May 29, 2013—
MAMOU, La.—The good folks of rural Mamou know how to start Saturday on the right foot. Fred’s Lounge opens at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, 420 6th St. in what is left of uptown Mamou (pop. 3,300). It closes at 2 p.m. For the rest of the week.
Hardscrabble regulars and a sprinkling of European tourists dance to live Cajun-French music from Don Fontenot and Les Amis De La Louisiane (Friends of Louisiana) who play in the middle of the bar. The lounge only holds about 150 people. The event is broadcast live between 9:30 and 11:30 every Saturday morning on a tinny AM frequency that is also magical for American gospel and 1950s rhythm and blues because it sounds [...]
May 20, 2013-
Appleton, Wisconsin—
I grew up watching baseball relief pitchers of the 1960s like Don Mossi and Hoyt Wilhelm.
These guys looked so old I figured that was why the bullpen cart was invented.
Even should-be Hall of Famer Lee Smith trudged in the mound for the 1984 Cubs like he was heading for a tax audit. The Bullpen Cart— or Car —has its roots in Chicago.
The cart debuted in 1951 at Comiskey Park when White Sox relief pitcher Marv Rotblatt was chauffeured to the mound. The cart was only used for White Sox pitchers.
After consulting [...]
May 13, 2013—
The bamboo plant flourished in the dining room of her Rogers Park apartment. When she moved away three years ago I inherited the plant. It brought us good fortune like bamboo often does. The plant illuminated the present and sometimes pointed towards the future.
I gave the bamboo plant to my mother. At the time she was 88 years old.
I always kept an eye on the bamboo plant during my Sunday trips to see my parents. My Mom had placed the plant on a small table near a window in the northwest corner of her kitchen. As recent as two years ago my Mom would walk out onto the back porch adjacent to the kitchen and mind the bird bath she put up [...]
