Monthly Archives: July 2007

Cardinals suck?

I’ve heard the complaints from local fans about how the Cardinals are sucking this year.

No, I’m not arguing that they are playing at their top form.

I certainly like the recent winning streak, but there’s no arguing that they still have a won-loss percentage under .500. How horrible.

We’re so used to the Cardinals doing well that we forget something. There are 6 teams in the National League right now doing worse than them.

Sure, you say, but there are 9 doing better!

OK. As I said. I’m not arguing that the Cardinals are at the top form.

There are lots of places online you can find a list of the team that won the World Series each year, or the pennant. But not a lot of places you can find a list of who finished dead last. I went to Baseball-Almanac.com and looked at the annual standings. Just for the National League.

I only went back to 1982. Three reasons.
1) 1981 is tricky because it was split by the strike.
2) I know what I need to know prior to 1982 from elsewhere
3) The Reds finished last place in 1982 completing the list I hoped to complete. (To be honest, I was surprised I finished it by 1982. I thought I would have to go back further.)

Between 1982 and 2006 here are the current teams in the National League and the number of times they have finised dead last (as measured by won-loss percentage. There were a few ties.)

Mets 2
Phillies 3
Braves 3
Marlins 2
Nationals 1
Astros 1
Reds 1
Brewers 1
Pirates 5
Cubs 3
Padres 3
Dodgers 1
Giants 1
Diamondbacks 1
Rockies 0
Cardinals 0

The Rockies are still a new team. (1993). Give them time.

To find a year where the Cardinals finished dead last? 1918.

That’s right. 1918.

(I don’t have to go back through the standings at Baseball Almanac.com I read this statistic in a St. Louis Cardinals statistical compendium published in 1983 after the 1982 World Series, so since I have gone back to 1982 in my own research, I know it still stands.)

The list above might also give Chicago Cubs fans something to cheer about. The Pirates have been the annual vacuum cleaner more times than them — in the past 25 years at least.

Archon/NASFiC

Are you going to be in Collinsville, IL this weekend at the North American Science Fiction Convention, hosted by Archon? (NASFiC doesn’t occur every year…it only occurs when the WorldCon isn’t in North America, and WorldCon is in Japan this year. Archon won the bid to host NASFiC. Should be huge. Should be fun.)

I am.

If you’re there, and are wondering…hey, where’s TransylvanianDutch? (or if you know me offblog, where’s John?) Here’s a list of where I am likely to be. Of course, my schedule is open to change. I’m not a panelist or anything, this is just a list of the activities from the program guide (on the website linked above) that jumped out at me and said: Hey..I’m interesting.

Thursday

1 pm – Graphic Novels and Comics – why we love them (Depending upon how late I wake up Thursday morning and get my *ss down to Collinsville I could miss this)
2 pm – Open Blog Insert Foot (don’t want to miss this tho)
3 pm – Guide to Small Press Publishing
or Torturing Characters
4 pm – early dinner
5 pm – Barri Bumgarner’s Reading
6 pm – Gary Hanak concert
7 pm – How to write realistic violence
8 pm – More to St. Louis Fandom than Archon (not a panelist, but I know several panelists, and there is a distinct possibility I will be talking a bit during the panel, since I am active in local fandom)

Friday

10 am – Is there room for a god in a science fiction universe
1 pm – Writing YA SF/Fantasy
3 pm – Crossing genres
4 pm – Recording your stuff
5 pm – Bardic Concert
7-9pm – Break from NASFiC – drive West to Hartford Coffee Company for open mic
10 pm – Luke Ski concert

Saturday (you’ll notice this is less full. Will probably visit the dealers room, art show, etc on Saturday because the panels looked less interesting.)

10 am – Publishing short stories
11 am – HP Fan Fiction — or maybe an early lunch
12 – SF/F poetry
1 pm – Tom Smith concert
7 pm – Masquerade

Sunday

11 am – Elizabeth Moon reading
12 – Ethics of Self Promotion
2 – Heroes
3 – Preparing a manuscript for submission
4 – Closing ceremonies

Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night I will be in the Filking Room. Filking. Get your mind out of the gutter you muggles! Filk music is Folk music for narrow values of ‘o’. (Most likely etymology is that it was a typo in an early newsletter that caught on). Most filk music is song parody (popular songs with new lyrics written with SF/Fantasy themes) but there is original filk as well. Filks I’ve written.

How much to say

When I first saw the initial theme (family photos) for the Aug 1 Carnival of Genealogy, I noticed nothing wrong with it. Which is strange, since I have written over the years several blog posts involving copyright issues.

