"20 Footer;" "25"

 

Chipper Jones pauses to reflect on his career during final visit to Dodger Stadium

Enjoyable article on Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves 3rd baseman. Who is retiring at the end of the season.

LOS ANGELES – Forty years in, nearly half of those in the big leagues, Chipper Jones is in the midst of one final pass through baseball. 

His eyes say he'll miss it. His body, certainly from the hips down, says, "Run." You know, if he still could....

Best right-handed pitcher faced: 

"Roger."
Clemens.

Best left-hander faced: 

"Randy."
Johnson....

Best clutch pitcher: 

"Smoltzy."
John....

Best team he played on, regardless of result: 

"Yeah, I'd have to say '95 was it. The simple fact we had the big three (Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Smoltz) and, man, we were solid one through eight....."

Guy he would have wanted to play with: 

"Mickey Mantle. Awesome. I would even have hit second and let him hit third....."

If not this era, then which one: 

"Mantle's. I would've wanted to have played in that Mays, Mantle, Aaron era. That's when baseball icons truly were baseball icons." 

Best hitters' park: 

"I gotta say Phoenix right now. Me, personally, I like Minute Maid. But I think Cincinnati is the best hitters' park.

Worst hitters' park:

"I will be in the front row when they blow up Wrigley Field. The ballpark is awful."

Paula Deen's English Pea Recipe Mocked Online

For those of us who can't even boil water, online recipes are a lifesaver. But when is a simple recipe a bit too simple? Perhaps Paula Deen knows. We recently came across this recipe for English peas on her official site. 

Here, word for glorious word, is Paula's recipe: "Melt the butter in small pot and add the peas. Cook over medium heat until peas are warm." Below those words of wisdom is a link that allows you to print the recipe. You know, in case you think you might forget a step.

Commenter tr1cky1 wrote, "I clicked on the "Print Recipe" link for this recipe, but my printer only printed out a sheet of paper that read, "Your An Idiot!"...and I can't even reply to it to tell it that it misspelled "you're". Help!"" Commenter mikwitcher posted, "This recipe was really tricky to master, but once I figured it out, it was divine! The secret is to NOT use a cardboard pan to heat the peas." Another wrote, "Come On! How do you open the can??? and do I use salted or unsalted butter????" 


To read the rest of the article click here!

The comments are funny. A sampling:

My ex wifes recipe. Put peas in pot with water. Place on stove on high. When pot boils over and house is thoroughly stunk up, peas are done.

She's got another recipe on how to make a bowl of cereal.

SHHHH...Don't tell Paula, but you can use the same recipe for canned green beans, too.
Just omit the peas.

I am working on a recipe. 4-6 ice cubes ( crushed ok ) in a glass.. Add bottled water or any liquid of your choice. Voila!

Can we get a recipe for buttering bread?

"Where do you park at the car show?"

"Go Fly a Kite"

I was in my back yard trying to launch a kite.



I threw the kite up in the air, the wind would catch it for a few


Seconds, then it would come crashing back down to earth.


I tried this a few more times with no success.


All the while, my wife Karen is watching from the kitchen window,


Muttering to herself how men need to be told how to do everything.

She opens the window and yelled to me,


'You need a piece of tail.'


I turned with a confused look on my face and yelled back,


'Make up your mind. Last night, you told me to go fly a kite

 

"Outside Abbey Road Studios....Preparing For the Famous Street Photograph"

 

Yardsellr Beatles Block is the name of the site which was on my FB page. And from whence the photo came. No wonder FB is free and always will be. Or so the story goes.

"Another Attempt at 2nd Base?" ( Jennifer Hudson )

 

McDonald’s Worker Spits in Tea: How Gross is Fast Food?

Police in South Carolina say that a McDonald's worker spit in two customers' cups of iced tea after they returned them because they weren't sweet enough. A video shows the employee,19-year-old Marvin Washington Jr., leaning over the open cups before giving them back. The fast food chain patrons claim they discovered phlegm in the drinks when they removed their tops. He was arrested Wednesday and charged with malicious tampering with food.

