The Paparazzi Got Baldy!

Found this on page four of last week's PGN...note the handsome bald gentleman perusing the photographs on the table...

And, because paparazzi...



(Oh, and in case you're not keeping up on Facebook/Twitter, I'm currently shaving my head since the radiation treatments and/or chemo pills led to my hair starting to fall out.)

50; No Softball

So here's a magazine cover from fifty years ago, on the day I was born...

Or if you're a little less highbrow, like me...

50. Yikes. So far it isn't really any different from my 40s. Except I can join the AARP and start benefiting from my advanced age. (And dammit, why can't I find a video of this Grampa Simpson clip?)

Anyway, if you've ever checked out my Twitter profile page you've seen what I wrote for a bio, at least since I began my job in October: "I may have a job now but I will still spend way too much time online, on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Oh, and blog. And play softball..." But I've made a change. It now ends with "...but not this year." The softball league's season begins this weekend, weather permitting. However, this year I'm not playing. I had been planning to, but there was a problem with my team's practice schedule that led to my not making it to practice. (We talking about practice! Not a game, not a game, not a game -- we talking about practice!) I won't go into the gory details; suffice it to say there was an exchange of negative emails and, had I decided to play, I probably would have preferred finding a new team.

But I got to thinking (which is always dangerous). If I did play I wouldn't be as effective pitching as I've been in the past. One of the things that spurred me to rejoin the league in 2008, after a 20-year hiatus, was the fact that I had been dieting and lost a lot of weight (eventually the total loss reached 50 pounds), so I felt more able to do things without overtiring. Unfortunately, since then, slowly but surely I've been gaining it back. And if anything, with the stress from my job schedule and commute to and from work, I've probably eaten worse over the last 6 months.

My Leg! My Leg!

So, a while back this happened...



This was about 10 days after I was hit by a smash back to the mound in my last softball game of the season. Unlike other times when I've been hit in the leg by a ball, the bruising did not fully clear up and the raised/swollen area did not go completely away after ice treatments. My doctor gave me a prescription for an antibiotic at the time. 10 days later, it was still there. I went back to the doctor and he prescribed a different (and, I assume, stronger) antibiotic. 10 days later, and it's still there. It is a little smaller in size, but there's still a raised area and discoloration.

So now I have to get an ultrasound (cue the "are you pregnant?" jokes) and an x-ray, and I'm being referred to a surgeon. My doctor thinks it may be just blood that needs to be removed or drained. He said that when he felt the bump, it doesn't feel warm to the touch compared to when he previously checked my leg, so for now I'm not taking any more antibiotics. I was concerned about this because of my trip next week, but he said as long as I don't develop a fever I should be okay. (The assistant took my temperature today: 98.3.)

And there's no pain at all. That's not even an issue. So I just have to stay alive until I get back from California.

MixBlog 7-27-11: Eagles, Phils, Softball, Etc.

Just a few quick things, since I'm sitting here listening non-stop to a playlist comprised of 70 of Madonna's most famous songs...

Eagles: Now that the lockout is over, putting together the team has begun. Kevin Kolb has finally been traded -- to Arizona for cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a second-round draft pick in 2012. In other words, for more than they got from Washington for Donovan McNabb (who's now going to Minnesota). And rumor has it that Vince Young might come in to back up Michael Vick at quarterback.  But of all the players who are leaving, the one I think they'll regret losing is kicker David Akers, who's signed with San Francisco. The kicker the Eagles drafted, Alex Henery, might be great someday, but if he starts off poorly he'll cost them some games. By the way, individual game tickets go on sale Tuesday at 10 am. (It's so weird to have that happen in August instead of June.)

Phillies: Just lost two in a row to the Giants in the teams' first meeting since the 2010 NL Championship Series. It's the first time the Phils have lost a series since mid-June and the first time they've lost two in a row since early June. Granted, neither Roy Halladay nor Cliff Lee started in this series, but the fact that the offense was nonexistent the last two nights again emphasizes this team's Achilles heel and portends what could happen in October. Memo to GM Ruben Amaro: Go get Hunter Pence from Houston. Now. Whatever it takes.

Softball: Time goes by so fast. We have just one game left in the season (we're 7-8, so a win would put us right at .500), so you have just one chance to surprise me by showing up. Sunday, 9 am at Dairy Fields #2 in Fairmount Park. Followed by the league's All-Star game. (I'm not in that one.)

