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7 College Campuses That Are Actually Great to Visit
By Tobey Grumet
©Sean Pavone/Shutterstock
An elite few of America's top schools have top attractions to match, combining architecture, landscapes and activities that are worth a visit.
Back to school season is almost upon us, but that doesn't mean you have to give up your travel plans as you head back to class or send your beloved students off to school. Some of America's college and university campuses are destinations unto themselves.
We've rounded up the most notable campuses across the US, highlighting features like stunning architecture, diverse landscapes, and culture and activities for the whole family. Because, let's face it, studying isn't everything.
Flagler College, St. Augustine, FL
Imagine attending college in a luxury hotel? This opulent campus centers around the original Ponce de Leon Hotel and was built in 1867 by a New York oil tycoon in the Spanish Renaissance Revival style. The school is a National Historic Landmark once visited by distinguished guests like Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain and Babe Ruth. Thomas Edison personally wired it for electricity and the world's largest collection of Tiffany stained glass works resides inside.
In 2018, Flagler celebrated its 50th anniversary and Flagler Legacy Tours are offered from May to August.
Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
This National Historic Landmark overlooks the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains – spreading out over 540 acres. And though it dates to 1860, its architecture swings wildly from neoclassical to modern. With sweeping mansions now used as dorms, students and their families will appreciate the beauty of the Georgian revival Blithewood, the Collegiate Gothic Stine Row and Tudor revival Ward Manor.
But it's the cutting-edge Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, Frank Gehry's first building constructed in the Northeast and open since 2003, which provides this campus a solid home for theater, music and adventurous performing arts, with over 200 events open to the public every year.
The main building of Rice University from inside the campus © Christian Offenberg / Dreamstime.com
Rice University, Houston, TX
Nestled in the museum district of this busy city, Rice University consists of about 50 buildings spread across 285 acres and boasts an oasis of green space – including the over 4000 trees and shrubs in the Lynn R. Lowrey Arboretum. Of course, this is Texas, so football is a big part of campus life, and Rice Stadium, the site of Super Bowl VIII, can seat 47,000 fans and up to 70,000 people for other events.
Most of the architecture is uniform in its Mediterranean Revival-style, though older buildings like Lovett Hall, named after the university's first president, preserves medieval elements and welcomes students and families alike with its iconic Sallyport arch. The more modern Twilight Epiphany Skyspace is also a draw, and the light show is open to the public six days a week.
De Pauw University, Greencastle, IN
Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, this Midwestern campus combines old world charm with a naturalist bent, boasting nine miles of trails in its 520-acre nature park – which encompasses fields, forests, waterfalls and even an abandoned limestone quarry.
It's also closely integrated with the lively town of Greencastle, which offers a rotating roster of performing arts and community events as well as a safe, fun space to socialize. The university's celebrated Joyce Green Center for the Performing Arts hosts everything from musicals and theater productions to ensembles and chamber music concerts.
A small Japanese style bridge on the campus of College and William and Mary © Brian Cherry / Dreamstime.com
College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA
This campus is a bastion of history, housing the oldest collegiate building in the US, the Sir Christopher Wren Building. Named after the English royalty which chartered it in 1693, William III and Mary II, the college's 1200 acres accommodates several other historic buildings used as both dorms and academic spaces, and the grassy Sunken Garden, best to visit in spring and fall, is a haven for students to relax, study and socialize.
The Duke of Gloucester Street also links the campus to Colonial Williamsburg's reconstructed capital – allowing for a unique relationship to the past while retaining the student body's robust modernity.
Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR
This Pacific Northwestern campus is named after renowned explorers Lewis and Clark and more importantly, is contiguous to the Tryon Creek State Natural Area. Though just over 130 acres, its location atop Portland's Palatine Hill allows for stunning views of Mt. Hood and the over 100 types of trees that surround it.
Though beautiful to look at and explore, the college's location also inspired its LEED-certified buildings, which uses 100 percent wind power to provide electricity. The Tudor-style Frank Manor House presides over the campus architecture and includes a conservatory, a rose garden and reflection pool.
Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA
Proudly towering over the City of Angels atop the Del Ray Hills bluffs, you'll be bowled over by the striking views of the Pacific Ocean as well as the proximity of Los Angeles proper. Because of its Catholic roots, there are six chapels dotted inside campus, four of which are operated by its ministry.
The Spanish Gothic–style Sacred Heart Chapel is known for its intriguing and colorful stained-glass windows, while the post-modern Chapel of the Advocate designed by Frank Gehry includes a sunken entrance and an igloo-like structure with more impressionistic stained glass.
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Win an Arctic Vacation in Sweden to Chase the Northern Lights
8 Last-Minute Affordable Summer Getaways
As the end of summer nears, squeezing in one more vacation before the fall arrives sounds like a spectacular idea. With hotels, airlines and car rentals offering massive deals and incentives to book before the end of the summer, the only question you have to ask yourself really is, why not? This year, top summer hotspots are Orlando, Las Vegas, and Myrtle Beach followed by Maui, New York City, Key West, and New Orleans according to a recent study, but if you're looking for something less crowded we've got you covered. Our best advice for saving money is to book these flight and hotel deals now! Bangor, Maine This offbeat alternative to Portland, Maine, is a hub for good food, great music and is home to a growing art scene. Bangor is the gateway to many outdoor activities, whether visiting Moosehead Lake or hiking through Baxter State Park. Bangor is easy to get to with the Bangor International Airport located conveniently in the center of the city. Acadia National Park is also close by and can be reached in a short one-hour drive. At the park, visitors can stop at the popular Sand Beach or explore the famous Carriage Roads. The annual Dark Sky Festival (Sep 25-29) is a starry-eyed way to wrap up the perfect summer. Read more: 25 Gorgeous American Lighthouses Cancun, Mexico Mexico is always a good idea. Just a hop, skip and a jump from the US, Cancun lies at the heart of the Mexican Caribbean. With direct airlift and easy access to the Yucatan's most amazing sights – from the ruins of Chichen Itza, to the cenotes of Tulum – Cancun is a destination ideal for a last-minute summer vacay. If shopping is more your speed, book a guided shopping tour in Playa del Carmen to find your most precious souvenir (think vibrant textiles and maybe even a hammock?) for just $19.99 through GetYourGuide. Set your out of office and book a room at the newly renovated JW Marriott Cancun Resort & Spa, a sprawling resort with 447 ocean-facing guest rooms, all of which peer out over the palm-studded grounds. Lake Atitlán, Guatemala If you're looking to explore a little further than Mexico, Lake Atitlán in Guatemala has your name written all over it. It's easy to get lost in the lake's natural beauty that has been dubbed, the "most beautiful lake in the world" for it's breathtaking views of three volcanoes. Perched on the shore of Lake Atitlán in the Guatemalan highlands is Casa Palopó, a former home-turned-boutique hotel offering a Labor Day weekend rate of $188 per night, which includes free airport transfers. Sign us up! Joshua Tree, California Before the busy autumn season sets in, take some time to fully immerse yourself in nature at Joshua Tree, part of the Greater Palm Springs region of California. It's home to Joshua Tree National Park and some of the best stargazing in the state. Within the national park, lives Cholla Cactus Garden (don't forget your camera for this trail of massive succulents), a multitude of various levels of hiking trails and lookouts like Keys View that offers panoramic views of the Coachella Valley. The average nightly rate for a hotel is under $200 with a variety of last-minute deals available on Hotel Tonight. Portland, Oregon Portland is a perfect summer getaway with plenty of water adventures available on the city's rivers and affordable eats. The city is a veritable food truck heaven, with food truck pods popping up all over the city. For more stationary eats, check out Hey Love, a popular local joint with a fresh summer menu. A 90-minute day trip gives you access to Mt. Hood National Forest, the Columbia Gorge Scenic Area, Willamette Valley Wine Country and the Oregon Coast. Hotel Monaco Portland is a home base for your P-Town escapades, offering free perks like nightly socials with complimentary local beer and wine, and free bike rentals to cruise the cycle-friendly city. And good news, little Fido got an invite because pets stay free! Check out their hotel deals page for discounts of up to 25 percent off nightly rates. Read more: 7 Exceptional American Food Halls Nassau, Bahamas Sitting beachside with a piña colada in hand in the Bahamas sounds like the definition of vacation. So why not make it happen? Beach, swim, sleep, repeat is the motto at Breezes Bahamas, an all-inclusive resort located on the powdery, white sands of legendary Cable Beach. Guests can enjoy land and water activities ranging from rock-wall climbing, tennis, beach volleyball, kayaking and windsurfing, all of which include complimentary instruction and equipment. Breezes is offering a "Summer Savings" deal with rates as low as $140 per night for bookings until August 31st. The deal includes all meals, drinks, land and water sports, daily activities, and nightly entertainment. Cleveland, Ohio Located on the shore of Lake Erie, Cleveland is a warm-weather paradise with beaches galore and waterfalls and hiking trails twenty minutes outside the heart of downtown Cleveland at Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The charming lakefront town has a welcoming "come as you are" attitude and a walkable downtown area. The average hotel nightly rate is well under $200, and the city has a free trolley system throughout downtown. Other free activities include concerts, museums and more. Ljubljana, Slovenia The fairy tale–like country of Slovenia is an affordable under-the-radar destination for summer travel. Situated just 20-minutes away from Jože Pučnik Airport, the centrally located capital city of Ljubljana is the perfect place to start exploring Slovenia. In the summertime, quaint outdoor cafes, bustling food markets and lively festivals line the historic streets. From Ljubljana, most of Slovenia's iconic sites can be reached in under an hour. Travelers can view the serene beauty of Lake Bled in the Julian Alps or experience Slovenian wine in the stunning vineyards. Cheers to that!
8 Best Day Trips From Nashville
The cities and towns that are just an easy drive from Nashville (between a half-hour and three hours) are full of natural and historical wonders that are ripe for a quick adventure. Whether you find yourself sampling some Tennessee whiskey from a powerhouse distillery or exploring the mysterious depths of an underground sea, here are eight of our favorite day-trip destinations. All of these locations can be reached in three hours or less from Nashville via car. Just be sure to check their websites and/or call ahead of time for any weather-related closures. 1. Brush up on your Civil War history in Franklin Drive time: 22 miles south of Nashville; 30-minute drive What to do: Franklin has come a long way since its days as a Confederate stronghold and site of one of the Civil War's bloodiest battles (The Battle of Franklin). Today, the small town manages to preserve its historic past while stepping into its new role as a welcoming, suburban city brimming with quaint, locally owned shops and lively eateries. Start off by exploring three of Franklin's most important Civil War sites – the Carnton Plantation, the Lotz House and the Carter House – through a local tour operator or venture out on your own on a self-guided tour. Later, head to downtown Franklin's charming Main Street for boutique shopping and delectable Southern eats at Gray's on Mainbefore capping off the day with a bottle of honeysuckle wine at the nearby Arrington Vineyards. 2. Drink some Tennessee whiskey in Lynchburg Drive time: 75 miles south of Nashville; one-hour and 40-minute drive What to do: Jack Daniels is practically synonymous with Tennessee whiskey, making Lynchburg – the home of Jack Daniels Distillery – a veritable mecca for fans of this storied brown spirit. Interestingly, the distillery is located in a dry county, but you can still sample whiskey drawn from individual barrels during one of their informative distillery tours. The town of Lynchburg itself is also worth exploring. If wine is more your speed, pop into the Lynchburg Winery before indulging in a slice of rich Southern gastronomic history at Miss Mary Bobo's Boarding House Restaurant. If souvenir shopping is on the list, the surrounding shops are stocked with a delightful assortment of handmade crafts. 3. Go whitewater kayaking at Rock Island State Park Drive time: 87 miles east of Nashville; one-hour and 40-minute drive What to do: Within Rock Island State Park's 883 acres, you'll find a day full of nature excursions that cater to both laid-back explorers and adrenaline junkies alike. The park is both majestically craggy and verdant, boasting a 30-foot horseshoe waterfall that once powered the 19th-century cotton textile mill located above it. You can opt to hike past this powerful water feature on one of nine trails located below the dam, or, if you're experienced with a kayak, you can take to the rushing stream and paddle your way downstream. Fishing, swimming and birding are also popular options here, with osprey, belted kingfishers and great blue herons in the area. 4. Visit an underground national park in Cave City, Kentucky Drive time: 93 miles northeast of Nashville; one-hour and 30-minute drive What to do: With its underground rivers, glittering crystals, jagged stalagmites and rare wildlife, Mammoth Cave National Park provides shelter for some of the most unusual ecosystems in the world. But the 400-mile surveyed passageways also have their fair share of fascinating tales to tell – including the cave's turn as a tuberculosis hospital and the prehistoric mummies that inhabited its depths. You can spend a day learning about this U.S. national park through cave tours and experiences that range from an hour-and-a-half to six hours. After you've peeked at the blind beetles and eyeless fish inside the cave complex, go topside for an afternoon of hiking, fishing and ziplining through 53,000 acres of lush forest. 