mmmrrrrrraAAAAAHHHRRR

Mark Buehrle has really let himself go.

Sox clinch! Bring on the Angels.

the power of podsednik

White Sox record, through September 28th

when Scott Podsednik attempts a stolen base: 38-17 (.691)
when he successfully steals a base: 27-11 (.710)

Also, Frank Thomas in this lineup would make me feel a lot better.

early morning headrattling

Dry your eyes mate
I know you want to make her see how much this pain hurts
But you've got to walk away now
It's over

--mike skinner

happy birthday, baldie

AKA Jordan. It was the most fun, cheapest birthday ever, consisting of minigolf and bowling. I think this articulated the lack of skill throughout the night, best:


Or it could have been:

you too?

An Irishman was telling me a story.

He said, "Did you know that the Edge came from the future? He did. He came from the future. Not just from our time, but a future from a different galaxy. He came in a spaceship. Do you hear the notes? (The Edge is playing the keyboard to "Origin of the Species") These are beautiful notes, from the future.

"He landed in the north of Dublin, and Larry, Adam and I were there to see him come out of the spaceship, from the future.

"Larry asked him, 'where are you from?'"

"He said, 'From the future.'"

"Adam asked him, 'what's it like?'"

"He said, 'Better.'"

Relief

So... as I driving down to Comiskey for yet another Sox/Indians game, I realized a few things.

• The lead was down to 2.5 games.
• We're on the verge, as ESPN keeps reminding everyone, of one of the greatest collapses in the history of the sport.
• Nobody can get Travis Hafner out.
• If my team lost with me in attendance for the second night in a row, then I can never go to a White Sox game again, because clearly I'm bad luck. Like finding out all of a sudden that you're allergic to your favorite food. Awful.
• Also, I have no appropriate Sox apparel to wear. I certainly wasn't going to wear my old school Sox logo shirt after having my team lose with it. So what do I wear? The Sufjan Stevens shirt that a friend asked me to buy for him at the show last Friday. I figure, it says Illinois(e) on it, and I've been secretly coveting it. Maybe it'll be luckier. (Hey, I was going to wash it for him before handing it over anyway.)

Fortunately, all of these concerns were wiped away as Joe Crede's walkoff shot sailed over and to the right of me in the bleachers. Except for now I have a lucky tshirt that doesn't belong to me.

I will now celebrate the occasion by attending a U2 concert tonight. Maybe the Edge can hit a walkoff shot over my head, again.

Panic

Sox lost 7-5, and the words most often applied to my favorite baseball team are "collapse," "choke," and "monumental." It's not looking great.

I was going to make a list of the top 5 physical moments of pain I've gone through, but I'm still sulky from the loss. I was thinking of going to the game again tonight, but I don't think I want to deal with two losses in a row. The Sox didn't play all that poorly, Cleveland just played better in the crucial moments.

It was still great to be in a stadium with an electric, playoff atmosphere. I haven't been at the ballpark in a meaningful game in September in forever.

Illinoisemakers

... as in, Sufjan Stevens and the ___________ . I was worried that a guy who mostly sings in resonant, dense whispers would have a hard being heard, let alone keeping my attention. There was a bit of a lull in the middle, but the choreographed cheers about Peoria and other Illinoisian parts unknown kept me going when the trumpet, trombone, piano, xylophone, and five-part vocals didn't. An extremely satisfying show. And if they were selling those "I" tshirts pictured above, they woulda sold like crack hotcakes dipped in KFC batter. Sufjan is self-effacing and stage-shy, and therefore won the crowd over. Genie, go out and buy the album.

I should have brought my camera.

Going to see the Sox take on second place Cleveland Monday night. Which brings me to the pressing White Sox Issue of the Moment:

Are the White Sox going to lose the division?
The answer is no, with reservations. It's possible, but if they simply split the six games remaining with Cleveland, then they gain no ground. Cleveland has to win at least four out of the six for any real chance. So, I think the Sox are safe. Barely. What's going against the Sox is that (I'm shaking my head in disbelief as I type this) no starter has been particularly good except for Jose Contreras and Scott Podsednik's Faustian deal for stealing bases has apparently come due.

Sufjan!

Going to check out Sufjan Stevens at Metro tonight. I think it'll be special considering the title of his latest release. Completely makes up for not going to Bloc Party on Wednesday.

So yesterday, on the day playoff tickets for the Sox went on sale, the Sox dropped the series to the Royals, cutting the lead in the division over the Indians to 4.5. The thumping sound you hear is people jumping off the bandwagon. From tall buildings. I don't really care that they can't hit; we really haven't all season (the Rowand hitting in front of Dye issue still irks me). What's more troubling is that the pitching and fielding have gone south. Conteras has been the best starter for the past month, winning 6 of his last 7 starts, and a sub 2.50 ERA since Aug 1. Buehrle 's ERA has been on the rise since late July, Garland's been .500 (9-9), although aside from a bad August, he's been ok. Garcia's been hittable the last 3 months.

It'll be fun to watch the game on Monday.

I feel a lot better, at least physically. Working out has helped a lot.

Sox vs. Angels from Sept. 11, 2005

So, LA's Chone Figgins totally owned this game. Above, he's homering to lead off the game against El Puke-ay.

If you look, you can see Figgins stealing second. Click the image for a closer look.

Anyway. The Sox got their butts handed to them by the Angels, 6-1. But it was fun hanging out with my dad, my godson and his cousin on a late summer afternoon. And then going home to nap for a couple of hours.

Went this morning to a substitute teacher training thing, mostly consisting of watching hilariously 70s videos about office safety. Haphazard observations:

• All school administrators must be cut from the same cloth. They are inevitably Caucasian, bespectacled, talk about how great the school year is, and are bookish, with short, practical haircuts and nice, but not too nice, clothes. It screams "den mother."
• Younger teaching folk distinguish themselves with more modern (not more sophisticated) clothing, which basically shows more skin. Don't worry, I was well-covered.
• I feel for the dudes fighting the baldness.
• I don't have the inclination to write fiction. I think the problem is that I construct caricatures that make sense to me in my own head, but probably aren't realistic. And I have little inclination to let them interact with each other. Wait, now it's a video on bloodborne pathogens.

I have tickets to Bloc Party to night, but I can't get rid of my extra ticket. I sort of don't want to go at all anymore, but then that'd be a total waste. Hmm.

Tennis - US Open 2004

So the "2004" in this post's title is not a typo. I was fortunate enough to take in the US Open while vacationing in New York last summer so I snapped a few photos, including this one of Armstrong Stadium, in a second round match between Sebastien Grosjean (L) and Tommy Haas (R). That's Ashe Stadium Court looming on the right. I'm no photographer, but I'm pretty happy how this looks. I was surprised at how many people were there, just for a second round match. Haas played really well and basically outgunned Grosjean. It's a pretty nice memory, walking around the grounds with Jordan and Genie, that set the tone for an enjoyable weekend with friends.