Etc.: Still -- still -- need to post about July 4th, plus the long day in East Rutherford while my friend Kurt auditioned for "The Voice." Plus more comics stuff. And I went to see the final Harry Potter movie. Did I like it? You'll find out...hopefully sooner rather than later. Oh, and I really want to head down to Wildwood or somewhere else along the shore. Deep fried Oreos are calling me...

My Week In Comics 6-22-11

It's been a bit hectic the last few days, with Sunday's softball and our sponsor being Bar of the Week (two wins and raised over $300 for the team -- woo-hoo!), and yesterday and much of today helping a friend pack up his things for a move (which I'll be helping him do tomorrow), not to mention accompanying him on his trip to the emergency room due to abdominal pains (spent like 9 hours there but he's feeling better) yesterday. I still want to write about the Phillies' current circumstances and the Flyers' dramatic moves last week (with one more big one to come?) -- but, to get something posted, I'm taking the easy way out with these...

Action Comics 902: As we continue with "Reign of the Doomsdays" (and some more clunky dialogue) there's a new player in the game, Doomslayer, who wants to destroy the original Doomsday and the Luthor-produced clones. To do so he's willing to wipe out everyone on Earth, or at least Metropolis -- which, of course, Superman and his allies want to prevent. Doomslayer seems to be a much more evolved version of the original Doomsday, or perhaps he is the original, evolved and returned from the future. That, of course, would mean he's going to kill himself, which would mean he wouldn't go from Doomsday to Doomslayer, but if he doesn't become Doomslayer because he killed himself, how does he come back to kill himself? Head...spinning... Oh, and a character died at the end of issue 901, but what does it matter since the great DC reboot is coming?

Superman 712: Here's the description of the issue from DC's website: "Meet Los Angeles's newest super hero in the latest chapter of 'Grounded': Sharif! But Sharif discovers that in today's current cultural climate, some people don't want his help – they just want him gone. Can Superman aid Sharif and quell a prejudiced public, or are there some problems too big even for the Man of Steel to solve?" Well, a funny thing happened on the way to Los Angeles. This story was replaced at the last minute. This means that Superman's walk across the country has been interrupted three times now for unrelated stories, and with only two chapters left now before the reboot, this walk is limping to an end. Something in the story of Sharif (could it be that he has powers but hey, he's a Muslim so people think he must be a terrorist?) was deemed too controversial, and so the story can never see the light of day.

Then again, the story that actually appeared in the issue was also missing in action. It was originally slated to appear a few years ago. For reasons that weren't made entirely clear at the time, it was similarly pulled on short notice. I guess it was an emergency and something had to come out on Wednesday, so here it is. "Lost Boy: A Tale of Krypto the Superdog" is set shortly after "Infinite Crisis," in which Superboy died (until "Final Crisis" brought Conner Kent back to the land of the living) and Superman went missing after losing his powers. It deals with Krypto's reaction to these events, so it's mostly wordless (except for some flashback scenes), but Krypto's expressions -- and one long, loud, glass-breaking super-howl -- effectively tell the tale. It would have been better had it arrived on schedule, but it was worth the wait.

The Pride Festival Burns Me

As I previously mentioned, I worked the table for the City of Brotherly Love Softball League at this year's Pride Festival at Penn's Landing. This was a unique thing for me, since I'm usually the one going from table to table instead of sitting behind one.

We signed up people who were interested in playing, as well as those who were interested in volunteering for the Women's World Series coming here in August. And we sold some raffle tickets as a fundraiser for the Women's World Series and the league. (Buy them here if you'd like. The grand prize is two round-trip Southwest Airlines tickets, and the second prize is four tickets to the Phillies-Marlins game on Friday, August 26th (which happens to be the 9th Annual Gay Community Night). I actually sold the first ticket of the day. Yay me!

I wasn't sure how long I was going to volunteer my time, but I ended up staying at the table for most of the afternoon. I got there around noon, just as things were beginning to get under way. The Pride parade itself was making its way through the Gayborhood and along Market St., so most of the crowds hadn't arrived yet. So it was slow at first. But once the parade floats began arriving, the people watching the parade followed them and we had a steady stream of visitors.

