Comments for Cardboard Gods

Comment on Alan Foster by Steven Myers

Steven Myers — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:23:38 +0000

amazing post and as always,
mind blowing what a baseball card inspires.
funny thing about blue skies
is that like santa claus,
eventually its pleasant facade is unveiled
when “oh,” it was only gases creating the blue
and as black infinity takes over one’s pleasant view,
hopefully black infinity becomes perfect and beautiful too.
i don’t see self conscious on Mr. Foster’s face.
I see someone jaded and defiant and saying,
“yeh right” to all the hype.
“just give me the ball.”
he seems to be aware what’s behind that blue sky.

Comment on Tim Wakefield by Josh Wilker

Josh Wilker — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:52:54 +0000

Thanks very much, Kev.

Comment on Tim Wakefield by Kevin Brady (@itskevyday)

Kevin Brady (@itskevyday) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:48:04 +0000

hey josh –

just finished cardboard gods, about five minutes ago.

wonderful read, i appreciate you writing it!

thanks for a great experience…

-kev
http://www.bonus-cantos.blogspot.com

Comment on Bobby Valentine by daverave2

daverave2 — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:39:02 +0000

Josh,

You have been on quite a roll these past few weeks! Thank you for all the great posts. Maybe Bobby is looking at nothing but it still doesn’t phase him. Just watched the movie wall street this past week and a great line from Hal holbrook’s character applies here to your post and to Bobby:
“Man looks into the Abyss, and there’s nothin’ staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character, and that’s what keeps him out of the Abyss.” You can say a lot about Bobby but one thing you can’t say is his doesn’t have character.

Dave

Comment on Tim Wakefield by Josh Wilker

Josh Wilker — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 14:03:07 +0000

Thanks, Steven. Yeah, thanks for reminding me about that story. Go, Yoshida.

Thanks for the words of wisdom, Kathleen! Your book sounds great; I’m putting it at the top of my reading list.

Comment on Tim Wakefield by Kathleen Lockwood (@MajLgeBride)

Kathleen Lockwood (@MajLgeBride) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:33:43 +0000

Great post. As an author, the mother of 5, and the wife of a retired MLB pitcher, I can totally relate to your musings. The miracle of giving birth is tempered by sleep deprivation, the catharsis of writing is compromised by the demands of life, but the magical draw of baseball stays constant in its incomprehensible unpredictability.

Comment on Tim Wakefield by Steven Myers

Steven Myers — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 16:53:30 +0000

classic Red on “that 70′s show”
“growing up is doing shit you don’t really want to do.”

wake as in wakefield…great post!
it reminds me of eri yoshida. that knuckleball japanese teenage girl
who pitched for the chico outlaws golden indy league.
she only threw like 2 innings last year, got released, and is 20 now,
but she’s trying out for an indy team in japan or maybe she already made it.
her hero was wakefield.
she probabaly ignores one nay say voice after another.

Comment on Highway to Hell by Josh Wilker

Josh Wilker — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:25:08 +0000

bobfinn33: Thanks for that link. Awesome.

Comment on Highway to Hell by Josh Wilker

Josh Wilker — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:17:16 +0000

Good point about the cover of that live album, If You Want Blood, which for those who don’t know featured shots, front and back, of bloodied Angus impaled with a guitar; that was the key piece in my transition from the gore of KISS (specifically–as Jon mentions–Alive II) to AC/DC. Why I was so drawn to gore is probably a subject for therapy.

Apparently AC/DC was marginally lumped in with the punk thing for a while in the mid-70s, especially in England. And in Joe Bonomo’s book on Highway to Hell he describes them playing a surprise gig at CBGB’s in 1977. For me, I saw no reason, at least for a while–until I started trying to be cool, I guess–to distinguish between them and my other favorite band of early puberty, The Ramones.

Comment on Highway to Hell by Jon Springer (@Springer66)

Jon Springer (@Springer66) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:20:15 +0000

Feel free to tell this story again anytime, Josh.

I knew about AC/DC only as a result of spending hours in record stores as a young teen familiarizing myself with bands I’d never heard by studying their album covers. YOU WANT BLOOD… (front cover) … YOU GOT IT (back cover) was about as spectacular as they came back then. It put KISS Alive II to shame! By the time I actually heard AC/DC I like Ian was moving onto the new wave. In retrospect they strike me as the very best at what they do, which is bring the thundah.