5. Explore space travel and breweries in Huntsville, Alabama Drive time: 110 miles south of Nashville; one-hour and 53-minute drive What to do: Home to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsvilleis quite literally a town full of rocket scientists. As such, space-themed adventures are the order of the day, and there's no better spot to explore the skies than at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. The Smithsonian-affiliated museum contains the world's largest collection of space artifacts, including rocket and shuttle components. Both kids and adults alike will get a kick out of a walk-through replica of the International Space Station and the resident G-Force simulator. Huntsville has also come into its own as an arts and culture hub. Case in point: Lowe Mill Arts & Entertainment, the nation's largest privately owned arts facility. Inside this former cotton mill, you can watch artists at work from over 148 studios, dip into one of the six galleries or watch a performance in the facility's theater. After an afternoon of the arts, wind down with a beer inside one of Huntsville's many up-and-coming breweries, like the Salty Nut Brewery, Yellowhammer Brewing and Straight to Ale. Certain areas around town are designated open container, making it easy to continue exploring Huntsville with a to-go cup in hand. 6. Ride the rail up to Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga Drive time: 134 miles southeast of Nashville; two-hour and 10-minute drive What to do: Six miles from downtown Chattanooga lies a nature-based triple threat: Ruby Falls, Rock City and the Inline Railway. It's an all-day, all-ages adventure based in Lookout Mountain, a mountain ridge running through Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. Start with a guided cave tour or a 700-foot zipline adventure through Ruby Falls, home of the world's largest underground waterfall, before strolling through the diverse flora and fauna of the Rock City Gardens. Wrap up your day with a mile-high ride on the Incline Railway, one of the world's steepest passenger railways. At the top: a bird's eye from the Lookout Mountain observation deck. 7. Navigate the Lost Sea in Sweetwater Drive time: 170 miles east of Nashville; two-hour and 53-minute drive What to do: Tennessee may be land-locked, but that doesn't stop the state from boasting its very own sea. Designated a registered natural landmark by the U.S. Department of Interior and listed as 'America's largest underground lake' by Guinness World Book of Records, the Lost Sea is a massive body of water located in a historic cave system known as the Craighead Caverns. The true size of this body of water is unknown, but you can glide across its four-acre surface and catch a glimpse of the crystal formations and colossal rainbow trout that inhabit the caverns on one of the daily boat tours offered. Nearby, Sweetwater's revitalized Main Street offers a bake shop full of indulgent Southern sweets, galleries and plenty of antique shopping. 8. Tour Elvis Presley's stomping grounds in Memphis Drive time: 215 miles west of Nashville; three-hour drive What to do: Clocking in at just over 200 miles, the drive from Nashville to Memphis stretches the definition of a day trip, but if you're a devotee of 'The King', you know that it's all about taking care of business… in a flash. And there's no other place that brings the legacy of Elvis to life quite like the kitschy and wonderfully bizarre Graceland. The full Elvis Experience tour takes about three hours, which still leaves you time to fill up on some that transcendent low-and-slow Memphis pulled pork at Central BBQ before heading back to Music City. Get more travel inspiration, tips and exclusive offers sent straight to your inbox with Lonely Planet's weekly newsletter.
9 Perfect Day Trips From New Orleans
Whether you're fleeing from the brutally hot and humid weather or simply looking for a respite from the Big Easy's riot of colors and sounds, here are nine of the best day trips from New Orleans. 1. Barataria Preserve There are all sorts of swamp tours that operate out of New Orleans – we're even recommending one below – but one of our favorite ways to experience the south Louisiana wetlands is a visit to Barataria Preserve, a national park located about 25 miles south of New Orleans. Easy trails – dirt and boardwalk – thread through the swamps, and you may be able to spot local alligators, although wildlife viewing is hindered by prolific invasive water flora. On your way back to New Orleans, make sure to pop into the superlatively good Tan Dinh for some excellent Vietnamese food. Getting there: Take US-90 and cross the Crescent City Connection Bridge over the Mississippi to the New Orleans West Bank. From US-90, take exit 4B to access Barataria Blvd which takes you to the preserve. 2. Whitney Plantation A cluster of restored mansions sit roughly 50 miles west of New Orleans, with the Whitney being the most interesting of the bunch to visit. While most plantations now pay lip service to the history of slavery, the Whitney is a museum dedicated to unpacking the grim institution. Through a series of thoughtful exhibits, the Whitney demonstrates how the South did not just benefit from but was built upon chattel slavery. Getting there: The most direct route is I-10 West for about 40 miles, then detour south on LA-641 for another 10 miles. 3. Lafayette Cajun country is as fabled a destination as New Orleans, a land of low prairies, deep swamps, good music and delicious meals that you may never want to let your cardiologist know about. 'Acadiana', as the area is known, consists of many small towns scattered over southwest Louisiana. The capital of the region is Lafayette, a friendly small city located 140 miles west of New Orleans, packed with great food and excellent live music venues – don't leave without stopping in for a night of dancing at the Blue Moon. Getting there: Take I-10 West for about 2-and-a-half hours. Part of the route goes through the preserved Atchafalaya Basin, one of the state's remaining wild wetlands. 4. St Francisville When the furnace of New Orleans gets too hot or you just need some small-town arts atmosphere, head north about 120 miles to St Francisville, a tidy bohemian retreat set amidst hills and forests. A glut of historical buildings, cute cafes, antique-and-artsy shopping and hiking trails through the woods makes for a perfect break from New Orleans. Getting there: Take I-10 West up through the state capital to Baton Rouge, take exit 8C to get on I-110 North. From there, take US-61 North to St Francisville. 5. Mississippi Gulf Shore Despite being totally tied to the water, there's no real beach access in New Orleans, barring a few stretches of not very friendly sand on Lake Pontchartrain. While the beaches of Gulf Shores and Dauphin Island, AL are pretty lovely, they're also a fair distance. Consider instead the decent sand, friendly restaurants and generally laid-back seashore vibe at Mississippi Gulf Coast towns like Bay St Louis and Gulfport. While this area can get inundated with day-trippers on hot weekends, you can still embark on a relatively quiet escape during the week. Getting there: It depends on where you're going, but this advice applies from Biloxi to the Alabama border – just head east on I-10. 6. North Shore The north shore of Lake Pontchartrain is made up of several bedroom suburbs of New Orleans and radiates a more sedate vibe than what you'll find in the Crescent City. Attractions include sampling some brews at the Abita Brewery or exploring the surreal madness of theAbita Mystery House, one of the state's great roadside attractions. Need a place to stay? Cabins at Fontainebleau State Park are raised on stilts over Lake Pontchartrain and make for a supremely relaxing, breezy escape. Getting there: To cross Lake Pontchartrain, take I-10 West and exit to cross the Pontchartrain Causeway, one of the largest bridges in the world. 7. New Iberia The hazy, humid town of New Iberia sits about 140 miles west of New Orleans. On the sleepy main streets you'll find the well-preserved plantation of Shadows on the Teche, and just outside of town is the area's main attraction: Avery Island (not really much of island), home of a huge salt mine and the headquarters of Tabasco, the iconic hot sauce maker. You can take a tour of the Tabasco Factory, and afterward amuse yourself by exploring the nearby Jungle Gardens, a sort of hybrid botanical retreat, wildlife preserve, aviary and a slice of historical trivia. Getting there: US-90 West gets you almost 100 percent into New Iberia, and you'll get to see some low-lying Louisiana prairie and farmland on the way. 8. Paddling Into the Bayou While it's great fun to trod a boardwalk at Barataria or watch an old fisherman point out gators on a motorized boat tour, there's something utterly otherworldly about paddling the Louisiana swamps. It's a strange, primal, beautiful experience; you are at once present in the midst of the bayou, yet also deeply aware that you are a visitor to this ecosystem, a fish out of water (or a human gliding across it, more accurately). Louisiana Lost Land Tours, conducted by local environmental experts, give participants an excellent kayaking experience, as well as a solid grounding in the unique environmental issues confronting south Louisiana. Getting there: Lost Lands will help you coordinate the launching point for your swamp adventure. 9. Baton Rouge A lot of New Orleanians blow off Baton Rouge – named for a red stick used as a geographic marker by local Native Americans. This may be known as the state's grey, faceless capital, yet it's also a sprawling town with some decent attractions. Football games at LSU are a non-stop display of pageantry and spectacle; it's a glimpse into the football-mad world of the American South where a tailgating party is a monumental sports moment. For a quieter experience, the Rural Life Museum is a window onto the state's past. Getting there: The 'BR' is an easy 80-mile trek northwest of New Orleans via I-10. Get more travel inspiration, tips and exclusive offers sent straight to your inbox with Lonely Planet's weekly newsletter.
Historic U.S. Homes: Our Top 8 Picks
You can read an author's entire body of work, study a president's legacy, or celebrate the achievements of a civil rights hero, but nothing gives you a true understanding of a famous figure like a visit to the place she or he lived. Their home is their sanctuary for creating their art, developing and carrying out their righteous mission, or simply experiencing life in a setting that influenced them. Here are a few historic homes that deliver a thorough education and, if you're open to it, inspiration. 1. Harry S. Truman National Historic Site: Independence, Missouri From 1919, the year he married Bess Wallace, until his death in 1972, President Harry S. Truman lived in a simple Victorian home in, fittingly enough, Independence, Missouri. (During his eight-year residency on Pennsylvania Avenue, it was known as the 'Summer White House') A wander through this home delivers an intimate look at the life of the World War I veteran and 33rd American President. Like most presidential homes and memorials, this one is part of the National Parks Service and tours by park rangers happen regularly. The home is so loaded with period details, family heirlooms, personal objects and memorabilia that a guided tour is well worth it. 2. Susan B. Anthony House: Rochester, New York One of the cornerstones of American democracy – a woman's right to vote – took root at a modest, pre-Civil War brick house in Rochester, New York, which is located about 90 minutes from Niagara Falls. Pioneering activist Susan B. Anthony turned her house into the headquarters of the suffrage movement, and when she wasn't campaigning across the country, she was organizing from the parlor here, often with anti-slavery activist Frederick Douglass and fellow women's rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Check out the third-floor attic, where she penned many political documents, and the second floor features a collection of memorabilia that tell the story of the suffrage movement. 3. John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site: Brookline, Massachusetts America's 35th president was born and raised just outside of Boston, in the ritzy suburb of Brookline, and to this day, the unassuming home where he spent the first three years of his life stands as a monument. It's a museum-like destination showcasing Kennedy family mementos and photographs. 4. Morris-Jumel Mansion: New York, New York George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton are just a few of the notables who dined in the Morris-Jumel Mansion, a country retreat built in 1765 on an elevated perch overlooking Manhattan in what is now the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem. It was commissioned by Roger Morris, a colonel in the British Army, and his wife Mary. But in 1776 it was seized by the Continental Army and transformed into General Washington's HQ. About 35 years later, it was purchased by wealthy businessman Stephen Jumel who pulled out all the stops to refurbish it. Known to be the oldest house in Manhattan, its period details have been carefully maintained, much to the joy of locals over time. (Duke Ellington once deemed it 'the jewel in the crown of Sugar Hill.') 5. Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum: Baltimore, Maryland The city of Baltimore pays tribute to its longtime resident Edgar Allan Poe in many ways, such as naming its football team the Ravens, in honor of his famous poem. A visit to Charm City can be a Poe-filled pilgrimage, what with Enoch Pratt Free Library's original manuscripts and his grave at Westminster Hall and Burial Ground. Of course, the best way to learn about the American icon and his celebrated work is to visit the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum, a modest building where he lived for much of the 1930s with his teenage cousin/bride, Virginia, and her mother. His workroom sits at the top of a narrow and fittingly creaky staircase while the rest of the house, which became a National Historic Landmark in 1962, has exhibits on his life in Baltimore, his family and the poems and stories he penned. 6. Emily Dickinson Museum: Amherst, Massachusetts The tranquil woodsy landscape of Amherst Massachusetts, about 95 miles west of Boston, is the setting where Emily Dickinson penned her contemplative, radical verse. The Emily Dickinson Museum is set in two historic properties – the Evergreens, her brother and sister-in-law's house, and the Homestead, a two-and-a-half-story brick house, where the famously reclusive Dickinson was born and spent most of her Victorian-era life writing countless poems, only ten of which were published – allegedly without her knowing – during her lifetime. Wander the Homestead for a look at her parlors, library, kitchen and maid's quarters and check out 'my Voice is alive,' an interpretive exhibit about her early work. 7. Louis Armstrong House: Queens, New York The brick house on 103rd Street in the working-class neighborhood of Corona, Queens, doesn't look like much from the outside, but inside is a time capsule that tells the story of one of America's most iconic musicians. Louis Armstrong, who grew up poor in New Orleans, lived out his retirement years with his wife, Lucille, in this gorgeously appointed home, which today stands as a tribute to the legend. The charming kitchen, the opulent bathroom and bedroom, the handsome wood-paneled office featuring original recording equipment, and the inviting living room, packed with souvenirs that Satchmo collected on his global travels, have all been maintained with attention to detail. 8. Eastman Museum: Rochester, New York Photography museums and galleries proliferate the planet, but the oldest in the world is in Rochester, New York at the estate of George Eastman, founder of the Eastman Kodak Company. A National Historic Landmark since 1966, the Eastman Museum is set on 10.5 picturesque acres and contains works from more than 14,000 photographers, including celebrated contemporary artists like Andy Warhol and Cindy Sherman, the world's largest collection of daguerreotypes, and vintage prints from luminaries like Ansel Adams. Eastman's actual home contains more than 200,000 objects ranging from business and personal correspondences, including some with presidents, his own photos and scrapbooks, and an archive of Kodak advertisements. Get more travel inspiration, tips and exclusive offers sent straight to your inbox with Lonely Planet's weekly newsletter.


