If this doesn’t bring a tear to your eye, you don’t know it’s 31 days ’til pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training. A time when everyone and everything is a bit more mellow, the game was a bit more pure, and signs of collegiality abound. Thanks to Irv for sharing this, and enjoy.
What’s the bigger surprise, that Jay and Laya didn’t know about their wedding anniversary party this afternoon, or that it has been forty years already and the milestone is such a big number! Actually there are a bunch of theories as to why time seems to fly by faster as we get older. What a great job arranging this party by Bracha, Yehuda, and Annie! You young kids can read about the theories on time flying by here and here and here, but you won’t believe how true it is until you actually experience it! In any event, may Jay and Laya’s continued enjoyment of life together with their beautiful family, children, grandchildren and friends be blessed as innumerably as the sands of the sea.
The Westmount Country Club. Almost as beautiful and gracious as the bride. And her family. And the groom. And his family. Lovely venue for a wedding this Woodland Park is, its location no longer identified as “West Paterson”, having shed its former name. No speeches were made under the Chupah, nor in the great hall. The event spoke for itself. Forgot my iPhone, so there are shots taken with Miriam’s during dinner in and around the grounds through a personal lens. Here’s wishing Aviva & Chaim a week of blissful blessings.
Backlit by the setting sun, clouds streak in the sky. The soon-to-be-frozen lake serves as a canvas for the palette of colors above. As if controlled by a rheostat, the moon hangs in the sky waiting to be revealed by its fading counterpart.
From the current issue of the Saturday Evening Post:
… It will be replaced by the Nookstore.
Aside from the increasingly rare yet charming small local bookstores, the demise of Borders leaves Barnes and Noble as the last standing major book chain. The small chains like Joseph-Beth sadly have their days numbered as well, the most recent victims of Chapter 11. It has been speculated that in order for B&N to survive, it will likely take its arrangement with Starbucks Cafes and expand them, so that the books in the bookstore will be incidental. Our B & N megastore on Route 17 South in Paramus now boasts a large Nook theater that occupies center stage in the store.
There are signs that the socialization of B & N is well underway. Some of that socialization model brings bodies into the store, but I’m not sure it’s in a profitable way that will sustain the bricks and mortar of the location. The kids who hoard the chairs and tables in cafe locations, turning them into private study halls, don’t purchase enough food or books to sustain the economic model. They’re bright, polite, and sociable, but the books they take off the shelves are used as reference material, such as Kaplan Study Guides, not for purchase. I rarely if ever see any of them at the checkout counter, purchasing food or drink in the store, or visiting with Nook agents.
Nor am I singling out the study hall kids. The same socialization conundrum exists for the chess players in the cafe. They hoard tables for board meetings, not to purchase anything in the stores. What most certainly will not work is the way many B & N locations are cluttering up the aisles with toys. This isn’t likely to be a solvent business model, even if it were confined to the childrens’ section, which oddly enough it isn’t.
As a long-standing B & N card member, who has dropped thousands of dollars in their bookstores and online, here is some unsolicited advice: follow the way of bookstore bistros. Monitor the space utilization more closely. Find a way for your marketing geniuses to interface the study hall kids, the chess players, and other eclectic cliques with enough purchases to justify the real estate. The nooks and crannies of the cafe have to be better balanced with the Nooks and … well, you fill in the blank.
What a great post by Casey Feeney, posing the question as to whether the Phillies have fallen out of touch with the love of the game. Feeney writes:
As Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia’s foremost believer in the merits of advanced statistical metrics, it pains me to write the previous sentence. Yet, stats at their best frame what our eyes already know. Sports fans don’t need a number to know that camaraderie and swagger play an important role in winning. Champions have a persona; as in person, as in human being. To enjoy victory is to be human. The Phillies of recent years, however, have become more like a machine than a team.
What Feeney is saying is that Phillies stars like Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Utley, and Howard have become robotic. They show little if any emotion for the game on the field or in post-game interviews. Essentially they are so cold that is why the Phils have decided to play on ice this year rather than on grass (just kidding, of course: Go Flyers!). Need I remind you about the legacy of Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton in Philadelphia, who couldn’t be bothered with emotions?
Then there’s the anti-robotic antics of Shane Victorino, the swagger of Jimmy Rollins, and the kid-like charm of Hunter Pence. Maybe it’s me, but I’d bet that among the reasons why the Phils chose to bring in Papelbon and let Madson test the waters is Pap brings alot of fire-in-the-belly to the team. Perhaps too much swagger, some would say, but time will tell.
Even if Feeney is off base with his criticism, he’s right that Philly fans identify with players who play with a demonstrable love of the game. There’s no chance that the Inquirer will be selling Phillies game-used cufflinks as year-end gifts a la the New York Times.
And remember …. only 47 days until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training. Let the thaw begin!
The mellow world of increasingly rare but contemporary Yiddish music by Basya Schechter inspired by the poetry of Heschel, a complex social activist. Have a listen to the playlist.
This in contrast to the toe thumping, woofer tweeting Good Israeli Vibrations flash mob hora, shared courtesy of Dr. Andrea Thau.
Okay, so ZWR is a bit off-beat. But his website has some great insider T-shirts. Would treat myself to a few, but have no idea when I’m going to wear the huge collection I’ve amassed before discovering ZWR. So the least I can do is share the discovery with you. Here are my favorites:
