Halloween Party Picture

A shot of Paul & Sarah, Zina, and me at the Halloween party.

Pitching

It's really short, but I read an interesting piece by relief pitcher Todd Jones about how he pitches to Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz. It gives an intriguing insight into how major league pitchers think about hitters, and how to work them. I wish more major leaguers, on both sides of the ball, wrote things like this. It would add depth to the readers' understanding of the game.

Spookfest 2007

Ah, Halloween. Twenty years ago, my hometown had a yearly "Spookfest," where locals would donate instead of handing out candy. The donations went towards a central party, where you could go to get candy. One stop shopping - very convenient. We would usually hit the Spookfest first, then work over the rest of the town - Halloween was a big deal in Bristol. And in 1987, I won a contest for the Spookfest button design, so I also got a savings bond. So Halloween has always been good to me.

This past weekend, I went to a costume party for the first time in years. The hosts required group costumes, so I went with Sarah & Paul and Zina & John as Dog, Beth, etc. from Dog the Bounty Hunter. Sarah put up some pictures here. Hilarious and quite a lot of fun. We spent almost as much time getting ready and sitting around in costume watching football as we did at the party itself. More fun than it sounds like, I assure you.

The weather is pretty great today, so I expect to get more trick-or-treaters than last year. I was disappointed, especially by the high proportion of not-really-costumed no-good teens. I would break out the hose, but I think that would cause too much trouble. Even if it would be ridiculously fun. Get off my lawn, you meddling kids!

Blockoland

Like many companies, my employer limits the use of the internet over the corporate network. Some sites are blocked. Up until recently, it was fairly benign. Then they blocked YouTube, which was understandable. Not much work-related traffic going through that address.

Then they blocked the automatic feed for Dilbert comics. You can still get to them through the Washington Post site, for instance, but I appreciated the irony of the corporation blocking access to a comic that is essentially about the humorous drudgery of corporate life. Still, there's a workaround.

Today, they started blocking Slate, the online magazine. It's the company's prerogative, of course - they have an interest in keeping us on task, not distracted by the internet. Personally, I like to read on my lunch break, and Slate does a good news roundup in the mornings that I like to check as I start my day. I guess I'll start reading it before I leave the house.

Car Dance

We drove out for lunch at work today, as well as running some errands for Halloween. Earlier in the day Sarah and I had chatted about the show Pushing Daisies. The show is... unlike most anything else on tv. It is saccharine-sweet.... you could become diabetic watching it. But it is also visually stunning, the writing has layers and layers and layers of clever asides and references, and it tackles issues of morality and mortality with subtlety. Well, subtle for network tv. It's been called a "forensic fairy tale," since it has murder mystery, romantic, comic, and fabulist elements.

One particular element of the most recent episode caught my attention, and was the reason it came up at work. One line of dialog ran "You don't need a birdhouse. You can build a birdhouse in your soul" (trust me, it made sense in the context of the show). Fans of the band They Might Be Giants will immediately recognize this from the second song on the 1990 album Flood. So over the commercials, I can't help but hum the song. And when the show comes back, two of the characters (both played by talented Broadway songstresses) are singing that very song in the backseat of a car on the way to visit a windmill. Students of literature will find two more layers here: The name They Might Be Giants comes from a George C. Scott movie of the same name, about a man who thinks he's Sherlock Holmes and solves murders. But the term originally refers to Don Quixote, who tilted at windmills because "they might be giants."

The point, beyond the cleverness of the writing, is I've been a fan of They Might Be Giants for many years now. And as Sarah, Zina, and I drove to lunch, and the conversation continued, I mentioned I had all of their albums on my iPod there in the car. Naturally, the song was quickly queued up. And we ended up singing along with it. I never sing when other people are in the car... but I always sing when I drive alone (and with some songs, I do the car dance). So that was something interesting and new.

And speaking of music, I want to recommend, again, the Avett Brothers album Four Thieves Gone. I especially like "Talk on Indolence," "Distraction #74" and "Matrimony." It's like a punk band that grew up in Appalachia. And if you like punk, can I interest you in some choir music? The Blue Ribbon Glee Club is a group in Chicago that does a Capella covers of Fugazi and The Clash. Check out the live version of the Pixies' "Where is My Mind."

Nutmeg

A pretty full day yesterday, and bittersweet. John & FilthyWife hosted a going-away party for Meg, who leaves for California early Monday afternoon. It's exciting, and I'll get to see her in January, hopefully. But it's never fun to watch your friends leave town.

It was a fun party, which John & FilthyWife are known for. Jane made cookies, which goes a long way with me. We watched the Michigan-Iowa State game, since John, Megan, her boyfriend Rich, and various others there were all Wolverines. Low key, good crowd. John is in a band, and very knowledgeable musically, and after the game he recommended a great band, the Avett Brothers. I went straight home and downloaded their song Talk on Indolence. Followed by the rest of the album. John called it "punk-folk." If that sounds intriguing, check it out.

Other folks got Meg nice going away gifts - Jane made her a scarf with a built-in pocket. I feel bad I didn't, but I don't like to think about it when my friends leave, so I rarely show the foresight to make those kind of nice gestures. Besides, I will see her again relatively soon.

I can't breathe...

My brother, Ryan, is extremely creative. Actually, both of my brothers are. But just now you can enjoy one of the fruits of Ryan's creativity.

He likes to enter various online video contests. He recently won a Mac Book and a $2500 gift certificate to the Apple Store from Friendlys. He also won a free ice cream party from same. And he keeps knocking out more brilliant shorts. This one is in the form of a commercial, for Tiger Balm. I will be reminding everyone I know to vote for this one, starting early next month according to Ryan.

So, without further delay, enjoy Tiger Balm Attack.