St. Louis Cardinals | dual personalities

May 27, 2014

“I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man.”*

by chuckofish

Oh, I do love a three-day weekend, don’t you?

That extra day just makes a huge difference. Saturday and Sunday were filled with the usual activities: Estate sale-ing where I found this vintage needlepoint pillow

“He’s just a dandy-lion”

and this little garden armadillo with a broken ear and tail.

I went grocery shopping and the boy came over to borrow tools. I went to church, did yard work and laundry. Then the boy and daughter #3 came over for a Memorial Day bar-b-que on Sunday night.

We sat outside and drank beer. Then ate inside–James Beard’s steak and onion sandwiches that were one of my mother’s specialties.

We had a fun evening (and cake). If you are wondering, we had our Memorial Day bar-b-que a day early, because they were going to the Cardinals game on Monday. It was the 5oth anniversary re-match World Series game with the Yankees (can you believe it’s been 50 years?!) and everyone got a World Series replica ring.

On Monday I read leisurely and then proceeded to clean out the bookshelves in the den. Quelle dusty job. I moved some books around and made many, many trips to the basement and to the second floor. I found some books that daughter #2 might like to add to her shelves and I found some others that can be moved to the give-away box. In the cabinets below the bookshelves I rearranged and straightened the photo albums. I threw some stuff away like all our VHS tapes of recorded from TV Miami Vice episodes. I found a few long-lost gems, but a lot more things that are in the why-have-I-kept-this-all-these-years category. I was in a clear-it-out mood. Zut alors! The corner looks nice and refreshed.

While I was doing this I half-watched some rather schmaltzy war movies on TCM, including The White Cliffs of Dover (1944) made during WWII with Irene Dunne. They pulled out all the propaganda stops with this one! It was enjoyable though, because Irene Dunne is always good and it had the MGM line-up of supporting stars including Frank Morgan (the Wizard of Oz) who personified the all-American American. When the American troops arrived to save the day in both WWI and WWII while the band played Sousa, even I got a little misty-eyed.

But it being John Wayne’s birthday, I had to cleanse my palate with something better.

I chose True Grit (1969).

Excellent choice.

*Ned Pepper in True Grit (1969)

8 Comments

April 23, 2014

The man in the arena

by chuckofish

On this day in 1910, former President Theodore Roosevelt made a speech on the subject of “Citizenship in a Republic” at the Sorbonne in Paris. One notable passage on page seven of the 35-page speech is referred to as “The Man in the Arena.”

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

These are good words to remember from our most active and hard-working president!

So did you take my advice and watch Stagecoach last night? I was feeling ~~a little~~ very down in the dumps because daughter #1 had returned to NYC that morning, so I knew it would be just the ticket to put me back on track. And it was.

It’s amazing how a little bit of sagebrush drama,

exquisitely told by the master of the genre,

with a generous dose of this guy

in the part that blew open his career can do that. It is such a great movie with such finely drawn characters.

And have I mentioned that the OM gave me this for my birthday?

Yes, #22…

Life is good, right?

Okay so I like the strong silent type. I get it. The man in the arena.

9 Comments

March 26, 2014

More snow you say?

by chuckofish

Bah humbug!

Yes, we are a wee bit annoyed in our flyover state. However, you may recall that last year at this time we had 12.4 inches of snow! So big deal, right? What’s a dusting?

Besides, this is just a minor set-back. It does feel like spring is almost here. There are Robins in abundance. Songbirds are singing. Have you heard “Peter! Peter! Peter!”? According to BirdWatcher’sDigest.com, we should also be listening for woodpeckers drumming and owls hooting. Look for raptors in clumps or pairs and ducks in flight.

Take a deep breath. It smells like spring.

Meanwhile I have my spies in Florida. They send me photos of this guy.

Hello, Mike Matheny. How ya doin?

4 Comments

October 28, 2013

To go with the drift of things

by chuckofish

I had a rather sad weekend, spending a good deal of it thinking about what I had been doing the weekend before when daughter #1 was visiting. I try not to do this, but it is hard.

I watched a depressing movie about Sylvia Plath (played by Gwyneth Paltrow).

And I read some sad poems.

Out through the fields and the woods
And over the walls I have wended;
I have climbed the hills of view
And looked at the world, and descended;
I have come by the highway home,
And lo, it is ended.

The leaves are all dead on the ground,
Save those that the oak is keeping
To ravel them one by one
And let them go scraping and creeping
Out over the crusted snow,
When others are sleeping.

And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,
No longer blown hither and thither;
The last lone aster is gone;
The flowers of the witch hazel wither;
The heart is still aching to seek,
But the feet question ‘Whither?’

Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?

― Robert Frost, Reluctance

I watched some stressful World Series games. But this guy always cheers me up.

I will miss our skipper in the off-season. See, there I go again! Well, onward and upward this week and go Cards!

4 Comments

October 24, 2013

You’ve gotta have heart

by chuckofish

Okay, so that was embarrassing last night. But we all know one thing, right?

