Poolside Pics
Wednesday, November 20th, 2024I seriously hurt my knee in March.
The Fourth of July rolled around and my knee was still injured.
So I began rehabbing it in our local pools.
I also occasionally took some 35mm photos.
Archive for November, 2024
Rick’s Canteen – Episodes 19-23
Thursday, November 14th, 2024
Episode 19 – 10.15.24
Show notes:
The jazz hour consisted mainly of the usual suspects: Sonny Clark, Louis Prima, Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie, Dinah Washington, Kenny Dorham, Don Shirley, Hoagy Carmichael, Miles Davis, Nina Simone, Duke Ellington, and more.
The soul, R&B, and funk hour included tracks by Same Cooke, Nina Simone, Ray Charles, James Brown, Solomon Burke, The Coasters, Betty LaVette, Bill Withers, Otis Redding, The Persuaders, and more.
The final 20 minutes was a grab bag of country, blues, folk, alt-country, etc. What some may label as a WASP block of sorts. This block included tracks by Richard Hell, Bob McFadden, Paul McCartney, The Walkmen, and Lucero.
A recording of the broadcast is available for you here:
Provided your device’s media player treats you better than the above WordPress player, the Rick’s Canteen google folder has been updated (this is always the first thing to be updated).
The Spotify playlist is below.
Episode 20 – 10.22.24
Show notes:
The jazz hour consisted mainly of the usual suspects: Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, Johnny Hodges, Sinatra, Dean Martin, Errol Garner, Louis Prima, Miles Davis, Hoagy Carmichael, Artie Shaw, and more.
The soul, R&B, and funk hour included tracks by Billy Ward & The Dominoes, Eddie Bo, The Clovers, Lee Tillman, Sam & Dave, Bill Withers, James Brown, Isaac Hayes, B.T. Express, and more.
The final 20 minutes was a dedication to Elliott Smith who passed on 10/21/2003.
A recording of the broadcast is available for you here:
Provided your device’s media player treats you better than the above WordPress player, the Rick’s Canteen google folder has been updated (this is always the first thing to be updated).
The Spotify playlist is below.
I normally chop off what songs don’t make the broadcast, but for this instance, the songs that didn’t make the airwaves are Elliott Smith tracks and I figure I’ll keep them on the chance anyone is interested.
Episode 21 – 10.29.24
Show notes:
The jazz hour consisted mainly of the usual suspects: Ahmad Jamal, Blossom Dearie, Johnny Hodges & Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Bennie Moten, Hoagy Carmichael, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Coleman Hawkins, Sinatra, Hank Mobley, and more.
The soul, R&B, and funk hour included tracks by The Impressions, Andre Williams, Eddie Snow, Sam Cooke, The Jaynetts, Marvin Gaye with Tammi Terrell, The Young-Holt Unlimited, Ruth Brown, Rosco Gordon, Nina Simone, Isaac Hayes, Bobby Womack, Bill Withers, and more.
The final 20 minutes was a grab bag of country, blues, folk, alt-country, etc that some are referring to as the WASP Block. That block consisted of a tribute to Kris Kristofferson as well as a closing track by The Deslondes.
A recording of the broadcast is available for you here:
Provided your device’s media player treats you better than the above WordPress player, the Rick’s Canteen google folder has been updated (this is always the first thing to be updated).
The Spotify playlist is below.
KLKT Stand In — Two-Five-One — 11.5.24
Show notes:
On this election night, I sat in for DJ Russet Burbank and decided to turn the two hours before Rick’s Canteen into a “Best Of” Rick’s Canteen’s classic jazz hour.
There were some technical difficulties that I had to work through so the broadcast recording has a few shaky moments that did eventually get worked out. And with Quincy Jones’s recent passing, I made an effort to play tracks that he helped shape.
The two-hour program consisted mainly of the usual suspects: Quincy Jones productions, Sinatra & Count Basie, Ramsey Lewis Trio, Don Shirley Trio, Keely Smith, Nat King Cole, Miles Davis, Nina Simone, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Bryant, Louis Armstrong, Dean Martin, Billie Holiday, Wynton Marsalis, Louis Prima, and more.
A recording of the broadcast is available for you here:
Provided your device’s media player treats you better than the above WordPress player, the Rick’s Canteen google folder has been updated (this is always the first thing to be updated).
The Spotify playlist is below.
Episode 22 – 11.5.24
Show notes:
Having filled in for DJ Russet Burbank for the previous two hours on this election night, I slightly changed gears and made this particular episode have a “politically/socially conscious” theme.
The jazz hour consisted mainly of the usual suspects: Mingus, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Wynton Marsalis, Mose Allison, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, and more.
The soul and funk blocks included tracks by The Temptations, Gil Scott-Heron, The J.B.’s, Curtis Mayfield, War, and more.
The final WASP Block included tracks by Blaze Foley, Randy Newman, Ani Difranco, Tom Waits, Hurray for the Riff Raff, and Big Bill Broonzy.
A recording of the broadcast is available for you here:
Provided your device’s media player treats you better than the above WordPress player, the Rick’s Canteen google folder has been updated (this is always the first thing to be updated).
The Spotify playlist is below.
*I normally chop off the tracks that don’t make the airwaves, but I figured I’d leave in the few that didn’t make it.
