I have to admit that I haven't seen a complete episode of Letterman's show about twenty years. That was actually about the time that I cared enough to see it live on a trip to New York. (Glenn Close and James Taylor were the guests. Google tells me that was 20 September 1993.) In my younger years, late night TV was more appealing. Now, while I enjoy watching the occasional clip on the Internet, I have very little interest in the mainstream network offerings. That is in spite of actually liking their hosts a great deal.
The exception to my late night watching has been Jon Stewart and until recently Stephen Colbert. I started out watching The Daily Show mostly live and in the last ten years, I've always watched it taped the next day. There are so many more fun options for my time than watching almost any TV program live.
With all this said, I am still a little nostalgic with David Letterman retiring. He's like that uncle you don't often see, but will miss once he's gone.
I'll watch his final show tonight and yes, that means it is taped at home. There may be clips that I'll post of it here later. For now, however, I've found the tributes to him by his peers worthwhile. All of them not only remark on his talent and inventiveness, but most seem to have a sense of personal devotion to Letterman stemming from some kindness he once showed them. I like that.
Jimmy Fallon
Jimmy Kimmel
Conan O'Brien
Jon Stewart
Stephen Colbert
.
21 May 2015
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Friday, May 15, 2015
Mosquito Repellent Review
Also up today are new reviews of bug repellents by Consumer Reports. Read a bit here and see below.
15 May 2015
15 May 2015
A Warm-Blooded Fish!
Big day for science. The first fully warm-blooded fish has been discovered. It is the deep-sea Opah and it isn't small. Read about it and see photos here.
15 May 2015
15 May 2015
Sun Safety - Summer 2015
Consumer Reports has updated their list of recommended sun screens for 2015. You can find a partial sample of that list at today.com. It will be in their next issue and subscribers can also find it on the Consumer Reports website.
Best sun screen: Read a book on your couch inside!
15 May 2015
Addition: You can find more from CR here and see videos, too.
Best sun screen: Read a book on your couch inside!
15 May 2015
Addition: You can find more from CR here and see videos, too.
Bear Safety
With both bears in our yard and around our building at work, I thought it might be wise to read a refresher on bear safety. That means human safety around bears, not the safety of bears. Not that I'm against bears being safe themselves. I'm totally down with that.
There are many good tips from the National Park Service including what to do when confronted by a bear to avoid an attack and how to read the cues the bear is signaling. You also want to treat an attack by the brown/grizzly bears in the West much differently than the attacks of the more-widely-ranging black bears. We have black bears in Massachusetts.
For black bears, do not play dead. Here is the full paragraph:
I'd read up on avoiding an attack, however. That seems much more reasonable than relying on my fists to make any impact on the skull of a bear. Just saying.
In this dude's defense, he didn't drop or even spill his drink!
15 May 2015
There are many good tips from the National Park Service including what to do when confronted by a bear to avoid an attack and how to read the cues the bear is signaling. You also want to treat an attack by the brown/grizzly bears in the West much differently than the attacks of the more-widely-ranging black bears. We have black bears in Massachusetts.
For black bears, do not play dead. Here is the full paragraph:
If you are attacked by a black bear, DO NOT PLAY DEAD. Try to escape to a secure place such as a car or building. If escape is not possible, try to fight back using any object available. Concentrate your kicks and blows on the bear's face and muzzle.
I'd read up on avoiding an attack, however. That seems much more reasonable than relying on my fists to make any impact on the skull of a bear. Just saying.
In this dude's defense, he didn't drop or even spill his drink!
15 May 2015
Thursday, May 14, 2015
PAT VENDITTE: A Call to Arms
You need to read this paragraph first before we move forward here.
Yep, there is a true ambidextrous pitcher on the verge of the major leagues. This would be only the third time in baseball history. And as my sister, a rabid A's fan says, "Why can't we just call this guy up already?"
Amen.
Very fun to watch what happens here. I hope that he makes it.
You can read the whole story by Chris Jones from ESPN the Magazine here.
