Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/26/2011

9/26/1908:
The Chicago Cubs' Ed Reulbach, whose eyesight is so poor that his catchers paint their gloves white to help him out, pitches two nine-inning shutouts against the Dodgers in Brooklyn. The first is a five-hitter, the second a three-hitter. The achievement could not have come in a more pressured situation. Involved in a tight three-way pennant race with the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Giants, the Cubs entered the day's action with only a half-game lead on both clubs. They'll eventually capture first place for their third pennant in a row, then win the World Series over the Detroit Tigers.

Birthdays:
Bobby Shantz b. 1925
Dave Casper b. 1951
Craig Heyward b. 1966
Craig Janney b. 1967
Serena Williams b. 1981

Packers Fact:
Tight end Spencer Havner, a converted linebacker, notched his first career reception on a 21-yard pass to set up a touchdown against Cincinnati in Week 2 of 2009.

“If everybody is abnormal, we don’t need to worry about anybody.”

—ROBERT M. HUTCHINS, former president of the University of Chicago

ON HUH?

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Tonight he became the name we’ve all been hoping he’d become—the man, in fact, that he has been for some time now.

soccer manager Martin O’Neill

WHAT IS MADNESS

“On July 5, 1996, my daughter was struck mad.” So begins Michael Greenberg’s probing, candid, and heartbreaking memoir. Bright, lively, 15-year-old Sally is struck with a case of manic depression that not only devastates her but puts her entire family through a wringer of anxiety, especially the author, who struggles to understand what is happening inside his daughter’s brain. Eventually Sally recovers, but Greenberg is too honest with himself to go for the happy ending or extract an upbeat moral. This is a descent into hell, and Greenberg is determined that the reader know it.

HURRY DOWN SUNSHINE, by Michael Greenberg (Other Press, 2008)

APCKRFAN's NFL Picks 2011: Week 3

Week 3:
Sun., Sep. 25:
Jacksonville @ Carolina - Carolina
Denver @ Tennessee - Tennessee
Houston @ New Orleans - New Orleans
Detroit @ Minnesota - Detroit
NY Giants @ Philadelphia - Philadelphia
New England @ Buffalo - New England
Miami @ Cleveland - Cleveland
San Francisco @ Cincinnati - San Francisco
NY Jets @ Oakland - Oakland
Baltimiore @ St. Louis - Baltimore
Kansas City @ San Diego - San Diego
Atlanta @ Tampa Bay - Atlanta
Green Bay @ Chicago - Green Bay
Arizona @ Seattle - Arizona
Pittsburgh @ Indianapolis - Pittsburgh

Mon. Sep. 26:
Washington @ Dallas - Washington

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/24-25/2011

Golfer Lee Trevino, on what it means to win a major championship: "I played the Tour in 1967 and told jokes and nobody laughed. Then I won the U.S. Open the next year, told the same jokes, and everybody laughed like hell."


Birthdays:
Jim McKay b. 1921
John Mackey b. 1941
Mean Joe Greene b. 1946
Rafael Palmeiro b. 1964
Eddie George b. 1973

Packers Fact:
Both of Will Blackmon's punt-return touchdowns in 2008 came against the Minnesota Vikings. He had a 76-yarder at home and a 65-yarder on the road.

9/25/1955:
Playing for the Colts in his first NFL game, Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall draft choice Alan Ameche scores on a 79-yard run on his first carry during a 23-17 win over the Chicago Bears in Baltimore. In all, he rushes for 194 yards on 21 carries. He'll lead the league this season in rushing with 213 carries for 961 yards and 9 TDs.

Birthdays:
Phil Rizzuto b. 1918
Hubie Brown b. 1933
Bob McAdoo b. 1951
Scotti Pippen b. 1965
Chauncey Billups b. 1976

THE FUTURE
AIN’T WHAT IT
USED TO BE.

—YOGI BERRA,
American baseball player

“Cheerfulness keeps up a kind of day-light in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity.”

—JOSEPH ADDISON, English essayist and poet

ON WHY YOU SHOULD
ALWAYS HIRE A LAWYER
TO REPRESENT YOU AT
A CRIMINAL TRIAL

---

Did you get a good look at my face when I took your purse?

accused thief, who defended himself at his trial, to the alleged victim (Strangely, he got ten years.)

ON SPRING BACK AND
FALL AHEAD?

---

On September 30, winter timing will start. As of 12:00 midnight all clocks will be forward one hour back.

notice posted at a Cairo, Egypt, hotel

SUMMER VACATION

Benji Cooper spends three quarters of the year at an upscale prep school, dressed in a blazer and tie. In the summers, though, his dad drives the family out to the Hamptons, where they have a place in a mostly black enclave in Sag Harbor that allows Benji to reconnect with his culture. Colson Whitehead’s autobiographical novel is a witty, knowing examination of a 15-year-old black boy’s summer of ice cream cones, early hip-hop, and (not without some guilt) ABBA, a first kiss, and a hundred insignificant things that add up to something very winning.

SAG HARBOR, by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday, 2009)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/23/2011

9/23/1992:

Manon Rheaume becomes the first woman to play for an NHL team when she joins the Tampa Bay Lightning as goaltender in a 6-4 exhibition game loss to the St. Louis Blues. She plays one period, faces nine shots and allows two goals. Her second appearance will come on April 10, 1993, when she plays the entire game in an 8-6 loss to the Cincinnati Cyclones. She’ll play a total of 24 games for six minor league teams between 1992 and ‘97, and another with the Flint Generals of the International Hockey League in 2009. She’ll also win a silver medal in the 1998 Olympics while playing on Canada’s women’s team.

Birthdays:

Marty Schottenheimer b. 1943

Larry Mize b. 1958

Pete Harnisch b. 1966

Jeff Circillo b. 1969

Eric Montrose b. 1971

Packers Fact:

Quarterback Tobin Rote, who played for the Packers from 1950 to 1956, also played in the Canadian Football League and the American Football League before his retiring following the 1966 season.

“Confidence of success is almost success, and obstacles often fall by themselves before a determination to overcome them.”

—LORD SALISBURY, British prime minister

ON FOOD MIXUPS, BABY-MEXICAN

---

Mountain View Friday
Wal-Mart: Police receive a report of a newborn infant found in a trash can. Upon investigation, officers discover it was only a burrito.

from the police blotter column of a California newspaper

THE AWFUL TRUTH ABOUT EL DORADO

New Yorker staff writer David Grann came across some diaries of “the last individualist explorer,” Percy Fawcett. Fawcett had set off in 1925 to find an EI Dorado, which he called “Z,” hidden in the depths of the Amazon rain forest. He never returned. Many other adventurers searched for him and his lost city in the ensuing years, with spectacular lack of success. Grann, a man with “a terrible sense of direction,” became so obsessed with Fawcett that he decided to make his own expedition. The Lost City of Z is the gripping account of his quest.

THE LOST CITY OF Z: A TALE OF DEADLY OBSESSION IN THE AMAZON, by David Grann (Doubleday, 2009)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/22/2011

9/22/1953:

Torben Ulrich of Denmark defaults a third-round tennis match against American Bill Hoepner in the Pacific Coast Tournament in Berkeley, California. Hoepner has an annoying habit of meticulously wiping his glasses and retying his shoelaces at frequent intervals. He also frustrates his opponents by hitting the ball calmly but effectively high into the air. Trailing 11-9, 4-1 and 30-15 in the second set, Ulrich walks to the net, shakes Hoepner’s hand and states: “It wasn’t any fu7n. I quit.”

Birthdays:

Tommy Lasorda b. 1927

Ingemar Johansson b. 1932

David Stern b. 1942

Ronaldo b. 1976

Swin Cash b. 1979

Packers Fact:

On this date in 1935: after being used sparingly in the season opener the week before, rookie end Don Hutson surprised the Bears by hauling in an 83-yard touchdown on the first play of a 7-0 win over the Bears. Arnie Herber threw the pass.

“Despair . . . is too easy an out.”

—PAULE MARSHALL, American writer

ON ZEE-EEE-EEE

---

Weakest Link host Anne Robinson: What is the only letter in the alphabet with three syllables?

Contestant: Z.

THE DOMESDAY BOOK

We don’t think we’re spoiling anything by giving away the very last line of Stephen King’s newest (at time of writing) opus. Ready? “The King just wants you to have a good read!” That’s what he lives for, and, boy, does he succeed with this one. It’s a sprawling, apocalyptic soap opera of biblical proportions and symbolism, cloistered within the confines of a single week of hell for the small town of Chester’s Mill, when the Dome suddenly claps down on them and every one of the cast of thousands begins to play out his or her role in the cataclysm that unfolds.

UNDER THE DOME, by Stephen King (Scribner, 2009)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/21/2011

9/21/1938:
Officials at the Rockingham Park race track in Salem, New Hampshire, attempt to conduct the day's events despite the approach of a powerful hurricane. Activities are finally suspended when winds exceed 70 miles per hour, pulling two hatches off the grandstand, blowing apart the announcer's booth and lifting jockey Warren Yarberry off his horse as he swings into the stretch leading the field in the sixth race.

Birthdays:
Sam McDowell b. 1942
Artis Gilmore b. 1949
Bob Huggins b. 1953
Sidney Moncrief b. 1957
Cecil Fielder b. 1963

Packers Fact:
The Packers' Aaron Kampman posted 37 sacks from 2006 to 2008. That was the third-highest total int he NFL in that span.

“Courage is the price that Life exacts for granting peace.”

—AMELIA EARHART, American aviatrix

ON . . . AND NAMES FOOT FOR PODIATRY INSTITUTE

---

DUKE NAMES HEAD FOR
BRAIN INSTITUTE

The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina)

A WORKOUT THAT WORKS OUT

We, too, were “born round” (see yesterday), and Pete Cerqua’s “fitness solution” actually helps. With a few simple poses held for 90 seconds (e.g., Plank, Wall Sit, Airplane), muscles work in tandem with weight resistance provided by one’s own body. No changing clothes, no duffel bags, no sweat, just an amazing muscle workout. Don’t take our word for it, or the word of thousands of others whom Pete has helped and trained in his 25 years of loving his craft, observing fitness routines in gyms, and taking notes. Try his workout. We think, as Pete says, you’ll “get it,” and feel it working, right away.

THE 90-SECOND FITNESS SOLUTION: THE MOST TIME-EFFICIENT WORKOUT EVER FOR A HEALTHIER, STRONGER, YOUNGER YOU, by Pete Cerqua (Atria, 2009)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/20/2011

9/20/1998:
After playing in 2,632 consecutive games, Baltimore's Cal Ripken takes himself out of the lineup for tonight's game against the Yankees. It's the Orioles' last home game and the first time that Ripken has missed a game since May 29, 1982. He explains that he wants to end the streak at home with the fans, adding that there were times he thought the focus was too much on the streak and not on the team: "It just reached a point where I firmly believed it was time to change the subject and restore the focus back where it should be."

Birthdays:
Harry Litwack b. 1907
Red Auerbach b. 1917
Tommy Nobis b. 1943
Guy Lafleur b. 1951
Bonzi Wells b. 1976

Packers Fact:
On this date in 1992: Recently acquired Brett Favre came off the bench to lead the Packers to a 24-23 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at Lambeau Field. Don Majkowski was injured in the first quarter to give way to Favre.

“Our greatest responsibility is not to be pencils of the past.”

—ROBERT A. M. STERN, American architect

ON AND AT THAT RATE, THE WHOLE WORLD
WILL BE UNEMPLOYED IN ONLY SIX MONTHS!

---

Five hundred million people will lose their jobs each month until we have an economic package.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California)

WE LOVE YOU, FRANK BRUNI

It was said that his initials, FB, stood for Fat Boy. The only thing that made his mother (a WASP who became Italian, food-wise) happier than cooking for 40 was cooking for 80. This man went on to become a New York Times restaurant critic, a powerful, successful man of insatiable appetites and a gaping loneliness that no amount of overeating could appease. But “round is a shape,” as the joke goes, and Frank Bruni brings the circle around and conquers his too round self, with humor, panache, great writing, and a very generous dollop of charm, sweetened just right.

