Night Owl Cards

Cliff from Capewood's Collections and I trade cards every summer. I kind of like the way he does trades: reserve a time period for them and then go nuts at that time. It frees up the rest of the year for, you know ... life. So, recently he sent a stack of cards and for most of them I knew exactly why he sent them. They were Dodgers. I collect Dodgers. Therefore, I need those Dodgers. But there were others that perplexed me. I'll get to those later. But first: Dodgers. I'll start with the greatest pitcher of my lifetime. Yes, I'm ready to say that now. Dwight Gooden couldn't keep it together and I wasn't paying attention during Steve Carlton's 1972 season. I suppose someone could mention Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens or Randy Johnson, but really from where I'm standing I think the only person he needs to beat out for the title is Greg Maddux. Give Kershaw a few more years like the ones he's had and it'll be his. OK, I'm about t...

I'm assuming this happens to everyone, but there are songs running through my head constantly. Often times I'll wake up with a song in my head and have no idea how it got there. Some songs pop into my head more than others and often it's so random and so familiar that I don't realize it's going through my head until hours or maybe even a day or two after it first appeared. One of the songs that makes a repeated appearance is the old Police song, "When the World Is Running Down You Make the Best of What's Still Around." The song is from their 1980 album Zenyatta Mondatta, the one with "Don't Stand So Close To Me" and "De Do Do Do De Da Da Da." My brother had the cassette and I was familiar with all the songs on the album in no time. "When the World Is Running Down" is natural head music because its repetitive chord progression is so catchy (it's been called "hypnotic"). But I also find myself hu...

I didn't think I'd have time to post today what with the 14-hour work day that comes attached to every second weekend in November. But I've managed to squeeze in a short write-up just from a couple of cards I had lying around. And that's the point of this post. When I first started noticing night cards and that I liked them, part of the attraction was how seldom they appeared. Night games were such a novelty that they rarely appeared on cards and were confined mostly to cards that referenced the postseason. Today, night games are everywhere and so are night cards. I no longer have the fear that I will run out of night cards to feature on this blog -- yes, this was an actual concern in the early days of this blog -- I know I'll have new ones for as long as I want to do this thing. This is just one example of how pervasive they are. The card above is one of my favorite night cards, just because it's filled with stuff you almost never see. Carl Crawfor...

I'm posting right now because I just don't care. I know I'm supposed to be "night owl" and everything and post only at night, but nobody is letting me do that. I didn't post yesterday because a 12-hour workday. And I'm up right now because a day off (and let's get on with it!) And I'm not advance publishing for a more suitable night owl-type time because blogger is an obstinate pain in the ass these days and doesn't do anything that you say anymore. See? Just right now blogger told me an error occurred while trying to publish my post. I'M NOT TRYING TO PUBLISH A POST. There it goes again. Screw this, I'm logging off. Yes, I know. "I have unsaved changes." I'll take my chances. ... OK, I'm back. And guess what? Everything is here. I didn't lose any of my type. Blogger with its ideal threats ... Oh for the love of ... another error occurred. Shut up, blogger. I SAID SHUT UP! OK, the message dis...

I made it to the card show. It's incredible the road blocks I dodge to get to one of those things. You'd think it would be a lot easier. A show at the mall, for example. Plenty of parking, easy to get to, peruse some cards while the significant others do some shopping, and grab a bite to eat at the end. Why can't it be that simple? No, around here, it has to be complex, oversized and inconvenient. You want a hobby, night owl? You're going to have to work for it. The show was at the state fairgrounds in Syracuse. That's slightly more than an hour away from me. Normally, the show is in the agricultural building. I know the routine, where to park, etc. But this time someone saw dollar signs and decided to combine the show with the grand finale of Super DIRT Week (this actually happened once before and I refused to go). If you're not familiar with Super DIRT Week, it's the last blast of the season for dirt track auto racers around the country and it...