WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, JOE DIMAGGIO?

It seemed odd, or at perhaps ironic that I 'discovered' a Joe DiMaggio statue right in the middle of a Chicago neighborhood on Columbus Day. Why ironic? Well, at the time of this discovery, the New York Yankees season was hanging by a thread, trailing two games to one in the AL East Division series against the Cleveland Indians. Columbus Day itself is hanging by a thread in America. Just last night, three dimwits staged a bold attack on a defenseless Christopher Columbus statue in Chicago. Los Angeles has already cancelled Columbus Day as a Holiday. And we all know how these leftist ideas tend to spread over time. 

Joe DiMaggio played for the New York Yankees way before my time. My Dad spoke of him with reverence as did everyone else in New York that witnessed him play baseball. His statue is in the 'Little Italy' section of Chicago as Joe D. is one of the most famous of sons of Italian immigrants who came to our shores. He was one of the greatest baseball players of all-time, but that list gets crowded quite quickly when you think of the scores of Yankee greats who have worn pinstripes over the years. 

Still, I considered this 'discovery' of this iconic New Yorker, hidden in a Chicago neighborhood a good omen. On Monday night the Yankees did win their 'must win' game and extend their season to game five against the Indians, perhaps Columbus Day itself will hold on and continue to be National Holiday in our great country.

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Your Food Diary For:

Monday, October 9, 2017       

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Quaker Oats instant grits - Instant Grits	400	88	6	8	1,240	0
	400	88	6	8	1,240	0
L U N C H
Salmon Sushi white rice burrito	700	95	27	15	832	12
C2o - Coconut Water With Pulp, 32 oz	200	52	0	0	300	48
	900	147	27	15	1,132	60
D I N N E R
Weight Watcher's Cabbage Soup	400	41	1	9	313	23
Great Value  Pork Italian Style Meatball	100	1	8	6	263	0
	500	42	9	15	576	23
S N A C K S
Red Delicious Apple	100	26	0	1	2	20
Snack Cheese	100	0	9	6	163	0
	200	26	9	7	165	20
Totals	2,000	303	51	45	3,113	103
Your Daily Goal	3,796	474	126	190	2,300	142
Remaining	1,796	171	75	145	-813	39
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,866 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 214.7 lbs in 5 weeks.

There are so many amazing things about the lifetime stats of Joe DiMaggio. How about this one? In the years that should have been his most productive, he switched uniforms. He traded in his Yankee Pinstripes and enlisted in the US Army. My guess is that he never 'took a knee' during the playing of the National Anthem. I don't know for sure, but it's an educated guess.

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Wondering why the title of today's blog was "Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?'

It is a lyric from a Paul Simon song made famous in the 1967 film, The Graduate

Mrs. Robinson Lyrics

And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know (Wo, wo, wo)
God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
(Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey)
We'd like to know a little bit about you for our files
We'd like to help you learn to help yourself
Look around you, all you see are sympathetic eyes
Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home
And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know (Wo, wo, wo)
God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
(Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey)
Hide it in a hiding place where no one ever goes
Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes
It's a little secret, just the Robinsons' affair
Most of all, you've got to hide it from the kids
Coo, coo, ca-choo, Mrs Robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know (Wo, wo, wo)
God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
(Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey)
Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon
Going to the candidates debate
Laugh about it, shout about it
When you've got to choose
Ev'ry way you look at it, you lose
Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
A nation turns its lonely eyes to you (Woo, woo, woo)
What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson
Joltin' Joe has left and gone away
(Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey)

Songwriters: PAUL SIMON

Mrs.Robinson lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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SPACESHIP

Usually on Saturday, I weigh myself.  Right now I am in St Louis for a trade show and without my scale. So my weight change this week, whether positive or negative will remain shrouded in mystery for a few days more. Last night I went to a St Louis Cardinals baseball game. Our seats, very happily were in the upper deck and covered by a roof. That roof came in quite handy as it started to rain at least three times during the game. Our group left the game in the 7th inning during rain delay. However, climbing the stair up to our seats did accomplish one thing for me. It put me over the top to a new lifetime 'badge' from fitbit, as I have now officially scaled 14,000 lifetime floors since I became a fitbitter in 2005. What does this mean? Nothing, but it is fun to have reached this new milestone.

