Baseball Stadiums I Have Visited, Part 7

This is the penultimate installment in my series on major league parks I've been to, and first up is the park I've visited more than any other except for old Exhibition Stadium in Toronto:

14. Safeco Field (Seattle Mariners)

The city of Seattle really got it right when they finally tore down the old Kingdome to replace it with this beautiful park. It opened in 1999, and I believe my first visit was the following summer with my sister Liz and her family (subsequent visits almost always involved one or more members of that clan as well). The goal was clearly to allow fans to enjoy being outdoors and to have both modern (the retractable roof, massive video screen in center, the array of local delicacies at the concessions, etc.) with the old-fashioned (an asymmetrical playing field, hand-operated scoreboard in left field). They've done a fine job of combining those different elements to make this a very comfortable place to enjoy a game (especially with the roof open). My only complaint is that the parking is difficult, especially if you're not willing to pay upwards of thirty bucks to get a spot near the stadium, but if you don't mind a little walk, there are alternatives. An especially nice touch is when you hear the trains rolling through on the tracks adjacent to the field-- it can almost make you think you're back in the 1930s. With any luck, I should get out to safeco again this upcoming season.

15. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City Royals)

I always thought that Kauffman Stadium looked like a neat place when I saw games there on TV. It wasn't until about four summers ago that I had a chance to visit in person. I was driving back to Buffalo for my annual summer visit, and decided to swing south to Kansas City to see a game. It was a Sunday afternoon, and I was excited to see the Royals young pitching phenom Zach Greinke. I had a hard time finding the stadium, driving around in circles for awhile until I realized that it must be back behind some trees (and lo and behold, it was). After parking, I walked up to the ticket booth and was scanning the seating options on a chart there when a guy walked up and asked me if I needed a ticket. I figured he was a scalper and tried to brush him off, but he said he had an extra ticket and I could have it (a friend hadn't shown up). So I got a free ticket in a seat that was pretty close to the view in the above picture. The game was a real yawner (against Texas, with Kenny Rogers pitching) and Greinke looking way over his head (giving up seven runs by the fifth inning). Aside from that, it really was a nice place to watch a game, though when the sun swung over to my side of the field, the heat got a little tough to take, and I moved up under the shade of the second deck. I ended up leaving around the eighth inning to beat traffic out, which I almost never do but in this case given my confusion getting in, I wanted to make sure I could negotiate my way back to the interstate without undue hassle. It's a nice stadium (food was good too as I recall), but it's gotta be tough to watch a bad team year after year as the Royals fans have had to do pretty much since George Brett retired.

Two more stadiums to go-- look for that post sometime before the end of this week.

Monday's Quote of the Day

In the early 1830s, the French statesman Alexis Charles Maurice Clerel de Tocqueville traveled to the United States to inspect the prison system. While here, he undertook a near exhaustive study of the nature of american democracy and ended up publishing several volumes that continue to enlighten on the nature of our political and social system. Here is one of the conclusions he drew:

"If ever the free institutions of America are destroyed,
that event may be attributed to the unlimited authority
of the majority, which may at some future time urge
the minorities to desperation, and oblige them to have
recourse to physical force. Anarchy will then result,
but it will have been brought about by despotism."

The Undertones!

I found this clip on Youtube of the great Irish rock band the Undertones performing their classic "Teenage Kicks" on Top of the Pops from sometime in the late 70s. Top of the Pops was kind of the British equivalent of American Bandstand here in the states. It's a great song-- I hope you enjoy it too!

A Favorite Painting 14

Samuel Halpert, Flatiron Building 1919

I lived in New York for a couple of years in the early '80s (actually, my apartment was across the river in Weehawken, but for all intents and purposes, I "lived" in Manhattan, if you know what I mean). I never fail to be impressed by the sight of the city's skyline, and though the Flatiron Building on Fifth and Broadway is totally obscured now by the surrounding structures, it's generally considered to be the first skyscraper in the city. I spent a lot of weekends wandering around Greenwich Village and often found myself in the vicinity of the Flatiron, and when I did, I'd commonly linger in the square checking out the building. It's a fascinating structure, and one that has inspired a lot of artists and photographers to try and capture its unique character, which is partly it's narrow design and I think also the way it is so seamlessly integrated into that particular neighborhood (obviously, a major factor in its design). Halpert's painting shows that by incorporating much of the surrounding area in some detail. It's a picture that reminds me of a particular time when anything was possible-- in 1919 for the city and in 1983 for me. In fact it weas around the latter time that I decided to go back to school, which eventually led me to my current profession. I'm not sayiong the Flatiron Building is responsible for me becoming a historian, but I don't deny there's some perhaps mystical connection between the two.

