Archive for September, 2023

100 Word Fan Fiction: Surprises in Sequence

Posted: September 27, 2023 by datechguy in fan fiction, fun
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As he raised his head to see that death for him and all with him was moments away, Squadron Leader Bartlett remembered his dismissal of the words of Group Captain Ramsey on the difference between the Gestapo, SS and Luffwaffe.

He was well acquainted with death being at his shoulder and understood that in this escape death held all the best cards, but in that last moment he was surprised that the idea of them all being shot in cold blood after capture still shocked him.

But not as surprised as he was to find it wasn’t the last moment.

Previously: Prologue: Statistically Inconsequential tweaks Next An Emotional Awakening

A great MLB Baseball finish (except for the Red Sox and Yanks)

Posted: September 26, 2023 by datechguy in baseball
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I write a lot about my fantasy leagues but today let’s talk the real thing.

While this has been a disappointing year for the Boston Red Sox who need to win five of their final six to avoid a sub .500 season we have some excellent races all around the league. Let’s start with the AL

In the East The Orioles still haven’t clinched with six to go but the odds are favoring them.

In the West with seven to play Texas has again reversed their fortunes being 3 up in the loss column with the two teams chasing them going head to head for three to make things easier for them.

In the Central there is no Drama. Minnesota has it won with a record that would not secure a wild card spot.

And as for the wild card Tampa Bay has clinched the top spot if they don’t catch up to the O’s and the up and down Blue Jays need only of out of their final six to guarantee a bearth.

Meanwhile Houston and Seattle go head to head for 3 here at the end to decide who gets a spot and who goes home. Unless we see a sweep it will not likely be decided till the final series of the year.

In the National League all the divisions are decided. The Braves took the east and the Dodgers the west long ago and the Brewers are one win or one Cubs loss away from taking the central and while it’s possible (remember 1964) I wouldn’t stake money on it.

The wild card race however is as exciting as the east, perhaps more so because five teams have a legit shot at the three positions. Even the Phillies at +5 have not clinched. The other four teams Arizona, Chicago, Miami and Cincinnati are all within 2 1/2 with the Diamondbacks and Cubs tied and Miami just one game behind.

So at least ten cities will be looking forward to meaningful and perhaps exciting games for their teams this week. This will mean smiles for if you’re a Baseball fan, at least if you don’t live in Boston or New York.

When the music’s over…

Posted: September 26, 2023 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

Two longtime friends—who helped me in my celebrated but short career as a rock ‘n’ roll singer—died this past week, causing me to recall the fine times we had with the band.

Ken Mills, who died at 75 in Minneapolis, served as the manager and booker of my band, The Trippers. Steve Ettles, who died at 72 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was the first roadie for the band.

Based in Sioux Falls, the Trippers played gigs throughout the Midwest, first as a cover band for rhythm and blues and later as an emerging acid rock group in the 1960s. We weren’t good enough to make it beyond the Midwest, but we earned spots in the Rock Halls of Fame in South Dakota and Iowa. Our one hit reached No. 99 on the Billboard’s Top Tunes.

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh2r3G7a1Tg&list=PL48ywZUEnrB7ZhkJPP5VfwPw3nHIze2Kb

I’d kept in touch with Ken and Steve over the past 50-odd years and seen them both a few years ago.

In the 1960s, Ken fell in love with rock ‘n’ roll. He began managing, booking, and promoting bands as a junior in high school. After promoting bands, Ken started working in radio as a disc jockey and worked at KISD, KLOH, KELO, KXRB, and KLYX in the Sioux Falls area, as well as developing and launching his own station, KSKY, in the Black Hills. Ken was inducted into the South Dakota Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. As he got older, Ken developed a problem with his vision and became an advocate for those with severe eye disorders and blindness, using his voice to communicate with his audience.

