As many of you know, I have a big thing for anniversaries - some good, and some unfortunately not so good. I've never quite understood why myself - whether it's a fascination with past and history, or a desire to escape the present, or just the result of memorizing so many facts and dates.

For example, June 16 marked the 13th anniversary of me graduating high school, and June 18 marked the one year anniversary of my rebirth as THE Material Girl...

And, today, June 29, marks a very intriguing anniversary - one that would've gone unnoticed had it not been for one author, and his love for baseball.

William Patrick Kinsella (better known as W.P.) was born in 1935 in Edmonton, Alberta. Despite coming from a country where hockey is the national sport, he quickly fell in love with baseball - and not only has baseball regularly been a significant part in much of his work, but he even briefly worked as a scout for the Atlanta Braves.

In 1982, W.P. released what is likely his most famous story, Shoeless Joe. The story was of an Iowa farmer named Ray Kinsella. Ray was inspired by a "voice" to plow under his corn, and build a baseball field, led to believe that if he did so, Shoeless Joe Jackson would appear in his field.

I can imagine at this point this sounds quite familiar, as it should - in 1989, Shoeless Joe would be released as a major motion picture titled Field Of Dreams (which is one of my all-time favorite movies).

One of the most intriguing characters in the film was the former baseball player turned town doctor, "Moonlight" Graham. Moonlight was portrayed as a youngster by Frank Whaley, with Burt Lancaster - in his final acting role - playing old "Doc" Graham.

Ray and Terence Mann (played by James Earl Jones, and based upon J.D. Salinger - who was a character in the original book) would be lead to Minnesota to try to track down Graham, who in 1922 played in just one game for the New York Giants - the ninth inning of the final game of the season, never getting a chance to hit.

The character, so elequently and warmly portrayed by the late Lancaster, would become a favorite - not only due to Lancaster's great performance, but a former ballplayer with an interesting history and unique nickname.

In the sixteen years since Field Of Dreams first hit the big screen, many had assumed Moonlight Graham was a work of fiction, brought to life by Kinsella, Lancaster and Whaley...

Which is why some of you may be surprised to know that while some of the facts (mostly the timeline) were changed for the film, Moonlight Graham wasn't fictional.

Archibald Wright Graham was born on November 9, 1876, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. As a young adult, Archie would find himself with two dreams - to play baseball, and to become a doctor, and pursued both (quite a few historians do believe Archie was given the nickname "Moonlight", not because of the body orbitting the Earth, but him moonlighting in medical school while playing baseball. Though, there are others who believe that the nickname was given to Graham because of his insomnia.)

Graham, a very good hitter in the minor leagues from 1902-1904, would miss the early part of the 1905 season as he decided to finish medical school, then return to baseball. In May, he would return to baseball.

One hundred years ago today, on June 29, 1905, the New York Giants would square off against the Brooklyn Superbas (now the Los Angeles Dodgers) in Brooklyn's Washington Park (which was replaced by Ebbets Field in 1913). With the Giants well ahead 11-1 in the bottom of the 8th, manager John McGraw sent Moonlight Graham in to play right field.

The Superbas would not hit a ball his way in their half of the eighth. The Giants would come up to bat in the top of the 9th, but with Graham standing on deck waiting to hit, the third out was recorded, and Graham would head back to the outfield for another uneventful inning to end the game.

Moonlight Graham would soon find himself back in the minors (where he played until the end of the 1908 season before retiring), never to return to the major leagues.

Graham would arrive in Chisholm, Minnesota in 1912, responding to a newspaper ad for a school doctor. He would serve as a local doctor for nearly 50 years, and died in Chisholm on August 25, 1965, at the age of 88.

Graham, unknown to most of the world until his 1989 portrayal in Field Of Dreams, was a local legend - one that local residents say was accurately portrayed by Lancaster in the film.

Veda Ponikvar, now in her mid 80's, recently said "I remember probably in the third grade when he inoculated me for scarlet fever. I still have the mark on my arm. Growing up, I thought it was the most horrible thing. Later on, I thought, 'Oh, Doc Graham, you're pretty precious. You left your mark.'"

Ponikvar also adds about the blue hats Graham was always buying for his wife, Alecia (according to the film): "Absolutely true," Ponikvar said.

