Happy Samuel Morse birthday!
The way my computer is set up now, on my way to my Yahoo page, I first go through the Google page. I use Google sometimes, but being the creature of habit that I am, I'm used to my Yahoo setup.
Here's how the Google logo looked today.
Well I thought it was neat, anyway. I was reminded of the times I studied Morse Code with my dad. For those who don't know, he was an amateur (ham) radio operator.
So I could read "GOOGLE" right off (and if I close my eyes I can imagine hearing it at five words per minute). So, what's the occasion, the anniversary of the invention of the telegraph? A quick roll of the mouse, and the comment Samuel Morse birthday appeared.
Let's all say some "dits" and "dahs" for Mr. Morse.
Leavenworth County Tornado
The weather turned severe two counties to the west of us on Saturday afternoon. I happened to turn on the tv as one of the news helicopters was showing live video from near the storm. No luck finding that clip to link to here, unfortunately.
The rotating wall cloud was evident, and the funnel was already starting down, then it would appear to stop, raise back up, pause, and then head down again. What I'm told is that usually the funnel is twice as far down as it looks, as the condensation darkens the upper part from the top down. The funnel continued to lengthen when suddenly in the blink of an eye, there was the tornado all the way to the ground. Just that quickly.
I got excited "You oughta see this", which brought my son into the room (I'm sure he was thinking "What's with dad?"). I told him, "See, that's just how they look!".
Well, duh. Now that I think back on it, that was a bit obvious.
The tornado persisted and tracked through a rural area, damaging some houses and destroying a few barns. As a precaution, people were evacuated from the Kansas Speedway and some of the local shopping areas in Kansas City, Kansas. Thankfully, no serious injuries or deaths due to the tornado (I heard there was one lightning fatality, though).
But...the ability to watch live coverage of a tornado forming two counties away...what a world.
"To save them, we have to eat them."
A strange statement, that. While I was trying to find that tornado video, I came across this, and found it interesting. I wasn't aware there were endangered breeds of chickens.
I'm all for clean air and water, not littering, that sort of thing. But I've never been all that gung-ho for environmentalism for It's Own Sake; when it's the be all and end all of some political movement or a religion of sorts.
But it would be a shame for some of those breeds of chickens to go extinct. Another quote:
"At least 19 heritage breeds, such as the white Delaware with the mottled neck, the white-egg laying Holland and black mottled Houdan, have been designated as critically threatened, which means there are fewer than 500 left. Dozens of others are in danger of disappearing without a market to sustain them." (italics mine)
That reminds me of something I heard of Rush Limbaugh's radio show once. Something to the effect that if you want to protect an endangered species, the best way to do that would be to allow the endangered animal to be raised for food. The market would make sure there was a plentiful supply.
Finally...
Hats off to cousin Dolores, who had the correct answer for the latest music lyric game challenge. Check back on The Porch soon for a new challenge!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Someone could tell
The name of the song from the Lyrics Game is indeed, as my sister said, "You Never Can Tell". It is, like most songs I favor, a happy little tune and it was composed by Chuck Berry.
A recurring line in the song is - "C'est la vie," say the old folks, "It goes to show you never can tell". Now here's what happens. I was googling like mad to find "C'est la vie" but that's not the name of the tune, though I think I've seen it as the title to the Bob Seger version, which is excellent, by the way. I love Chuck Berry, but Seger's take is better in some ways.
Anyway, it's not "C'est la vie" and so, I don't know if you know this, it's hard to find what you are looking for when you ask for the wrong thing. Eventually, I discovered my error and found lyrics, but no video of Berry doing it, except some very recent stuff and frankly, though Chuck has aged well, he has, nevertheless, aged. It's not the same. Couldn't find Seger, either.
The reason for the mention of lyrics is that the first clue I gave had the word 'jammed' in it, referring to the coolerator relative to the TV dinners and ginger ale. I think that's the way Seger sang it, though I might be wrong. Berry wrote and sang 'crammed'.
