Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Although my favorite place to see a major league baseball game live is a Cub's game at Wrigley, my favorite team is the St. Louis Cardinals--been that way for many years.

This is one team loyalty I share with my Dad. When it comes to the NFL we can't agree, my Dad's favorite team is the Dallas Cowboys; my favorite NFL team is whichever team is playing the Dallas Cowboys. It has nothing to do with disrespect for my Dad. It just that I'm the kind of guy who doesn't like the idea of any team assuming I'm a fan because they refer to themselves as "America's Team" and I happen to be an American.

But back to the Cardinals. Once again they are making their way to yet another World Series. My loyalty to the Cards is stitched into the fabric of who I am, sort of like Weber's Root Beer and hot dogs at Coney Islander (both long-time Tulsa icons).

Some of my favorite childhood memories are going to Tulsa Oilers baseball games with my Dad. Tulsa was a farm team for the Cardinals, so it was natural for any kid who loved the Oilers to also love the Cards. Oilers and Cardinals games were always carried on the radio in Tulsa and I spent hours listening to games.

Al McNeilance, aka: Mr. Peepers

As a huge bonus for a baseball loving kid, my Dad was close friends with one of the Oilers pitchers, a guy named Al McNeilance, nicknamed "Mr. Peepers" for the little glasses he wore. Al was from Buffalo, New York. He was drafted by the Detroit Tigers and somehow ended up in the Cardinals system and pitching for the Oilers in Tulsa. He was a great guy with a huge smile and personality. He was the leader of a boys club at the church we attended. When his baseball career ended, Al and his family stayed in Tulsa.

Of course as a kid growing up in the 50s and 60s, I was a huge Mickey Mantle fan. How can you not idolize one of the all-time greats, particularly when he's from Oklahoma like you are. Add in Roger Maris (who also played in Tulsa) and Yogi Berra, and the Yankees earned my respect and attention. But it was then and still is to this day the St. Louis Cardinals that I want to see hoist the big trophy, which they have done eleven times, more than any other National League team. The American League Yankees of course have won the most pennants: twenty-seven.

Oh, FYI, the Cardinals and the Yankees have met in the World Series five times. The Cards have won three of the five.

How about you? Click the comment box and drop a name, tell about your brush with greatness or vote for your favorite team.

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks... 

Pops Goes To Washington

I know, I know, I promised that on this blog I would steer clear of politics, religion, and NCAA Football Conference alignment. So, let's be clear, although I am mentioning Washington and politicians, this is not meant to be a taking of sides or partisan commentary.

Could it be that I have some superpower for negotiation, something Washington could use right now?

This story may make it sound like I'm comparing our elected "leaders" to a two-year-old in the toy department at Cracker Barrel, well...

Understand this: I want the love and unwavering devotion of my grand-girls more than anything, and I'm not above buying it with cheap junk and trinkets. Heck, we (the human collective) have used those tactics forever. But occasionally a line must be drawn (oooo, so tough!)

This is Harper animatedly making her argument for five new purses. At least I think that's what she was telling me. Most of it was in an unknown tongue.

Recently I had to call on my negotiation gifts and some half-truths to get out of Cracker Barrel without solely funding their fourth quarter profits. YES, you read that correctly I went toe to toe with a two-year-old at Cracker Barrel, left the building with nothing but the pancakes and apple juice in our bellies AND she still loves me.

Maybe I'll write a book. 

My only hesitation in posting this is I don't want to give anyone the impression that my youngest grand-girl is in any way as stubborn, unreasonable, selfish, arrogant, delusional, and pouty as the politicians I am suggesting need professional help.

In the event I may be slipping into political commentary. I'll stop, now. 

Pop's Flicks Picks #1

I'm not trying to come up with yet another definitive list of must-see movies--at least not one I'm trying to push on others. This is my list though, or at least the first of my list. I would love to hear your picks. That's what the comment box at the bottom of this post is for--that, and a place to add your opinions on the matter.

One word: plastics.

That is one of the great lines from my first movie pick: The Graduate. The line comes in the form of tons of advice people are giving Benjamin Bratton (Dustin Hoffman) upon his college graduation. Ben is stuck in that post-graduate malaise, waiting for what's next.

The exploration of one of life's passages in The Graduate is one of the reasons I think it's an important movie. It is known as one of the defining "coming of age" stories.

If you have read the "About" stuff here at AboutPOPS.com, you know I'm taking a look at aging as sort of a second-coming of age. It's marked by the same eminent life transitions as any coming of age, and is, at least for me, accompanied with an unsettling ennui.

For example, check out this conversation between Ben and his dad. Ben is home from college and floating on an air mattress in the family pool:

Mr. Braddock: Ben, what are you doing?

Benjamin: Well, I would say that I'm just drifting.

Here in the pool.

Mr. Braddock: Why?

Benjamin: Well, it's very comfortable just to drift here.

Mr. Braddock: Have you thought about graduate school?

Benjamin: No.

Mr. Braddock: Would you mind telling me then what those four years of college were for? What was the point of all that hard work?

