A blog about thoughts on religion, politics, the occasional intersection of both, and other stuff.
Monday, April 28, 2003
--I had never seen a crowd go wild in response to a sacrifice bunt until I watched this game. As the story points out, the crowd gave a standing ovation Jose Guillen (also the defensive star of the game for throwing out a runner at home from right field to preserve a then 1-0 lead then catching a ball against the left field wall in a latter inning).
There's a little backstory here. Earlier in the game, starting pitcher Ryan Dempster struck out bunting with two strikes. It's sort of understandable as being conventional wisdom. Later, with Adam Dunn on deck, Aaron Boone once again struck out bunting on the third strike. That he was ordered to bunt with two strikes is rather strange, considering that he is arguably the fourth or even third best offensive player on the team (when Griffey is on the DL, at least). Strange to see him bunting with two strikes. I know there was a third failed bunt, but I think that merely resulted in a fielder's choice at second base.
So that's a little anecdote about why people call the manager of the Reds BaBoone. Of course, my favorite Boone anecdote is using a pitcher to pinch run for a guy on first then, after the runner had reached second, using another pitcher to pinch run for that first pitcher.
It was my first trip to the Great American Ballpark. I liked it. It's brightly colored, which might not age well. I liked the steamboat in the outfield over which you can see the Ohio River. I paid $16 for a ticket, $10 for parking two blocks away, $6.25 for the only available import, Dundee's Honey Brown (because, given a choice between beer and Michelob, I want a real beer), $4.50 for a kielbasa, and $3.50 for a hot dog. Wow, didn't realize I paid forty bucks for a baseball game.
--Some thoughts from going to Holy Thursday services.
I remember "Anthem" used to be one of my favorite hymns which we used a lot on campus masses at CWRU. Now, it just seems wrong. Perhaps I've been too immersed in pop culture recently, but "We are creed" seems like a hideous line now.
Holy Week services are always messy. Thankfully, it only comes once a year.
I'm not sure if replacing the sign of peace with the Prayer of St. Francis is a national thing or not. I prefer the prayer of St. Augustine, though: Lord, grant me continence and chastity. . . just not yet.
(3:00 AM)
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Wednesday, April 16, 2003
--In keeping with my last post, let me just state that I believe that if you converted the entire Middle East to atheism, there would be just as much violence. Geopolitical issues would exist even without religious cross-pressures. (6:12 PM)
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The recapper (a journalist) at one point complains that evil preachers are a dime a dozen. That started me thinking. I'm fond of explorations of religion and having fictional characters who have religion as a central part of their lives.
Sure, the evil Bible Belt figure is a common archetype. One could twist it perhaps. One could have an evil rabbi, but a TV show or film such a villain will probably open itself to charges of anti-Semitism unless the hero is strictly Jewish. Actually, the PC police would probably shoot down any faith-based villain, except for a Christian. Well, some people might complain. I'm sure some there's some Catholic group dedicated to protesting every use of a shady priest in media.
So, if you want to explore the religious side of a villain, he probably ought to be some sort of Protestant. Fewer people will protest. Well, maybe you could get away with evil Muslims right now.
As for me, I'll write the movie in which the bad guy is an oppressive atheist.
John Kerry has started calling for "regime change in the United States." While I would like to think he picked up my meme of "Regime Change in 2004" from reading my blog, I doubt that's likely. Still, I think that I could be a decent speechwriter if someone hired me for that purpose. My specialty would be creating short statements that play well in sound bites, with a willingness to step aside and let others create an organic matrix for tying together those sound bites in a non-phony manner. Not that I'm phony. . . . (3:52 AM)
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