BORN ROUND: THE SECRET HISTORY OF A FULL-TIME EATER, by Frank Bruni (Penguin Press, 2009)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/19/2011

9/19/1971:
At Lambeau Field, in the midst of coaching his first NFL game, the Green Bay Packers' Dan Devine becomes entangled in a sideline pileup and breaks his leg. To make matters worse, the Packers lose to the New York Giants, 42-40. Other reverses include a missed field goal returned 100 yards by Green Bay's Ken Ellis, two New York touchdowns within six seconds when Dave Hampton fumbles twice into the end zone, and four Fran Tarkenton touchdown passes.

Birthdays:
Willie Pep b. 1922
Duke Snider b. 1926
Joe Morgan b. 1943
Sidney Wicks b. 1949
Randy Myers b. 1962

Packers Fact:
On this date in 1971: In his first game as the Packers' coach, Dan Devine broke his leg in a sideline collisions. To add insult to injury, the visiting New York Giants won the game, 42-40.

“Life is like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt you represents determinism. The way you play it is free will.”

—JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, Indian statesman

ON WE KINDA THINK WE’RE ALREADY
AT ADVANCED BATHROOM

---

INTERMEDIATE BATHROOM & LATIN

EVERY WEDNESDAY 8:30 PM

ad for the Howe Dance Centre

PERENNIAL CLASSIC

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nobel laureate William Golding. Best known for his happy-go-lucky portrayal of adorable children marooned on a desert island, Lord of the Flies (remember their charming little “kill the pig” chant?), he also wrote quite a number of other novels, including Pincher Martin and Darkness Visible. The Spire is a tale of medieval ambition told by its protagonist, Dean Jocelin, in a stream-of-consciousness narration. New York Review of Books called it “a most remarkable book . . . potent, severe, even forbidding” when it first appeared.

THE SPIRE, by William Golding (1964; Harvest Books, 2002)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/17-18/2011

9/17/1961:
After a nine-year career in the Canadian Football League, Sam Etcheverry makes his NFL debut as a quarterback with the St. Louis Cardinals. He has six fumbles but recovers four of them as the Cards defeat the Giants, 21-10, at Yankee Stadium.

Birthdays:
George Blands b. 1927
Maureen Connolly b. 1934
Phil Jackson b. 145
Rasheed Wallace b. 1974
Alex Ovechkin b. 1985

Packers Fact:
In 2008, the Packers' Aaron Rodgers became only the second quarterback in NFL history to pass for more than 4,000 yards (he had 4,038) in the season that he first started an NFL game. Kurt Warner for the Rams in 1999 was the other.

Bowler Don Carter, four-time U.S. Open champion: "One of the advantages bowling has over golf is that you seldom lose a bowling ball."


Birthdays:
Scotty Bowman b. 1933
Darryl Sittler b. 1950
Rick Pitino b. 1962
Toni Kukoc b. 1968
Lance Armstrong b. 1971

“Serenity of mind and calmness of thought are a better enjoyment than anything without us.”

—BENJAMIN WHICHCOTE, Puritan clergyman

“The road up and the road down are one and the same.”

—HERACLITUS, Greek philosopher

ON HOW TRUE,
HOW TRUE

---

You can’t teach an old leopard new spots.

Wife swap reality show participant

LIVING HISTORY

The work Jonathan Lopez has done to bring master art-forger Han van Meegeren to life is like his subject’s great tributes to Vermeer—painstaking, perfect in every detail, and a thing of beauty in itself. Each new layer Lopez adds to the extraordinary story enchances the richness and glow of the portrait: the history of Holland and its unique dance with the fascists in World War II; van Meegeren’s own sympathies (collaboration) with the Nazis—reflecting their aesthetic in his painting style—even while he gleefully duped them; the unbelievable scope of his success; his devilish conceit. There are several recent biographies of the master forger out there; we believe this is the most authentic one and has the best documentation.

THE MAN WHO MADE VERMEERS: UNVARNISHING THE LEGEND OF MASTER FORGER HAN VAN MEEGEREN, by Jonathan Lopez (Mariner Books, 2009)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/16/2011

9/16/1950:
In the opening game of the NFL season, the Cleveland Browns polish off the Eagles, 35-10, in Philadelphia. Coached by Paul Brown, the Browns have dominated the All-America Football Conference during the four seasons of its existence, winning all four championships. After the 1949 season, the AAFC folded and the NFL absorbed the Cleveland club from the defunct organization. To test the Browns, the NFL scheduled them against the Eagles, the 1948 and 1949 champions. After their convincing victory, the Browns will go on to a 10-2-0 regular-season record and beat the Los Angeles Rams, 30-28, in the championship game on December 24.

Birthdays:
Elgin Baylor b. 1934
Dennis Conner b. 1942
Robin Yount b. 1955
Orel Hershiser b. 1958
Mickey Tettleton b. 1960

Packers Fact:
In 2009, offensive lineman T.J. Lang became the first Packers' draftee out of Eastern Michigan since linebacker Dave Pureifory was a sixth-round choice in 1972.

“Every man has a rainy corner in his life.”

—JEAN PAUL RICHTER, German writer

ON WOW, THAT HURTS!

---

Family Feud host Richard Karn: Name a sport husbands and wives can play together.

Contestant: Kickball.

KILLER THRILLER

Dripping with Spanish moss and corruption, Greg Iles’s third mystery thriller featuring Natchez mayor Penn Cage is long, violent, and immensely satisfying. Cage’s childhood friend is brutally murdered just after revealing to Cage what’s been going on—and who’s been going into—the Magnolia Queen, a floating island of vice right in Cage’s backyard. With everything he has or loves at stake, and one friend he can never bring back, Cage digs in for a long, muddy, alligator-infested fight.

