Todd Snider, Thursday Night's Hurricane, MJ and more

Todd Snider is a musician I had never heard of before Wed, June 24, when I found myself driving home in my car and listening to his interview on NPR. If you did not hear it, I strongly recommend you follow this link and listen to it: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105862831. I found him refreshingly genuine and down to earth for someone who is clearly talented artistically. He was intelligent and just sounded like an all around cool guy who's been through the ringer and still manages to keep doing what he loves. His explanation of why he wrote a song about Doc Ellis, a Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher who threw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres while tripping on LSD in 1970 has stayed in my mind since I listened to the interview. He calls it a song for the unprepared. About it he said, "I felt connected to that, because many times I have come to work unprepared and still done OK," Snider says. "I think Doc Ellis gives unprepared people everywhere someone to look up to. He didn't do it [take LSD on the day he was supposed to pitch] on purpose — he thought he was pitching the next day." The title of the song is "America's Favorite Pastime." Todd Ellis is a cool dude. Listen to the song. You will not be disappointed.

Thursday, June 25 brought torrential rains and lightening that we rarely see in the Greater Cincinnati Area. My garden was leveled. The ground was saturated through Friday evening. The corn was on it's side. At least one row of beans looks like it's not going to make it. Tomato plants were upheaved and knocked over. Bean plants were buried in the mud. Mammoth Sunflowers were on their sides. It was an ugly sight. As of Sunday, the one row of beans still does not look good. Other rows look poor but may pull through. The tomatoes and corn look good and everything else is pretty much upright after taking the spare time I've had the last few days to tend to it. The last three years, we have not gotten near enough rain for our (my nieghbors and my) gardens to prosper. This year, we've gone without rain for more than three days, once (6 days) since mid-May when most of my plants were put in the ground. I conditioned my soil which has a lot of clay to begin with, with peat moss and sand. It does a pretty good job of retaining moisture especially now that the plants are a good size. But with the way we've been getting rain, it doesn't drain quick enough. It's almost like I've done too good of a job. Even after the 6 day "drought" the soil was still moist two inches down. Once it gets to three is when you need to water. Don't think I'm complaining. I have over 200 tomatoes growing and starting to ripen and the corn is between knee and waist high. Several of my tomato plants are six feet tall. I've had one watermelon go from the size of a pea to the size of a baseball in four days. My neighbors and I are thinking it's going to be a good year.

MJ
Dear Michael,

when I was thirteen, I thought it was cool when you did the moonwalk. It wasn't as cool after I realized that I could only do it in my socks and even then, I wasn't really doing it, but it was still pretty cool. You were one hell of an entertainer back then. You set the bar for the spoiled brats and hedons that came after you.

R.I.P. I'm pretty sure you'll never be forgotten.

Sincerely,

Eric

P.S. You were one weird dude

The Cincinnati Reds came close to getting Mark Derosa. Instead the Cleveland Indians traded him to the Cardinals. Damn those Cardinals. Damn them. Damn them. Damn them.

Kentucky Bourbon: I have been rediscovering Kentucky Bourbon. Inexpensive or high priced, it's all good, mixed with the right beverage of course. Too much of it is bad news and I'm not just referring to the next morning.

I'd admit I'm an alcoholic, but I think you're supposed to quit after admitting that and I don't want to quit.

If you know any recovering alcoholics, don't drink in front of them. Give them a hug and have a soda instead.

Cheers