October 8, 2019

Yeah! Step one.

October 6, 2019

Perfect score!



Wow, another blowout. Saw on a twitter feed a great wordplay - Didididit DDT.

October 5, 2019

Good start to a five game series. Minnesota looks strong, dangerous opponent, forget about past results, so far so good.



October-time for cornucopia displays.

October 4, 2012

Way to go Yankees !



From Ghosts of Cannae, War Elephants :

This brand of military disconnect also helps explain another characteristic Punic military delusion, a reliance on war elephants. Like the Romans, the Carthaginians got their first dose of panzer pachyderms from Pyrrhus, military history’s favorite Epirote,when they fought him in Sicily during his short sojourn there in 278. Unlike the Romans, who simply learned to deal with the elephants, the Carthaginians had their own by 262 and soon became addicted.This proved to be a bad habit. Elephants can be panicked easily, not a good quality during warfare.

When this happened, they tended to treat friend and foe alike, flailing wildly and stepping on anyone in the way, which was often the Carthaginians themselves. Granted, the elephants were terrifying to uninitiated enemy troops, and could disrupt cavalry, since horses found their scent repulsive. But there were simply too many ways they could be thwarted, and their net effect was to add another uncontrolled variable to the battlefield. They do appear to have played some role in defeating the Roman general Regulus when he invaded Africa in 256, but it is hard to find another comparable Carthaginian success with pachyderms. And this must be weighed against the elephantine expense of capturing, training, and transporting them,a negative cost-benefit result by any realistic accounting.But Carthage was plainly struck by their jumbo size and power—an ancient ultimate weapon—a mirage the possession of which might render all other military shortcomings irrelevant, a particularly beguiling notion to an acquisitive people not much used to fighting on the ground. Also, elephants were available. Carthaginians,after all, lived in Africa, and so-called forest elephants (Loxodonta africana cyclotis)were likely to be found north of the Sahara. Although they were smaller than the Indian models ridden by the Hellenistic Greeks, they were still plenty impressive, standing nearly eight feet tall at the shoulder.

Even Hannibal was fooled, making a heroic effort to herd some over the Alps, only to have them die well before he ever reached Cannae.Still, he remained interested, and his disastrous last stand at Zama in 201 featured eighty of the giant beasts. But war is not a circus, and they panicked as usual, marking Hannibal as the last and greatest of the Punic pachyderm true believers.
Pg. 67 Robert L.O'Connell

September 29, 2012

Yankees Magic Number to win their Division is Five, Joltin'Joe's number.



To make the playoffs, the Magic Number is two, Jeter's number.



GQ has a great Oral History of Cheers.



I do the On-Line Jumble every morning. Most of the times I finish in under a minute. I rarely get a perfect score, under 30 seconds, because just moving the letters is time-consuming. Not today, but it was a short answer.



Purple Cauliflower in the Sun.



Cornucopias start to emerge.



Another Cornucopia.



Interesting Gourd.

October 1, 2011

Wall Art in Williamsburg.



Smorgasburg in Williamsburg is worth the trip.



Right on the East River, that is the Yogi Berra Ferry arriving.



Shorty Tang's features Cold Sesame Noodles from the old Chef at Hwa Yuan on East Broadway. They are spicy and delicious.



Bocata has a great sandwich.



As long as I was in Williamsburg, a Brooklyn Brewery Tour was mandated.



Lots of new machinery, big upgrade.

Brooklyn The Companion, an American-Style Wheat Wine Ale , 10.0% ABV, was sampled and judged excellent.

From the Reinheitsgebot (German Purity Law) adopted in 1516 by Duke Albrecht the Fifth of Bavaria:

"Furthermore, we wish to emphasize that in future in all cities, markets and in the country, the only ingredients used for the brewing of beer must be Barley, Hops and Water. Whosoever knowingly disregards or transgresses upon this ordinance, shall be punished by the Court authorities' confiscating such barrels of beer, without fail.”

Beck’s uses cultured yeast as an ingredient, which was later approved in an amendment to the original purity law. Modern brewing techniques do not need these purity laws, though nice marketing ploy by Beck's.



Lets Go Yankees !



From Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post:

"Red Sox, report to the River Styx at dawn.

These days, there’s no boatman in a dark cowl to take you over to the other side where the souls who wail for eternity are found. They’ve got an elevator now. Just push the “down” button. Don’t worry; you can’t go too low. Pick any rung. Mr. Dante has fine punishments arranged at every level. New rules: No more eternal damnation. They let you out next opening day to try again. Excuses, fine, they’re permitted, too. But for now: Go to hell. "



Well, if I'm going to read Rumsfeld's memoir, I should include the Darth Vader of VPs. A review in the LA Times quotes Col. Jessup from "A Few Good Men":

"We live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns… my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall."