Happy 60th, Paul!

The Starchild hits the big six-oh today.
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Apropos of Nothing #4

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Happy 70th, Muhammad!

The Greatest hits the big seven-oh today.
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Mandich Update

Earlier this season, Jim "Mad Dog" Mandich -- the most famous guy with my last name -- was posthumously inducted into the Dolphin Honor Roll at Miami's Joe Robbie Stadium Pro Player Park Pro Player Stadium Dolphins Stadium Dolphin Stadium Land Shark Stadium Sun Life Stadium. From the Miami Herald comes this article, plus photos and a video. Here he is in action against Pittsburgh...

I first blogged about him in 2008, and again last May when he died. Here's another shot, hauling in a pass against New England...

Much less famous is Dan Mandich, who I once briefly mentioned here...

He played in 111 NHL games, all for the Minnesota North Stars, between 1982 and 1986. One of his game-worn jerseys was recently up for auction...

Here he flattens Calgary's Lanny McDonald...

Finally, video of him taking out Detroit's Greg Stefan.
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SteveMandich.com Blog 2011 Year in Review!

This is easily the best picture I took this year, if not the best picture I've ever taken.

Among this blog's 105 posts in 2011, it's obvious that I became obsessed with hockey (and to a far lesser extent, D.B. Cooper), and I had fun on my travels around the Northwest and Southeast.

Celebrating birthdays this year were Yakov Smirnoff, Wayne Gretzky, Dog, Dr. Dre, Jack Chick, Ace Frehley, Willie Mays, Chris Elliott, Gene Simmons, The Onion, Ryan Kesler, Adam West, Captain Bananas, Weird Al, the University of Washington, Washington state, Quatchi, Fred Armisen, Peter Criss, Lemmy and Don Francisco.

Sadly, we had to say goodbye to Tura Satana, the White Stripes, Knut, Jim Mandich, Gil Scott-Heron, Cave Man, Clarence Clemons, Rick the Peanut Guy, R.E.M., Red Foxx (albeit 20 years too late) and Kim Jong Il.

On top of this being the fifth full calendar year of this blog, I also started a couple new blogs in 2011 -- Super Ichiro Crazy! and Bigfoot is Real -- and I've also added lotsa stuff to my flickr pages, which now host almost 1,000 images.

Anyway, the good Mayans willing, stay tuned for more of this stuff in 2012... Thanks for reading!
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My Favorite Music, Movies, DVDs & Books of '11!

Movies
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Moneyball
Win Win
Notes: Of the 29 movies I watched this year, 12 of which were 2011 releases, but just these three I deemed list-worthy.

DVDs
The Rolling Stones: Some Girls Live in Texas '78
Louie: Season 1
Breaking Bad: Season 3
In Treatment: Season 3
The People vs. George Lucas
Eastbound & Down: Season 2
Lemmy
Don Cherry's Rock'em Sock'em Hockey 23
Notes: This doesn't include stuff from the "Movies" list above; it's mostly either TV shows or films from previous years first released on DVD this year.

Songs
Apex Manor - "Teenage Blood"
The Baseball Project - "Ichiro Goes to the Moon"
Beastie Boys - "Make Some Noise"
Black Keys - "Lonely Boy"
Black Lips - "Noc-a-Homa"
The Dirtbombs - "Cosmic Cars"
HeadCat - "Let it Rock"
JEFF the Brotherhood - "Ripper"
R.E.M. - "We All Go Back to Where We Belong"
Wild Flag - "Something Came Over Me"
Yuck - "Get Away"
Notes: Like last year, I listed songs instead of albums, since really the only new 2011 album that I've found start-to-finish killer is Only in Dreams by Dum Dum Girls (also good: their He Gets Me High EP). Otherwise, my favorite '11 albums are either new reissues of old faves (Some Girls by the Stones), or sorta new-to-me favorites from years past (Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!), neither of which apply... I became obsessed with Devo this year, and saw them in concert in September. Other bands I saw this year were the Black Lips, the Butthole Surfers, and the Baseball Project, where I shot this video.

Books
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training by Josh Wilker
Evel by Leigh Montville
I Want My MTV by Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum
Skyjack: The Hunt for D.B. Cooper by Geoffrey Gray
Notes: The other 21 books I read this year were either published in previous years, or comics...

Comics
Batman #1
Green River Killer by Jeff Jensen and Jonathan Case
Huntington, West Virginia “On the Fly” by Harvey Pekar
Old-Timey Hockey Tales by Robert Ullman and Jeffrey Brown
Paying for It by Chester Brown
21: The Story of Roberto Clemente by Wilfred Santiago
Notes: None.

