A Baseball Mystery Solved

Thanks to a podcast, I found the answer to a random question I had wondered about — what baseball league do the Lake Wobegon Whippets belong to? I didn’t know, and it occurred to me one day that the Lake Wobegon Whippets could — and perhaps should — play in the Green Grass League againstContinue reading “A Baseball Mystery Solved”

Of Stumptown and Opening Day

It’s April. Spring is officially here. Baseball is back. Opening Day is more like “Opening Days” — three games yesterday, a few more today, a few more tomorrow, and then the season and the daily grind begins in earnest on Wednesday. Nothing says baseball more than Charles Schulz’s Peanuts, what with Charlie Brown and hisContinue reading “Of Stumptown and Opening Day”

On the Eve of Garrison Keillor’s Final Prairie Home Companion

Tonight, Garrison Keillor is recording his final A Prairie Home Companion, to be broadcast tomorrow night in its regular time slot. There’s a certain sadness to this. My parents have listened to A Prairie Home Companion for decades, and I seem to recall that they went to a live show in the early 90s. IContinue reading “On the Eve of Garrison Keillor’s Final Prairie Home Companion”

Remembering Grover’s Mill

Today’s episode of Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac begins thusly: “It was on this day in 1938 that a cylindrical Martian spaceship landed in Grover’s Mill, New Jersey, and began incinerating onlookers with an alien heat ray, an event that was covered by the Columbia Broadcasting System and its affiliated stations, and that caused widespreadContinue reading “Remembering Grover’s Mill”

On The Writer’s Almanac

The Writer’s Almanac. It’s a public radio program distributed by American Public Media that appears on some NPR stations. Garrison Keillor spends about five minutes reading poetry, talking about interesting facts about the day in history, talking about writers who were born and died on the day in question. I like the program. But IContinue reading “On The Writer’s Almanac”

On Things That Need To Be Said

In all the insanity of the week–from a scandal that could bring down a government to an appalling crime in Pennsylvania–Garrison Keillor offered some words on what our country has become that went overlooked. I would quote only excerpts, but the whole thing need to be read. So, let’s look at then–“A Shameful Retreat fromContinue reading “On Things That Need To Be Said”

On Ending the Party

It surprises people who know my political leanings that I have a necktie that proudly celebrates the history of the Republican Party. The print is a collection of campaign buttons, stretching from the 1880s through “I Like Ike.” I wear the tie often, perhaps twice a month. I like to wear it. The surprise comesContinue reading “On Ending the Party”

On Garrison Keillor and Impeachment

Garrison Keillor, host of public radio’s A Prarie Home Companion, has an editorial at Salon.com weighing in on the case for impeaching President Bush: These are troubling times for all of us who love this country, as surely we all do, even the satirists. You may poke fun at your mother, but if she isContinue reading “On Garrison Keillor and Impeachment”