You’ve gotta have heart
All you really need is heart
When the odds are sayin’ you’ll never win
That’s when the grin should start

You’ve gotta have hope
Mustn’t sit around and mope
Nothin’s half as bad as it may appear
Wait’ll next year and hope

When your luck is battin’ zero
Get your chin up off the floor
Mister you can be a hero
You can open any door, there’s nothin’ to it but to do it

You’ve gotta have heart
Miles ‘n miles n’ miles of heart
Oh, it’s fine to be a genius of course
But keep that old horse
Before the cart
First you’ve gotta have heart

–Richard Adler and Jerry Ross
Damn Yankees

…and this is pretty funny: a World Series showdown between the brass of the STL Symphony and the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Go Cards!

4 Comments

October 10, 2013

Waste not

by chuckofish

“…I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house. So I have spent almost all the daylight hours in the open air.”

~Nathaniel Hawthorne, 10th October 1842

The view from my back door in the morning

The view from my backdoor yesterday morning

I am with Hawthorne all the way. Unfortunately I do not have the option of staying outside all day. I will, however, take a walk around the block if work allows. Yesterday I had a meeting on my flyover campus and so I got to walk around. It was nice. I mean look at that sky!

And when I get home today I will attack some more vines–strenuous yard work which bears visible results is good for the soul, right? But sometimes I feel like Shane and that stump.

And, yes…

We won the NLDS! Just look at the wing span on old Adam Wainwright! Onward and upward, Cardinals! Bring on the Dodgers!

4 Comments

October 4, 2013

Tout va bien

by chuckofish

It is October!

A new calendar page. Those pumpkins are sparkly!

I love October, although this year so far it has been an extension of summer. It was 90 degrees for the Playoff opener yesterday! But the weather will change; it always does.

There is a lot to be done in October.

It is time to buy pumpkins.

And get my black tights out.

It is time to take longer walks and to leave the windows open at night.

And, oh, Vincent Price–flyover hometowner–is the Star of the Month on TCM.

Last night I DVR’d The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), a Warner Brothers classic starring Bette Davis and Errol FLynn, directed by the fabulous Michael Curtiz and based on a play by Maxwell Anderson. It also stars Olivia de Haviland, Donald Crisp, Alan Hale, and Price as Sir Walter Raleigh. So check out Thursday nights on TCM for lots of VIncent Price.

And hopefully we’ll see a lot more of this guy.

Go, Cards!

7 Comments

October 1, 2013

And in breaking news….

by chuckofish

I ~~finally~~ finished my cat needlepoint! Daughter #1 reminds me that I started it when she was in high school, i.e. over 10 years ago. Nevertheless, I am proud of myself for completing the project. Better late than never, right?

Also, in case you weren’t paying attention, the hometown team clinched the Central Division. We have the best record in baseball!

USA Today photo

And, yes, HE’S our manager, so it’s a win/win.

Today is also the 52nd anniversary of Roger Maris of the New York Yankees hitting his 61st home run of the season, breaking the record Babe Ruth set in 1927. How time does fly!

Roger Maris ended his career in St. Louis, playing his final two seasons with the Cardinals, helping to win the 1967 and 1968 pennants. He was outstanding in the 1967 World Series, hitting .385 with one home run and seven RBIs. It was the best performance of his seven career World Series.

Go, Cards!

4 Comments

April 9, 2013

April is…

by chuckofish

A new calendar page:

crazy weather:

“The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day.
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You’re one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
a cloud comes over the sunlit arch,
And wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you’re two months back in the middle of March.”
– Robert Frost, Two Tramps in Mud Time, 1926

It was just days ago that these were under 12″ of snow!

spring cleaning and DIY projects:

flowers on my desk at work from spring gardens:

birthdays:

New spring dresses:

April is Laurence Olivier month on TCM. His movies are featured every Wednesday this month.

Set your DVR tomorrow for Sleuth (1972), A Little Romance (1979) and Clash of the Titans (1981).

And, of course, April is this:

Hope your April is off to a good start!

5 Comments

February 15, 2013

Odds and Ends

by chuckofish

It’s finally Friday. We’ve had Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, the Westminster Dog Show, the SOTU, and Valentine’s Day. Good grief, Charlie Brown.

Seriously, that is too much for one week.

Not that I actually participated in most of it. Drunken mob (Mardi Gras)–certainly not my thing. Yes, our flyover town boasts the 2nd largest blow-out in the U.S. But no.

I did watch some of the Dog Show, which I used to enjoy. But it is a bit over the top these days with its freaky display of weird breeds–I mean what is an Affenpinscher anyway? (This Affenpinscher reminds me of Michael J. Fox in Teen Wolf.)

Not to mention traditional breeds that look freaky because of their blow-dried locks. I mean how embarrassed was this poor sheepdog?

Remember when they looked like this?

To top things off, today is the 249th birthday of my flyover hometown. Founded in 1764 by Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau, it became a major port on the Mississippi River after the Louisiana Purchase. According to Wikipedia, “its population expanded after the American Civil War, and it became the fourth-largest city in the United States in the late 19th century. It seceded from St. Louis County in March 1877, allowing it to become an independent city and limiting its political boundaries. In 1904, it hosted the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and the 1904 Summer Olympics. The city’s population peaked in 1950, then began a long decline that continues in the 21st century.” I always say, we peaked in 1904. Sigh.