Friday Random 10

TGIF!  Time for random tracks…

1. “Playing Love (Giuseppe Tornatore Suite: The Legend of 1900)” – Ennio Morricone, Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone^*
2. “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da” – The Police, Every Step You Take: The Singles
3. “Learning to Fly” – Emerson, Lake & Powell, Emerson, Lake & Powell
4. “The Golden Age of Steam” – Steve Hackett, Darktown
5. “Special Cases” – Djam Karet, Ascension
6. “Shamburger” – Stephen Rippy, David Rippy, Kevin McMullan, Age of Empires Compilation Soundtrack
7. “Prelude for St. Joan” – Roger Eno, Between Tides
8. “Secret Garden” – Alan Parsons Project, Eve
9. “An Arc of Doves” – Harold Budd & Brian Eno, AMBIENT 2: The Plateaux of Mirror
10. “Dharma Reggae” – Ozric Tentacles, Erpsongs

^* I shooped this cover photo and used it for my entry in the 2006 StreamingSoundtracks “Sexiest Man” contest.  I obviously never won, but I was pleased not to receive sympathy votes.

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Mr. Scott Springs a Cr@pload

While still recovering from two other recent trades, a hardcover-sized box arrived, chock-full of Twins cards. A veritable cr@pload of Twinsaphernalia, and the return address was from Mr. Scott.

Mr. Scott collects Yankees cards (he’s working on his Phil Hughes wantlist), but as the virtual neighborhood of collectors knows, you never hold a person’s collection against them.  So Mr. Scott has my condolences, but I am more than happy to swap some collectables with him.

^{clockwise, from top left: 2002 Upper Deck Victory #197 Denny Hocking, throwback uni from the looks of it; 2008 Topps Stadium Club Beam Team Autograph #BTA-MTO Matt Tolbert; 2006 Bowman Draft Picks Gold #BDP19 Jason Kubel; 2008 Upper Deck Documentary #1663 (MIN53) Joe Nathan – if someone tosses a complete game (Kevin Slowey, in this case), you KNOW Joe Nathan wasn’t in the game}

Horsepucky.

GCRL Sweeps the Doubleheader

It’s been a while since my first trade with GCRL, so when I was visiting Garvey Cey Russell Lopes and noticed that he was looking for ’71 Topps singles, I thought I’d strike up another trade.

Before I could package up what I’d pulled, his box had already arrived. And it looked like it was loaded for bear…

^{clockwise, from top left: 2009 Topps Wal-Mart Black Border #36 Kevin Slowey; 2004 Topps Traded & Rookies Checklist #6, huh – never seen these before, but there’s a Twin on it, so I guess I need to collect these, too; 2000 Upper Deck Exclusives Silver #424 Todd Walker [26/100], my first of these bad boys; 2000 Upper Deck Gold Reserve #102 Todd Walker}

Friday Random 10

No filters on the music today, everything random…

1. “Disco Suicide” – Brand X, Moroccan Roll
2. “Waterfall” – Jeff Lorber, The Definitive Collection
3. “The Turning Point” – Toto, The Essential Toto
4. “Clap [studio version]” – Yes, The Yes Album [remastered]
5. “Erpland” – Ozric Tentacles, Live at the Pongmasters
6. “Structure & Discipline” – Thomas Newman, American Beauty soundtrack
7. “Tijuaniac” – Alan Parsons, A Valid Path
8. “Angela [Theme from Taxi]” – Bob James, All Around Town
9. “Learning to Fly” – Emerson, Lake & Powell, Emerson, Lake & Powell
10. “The Path of Wind (instrumental)” – Joe Hisaishi, My Neighbor Totoro soundtrack

A Bunt Gone Foul, and a Treatise on Topps Gum

No, this post’s title doesn’t refer to yet another poor at bat by Nick Punto, but instead to a recent trade with William at foul bunt. I contacted William because I have several 1970 Topps singles lying around that he needs for a set, and not all of them have marks or been shown too much love.

clockwise, from top left: 2009 Tristar Prospects Plus #35 Shooter Hunt, my first Shooter card; 2009 Topps Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Chrome Refractor #BDPP57 Chris Herrmann [55/99], another minor leaguer I don’t know; 2007 Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts #45 Harmon Killebrew; 2009 Upper Deck Spectrum #58 Justin Morneau

Although the bundle included several of my wantlist singles from a nice variety of sets, William tried to sneak a few pre-1998 base cards past me that I already had, and that 2006 Bazooka Gold Torii Hunter had a surface crease, dude! Still, the bunt may have gone foul, but you did amazingly well considering that I threw you a crappy pitch to attempt to sacrifice — oh, and I wasn’t Bipped. 😉

With some luck, I’ll have your high# ’70 Topps cards (and a few others I can find) to the post office in the next couple days. Thanks for the trade!

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And now, regarding Topps Gum…

I am fortunate to have grown up during the time when every pack of Topps cards included a stick of chewy nostalgia. And they weren’t coddled like the ones that you find in rare sets nowdays, individually wrapped, and numbered, like the stick pictured here. No, they sat right next to the top card, sometimes adding a nice darkened stain to the cardboard.

A veteran collector would know that before popping one into his mouth, he needed to work up a bit of saliva and let the gum rehydrate before biting down, lest he wind up with shards painfully jammed into his soft palate. He also knew to spit his gum out before the taste was completely gone and all that remained was a trace of…sawdust? Probably pine or some other cheap wood used in the cellulose from which it was made. And not to chew too long, or wind up with jaw muscles looking like Kevin Maas.

Still, everytime I swing by Baseball Plus to shoot the bull with Mark (and buy something, hopefully), I always claim dibs on any gum lying around. Because, you know, you can’t beat nostalgia.

Canada Flashback – Winnipeg Total Solar Eclipse

In honor of the January 15^th African annular eclipse, I thought it apropos to flashback to the only total solar eclipse I’ve seen in person, the February 26, 1979 eclipse in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

About a dozen of us, all junior and senior high school boys, and very loosely chaperoned by our Physics teacher, made the three hour drive north and spent the night in a Winnipeg hotel.  In our room, I remember Alan Parsons Project’s Pyramid and (naturally) Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon cassettes playing in the background.  Probably some cards were played, and possibly we actually slept, too.

On the big morning, we set up near the Winnipeg airport, along with a couple other cars of people also parked along the barren road there. 

Dono don’s his snow gear as others monitor the eclipse’s progress

Friday Random 10 – Soundtrack Reprise

More random soundtrack music as background in the home office…

1. “The World of the Dead II” – Joe Hisaishi, Princess Mononoke
2. “Gary’s Reserve” – Ensemble Studios, Age of Mythology
3. “Hello Ruth/The Last Crystal/The Venus Drug” – Fred Steiner, Star Trek TV Soundtrack, Volume I
4. “Nostalgia (Giuseppe Tornatore Suite: Cinema Paradiso)” – Ennio Morricone, Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone
5. “Absinken/Eingeschlossen” – Klaus Doldinger, Das Boot (The Director’s Cut)
6. “Kookai Foundation” – Yasunori Mitsuda, Xenosaga Original Soundtrack
7. “Only the Beginning of the Adventure” – Harry Gregson-Williams, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
8. “(Fine Layers of) Slaysenflite” – Ensemble Studios, Age of Mythology
9. “Navarre and Marquet Duel” – Andrew Powell, Ladyhawke
10. “Jump Off” – John Powell, Jumper

Carry on…

And, a bonus video: the title track of Rick Wakeman’s 1976 Winter Olympics movie soundtrack, White Rock:

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