I did find video of Emmylou Harris' version, which my sister (no surprise) was aware of. I have now watched it three times and it's a very fine version, in my opinion. She also says 'crammed'.
You can watch it here. As I said, it's a happy little tune and Emmylou's version may convey joy better than them all.
A recurring line in the song is - "C'est la vie," say the old folks, "It goes to show you never can tell". Now here's what happens. I was googling like mad to find "C'est la vie" but that's not the name of the tune, though I think I've seen it as the title to the Bob Seger version, which is excellent, by the way. I love Chuck Berry, but Seger's take is better in some ways.
Anyway, it's not "C'est la vie" and so, I don't know if you know this, it's hard to find what you are looking for when you ask for the wrong thing. Eventually, I discovered my error and found lyrics, but no video of Berry doing it, except some very recent stuff and frankly, though Chuck has aged well, he has, nevertheless, aged. It's not the same. Couldn't find Seger, either.
The reason for the mention of lyrics is that the first clue I gave had the word 'jammed' in it, referring to the coolerator relative to the TV dinners and ginger ale. I think that's the way Seger sang it, though I might be wrong. Berry wrote and sang 'crammed'.
I did find video of Emmylou Harris' version, which my sister (no surprise) was aware of. I have now watched it three times and it's a very fine version, in my opinion. She also says 'crammed'.
You can watch it here. As I said, it's a happy little tune and Emmylou's version may convey joy better than them all.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
As you wish
We've been asked to provide another clue to the song title suggested by the lyrics in the previous post. And so we will.
It's a song about a young couple and the very early days of their marriage. It was written by a rock'n'roll ground-breaker and covered very well by Bob Seger.
Here's something else the young couple did:
"They bought a souped-up jitney, 'twas a cherry red '53,
They drove it down New Orleans to celebrate their anniversary"
Enjoy!
It's a song about a young couple and the very early days of their marriage. It was written by a rock'n'roll ground-breaker and covered very well by Bob Seger.
Here's something else the young couple did:
"They bought a souped-up jitney, 'twas a cherry red '53,
They drove it down New Orleans to celebrate their anniversary"
Enjoy!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Another round of Lyrics Game
This one may not be hard and, really, I don't intend them to be terribly hard: I mean them to be fun. And these lyrics are fun -
“The coolerator was jammed with TV dinners and ginger ale”
Name the tune. Put your guess in 'Comments'.
“The coolerator was jammed with TV dinners and ginger ale”
Name the tune. Put your guess in 'Comments'.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Robert Duvall said it
After I wrote this post I went to sleep. It was the next morning, in the shower, when I remembered that the Athletics had moved from Philadelphia to Kansas City in 1955, so the Cardinals were the westernmost Major League team only until then, not when the Giants and Dodgers moved west in '58, as I had intimated. It was a small mistake, but I had plans to update my post.
But cousin was Bobby on the Spot and got it corrected yesterday. Well, he lives in KC after all.
Allow me a few more words about the placement of baseball fans. Obviously, they can be anywhere and it would be nice to have some accounting for it, but a map is probably not the solution for that.
Take Boston, for example. I recently read an article about a group of Braves fans living in Boston who are passionate and go to great lengths to display their allegiance. The Braves, as you probably know, began in Boston as one of the 'Original 8' National League teams.* The Braves were the older team in Boston compared to the Red Sox and as such, had a large following. In fact, many people were convinced the wrong team left Boston when the Braves went to Milwaukee in 1953.
Of course, this isn't necessarily universal. I cannot recall meeting anyone from St. Louis or even in the Show-Me state who is a Baltimore Orioles fan, even though the Orioles are the old St. Louis Browns. But I do hear about Browns fan clubs.
The mention I made about the Yankees having fans in Tampa has to do with a few factors, not the least of which is that they have had spring training in St. Petersburg or Tampa for decades. Also the huge number of New York transplants in Florida as well as the numerous championships and star players the Yankees have produced.
