Sandman

I was going to write something long and probably boring about baseball and pitching motions but I'm skipping it other than to note that Albert Pujols was happy to stand up with Glenn Beck but wouldn't return the call of the National Negro Baseball Museum. Karma will strike, it always does. (source: Sam Mellinger's Twitter, on Pujols, not karma)

Which leads me to happier news and weirdly connected-meaning karma and Sandman. Hollywood Reporter sez that there's prelim development of a series. Happiness at the thought, immense fear thinking about all the things that could go so very wrong. When I first read Killer Angels years and years ago, I imagined how good a mini-series could be. Then the movie came out. They tried. Martin Sheen as Robert E. Lee? Really? With Jason Robards alive?

Link: http://livefeed.hollywoodreporter.com/2010/09/comic-icon-the-sandman-tv-series-in-works.html#more-7580

Still, first priority has to be Clint Eastwood as Bruce Wayne in Batman Beyond. Elect me cultural czar and it'll happen.

CMV Negative

This is here as much as a way of keeping this within memory as anything else. I donated blood today, as I do every eight weeks and one of the nurses noted that I was CMV Negative, or what they call a baby blood donor. I knew the baby blood part-they'd told me a few years ago-and even told me why, but since my usual habit is to gorge on BBQ, then sleep for three hours after donating, the technical explanation was always gone from my memory.

Today, I jotted down CMV- on some of the informational material and after a lunch of burnt ends from Arthur Bryant's, looked it up. It means I've never been infected with cytomegalovirus. For most people with healthy immune systems-like me-CMV is no big deal. For people without a normal immune system, it's a problem. This would include newborns and HIV+ individuals, among others.

If you're reading this and are eligible to donate, do so. And reward yourself with some burnt ends. The pic is actual burnt ends from Bryant's, just not the ones I ate. Comes with Wonder Bread and what seems to be a jar of pickles. I've learned to not get the fries, as much as I like 'em, because then I'm bloated for a week.

The Onion Visits Concordia

The Onion comes through again. I link this only because of the dozens of times I've driven through Concordia over the years. There's a 66 station there that used to have a female employee with a cultivated mustache. I'm not making that up.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/local-water-tower-celebrates-50th-year-as-reposito,17958/

My Trip to Springfield

Quick trip to Springfield to watch Mike Montgomery pitch for NW Arkansas vs. Springfield. Easy three hours down there. All credit to the EconoLodge for upgrading me to a better room-the faucet in my first room disintegrated when I first used it. We got the water turned off-and there was a lot of it-and they immediately got me a better room. Very friendly and helpful staff. Some decent donuts and OJ as part of the free breakfast.

While in line to buy a ticket, a nice guy gave me a free pass. I think he's a season ticket holder and this was a thank you gift from management from last season. Saved me a few bucks, which is always nice. Nice staff also. However, their concession prices are what the Chiefs charge here. Too much for the minors. And they need to get rid of all the distractions. Trivia questions while the game's going? Really?

A good trip-aided on the way back by stopping at an orchard near Osceola and buying a whole bunch of peaches and pears right off the trees.

Good for the BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/2010/08/bbc-genome-the-complete-broadc.shtml

An actual reason to use this picture ... BBC rehearsal in 1934. For odd people like me, who like to listen to odd things on the mp3 player, it's been frustrating in the past to learn of a BBC radio program that I'd like to hear but can't because it's already been taken down. There is the torrent site radioarchive.cc that has some of it and a few Usenet groups, but nowhere that would have everything. Now the BBC intends to digitize their entire archive and make it available for listening anytime. Fabulous.

Bad Times at the Wall Street Journal

For the last two weeks, my Saturday WSJ has included a coupon supplement. I'm used to the occasional insert for some expensive car or a symphony located hundreds of miles from my home. But not this week's coupons for Steak & Shake.

Must not be going well for Murdoch. I'm sure the descendants of the founders who sold out must be so very proud.

Another Good Book

Not everything is a rant. Also endorsed, "Me, the Mob, and the Music" by Tommy James, written without the Shondells. Fairly short, entertaining story of how the music biz worked in the 60s. Lots of material about the mobbed-up label owner Morris Levy.