And the way he patted children to clear food stuck in their throats? "He did it to me."

Ponikvar was the editor of Chisholm's newspaper at the time of Moonlight Graham's death (the character played by Anne Seymour in the movie was based upon her), and part of the editorial she wrote after his passing was used in the film: "Yet no child was ever denied these essentials because in the background there was a benevolent, understanding Doctor Graham. Without a word, without any fanfare or publicity, the glasses or the milk or the ticket to the ball game found their way into the child's pocket."

What's incredible is that throughout major league history, there are hundreds of Moonlight Grahams - players called up to the majors who never got a chance to hit, or even play. But how big of a deal is this particular story?

Minnesota has declared this 100th anniversary of Graham's only major league appearance as "Moonlight Graham Day", and Veda Ponikvar will throw out the first pitch before today's Royals-Twins game in Minneapolis.

Another interesting note on the real Moonlight Graham is that his younger brother, Frank Porter Graham (born October 14, 1886, died February 16, 1972), was a senator in North Carolina (1949-1950).

What is incredible about this story, and this anniversary, is the fact that for decades it appeared destined to be buried in baseball history, an obscure series of numbers (1 game, 0 at bats, 0 fielding chances) in a league which has seen over 15,000 players since the birth of the National League in 1876. And how one man, W.P. Kinsella, stumbled across a player with a unique name who never got to hit, a local hero in a town with a population of under 5,000 people, and helped make him a legend.

Happy Anniversary, Doc Graham. Too bad you never got your chance at the plate...

"Well, you know I... I never got to bat in the major leagues. I would have liked to have had that chance. Just once. To stare down a big league pitcher. To stare him down, and just as he goes into his windup, wink. Make him think you know something he doesn't. That's what I wish for. Chance to squint at a sky so blue that it hurts your eyes just to look at it. To feel the tingling in your arm as you connect with the ball. To run the bases - stretch a double into a triple, and flop face-first into third, wrap your arms around the bag. That's my wish, Ray Kinsella. That's my wish. And is there enough magic out there in the moonlight to make this dream come true?" - Burt Lancaster as "Doc" Archibald Graham, Field Of Dreams

"Son, if I'd only gotten to be a doctor for five minutes... now that would have been a tragedy." - Lancaster

The real Moonlight Graham:

Born November 9, 1876 in Fayetteville, NC
Batted left-handed, threw right
Played two innings in only game, June 29, 1905, never batted
Played three more years in the minors before retiring
Died August 25, 1965 in Chisholm, Minnesota

The "reel" Moonlight Graham:

No mention of date or place of birth (would estimate roughly 1900)
Batted right, threw right
Played one inning in final game of 1922 season, never batted
Retired immediately
Died 1972, Chisholm, Minnesota

Labels: Gone But Not Forgotten, If You Build It

Well, I promised this a while back, and here it finally is.

The various stages of Madonnahood, 1984-

1984-mid 1986: "Who is she? Hmm, I guess she's okay..."

I know, she first hit the mainstream in 1983, but I hadn't even noticed her until a year later, and even then I didn't make a big deal out of her. I was still more into contemporary rock/pop at the time (Journey, Styx, Billy Joel) and not much on dance artists. Still, what I did hear from her was okay, but like most people, I didn't think she would take over the world - even after seeing the 1984 VMA performance.

Ironically, here in 2005, I find myself enjoying her music and image from this era more than just about any other in her career...

Mid 1986-1988: "Two words: Madonna fucking rules!"

Thanks to MTV and True Blue, I really got a steady dose of Madonna, and this period would mark the first era of being a huge Madonna fan. I purchased all her albums, taped all her videos, and had a few posters on my wall. I even thought (and still do think) Who's That Girl was a cute, funny movie.

The only problem I really had with her during this period was her out of control husband (and, ironically, I like Sean Penn a lot now).

Sadly, this era ended when I got into an inferior Madonna wannabe of the time (no comment).

1988-1990: "Ehh, she's still cool, but does she have to stir up so much shit?"