On the Road to Las Vegas

When driving south on I-15 from Dillon to Las Vegas, one passes through a corner of Arizona just before passing into Nevada. This stretch of the route is only about 15 miles long, but passes through the Virgin River Canyon, which is pretty spectacular. These photos don't entirely do it justice, but will give you some idea of what it looks like.

The above shot is from near the north opening of the canyon. There are a lot of red rock formations beginning just north of St. George Utah on this road, and they make this last section of the trip a lot more exciting than the previous couple hundred of miles.

There are a lot of twists and turns in the road, and around every bend is another amazing view of the cliffs and rocks.

That's the Virgin River above snaking through the canyon. I think driving through this stretch really helps you keep the gaudy, phony glitz of Vegas in the proper perspective (not that it isn't without its own charms ;-)

A Classic Strip

As long as I'm thinking about Women's History Month (I have a couple of special radio shows on that topic on deck over the next few days), I thought I'd call attention to today's reprint of a classic For Better or For Worse comic strip by Lynn Johnston. It's too bad that she recently stopped doing new strips, but as long as we get the chance to rediscover classics like this one, well, that'll work just fine.

Quote for a Sunday in March

As many of you likely know, March is Women's History Month, and in keeping with that celebration, I thought this nugget from Mohandes Gandhi (1869-1948) was appropriate to share today:

"To call women the weaker sex is a libel: it is man's
injustice to women. If by strength is meant brute
strength, then indeed, is woman less brute than man.
If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is
immeasurably man's superior. Has she not greater
intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, has she
not greater powers of endurance, has she not
greater courage? Without her, man would not be.
If non-violence is the law of our being,
the future is with women"

Jason & the Scorchers Live

One of the all-time great bands out of the 1980s. I got to see these guys live in a club in South Buffalo around 1986 or 87, and they were fantastic even if there were only about 25 people in the place. It almost looks like this show was equally sparse in attendance, though maybe that's just the angle from which it is shot. Performing what is possibly the greatest cover version of a Dylan song (I know, there are many contenders for that title), here are Jason and the Scorchers from 1987 with "Absolutely Sweet Marie":

Another Sad Passing

Over the past ten years, every time we've been to Las Vegas, my friends and I always set aside an evening to visit the Comedy Stop at the Tropicana Hotel. It was almost always a good show with a variety of comedians who may not be household names (Jimmie "J.J." Walker was probably the most famous), but who were clearly in the upper echelon of their profession as touring performers. This last trip was no different, except in one regard: the day we went, the club announced it was closing. Initially, we were told that that evening would be the last for the venerable club, but about halfway through, the MC Scott Bruce annonced that they had agreed to stay open through the week (I wonder if contracts with the comedians on the bill were a factor). Anyway, since it was the "last" night, I decided to defy the ban on photographs and snap a few memories. Here's a picture of Bruce, who signalled early on that the usual rules may not apply (though that did not mean he wasn't going to be a professional and put on a great show):

The next act was a guy named Kevin Downey, Jr., who I've seen before (probably at the Comedy Stop), though his act this night was nearly 100% different from the last time I saw him. He works in kind of the same vein as Emo Phillips, if anyone remebers him from back in the 1980s, though with perhaps a bit more overtly demented persona. Here's a picture of Downey onstage:

The headliner was Don Gavin, and he was hysterical. I'd describe him as a meat and potatoes kind of comic, putting a fresh spin on such common topics as airplanes, gambling, drinking, and marriage. His voice sounds a little like Buddy Hackett, though not quite so pronounced (you can see a clip of him performing here). Here's a picture:

It was a really great funny show, with all three comics hitting on all cylinders. If it ends up being the last show I ever see at the Tropicana, they certainly did the place proud. Maybe with a little luck, the club will re-open, maybe in a different venue, and keep the tradition of stand-up alive on the Strip. We'll see.

The Last Movie I Saw

Throughout my teen years I was a big comic book fan, and even for awhile into my twenties I continued to follow a few favorite series (for example the Spirit reprints from Kitchen Sink Press, and Harvey Pekar's American Splendor), even as I drifted away from the mainstream of the hobby, which is to say the costumed superheroes. One of the last full series that I remember reading was the Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons miniseries The Watchmen, which turned such genre fare on its head and for me exemplified how limited the concept of superheroes ultimately was (since that seemed in part to be Moore's intent-- to demonstrate how it could be done). I'm not suggesting that nothing of worth of that type has appeared since, only that the timing was such in terms of my own interests as to signal an endpoint, as my own tastes moved away from the fantastic to the more realistic. I still like the comic strip/book art form, but prefer when its used in the service of human scaled drama or character study rather than cataclysmic battles between guys in capes (and I'm aware that is an oversimplification-- I'm just trying to establish some context for my reaction to the movie).

