Show notes: The jazz hour consisted mainly of the usual suspects: Duke Ellington, Keely Smith + Louis Prima, Thelonious, Sinatra, Count Basie, Nat King Cole, Sonny Rollins, and Miles Davis. Sandwiched in there are two lesser known (to some) artists – the incredible Hank Jones and the lovely Lorez Alexandria. The soul and “mixed bag” hour included tracks by James Carr, Ike Turner, Ray Charles, Barbara Mason, The Drifters, James Brown, Allen Toussaint, Bill Withers, Bo Diddley, Little Walter, Brook Benton, and more.
A recording of the broadcast is available for you here–
Provided your device’s media player treats you better than WordPress’s above player, the Rick’s Canteen google folder has been updated (this is always the first thing to be updated).
The Drag got to play three fresh, fresh teams in an eight-day stretch. All three teams bring a fun group to sandlot and we’re all happy to have them aboard. Recaps below.
9.8.24 – Austin Drag vs. White Rock Mudbugs – Norbuck Park – 11am
Baseball is always better than “not baseball.” And the White Rock Mudbugs made baseball happen on this beautiful day. But, as we learned, Dallas sandlot, for the most part, is largely unofficiated. I’ve previously written before that, be it pickup basketball, volleyball, or even the many years I played ultimate frisbee – self-officiated sports aren’t foreign to me. But baseball is different.
Regardless, we played ball. We had a great time. Norbuck Park was pretty darn nice. The Mudbugs were were good hosts and the weather couldn’t have been better.
The Mudbugs cycled through a series of pitchers all with their different styles and that made for unique looks each time up to bat.
The Drag took a nine-player skeleton crew up to Dallas and that allowed many of our Dragsters who aren’t accustomed to playing all nine innings, to gaming the entire way. And you know what? They were incredible. Tyler and Driver made an impact both offensively and defensively and it was exciting seeing them excel.
Final score — Drag = beers Mudbugs = pizza
9.7.24 – Austin Drag vs. Dallas Sheeple – Churchill Park – 11am
This game was something. Most of the Dragsters leisurely arrived coming direct from Austin that morning between 10:15am-10:40am. The Sheeple were able to find one of the Sheeple’s fathers to call balls and strikes for the game and, for that, we were grateful. As one of our catchers has phrased it, “Hell no, I don’t want to ump and catch at the same time. This is a recreational day off for me, I don’t to deal with both teams giving me shit.”
With a Sheeple dad as the man in blue, the game proceeded. Keith was on the hill. Braden made plays at short. The lineup chugged and churned though.
Around the sixth, the Sheeple offered us some outstanding beers during our warmups and, coincidentally or not, the Sheeple mounted a good rally or two after that.
As it was, both teams had a good time. The weather couldn’t have been better and the post-game was even more fun as most of the Sheeple and Drag went to The Libertine and eventually a tiki joint.
Right around his birthday, Keith was determined to go the distance on the hill and prove to Father Time that he aint done yet. He consistently threw strikes and only ran into a whiff of trouble a few times. Our lineup kept the order moving and the defense, for the most part, was fairly sharp.
The Cruisers are a good group that are definitely finding their form, they bring the energy, and have talent for days.
Final score — Drag = whiskey whiskey whiskey Cruisers = bikes and bikes and bikes
Quick observations that aren’t really that important, but hell, they’re worth having a conversation about. Having just completed three consecutive games vs. “fresh” teams – the Sheeple and Mudbugs are in their second season, the Cruisers are in their first – here are some friendly points.
Many new teams (and sometimes not-so-new-teams) often have an infielder or two who, while playing defense, will stand on or near the bag regardless of whether or not there’s a chance that they’ll be involved in the play. This can turn running the bases into a goofy American Ninja Warrior-like obstacle course (especially if the defender has some size to them).
Watch any instructional video on baserunning (or any real games) and you’ll hear terms like, “catch the inside part of the bag” while making your turns. Regardless if it’s inside the bag or right on top of the dang thing, it’s hard running the bases when there’s a position player just kind of meandering on top of, or very near, the base.
Not a big deal. Moving on. I previously wrote about dekes and fake tags. We saw a few of them over the past few weekends. They are legal at the college and pro-level. And depending on how/when they’re implemented, they sometimes come with the penalty of “baseball justice” (being thrown at). For safety reasons, they are generally illegal in high-school (or lower-level) competition and ruled as interference.
Nothing contentious took place across the past three games – just some simple notes to point out to newcomers. Can’t wait to play these teams again.
August 27, 2024 – My first week off from Rick’s Canteen. Paul Arndt filled in and played a great show. Info on Episodes 13 and 14 found below.
Episode 14 – 9.10.24
Show notes: A request was made for more ladies, so this was my first attempt at a Rick’s Canteen Ladies’ Night. Other than a few man + woman duets, female vocalists dominated the show.
A recording of the broadcast is available for you here–
Provided your device’s media player treats you better than WordPress’s above player, the Rick’s Canteen google folder has been updated (this is always the first thing to be updated).
The Spotify playlist is below.
Episode 13 – 9.3.24
Show notes: The focus of this show was “albums not available on streaming.” And in many cases, these LPs never found any post-vinyl format (8-track, cassette, cd, etc). Back in 2009, long before I watched this incredible vimeo video about Paul C. Mawhinney’s life’s work entitled The Archive, I knew I wanted to collect vinyl. Considering that records create such an onerous task when transporting, I knew I wouldn’t be able to start a collection in earnest until I, more or less, settled (which kind of happened around 2014).
There are many, many reasons to collect vinyl. One reason often overlooked is the fact that so many recordings weren’t converted to a post-vinyl format (8-track, cassette, cd, mp3, etc). In the above video, Mawhinney claims that the Library of Congress estimates that, of his collection (over 1 million LPs and 1.5 million 45s), and, specifically with recordings made between 1948-1966, only 17% of that music was converted into a digital format.
This doesn’t just apply to artists that were overlooked in their time or for the stars whose fame lost its shine over time, but also includes artists still considered important who jumped across different labels (resulting in contract disputes) or whose estate decided to not allow certain records to be reproduced for whatever reason (resulting in other contract disputes). Not to be forgotten are the countless compilations pressed on vinyl over the years that never got digitally converted. You don’t have to collect long before you come across records & 45s by artists like Ray Charles, Dee Clark, The Ink Spots, and so on before you realize even if you wanted to purchase a particular album in another format, you couldn’t. They don’t exist.
Regardless, I’m of the opinion that the music that commercially failed (and succeeded) in the middle of the 20th century is far, FAR better than our contemporary music. So, that’s where the search for that 83% comes from. And who’s to say how much of the 83% that was never converted is still in good shape, available, and not degrading in some landfill?
Side note: While in Dallas, I went to a highly-rated record store and found it didn’t have a used section (nor were used records mixed in with the sealed records). Every single records was a new pressing. So, the point I just made about finding music that had never been digitally reproduced, a strong motivation for some collectors, was moot in that store. That’s a rare occurrence. Dallas, I tell ya.
Anyhow, to get back to the actual “show notes” – We focused on many records (the images of a few selections are found below) that you can’t find online.
A recording of the broadcast is available for you here –
Provided your device’s media player treats you better than WordPress’s above player, the Rick’s Canteen google folder has been updated (this is always the first thing to be updated). Because you can’t find them on streaming, there isn’t a spotify playlist for this show.