text:
Cecilia Paulson is a Swedish Paralympic alpine skier. She represented Sweden in Paralympic Alpine skiing, at the 1994 Paralympic Winter Games, 1998 Paralympic Winter Games, and 2002 Paralympic Winter Games. She won four medals: two silvers and two bronzes.

Career
She competed at the 1994 Winter Paralympics, in Lillehammer, with 1: 43.07 Paulson finished sixth in the super-G LWX-XII, behind Sarah Will in 1:26.67, Gerda Pamler in 1: 28.24, Stephanie Riche in 1: 37.99, Vreni Stoeckli in 1: 38.03 and Sandra Mittelholzer in 1:41.62. She competed in Women's Slalom LWX-XII, and Women's Giant Slalom LWX-XII, but did not finish.

At the 1998 Winter Paralympics, in Nagano, Paulson won two bronze medals: in the super-G race, with a realized time of 1:13.33 (gold for Sarah Will in 1: 09.49 and silver for Kuniko Obinata in 1: 11.24), and downhill LW10-11 in 1:31.29 (on the podium in front of her, Kuniko Obinata with 1:18.00 and Sarah Will in 1:19.02).

At the 2002 Winter Paralympics, in Salt Lake City, Paulson won two silver medals, slalom LW10-12, and giant slalom LW12. She placed 4th in super-G LW10-12, and downhill LW10-12.

References

Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Sportspeople from Västerås
Paralympic alpine skiers of Sweden
Swedish female alpine skiers
Alpine skiers at the 1994 Winter Paralympics
Alpine skiers at the 1998 Winter Paralympics
Alpine skiers at the 2002 Winter Paralympics
Medalists at the 1998 Winter Paralympics
Medalists at the 2002 Winter Paralympics
Paralympic silver medalists for Sweden
Paralympic bronze medalists for Sweden

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Joseph's midi skirt is pressed with pleats and woven with yellow and white stripes. Cut to sit above the hips, this style has a split front, midi hemline and two D-ring buckled tabs. Wear yours with a tucked-in blouse and pumps.


The HAT PAVIA-SANREMO is a new tourism-adventure event included in the 2018 National Calendar of Tourism Adventouring of the Italian Motorcycle Federation (FMI). It arises directly out of the famous HAT SANREMO-SESTRIERE, sharing its spirit and philosophy and with the purpose to broaden the horizons of Adventouring by means of new itineraries, new scenarios, new emotions. The idea is to replicate the values of adventure, solidarity and passion, bringing the enthusiasts of moto-adventouring on unexplored roads in search of new experiences. Moreover, the HAT PAVIA-SANREMO allows the Adventouring activity to catch on also in Lombardy, a region with enormous, yet unexpressed potential. The HAT PAVIA-SANREMO will involve three different regions: Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria, enhancing its spirit of adventure tourism.
The HAT PAVIA-SANREMO is thought up as an opportunity to share with other people the common passion for riding a motorcycle with no competitive ambitions, but with attention to rediscovery of minor road networks and natural dirt roads.
This first edition will be "HAT-style" with two routes: the CLASSIC route of about 450 km, with the night stretch and the DISCOVERY route of about 390 km, with an overnight stay halfway nearby Sassello (in the province of Savona), where the most important refreshment point is located. The difficulty level of the two routes is "easy" with some more challenging stretches. Both routes are suitable for over-150 kg maxi-enduro motorcycles, in compliance with the FMI Adventouring regulations.
From the starting point in Pavia, a privileged position in the Po Valley, the tracks lead participants along the river Po, then they continue southward in the direction of Ovada. Here you will meet the first reliefs of the Ligurian-Piedmontese Apennines and the route will start to climb and descend. After the stop at Sassello, the track continues towards Altare, where the long dirt road of the Colla di San Giacomo will bring the riders to Garessio. From here it is necessary to pass on the Colle di Nava and then the road descends to the sea to reach Sanremo.
In this first edition the number of participants is limited to a maximum of 100 pilots.
The HAT PAVIA SANREMO is an event included in the official FMI Adventouring 2018 calendar.


