Archive for August 6, 2008

Farewell, Skip and Alex

Posted in Books, Sports with tags , , on August 6, 2008 by macmystery
Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Over the weekend, which I spent at a campground with no real source of information, two public figures died that I wanted to say something about. They are definitely strange bedfellows, sharing a post like this.

On Sunday, Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn died at the age of 89. I read his book “A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” early in my high school career. Only later did I grasp the meaning of the work.

Solzhenitsyn defied the Soviets and was expelled from his homeland as a result. He wrote what needed to be written at a time and in a place where it could have meant he’d disappear and never be seen again.

Skip Caray, Ernie Johnson and Pete Van Wieren

The Braves announcing team in 1977: Skip Caray, Ernie Johnson and Pete Van Wieren

Unlike Solzhenitsyn, Skip Caray wasn’t out to make any political statement. But he meant a great deal to me.

I grew up loving the Atlanta Braves and listening to them on the radio every night when I had to go to bed before the game was over. I was listening in the dark in the late 1970s and early 1980s, just like boys … and my mother, the baseball fan among my parents … had in the 50s and 60s.

The trio of Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren and Skip painted the picture for me. And I’ll never forget it.

A lot of obits and stories about Skip this week point out that he was the son of famous announcer Harry Caray, voice of the Cardinals and Cubs. But I’d been listening to Skip for 6 or 7 years as a kid before I even knew that. As far as I’m concerned, Harry may as well have been father of famous announcer Skip Caray.

Here are what some other folks had to say about Caray:

The Hilton Head Island packet’s David Lauderdale

The Tifton Gazette’s Steve Carter

The AJC’s Furman Bisher

MLB.com’s Mark Bowman

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A day at the beach

Posted in Family with tags , , on August 6, 2008 by macmystery
Caroline's first trip to the beach

Caroline's first trip to the beach

My sister Michele’s baby Caroline, who had surgery just a couple weeks ago, is doing just fine. She’s happy and gaining weight, two things that couldn’t be said a couple weeks ago.

In fact, she’s not quite two months old, but she’s on her first trip to the beach.

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More Harry Potter? … well, kinda

Posted in Books with tags on August 6, 2008 by macmystery

"The Tales of Beedle the Bard"

I got an e-mail from Barnes & Noble today letting me know that the new J.K Rowling book was available for pre-order. Obviously, I was interested in what the Harry Potter author had coming out next, and to my surprise it was a Harry Potter-related book.

“The Tales of Beedle the Bard” will e released on Dec. 4 … just in time for Christmas, no less.

It contains all five wizarding tales left to Hermoine Granger by Professor Dumbledore in the seventh and final book in the series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” Only one of these tales, “The Tale of the Three Brothers,” was recounted in the book. The rest are revealed in this 128-page book that lists for $12.99.

Here’s the synopsis from the Barnes & Noble Web site:

The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a Wizarding classic, first came to Muggle readers’ attention in the book known as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Now, thanks to Hermione Granger’s new translation from the ancient runes, we present this stunning edition with an introduction, notes, and illustrations by J. K. Rowling, and extensive commentary by Albus Dumbledore. Never before have Muggles been privy to these richly imaginative tales: “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot,” “The Fountain of Fair Fortune,” “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart,” “Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump,” and of course, “The Tale of the Three Brothers.”

The stories are accompanied by delightful pen-and-ink illustrations by Ms. Rowling herself, featuring a still-life frontispiece for each one. Professor Dumbledore’s commentary-apparently written some eighteen months before his death-reveals not just his vast knowledge of Wizarding lore, but also more of his personal qualities: his sense of humor, his courage, his pride in his abilities, and his hard-won wisdom. Names familiar from the Harry Potter novels sprinkle the pages, including Aberforth Dumbledore, Lucius Malfoy and his forebears, and Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington (or “Nearly Headless Nick”), as well as other professors at Hogwarts and the past owners of the Elder Wand. Dumbledore tells us of incidents unique to the Wizarding world, like hilariously troubled theatrical productions at Hogwarts or the dangers of having a “hairy heart.” But he also reveals aspects of the Wizarding world that his Muggle readers might find all too familiar, like censorship, intolerance, and questions about the deepest mysteries in life.

But not only are thesetales the equal of fairy tales we now know and love, reading them gives new insight into the world of Harry Potter. This purchase also represents another very important form of giving: From every sale of this book, Scholastic will give its net proceeds to The Children’s High Level Group, a charity cofounded in 2005 by J. K. Rowling and Emma Nicholson MEP to make life better for vulnerable children. CHLG helps around a quarter of a million children each year through its education activities, outreach work in institutions, and a dedicated telephone and e-mail help line.

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A weekend of camping

Posted in Family with tags , , , , , , , on August 6, 2008 by macmystery

The weekend before I departed for my six week stay in Reno, Brooke, Dylan, Ella and I were supposed to go camping with our Sunday School class, a yearly trip that we have come to enjoy quite a bit. It’s nothing rugged, simply a weekend at a campground with a gaggle of kids and some good friends and good food.

Needless to say, with everything I had going on, we had to bow out. This past weekend was our “make-up” date. Along with 3 1/2 other couples from our class and their kids (20 of us in all), we spent Friday through midday Sunday at the KOA campground in Boone, N.C.

On Friday evening, after everyone got set up and settled in, we all went to eat at the Dan’l Boone Inn. It was pretty good. Kind of like an all-you-can-eat Wade’s. In the same vein, but not as good as the Dillard House. Definitely not on the same level as the Blue Willow Inn.

Dylan got to play nonstop with his friends for two days. And despite a bit of whining, he was pretty good for the most part. He got to play mini golf and swim on Saturday.

On Saturday afternoon, we went with Stuart and his two boys on a short hike, easy enough for 4- and 5-year-olds. We drove to the other side of Boone to the Blue Ridge Parkway and stopped at the Cone Manor House, near Blowing Rock and overlooking Bass Lake. The grounds are home to numerous horse and foot trails. We probably hiked between a mile and two miles. We also saw a couple dozen horseback riders.

Ella was the hit of the camp. Some of the kids wanted to hang around her the whole time. And she was the only one in our tent who had absolutely no trouble sleeping. She got a bruise when Dylan ran into her pack-n-play with a big metal dump truck. But she was a trooper. She even enjoyed the hike from her perch atop the carrier we have that Brooke wore on her back.

After we left Sunday, we stopped by the Mast General Store in Valley Cruces before heading home.

While I didn’t sleep well … a combination of the hard ground, the cool nights and the four of us in a two-person sleeping bag … I’d have gladly stayed another week rather than come back to work and wait to hear who’s going to get laid off.

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