The Phillies May Go the Way of the Philadelphia Athletics: to Kansas City

We know Philly is the city of Brotherly Love.  We did not know that they loved the Mendoza Line, which also comes from PA, albeit, Pittsburg.  What is the Mendoza line?  It is the disgustingly low batting average set by Mario Mendoza in the last century.  Anybody hitting below this line - generally considered to be around 220 - is usually sent back to Little League, as a groundskeeper.  AND yet the Philadelphia Phillies just gave a 330 MILLION DOLLAR DEAL TO A MENDOZA LINE PLAYER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It's the most expensive contract in baseball history. It's unthinkable. Bryce Harper who hit a Mendoza-ish .249 last season is being given 330 million and all of the money is guaranteed! The 26 year old will be paid at the rate of 26 mil a year for 9 years, then 22 mill for 4 years PLUS a signing bonus of 20 million.  To be fair, he hit 330 in 2015 and he did hit 34 rockets in the 2018 season, despite the tiny batting average.  Sadly this is what baseball wants today....crappy hitters who rarely hit, but when they do, they hit for power.  They strike out far more times than they make contact.   The deal was struck on the last day of February, 2019. It is perhaps just a co-incidence that this bloated contract comes 100 years after the Black Sox Scandal. I hope it doesn't happen; but this contract could make the Philadelphia Phillies suffer the same fate as the once great Philadelphia Athletics, the toast of the American League.  They became 'toast' after running out of money. They had to flee to Kansas City, You could look it up.

The late Zsa Zsa Gabor visits Hobby Lobby

Okay, I kind of tricked you into coming here.  Zsa Zsa Gabor, a famous Hollywood personality, really did visit Hobby Lobby but it was many years ago (obviously before she died; and it was not the Hobby Lobby that you're thinking of - a retail store.)  Read on to find out the Rest of the Story......

Hobby Lobby is expanding. From their base of 800 stores, they may have one in every major city by 2030. 

For my generation HOBBY LOBBY was in every home for decades. It was a radio show (and later a TV show hosted by Charley Weaver) that featured people, both famous and everyday ones, talking about their hobbies. 

The show ran from 1937 all the way up to 1960. Mostly it was on network radio, but the Weaver version was on TV in 1959 and 60.

Zsa Zsa Gabor was a guest on one episode. She did not talk about her favorite hobby, collecting husbands and diamonds, but rather her second favorite sport - fencing. Not building fences with wooden sticks and nails, but the sport of dueling with real swords!

It must have been quite a sight to see ZSA ZSA in a filmy, delicate evening gown, decked out in 5 pounds of diamonds, 7 pounds of gold, and brandishing an 8 pound shiny, sliver sword of steel.  

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The Kitty Kat Wake-up Call: Feline Forum #3

Some cats will lick your shuttered eyes to wake you up.  Others will simply jump on you.  Then there are the gentle 'patters' like Heide, the one in the cartoon.  They just lightly pat you on the nose until you finally wake up...and the best part, there's never a hint of claw! -0- Feline Forum, about our 2nd Frest Bends, is an occasional feature by Bill Russo. Past editions can be found on "Adventures in Type and Space", Bill's blog.

Here's Why Donald Trump is Partly Right About Fake News.

Here's why Donald Trump is partially right in his criticism of what we used to call "The Press". When the news media primarily consisted of Newspapers, reporters were well trained and experienced. They may not have attended the finest journalism schools but they had a better teacher - the cigar chompin', hard-boiled editor.

Nothing went in the paper until the "Chief" checked it over. Rookies sometimes had to do five or six rewrites before their copy would pass through.

Today, it seems there are no editors. Unskilled reporters type their copy directly to the internet, often shooting from the hip in writing a piece without notes or thought.

I'm Homophone Phobic. That means I can't stand it when I see to used as too or two. Or Plain used as plane. You get the idea. Much of today's reporting is done by people who wouldn't even have been allowed to report horse racing results back in the day. 

Case in point today, in a hastily written piece credited to The "Politico", two reporters combined on a story that concerned the "border emergency". The writers were trying to do a straight news piece but at one point said "lawmakers effectively stiffed" Trump in denying the "emergency".