My belief is that most of us are not absorbing an Adult Judaism by the time we need it to sustain us. We start off with an age-appropriate version of Judaism filled with miracles and God's intervention in history. Our Jewish upbringing is usually stalled at Bar/Bat-Mitzvah age, though, before our Childhood Judaism can be replaced by a more mature, robust version. In many cases, our Judaism of wide-eyed wonder is simply no match for the questions, doubts, challenges, education, philosophy and people we will encounter long before adulthood. For that, we need an Adult Judaism.
This is not another Jewish denomination (although I'm very much in favour of a multitude of denominations within Judaism (unity does not mean or need uniformity)), but rather an irreducible minimum in terms of both Jewish belief and understanding. I see it consisting of the following components.
That we came into being as a people with a set of laws through an epic encounter with the Divine (however we care to understand that).
That this in turn results in a whole body of customs, rituals and practices, which differ somewhat from place to place and era to era. These rituals are not Judaism, although they often manifest some aspect of it.
That the ethical requirements cannot be taught academically, but must be embodied practically in families and societies. This is ultimately the reason for Jewish peoplehood, and the reason why Judaism puts so much emphasis on doing.
We need an exposure to that Adult Judaism at a much earlier stage; before we've begun to question the parting of the Red Sea. We need to make it clear that Judaism is not contingent on miracles. We need to teach basic theology, i.e. what it is we should believe, not just some Aleph-Bet, some history and traditions and our Torah portion.
This is very much a first pass at defining the bullet points for an Adult Judaism, one that can carry us through the personal, intellectual and moral challenges we inevitably encounter on the path to adulthood and throughout our lives. If we want to stem the tide of assimilation away from Judaism, we need to define and educate for an Adult Judaism that looks at least something like this.
For those well-versed in Jewish learning and texts this may look like primary school stuff. For those whose Jewish education ended at 12 or 13 (or even before it began) this may well be a revelation. It may also make the difference between staying or going, being anchored or drifting.
Only an Adult Judaism – in both definition and education – will allow us to juggle belief and reason without the danger of dropping or compromising either. Only an Adult Judaism will sustain us spiritually and allow us to assimilate the best of what the world has to offer, without forgetting who we are.
We need to understand clearly that it's beyond the power of organised Judaism to stop intermarriage to any meaningful extent. Instead, what it needs to focus on is a Jewish upbringing that gives answers to the question why be/remain Jewish. It also needs to put emphasis on allowing people to remain firmly within the Jewish fold, irrespective of their choice of life partner.
The second part of my two part answer to the challenges of assimilation and intermarriage is Outreach, which we should really be thinking of as Acceptance rather than Outreach. This Acceptance needs to encompass not just the "usual suspects" (the intermarried), but all those who tend to drift or be edged towards the fringes of Jewish society.
Instead of just paying lip service to Outreach (or questioning whether there should be funding for Outreach at all), we need to dedicate a substantial portion of our budgets to it. It needs to be almost taken for granted as one of the major line items on the communal Jewish budget.
The kinds of attitudes and programs that should be included in a meaningful Outreach campaign have been addressed by organisations such as The Jewish Outreach Institute (JOI) and its Big Tent Judaism initiative, as well as InterfaithFamily.com, so I won't attempt to duplicate that work here, just note that it needs to front and centre in our thinking, actions and budgets.
One final point: As noted by one of the better commenters on the article that inspired this post (Dottie Goldman), we also need to look at the cost of Jewish living. In our post-global economic crisis economy, we need to find ways to smooth out the cost of the big-ticket items, e.g. education and synagogue membership.
Why should it be important to remain Jewish?
Why should it be important to marry within the faith? Why is doing otherwise considered damaging to the Jewish people?
What are the options if you love and want to marry someone who's not Jewish, but want to remain connected to Judaism, and want your offspring to be Jewish?
A complete, unambiguous welcome (acceptance) for those in inter-faith relationships, with suitable budgeting and programs to go along with it. Both attitudes and priorities need to be addressed.
You've heard my straight talk, now let's hear yours.
Time for Straight-Talk About Assimilation?


BC Wildfire Service says the firefighting efforts on the Mount Conkle in Summerland are now at the mop-up stage and it is being held.
The fire has an extended perimeter due to all the fingers and bays and there is hose around all of it, BC Wildfire Information officer Noelle Kekulla. Thursday's objective was to mop up to 100 feet in and push to the middle.
The fire was started by lightning.


London is in full bloom and with the RHS Chelsea Flower Show just around the corner, we have the perfect weekend package to help you enjoy the show in style.
We have partnered with Jardin Blanc, two Michelin-starred chef Raymond Blanc's secret garden restaurant at the world-famous RHS Chelsea Flower Show, to offer guests a bespoke discounted rate on tickets when purchased with a night's stay at The LaLiT London.
Book a one night stay at The LaLiT with a ticket to Le Jasmine on Friday 24th May and enjoy a champagne afternoon tea before you explore the rest of the show.
Come early evening, return to the Jardin for champagne and canapés before heading to the exclusive 'Chelsea Late' concert, featuring music from London's world-famous jazz club, Ronnie Scott's.
After a busy night at the show, head back to one of the hotel's beautifully designed rooms and wake up feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. Or, stay a night before the show for the perfect start your RHS Chelsea Flower Show weekend.
Come morning enjoy breakfast at Baluchi, our pan-Indian dining destination. Why not make the most of your weekend escape? Book into Rejuve – the spa, for a luxury treatment.
The hotel would be happy to arrange taxis to take you to the show upon request.


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Cuentos – Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen is one of the world's most popular storytellers, and his fairy tales are among the best-loved works of literature
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – J.K. Rowling
Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, a new play by Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The play received its world premiere in London's West End on 30th July 2016.
R375.00 R270.00 by BookPlaza (Verified)
Heidi – Johanna Spyri
A classic tale of love and friendship
Hidden – P. C. and Kristin Cast
The House of Night series is an international phenomenon, reaching #1 on U.S., German, and UK bestseller lists, and remaining a fixture on the New York Times Children's Series bestseller list for more than 140 weeks and counting
Oh, The Books You Will Read! – Dr. Seuss
These classic Dr. Seuss stories are among the funniest and most thought-provoking you will ever read: "Oh, the Places You`ll Go!", "How, the Thinks You Can Think!", "Oh Say Can You Say?", "On Beyond Zebra".
Storyland – Jay Heale
South Africa is a land of storytellers and their magical tales about people and places. This book of stories will take you on a journey throughout the country and to some of its neighbours-from Arniston to Lesotho, from the Augrabies Falls to the Drakensberg, and from Barberton to Plettenberg Bay
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer – Mark Twain
This is a book about an extraordinary boy before the time of technological toys
The Children of the New Forest – Captain Marryat
A classic story which follows the Beverley children, who are orphaned during the Civil War between the Roundheads and the Cavaliers. They are forced to take refuge in the New Forest where they find that life is full of danger and excitement as they learn to fend for themselves
The Great Bell Of Peking – Margaret Greaves
Contents: 1. The great bell of Peking, 2. Switchback, 3. First impressions, 4. A secret place, 5. The bishop and the beggar, 6. The Treasure, 7. Snow, 8. The Jolly Sarah, 9. The flowering stone, 10. Derelict, 11. The visitor
The Great Cooking Adventure – Sue Long, Heidi Campbell
The Great Cooking Adventure, South Africa's Children's recipe Book by Sue Long and Heidi Campbell. In this delightfully original cookbook-with-a-difference, four children visit some of South Africa's most fascinating places, and learn to cook a host of simple but interesting dishes along the way. A scarce first edition hardcover published in 1987
The Hunt – Narelle Oliver
Winner of the Children's Book Council Children's Picture Book of the Year (1996)
The World of Christopher Robin – A.A. Milne
By the author of Winnie the Pooh, a collection of poems that appeal to the imagination of the very young
Throne of Glass. Crown of Midnight. Heir of Fire – Sarah J. Maas
Box set of books 3 in 1, Sarah J. Maas's New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series
Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson
This book is favorite adventure stories, for anybody who enjoys action, adventure, and thrill. Complete and unabridged

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


As shareholders gathered in Calabasas, Calif. on Wednesday for a key vote over Bank of America's proposed takeover of Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC) -- eventually approving the merger by a wide margin -- two state Attorneys General said they had sued Countrywide over alleged unfair and deceptive conduct. California AG Edmund Brown and Illinois AG Lisa Madigan became the latest to pile on legal liabilities to the nation's largest lender and servicer, with separate lawsuits filed just ahead of the key shareholder vote. Brown said that his office had filed suit against the lender, as well as CEO Angelo Mozilo and president David Sambol, for a series of allegedly illegal actions that "exploited the American dream of homeownership." "Countrywide was, in essence, a mass-production loan factory, producing ever-increasing streams of debt without regard for borrowers," Brown said in a press statement released by his office Wednesday morning. "Today's lawsuit seeks relief for Californians who were ripped off by Countrywide's deceptive scheme." Brown alleged in a complaint filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court that Countrywide Financial used "deceptive tactics" to push homeowners into "complicated, risky, and expensive loans so that the company could sell as many loans as possible to third-party investors." Among the tactics singled out in the complaint were refinancing borrowers into complicated and dangerous mortgage programs; "dramatically easing" underwriting standards; and making borrowers sign large stacks of paperwork without giving them time to read what was being signed, among others. Brown also alleged that Countrywide employees, including loan officers, underwriters, and branch managers, under intense pressure to process a constantly increasing number of loans, consistently misrepresented or obfuscated the fact that borrowers who obtained certain types of loans would experience dramatic increases in monthly payments. Illinois joins in, too Not to be outdone, Illinois AG Lisa Madigan's office filed a similar lawsuit in Illinois' Cook County Circuit Court Wednesday alleging "unfair and deceptive conduct on a large scale in creating, originating, marketing and servicing unnecessarily risky and costly mortgage loans for Illinois homeowners." The Illinois case, however, takes on an interesting twist, alleging that Countrywide escalated its originations of unaffordable and poorly underwritten loans to satisfy its obligations to Wall Street investors as failure rates on Countrywide loans began to escalate in late 2006 and early 2007. "Countrywide created risky and costly loan products and marketed them to borrowers who could not afford them," Madigan said in a press statement. "Countrywide's unfair lending practices have harmed tens of thousands of borrowers who've been placed in unaffordable loans and, as a result, our communities are now being destabilized by a skyrocketing number of home foreclosures." Madigan's lawsuit asks the court to rescind or reform all Countrywide loans "originated with the use of unfair and deceptive practices," including providing financial relief to borrowers who lost their homes to foreclosure, refinanced, sold, or have loans currently being serviced by Countrywide, "even if that requires Countrywide to repurchase loans from current investor owners." Madigan's office also petitioned the court for a 90 day stay of all Countrywide foreclosures so that her office could review whether the loans involved were tied to the deceptive practices alleged in the complaint. Determined dealmaking The lawsuits would seem to have been timed to throw off a pending vote by shareholders on the proposed merger with North Carolina-based Bank of America Corp. (BAC); under the terms of the deal, BofA will exchange .1822 shares of its own stock for each share of Countrywide, putting the deal at a value of roughly $3 billion Wednesday morning. Shares in Bank of America were trading at $27.30, up 2.5 percent, on the New York Stock Exchange when this story was published. Despite news of fresh legal woes, however, 69 percent of Countrywide's common stock shareholders approved the proposed buyout -- enough to push the deal forward. Countrywide said Wednesday that the BofA merger is expected to be complete by July 1. Disclosure: The author was long CFC and held no positions in BAC when this story was originally published. HW reporters and writers follow a strict disclosure policy, the first in the mortgage trade.


