It's Just What Happened--and it IS a great story

I don't know how long Ned and Greg, his best friend, have been collaborating together to turn Greg's house into a haunted house for Halloween.   Greg is a tech guy.  He has traveled with big name stars to light their big arena concerts and now he works big corporate shows in places like Las Vegas.  So he knows electronics and gadgetry inside out.  He and Ned have been doing ever-increasingly complex projects ever since they became friends in junior high school.

For the haunted house, they block off the back half of Greg's house and put scary displays in the windows of the front of the house.

Some are animated, some windows have a real person, in costume sitting, looking like the mannequins in the other windows.

But when you get to the window of the real person and he/she leaps at you, you scream (well, if you aren't expecting it, you do).  One year Marta was a mad woman in one of the windows.  You watch all the show while walking around the path that leads to the back of the house.  There are strobe lights and things that hang and bump and blasts of air when you least expect them, and at the end, a ghoul to guide you back out onto the sidewalk.

We went over to check out this year's display and as we got out of the car, we could hear the screams of the kids who were going through the path.  A mother and her costumed kids were standing on the sidewalk trying to decide if they were going to go in.  She asked me if I knew the people that lived in the house and I assured them that I did and that it would be fine to go through the path.

When they started this project, Greg's kids were little.  Now they are in high school and have learned enough about everything that they can run the show themselves, leaving Greg and the older folk to sit inside, have some hors d'oeuvres and soup and talk with each other.  So we joined the "old folks" (who are our kids' friends) and settled in to visit.

Ned told me about the once in a lifetime experience he had on the night of the 7th game of the World Series.  He and his friend Jessica had tickets for a Phish concert in San Francisco.  Ned and Jessica are huge Phish fans and get to as many of their shows as they can.  The concert was to be held at the Bill Graham auditorium, which just so happens to be underneath the San Francisco Civic Center plaza, across from City Hall, where the city had set up a Jumbotron and a million or so Giants fans were watching the game.

Ned, not being a sports fan, watched the game with their friend K.C., who also had tickets for the concert, but left at the 7th inning so he could get to the concert on time, leaving K.C. behind to finish watching the game with his family and then meet them at the concert afterwards.  (I don't know how anybody could have left that game!)

Anyway, Ned and Jessica got to the concert and it started.   Phish played one upbeat song and then started a kind of mellow tune.  Ned said that what happened next could never have happened 10 years ago, in the years before smart phones.  In the middle of the song, suddenly the entire auditorium erupted in a huge cheer--all those people who had been monitoring the game on their phones and jumping up and down, waving their arms in the air in the manner of a last act finale.  Phish stopped the song they were playing and started playing "We are  the champions," which everyone sang along to, swaying together, and when it finished, the band picked up the original song right where they left off, to louder audience cheers.

Listening to Ned tell it, it was obviously one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences that you just hadda been there to appreciate.  He said that yes, K.C. had the thrill of watching the game with his family, but he missed the camaraderie of an auditorium filled with Giants fans and Phish fans and the moment when those two were in perfect harmony.

The Golden Girls and the Giants

That sounds like the title of some kids' book, but it's actually a literal title.  

In the morning, I went to Atria to bring my mother her laundry, which I had done the night before.  It as a real shock to have her open her door and show three women sitting there visiting with her.  Well that was progress!!  But then she introduced me to one of them (she couldn't remember the name of the other two).   It was a good friend of hers, a former bank colleague, whom I had not seen in so long I wouldn't never have recognized her.  The women had been visiting relatives in a nearby town and decided to stop and visit my mother as well.

I sat there listening to them and realized, with a laugh that I was hearing The Golden Girls.  The three women have lived together for years and run a business together.  One of them was tall, very intelligent, and did most of the talking.  Dorothy, obviously.  Another was perfectly coiffed and more quiet and while not exuding sexual overtones, she was very definitely Blanche, which made the remaining one Rose (and I guess my mother as Sofia).  I enjoyed my mental image as I watched the four women enjoying their visit.  The nice thing about visits like these for my mother is that when you have someone like "Dorothy" taking over the conversation, my mother can laugh and enjoy herself and doesn't have to reveal the extent of her memory loss.