THE DEVIL’S PUNCHBOWL, by Greg lIes (Scribner, 2009)

APCKRFAN's NFL Picks 2011: Week 2

Week 2:
Sun., Sep. 18:
Seattle @ Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh
Baltimore @ Tennessee - Baltimore
Jacksonville @ NY Jets - NY Jets
Arizona @ Washington - Washington
Oakland @ Buffalo - Buffalo
Tampa Bay @ Minnesota - Minnesota
Chicago @ New Orleans - Chicago
Green Bay @ Carolina - Green Bay
Cleveland @ Indianapolis - Cleveland
Kansas City @ Detroit - Detroit
Dallas @ San Francisco - San Francisco
Cincinnati @ Denver - Denver
Houston @ Miami - Houston
San Diego @ New England - New England
Philadelphia @ Atlanta - Philadelphia

Mon., Sep. 19:
St. Louis @ NY Giants - NY Giants

Byes: None

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/12-15/2011

9/12/1962:
Setting an all-time major league record, Tom Cheney of the Washington Senators strikes out 21 batters during a 16-inning 2-1 win over the Orioles in Baltimore. Cheney entered the contest with an 8-15 lifetime record and had never struck out more than 10 batters in a game. Today, after nine innings, he has 13 strikeouts and the score is 1-1. Manager Mickey Vernon keeps him on the mound till the bitter end, and he fans eight more in extra innings for a total of 21. Washington wins the game on a homer by Bud Zipfel. Cheney will finish an otherwise mediocre big-league career in 1966 with a record of 19-29.

Birthdays:
Jesse Owens b. 1913
Albie Pearson b. 1934
Vernon Maxwell b. 1965
Ki-Jana Carter b. 1973
Yao Ming b. 1980

Packers Fact:
Veteran defensive lineman Ryan Pickett started all 16 games for the fourth time in the last five seasons in 2008.

9/13/1964:
Pete Gogolak of the Buffalo Bills becomes pro football's first soccer-style kicker. He has plenty of opportunities early as the Bills roll up 31 points in the first period of their 34-17 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs at War Memorial Stadium. A native of Hungary, Gogolak was the first to kick soccer-style at theh collegiate level on a regular basis while at Cornell. (Two weeks before his first college game in 1961, Cincinnati's Hank Hartong kicked two extra points soccer-style during a 16-12 win over Dayton but never played again.) Don Cockroft of the 1980 Browns will be the last NFL placekicker to approach the ball straight ahead.

Birthdays:
Emile Francis b. 1926
Rick Wise b. 1945
Bernie Williams b. 1968
Goran Ivanisevic b. 1971
Daisuke Matsuzaka b. 1980

Packers Fact:
Fourth-year defensive end Johnny Jolly posted his first career interception in 2009 against Chicago in Week 1. His theft thwarted a Bears scoring threat in the second quarter of Green Bay's 21-15 victory.

9/14/1968:
The Tigers' Denny McLain becomes major league baseball's first 30-game winner since Dizzy Dean in 1934 as he defeats the Oakland Athletics, 5-4, in Detroit. The Tigers score two runs in the ninth to preserve the thrilling victory. McLain will finish this season with a 31-6 record and a 1.96 ERA, and he'll follow with a 24-9 campaign in 1969. But he'll never be the same pitcher after he's suspended for the first half of the 1970 season by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn because of his involvement with gamblers. From his rookie season in 1963 through 1969, McLain's record is 114-57; from 1970 through the end of his career in 1970, it's 17-34.

Birthdays:
Harry Sinden b. 1932
Larry Brown b. 1940
Orest Kindrachuk b. 1950
Tim Wallach b. 1957
Hicham el Guerrouj b. 1974

Packers Fact:
Wide receiver Sterling Sharpe's (1988-1994) younger brother Shannon Sharpe was one of the top pass-catching tight ends in NFL history. Shannon played in the NFL from 1990 to 2003.

9/15/1940:
In a game that has "more the flavor of water polo" according to the Associated Press, the Chicago Cardinals and Detroit Lions combine for only 30 yards in total offense in a 0-0 tie in Buffalo, a venue chosen by the Cards due to the small crowds the club was attracting at home. A terrific thunderstorm hits with the opening kickoff and continues throughout the contest as the Lions gain only 16 yards, the Cardinals 14. The 30 yards of offense will go down in NFL history as the lowest by a wide margin; the next lowest is 136 by the Cardinals and Packers in 1934.

Birthdays:
Gaylord Perry b. 1938
Pete Carroll b. 1951
Joel Quenneville b. 1958
Joe Morris b. 1960
Dan Marino b. 1961

Packers Fact:
Along with Packers star Paul Hornung, Detroit Lions Pro Bowl defensive tackle Alex Karras was suspended for the 1963 season for gambling on NFL games.

“Humor is just another defense against the universe.”

—MEL BROOKS, American humorist

“Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.”

—ANN LANDERS, American advice columnist

“Miracles can be made, but only by sweating.”

—GIOVANNI AGNELLI, Italian entrepreneur

“You can’t argue with a river, it is going to flow. You can dam it up . . . put it to useful purposes . . . deflect it, but you can’t argue with it.”

—DEAN ACHESON, U.S. secretary of state

ON WHY TECH SUPPORT STAFFERS
HAVE HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

---

Caller: Hey, can you help me? My computer has locked up, and no matter how many times I type 11, it won’t unfreeze.

Tech support: What do you mean, “type 11?”

Caller: The message on my screen says, “Error Type 11.”

actual computer tech-support call

ON LOGICAL LAPSES, SPORTSCASTERS AND

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Ozzie Smith just made another play that I’ve never seen anyone else make before, and I’ve seen him make it more often than anyone else ever has.

San Diego Padres announcer Jerry Coleman

ON BILLINESS, EXCESSIVE

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For me, the thing will be rockabilly freedom. Hillbilly meets psychobilly, with a dash of hippie-billiness.

celebrity stylist Camille Bidault-Waddington, H&M Magazine

ON AIRLINE AGENTS, AIRHEADED

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Agent: According to my records you are flying from Oakland, CA. That’s California, right?

Caller: That’s right.

Agent: And it says here you are flying to Shreveport, LA?

Caller: Yes.

Agent: But Los Angeles isn’t a state. What state are you flying to?

Caller: The “LA” actually stands for Louisiana.