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Your Food Diary For:

Friday, May 19, 2017

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Frosted Mini Wheats - Kelloggs	380	92	2	10	0	22
Oatmeal	300	57	6	12	225	0
	680	149	8	22	225	22
L U N C H
Chesseburger	700	0	375	35	1,104	7
French Fries	300	74	21	9	430	1
	1,000	74	396	44	1,534	8
D I N N E R
Spicy Seafood Gumbo	400	45	14	21	2,975	5
	400	45	14	21	2,975	5
S N A C K S
Chocolate Chip Cliff Bar	300	54	6	12	180	26
	300	54	6	12	180	26
Totals	2,380	322	424	99	4,914	61
Your Daily Goal	2,242	280	74	113	2,300	84
Remaining	-138	-42	-350	14	-2,614	23
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g

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Our group bailed out on the game during a rain delay as the Giants scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning. We missed the Cardinals scoring three run in the bottom of the seventh, and the rest of the game when the Giants came back to win the game. 

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THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS

This comes from wikipedia...

The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms and was adopted on December 15, 1791, as part of the first ten amendments contained in the Bill of Rights. The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the right belongs to individuals.

Today, however, I am not talking about bearing arms. I am talking about baring arms. To be more specific, I am speaking of the right of the Chicago Bears to bare their arms.

On February 26, 2013, failed presidential candidate, tax avoider, American hero, John Kerry who has vowed to fight the biggest threat mankind has ever faced, global warming, shared this brilliance with the world to German students. "In America. you have a right to be stupid if you want to be." John Kerry has often exercised this right. This afternoon, a few players on the Chicago Bears NFL Football team will apparently exercise their right to be stupid. (Although I am sure it will add to the intrigue of the game and boost TV ratings)

from the Chicago SunTimes

BEARS 12/15/2016, 06:36pm

Record lows, but Bears vow to bear weather with bare arms.

Sunday could mark the coldest Bears home game ever. Pernell McPhee still won’t wear long sleeves. “As a D-lineman, as a front-seven guy, as a guy who plays defense, I think it’s a sign of weakness,” he said. The outside linebacker told his fellow defenders as much —that it’s a long-held Bears tradition to go bare-armed in cold weather, no matter what. Sunday qualifies as just that: with the high expected to be 3 degrees, the Packers rivalry game will rival the coldest Bears home games ever. The Bears’ Dec. 22, 2008 contest was the coldest, at 2 degrees. The wind chill low, of -15, happened Dec. 18, 1983. Both games were against the Packers.The Bears prepared for the chill Thursday, stretching inside the Walter Payton Center — albeit with the doors flung open — and then spending the last 75 minutes of practice outside in single-digit temperatures. Rookie center Cody Whitehair was ashamed to admit that, when the team got to the outdoor field, he finally put on a long-sleeved undershirt. At the end of the day if it keeps me warm and healthy for the game day,” he said. “Then, hopefully, I can not wear sleeves on game day.” Whitehair has never worn long sleeves in a game, but also has never played in temperatures as low as are predicted for Sunday. He and other Bears players still plan to abide by an ultra-masculine, if admittedly moronic, code. “I’ve told them the macho stuff’s all great,” coach John Fox said. “But there comes a point where people might question your intelligence.” Guard Josh Sitton, who played eight years in Green Bay, will go bare-armed — but he tapes his forearms and wears elbow sleeves. His advice for players uncomfortable in the cold: “Tell them to grow up.” Defensive end Akiem Hicks will meet McPhee halfway, cutting his long sleeves above the elbow. “I’m trying to hold that Chicago tradition down,” he said. Quarterback Matt Barkley won’t. “I’m not a polar bear,” he said. The Bears teased Barkley about his Newport Beach, Calif., hometown Thursday, but offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains said he did a “nice job” given the circumstances. The Bears will enter Sunday with a typical game plan, Loggains said, and adjust based on game-day condition changes. The Bears practiced outside to test the proper cleat length and clothing. If the wind is as light Sunday as it was Thursday, Fox said, neither team should have much trouble. “I think it’s just a race to the heaters when you come off the field,” Fox said. Fox reminds his players to hydrate, even in the cold, to prevent cramping. Packers coach Mike McCarthy said his team was lucky to have the same conditions at home. “We’re blessed, I guess, that we can practice in the same weather the next couple days to prepare for it,” he said. The Bears play with heated benches and space heaters on the sideline, and remind players often to not leave their helmets in front of them — or risk them melting. Players also smear Vaseline on their skin to block the wind, and use insulating lotion. New Bears tight end MyCole Pruitt took all those precautions when he started in the third-coldest NFL game on record, an NFC divisional playoff in January. The Vikings’ gjallarhorn shattered in the -6 degree weather. “It felt like the wind just had a bunch of small icicles in it,” Pruitt, who the Bears claimed from the Vikings this week, said. “And it’s just hitting you in the face every time you try to run a route.” Sleeves can’t stop that. “I’m at war, I’m at combat,” McPhee said. “I ain’t got time to think about sleeves.”

