The New Young Messiah

Listening as I prepare a lecture on graph symmetries for my third hour class tomorrow...Handel (new, young, or otherwise) is always good math's music (-8.

Comfort Ye by Wayne Watson
Every Valley by Larnell Harris
Glory to God by Carman

10/30/2011

We pause and remember that it is our God Who has called us to life
and Who continually breathes life into us and invites us to a holy and
intimate relationship with Him. He is never far from us.
Blessed are You, O Lord our God, for You are the Keeper of the Book
of Life.

Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands; serve the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful song.
Know that the LORD is God, he made us, his we are; his people, the flock he tends.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courts with praise;
Give thanks to him; bless his name, for he is good: the LORD, whose kindness endures forever, and his faithfulness, to all generations.

                                                     ~Psalm 100

1981, in sports

Penn State came into the Big 10.
Super Bowl XV, Raiders over Eagles
MLB 49 day strike in June and July, Dodgers beat Yankees in WS
NCAA BBall -Indiana over North Carolina
NBA Celtics over Rockets
Islanders beat North Stars for Stanley's Cup
Navratilova, King, McEnroe, Borg, Evert, Austin were winning tennis' Majors
Kite, Watson, and Nelson were winning golf Majors
Tigers starters most nights: Parrish, Hebner, Whitaker, Trammel, Brookens, Kemp, Cowens, Gibson, and DH John Wockenfus; pitching were Morris, Petry, Wilcox, Schatzader; Saucier and Lopez in the bullpen.
Gibby finished third in the AL in batting, Morris first in wins.
AND, ... the manager of the AAA Evansville Triplets: Jim Leyland.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost

I prayed this morning using a web I found some years ago (sacredspace.ie); every time I'm there, it's special. They offered this quote from Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), an Hindu poet mystic:

‘You have made me endless, Lord, such is your pleasure. This frail vessel you empty out again and again, and fill it ever with fresh life. Your infinite gifts come to me only on these very small hands of mine. Ages pass, and still you pour, and still there is room to fill.

'Give me the strength, Lord, lightly to bear my joys and sorrows. Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service. Give me the strength never to disown the poor or bend my knees before insolent might’.

And, one of his songs: ‘Have you not heard his silent steps? He comes, comes, ever comes. Every moment and every age, every day and every night, he comes, comes, ever comes. In the fragrant days of sunny April through the forest path he comes, comes, ever comes. In sorrow after sorrow it is his steps that press upon my heart, and it is the golden touch of his feet that makes my joy to shine’

Thank you, LORD, for the words of those who were pilgrims before us, thank you for allowing me to see You through others' eyes. Amen

World Series of Baseball game Seven

...tonight, live and in person, barring inclement weather, and I must say i'm pretty excited, especially after last night's grand performance full of heroics. Who will be the one who steps up tonight, at 8:05 pm EST, at Busch stadium in St. Louis? Which team will get to meet the President, and which team will be like the Rangers of last year: runners up, just League champions?

Thank you, Almighty God, for baseball, for the lessons we learn from the game, and for the fun we have playing, watching, cheering. 

People, people, ...

Did you ever hear someone singing to themselves, think their voice absolutely angelic, and comment to them thusly? I'm always suprised by how often people deflect this type of complement away with replys like '...not really' or 'i wish'; sometimes they'll just get red, stop singing and change the subject.
It's ok. Not everyone knows how to take a complement. But I believe we're here on this earth to encourage others and to build each other up. Regardless of how they respond (or don't respond).
Yes.
Let's say nice things to others, period. Let's help people feel good about themselves, eh?

Another great sports day...

College football, Wings, World Series, ... steaks on the grill with french fries, ...

After the 1968 baseball season,

the height of the pitcher's mound was lowered from 15 to 10 inches. ERA shot up and so did ball game scores. Sluggers like Clemente, Powell, Robinson, Jackson, McCovey, Aaron, Kilibrew, Carew were hitting; oh, were they hitting.
Batting average went up from .237 to .248, homers from 1995 to 3119, runs per game from 3.42 to 4.07.

Forgive my lack of originality of late...

...i spent alot of time in the theatre during the summer of 2010; I'm looking right now at a list of 2010 releases. Here, I will list the ones I saw, along with release dates:

1/15 The Book of Eli

2/5 From Paris With Love
2/12 Valentines Day (with my sweetie 8-)
2/19 Shutter Island
2/26 Copout, Defendor

3/12 Green Zone

4/2 Clash of the Titans

5/14 Robin Hood

6/11 The A-Team
6/18 Toy Story 3
6/23 Knight and Day
6/25 Grown Ups

7/1 The Last Airbender
7/9 Predators, Despicable Me
7/16 Inception
7/23 Salt
7/30 Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore

11/5 Megamind
11/12 Unstoppable

12/10 Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

When you think of garbage, think of Akeem

You wanna keep working here, stay off the drugs.

I say we go back to the Evil Lair, grab some laser guns, hold 'em sideways and just go all GANGSTA on him!

You're so naive, Roxy. You see the good in everyone, even when it's not there. You're living a fantasy. There is no Easter Bunny. There is no Tooth Fairy. There is no Queen of England. This is the real world, and you need to wake up!

You're waiting for a train,

a train that will take you far away. You know where you hope this train will take you, but you don't know for sure. But it doesn't matter. How can it not matter to you where that train will take you?

And I will lead them on a merry chase. 

I think we run with Mr. Charles.

Meet me in the crowd...

Lincoln Lawyer - Pretty darn good suspense thriller with a great plot, unexpected ending; murder-mystery type.

Catch me if you can - again, great plot, acting by Leonardo, Tom, and Christopher.

We strip it down, make it visceral and real.

 

'there's two kindsa people in the world, ...'

...having trouble putting my thoughts into meaningful sentences right now...

It's funny how you think you just can't stand certain characteristics of a person, but you overlook them sometimes.
My grandpa Walter Frank (Wally, to his friends; we didn't call him that until we were older, quite older for real) told me once that everyone's got three things about them you're just not gonna like. If you can look past those three things, the person's really not that bad.
I have a hard time with this. If there's some absolutely obnoxious characteristic about a person, I don't like to be around that person. (This sounds trite, small.)

and my thanks to...

Thank you, Mr Ilitch, for putting together a team that was one of only  8 making the playoffs.
Thank you, Mr. Leeland, for your absolutely profound comments on "The Jim Leeland Show" before every radio broadcast.
Thank you, Jim Price, for always saying "batting thirrrrrrrrrrd, ..."
Thank you, Dan Dickerson, for every one of your exciting "...and a long drive, wayyyy back"s.
Thank you, Hot Rod, for your animated urban verbage, you always made me smile.
And thank you, Team Detroit, for a great summer, for always giving me something to look forward to as I grilled hot dogs, chicken, or pork with my beautiful wife.

Ahhh.....breathe, ..........

and now, finally, I can whole-heartedly engage myself in conversation and thought involving our beloved Red Wings, Lions, Pistons.
The Tigers' 2011 season has ended, tantalizingly lengthy as it was, and now I can move on. I will keep up on the rest of the the playoffs, as well as the off season moves and talks-of-moves, but, for a time, there will be no more looking forward. No more the daily anticipation of how  the starting pitching will do tonight, who's gonna be the batting hero, who's gonna be the goat everyone curses and wants traded on 97.1 and in the 'blogs. No more texts from my brother telling me how he likes Doug, no  more visits to that grand park downtown with its smell of polish dogs and almonds roasting. No more will i cut the grass, water the flowers, veggies, and herbs, install kitchen cabinets, retrieve a yard-sale refrigerator, and entertain the Nielson people for hours, knowing that, at the end of the day, there will be Dan Dickerson and Jim Price,  right after "The Jim Leeland Show". No more will dinner time be determined by game-time, no more will my moods be determined by a the outcome of a game. (Well, that probably won't change much, it'll just be different types of games :-).
So, as i sit on my bed and type, with the NFL Sunday Ticket in full effect, I am able to segue into a new season, a new time of year. And listen to how God is helping me during this transitional phase:
MSU and Michigan (in that order:-)are on top in the Legends Division, Ohio State is on the bottom of the Leaders Division!
Our beloved Lions are tied for first in the NFC North with the Packers and have won their first five games, including a Monday night victory over the Bears last week.
The Wings have started their season well also, on top of the Central Division, 4-0 with 8 points.

Other thoughts...

• One thing I don't like about watching NFL games is the long delays for reviews. Absolutely it was a shitty addition to the game. Let the refs make the calls, they do a fine job. If you just have to let the video be part of the picture, let some morons watch all the film they want so they can find which refs are missing calls more consistently. Fine them or remove them based on the evidence, but LET THE PLAYERS PLAY!
• The Spartan's success has really helped me with my end-of-the-year baseball withdrawals. The only smudge to their season so far was the loss to Notre Dame (who lost to Michigan just the previous week). Great victory over Michigan yestreday...probably my best birthday present so far!!

To this new day, I say...

...Welcome!
Thank you for coming.
Thank you for bringing newness...
a newness after a refreshing night of sleep.
For to-day, the sun shines.
To-day, we live, breathe, circulate blood, process visual and aural stimuli, walk, laugh, love.
To-day we thank God for family, friends, and sports.
To-day, we ask a blessing on our food, our thoughts, words, and deeds.
To-day we offer our time, treasure, and talents... to be used as He leads us.

This is the day the LORD has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Fantastic Friday!!

To-day I worked my short day then subbed the rest of the day, I read for several hours and am watching the Big 10 Network right now.

Why is life good?

I am chosen by the King of kings to be His heir.
I am able to work, live, drive, walk, eat, drink and think in relative comfort, without ailments that plague so many...
I am loved.

Thoughts on the 12th ...

I listen to the call-in shows and read the comments on the m-live and mlb.com articles...local folks like to complain about their own teams. (I realize this is a generalization, but it comes after years of i) living in Detroit, ii) driving back and forth listening to many and varied sports stations, including the Chicago, Milwaukee, and Green Bay markets, and iii) just talking to lots of folks about sports :-)
SO, i won't be one of THOSE PEOPLE and focus on the fact that the three dingers were solo shots AND that Lewis led the universe in giving up dingers this year, solo or otherwise.
I will remain in the positive sphere, keeping my eyes fixed on the Author and Perfector  of my faith, WHO was and WHO is, and WHO is to come!!!
(...and i will keep praying for those beaten-up el Tigres )

(-8

ALCS Game 2

Raburn's homer in the 2nd put the Tigers up 3-2. Scherzer looks absolutely lights out ... sometimes

grrrrrrr

Got up way tooooo early to-day,

... so it's 3 pm and i'm tired as a dog, and I got so much work to do it's not even funny. If it was cooler, I'd take a nap.

God bless Dan Dickerson

the 1-2 pitch, SWING AND A MISS AND THE TIGERS HAVE DONE IT, THEY'VE COME IN TO NEW YORK AND BEATEN THE YANKEES TO MOVE ON TO TEXAS!!

So the American League Championship Series begins tomorrow night in Texas, at 8:05 pm. I was home for last night's game and got to listen to the Tigers radio broadcasters who are absolutely wonderful.

I'm so thankful to be home with my beautiful bride, to sleep in my bed, and to cook in my kitchen.

Glory to God in the highest!!

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!!!
Heavenly Father, bless and keep my bride while we are apart; I miss her. Thank you for our families, our friends, our jobs, food, shelter, water to drink and sports to watch. In nomine Patri, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, Amen.

Game 4

Rick looked great in the first inning; a strikeout and 2 groundouts, 11 pitches.Bases loaded with tigers; granderson made an amazing catch on don kelly's line drive to end the inning. 0-0.
1-2-3 for both teams in the second. Alex Avila still looks lost.
Big top of the 3rd for NYY: Posada hit by pitch, martin single, Jeter ripped a double for two runs over jackson.2-0. DY walk but nothing else.
Good inning for rick, hit Texiera but nothing else. 2-0 Victor Homer to lead off the inning, double by jhoony, nothing else. 2-1
Big top of 5th martin single barely again, gardner bloop single, jeter fc rick to wilson. granderson double scored one, cano intentionally walked to load the bases, Arod with two strikes sac fly, then texiera ck on a wicked pitch. 4-1 Jackson single to left, santiago gdp. 4-1
1-2-3 for Rick in the top of the 6th. 4-1. Two out single for Donny Kelly and a pitching change.Granderson grabs peralta's liner in left-center...wow what a catch! 4-1
Coke in the 7th walks one but nothing else. 4-1nothing 4-1
  

Why would I let something like erectile dysfunction get in the way?

How 'bout: Is it that time? No, just before.

Enough dammitall!!!!
Just minutes away from the first pitch...i do miss all the pregame hype by FSD during the season...

Ok, first inning jitters, JV?
Much better second, the double play my wife predicted!!!
Good third, another double play...home team tied it in their half...
One walk, no harm in the fourth, Texiera hit one hard to left. 2-2.Easy fourth for CC. Avila struck out again, looks like Inge from the other side of the plate, wiffing harmlessly.
JV strikes out the side in the fifth...wow, to watch! 2-2.Inge single, Jackson sac bunt, Santiago rbi double up the gap in left! 3-2 Victor is 0-3 and overdue.
Single stranded and two more K's for JV (the nicest one being Alex Rodriguez standing there like the house by the side of the road, to end the inning)... and the crowd goes wild. 3-2. Peralta doubles in Don Kelly, who bunted for a leadoff base hit. 4-2.
2 quick outs for JV then walk, hit batter, double by gardner to tie it. Jeter k's to end the 7th and give JV 10. 4-4.Delmon dinger in the bottom of 7th to make it 5-4.
top of 8: a walk and no more; JV done. (8 IP 4 ER, 6 H, 11 k, 3 bb, hb)5-4. DK k's, jhonny hbp, alex groundout to first, inge groundout to third.  5-4 to the 9th and valverde...
2 walks in the midst of 3 outs, no runs thank God! 5-4, and a 2-1 game lead!!!


 

Who cares what Big Potato brags about...

Counting down to game 3, CC v JV, Santiago starting at 2nd, Avila batting 8th right before Inge

From mlive.com: Part of the reason for Max Scherzer's success in Game 2, according to the Bergen Record's Bob Klapisch, is Alex Rodriguez's "rapid deterioration into an automatic out." A-Rod is 0-for-8 in the first two games of the ALDS. Yankees fans sure seemed to notice, giving him heavy boos after popping out to second base in the eighth inning on Sunday. [NorthJersey.com]

Rays and Texas tied at 1 game a piece, TB up one nuthin in the sixth...

Game 2 in the Bronx...

Why does Scherzer walk two in the first inning, and then go to 3-1 on Texiera? WTF?!?!?!??!

That's the way we like to start!?! As long as he finished so strong.
1-1 heading back to Detroit

Game 1, continued...

Fister looks good again tonight, his pitches are working and the late movement is tremendous. Been watching cooking shows and perusing cooking webs and I really, really, long to cook right now...

Well, made some macaroni and velveeta, Im kinda stuffed right now, and the Tigers have succombed to those damnable pinstriped bitches. I'll retire to bedlam.

Glorius sunny fall saturday!!!

Nothing to do to-day; I already cleaned my room, did the dishes, took an early walk, ate well, and (only slightly) helped my landlord move the futon from the front porch to the large great room (already containing about six couches, four loveseats, three coffee tables, a huge hammock chair, two banana plants, and a tv the size of a wide, black bus). Im exagerating slightly (-8.
Oh, my point was, nothing to do except four college football games, four playoff baseball games and 12 pack of diet dew (-8>