The Ol' Lefthander

It is utterly impossible for me to think of the Reds on radio without hearing the tandem voices of "Marty and Joe" dishing opinionated Reds-centric commentary. He hadn't announced anything for the Reds in a few years, but 28 years of hearing the voice of Joe Nuxhall on the Big One WLW will stick with me for life.

RIP Joe.

Free Me

I haven't taken a vacation in 2 1/2 years where I turned off the Blackberry and simply did not work, so unfortunately I can relate to this article in today's Times. Sad state of affairs, and a place I never saw myself living in.

With my work on the two mags coming to a close, and the new person starting right after Thanksgiving, I am dreaming of that time post-Xmas when I am (mostly) free from the electronic shackles. Free and in Thailand for six weeks!

Ancient Chinese Secrets

A product called Aquadots was recalled this week because it was found to convert to GHB (date rape drug) when ingested. A few kids apparently had to collapse and almost die for this to be discovered.

Wow. Now that's a serious production error.

Nothing blew my mind more on my trip to Asia than the sheer number of factories in China. Everything was growing so rapidly that the roads weren't paved yet, traffic was horrendous on the inadequate existing roads and all one could see was space and people eager to make money. There's absolutely no way any government agency could be overseeing safety standards in all of these new places. And there's going to be a whole lot more of these kind of recalls.

City of Angeles

Staying in downtown LA for three nights at the oh-so-hip Standard while overseeing the assembly of the latest Vis issue (Sound) and eating like a king. LA is such a great food town, but I've never been a fan in general of this place. Constant driving would make me nuts, for I'm spoiled by living in one of the few cities where you can walk or take public transit. Anne stopped by for a couple hours Sunday, went over to Beverly Hills last night to have dinner with Mr. Steele at Michael Ovitz's new place (whatevs), may go out to Encino to see Phillip's two chillluns, and assembly is happening in Glendale but mostly am exploring downtown for the first time. A few thoughts:

--who knew there was a hill in downtown LA? I didn't, and was the only person in the city yesterday who was huffing up it on the way to the excellent Gordon Matta-Clark show at MOCA. No one walks around but me and homeless people.
--lotta donut shops. Weird considering everyone's so beautiful out here. Donuts do not a beauty make.
--Had a bangin' lamb sandwich at Phillipe's today. Yum.
--taxis are like unicorns. You only get an occasional glimpse as they flit by.
--there are TONS of old movie theaters, mostly dark. Kind of wild that they were built less than 80 years ago with glamour galore, and are now useless and shuttered. There's about 30 on Broadway alone.
--i love the early-mid 20th century architecture that is everywhere, including the diners/americana-type vibe, neon and art deco shite.

Breeder's Cup 2008

Monmouth Park is only 60 miles south of the city on the Jersey shore, but since I never, ever go to Jersey, Breeder's Cup on Saturday was my first trip to this park. It's a small, gorgeous old track whose staff was absolutely idiotic about how they handled the overpriced seating for a smallish crowd of 41,000 on a miserable day of weather. The track was a sloppy mess, and had to effect the outcome of more than one race. While it was easy to get in and out via car, Monmouth's biggest day on the national stage was marred by a complete lack of regard for the most hardcore group of racing fans there is. 'Nuff said about that.

I always lose cash on Breeder's Cup day, for separating any equine stars out of the field of the best horses in the world is next to impossible. There is always money to be made, with most every entry going off at 4 or 5-1. Not too bad: I was only down $65 for the day, with Tania taking a biggest loss after dropping her newly replenished voucher worth over $100. Ouch. Lamest way to lose money at the races.

The worst note of the day occurred during the Classic, with European star George Washington needing to be euthanized on the stretch after sustaining a visibly gruesome injury that caused an audible gasp from the crowd after Curlin's winning run. Curlin tore through the final two furlongs like the champ he is, unfortunately, most of us were watching George Washington pull up lame in horror.

Still, it was absurd to get the Horse of the Year at a price of 4-1 (!!), and some money was made.

We.

I used the word "WE" in reference to something the man friend and I might do in the future, and my god, you would have thought I gave him a million bucks with the grin I got in return. I am a dope.

This of course did not quell the minor panic attack that using said word caused me. My independence and fear do not go quietly into the night, but I'm tryin'. Really trying.

Playoffs

Does anyone care about these NL baseball playoffs? I even forgot that the Rockies and Diamondbacks were on last night. Go Tribe.

Maybe

One day I'll resume posting again, when I have head space.

The job reconfigurations of recent weeks are still causing anxiety -- not sure if I am going to go freelance starting in mid-Jan and only work on the Visionaire publication + other print projects for other clients (most likely) / get fired / find a new full-time job / quit in a huff during the next two weeks so I can run away to Thailand with my man friend for a couple months (most appealing).

I had a semi-relaxing trip to SF last week for my old roommate Mikey's wedding, Ann and Derek's 10th Anniversary dinner and the baptism of Denise's 8-month old Sonny. Loads of friends around - the vast majority from Ohio - and amazing weather for the 7th Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, where I saw Buddy Miller, Del McCoury, an Atlantic City-covering Jason Isbell, Dave Alvin, Doc Watson, Jim Lauderdale and the ubiquitous Emmylou. The 3-day Festival is a terrific free, yet not too crowded with dirty hippies, event in Golden Gate Park. Going out simply for the music would have been a good trip in itself.

Said man friend came along, and was an unsurprising hit. And I didn't even have to put on my mature and meet his ex-girlfriend, also in town all weekend.

Liquor Icons

I've always been partial to the Miller High Life broad, but this article gives a play-by-play on 10 recognizable figures from the front of your favorite beverage.

Chickens Coming Home to Roost

Great article in today's Times about the growing popularity of raising chickens in the backyard.

If I had any sense, I would have written this trend piece back in May when I started claiming I was going to soon have some chickens of my own.

I still want my own chickens. Even though I hate birds.