Music Friday: "Pop Song 89"

I was talking with a friend yesterday about the few times I've been on the U of Iowa's campus. 

The last time I was on that campus was the Green tour of R.E.M. They played at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. 

My high school girlfriend and I went to the rock show. 

Here's the opening track on the Green album.

Musing of the Moment: A Rant & a Plea for Sanity for the Strike Zone and for Me

I will preface this musing (or rant) with the fact that I have umpired and probably will continue to umpire. I have simply umpired for our local rec league baseball either behind the plate or as a base umpire. 

Umpires have a difficult job. Lots of fans bitch and moan about calls. Coaches are sometimes dicks to them. Players have terrible body language after they don't get the calls they want. I've seen some terrible fan behavior to umpires. 

Some fans are just deplorable. 

For the past four years, I've been on the coaching staff of travel baseball team. And I don't understand what the hell has happened to the strike zone. 

The official definition of the strike zone from Major League Baseball is as follows: "...the area over home plate from the midpoint between the batter's shoulders and the top of the uniform pants ... and a point just below the kneecap." 

You can see for yourself by hitting the hyperlink above. 

So why in the hell are home plate umpires not calling strikes at the belt or above the belt to batters who are nine, eleven, fourteen, and sixteen years old? 

What are we trying to accomplish by not calling high strikes? 

I've seen strike zones called that are basically from the players crotch to his knees--balls to kneecaps. I'm in the dugout and can see quite plainly the vertical range of the strike zone. 

If a home plate ump calls high strikes, the game moves more briskly and the batters are more likely to put the ball in play. In addition, those strikes at the belt and above the belt are great pitches to hit. More balls in play equals more action and entertainment. 

There were umps out there this season calling a smaller vertical strike zone in 15u travel games than when you watch MLB baseball games. 

The common counterargument is, "Well, as long as the strike zone is consistent for both teams, that's fine." 

I disagree. A strike zone that small is shitty, dumb, and annoying. 

Having a consistently shitty strike zone is no way to play baseball. Go by the strike zone laid out by Major League Baseball. 

For me, I'm calling the zone from the midpoint to the bottom of the knees with a ball inside the plate and one or two balls outside the plate. And if a batter has two strikes on him and there's a borderline pitch thrown, the only walking he's doing is back to the dugout. 

I hope more home plate umps do the same. 

Music Friday: "Lie in Our Graves"

Here's a classic from DMB. It's one of my favorite songs of his in his catalog.

The second video is live with Derek Trucks.  

Music Friday: "Underground"

I'm way way with this Music Friday post that actually gets published on a Monday. 

So it goes. 

Lately I've been revisiting the early work of Ben Folds Five. If you first introduced to the band back in the 90s, it's likely that this song was possibly the first tune you heard from them. 

I've never seen this video before. 

Music Friday: "Do You Realize??"

Last month my daughter went to a Flaming Lips concert with her friends, and she said the band played the Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots album, which I was unfamiliar with. 

I have always been intrigued by this band that got recognition in the 90s, but I never bought any of their albums. 

So I'm late to the party because I bought the Yoshimi album after my daughter told me about how good the band was in concert. 

Here's "Do You Realize??"

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole

I made this Midwestern classic casserole for Independence Day. If you've ever been to a potluck in the Midwest, you're probably familiar with it.

Ingredients

3 TB of butter

1 small onion, diced

1 30 oz. bag of frozen hashbrowns 

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

1 cup of sour cream

2 1/2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1 cup of chicken borth

Healthy smidge of Tastefully Simple's Garlic Garlic seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

Process

In a skillet, melt the butter over medium heat and add the onions. Sweat down the onions until they are soft. In the meantime, spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, add the hashbrowns, cooked onions, stock, sour cream, soup mix, and about 1 3/4 cup of cheese along with the seasonings. Mix well so it's fully incorporated. 

Place the ingredients into the baking dish and top with the rest of the cheese. Bake at anywhere from 350 to 375 degrees for approximately 45 minutes. I did mine at 350, and it took much longer than 45 minutes to get the sides all bubbly and the top golden brown, so I'm going with 375 degrees the next time I make it. 

If you really want to go full umami with the dish, I think it would be a good idea to sweat down some fresh mushrooms to incorporate into the recipe. I'm also contemplating the addition of smoked paprika.