Happy Birthday, America!!!

Normally, I celebrate the Fourth here by linking to, or copying, some document or speech of historical significance. But this time I'll just link to the National Archives' America's Historical Documents page. Lots of fun for the history geek there.

As I've mentioned before, growing up one of my birthday traditions was watching the Boston Pops Esplanade on PBS. Seeing as this is their 35th anniversary year, I probably started watching with the first few telecasts. They were great shows, with Arthur Fielder at the helm. You got classical music, guest artists (everything from pop stars to opera divas), a patriotic sing-along, and finally, The 1812 Overture (hear the whole thing for free!) and, to end the concert the Stars and Stripes Forever.

The flag drop gets me every damn time.

The telecast moved from PBS to Bravo, and from there to NBC which massacred it. Gone was three hours of great music, instead we got a one hour "highlights" show that tended to edit the 1812. Heretics. Needless to say, I watched one year and was disgusted.

So, happy birthday to figmo, justnate, apandaleaf, my sister Ann, and everyone else who was Born on the Fourth of July.

Hey, that includes me! So here's a present for all of us. Los Lobos, Jerry Garcia, and Bob Weir doing This Land is Your Land backstage.

Watch on YouTube

A good day at the ballpark

Marred only by the final score.

San Francisco Giants: 7
Los Angeles Dodgers: 10

But it was a beautiful day, the crowd (a good mix of Giants fans and Dodger followers) was in the mood for a party, and just about everyone was in the mood for a good time in Section 142. Everyone, except the two Dodger fans who managed to get tossed by the third inning for crude behavior. Look, this is the oldest rivalry in American professional sports. We've been battling since it was the New York Gothams and the Brooklyn Atlantics back in the late 1870s. We cordially loathe each other, but it's only baseball! Yes, I just said it's only baseball because in the end, it is a game. A pass time. Something to to root for and enjoy so we can forget our everyday cares. If I was to go to Dodger Stadium for a Giants/Dodgers game, I'd proudly wear my orange and black, take my ribbing from the hometown fans with a smile, and give back if the Giants played well. I would not shout obscenities, make threats, and act the complete ass. I really hope these two yahoos had tickets for the entire series and non-refundable hotel reservations.

But anyway. Despite the final score, it was fun game to watch. The Giants scored first on a Fred Lewis steal of home, and looked to be cruising until a disastrous sixth inning. Rookie Osiris Matos gave up five runs, and that was all she wrote. A late rally closed the gap, but fell short. We booed with gusto (and the place rattled when we booed Jeff "Porn 'Stache" Kent) and cheered anything that looked good for the home nine.

Along the way, we picked up schwag. I got a John Bowker uniform number t-shirt (a black tee with "Giants" on the front and Bowker's name and number on the back), a new bear from Build-A-Bear (John Bearker) and we both got cool pins from The Chronicle reproducing classic pages from Giants history. Kirsten got the Earthquake Extra about Game 3 of the 1989 World Series, and I got the story of John "The Count" Montefusco's No-Hitter against the Braves. (He gave up one walk. That's how close he came to a perfect game.)

I also managed to eat most of a hot dog. My dentures had been bugging me all day, but damnit, it's July 4th, I'm at a baseball game, I'm gonna eat a freaking hot dog!

The new camera worked like charm. I'll post my photos to Flickr later.

So, Jesse Helms is dead.

When Ronald Reagan died, I managed to say something nice about him. Several things, actually, in different places.

Jesse Helms? Not a chance.

Radiance Bath!!!

Goodbye 666 the Demigod...

You went to your reward with 3,347,566 points,
Frost Brand (worth 3000 zorkmids and 7500 points)
Magicbane (worth 3500 zorkmids and 8750 points)
The Bell of Opening (worth 5000 zorkmids and 12,500 points)
The Heart of Ahriman (worth 2500 zorkmids and 6250 points)
Demonbane (worth 2500 zorkmids and 6250 points)
The Book of the Dead (worth 10000 zorkmids and 25,000 points)
The Candelabrum of Invocation (worth 5000 zorkmids and 12,500 points)
Mjollnir (worth 4000 zorkmids and 10,000 points)
Cleaver (worth 1500 zorkmids and 3750 points)
Sunsword (worth 1500 zorkmids and 3750 points)
2 diamonds (worth 8000 zorkmids),
1 garnet stone (worth 700 zorkmids),
1 amulet of ESP (worth 150 zorkmids),
and 3045 pieces of gold, after 28,983 moves.
You were level 22 with a maximum of 184 hit points when you ascended.






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