When COVID shut down the world eighteen months ago, I began a little project. “Began” makes it sound like it was planned, but it was really just something I stumbled into. I took pictures of clouds. It wasn’t a daily thing, but it was certainly a semi-regular thing. A couple of times a week. ThenContinue reading “The Daily Cloud: September 3”
Author Archives: Allyn
Elbow’s Forthcoming Ninth Album
Yesterday, Mancunian band elbow announced their ninth studio album, Flying Dream 1. According to the announcement email from the band, the album was “written remotely in the band’s home studios before coming together at the empty Brighton Theatre Royal to perfect, perform, and record the songs.” And the teaser video captures some of that. TheContinue reading “Elbow’s Forthcoming Ninth Album”
Baseball Night in Lancaster
Last night I attended my first baseball game in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. When I lived in Chester County twenty years ago, Lancaster didn’t have a baseball team. Harrisburg, Reading, Wilmington — those would have been the closest baseball teams to me, probably in that order. I never attended games at any of them, though I dimlyContinue reading “Baseball Night in Lancaster”
Visiting the Grave of a Long-Ago Cubs Pitcher
At the end of 2019, the York Sunday News here in York, Pennsylvania, ran a two-part essay by June Lloyd that summarized the history of York County amateur baseball, drawing on an eight-part series originally published in the York newspapers in 1940. (First part here, second part here.) I was curious about the original articlesContinue reading “Visiting the Grave of a Long-Ago Cubs Pitcher”
Hiking Around a Cemetery
Spring has arrived in South Pennsyltucky; as I write this, there’s a moderate spring monsoon. The last two weekends I’ve gone to a local cemetery to explore — no, I haven’t found what I’m looking for — and yesterday, I drove down to Baltimore to look once more at Loudon Park. When I was thereContinue reading “Hiking Around a Cemetery”
An Abandoned Church
Yesterday morning I had to run an errand in downtown York. The local Democratic Party office offered a virtual inauguration package — a party bag of two bottles of sparkling cider, plastic glasses, buttons, flags, and other stuff — with a donation, and I thought that sounded cool, so I ordered one, which necessitated aContinue reading “An Abandoned Church”
The Mondas Choir Is Singing “Galway Bay”
Even on Skaro or Mondas, the drunk tank of local constabulary is no place to be on Christmas Eve, even when the choir is singing “Galway Bay”…
A Favorite Podcast Ends
This week, a podcast I’ve listened to since (at least) 2008 drew to an end — Tuesday saw the release of the final episode of BBC Radio Scotland’s Scotland Introducing podcast. Every other week, deejay and writer Vic Galloway would play four tracks from unsigned Scottish bands. Some of the music was to my taste.Continue reading “A Favorite Podcast Ends”
The Sandlot
With the affiliated minor league baseball season cancelled — and, in Pennsylvania, the unaffiliated season, too — my local baseball teams have been having non-baseball activities, including movie nights on the weekends. Sit in the outfield, socially distance, watch a film on the video board. I’ve not done one of these, though I was mildlyContinue reading “The Sandlot”
An Afternoon Walk
I took a brief walk this afternoon. An urgent project — a “red ball,” to use the parlance of Homicide: Life on the Streets — landed on my (virtual) desk this morning. After three hours on the project, I had a video conference call, and after that another hour of work on the red ball.Continue reading “An Afternoon Walk”