All posts tagged: Random DJB Thoughts

Summer Reading 2013, Part II: Or How the Nats Lost Their Way

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Technically, I read Shawn Green’s unique little memoir/meditation The Way of Baseball before summer began, but after a night at the ballpark watching our Nats utterly fold in a three-game series sweep by the division leading Braves and reading Tom Boswell’s insightful (as always) column about how this year’s season went so wrong, I was reminded of how much I enjoyed this book. Let’s begin with Boswell and the Nats. For two-thirds of a season we’ve been told that the Nats had “too much talent” to keep playing this poorly, and that they would switch it on in time to get back in the pennant race.  But the Braves put an end to that kind of talk, with as utterly dominating a three-game series as you could have where the total run differential was only 5 runs for the three games.  Boswell put it best when he described the sweep as “an execution by proper execution.” Amen. The Nats played so effortlessly last year that it is easy to forget how difficult baseball can be …

My That’s Spicy!

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In planning this year’s staycation, everyone in the family picked one thing (or a series of related things) for the family to experience.  Andrew’s contribution?  Why four nights of ethnic dining in and around the Washington area. First up:  Lucy’s Ethiopian Restaurant in Silver Spring! Andrew and Claire have both discovered Ethiopian food over the past year, and they love it.  For Candice and me, it was a first. The Washington Post recently had a strong review of Lucy’s which we took along for the evening, and the reviewer sent us toward some terrific tasting dishes. Between the four of us we enjoyed lamb, beef, collard greens and a wonderful misir wot dish (or split lentils). Lucy’s is fast gaining a reputation as one of the best Ethiopian restaurants in the region, with food that is spicy and delicious.  But if you chose to go, just remember – you can leave your knife and fork at home.  Thanks to the injera (a spongy bread) for wrapping, this is all finger food. Enjoy. More to come… …

A Perfect Day for Baseball…and to Reach the Halfway Mark

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Sunday in Pittsburgh was a perfect day for baseball.  The hometown Pirates are playing the best baseball in both leagues at the moment.  The ballpark was packed with fans caught up in a pennant race.  The weather was picture perfect with temps in the low 80s. And Pittsburgh’s PNC Park – #15 on my list of 30 MLB parks to visit by 2015 – is a terrific place to watch a game. My request for this year’s “staycation” was to take a short road trip to Pittsburgh so i could check another ballpark off my bucket list of visiting all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums.  We saw that the Rockies were in town to play the Bucs for a weekend series, and so I scored four tickets behind home plate and we set out to build a trip around my baseball pilgrimage. This morning we all slept in a bit, and then after trips to the fitness center and showers, we took off for brunch at DeLuca’s – a Pittsburgh landmark in The Strip.  Pancakes, …

Still the most beautiful building on campus

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We were touring the University of Pittsburgh campus this afternoon at the suggestion of a friend who is a student there, when we turned the corner and it happened again… …the most beautiful building on campus was peaking out at me, seemingly atop a flower basket hanging from a light post, just waiting to be discovered. I’ve written before about how college chapels are often the most beautiful – and ignored – buildings on campus.  I have no idea if the Heinz Memorial Chapel is ignored on campus tours, but from my very brief visit and admittedly small sample size (having seen only about 1/10th of the Pitt facilities), there is no more beautiful building on this campus.  This is a wonderfully light and delicate Gothic design that is – as Andrew phrased it  upon seeing it head on – drop dead gorgeous.  I agree. We were in Pittsburgh for one major reason: to attend a Pittsburgh Pirates game tomorrow at PNC Park and check another MLB ballpark off my bucket list. (Look for that …

In celebration of Elizabeth

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(I don’t often use More to Come… for work-related posts, but last Friday evening at the National Trust we celebrated the retirement of a dear friend — Elizabeth McClung — and I wanted to share my admiration for this stalwart of preservation.  I was privileged to speak at Elizabeth’s retirement celebration.  The following are my remarks.) Leadership comes in many forms.  We all know of the alpha male, Type A personalities who are celebrated as leaders on Wall Street and in the halls of Congress.  These are the types who bark out orders and expect others to follow. These are the “born leaders” — or so they say. But there is another type of leadership that is — to my mind — much more effective.  It generally comes from people who learn to be leaders, rather than assume they know it all from birth.  I put more stock in these types of leaders in part because I am reminded of the tale of a group of tourists visiting a picturesque village not unlike nearby Strasburg.  …

