Random Notes from a Crank

Traveling through Pennsylvania was a scenic drive. Even though we were on an interstate (I-76), the Alleghany Mountains are a pretty sight. 

Our hotel is right beside the Delaware River, so even though I've never been to New Jersey, I can see it. There's a battleship docked on that side of the river. 

Hilton hotels tend to have good shower heads. 

I caught part of movie The Great Wall last night. It was fantastical but seemed good enough to watch all the way through. Good enough in a "turn-off-your-brain-and-enjoy-the-action" sort of way. I only caught parts of it. I'm trying to figure out what kind of accent Matt Damon was trying to have though. Perhaps Scottish or Welsh? 

In the wake of all these women coming out to accuse men of past sexual harassments, I think it's safe to say that more people, particularly those who had power to do something about Clarence Thomas, should have believed Anita Hill. 

This evening my son and I went to the Trailblazers-76ers game. It was interesting. I had never been to an NBA game before. Even though we were high up in the stands, we could still see quite well. 

Philly fans are notorious for being obnoxious and rude. They followed through on their reputation. As the Trailblazers starting lineup was announced, after each name of the player was read by the announcer, the fans shouted "SUCKS!"

And they even booed kids. There was a dance cam during the fourth quarter, and one chubby kid was dancing in an outstanding fashion to the wobble song. And then the camera people would pan to other people dancing, and the fans liked the chubby kid so much that they booed other kids dancing. Astounding. 

Random Notes from a Crank

"How Trump Is Ending the American Era" is a sobering article written by a guy who worked under Condoleezza Rice during Dubya's administration. He has a clear-headed analysis of the trouble we're in. 

On our drive to Philadelphia, I got to be in one state I've never been in, West Virginia. The slogan on the billboard as we entered was "Wild and Wonderful." That sounds more like an advertising phrase for some porn rather than a state's marketing slogan. 

The short amount of time we spent in West Virginia was good. The sliver of the state we passed through was quite pretty. Wheeling is an interesting city tucked in a valley alongside a river. 

Going through Wheeling made me think about the great character Chris Stevens from Northern Exposure, one of my favorite TV shows of all time. 

And that led me to a Northern Exposure wiki page about the character. Mash the link above if you're interested. 

Here are some relevant videos.





Mash HERE to watch the famous "piano fling scene." 

Stay Positive: Road Trip Food

What people eat when they're on a road trip tells something about their character, style, and taste. 

For me, I have staples that I eat when I grab something from a gas station. Junk food might give people a perspective on others' troubled souls.

Here are my regular choices:

Jack Link's Peppered Beef "Steak"

Andy Capp's Hot Fries or Cheddar Fries

Snapple, Peach flavor if available 

Royal Crown cola 

My So-Called Thoughts
I'm a fan of peppered beef. That stuff is just delicious. I don't think cooks use pepper enough in their dishes. 

While the Andy Capp comic is sketchy at times (a strip that portrays an alcoholic ne'er-do-well), I love that dude's "fries." 

Snapple is just damn good tea. 

When the cola wars were happening back in the 80s, I was voting third party. I don't usually drink pop much anymore, but when I do, I choose RC. 

If you're intrigued by RC, check out "The Tragic History of RC Cola" on Mental Floss. 

If you're so inclined, I'd like to read about your staples for road trip food in the comments. 

Stay Positive: Visiting Wrigley Field

On Saturday we drove up early to watch the Nationals take on the Cubs in the 12:05 game, the first part of a scheduled double header. 

I haven't watched a game at Wrigley in a long time. I think the last time I went was when Mrs. Nasty and I were newlyweds, and at the end of July we will have been married 15 years. 

Anyway, the tickets were my Father's Day present, and I appreciate them. 

Our upper deck seats were great, Aisle 429 row 9 seats 7-10. We had three foul balls come our way. In the first inning two came right below us, and in the second, the guy right sitting right in front of my son caught a foul ball. 

Having seen the ball park pre-Rickets era, I have to say I'm fine with most of the changes. 

Where there was once just a massive sidewalk around Waveland and Addison is now some Captain Morgan bar that was doing a brisk business. Such changes were likely to happen. 

Wrigley Field needs a large jumbotron somewhere. 

The atmosphere, as usual, was great. Wrigley is a beautiful ball park. My kids and wife enjoyed the game, and we stimulated the economy by buying various Cubs paraphernalia. 

But I have two things to bitch about. 

Where the @#$% are the Old Style vendors? The mighty conglomerate of Anheuser-Busch has limited distribution of the fine, hearty lager from Wisconsin. Jesus, they have beer dudes hawking Goose Island crap in opposition to Bud Light hegemony, and I can't get a Old Style? 