Agent: Oh, okay, then.

actual conversation with airline ticket agent (thanks to Jeffrey Fleming)

TOUR DE FORCE

T. C. Boyle is in top form in this novel about Frank Lloyd Wright’s disastrous serial relationships. The tale is narrated by the great American architect’s devoted Japanese apprentice and slave, Tadashi Sato, who paints Wright’s women mostly with delightfully sly jealousy. He tells us of the disastrous 1925 fire in Taliesin West, Wright’s early version of Neverland, and takes us backward in time, unable to avoid revealing the beloved master as a mean, half-mad, stingy, confused, and tortured soul. Scandalously good.

THE WOMEN, by T. C. (Thomas Coraghessen) Boyle (Viking Adult, 2009)

A HOT-BUTTON WAR

In her signature impassioned, knowledgeable, and well-reasoned style, Susan Faludi turns to an interesting by-product of 9/11—a renewed war on feminism. Faludi documents the many sources who announced, in the months following 9/11, the decline, death, uselessness, treason, danger, and/or irrelevancy of feminism. The Terror Dream remains focused on the published statements of the many who engaged in this shadow war. She leaves polemic and bombast to others, instead taking a historical view to show that this is not the first time America has felt the need to reestablish who’s wearing the ideological pants in the family.

THE TERROR DREAM: MYTH AND MISOGYNY IN AN INSECURE AMERICA, by Susan Faludi (Henry Holt, 2007)

PRIZE WINNER

Shadow Country is actually three books (Killing Mr. Watson, Lost Man’s River, and Bone by Bone) edited by their author into one 900-page work. It is the story of Edgar J. Watson, a historical and legendary figure of southwest Florida at the turn of the 20th century. Was Watson as bloody as everyone thought? He allegedly shot outlaw queen Belle Starr, some neighbors who were down on their luck, his man Tom, and others, meanwhile amassing land and power. In the end he was killed by his bayou neighbors. The three sections are written from different perspectives—including those of Watson’s deeply scarred sons—in this moody, Faulkneresque tale. Shadow Country garnered the National Book Award in 2008.

SHADOW COUNTRY: A NEW RENDERING OF THE WATSON LEGEND, by Peter Matthiessen (Modern Library, 2008)

HOT AND SPICY

This lavish coffee-table book is more than just mouthwatering pictures and zesty recipes. It’s also the inside story of the McIlhenny family and the empire they built, and of Avery Island, Louisiana. Shane Bernard, the McIlhenny historian and curator, deals evenhandedly with both fact and fiction, since both are part and parcel of the Tabasco legend. With an introduction by Jeffrey Rothfeder, the author of McIlhenny’s Gold: How a Louisiana Family Built the Tabasco Empire.

TABASCO: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY, by Shane K Bernard; introduction by Jeffrey Rothfeder (University of Mississippi Press, 2007)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/11/2011

9/11/1987:
Temperamental CBS anchor Dan Rather walks off the Evening Ne3ws set because the broadcast of the U.S. Open tennis semifinal between Steffi Graf and Lori McNeil has delayed his newscast. The network goes black for six minutes.

Birthdays:
Paul "Bear" Bryant b. 1913
Tom Landry b. 1924
Franz Beckenhauer b. 1945
Marty Liquori b. 1949
Ellis Burke b. 1964

ON HIKING TRAIL SIGNS,
WORRISOME

---

BEWARE OF THE
MISSING FOOT

sign by a hiking trail in China

“Put on a happy face!”

—ALBERT F. PETERSON (DICK VAN DYKE) in Bye Bye Birdie; screenplay by Irving Brecher

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/10/2011

Coach Bill Parcells, defending his liberal use of sarcasm when addressing his team: "The only players I hurt with my words are the ones with an inflated opinion of their ability."

Birthdays:
Arnold Palmer b. 1929
Roger Maris b. 1934
Bob Lanier b. 1948
Randy Johnson b. 1963
Gustavo "Guga" Kuerton b. 1976

Packers Fact:
Linebacker Ray Nitschke (1958-1972) played college football at Illinois.

Weep,
But do not complain—

—DAG HAMMARSKJÖLD, Swedish statesman

ON NON-MOVING
OBJECTS, MOVING

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I collided with a stationary truck coming the other way.

written on an actual accident report

ON THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11

After the World Trade Center fell in 2001, it was cordoned off as a crime scene and photographers were not allowed on the site. But through endless resourcefulness and perseverance, Joel Meyerowitz managed to be there day after day with his large-format camera. Aftermath is the extraordinary photographic record of the nine months following the disaster. It was published on the fifth anniversary of 9/11, and it remains one of the great collections of images from a tragic and momentous time.

AFTERMATH: WORLD TRADE CENTER ARCHIVE, by Joel Meyerowitz (Phaidon Press, 2006)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/9/2011

9/9/1960:
On a Friday night at Nickerson Field in Boston, the first regular-season game in the history of he American Football League takes place with the Denver Broncos defeating the Patriots, 13-10. Gino Cappelletti of the Patriots records the first points with a 35-yard field goal in the first quarter. The Broncos' Al Carmichael scores the first touchdown on a 69-yard reception from Frank Tripucka in the second period. The Broncos have shown up in arguably the worst uniforms in the history of professional sport: brown helmets, white shirts with brown numerals and brown pants, bottomed off by brown-and-white vertically striped socks.

Birthdays:
Franke Frisch b. 1898
Charlie Conerly b. 1921
Joe Theismann b. 1949
Dan Majerle b. 1965
Shane Battier b. 1978

Packers Fact:
Through 2008, no Packers' player ever had led the league in sacks (which became an official statistic in 1982).

THERE IS NO ONE
LUCKIER THAN
HE WHO THINKS
HIMSELF SO.

—German proverb

ON ELOQUENCE, PRESIDENTIAL

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Let me be absolutely clear. Israel is a strong friend of Israel’s.

President Barack Obama (meaning to say that the U.S. is a strong friend)

SIXTH SENSE

Every once in a while a novel comes along that channels the best, most enduring gothic mysteries of Wilkie Collins, Daphne du Maurier, Victoria Holt, and, in another medium, Alfred Hitchcock. As in the earlier Postcards from Berlin, a child is the source of concern and a conduit for disturbing messages from another world and time. Margaret Leroy taps into the magical realism of children and the terror of their visions, both for them and for the adults who try to protect them.

