Down in Monterey

Idiotic AF

Pulse dance club, Orlando

This past Sunday the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States since 9/11 took place at a dance club in Orlando, Florida.

The shooter was a Muslim who pledged allegiance to ISIS and who deliberately targeted the Pulse dance club specifically because it was popular with gays.



Nonetheless, prominent voices in the progressive mainstream media (but I repeat myself) are now denying that it was terrorism, blaming Christians for the massacre,
and calling for a ban on a weapon that the shooter didn't even use.

Seriously, progressives? AYFKM?

Five

Last night my beloved Kansas City Royals finished off a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians by beating them 9-4 at Kauffman Stadium. It was the team's fifth straight win, and ninth straight at home.

Now 5-5, 4.17 ERA

Royals starter Ian Kennedy pitched into the 7th inning, allowing only five hits in his 6 2/3 innings while striking out six Indians. Two of those five hits were home runs, each coming with a man on base. By the time he allowed the second one, though, the game was well in hand.

Relievers Luke Hochevar and Chen-Ming Wang got the final seven outs on just 25 pitches between them, and didn't allow
a single baserunner.

"BOOM!"

In Tuesday night's game, All-Star
C Salvador Perez hit a two-run home run in the 8th inning that turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 win. Playing DH last night, he hit another home run, this one a three-run shot in the bottom of the 5th that gave the Royals a 6-2 lead.




Other Royals had good games with the bat as well. Rookie Whit Merrifield had a two-hit game, as did 1B Eric Hosmer, All-Star CF Lorenzo Cain, and C Drew Butera.

By sweeping the Indians, the Royals moved into a tie with them for 1st place in the Central Division. The Royals have now won their last 9 straight at home, and welcome the third-place Detroit Tigers to town this evening to begin a four-game series.

Thanks for everything, and best of luck!

One of the harder things about being a baseball fan is having to say goodbye to players who can no longer perform at a high enough level to help the team. Yesterday the Royals designated 2B Omar Infante for assignment, a prelude to giving him his outright release.



Omar's offense had never been stellar with the Royals, and his defense has deteriorated noticeably this season. But he was part of two American League Champion teams
(the Royals in fact would not have made the 2014 World Series without him), and one World Series winner.

"Say, didn't you used to call him..."

 Never mind what I used to call him...I'm being magnanimous today...

Birth of a American Icon

Original 1903 company logo

On June 16, 1903 the Ford Motor Company (named for its founder) was incorporated in Dearborn, Michigan. It obviously went on
to become a significant and highly successful business, one of a handful of truly iconic American companies.

For a few years in the early '90s
I sold automobiles, mostly at one particular Ford dealership in the part of Kansas City where I grew up and went to high school.

1989 Ford Taurus

Oddly enough, I have only owned
a single Ford automobile in my life,
a 1989 Ford Taurus in black named "Kate." I actually bought her brand new at the dealership where I spent most of my career as a salesman (and won multiple sales awards).

"'Kate,' seriously?"

Long story...

Locked and Loaded

From the incisive pen of Michael Ramirez, whose editorial cartoons you should read often, as I do.

Until Next Time...

On June 16, 1967 the Monterey International Pop Festival began at the county fairgrounds in Monterey, California. It was one of the most significant cultural events of the late 1960s.

Original 1967 promotional poster

Immortalized in director D.A. Pennebaker's 1968 concert film Monterey Pop, the festival was much-discussed by kids during my freshman year of high school.

Of particular interest were the performances of two of my own favorites. The Who created a huge sensation by destroying their instruments at the conclusion of "My Generation," and Jimi Hendrix tried to top that by lighting his guitar on fire at the conclusion of "Wild Thing."

Many of the artists on the bill at Monterey that weekend were just beginning their careers, but now it reads like a veritable Who's Who of late '60s pop, folk, rock, and blues music. The Woodstock Festival a couple of years later became more famous, but musically at least it is tough to beat what went down in Monterey that weekend.


English singer-songwriter Eric Burdon tried to capture the spirit of the event with his 1967 single "Monterey" (you can watch the video here), which reached No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart in early 1968.

Today's send-off is Simon & Garfunkel, who closed the first day of the festival, performing "The Sound of Silence." Enjoy...