Bowling: A Comparative Study

I love that split-second feeling of elation just before I get a strike, when I know the bowling ball will hit the center pin and the rest will soon come crashing down.

It's a feeling I don't get very often, and Saturday night was no exception.

After watching the Red Sox destroy the Mets in an exhibition game Saturday, a group of us went to a bowling alley not too far away in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It was not only my first time bowling in New York, but also the first time I've bowled in two or three years.

I never bowled too often in Ohio-- maybe once or twice a year. In other words, just often enough to keep my average at about 100 and rarely higher.

Waiting for my turn Saturday night, I compared the alley to those I've visited in Ohio. The Williamsburg alley had a '70s feel: 8 lanes, no frills. A small black and white screen at each lane tabulated the scores, but there was no overhead screen like at the large, popular, modern alleys.

To the left of the first lane was a wall-length window. On the other side of that window was the connected bar, about as big as the alley itself. The bar was sunken about three feel below the alley itself, giving drinkers a unique view of the action on the other side.

To the right of the eighth lane was an exposed brick wall with -- and this amused me -- a sagging American flag with only 48 stars.

All in all, it was pretty similar to the alleys in Defiance, except this one was smoke-free and had better beer.

It was completely different to the alley we'd occasionally visit in Columbus, however.

The C-busers know what I'm talking about: Columbus Square Bowling Palace. It might be known as ghetto bowling for it's questionable east side location, but inside it's 64 lanes of bowling pleasure with a wide variety of '90s tunes. And it's open 24 hours.

So how'd I do on Saturday? I barely broke 100 in the second game thanks to a 10th frame strike. I was secretly (well, not so secretly now) quite pleased.

Saturday in the (Baseball) Park

What could be better than a Saturday afternoon watching the Mets take on the Red Sox in the stands of the new Citi Field stadium?

The weather, for one. The score, for another.

One of my co-workers snagged nine tickets to the exhibition game, only the second game to be played at the park. It didn't take much consideration to claim one of those as mine. Besides, it was to be 60 degrees and sunny-- perfect for a day at the park.

Instead it was a gray 48 degrees, with gales that swept the foam clean off full glasses of beer. Luckily I had my wool coat and leather gloves, but my scarf and hat were tucked away cozily in our always-too-warm apartment. I shivered my way through the game, ecstatic for a moment when the sun peaked through the clouds about an hour after the first pitch, only to have my dreams dashed as it quickly went back into hiding.

I left my seat for part of the fourth and fifth innings, ostensibly to explore the stadium and take photos for the blog, which I did. But I have to admit that I took an extra long time in the heated bathroom, standing underneath a warm vent and chatting to a woman who was also taking refuge from the wind.

For Mets fans, the score was just as dreary as the weather: 9-3. Even though I have no particular allegiance to the Mets, as a Cincinnati Reds fan I feel I have to support the National League.

Unfortunately, the Mets gave me little to support. At the top of the first inning, the pitcher gave up 6 runs in about 40 pitches and was taken out before mustering three outs. But I did get to see a lot of well-known faces from both teams, including the Mets' third baseman, David Wright. You can see him there at the plate, right?


Even if there wasn't too much excitement at the plate, there was a lot to see from our seats. We were about a dozen rows from the top, just to the fair side of the third base foul pole. In the distance you could see the elevated subway lines, what passes for skyscrapers in Queens and even planes descending into LaGuardia airport, located just behind the stadium. Fans at the top row of certain sections could look back on the airport (below) or even get a nice view of the Manhattan skyline.


Weather it was because of the weather, the score or a combination of both, fans at first trickled out and then left in droves. Most of the upper deck, where we were seated, were long gone by the final pitch. It seemed that a lot of people deserted their seats for empty ones closer to the field, but a lot of people simply left altogether.


But despite all of this, I really did have a good time. I like baseball, I like having been among the first to see Citi Field (especially since I never did visit Shea Stadium), and I certainly like hanging out with my co-workers outside of office environs.

Here's hoping the Mets do just as poorly Monday, when the season officially begins with a game versus the Reds.

What's left of Shea Stadium.

The World According to Spam

I periodically scan the spam filter of the blog I manage at work to make sure a real comment doesn't get thrown out with all of the junk. The spam is easy to spot, of course-- lots of links and usually longer than the post itself.

On Monday, however, I came across spam of a different sort. Inspirational spam (with a scary one or two thrown in for good measure).

I've received spam like this before, but never so much at one time. So here, unedited and split into categories for your reading pleasure, are 17 of Monday's 63 pieces of spam:

Didn't I Read That in a Fortune Cookie?

A lot of good arguments are spoiled by some fool who knows what he is talking about.

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.

The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible.

A wise man changes his mind, a fool never

the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself

You won’t find a solution by saying there is no problem

If your happiness depends on what somebody else does, I guess you do have a problem.

When an argument flares up, the wise man quenches it with silence

Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it

Many can argue; not many converse

Spam That Starts Conversations

All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind

It is an interesting and demonstrable fact, that all children are atheists and were religion not inculcated into their minds, they would remain so

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts

Life is not a continuum of pleasant choices, but of inevitable problems that call for strength, determination, and hard work

What’s the use of a fine house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?

I Don't Think That's Exactly True

There are very few personal problems that cannot be solved through a suitable application of high explosives

Huh?

I know the answer! The answer lies within the heart of all mankind! I think I’m in the wrong building.