Anyway, the movie of Watchmen has now appeared, and I was looking forward to seeing it, partly to see if it too could turn what has become a staple movie genre on its head. I'm sorry to say it doesn't even come close. There's little that is truly challenging about the film, certainly nothing on the scale of what the original comics set out to do in raising questions about the nature of these fantasies and the way they lend themselves to certain social and even political impulses that have consequences in real life. The often spectacular visual effects of the film ultimately overwhelm any such message that may be intended by the plot (a factor further exacerbated by the absence of strong actors in key roles, with the notable exception of Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach); everything looks good, but that is ultimately a distraction and not an embellishment to the story or ideas that you'd think would be the point. Compare that to the measured approach taken by Dave Gibbons in creating the art for the original books, which adheres to a strict format that allows for the measured development of both character and narrative. Here's an example (and a nice explanation of its effectiveness can be found here):

There is no room in the movie for anything as low-keyed as this two-paged sequence; virtually every element has been blown up (literally and figuratively by "visionary" director Zack Snyder). In the end, and despite any legitimate pretensions it might have harbored as a result of its source material, Watchmen the movie is just another comic book flick, perhaps a bit more dazzling visually than most, but hardly demonstrating any connection to human-scaled themes that were in many respects the whole point of the comic book. So my advice, if you're at all interested in the Watchmen, is to seek out the graphic novel and recognize the movie as an inferior imitation at best.

Andromeda

Natalie sent me some pictures of the new puppy at Chez Rosiek. Here's a nice one of Angie relaxing with one of her new masters. I hope she doesn't get too big before I get there for a visit (Angie, not Natalie) as I love to play with puppies.

The Roots of Pragmatism

Today's philosophical quote comes from Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914), the American philosopher who first promoted the concept of pragmatism as a viable philosophical model (later to be embellished by William James and John Dewey, to name a couple of his followers). I think this statement sets up the foundation for their constructive ideas:

"All the progress we have made in philosophy,
that is, all that has been made since the Greeks,
is the result of that methodical skepticism
which is the first element of human freedom."

If You Are Hungry in Vegas...

... then you might want to check out the Carnegie Deli in the Mirage Hotel.

After walking around on the strip for awhile, friends Rick and Bethany went to view the dolphin habitat located at the Mirage. Bill and I just relaxed in the sunshine and warmth in the area adjacent to the hotel pool. When Rick and Bethany returned, we went for lunch in the deli. The above sandwich (called "The Egg and Oy!" on the menu) is what I had. I should tell you that, had I seen a picture like the one I share here prior to ordering, I likely would've gone with something a little less monstrous. The menu description merely said chicken salad with sliced egg (the sliced egg turned out to be full halves of hard boiled eggs buried in the salad). I finished it, but I wasn't hungry again for the rest of the trip (though I did indulge-- how could I not, given all the wonderful options avaialble to us?). I think this sandwich was even bigger than the beef on weck at Vizzi's on Kenmore (remember that one, Tom?). This certainly wasn't as interesting as the Bismarck pizza I had in Rome, but it was way more filling (notice that the sandwich is taller than the large glass of iced tea behind it).

Family Blogging Quiz

OK, here's another "Where was it taken?" quiz, starring Mom. But I'm going to make it just a little bit tougher and ask not only where, but also when (the year is sufficient). So put on your thinking caps and leave your guesses in the comments section.

Last week, I asked you where the picture of Nick was taken, and Sally correctly identified the site as Lake Superior (and she sort of added the when, though I didn't ask, when she noted it was taken on the road to Lizzie's wedding).

Good luck with this week's quiz!

More Family Blogging

It practically does take a giant spider web to capture all four Banning kids at once. This was taken at the Tacoma Zoo (I don't think that's the official name, but it's a zoo in Tacoma, so...). I took this last November on the day before Thanksgiving. Needless to say we were all doing our best to work up an appetite.

Friday Family Blogging

Here are a couple of the Caufield girls, first Helen:

And now, Emma (who I'm guessing doesn't entirely look like this anymore):

So here's the question that pops up periodically on this site: is Emma walking yet? And on a related topic, has Helen stopped running yet? Of course it'll be a couple months before I can get some video confirmation of either phenomenon, but in the meantime, will anyone offer some eyewitness testimony?

You Never Know...

...what you might see in Vegas. For example, this:



This wasn't the most interesting thing I saw (btw, this was in the shopping area at Bally's), but it seemed worth 10 seconds of video to share.

Friday's Quote

I'm back from Las Vegas, with lots of catching up to do on the blog. Let's get started with some words of wisdom from Marcus Porcius Cato (The Elder), noted Roman statesman from the third century BC (perhaps suggested by my recent visit to Caesar's Palace ;-):

"Human life nearly resembles iron.

When you use it, it wears out.
When you don't, rust consumes it."

