Blogrophenia: The Reverend Aton's Site

Well the Yankees finally pulled one out early this morning. They're now 1-1 and returning home.

The revamped Yankees LOST to Tampa Bay!!!! I know it's only one game but how long before Georgie flips and acquires Randy Johnson, Sammy Sosa, the entire roster of Hiroshima Carp (a souvenir from the trip) and the continent of South America?

Moses from the Mountain

In response to my friend's e-mail question to me on religion of whether or not I thought people are flawed specifically and what in general I think about religion:

Of course people are flawed. And by most conventional standards I am a sinner, as is literally everyone I know.

I am definitely not a literal Christian. In many ways I am not a Christian at all, I suppose. I appreciate the ritual and try to attend Mass as often as I can (it winds up being about 3-4 times a week). I feel that it has a beneficial effect on me. I am not particularly interested in all the sacraments in the traditional sense although I like confession. I am not crazy about the sacrament of marriage and it may not ever be for me - although you never know. I receive the Eucharist, but for me the jury is out on transubstantiation, etc. I bring all this up as background regarding my opinion about whether I think we are all flawed/sinners etc. Basically I interpret that question to mean: Do I believe in Original Sin in the tradional Judeo/Christian sense. The answer is that I do. But not in that sort of Medieval way that it is carried seminally and passed on (I think that though is Thomist) and all that, rather I take it as a metaphor for the idea that we are all inherently flawed and that in some sense we need to atone for that. I think that one way we can atone for this is through the teachings of Christ and by living a disciplined and spiritual life. One excellent way to do is through communing together and engaging in the ritual of the Mass. This helps reminds us that we are flawed and that our we all have selfish and occasionalley malevolent tendencies. I agree that we shouldn't dwell on that to the extent that we forget that we are all walking miracles. It's easy to forget how many things all had to go right in order for us to be here. Our very conception is incredble when you consider that in one male ejaculation there are literally millions of sperm cells and that each one of us is the one cell that made it to the egg and caused fertilization.

Further, I believe that is an incredibly myopic position to take that only ONE religion gets it right and that everyone else is wrong. There is a great old SNL skit where a deceased man meets his guardian angel in Heaven and among the questions he asks him is: What's God's favorite religion. To which the angel responds Episcopal (or some denomination of Christianity). The effect is extremely comical, that God sits up on high and that He thinks that just one group is right and that everything and everyone is just wrong. I can't believe that that is the case. Along these lines I have visited, with great interest, Synagogous, Mosques, Hindu Temples, Various Christian services etc. One of my favorite things to do is to meet people of different religions and to pray with them. In the words of the great Mohammed Ali (Cashius Clay) likely somewhat paraphrased "There are different names for bodies of water, rivers, lakes, ponds oceans, etc. but they are different names for the same thing: water!"

I think there have been countless people in the world who needed to be reminded this, nowadays it feels especially so. . .

Take me with you
When you leave me
And my shell behind us there,
Moses

D-Rays pull it out. Yanks are 0-1, no wire to wire this year, but as Blue points out, what was the Yanks record after five games in 1998?

Blue Trash has dubbed Mariano Rivera "The Fruit Bat". . . Think about it. Hilarious. . . Another gem from the Blue. . .

This whole getting on Japan time thing is getting tough. Got a wakeup call at 5 AM the other from Blue, today I called him. D-Rays are dominating right now. . .

Still tired and run down, but I hope to return to full time blogging soon. Apologies to all Moses fans. . .

Thanks to Blue Trash giving me the heads up I was lucky enough to listen to the great Jim Leyritz do the Marlins-Mets game from Jupiter. I honestly think he's pretty good. He'll be at Mantle's for Sunday's Yankee opener from Japan. . .

Saw Starsky and Hutch. Very very funny. Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson are hilarious. . .

Check this band out: http://www.mytvs.net
Not much on the website but they are a Hell of a band. Come to their next show!!!

Has the A-Rod thing even sunk in yet? THE NEW YORK YANKEES HAVE A-ROD!!! It's incredible, it's unbelievable. . .

I still think Boston will be tough and I also think that although Baltimore and Toronto don't have a real shot at winning that they won't be as easy to beat up on for forty combined games like they used to be. . .

Interesting article in the Sunday Times Magazine about the author of "Plato, not Prozac!" (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/21/magazine/21SHRINK.html)As some of you may know, I actually know him. We've e-mailed and had lunch. I've always had a bit of a sense that he's got a strong drive to
feed his increasingly voracious Freud/God complex, but, burgeoning megolomania aside, I do think he believes in what he's doing. As an attorney, and I have told him this, I think he better cover his ass one way or another, because he's exposing himself to some major potential liability. His whole argument that ''We have never, not ever, had a single case in which philosophical counseling caused psychological harm'', is meaningless in my estimation. Just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it never will, especially if his aspirations of world domination through philosophical counseling come to fruition. He's really set some lofty goals, this whole movement comes just short of being a religion and as the late great L. Ron Hubbard is alleged to have once said, "If you want make money start a religion". All in all though, I think this movement is legit and would encourage you all to look into how philosophy could enhance you life. . .