Coldest home games in Bears history

Dec. 22, 2008 vs. Packers: 2 degrees, -13 wind chill

Dec. 18, 1983 vs. Packers: 3 degrees, -15 wind chill

Jan. 10, 1988 vs. Redskins: 4 degrees, -12 wind chill.

The Chicago Bears should consider themselves luck that this is not a late afternoon game.... Shortly after 4PM, the weather will 'start' to actually get cold, that is, fall into the minuses!

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GREEN BAY

PACKERS

Sun Dec. 18

12:00P

FOX

CHICAGO

BEARS

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Your Food Diary For:

Saturday, December 17, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Apples & Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal, 6 packet	780	162	9	18	960	54
Arrowhead Mills - Gluten Free Puffed Corn Cereal	660	132	11	22	55	0
	1,440	294	20	40	1,015	54
L U N C H
Peanut Butter - Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich	760	60	34	18	310	34
	760	60	34	18	310	34
D I N N E R
Costco Beef Brisket Sandwich, 1 Sandwich	610	20	33	28	1,630	40
Vanilla Creme Filled Donut, 1 Donut	330	35	20	3	350	17
	940	55	53	31	1,980	57
S N A C K S
Oreo - Sandwich Cookies - Golden Original	850	125	35	5	600	60
	850	125	35	5	600	60
Totals	3,990	534	142	94	3,905	205
Your Daily Goal	2,248	281	75	113	2,300	84
Remaining	-1,742	-253	-67	19	-1,605	-121
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 318 extra calories from exercise today

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Your Exercise Diary for:

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
MATRIX ELLIPTICAL	97	987
MATRIX ELLIPTICAL	97	947
Daily Total / Goal	194 / 30	1,934 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	990 / 210	9,607 / 4,130

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and one final note....

I should not be so hard on the Chicago Bears for being a bit stupid... I know myself... Before this day is over, I expect to experience this cold weather too.  I, however, unlike the Chicago Bears, I will wear long sleeves!

POKÉMON GO

Have you heard about this new game called Pokémon Go? It seems to me that about half the country in America is already playing this new game. And the half that isn't playing now, will likely be playing soon. I know why I hadn't heard about this game until just recently - it was only released this very month on the 5th of July. I took a walk with my daughter yesterday around Chicago and at her urging I downloaded the game. I am glad to have a rudimentary idea about what this is all about - but I think I may be impervious to its charms.

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Pokémon Go is a free-to-play location-based augmented reality mobile gamedeveloped by Niantic and published by The Pokémon Company. It was released in July 2016 for iOS and Android devices.

