As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)
The U.S. response [to Iran’s comments on the draft proposal
to restore the nuclear deal] is expected to focus on final sticking points
related to Iranian demands for economic guarantees and sanctions relief. U.S.
officials were tight-lipped about the substance of the response. When asked for
details, the official familiar with the matter said the response contained “a
bunch of words and sentences and paragraphs.”
Section 315, Row H, Seats 18-19 (slightly on the 1B side of
home plate, a couple of rows farther back than usual. Effectively on the aisle,
since H20 remained unoccupied the entire game)
A curly W, finally! And also some
runs, as the Nats had been blanked in our previous two outings, and failed to
dent the scoreboard until the 5th inning tonight.
Things did not start out well. Ian Happ hit a 2-out first
inning homer off Josiah Gray – unfortunately, neither one of us had picked Happ
in our who’ll-hit-the-first-dinger-off-Gray pool – and two subsequent hits doubled
the lead. Happ went deep again four innings later for a 3-0 Cubs lead. Meanwhile,
Washington had runners in scoring position in three of the first four frames,
but couldn’t get any of them home.
The Nats offense finally exploded in the bottom of the 5th,
loading the bases with none out on an error (originally scored as a hit) and
two singles. Joey Meneses struck out, but a force out at second scored one run,
and a Yadiel Hernandez single plated a second. David Ross’s decision at that
point to lift Marcus Stroman in favor of Mark Leiter Jr. backfired
spectacularly, as Nelson Cruz promptly greeted him with a two-run double to
give the Nats the lead. Despite Gray’s mounting pitch count, Davey Martinez
decided to stick with him for another inning, even after a one-out double, and
his faith was rewarded when Gray notched his 10th K to pitch out of
the jam.
Further proof that nothing comes easy for the Nats this year
followed quickly. Reliever Hunter Harvey pitched around Happ with two outs and
a runner on second in the top of the 7th, but Seiya Suzuki singled to
tie the game. Happily, Cruz hit one out an inning later to regain the lead, and
Kyle Finnegan efficiently disposed of the visitors in the 9th to
nail down the win.
The rush-hour drive down wasn’t as bad as it might have
been, and we got home much quicker than on a typical Sunday afternoon. We had
no trouble at all grabbing a picnic table, the e-cash at the concessions stands
was working (as were the escalators), and lines were generally short. It was a
little cooler and breezier than I had expected, but after a number of hot
afternoon games it felt pleasant, even with short sleeves.
