Echopraxia

Some wise and relevant words on the subject of America's pastime:

The only "problem" with major-league baseball as a consumer product is that, with the exception of the Detroit franchise, most of these guys actually know how to play the game, and now and then you want to see some Keystone Kops action in the field. Happily, the problem has a simple solution: get in the car and proceed to the nearest minor-league venue. It looks enough like baseball to count as going to a game, but it's much cheaper than going to a big-league game (especially the parking), and a grown man is going to step on his own foot and fall down. No, listen to me -- it is going to happen.

Posted by zerlesen at 3:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (70)

This story is wonderful on a number of levels: an investigation into an alleged "race-hate crime" committed in 1999 by Tony Blair. (I'm not sure if the Times is quoting someone describing it as a "race-hate crime", or if they're inserting a little editorial scepticism.) Apparently, while watching the returns from the Welsh assembly, Blair shouted, assuming I'm reading between the lines correctly, "Fucking Welsh."

The story is tantalizingly thin on detail, though. Where was Mr. Blair at the time of his allegedly shouting "Fucking Welsh"? Was he in a pub? Was he drunker than everyone else at the table and making a belligerent attempt to start a fight with a neighbouring table of Welshmen, perhaps causing Jack Straw to purse his lips and consider whether his half-pint of shandy could be appropriately deployed as a melee weapon? If so, then Blair is even more in touch with the British electorate than he has ever been given credit for.

Not that the two men typically bear comparison, but Churchill probably would have shouted something much worse, and then thrown a decanter of sherry at someone.

Posted by zerlesen at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)