Dr. John's Top Five 3/8/09

Here's the Top Five list from last week's broadcast. I think it's pretty self-explanatory. Enjoy.



Anyone reading this remember any of those names? Feel free to leave comments.

On the Road

I'm heading out for a little Spring Break trip with some friends, heading down to Las Vegas for a few days. As a consequence, there may not be any new posts here until the end of the week (just in time for the next round of Friday Family blogging), though maybe I'll surprise with something in the interim, if I get to a computer. I'm looking forward to sunshine, warm tempreratures, a variety of ethnic foods, and maybe the occasional pull on a slot machine. Anyway, I hope you'll pardon my absence, and check back in next week.

Happy Addition to the Rosiek Clan

I just got word that Ben and Natalie and Tom and Sally are the proud new owners of a cute little German Shepherd puppy named Andromeda (meaning "rescued"), or Angie for short. Here's a picture (sorry it's a little fuzzy from being blown up):

Let's hope Angie upholds the finest tradition established by previous dogs in the family including Scotty (who I posted a picture of yesterday, not realizing the imminent arrival of Angie) and Pilgrim, seen here in a photo with Marenka:

Welcome to the family Angie!

A Sad Day in Buffalo

Well, maybe not for everyone, but definitely for me. The Bills, who have long made a pretense of favoring players who exhibit the highest character, have signed perpetual problem child Terrell Owens to play wide receiver for them next year. As a Bills-fan-at-a-distance, able to see them play only when they are in a nationally highlighted telecasts (like Sunday or Monday Night Football), it's been easy not to feel to wrapped up in their fortunes vis-a-vis their won-lost record in recent years. As a result, my continuing admiration for the team was at least partly built on their legacy of avoiding the kind of players whose selfishness trumped their commitment to the team. Owens clearly does not fit that image, having worn out his welcome in three previous cities despite putting up Pro Bowl numbers on the field. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve to play in the NFL (obviously there are a lot of players even more problematic than Mr. Sharpie), but I kind of hoped the Bills really believed what they said about recruiting fine young men to play for them. I guess it really is all about the "W's" and the really sad thing is, that I don't imagine that Owens will make a whole heck of a lot of difference in that regard. I hope I'm wrong and the long-suffering Bills win a championship, but I'm just idealistic enough to think that if they do, it won't taste as sweet (certainly to me, as a life-long fan) as it would've if they had stuck to their principles in building the team.

Sunday Philosophy

Here's a tidbit from the ancient Chinese philosopher Mencius (or Meng-tse) whose life straddled the fourth and third centuries BC.

"The great man does not think beforehand
of his words that they may be sincere,
nor of his actions that they may be resolute--
he simply speaks and does what is right."

Scotty

I couldn't think of anything else to post today, so I decided to put up this picture of good ol' Scottio. Sally named her after F.Scott Fitzgerald's daughter, if I recall correctly. It was always a celebration when you got home, if Scotty was waiting for you.

Saturday's Quote

Today, a brief passage from J. Robert Oppenheimer, chief scientist on the Manhattan Project and one of the preeminent physicists of the nuclear age.

"There must be no barriers for freedom in inquiry.
There is no place for dogma in science.
The scientist is free, and must be free to ask any question,
to doubt any assertion, to seek for any evidence,
to correct any errors."

Baseball Stadiums I Have Visited, Part 6

First things first: I have heard from my frequent baseball-stadium-visiting-companion Jeff, and he informs me that my memory is faulty on a couple points related to previous posts in this series. The main thing that he told me is that we actually did not take in a game at Comiskey Park on our three city swing through the midwest. I was certain that we had, but after our conversation, I've come to realize that my first visit to Comiskey was actually a side-trip during a visit to my sister Sally who was in graduate school at Northern Illinois University. It was around that same time (1986), but not in the company of Jeff. So, I stand corrected. The other point he made, and one that I can't believe I forgot, is that the home run hit in Tiger Stadium that landed in the glove of the little kid sitting beside us was hit by Don Baylor of the Red Sox (I said Lance Parrish of the Tigers). I knew better too, but it turns out that when I checked the rosters to refresh my memory, I accidentally looked at the 1985 teams, and therefore my memory wasn't jogged by seeing Baylor listed. So I guess what this means is that, while I remember being at these places, I don't always have a firm grasp on all the details. So feel free to take the rest of the series with a grain of salt (though I swear I was in the places mentioned!).