Steve had a tougher life. His engaging smile earned him friends throughout his life. Unfortunately, his smile also got him entangled in a savings and loan association scandal. He spent a year in federal prison for doing what he thought was a favor for a friend. It turned out the friend was embezzling money unbeknownst to Steve. I told his story and those of others in a book I wrote a few years ago, Flyover Country. The book focuses on the 1969 high school graduating class from Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls.

As the introduction states: “Flyover Country focuses on a group of baby boomers who graduated from high school in 1969 in the Midwest before setting off into the world in a time of turbulence to fight in Vietnam, to protest against that war, to find jobs, to have families, and to live lives throughout the United States and overseas. Many of these people have made significant contributions to their communities as business owners, doctors, lawyers, ministers, politicians, and teachers. Many have suffered through tough times, losing their way due to alcohol or drugs or facing family crises from divorce to the death of a spouse or a child.”

Steve’s story was one of those lessons. Over time, he managed to regroup and rebrand, never losing that smile. See https://www.amazon.com/Flyover-Country-Boomers-Their-Stories/dp/0761853324

Already, two band members are gone: Mike Ward, a prominent news executive, and Terry Park, a psychiatrist. Only four of us remain.

Together, we played until the music was over. Long live rock ‘n’ roll!

ICYMI, here is my swan song at the Iowa Rock ‘n’ Roll Music Association Hall of Fame. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6xwsQzygtA&list=PL48ywZUEnrB7ZhkJPP5VfwPw3nHIze2Kb

Shock Revelation, Men Don’t Buy the Cow When the Milk is Free and other things my parents & grandparents knew

Posted: September 25, 2023 by datechguy in Uncategorized

The lack of shock I get when read this piece about “successful” women freezing their eggs because they can’t find the “right” mate is palatable:

why and how some people wind up partnered and others remain relentlessly single is an impossible question to answer with either data or anecdotes. Nevertheless, certain patterns emerge. Take Kayla, a professional with an Ivy League MBA, who had frozen her eggs at 38 while dating Matt, until she finally realized after a year and a half that he was “never going to commit.” Or Lily, a curator whose long-term partner Jack ran down her reproductive clock over nearly a decade, dangling the prospect of marriage and children but never following through, leading her to freeze her eggs at the late age of 43. Or Tiffany, a woman with engineering and MBA degrees living in Washington, D.C., who, after dating men from all educational backgrounds, still hadn’t found a partner and put two egg-freezing cycles on a zero-interest credit card.

When I read this I keep going back to an informal class reunion I attended with DaWife (who I went to high school & college with but we never dated during that time). We sat with three women who in school would have been considered “out of my league” and still looked good but all were alone and never seemed to find the “right” guy and where horrified when one of our successful classmates entered with a woman 20 years younger than us.

I’m wondering if they followed the rules that Glenn Reynolds talks about here:

I hear single women talking about the “three sixes” — at least six feet tall, a six figure income, and a six-inch penis. The Venn diagram where those characteristics overlap doesn’t offer much hope.

I must confess that I fail in all three of those data points yet DaWife said “yes” when I asked and it’s now been 35 years. But when you’re in your 20’s or late 30’s and full of yourself and the promises of modern feminism those data points are more important that the prospect of realizing that being unmarried and childless in your 40’s means no mate or children when you hit your 50’s and nobody cares if you live or die particularly if you have only one sibling because who wants a big family anyways. And thus in the original article they hit on the revelation that people knew for centuries before feminism came along:

Are these fewer educated men realizing that the numbers are in their favor, and with a limitless supply of women served up on dating apps, they don’t feel the need to commit? 

Let me give women in their 30’s a piece of advice. You want a good man who will marry you and be a father to your children so that in your 60’s or 70’s you aren’t alone in a nursing home without even your degree on the wall? Find a catholic church, start attending it and look for a man there. A man who is faithful to God, doesn’t believe in divorce (that’s why I specified “catholic” and works for a living. Those are the men you are going have a long happy life with.

Your feminist friends won’t respect you but friends like that are why you are alone today.

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