Many of them were more interested in the free candy we had, but as the day went on quite a few people put their contact info on the sign-up sheets. How many of them will actually end up playing (either in the fall league or next season) or volunteering to help at the Women's World Series, I don't know. There must have been at least 50 or more names on the sign-up sheets to play -- at least 60 percent from women, from my unscientific observation. Fewer people signed up to volunteer, but they got to at least the second page of that sign-up sheet.

Since I stayed at the table most of the day, I didn't really get to see everything that was going on, and I didn't see any of the entertainment at all, except for some of the performance by Dawn Robinson of En Vogue (see first picture). I was happy to help, but I kind of feel like I missed out on the fun stuff a little. Actually, what I think I'd like to do next year is march in the parade itself. I'll have to get myself on a float somehow...

The Blog Is Mobile, And Other Stuff

Now and then I check out a website using my cell phone, and it's not a pretty experience because there's no mobile version. My blog was once one of those sites. However, Blogger added a setting for a mobile template. I'm no expert but supposedly if you visit the blog from a mobile phone you'll automatically get the mobile template. Apparently, though, it doesn't work with certain phones or browsers or whatever. So here's a link to the mobile version.

So, what else is going on?

It's been wicked hot the last couple of days -- 97 and 99 degrees were the highs, breaking one record and tying another. We had one official heat wave already (3 or more days of 90-plus temperatures), and if we make it to 90 one more day we'll have another. I've been trying to make do without my central air, just to cut down on electricity usage. I finally put it on for a few hours today, mainly to make sure it works for when we have a really extended period of hot weather.

One thing that's not hot? The Phillies' offense. But that's nothing new. Everyone's back in the lineup now, though. So now it's time for them to produce. Part of me tries not to worry -- their pitching has carried them to the best record in baseball before their loss tonight. But as this goes on, more and more I think that they're never going to regain the hitting prowess of past years, and that will continue to strain the pitchers, and this will lead to an epic failure in the playoffs. And considering the expectations coming into this season, it could get ugly.

Oh, and our Pride Parade and Festival is Sunday. It looks like I'll be working at the City of Brotherly Love Softball League table -- signing up people to play Fall Ball and/or to volunteer with the ASANA World Series (the Women's World Series) in August, and selling raffle tickets. You can win two free round-trip Southwest Airlines tickets, or Phillies tickets. So stop by and say hello!

Maytag Repairman, Meet The Apple Security Guard

On Saturday night I was returning to my hotel room after the Camac St. block party, part of my softball weekend. I was staying at the Sheraton at 17th and Race. Walking along Walnut St. towards 17th, I passed by the Apple store that opened up a few months ago. I couldn't help but notice it was rather bright inside the store. For a moment I thought it was open. Then I saw that it wasn't, obviously, and I noticed the one person who was inside -- the security guard. Playing around with an iPad. Now that's a job for me...if you can guarantee no one would ever try to break in and shoot me in a robbery attempt, that is.

It was a pretty fun weekend, although our team lost 4 out of 5 games -- we went 1-2 in the round-robin portion on Saturday, then lost twice more (once Saturday, once Sunday morning).

A few more odd pictures. Well, the first two pictures aren't odd, but the reason I took them is.

This is, as you can see, Suburban Station. All SEPTA Regional Rail trains pass through here (the train platforms themselves are actually underground). So you'd think it's quite a busy place.

Busy enough, in fact, that you'd think the doors would be open for anyone trying to catch a train.

You'd be wrong. At least on Sunday.

Softball Weekend

It's funny that I complain about some aspects of softball tournaments (just for example, teams that add ringers because they desperately need to win, and therefore are out to crush regular teams like mine) and yet I can't seem to stop myself from playing in them. This year's Liberty Bell Classic is being held on Saturday and Sunday. Here's their website. I can tell you that I'm playing games at 10 am, 11 am and 1 pm in the round-robin portion. (All three of those games are at Dairy Field #3 in Fairmount Park.) Then there's one more game Saturday and at least one Sunday, when the tournament enters the double-elimination phase (two losses and you're out).

