Slight Evidence that the Universe May Not be Against Me

A while back I wrote that the universe was against me. Now while that’s putting it dramatically, I think it is safe to say that good luck doesn’t visit me often. But for once, there were a couple days last week when things actually went right.

It all started with free tickets to a Cubs game.

That in itself is pretty fucking sweet. The husband of a friend of a friend of Mrs. FatDave (I’m not sure, but I think Kevin Bacon was in there somewhere too) apparently has season tickets, and for one reason or another, these people who I’ve never met couldn’t make the 4/13/05 home game. Miraculously their tickets ended up in my possession.

So we get these tickets, they say section 19, row 2. Well, row 2 sounds great and all, but I figured section 19 was probably in the right field balcony or something. I couldn’t really have free tickets for seats in the second row, could I? So I looked up the Wrigley Field seating chart, and as it happens section 19 is right behind home fucking plate.

So, we had free tickets to a cubs game, with seats in the second row behind home plate at beautiful, historic Wrigley Field. How fucking sweet is that?

So I start watching the pitching rotation closely trying to figure who’ll be pitching our game. Mark Prior hadn’t pitched in the majors all season because he managed to injure himself in spring training. I can’t believe these fuckers keep injuring themselves in spring training. I mean, can’t we get them some steroids or something? Anyway, it was looking a lot like it’d be Kerry Wood, which was awesome. Zambrano‘s been pitching a lot better this year (last year too), but I like Wood a lot, and he gets bonus points for looking like Ray Liotta. But about this time, they start talking about Prior coming back after fucking shit up (no really, he gave up something like 7 runs at an Iowa Cubs game) in AAA. So how cool would that be, to see Prior’s first game back?

But alas, the baseball gods were not with me on that one, because his first game was scheduled the day before ours. Oh well, it was definitely gonna be Kerry Wood, and damn it, that’s just as good. But then something miraculous happened. The baseball gods took pity on me, and the game Prior was to pitch got rained out. It was rescheduled for the next day, immediately following the game we had tickets to.

So, for those keeping score at home, we now had free second-row tickets to a double-header, featuring the team’s two star pitchers. I ask you, how fucking incredibly sweet is that?

The whole way there I expected the car to have an engine fire, or to be arrested, or for the sitter to call and say one of the kids lost an arm. I just don’t have this kind of luck. But we made it, our free tickets turned out to not be forgeries, and we got to see two games back to back. However, it did turn out that row 2 is not actually the second row, there’s rows A, B and C in front of it, so it’s really like the 5th row. But you know what? Big fucking deal! Did I mention we were right behind home fucking plate?

Wood had a shitty game. He gave a homer to the first batter he faced, hit the second, walked the bases loaded, and San Diego had 5 runs by the second inning. Final score, 3-8.

Game two was much better. Prior shut ‘em out for 6 innings (and still is sitting on a 0.00 ERA after 2 games pitched) and got on base twice in three at-bats. Derek Lee remembered how to hit, and the Cubs had 7 runs by the end of the second inning. The final score was exactly the opposite of the first game, 8-3.

So, for once in my life, I had a pretty amazing streak of good luck. Felt good. I imagine the original owner of those tickets is kicking himself for giving them up, but I don’t know him, so fuck him.

Neil Young is Fucking Hard

According to this CNN.com article, Neil Young rocked so hard at a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony that he gave himself a brain aneurysm. After it was diagnosed, he and his aneurysm went to Nashville and recorded some music. Then he got it treated.

Now whether you love or hate Neil Young (I’m in the first category, thank you), you’ve got to respect a motherfucker who won’t let a little thing like a brain aneurysm get in the way of recording.

OLGA

OK, I think I just found my favorite file on OLGA, the On-Line Guitar Archive (or as us old-timers like to remember it, ftp.uwp.edu).