For example

1) When Google was sued for copyright violations,
2) The debunking of Poor Man’s Copyright by Snopes and myself.
3) Elvis Presley entering the public domain in Europe
4) Martha Reeves’ complaint to the FTC about Ebay
5) And my own violation of copyright law regarding photographs back in 2003

So I should have spotted the issues involved, but others did.

So the theme got changed to moral/ethical and legal issues we’ve experienced involving genealogy or genea-blogging.

I haven’t been researching my genealogy or genea-blogging very long. But I can think of one issue I’ve faced. I’m putting together a family website with all of the information I’m gathering from my research. It’s password protected so only family members will be able to access it. However, in listening to a tape recording made of Relative A who passed away several years ago, he made a comment about a dispute he had with Relative B. A dispute he claimed caused him to cease speaking with Relative B.

Relative B is still alive. I’m not sure he knows why Relative A stopped speaking with him – for if he did know, I suspect it was a dispute that could easily have been worked out, as I think Relative A was unfortunately misinformed.

I’ve decided there is no good that can come of putting the information on the website. Or of telling Relative B, since the dispute can no longer be resolved, and it’s even possible Relative A exaggerated a bit on the tape when they said they had ceased speaking with Relative B. It’s possible Relative B never knew Relative A was upset, and if so, I have no desire to inform him now.

It’s on the tape. Several others have copies of the tape if they wish to listen to it. It’s not like I’m burying the information. And it’s the only family dispute of this nature that I am aware of. I knew Relative A well, and the idea he would cease speaking to anyone over anger is surprising – but as I said, if he wasn’t exaggerating, I think he was misinformed about an action Relative B took.

Obviously, I also faced an issue of how much to say in this post.

Hi ho, Hi ho….

Hi ho hi ho
It’s off to school we go
With razor blades
And hand grenades
Hi ho hi ho hi ho hi ho

Starting off the StlBloggers Blog Carnival, I came up with the topic of “High School”. Not only is the question of High School a traditional one in some St. Louis circles, this is to be a monthly Blog Carnival, and while school started in September in my youth, it now begins in August for many. Unfortunately, now I have to write something about my own experiences, and it’s my fault.

I’ve already written a lot about my Junior year.
1) My paralysis
2) Heroism and dealing with paralysis
3) And a work of fiction I wrote based extremely loosely on some related events

However, I’m sure some might argue that I haven’t written about my Junior year of high school, but only about four months I spent in a hospital away from high school, and about one high school experience that may or may not be fictional. (Only ‘Celia’ and I know the truth)

I’d write about watching the Challenger explode, but unfortunately, that happened during those four months, so I can’t call that a high school experience either. Those four months are much more memorable than anything else from those four years.

I did spend two and a half years in high school debate, from which I remember only the mantra of Stock Issues: Solvency, Harms, Inherency, Topicality, Significance! (I find it funny that the wikipedia article lists a ‘classroom appropriate’ variation of Solvency, Inherency, Topicality, Harms, Significance. In the 1980s I was certainly somewhat aware of Star Wars, but I was not the Sci-fi geek I am today, and I’m not sure I would have recognized the acronym. Luckily, our instructor found the other order appropriate enough. And I would later work the acronym into a popular open mic poem.)

Senior year I switched from cross-x debate — which I basically sucked at — to some other events sponsored by the National Forensic League, such as original oratory and poetry interpretation. Back then Cross-X was handled separately at my high school from all the other competitions, which were more theatrical in nature, so I ended up switching cliques and hanging out with the drama club. That was fun. There were actually some cute chicks in the drama club. I even won a first-place trophy at one competition.

I ended my senior year by delivering a speech at my high school graduation. I wasn’t valedictorian. Actually, far from it. But anyone with a GPA over 2.0 could submit a speech, and some committee of teachers or administration chose which one they wanted. Mine was chosen. The speech was based on 1987 being the 200th anniversary of the Constitutional Convention. Ben Franklin had a great line at the closure of the convention about the sun engraved on the back of a chair “‘I have, often and often, in the course of the session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at [the sun] without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting; but now, at length, I have the happiness to know that it is a rising, and not a setting sun.” I of course made the parallel to commencement not being an end, but a beginning. Cool? And I got to deliver the speech at sunset. So I am sure some people looked from the sun to me and thought “did you plan this?” and of course, the answer is ‘no.’ But fortuitous events occur.

