Journal of Tickled Fancies for the Twenty First and the evening of the Twenty Second of November Year of Someone’s Lord Two Thousand and Two:
It is odd when I think about these odd rules I have for these writing projects that maybe 3 people see. Well I guess there could be more due to the randomness of the internet, which I experienced some of as I kept hitting next blog late Saturday early Sunday morning. Seems there are a lot of blogs about people’s children and social issues with way better designs then mine. Oh well, I saw Len Wein’s blog earlier this year and he uses the same standard generic Blog layout and if it is good enough for him then…
But this weekend I have been homebound due to a good old fashioned cold. It has been some time since I have had one at this level, maybe even years. For the most part it has passed but I am still looking forward to a good hot shower and earlier than usual bedtime (right after Walking Dead). But as much as it the idea of a positive mental attitude pisses those off around me (don’t ask) I try to keep upbeat and look at it as a time to not feel bad about being active and to catch up on some reading and watch a ton of programming on the NLB Network.
But these rules… argh on a Sunday night do I do a Tickled Fancy and put more than 2 things that I enjoy or do less and or post another thing, can I post more than once in a single day? I am for sure over thinking it all, I learned from my random scanning most blogs are short and self indulgent and on the fly. I guess I want to be the opposite Twitter and put content and really I am not doing this for that much attention, I would do it regardless.
**Note: I ran out of steam I suppose, it is now Monday night and I have had moments of illness both physically and mentally, super frustrated with funding and the cost of being an idiot in the modern world, maybe some ramblings will clear me up for a night’s rest to start over again tomorrow.**
**Another Note: Hey it did cheer me up!**
The Arizona Fall Baseball League: As the 2010 season went on I started finding myself being more drawn into the minor league baseball system. I think I went to San Jose almost as many times to see advanced A ball as I did to see the eventual World Champions. And as I am prone to do once my interest gets peaked I do my at an arms research where I walk the fine line of research but not too much so it does not go into the realm of fandom. I found myself following the San Jose Giants on line and started to enjoy and marvel at all the different teams and how great a lot of their mascots and uniforms were. I plan on writing a lot more about some of the mascots and some of the great promotions in the future. David Lynch night at Municipal Stadium will stick with me for the rest of my life and I am not sure I have anywhere near the skills to put it into words.
So after coming down from the high of the Giants winning the big one I felt lost. I was thrilled about the win but in some ways it turned me bitter with so many people becoming fans. So maybe my infatuation with the minors came about as a grumbly protest and part of not wanting to belong to a group anymore. This year I have been fortunate not only for the SF Giants to win but also the San Jose Giants in an amazing four and half hour affair that had me jumping up and down and going for a victory walk.
Somehow I found out about the Rising Stars game in the Arizona Fall league and that it would be on the MLB Network. I am not going to get into the details of the Arizona League and taxi squads and such but I will include a link, but in a nutshell many teams send players to play in this finishing school of sorts. The teams have great names (I just found out today a Javelina is also known as a skunk pig) and really cool logos. I instantly fell in love with the Surprise Rafters logo and decided I had to have that hat, once I found out the Royals, Brewers, Rangers, Tigers and Cardinals send players there I was sold daddy (not one team that I hate, yes Rangers all is forgiven). It was great as well because they wore the pro team jerseys but the Fall League hat.
On a sidebar I contacted MILB and thought my chances would be slim to hunt down a hat. I had no luck on line but a day later not only did they contact the league but put me in touch with someone in the office. She went way beyond by going to a different stadium and tracking down a Rafter hat for me and a amazing long sleeve shirt. To sidebar once again it was odd as when I called her I truly enjoyed talking to her and thought she was an older semi retired lady and she sent me some programs and her pic was in the front office section and wow was I wrong (girls who like baseball get graded higher on the cute curve).
But this is a small example of how great the minors can be and how they are truly fan friendly. Sure I went to the Giants Fan Fest at AT and T park and saw from a long way away most of the players, but at Municipal I almost caught a victory ball thrown into the stands and saw a fan ask Franciso Peguero “You got this?” when they had two men on base late and he was on deck and he replied “Oh yeah.”
So I was super jonesing for some baseball and the Arizona Rising Stars game did not disappoint. There are several things that I took out of the Rising Stars game but the two big ones that made me feel good are that the year of the pitcher is going to continue for several more at least as there were some great pitchers coming up among the ranks. Not all of them throw heaters, well Jefress did throw 101, but in what has been labeled as a hitter’s league there was some good stuff. And number 2 I really think the Royals are going to be pretty damn good in a couple of years. Eric Hosmer looked really sharp and Montgomery I think will be a good fourth starter as soon as the 2011 season.
The game was great with a walk off homer to win and it was nice to see Charlie Culberson doing so well, every time I saw him at San Jose he struggled (I just watched him in the Championship Game and he struck out thrice and had 2 errors, sorry Charlie I must jinx you 75% of the time). I plan on writing more about baseball in the future and how I am on the fence about Bryce Harper but another day.
I am already trying to figure out how to go next year to some games or weasel my way into working for Minor League Baseball. Now if I can just figure out how to get to see Lotte Giants games in South Korea and Dominican Republic Winter league I will be set for the year…yup I gotta a problem.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/winterleagues/league.jsp?league=afl
Gustav Hasford: It seems like every few months I go to my favorite library in this area in San Carlos and spend some time reading magazines that I am too cheap to buy. I have been burned waaay too many times by purchasing Wizard magazine. I mean there is hardly any content some months but I end up making an impulse buy for one article. So it is nice to be able to check them out there.
I recently picked up some and there was an article on Jason Aaron the comic writer and they talked about the influence of his cousin Gustav Hasford. My interest was peaked and in his office he had a shell casing on a little trophy stand that said Gustav Hasford “The Short Timers” next to some worn paper backs. So I jotted the name down in my beat up pocket notebook and a few days later searched thru a Barnes and Noble with no luck at all (funny how once you research something you feel silly for thinking that at one time you could just go out and buy it as easily as a Subway foot long).
I ended up finding a copy thru inter library loan and finally got it in. It was a beat up book and the image on the cover looked sort of like a high school Iron Maiden like drawing. As I waited in line to check it out I flipped thru and right there I saw the name that set off the light bulb… Animal Mother. Holy shit this is Full Metal Jacket, do I really need to read this as I have seen the movie 300 times?
Then I started thinking how great this will be to find out more details and maybe more background, to say the least I was thrilled. I read the book really quickly and went to see if I could buy a copy for my shelf and saw how out of print it was. Amazing to live in a world where we are in the millionth printing of Chicken Soup for the Corn Shoot and this book is not readily available.
Maybe it a conspiracy or part of the punishment for Hasford for stealing all of those books (read the web site for the bizarre true story), but this book should be in print. Hasford was a troubled man and died alone in Greece but the good news is he lives on thru his cousin’s work. On this web site you can read the Short Timers and the follow up The Phantom Blooper (I would prefer to have the actual book but hey the point is to read it and I think if I keep watch and time it right I can find a reasonably priced copy).
I am half way through the Phantom Blooper and it is just as unique and terrifying as the Short Timers. The site is chocked full of information about Hasford and his work and troubles and sign the petition already!
http://www.gustavhasford.com/
