Orioles 12, Yankees 0

Man, that's just a thing of beauty isn't it? GoodGuys 12, EverythingThatIsEvil 0.

So I went to see the Orioles play in the Bronx last night and man was it fun. Especially since I was there with 3 Yankees fans. The offensive onslaught got me to thinking. I haven't been to tons of Orioles games in my life, maybe 10 or 15. But I don't think I've actually seen them win all that often. Yeah, that's depressing but it made last night that much more awesomer!

We were sitting in the lower part of the right field upper deck, by the foul pole, in foul territory. Aubrey Huff's 3rd inning grand slam landed so close to us! It landed 3 rows in front and about 10 seats away. I've never been anywhere near a homerun before! AND I've never seen a grand slam.

Man, last night was sweet. And whatever Daniel Cabrera did before last night's game, please make him do it before every start. He actually started the game on solid ground, instead of walking and hitting batters for the first 3 innings as usual. He did end up walking 6, which is unacceptable. But he was unhittable, only giving up 2 in 6 and 2/3 innings. Good work, Daniel. You're [temporarily] off my shit-list.

Magnum Festival

No, this post is not a Zoolander joke...

This photographic exhibit on Muhammad Ali sounds really interesting.

Curated by his daughter Maryum 'May May' Ali and long-time manager and friend Gene Kilroy, the exhibition mingles iconic images of the Champ with rare glimpses of the man behind the myth.

It's located at 401 Projects in the West Village, 401 West Street (at Charles Street) and is running from June 13 - July 29. In fact, the whole Magnum Festival sounds really cool.

Now who wants to go and who is interested in carpooling? Electronic-mail me.

Elevator Forecast

OK... This only pertains to those of us that ride elevators 2-4 times per day. But what percentage of conversations that you have in the elevator or that you hear while in the elevator are in some way related to the weather? Current weather. Upcoming weather. Yesterday's weather. Last weekend's weather. Doesn't matter. Oh, and global warming counts too. It's astonishing! Let's take a poll! ....And if you care to weigh in on the weather in your city (or in your elevator), feel free!

What percentage of conversations that you have in the elevator or that you hear while in the elevator are in some way related to the weather?
	It doesn't happen
	1 - 10%
	11 - 25%
	26 - 50%
	51 - 75%
	76 - 95%
	96 - 100%
pollcode.com free polls

Henry Hudson, $24 and mad hatters

On to the interesting tidbits of the history of Manhattan's settlement:

• Do you know how Henry Hudson died? He was on a voyage in 1610 searching for the northwest passage to the West Indies. He was driving his crew very hard. Their sails were frozen. They were no longer finding bears and seals to eat on the ice. The food they brought was long gone. Their toes were falling off from frostbite. Their gums were bleeding and their teeth were falling out from eating moss... Henry Hudson froze to death. Not because his ship was stuck in the ice but because his crew turned into mutineers. They were fed up with the voyage and did not share the same conviction for discovery that Hudson had. As he woke up one morning, his crew tied him up and lowered him and his young son, John, into a small row boat. His crew sailed back to London and left him there to die in Hudson Bay. Certainly an ironic end for one of history's great explorers, the man who sailed into New York Harbor flying the Dutch flag, navigating all the way up the Hudson River to Fort Orange (Albany is the name the English later gave it)...

• It is somewhat common knowledge that the island of Manhattan was purchased for $24. But this isn't quite accurate and is actually very misleading. Peter Minuit (pronounced Min-wee) purchased the island from a group of local Indians in 1626 for 60 guilders worth of goods. It was the 19th century historian, Edmund O'Callaghan, who calculated it to be $24. Was this really the ruthless and conniving Europeans ripping off the naive Indians? Would the Indians really sell what was most precious to them for $24? No, not really. First of all, the Indians had a much different concept of land ownership and also didn't really have property transfer. They saw the "transaction" more as a land rental agreement and a new defensive alliance. It's not as if they vacated the land after the sale. They fully intended to continue to use and live on the land, and they did. Secondly, the $24 figure dates to the mid 19th century and isn't relevant to buying power 200 years earlier. 60 actual guilders would have been completely useless to the Indians because they had no use for money. The price paid was 60 guilders worth of goods. But again, you have to think about relative worth. As Shorto points out, a steel knife would be worth very little to people in Amsterdam, worth more to a settler living in primitive conditions and worth much much more to Indians living in relative wilderness. Shorto continues to show that, while land in the new world was indeed cheap, the Manhattan transfer was in line with other documented land sales and trades of goods between settlers.


• Do you know where the term "mad hatter" comes from? Beaver fur and skin was one of the most prevalent goods traded between Dutch settlers and Indians. Beaver skin was shipped back to Europe to make into felt. Hat makers used the skin to make felt hats and were subsequently exposed to a high level of mercury during the production process. This lead to mercury poisoning, which led to crazy hat makers, which lead to the term we all know today.

The Island at the Center of the World

I am simply fascinated by this book. It merits earmarking and underlining on basically every page. It's about the somewhat ignored settlement of Manhattan, specifically by the Dutch. And I would absolutlely insist you read it if you live in New York, love NY or just love history. I actually don't even love history. I love bacon. Go figure. But that's neither here nor there.

Anyway, I want to post more frequently about what I'm reading. Just tidbits here and there that I certainly didn't know and I'm guessing you didn't either. Unless of course, gBer gave this book to you. Thanks, Dude. I love it. Tidbits to follow...