I think that’s enough about my high school days for now. Hopefully some other StlBloggers have more interesting stories to tell.

Hi ho, Hi ho….

Hi ho hi ho
It’s off to school we go
With razor blades
And hand grenades
Hi ho hi ho hi ho hi ho

Starting off the StlBloggers Blog Carnival, I came up with the topic of “High School”. Not only is the question of High School a traditional one in some St. Louis circles, this is to be a monthly Blog Carnival, and while school started in September in my youth, it now begins in August for many. Unfortunately, now I have to write something about my own experiences, and it’s my fault.

I’ve already written a lot about my Junior year.
1) My paralysis
2) Heroism and dealing with paralysis
3) And a work of fiction I wrote based extremely loosely on some related events

However, I’m sure some might argue that I haven’t written about my Junior year of high school, but only about four months I spent in a hospital away from high school, and about one high school experience that may or may not be fictional. (Only ‘Celia’ and I know the truth)

I’d write about watching the Challenger explode, but unfortunately, that happened during those four months, so I can’t call that a high school experience either. Those four months are much more memorable than anything else from those four years.

I did spend two and a half years in high school debate, from which I remember only the mantra of Stock Issues: Solvency, Harms, Inherency, Topicality, Significance! (I find it funny that the wikipedia article lists a ‘classroom appropriate’ variation of Solvency, Inherency, Topicality, Harms, Significance. In the 1980s I was certainly somewhat aware of Star Wars, but I was not the Sci-fi geek I am today, and I’m not sure I would have recognized the acronym. Luckily, our instructor found the other order appropriate enough. And I would later work the acronym into a popular open mic poem.)

Senior year I switched from cross-x debate — which I basically sucked at — to some other events sponsored by the National Forensic League, such as original oratory and poetry interpretation. Back then Cross-X was handled separately at my high school from all the other competitions, which were more theatrical in nature, so I ended up switching cliques and hanging out with the drama club. That was fun. There were actually some cute chicks in the drama club. I even won a first-place trophy at one competition.

I ended my senior year by delivering a speech at my high school graduation. I wasn’t valedictorian. Actually, far from it. But anyone with a GPA over 2.0 could submit a speech, and some committee of teachers or administration chose which one they wanted. Mine was chosen. The speech was based on 1987 being the 200th anniversary of the Constitutional Convention. Ben Franklin had a great line at the closure of the convention about the sun engraved on the back of a chair “‘I have, often and often, in the course of the session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at [the sun] without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting; but now, at length, I have the happiness to know that it is a rising, and not a setting sun.” I of course made the parallel to commencement not being an end, but a beginning. Cool? And I got to deliver the speech at sunset. So I am sure some people looked from the sun to me and thought “did you plan this?” and of course, the answer is ‘no.’ But fortuitous events occur.

I think that’s enough about my high school days for now. Hopefully some other StlBloggers have more interesting stories to tell.

Through marriage

On a mailing list a couple weeks ago, we were discussing who had famous relatives. I brought up my questionable oneworldtree genealogy of course.

In the past day a couple newcomers added to the thread. One said he was related through marriage to Mary Todd Lincoln.

I thought about the obvious joke “You’re married to Mary Todd Lincoln?”

But came up with a better response.

“Through marriage I’m related to Jesus. My second cousin, once removed, is a nun.”

Well, she is.

Reading List: 27 years old

27 years ago, during the summer of 1980, I read 100 books for the local library reading club.
I found the list going through some boxes tonight.

I know, this is insane, but here’s the list of 100 books. These are the books I read the summer after fifth grade, in order. I think the list may say more about the 11 year old I was than I would want to say, but the scary thing is, I don’t think I’ve changed much.

