Non-baseball items, part II Showing 201-250 of 1,085

[C. John]

Apparently politics is raising its head in German Football. The club St. Pauli has discovered that a song that is associated with the club has links to Nazism. Needless to say, given this is Germany, this presents a bit of a problem. If I am reading things right the song is still going to be allowed to be played but it will no longer be considered to be any sort of official club song. Probably the best that could be done. Pity you can't know ahead of time all the stuff that somes out later.

https://www.dw.com/en/nazi-past-disco...

[C. John]

Looking up some stuff on Wikipedia and came across an interesting connection I did not know about. There was a former player in the NHL named Denis Gautier, Jr. His father was Denis Gautier Sr. and he was a professional wrester. His mother was Diane Rougeau, and she is the daughter of Jacques Rougeau Sr. and thus the sister of Raymond and Jacques Jr.

[C. John]

Oh yes, what I originally came her to mention. Apparently they show Premier League hightlights in North Korea. However the government will not allow any team that has South Koreans on its squad to appear on television.

[C. John]

I know that we have at least one mystery fan (besides myself) in the group so here are the nominees for the 2024 Agatha Awards. These are for books published in 2024 but are given out at the 2025 Malice Domestic (and no I have no idea what that is). The newsletter I took the list from (Stop, You're Killing Me) has links but I don't know if they will work or not. One of the nominees in Debut Novels intrigues me.

Best Contemporary Novel
° A Collection of Lies by Connie Berry
° A Very Woodsy Murder by Ellen Byron
° The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves
° Fondue or Die by Korina Moss
° A Midnight Puzzle by Gigi Pandian

Best Historical Novel
° The Paris Mistress by Mally Becker
° Hall of Mirrors by John Copenhaver
° To Slip the Bonds of Earth by Amanda Flower
° The Wharton Plot by Mariah Fredericks
° The Last Hope by Susan Elia MacNeal

Best First Novel
° A Deadly Endeavor by Jenny Adams
° Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles by Elizabeth Crowens
° Threads of Deception by Elle Jauffret
° Ghosts of Waikiki by Jennifer K. Morita
° You Know What You Did by K.T. Nguyen [review]
moss
Best Short Story
° “A Matter of Trust” by Barb Goffman
Three Strikes—You're Dead
° “The Postman Always Flirts Twice” by Barb Goffman
Agatha and Derringer Get Cozy
° “Sins of the Father” by Kerry Hammond
Mystery Most International
° “Satan’s Spit” by Gabriel Valjan
Tales of Music, Murder and Mayhem: Bouchercon Anthology 2024
° “Reynisfjara” by Kristopher Zgorski
Mystery Most International

Best Non-fiction
° Agatha Christie, Marple: Expert on Wickedness by Mark Aldridge
° Writing the Cozy Mystery: Authors' Perspectives on Their Craft edited by Phyllis M. Betz
° Some of My Best Friends Are Murderers: Critiquing the Columbo Killers by Chris Chan
° The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss
° Abingdon's Boardinghouse Murder by Greg Lilly

Best Children’s/Young Adult
° The Big Grey Man of Ben Macdhui by K.B. Jackson
° Sasquatch of Harriman Lake by K.B. Jackson
° First Week Free at the Roomy Toilet: A June Knight Mystery by Josh Pachter
° The Sherlock Society by James Ponti
° Sid Johnson & the Well-Intended Conspiracy by Frances Schoonmaker

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

C.John, Thanks for posting! A Deadly Endeavor by Jenny Adams is on my Libby Kindle TBR list. Read The Last Hope by Susan Elia MacNeal and very much enjoyed it. It's the last title in the Maggie Hope WWII series and even though I'll miss Maggie I was glad the author ended the series on a high note. Some historical mystery authors don't seem to know when they've stretched out the series too long! Am intrigued by Some of My Best Friends are Murderers: Chris Chan's Nonfiction Mystery Criticism Series as we love the Columbo TV series. We stream the old episodes for free on the Pluto App.

