ted walker

Ted Walker's blog++I am a writer in Houston, Texas. I enjoy baseball, literature, cultural criticism, music.

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Baseball law

Sec. 70-14. Playing ball in streets; throwing stones or other missiles in streets.The playing of baseball, practicing with a baseball and throwing of balls, stones or othermissiles in the public streets and highways of the city is hereby prohibited; provided, however,that the provisions of this section shall not apply to dead-end streets, courts, circles andculs-de-sac.

Violation of this section shall be punishable by a fine of $50.00 for the first and secondoffense by a person. The fine may be paid by mail or in person at the city municipal court. Uponthe third and each subsequent violation of this section, a person shall be subject to thepenalties set forth in section 1-4 of the Code.(Code 1971, 5 19-17; Ord. No. 0-00-16, 5 I, 5-11-00)

[theindivisual]

“The more relaxed you are, the better you are at everything: the better you are with your loved ones, the better you are with your enemies, the better you are at your job, the better you are with yourself.” Bill Murray. Insight for 2015

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Zen Mirror

Listen to Zen Baseball | Explore the largest community of artists, bands, podcasters and creators of music & audio.

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8.16.15 Colby blows a kiss to the crowd after his second HR of the night. 

[zenbaseball]

Mirror Ball

Manager Bo Porter had to redefine the culture of the Houston Astros during Spring Training. To compel his players to question their role, he looked to the mirror: “Small circular mirrors hung in every locker so players could study their reflection daily and ask themselves what they could bring to the ballclub.”

The use of the mirror reminded me of a teaching of Zen Master Seung Sahn that I’ve here taken from Wonji Dharma of Zen Mirror, though I first heard from Seung Sahn student Hyon Gak Sunim. As interpreted by Wonji Dharma:

“[Mahayana Buddhism] teaches that from emptiness comes true form, which is truth. If you keep an empty mind, your mind is clear like space, clear like a mirror. When red appears, the mirror is only red. When white appears, the mirror is only white – everything perceived is perfectly reflected.”

The mirror returns what you give to it. It shows you what you are presenting. No mystery, no jokes. The mirror tells the truth. The truth of effort, the truth of practice, the truth of balance.

Baseball also tells the truth. Truth of performance. When Sadaharu Oh had a crushing flaw in his swing, he could not hide it, not from the fans who expected much of him nor from himself. Strikeout is a mirror. Only when the flaw was removed by “not knowing” through the flamingo batting stance did the mirror of baseball reflect the form of emptiness and the emptiness of form back to Oh.

[shihlun]

Sadaharu Oh, 1973.

photo by Kishin Shinoyama

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old review of a book I just read and enjoyed.

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This was the most Astros-est inning ever, topped with a Carter strikeout!

The Internet's visual storytelling community. Explore, share, and discuss the best visual stories the Internet has to offer.

via Reddit 

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Rasmus has some good, has some quality flow.

George Springer on team hairstyles

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Astros legend Craig Biggio gets first tour of Baseball Hall of Fame

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – Craig Biggio joyfully giggled and shook his head in disbelief as he gently caressed Babe Ruth’s bat. The Astros’ first Hall of Famer grabbed the icon’s bat and gripped it tightl...

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First-ever attempt at writing about soccer.

Arsenal v. Everton 2-2 draw -- Aug. 23, 2014 (light on research)

“The meaty French forehead of Olivier Giroud” proved the game-saver, according to NBC broadcaster XXX XXX. Giroud held his ground in the box to punch home a header that salvaged Arsenal’s efforts against a driven Everton side.

Everton, for their part, controlled the ball well and seemed to find a great deal of open space in which to work in Arsenal’s backfield in the first half. Piercing runs by defenders and Lokaku’s ranging, heavy control dominated the first three-quarters of the match. Impressively so, tightly defending the middle to thwart Alexis’ spins and runs. He would leave at the half to make way for super-sub Giroux, whose presence transforms the nature of the Arsenal attack from gyrating pass-first up-the-middle play to cross-heavy mortar-fire from the wings.

Mesut Ozil, in his first action of the season, saw plenty of touches on those wings but sent far too many crosses futilely long. The creativity and authority that colored his World Cup made only fleeting appearance, his capacity felt muted as Everton rigorously closed passing lanes and drove defenders forward.

The first Everton goal swept like a wave and broke the scoresheet open, a surprise breaker . Rogue wave Lokaku willed the second goal into being with a huge, staggering and fast run down the wing, a dive into the middle and a deft drop to XXX ahead of him whose accurate touch alighted in the goal like a piece of driftwood onto the shore.

Ramsey for Arsenal would return the game to competition when he sidled then sprinted into the middle and punched in his side’s first in a manner not distinct from Everton’s first. Giroud’s header would level the match and put a cap on Everton’s slip from dominance to deference.

Alexis’ absence hardly seems the difference-maker. Rather, Giroud’s presence enabled a more centered attacked. One can envision an offense that features them both.

[thetanr]

A remake of “The Life Aquatic” poster I’ve been working on….

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I did things in my 30s that were ignored by the world, that could have been quickly labeled a failure. Here’s a classic example; in 1974 I did a movie called Phantom of the Paradise. Phantom of the Paradise, which was a huge flop in this country. There were only two cities in the world where it had any real success: Winnipeg, in Canada, and Paris, France. So, okay, let’s write it off as a failure. Maybe you could do that. But all of the sudden, I’m in Mexico, and a 16-year-old boy comes up to me at a concert with an album - a Phantom of the Paradise soundtrack- and asks me to sign it. I sign it. Evidently I was nice to him and we had a nice little conversation. I don’t remember the moment, I remember signing the album (I don’t know if I think I remember or if I actually remember). But this little 14 or 16, whatever old this guy was… Well I know who the guy is now because I’m writing a musical based on Pan’s Labyrinth; it’s Guillermo del Toro. The work that I’ve done with Daft Punk it’s totally related to them seeing Phantom of the Paradise 20 times and deciding they’re going to reach out to this 70-year-old songwriter to get involved in an album called Random Access Memories. So, what is the lesson in that? The lesson for me is being very careful about what you label a failure in your life. Be careful about throwing something in the round file as garbage because you may find that it’s the headwaters of a relationship that you can’t even imagine it’s coming in your future.

Paul Williams  (via albinwonderland)

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Random things I find in my astronomy book…

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Come along, Bort is my favorite Simpsons line of all the Simpsons lines.