Well, I've blathered on long enough. But there is one more bit of housekeeping. In the previous post I referred to a movie quote in the title. Today's title tells you the actor who said it. The character he played was Hub McCann. He says it to his nephew, Walter. And the movie was 'Second Hand Lions'. I tried to google this scene, but I can't find it. It's a pivotal scene in a terrific movie.
*The National League began in 1876 and the cities represented then were much different than the ones I refer to as the 'Original 8'. The '8' I am referring to were the League as it was constituted in 1903 when the Western League established itself as another Major League and changed it's name to the American League. It also consisted of 8 members. That 1903 season was a signal year that ushered in more 'modern' baseball.
But cousin was Bobby on the Spot and got it corrected yesterday. Well, he lives in KC after all.
Allow me a few more words about the placement of baseball fans. Obviously, they can be anywhere and it would be nice to have some accounting for it, but a map is probably not the solution for that.
Take Boston, for example. I recently read an article about a group of Braves fans living in Boston who are passionate and go to great lengths to display their allegiance. The Braves, as you probably know, began in Boston as one of the 'Original 8' National League teams.* The Braves were the older team in Boston compared to the Red Sox and as such, had a large following. In fact, many people were convinced the wrong team left Boston when the Braves went to Milwaukee in 1953.
Of course, this isn't necessarily universal. I cannot recall meeting anyone from St. Louis or even in the Show-Me state who is a Baltimore Orioles fan, even though the Orioles are the old St. Louis Browns. But I do hear about Browns fan clubs.
The mention I made about the Yankees having fans in Tampa has to do with a few factors, not the least of which is that they have had spring training in St. Petersburg or Tampa for decades. Also the huge number of New York transplants in Florida as well as the numerous championships and star players the Yankees have produced.
Well, I've blathered on long enough. But there is one more bit of housekeeping. In the previous post I referred to a movie quote in the title. Today's title tells you the actor who said it. The character he played was Hub McCann. He says it to his nephew, Walter. And the movie was 'Second Hand Lions'. I tried to google this scene, but I can't find it. It's a pivotal scene in a terrific movie.
*The National League began in 1876 and the cities represented then were much different than the ones I refer to as the 'Original 8'. The '8' I am referring to were the League as it was constituted in 1903 when the Western League established itself as another Major League and changed it's name to the American League. It also consisted of 8 members. That 1903 season was a signal year that ushered in more 'modern' baseball.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Re: A man needs a good map
I liked Mike's comments, his surprises about the baseball loyalties map. I too am curious about how they collected the data.
Are there really no team loyalties in the so-called Unincorporated Areas?
I wonder if this has to do with how they decided to display the data. You could interview thousands of people and end up with a map that was a smear of thousands of colored dots. Or you can generalize, showing the predominant team loyalty bounded by neat lines; much more pleasant to look at. I guess it's just too sparse in the Dakotas and inter-mountain areas farther west for the loyalties to end up looking like much.
Does interest in the Team That Shall Not Be Named really cover more area in Iowa than in Illinois?
I'm suspicious of the line across the Missouri - Iowa border. For instance, I know there are Royals fans in Iowa that come to K.C. for games. At least, in years the local team does well.
The two teams in California's Bay Area share several bridges and a body of water, BUT the Giants fans break neatly for the coast, while the A's fans are only in central California?
I thought that looked odd too.
How can that many people be interested in the Nationals after so little time?
Now that makes me wonder if they used radio and television broadcast coverage maps as part of the process. The Nationals probably don't have that much of a fan base yet, but the games already have the airplay across that area.
There are no Blue Jays fans outside of Ontario? (I think that's mostly Ontario)
Yeah, that appears to be entirely within Ontario, and that is curious.
I would have loved to see a map like this 50 years ago, before any teams moved west and before there was any expansion.
Hmmm...that could be done. Survey enough people older than say, 65, and ask them which team they were first fans of. Ask where they lived at the time, then plot the results. That would be interesting.