Then again, beers were 8 bucks, so maybe I was better off with sipping on my daughter's lemonade from time to time. 

So here's the second point I have to complain about. The Cubs outfield is HORRIBLE. Or if you want to put it another way, you can use a deep Southern accent and say the outfielders we have are "turrible." 

What the Cubs have right now is a collection of outfielders that could be described as the "castoffs of other clubs" or the "isle of misfit outfielders."

Here are the players the Cubs are running out there on a regular basis: 

• Justin Ruggiano: 104 at bats, 15 runs, 25 hits, 2 HRs, 10 RBI, .240 average, .333 OBP, .718 OPS
• Junior Lake: 231 at bats, 27 runs, 54 hits, 9 HRs, 25 RBI, .234 average, .263 OBP, .675 OPS
• Chris Coghlan: 99 at bats, 10 runs, 20 hits, 2 HRs, 4 RBI, .202 average, .282 OBP, .615 OPS
• Nate Schierholtz: 245 at bats, 22 runs, 49 hits, 3 HRs, 27 RBI, .200 average, .253 OBP, .551 OPS 
• Ryan Sweeney: 104 at bats, 8 runs, 21 hits, 0 HRs, 8 RBI, .202 average, .242 OBP, .484 OPS

As much as I hope Lake learns how to shorten his swing with two strikes and other players somehow become solid contributors, I'm not confident in such outcomes. Those counting and percentage stats are jaw-droppingly bad. Just really bad. 

Kris Bryant or Javier Baez need to learn how to play outfield. Soon.

Airplanes and Tomato Juice

After traveling quite a bit during my first ('02) and second ('07) academic job searches compounded the other airline travel I've done over the years, I've come to a stunning hypothesis.

Here it is: Air travel makes people drink tomato juice.

I've been on a lot of planes over the years, and I'm usually surprised by how many people ask for tomato juice when the flight attendant does the rounds. This phenomenon has to contrast the overall yearly sales in supermarkets, doesn't it? I mean, are that many people drinking straight tomato juice on regular basis? 

Is it the power of suggestion and/or imitation? Some bozo at the front of the plane asks for tomato juice, other people see that supple red liquid being poured, and they want some. 

Or is it because when many people travel on vacations they see tomato juice as something different from their normal routines? They're flying damn it, so let the Beefsteak juice pour, baby. 

Here's another observation I made over holiday break: Disney is a good place to go if you're a connoisseur of bad tattoos. 

Eleven and a Half Hours

December 23, 2008 will go down as a day of infamy for the Nasty family.

That's the day we drove west to Indianapolis to stay the night before we flew to Florida. We gassed up at Casey's on the east part of town and left the parking lot at 11:45 am. Eleven and a half hours later we finally arrived at the Hyatt Place near the airport.

It was the ice storm. A damn ice storm. 

When we left Chucktown, freezing rain was coming down, but it wasn't too bad. But as we drove farther, it got horrible. 

On I-70 we went slow, with me driving in the range of 25 to 40 mph depending on the nature of the road. It was slick in many spots, and it was apparent that the salt trucks hadn't been out much, if at all.

As we ventured into Indiana, Mrs. Nasty called her work friend who has connections with the tv station based in Terre Haute. Her friend relayed that she had been told that part of I-70 had been shut down because the interstate was so icy that the big rigs could get up the hills. So the friend suggested that we take Indiana highway 40 East and then cross over to I-70 at Plainfield. 

Terre Haute's roads weren't too bad, but past Brazil, IN it got really messy with frequent stops as cars and semis went up hills in packs. Some couldn't make it up the hills, and cars dotted the ditches. 

After we passed over a number of gauntlets of ice-slicked hills, we stopped for good at the top of a hill right next to the Putnamville Correctional Facility. We sat there for a good two hours. Most of us just sat, but some cars crept up and u-turned. After we got confirmation that I-70 was "open," we turned around also, ventured back to Brazil, grabbed some grub, and headed south to I-70.

But is was deja vu all over again. We went for maybe a mile until we hit gridlock. We sat on I-70 for two and a half hours. And then the our icy journey went forward in spurts and pervasive tension.  

When we finally got past the Cloverdale exit, things opened up. I-70 East was like much easier sledding with less traffic. But as we drove though, I noticed that I-70 West was packed, bumper-to-bumper, from Cloverdale exit to I-465, which is 32 miles. 

It was the worst driving experience of my life: constant stress and tension as I drove a car that I seemed to control, but occasionally it slipped and slid depending on the road as I had to worry about those in front of me and back of me. I've never seen so many semi-trucks in one day.