Cubby-Blue

Sing Along With Harry

It's sort of a celebration of the new year, this song.
I used to sing this song around a campfire in boyscouts when I was a kid, only it was "99 bottles of beer on the wall..."

Okay, this post is stupid, but when I thought of it and sang it out loud, it made me laugh.
And when I thought about Harry killin' time up in heaven with it, it made me laugh harder.
So there you go.

On January 1st, a very important year in the history of Chicago's National League baseball team will begin.
Because the last time the Cubs won the World Series was 100 years ago.
1908.
One hundred.
Years.
Ago.
I'm kinda excited about this next year.
I hope everybody assembled on next year's team is too, because this is gonna be a big deal.
Cheers and Go Cubs.

The Fukudome Effect at Wrigley Field

Man, it's nice to do a painting of Wrigley this time of year.
You know why?
It takes my mind off winter and all the crap that comes with it.
The cold, the salt covering the car, the lost gloves and...
I notice this every year: people walk dogs differently in winter.
They're a little more brazen about leaving Fluffy's pile behind.
They're thinking A: "It's too cold to take off my gloves and do my duty." B: "The snow will cover it." And mostly C: "Nobody's outside to see me not pick it up."
Right now winter has warmed up in the middle of itself, and a million dog turds all over Chicago have melted and turned into the absolute worst kind of foot-bomb.
In other words, I've stepped in 3 piles of oozy dog crap in the last two days.
It's a nightmare.

Sorry.
Sorry for bringing up such a rude subject.
This painting is actually in the January '08 issue of VINE LINE, and it's all about Kosuke!
I CANNOT WAIT to see Kosuke Fukudome patrolling right field for the Cubs.
I'm actually not expecting Superman, but really just sort of...Major League Competence like we haven't seen out there in awhile.
Like since...Andre Dawson maybe?
And if he hits pretty close to what's been advertised I'll be ecstatic.
(I was hoping Superman with Soriano - yeah there were the injuries, but I think there's more pressure coming to Wrigley than we think.)
So, just do well, Kosuke.

I've taken my kids to a ton of games at Wrigley, and they totally didn't get the punchline of this painting.
I said, "You know...the right field bleachers yell LEFT FIELD SUCKS and the left field bleachers yell RIGHT FIELD SUCKS."
Wyatt looks at me like I'm insane.
"Why would they do that?"
So, I guess next summer will be the Bleacher Break-In season for the kids...
And if you've never been to the bleachers, it is insane, it's really fun, and that's one of the uh, milder things you'll hear out there.

The Best Bloody Mary

Uh, it's 5 days til the biggest Bloody Mary morning of the year.
Thought I'd share my Dad's Secret Recipe, so grab a pencil.
(I realize this may be the most controversial post in the history of this blog, but to everyone who doesn't think this is the best Bloody ever...you're wrong.)
Now, the single Bloody.
Vodka.
Scott Johnson over at Jake's Pub will beg to differ, but like the Margarita, the Bloody Mary is a waste of the more expensive liquor.
Gordon's is perfect - you've probably drained your Grey Goose the night before anyway.
Grab a tall glass, fill with ice, pour in your own measure of vodka.
Then, put in 4-6 shakes of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce, and 2-6 shakes (shakes, not drops) of Tabasco sauce depending on your zest quotient.
There should be a couple inches of brown liquid in the bottom of your glass.
Add a couple light shakes of Lawry's Lemon Pepper (you don't need or want celery salt with this recipe).
Either quarter a lime, or cut a lemon in half lengthwise, and cut each half into quarters to make 8 large squeezes.
Squeeze one and drop it in.
Fill the glass half way with V-8, then up to about an inch below the top (you'll need to stir and not spill) with Clamato.
Do not forget the Clamato.
Stir carefully and vigorously for at least 30 seconds.
One more shake of the Lawry's Lemon Pepper so there's a sprinkle on the surface.
That's called v-i-c-t-o-r-y, my friend.
If you must garnish try tearing off a couple cilantro leaves and lay them on top.

