Saturday, April 21, 2007

Diversions on an ear-splitting, "Thunderous" Saturday.


In case you were wondering, and even if you weren’t, weekends are slow here at NA Confidential. Readership generally drops 30% on Saturday and Sunday even on those weekend days when 70+-degree temps and the metro area’s annual Thunder over Louisville aren’t pulling a half-million people away from their monitors and placing them on Kentucky and Indiana riverbanks.

Last year we mentioned the fireworks and air show only in passing, but in 2005, the added attraction of a Christian fundamentalist rally the following day was too much for me to overlook:

Flatulence Over Louisville: This homegrown recipe for fascistic fundamentalism will be a sure hit at your Derby party.

This year, we turn it over to Lucinda Marshall's column in the past week's LEO: Connected Diss: Thunder air show sends the wrong signal.

Returning to today -- April 21, 2007 -- here are five random non-Thunder items worth knowing.

1. The NBA playoffs begin today. For those who loudly disdain pro basketball, enlighten yourselves by asking your favorite collegiate players (i.e., the professionals who don’t get paid) which league they’d rather be getting paid to play in. The answer shouldn’t really surprise you.

2. Today the Bistro New Albany is running an all-day NABC draft beer special, summarized by owner and chef Dave Clancy like this:

“Saturday only, Bistro New Albany will be featuring half price beers on all of Roger's wicked stuff. Avoid the crowds and come visit us!”

3. Also today, NABC is running its own beer special, but not on its own beers, summarized by the co-owner (that’s me) as such:

“Given the many barley wines currently on tap as Gravity Head winds down, we'll be running a carry-out special on the 21st, with $12 growlers of all barley wines still pouring on Saturday.”

Note that Sportstime will observe normal business hours, but Rich O's will not open until 5:00 p.m.

4. 56 years ago today, the criminally underrated rock vocalist and musician Paul Carrack was born in Sheffield, England. You’ve heard his voice on hit songs performed under his own name as well as others by Ace, Squeeze, Mike + the Mechanics.

5. Writer Samuel Langhorne Clemens, who we all know as Mark Twain, died on this day in 1910. Here’s a quote:

“In religion and politics people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing."

From the amazing Mark Twain Quotations, Newspaper Collections, & Related Resources website.

Don't forget the sunscreen, and stay away from mass market swill.

7 comments:

Shea Van Hoy said...

Roger ... what is it with the NBA again? Yawn. It's baseball season, and my Astros are 8-1 in the past nine. So, drag youself away from the TV, go out to the park and watch the best sport there is.

Shea Van Hoy said...
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Shea Van Hoy said...

One more thing, I think I've picked up from previous posts that you are an A's fan. Kudos on that. I have much respect for anyone who follows a mid- to small-market team. That's all the more reason to forget about hoops, get with the season and talk baseball, my man.

The New Albanian said...

Good to hear from you, Shea.

I've been an A's fan since roughly 1970, when I was 10 years old. Currently we're 9-7 and on top of the AL West, but given that recent Aprils have been horrendous, the winning record's more important right now.

When I was a kid, I always looked forward to the Sunday NBA games, watching Wilt and Willis Reed and the like, and during Louisville's tenure in the ABA, I rooted for the Colonels and the Pacers.

Of course, the NBA playoffs and baseball are not mutually exclusive, and this year the down time stemming from the shoulder surgery recuperation has kept me away from work and in front of the tube watching both baseball and basketball games -- an unprecedented number for this time of year (for me). I've been enjoying both sports.

And listening to lots of music. More on that tomorrow, if I have time to right it. Now it's off to burrow into my hole until Thunder is over.

The New Albanian said...
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jon faith said...

There are also, ahem, elections in banal localities including France and Nigeria -- best fill your tank early, I'm afraid.
Of course, (wink) how can such examples of Democracy compete with the Bulls-Heat?

Shea Van Hoy said...

Roger,

Right about age 10 was when I got into MLB as well. And the timing, I believe, is why I'm an Astros fan. I was 11 in 1986 when they won the NL West. My dad had one of those big, NASA-style satellite dishes, and everything was free in those days. I latched on to the Astros because of Glenn Davis, Mike Scott, the winning and the garish uniforms, I suppose. And the Astrodome seemed really cool to an 11-year-old, although now I imagine it was a horrid place to watch a game.

Next month, I'll mark two more stadiums off my list. New Busch for the Cards/Astros (where I promise I'll choose Shafly instead of Bud) and Yankee stadium with my folks for Yanks/Red Sox. Who know what I'll find in the beer tubs there!

I don't dislike the NBA. I appreciate the skill, for sure, but I still enjoy watching college hoops more. Perhaps it's because I don't have a real 'team' in the NBA.

Since there are plenty of baseball games on TV and I have MLB.TV for Astros games, I probably won't be seeing a lot of the NBA playoffs.

Well, looking forward to the music post. This past week, I've been listening a lot to the Peter, Bjorn and John disc (Sweden) and The Submarines (L.A. by way of Boston).

Cheers, Shea.