October 10, 2015 archive

Oct 10 2015

Senior League Division Series: Cubs @ Cardinals Game 2

Yesterday’s game

Bottom 1st Ground Rule Double, RBI Single.  Cardinals 1 – 0.

Bottom 8th Solo Shot.  Cardinals 2 – 0.  Walk, 2 RBI HR.  Cardinals 4 – 0 Final.

Cardinals lead Series 1 – 0.

Analysis and Setup

Well, if you’re a glass half full type and a Cubs (98 – 66) fan (and seriously, if you’re a Cubs fan how can you not be a glass half full type) you say to yourself-

“They hung tough until the 8th Inning and it’s only the first game, on the road, and all we need is a split at Busch Stadium and we’re golden.  Go Cubbies!”

It wasn’t that close.  The Cardinals (101 – 62) beat them like a drum.  The Cubs haven’t scored a Run since the 5th inning of the Wild Card game.

Lester did just about as well as Lackey, but with far more drama.  The Cubs Bullpen, not so much.

So, pick ’em.  I want the Cardinals to lose just as much as the next guy, maybe more, though my Metropolitans sure looked good last night.

The Cardinals will be sending Jaime Garcia (L, 10 – 6, 2.43 ERA) out.  The Cubs will respond with Kyle Hendricks (R, 8 – 7, 3.95 ERA).

Game time is 5:30 on TBS.

Oct 10 2015

The Breakfast Club (The Fifth)

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover  we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:30am (ET) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

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This Day in History

Vice President Spiro Agnew resigns; Imperial rule ends in China; Achille Lauro hijackers forced to land; Movie legend Orson Welles dies; Opera composer Giuseppe Verdi born; Actor Christopher Reeve dies.

Breakfast Tunes

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac

I hate television. I hate it as much as peanuts. But I can’t stop eating peanuts.

Orson Welles

Oct 10 2015

Cartnoon

Oct 10 2015

On This Day In History October 10

This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.

Find the past “On This Day in History” here.

October 10 is the 283rd day of the year (284th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 82 days remaining until the end of the year.

On October 10, 1935, George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess premieres on Broadway.

Porgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward’s novel Porgy and the play of the same name which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward. All three works deal with African American life in the fictitious Catfish Row (based on the real-life Rainbow Row) in Charleston, South Carolina, in the early 1920s.

Originally conceived by Gershwin as an “American folk opera”, Porgy and Bess premiered in New York in the fall of 1935 and featured an entire cast of classically trained African-American singers-a daring and visionary artistic choice at the time. Gershwin chose African American Eva Jessye as the choral director for the opera. Incorporating a wealth of blues and jazz idioms into the classical art form of opera, Gershwin considered it his finest work.

The work was not widely accepted in the United States as a legitimate opera until 1976, when the Houston Grand Opera production of Gershwin’s complete score established it as an artistic triumph. Nine years later the Metropolitan Opera gave their first performance of the work. This production was also broadcast as part of the ongoing Saturday afternoon live Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts. The work is now considered part of the standard operatic repertoire and is regularly performed internationally. Despite this success, the opera has been controversial; some critics from the outset have considered it a racist portrayal of African Americans.

“Summertime” is by far the best-known piece from the work, and countless interpretations of this and other individual numbers have also been recorded and performed. The second best-known number is “It Ain’t Necessarily So“. The opera is admired for Gershwin’s innovative synthesis of European orchestral techniques with American jazz and folk music idioms.

Porgy and Bess tells the story of Porgy, a disabled black beggar living in the slums of Charleston, South Carolina. It deals with his attempts to rescue Bess from the clutches of Crown, her violent and possessive lover, and Sportin’ Life, the drug dealer. Where the earlier novel and stage-play differ, the opera generally follows the stage-play.

The Porgy and Bess original cast recording was included by the National Recording Preservation Board in the Library of Congress, National Recording Registry in 2003. The board selects songs on an annual basis that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

On July 14, 1993, the United States Postal Service recognized the opera’s cultural significance by issuing a commemorative 29-cent postage stamp, and in 2001 Porgy and Bess was proclaimed the official opera of the State of South Carolina.

Oct 10 2015

The Daily Late Nightly Show (Let’s Go Mets!)

James Corden is a funny guy, but I’m not staying up for him tonight because I have things to do tomorrow.

Stephen’s other guests are Shane Smith, and Halsey.

This Week’s guests-

Trevor Noah

Oct 10 2015

Senior League Division Series: Mets @ Dodgers Game 1

Meet The Mets

MEET THE METS,

MEET THE METS,

Step right up and greet the Mets!

