“Where is she from?”
That’s what people, mostly friends and family, have said to me in private after meeting my friend Shannon Plumb. It’s her accent, you just can’t place it. They ask, wondering if she’s a put-on artist.
She’s not. But she’s also the only true bohemian I’ve ever known. Completely unaffected, out-of-her-bird, inspired. Turns out she’s from Schenectady–by way of Pluto.
I’ve known Shannon for almost twenty years. We met at college. She used to wear a trenchcoat and carry around a thin boom box, playing Prince. Guys were bewitched by her.
She painted and acted and when we left school, she modeled, and hipsters and cool people were betwitched by her. Now, she’s married with two kids. Over the past decade, she has made a name for herself in the art world with her short films.
Shannon is a true original and one of my favorite people of all time. Loves Harpo, loves Buster, and even once had a nice jump shot (or so she says).
Here’s a mess of her movies. Check ’em out.
Cool. Schenectady, huh? Where's wsporter when I need him?
Some parts of good old Schenectady are not too far from Pluto . . .
Pat Riley is the only other person of note I know from Schenectady. Great sounding name though.
when i think of Schenectady, i think of, ahem, gentlemen's clubs. there's a whole mess of them along route 7.
[3] That might explain one of the better-known variations on the word "Schenectady" - or should I say, a variation formed from 4 words.
[2] Two of the three best baseball movies of all time have a connection to Schenectady. John Sayles was born there, and Phil Alden Robinson is (like me) an alum of Union College.
John Tudor of the Cards and the Dodgers is from Schenectady, too.
[4] Also Pat Riley.
love the Union College campus. saw Matthew Sweet and Belly there in the 90s. yeah, I just admitted that.
Oh. Jeez. Yeah. [5] = [2].
{Hides face.}
[6] No shit! I was at that concert! (Dragged there against my will by a couple of my friends, who were both HUGE Matthew Sweet fans.) It was either my frosh or my sophomore year, I forget which now.
Can't beat a campus that has the only sixteen-sided building in the Western Hemisphere.
Ahem. No dissing Matthew Sweet allowed. I don't even know why you'd want to. Hell, that one Belly album's pretty good too, though it's more of my wife's bag. Matthew Sweet's a personal favorite, however,, particularly Altered Beast. His covers record with Susanna Hoffs and his Japanese record are both strong recent efforts, though Living Things was the first record of his that I didn't like at least a little (including his early synth-pop efforts). I haven't heard his latest yet, though. Thanks for reminding me to track that one down.
per PeteAbe: UPDATE, 3:52 p.m.: Veras DFA’d
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Posada C
Matsui DH
Swisher RF
Cabrera CF
Veras DFA'd? Interesting. I would've rather seen Tomko, but that'll work as well. Flamethrowers with questionable control are a dime a dozen.
Yay! Veras DFAed!
Yay, baby Wang!
And most of all, I love our line-up now. Man. Remember Ransom, Cash, Gardner hanging off the bottom of the order? Our #9 is now .271/.331/.382.
[9] Matthew Sweet is fine, just a little pop-y for me. At the time, his music was not quite in line with my other tastes (heavy metal/hard rock/hard alt), hence the need for me to be dragged to see him.
I had my revenge, as it were, a year later, dragging those guys to see Metallica in Albany.
[10] I am surprised. I suppose Tomko's ability to pitch multiple innings, those I use those words loosely, is more valuable to right now?
per a LoHud commentor:
Sosa joins ARod on the Black List 104.
http://tinyurl.com/l4zroc
[10] Ahhh!
My ex-girlfriend from high school lives in Schenectady. I ran into her in Albany, when my niece was attending college there. It was so strange; like we had only seen each other yesterday when it was actually ten years. From what I gathered, she'd been living in the Pluto areas you mentioned, Shaun >;)
[16] Albany also has its Pluto areas - or at least it did last time I was there. Lark Street comes to mind immediately . . .
Can't beat the food in some of those places, too.
[15] I'm shocked it took this long for another name to come out. I suppose, now that the "A-Rod tested positive!" story has seemingly died out, it was the right time to unveil Sosa's name. /cynicism
[15] Interesting that these names are being leaked out one-by-one. Is that to "manage" the negativity that swells with each named player? I think so; if baseball released all the names at once as some reporters and politicians have demanded, baseball would likely take a hit so bad it would take years to recover. Better to just let a name slip out conveniently every once in a while until the biggest names are all out and the reaction has been managed enough to minimize the damage, then release all the subsequent names of players who are not-so important to the image of baseball.
