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I always liked Florence Griffith-Joyner, the great US track athlete from the late 80s and early 90s, and I was shocked when she suddenly died. Here’s a pretty amazing article about Al Joyner and his incandescent love for Florence. Dreams were her gift. Every morning, she’d wake up and tell her husband, Al, how she’d dreamed about angels or daughters or catastrophe. Good or bad, she’d always wake up with a story to tell — until the day she never woke up at all. Al never had that gift. His dreams were vague, or they’d escape him 20 seconds intoDown the rabbit hole….

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I mentioned “Extreme Kayaking” just last week, and now I see an actual example. These photos stunned me on a number of levels. A kayaker successfully ran a 186-foot high waterfall in eastern Washington. That waterfall is higher than Niagara Falls. Of course, the volume of water is significantly less, but still — 186 feet? I find that mindboggling. Truly mindboggling. Share This PostDown the rabbit hole….

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I don’t have much by way of weirdness for this week, but I do have some linkage to offload at clearance prices, so here we go! :: The “Cultural Anniversary” thing is gearing up for the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, but there’s a mildly-less-important 30th anniversary today, an anniversary that marked a major shift in pop culture history. Thirty years have passed since Disco Demolition Night. :: One of the niche sports you don’t hear much about at all, even at Olympic time, is kayaking. You certainly never hear about Extreme Kayaking. To that end, here’sDown the rabbit hole….

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Once I was a baseball fan, but my enthusiasm for the game has taken a number of hits over the years. The game itself has become slower and slower; World Series games are allowed to start at 8:30 pm and frequently end after midnight; the steroid era has taken its toll; and most of all, my preferred team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, are on the verge of setting the all-time MLB record for consecutive losing seasons. That, in itself, is mind-boggling. Yes, they’re a small-market club, and yes, MLB doesn’t do nearly enough to keep its small-market clubs economically able toDown the rabbit hole….

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I was going to write a post making fun of the Pittsburgh Pirates for having signed two guys from India as pitching prospects after they won a baseball-related reality TV show over there, but then I figured that the usual process of scouting pitching talent, drafting pitching talent, and developing pitching talent hasn’t really worked so well for the Pirates lately (meaning, the last 16 years), so why not grab two fellows from an Indian teevee show? More power to them! I do think it would be funny if, were one of these guys (or both) to reach the majorsDown the rabbit hole….

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In fact, I am such a bad baseball fan that I think I should stop claiming to be one. I’ve almost completely stopped paying attention to the game, since without cable, it’s nearly impossible to watch games until October, and since my favorite team, the Pirates, is one giant heap of suck. I don’t even know who the really good players are these days, and my once useful stash of baseball knowledge in my head is starting to erode. Case in point: The Scene: The Store. The Players: Me, and a Co-worker who is a Mets fan. COWORKER: Hey, I’veDown the rabbit hole….

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Random thoughts on sports, culled while I was on hiatus: :: Over the last two weeks, the Baltimore Orioles have launched a nine-game losing skid with a game in which they gave up thirty runs. That’s an already notorious event in this MLB season, but what gets me is that this was the first game of a double-header. Those guys gave up 30 runs, and then had to go right back out and play that same team again. Ouch. They finally snapped that losing streak with a win in the first game of a three-game set against the Red SoxDown the rabbit hole….

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A couple of things: :: I guess it’s time to start giving actual hints for Unidentified Earth 15, so here’s the first hint: the Carter Administration. :: It’s time to identify the false item in my second Seven Things post. Ready? Here goes…it’s Number Five. Those were the teams, but the Pirates lost, not the Phillies. It was a cold and drizzly day at Three Rivers Stadium, and I drank about six hot chocolates at three bucks each or whatever it was that hot chocolates went for at Three Rivers back then. My second Major League Baseball game — and,Down the rabbit hole….

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One: on a scale of relative outrage, I think that the Michael Vick thing so far outpaces the Barry Bonds steroids thing that they’re not even remotely in the same reality. One guy takes drugs to give him some extra ability on the field. The other kills dogs because he thinks it’s fun to kill dogs. Bonds: jerk. Vick: depraved, disgusting individual. Two: good article here on the NFL’s lunatic approach to rookie salaries. I hate this business of rookies, who have never played a single down in the NFL, holding out because they deserve more money, and I hateDown the rabbit hole….