We go through this every GDMF year, yet for some reason, even though we ‘gain’ an hour of sleep, I always struggle for consciousness on the Monday after the end of Daylight Savings Time.
*continue drinking afternoon coffee*
***
My co-worker dropped off an NFL Gameday Magazine that another co-worker picked up from the last Broncos-Raiders game, with Case Keenum on the cover.
I may not be able to say it in person, but thank you, Michael Q.
#fuckcancer
***
I’m still trying to figure out what to watch during my elliptical sessions in the morning, once I finish off The Expanse Season 3. I’m narrowing it down to the new Jack Ryan series or maybe a rewatch of Babylon 5.
In related news, I’m almost finished with last season’s DC Legends of Tomorrow. It’s the one DC CW show that does not irritate me, which is sad. I may give Black Lightning a shot.
***
If you haven’t done so yet, don’t forget to VOTE tomorrow. Please.
***
It feels strange that for the first time in 3 years, I didn’t have to buy Star Wars movie tickets for me and my friends and family.
Meanwhile, SW Resistance has yet to really get interesting.
***
Going back to The Expanse, I don’t know which faction or side (Earth, Mars, Belters, OPA) I’d want to be on, truth be told. They’re all fucked up in one way or another.
I have no memories of ever seeing Willie Mays playing for the San Francisco Giants.
In those early years of going to the ballpark for Sunday doubleheaders and Bat Day, my focus was more on whatever food Mom and Dad bought for us.
Later on, when I was maybe 10 or 11 years old, I began to pay attention more to the games, especially on TV when the Giants were lucky enough to be on in the days before cable TV. Not all games were televised.
And I do remember seeing Willie McCovey.
Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images
Even on TV, you could see how big this guy was, the way he towered over the umpire and catcher at the plate.
I remember learning about his 500th home run while we were in the Philippines in 1978.
In 1980, the Giants had a ‘good student’ program that allowed students with good grades to pick pairs tickets to maybe three home games. I got to pick that year, and I chose July 3rd as one of my games.
Later that year, Willie McCovey announced his retirement, with his last home game as… July 3rd.
I thought it was pretty cool that I happened to have tickets to that game.
I asked my Grandpa to go to the game with me.
Grandpa loved sports, especially Giants baseball and 49ers football. During either season, up until he passed away, you could find him holding a small pocket transistor radio, tuned in to whichever radio station was broadcasting the game. If the game was on TV, he’d be parked in his chair at his house or even ours. And if things were getting exciting, his foot would begin to stretch out as his leg moved.
Anyways, I can’t recall who dropped us off at the game, but I remember that I was carrying a bag of cheese-filled Pillsbury biscuits that I had made for the game. Grandpa did eat a couple.
The seats were in the upper deck, and I was a little mad at myself that I had dragged Grandpa to the game where he had to climb up the rows to our seats. But I don’t think he complained about it.
The rest of the day is lost to memory. I had to look up the details of the game, including who they were playing (the Reds), who pitched (Bob Knepper) and who won the game (Giants, 4-3, Greg Minton got the save).
I didn’t think it was such a big deal about bringing Grandpa, until I recently told the story to my cousin Rich, and he was impressed that a 13-year old kid would think of taking his Grandpa to such a special game.
At that point in time, Grandpa was the only one in the family that had gone to a Giants World Series game, in 1962. I’m not sure which game he went to, so I’m not sure if he saw McCovey line out to Bobby Richardson to end the series.
I just figured that Grandpa should see McCovey’s last home game, since he’d seen him throughout most, if not all, of his career.
I recall hearing the interview with McCovey when he announced his retirement on KNBR, and he said “It’s not a sad day.”
But today is.
Rest in peace, Stretch. Thanks for everything you’ve done.
Instead of my usual elliptical/Expanse combo this morning, I decided to try out the new Red Dead Redemption 2.
I watched the opening cinematics, got to a point where I was actually anticipating trouble, and while my character was hidden behind cover, another character said that he found something.
As I stood to check out what he found, all hell broke loose as gunfire erupted, and while I found that I hadn’t lost my touch in shooting bad guys, my rather exposed character got shot up rather quickly.
When I get home tonight, do I set up one of the Leader games (Corsair, Hornet, Phantom) or a Sunday double header, Braves @ Giants, 1967?
I can probably play the double header tonight.
Any of the Leader games will probably be played over a couple of days.
And I found that I had been playing wrong, adding a phase that is only used in B-17 Leader.
I would include a round of homeward bound air/ground combat, which isn’t even listed in the sequence of play.
Whoops.
I was used to a phase like this because of playing B-17 Queen of the Skies for so many years, which requires a possible Luftwaffe intercept in every zone on the way back to base from the target. Again, B-17 Leader has this step, the other games don’t.
Except for Doctor Who, I’m not planning on watching anything now.
As much as I liked The Gifted last season, I missed the premiere and the episodes for this season.
I did watch the premiere of Supergirl, but I have no plans to watch that regularly, though I’ll more than likely watch the Elseworlds crossover episodes on the CW.
I managed to snag one of these Loot Crate exclusives off eBay: a replica of the Rocinante from The Expanse, the latest TV series that I’m playing catch-up on.
I must like this series or something.
I saw a bunch of 3D-printed minis from the series on Shapeways, including the Donnager, Tycho Station, and the Canterbury.
I also found this handy size comparison graphic from this site.
I recommend the series if you haven’t watched it. Seasons 1 & 2 are available on Amazon Prime, while season 3 is the one you have to pay for, for now. Season 4 is currently under production for release next year.
In 2015, Universal remastered the original Battlestar Galactica series from 1978.
Three years later, for the 40th anniversary, I finally picked up the Definitive Collection, which has both the 1978 series and Galactica 1980, along with the original theatrical release.
The difference between the two editions is that the Definitive Collection has both series in widescreen and fullscreen, while the Remastered Collection only has the widescreen presentations.
That’s why I waited until the price dropped considerably before picking up the Definitive Collection.
