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MY ANNUAL HOMAGE TO SPRING AND TO THE END OF WINTER (Though in my area of Southern California, it has been like summer the past several days as it has been hot ) As of this writing, Winter will be officially over and the first day of Spring would have come to pass. Every year on this blog – more or less – I’ve posted photos of spring scenery of the nature kind to, for lack of a better word,…

Image courtesy of foxsports.com FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 Dates: June 11th – July 29th Host Cities (United States): LOS ANGELES – SoFi Stadium, Inglewood Atlanta – Mercedes Benz Stadium Boston – Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, MA Dallas – AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX Houston – NRG Stadium Kansas City – GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium Miami – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL New York/New Jersey…

I HAVE DECIDED THAT I DON’T WANT MY SANCTOPIA BOOK AND STORY TO BE A ONE-OFF THING; I AM GOING TO WRITE A SEQUEL TO THAT FIRST NOVEL OF MINE. “SANCTOPIA: The Odyssey and a Fulfillment”, my first fictional novel and the second book that I wrote and (self) published, Was as far from a best-seller as a book can get as even though I did get a couple of (very) small royalty checks, One can easily…

UCLA’s Kiki Rice driving past USC’s Malia Samuels during one of their Crosstown Clashes. Photo courtesy of UCLAathletics.com BRUINS BEAT TROJANS FOR THE SECOND TIME IN THREE YEARS IN THE ANNUAL ALL-SPORTS COMPETITION All right, let’s not sugarcoat it… No one in Bruin Nation would deny that this past weekend was a bad one for the teams that play on a diamond with a bat and a ball; Especially…

BRIEFLY BRINGING UP TO SPEED HOW I’M DOING WITH REGARDS TO MY MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING I’ll just get right down to it – hopefully this won’t take too long… The best thing I can say right now is that I’m functioning and not lying in my bed with thoughts of not wanting to be in this world anymore invading my head, As while I (again, as I have stated this multiple times) do NOT…

Santa Monica little leaguers observing Opening Day at Memorial Park. Photo courtesy of smll.com AN EXPLANATION OF WHY I HAVEN’T MADE WATCHING LITTLE LEAGUE GAMES A PART OF MY DIAMOND ODYSSEY THIS SEASON This spring I have partaken in a project for this blog that I like to call a “Diamond Odyssey”, Going to different baseball and softball games at different levels, from the Dodgers to high…

MY OFFICIAL TRIBUTE TO TWO ICONIC BASEBALL MOVIES THAT ARE MARKING FIVE DECADES SINCE THEIR RELEASE, Including one movie that was – honestly and bluntly – the baseball bug (along with the Peanuts characters playing ball and the Dodgers playing in the 1977 World Series) that bit me and is the reason why baseball and softball are my sports to this day and beyond. Which is the film below; Which…

THESE WERE JUST SOME OF THE MOVIES THAT WERE NOT ONLY HITS WHEN RELEASED DURING AMERICA’S BICENTENNIAL YEAR, THEY WERE MOVIES THAT PERSONALLY INFLUENCED ME IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER AS I VIVDLY REMEMBER WHEN THESE FILMS CAME OUT. Though there were certainly other movies released in 1976 that were big and were hits at the box office and elsewhere, I chose to focus on these five films because as was…

A member of the Galaxy (left) and LAFC (right) going for the ball during an El Trafico match. Photo courtesy of latimes.com CHECKING OUT HOW THINGS ARE GOING SO FAR WITH THE SO CAL SPORTS TEAMS WHO – INSTEAD OF BASEBALL – PLAY SOCCER AND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL And unfortunately, due to the dominance of the Dodgers in the Los Angeles area, are (at least in my opinion) very much under the…

MY JUSTIFICATIONS AS TO WHY I RANKED THESE TOP THREE CLASSIC VILLIANS OF THE SCREEN THE WAY I DID I’ve had this conversation with various people – friends and acquaintances – regarding who is the greatest villain in movie history; The villain that has sent chills up and down people’s spines in hatred forever and always will. There as certainly been memorable bad guys and ladies on the silver…

Bruins waiting for Dean West to come home after his grand slam home run vs Oregon on May 10th. Photo courtesy of x.com GIVING MY UNSOLICITED AND HUMBLE OPINION ON WHICH DIAMOND SPORT FROM MY COLLEGIATE ALMA MATER HAS THE BEST CHANCE OF WINNING UCLA’S 128th NCAA TITLE – AND 4th THIS YEAR, JOINING THEIR BROTHERS ON THE MEN’S WATER POLO TEAM AND THEIR SISTERS ON THE BEACH VOLLEYBALL AND WOMEN’S…

Arte Moreno, the Angels’ owner since 2003. Photo courtesy of mlb.com TO ARTURO MORENO, OWNER OF THE LOS ANGELES ANGELS Dear Sir, Though I’m not really an Angels fan as my baseball fan loyalty lies thirty miles north in the Chavez Ravine section of Los Angeles – was more of a fan of the Halos as a kid, Though I was more a fan of that team as a youngster in the 1970s and 80s with stars like…

DESCRIBING WHAT I DO TO IMPROVE MY HEALTH AND THE FITNESS PROGRAM (of sorts) THAT I HAVE BEEN ON FOR OVER A DECADE I recently realized something… Though I have been involved in a workout and fitness routine to lower my weight and improve my health for nearly twelve years, I realized that I haven’t described the particulars and specifics of the routine that I have been embarking on. So I…

ACTUALLY, FOR SOMEONE WHO’S GOING TO ENTER THE LAST YEAR OF HIS FIFTIES IN A FEW WEEKS, THINGS ARE GOING RELATIVELY WELL FOR ME WITH REGARDS TO MY SOFTBALL PLAYING. To the point where where while I’m a little uncomfortable talking about it due to my not wanting to sound like I’m “tooting my own horn”, The two most recent games I have played in I hit for the cycle (single, double, triple, home…

I’ve increasingly wished that I could just come to a place like this and hide from the world… FINISHING THIS MONTH WITH ANOTHER UPDATE ON MY MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING, FEATURING A DESCRIPTION OF MYSELF AND MY PLACE IN THE WORLD THAT I HAD NOT DESCRIBED BEFORE This post shouldn’t be too long; At least I hope it won’t. As I was trying to figure out what to post on this blog this week, I…

HOW THE PASSING OF A BELOVED RELATIVE BROUGHT A FAMILY TOGETHER Recently I, along with my mother, Attended a “Celebration of Life” for a relative who was very special to my extended family. Though he had Down’s Syndrome and was only forty when he passed away, And though there were the inevitable tears as prayers were prayed, music was played, speeches were said and a video showing the…

CONTEMPLATING THE DEATHS OF THREE PROMINENT SO CAL SPORTS STARS Having Davey Lopes, Garret Anderson, and Rod Martin – three So Cal athletes who were big names and contributed so much to L.A.’s sports scene – pass away within twelve days of each other, While I won’t say that it completely freaked me out, It got me to thinking about how time flies MUCH too fast. Particularly since I grew up…