 Eating out can be an exercise in suspended disbelief. Wide eyed, we assume the food is fresh and wholesome and that workers have followed the "employees must wash hands" decree posted in the bathroom. Nevertheless, the McDonald's incident is so sickening because it actually bears out the urban legend that a disdainful waiter can and will contaminate your food if you tick him off. 

 Chef and television personality Anthony Bourdain's bestseller, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, exposed the grungy side of the culinary world over a decade ago. Not only is the book a rollicking memoir about coming of age in the 1970s and 80s, it's a veritable primer for how not to get food poisoning on date night. Bourdain rudely threw open the kitchen doors and exposed restaurants' dirty little tricks such as filtering cigarette ash out of used butter to make a sauce and serving old beef to the customers who ordered it well done. 

It continues-green chicken at KFC, etc.    

One of the worst I saw was when my(?) fry cook used his spatula to unclog the floor drain and then returned it to the grill. Never washing it. 


My first manager at Mickey D's circa 1968 was a young 20 year old recently transplanted from California. He had worked at a pizza restaurant prior to moving to Georgia, and said the cooks would give the pizza extra toppings by picking their noses. Urban myth? Who knows!

"Second Base"

 

"Encore"

 

"Hitchcock Collage"

 

"'Faces' to be Inducted into the 'Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!'"

 

I was a big fan of Rod Stewart back in the haze of my youth. He began with Jeff Beck and soon went solo. He was with Faces from 69-75. I had two of the lps. The bassist, Ronnie Lane, who helped write some of the songs contracted md in the 80's and soon died. And Ron Wood is still playing with the Rolling Stones.

"Everest"

Abbey Road was originally slated to be called "Everest." I hear you!


What a treasure-the following video. Paul may not be able to warble out those high notes like he once could, but who the fork cares.

"Middle Age" or a Euphemism for 'one foot in the grave'"

 

"Petrino Fired at Arkansas"

 

As you read this, the damage is now spreading out in waves. From Bobby Petrino's entitled mind to a community that adores its Hogs to a state that does the same. The damage is significant and lasting and won't end with a Tuesday press conference announcing Petrino's firing. Start with this unassailable fact: For most of its 20 years in the SEC, Arkansas has been a mid-level program. It scrapped and sweated and worked to be better. Most of the time it wasn't. This was going to be the year. Look at the schedule and the talent. The program had momentum. Look at the coach. It was all in place. Petrino lit a match to the whole thing. His incredible selfishness and unmitigated entitlement will affect Arkansas for years to come. You think not? Name the Arkansas coach with the highest winning percentage since Frank Broyles. It was Ken Hatfield (55-17, 1984-89), the last Hog coach to win a conference title. In terms of that winning percentage, Petrino wasn't even Ken Hatfield. The man who dared challenge the SEC elite and elevate Arkansas to something it has seldom been, also led the program through perhaps its most disgraceful week. If not for AD Jeff Long's for-the-ages presser we'd be picking through burning embers....

"Marlins' Ozzie Guillen apologizes over Castro flap"

 

MIAMI (AP) A contrite Ozzie Guillen sat in the heart of Little Havana seeking forgiveness for what the Miami Marlins manager called the biggest mistake of his life - saying he admired Fidel Castro.  

This wasn't some offhanded insult about a sports writer, the type of thing that got the outspoken Guillen in trouble in Chicago. This was personal to the fan base that the Marlins rely on so much that they built their new stadium in the middle of the city's Cuban-American neighborhood. Castro is the sworn enemy of those fans. So after being suspended for five games Tuesday, the Marlins manager tried to quell the tempest.

 ''I'm here on my knees to apologize,'' Guillen said. ''I'm very sorry about the problem, what happened. I will do everything in my power to make it better. ... When you make a mistake like this, you can't sleep.''