YES, MY DARLING DAUGHTER, by Margaret Leroy (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009)

APCKRFAN's NFL Picks 2011: Week 1

Week 1:
Thu., Sep. 08:
New Orleans @ Green Bay - Green Bay

Sun., Sep. 11:
Atlanta @ Chicago - Atlanta
Indianapolis @ Houston - Houston
Buffalo @ Kansas City - Kansas City
Tennessee @ Jacksonville - Tennessee
Cincinnati @ Cleveland - Cleveland
Philadelphia @ St. Louis - Philadelphia
Pittsburgh @ Baltimore - Pittsburgh
Detroit @ Tampa Bay - Tampa Bay
Minnesota @ San Diego - San Diego
NY Giants @ Washington - NY Giants
Carolina @ Arizona - Carolina
Seattle @ San Francisco - San Francisco
Dallas @ NY Jets - NY Jets

Mon., Sep. 12:
New England @ Miami - New England
Oakland @ Denver - Oakland

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/7-8/2011

9/7/2008:
The Detroit Lions open the season with a 34-21 loss to the Falcons in Atlanta. Hopes are high in Detroit after a 7-9 record in 2007, the most wins by the franchise in a season since 2000, and a 4-0 record in the 2008 preseason during which the Lions outscored opponents 8-32. But by the end of 2008 Detroit will become the first team in the history of the NFL to finish the regular season 0-16, concluding with a 31-21 defeat at the hands of the Packers on December 28. In the 16 defeats, the Lions are outscored 517-268. The last NFL team to lose every game was Tampa Bay with an 0-14 record as a first-year expansion team in 1976.

Birthdays:
Paul Brown b. 1908
Al McGuire b. 1928
Clyde Lovellette b. 129
Jacques Lemaire b. 1945
Antonio McDyess b. 1974

Packers Fact:
Donald Lee entered 2009 ranked eighth among all tight ends in Packers' history with 130 career catches.

9/8/2002:
In the first regular-season game in the history of the franchise, the Houston Texans upset the Dallas Cowboys, 19-10, at Reliant Stadium. Rookie quarterback David Carr passes for two Houston touchdowns, including a 65-yard strike to Corey Bradford, to break a 10-10 tie with 12:09 left in the game. A safety with 2:37 remaining cements the win. The Texans will lose their next five games and finish the season 4-12.

Birthdays:
Lem Barney b. 1945
Rogie Vachon b. 1945
Maurice Cheeks b. 1956
Latrell Sprewell b. 1970
Amani Toomer b. 1974

Packers Fact:
Rookie Jordy Nelson turned his first NFL reception into a 29-yard touchdown in 2008 against Detroit in Week 2.

“The most intelligent men, like the strongest, find their happiness where others would find only disaster: in the labyrinth, in being hard with themselves and with others, in effort; their delight is in self-mastery; in them asceticism becomes second nature, a necessity, an instinct.”

—FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE, German philosopher

“How many things I can do without!”

—SOCRATES, Greek philosopher, at a market

ON BUSINESS, BIG

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I’ll tell you, it’s Big Business.
If there is one word to describe Atlantic City, it’s Big Business. Or two words—Big Business.

businessman Donald Trump

ON METEOROLOGICAL INSIGHT,
CATEGORY STUPID

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Even if this hurricane drops back to a category 3, it’s still going to be a category 3 hurricane.

a Weather Channel forecaster, reporting on Hurricane Frances (thanks to Danny Amelio)

SISTERS FOREVER

“Peachy” (Georgia) is the dutiful daughter who stayed at home on the farm and is now married, with two boys—one an epileptic. Beth went on to a (supposedly) glamorous, swinging-single life in New York City. When Peachy catches her sister and husband flirting with disaster, she decides it’s time for the country mouse and the city mouse to trade places for a weekend. Like George Cukor’s film Rich and Famous, this novel succeeds brilliantly as fun and also on a deeper level as an exploration of identity and family.

THE ALMOST ARCHER SISTERS, by Lisa Gabriele (Simon & Schuster, 2008)

TRAVEL BOOK AWARD WINNER

What a wonderful country we live in! Not only do we have civil liberty and economic opportunity but also indoor bungee-jumping. Every state and region in the Union yields out-of-the-way havens of absurd, insane festivals, as well as shrines made out of the oddest things. Try the Furniture Races in Montana, or sleep underwater in a facility designed for science experiments in Florida. Spend a special day in Laguna, California, to join residents and visitors when they moon every passing Amtrak train—or book passage on one of the trains!

ECCENTRIC AMERICA: THE BRADT TRAVEL GUIDE TO ALL THAT’S WEIRD AND WACKY IN THE USA, 2ND EDITION, by Jan Friedman (Bradt Travel Guides, 2004)

Producer Brian Reilly dies - Entertainment News, Obituary, Media - Variety

Producer Brian Reilly dies - Entertainment News, Obituary, Media - Variety

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/5-9/6/2011

9/5/1961:
Lee Thomas of the Los Angeles Angels has a career day by becoming the first player in major league history to collect at least nine hits and hit at least tw home runs in a doubleheader. It happens against the Athletics in Kansas City, although the Angels lose twice by scores of 7-3 and 13-12. Thomas has four singles and a double in five plate appearances in the first contest. In the nightcap, he has three homers and a single in six at-bats, along with eight RBIs. The Angels overcome a 9-2 deficit to carry a 12-11 lead into the ninth, but the A's win on a two-out, two-run walk-off homer by Bobby Del Greco.

Birthdays:
Nap Lajoie b. 1874
Bill Mazeroski b. 1936
John Ferguson b. 1938
Billy Kilmer b. 1939
Dennis Scott b. 1968

Packers Fact:
Antonio Freeman led the NFL when he amassed 1,424 receiving yards in 1998. He averaged 17.0 yards on his 84 catches, 14 of which went for touchdowns.

9/6/1951:
NBC announces that this year's World Series will be the first sporting event ever telecast from coast to coast. As it turns out, the New York Yankees (98-56) will play the New York Giants (98-59) at Yankee Stadium in the opening game on October 4. The first World Series telecast took place in 1947. The participants were the Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers, and the games were shown only in New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Schenectady.