[C. John]

Yesterday was the 50th Anniversary of our current flag, the red Maple Leaf. Before that we used what is known as the Red Ensign, which was a red flag with a Union Jack in the upper left and the crest of Canada in the lower right. Oddly enough the Ontario flag is identical save for replacing the Canadian Crest with the one for Ontario. If you didn't take a close look you might miss the difference.
There was actually quite a fuss about the new flag back then, as the Union Jack wasn't present on it. For a lot of people that was untenable. To them the new flag was an attempt by the government of the day to downplay our connection to the UK.

[C. John]

Hunted around a bit but found what I wanted. This is one of those Heritage Minutes we produced up here for quite a while, this one on the flag, These things were fun, informative and should be brought back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikY7b...

[C. John]

While looking for the Heritage Minute on the flag I found a couple of others that I remember quite fondly. The first is from when Cartier first encounter some what I think were Iroquois
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfKr-...

And here's one that focuses on Superman and Joe Schuster's part in his creation. I do not know who the Lois he is talking to is but I did catch her description of him as a Canadian kid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScFwR...

[Brina]

USA vs Canada hockey last night was great to watch. I’m hoping Canada makes it to final game on Thursday vs USA. My sympathies to Lance that Daytona was scrapped after 11 laps.

[Brina]

If any of you have a daughter or granddaughter who love princesses, I highly suggest taking her to Bath and Body Works for their collaboration with Disney princesses. Also huge President’s Day sale. I’ve said many times that I was made to be a boy mom and have three girls who are girly to the point of it being too much for me at times. It used to be that I’d take Mendel to a ball game and my husband would take the three girls for manicures. Not much has changed ten years later. The girls watch football in case they spot a certain performing artist but would rather explore non sports interests. Well one likes the WNBA but that’s about it. So I stepped out of my zone today and went to Disney Princess land. I do like some of them so it wasn’t all that bad.

[Lance]

Brina wrote: "USA vs Canada hockey last night was great to watch. I’m hoping Canada makes it to final game on Thursday vs USA. My sympathies to Lance that Daytona was scrapped after 11 laps."

I just can’t get into this 4 Nations thing. They won’t send NHL players to the Olympics now, but they’ll shut down the league for this? At least I like college hockey so that’s what I saw last night. Friday night I went to the local college basketball game, Siena vs Marist. Our two sons both went to Marist for their undergraduate degrees, I got my masters at Marist - and none of us had a tuition bill as my wife worked there for 28 years.

[Lance]

Also, as I am writing this, the Daytona 500 is on delay not postponed. Either way, I’m good as tomorrow is a holiday as it would be run on Monday if they can’t go today. I did see they are drying the track so hoping it can resume today.

[Brina]

I might even watch. It’s sports. I’ve heard the NHL will be sending players to the Olympics going forward. This Four Nations was a test run. Also there will be more teams next time around, hopefully including the Russians.

[C. John]

Yes NHLers will be back in the Olympics. As well they are bringing back that tournament they used to have, World Hockey Classic or some such name. My understanding with the Olympics was that the problem for the NHL was who would cover the insurance on the players during the tournament.

[C. John]

A wee bit late but here is the Mirror Pub Quiz

https://www.mirror.co.uk/play/quizzes...

[C. John]

Read an article today talking about who might replace Neil Dudgeon, who plays Inspector John Barnaby on Midsomer Murders. it gave several possiblities including a couple of women, both of whom have appeared on the series. It also suggested bringing back Sgt. Gavin Troy, though he would be an Inspector now. What make the article so funny is that Mr. Dudgeon has no intention of leaving the series. He is really enjoying it and says they will have to fire him if they want to be rid of him and bring in someone new.