Entwistle's encore?

Sure, he's dead, but that doesn't mean that bass player John Entwistle won't perform on The Who's new album, the band's first in 21 years. Entwistle succumbed at age 57 to a combination of cocaine use and heart disease in a Las Vegas hotel room June 27, 2002. "We've got a rehearsal tape of John playing one of the songs. We're thinking about using it on the album," singer Roger Daltrey said Monday in a radio interview. "How can we carry on without John?" asked Daltrey, 60. Entwistle was in the band for 38 years. Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend have hired musicians to fill in for Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon, who died from an accidental overdose in 1978.

From: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/entertainment/8122571.htm

The Florida Marlins are 40-1 to repeat. Now I don't like the Marlins to win the WS, in fact, I have a hard time thinking they can beat the Phillies to win the NL East (which btw they have never done, in both 97 and 03 they were the WC) but I do think that at 40-1 it's worth plunking 5 bucks down on. If the Marlins can repeat, and let's face it, they are returning the team that won minus Pudge and Lee and I think that Castro and Choi will fill in nicely for them, you could parlay that 5 bucks into two bills. That's some sweet action.

You know besides wildly overpaying for Jeter, the Yanks look like they may have really overpaid for Giambi now too, looks like Jason's old club is on the verge of giving Chavez, a palyer who is, at the very least at this point, comparable to Giambi 66 million for 6 years. Giambi mind you signed for 7 years for 120 million. Now I do think Giambi is (although maybe was) a better player than Chavez but he certainly isn't worth twice as much. Up and coming teams should be able to exploit the economic weaknesses of teams that were big spenders in the 1999-2001 era of free agency. . .

COMING SOON. BLOGROPHENIA RESUMES. . .

Happy Normantius Everyone!!

Wellness Tip

Do not purchase a ton of cheap cigarettes from North Carolina and expect not to smoke tons and feel like shit.

Yesterday I ventured out to Gulfstream Park to see some races and tp see the legendary Beach Boys play. My wagering was - ahem - less than successful so let's leave it at that. But as for the Beach Boys they were absolutely marvelous! They came out and opened with California Girls at one point singing "I wish they all could be South Florida" at which the crowd started to really get into it led by the ladies. They continued with "I get around" and "I wanna go home" the vibe in the audience was unlike any I have ever experienced at a concert. The crowd was very into the music and the experience and yet very relaxed. While basking in the sundrenched standing room only crowd I spied countless over the hill hippies and yet the crowd was loaded with teenagers and 20 and 30 somethings.

They then rocked out with Surfin USA and Good Vibrations and then Love told a story about they how they had to replace Brian Wilson because he was "visiting Pluto" in the mid 60's. They did an amazing version of Rock and Roll music followed by "Why Do Fools in Love". Before doing that Love explained what records were, what and archipelo means and then they busted into the archipelo intro and before starting the song he quipped, "Let's see Justin get back with his band and try to do that" They followed that up with "Wouldn't it be Nice" and "God Only Knows" They ended with "Help me Rhonda" and with a great version of "Barbara Ann" (a Keith Moon favorite Who fans). They were coaxed into coming back onstage to do one more song, for which they chose Kokomo. They crowd went absolutely nuts when they sang "down to Florida Keys".

All in all it was a great experience. The Beach Boys are a seminal band whose influence on rock n roll is most likely incalculable. They mastered the harmonis very early on in the history of rock and were the Beatles chief rivals back in the 60's. I have heard that Paul McCartney was incredibly impressed with Pet Sounds and that they were always trying to top the Beach Boys. High praise for a band that the Beatles loved your music!!!

But for me I tend to listen to much more somber music, my favorite period in American music is the early 90's Seattle grunge period. So along with Alice in Chains Soundgarden Nirvana and most of all Pearl Jam I tend to listen to a lot of pretty serious stuff. Also I love gansta rap and and even Pete Townshend tends to have a pretty somber side. Therefore it's great to be reminded of how much fun lighthearted goodtime music can be by the Beach Boys. They're singing about girls and surfing and dancing and on a sunny day in South Florida it's just what the doctor ordered!!!

Funny side note: For any of you who have spent time at a race track or even an OTB you may have noticed a particular type of individual: The old man gambler. The old man gambler is an individual who is probably hooked on gambling He most likely is from the Northeast, retired, all business, considers the track the only break from his wife of 50 years and doesn't like people getting in his way. Yesterday I overheard two of these old codgers repeatedly referring to the Beach Boys as "these damn Beatles or whoever they are" and complaining about the crowd in the "ruckass". . .

Ba Ba Ba - Ba-Ba-Barbara Ann,
Koko - Moe