12. Camden Yards (Baltimore Orioles)

When I was in graduate school researching my dissertation (so this was probably 1994 0r 95), I drove down to the University of Maryland to visit the archive they had on Broadcasting History. At the end of my first day in the library, I decided to drive up to Baltimore to catch a game. This was when the stadium was still pretty new (it may have opened a couple of years earlier), and it was a peach. Camden Yards was the first of the "throwback" stadiums that became very popular in the late 80s and early 90s, as an antidote to the cookie-cutter, all-the-same designs of the 60s and 70s. The idea was to make it unique, incorporating little quirks that made it different from every other park. The big old warehouse in right field was one fo the distinctive features, as was the asymmetrical design of the outfield. It really was a beautiful place to watch a game. Another highlight: in the walkway just beyond the right field bleachers, there's a long row of specialty vendors serving up favorite local fare. I'm not big on seafood, which is featured, but I did get a kick out of seeing Boog Powell (former slugging first baseman for the Orioles) who ran a barbecue place out there. He was just hanging out in the crowd, shaking hands and inviting people into his place for some ribs. One small warning: traffic from DC (the University is just on the edge of the capital) to Baltimore on a Friday afternoon is killer bad, so leave early if your coming from that direction.

13. Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox)

If Camden Yards (and its imitators) try to recreate the old-style parks, well then Fenway is one of their models. I believe this is the stadium that has been in use the longest, and you can tell that it dates back to the early part of the twentieth century. It is cramped on the promenade, in the aisles, and especially in the seats. It's kind of dingy, and there were moments when I was there that I marveled parts of it hadn't fallen down yet. But it is also quite cool to look out at the Green Monster in right field and to feel the closeness of the crowd, all leaning in towards the action on the field. I saw two games here in 1996 with my friend John Delaney, who I got to know in grad school at the University of Buffalo. By this point, he was teaching down in Pennsylvania, and we met in Providence at the house of a friend from John's undergraduate days at Boston College, then drove up the next day to see the games. The Red Sox were playing the Mariners. I don't rememebr much about the first game, except we were sitting in seats with pretty much the view you see in the picture above. But the next day, when we were sitting out in the right-center bleachers, there were a couple of interesting details that stuck with me. First, Roger Clemons was pitching for the Sox, and due to an injury, their designated hitter had to play the field, thus forcing Clemons to hit for himself (we later found out it was the only time he batted in a Red Sox uniform during the regular season). He hit a slow roller down the third base line and beat it out for a hit. Then a little later, Ken Griffey Jr. hit a monstrous home run out towards us, and it was caught by a kid sitting right next to John only two seata away from me (shades of the Lanc.. I mean Don Baylor homer in Detroit)! Good company, and thrills like that make it easy to put up with the cramped seats, which is why I guess the Red Sox sell out most of their games.

Four more fields to cover (so far)... look for the next installment in a couple of days.

Friday Family Blogging Quiz

Most of you will recognize brother Nick. The question is, what is the name of the body of water he is wading in? Put your guesses/answers in the comments.

Last week's quiz asked you to identify where the picture of Tom was taken. I only received two guesses (thanks for playing Liz & Richard), and the first one-- what else is new?-- by Liz was correct (American side of Niagara Falls).

However, I did manage to stump everyone on the previous week's quiz, asking where the hat worn by Marenka was at the moment I posted the message. There were a lot of good guesses, but no one picked the obvious: hanging on the hat-rack in my apartment kitchen (well, I thought it would be obvious).

Also, in the bonus geography quiz, once again Lil Sis came the closest (maybe I should make her ineligible for the next couple quizzes, just to give someone else a chance to win ;-). The lake in the picture is outside Fort Scott, Kansas, a little ways south of Kansas City. Thanks to all for playing!

Even More Family Blogging

I don't get enough pictures of Raechelle up here, so let's try to make up for that a bit. Here she is with cousins Natalie and Ben. I'm thinking I wouldn't want to play cards with Ben if he can maintain that kind of a poker face-- very inscrutable.

More Family Blogging

It seems like just yesterday that Marenka picked up the clarinet, and before we knew it, she turned into a virtuoso on a number of instruments. You can also hear her spin some tunes on the Pacific Lutheran University radio station Friday afternoons (you may need to download Realplayer to receive the streaming audio). I'm hoping Lil Sis can remind us of exactly when Marenka's on in the comments.

Friday Family Blogging

Here's a nice shot of Sara, Maria and Thomas-- Joseph was not yet on the scene. I wonder if the kids remember their swingset (which was taken down a few years ago) and all the endless demands for yet another push? It seemed like they could swing for hours...

Friday's Quote for the Day

While I'll never match his prodigious output (nor his prodigious facial hair), I'm proud to say I toil in the same profession as the eminent historian George Bancroft (1800-1891), who authored the following words of wisdom:

"The exact measure of the progress of civilization
is the degree in which the intelligence of the common
mind has prevailed over wealth and brute force;
in other words, the measure of the progress of
civilization is the progress of the people."