Doris Gates – Blue Willow
Stewart Graf and Polly Anne Graf – Helen Keller
Judy Blume – Blubber
Jean Craighead George – My Side of the Mountain
Judy Blume – Iggie’s House
Agatha Christie – Curtain
Judy Blume – Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret
Ellen Raskin – The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean, Noel)
Betty MacDonald – Hello, Mrs Piggle Wiggle
Jean Lee Latham – This Dear Bought Land
Betty MacDonald – Mrs. Piggle Wiggle
Marguerite Kohl and Frederica Young – More Jokes for Children
Joseph Rosenbloom – The Gigantic Joke Book
Helen Hoke – The Big Book of Jokes
Jack Stokes – 107 3/4 Elephant Jokes
Phillip Orso Steinberg – You and Your Pet Dogs
Lilo Hess – A Puppy for You
Lilo Hess – Life Begins for Puppies
Syd Hoff – Syd Hoff’s Joke Book
Charlotte Baker – ABC of Dog Care for Young Owners
Seymour Simon – Discovering what Puppies Do
Cynthia Overbeck – Tippy the Fox Terrier
Margaret Davidson – Seven True Dog Stories
MacDonald Educational – The Dog Family
Jane Sarnoff and Reynold Ruffins – The Monster Riddle Book
Lynn Hall – Barry the Bravest St. Bernard
Thomas Rockwell – How to Eat Fried Worms
Syd Hoff – How to Make Up Jokes
William Gerler – Riddles, Jokes, and Other Things
Rose Wyler – Professor Egghead’s Best Riddles
Charles Keller and Richard Baker – The Star-Spangled Banana
Marcia Leonard – Cricket’s Jokes, Riddles and Other Stuff
Gyles Brandreth – The Biggest Tongue Twister Book
Frances Chrystie – Riddle Me This
EB White – Charlotte’s Web
Wilfrid Bronson – Dogs: Best Breeds for Young People
Gyles Brandreth – Brain Teasers and Mind Benders
Carl Withers and Sula Benet – American Riddle Book
Maria Leach – Riddle Me, Riddle Me, Ree
Rose Wyler and Eva Lee Baird – Nutty Number Riddles
EB White – Stuart Little
MV Carey – The Mystery of the Invisible Dog
Noelle Sterne – Tyrannosaurus Wrecks
William Cole – Knock Knocks
Joseph Rosenbloom – Doctor Knock Knocks Official Knock Knock Dictionary
William Gerler – A Pack of Riddles
Roy Doty – Gunga, Your Din Din is Ready
Franklin Dixon – The Secret Agent of Flight 101 (Hardy Boys)
Roy Doty – Puns, Gags, Quips and Riddles
Jay Bennett – The Birthday Murderer: A Mystery
William Cole – Knock Knocks You’ve Never Heard Before
William Wiesner – How Silly Can You Be?
Charles Keller – Giggle Puss Pet Jokes for Kids
Charles Keller – More Ball Point Bananas
Barbara Walker – Laughing Together
Marguerite Kohl and Frederica Young –Jokes for Children
Franklin Dixon – The Missing Chums
Franklin Dixon – The Haunted Fort
Marion Meade – The Little Book of Big Bad Jokes
William Cole – Beastly Boys and Ghastly Girls
Franklin Dixon – The Mystery of Cabin Island
Franklin Dixon – The Melted Coins
Franklin Dixon – The Secret of the Caves
Lillian Morrison – Black Within and Red Without
William Arden – The Mystery of The Dead Man’s Riddle
Lloyd Alexander – The Cat Who Wished to be a Man
Roy Doty – Pinocchio was Nosey
Sonny Fox – Jokes and Tips for the Joke Teller
Rudyard Kipling – How the Leopard Got his Spots
Roy Doty – Qs and Weird Os
James Haskins – Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron
AA Milne – House at Pooh Corner
Wilson Rawls – Summer of the Monkey
AA Milne – Winnie the Pooh
Sheila Burnford – The Incredible Journey
Ellen Tarry and Marie Hall Ets – My Dog Rinty
Elizabeth Coatsworth – The Cat Who Went to Heaven
Franklin Dixon – The Hidden Harbor Mystery
Franklin Dixon – The Ghost at Skeleton Rock
Franklin Dixon – The Mystery at Devil’s Paw
Franklin Dixon – The Tower Treasure
Franklin Dixon – Danger on Vampire Trail
Franklin Dixon – Hunting for Hidden Gold
Franklin Dixon – The Witchmaster’s Key
Ernest Foster – Abraham Lincoln
Rudyard Kipling – Just So Stories
Allan Ahlberg – The Old Joke Book
Patricia Lauber – Clarence Goes to Town
Jacqueline Jackson – The Endless Pavement
George Selden – Harry Cat’s Pet Puppy
Franklin Dixon – The Masked Monkey
Franklin Dixon – The Secret Panel
Franklin Dixon – The Shattered Helmet
Franklin Dixon – What Happened at Midnight
Franklin Dixon – The Phantom Freighter
Dick De Bartolo – A Mad Look at TV
Agatha Christie – Murder on the Orient Express
Frank Baum – The Land of Oz
Franklin Dixon – The Yellow Feather Mystery
Franklin Dixon – The Secret of Skull Mountain