BillyBlog Plays 52-Card Pickup: King of Spades

Found on the corner of 5th Avenue and 90th Street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn:



The following cards have been found previously:

The Ace of Spades (September 22, 2008)

The Jack of Diamonds (September 18, 2008)

The Six of Hearts, Queen of Hearts, and Eight of Clubs (August 10, 2008)

The Six of Clubs (July 21, 2008)

The Seven of Hearts and The King of Diamonds (April 24, 2008)

The Three of Clubs (March 29, 2008)

The King of Hearts
and the Three of Spades.
(February 28 and March 25, 2008)

The Ace of Diamonds
(July 7, 2008)

The Jack of Hearts and Five of Hearts
(July 19, 2008)

View the whole set here.

And here's the scorecard with the latest addition:

Hearts: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, Ace
Diamonds: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, Ace
Clubs: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, Ace
Spades: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, Ace

Rare Rainbow Spotted in Brooklyn

I caught this at Dyker Beach Park prior to Shayna's soccer game. Not only are rainbows rare in Brooklyn, they are insanely bizarre arcing over autumnal trees. Crazy weather indeed.

Out of the Mouths of Babes (Bi-partisan Edition)

We were watching the Today Show and Brian Williams was showing an excerpt of his interview with Sarah Palin and John McCain.

McCain is tooting Palin's horn and refers to her as the "most famous governor in America".

Shayna says, "Isn't Arnold Schwarzenegger a governor?"

I say, "Yes, of California."

She says, "Well, he's more famous than Sarah Palin".

Can't argue that 9-year old's logic.

The Overdue Return of the Gratuitous Soccer Dad Post

Many of you (or few of you, for all I know) may have been wondering about the absence of Gratuitous Soccer Dad Posts. Well, Shayna moved up to the Bantam League, and has been playing with 4th, 5th and 6th graders.

And it has not been pretty.

They are 0-3-1, scoring 4 goals in 4 games, three of which came in the tie when they rallied from a 3-0 deficit to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat.

So the highlights have been few and far between. I'm not impressed with the coaching, but I don't think it's fair to be critical when a) I'm not willing to be a coach myself, and b) I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm only basing my feelings on my observations of other coaches (i.e. ones with winning records). Our coach is at least nice and doesn't yell at the kids like other s.o.b.s

Update: Sunday's game was a heartbreaker. Shayna's Gold team went up to a quick 2-0 lead over a Green team that hadn't lost yet. It was exciting. We were giddy on the sidelines whereas the red-faced parents of our opponents screamed at their players in a way sadly typical of grown-ups who have instilled in their children too much importance on winning.

Then I became one of those parents who blames the officials. Green came back with two goals courtesy of questionable penalty calls. Shayna was the unfortunate goalkeeper that missed the shots that evened the score. She was hampered by playing on the big field with the biggest nets.

However, she was fresh for the second half and she led the assault on the green defense that dominated and resulted in Gold reclaiming the lead.

Then, the officials called another penalty which we are still trying to figure out. The penalty kick was good and the score was tied. The battle ensued in the fourth quarter and it looked like we would be playing to another tie.

Yet, despite the fact that all the other games in the park had ended and the nets had been dismantled, we played on. Shayna was mauled in the box by a Green player (there's DNA evidence on the back of her jersey to prove it), but the calls kept falling to our opponents.

At this point, we suspected the worst. The refs were keeping the game going until someone scored, and the Green team eventually prevailed. Several us started chanting at the refs that they could blow the whistle to end the game now, and, they did so within 30 seconds of the kick at mid-field.

The Green side erupted in spasms of glee (and the little twerps all got brownies- which would have undoubtedly been tossed in the trash had they not finagled a win). We grumbled, feeling a bit like poor losers, yet justifiably so. It was the first time I wanted to throw pies in the faces
of the opposition's parents.

So the Gold team is 0-4-1, but coming off of our best game yet. We might not make the playoffs, but we'll make our opponents work for their wins.

That previously was written around the end of September....

Even further update, bringing us current: Yesterday (October 11), Shayna scored her first goal of the season, with Good Luck Charm Grandma Diane from Hawaii in attendance. Then her teammate Omar "The Magician" added a hat trick, giving Gold their first win of the year, shutting out the Navy Blue team 4-0. Shayna played goalkeeper in quarter 3 and made 1 save.
Their record is 1-6-1.

They have three games to go. We'll keep you posted.

A Production Note

I finally updated my post from a Barbara Guest tribute reading from April. Yeah, like 4 and a half months ago.
Check it out here.

BillyBlog Plays 52-Card Pickup (The Ace of Spades, The Ace of Spades)

Found on September 22, 2008 on the 69th Street Pier in Bay Ridge,


The following cards have been found previously:

The Jack of Diamonds (September 18, 2008)

The Six of Hearts, Queen of Hearts, and Eight of Clubs (August 10, 2008)

The Six of Clubs (July 21, 2008)

The Seven of Hearts and The King of Diamonds (April 24, 2008)

The Three of Clubs (March 29, 2008)

The King of Hearts
and the Three of Spades.
(February 28 and March 25, 2008)

The Ace of Diamonds
(July 7, 2008)

The Jack of Hearts and Five of Hearts
(July 19, 2008)

View the whole set here.

And here's the scorecard with the latest addition:

Hearts: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, Ace
Diamonds: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, Ace
Clubs: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, Ace
Spades: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, Ace

Hayden Carruth, 1921-2008

Hayden Carruth passed away on Monday at the age of 87. I attended an 80th birthday tribute to him in 2001. It's documented here on BillyBlog. I had a funny interaction with him via the mail, due to my inability to get him to sign a poster at that reading. See the awesome Poetry in Motion poster and the story behind it here.

The New York Times obituary can be read here.

And a poem to remember him by:

SCRAMBLED EGGS AND WHISKEY

Scrambled eggs and whiskey
in the false-dawn light. Chicago,
a sweet town, bleak, God knows,
but sweet. Sometimes. And
weren't we fine tonight?
When Hank set up that limping
treble roll behind me
my horn just growled and I
thought my heart would burst.
And Brad M. pressing with the
soft stick and Joe-Anne
singing low. Here we are now
in the White Tower, leaning
on one another, too tired
to go home. But don't say a word,
don't tell a soul, they wouldn't
understand, they couldn't, never
in a million years, how fine,
how magnificent we were
in that old club tonight.