The Essence of Comic Timing

Jack Benny, as far as I know, never told a joke. He didn't have to, because he was the greatest straight-man in the world, merely playing to his character and setting up his co-stars. It was an incredible gift that he shared for a really long time on the vaudeville stage, on radio, and later on TV. Here he is with one of his regular castmates, Mel Blanc (perhaps most famous as the voice of the great Warner Brothers cartoon characters like Porky Pig and Bugs Bunny). Try not to laugh.

Remembering Spain

In the Spring of 1988 (yikes! more than twenty years ago now), my sister Catie and I traveled to Spain to visit our brother Nick, who was then stationed at the Torrejon Air Base outside Madrid. We were there about a week, and got to travel around quite a bit. In my ongoing project of digitizing old photos, I'm now processing the images from that trip and thought I would share a few. First up is a picture of the Crystal Palace in Retiro Park in Madrid (right behind the Prado art museum).

We spent some time strolling through the park after checking out the Prado and the adjacent gallery devoted to the classic Picasso painting Guernica (a prime candidate for a future "Favorite Paintings" post). I recall that there were a lot of street performers, musicians and so forth, and that I purchased a small marionette from a vendor, which is currently hanging in my music room at home. As I recall, this was our last day in Spain, and it was a great way to finish up a wonderful trip.

The next picture was taken in the courtyard of the Alcazar in Toledo, where we went for a day trip near the beginning of our visit.

I don't recall who the statue depicts (maybe El Cid? The Toledo Alcazar served as a military college, I believe), but I was more struck by the youngster sitting there all alone with no one else in sight (maybe his parents were behind me snapping their own picture). Other memories of Toledo: the amazing cathedral, with its "hidden" tableaus in the arches overhead visible only from weird angles down below; the Museum of Torture, right across the street from the cathedral (handy for the inquisators, since it was originally a dungeon); the fantastic hot, fresh pistachios I bought from a street vendor whose wagon was piled high with nuts; the narrow, winding streets that made it pretty easy to circumnavigate the entirety of the city in a single afternoon (maybe Catie or Nick can add to the list in comments?).

Last, for now, here's a view of the ancient town of Segovia (home to some incredible remains of a Roman aqueduct), with the Cathedral dominating the skyline:

This was taken from one of the parapets of the castle (or Alcazar) on the outskirts of the town. Touring that medieval structure really conjured up images of kings and knights and really cold and drafty nights (one really appreciates the value of drapes and tapestries in such a setting-- they're mostly to stifle the wind blowing through). I have another shot which I will post later of the view looking out into the valley outside the town, and it's pretty cool too. As is usually the case, looking again at these photos makes me want to hop a plane and head back for another visit. I hope I get the chance.

A Favorite Painting 13

Jan Vermeer, Young Woman with a Water Pitcher, c1664

As should be obvious from virtually all of the other paintings featured in this series, my tastes generally run to more modern works. I think part of that is that in post-Enlightenment paintings, the visual cues pointing to social, political and, I guess, psychological elements are more apparent to me, and therefore lend those works to more thoughtful consideration and interpretation. I don't mean to suggest that such cues are lacking in earlier works, only that my ability to discern them is limited. But in Vermeer's masterpiece (which I saw in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York back in the early 80s), such considerations are somewhat beside the point. Although clearly in a realistic vein, it's the impression created by the play of light on the woman's face, on the pitcher, even on the wall behind her that engages my attention and calls to mind the serene contemplation of existential questions that I associate with a state of almost child-like wonder at the mysteries of life, prompted by the crisp perception of a speck of dust gently falling through a sunbeam. After a certain age, we seem to lose the capacity to feel such basic, viscerally charged epiphanies, but Vermeer's painting sparks, for me at least, a recollection of just such a reverie. The shock of that memory is matched in another great work of art, Wim Wenders film Wings of Desire, in a scene where an angel eavesdrops on the thoughts of a group of train passengers, some of which match closely with the type described ("Why am I me and not you?"). I should not have been surprised (in hindsight) when, in reading an interview with Wenders after seeing his movie, I found out that he considered Vermeer a major influence on his work. I guess this speaks to the universal nature of great art, and suggests similar discoveries in store as I continue to explore pre-modern masterpieces.

Thursday Thought for the Day

Courtesy of the English man of letters, Walter Horatio Pater (1839-1894), who advocated the pursuit of beauty as a satisfying end in itself. Fans of the classic television show Northern Exposure may recognize the ethos oft expressed by Chris in the Morning in these words:

"Not the fruit of experience, but experience itself is
the end. A counted number of pulses only is given
to us of a variegated, dramatic life. How shall we
pass most swiftly from point to point, and be present
always at the focus where the greatest number of
vital forces unite in their purest energy? To burn
always with this hard, gemlike flame, to maintain
this ecstasy, is success in life."