In the afternoon, Walt and I drove down to Walnut Creek, where we left the car at the BART station and took rapid transit to AT&T Park, where we were meeting Jeri and Phil and other friends to go to a Giants-Red Sox game.  I figured that with us rooting for the Giants and Jeri & Phil fans of the Red Sox, somebody was going to go home happy,

We got there earlier than expected and had time to kill, so I stopped by the Giants' store and finally got myself a Giants t-shirt, which I have been wanting for a long time--and even found one for sale.

It was perfect in the park, with our seats giving us a sweeping view of the Bay and the low-lying fog creeping into the financial district.

We had left 103 degree heat in Davis and it was delicious to shiver as the night fell and the air began to get cold.  Fortnately, with my 2 layers of shirts and my jacket, I was comfortable.

The Giants didn't do well though.  It's never a good sign when your team looks like this on the field.

Jeri was not at all gracious as she watched us go down to defeat.

But the evening wasn't a total loss.  There was a full moon and with my new camera, I was able to find the setting that would allow me to get the photo I've been trying to get with a point-and-shoot camera for years.

Starting at around the 6th inning, the seagulls began arriving, circling the field over and over again, trying to tell all of us humans that it was time for us to leave their park and let them do some clean up of all of our leftover nachos, hot dogs, and soft pretzels.  I tried to get a picture of them, but they were too fast.  But as the park began to empty after the game, they really took over and it was easy.

 
We took BART back to the car and came home.  I discovered as I got out of the car and was so completely exhausted that I staggered  right to the couch, went to sleep almost instantly and for the first time in so long I can't remember, I slept 7 hours without waking once.

Kate Smith Lives

It was the 7th inning stretch and we stood to sing "God Bless America" when I realized that we were singing along with Kate Smith, of all people.

Kate Smith was a part of my childhood and she died in 1986.  But she was best known for her rendition of "God Bless America."  A quick Google search will yield several videos of her singing that song.  And apparently she will live in perpetuity for her connection with that song, at least in the 7th inning of Giants games in San Francisco!

We left Davis around 10 a.m. this morning to drive to Walnut Creek, where we would drop the car off at the BART lot and take Bay Area Rapid Transit to the stadium.  So much easier than trying to deal with the car in the city on game day!

We got to the stadium and entered by the Willie Mays gate, always my favorite.

This was "Giants bath towel give-away" day and we were disappointed that they didn't have any left by the time we entered.  Later, our friend John, who, with his wife, had gotten two bath towels, gave us one of theirs. At the end of the game, the guy behind us asked if we would sell him our towel, because it was his birthday, he was there for just one day and he had missed getting a towel.  I'm sure he was handing us a line, but I gave him our towel anyway and wished him a happy birthday.

I suppose all ball parks bring out the devoted in amazing costumes to support their team.   I remember seeing lots of odd things the last time we were in Fenway Park for a Red Sox game.

I was particularly taken with this pair of harlequin pants in Giants colors, though.  Now there is a dedicated fan!

We got to our section of the park. I love where we sit, which is near the top of the stadium, under an overhang (in case of rain), with a great view not only of the game, but also of the activity going on outside the park on the bay, with ships coming in and out, the ferry which drops game-goers off at the stadium, and the small boat which come into McCovy cove to listen to the game on the radio and hope for fly balls which might come out of the park and into the bay (rarely, but it happens!)

Of course to have those great seats, you have to climb to them. 15 steps, which isn't much to people in great shape, but which is a big challenge to me and was reminiscent of the stairs that I had to deal with in Italy back in 2009.   (Of course that was 300 steps, not a mere 15).  I was huffing and puffing when we got to our seats, meeting with a group of Lamplighter techies, who attend these games together.