14 May 2015
On June 19, 2008, in Venditte's professional debut with the Staten Island Yankees, the fourth batter he faced, Ralph Henriquez of the Brooklyn Cyclones, was a switch-hitter. There were two outs in the bottom of the ninth. In the on-deck circle, Henriquez had warmed up as a left-hander. When he entered the batter's box, Venditte had his glove on his right hand, tipping that he was going to throw left. Then Henriquez stepped in right. Venditte switched his glove to his opposite hand. Henriquez switched sides, and so did Venditte. Then they switched sides again. "Boy, I have never seen anything like this," one of the broadcasters said. (An eight-minute video of the at-bat has been viewed more than a million times on YouTube.) Finally, the umpires ordered Henriquez to step in. He went right, and so did Venditte. An enraged Henriquez struck out on four pitches, ending the game and modern baseball's first switchy-switchy matchup by clubbing the dirt with his bat -- with his left hand.
Yep, there is a true ambidextrous pitcher on the verge of the major leagues. This would be only the third time in baseball history. And as my sister, a rabid A's fan says, "Why can't we just call this guy up already?"
Amen.
Very fun to watch what happens here. I hope that he makes it.
You can read the whole story by Chris Jones from ESPN the Magazine here.
14 May 2015
Monday, May 11, 2015
Unassisted Triple Play
My wife and I were watching the Red Sox game last night and got onto the topic of unassisted triple plays. I said that while it isn't the hardest thing to do in baseball -- I would reserve that honor for pitching a perfect game -- that it might be the most rare.
There have been fifteen unassisted triple plays thus far in major league history. To put that in perspective, in the major leagues there have been:
However, in putting this post together, I discovered at least one thing more rare in baseball... hitting for the natural cycle. That has been done only thirteen times in the major leagues!
Compilation Video
And yes, one of those featured is a Red Sox player, John Valentin (SS) on 8 July 1994 against the Seattle Mariners. The other Red Sox player to do so was George Burns (1B) on 14 September 1923 against the Cleveland Indians. The first that I ever saw was during a Colorado Rockies game in their great, but ultimately doomed, 2007 season. There, Troy Tulowitzki (SS) tripled-up the Atlanta Braves on 29 April.
I'd really like to know how Mr. Burns completed his triple play as most are recorded by either SS or 2B. First baseman Johnny Neun of the Detroit Tigers also pulled this off on 31 May 1927 against the Cleveland Indians.
Although not taking place in the majors, there has been one recorded instance of an unassisted triple play by an outfielder! I'll put the description about Walter Carlisle from Baseball-Reference.com below:
There have been fifteen unassisted triple plays thus far in major league history. To put that in perspective, in the major leagues there have been:
- Twenty-three perfect games
- 305 batters hitting for the cycle
- 287 no hitters
However, in putting this post together, I discovered at least one thing more rare in baseball... hitting for the natural cycle. That has been done only thirteen times in the major leagues!
Compilation Video
And yes, one of those featured is a Red Sox player, John Valentin (SS) on 8 July 1994 against the Seattle Mariners. The other Red Sox player to do so was George Burns (1B) on 14 September 1923 against the Cleveland Indians. The first that I ever saw was during a Colorado Rockies game in their great, but ultimately doomed, 2007 season. There, Troy Tulowitzki (SS) tripled-up the Atlanta Braves on 29 April.
I'd really like to know how Mr. Burns completed his triple play as most are recorded by either SS or 2B. First baseman Johnny Neun of the Detroit Tigers also pulled this off on 31 May 1927 against the Cleveland Indians.
Although not taking place in the majors, there has been one recorded instance of an unassisted triple play by an outfielder! I'll put the description about Walter Carlisle from Baseball-Reference.com below:
Walter Carlisle, although more famous for something he did in the minors, played 3 games in the major leagues with theBoston Red Sox in 1908. Also trying for a job in the outfield of the Red Sox that year was a 20-year-old named Tris Speaker.
On July 19, 1911, while playing for Vernon of the Pacific Coast League in a game against Los Angeles, Carlisle completed the only known example of an unassisted triple play by a centerfielder. Carlisle made a diving catch off the bat of Roy Akin just behind second base with runners on first and second, but the runners had taken off with the hit, so he touched second, and then ran by himself all the way back to first to complete the triple play. In the following year, Akin pulled off his own unassisted triple play, albeit as an infielder.
And just to make sure that none of these amazing players get too big for their britches, I give you a six-year-old.
11 May 2015
Xylophone Zeppelin
Children get the led out on both xylophones and marimbas playing Immigrant Song, The Ocean, & Kashmir. Awesome! Jimmy Page himself approved.
11 May 2015
11 May 2015
Friday, May 8, 2015
Monday, May 4, 2015
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