heating it up

In frigid weather like we've been having the kitchen is just about the best place to be. The other day I decided to warm things up by making marmalade with the organic lemons and limes I bought earlier this week. I checked online for recipes and ended up, as I often do, taking bits and pieces from a couple. From a blog called A Mad Tea Party I got the intriguing idea of making pectin from pips, though my lemons and limes didn't yield enough pips to make anything. The Tea Party woman also suggested adding roasted dried peppers to the marmalade, which I did with half of the batch. I don't know how it tastes but I like the red accents.

Yesterday meanwhile I used some of the marmalade without to make oat bran muffins. They went nicely with some soft goat cheese and the soup I also made yesterday morning from root vegetables.

Also heating it up are the 76ers, who on Saturday against the still-motley Knicks ran their win streak to seven. Can they make it eight today when they host the Mavs at one this afternoon? I hope so. I wanted to be at the game, always a great way to celebrate Martin Luther King Day, but will have to settle for following on the radio.

For whatever reason, since Tony DiLeo took over from Mo Cheeks, the Sixers have played a much more energetic brand of basketball---on both sides of the ball. And I don't think it's just the competition, though that's been part of their recent success. After a sluggish couple of months, Andre Miller has become the great floor leader he was last season and Andre Iguodala is again showing brilliance. Dalembert seems to have remembered that defense wins games, and Young, Speights, and Williams, babies all, are absolute delights to watch. Not to forget Ivy, Evans, Green, or the occasional Marshall. Getting Elton Brand, who's been sidelined with a dislocated shoulder, back into the mix may be today's biggest challenge.

hamels on mlbn

This image, taken along the South Branch of the Raritan River in Clinton, NJ, makes me feel the cold that has prevailed this week. When I was there earlier this week, just the sound of the water was enough to make me shiver. It's been, all in all, beautiful winter weather this January, but just a tad on the cool side, with temperatures in the single digits for days. Today it's suddenly surged into the 20's and feels almost like a thaw.

I came in from cleaning last night's snow (we had inch or two) off the car to happen on a live press conference on MLBN featuring the dishy Cole Hamels, about his new contract. The guy has it all, including grounded values, a sense of humor, and disarming flashes of humility. Do wish Howard, with his fab smile, not to mention unique talents, were next.

I start to see the value of MLBN. Watching an ad for the World Baseball Classic tilted me even more in favor of the channel. Presumably all games will be covered this time around. I can hardly wait!

hot news/cold day: hamels signs!

Breaking news: Cole Hamels has signed a three-year contract worth $20.5 million with the Phillies. The contract buys out the first three years of arbitration for the 25-year-old, who was the MVP of the NLCS and World Series. Good stuff! Ruben Amaro, Jr. is getting things done with the arbitration-eligible guys. Wish Ryan Howard were next up but he's looking for pie-in-the-sky money. So who will it be?

scenes from a short trip yesterday to ny

At Port Authority, these visitors took picture after picture, posing with George Segal's sculptures of stolid commuters. This permanent installation is in the South Annex of the terminal.

I was about 20 minutes early to meet a friend from Budapest at Macy's at 2 so went into the Herald Square pocket park for a close-up view of this beautiful monument depicting Minerva with bell-ringers, by Antonin Jean Carles. It's a tribute to James Gordon Bennett and his son, of the same name. Father founded the Herald Tribune in 1841 and son made it into one of the best newspapers around. It later survived as the wonderful International Herald Tribune, long one of my fave papers.

Despite the brutal cold and slicing wind in Pennsylvania and New York yesterday, the park was sheltered from the wind and almost warm in the sun. Some of Tesla's friends gathered at my feet for a hand-out and let me catch this street design. See the tail feathers at top right.

Outside the entrance of the park the intersection of 34th and Broadway looked oddly tranquil as people and vehicles came and went.

Just before two I headed across the street to Macy's Broadway entrance to meet Aniko, a stalwart in my Hungarian adventures, who is visiting a daughter in New York. I had last seen her a year ago December in Budapest. She had to do some shopping for her other daughter, at home in Hungary, and so we ate lunch in Macy's cellar, then she went off to shop and I to return to Pennsylvania. It was a short visit but worth it. A day after a miraculous rescue in the Hudson River, there was still wonder in Manhattan.

dobbs signs, madson does not

I got home last night from New York to the good news that Gregg Dobbs, pinch-hitter extraordinaire, had signed a two-year contract with the Phillies, worth $2.5 million. Reliever Ryan Madson, on the other hand, reportedly declined a three-year deal worth $12 million. He's a free agent next year and his agent is Scott Boras, who has already been in Madson's ear about testing the market as a closer. Good luck, Ryan, guess you are counting on the economy bottoming out before the 2010 season. Just please keep your eye on the goal this season.

