card Sweepstakes.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Waiting History
I'm having mixed feelings today, they started last night while I was watching 2004's "The Aviator", the Martin Scorsese biopic about Howard Hughes, played by Leonardo DeCaprio. Leo DeCaprio never did a thing for me until I saw his Howard Hughes in "The Aviator".
After the movie I went back to scanning the 'net for snowmaking intel...webcam views, and the latest forecast prognostications...this is the major component of my increasing funkiness I'm afraid...The temperature inversions are back in control of our snowmaking microclimates again, and production is way down.
As I knocked around cyberspace, I saw these two things...Alec Baldwin got thrown off an American Airlines flight at LAX, and veteran character actor Harry Morgan passed away at 96. This was a little unsettling for me as I just watched Baldwin and Morgan's M*A*S*H costar Alan Alda in several pivotal scenes in the movie.
Alda played US Senator Ralph Owen Brewster and Baldwin portrayed PanAm founder Juan Trippe, who were a little too chummy in the Crony Capitalism way that's become far too commonplace in America today. DeCaprio's Hughes testifying at Brewster's Senate Hearings was the movie's tour de force performance, setting up the film's climax.
As my day turned to Wednesday, I realized that it was the 70th unhappy anniversary of Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Although certainly the most infamous event of all December 7ths, some other stuff happened that pulls my strings too...
NASA introduced Mercury Mark II in 1961. We now know it as the Gemini Program.
In 1995, NASA's Galileo became the first spacecraft from Earth to orbit Jupiter.
My life has been pretty wrapped up with history these past few months...I've taken on the Lincoln Highway this summer, and visited a couple of historic WW2 fighting vessels, the battleship Iowa, and the Victory Ship Red Oak Victory.
There's lots of history to Baseball, Formula One auto racing, and the Tour de France is nearing it's Centennial Year, too.
Tons of baseball news has come out this week, including SF Giants trades. Baseball is having it Winter Meetings in Dallas. Some of my favorite players from the Giants' miracle 2010 World Series season are gone. Reports say the Giants have maxed out their 2012 budget. Cody Ross, Andres Torres, thanks for the memories...
In bicycle racing, teams are coming together while reacting to the continued downturn of sponsorship money worldwide. Team RadioShack merged with Team Leopard Trek, the AMGEN Tour of California has announced the 2012 Start and Finish Cities, but not the routes.
What really had me on tenterhooks was waiting for news from FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in New Dehli, about the inaugural US Grand Prix at Austin, TX. Promoters of the race were shocked when F1 honcho Bernie Ecclestone threatened to void the 10 year contract to hold the US Grand Prix on the under construction Circuit of the Americas unless promoters paid several years in advance! Construction had been halted last month when the "new deal" became public. Time is of the essence for the November 18, 2012 race...a race I plan on attending!
The news was good when I got up Wednesday morning...construction resumes immediately outside Austin. In other F1 news for the New Dehli meeting, Finnish racer Kimi Räikkönen returns to F1 next season with Team Lotus after racing rally cars last season. That makes six World Driver's Champions on track next year!
March seems a long ways off today...let's hope Winter gets going soon...
After the movie I went back to scanning the 'net for snowmaking intel...webcam views, and the latest forecast prognostications...this is the major component of my increasing funkiness I'm afraid...The temperature inversions are back in control of our snowmaking microclimates again, and production is way down.
As I knocked around cyberspace, I saw these two things...Alec Baldwin got thrown off an American Airlines flight at LAX, and veteran character actor Harry Morgan passed away at 96. This was a little unsettling for me as I just watched Baldwin and Morgan's M*A*S*H costar Alan Alda in several pivotal scenes in the movie.
Alda played US Senator Ralph Owen Brewster and Baldwin portrayed PanAm founder Juan Trippe, who were a little too chummy in the Crony Capitalism way that's become far too commonplace in America today. DeCaprio's Hughes testifying at Brewster's Senate Hearings was the movie's tour de force performance, setting up the film's climax.
As my day turned to Wednesday, I realized that it was the 70th unhappy anniversary of Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Although certainly the most infamous event of all December 7ths, some other stuff happened that pulls my strings too...
NASA introduced Mercury Mark II in 1961. We now know it as the Gemini Program.
In 1995, NASA's Galileo became the first spacecraft from Earth to orbit Jupiter.
My life has been pretty wrapped up with history these past few months...I've taken on the Lincoln Highway this summer, and visited a couple of historic WW2 fighting vessels, the battleship Iowa, and the Victory Ship Red Oak Victory.
There's lots of history to Baseball, Formula One auto racing, and the Tour de France is nearing it's Centennial Year, too.
