Does it make more sense if you repeat some foolish mantra ad infinitum?

This is a travel day before three games deep in the heart of Texas. I still haven’t decided who to cheer for in the 7th game. The Saint Louis Cardinals was my favorite team as I was growing up in rural southern Wisconsin. The Cubs were  closer but Musial, Schoendienst, Slaughter, Marion et al somehow grabbed my affections early.

The Rangers, on the other hand, the orphaned offspring of the Washington Senators have only been to the World Series once in their history since 1971. That was last year when the San Francisco Giants embarrassed them in 5 games. So they might be thought to be the underdogs. But then the Cards were at least 10 games behind in the wild card standings as of sometime in late August. So maybe they need all the support they can get. I like La Russa more than Washington, but Nolan Ryan counts for more in my book that whoever heads the Cardinals. I say to both Crepe Diem.

Usually the good pitchers beat the good hitters. I don’t think a couple days rest are going to do    the Cardinals any good because I think they have been running on fumes for the whole month of   September and part of October. That and the Braves convenient nose-dive into oblivion for 2011.  Whatever happened to all that good pitching that the Phillies were supposed to have?

The one-year contract with RiverStone Health will cost $1.25 million, about twice what the total bill is now. Dr Sheckleton has spoken out against the cost of the care, but Commissioner Kennedy says “We’re offering basic care.” Which suggests to some that perhaps we were not offering basic care in the past.

This system will have some similarities to the reforms that our Washington overlords have crafted for the rest of us, so it will be instructive to see how the costs will be contained while the quality improves. No doubt the rich—that would be all of us commoners here in Billings—will be asked to contribute their fair share.

In the place where Morgan’s Market used to be. Fairly new so the choreography is still a bit rough but customers are still fairly thin on the ground so eventually things get worked out. Very nice soups. Had a good seafood chowder last Friday. See above, lots of seafood thingies in there together with some potatoes. The interesting thing about it is that they do a takeout evening meal that looks good. Good bread. Fancy coffee bar not getting much use so far. Give it a try.

<a href=”http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/90/1613778/restaurant/Westend/6-Degrees-Gourmet-Billings”><img alt=”6 Degrees Gourmet on Urbanspoon” src=”http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1613778/minilink.gif” style=”border:none;width:130px;height:36px” /></a>

Here is the playbill for the coming year, not in correct order of course.

I like the butcher shop sign as you enter, especially when they have quarters of beef hanging in the shop as it reminds me of my childhood in my father’s meat market and him staggering under one of those quarters as he brought it from the abattoir—I didn’t really know what that was ’til I was in college and I came across it in my single literature course—into the cooler. I remember him telling me it was a lot easier to help carry a wounded friend and fellow soldier a few years earlier.

You can have a burger anyway you want here. First of all, there is the size, starting at 1/4 lb and going up, I forget how big you can go. I usually take a 1/3 lb. burger but I like to leave it not smashed down as this one was. They look like they have a respectable amount of fat too. Then, if you order it medium, it will come with a little pink in the middle. This is a good thing. You can get some fixings on when it is cooking. I had a Swiss Melt with sautéed mushrooms—very nice—and some onions, a few too many for my taste, but they are easily brushed off, and of course the cheese, usually American because it has just the right texture which kind of sinks into the burger, but in this case I gave the Swiss a try. And then there are all the extras in the next room to add if you need them: a variety of decent mustards, and other foo-foo kind of things and some real seasonings etc.

I added an order of onion rings which were at least average. Only one bite pulled the onion out of its covering. I like a few pickles on the side. If the burger is not as good as you expect you can always put the pickles on it. A lightly toasted bun is really a good idea as well. And of course, some decent beer, which on this occasion was some Moose Drool straight from Bayern in Missoula MT. I have had some good beers from Red Lodge recently in case you are interested in micro-brews.

This was very good. Could serve as a kind of standard that all the fast food places should have to meet before being allowed to serve there burgers.

Big Sky Little League: Runner-up at Little League World Series

A parade and fireworks and speeches by big politicos, and crowds of people seeking their autographs and maybe 5 thousand fans giving them a big welcome back home.

Standing Room Only at Dehler Park for Returning Little League Heroes

Antique Glacier Park Bus Carries Coaches

Marquee on Babcock Theatre

Maybe a comedy about zombies? Did they run out of Cs? Who knows? Does The Shadow know?

Take Time for Paradise as Bart Giamatti would recommend and come to Dehler Park around 5:30 pm or so on Saturday.

In case you’ve forgotten the picture to the right was taken right after Ben Askelson hit a home run in the bottom of the 7th to win the first game between Huntington Beach CA and Billings MT, 1-0. They called it a walk-off home run but that isn’t the way I saw it on the TV. It looked more like a run and jump and holler and hug by everyone.