The M4-22 Micro Pistol is a premium .22 caliber semi-automatic AR styled pistol with aluminum upper and lower receivers and all the features of a true M4. The M4-22 Pistol features a 7 inch barrel and weighs only 4.1 lbs. This highly modifiable pistol has all the features as the M4-22 rifle but with a shorter 7" barrel and no stock. The buffer-tube is oversized and will only accept arm braces.


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Tagged: Browns
Heine Meine Built Fields of Dreams
You can hear the crack of the bat and cheers of the crowd at Heine Meine fields in far south St. Louis County. Pitchers grunt as they hurl fastballs toward the hitter, while umpires bark out their calls. You can catch a game here throughout the cool spring days and warm summer nights in the Gateway City.
Baseball teams, including those from Hancock High School and St. Louis Community College-Meramec, play on the nine-acre, recently renovated property, located not far from the Mississippi River. Three fields comprise Heine Meine.
The complex was named long ago for Henry William "Heine" Meine, the so-called Count of Luxembourg, a former big-league pitcher and the owner of a popular tavern that once stood nearby. Heine also helped found the Lemay Baseball Association.
Heine Meine's story is worth telling. The ballplayer's spitball first drew the attention of scouts. Later, he came up with different ways to make his pitches move. He was, as baseball people liked to say, a "junkball" artist. Meine compiled a 66-50 won-loss mark in a major-league career that began in 1922, went on hiatus for several years and picked up again in 1929.
Born May 1, 1896 in St. Louis, to Henry and Louisa Meine, the children of German immigrants, young Henry grew up in the city's Carondelet neighborhood. The boy grew up with the goal of making his living as a blacksmith, his dad's profession.
World War II broke out in 1914. The United States entered the action in 1917. Henry Meine Jr. served 22 months in the U.S. Army's mounted cavalry. He also showed off a special talent to his fellow soldiers. Henry Meine hurled a mean spitball.
Not long after the Great War ended on Nov. 11, 1918, Meine returned to St. Louis and began operating a local tavern. He also played semi-pro baseball. A scout for the St. Louis Browns signed him to a deal in 1921.
Meine didn't exactly light things up in the minors. He went 8-16 with a 4.68 ERA for the Beaumont, Texas, Exporters, a Class A squad. The Browns promoted him to the big club, anyway.
To make things even tougher on the 26-year-old rookie, spitballs had been outlawed in the big leagues following the 1921 season. (Some pitchers were grandfathered in and allowed to keep throwing the pitch. Burleigh Grimes was the last legal spitballer in the majors.) So, a guy with an 8-16 mark and an 4.68 ERA couldn't—legally—throw his best pitch.
Appearing in just one game and pitching just four innings. Meine gave up five hits and three runs (two earned, a 4.50 ERA). Over the next several years, Meine toiled in the minors—for teams such as the Syracuse Stars and the Kansas City Blues—and worked on throwing good pitches…dry.
The Browns eventually traded Meine to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 5-foot-11-inch right-hander eventually made it back to the majors as a 33-year-old in 1929. He pitched in 108 innings (22 games, 13 starts), went 7-6 and posted another 4.50 ERA. The following year, Meine tossed 117 innings (20 games, 16 starts) and finished 6-8, this time with an inflated 6.14 ERA. Meine's junkballs needed work.
His offseason leading into 1931 included a tonsillectomy. Meine's first game that year was an unimpressive six-inning effort. He gave up eight hits and five walks. His second start was about the same. Then, something clicked. Meine used a curveball, change-up, good control and guile to put together by far his best year in the majors.
He led the National league with 19 wins (against 13 losses) and started a league-leading 35 games. Meine also topped all pitchers with 284 innings pitched, to go with a 2.98 ERA (fourth in the league). At one point, he tossed five straight complete games. If not for Meine, Pittsburgh 75-79 won-loss record (fifth place) would have been much worse. The pitcher went 4-2 against the eventual World Series winner St. Louis Cardinals, posting a 1.61 ERA in 56 innings.
Meine's curveball had become a "sweeping, tantalizing thing," St. Louis sportswriter Roy Stockton decided.
The irascible Meine wanted a raise for the 1932 campaign. The Pirates said "no," leading to a holdout and suspension. Meine finally reported to the team in late May, but never got into a groove. He finished 12-9 but with a 3.86 ERA. The next year, he finished 15-8 and recorded a 3.65 ERA. Meine was 37 years old.
Influenza wiped out part of Meine's 1934 season. He went just 7-6 and retired to St. Louis to run his tavern. The neighborhood was known as "Luxemburg." Meine was the Count. Meine's place was a popular joint before, during and after prohibition. A reporter for the Milwaukee Journal wrote that Meine can "juggle a stein of brew just as easily as he can throw a curve ball."
Later, Meine opened a baseball school for teenage boys and hired former ballplayers to help out. He started the Lemay Baseball Association and ran that with his sons, Howard and Robert. Heine Meine died March 18, 1968, at age 71.
Written by Glen Sparks Leave a comment Posted in Uncategorized	Tagged with Browns, Heine Meine, Pirates
Stripling nearly enjoyed a Bumpus moment
"Bumpus" Jones
Well, it wasn't like Ross Stripling was pitching a perfect game.
By the time Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled Stripling from Friday's game with one out in the eighth inning, the Los Angeles starter already had walked four San Francisco Giants hitters. But, the 6-foot-3-inch right-hander did have a no-hitter going. Could he keep it up and toss a no-no in his first major-league game? That doesn't happen every century.
Only one pitcher has thrown a no-hitter while making his debut. Charles "Bumpus" Jones did it when Benjamin Harrison was president of the United States, and Queen Victoria still ruled England.
Jones started at home for the Cincinnati Reds on Oct. 15, 1892, against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 22-year-old right-hander was a local guy. He hailed from Xenia, less than 60 miles from Cincinnati.
The first batter walked. So, did the second batter. Jones, though, wiggled out of this early jam. A few innings later, he found himself in another one. Pittsburgh scored an unearned run in the fourth inning on a walk, a stolen base and a Bumpus error. It looked like Jones might get an early hook.
Then, he got into a groove. He still had not given up a hit, and he didn't give one up over the final six innings. The Reds beat the Pirates 7-1. Bumpus walked four and struck out three.
Fast forward to May 6, 1953. Alva Lee "Bobo" Holloman threw a no-hitter for the St. Louis Browns with just 5.1 innings and a handful of relief appearances under his belt. Manager Marty Marion sent Holloman to pitch his first start, against the Philadelphia A's.
Good defense helped Bobo. So, too, did the humid night in St. Louis. Several Philadelphia flyballs lost their fight to the thick Midwest air. One A's hitter reached on a Holloman error. Bobo also walked five, including three in the ninth inning. The rookie held on, though. The Browns won 6-0.
Unfortunately, neither Holloman nor Jones fared well after their big games. Bumpus won just one more game in the major leagues, and it was quite an improbable win at that. He somehow got the "w" on June 18, 1893, despite walking six and giving up 12 runs. Fortunately, the Reds scored 30 times against the Louisville Colonels.
Cincinnati had taken a 14-0 third-inning lead. Bumpus was summoned from the bullpen to give starter Elton Chamberlain a rest. Chamberlain still had not pitched the minimum five innings to qualify for a win. Bumpus held the lead, but, really, no lead was safe with this wild-armed, one-game sensation.
Jones' big-league career lasted two seasons. He split his 1893 campaign between Cincinnati and the New York Giants. Bumpus pitched a total of eight games in the majors, started seven and went 2-4 with a 7.99 ERA in 41.2 innings.
Holloman, meanwhile, did not even make it to a sophomore season in the majors. He finished 3-7 in 1953 and posted an ERA of 5.23. Bobo pitched 65.1 innings in the majors. Arm problems did him in.
Let's hope Stripling enjoys a much longer career than either Bumpus or Bobo. The Dodgers drafted him in the fifth round out of Texas A&M in 2012. He is still building up arm strength following Tommy John surgery in 2014.
Following Friday's game, Roberts and Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said Stripling had started to lose command in his final inning. His fastball also had lost some of its life. Hayes Stripling, Ross's dad, agreed with Roberts' call. (Stripling left the game with one runners on base and with the Dodgers ahead 2-0. Reliever Chris Hatcher promptly gave up a two-run home run. The Giants won 3-2 in 10 innings.)
Hayes, with tears in his eyes, thanked the skipper afterword for taking care of his son's still-mending right elbow.
"I felt good about it (the decision), regardless of that," Roberts said in Saturday's Los Angeles Times. "But to get the parents' approval, that's always a good thing."
Written by Glen Sparks Leave a comment Posted in Uncategorized	Tagged with Bobo Holloman, Browns, Bumpus Jones, Dodgers, Reds
MVP! MVP! Browns' Sisler Wins in '22
George Sisler played college baseball at the University of Michigan.
The American League created an MVP award in 1922. George Sisler was ready.
Sisler, a first baseman for the St. Louis Browns, put together the finest season of his Hall of Fame career in '22. The timing worked out great.
Baseball had stopped giving out something called the Chalmers Award in 1914. Hugh Chalmers, the head of Detroit-based Chalmers Automobile, created that honor in 1910 as a way to gain publicity for his company. The Chalmers Award would go to the Major League player who finished with the highest batting average, then considered the game's most important stat. Sounds simple, right? Well, nothing involving Ty Cobb is ever simple.
Cobb, the great outfielder for the Detroit Tigers, couldn't shake Napoleon Lajoie, a second baseman for the Cleveland Indians, in 1910. On the final day of the season, Lajoie put down seven bunt hits and added a triple in a doubleheader against the Browns. He went 8-for-8 with a sacrifice.
The story goes that Jack O'Connor didn't like the ill-tempered Cobb. That was why he stationed his third baseman, Red Corriden, several feet behind the bag in that game. Corriden had no chance to field a bunt and throw out the runner. Even so, A.L. President Ban Johnson declared Cobb the winner in the batting race by a margin of .000860. (Later research indicated that Cobb had incorrectly been awarded two extra hits during that season. Baseball-reference.com lists Lajoie with a .384 batting average in 1910 and Cobb with a .383 mark.)
Chalmers decided to award a car to both players anyway. Over the next four seasons, a Chalmers Award was given to one player in each league who by a vote of baseball writers was determined to be the "most important and useful player to the club and to the league." The publicity did not match the cost of giving away a free car, however, and the award was dropped after the 1914 campaign.
That brings us to 1922. Hoping to increase fan interest, A.L. executives announced they would hand out an MVP award at season's end. It would go to "the baseball player who is of the greatest all-around service to his club."
The smart money had to be on Babe Ruth. The Bambino was coming off an epic year. He crushed 59 home runs in 1921 and drove in 168 with a .378 batting average. Cobb also was a good candidate. He hit .389 in 1921 with 101 RBI. (Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx were still to come.)
But, Sisler had to be on everyone's short list. He batted .371 in '21 and led the league in triples in (18) and stolen bases (35). In 1920, Sisler batted .407, tops in the A.L. He recorded a league-high 257 hits, drove in 122 runs and stole 42 bases. A writer from the day once informed readers that Sisler possessed "dazzling ability of the Cobbesque type."
Sisler, he wrote, "is just as fast, showy, and sensational, very nearly if not quite as good as a natural hitter, as fast in speed of foot, an even better fielder, and gifted with a versatility Cobb himself might envy."
The Ohio-born product played football, basketball and baseball as a kid. A good student, he left Akron High School and went to the University of Michigan to study engineering. And, as it turns out, to mash fastballs (He batted .445 as a sophomore with the Wolverines and .451 as a junior.)
Sisler signed with the Browns as a pitcher. He joined the big club in 1915 and compiled a 2.83 ERA in 70 innings. He even beat Walter Johnson 2-1 in a pitching duel Aug. 29.
The lefty only pitched 41 more innings in his career. The Browns decided he could menace the opposition more as a hitter. He hit .285 in at-bats in 1915 and .305 the following year, his first full season. Then, his career he really took off. He hit .353, .341 and .342 in each of the next three years. He stole a total of 154 bases in his first five seasons.
Those years led up to his huge seasons in 1920 and '21. But, he saved his best year for 1922. Sisler led the league in batting average (.420), hits (246), runs (134), triples (18) and stolen bases (51). He also added eight homers, 42 doubles and 105 RBI.
On this date in 1922, baseball writers voted Sisler as the league's first MVP. Ruth had muddled through an offseason (31 HR, 96 RBI, .315), made worse by a suspension for playing in illegal offseason exhibition games, and Cobb didn't beat Sisler in any of the major batting categories (Once a great base stealer, the 35-year-old Georgia Peach finished with just nine thefts.)
Really, Sisler's toughest competition for MVP probably came from a fellow St. Louis Brown, Ken Williams. The left-fielder led the A.L. in homers (39) and RBI (155) and finished sixth in batting average (.332) in what was by far the best year of his career. He also led the league in total bases (367, 19 more than Sisler) and was second in steals (37). Using more modern stats, Sisler beat Williams in WAR (8.7 to 7.9) and runs created (163 to 146), in large part because of Sisler's .88 point lead in batting average. The writers made the correct choice.
Sisler missed the 1923 season due to a sinus infection that damaged an optic nerve. He was never the same ballplayer again. He wouldn't have been eligible for the MVP again, anyway. According to the rules, a player could not win the award twice. Babe Ruth, back in full swing, was the A.L. MVP of 1923.
The National League did not institute an MVP until 1924. Dazzy Vance, ace of the Brooklyn Robins (Dodgers), was the first winner. The modern MVP did not get going until 1931.
Sisler retired following the 1930 season. He left the game with a .340 lifetime batting average. Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939, Sisler remains the greatest Brown of all.
Written by Glen Sparks Leave a comment Posted in Uncategorized	Tagged with Browns, George Sisler, MVP
Which Brown/Oriole …?
He is the answer to No. 1.
The old Milwaukee Brewers began play in the Western League in the late 19th century. In 1901, they joined the newly formed American League. The following season, the team moved to St. Louis and changed its name to the Browns, the original moniker of the National League's St. Louis Cardinals.
More often than not, the Browns battled it out for last place in the A.L. "St Louis-first in booze, first in shoes, last in the American League." The Browns made it to one World Series, in 1944, against the Cardinals. The Cards won the Streetcar Series in six games.
The Browns nearly moved to Los Angeles in 1942, but World War II intervened. They almost moved back to Milwaukee and finally left for Baltimore in 1954. Rechristened the Orioles, the franchise has won six pennants and World Series in 1966, 1970 and 1983.