Now, the only thing wrong with the single Bloody Mary is even though you've stirred diligently, the ingredients haven't really had a chance to blend.
That, and...there's only one Bloody.
The best thing is to make a pitcher of mix and keep it in the fridge overnight so when all the bowl games come on you're not wasting time in the kitchen.
So, do this:
Get a big pitcher with a lid.
Give it 50 shakes of Lea & Perrins, 50 shakes of Tabasco, 10-15 good shakes of the lemon pepper.
Pour in a bottle of Clamato and that big can of v8.
DO NOT ADD LEMON OR VODKA YET (for some reason this makes it go wonky).
Stir it, shake it, whatever your pitcher will allow.
Put that in the fridge overnight.
Invite people over who like to watch football.
All you do is add ice, vodka and lemon.
Or lime.
Then, I don't think it's possible, but wouldn't it be awesome if the Fighting Illini beat Southern Cal?

Okay, last thing.
Mark Prior going to San Diego.
I still hope the guy makes his recovery and has a chance to right himself.
I think he thinks he's back by May, in which case he'll be at Wrigley May 12-14.
More likely he's back by June, and we can watch him vs the Cubs on June 2-4.
That'll be must watch tv, folks.

Pretty Nice Surprise From The Bears

Ed Suhrbur called with a ticket for me on Friday.
It was about 11 am at LAX, coming home after two back to back trips, and I really wanted to just go be with the family.
(That was the fog day, when I was supposed to get to Chi at 7 but didn't get in til 1.)
"Thanks Ed, but I can't." I said.
Who knew it would be THE ONLY FANTASTIC BEARS GAME OF THE WHOLE SEASON!
Still, even at home, such an unbelievable treat to watch the Bears just totally dismantle the Packers today.
There was a story in the TRIB this morning about Brett Favre having a little fun with the press, listing all the forgettable Bear quarterbacks he's played against over the years.
And I think that pissed off Hunter Hillenmeyer.
Cause old Brett took some pretty good licks from him today.
Not sure about the final stats, but Favre played as cold as the wind chill.
I made a turkey out back on the grill and it took a little longer than on your basic winter day.
It was cooold.
But Orton and Peterson both did well, special teams were amazing, the Bear D played like men...and when Brian Urlacher made the final interception and ran 85 untouched yards with it, I was at top volume.
So, I'll say that was a pretty nice surprise from The Bears.
Happy Holidays to you too.

New Word: "Crapdaptation"

There's this phenomenon that I noticed.
Like, when I was living with 4 other guys in an apartment in Phoenix and we were all just out of college working our first jobs, and Jerry Lyons opened the front door too hard and caused the doorknob to punch a giant hole through the living room wall.
Well, at first it was quite noticeable - a crappy eyesore.
But as the days went by and no one fixed it, we all became used to the hole and after awhile it ceased to be an eyesore but rather, just part of the living room.
In other words, we adapted to crap or...we crapdapted to the hole.
Now, you could say that after the 1908 World Series Cubs, the entire city of Chicago crapdapted to the Cub teams that followed.
But that's not what I really wanted to say.
What I wanted to say was that I've already crapdapted to this steroids thing.
My dad said, "Big deal - ballplayers have historically figured out ways to get ahead that aren't necessarily fair. Like, Ty Cobb used his metal spikes to scare hell out of anybody trying to tag him out, and I'm pretty sure he got some free passes because of it."
Curt Schilling is Un-Americanly calling out Roger Clemens to prove his (steroid) innocence or give up his Cy Young awards.
Guilty until proven innocent (I can't use the Mitchell Report as absolute fact, sorry).
But didn't Curt win his biggest victory ever (the bloody sock game) after getting a big healthy needle full of cortisone shot right in his ankle?
Would you recommend to children that they use cortisone instead of healing naturally?
Anyway, I really dislike this steroid era, but it's there and it's not going to go away with asterisks or suspensions or deletions.
It's part of baseball history.
I've crapdapted.