Kid A. Plan B. The rest is TBD

An apology to my own tumblr self

Hi my dearly beloved but severely neglected tumblr account: I just wanted to let you know that while I spend most of my free time on an assortment of other websites on this here internet - there is not a day that gies by that I don’t (at least in passing) think - shit - I really need to get back to uploading content to my blog.  But, like the demon seed this internet is - it distracts me away from blogging with LOL cats or recipes or music blogs and for that I am sorry.  I love you, and i miss you.

Oh, and one more thing - we may have to revisit the name of this blog, as I’ve since become the father of yet another boy (that makes 2).  But let’s discuss that another time (hopefully sooner than later).

Words.

“The stage lights were so warm. 

I miss those”

The (unimpressive) Life and (beautiful) Death of Blockbuster Video

I realize that this post is uh, I don’t know, maybe 18 or so months late – but I still get such pleasure from seeing the closed doors of the once ubiquitous Blockbuster Video.  I really hated these guys right from the get go –always saw them for what they were - the big American Movie rental chain invading our land with their horrible font that always reminded me of the back of a hockey jersey.

It’s probably because I’m old, but I when it came to movie renting back in the day (and boy has that changed now) – I’d go out of my way to go anywhere but to these guys – in fact I may well not have ever had a membership.  As a kid growing up in Kitchener, Ontario (and this’ll really show my age) – my family used to rent a VCR and a couple of movies from the local (and only) Laurentian Video in the plaza near our house.  As a kid this was a big ass deal man (and I, in truth didn’t really even LOVE movies – or maybe I was just too wound up to sit still for that long…which is still true today).  Anyway a few years had passed; we actually bought a $500(ish) VCR and my brother and I started making our way to the wider selection – but  independently Canadian owned Jumbo Video (remember the happy elephant and the free popcorn) for those nights we’d watch movies – then later rent loads of video games from them.  They were always so nice to us.

I don’t even really know what I’m getting at here other than just wanting to say that – I’ve always hated you Blockbuster – and F U.  Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.  Well that and – you guys (of course) should have seen the writing on the wall when the internet exploded – you could of beaten Netflix to the punch, but like so many other behemoth companies, you decided instead to die a slow death.  Perfect – I couldn’t have written a better script myself.

Oh and seriously - change that font already – you really want that on your gravestone?

Maybe add an elephant?

Oh and as a side note:  Jumbo Video still exists (miraculously) and is Canada’s largest remaining video store chain.

Why I never step out of the batters box and other learnings I have from a lifetime of playing nowhere close to pro baseball

I’ve been playing baseball for probably over 30 years (from T to fastball to slo-pitch).  That’s a long time, surely it’s the most constant thing my life has ever known.  I can’t imagine a summer not being out on a baseball diamond (at least) 1 night a week (not to mention all day long with my brother and our friends).  Most of my positive childhood memories revolve around playing baseball in the summer, which include getting a ride to games on my mom’s motorcycle (yes, my mom’s motorcycle - my mom, the totally upstanding non tattooed, totally respected Grade 1/2 teacher - yeah - she had a bike for a while)…I have an interesting past we should talk about one day.

Baseball is my really good friend - it has always been there for me, and even in all my times of not winning, I knew I still loved the game, and it loved me back.  Even when at around age 14 I took a grounder (bad hop) in the mouth and that woman (mother of another kid to be sure) offered me a can of pop to put on my mouth.  I took it of course because it was cold, it felt good on my bleeding mouth and we had nothing else.  Things were different back then - where was the first aid kit coach?  Anyone have any ice? How about a towel to wipe this blood?  No? Ok, my shirt and this can of pop will do just fine.  None of this mattered, I still loved baseball and wanted nothing more than to get out there the next day and field some grounders, and just be back on the field playing and learning.  I always wanted to, and always did learn from baseball. It’s tendencies, it’s different (but similar) situations, teamwork, the whole thing - it was like the best teacher I could ever have had.  Mr. Baseball, I listened to his every word. 

Baseball is such a great game, it’s such a cerebral game - which some people misread as slow.  As I’ve quipped in the past - “it’s not slow, it’s cerebral” - it’s a brain teaser of a game - and there is so much going on behind the scenes (in the minds) even when it looks like nothing is happening.

I love that it’s a team game - but it’s a team game different than the others in that it highlights opportunities for individuals to shine a couple times a game (batting for example) all as part of the collective team.  It’s coupled the individual accomplishments of team members to determine the outcome.

Ok, back on point - I started this post to talk about never stepping out of the batters box.  Stepping out is something I (like virtually every other kid) did when we were little, it’s what the major leagues did, some for longer periods of time than others - I’m talking to you Derek Jeter and David Ortiz.  Anyway - my theory on this has changed, and maybe it’s because I’m old and play competitive slo-pitch (as competitive as slo-pitch can be), I find that as a fielder it’s great when guys step out because it give you a break from your “set” position.  When batters step out it allows fielders to relax between pitches and in theory regain some lost energy from “staying ready”.  Again - I’m saying this as an outfielder in a slo-pitch league so take it for what thats worth but I believe that this easily carries over to all walks of baseball life.  

When I start coaching my sons baseball team I’ll most certainly have this theory to present to the kids (along with a handful of others - which I plan to post in future blogs).  

Anyone have differing thoughts on this?  I gotta run, need to get a cold pop.