Good luck with the quiz!
Which Browns outfielder hit above .300 every season from 1919 through 1925, including a .355 mark in 1920 and .352 in 1921?
Which Browns first baseman batted better than .400 twice and won the MVP award in 1922?
Which Browns pitcher threw a no-hitter in his first start, May 6, 1953?
Which Browns pitcher made his debut with the team at the age of 44 and compiled an 18-23 won-loss record over three seasons?
Which Browns first baseman led his team with a .438 batting average in the 1944 World Series (minimum 10 at-bats)?
Which Browns outfielder was the first player in MLB history to reach the 30-30 mark (30 homers, 30 steals) in one season?
Which Browns shortstop, nicknamed "Little Slug," led the A.L. in RBI (109) in 1944 and home runs (24) in 1945?
Which Orioles outfielder, described by his former team as "an old 30," won the MVP and Triple Crown for Baltimore in 1967?
Which Orioles pitcher beat the Dodgers' Sandy Koufax 6-0 in Game 2 of the 1966 World Series at the age of 20?
Which Orioles pitcher, with a 78-79 lifetime record, put together a Cy Young season in his next-to-last campaign?
"Baby Doll" Jacobson. Supposedly, they called William Chester Jacobson "Baby Doll" because when he came up to bat once in the minors in 1912, the ballpark band was playing "Oh, You Beautiful Doll." Jacobson promptly hit a home run and a lady fan shouted, "You must be that beautiful doll they were talking about." He spent most of his career with the Browns and hit .311 over an 11-year career (.317 with the Browns.)
George Sisler. He was the greatest Brownie of them all, no question. He played 12 of his 15 seasons in St. Louis, enjoying a .407 season in 1920 and .420 in 1922. Sisler also led the league in stolen bases three times. The Hall of Famer hit .340 lifetime.
Alva Lee "Bobo" Holloman. Holloman only went 3-7 in the major leagues, all of that in 1953. He made four relief appearances and kept bugging Browns manager Marty Marion to give him a start. Marion finally gave in, and Holloman no-hit the Philadelphia A's on a rainy afternoon in front of about 2,500 fans. He never came close to repeating that effort and was out of the majors for good by July 19, never to return.
Satchel Paige. He established himself as a legend in the Negro leagues. Baseball policy kept him out of the big leagues for much of his career. Finally, in 1948, at the age of 41, Paige made it to the Majors with the Indians. He spent three years in St. Louis and made two All-Star teams.
George McQuinn. Several fine players put on the Browns uniform through the years. McQuinn, from Virginia, was another standout. He hit .283 in eight seasons with St. Louis. McQuinn recorded seven hits in 16 at-bats against the Cardinals in the 1944 Series. He hit just .130 (3-for-29) for the Yankees in the 1947 Series against the Dodgers.
Ken Williams. The lefty batter belted 196 home runs in his career and swiped 154 bases. He was never better than he was in 1922. Williams hit .332 and drove in a league-high 155 runs. He also led the league with 39 homers and stole 37 bases.
Vern Stephens. The shortstop broke in with the Browns in 1941 and played his first seven seasons in St. Louis. He made three All-Star teams during that time. Later, with the Red Sox, he played on four more All-Star teams and led the league in RBI in 1949 (1959) and 1950 (144). Stephens slugged 247 homers in his career.
Frank Robinson. A six-time All-Star with the Cincinnati Reds, Robinson was dealt to the Orioles before the 1966 campaign. In his first year in Baltimore, he led the league in home runs (49), RBI (122) and batting average (.316). Robinson slammed 586 homers in his career and was a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Jim Palmer. The future Hall of Famer was in his second season in the majors and just 20 years, 11 months when he beat Koufax. The Orioles swept the Dodgers in the best-of-seven Series.
Steve Stone. The stocky right-hander had a career losing record before going 25-7 and winning the 1980 Cy Young. He retired after a 4-7 campaign in 1981, with a lifetime record 107-93.
Written by Glen Sparks Leave a comment Posted in Uncategorized	Tagged with Browns, Orioles, Quizzes
Read the Short Tale of Eddie Gaedel
Eddie Gaedel, all 43 inches of him, stepped into the batter's box on Aug. 19, 1951, at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. He wore uniform No. "1/8" for the Browns, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers.
Gaedel, 26 years old, weighed all of 65 pounds, or as much as Ted Kluszewski's left forearm. He did his best to strike a pose reminiscent of Joe DiMaggio and batted from the right side, as if that mattered. Detroit Tigers pitcher Bob Cain couldn't help but laugh. "Keep it low," Detroit catcher Bob Swift instructed.
Browns owner Bill Veeck had to be busting a gut. He came up with the prank. Later, he wrote, "(Gaedel) was, by golly, the best darn midget who ever played big-league ball. He was also the only one."
Supposedly, a short story written in 1941 by humorist James Thurber, about a tiny baseball player, inspired Veeck. Always a showman, Veeck hired his p.r. guy to find just the right diminutive man. Veeck added, make sure he looks good in a baseball uniform.
Gaedel, born June 8, 1925, in Chicago, fit the description. He was a performer, a card-carrying member of the American Guild of Variety Artists. He did promotional work for Mercury Records.
The Browns' traveling secretary, Bill Durney, went to Chicago to pick up Gaedel. Durney wrapped the "prospect" in blankets and smuggled him into the Chase Hotel in St. Louis. Gaedel put on a uniform belonging to Browns batboy Bill DeWitt Jr., whose dad was a team executive. (DeWitt went on to bigger and better things. He now owns the St. Louis Cardinals.) First, though, Veeck had DeWitt's No. 6 switched to No. 1/8, just to make things even funnier.
Veeck gave Gaedel a contract worth $15,400, or $100 per day. Then, Veeck told Gaedel to follow the plan. Don't swing at anything, he said. Don't think about even lifting that bat off your shoulder, he ordered. And, stand in the box with a deep crouch. (Veeck figured that Gaedel in a crouch had a strike zone of about an inch and a half.)
The Browns didn't waste any time milking the joke. Manager Zack Taylor brought Gaedel into the game in the bottom of the first inning as a pinch hitter for outfielder Frank Saucier. Umpire Ed Hurley couldn't believe it. What the heck was going on?! Hurley ordered Taylor to home plate. Taylor ran out, Gaedel's big-league contract in hand. (Veeck had filed the contract with major league baseball on late Friday. He knew that no one would look at it until Monday morning. The doubleheader was on Sunday.)
An official big leaguer, Gaedel opened his stance Dimaggio-like and looked like he might swing. Pitcher Cain, though, couldn't get anything close to Gaedel's still-tiny strike zone. He walked the batter on four pitches. Taylor immediately ordered Jim Delsing to pinch-run for Gaedel, who left the field to a standing ovation.
Veeck's stunt didn't amuse American League president Will Harridge. This was some sort of mockery of the game, Harridge insisted. The prez immediately voided Gaedel's contract. Baseball even kept Gaedel's official appearance out of the record books for a time.
Fans loved Eddie Gaedel. The former ballplayer went on to make about $17,000 in personal appearance fees. He even worked awhile in the Ringling Brothers circus. Hollywood directors beckoned, but Eddie refused to go.
Ultimately, Gaedel settled back in Chicago. He got a job at a bar and drank too much of the merchandise. That led to plenty of fights and arguments. Gaedel was a spicy drunk.
He got liquored up for a final time on June 18, 1961. Some rough guys followed him home from a bowling alley and beat him up bad. Gaedel's mom found her son lying in bed, bruised and dead. Eddie Gaedel was just 36 years old. Bob Cain–yes, the pitcher from what is known now and forever as "the Gaedel game"–attended the funeral service, the lone representative from baseball.
Various Eddie Gaedel societies celebrate the memory of the famous pinch-hitter and the shortest player of all-time. The Los Angles chapter, for instance, offers a toast to Eddie every Aug. 19.
Gaedel's Browns uniform is on display at the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame and Museum, located across the street from Busch Stadium.
Written by Glen Sparks Leave a comment Posted in Uncategorized	Tagged with Browns, Cardinals, Eddie Gaedel
"One-Armed Wonder" Pete Gray Made It to the Majors
Pete Gray hit .218 for the St. Louis Browns in 1945.
On this date in baseball history, May 20, 1945, Pete Gray enjoyed his greatest day as a baseball player. He collected five hits and two RBI as the St. Louis Browns swept the Yankees in a doubleheader.
Pete Gray lost his right arm in a boyhood accident. Not that he quit playing baseball over that.
Gray, born Peter James Wyshner on March 6, 1915, the son of Lithuanian immigrants, grew up in the mining town of Naticoke, Pa. Doctors amputated young Pete's arm when he was six years old. One story is that he tumbled off a wagon and caught his arm in the spokes.
The youngster didn't feel sorry for himself. A natural right-hander, he just switched to being a lefty. Anyway, that put him one step closer to first base when he was batting.
He was a tough kid. One time, as a 13-year-old, he barreled into the catcher during a sandlot game. Following the collision, the catcher threatened to beat up Pete. "If only you had two arms," the catcher said. That would make it a fair fight. Young Pete fought him anyway.
Pete Wyshner changed his name to "Gray" at the start of his semi-pro career. Ethnic prejudice was a still a big deal at the time. Pete didn't need his last name amounting to one more challenge for him to overcome.
Not surprisingly, Gray never found his way onto any team's fast track to the major leagues. Finally, though, in 1943, the Memphis Chicks of the Southern Association signed him to a deal. He was 28 years old. In his second year down south, Gray was named the Association's Player of the Year. He batted .333 and stole 63 bases.
The world was at war, of course. Great ballplayers like Ted Williams and Bob Feller, and many more, were off fighting the Japanese and the Germans. The big leagues needed ballplayers. And, Pete Gray ended up with the unlikeliest of defending pennant winners, the St. Louis Browns of 1945
Fans remember the Browns for being one of baseball's perennial cellar dwellers – "St. Louis … first in shoes, first in booze, last in the American League." But, for one glorious season, the Browns were better than everyone else in the A.L., even the mighty New York Yankees.
In 1944, the Browns met the crosstown Cardinals in the Fall Classic. The Redbirds won the Streetcar Series, but the Browns gained a measure of respectability, at least for a time. The Browns bought Gray's contract from the Chicks for $20,000 and paid Gray $4,000.
Gray got into 77 games for the Browns. He collected 51 hits in 234 at-bats for a .218 batting average. He didn't hit a home run, but he did slap six doubles and two triples. The outfielder stole five bases, but opposing catchers nailed him six times.
The problem was that Gray couldn't hit breaking balls. Without the use of one arm, he couldn't check his swing in order to adjust his timing. Pitchers being ruthless sorts, they pounded Gray with curveballs. (Gray held the bat with his arm about six in inches up from the handle. He usually pulled the ball.)
The so-called "One-armed Wonder" fielded like this: Gray wore a baseball without padding. He caught fly balls with his glove directly in front of him at about shoulder height. When the ball hit the glove, he would roll the ball and glove across his chest. On ground balls, he let the ball bounce off his glove in front of him at about knee height. He'd flip off his glove and grab the ball in the air. It worked OK. Gray threw out runners but made seven errors.
World War II officially ended Aug. 15, 1945 (Aug. 14 in the U.S.), V-J Day. That signing of the peace treaty aboard the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay in effect ended Gray's major league career. The boys, including the ballplayers, were coming home.
Gray continued to play exhibition ball. Unfortunately, he drank heavily at times, wondering if he was simply a war-time sideshow, signed to put fans into the ballpark. ("He didn't belong in the major leagues, and he knew he was being exploited," Browns Manager Luke Sewell said in Even the Browns by William B. Mead. Sewell also said, "He shows us something every day. You really don't believe some of the things he does.") Pete Gray died June 30, 2002, at the age of 87.
Written by Glen Sparks Leave a comment Posted in Uncategorized	Tagged with Browns, Pete Gray
Mel Almada Never Made It as an Inside Man
Mel Almada hit .284 in his six-year big-league career with the Red Sox and three other teams.
Mel Almada hated the inside pitch. He knew, just knew, that every fastball fired at his hands, hurled near his shoulders, and, yes, sometimes whipped close to his head, was a pitch thrown with hateful intent.
"They're throwing at me because I'm Mexican!" Almada insisted, according to a SABR biographical article written by Bill Nowlin.
Baldomero Almada Jr., also known as "Melo," or just "Mel," was born in Sonora, Mexico, on Feb. 7, 1913. He was the first Mexican-born player to make it to the majors. Over seven seasons, from 1933-39, with the Boston Red Sox, Washington Senators, St. Louis Browns and Brooklyn Dodgers, Almada hit .284 with an on-base percentage of .342. He knocked 15 home runs in 646 games (2,736 at-bats) and drove in 197 runs. The centerfielder stole 56 bases, including 20 in 1935 for Boston.
Melo left his homeland while still a baby. In 1914, Baldomero Sr., a successful businessman, took his family away from the political problems and violence of post-Revolutionary Mexico. The Almadas settled in Los Angeles. Mel and his older brother, Jose Luis (later Americanized to "Louie"), began playing baseball as little boys.
Luis established himself as a star with the Seattle Indians of the Pacific Coast League. After graduating from Los Angeles High School in 1932, Melo went up the coast to join his brother. He batted .311 in his rookie season in the PCL. By 1933, The Sporting News, the famous Bible of baseball, had labeled Mel Almada as maybe "the best young outfield prospect" in the league. That summer, the Red Sox signed him to a contract.
Mel's big-league career amounted to a mixed bag. He could certainly run and play defense. He hit for a decent average, but he never showed much power. In 1935, for instance, he batted .295 but with a slugging percentage of just .379 (OPS+ 84).
Almada hit .295 in 1937 with the Red Sox and Senators, but again, with a weak slugging percentage (.394). The following year, he started off at just .244 for Washington, but batted .342 in 436 at-bats following a trade to St. Louis. In 1939, Mel hit only .228 in 246 at-bats with the Browns and the Dodgers. His major league career was over.
Alamada left the big leagues but kept playing ball, both in Los Angeles and in Mexico. He died Aug. 13, 1988, at the age of 75.
Older brother Luis Almada never made it to the majors. The New York Giants placed him on their major league roster in 1927, but Luis got hurt while on a barnstorming trip with the team and never made it back. He died in 2005 at the age of 98. Luis had a theory as to why his talented younger brother quit playing in the majors at the age of 26. It was that inside pitching, Luis said. Mel hated it, and opposing pitching knew it. But, the pitchers weren't throwing at Mel because he was Mexican.
"No, Melo," Luis once said to his sibling, according to the SABR article. "They're throwing at you because you're a batter."
Written by Glen Sparks Leave a comment Posted in Uncategorized	Tagged with Browns, Dodgers, Mel Almada, Red Sox, Senators