Since I got an extremely good rate through Hotwire, I've got a hotel room in town so I won't be taking my usual looooooooong trip to the fields. (This overjoys me, except for the part where I have to figure out how to pay the credit card bills next month.) So I can also easily partake of the Saturday night block party on Camac St. and the Sunday closing party and bar crawl starting at Sisters. So all of you reading this should come into town and buy me a drink! And while you're at it, you can pick up one of these t-shirts.

A Couple Of Things...

I guess this is like a MixBlog, but shorter. (Mainly because I want to put something up without starting the posts on the four movies I got to see in the last week.)

• The (C)rapture didn't happen yesterday, so I want the fraud who claimed it would occur behind bars. Since I know the government won't do it...

• I watched last night's Saturday Night Live. The only parts of the show I enjoyed were those featuring Lady Gaga -- both her musical performances and a couple of sketches. No fault of Justin Timberlake's, but this show is unwatchable. It takes a very special reason (Betty White last year, or last night's host/musical guest combo) to get me to tune in. (Speaking of Gaga, her new album will finally be released -- after at least four single releases in advance of it -- and it's apparently going to be available on iTunes, Amazon, etc. at midnight.)

• I'm debating whether or not to play in this year's Liberty Bell Classic softball tournament. My team has a spot for me if I want to play. There are pros and cons, so I'm undecided. There's a block party on Saturday night on Camac Street as well. There's lots of stuff swirling around in my head right now...

• Chase Utley is expected to be in the Phillies' starting lineup tomorrow night. Maybe his presence will help the offense somehow. They've scored 3 runs or fewer in nine consecutive games. Of course, it could be worse: besides the fact that they're still in first place in the NL East, a year ago today they were shut out 5-0 by Boston, beginning a stretch of 12 games in a row with 3 or fewer runs (including 3 straight shutouts by the Mets).

• I posted this on Twitter/Facebook last night...just feeling the need to emphasize how much I want those (C)rapture nuts arrested. Fraud, incitement to riot, something. Child endangerment charges for any parents who quit their jobs and got rid of their possessions.

The S Words

Since the topics in this post all begin with "S" the title I've given this seems appropriate. And in one case, as you'll see, very appropriate.

Sarah: First, more information on the wife of Phillies pitcher Ryan Madson and her comment on fans. I'm glad I didn't really attack her on her comment, as I imagine others have. There are questions about the background of the woman who wrote the original blog post, as well as whether she identified herself as a reporter to Sarah Madson or not. The Phillies have issued a statement that says, in part: "(The writer) began to ask many personal questions about the life of a wife of a professional baseball player. The comments reported by Ms. Goldman were taken completely out of context, and as a result, Sarah is extremely upset and feels violated by the situation. Sarah says, 'For every one fan that may upset us, there are 99 Phillies fans that we love. We have lived here for years, have many friends, neighbors and acquaintances -- who also happen to be Phillies fans -- for whom we have the utmost respect.'" This post on PhillyChitChat.com states that the  woman offered him the story first, and had offered it to the Metro newspaper as well. Both rejected her. There's another "S" word that seems to apply to this woman's handling of this "story" -- sleazy. I'm definitely on the side of Sarah Madson now.

Softball: Weather permitting (or, to be accurate, if the field is dry enough Sunday after Saturday's rain), the City of Brotherly Love Softball League season opens at 9:50 am on Sunday morning. I don't expect anyone to come out and cheer me on (heck, I wouldn't be there that early if I didn't have to) but if you might be so inclined, come to Fairmount Park's Edgely Fields -- my team, now sponsored by Valanni, is on field 8. The opening day block party (200-300 blocks of S. Camac St.) takes place later that afternoon and evening.

Which TV Legend Invaded My Dream?

(Note: This picture of deep-fried Oreos is a placeholder. When the Networked Blogs Facebook app posts this it displays the first picture as a preview, and I don't want it to spoil the surprise.)




Normally I don't remember my dreams after I wake up. Sometimes they linger in my mind a little, and then fade. Now and then I have a dream that is so off-the-wall that it can't help but embed itself into my brain. The best example of this is the one where I was dreaming that I was in bed and someone I used to work with...wait, I'm not ready to discuss that one.

I had two dreams a while back in which guys I've played softball with were actors, or supposed to be actors. In the first, I was walking down the street and saw George sitting in a car. He was dead...or so I thought until someone said, "Don't worry, we're just filming a scene."  I will say that George was a very convincing corpse.