At that point, the Cardinals would have been the most southern and most western of any team. So imagine the Cardinal area, with the powerful help of KMOX, covering everything west of the Mississippi (except Iowa, apparently) and most of the south. It would have been them or the Yankees. Tampa would have been Yankee country, for example.
I think you'd have to go back at least 60 years, at least for the Cardinals to be the westernmost team (we did have the Athletics here in KC in the 1950's). You're probably right about the south being divided between Cardinal and Yankee loyalty - and isn't the latter ironic, considering the other meaning of the word Yankee? Anyway, I will defer to your baseball knowledge on that.
P.S. The title of this post is a movie quote - any guesses?
That's kinda sorta trying to ring a bell, but I'm resisting the urge to google it. I might know it if I were given a hint.
Are there really no team loyalties in the so-called Unincorporated Areas?
I wonder if this has to do with how they decided to display the data. You could interview thousands of people and end up with a map that was a smear of thousands of colored dots. Or you can generalize, showing the predominant team loyalty bounded by neat lines; much more pleasant to look at. I guess it's just too sparse in the Dakotas and inter-mountain areas farther west for the loyalties to end up looking like much.
Does interest in the Team That Shall Not Be Named really cover more area in Iowa than in Illinois?
I'm suspicious of the line across the Missouri - Iowa border. For instance, I know there are Royals fans in Iowa that come to K.C. for games. At least, in years the local team does well.
The two teams in California's Bay Area share several bridges and a body of water, BUT the Giants fans break neatly for the coast, while the A's fans are only in central California?
I thought that looked odd too.
How can that many people be interested in the Nationals after so little time?
Now that makes me wonder if they used radio and television broadcast coverage maps as part of the process. The Nationals probably don't have that much of a fan base yet, but the games already have the airplay across that area.
There are no Blue Jays fans outside of Ontario? (I think that's mostly Ontario)
Yeah, that appears to be entirely within Ontario, and that is curious.
I would have loved to see a map like this 50 years ago, before any teams moved west and before there was any expansion.
Hmmm...that could be done. Survey enough people older than say, 65, and ask them which team they were first fans of. Ask where they lived at the time, then plot the results. That would be interesting.
At that point, the Cardinals would have been the most southern and most western of any team. So imagine the Cardinal area, with the powerful help of KMOX, covering everything west of the Mississippi (except Iowa, apparently) and most of the south. It would have been them or the Yankees. Tampa would have been Yankee country, for example.
I think you'd have to go back at least 60 years, at least for the Cardinals to be the westernmost team (we did have the Athletics here in KC in the 1950's). You're probably right about the south being divided between Cardinal and Yankee loyalty - and isn't the latter ironic, considering the other meaning of the word Yankee? Anyway, I will defer to your baseball knowledge on that.
P.S. The title of this post is a movie quote - any guesses?
That's kinda sorta trying to ring a bell, but I'm resisting the urge to google it. I might know it if I were given a hint.
Monday, April 13, 2009
A man needs a good map
Thanks, Bob, for the interesting and fun post about the mapping of baseball fans. I was somewhat surprised by what I saw and would be curious to know how they collected the data.
Here are some of my surprises:
Are there really no team loyalties in the so-called Unincorporated Areas?
Does interest in the Team That Shall Not Be Named really cover more area in Iowa than in Illinois?
The Dodgers' hotbed is roughly the same size as the Pirates'?
The two teams in California's Bay Area share several bridges and a body of water, BUT the Giants fans break neatly for the coast, while the A's fans are only in central California?
How can that many people be interested in the Nationals after so little time?
There are no Blue Jays fans outside of Ontario? (I think that's mostly Ontario)
I would have loved to see a map like this 50 years ago, before any teams moved west and before there was any expansion. At that point, the Cardinals would have been the most southern and most western of any team. So imagine the Cardinal area, with the powerful help of KMOX, covering everything west of the Mississippi (except Iowa, apparently) and most of the south. It would have been them or the Yankees. Tampa would have been Yankee country, for example.
