George’s slightly off-center view of the world
From the misty corners of my memory
President Richard Nixon had recording devices installed in various rooms of the White House. This was a continuation of a tradition initiated by Franklin Roosevelt. Nixon’s system utilized modern technology by being voice activated, eliminating having to remember to flip a switch to turn it on. The existence of this system came to light during 1973’s Watergate hearings.
A couple decades ago I played third base on a fast-pitch softball team. In fast pitch there is a lot of bunting and the third baseman has to play in shallow, close to the batter. I was never mistaken for an all-star, but I still have all my teeth, so I consider myself a success at that position.
One season, we had on our club a recent college graduate, who was a pitcher on her college softball team. The “her’ became the problem. There was controversy and outrage and meetings about whether she should be allowed to play. Keep in in mind this was a purportedly adult league. As we were in the Portland City League and played on Portland city-park fields, she played. And guess what happened: nothing. The league survived and the sports world kept going as usual.
Well into the twenty-first century, you would think this is not an issue. You would be wrong. Soccer teams in Phoenix are trying to maintain the purity of the sport.
From Juanita Jean’s.
Postscript:
The Sonoma Stompers minor-league baseball team made news 
this summer with a woman on the pitcher’s mound. Earlier this year, the Stompers were the first team with an openly-gay player on the field.
My father was a Jack Daniel’s man. Not that he drank a lot of it, at least not when I was around. He mixed it with 7-Up and once in a while would let me have a sip. (He also sprinkled salt into his infrequent Miller High-Life beer, poured into a tall pilsner glass. But we won’t dwell on that.)
Fifty years ago, August 29, 1966 to be exact, the Beatles played a concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. That was their last live performance until their impromptu show on the roof of their Abbey Road studio three years later. They stopped playing live shows because the screaming from the audience was so loud they could not hear themselves play.
Director Ron Howard has produced a documentary film, “Eight Days a Week,” chronicling the era of Beatlemania. Never-before-seen footage of the Candlestick concert is featured in the movie.
“But I also thought it was even more important to try to tell a story that would convey to people who really have no idea — I’m thinking of the millennials, I suppose; people who have grown up with the music and think they know something of the story — the intensity of the journey and the impact they had.”
The movie is set for release – excuse me, will drop – mid-September.
Bonus points if you know the reference “Eight Days a Week.”