Eggs was formed by Scaley Andrew leader Andrew Beaujon while he was living in Richmond, Virginia, attending Virginia Commonwealth University.
They are perhaps the only band to ever mix horns successfully with indie-pop. Eggs is perhaps best known for their sweeping epic double-album Eggs Teenbeat 96 Exploder.
A D.C.-ist feature on the Eggs Teenbeat 96 Exploder album.
An All-Music review of the Eggs Teenbeat 96 Exploder album.
The only constant member for the life of the band was Andrew Beaujon.
In the Fall of 1991, Eggs was a part of the Lotsa Pop Losers festival held in Washington, D.C. and organised by Simple Machines, Slumberland, and Teen-Beat.
Eggs performed in England on the "Monsters of Rock II" tour with Rodan and Tsunami.
The band participated in the second leg of the original Teen-Beat Circus tour in 1994.
Eggs performing live at North Six, Brooklyn, New York, February, 2005.
The word "eggs" has since the inception had numerous meanings. The Middle English language introduced "eg" in the 14th century to signify the birth-vehicle of birds, while the Scandanavian languages coined "eggen" as a verb meaning "to incite" and "egg" as a noun meaning "the edge." Today "egg" occupies an entire column in Webster's Dictionary.
Recently guitarist and singer Andrew Beaujon has formed a rock and roll group under the name Eggs. The band's music, like the name, is simple yet covers a wide range of meaning. Beaujon's pop-melody sensibility is filtered through large doses of humble sensitivity, dreamy chime-strum, tight-knit trio-jam, and heroic rock muscle. Hence on the band's debut album Bruiser we encounter the instro-drone of "Spaceman," the fresh appeal of "John's bar Mitzvah," the lite-jazz-meets-Led-Zep "Ocelot," and the all-out rock of "Hippie Purple."
Beaujon first began releasing music in the early '80s in Northern Virginia under the name Scaley Andrew, recording tapes and singles for the Teen Beat label. Later, while attending college in Richmond, he met the excellent drummer John Rickman, and the pair started Eggs with a now-departed bassist and a french horn player (whose only recorded appearance was on the stellar 7" "Skyscraper" b/w "Ocelot"). Dave Park, freed from his duties in D.C.'s Unrest, joined Eggs and stayed long enough to add his too-good-to-last bass playing to the 7" and Bruiser (including a rare lead vocal on the gem "President"). The current Eggs performing unit includes a new bass player and a slide trombonist.
A superficial listen to Bruiser might make it appear normal. In Angel Heart, Robert DeNiro posited eggs as symbols of the soul and offered one to Mickey Rourke, who, guessing it to be no more that a chicken dropping, declined. His judgement proved faulty. It is in a similar spirit that we extend Bruiser to you, in hopes that you'll posess the huevos to probe beneath the shell. Good luck.
The Summer of 1990 was easily the corst couple of months in my life. I was living in Richmond, Virginia, in an apartment I could barely afford, having lost my primo gig airbrushing T-Shirts at King's Dominion, an amusement park 20 miles north of town. The economy in Richmond was at an ebb and after a month of trudging around filling out job applications I was beginning to feel pretty near unemployable. My relationship with the woman I had dated all through college had ended badly and without an adequate sense of closure. The band I'd been in had disintegrated (c.f. TeenBeat 196: The Soul of Scaley Andrew for details) and I was left with a lot of time to sit in my room and be a morose, naval-gazing 20-year-old. I traded my Wah-Wah pedal for Mark Nelson's terrible Squaier Stratocaster guitar and began writing songs. I wrote most of the songs on Bruiser in a four-week period, drawing on my overall unsatisfactory experiences: attending poetry readings ("Cushion"), being broke ("John's Bar Mitzvah"), and frustrated in love as in all other things ("Ocelot," "Opener," et. al.). I also wrote a couple of songs about my cat Bob who died later, in winter, as sort of a capper to the whole damn year.
I had met John Rickman at an Ambulance Family show earlier that year and we began playing together, practicing every afternoon in August and September until we played our first live show. We added Marianne McGee as our frech horn player and Dave Park as our bass player in the interim, and the four of us became something of a pretty tight little live unit for a while. We recorded a single ("Skyscraper"/"Ocelot"; TeenBeat 66), then Marianne got married and quite the band, and John and I moved to Washington, D.C. Having booked studio time a few months before, Dave and John and I drove up to New York and recorded Bruiser even though the band as we knew it was pretty much over. The songs are in the order we always played them live, and the budget for the whole recording was $600.
The twists and turns of Eggs since then are of no concern here (although I recently counted that 17 people besides myself have been in this band), and it's strange to look back on the reissue of an album which never really went out of print with a lot of enthusiasum, especially since the songs remind me of such a misterable period in my young life. But when I went to Abbey Road to attend the remastering session I heard Bruiser fo rthe first time in years and it didn't sound as bad as I had remembered. I even think it has its moments. So anyway, enjoy your free copy of the record and try not to be too hard on it.
I met John Rickman in a math lab at college; we bonded over common hatred for the teaching assistants and later discovered we both liked the Smiths. We made an appointment to get together and jam in the basement of my house on Vine Street and proceeded to bash out arrangements of the songs. John's style of playing was unlike any I'd heard before-jazzy without being trained, flurrying without being too busy. I don't remember how we ended up getting booked for a show at Twisters, nor do I remember who we opened for, but we enlisted my jazz-musician summer roommate Steve Sachse to join us and asked another friend, Marianne McGee, to play french horn. During the show I broke a string, and realized I didn't exactly know how to change one. Steve played "Autumn Leaves" while I figured it out.
Stability arrived in the form of former Unrest bass player Dave Park, who was a real musician and whipped us into somewhat presentable shape. Our second show was opening for Yo La Tengo, who were very friendly and said they'd try to get us a show in New York. Meanwhile, we managed to book one or two shows in Washington, D.C. My high school buddy Mark Robinson encouraged us to record a single, so we went to Barrett Jones' basement and did three songs: "Skyscraper," "Ocelot" and "It's Hard to Be an Egg." Teenage Gang Debs split the session with us and recorded a version of a Pooh Sticks song, "On Tape." I was very impressed that John ordered pigs in blankets at IHOP after the session.
"Skyscraper"/"Ocelot" was our first single, Teenbeat 66 if I'm not mistaken (all my Teenbeat numbers are loose factors of 10 and 3 as I was born on October 3). It reflected my interest in minimal packaging spurred by a Factory single I'd found in a used record store: a John Dowie single on white vinyl in a simple clear sleeve. I threw in a business card-size "cover," and we were off. We had enough material for an album, so we booked time with Wharton Tiers, who'd done the most recent Unrest record. The day before we drove up to New York to do it, we couldn't find Marianne. She disappeared for a couple weeks in the end, and we recorded Bruiser without her. I wonder what those songs sounded like with that plaintive single-note drone she did so wellÑI don't remember anymore.
Not long after we recorded Bruiser (for $600, incidentally, and in six hoursÑthree recording, three mixing), John moved to Washington, D.C. to go to American University. I followed and went in on renting a house with Mark on Wakefield Street in Arlington. I remember when Bruiser came out, I didn't have a CD player and had to go over to my Mom's house (Mom being the cover star) to listen to it. By this time John and I had started playing with Evan Shurak, a fellow student of John's at American, and eventually a rather strange fellow from John's hall named Rob Christiansen, a floppy-haired ska fan from Boston who used to come to our practices and perch on the back of a chair, smiling and waving his head and tapping his enormous feet on the seat. When I found out he played trombone I asked him if he wanted to try playing along; he bolted out the door, leaving the chair spinning as if in a cartoon, and returned so out of breath he must have been blowing pure adrenaline to play at all.
Our first show with this lineup was at D.C. Space, at the second night of the "Lotsa Pop Losers" festival at D.C. Space (the first was somewhere in Maryland). I remember us as being pretty horrible, but Chip Porter, who drove a zillion hours from Michigan for the show, liked it. We met a couple other artists that day that we'd see a lot more of in the future, especially Versus and Small Factory.
The next sequence of events is kind of muddled to me. We started playing a lot more, especially in New York, and we started recording a lot of seven-inch singles for different labels. Right now, I'm even shuddering at the thought of doing a discography. With the exception of "Erin Go Bragh," which we recorded at home, and the single we did for Jade Tree, which we recorded at WGNS, we recorded all the singles at American University, where Rob and Evan were in the audio engineering program and which had a serviceable 24-track studio that we could use for free. We had to go in late at night, but we could make as much noise as we wanted and frequently left there at 4 in the morning. I don't know if we'd decided to make an album at that point, but a lot of those recordings wound up on Exploder eventually.
One time when we were playing with Sexual Milkshake and Unrest at D.C. Space, we met an Englishwoman in wildly colored stockings named Justine Wolfenden, who worked for the Wedding Present, who were playing at the 9:30 club the following evening. She liked us and put us on the list for the Wedding Present show, which made us feel tremendously important, and eventually offered to put out a single for us on her label, Hemiola. The song we gave her, "The Government Administrator," struck a chord with British people, probably because it was about not wanting to work. John Peel played the single quite a bit, and he placed it in the Top 10 of his Festive 50. When we finally played in Britain the next year, we were all stunned by people singing along to the song-we were used to seeing audiences glance at their wristwatches and glare at us.
Mark made a deal with London's Southern Studios to "p and d" our new record, whatever that means. All we had to do next was finish it. We pulled countless all-nighters at American, trying to get the job done in time for a pre-Christmas release in 1993, but we missed it and had to settle for Valentine's Day the following year. We had a fair bit of press before the album's release and our first taste of being a band that people cared about. It was a fun time. We played a lot of shows and made a lot of friends. But we lost John, who'd decided the band was taking too much of his time. Thus began a long period of playing with different drummers. Some were great. Some were very nice to help us out. But no one really took John's place until the very end, when a Teenbeat fan named Ben Currier stepped in.
By that time, we'd been dithering for so long on whether to sign with a major label that we basically outlasted all interest in us. I can't remember exactly when Evan quit but I can't say I don't understand why he did it. Jane Buscher was a great replacement and accompanied us on what proved to be our final tours of the U.S. in 1995. By that time I'd fixed on moving to New York, and Rob was getting busy with his Viva Satellite project. A break seemed in order. We played one last short tour with the Wedding Present and Spell, who opened but asked us to open the New York show so their label people could see them. It was a typical Eggs travesty brought on by politeness-most of our fans came later and missed us. It wasn't supposed to be our final show, but that's the way the cookie crumbled.
Eggs Teenbeat 96 Exploder Bye! Bye!
Eggs Teenbeat 96 Exploder How're You Doing?


