Radar Love

A triptych of sorts...

Gary Burghoff as Walter O'Reilly on M*A*S*H

You had to like his character, naive and thoughtful, good to the core despite all that was going on around him. Growing up in a war zone, not easy. Really not easy in real life... but I digress. I've always been interested in the psycho-social experiment that acting presents. I think this is especially true of good shows with good actors that have long runs. Loretta Swit found it tough being the only major female character on the show. Larry Linville was also on the outside looking in as I understand it. Of course, when you see old interviews of him, he seemed pretty Frank Burnsian in his demeanor, so that might be understandable. And Burghoff, being small and playing a younger less savvy character was out of the loop as well. All the world's indeed a stage, especially for actors who get into their roles. It has to be burdensome or taxing, and I guess it should be if they are really doing their jobs well. That emotional challenge makes me respect the work that those actors do all the more. Radar Love.

Jugs Gun

I'm not one to be interested in the fastest, strongest, longest, biggest anything. I like the all around, I like the in-between, those who get it done by an array of skills and luck. As a fantasy sports player, this hurts me. I should want a team full of Ryan Howards and Justin Verlanders. Athletes, yes. Skilled, yes. Big numbers, yes. Baseball, not the kind I go for. I'd rather see a team of Craig Counsells mix it up against a bunch Jamie Moyers. Base hit, base running, double, triple, hit and run, change-up, location, location, location, breaking stuff, location, location, location, 3-2, 4-3, 1-0. Fantasy makes me root for Arod to go 3/4 with a homerun and three rbi's. I'd rather root for a hit and run and a sacrifice fly from a couple guys just called up from AAA. I'll take the odd homerun, but I don't like playing for it. I like seeing the speeds of pitches during games, not see that some dude can throw 96mph 80 times in a row, but to see how some other guy gets the job done with average velocity using strategy and execution. An 87 mph fastball, a curveball in the mid 70's and a change up that falls somewhere in between. Use them wisely. Yes, there's a little thrill in seeing the reading on the gun inch closer to 100, but I prefer to see it waddle around in the 70's and 80's. Don't even get me started on a Wakefield knuckleball bobbing along at 55 mph. Oooh baby. Of course, I'd be lucky to throw it that fast with all I've got. Radar Love.

Doppler Shift

Neeeeeooooooowwwwwwww. I go to the NOAA weather website probably twenty times a day. Literally. Part of that is likely due to my previous job where weather was so important. Whether I just got hooked on it or I return from force of habit through muscle memory, I'm not sure why, but it happens, often. On the golf course, heat, humidity, wind, rain, daytime highs, overnight lows, frost, freezes and so forth all had to be taken into account for a multitude of reasons that are somewhat interesting but not worth explaining. Back to NOAA. I almost always scroll down to the base reflectivity map in motion. It's great entertainment. It usually updates every eight or so minutes = always changing. Here on the Carolina coast you can get moisture coming from any direction. You'll get stuff blowing in off the water, the usual surge from the west and sometimes a big cloud just forms out of nothing and sits on top of you all day. Plus we get hurricanes and tropical lows and depressions and what not. If you don't check the radar, you won't know what's about to hit you. I like to know when to bring the dogs in. I like to be informed. I like to know when to roll up my windows. I like to look forward to rain-filled days. I love me some radar.

whew.