Not a damn thing.
You see, I’ve been away for the last 3 ½ months. Drove across
the country twice. 30 States in all. Just looking at stuff. (And visiting my mom in NY. 94 this month. She’s
good. Thanks for asking.)
Did a lot of Route 66.
This is what I learned – and I promise, eventually it relates to
baseball. Eventually.
There is a concept in both Hinduism and Buddhism called Samsara –
roughly, the beginningless cycle
of repeated birth, mundane existence and dying again.
Route 66 is a two-thousand-mile meditation
on Samsara. Towns that were. Attractions that only attract people seeking irony.
An abandoned Radio Shack located in an abandoned shack. The greatness of post
WW2 America and where we are now.
Birth. Mundane Existence. Dying
Again.
I experienced America as a story
told in billboards. The dominant messaging in each state revealing an aspect of
itself, reflecting its struggles and solutions.
In CA it’s pot stores and medical facilities. In Nevada, casinos and rehab. Wyoming offered Jesus and Jesus, (and
Trump 2024, and sometimes Trump as Jesus.)
Missouri was Adult Superstores vs. Jesus
in a 500-mile battle. A cartoon devil and angel on your shoulder kind of thing. Also lots of caves. Caves to Hell? Caves as glory holes? That is one messed up state.
I won’t do them all.
That said, every state is inundated
with billboards for Indian Casinos. This country has a serious gambling problem
and the irony of MLB celebrating a movie that reveres Shoeless Joe Jackson on a
broadcast that had commercials for Fan Duel should be noted. Maybe it’s time to put him in the hall.
And there’s my segue…
Thanks to MLB Extra Innings I was
able to end every day on my trip watching the Yankees. But, truth is, the further along I drove, the more my attitude changed towards the game. I started to see it in a broader context. The
Yankees as Samsara. Birth. Mundane Existence.
Dying Again.
The game starts, the game ends. Players
get sick. Players return. Birth. Mundane Existence. Dying Again – particularly with
our current bullpen. Dying a little too often if you ask me.
Oh, and for the record, Brain and
Boone still need to go. Look, I had an
epiphany but I’m not insane. They are the worst.
I guess what I’m saying is that I
can’t get mad at Gardy who, even though he should have retired, is giving
everything he has left. I can’t get mad
at Stanton even though he should just pick the batting stance that works and
stick with it. I can’t get mad at Andrew
Heaney who… actually, I can. Fuck that guy. He should never pitch for us again.
Seriously that guy sucks.
Damn it. Something does suck.
There goes my
premise.
Never mind.
ReplyDeleteAs a closet Buddhist, has the Rte66 driving changed how you feel about . . . cows?
Not Route 66 per se... but eating here did.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bigtexan.com
Doug K.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you really want to either marvel or freak out here's...
Molly Schuyler at the Big Texan vs 3 -72oz steak meals 20 minutes flat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7GkAQsgbCo
Doug K.
<--out if the closet Buddhist.
ReplyDeleteWhich reminds me of:
What did the monk say after seeing the face of Jesus in his tub of margarine?
" I can't believe it's not Buddah".
Of*
ReplyDeleteGreat post
ReplyDelete-3pco
These are Great Words:
ReplyDelete"The game starts, the game ends. Players get sick. Players return. Birth. Mundane Existence. Dying Again – particularly with our current bullpen. Dying a little too often if you ask me.
Oh, and for the record, Brain and Boone still need to go. Look, I had an epiphany but I’m not insane. They are the worst."
They should be the new blog chyron. Brava and Bravo, Sir. Brava and Bravo.
ReplyDeleteInspired and inspiring post. Thanks for this.
Great post thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteIn other news Red Thunder moved to 60 day DL list
Good stuff, Doug. thank you. The Molly Schuyler thing - wow.
ReplyDeleteI have driven across the country many times, often with the radio off, no music. Not by design, but it just kind of happens and I realized I have gone 600 miles with no words and no music. The samsara thing, indeed.
Been holding off the last year or two due to, uh, this kind of weird pandemic thing that's becoming endemic. I guess I should not let it stop me and I may, indeed, try for a liftoff in the coming weeks. We shall see.
My first few trips, way back, I was searching on and for old 66. I'd find one old patch of the mother road and would stop and feel the asphalt with my hands. Drove around with a rental and some water bottles and a box of Fig Newtons in the back seat. Gotten a bit more elaborate now, but that's okay.
Been ruminating on it in a sort of desultory way for a while in the pages of the Canyon Country Zephyr - https://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/?s=vlachos
And on my now-rarely-updated and in need of a complete redo website:
http://motelsign.com
Also a book I just put out and another one in the works, but I won't link to them.
Okay, must cook the dog his supper.
13bit,
ReplyDeleteReally enjoyed your writing! Thanks for the links.
If you make it out this way let me know. I'll drive up to 200 miles just to hang out.