 A chastened Guillen, who has a history of polarizing comments about gays and immigrants, among others, spoke without a script and made no disclaimers. He said he'll do whatever he can to repair relations with Cuban-Americans angered by his praise of the Cuban dictator, remarks he said he didn't mean. Guillen, who is Venezuelan, told Time magazine he loves Castro and respects the retired Cuban leader for staying in power so long.

 In response, at least two Miami politicians said Guillen should lose his job. Callers on Spanish-language radio in Miami agreed and 100 demonstrators picketed Marlins Park toting signs like ''NO APOLOGIES FIRE HIM NOW....''

 

 

"Still on my Beatles Kick"

 

 

While crafting the song, John told George Martin, their producer, he wanted to "smell the sawdust." 

I can smell it!

"Yahoo's 100 All Time Greats"

 

"Another Collage"

 

"The Last Puff"

 

"Bad Hair Day"

 

Perhaps the Donald should try Brylcreem, a little dab will do ya. On second thought he needs more than a dab.

James Cameron’s ‘Titanic’ Movie Mistake

Despite what loyal “Titanic” fans may believe, the original version of the film isn’t entirely perfect. 

  Director James Cameron, notorious for his excruciating attention to detail, admits he did make one mistake in the 1997 release, but feels audiences won’t notice the change in the 3D reboot.

 “Oh, there is one shot that I fixed,” Cameron revealed to Britain’s Culture magazine.

 “It’s because Neil deGrasse Tyson, who is one of the U.S.’ leading astronomers, sent me quite a snarky email saying that, at that time of year, in that position in the Atlantic in 1912, when Rose is lying on the piece of driftwood and staring up at the stars, that is not the star field she would have seen, and with my reputation as a perfectionist, I should have known that and I should have put the right star field in.”

 Cameron added, “So I said, ‘All right, you son of a [expletive], send me the right stars for the exact time, 4:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, and I’ll put it in the movie.’ So that’s the one shot that has been changed....”

  P.S. Thank goodness he got it right this time.

"Never a Dull Moment" or "Some People Have Too Much Time on their Hands"

 

 

 

"Collage This"

 

a) The All-American Family

 b) "Berserk" with Joan Crawford. Known for saying "Don't **** with me fellas." 

 c) "Alligator Man" which took place on the Bayou. Classic horror tale from the 50's.

d) "Viva Lost Wages" my favorite King movie. Along with "Roustabout."

 e) "Planet of the Apes" Charlton Heston said 'god dammit' in most of his movies after "Ben Hur" and the "10 Commandments." Wonder if he had to explain this in order to enter the pearly gates.

 f) The Twin Starlight Saw many a movie here as a teen. Still in existence today, a throwback. 

g) Famous episode from "The Twilight Zone."

 h) "Make my day!" 

i) "North by Northwest"

 j) Burgess Merideth ( later the 'Penguin' in the Batman tv show, and Rocky's manager. "I want you to eat lightning and crap thunder" ) in another Twilight Zone. k) JFK and Tricky Dick Nixon in the infamous debates of 1960.

"March Madness; Feelings; Not Very Nice; and 'I Don't Give a ****"

Btw, he later took the job.

"Butcher Album-Beatles"

"I'll Be Back" Back on my Beatles Kick

Youtube has some fascinating stuff on it. This is another jewel. From the fab 4. Not sure if this the Anthology version, but it is not the polished final recording.


P.S. The killer of John Lennon went to high school just a couple of miles from HW, my employment venue of 30 years.

The Surprising Benefits of Being Unemployed

Saw this article today. Very funny and, er, spot on! By a David Dvorkin

The great ebb and flow of the marketplace has recently forced me to try to convince myself of the benefits of being unemployed.



Some of those benefits are obvious, and I could have anticipated them even before a supervisor tapped me on the shoulder and said he needed to talk to me about something. ("Do you have a minute?" he asked. What would have happened if I'd said no, that I was too busy?)