Bring your kiddies,

bring your wife;

Guaranteed to have the time of your life

because the Mets are really sockin’ the ball; knocking those home runs over the wall!

East side,

West side,

everybody’s coming down

to meet the M-E-T-S Mets of New York town!

Oh, the butcher and the baker and the people on the streets,

where did they go? To MEET THE METS!

Oh, they’re hollerin’ and cheerin’ and they’re jumpin’ in their seats,

where did they go? To MEET THE METS!

All the fans are true to the orange and blue,

so hurry up and come on down –

’cause we’ve got ourselves a ball club,

The Mets of New York town!

Give ’em a yell!

Give ’em a hand!

And let ’em know your rootin’ in the stand!

Come on and MEET THE METS,

MEET THE METS,

Step right up and greet the Mets!

Bring your kiddies,

bring your wife;

Guaranteed to have the time of your life

because the Mets are really sockin’ the ball; knocking those home runs over the wall!

East side,

West side,

Everybody’s coming down

To meet the M-E-T-S Mets of New York town!

Of New York town!

The New York Metropolitans (90 – 72) are the team of my heart.  The despised Dodgers (92 – 70), the carpetbaggers of Chavez Ravine, are not so much rivals as beneath contempt,

I didn’t expect much this year so this is all a pleasant surprise.

It has been a very busy and frustrating day.  Eight hours of meetings and not much progress to show for it.  I’m not going to write much more preamble except to say that I have my Mets Cap on and I’m looking forward to victory tonight.

Clayton Kershaw (L, 16 – 7, 2.13 ERA) will start for the Dodgers, the Mets will be putting Jacob deGrom (R, 14 – 8, 2.54 ERA) on the mound.  deGrom is a converted infielder who was last year’s Senior League Rookie of the Year.  This is his first playoff experience.  Kershaw is last year’s NL MVP and a three-time Cy Young Award winner, on the other hand he’s only had one Win in the Playoffs having gone 0 – 4 against the Cardinals in his last 2 Series.

Lest you think the Mets have no chance, they took 4 of 7 from the Dodgers this year.

My prediction?  Mets in 3.  Or maybe 4 or 5, I don’t much care as long as they advance.

Game time 9:30 on TBS.

Oct 10 2015

Senior League Division Series: Cubs @ Cardinals Game 1

Is this the year the Cubs (98 – 65) break their 106 year drought?  Sadly, no.  They’re going against the Cardinals (100 – 62) who are rapidly approaching the Yankees both as the most sucessful and hated Baseball team ever.

I sure would like them to win though, it would make it much easier for my Metropolitans who I’m pretty sure are not going to make it through the Cardinals either if it comes to that.

TMC and I were talking and she asked me if I liked sports at all, I write about them so much.  The answer is, not really.  There are a lot of things I post because I think they make good material for the site, like Throwball Playoffs and Formula One.  Frankly they’re both pretty boring.  Some sports I won’t touch, like Professional Baskeball (beyond boring into gouge my own eyes out with a double side of Van Gough territory).

I do like the weird stuff like Curling and America’s Cup, but they’re hard to find on a regular basis and…

I like Women’s College Basketball and Baseball.  Senior League Baseball that doesn’t coddle it’s Pitcher and keep famous but ineffective geezers riding the pine after they become too fat and crippled to field.

If the Metropolitans suddenly vanished I wouldn’t hook up with the Yankees or even the BoSox.  Instead I’d probably root for the Cards because I’m tired of losing.  Sorry Cubbies.

The Cardinals have a incredibly strong organization and usually a pretty talented team.  If you want to make book on who is going to be the World Champion before Spring Training in any given year, you could do worse than put your money on the Cards.

That said, the Cubs are sentimental favorites and looked surprisingly good in the Wild Card game againt the Pirates.

The Cardinals will be sending John Lackey (R, 13 – 10, 2.77 ERA) out.  The Cubs will respond with Jon Lester (L, 11 – 12, 3.34 ERA).  The weird thing is they were #1 & #2 on the Red Sox staff in 2013.  On paper Lackey is much stronger.

My prediction?  Cardinals in 4.

Game time is 6:30 on TBS.

Oct 10 2015

How to keep trans people alive

Of course the first part of this is…or should be…quite obvious.  How about people stop murdering trans women of color?

It’s time to do more than just solve each homicide as they happen.  It’s time to do more than just arrest these horrific people who commit these violent crimes.  It’s time to do the work beforehand.

–Nellie Fitzpatrick, mayor’s liaison to the LGBT community in Philadelphia

It is not enough to light candles.

–Suffok, MA, District Attorney DanConley

Of course being murdered is only one of the leading causes of our demise.  Another one is suicide.