Great Scene from To Have and Have Not

It just doesn't get any better than Bogart and Bacall. This clip is from their first film together, Howard Hawks' To Have and Have Not (1944). Check out the expression on Bogart's face at the end of this scene. You can certainly tell he's smitten. The whole film is definitely worth seeing, so consider this a recommendation for the next time you're looking for something good to rent.

Picture of Lake Superior

Yesterday I posted a picture of a sunset and asked you to guess where it was taken. Theresa guessed it might be from Lake Superior, which wasn't right, but reminded me that I had nice shots from that trip as well. Above is one that may explain her guess about the previous picture-- they actually do look like they could be from the same general place. Anyway, if you haven't taken a guess on the previous picture, please feel free to go back and do so.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

It was inevitable that we'd eventually get around to Plato, noted disciple of Socrates, in our little series. Here's here's his answer to a question that some continue to ask today (and his response is still pertinent):

"But if you ask what is the good of education
in general, the answer is easy; that education
makes good men, and that good men act nobly."

Random Mid-Week Quiz

As I continue to digitize old photos, I often come across images that, I think, turned out particularly nice. Above is an example, a pretty sunset over a lake where I was camping on one of my cross-country trips. Let's see if I can't prompt some comments by turning this into a little test: where do you think this shot was taken? The only hint I'll give is that I have visited all of the contiguous 48 states at one time or another, and this isn't from Montana. Let's see if anyone can get this!

Baseball Stadiums I Have Visited, Part 5

From here on in with this series, there are no more multi-stadium trips. When the opportunity presented itself, I make sure to check out another field, but they happen more or less at random, and often with long stretches in between.

10. Riverfront Stadium (Cincinnati Reds)

For several years, my sister Sally lived down in Kentucky, and I went down to visit several times. On one of those trips, my friend Curtis and I backtracked a bit to take in a game at Riverfront Stadium. I'm thinking this was in June of 1986 to see the Reds play the Braves (I probably have scorecards from all these places and games in a box somewhere-- you'd think my memory would be better about some of the details). Mostly I remember a very non-descript facility, one of the cookie-cutter, all-purpose stadiums that were being built in the late 60s-early 70s before anyone had the notion to make them more fan friendly (as opposed to mostly maintenance free- they all had artificial turf). Actually my clearest memory of this stadium had nothing to do with baseball. One time a year or two later, I went to Covington, KY with my dad to deliver a machine he had built to a company there. Covington is right across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. Having arrived on a Sunday afternoon and unable to make our delivery until the next day, we watched a little of the Bengals-49ers game on TV, then, with the Bengals holding a seemingly solid lead late in the game, decided to take a walk. We crossed one of the bridges into Cincinnati, and walked by the stadium just as the crowd was streaming out. We couldn't figure out why they were so sedate after such a big win (later that night we discovered Joe Montana had orchestrated an incredible comeback for the 49ers, winning on a last second score). Anyway, as we walked into the adjacent down-town area, we came across a big Oktoberfest street festival. We had some good food and heard some music before heading back to the hotel. It was a nice afternoon, and much more memorable than the ballgame I'd seen there previously.

11. The Kingdome (Seattle Mariners)

On a visit to Seattle in the late 80s, I made my first trip to the Kingdome (I think I ended up seeing games there 2 or 3 more times, before the team moved to the much nicer SafeCo Field). The first trip was with my cousin Shawn and his boys Matt and Chris. The Mariners were not a good team, and I have to say, the Kingdome may have been the worst place I ever watched a major league game. Baseball is meant to be played outdoors, in the sunshine, not in a concrete bunker. But we had a good time, nonetheless. Shawn is as big a baseball fan as I am (a Red Sox fan since he grew up in Boston), so we had a lot to talk about regardless of how the local team did on the field. Considering that I generally get back to Seattle at least once every summer, I'm glad the team has moved to newer, superior digs, as this has become my most regular opportunity to catch major league baseball in recent years.

Next time, I'll talk about my visits to Baltimore and Boston.

A Thought for Tuesday

This was written in 1931 by John Maynard Keynes, whose name has popped up recently in debates about the current financial crisis.

"When the accumulation of wealth is no longer of high
social importance, there will be great changes in the
code of morals. We shall be able to rid ourselves of many
of the pseudo-moral principles which have hag-ridden
us for two hundred years, by which we have exalted
some of the most distasteful of human qualities
into the position of highest virtues."

More Seeger

Back in the mid-1960s, when Pete Seeger was being blacklisted from network television, PBS gave him a slot for which he produced a show entitled Rainbow Quest. It reflected his missionary zeal for exposing the public to a variety of music and musicians and was, according to the documentary I mentioned in the previous post, completely paid for by Pete himself. Here he is sharing a song with one of his guests, Tom Paxton:

Channel Surfing

Over the weekend I had some time with nothing pressing to do, so I sat down to see what was on the tube. While scrolling through the stations, my attention was diverted a couple of times by shows that could not have presented a more stark dichotomy of world-views, and giving me something to think about, and now to post.

