As an addendum to yesterday’s discussion of Greg Bukata’s helicopter heroism, dad Chris tells me: “The incredible thing was they were the only helicopter in Houston for at least 24 hours and they rescued those 108 people on the first day.”
We know what to get him for his next birthday: a good hair dryer and some towels.
On the World Series, this is the first time two states are competing: Texas and Arizona. It has always included at least one city. [Where else but in Owl Chatter can you get searing analysis like that?]
Without the major markets like NY, LA, Chicago, or Boston involved, national interest in it may be low, but Arizona and Texas both distinguished themselves so nicely in the playoffs, the series has a nice feel to it.
I was too tired to last beyond the third inning last night (as was Max Scherzer, apparently), but I did catch the three Texas runs and one crucial defensive play. (Texas won 3-1.) In the bottom of the second, Chris Walker led off for ‘Zona with a double, and Tommy Pham singled to right. Adolis Garcia, who has so distinguished himself at the plate, fielded the ball on the run and made a perfect throw on one hop to the catcher (Jonah Heim) who tagged Walker out easily. Instead of ‘Zona having men on first and third with no outs, there was one out and only one runner on base. Max got the next two batters out; no runs scored. The play altered the trajectory of the game.
Did Walker run through a red light? That is, was the third base coach (Tony Perezchica) signalling for him to stop at third? Well, yes and no. The replay showed Perezchica was waving him in at first, but then changed his mind and held up a clear stop signal. Walker explained that he got a “bad read” on the ball. That is, he couldn’t tell at first whether it was a hit or would be caught so he hesitated briefly. When he finally started to run, he saw Perezchica’s initial signal waving him home and put his head down “to make up time” and focus on getting a good turn at third. He missed the stop sign. Walker took the blame, but not enough credit was given to Garcia’s brilliant throw. Walker missed the stop sign, for sure, but he would’ve been safe had it not been for that throw.
Here’s the play from a few different angles.
At 16A today “Less cooked” was RAWER, and at 7D “Washing machine setting” was PRE-SOAK.
Seemingly innocent words. But I like Anoa Bob’s take on them:
“PRESOAK reminded me of George Carlin’s PRE- send up. Would that not simply be SOAK? How can you PRESOAK anything? And 16A RAWER clued as ‘Less cooked?’ I can hear George saying ‘If RAW is uncooked, how can you get more uncooked?’”
I miss George Carlin. I went to see him live once, in New Brunswick, I think. Pennsylvania Nancy — was it with you? He wanted the audience to stay in touch afterwards and was going to assign “row monitors” to be in charge of the effort.
He died fairly recently (2014) at the age of 71. I often think of him when I’m in an elevator, which is all the time at Hunter. He had this bit about how you have to share elevator space, and rearrange it when someone gets off.
Phil got this wonderful shot of him right after he must have inadvertently said one of those seven dirty words.
On Monday, 4D had Crossworld all aflutter. The clue was “Accompaniment for a tortilla chip,” and the answer was SALSA DIP. Rex started it with: “I continue to not believe that SALSA DIP is a thing. It’s just called SALSA. Yes, you can ‘dip’ your chip in it. Still, just SALSA.”
Anoa Bob “chipped in” with: Hereabouts in Tex-Mex Land, SALSA is something you spoon onto your taco or enchilada while a SALSA DIP would be SALSA in a bowl with tortilla chips nearby for DIPping. SALSA DIP is usually thicker than SALSA to make it easier to get a nice big dollop of it to remain on your tortilla chip.
Jon P made a similar point and even shared a recipe:
“Salsa is a condiment that can itself be a dip.
“Salsa, the condiment, can also be an ingredient in a Salsa Dip. (Betty Crocker has a recipe: https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/so-simple-salsa-dip/fdacd856-8640-40aa-be97-c51a219229a1)
“The closest analog I can think of is ranch dressing. It’s a thing. You can put it on salads or even dip your vegetables in it. But you can also make a ranch dip out of it.”
Then Bruce R said: “There is no defense of SALSA DIP. It’s redundant and cringeworthy. Anyway, on a completely different note, I believe that for lunch today I will have a hamburger sandwich.”
And Bob Mills chimed in with:
“Is the phrase ‘hamburger sandwich’ redundant? It depends on whether a serving of chopped beef on a plate is called a hamburger. If it is a hamburger, then ‘hamburger sandwich’ is OK…because you’ve added two sides of bread or a roll. Now, I think I’ll open a bottle of carbonated soda.
[At this point my brain started to hurt so I set it all aside.]
See you tomorrow! Thanks for popping in.
The Wellington Files 