Today's Notes 5/7/21

Good morning everybody,

Well half of last night's stream went about as expected, as we lead off with Star Trek Online, putting the focus on doing the endeavors for the week which involved completing three Iconian Task Force Operations, two Borg Task Force Operations, eliminated 10 Vaadwaur ground troops (which can only really be done on Kobali) and completing the Assault on Terok Nor Task Force Operation. While this seems very straight forward, one has to factor in the 'waiting' to get into certain TFOs, which meant doing all of that took nearly two hours in and of itself. That said, we did do a little extra in STO, as we split the time in it between both Sorra and Zagreus.

Twitch Clip: Release The Targs.... But They Stay Right There 

Twitch Clip: Sudden Panic!

After the 9 PM break, I decided to try something new with Monster Hunter Rise, loading it into my  Nintendo Switch for the first time, which meant there was a patch update that needed to be downloaded first. My first impressions are that it is a gorgeous game, but clearly has a learning curve in terms of figuring out how to use the command bar, selecting items and pulling off various tasks. Something the game doesn't inform players right away is that you're not just stuck with the giant sword you are given at the start, instead you have access to other weapons straight away. Monster Hunter Rise does give off the impression it's not meant to be played in long sessions. more like it's meant to be played on the style of doing one hunt a day, because if you're giving 50 minutes to do something, a good chunk of that time may be spent exploring and finding other monsters to hunt in addition to the targets assigned. So with that in mind, I'll put Monster Hunter Rise into same catagory as ARMS and Hades, in that it's a game that can be used as a go-to on STO streams or on nights when another game is finished early.

Twitch Clip: Getting A Feel For It

Twitch Clip: I Am Not Good At This

Late last night, I went ahead a wrote a little book review on "Temporary Insanity: The Uncensored Adventures of Baseball's Craziest Player", which was of course Jay Johnstone. I was actually reading it casually over the last week, so figured why not do a little review on it. People are still selling copies of it on eBay, and Johnstone was memorable enough when he passed in late 2020, it got a fair amount of attention. The funny thing about the book, is that it was published in 1985, which was his final year in the Major Leagues where he was used only as a pinch hitter for the Los Angeles Dodgers. If I ever track down the other two books Johnstone wrote, I hope one of them gives a little insight into anything that happened in his final year as a big league player.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 session was a solid 30 minutes, using the same adjusted settings from yesterday. Could've been a perfect session but I got a little two loose when doing straight combos. We're up to 73 out of the 100 points needed for Bernardo's Best Friend achievement, and we'll put a big dent into that over the next three days of course. 

Tonight's stream is one of those to-be-determined streams, as I'm considering doing the story mode of Mortal Kombat 11 or just messing around with some old games in another variety night. We'll see what I come up with when we start things up at about 6:30 PM Eastern Time.

And on that note, we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Review: "Temporary Insanity: The Uncensored Adventures of Baseball's Craziest Player"

There is a chance that Jay Johnstone (November 20, 1945 to September 26, 2020) had to be insane, a loon, a quack, a nut case... but one thing one could say about him for sure the man was a good baseball player that clearly left his mark with the many teams he played for during a 20 year career that saw him suit up for the California Angels, Oakland A's, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, Los Angels Dodgers, Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres. While he wasn't a star player, Johnstone was the definition of a role player, becoming known for being one of the best pinch-hitters of the 70s and early 80s, as well a two-time World Champion with the Yankees and Dodgers. But it his off the field-antics that probably make him one of the most fascinating players of all time.

In 1985, Johnstone (with sports writer Rick Talley) wrote the first of three books detailing many of the pranks, ribs, and shenanigans he got up to,  Now the only one I have in my collection, is Temporary Insanity: The Uncensored Adventures of Baseball's Craziest Player which was published in 1985, and it isn't a straight auto-biography at all. In fact, the tone of the book is set right away with the first forward written by Tommy Lasorda "I can't think of a ball player I'd rather have a in a club house than Jay Johnston, But he wrote a book? What with, a fire extinguisher? Shaving Cream?"

So before we get to the first of Johnstone's anecdotes, we have one of the great managers of all time, telling the reader that Johnstone is a bit unique. In the 12 chapters that follow, Johnstone talks about everything from how Ron Cey was a perfect target for ribbing in the clubhouse while going into great detail about a prank he pulled on him during spring training in 1980, to later talking about how Babe Ruth came back as Fernando Valenzuela, and using the behavior and antics of other players as a way of saying he's not as crazy as he seems. 

"Temporary Insanity" is a real delightful read, because of the amount of detail that Johnstone gives into each story told. Does the book jump around a bit, yes it does, but every chapter is focused on related stories and tales, that in a more traditional autobiography would be spread out and probably wouldn't come across as memory. Case in point, there is an entire chapter dedicated to Johnstone's thoughts on the Managers he played off, it's all grouped together. Yes there are stories about some of them elsewhere in the book, but in that one chapter, Johnstone goes into detail about their personalities and quirks, including a theory how the firing of Chicago Cubs manager Lee Elia in 1983 may have probably been what lead to the Cubs losing to the Padres in the National League Championship series in 1984.

Now, would I recommend this book, yes I would, however there is a bit of a problem, as it's a very hard book to find. I'm lucky I found the copy I had in a collection of books my father was going to toss out back in the late 90s, and like many items in my office, it's something I kept around. So if you're going to track it down, your best bet is to go on eBay. If you can find a copy, you will enjoy it, particularly if you're a baseball fan.