Tons of baseball news has come out this week, including SF Giants trades. Baseball is having it Winter Meetings in Dallas. Some of my favorite players from the Giants' miracle 2010 World Series season are gone. Reports say the Giants have maxed out their 2012 budget. Cody Ross, Andres Torres, thanks for the memories...
In bicycle racing, teams are coming together while reacting to the continued downturn of sponsorship money worldwide. Team RadioShack merged with Team Leopard Trek, the AMGEN Tour of California has announced the 2012 Start and Finish Cities, but not the routes.
What really had me on tenterhooks was waiting for news from FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in New Dehli, about the inaugural US Grand Prix at Austin, TX. Promoters of the race were shocked when F1 honcho Bernie Ecclestone threatened to void the 10 year contract to hold the US Grand Prix on the under construction Circuit of the Americas unless promoters paid several years in advance! Construction had been halted last month when the "new deal" became public. Time is of the essence for the November 18, 2012 race...a race I plan on attending!
The news was good when I got up Wednesday morning...construction resumes immediately outside Austin. In other F1 news for the New Dehli meeting, Finnish racer Kimi Räikkönen returns to F1 next season with Team Lotus after racing rally cars last season. That makes six World Driver's Champions on track next year!
March seems a long ways off today...let's hope Winter gets going soon...
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Sunday Funday
I woke up with the scratchy throat and a headache...perhaps a tiny fever...so here's my tardy grab bag of thoughts.
I've always wanted to go to Burning Man out on the Black Rock Desert's playa. About ten years ago, I saw a photo of a Burning Man Art "Car" in the paper. It was a mobile living room, sofa, coffee table, end tables, console TV and a floor lamp on a carpeted floor only 6-7 inches above the playa...it just about broke my funny bone!
Tickets sold out for this year's festival in July despite the $300 price tag. It looked windy on the playa from the photos in the Reno paper.
Saturday night I watched the Man Burn streamed live on the internet. This year's effigy was the tallest yet at 120ft. Before the Man ignited there was 15-20 minutes of Civic-Level 4th of July-Style Fireworks emanating from the Man's base...so that's where $300 X 53,341 went!
Nitpicker's please note: All 27,000 discount tier tickets sold out by noon the day after sales began.
Truckee and Reno are packed for the holiday weekend, so packed that my DSL dropped off a couple of times Saturday, and just before 11AM Sunday. The stream from the Black Rock last night was pretty slow, and the Reno Gazette Journal's man on the scene complains about the turtle-slow internet out at the event. He didn't say how long it took to upload 90 photos from Black Rock City.
Well, the internet was in and out for about a half an hour before 1PM this afternoon....could be all the departing Burners are firing up the smart phones, iPads at Starbucks, and the smart well-heeled burners are checking into their hotels for unlimited showers and WiFi.
I was trying to stream the KNBR Giants Pre-Game Show, but internet traffic wasn't havin' it. Burning Man is a San Francisco-Centric event, so I imagine thousands of departing Burners are firing up their MLB.TV Apps to check on the Giants' progress and to watch today's game. It's STAR WARS Day out at the ball park. I imagine there's a lot of STAR WARS Fans coming off the playa today.
I'm afraid my Giants are gonna have to find some Jedi Mind Tricks in the bat bag if they're going to get into the playoffs!
I've always wanted to go to Burning Man out on the Black Rock Desert's playa. About ten years ago, I saw a photo of a Burning Man Art "Car" in the paper. It was a mobile living room, sofa, coffee table, end tables, console TV and a floor lamp on a carpeted floor only 6-7 inches above the playa...it just about broke my funny bone!
Tickets sold out for this year's festival in July despite the $300 price tag. It looked windy on the playa from the photos in the Reno paper.
Saturday night I watched the Man Burn streamed live on the internet. This year's effigy was the tallest yet at 120ft. Before the Man ignited there was 15-20 minutes of Civic-Level 4th of July-Style Fireworks emanating from the Man's base...so that's where $300 X 53,341 went!
Nitpicker's please note: All 27,000 discount tier tickets sold out by noon the day after sales began.
Truckee and Reno are packed for the holiday weekend, so packed that my DSL dropped off a couple of times Saturday, and just before 11AM Sunday. The stream from the Black Rock last night was pretty slow, and the Reno Gazette Journal's man on the scene complains about the turtle-slow internet out at the event. He didn't say how long it took to upload 90 photos from Black Rock City.
Well, the internet was in and out for about a half an hour before 1PM this afternoon....could be all the departing Burners are firing up the smart phones, iPads at Starbucks, and the smart well-heeled burners are checking into their hotels for unlimited showers and WiFi.