Birthdays:
Hal Jeffcoat b. 1924
Dow Finsterwald b. 1929
Ron Boone b. 1946
Kevin Willis b. 1962
Tim Henman b. 1974

Packers Fact:
Packers coach Vince Lombardi played college football at Fordham, where he was one of the legendary "Seven Blocks of Granite".

“To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labor.”

—ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON, Scottish writer

“Life is not meant to be easy, my child; but take courage: it can be delightful.”

—GEORGE BERNARD SHAW, Anglo-Irish playwright

ON W-O-R-K . . . HMM,
WE COUNTED AND WE GOT FOUR

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We have a lot of kids who don’t know what work means. They think work is a four-letter word.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

ON HOLD THE HEDGEHOGS, PLEASE

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• Fish Toad With Mushrooms and Hedgehogs

• Chinstrap With Get Them

menu items, Santiago, Spain

WAR AND PEACE IN BOSTON

Bestselling author (Gone, Baby, Gone and Mystic River) Dennis Lehane has written a brilliant epic of Boston and America in the period during and after World War I. The two protagonists, Boston cop Danny Coughlin and a black man on the lam, Luther Laurence, struggle mightily in the shadows of Babe Ruth, “Gene” O’Neill, John (J. Edgar) Hoover, and other historical notables, as well as such historical eruptions as the Spanish flu epidemic, the beginnings of the NAACP, and a climactic Boston police strike. A novel of both breadth and suspense, The Given Day is a rewarding read.

THE GIVEN DAY, by Dennis Lehane (William Morrow, 2008)

WIKISTORY

It began in 2001, the online encyclopedia that anyone could write and edit, and from there it grew to be the largest encyclopedia in the world, with more than 10 million articles in more than 50 languages, 2.5 million of them in English. Andrew Lih is himself a fan and a “wikipedian” contributor. His book is full of stories about founder Jimmy Wales and the conflicts and controversies that have attended the encyclopedia’s rise. Lih’s enthusiasm is infectious, and it makes his book a pleasure to read.

THE WIKIPEDIA REVOLUTION: HOW A BUNCH OF NOBODIES CREATED THE WORLD’S GREATEST ENCYCLOPEDIA, by Andrew Lih (Hyperion, 2009)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/2-4/2011

9/2/1979:
The Atlanta Falcons defeat the New Orleans Saints, 40-34, on a bizarre play in overtime at the Superdome. With just over eight minutes elapsed in OT, a punt snap sails over the head of the Saints' Russell Erxleben and rolls to the goal line. Erxleben attempts to pass the ball with two hands to avoid a safety, but it falls into the hands of Atlanta's James Mayberry at the six-yard line. Mayberry saunters into the end zone for the Falcons victory. It's the first NFL game for Mayberry, and the interception will prove to be the only one of his three-year pro career.

Birthdays:
Adolph Rupp b. 1901
John Thompson b. 1941
Terry Bradshaw b. 1948
Jimmy Connors b. 1952
Eric Dickerson b. 1960

Packers Fact:
After only two seasons, Ryan Grant already stood 14th on the Packers' career rushing list with 2,159 yards entering 2009.

9/3/2006:
At age 36, before a cheering throng at the U.S. Open, Andre Agassi plays the last match of his career. Despite an impressive string of wins in the four tennis majors between 1992 and 2003 (four Australian Opens, one French, one Wimbledon and two U.S. Opens). Agassi enters this tournament unseeded. In today's third-round match, he loses to Germany's Benjamin Becker in five hard-fought sets.

Birthdays:
Eddie Stanky b. 1916
Luis Gonzales b. 1967
Damon Stoudamire b. 1973
Jevon Kearse b. 1976
Jennie Finch b. 1980

Packers Fact:
Third-year linebacker A.J. Hawk led the Packers with 121 tackles in the 2008 season.

9/4/1891:
Making light of being called an "old man" by the press, 39-year-old player-manager Cap Anson of the Chicago Cubs (currently nicknamed the White Stockings) dons a shaggy gray wig and a long false beard for a home game against the Boston Red Sox. The Cubs win, 5-3. Anson will continue to play in the majors until 1897.

Birthdays:
Dawn Fraser b. 1937
Ray Floyd b. 1942
Tom Watson b. 1949
John Vanbiesbrouck b. 1963
Mike Piazza b. 1968

“Being young is greatly overestimated . . . any failure seems so total. Later on you realize you can have another go.”

—MARY QUANT, English fashion designer

“I think that, as life is action and passion, it is required of a man that he should share the passion and action of his time at peril of being judged not to have lived.”

—OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, American writer and physician

NO PAIN,
NO PALM;
NO THORNS,
NO THRONE;
NO GALL,
NO GLORY;
NO CROSS,
NO CROWN.

—WILLIAM PENN, founder of Pennsylvania

ON OUR FAVE FECAL BOOKS

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• Excrement in the Late Middle Ages: Sacred Filth and Chaucer’s Fecopoetics

• Fecal Matters in Early Modern Literature and Art: Studies in Scatology

• The Interpretation of Geological Time From the Evidence of Fossilised Elephant Droppings in Eastern Europe

• Curbside Consultation of the Colon

actual book titles

ON SO MUCH FOR
SNACKING ON TOMMY

---

While solution is not toxic it will not make child edible.

in the instructions for a bubble-blowing plastic gun, Japan

ON ANSWERS,
TECHNICALLY RIGHT
BUT NOT SO GOOD

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Family Feud host Richard Karr: What is something that can be described as “on the rocks”?

Contestant: A bug.

(thanks to Sarah Whitaker)

HEAVEN’S HIS DESTINATION

Car thief Preston Clearwater picks up 20-year-old Bible salesman Henry Dampier from the side of the road and convinces the boy that he, Preston, is actually an FBI agent investigating a car thievery ring. Thus begins a wild and woolly road trip through the South of the 195as, with Bible thumping and pet funerals and a woman who can make you think her cats are talking and a lot more crazy yarns and crazier people. Clyde Edgerton knows his material and carries it off in high and funny style.

