August 1, 2021 – Nats 6, Cubs 5

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/cubs-vs- nationals/2021/08/01/633044#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=wrap,game=633044

 

Weather: 76 degrees, cloudy.

Wind: 1 mph, out to CF.

Umpires: HP--Moore, 1B--Eddings, 2B--Knight, 3B--Morales.

Time: 3:20

Attendance - 25,520

 

Trois étoiles:

#3 – Center fielder Rafael Ortega (Cubs). Hate to recognize an opponent, but it’s difficult not to when he hit 3 homers and drove in all 5 Chicago runs.

#2 – Josh Bell. Drove in half of Washington’s runs with 3^rd and 4^th inning singles.

#1 – Yadiel Hernandez. Leadoff single in the 2^nd, RBI single in the 3^rd, solo homer in the 7^th to extend Washington’s lead to 5-3, and a leadoff dinger in the bottom of the 9^th for the walkoff win.

 

The Chicago offense was nothing if not efficient, as only 4 guys not named Rafael Ortega reached base all afternoon. Two of them got on while pinch-hitting for the Chicago pitcher, with both scoring on Ortega HRs. The Cubs left only one runner on base for the game. (The Nats stranded 10.)

 

The weather wasn’t great, but it could have been worse. The light rain as the game started soon got heavy enough to clear most of the fans (including us) from our seats, resulting in some extra grounds crew work on the infield but no actual interruption in play. Fortunately it lightened up relatively quickly, and the sun actually appeared late in the game.

 

Our early arrival once again resulted in free parking, and we took advantage of the extra time to wander down to TaKorean for lunch. (A couple sparrows who landed on our outdoors table looking for crumbs wound up disappointed, though.)

Favorite Best-Of Albums: The Seekers – Capitol Collectors Series

If I ever get to Australia, I want to find a good pub that features a Seekers cover band.

 

The group could perhaps be considered part of the British Invasion, inasmuch as the native Australians first found success in England. That’s where they met Tom Springfield (brother of Dusty), who produced them and wrote much of their material. Their sound, which one historian described as “too pop to be considered strictly folk and too folk to be rock”, nevertheless worked nicely, highlighted by Judith Durham’s vocals. The AllMusic.com entry for this collection, by Greg Adams, provides a nice summary:

 

The Seekers' folk-pop sound formed a bridge between the Kingston Trio and the Association, putting the Australian quartet in the same international quasi-folk neighborhood as the Sandpipers and Peter & Gordon. "Georgy Girl" and "I'll Never Find Another You" were the group's two big hits, but their repertoire included everything from traditional folk songs and spirituals to pure pop. With strummy acoustic guitars and intricate vocal arrangements, the Seekers paved the way for the folk-oriented pop vocal groups that followed.

 

Favorite Tracks:

The Carnival Is Over

I’ll Never Find Another You

Rattler

A World Of Our Own

Someday, One Day

 

Island Of Dreams

Morningtown Ride

When The Good Apples Fall (On The Other Side Of My Fence)

Georgy Girl

Cloudy

Concerned vaccine skeptics push back against disturbing fad of teenagers living

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/16/concerned-vaccine-skeptics-push-back-against-disturbing-fad-teenagers- living/

 

TENNESSEE — Stunned by the tidal wave of teenagers receiving accurate health information and possibly even being vaccinated against communicable diseases, legislators here have rallied to put a halt to the startling mania that has swept from high school to high school.

 

…

 

“Don’t they have any idea what we’re doing to the earth?” asked another adult. “They won’t want to be alive in seven or eight decades, a terrifying fate that getting vaccinated now will make all the more likely. By then, the planet might well be ravaged by heat and scarcity!”

 

"I don’t want the teenagers to die decades from now because of my utter recklessness with the planet,” the adult noted. “I want them to die right away, from preventable diseases, as God intended.”