I am sure you know that aside from "location, location, location", there is another axiom that would help enlarge a team's territory and it comes from Raiders football owner Al Davis: "Just win, baby!"
Hopefully the Cards will push the "zig-zaggy-ness" a little further north this year.
P.S. The title of this post is a movie quote - any guesses?
Here are some of my surprises:
Are there really no team loyalties in the so-called Unincorporated Areas?
Does interest in the Team That Shall Not Be Named really cover more area in Iowa than in Illinois?
The Dodgers' hotbed is roughly the same size as the Pirates'?
The two teams in California's Bay Area share several bridges and a body of water, BUT the Giants fans break neatly for the coast, while the A's fans are only in central California?
How can that many people be interested in the Nationals after so little time?
There are no Blue Jays fans outside of Ontario? (I think that's mostly Ontario)
I would have loved to see a map like this 50 years ago, before any teams moved west and before there was any expansion. At that point, the Cardinals would have been the most southern and most western of any team. So imagine the Cardinal area, with the powerful help of KMOX, covering everything west of the Mississippi (except Iowa, apparently) and most of the south. It would have been them or the Yankees. Tampa would have been Yankee country, for example.
I am sure you know that aside from "location, location, location", there is another axiom that would help enlarge a team's territory and it comes from Raiders football owner Al Davis: "Just win, baby!"
Hopefully the Cards will push the "zig-zaggy-ness" a little further north this year.
P.S. The title of this post is a movie quote - any guesses?
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Where is your loyalty?
Team loyalty, that is.
A few years back when I customized my Yahoo start up page, one of the things I selected was The Map Room (a weblog about maps). There's usually something interesting here, though once in a while it's kind of esoteric and you'd really have to be "into" maps to appreciate it.
Yesterday there was this post, and it's one of the more fun entries I've seen lately. It's a loyalty map showing "The United Countries of Baseball" (click here to zoom in to see the map better). Not much in the way of surprises locally; I can vouch for the fact that Cardinals loyalty covers most of Missouri except for the Royals loyalty in the northwest third of the state - Kansas City and the surrounding region. And it's interesting how the largest metropolitan regions with two teams each (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco) have their loyalties divided. I can't really speak to that, but I suppose they got it right.
One thing that caught my eye was the zig-zaggy-ness (it's a word now) of the northern border between Cardinal land, and the land of "The Team That Shall Not Be Named", as Cousin Mike has it. Whoever compiled the map didn't just draw a straight line across "somewhere in there"; it looks like they took the effort to collect quite a lot of data. Hey, if you're going to make a fun map, it might as well be an accurate fun map.
Mike, make sure you click on the link, if you haven't already. I think you'll get a kick out of it.
A few years back when I customized my Yahoo start up page, one of the things I selected was The Map Room (a weblog about maps). There's usually something interesting here, though once in a while it's kind of esoteric and you'd really have to be "into" maps to appreciate it.
Yesterday there was this post, and it's one of the more fun entries I've seen lately. It's a loyalty map showing "The United Countries of Baseball" (click here to zoom in to see the map better). Not much in the way of surprises locally; I can vouch for the fact that Cardinals loyalty covers most of Missouri except for the Royals loyalty in the northwest third of the state - Kansas City and the surrounding region. And it's interesting how the largest metropolitan regions with two teams each (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco) have their loyalties divided. I can't really speak to that, but I suppose they got it right.
One thing that caught my eye was the zig-zaggy-ness (it's a word now) of the northern border between Cardinal land, and the land of "The Team That Shall Not Be Named", as Cousin Mike has it. Whoever compiled the map didn't just draw a straight line across "somewhere in there"; it looks like they took the effort to collect quite a lot of data. Hey, if you're going to make a fun map, it might as well be an accurate fun map.
Mike, make sure you click on the link, if you haven't already. I think you'll get a kick out of it.
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