THE BIBLE SALESMAN, by Clyde Edgerton (Little, Brown, 2008)

A LIFE

“Oh well, I suppose every self-respecting writer should have an English biographer,” Gabriel García Márquez once observed. And now the Nobel Prize–winning author of One Hundred rears of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera has his. Gerald Martin has written an exhaustive and admiring book that is the go-to reference on Latin America’s great novelist, probably for years to come.

GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ: A LIFE, by Gerald Martin (Knopf, 2009)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 8/30-9/1/2011

8/30/1904:
The Olympic marathon in St. Louis ends in controversy. The course includes seven hills on unpaved roads, and the judges, doctors and journalists constantly raise dust by following the runners in automobiles. The temperature is 90, and the only water available is from a well located 12 miles from the stadium, where the race starts and ends. After 3 hours and 13 minutes, Fred Lorz of New York is declared the winner. Just before he's given the gold medal, however, it's discovered that he had run only 9 miles, hitched a ride in a car for 11 miles and then started running again. The real winner was American Thomas Hicks, who made it to the finish line after being administered an oral dose of strychnine sulfate along with several sips of brandy by his handlers during the race.

Birthdays:
Ted Williams b. 1918
Jean-Claude Killy b. 1943
Tug mcGraw b. 1944
Robert Parish b. 1953
Shaun Alexander b. 1977

Packers Fact:
The Packers led the NFL in interception returns for touchdowns in 2008. 6 of their 22 picks were brought back the distance.

8/31/1934:
College football's All-Star Game is staged for the first time. Pitting the best seniors from the previous year's college senior class against the defending NFL champion, it will be played annually at Soldier Field in Chicago until 1976. Tonight's game, held as part of the Chicago World's Fair, draws a crowd of 79,432 and ends in a 0-0 tie with the Chicago Bears. Night games are still a rarity in 1934. According to The New York Times, the stadium is "a picture of splendor, with 100 powerful lights casting upon the lightning-fast greensward, and the World's Fair lights of red, blue and green in the background." As each college player in introduced, he's followed onto the field by a single beam of light while a band plays the song from his alma mater.

Birthdays:
Jim Finks b. 1927
Jean Beliveau b. 1931
Frank Robinson b. 1935
Edwin Moses b. 1955
Hideo Nomo b. 1968

Packers Fact:
Mike Holmgren went 84-42 (a stellar winning percentage of .667, including postseason) as the Packers' coach from 1992 to 1998.

9/1/1991:
At 51, Harry Grant of Taylorsville, North Carolina, becomes the oldest winner of a NASCAR cup race, claiming victory in the Heinz 500 at Darlington Raceway. Amazingly, it's teh first of a record-tying four-straight victories for Gant. On September 7, he wins the Miller Genuine Draft 400 at the Richmond International Raceway. On September 15, he wins the Peak Antifreeze 500 at the Dover International Speedway. On September 22, he crashes on Lap 377 of the Goody's 500 at the Martinsville Speedway, but his team repairs the car and he proceeds to charge through the field to regain the lead.

Birthdays:
Rocky Marciano b. 1923
Guy Rodgers b. 1935
Tim Hardaway b. 1966
Cuttino Mobley b. 1974
Clinton Portis b. 1981

Packers Fact:
The Packers drafted quarterback Don Majkowski in the 10th round in 1987 out of Virginia. He played in Green Bay for six seasons.

“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”

—STEPHEN KING, American novelist

“The secret of happiness is not discovered in the absence of trials, but in the midst of them.”

—TED NACE, American writer

Hope springs eternal in the human breast;

Man never is, but always to be blest.

—ALEXANDER POPE, English poet

ON AND THAT’S WHY THE NEW TESTAMENT
IS WRITTEN IN CHRISTIAN

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The Quran is perfect just the way it is, that’s why it is only written in Islamic.

former senator Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania), in “a lecture on Islam” at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

ON AND THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES FOR
WRITING THIS SORT OF FILM DIALOGUE

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There are consequences for breaking the heart of a murderous bastard.

Bill (David Carradine), Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004)

ON WE’RE NOT GETTING SOMETHING HERE

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Andrea de Cesaris—the man who has won more Grands Prix than anyone else without actually winning one of them.

racing commentator Murray Walker

KILLER THRILLER

At an academic conference in Buenos Aires concerned with the works of Edgar Allan Poe, German scholar Joachim Rotkopf is found stabbed to death in front of a mirror in his hotel room. Vogelstein, the story’s narrator, who has come to the conference hoping to meet Jorge Luis Borges, not only has his wish fulfilled but teams up with the great fictionist in order to solve the mystery. A truly clever and marvelously entertaining whodunit.

BORGES AND THE ETERNAL ORANGUTANS, by Luis Fernando Verissimo, translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jule Costa (New Directions, 2005)

STRANGER THAN SHANGRI-LA

In his latest book after his bestselling Sex Lives of Cannibals and Getting Stoned with Savages, J. Maarten Troost takes us on a rollicking trek through the most populous and probably the most complex country on Earth. In Shanghai and Beijing, Tibet and the Gobi Desert, and many points in between, Troost gives us an enjoyable but grit-and-all look at this world-changing nation.

LOST ON PLANET CHINA: THE STRANGE AND TRUE STORY OF ONE MAN’S ATTEMPT TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD’S MOST MYSTIFYING NATION OR HOW HE BECAME COMFORTABLE EATING LIVE SQUID, by J. Maarten Troost (Random House, 2008)

GIFT IDEA

In 1984 Peter Feldstein went to Oxford, Iowa, and photographed all 676 of the people who lived there. Twenty years later, he returned with writer Stephen G. Bloom and photographed everyone who had not moved away or died, which turned out to be a large percentage of the population. Bloom interviewed the subjects and was rewarded with their extraordinary and poignant life stories. The result is The Oxford Project, which The Atlantic Monthly calls “a hard-to-put-down coffee-table book, with big, striking then-and-now portraits, that pulls you deep into small-town America, with its almost excessive joys.”

THE OXFORD PROJECT, by Stephen G. Bloom and Peter Feldstein (Welcome Books, 2008)