Monday, August 05, 2013

Itty Bitty Stuff

The summer moves on, and the news is sometimes interesting. But I don't want to be strictly thought of  (if I'm thought of at all) as just a political/news interpreter guy. I think, on the other hand, that some tiny things are worth noticing.

Someday there will be a woman who advances into male professional sports. She might be a placekicker, a punter or a general manager somewhere. The Crabs, our local nonprofessional baseball team, found themselves facing a woman pitcher last week. This woman, based on this single performance, won't be the one carrying the feminine flag to the Big Show. The Crabs roughed her up pretty badly during her one inning on the mound.

I can't say I'm a rabid fan of country music, but some of the song lyrics can make you smile. I heard one last week that went:
      I got a friend from New York City.
     He never even heard of Conway Twitty.
The late Mr. Twitty was a famous country performer, but I couldn't guess how well his work is known in the Big Apple.

On local radio: "The area's most important dog walk is coming up soon." Great, but what about the 2nd or 3rd biggest canine event? BTW, the name of this fundraiser/megashow: "Woofstock".

Sometimes I accuse long time members of Congress of being on the "Strom Thurmond Track", the goal of which is reaching age 100 while still holding elected office. Perhaps I should give some credit to Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe since 1980. The man is 89 years old, and he's the country's president! Not only that, but he just won another term! You could have used the same headline for decades:"Mugabe Wins Again in Disputed Election".

At Toastmaster meetings, one person gets the assignment of catching incorrect words that sometimes emerge from the speakers. It's all done in the spirit of helping and fun. We had a big laugh lately over one woman's phrase: "your guys' minds". The trouble is - you find yourself listening to see if you can pick up these little mistakes outside of the club.   
I was in a small meeting yesterday when someone mangled "exemplifies" into "exemplorates". I found my head jerking up as I looked around to see if anyone else had caught this minor gaff. If they did, they covered it up pretty well. Anyway, I'm passing it on.

Finally, there's Mona's uncharacteristic pipe dream yesterday. In fact, it was a literal pipe dream, because it centered on ways to make a gazebo, or something like a gazebo, out of PVC pipe. She discovered that there are literally dozens of ways to do the job, and we discussed how it might be done using that other irreplaceable commodity - duct tape. Hey, she's planning it for the North side, which means almost zero sun, and we're just renters here. Then again, it could turn into our itty bitty place to hang out. 


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