I see lots and lots of news. I see more news than I can possibly process most days. Although I typically am looking for specific, work-related information, some things just catch my eye.
Today on Yahoo! there was a report headlined, "Ballpark organist ejected for playing 'Three Blind Mice' dies." When I first saw this headline, I thought an organist had been ejected for playing the song, then died soon thereafter. I read the article, and discovered that the gentleman was ejected in 1985, but had achieved some celebrity for being ejected after playing the song after a blown call by an umpire (who apparently had absolutely *no* sense of humor). Just as I was thinking that this potentially tragicomic story was going to have no humor whatsoever, I came across the name of the stadium from which the organist was ejected.
Jack Russell Stadium. Now, for any of you who ever knew my uncle N's dog Scooter will have a very clear, and unforgettable association with the words "Jack Russell." I immediately thought of an entire stadium filled with dogs that looked like puppies and "played" like wolf pups. I could not tell you how many times we ended up getting Scooter riled up and having to run away from him because he kept attacking us. Good times.
The Houston Chronicle, which is a bastion of hard hitting journalism (I hope none of the sarcasm there dripped into your CPU), ran an AP story today entitled "Even Spade didn't know when 'Just Shoot Me' died." The story was actually about the fact that Spade found out the show was not being renewed from a newspaper. However, as so often happens, the actual story was less interesting that what it made me think of. That is, the concept of jumping the shark.
I first heard this term from Bill Simmons, the former Boston Sports Guy, then the Sports Guy, now a writer for Jimmy Kimmel and a contributor to ESPN.com's page 2. However, as so often happens, once I heard it once, I heard it EVERYWHERE. It means, in short, that moment when a television show that was OK becomes irredeemably bad. For instance, there is broad agreement that The Brady Bunch jumped the shark when Cousin Oliver joined the show. Similarly, Scooby-Doo jumped when Scrappy-Doo was introduced. The one thing that bothered me about the term was that I didn't know the derivation. What shark? Who jumped? Then L and I were watching a VH-1 I Love the 70's thing, and they discussed the Happy Days when Fonzie, in leather and boots, water skis and . . . jumps a shark. Verily, I say unto you, that is one of the worst moments in television history and deserves to be immortalized as a short hand for the end of an era.
The Chicago Sun-Times had a report about State Street in Chicago. It is a typical puff piece in that it really just says that State Street is good and strip malls are bad. However, the end of the story has a State Street timeline which has a few interesting tidbits.
In 1831 State Street was part of the State Road authorized to go from Chicago to Vincennes, Indiana, which was a bigger city at the time. Presumably that means that if you get on State at Lincoln Park and don't get off of it, you'll be in Vincennes, Indiana, although I believe that Stateway Gardens on the South Side may make this a dicey proposition.
In 1908 the City Council renumbered Chicago addresses with the east/west axis being State Street. This is interesting, except that it means that if you grow up on the North Side, you are aware of essentially no addresses that include a direction other than North or West. I guess they didn't think of THAT!
In 1926, with Calvin Coolidge presiding, State Street switched on "the world's brightest streetlights." Two things about this. First, Coolidge's presidency was really about the most boring term imaginable, wasn't it? I mean, he presided over street lights? Good grief. This guy must have been death at a cocktail party. Second, I believe, after having traveled in the United States and Europe, that Chicago may have the brightest streetlights known to humanity. I never realized how bright the city was until I went to places that have a concept known as "light pollution." Whatever that is, we ain't got none of it here.
Today on Yahoo! there was a report headlined, "Ballpark organist ejected for playing 'Three Blind Mice' dies." When I first saw this headline, I thought an organist had been ejected for playing the song, then died soon thereafter. I read the article, and discovered that the gentleman was ejected in 1985, but had achieved some celebrity for being ejected after playing the song after a blown call by an umpire (who apparently had absolutely *no* sense of humor). Just as I was thinking that this potentially tragicomic story was going to have no humor whatsoever, I came across the name of the stadium from which the organist was ejected.
Jack Russell Stadium. Now, for any of you who ever knew my uncle N's dog Scooter will have a very clear, and unforgettable association with the words "Jack Russell." I immediately thought of an entire stadium filled with dogs that looked like puppies and "played" like wolf pups. I could not tell you how many times we ended up getting Scooter riled up and having to run away from him because he kept attacking us. Good times.
The Houston Chronicle, which is a bastion of hard hitting journalism (I hope none of the sarcasm there dripped into your CPU), ran an AP story today entitled "Even Spade didn't know when 'Just Shoot Me' died." The story was actually about the fact that Spade found out the show was not being renewed from a newspaper. However, as so often happens, the actual story was less interesting that what it made me think of. That is, the concept of jumping the shark.
I first heard this term from Bill Simmons, the former Boston Sports Guy, then the Sports Guy, now a writer for Jimmy Kimmel and a contributor to ESPN.com's page 2. However, as so often happens, once I heard it once, I heard it EVERYWHERE. It means, in short, that moment when a television show that was OK becomes irredeemably bad. For instance, there is broad agreement that The Brady Bunch jumped the shark when Cousin Oliver joined the show. Similarly, Scooby-Doo jumped when Scrappy-Doo was introduced. The one thing that bothered me about the term was that I didn't know the derivation. What shark? Who jumped? Then L and I were watching a VH-1 I Love the 70's thing, and they discussed the Happy Days when Fonzie, in leather and boots, water skis and . . . jumps a shark. Verily, I say unto you, that is one of the worst moments in television history and deserves to be immortalized as a short hand for the end of an era.
The Chicago Sun-Times had a report about State Street in Chicago. It is a typical puff piece in that it really just says that State Street is good and strip malls are bad. However, the end of the story has a State Street timeline which has a few interesting tidbits.
In 1831 State Street was part of the State Road authorized to go from Chicago to Vincennes, Indiana, which was a bigger city at the time. Presumably that means that if you get on State at Lincoln Park and don't get off of it, you'll be in Vincennes, Indiana, although I believe that Stateway Gardens on the South Side may make this a dicey proposition.
In 1908 the City Council renumbered Chicago addresses with the east/west axis being State Street. This is interesting, except that it means that if you grow up on the North Side, you are aware of essentially no addresses that include a direction other than North or West. I guess they didn't think of THAT!
In 1926, with Calvin Coolidge presiding, State Street switched on "the world's brightest streetlights." Two things about this. First, Coolidge's presidency was really about the most boring term imaginable, wasn't it? I mean, he presided over street lights? Good grief. This guy must have been death at a cocktail party. Second, I believe, after having traveled in the United States and Europe, that Chicago may have the brightest streetlights known to humanity. I never realized how bright the city was until I went to places that have a concept known as "light pollution." Whatever that is, we ain't got none of it here.
posted by David at 12:06 PM
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