Sabella was eating a big bowl of strawberries with whipped cream and Walt asked me if I'd like a bowl.  Naturally I said yes, surprised that he would make the offer.  The sweet man went off in search of berries and missed all the pre-game stuff, including the first fly ball that the first batter for the Marlins hit out into the bleachers.  

But the strawberries were delicious.

...and, being the klutz that I am, I was soon wearing them.

I figured that we would get some of those delicious (and ridiculously expensive) ball park franks and the garlic fries, which are the thing that I go to AT&T Park for, later. 

In the meantime, Walt settled in to watch the game.  As games go, it wasn't bad, until the 8th inning when the Marlins got the last two runs that would give them the win (they lead throughout, but the Giants did have their moments).

Walt had bought a bag of peanuts in Davis in order to break a $20 bill so he would have change when it came time to get lunch, so we started munching on peanuts and eating the pretzels that our friend John was passing around.

I marveled at how food at ball parks has changed since I first started attending games.  Today (a chilly day) there was a guy selling tall cups of hot chocolate and waving around a big can of whipping cream to squirt on top of your chocolate.

I also noted that vendors don't have to yell anymore.  No longer do voices compete for your attention by shouting "Lemonade here!" or "Get yer Ice Cream."  Now they just show you a sign.

I do love how they get kids involved, though.  They find all sorts of ways to make them a part of the game, like this little girl who was the announcer for one inning, letting us know which batters were coming to the plate.

As we were settling in after that 7th inning stretch, I was starting to feel that there were no garlic fries in my future.  By this time I was full of peanuts and strawberries anyway,but still disappointed to miss out on that classic ball park experience.

In the end I think it was Marlins 5 and Giants 2.  I was too depressed and didn't take stock of the final score.

As we left the park, the little kids under 12 were taking the opportunity to run around the bases and the harlequin pants had disappeared into the crowd.  We got on the streetcar, waved goodbye to our friend Gil Engleman..

...and headed to Walnut Creek to get the car, and head back to reheated potatoes instead of garlic fries and hungry dogs instead of hot dogs.   Owell.  There's always next time!

KSFO

This was the most beautiful radio station ID that I have ever heard. I still love it, and was so pleased to find it preserved on YouTube today.

When I was growing up, there was no other radio station in our house, but San Francisco's KSFO. It seems like it was on in our house all day long, especially in the morning hours when Don Sherwood, the self-proclaimed (and who would argue with him?) "World's Greatest Disc Jockey" ruled the airwaves.

KSFO was the home of the Giants, and announcers Lon Simmons and Russ Hodges, who made "bye bye baby" a common phrase--it even became the theme song of the Giants.

Giants games aren't broadcast on KSFO any more. I don't even know what format KSFO is these days...it went through so many (at one time I think it even became a classical music station, briefly). But when I watched the incredible celebration of the Giants today it brought back thoses good old days of KSFO, Donnie Babe, and the Giants gang.

The parade and celebration was incredible. I listened to it on the radio while driving around town, watched on tV while at home, and recorded a lot of it. The crowd alone was amazing.

Someone wrote, "Over four million people live in the San Francisco metro area. The way it looks on the television broadcasts, it would be easy to believe that every one of them showed up for the Giants' parade."

This picture only shows the crowd in front of City Hall, where Mayor Gavin Newsom presented the team with the key to the city. It is one of the last big acts he will perform before taking his new position as Lieutenant Governor, after his election yesterday. What a way to end a career as mayor!

But the Civic Center photo doesn't show the throngs lining Market Street for the big parade, which went more than a mile up Market Street to get to Civic Center. It was wonderful to see the greats like Willie Mays and Willie McCovey included in the day and I had to think how much Lon Simmons and Russ Hodges would have enjoyed the event.

So it's all over for another year and I can go back to being blasé about sports once again, but I've sure had fun this week!

Giants, Indeed!

I headed to the supermarket to get rice as soon as the game was over this evening. I expected to find everyone there jubilant, sharing in the celebration.