I'm afraid my Giants are gonna have to find some Jedi Mind Tricks in the bat bag if they're going to get into the playoffs!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Weekend Wrapup
Baseball in America, and bicycle racing plus Formula One in Europe, speak July like nothing else to me. I'm enjoying another lazy Saturday. I didn't even try to get up at 0330 to follow today's big Pyrenean Stage 14, opting instead to set the alarm to catch the final climb to Plateau de Beille.
Three times the TdF has finished atop the Plateau de Beille, and all three times the winner that day went on to win the Tour. Marco Pantani (1998), Lance Armstrong (2002) and Alberto Contador (2007) all stood atop the podium in Paris after their triumphs on the Plateau de Beille.
It turns out I was psychic, there were no fireworks in the Pyrénées today. Getting my beauty sleep was priceless.
Remembering a theme from earlier this week, there was a bear sighting along the Tour de France route in the second week of Le Tour.
OK, I'm kinda in a goofy mood today.
I found myself listening to Sports Talk Radio today...well, SF Giants Talk Radio really...I can't stand sports Talk Radio...everybody who calls in are religious in their fandom, so it's not a real conversation, but serial speechifying...and talk radio's Number One Sin...it's boring!
So, how come I was listening today? Lazy...mostly...I didn't have the motivation to hunt around for something to listen to...Saturdays in Summertime can be a talk radio wasteland...so many hosts and shows take their vacations in July...programming changes happen mid-summer too.
Normally I'd be listening to the Kim Komando Show. "America's Digital Goddess" does three hours of computer and tech talk, but the station I hear her on in the Inland Valley has another pay-as-they-go Investment Show on in Kim's time slot now. I listened to a couple of TdF Podcasts before the Giants Pre-Game Talkfest aired.
So why Giants Talk? Well, the Giants have been playing very satisfying ball, they've been a ton of fun to watch, and they're on a four game winning streak. Plus I missed 'em during the All Star Break.
Last night's game in San Diego was good...I didn't notice so many Giants fans in opponents' parks last year...last night you could hear them chanting in the first inning! Here-We-Go Gi-ants Here-We-Go! Later in the game you could hear the Cody-Cody-Cody chant for outfielder Cody Ross as he stood in the batter's box. That's got to be a little demoralizing for the Home Team...
Pablo Sandoval's hitting streak ended at 22 last night, though his at bats were productive. His first at bat he hit a sacrifice fly to drive in a run. In his last at bat, they pitched around him for three balls and no strikes before intentionally walking him. Boy oh boy, you could really hear the Giants' fans booing big time!
I remembered how the Giants fans at home would hang rubber chickens on the outfield wall every time opposing pitchers walked Barry Bonds intentionally. I looked it up, not only did Bonds hit the most home runs in baseball history, he's the all-time career leader in walks, too with 2558 BB's.
In tonight's game at Petco Park, you can hear the Giants fans again...only this time they were booing Giants' starter, Barry Zito who gave up 8 runs on 7 hits (including 2 HR's) and 4 walks in 3.2 innings. Not so fun to watch...it's 11-2 in the 8th now...no joy in Mudville...
Before the gab and game, I was fortunate to catch that most rare 1943 Cary Grant movie, "Mr Lucky" on TV.
Grant, playing against type, is a grifter and cad who makes the luminous Laraine Day his mark for a swindle...swindling charity funds from Day's Refugee Charity Drive. (This movie was made during World War Two, and Grant's portrayal was wicked and smarmy...and a gamble for Grant) Grant's Joe Adams / Joe Bascopolous is a fully realized sociopath, cold and amoral. In the end, love conquers all, but it is a very uncomfortable journey.
"Mr Lucky" has been on my wishlist forever, but I gather that there isn't a good DVD transfer on the market yet...today's copy was really scratched, and in need of restoration. I don't know if Cary Grant's Estate is wild about this role, Grant's only A-hole on film. I'd love a total restoration ala the 50th Anniversary Edition of Alfred Hitchcock's brilliant collaboration with Grant, "North By Northwest" The Blu-ray NXNW restoration is absolutely beautiful!
I guess I've had Cary Grant on my mind all week...I want to see "Father Goose" again too.
In "Father Goose" Grant wears his role like a comfortable old t-shirt, but mostly I want to hear tipsy Leslie Caron slur: "You think I'm a Picture Straightener, Mr Eckland" in frustration again! "Father Goose" is a warm, good hearted comedy set in WW2's Pacific Theater. "Father Goose" is warm, optimistic, and confident, made almost 20 years after the war ended. It debuted in 1964 before the Vietnam War turned Hollywood cynical and anti-war.
In contrast to "Father Goose", "Mr Lucky" was filmed when the outcome of the war was still unknown and unknowable, you can feel the undercurrents of desperation and uncertainty throughout the movie, and it makes Grant's character seem much more abhorrent and icy. The satisfying ending comes well after the war ends, after Day's character pines away the war years and beyond, and after Grant's character makes amends for the duration and more.
