Monday, July 7, 2008

Random Detritus: Post Kickball Edition

I'm sitting here at my desk in moderate post-kickball pain, going through some things that piled up over the long weekend.

First, in the It's So Crazy It Just Might Work department, a guy named Jason Hunter came up with a pretty intriguing time-travel/fate LOST theory (via LCVG). Jumping to his conclusion, Mr. Hunter says:

LOST is about fate vs. free will. If something has happened in the past, is there any way that going back in time can create a new scenario where there will be a different series of events? So far, in LOST, no one has successfully been able to re-write the future. Now that Locke has taken the island back in time, even he has failed to create a perfect world on the island, much like Ben's time loop failed. For some reason, Locke believes that bringing Jack and everyone back in time and to the island will allow them to use "free will" to build a new, perfect world on the island - where it is free from the rules of fate, and from the outside world.

Good stuff.

Tears of a Clown

Larry Harmon, probably the most famous man behind the make-up of Bozo the Clown has died. From the Chicago Tribune:

Although not the original Bozo, Harmon portrayed the popular frizzy-haired clown in countless appearances and, as an entrepreneur, he licensed the character to others, particularly dozens of television stations around the country. The stations in turn hired actors to be their local Bozos.

Source: "Bozo the Clown actor, Larry Harmon, dead at 83" from the Tribune Wire Reports

Teams of Bozos scouring the countryside looking for children... that's a sobering thought. Rest in peace, Bozo.

Notes from the Batter's Box

My performance last night on the kickball field generated an image of me as a defensive stopper. I guess this is a good thing since my offensive output at the moment is effectively nil. Teammate Jessie went so far as to gloss me the velcro wall. It's not the Velvet Fog or the Splendid Splinter but I'll take it.

My favorite play last night was not one of the overly dramatic looking catches I managed to snag but a play I made in the last game while playing the hot corner (third base).

There's a very large amount of evidence to suggest that an almost guaranteed base hit can be had (provided the bases are empty) by kicking a grounder to third base. The nature of the ball, fielding it, throwing it with any velocity, and going across the entire diamond almost ensure that someone with any mobility at all will get to first base. Last night, at least, this tactic was used often and, being that I was at third, I got to see it put into practice first hand. This could also explain why I got a few line drives my way - errant attempts to hit can't miss grounders.

Given this trend, in the final inning, the girl from the opposing team lead off with a grounder down the line. I wouldn't call it a soft hit but there wasn't much juice behind it so, rather than wait for it to get to me and concede the single, I charged the ball, scooped it up, and threw it to first in time to tag her out before she made it to the bag. Like I said, hitting down the line with the bases empty is almost a guaranteed base hit. Almost. Call me the velcro wall.