Speaking of which, next time I'm in NY I'll post it here. Anyone who wants to grab a drink - I'm a big fan of the bar in Bryant Park (because I take the train in) but am open to suggestions - let's do it.
As to Music vs. Silence. When I used to develop and write the guest experience for museums and attractions I would use music to lock me into a mood or a location. I sort of developed that habit for car rides as well, so I drove through Arizona and New Mexico listening to a lot of Ry Cooder.
Western PA was all "Autumn Thunder: 40 Years Of NFL Films Music" because Western PA is where all the quarterbacks used to originate.
That said, I too would find I drove a couple of hundred miles without any sound at all.
Thanks again for the links. I bookmarked em and look forward to reading more.
Doug K.
Doug K.-- Thanks for spewing your mite of carbon dioxide into the air for the past two months, doing your worst to ensure the demise of the human race in the coming decades. Do you have any sense of the world beyond your tiny, constricted egoic horizon?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/aug/09/humans-have-caused-unprecedented-and-irreversible-change-to-climate-scientists-warn
Oh go suck it Puckered. You have no idea what Doug K.'s driving or his carbon footprint or what mitigation steps he's taken. I drive fast cars, and I'm not giving them up. But I also have a near carbon neutral home and plant tress. Lots of trees. And my next fast car will be all electric.
ReplyDeleteSo as I posited earlier: go suck it.
Doug, thank you for posting this, it's absolutely beautiful and triple confirms that I cannot wait to grab a drink with any and all of you ASAP!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd thank YOU Winnie, very well said!
Doug, that was really cool. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, Davis is in center tonight, fulfilling the pitcher's old role as the instant out in the nine hole.
Why is he here again?
'its the beauty in you that brings out the beauty in all of us'
ReplyDelete(except BrainyCash and KaBoone)
Great work, Doug K.! And I'll look up your links, bitty. Sounds like a great quest.
ReplyDeleteVery sad to see about Frazier. It seems it's a vision issue, and he might not play again. Best of luck, Red Menace.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, I know some people have been on Sevvy. I think he's more victim than anything.
ReplyDeleteThey knew something was amiss when Severino suddenly left a game he was leading against Boston by something like 10-0, back in 2018. The Yanks thought he had a physical problem, but the MRI was inconclusive. They wanted to take a color MRI—but there was some danger that the dye they would have to use might actually cause tissue injuries.
So...they kept on pitching him the rest of the year. And tried to hurry him back in 2019.
I have no trouble with Sevvy's big contract. It's the least he deserves, after the Yanks wrecked his career.
I will forever be heartsick over Red Thunder.
ReplyDeleteLove this entire thread, well excepted puckered.
ReplyDeleteI will have dreams of driving through the desert tonight, listening to Ry Cooder.
Davis can't hit for spit, but that was a nice catch.
ReplyDeleteA game-saving catch if we happen to win 2-1.
ReplyDeleteAnndddd... Britton. Holy crap.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fuckin' joke.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, pathetic display
DeleteI'll tell you what sucks, what we just saw....strikeout then double play with the bags full!!!......yeah this team is playoff bound
ReplyDeleteThat surprised me. I thought Stanton would hit into a double play, but he only struck out. Voit hit into the double play.
ReplyDeleteThese guys. Full of surprises.
Coming into this game, the Yankees with runners in scoring position this season (MLB rank):
ReplyDelete.223 BA (29th)
.323 OBP (23rd)
.327 SLG (29th)
.650 OPS (28th)
As bad as those numbers are, what separates us from Tampa are our bullpen meltdowns. Very odd season.
ReplyDeleteThat was cool. Striking Ohtani out, looking.
ReplyDeleteHOW THE FUCK DO YOU PUT JOELY IN TO FACE OHTANI !?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYAEH IT WORKED OUT THIS TIME BUT JOELY "THE ADVERB" RODRIGUEZ STINKS LIKE A SEWER RAT!!!!
Yes, I'm still paying attention.
ReplyDeleteThat’s because you still have hope Win
ReplyDeleteI hate to be a Gloomy Gus, but Winnie: you could use a basic Italian lesson. “Brava and Bravo, Sir” is an oxymoron (or an insult) – words ending in “a” are feminine, those ending in “o” are masculine.
ReplyDeleteYou would award a “bravo” to a “Sir”, and a “brava” to his wife (or mistress).
Look no farther than Andrew Cuomo for a lesson: “Ciao, bella” brought down his career.
Joely is ok. He's had some good appearances.
ReplyDeleteAnd Green closed it out. Nice.
Thuh uh uh Yankees win.
ReplyDeleteFuck Hope.
We need two out of three against the Red Sox. All three is possible, they've really faltered, but Heany was announced for Wednesday, so...
ReplyDeleteGreat post,Doug. I've been thinking about making The Pilgrimage. Are the roads suitable for a low slung, fast, high octane, gas burner? Especially if the throttle is down, and the revs are high. THX-1138.
ReplyDeletethis was very profound
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ReplyDeleteThanks, Doug
ReplyDelete