Softball: 9:45 (Further Musings on the Nature of Value)
Dear People,
Michael Davey’s team crushed my own on the last hit of the game, 19-18, in one of those transcendent aerobic endeavors in which the quality of the play was superb, the competitive rigor was chilling and the denouement itself was a tactical bacchanal of stirring Wittgensteinian pulchritude. And yet despite it all, everyone was so dang grumpy. Perhaps because it was unusually hot and humid, or perhaps because every few months like clockwork, there’s a dark, moist and annoyingly random Je-ne-sais-quoi that springs forth from deep within our inscrutable communal bosom. Yeah, I’m not ashamed to say that I remain baffled by the entire human condition.
I mention this because I happened to notice that a family in Buffalo, New York just discovered that a 25x19 inch painting that they had accumulating dust under their couch for the last several years may in fact have been painted by the great Michelangelo, and if so confirmed, this compelling portrait of the Lord and his ma would apparently be worth around $300 million dollars (see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/8057148/300m-Michelangelo-painting-found-behind-sofa.html ). Frankly, I’ve spent a good 15 minutes looking at the sensuality of the strokes and the mesmerizing patina of the final overlay, and while I’m no expert, I now believe that any bid under $350 million would be both a total steal and an insult to Italian folk everywhere.
Nevertheless, if it turns out that expert analysis fails to match the Mikeymaster’s semen, blood or other artistic DNA with the raw paint on the canvas, then I think we can all agree that what we are dealing with here is, in fact, an unsightly piece of pseudo-renaissance kitsch that, depending on the garage sale, would fetch anywhere from 5 to 10 bucks. Of course, if you’re one of those philistines who doesn’t “understand” the somewhat elastic range of this work’s potential worth, I would gently suggest that you take an introductory class in Economics so you can finally comprehend the indisputable logic of today’s sassy art market.
The point is that once again, a presumptuous horde of screaming softball-hating Michelangelo-oblivious pre-pubescent 5-10 year old girls is going to seize our field shortly after noon on the day we crave it most, and therefore there will be a game at Codornices this Sunday at 9:45AM, IF I get enough commits by this Friday morning. . .Raymond
PS: 12:13AM: Five cheers and counting for Chile, courage and the awesome craft of geotechnical engineering…
10/14/10
Softball: 9:45 (not 11)
Dear People,
There will be a game at Codornices this Sunday at 9:45AM (which is just like 11AM except that it’s actually 75 minutes earlier), and as of now there are still four slots left. Please try to internalize what I just wrote, because if you fail to do so and arrive at 11:00 instead, you’ll likely feel retardo, self-conscious and unclean, and I have to tell ya, that’s a horrible blend of emotions.
Please bring $4 for the field, which for this week only includes a delightful post-match walking tour featuring the bus stops, manholes and convenience stores of historic El Cerrito….Ray 845-7552