[Lance]

Stayed up for the entire Daytona 500. I like the races there better under the lights. And had not just one but two “big ones” (crashes). One was incredible - Ryan Preece first popped a wheelie because of air drafting under his car after he was hit, then hit a wall, flipped in the air and the car somehow landed on all four wheels…AND…most important- he was able to climb out of the car unscathed. The safety features of the cars today is something else.

And…the race was good as well. William Byron went from 9th to 1st on just the last lap to win for the second year in a row.

[Lance]

If you’re interested in the video of Preece’s adventure: https://www.nascar.com/videos/franchi...

[C. John]

I gather there is a new wrinkle to qualifying for races that is causing quite a bit of a fuss. Was reading about that last night.

[C. John]

Happy Family Day (which is what today is called here in British Columbia) to one an all. As well I believe today is Presidents Day for you so Happy Presidents Day as well.

[C. John]

The following was the headline for an article on a hockey game

Ice hockey: Hatred of President Donald Trump turns US-Canada ice hockey match into mass brawl

This of course is referring to the Four-Nations game between the two countries the other night. Interestingly the headline is from The Telegraph which is a British newspaper. And since it is The Telegraph I am unable to read the article.

[Brina]

If Canada wins today it will be interesting to see if Boston returns the favor on Thursday night.

[C. John]

Little piece of trivia. The game in Boston will be played in an arena that is named for a Canadian bank, and the name is there until 2045.

[C. John]

And as we now know it will be Canada vs. the United States. I am tempted to say it will be the Good Guys vs. the Bad Guys but I won't blame your hockey players for the musings of your president. Anyway this should be fun, or at least entertaining.

[C. John]

It occurs to me that if a certain person is serious about thinking Canada should be the 51st state then they had better get a Godzilla sized bottle of Pepto Bismoll or Alka Seltzer. It will be needed.

[C. John]

I FOUND IT. This song dates from the sixties. It is entitled Canada USA and is sung by Canadian folk group The Travellers. I searched fo this a couple of times before but couldn't find it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h9yv...

The reference to Cuban sugar could easily also be about Cuban cigars as those are also legal up here.

[C. John]

This is a little bit different, an article on the upcoming (this weekend I think) German election but it looks at how the results of the election might affect sport. This has some meaning as there may be a German bid on an upcoming Olympics.

https://www.dw.com/en/what-germanys-e...

[C. John]

Everton, Liverpool's other Premier League club, opened their new stadium, though they won't be playing there until next season. As of now it is called Everton Stadium but that will likely change once they sign a naming rights deal with some one.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footba...

[C. John]

One of the candidates for the upcoming Ontario election in my old riding is running for the New Blue Party of Ontario. I have no idea who or what the New Blue Party is. Never heard of them before.

[C. John]

Luis Rubiales, the former head of Spain's Football Association, has been found guilty of sexual assault over the kissing of Jenni Hermoso after the Womens' World Cub. I daresay this was a wakeup call for a few people in Spain.

[C. John]

Well Canada won the game tonight and thus the tournament. My wife came into the kitchen and remarked that the Americans weren't going to be too happy. I don't know if she meant Americans in general or a specific American, and I didn't ask.

[C. John]

Six Nations is back on this week with Wales playing Ireland and England playing Scotland. I am presuming that France are playing Italy but that The Telegraph didn't bother to mention that as neither of those teams are British. It will be interesting to see how the England/Scotland game goes as those two nations are major rivals. As it is in England this year I wonder how large the Tartan Army at the game will be.

[C. John]

Here is the Mirror Pub Quiz for today.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/play/quizzes...

[C. John]

Read something interesting just now. Apparently UEFA has a rule in effect that states a team can only spend a specific percentage of their revenues on player salaries, and its been going down the last couple of years. Thinking this is similiar to the luxury tax Baseball has, It appears Ason Villa is running afoul of this rule. As well it seems the Premier League is going to be bringing in the same rule in a couple of seasons.