material color

I took a drive to Clinton, New Jersey, this morning to see the show Material Color at the Hunterdon Art Museum. This pleasing little museum is in an old stone mill in the scenic town of Clinton. Shown above is the view from the parking lot in front of the museum. As you can see, ice had taken over the viewing deck. Save the absence of colors, the ice here was much in keeping with the show, which featured 20 artists who use paint as a "substantial material" to create fabulous surfaces, ranging from exuberant and riotous to sleek and seductive. I wanted to touch, stroke, or squeeze almost every piece in the show, which goes off at the end of the month. If you are in the area and have not seen it, please go. The colors alone are worth the drive there.

windmill cookies

Until I saw these cookies at my local natural foods store last month, I hadn't thought about windmill cookies for ages. Charmed by the package and my memories of 'windmills', I of course bought a box. The cookies are a 'natural' variation on the European-style cookies, made of whole wheat flour and sweetened with pear and pineapple juice. Not at all sweet, they are delicious. Maybe I'll make them my ballpark treat this season.

brains in his feet

"He played as if he had brains in his feet." That's what Branch Rickey said about Ty Cobb. It's a quotation that stays in the mind. I last saw it under Cobb's picture, in the rotunda of the Hall of Fame. It came to mind again today when I heard that Rickey Henderson (and Jim Rice) had been elected to the Hall of Fame. Henderson is the all-time steals leader, with 1,406, and runs leader, with 2,295.

california, pa

A couple of weeks ago I happened to drive through the village of California, which is about 20 minutes from here. I have often passed California Road but didn't know that it went to an actual village with the same name. As the historic marker shown above explains, in 1849 a German settler named Frederick Wolf built a four-story hotel and named it the California House Hotel in honor of the California Gold Rush. Wolf made a sign for the hotel, showing a prospector with a sack of gold nuggets hanging over his shoulder. The village grew up around the hotel, which is still there though its name has is changed. Now I know why there are other local roads named Sacramento and San Francisco.

la petite auberge

I was in New York yesterday, first on Lexington Avenue, where I took this photo of the Chrysler Building, my fave. I took it just a couple of blocks from La Petite Auberge, where I met a friend for lunch. We usually meet at one of the South Indian restaurants in the same neighborhood but this time he suggested a French restaurant featuring bistro food. It turned out to be a comfy kind of place, with an old-style decor, good service, and good food of the sort that used to typify French cooking. I had leeks vinaigrette and filet of sole meuniere. My friend had butternut squash soup and veal medallions. For dessert, I had creme caramel and he had chocolate mousse. We also each had a glass of wine to toast the new year. I might not try the leeks again, which were creamier than I like and, though tasty, seemed to have come straight from the fridge. The sole, though, was cooked well, which is to say it was not at all overcooked. All in all, La Petite Auberge was a delight. No trip to Paris in the works but yesterday's lunch brought the city a bit closer.

After lunch, I went across town to interview artist Cyrilla Mozenter. We talked in her studio for two and a half hours, surrounded by her magical creations, as the light slowly faded from the New York sky.

bits and pieces

Monday was the first day for players to file for arbitration. A busy time for the Phillies, who have eight eligible players: Hamels, Howard, Blanton, Victorino, Werth, Durbin, Madson, and Dobbs. In the ideal world, contracts would be signed and arbitration avoided before the start of spring training. Just over a month to go!

Yesterday the Phillies signed 2nd baseman Marcus Giles to a minor league contract in what seems to be a reclamation/insurance move. Chan Ho Park is also now a Phillie.

More on J.C. Romero: No one but Romero and Dong Lien, the Phillies strength and conditioning coach, knew about the arbitration hearing on 10/22. Under the terms of confidentiality determined by MLB and the Players Association, not even the Phillies knew that J.C. had failed a test or any of what subsequently went down. New GM Ruben Amaro, Jr., speaking to reporters this week, indicated that the Phillies learned of the matter only in November. It makes what Romero did in the World Series even more remarkable. He chose, after all, to risk it all, including $1.25 million in salary, in order to stay on the team and play. That's one mentally-tough dude. And we won't be seeing him till June, boo-hoo.

another view of charles bridge

Here is another view of Charles Bridge, from the other side. I'm now rereading By Night Under the Stone Bridge by Leo Perutz. Mixing magic and history, the novel deals with the uneasy relation between the Jews of Prague's ghetto and the Christian realm ruled over by Rudolf II, King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor. The story revolves around an imagined affair between Rudolf and Esther, the beautiful wife of the wealthy financier Mordechai Meisl. As red rose and white rosemary flower, the unwitting lovers unite only in their dreams.