The game allows players to capture, battle, and train virtual creatures, called Pokémon, who appear on device screens as though in the real world. It makes use of GPS and the camera of compatible devices.  (wikipedia)

This was an edited screen shot from the game...I thought this was a mildly amusing photo.

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The weather in Chicago yesterday was spectacular: temperature in the eighties, low humidity, under a  deep blue, cloudless sky. My daughter and I took a walk that was not completed until we had logged 8 miles. Among her rewards were a visit to a boutique Donut Shop and for some reason she decided that she wanted to taste a Big Mac. I have not eaten at a McDonalds for the past 18 months. Although I reminded my daughter that a Big Mac was not exactly health food - I allowed her to order one and bring it home to eat. This photo shows her biting into her first Big Mac ever. As long as it does not become an addiction like it did for me - I think that she will survive the experience. I am certain that my dinner was far more healthy. My wife prepared a delicious homemade lasagna. 

My daughter taking her first taste of a McDonald's Big Mac
(As long as this does not lead to an addiction that afflicted me, I think that she should survive the experience)

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On a walk with my daughter, I was not walking at my normal speedy(4.3 mph) pace. This walk was about shared time together. It is a wonderful thing that my daughter, at least somewhat, enjoys our long urban hikes.

I made time for a quick 97 minute session on the elliptical machine after dinner.

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Your Food Diary For:

Saturday, July 16, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
HOUSE RECIPE - OATMEAL	500	90	8	20	400	5
	500	90	8	20	400	5
L U N C H
Read 4 Bean Salad	300	65	0	5	1,500	40
Corn Thins Organic	575	100	0	13	325	0
	875	165	0	18	1,825	40
D I N N E R
Homemade - Lasagna	800	53	25	40	1,053	21
Sirloin Burger Country Vegetables	260	34	8	14	1,580	6
	1,060	87	33	54	2,633	27
S N A C K S
DARK CHOCOLATE GINGER	300	51	12	2	9	44
Nestle 100 Grand - Candy Bar	190	30	8	1	90	22
	490	81	20	3	99	66
Totals	2,925	423	61	95	4,957	138
Your Daily Goal	3,899	487	130	195	2,300	146
Remaining	974	64	69	100	-2,657	8
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,969 extra calories from exercise today

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Your Exercise Diary for:

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Walking	146	1,249
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	97	998
Daily Total / Goal	243 / 30	2,247 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	1489 / 210	14,045 / 4,130

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One of the 'stops' on our 8 mile urban hike today was the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool.  We visited this specific ledge that my daughter stood under many times over the years. Fast forward ten years to yesterday. Same Park, same rocks, same girl, different appearance.

circa 2006 (my daughter could stand straight under this ledge)

circa 2007 (at this age, my daughter could no longer stand under this ledge)

circa yesterday (It is hard for me to believe that this girl was once able to stand straight under this ledge)

Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool, also known as Lincoln Park Lily Pool, is an example of Prairie School landscape architecture designed by Alfred Caldwell and located at 125 W. Fullerton Parkway (between Stockton and Cannon Drives) in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois. It was designated a Chicago Landmark on November 6, 2002. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and as a National Historic Landmark on February 17, 2006. (wikipedia)
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with William Shakespeare, circa 2007

with William Shakespeare, circa yesterday

This statue of a seated William Shakespeare, designed by William Ordway Partridge, has been around for quite a while. It was unveiled in Lincoln Park, Chicago in 1894. 
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William Shakespeare..
by William Ordway Partridge [1861-1930]
Installed: 1894
Location: Lincoln Park: Grandmother's Garden..
On the base is inscribed Shakespeare's words from Hamlet..
What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty!
On the opposite side is Samuel T. Coleridge's words..
he was not for an age but for all time, our myriad- minded Shakespeare....

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one final (and wildly obscure) note about Pokémon Go...
The way that this game appears to be taking over America...
...reminds me of a specific episode from Star Trek The Next Generation that aired back in 1991.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994)

7.4/10

1,115

The Game 

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