Always Be Closing

In a post on 1/3/2012 I discussed my goal of completing one piece of art each day in this calendar year. My progress as of 2/15/2012 (46 days into the year)? Well, I have 42 separate pieces completed - crosses on cocktail napkins and coasters, natch (though now enhanced, often times, by a torrent of black raindrops); but, also, a completed story about a gentleman in a white suit visiting a little Mexican boy, some essay-work, some mixed-media stuff AND my timeless photos of hot sauce in the snow (and who wouldn't want to see these? I sure need to sort out how to post photos to enhance your IBL pleasure). Also, I have three new pieces that will be finished by C.O.B. today (and then Danielle and I are having dinner at the fine restaurant Nell's down the street), and that will leave me one down for the year. So I'm in pretty good shape, thank you very much, and can only reiterate that if you'd care to report on anything you're working on I'd love to hear about it and/or discuss it...

Respect,

IBL:mm

Fictional Lesbian Pairings (VI)

Marian, Madame Librarian, gets all dewy over Joan of Arc; la fille fairly burns for her fair maid.

"You've Really Got a Hold On Me", Small Faces

Marriott on lead vocal.

You've Really Got a Hold On Me...

IBL:mm

Two Questions

When was the last time you heard someone say they were going to "get blotto"??

What are your most liked and least liked Coen Brothers films?

Monty Dicksion Has Found IBL

I posted a short piece in these pages on 1/5/12 titled Christians Aren't Perfect, Just Forgiven. Several people I know responded. But, then, last week, I found a comment awaiting moderation from Monty Dicksion. In his comment (nine or ten words) he indicated I had misperceptions about Christianity (or perhaps his comment was directed at one of the other comments? Not 100% certain either way). There was no analysis to go along with his criticism, no attempt to "enlighten" in any way. Of course I posted Monty's comment, then sent him a follow-up note welcoming him to IBL, and encouraging him to go a little deeper. Nothing so far, but I hold out hope...

That's the background, but here's the point - I know people who comment on this blog, and I know people who follow this blog without necessarily commenting. Outstanding either way. But the common denominator there is that I know the people. Monty Dicksion I do not know. Which means Monty was out there on the inter-web searching for this, that, or the other thing and somehow stumbled upon my humble blog. I can't begin to tell you how happy that makes me.

Onward and upward...

IBL:mm

Box Score from My First Baseball Game, Boston @ California, 6/13/73

I was not a member of the La Habra, California Boys' Club but had friends who were, and one night in June of 1973, when I was nine years old, I was invited along with several other boys to attend the first baseball game of my life, Boston Red Sox vs. California Angels at Anaheim Stadium. We had a black and white television at home and I watched as much baseball as I could; now, the thing I remember most vividly inside Angel Stadium that evening was my first glimpse of the grass, and how beautifully green it was, the most beautiful green I'd ever seen.

There is a website (www.retrosheet.org) doing the Lord's work - it has information on all baseball teams, players, trades, rule changes and a million other things INCLUDING complete box scores back into the 50s (and some even further back than that). So it occurred to me a couple of years ago that I could find the box score for the first game I'd ever been to, and I've attached a link to it here.

Wednesday, June 13th, 1973 - California Angels 7, Boston Red Sox 5 (@Anaheim)

As someone who has now been watching baseball for 40 seasons, a couple of things stood out for me which I'd like to share. And, of course, should you care to track down the box score for a game you attended in the way distant past and share that here, well, I'd love to talk about it (Jim Ciulik - THIS MEANS YOU!).

First, with regard to the Red Sox -

• I was a Tigers' fan then (and now - more on that in the next post) and didn't really understand the concept of the National League; I was somehow unaware there was another team to the west of us in Los Angeles (though that would change in 1974 when the Dodgers went to the World Series). I wound up becoming a big Dodgers' fan in 1976, and as a teenager my favorite Dodger was Reggie Smith, and here's Reggie batting second in the first game I ever attended.
• Fisk behind the plate, Yaz at 1B. Enough said, really.
• Cepeda at DH; 1974 would be his final year.
• Tommy Harper in LF.
  
• Aparacio at SS; 1973 would be his final year.
• And, just starting out, Dwight Evans in his first full season.

And, for the Angels -

• Sandy Alomar at 2B. His boys Robbie and Sandy Jr. played major league ball and they're both retired now.
• Frank Robinson at DH. Enough said redux.
• Behind the plate Jeff Torborg who, of course, went on to be a fairly successful major league manager for a number of years, and then a television analyst (and caught two of Nolan Ryan's no-hitters, as I recall).
  

IBL:mm

Pitchers and Catchers

Less than two weeks.

IBL:mm