Benjamin: You got me.

Please don't start worrying about me being in some kind of confused identity funk. I probably am, but it's nothing to worry about.

Other reasons this is my number one pick are some of the same reasons why the film was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Actor, and Actress, with Nichols winning Best Director. It became the top-grossing film of 1968. The stuff of this film resonated hard with me in 1968. Also this was, in my opinion, one of the first, best uses of pop music as a soundtrack score, written by Paul Simon and performed by Simon & Garfunkel.

The good news is, as we learn from the movie, life goes on--sometimes we get it all together.

For Ben, he falls in love with the daughter of Mrs. Robinson, the older woman with whom he's having an affair. He makes the decision to marry Elaine quickly and pursues that goal with all he's got, although some, including his parents and Elaine herself wonder about his sanity. I love the talk between he and his parents:

Dad: Wait a minute, you talked to Elaine this morning? (about getting married)

Ben: No, she doesn't know about it.

Dad: Uh, you mean she doesn't know you are coming up to Berkeley?

Ben: No, actually she doesn't know about us getting married yet.

Mom: Well when did you two talk this over?

Ben: We haven't.

Mom: You haven't?

Dad: Ben, this whole idea sounds pretty half baked.

Ben: No, it's not. It's completely baked.

To those who may see my dream of selling everything and moving in to an Airstream travel trailer as being half-baked, let me say, it is but it is still in the oven.

One review of The Graduate said: "Together with Bonnie and Clyde, it stands as one of the most influential films of the late '60s, as its mordant dissection of the generation gap helped lead the way to the youth-oriented Hollywood artistic "renaissance" of the early '70s. ~ Lucia Bozzola

So, Pops's Flicks Picks #1 is The Graduate. Why? Because it's important to me.

How about you?

Katherine Ross as Elaine Robinson & Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Bratton

Aequus Nox

Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.

― F. Scott Fitzgerald

I realize the autumnal equinox was a few days ago, but I've been in its compelling company and I'm just now emerging enough to reflect and write about it.

In case you've forgotten the chapter on astronomy from seventh grade science, here's what Wikipedia says on the subject of equinox:

At an equinox the Sun is at one of two opposite points on the celestial sphere where the celestial equator (i.e. declination 0) and ecliptic intersect. These points of intersection are called equinoctial points: classically, the vernal point (RA = 00h 00m 00s and longitude = 0º) and the autumnal point (RA = 12h 00m 00s and longitude = 180º). By extension, the term equinox may denote an equinoctial point.

If that doesn't make any more sense now than it did back then, this means that around the time of the equinox, which happens twice a year, day and night are about equal.

Earth Lighting Equinox. From Wikipedia Commons.

Here's what I love about the autumnal equinox: autumn begins, and I really like autumn; for all the common reasons and some less obvious ones too. Who doesn't enjoy a bit of relief from the summer heat, the glimpse of winter, pulling the sweaters out, the way your body begins to crave substantial, hearty meals, not to mention the amazing color palette of the landscape?

I also like that the equinox is a passage--not just a passage of time but a portal into what's next--a fresh start, opportunity for things new, potential for adventure. It's almost as if nature is saying, "I'm going to give you mild temperatures, calm winds, a crispness in the air, and sights that will blow your mind. Now get out there and make the most of it!"

But what I love most about an equinox as well as the solstices is that they are like a big downbeat to the beautiful rhythms of life. I don't think it is an accident that there are four seasons, like four beats to the measure of a many songs.

Our lives beat to rhythms; even to the most basic of life: our heart beat. Our days are divided rhythmically. Morning, night, morning, night. Day, week, month, year. Day, week, month, year.

Okay this is weird. As I'm typing this, I'm listening to Pandora®. Dave Brubeck's amazing jazz standard, "Take Five" just came on. This song, like so much of jazz, throws the normal rhythms off a bit because it has five beats to a measure. It's a little tricky to tap your foot to and that can be a little unsettling for reasons we don't dwell on.

But let's do dwell a minute. Not all jazz music has five beats to the measure, but most has syncopation:

A disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm: a placement of rhythmic stresses or accents where they wouldn't normally occur.

All that, along with the polyrhythms and cross-rhythms so common in jazz, make it an acquired taste at best. We tend to like our rhythms regular and predictable. Unfortunately when that's all we know, we pretty much just march through life without paying much attention to the nuances. Jazz makes us skip occasionally, it makes us stop and wait and listen and feel at a deeper level.

Obviously I'm using jazz as a metaphor, but I think its a good one. So while autumn is a marker, a downbeat, it's also a passage. Pay attention! Maybe the tempo is changing, the cellos are taking the lead. If you don't listen you'll miss it. You may march right through it. Don't be oblivious. 

RECOMMENDATION: I highly recommend two arrangements of "Autumn Leaves" for your fall playlist:

1. By Eva Cassidy. On the album "Live at Blues Alley."
2. By Bill Evans Trio. On the album "Portrait in Jazz."

Have any other suggestions for great fall tunes or ideas for doing fall right?