Episode 23 – 11.12.24
Show notes:
Because this week is KLKT’s first ever Membership Drive, this episode has far more chatter than normal. Even still, the jazz hour consisted mainly of the usual suspects: Miles Davis, Duke, Monk, Dinah Washington, Count Basie, Sinatra, Ramsey Lewis Trio, Sinatra, Bix Beiderbecke, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, and more.
We turned the 9 o’clock hour for this Membership Drive week into a Doo Wop and Vocal Group hour and included tracks by The Toppers, The Five Satins, The Crystals, The Ink Spots, The Butterflys, The Moonglows, The Jive Bombers, The Ad Libs, The Cleftones, The Ronettes, The Flamingos, and more.
A recording of the broadcast is available for you here:
Provided your device’s media player treats you better than the above WordPress player, the Rick’s Canteen google folder has been updated (this is always the first thing to be updated).
The Spotify playlist is below.
*Most of these Rick Canteen playlists exceed two hours, but since we this Membership Drive required so much chatter, this playlist came in around 90 mins.
Sandlot Baseball Logs – 10.2024
Thursday, November 14th, 2024Due to a lengthy delay, these write ups are a little on the light side.
October did bring the Drag three games though.
Below are a few words + pics.
10.5.24 – Austin Red Onions vs. Austin Drag – Govalle – 7pm
Instagram post about the game.
The Drag bats were alive and kicking all game long. Katy, Tyler, Braden, and others had multi-hit games. The defense was, for the most part, pretty darn clean. Hyndshaw went the distance on the mound.
The Red Onions brought energy and good spirit to the ballpark.
Looking forward to next season.
Perhaps a not-so-quick aside.
As we all know, sandlot is incredibly inclusive (from World Series winners to folks that are brand new to the game). The Drag collectively has a wide breadth of experience and we’re all still working on our fundamentals and such, so – these types of links recently floated around the group chat.
There’s a chance that other folks brand new to baseball may benefit.
I’m no good at putting on a Coachy McCoachFace, but these fellas aren’t so bad.
If you don’t speak Canadian, here’s another video.
In short, throw like Mo…
…not like Curtis.
Of course, every good turn deserves another.
So, for every link shared, there must be another.
10.11.24 – San Francisco Pelicans vs. Austin Drag – Govalle – 7pm
Instagram post about the game.
These birds flew all the way in from the Bay Area for the weekend and they definitely got in a ton of baseball across Central Texas. Unfortunately, not enough on this particular evening though (more on that later).
The game was tight; very close the entire way through. Sharp defense and challenging pitching made runs difficult to come by for both squads.
Considering these Pelicans don’t usually use modern-day sporting goods while playing baseball, this game had an additional wrinkle. They normally adhere to 1861 rules, so playing with gloves and bats manufactured by Wilson, Rawlings, and Louisville Slugger and the like is a bit unusual for them.
I’m sure someone out there who doesn’t insist on shooting 35mm photography when plenty of technological advances in photography have been made may ask, “Why would anyone choose to do that?” But I get keeping things nineteenth century.
Anyhow, Luke Woody came through with a huge knock.
Steven Carrizales grinded though inning after inning on the hill.
Only trouble is, as we closed in towards 10pm, The Man in Blue (TMiB), got a little tired and ended things a bit on the awkward side.
With the Drag up by two, one out and a runner on second (no runner on first, no force in play) for the Pels in the top of the 9th (Drag = home team), a Pelican sent a sharply-hit ball to third that Justin LaPrairie (3B) speared. The runner on second aggressively broke for third, LaPrairie waved his glove at the runner, it didn’t seem like a tag was applied, but LaPrairie was able to fire to first for the sure out.
Claiming that the runner went outside the basepath, TMiB decided it was a game-ending doubleplay.
There was a brief conversation between the teams and the ump. The ump was determined to be done for the night as he made his way off the field.
At this point, we were just about seven minutes from the lights turning off, and the game just ended on a flat, downer note. For all levels (and most occupations), there are some folks not interested staying on the job any longer than they have to.
Older sandlot photos (album link here).
10.27.24 – Austin Drag vs. Meat City Smoke – The Wishing Well (Lockhart, Texas) – 11am
Instagram post about the game.
This game was… rough on us.
Baseball is better than not baseball, but we donked this one.
We donked all day.
The Smoke played a significantly better game than us.
That acknowledged, we were collectively fighting demons of our own making.
Like a child, I stupidly left home without my cleats.
Two Dragsters arrived straight from a Galveston wedding that took place the night before.
On this particular Sunday morning, many players on both sides were gracelessly wearing our weekends.
Throw in the fact that, though this season hasn’t included any rainouts, this drought is murdering our baseball fields.
Enough complaining. We got to play baseball.
For that, we are thankful. But, daggum, this was a tough one for the Dragsters.
On a positive note – Mel made an incredible catch in right to kill a rally. Katy continued crushing the ball. Lockhart BBQ is still delicious. And a martini bar just happened to host their grand opening on this lovely evening.
Final score —
Drag = got smoked.
Smoke = smokin’ meats, smokin’ base paths, smokin’ Dragsters.
Here are some recent odds and ends sandlot pics.
Older sandlot photos (album link here).