[C. John]

Let this be a caution for all sports teams. Nine years ago West Ham United moved into new stadiu, going from their original home of Upton Park to the newer London Stadium, which was used for the 2012 Olympics. The catch, the team has gone from 50,000 season ticket holders to 21.000. That is a significant drop-off. The stadium is better but the fans just dont like it. One complaint is a lack of atmosphere.

[Lance]

For the soccer fans here. Just watched a free preview of MLS Season Pass as Minnesota United played - lost a heartbreaking 1-0 game to LAFC. I really enjoyed the match but on the fence if I should invest in the season pass. Is MLS good quality soccer or would I be watching 4th or 5th division level play?

[C. John]

For those who have not heard the Pope is now listed in Critical Condition. He has bee receiving both blood transfusions and oxygen. I don' thinbk this is looking food. He apparently making moves to finalize his legacy, which I suspect includes whatever he can do to ensure he is succeeded by someone like him, rather than one of the more conservative contenders for the position. One way to do that, if he is able to, is to appoint a lot more Cardinals who think like him.

[C. John]

Apparently His Eminence had a tranquil night last night but it seems he now has kidney issues. I do not have a good feeling about all this. Mind you he is in his eighties, I believe.

[C. John]

The SAG (Screen Actors' Guild) Awards were tonight. Not sure but I think that leaves only the Academy Awards (The Oscars) to come and I blieve they are taking place next weekend.

[C. John]

Singer Roberta Flack has passed away at age 88.

[C. John]

Xavier Trudeau is releasing his first single on Friday. I will have to check and see if it is on Spotify that day. Apparently it is an R & B track entitled Til the Night’s Done.

[C. John]

Been reading an article on Grace Slick and have discovered why the band didn't like the song "We Built This City" as well as others of their later hits. The band didn't write them. They were written by outsiders for them to perform.

[C. John]

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is cutting another 150-200 jobs at Manchester United. He is also getting rid of the staff canteen at both the Old Trafford and the Carrington training ground. Only the players it seems will be getting hot lunches. Everyone else has to make due with fruit.
Apparently all this cost cutting is due to the fact the Man U has been losing money every year for the last little while. They need to get this under control so that there is money to invest in the team and the facilities. They are talking about replacing Old Trafford for one thing. It seems, if I recall some stuff I read correctly it is emulating the Big Owe in Montreal (in other words it is leaking badly). The Glazers seemed to be more interested in trousering the money then putting at least some of it back into the team.

[C. John]

After reading an article on Larry Brown Sports I have a question. What the hell is the 'tush push'. Sounds like something a wee bit kinky to me.

[Brina]

My apologies to Harold, it’s a play that should be illegals. Three offensive lineman push the ball carrier forward and it is nearly impossible to stop. I hope it gets banned.

[Lance]

I agree - bring back the quarterback sneak.

[Brina]

I was watching old big ten highlights. They have huge linemen and pretty much did the tush push and claimed it was a sneak. The sneak can be stopped, linemen acting as convoys cannot. Easy solution, ban the play.

[C. John]

How do you know a country is mad at you? When 230,000 of its citizens sign a petition to revoke your citizenship. Apparently Musk has Canadian citizenship. I will presume he got that after he had moved from South Africa, as I was not even aware he had it.

[C. John]

If you like any of the following beverages I regret to inform you that Starbucks is eliminating them due to the fact they are less popular. The Olive Oil infused coffees have already departed.

Iced Matcha Lemonade
Espresso Frappuccino
Caffè Vanilla Frappuccino
White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino
Java Chip Frappuccino.
Chai Crème Frappuccino
Caramel Ribbon Crunch Crème Frappuccino
Double Chocolaty Chip Crème Frappuccino
Chocolate Cookie Crumble Crème Frappuccino
White Chocolate Crème Frappuccino
White Hot Chocolate
Royal English Breakfast Latte
Honey Almondmilk Flat White

[C. John]

Had to chuckle this morning. Headline above an item in my UK Politico newsletter read "The King Speaks". It was referring to Mervyn King, former Governor of the Bank of England not Charles.