Summer Reading 2013: Part 1

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It is that time of year again, dear readers, where I have finished a couple of books on my summer reading list and pass along thoughts and recommendations. First up is the best natural history/science book I’ve read in years.  Now that’s a low bar, because I don’t usually read natural history/science books.  But in this case, with the reviews in, my reading habits don’t really matter as others use the same accolades. A colleague, who also happens to be an alumnus of The University of the South,  recommended Sewanee professor David George Haskell’s The Forest Unseen:  A Year’s Watch in Nature. Ever since I finished the book I’ve been meaning to thank George for the suggestion.  This is a gem of a little book. Haskell’s work is a meditation of a year’s worth of observation on a small patch of old growth forest near Sewanee in Tennessee.  Several reviewers commented that the book is both very modern and very old-fashioned, and I had the same reactions.  As a modern-trained biologist, Haskell’s knowledge of science touches …

Red Wing takes flight

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Well, that certainly was a promising start. Day 1 of the 1st Annual Red Wing Roots Music Festival promised a talented and spirited mix of the roots and branches of American music.  And in spite of gloomy skies and the occasional (and thankfully brief) rain shower, this brand new festival — located deep in the heart of the beautiful Shenandoah Valley — pretty much delivered. The festival is the brainchild of an energetic, talented, and amazingly entrepreneurial (for a bunch of roots music players) band The Steel Wheels, fronted by one of the great voices in Americana music, Trent Wagler.  Candice and I arrived back in our old Valley stomping grounds (we lived for 15 years in nearby Staunton, Virginia) after the soggy drive down from Washington just in time to walk in on the 4 p.m. set of the hosts under the tent at the Carolina Old Time Family Stage.  And given the weather, could The Steel Wheels really begin this festival with any song other than their iconic Rain in the Valley? This was …

How College Students Can Lead to a Wonderful Holiday Weekend

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When a colleague asked about our plans for the upcoming holiday weekend, I told her that Andrew and Claire each had friends from college who were in town and would be staying with us.  I assumed our role was “To stay out of the way.” Thankfully, I was wrong.  Jason, Jordi, Jackie, Kelsey, Claire, and Andrew were delightful guests and hosts, sharing some of their time with us and also giving Candice and me the space to enjoy our weekend with each other. We began with our “traditional” July 4th celebrations – and all the twins’ friends joined us (rather enthusiastically, I think).  While the Takoma Park July 4th parade didn’t have quite the pizzazz of a presidential year (I miss the “Mutts for Mitt” floats with dog puppets on top of cars and there wasn’t anything to reach the level of last year’s “precision grill team”), we still had a great time laughing at the floats and enjoying the world music you always hear at our little slice of Haight-Ashbury here in DC.  Afterwards, …

The Muscle Shoals Groove

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The man in front of us in line said it best.  “After several days of watching a documentary or two a day with a heavy or depressing theme, I’m ready for some music.”  I knew what he meant. Saturday evening Andrew, Claire and I had attended an excellent documentary as part of the AFI Docs festival at the American Film Institute Theatre in Silver Spring. Titled Blackfish, it chronicled SeaWorld’s treatment of their killer whales. Here’s the synopsis: When SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau was mauled to death by a “killer whale,” the tragedy was dismissed as a freak accident. In actuality, it was one of many such violent incidents between well-meaning trainers and wild orcas, the main attractions at marine parks all over the world. Utilizing astounding rare footage and candid interviews, BLACKFISH takes an unflinching look at the disturbing practices that keep such places in business and the corporate-led efforts to protect this highly profitable industry. It was an important film…but when Candice and I stood in line on Sunday waiting to see Muscle …

A Great Week for Ballparks

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In my bucket-list quest of visiting all 30 major league ball parks, this week didn’t really move the needle…but it was a great week nonetheless. Two cities and two ballparks.  That’s the way I like to travel. Last Tuesday, I was in Denver wrapping up a set of meetings, and joined some colleagues at Coors Field for a Rockies vs. Nationals game.  Yes, my Nats were in town! This was my second visit to Coors Field – which means I didn’t get to check off another park from my list. But while the outcome was disappointing (the Nats lost this game, yet won the series), I did get to catch a wonderful Coors Field sunset over the Rocky Mountains.  Few stadiums have better views, and all of us – Nats and Rockies fans alike – marveled in the sunset. Then on Friday, I was in Boston.  Those of you who know the schedule will say, “Hey, weren’t the Red Sox playing the O’s in Baltimore this weekend?”  Well, yes.  (I am actually catching the last …