They truly don't make movies like that anymore. Beautifully rendered in Black & White, and true to the heart and mind.
Three times the TdF has finished atop the Plateau de Beille, and all three times the winner that day went on to win the Tour. Marco Pantani (1998), Lance Armstrong (2002) and Alberto Contador (2007) all stood atop the podium in Paris after their triumphs on the Plateau de Beille.
It turns out I was psychic, there were no fireworks in the Pyrénées today. Getting my beauty sleep was priceless.
Remembering a theme from earlier this week, there was a bear sighting along the Tour de France route in the second week of Le Tour.
I found myself listening to Sports Talk Radio today...well, SF Giants Talk Radio really...I can't stand sports Talk Radio...everybody who calls in are religious in their fandom, so it's not a real conversation, but serial speechifying...and talk radio's Number One Sin...it's boring!
So, how come I was listening today? Lazy...mostly...I didn't have the motivation to hunt around for something to listen to...Saturdays in Summertime can be a talk radio wasteland...so many hosts and shows take their vacations in July...programming changes happen mid-summer too.
Normally I'd be listening to the Kim Komando Show. "America's Digital Goddess" does three hours of computer and tech talk, but the station I hear her on in the Inland Valley has another pay-as-they-go Investment Show on in Kim's time slot now. I listened to a couple of TdF Podcasts before the Giants Pre-Game Talkfest aired.
So why Giants Talk? Well, the Giants have been playing very satisfying ball, they've been a ton of fun to watch, and they're on a four game winning streak. Plus I missed 'em during the All Star Break.
Last night's game in San Diego was good...I didn't notice so many Giants fans in opponents' parks last year...last night you could hear them chanting in the first inning! Here-We-Go Gi-ants Here-We-Go! Later in the game you could hear the Cody-Cody-Cody chant for outfielder Cody Ross as he stood in the batter's box. That's got to be a little demoralizing for the Home Team...
Pablo Sandoval's hitting streak ended at 22 last night, though his at bats were productive. His first at bat he hit a sacrifice fly to drive in a run. In his last at bat, they pitched around him for three balls and no strikes before intentionally walking him. Boy oh boy, you could really hear the Giants' fans booing big time!
I remembered how the Giants fans at home would hang rubber chickens on the outfield wall every time opposing pitchers walked Barry Bonds intentionally. I looked it up, not only did Bonds hit the most home runs in baseball history, he's the all-time career leader in walks, too with 2558 BB's.
In tonight's game at Petco Park, you can hear the Giants fans again...only this time they were booing Giants' starter, Barry Zito who gave up 8 runs on 7 hits (including 2 HR's) and 4 walks in 3.2 innings. Not so fun to watch...it's 11-2 in the 8th now...no joy in Mudville...
Before the gab and game, I was fortunate to catch that most rare 1943 Cary Grant movie, "Mr Lucky" on TV.
Grant, playing against type, is a grifter and cad who makes the luminous Laraine Day his mark for a swindle...swindling charity funds from Day's Refugee Charity Drive. (This movie was made during World War Two, and Grant's portrayal was wicked and smarmy...and a gamble for Grant) Grant's Joe Adams / Joe Bascopolous is a fully realized sociopath, cold and amoral. In the end, love conquers all, but it is a very uncomfortable journey.
"Mr Lucky" has been on my wishlist forever, but I gather that there isn't a good DVD transfer on the market yet...today's copy was really scratched, and in need of restoration. I don't know if Cary Grant's Estate is wild about this role, Grant's only A-hole on film. I'd love a total restoration ala the 50th Anniversary Edition of Alfred Hitchcock's brilliant collaboration with Grant, "North By Northwest" The Blu-ray NXNW restoration is absolutely beautiful!
I guess I've had Cary Grant on my mind all week...I want to see "Father Goose" again too.
In "Father Goose" Grant wears his role like a comfortable old t-shirt, but mostly I want to hear tipsy Leslie Caron slur: "You think I'm a Picture Straightener, Mr Eckland" in frustration again! "Father Goose" is a warm, good hearted comedy set in WW2's Pacific Theater. "Father Goose" is warm, optimistic, and confident, made almost 20 years after the war ended. It debuted in 1964 before the Vietnam War turned Hollywood cynical and anti-war.
In contrast to "Father Goose", "Mr Lucky" was filmed when the outcome of the war was still unknown and unknowable, you can feel the undercurrents of desperation and uncertainty throughout the movie, and it makes Grant's character seem much more abhorrent and icy. The satisfying ending comes well after the war ends, after Day's character pines away the war years and beyond, and after Grant's character makes amends for the duration and more.
They truly don't make movies like that anymore. Beautifully rendered in Black & White, and true to the heart and mind.
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