Stuck in a fog

... As I left work today, the classic lakefront storm clouds and fog were rolling so thick, I couldn't help but speed home to grab my camera (and clock myself for once again not carrying it with me at all times ...)

At home, I grabbed my camera, made sure it was loaded, threw on my rain jacket and was back out the door in minutes, on my way back downtown, toward the lake.

I first drove to one of my favorite spots on Simmons Island and immediately pulled off to snap a few shots of the fog settling in between the park area (above). But that was all I would get ...

... By the time I got down to the harbor area and the Pierhead Lighthouse, the fog was so thick that making out the shoreline about 50 yards in front of me was nearly impossible, let alone seeing the lighthouse which stood about 200 yards further out. ... For a few seconds I thought about marching onto the pier for a closer shot of the lighthouse in the fog. But it wasn't hard to see a fierce storm was rolling in and I'm not that daring when it comes to getting the shot ...

... So I drove off the island to the other side of the harbor, thinking I might get a better shot of the lighthouse over there.

No chance. The fog was becoming more dense by the second and by the time I got to the other side, I could barely see 10 feet in front of my car. ... and then the sky let loose, the rain started falling like machine-gun fire and all I could think about was getting deeper into the city and out of the lake fog ...

It was so scary. And yet sooo cool.

Five minutes later, I was home safely. ... at least I got one decent shot.

A sad affair

.... so Barry Bonds passed Babe Ruth yesterday. whoopie.

so sad. ... I caught Krukie and Harold having a great conversation about it on 'Baseball Tonight,' saying what a wonderful event Bonds' 716th should've been for Major League Baseball. But given the steroids cloud hanging over Bonds and baseball, there's more fans cringing about Bonds' feat then there are celebrating ...

Count me among those hoping Bonds won't play long enough to catch Aaron ...

Game #2

... While Kates went off to the family farm for the rest of the Memorial Day weekend, I stayed home to play baseball.

Game Two of the inagural MSBL season in our fair city ...

I started and played the entire day in right field, but that's about as good as it would get. We got clobbered again, thanks to untimely errors and a lack of good hitting. And it didn't help the opposing team had a dominant pitcher who could hurl some heat and then mix in a darn good curve to knock you out ...

I made my first plate appearance in the third and worked the count to 3-2. I managed to foul off a high fastball at the letters and the guy threw me a curve that just disappeared under my bat. I slammed my bat down in frsutration, and THEN, heard my teammates yelling the catcher had dropped the third strike ... So I take off running to first, and see the catcher's throw sail over the first baseman's head. So now I turn it on and head for second, and I look back to see the first baseman still hadn't gotten to the ball, which means I'm heading for third. ... I came in standing up. Not bad for striking out. ... and a couple pitches later, Coach called for a squeeze bunt (not a bad idea since we weren't getting runs across the plate otherwise ...) I got a good jump down the line and Johnny laid down a perfect bunt. Pitcher picked up and threw to first while I slid in safe at home ...

In the field, I didn't fare much better. I let one ball get over my head that probably should've been caught, as well as a ball that was hit to my right. ... I redeemed myself a little late in the game when I got back on a deep fly and caught it short of the warning track ...

...And then I flied out to first in my second and last plate appearance of the day.

... Through two games? ...Our record is 0-2. And in four plate appearances, I'm batting .000, with one walk, two strikeouts and one run scored. ... It's gotta get better than this.

Sunday reads

Some good reads from this week and beyond...

Baseball reads...
a Bonds conserving his anger, too
a Bonds, Pujols Could Make for Quite a Show
a Ten worst baseball teams of all time
a Excuses have kept Cubs, Baker busy

Movies reads...
a Critters Offer Consumer Retorts in 'Over the Hedge'
a Studios avoid critics’ pan of movies that click with fans

Music reads...
a The Wreckers Shine On Debut Album
a Dour Dixie Chicks ‘Taking the Long Way’ back
a Dixie Chicks find way outside of country

TV reads...
a Doing what it takes to steady their grip
a NBC Betting on Aaron Sorkin's New Drama
a TV Highs and Lows: Taking stock of the TV season's memorable and forgettable shows