For those keeping score, here are my favorites from 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006 (movies and music).
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Happy 71st, Don Francisco!

The host of the long-running Sabado Gigante hits the big seven-one today.

I wish I could watch his show more often, but unfortunately I have to work most Sabados.
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Merry Xmas to Me

As per my Christmas list, Eliza got me this kickass 1965 edition of Æsop's Fables, selected and adapted by Louis Untermeyer, and wonderfully illustrated by the wife-husband team of Alice and Martin Provensen.

Others have posted images of the cover and inside pages, so I'm just showing a few details here.

The book was treasured by my sisters and me when we were kids. My oldest sister still has that copy, so I'm happy to finally have one of my own... The Provensens also illustrated some other books that I haven't seen before, but I have now reserved at the library... Incidentally, their Æsop's illustrations remind me of Ed Fotheringham -- he's the former lead singer of Seattle's infamous Thrown-Ups, who recorded such tunes as "Smiling Panties," "Felch," and "Eat My Dump."
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Happy 66th, Lemmy!

Mr. Kilmister hits the big six-six today.
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Happy 66th, Peter!

The Catman hits the big six-six today.
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We Hardly Knew Ye: Kim Jong Il

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Your Attention Please: New Flickr Sets

Check out my new flickr sets: Batty, Baseball Zines, and miscellaneous pocket schedules from Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia.

Thanks for your time.
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Your Attention Please: Bigfoot is Real

Somehow I forgot to mention here my new-ish Tumblr micro-blog, Bigfoot is Real. I'm keeping it minimal, though I do aim to do at least one post per day. I've also added a link in the right-hand column here.

Thanks for your time.
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Happy 45th, Fred!

Fred Armisen hits the big four-five today.

He's one of my favorite performers on Saturday Night Live, and though I haven't seen much Portlandia, I did see him live here a few years back. He played a pitch-perfect cover of the Damned's "Smash It Up (Part I)" on guitar, followed by a monologue playing Saddam Hussein as if he were a British Invasion rocker.

His finest moment, however, was in Anchorman, playing opposite Will Ferrell in the funniest scene in the funniest movie since 1998's The Big Lebowski. Watch the above video.
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I Can't Quit You, Quatchi! #4

In celebration of Quatchi's fourth birthday -- it was November 27, 2007 when he was first introduced to the world, along with his Vancouver Winter Olympics mascot pals Miga and Sumi -- here's a roundup of my latest Quatchi findings.

Kicking things off is this killer Quatchi toy (above) that was posted on etsy. Other creative folks have rendered Quatchi in ceramic, leather, and, uh, keychain. I still come across the occasional Quatchi illustration, like these Canucks-themed drawings made during Vancouver's Stanley Cup run last spring. (See more Quatchi-themed art at deviantART). Less original, but possibly more useful, are these Quatchi icons of various sizes.

Over at Quatchifan2010, Sophia's massive Quatchi clan continues to have fun since moving from Korea back to Canada...

Elsewhere in the blogosphere, Sammers' Q, along with new pal Mini Q, continue to cook up a storm and travel the globe on Quatch Watch. Incidentally, Mini Q is the only Quatchi I've seen whose nose is not only off-center, but also above his eyes!

I've also discovered some Quatchi-tagged posts on tumblr, like this funny gif...



And here's a video of Quatchi wandering down Bourbon Street, where he meets up with some drunk girls...



Be careful, Quatchi!

Finally, it's great to see that Quatchi designer Meomi remains busy with the Octonauts and their other cool projects.

Wherever Quatchi is, I'm sure he'll spend today cheering on his hometown BC Lions in La Coupe Grey.
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Happy 122nd, State of Washington!

My home state hits the big one-two-two today.
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Happy 150th, University of Washington!

My alma mater hits the big one-five-oh today.

I enrolled as an 18-year-old freshman in September 1987, and graduated as a 32-year-old Communications major in December 2001. (Yeah, I took some time off along the way.) My parents also graduated from there, as well as one of my sisters.

I still love the school and the campus, and the Graduate Reading Room at the Suzzallo Library (above) remains one of my favorite places on earth.

Oh, and I still love Husky football...

