Well-Written Book

I just finished a great book, A Well-Paid Slave by Brad Snyder.

The book tells the story of Curt Flood's legal battle against Major League Baseball seeking free agency for players bound to teams by a contractual provision called the "reserve clause." (Rarely has a contract provided such a compelling villain.) Brad tells an under-appreciated story in grand fashion, and the result is part Seabiscuit, part Gideon's Trumpet, though there is no Hollywood gloss here.

This is a great book, not just for baseball lovers and lawyers. It builds around a theme anyone can love: a man following the example of his hero (Jackie Robinson) and standing up to the establishment at great personal risk and sacrifice.

(I should mention that the author is a friend and used to occupy the office next to mine, though it is hard to find much mention of that era in his bio.)

So, go buy A Well-Paid Slave today.

Back Porch

Tonight, I got to the Great House (B.Roosevelt's name for the Roosevelt Street house) in the early evening, and headed straight for the back porch.

The new back porch stretches from the back of the addition nearly to the fish pond. It is officially my favorite part of the house.

So I headed straight back to enjoy the end of the day. When I went out, it was like the watering hole at sunset -- all the wildlife was out.

I saw a female cardinal, a chipmunk, two rabbits, and several goldfish (OK, they are always there).

So all of a sudden it hit me that rather than landscape the back area, we should leave it wild. Keep it a habitat for all of the neighborhood creatures pushed out of other lots crowded with McMansions.

Our architect says the verdant back yard looks like West Virginia. I think that'll do just fine.

I'm Back

Greetings to my fan. The blog is back.

Thirteen Years

Thirteen years, such a long, long time.

--Alejandro Escovedo

Happy Anniversary to D.Roosevelt. Lucky No. 13.

If you see Kaye

Tell her how much you like her chickens.

Ridonkulous!

Today's word of the day is ridonkulous. The most popular selection in the Urban Dictionary defines ridonkulous as "deserving or inspiring ridicule to the highest degree." I prefer the definition of the variation, ridonkulus, "just like ridiculous, but more intense." That definition has a Gen X Mountain Dew ad flavor to it.

I first heard the word from Tina Fey, my cultural hero, on SNL. I have used it periodically since then when trying to sound as young as I look.

But to my great surprise, it appeared in a column by Thomas Boswell in today's Washington Post Sports Section. Looks like its time for a new hip word choice. . .

ASFS 5K & Fun Run

J.Roosevelt and her BFF tied for 2d in the Arlington Science Focus School 5K in the 5th grade girls category! J was also 10th overall among kids. Woo-hoo!

Dash to the finish

Meanwhile in the Fun Run, B.Roosevelt ran the entire mile, without stopping!

Oh, and don't forget the school board vote today at Kenmore Middle School!

Vancouver Bound!

Our summer vacation plans are set: Vancouver, BC. We have a glorious week to see the sights, climb the mountains, walk the suspension bridges, and ride with tourists to see whales (that would be two summers running).

What should we do?

Low Budget Review: Fountains of Wayne

It might be fair to call me a huge Fountains of Wayne fan. Ever since I first heard Leave the Biker, I was hooked on their geek rock unabashed pop janglings. I like them so much I didn't get annoyed at the rampant overexposure of Stacy's Mom.

So it is with some disappointment that I offer this mini-review of their new record. It is well, fine. There is nothing particularly wrong with it. I don't reach for the trackwheel when a song comes on.

Normally lyrics are not the key to a great song for me. It's the hooks, man. I once read a review of the Gourds that said they could make reading the phone book soulful. Exactly. But FOW seems to have gone one step too far in cataloguing the mundane. They have become the mundane. The hooks are there, and a few clever turns of phrase ("ooh, we belong together/like traffic and weather"), but I'm not moved.

Maybe a few more listens will bring me around, but mostly it makes me want to listen to the older stuff. OK, now I sound like every musical curmudgeon, so I'll stop.