Sports and Skynnard

I can't watch gymnastics. I'm either staring at grown men in spandex or little girls in tights and either way I'm going to jail or hell. Probably both. Besides, Gymanstics really isn't a sport - it's a competition. A sport, according to me, requires the combination of athletic skill and strategic defense. Tennis is a perfect example of a sport. You hit the ball over the net and your opponent tries to return it to a place where you won't be able to reach. It takes skill and thought. Golf, along with gymnastics, figure skating and synchronized swimming, are not sports. If there was person standing on the green trying to whack someone's approach, then golf could be considered a sport. And I don't want to hear about the course or the weather providing the defense. Every player in a tournament is on the same course and playing in basically the same weather. One golfer can have the best game of his life and hit, say, a 65, but another guy can come along and beat him with a 64. And the guy with 65 can do nothing but accept second place.

But I still can't watch gymnastics. Give me badmitton or beach volleyball or mud wrestling. Just not gymnastics.

Chick did a very interesting thing on the way home tonight. She actually reached over to the radio knob and turned up the volume. Normally I am chastised for listening to music too loudly. But she found a song that she liked and I am not only thoroughly impressed, but a little turned on. The song was "People are Strange" by The Doors. I have been a huge fan of The Doors ever since Doogalooga (see Ode to Doogalooga, July 5, 2004) told me to read No One Here Gets Out Alive when I was fifteen. It's not the drugs or the women or the crazy lifestyle that makes me appreciate the Doors. There's just something mystical about the poetry of Morrison combined with the music of Manzarek. But I digress....

Chick: "What are you doing?"
Me: "Trying to find another Doors song."
Chick: "But you stopped on Pink Floyd?"
Me: "It's the closest I could get."
Chick: "Did you know Lynnard Skynnard is playing in town and there was a rally at the Harley Davidson store before the concert?"
Me: "What does that have to do with Pink Floyd?"
Chick: "Nothing except that they both have names that are like real people. You know, Lynnard and Pink."



On a more personal note - I must apologize to anyone that considers him/herself to be a loyal reader of the Dandelion Garden. I realize that I have not had many postings lately. It's been a strange few weeks for me lately. Along with trying to sell our house, I have actually been working three different jobs and I simply haven't been able to find any free time. But that is over now, so please continue to come back regularly.

Do you know Steve Lucas?

Steve Lucas is a Canadian bassist. His jazz-fusion compositions have brought him accolades from around the world. His unfluences include Weather Report, John Coltrane and Earth, Wind & Fire. His latest release, Gamma Jazz (2003), can be purchased at cdbaby.com for $12.97.

or...

Steve Lucas was a right handed pitcher who played in the 1920's and 30's. He spent fifteen years in the Major Leagues including eight with the Reds and five with the Pirates. His career record was 157 and 135 with a 3.75 ERA. He also had a .281 career batting average. Nicknamed The Nashville Narcissus, he died in that Tennesse city on July 9th, 1986.

or...

Steve Lucas is a poet who wrote a poem titled Cow Dreams. In it, the poet contemplates whether or not cows dream and what they may be dreaming about. And then, of course, compares the cow dreams to cowboy dreams. Amazingly, cows and cowboys may dream of the same things. If you would like to read the entire poem, as well as others by Steve Lucas, follow this link: Cow Dreams

or...

Steve Lucas is a Star Wars expert. He knows every character to appear in every movie including the animated feature Star Wars Ewoks: Haunted Village. He has traced his family tree back five generations hoping to prove that he is related to the Star Wars creator George Lucas. But his efforts have been to no avail. Deep down he truly beleives that he has a high midi-chlorian count and that someday he will be contacted to join the Jedi. But as every year passes he realizes that his training would be more and more difficult.

or...

Steve Lucas is an artist specializing in traditional southwestern pottery. As the great-great-grandson of Nampeyo, he uses many of the same forms and design elements that she had revived from ancient sityaki pottery. He uses a deep and intense palette and his painting is sharp and precise.


Actually not all of that is true. There is a bass player named Steve Lucas. There was not a pitcher named Steve Lucas. However, Red Lucas matches the description above. Believe it or not there is a farmer/cowboy poet named Steve Lucas. There is no Star Wars expert named Steve Lucas that I know of. And finally there is a southwestern artist named Steve Lucas and that picture is one of his works. So why in the hell am I writing all of this?

I do not personally know anyone named Steve Lucas and neither does Chick (at least, that's what she tells me.) But after a recent showing of our house, the real estate agent left his business card with "I know Steve Lucas" written on the back.

Good for him.