Retailed at Wmart for $1964.00. Now on clearance for $1176.00. B&M, YMMV, +TAX, FBI, CIA, ADL, KGB, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH.
The stock checker sites show a higher price than it was at my local store, so it might be worth checking stores in your area if you are interested in one. There were good deals on other riding mowers as well.
You gave thanks to cheaptightwad for this post.
cheaptightwad posted this deal. Say thanks!
There are smaller. Lots of the big brands make 30" zero-turn mowers for small yards.
I have two riders, JD LT166 42" freedom deck but too wide for most gates. So I have a backup rider, an old Toro WheelHorse 38" for those gated back yards. That was Toro in 2000, before Yardman bought them.
Problem with zero turns is you can't hold a beer or cigar while mowing.
True... But I can more my 1 acre in 1 hour and then sit on my deck with my beer and cigar 😀.
True... But I can more my 1 acre in 1 hour and then sit on my deck with my beer and cigar .
You should be able to mow an acre in an hour with a conventional 48" rider....depends on how many trees or other things I suppose.
Stay away from my mower. But seriously can you report back if it's actually there and for that price.
This. Mowing is my beer and music time.
Just watch out for pets, toys and toddlers........keep on mowing.


text:
Although Eastern Europe is literally the eastern part of the continent of Europe, there is no clear demarcation of the countries that are a part of it as the term is more geopolitical than physical. The physical land boundaries of the region are the Ural Mountains and River, and the Caucasus Mountains but these are irrelevant in the larger scheme of boundaries. Countries that make up this part of Europe have sometimes been described as a cultural entity with its main characteristics comprising Greek, Russian, Byzantine, Eastern Orthodox and influences from the Ottoman culture. Another definition of Eastern Europe is the term Eastern Bloc which emerged during the Cold War to group the former communist European states which were not part of the Soviet Union.
However, no matter what demarcation is used to mark the region, there is no doubt that this part of Europe is a melting pot of natural wonders with rugged mountain scenery, sprawling plains, and beautiful water bodies. Eastern Europe is a land bathed in folklore and festivals that have been passed down through the ages, like Poland's Drowning of Marzanna, Bulgaria's Golden Grapes Festival or Hungary's Busójárás. It is also a breathing museum of history with some of its remarkable monuments like the Constantin Tanase Theater in Bucharest, the Main Market Square of Krakow or the Prague Castle in the Czech Republic, drawing interested visitors into its past.
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Moldova August 19, 2015
Moldova is a small European country that stands landlocked in the continent's eastern part. It stands surrounded by Romania in the west and Ukraine in the north. Before World War II, it was part of Romania. After World War II, it belonged to the Soviet Union until 1991, when it gained its independence. Moldova's remote yet…


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