The first was on C-Span, which broadcast Rush Limbaugh's address to the CPAC Conference. I'm no fan of Limbaugh, and nothing he said made me view him any more favorably. To me, he demonstrates nearly everything that is wrong with political discourse in America: he is mean, dishonest, and imputes motives to those who don't share his views based on his own self-serving biases and twisted perversions of the truth. Despite all his professed love for the principles upon which this country ws founded, he betrays a profound ignorance of what the Constitution actually says. Whatever he says that may have some value is so couched in demagoguery and phony victimhood that there's little reason for anyone (except his devotedly unthinking "dittoheads") to see him as anything but a loudmouthed obstacle to real constructive solutions to the nation's problems.

Surfing on, I came across a documentary on PBS devoted to the life and career of Pete Seeger. Seeger is the anti-Limbaugh, a man of modesty, compassion, and tolerance who has devoted his life to helping people see past their differences to the common humanity they share. Although associated with the opposite side of the political spectrum, Seeger, unlike Limbaugh, never threw up any barriers between himself and his counterparts on the other side. Despite their efforts to blacklist him, and on one occasion (in Peekskill) to do him bodily harm, Seeger kept hammering away with his music, bringing forth a message of harmony that eventually won over even some of his biggest critics.

In the end, Seeger's efforts have done much to make the world a better place: teaching youngsters and adults the unifying effects of music; inspiring support for the Civil Rights movement and other forms of grass roots political activism; bringing together a massive coalition of interested parties to clean up the Hudson River; and in many other ways. What is Limbaugh's legacy? All I can see is a potentially fatal dose of misdirected, unrequited anger that does more to distract than engage with the issues of the day. All things considered, I'd rather follow Seeger's path.

Monday Pearls of Wisdom

Today we hear from the eminent British philosopher Francis Bacon (1561-1626), helping to set the stage for the Enlightenment of the next century:

"The pleasure and delight of knowledge and learning,
it far surpasseth all other in nature....
We see in all other pleasures there is satiety,
and after they are used there verdure departeth;
which showeth well they be but the deceits of pleasure,
and not pleasure: and that it was the novelty
that pleasured, not the quality."

Classic Tom Rush

Tom Rush just released his first studio album in over thirty years. I find it hard to believe that it's been so long, since his stuff up to that point was so great, though its gratifying to know he could make a living in the interim as a live performer. Here's an example of a fairly recent performance of his classic song "No Regrets." I've now heard several different versions of this song by Rush, and it always sounds great. I'm looking forward to hearing the new album, as it appears he's lost little of his ability to sing a song (even if his voice is a bit more weathered than in his prime). I hope you like this.

A Favorite Painting 12

Marcel DuChamp, L.H.O.O.Q, c1919

Technically, this isn't a painting (rather, it's a defaced poster), and there are actually multiple versions of it created by DuChamp over the years. But I like it (because it makes me laugh), so I thought I'd share it with my readers. Duchamp was something of the court jester of the art world in the first half of the twentieth century, especially once he'd hit on his idea of the readymades (of which this work is an example). He took ordinary objects he found, gave them a little spin, and mounted them in museums and galleries to see what outrage they might spark. Aside from L.H.O.O.Q., his most famous readymade was probably the urinal he placed on its back, signed it "R. Mutt" and gave it the title Fountain. But the piece above is his real masterpeice of that period, calling into question all the traditional ideas of art and beauty that dominated Western Culture at the time of the first world war. In some ways, it serves as a prelude for understanding Horkheimer and Adorno's Dialectic of the Enlightenment, which twenty odd years later diagnosed the rise of fascism as an unfortunate, but probably inevitable, outcome of all the noble ideas that launched the American and French Revolutions (you know, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" and "liberte, egalite, fraternite"). It's easy to read DuChamp's work as a response to the horrors of World War I, perpetrated by the so-called civilized nations of Europe who celebrated the productions of DaVinci and Rembrandt and Goethe and so many others as evidence of their advanced state, even as they ripped each other to shreds in the trenches. Maybe I should revise what I said above-- this piece makes me laugh, but it also makes me think about the circumstances that made such a laugh necessary, and in the end, that's kind of sad.

Sunday's Thought for the Day

Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965), the Alsatian physician, doesn't seem to get anywhere near the attention he did when I was a kid (though he was still alive, or recently deceased, then). Here's my slight effort to redress that situation:

"A man is truly ethical only when he obeys the
compulsion to help all life which he is able to assist,
and shrinks from injuring anything that lives."