"And now the leather-covered sphere..."

"And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air, And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there. Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped - 'That ain't my style,' said Casey. 'Strike one,' the umpire said...

He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew; But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, 'Strike two.'

They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain, And they knew that Casey wouldn't let that ball go by again. And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go, And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright; The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light; And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout; But there is no joy in Mudville - mighty Casey has struck out."

~ From "Casey At The Bat" by Ernest Lawrence Thayer



I love this time of year! When the Super bowl ends it means that Spring Training is about to begin. Anyone who knows me, knows that I love the Angels and bleed Angels red. But more than anything, I love the game.

And recently I have found a whole new reason to love the game, and that is due to my new favorite player. He wears number 8, and eight is great (Think Ripken, Morgan, Stargell, Berra and Yaz). Last year he played for the Tigers, but this year he will be playing for the Royals. The Tuluca Lake Royals that is, but I'd be willing to bet these Royals don't lose 100 games this year like KC did last year.

Okay, okay, so my new favorite player is only 5 years old, but this kid is the real deal, and he loves the game. Here are a few pics from last season's big game against the Dodgers.

Sam takes a few cuts in the on-deck circle.

Sam laces a double down the line, and takes third on an errant throw. Coach dad makes sure he knows what to do next. In the air, three steps and hold, on the ground your goin' to the plate.

Sam takes home on a ground ball to the right side of the infield.

The next inning the ever dangerous Braden Armes would find himself at third on a close play.

Braden's coach Doug Savant (who moonlights as "Tom Scavo" on Desperate Housewives) gives him the scoop.

With two outs Braden was running on contact. Sam would make a fine stop going to his left, but was not in time to get the runner at first (it's a long throw when you're 5).

Warriors on the field, best buds after the game!

Samuel Fick #8

I can't wait until Ben and Nate are in the game! 6-4-3 double play. For those who don't understand baseball lingo, that means Shortstop to the Second baseman to the First baseman for two outs.

JDF

Brilliant, Exhausting, Exhilarating

"Brilliant! Exhausting! Exhilarating!" That in a nutshell is how I feel about Alexander Dumas' classic "The Count of Monte Cristo." Roughly two weeks have passed since I cut down the monster leviathan and I am finally ready to say something about it. I say monster because at 1500 pages, the unabridged version is a thick read. It's sheer size is intimidating to be sure, but it is a battle worth fighting. Actually, I found that it was not much of a fight at all. Dumas grabs you by the collar on page 1 and does not let go until page 1499. It is one of those books that you cannot put down for long. It draws you back in. Dumas has a way of entangling you in his literary web in such a way that has you at the same time happy to be captured but always wanting to be free, but not for freedom sake itself, but rather that it is only in being freed that you get to see how the web unravels. It's a story about love, loss, providence, revenge, you name it and this book has it. So get it and read it, you won't be disappointed. Oh yeah, and if you've seen the movie (which is very good in its own right) it may have the same name, but it is not the same story! As in most cases, the movie pales in comparison to the book. Happy reading!

JDF

Why won't my fingers move?

I had piano lessons for about 5 years when I was a kid. From the age of 7 to about the age of 12 as I recall. I hated every minute of them. Practicing for 15 minutes was intolerable. I would even adjust the hands on the clock above the piano so it looked like I had practiced longer than I actually had. Of course my mom had no idea I was doing this (wink wink). She always told me that one day I would regret giving up and that some day I would wish I could go back and learn while I was young. I swore that day would never come.

But alas that day has come. In reality, that day actually came about 10 years ago when I began to wish I could just sit down and play the piano. I love music! I am always singing, and have always found singing hymns very devotional. And for the past 10 years I have wished that I could sit down and play and sing. Well until now I have stubbornly fought off the urge to try and learn. I'm not sure why, but I think it may be because conceding to learn the piano would prove once and for all that my mother was right. That her foresight was correct.

So now finally, at thirty years old, I have given in. My desire to play outweighs my pride. The church has a keyboard that we haven't used in about 2 years, so I decided to bring it home and give it a go. I read a number of things online regarding music theory, and even purchased a learning DVD on playing chords. I was ready to take on this beautiful monster.

Well, I have now been playing for all of 4 days. I know that I should probably have gone back to the beginning, to John Thompson Book 1, but I was too impatient. And so I started with a hymn "All to Jesus I Surrender." It is in the key of C, was our "Hymn of the Month", and did not look all that difficult in comparison to others.

I thought this was going to much easier...

I am generally a fairly quick learner, so I thought that if I just applied myself I would be able to master this as well. Now I may well tame this beast, but it is not going to happen as quickly as I had hoped, and there is one fundamental reason why. There is one crucial thing about playing the piano that I do not understand. One thing that keeps me from taking off and succeeding as I have done on so many other occasions. One thing that hampers all of my success. Maybe somebody out there has the answer. The question is simply this: "How do I make my fingers do what my brain is thinking?" I swear, I sit in that seat, I know what the notes are, I can hear them in my head, I understand how long I am supposed to hold the notes, and which fingers I am to play them with. All these things are going on in my head, so why won't my fingers move? Anybody?

JDF