trashpicking in kyoto

Kyoto, the old city, has always been a great place for trashpicking. This image of Charles Bridge, with the castle in the background, is from a begrimed book of pre-World War I photographs of Prague. A friend in Kyoto found the book in his landlady's trash one morning several years ago and, knowing my fascination for Prague, sent it to me. I was looking at it the other day. Winter always brings Central Europe to mind.

makes no sense but j.c. romero to get 50-day suspension for 'negligence'

Here's a story that makes little sense on many fronts: Phillies lefty reliever J.C. Romero today will be suspended 50 games at the start of the 2009 season for being in violation of baseball's substance abuse policy. Romero is not accused of using steroids or of cheating. He is not accused of using any banned supplement during the postseason. Rather, he is accused of 'negligence', though the facts of the story as presented so far by ESPN, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and other media outlets suggest that Romero did his due diligence but MLB did not.

In July Romero purchased an over-the-counter supplement at a shop in Cherry Hill, NJ. He showed it to his longtime personal nutritionist to make sure that it was OK and was assured that it was. He also showed it to Dong Lien, Phillies strength and conditioning coach, who advised Romero to get a second opinion, then sent a sample himself to MLB for vetting. In spring all players had been told that any supplement bought over the counter in the US was allowed under the MLB substance abuse policy and that's what Romero had bought. So far so good, huh?

Late in August, however, Romero failed a drug test, then a couple of weeks later failed another. At that point he says that he stopped taking all supplements. Another test on October 1 was negative. MLB meanwhile had done testing on the supplement used by Romero and deemed it no longer allowable. In November it sent a letter to the Players Association stating that three supplements formerly allowed were now found to produce positive test results and were no longer allowed. Again, the letter was sent in November, after Romero had stopped taking the supplement, which till then was allowed.

A hearing on the matter was held in Tampa on October 22, the first day of the World Series. Romero was told he faced a 50-day suspension plus loss of salary ($1.25 million) for taking the supplement but if he admitted guilt it would be reduced to 25 days. Romero refused to do that, maintaining that he was innocent. The PA rep also thought that in the end the case would fail.

In December however Romero got word that the arbitrator had had a "change of heart" and decided on a 50-day suspension, for negligence. What more could Romero have done? He asked two people to check the supplement, which was eventually sent to MLB. Why was he not informed once MLB had determined that the supplement would produce a positive test result? If Romero feels he is being targeted, no wonder.

Asked for comment, both GM Ruben Amaro, Jr., and manager Charlie Manuel declined to respond. Undoubtedly, once the suspension is formally announced they should comment. It seems to me that if Romero is at fault for 'negligence' in following the rules announced in spring, then MLB is even more at fault for its negligence in telling Romero that the supplement submitted for vetting was suddenly no longer allowed. MLB turned a blind eye for years while some of its biggest stars were on the juice and is now penalizing players for following its own guidelines. Little about this story makes sense but it does sound very wrong.

What is amazing to me is that J.C. attended the arbitration hearing, all very hush-hush, on the first day of the World Series, then went on to pitch brilliantly in the series and to win two games, including the series clincher. That is some kind of focus, with a hearing taking place and suspension, loss of salary, and disgrace hanging over his head. Even if he did nothing wrong.

Since joining the Phillies, J.C. has been great in the bullpen and become a fan favorite. But that's really not the point. The whole story reeks of another waffling move by MLB.

burrell now a ray

In a bit of baseball incest of sorts, Pat Burrell today signed a two-year deal worth $16 million with the Tampa Bay Rays. That's a lot better than his going to the Mets or some other NL East team, which would have been sad. With the Rays, he's part of a good young team which should benefit from his clubhouse leadership. Good luck with the DH'ing. And no, the Phillies could not have signed him to a similar contract. They would have had to offer arbitration and he would probably have received $16 million for one year. Here's to good seasons for both Ibanez and Burrell!

three kings in kingston

Once again one of Mila Mina's wonderful little murals up at St. Mary's in Kingston provides an illustration, today for the Feast of the Epiphany. Here the Three Kings mark the end of the Christmas season, and the rest of the week will be given to taking down all the trees. Decorations will go back into boxes and taken again up to the attic. The house will look suddenly spare. There will be a small flurry for Chinese New Year's, then more for Valentine's Day. When is Easter this year?

No decorations for spring training but it is getting closer and closer. Yesterday I got totally sucked into MLBN's truncated rebroadcasts of the World Series. My instant resolution is no more for at least a week.

a house in otomo

Organic farmer friends in Japan are building a house in the Otomo section of Tono. (I used to live in the Ayaori section of the same mountain town.) They've found a like-minded carpenter to help them but the project is taking time, as such things do. I was happy to see this picture of the new house, looking pretty good, in the New Year's letter they sent.

red-eyed--and it's only 1/3

A pocket calendar from Ukraine, but the name of the beautiful church is in Cyrillic, which I am unable to read.