But no. Everybody was going about his or her business as usual, and when a woman at the checkout stand seemed incredulous that the store didn't have the game on, the two clerks looked glum. Nobody seemed particularly happy, excited or even aware that the Giants had broken the 56 year series losing streak and finally gave San Francisco a World Series-winning team.

You know that I don't often write about sports here. Contrary to popular belief, it's not that I don't enjoy sports. It's just that I have no grand passion about much of it. If there is a game on and friends are watching it, I enjoy sitting around watching it as much as the next guy. I just don't eat, breathe, and live sports the way Tom does, for example (and the way I assume that Brianna will do when she grows up!)

But...the Giants! I remember when they came to San Francisco and I remember the hopes rising and falling before. I may not think to tune in a game when they are playing, but I sure was going to be with them for the World Series.

I'm sure my children would be shocked to discover that I watched every single game of the series, often by myself because Walt wasn't home when the game started.

Contrary to Ned's cynical statement on Facebook, the game didn't go to seven games so that advertisers could make the maximum from their advertising dollars. They only lost one game and played the final winning again right in front of what I assume was a very disappointed Bush family, sitting over by the Rangers bull pen. Yes! Take that, Mr. Formers Presidents!

So "the torture" is over. After waiting 56 years to see the World Series Winning New York Giants become the World Series Winning San Francisco Giants, it's finally happened.

It was a very good day.

(There will be a ticker tape parade for the team on Wednesday. Such parades in other cities have resulted in rioting or other such mischief. I think it's a good idea that the parade will take place the day after the state votes on whether or not to legalize marijuana!)

They Might Be Giants

By the middle of the first inning of the first game of the 2010 World Series, I was already feeling antsy and wanting to get up and start pacing.

I have a long history with the San Francisco Giants, and most of it depressing.

I remember when the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958. Their home stadium was Seal Stadium in the middle of the Mission District. It had been the home of the Pacific Coast League San Francisco Seals, a minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.

The arrival of a major league team was such a huge deal that I remember going to a game with my father...I believe the only baseball game I ever attended with him. I remember the stadium as being almost like a sandlot stadium. Nothing fancy about it at all.

In 1960, the team moved to Candlestick park (sometimes called "Candlestink park" for the odors wafting in on those chilly winds which blew in from the Bay. I was in college then, and went to a few games with friends. The thing I remember most about Candlestick park is that no matter how warm the day started out, you could be certain that by the end of the game, you would be freezing.

(the stadium is now, of course, a football stadium,
for the SF 49ers.)

In the beginning it was a little strange going to Candlestick because it was at the end of the Hunters Point section, where the population was mostly African American and I always had the idea that it had a high crime rate.

I was working for the Physics Department at UC Berkeley when the SF Giants were in their first World Series. On the last game, I swear the entire clerical staff was crammed into the office manager's tiny office watching the game on a teeny black and white screen. And when McCovy's line drive didn't go 2 feet higher and they lost the series, Charlie Brown I knew what it was to be mortally disappointed.

Though I remained a fan, the Giants played in only three World Series since coming to San Francisco (1962, 1989, and 2002). It seemed that every time I watched a game, the Giants lost, so I stopped following the Giants religiously.

In 1989, I wasn't watching when the Loma Prieta earthquake struck, though Tom and David were at the game with Walt's brother. I was glad they were there because I knew that everybody in the stadium was OK.

When the Giants moved to their new stadium (whatever it is being called this week!) we started going to games. Our Lamplighter friend Sabella gets tickets for about 3 games a year and a group of us goes together. Even if the game was bad, who wouldn't want to be in that beautiful (fairly warm) stadium which had a view out to the Bay.

We usually sit in the very top row of the top balcony, right behind home plate. That would be my choice even if we could afford more expense seats. We didn't make it to any games this year because something conflicted every time.

But it's a new series. The Giants haven't won since 1954, when they were the New York Giants. Will this be the year? Probably not. I love my team, but have little faith in their bringing it all home, in spite of how the first game ended.

If there is any good thing, it's at least that we aren't Cubs fans.