In the other, I was walking around the fields at a city recreational center and in the middle of the baseball diamond there was a big-screen TV there tuned to a show. People in the dream were all talking about waiting to see Freddy on the show. Then, the scene ended and a voiceover said, "Stay tuned for scenes from our next episode." No Freddy! Sorry, dude. I'm sure you were great, though.

This morning's dream, however, may top them all. (Except that first one I mentioned that I'm not discussing, but that's for a different reason.) I was watching a baseball game. I think it was on TV at first. Then, suddenly, up to the plate stepped...

My Sunday Funday

You probably already know about the stunning come-from-behind win by the Eagles, who scored 28 points in the final 8 minutes of the game to beat the New York Giants. If you read my Twitter/Facebook updates you know I won a 50-50 raffle at Tabu. I thought I'd take a moment and fill in a few blanks.

The reason I was at Tabu to begin with was because there was a softball fundraiser for the Tabu Wolves. (Brief digression: my team, the Nighthawks, was also sponsored by Tabu in 2010 but the bar is only sponsoring the Wolves next year.) I've mentioned my discomfort going to bars, especially if it's crowded and I'm alone. I'm not a great socializer. I went back and forth in my mind Sunday morning when I woke up, deciding whether or not to go. I waited until the last possible minute to get out of bed and shower and get dressed in order to get there by 1 pm. I finally decided that I wanted to support the fundraiser, I figured there would be a few people I know there and, at the very least, the Eagles-Giants game would be there to distract me from the whole scene.

While it was crowded, it wasn't overly crowded so it wasn't too bad. I spent a little time now and then saying hello and talking to some of my current or former teammates (well, mostly former), so although I still had some of that awkward out-of-place feeling, it wasn't as bad as it might have been.

Besides the 50-50 raffle and sale of jello shots, to raise money the team ran one of those grid games (usually you see them during the Super Bowl) where you fill in your name in a box, then digits 0-9 are posted for each team in random order,

Bad Day To Miss The Eagles

If you follow me on Twitter you already know that I went to play softball this morning (after a couple of skip weeks, one due to bad weather). This was the only week so far that the schedule threatened to cause me to miss part of the Eagles game. The other weeks either my games were scheduled earlier or the Eagles didn't play until 4 pm or later. Today, however, the softball games were set for 11 am and noon, and the Eagles started at 1. So I figured I'd miss a little of the game but go to a bar and watch it. If I went directly home I'd miss the first half, at least.

I got to the FDR Park entrance at 10:30 (these fields are actually convenient for me despite being all the way down near the stadium complex, since the Broad Street Subway is right there) and took this picture of the WIP pre-game show hosts, as this is their broadcast location for home games. It wasn't very crowded around their stage at all at this point, 2 1/2 hours before kickoff.

There were two problems today: the softball teams were scrambling to have enough people to field teams (apparently a fair number of players either quit or just didn't show up), and the games either didn't start on time or ran beyond their alloted time. Thus, my first game didn't start until almost 11:20, and the second one was similarly delayed. I didn't get out of the park and back to the subway stop until 1:30, then had to wait 10 more minutes for the next train to arrive (thanks, SEPTA).

Two things amazed me at this point. One:

More Randomness: Phils, Birds, Softball...Yarn? Chicken?

Submitted for your approval...or not...

• The Phillies finally had a day off after 24 games in 23 days. In that stretch they went 15-9 and have regained the NL East lead for the first time since May. The lead is now a game over Atlanta. Still, with Brad Lidge having elbow issues and Jimmy Rollins leaving their last game with a hamstring problem (that Charlie Manuel says wasn't serious and was due to dehydration; of course, he also said Ryan Howard's ankle injury wouldn't cause him to miss any games just before Howard went on the disabled list for nearly three weeks), and Placido Polanco's saying his elbow is broken (though he continues to play), and the team's general inconsistent hitting all season, it won't be smooth sailing the rest of the season.

• Meanwhile, the NFL is back. The Eagles start on Sunday, and that day they're wearing 1960 throwback uniforms as part of the commemoration of their 1960 championship team. Yes, that was 50 years ago. And yes, that was the last time the Eagles won a championship. So if you wonder why Eagles fans get a little (a lot) crazy, wonder no more.
  
  
  
  

Why Aren't My Softball Games Like This?