It's a fine point, but the piece becomes slanted and distorted by the use of a charged up word like 'stiffed' instead of a more descriptive, neutral, and appropriate verb like stymie, which means to impede, hinder, or block.  "Stiff" means to cheat, deceive, double-cross etc.  It's certainly an improper word for a story about the legislative process underway in Washington. 

SEMANTICS! The rookie writers should have written that lawmakers 'stymied' Trump's efforts to divert funds by declaration of an "emergency'. This wording is accurate.  They blocked him.  They did not swindle or deceive him.  

We may well get more FAKE NEWS than real news as long as news organizations fail to check and recheck the work of this new breed of untested journalists.

Even a Caveman Can See What a Tree Can Be

The ability to see not what is, but what may be; is what makes us human and keeps us human.

Copyright Bill Russo 2019

Cats - Understanding our 2nd Frest Bends - Volume 3

This is the third installment in the occasional series about understanding our 2nd Frest Bends, Kitty Cats.  Whether you are a lover or a hater, if you watch them long enough, you'll get more laughs than a late night TV host.  

Some cats will lick your shuttered eyes to wake you up.  Others will simply jump on you.  Then there are the gentle 'patters' like the one in the cartoon.  They just lightly pat you on the nose until you finally wake up...and the best part, there's never a hint of claw!

Cats - How to Understand our 2nd Frest Bends - Feline Forum Parts 1 & 2

Understanding man's 2nd Frest Bends is not easy.  With that in mind I begin the occasional series Feline Forum.  It's hoped that this will be a guide for cat lovers and even cat haters to more fully comprehend the genius minds of cats...…

Here are the first two volumes of the series....

Comments and ideas are welcome....

Volume 2 - February 2019

Volume One - January 2019

Free Bob Kraft - Patriots Hall of Fame Owner Busted

Sad news in South Florida. Bob Kraft, Hall of Fame Owner of the Patriots, was accused in mid February, 2019, of seeking the services of a prostitute in Jupiter (Where both the Miami Marlins and the St. Louis Cardinals have Spring Training.) Before commenting, I'd like to remind you that gambling was once illegal, as was the drinking of alcohol as well as homosexuality, I'd further remind you that prostitution is legal in some parts of the United States as is recreational marijuana. BTW Slavery used to be legal!

I thought that 'consenting adults' could do what they wish without threat of being arrested.
Is it only because money might be involved that it becomes a crime? If so this is another form of discrimination against women, because they are generally the recipients of the money in this type of transaction. 

Bust Bob Kraft? Ridiculous! 

and now for something completely different...…..

…….. here's some good news from Florida. Somebody stole an 85 year old guy's bike. He can't drive anymore and has to rely on the bicycle to get to the store and do other things of a similar nature. The policemen on the case couldn't find out who stole the bike, so they went to Walmart and bought the man a new bike. They brought it to him and even adjusted the seat for him. As a parting gift they also gave him a lock to prevent a further theft!

Homeless Man Wears Live Rattlesnake Nicklace in Jacksonville, Florida

An amazing, or amazingly lucky, homeless man paraded through downtown Jacksonville, FLA recently wearing 

around his neck, a large rattlesnake for a scarf/good-luck charm. Several skittish onlookers called police. 

From a distance of a good 20 feet the officers asked the man 'What the Hell are you doing"?

 "I found the snake this morning and God told me it would be a good luck charm against getting hit by cars," he placidly informed the cops. 

The snake rested quietly on the man's neck while he 
spoke to the officers who freely admitted being scared to death of the rattler. 

"Would you please put it in the back of the Police Cruiser," somebody asked politely. 

The homeless man gently lifted the snake from
 his shoulders and set it down on the back seat of the car until Animal Control came for it later. 

A strange but true story out of Florida, Feb. 20, 2019. 

The homeless man was not charged. He calmly went on his 
way, probably to chum around with some alligators - even though the city is in the Northern part of the state, there are at least 272 alligators in town.

Here's the photo of the Animal Control Officer removing the snake from the cruiser.  As you can plainly see, the Rattler is at least five or six feet long, maybe more!