1) Not Having to Wake up to the Alarm Clock

That's an obvious one. There was a character in the Snuffy Smith cartoon strip of many years ago who retired but would still get up at the crack of dawn and go down to the mill every morning just so he could thumb his nose at the place as the get-to-work whistle blew. That was an amusing strip, and I saved it for years. But I wouldn't want to take the bus downtown every weekday just to emulate that cartoon character, even if my old workplace had a whistle and even if I had retired voluntarily. So I've turned off the alarm.



(Oh, you ask, but what if you oversleep and waste away the hours you should be spending looking for another job? That hasn't been a problem. The constant sense of dread wakes me up in plenty of time — usually well before the crack of dawn.)

2) Getting Rid of Telemarketers and Door-to-Door Salesmen
 
Back in the glorious paycheck days, I used to think about telling them I'd just lost my job. Actually, sometimes I really did tell them that, because I'm a cowardly kinda guy and it's easier to fib than to be firm. Now I don't have to fib. When I tell them I'm unemployed, they hang up or back away quickly, terrified of infection by the job-loss virus. And they seem to have crossed me off those secret lists they hand around. It's true that some of one's friends back away with the same look of fear in their eyes, but I'm sure that's unconscious.



I'm hoping to get taken off the snail-mail solicitation lists, too. From time to time, for example, I get invited to contribute to the Republican National Committee. Yeah, sure. Try me again after I've developed Alzheimer's. Throwing solicitations of that sort away was always easy. But it was hard and induced considerable guilt to throw away unanswered solicitations from organizations I support philosophically. Sometimes you're just strapped for cash, you know? Even with a regular paycheck coming in. I'd feel terrible guilt as I tore up the good-guy solicitations and dropped them in the trash, and I'd tell myself that at least if I lost my job, I'd have an acceptable excuse and wouldn't feel guilty. And I was right! Actually, I still feel guilty, but I tell myself that I'll resume making contributions to those worthy outfits as soon as I have a regular paycheck again.

3) My Beard



It's still growing! Well, of course it is, you say. Let me explain that, on an emotional, irrational level, I still feel relieved every morning when I realize that I still need to shave.It's still growing! Despite the way I frequently feel, I haven't really been unmanned.


4) Snobbery



We have been cured of the sin of snobbery. It was very minor snobbery, really. It was limited to the conviction that name-brand items are superior to those sold under supermarket house brands. Oh, sure, sometimes we'd buy the house brands out of some sort of general moral conviction that we ought to save money. And then we'd gradually drift back to the name brands because . . . well, we just did. But, say, that house-brand food tastes pretty good! And the house-brand toilet paper, er, holds up better under use! And the house-brand cans stack better! And the labels are spiffier! Yes, sir, solid values, suitable for normal daily use. Or every-other-day use, if you feel the need to make the item last a bit longer.

For the complete list:

Restaurant Stacks Impressive Offer To Lure Peyton Manning

Of all the teams in the running for Peyton Manning, the Titans might just have the sweetest deal. But not because of what owner Bud Adams has put on the table. 

It's Nashville-based Shoney's that has put the icing on the cake pancakes. The popular midwest diner chain has offered the free agent quarterback a free stack of their famous flapjacks every day for the remainder of his career if he chooses the Music City. 

The company took out a full page ad in the sports section of The Tennessean newspaper on Friday. Above a picture of their pancakes it reads, "Peyton, Sign Here and Tennessee Would Really Be Stacked."
 
It went on to woo the former University of Tennessee star, laying out the offer with a message from the top: " Shoney’s CEO David Davoudpour wants to sweeten the deal. Sign with our hometown team and you’ll receive FREE PANCAKES EVERY DAY throughout your career here in Nashville. Let’s Win. And Let’s Eat!"

Commuter accused of sex act on train walks free from court after telling court he was strumming an 'imaginary banjo'

This one is for the record book!

A commuter accused of indecency on a train has walked free after telling a court he was strumming an imaginary banjo.

Before Melvyn Webb was acquitted, the judge in his trial had informed the jury that men do sometimes innocently ‘fiddle with themselves in public’.

The case arose after a woman complained of seeing a newspaper moving on his lap as he breathed heavily.

Mr Webb, 54, denied a single charge of outraging public decency on the 7.08am Basingstoke to Reading train, saying he was merely adjusting his underwear.
After his arrest, the health and safety adviser told police: ‘For my sins I play the banjo, so sometimes I do, with my hands, pick out a pattern on my knees....’

To see the whole article click here!

"March Madness"

It's that time of year again. March Madness.


And we've already had the usual upsets. Duke took it on the chin tonight. Because it's a prissy college, most people are glad for the Blue Devil demise.


Last year's champion bid adieu in the first round. Connecticut. I never can remember how to spell it but methinks this could be spot on, er, right on. Not sure when "spot on" became so fashionable, but yours truly refuses to recognize it as a phrase, and you will never here it uttered by my larynx. 


And Notre Dame lost tonight. What happened to the luck of the Irish. And who can forget George O'Leary. He landed his dream job-head coach-but was ousted for lying on his resume. Never coached a game. 


Harvard vs. Vandy, two brainy schools, slugged it out Thursday night with the Commodores winning by nine. Wonder if Lionel Ritchie matriculated at Vandy? At Rowdy High in 1969, our Star Student, a hotshot quarterback too, went to Vandy on a football scholarship. He now has his Phd. 


And Syracuse squeaked by NC Asheville because Fab Melo was not spot on with his grades. I mean he was academically ineligible. And who can forget Dexter Manly, who graduated from Oklahoma State? Later on it was learned that Dexter couldn't read or write.


March Madness. It's that time of the year again. Spot on!

Fears of deadly asteroid hitting Earth next year are likely overrated

All of the talk about an asteroid wiping out life on Earth next year is almost certainly overblown. Discovery Magazine's Bad Astronomy blog writes that the odds of 2012 DA14 impacting Earth this year are "essentially zero."

 012 DA14 shares the Earth's orbit with the sun, so it could come back to pose a threat in the future. But even a worst-case scenario impact from the asteroid, which is 150 feet in diameter, isn't likely to wipe out civilization. First, it would have to overcome the substantial odds of making impact with our planet. Then, it would need to survive entry through Earth's atmosphere. And finally, it would have to strike a lake, or a body of water near enough a population center to trigger a tsunami, earthquake or some other natural disaster....

P.S. I'm not worried about the asteroid;I'm more concerned with the US spacecraft returning from Venus.

Susan Backlinie

This ever changing technology is tough on a child of the 60's. But through arduous trial and error, I-thank you very much-figured out how to post a picture onto my weblog.The old way via Picasa had gone kaput, fini'.

 Segue: When I posted the "Jaws" alternate movie posters last week, little did I know Susan Backlinie-she being the shark's ( twenty footer ) first victim, was in such high demand. Traffic to the Pond has soared ( relative, of course ) during the past week. For my little out of the place blog, that is saying something.

 Ms. Backlinie also posed for Penthouse in the 70's. But she got old like the rest of us. I never thought of her as being overly attractive, but what do I know.

 I am proud of myself for solving the technology issue. Chalk one up for the baby boomers!

Peyton Manning leaves generous tip, server gets fired for posting a photograph of bill

It was a good thing Peyton Manning left such a nice tip for his server at the Angus Barn because it was one of the last the server would ever receive at the Raleigh, N.C., steakhouse.

 According to the Triangle Business Journal, a server at the restaurant was fired after posting a photograph of the generous tip Manning left on a $625 bill. The restaurant included its own 18 percent gratuity, bringing the tab to about $739, and Manning added another $200 on top -- roughly -a 50 percent tip. "Jon" was terminated by restaurant owner Van Eure for violating the restaurant's privacy policy....

Brewster McCloud"

A lot of traffic has been generated to my blog via "Harold and Maude." Pretty sure this one was after Maude. Both starred Bud Cort. Hijinks in the old Houston Astrodome. And another example of film making in the early 70's.