I soooooo loved this the first time I saw it...



Oh, Scott Thompson...which reminds me, I did finally watch the first two episodes of the new Kids in the Hall miniseries, "Death Comes To Town." If you like KITH you'll enjoy it. The first episode was a bit slow but it picked up in the second. (The series is eight half-hour episodes. Two air each Friday at 10 pm ET on IFC.)

A Little Softball Update

So my team's season is over, since our last 2 games were last Sunday. The Tabu Nighthawks finished with a 10-6 record after a 7-0 start. Ouch. But I'll still be at the fields tomorrow. The rest of the teams in our division have one more game each. After those games is the D Division All-Star game. I'm not in that game. Then there's the D Division vs. Women's Division game. I am in that one. (I volunteered to be one of my team's representatives for that. Why?) Then is the picnic/season-ending "banquet." In 2008, my first year back in the league, the banquet was held in a hall. Last year it was at the fields, but not on the final day of play but at a later date. This year it's right after the league games and All-Star and D vs Women games, so people will be messy and sweaty if they stay around for the picnic/"banquet." Not to mention there's a chance of afternoon thunderstorms. Having the banquet turned into a quasi-picnic makes no sense to me, but I'm not in charge of things. And if I hadn't volunteered to play in the game against the women, I could skip the whole thing and just stay home or do something else. Instead I'll be lugging around my backpack with my glove, cleats, etc. in the heat. Silly me.

It's The Beer Talking

I successfully used Audacity to combine these two separate recordings into one, so here you will find the short, rambling messages from late last Sunday night (after an afternoon of softball, and the post-game "picnic" which mainly consisted of beer, and a spell at Tabu after that). I probably need to do a poll on whether I should podcast with or without copious amounts of alcoholic beverages in my system...although knowing some of the people I know, I can already guess their answer...

Beyonce Comes Out!

Well, actually, she's performing "I'm Coming Out." It's not Diana Ross, but what the heck. And it's cut off at the start and finish because it seems to be part of a medley.



Tomorrow (or today, technically, since it's after midnight) is the gay pride parade and festival here. Woo-hoo! Of course, I'll be at the softball fields. Sigh.

This is how odd our league is: the team that's representing our D division in the Gay World Series in August in Columbus is being decided tomorrow, in a best two-out-of-three tournament between my team (Tabu Nighthawks) and another team. This is because we are the only two teams that expressed an interest in going. So it's not based on the season standings, or playoffs after the season, but on this midseason tournament. Silly. Last year the team that went to the Series had a losing record, but they were the only team that wanted to go (although I maintain that our team wasn't asked about it last year).

The first game starts at 10:20, so by the time the second game ends it should be after 1 pm. The festival starts at noon and runs until 6 pm. If we have to play three games, it'll be well after 2 pm. With the amount of time it will take me to get to Penn's Landing for the festival, I'll miss quite a lot. I'm not sure what entertainment they'll have but it almost doesn't seem worth the $10 admission. We'll see if things play out in a way that allows me to get there after softball (at Fairmount Park Dairy Field #1, if anyone wants to surprise me there).

A Little Perfection And Lots Of The Opposite

Here's why the remote control is your friend: I was, naturally, watching the ridiculous first game of the Stanley Cup finals. During commercial breaks I had been switching over to the Phillies game and knew that the Phils had a 1-0 lead. I didn't know any further details because I only had been switching briefly. So when the first period came to an end, I decided to switch to the MLB Network, because they were showing a game between Colorado and Los Angeles. Strangely, they had the Comcast Sportsnet feed of the Phils-Marlins game. I thought maybe the other game was in a rain delay until the MLB Network studio host began talking over the sound from the game, saying that Roy Halladay had a perfect game through 7 innings. Needless to say, I watched the Phils from that point on, with the Flyers relegated to the DVR.

Watching Halladay retire the final six batters he faced, to finish off the perfect game -- second in Phillies history, only the 20th in baseball history (but the second this season) -- was truly exciting. We Phillies fans are so fortunate right now. It's not just the team success, the three straight NL East titles, back-to-back NL pennants, the World Series win in 2008. It's the amazing moments happening throughout. Jayson Werth's stealing second, third and home in one inning, to name just one example. Now there's a perfect game to add to the list. Incredible.

Now for the bad news: