**Holy Cow! Manny Ramirez is being placed on waivers! Is this
nut case soon to be a Yankee?!**
Arizona Cardinals Quiz: [Don’t worry, all the answers are for
the St. Louis Cardinals, 1960-87.] 1) Who was the last coach
with a better than .500 record (at least one full season)? 2)
Rushing yards, career? 3) Passing yards, career? 4)
Interceptions, career? 5) Field goals, career? 6) Passing yards,
season? [Hint: 4,614] Answers below.
Halloween Potpourri
Washington Irving
Known as the first American author whose work was well
received abroad, Washington Irving (1783-1859) is best known
for his short stories ‘Rip Van Winkle’ and the Halloween classic
‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.’
Irving was born in New York, but spent a lot of time overseas.
One of his more famous works was ‘A History of New York,’
written in 1809 and generally considered to be the first American
masterpiece of humor. Using the pseudonym Diedrich
Knickerbocker, ‘A History of…’ was a tongue in cheek look at
Dutch New Amsterdam. It was a huge bestseller and impressed
European critics and writers.
But did you know that Washington Irving is responsible for the
phrase “the almighty dollar”? I’m embarrassed if I’m supposed
to remember this, but I didn’t. He coined it in his story ‘The
Creole Village,’ which first appeared in The Knickerbocker
Magazine.
“The Almighty Dollar, that great object of universal devotion
throughout the land.”
Amen, brother.
Irving actually wrote ‘Rip Van Winkle’ and ‘The Legend of
Sleepy Hollow’ while overseas, with both included in his best
known work, “The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.”
(1819-20). In 1832 he returned to New York after 17 years
abroad and settled in the Gothic estate of Sunnyside in present
day Tarrytown. Sunnyside is one of the first Gothic Revival
buildings in the U.S.
So there you have it. I’m going to purchase “The Sketch Book”;
I know it’s a Penguin Classic. Then again, I don’t have time to
read books, so I’ll toss it on the pile.
–Harry Houdini died on Halloween back in 1926 of a ruptured
appendix. Charles Bancroft Dillingham, in referring to Houdini
at his funeral, while carrying his coffin, said “I bet you a hundred
bucks he ain’t in here.”
–So I’m up in Manchester, New Hampshire (trying to decide
whether or not to run for president……just kidding!……)
and the local oldies station is complaining about Halloween and
how the kids were forced to go trick or treating last Sunday
afternoon, before it got dark. Of course all across the country
you have this PC B.S. concerning the holiday. Jeff B. passed
along an editorial from the Union Leader up here and it basically
says it all:
“In New Hampshire, where the state motto is ‘Live Free or Die,’
it is astonishing that local governments could get away – year
after year after year – with robbing children of the thrill of a real
Halloween.
“There are children whose whole Halloween history consists of
trick-or-treating in broad daylight and at the shopping mall.
What a rip-off.
“Halloween is a harmless, arguably even beneficial, ancient
tradition that provides children with a socially acceptable method
of self-discovery. Moving its night-time rituals to the afternoon
is an asinine act of brazen cowardliness. It teaches children to
fear the darkness and the unknown, and to leave these fears
unconfronted.
“Granite Staters are hardier than this. Our children are hardier
than this. We owe it to them to take back the darkness; to make
Halloween the mysterious, exciting adventure it used to be.
Robbing our children of this ancient right of passage diminishes
all of us.”
–So I saw in Canada’s National Post that Chicago Cubs fans are
dressing up as Steve Bartman for Halloween. One fellow was
truly bummed when he showed up at a party as Bartman only to
find five others just like himself. As for the real Steve Bartman,
at last word he was hiding in Belarus, under the protection of its
dictator, Lukashenko, who really is a modern-day version of
Count Dracula.
–The #1 Billboard Tunes for October 31
[For the old-timers in my audience.]
1940: Only Forever – Bing Crosby
1941: Piano Concerto in B Flat – Freddy Martin
1942: White Christmas – Bing Crosby
1943: Paper Doll – Mills Brothers
1944: I’ll Walk Alone – Dinah Shore
1945: Till The End Of Time – Perry Como
1946: Rumors Are Flying – Frankie Carle
1947: Near You – Francis Craig
1948: Buttons and Bows – Dinah Shore
1949: That Lucky Old Sun – Frankie Laine
1950: Goodnight Irene – The Weavers
1951: Cold, Cold Heart – Tony Bennett
1952: I Went To Your Wedding – Patti Page
1953: St. George And The Dragonet – Stan Freberg
1954: This Ole House – Rosemary Clooney
1955: Autumn Leaves – Roger Williams
1956: Love Me Tender – Elvis Presley
1957: Jailhouse Rock – Elvis Presley
1958: It’s All In The Game – Tommy Edwards…awesome
1959: Mack The Knife – Bobby Darin…never liked this one
1960: Save The Last Dance For Me – The Drifters
1961: Big Bad John – Jimmy Dean….makes a mean link sausage
1962: He’s A Rebel – The Crystals….Phil Spector
1963: Sugar Shack – Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs
1964: Baby Love – The Supremes
1965: Get Off Of My Cloud – The Rolling Stones…my 2nd ‘45
1966: Last Train To Clarksville – The Monkees
1967: To Sir With Love – Lulu
1968: Hey Jude: The Beatles
1969: Suspicious Minds – Elvis Presley
1970: I’ll Be There – The Jackson 5
1971: Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves – Cher
1972: I Can See Clearly Now – Johnny Nash
1973: Midnight Train To Georgia – Gladys Knight & The Pips
1974: You Haven’t Done Nothin – Stevie Wonder
1975: Island Girl – Elton John
1976: Rock ‘n Me – Steve Miller
1977: You Light Up My Life – Debby Boone………..aughh!
1978: You Needed Me – Anne Murray……………….aughh!
1979: Pop Muzik – M…………………………………aughh!
1980: Woman In Love – Barbra Streisand……………aughh!
Stuff
–There are some who scoff at the content of Bar Chat, because
it’s not truly cutting edge, they say, but here just a few days ago I
gave you some insight into the potential for giant solar flares and
look what happened? Actually, I’m writing this Wednesday
evening and it was on my way to the airport today that I heard
the worst effect was to be around noon and that if you were on an
airplane then you’d get zapped pretty good. ”Hey, I’m going to
be on my flight at that time!’ I mused. Alas, it appears that I’m
normal and I have to believe the two bags of King’s Peanuts
counteracted the radiation.
But did you know?
“Solar storms occur when the protective magnetic bubble
surrounding the Earth is buffeted by huge magnetic fields and
streams of high-energy particles torn from the surface of the sun.
Such solar explosions are almost unimaginably violent: They
can carry the power of 40 billion atom bombs, spew billions of
tons of material and travel through space at speeds of 3 million
mph.” [Usha Lee McFarling / L.A. Times]
That was 40 BILLION atom bombs.
–After reading my story last time on the fossilized shark tooth
thought to be from a specie twice the size of a great white,
Trader George reminded me that once there was Megalodon, the
shark that was as big as a bus and with teeth the size of dinner
plates. Megalodon ruled the oceans up to 1.6 million years ago,
but since no one saw the last one, who’s to say it doesn’t still
exist? Well?!
Megalodon’s jaws were so big it could swallow the equivalent of
a full grown horse in a gulp. [Paleodirect.com] Of course Trader
George and I are hoping that if one is still plying the Pacific, or
better yet, the Hudson River, we could feed Dennis Kozlowski to
it. And make a video.
–But here’s a tail from the Northern Territory of Australia,
where crocodiles are terrorizing farmers. One poor soul has lost
200 cattle in one year. The population of crocs has exploded
from 5,000 in the 1970s to 70,000 in this region alone thanks to a
ban on hunting, and they are now growing up to 18 feet in length!
[South China Morning Post]
The farmer being particularly hard hit said that in the old days
the crocodiles only averaged about 12 feet. Left unsaid is the
fact that at the current rate of growth, in another 40 years or so
we’re talking 27 feet. At which point Trader George and I are
producing the movie, “Megalodon vs. Crocosaur!”
–Ah, but leave it up to New York to have another reptilian tale.
It seems that the ESPN2 show “Cold Pizza” had the idea of
having 3 alligators and 2 crocs on it, and the five were shipped
up to Newark from Miami. But when the baggage handler
opened up the bin of the American Airlines plane, he discovered
that one alligator was roaming inside. Alas, it was corralled,
then, incredibly, the five beasts were checked in to the Marriott
Marquis on Broadway in Manhattan. Hotel officials knew of
their guests, but before they could wreak havoc New York State
officials caught wind of this and said, ‘Ah, I don’t think you can
do this.’ [New York Daily News]
–Tony P. passed along the story that the state of New Jersey is
looking for goat farmers, goat meat being leaner than beef. So if
you or your neighbor is one, call the New Jersey Department of
Lean Beef for an application.
–Across from Lower Manhattan, two golf courses are going up,
one in Jersey City and the other in Bayonne. Us residents of the
area have known of this for some time now, hoping the projects
would be completed, but now comes word that the course in
Bayonne won’t be available to the public as developers had
originally claimed. No, instead it will cost $100,000 to join
before it’s finished, $250,000 after. [It should be spectacular,
with each hole having a view of New York, along with the
biggest dunes in America.] The owners, of course, are thinking
they will easily get the big bucks Wall Street crowd, but as one
fellow put it, “No one will want to have their golfing guests
carrying their clubs on and off a ferry.” [New York Times]
–So I see in the Union Leader that those famous American
Indians, the Passamaquoddy, are looking to build a giant casino
in southern Maine with 4,000 slot machines and 180 gaming
tables, with the eventual goal of taking in $500-$600 million a
year. Hey, I want to be an Indian!! [Or maybe I can file a claim
as a partially aggrieved Slovak.]
–New York Yankees pitcher Jeff Weaver is under contract for
$6.25 million in 2004 and $9.25 million in 2005. No matter what
he does, or with whom, he will receive $15.5 million…………..
…………………………………………..just giving you time to
let this sink in.
–Perhaps after reading the above you need a glass of red wine.
Good! Among its other positive attributes, such as in preventing
cancer and heart disease, researchers now say red wine is good
for your lungs (though nothing beats simply not smoking).
–Speaking of lungs, Rod Roddy, long time announcer for “The
Price is Right,” had perhaps the best job in the world………
working with all those gorgeous babes while needing to know
just three words. “Come on down!” RIP, Mr. Roddy. I bet he’s
got a smile on his face.
–I’m already tired of Kobe and Shaq.
–With 3 races to go, Matt Kenseth is a cinch to win NASCAR’s
award for top driver. Kenseth has just one win in 33 starts, but
he also has 23 top tens. Compare that to Ryan Newman, who has
8 wins and 20 top tens, but Newman has also crashed or had
early car trouble in at least 5 races by my count, while Kenseth
manages to just keep going around…and around…and around.
Under the scoring requirements, that’s most important.
Now if you look at top fives, Newman has 15 and Kenseth has
10. Newman, by the way, is 6th in the overall standings. I’d
change the way races are scored, but no one asked me for my
input.
–Bowl Championship Series
1. Oklahoma
2. Miami
3. Florida State
4. USC…………..love them cheerleaders
5. Georgia….overrated
6. Ohio State
7. LSU
8. Washington State
9. Nebraska
10. Michigan State
–Speaking of cheerleaders, Trader George and I were most
impressed by the Philadelphia Eaglets the other day. But you
gotta figure the fans will be booing them too, soon.
Top 3 songs for the week of 10/25/69: #1 “I Can’t Get Next To
You” (The Temptations) #2 “Hot Fun In The Summertime” (Sly
& The Family Stone) #3 “Sugar, Sugar” (The Archies)
Arizona Cardinals Quiz Answers: 1) Last coach with a better
than .500 record: Don Coryell, 42-29-1 (1973-77). 2) Rushing,
career: Ottis Anderson…7,999 yards (1979-86). 3) Passing,
career: Jim Hart…34,639 yards (1966-83). 4) Interceptions,
career: Larry Wilson, 52 (1960-72). 5) Field goals, career: Jim
Bakken, 282 (1962-78…one of those who holds NFL record with
7 in a game). 6) Passing, season: Neil Lomax…4,614 (1984).
The Cardinals’ last NFL championship was 1947 when the team
was in Chicago.
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday.