Yesterday afternoon I went to see Happy-Go-Lucky, an offbeat (and not entirely successful) little British flick about happiness as a life choice. Last night I watched Game 5 (parts 1 and 2) of the World Series on Comcast. This afternoon I went to see Milk, a riveting film with excellent acting. Sean Penn is outstanding in the role of Harvey Milk. Just now I've been watching Game 1 of the 2008 WS on the MLB network. My eyes are about to fall out of my skull. Tomorrow it's time to get to work.

Two players in the postseason replays stick out: Chase Utley and Cole Hamels. Despite having a hip injury that required postseason surgery, Utley steadfastly refused to discuss even the possibility that he was hurt while continuing to play sparkling defense and running the bases with abandon. As for Hamels, he was like one born to the big moment. No matter what the circumstances, he was always cool and always in control.

don larsen shines in mlb debut

After 30 minutes last night of the new MLB network, my eyes were glazed over and I had to quit. It even managed to make special guest Jimmy Rollins, a thoughtful, articulate guy with a gift for turning a phrase, come across as a dull dog.

And the undertaker look should be dropped immediately. Everyone on the show but Rollins and Hazel Mae was dressed in a black suit, almost all of them of the kind found hanging in the back of the closet for a funeral. The sets seemed to be very big and the people in them far from each other. Studio 42, a tribute to Jackie Robinson, may turn out to be something special but in its debut there was too much talking and too much standing around.

No sign at all of Mitch Williams. I can't imagine him in the confines of those sets but some kind of real voice is badly needed.

So I forgot till much later that the network's much-touted debut was to feature a broadcast of Don Larsen's perfect game in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series between the Dodgers and Yankees. When I returned to the TV set, it was the bottom of the 6th and there was Larsen coming to bat. Wow! The game was at Yankee Stadium but Larsen was batting. Yeah, the good old days when there was no DH in the American League.

More signs of the times followed. It was a World Series game being played during the day. Some 64,000 fans were in attendance and--weirder than weird--it looked as if 90% were men, most of them wearing suits. Then there were the baggy baggy unis worn by the players, which made them look like shambling giants. And there was the pace of the game, brisk by today's standards. Only Jackie Robinson in his last at bat made an obvious try to get Larsen out of his rhythm.

Even the commercials included in the footage were short and sweet. As the shadows fell at Yankee Stadium, the game just kept moving along. When Larsen finally struck out the last Dodger, a pinchhitter for Dodger starter Sal Maglie, he calmly walked off the mound and almost reached the first base line before catcher Yogi Berra leaped onto him and he was swarmed by his teammates.

Larsen and Berra were in the studio watching the rare footage of the game, which had come to light earlier this year. The shot of Larsen's face as he watched the final strike of the game was absolutely priceless. He said that not a day goes by that he does not think about that game, and the expression on his face showed the wonder that he still obviously feels. In this age of instant classics, that game was the real thing.

Shot in Kinescope, with only a camera behind home plate, the grainy black-and-white film captured the drama and tension of the game. Mickey Mantle hit a solo homer in the 2-0 win and Duke Snider made a running outfield catch to keep the Dodgers in it. The announcer was the cherry on top: Vin Scully, who must have still been in his 20's.

here's to 2008/2009

It never gets old, even with the 2009 season getting closer. I found this composite postcard at the Majestic Clubhouse store at the ballpark on Monday.

Brad Lidge was the "perfect choice" for Sportsperson of the Year, awarded by the Philadelphia Daily News. In a telephone interview yesterday, some reporters from the paper talked with Lidge, now at home in Denver celebrating the birth of a baby boy. Lidge sounded totally grounded and totally focused. Just what we want. When asked about the club's offseason moves, he offered high praise for Pat Burrell, both for his performance on the field and for his strong leadership within the clubhouse. Pat had become a good friend, he said, and had played a big part in his first year in Philadelphia. And what a year it was!

Ex-reliever Mitch Williams, who has shone in his role as Phillies postgame analyst for Comcast, has a new gig with the MLB network, which debuts this evening. The Wild Thing will be part of a nightly baseball show during the season and a hot stove show in the offseason. The promos featuring the Harold Reynolds and Hazel Mae are already making this channel look sketchy. The presence of the fatuous Reynolds makes me nervous. Please do not let it be an ESPN clone, pushing the New York teams non-stop and spotlighting the (yawn) Yankees-Red Sox soap opera. And no, hyping a Mets-Phillies rivalry is no mollification.

So who takes Williams' gig with Comcast?