Question of the Day

OK here it is. Why is a CEO who makes $13,750,000 per year considered greedy, yet a talk show host who makes 20 times ($275,000,000) that is loved and revered?

1999 - Kiss me coldly and drain this life from my lips

I last did my top 10 on February 12, 2008. The baseball card project failed (too much commitment) and writing about real life is depressing (Obama, the economy, etc.) So, this is a great time to do the top 10 metal CDs of 1999.

10. Primal Fear - Jaws of Death

9. Children of Bodom - Hatebreeder

8. Zanister - Symphonica Millennia

7. Into Eternity - Into Eternity

6. Sculptured - Apollo Ends

5. Opeth - Still Life

4. Iron Savior - Unification

3. Gamma Ray - Powerplant

2. Ark - Ark

1. Agalloch - Pale Folklore

Obviously, I did not post comments after each entry. It's funny, I considered 48 albums for this list. That is more than any year previously. So even though I considered 38 others that did not make the list, my top 10 (top 6 really) includes 2 Kai Hansen albums, and Sculptured and Agalloch are basically the same guys.

So, I guess I like what I like and my lists show a lack of diversity. Too f-ing bad. Limbonic Art and Kovenant can go eat poop, I stand by my list.

636

Very neat card.

#638 & 637

More dull cards from the 1971 high series. Boring!

#639

Back to dull again. Boy - there were a lot of dull cards in the 1970's! I like this because it looks like it was shot at Ridell High. I expect to see Travolta prancing around in the background with that guy from Taxi.

#640

July 24, 1976. Mickey Rivers bunted and Randolph scored on the play. This is a shot of that incident. This is my all time favorite Carlton Fisk card (he has been in some good ones). This may be the best card from 1977. The Spencer (648) was good, and there are a few other neat ones, but this is probably the best.

#641

Orioles hat, Tigers uniform. A head. Skip it.

#642

Jose (Coco) Laboy is somewhat of a novelty. Many fans of the late sixties remember him. He was a rookie of the year contender, then he faded away. Kind of like Joe Charboneau. I think he hit the first HR in Expos history on opening day in 1969 against the Mets. Anyway, to me he was one of those players who was already retired when I got into baseball, but I always remember this was one of the many neat cards that my brother had in his collection.

644 & 643

Back to dullsville. This project makes it clear that a neat card back in the day was something special. Now, most of the cards are action shots, but they are cropped so close that you could see the boogers in the player's nose.

Here Bradley's shades are what made me chose 644 (reminiscent of Lowell Palmer). as for 643, Gibson reminds me of someone who could have been Kevin Costner's stand in when he was shooting Bull Durham.

#645

April 15, 1972. That appears to be the date of this shot. Again, another paint over job. I love the ridiculously disproportionately large "C" on Bobby Brooks' shirt in the background. I think the batter here is Cesar Tovar, but I cannot be sure.

#647 & #646

A couple of heads. I hate heads, the only thing worse is a no-hat (see 1975 Bruce Ellingsen). Anyway, these heads win because both of these cards look like guys from the Gramercy Riffs. Especially Floyd.

#648

This is a pretty neat card, and one of the better ones from the 1977 set. The White Sox uniforms of the day were horrible. The picture was take on Sunday, May 30, 1976. How do I know? Well, I know the picture was taken in Oakland on a Sunday, most likely in 1976. Chicago was at Oakland on that day. Also, the box score shows that Bill North ran wild that day. He stole a base and was caught stealing.

Bill North was on the all time "cool" team so having him in the shot is a definite bonus.

#649

I like this shot of Lyle is a Sox uniform. This is about a year before he was traded to the Yankees for Danny Cater. Another reminder of the good old days.

#650

OK - I know this is a controversial pick, because there are a couple of neat 650's, but there is something special about this card. Dick Allen spent little time with the Dodgers, so that in itself is cool. I also like the background of an empty Dodger Stadium. The really cool thing about this card can be found at the bottom left corner. I think that is the photographer's leg! I guess Topps had some real Kwal-i-T photographers in those days. No Felix Unger for sure!

652 & 651

These are a couple of dull cards, but they win their numbers. The backgrounds look so bucolic. I don't think today's cards ever look like they are taken in an open field.

#653

1974 Bob Stinson. A journeyman catcher. I always preferred his 1975 card for some reason, but this is the best 653. Be forewarned, the 652 and 651 are not so great either.

#654

I like this card. It reminds me of my childhood. In 1977, I had a soft spot for the Indians. They were lovable losers, but had a lot of cool young players like Rick Manning. Duane Kuiper and Ron Pruitt. Unfortunately for the tribe, other than Eckersley who they gave to the Red Sox for a pack of goons, they had zero pitching. The other thing about this card is it looks like it was taken with a great (for the time) zoom lens. Good stuff.

#655

Another neat card for sure. I wish I had this one when I was a kid because I would have used it in my teams, but I didn't really have access to the 1973 high numbers. I probably had to use the 75. Not a terrible card, but kind of dull.

You see, the only way to collect cards is the traded way and not the say way. I remember looking through the newspaper for the transactions and every spring training buying a magazine with rosters. Ahhh - the good old days. Now, current rosters are available on the Internet, but in the 70's, rosters were printed once a year.

#656

Finally, a neat card. This is a famous Topps paint over. When I was a kid, I hated these, but now I like it. It is great that there is no letters on his uniform at all. It would have looked cheesy if they did (look at the 1973 Graig Nettles). The 1973 set gets a fair amount of criticism from the hobby. What I think makes a good card is not what Dr. Beckett and his minions think makes a good card.

This is one of the only cards I can think of that shows a player arguing with an umpire. A very cool card indeed.

#657

Since many of these higher number cards are not neat, it is difficult to choose certain cards. Here is another strange card. Again, look at the background. I see people sitting in little league style bleachers, and some guy that looks like Huggy Bear walking in front. They are all behind a chain fence like the one in my backyard.

Where did the Expos have their spring training, at a local high school? Personally, I like it. I guess today's ball player requires a modern facility like the Yankees have in Tampa today. God forbid they had to train this close to spectators!