two dolla

bush’s baked beans’ new marketing ploy

A few weeks ago, I got an email asking if I’d like to have a few copies of a children’s book called “Duke Finds a Home“. Due to the fact that I write about Little Riley Fancy Pants so much, a marketing rep thought I should have a copy. Or ten.

So, now I have them, and can send them to you, if you really want one. You’ll just have to email me and I’ll gladly send you one. I don’t think I need all ten of them.
The whole idea behind “Duke Finds a Home” is to encourage people to get dogs from shelters, according to the website. The book doesn’t really go into that, but it’s a book for kids. It says it’s written by the dog, and actually it’s not, which was a let down for me.
The book is available for $3.95 (includes shipping and handling) plus two proofs of purchase of Bush’s Baked Beans. Bush’s Baked Beans is raising $50,000 for the American Humane Association, as well as raising awareness for all of the animals currently in shelters.

Yeah. In short, buy beans and get a book.

pretty much inappropriate

From Clerks 2:

Dante Hicks: ‘Porch monkey’ is a racial slur against black people!
Randal Graves: Oh it is not! Coon, spook, spade, moolie, jigaboo, nig-nog, those are racial slurs!

From Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney:

The best thing politically would be to stay as far away from that tar baby as I can.

Seriously. But since he used it during a fundraiser for a bunch of Iowa Republicans, I’m sure they weren’t offended.

the list of the weekend

Friday:

• Twins game with Bill and Stephanie.
• Throwing sunflower seeds off the 7th story of a parking garage.
• Post-game dinner at Kieran’s.

Saturday:

• Best Buy to pick up Clerks on DVD.
• Discovered I had a slow leak in a tire.
• Watched Clerks with Bill and Sean at Sean’s house.
• Got a new tire instead of getting it patched.
• Watched Clerks 2 again.
• Watched High Art.

Sunday:

• Helped My Gym Buddy™ pack up his moving truck.
• Went to the Twins game by myself. Which I love doing.
• Nearly had a heat stroke while waiting for the train.
• Went back to My Gym Buddy’s™ place to finish helping him.
• Got home and noticed my dog puked and instantly got paranoid. But he’s fine.
• Tried to watch Edison Force, but fell asleep.

shafted.

This isn’t the happy baseball game post I’d planned to make about today’s Twins/Tigers game, because this is more important.

Today is the day where 17 players were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame – one of the highest numbers of inductees ever.

The first speaker in today’s ceremony was Buck O’Neil, who received a standing ovation before and after he spoke. O’Neil received much support to be part of the class from the Negro Leagues, but fell short in the voting.

Do you know who Buck O’Neil is?

He started the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City in 1990. He was one of the greatest major league baseball scouts of all time. Satchel Paige used to call him Nancy. He wasn’t allowed to play high school baseball, because he was black. He coached and played in professional All-Star games. He managed the Kansas City Monarchs. He just played in the 2006 Northern League All-Star game, at the age of 94. And in 1962, O’Neil made history by becoming the first African-American coach in Major League Baseball, with the Chicago Cubs.

And yet he failed to receive the 75% of approving vote to put him into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

“The truth is, I don’t belong; I was a very good ballplayer, but very good ballplayers don’t belong in the Hall of Fame. Great ballplayers do. Oh, I’d like to think I might get in the Hall one day, but maybe as a manager or for other contributions that I made to baseball. Right now, my job is seeing to it that the guys I know are qualified to get in do get in.”

With all of the jackasses in the league now that get suspended for 50 games due to not following a drug policy or joining a new team and refusing the play the position they’ve asked you to play, it takes a 94-year-old man, well past his baseball playing days, to remind everyone that true sports heros really can be respected.

Does Buck O’Neil deserve to be in the Hall of Fame? Absolutely. And it makes me a bit sad that a group of 14 people assigned to vote for these nominees couldn’t see the same way.

joe mauer is still my favorite

We all know how I feel about Joe Mauer, right? He’s a incredible catcher, completely understands the game of baseball, and is a player the Minnesota Twins need/should/will build their future around. His is the only baseball jersey I own, and yes, when picking numbers for softball, I happened to pick the number 7. If you search for Joe Mauer on Flickr, most of the pictures you will see might happen to have come from my camera. We’ve got all that out of the way; I just wanted to be clear.

I’m not the only one that can consider him/herself a Joe Mauer fan. He was scheduled to sign autographs today at a local Best Buy, and by local, I mean less than two miles from my house. Coincidentally enough, I needed to run out this morning and pick up a copy of Clerks on DVD for a scheduled viewing for it today. Of course I would go to Best Buy to get it; where else would I go?

I got there at 11:07. Joe Mauer was scheduled to start signing autographs at 11:00. He wasn’t there yet. Employees were trying to calm down overly panicked patrons that had camped out the night before to be first in line for his autograph. They were assuring everyone he’d called and was on his way. Had I not had previous plans, I may have stuck around. The table he would be sitting at was right across the aisle from the DVD section. Instead, I left. It was 11:17 when I got back out to my car.
As I was completing my transaction with the cashier, she asked me if I was sticking around for Joe Mauer. I told her I didn’t have time for Joe Mauer today.

“I don’t have time for Joe Mauer today.”

I will never utter that sentence again as long as I live.

but i am awesome

This is the shirt I have on today. I like to wear it a lot. I’m very sad that nobody at work as commented on it, but maybe it’s because they already know how absolutely full of myself I am.

i know how to accessorize

Hey Internet. I owe you a ton of posts. I keep starting them and then never finishing them. And also, I’ve apparently been busy trying on new hats.

because i have too much to say

Yahoo says my horoscope is this: You need to get back in touch with an old friend or coworker. Send them an email.

Lance Bass is gay and is dating Reichen Lehmkuhl. I didn’t see Reichen on  The Amazing Race, but I did love him when I watched Kill Reality. And you know how I feel about boy bands. So, yay for Lance.

The Twins are on a tear. The wild card standings are tight.  They’d be winning their division if they played in half of the other divisions out there. Yes, it’s only July, but it doesn’t take much to get me excited about the Twins playing OCTOBER BASEBALL again.

My flight is booked for Labor Day when I fly out to see the Twins play the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. I paid $5 for my flight there last year, thanks to frequent flier miles through Northwest, so when I average what I paid this year with last year’s flight? Less than $150 a pop.

From the Strib: A woman who says she was severely burned at a Miami night club four years ago is suing Bacardi, claiming the company’s rum is dangerous and defective. I’m not sure how i’ve managed to escape 151 burns in my years of, um, experience.

passive aggressive? not me.

I was going to explain the drama that developed at my apartment last night, but I think it’ll work just fine for me to paste the letter I wrote to the management of my complex. Letter writing is such an abandoned practice, but I think I’m going to start doing it more. Even if it’s just a letter that I slip in the drop box at my apartment at 1:30 a.m. More »

joe mauer’s swing of beauty

I love ESPN for so many reasons, and this just happens to be another one.

I was only lightly considering buying some more Twins tickets today, but watching Joe Mauer’s swing in slow motion just convinces me that I should buy them all right now.

This has clearly been the best professional sports summer I’ve ever had in my life – Twins, Lynx, Saints, Vixen. I love living in a city where I have this many options!