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I Read a Book: The Underground Baseball Encyclopedia

The Underground Baseball Encyclopedia: Baseball Stuff You Never Needed to Know and Can Certainly Live Without

By Robert Schnakenberg
282 pages
Triumph Books, 2010


Baseball constantly rewards us with historic, unforgettable moments -- new milestones, no-hitters, World Series victories and so forth. But for every Lou Gehrig farewell speech, there's a Disco Demolition Night, as baseball also delivers an ever-increasing amount of arcane, oddball lore. There are enough drunken antics, wild '70s hair hairstyles, and George Brett hemorrhoids to fill an encyclopedia. Now, thanks to Brooklyn-based author Robert Schnakenberg, it finally does.

The Underground Baseball Encyclopedia is a tidy, cross-referenced compendium of the game's underbelly: the sordid and the silly, the scandalous and the stupid. Other than tasteful coverage of a few truly ugly episodes (i.e., Lyman Bostock’s murder), Schnakenberg usually goes for the laffs. And why not?

Here’s an A-to-Z sampler: Astroturf, The Bad News Bears, Cocaine Seven, Double Knit Uniforms, Eephus Pitch, Fuck Face Card, Greenies, House of David, The Isotopes, Juiced, Harry Kalas, Lake Erie Midge, Morganna, "No Pepper," Saduharu Oh, Joe Pepitone, Dan Quisenberry, Road Beef, Schottzie, Tomahawk Chop, Bob Uecker, Bill Veeck, Winfield Seagull Incident, Xenophobia ("See Rocker, John"), Youppi, and Don Zimmer.

Baseball is a game full of eccentrics, and the UBE has loads of ‘em -- players (Dock Ellis), fans (Steve Bartman), broadcasters (Harry Caray), and various other characters (wacky ballpark vendors, secret mistresses, "disgraceful" National Anthem singers). There’s Chief Wahoo and Chief Noc-a-Homa, Billy Bean and Billy Beane, The Baseball Bunch and The Brady Bunch (specifically, the episode guest-starring Don Drysdale). And, of course, mascots. Nearly 60 are listed, and while most of the book’s entries are limited to a few sentences, the Phillie Phanatic has by far the longest UBE write-up, spread across four pages.

Schnakenberg admits up front that his survey is "far from comprehensive," but a few oversights remain: the (Mario) Mendoza Line, 1975 bubblegum-blowing champ Kurt Bevacqua, Kenny Powers... Granted, defining what constitutes "underground" is pretty much impossible, yet some inconsistencies are apparent: Dodger Dogs are included, Fenway Franks are not; Johnny Bench Batter Up is in, the Rod Carew Batting Trainer is out; there’s Larry Doby’s Cock, but no Merkle’s Boner.

Still, with over 400 solidly researched entries, the UBE is a fun read for both casual and hardcore fans, at least those of us whose appreciation of the game isn’t limited to the Ken Burns-y, Field of Dreams-type stuff, but who dig the offbeat sidelights just as much. Maybe even more.

Originally appeared in a shorter version in Zisk #20.
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Cool Halloween Shit #3

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Jack T. Chick's Halloween Tracts

Boo!

The Little Ghost

The Little Princess

Happy Halloween

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Happy 52nd, Weird!

Weird Al Yankovic hits the big five-two today. Here are his official site, discography, and my two favorite Weird Al videos.


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We Hardly Knew Ye: Redd Foxx

Lately I've been watching lots of Sanford and Son -- highlight reel above -- and it occurred to me that it was 20 years ago this month when the comic genius sadly passed away. Here's his basic info on Wikipedia, and a much better profile in Roctober, where he's enshrined in the zine's Hall of Dynamic Greatness.

Let us not forget the reversible Redd Foxx talking doll...

Hopefully it doesn't play the You Gotta Wash Your Ass routine.
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Happy 5th, Bananas!

Hard to believe, but our cool little fish hits the big oh-five today!

The above photo is from a few years ago -- like me, it appears Bananas has a case of vitiligo. He's even paler in this more recent photo, taken right after I brought him home a decorative Brontosaurus Rex...

Seems like just yesterday that we first said hello (and then quickly lost his pal Matt Hasselbeck), and then celebrated his six-month, one-year and two-year birthdays.

Long may he swim!
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Bob Newhart Spoiler Alert!

One of my favorite comedians has a surprise cameo at the end of this so-so comedy.
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We Hardly Knew Ye: R.E.M.

In light of R.E.M.'s announcement yesterday that they were calling it quits, here are my ten favorite R.E.M. songs (in chronological order)...

"Radio Free Europe" (Hib-Tone version)
"Shaking Through"
"We Walk"
"Pretty Persuasion"
"(Don't Go Back to) Rockville"
"Fall On Me"
"Get Up"
"Country Feedback"
"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"
"E-Bow the Letter"
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