This is conjecture, of course, but not unreasonable to believe.
Say it ain't Sosa!
Wake me when there is real news.
Honestly, I'm more shocked by Posada catching Sabathia tonight than I am with the Sosa revelation. Girardi must be thinking even Posada couldn't screw up CC starting at home against the Nats! LOL
Um Jorge, CC has five pitches in his arsenal. Please use them all instead of fastball, fastball, fastball, repeat, especially if he's got poor command of number one in this start!
Can anyone tell me what that word is when you do the same thing over and over, expecting a different result?
: )
[17] Lark Street was like a wider Greenwich Village up to Chestnut Street, where my niece lived. Once you get to Dove Street, you are definitely in Pluto.
There was a Safeway supermarket in the area that I went to for provisions when visiting my niece (where and when the encounter with my ex took place) and I saw an old bucket of chitlins in the freezer section. Now is it me, or do all supermarkets in, umm, Pluto have that one bucket of chitlins sitting there in the freezer? When I returned home, I talked with my best friend, who had attended the school my niece was attending about ten years earlier, and I told him about the bucket of chitlins in the Safeway.
"Was it the only one there, on the bottom shelf on the left-hand side?" he asked. It sure was, I replied.
"That's the same bucket of chitlins that was there when I went to school!" >;)
[20] Can anyone tell me what that word is when you do the same thing over and over, expecting a different result?
Bum-rushing? >;)
[20] PJ, Sabathia's curve has been crappy this year. See RAB's Exploring the Best Yankee Pitches. So maybe Jorgie knows what he's doing. (Burnett's slider has been the overall most effective pitch -- surprising!)
[22] Official Scorer says:
Chyll Will +1
[22] "Bum-rushing?"
Who said anything about Cashman? I know I didn't bring him up!
: )
[23] I saw that piece too, and I wonder about sample size issues there . . .
[22] ;)
[21] Lark Street was pretty nice, all things considered. Bohemian (to use the word Alex used above) gets it right. I don't recall a Safeway around there, but I do remember the Price Chopper my girlfriend/fiance (now wife) sometimes went to. Great pizza place near Lark too, though I think its moved since I she lived there,
[25] Sometimes I wonder who Bum Rush is . . . his virulent anti-Cashman rants remind me of someone . . .
It'd surprise me if they were one and the same person, but I bring it up only because I've never read two people in the Yank blogosphere more similar in their gross disgust of all things Cashman. Or maybe I'm just not reading the "right" Yanks blogs . . .
Okay, Cliff, we need our "The Washington Nationals" posting.
Please.
[10] nah, nah ... nah, nah, nah. nah ...
jo-se-hey, go-od bye!
don't sign any long term leases, mr. tomko!
[27] as i've guessed before - it's the same person.
[23] "So maybe Jorgie knows what he’s doing."
Thanks for proving my "personal observation," which I've noted here for going on two months, that all of the Yankees have struggled mightily with command of their fastballs! So much in fact, that they rank as the team with the worst ones in baseball according to that data you linked. It did not take me as long to realize that.
"You can observe a lot by watching." - Yogi
You also proved my pernt with respect to Po calling them far too often, and it's cost them not only games, but Yankee hurlers don't want Jorge behind the dish as their battery mate from start to start these days, either...
Lastly, you contradicted your pernt that Po knows what he's doing! I would argue he's "insane," trying to force the staff into command of their fastballs by throwing flawed ones that lack command over and over again! I would argue that it's the catcher's primary function to call for pitches that will deceive batters period, not to work on flawed mechanics with the hurler during games. Overall, Po's insistence of fastball command, considering that they are the worst team with that pitch, perfectly explains the underlying trouble with him and the pitching staff, particularly with the power arms...
Most times, you have to do the best with what you have that day.
Doh!
*Insert banging head against wall here*
: )
[31] You suggested that Posada should call more curves when CC is pitching, and fewer fastballs. But the data show that CC's curves have been costing the Yankees runs, and his fastballs have been preventing runs.
And this proves your point???
[32] No, I suggested Po call less fastballs whenever a pitcher lacks command of it. It seems he calls for more of them then, to me anyway...
To a man, Yankees hurlers have lacked command with their fastballs overall, such that they are the worst in baseball with fastballs. Command of number one doesn't happen with trial and error during games. Either you have it that day, or not.
Where exactly did I suggest more curve balls?
Actually, I'd like to see more sliders and changeups when he lacks command of his fastball, not more fastballs. His changeup specifically, almost always deceives the hitters, which is the most important thing.