While I thought she made a good album with Like A Prayer, this of course was the beginning of the Madonna: Queen Of Controversy era. It started off innocently enough, by losing her Pepsi deal because of her video. But, of course, it began to spiral the next year with "Justify My Love" (not that I know of anyone here in 2005 who uses the cover for the single as their bio picture...). Needless to say, I was a bit more uptight back then, and I was more annoyed by the controversy than amused (which isn't true today).

1990-1994: "What the fuck? Shut up and go away already, you slut!" "Gawd, I HATE her! Fuck Madonna!"

No joke. Your very own Maddy, who just twelve months ago (the "reinvention" began on June 18, 2004 on Strange Forums) became the new and only true Material Girl, spent over three years absolutely despising, well... herself.

Already a bit annoyed over the "Justify My Love" controversy (again, I don't know of anyone who is using that cover as her bio picture), the annoyance quickly turned into hostility as Madonna pulled off one stupid stunt after another: Truth Or Dare, Erotica, Sex, Body Of Evidence, nudity, dating Vanilla Ice (EWWWW!), more nudity, her and her cigars (this Madonna prefers Misty 120's herself) and then the Letterman fiasco. I actually burnt my old posters, and kept hoping I'd go to sleep, and wake up to never see Madonna again.

What's funny is now when I look back at this era, part of me wants to laugh because it was amusing. And part of me pities her, to be honest with you. In studying up to take over as the true Material Girl, I've come to understand a great deal of what made Esther Louise Ritchie tick, and that her constant thirst for attention was due to the emptiness she felt in her life from the moment her mother died. She wanted her mother's love, and when she couldn't get it (because she was gone), she tried to replace it by making the whole world love her. Sadly, of course, she didn't quite understand what love is - confusing meaningless sex and the world gawking at her as "love". And the more "love" she got, the more she craved even MORE - hence even more outlandish stunts to make the world "love" her.

Now, here in 2005, I kind of miss this Madonna. Yeah, she was crazy (a bit understandable, when you go through life sharing the same name as your dead mother) and controversial (but, let's face it, she always has been, and it's part of what makes her who and what she is). But she was unpredictable and fun...

1994-1996: "Hmmm, she's starting to mellow out a bit. I guess she's not so bad..."

Along came Bedtime Stories (the album I truly feel SAVED her career, because I think had she released another album like Erotica and stirred up more shit like 1990-1993, she would've been FINISHED), which showed the world she could actually create music instead of controversy ("Take A Bow" is definitely one of my all-time favorite songs from her). She finally got her dream role in Evita, and shocked the world. Then, she shocked the world in a way most of thought she never world - MOTHERHOOD!

My first thought when I heard she was pregnent was "Uh oh, I still don't think it's a good idea for Madonna to reproduce...". And that thought was reinforced when I saw how much little Lourdes LOOKS LIKE HER MOTHER - almost like you began to think "Oh no. Here we go again in 30 years...". But, motherhood has definitely changed Madonna for the better. It seemed to not only help her mature, but take up at least some of the void that's been in her life since the original Madonna Louise Ciccone died in 1963.

1997-early 2004: "Well, this new Madonna is okay. Would be better if she wasn't doing electronica."

We definitely saw Madonna grow during this period - not only personally, but musically. Her lyrics took on more mature and spiritual topics, her singing improved (no doubt thanks to her work on Evita), and we began to see less and less controversy out of her - it seemed like the only shit she stirred up involved politics (criticizing Bush, speaking out against war - but that's nothing new, as she's always been very liberal and very anti-war.), and her fascination with Kabbalah.

Of course, this era would be marked with some more bad movies, and a widely criticized album (American Life), which in my opinion was very well written, but I've never been a fan of the style of music itself. Of course, I do think part of the criticism for the album (and it's poor showing) was a minor case of what happened to the Dixie Chicks - she got screwed over for daring to speak out against war in Iraq (good for her!).

However, as we know, the fun was really about to begin...

June 2004: "You want to be Esther now? Fine. YOU can call ME Madonna!"

Madonna, for the first time in many years, brought amusement into my life when she told the world she adopted the name "Esther". My first reaction was shock. "No, what will the world do without Madonna?!"A few hours later, I laughed my ass off, and decided I would change MY name to Madonna. Of course, I wasn't the only one who had that idea...

What started off as a small joke turned into an enormous one - this blog, and deciding "You know what? I like it here. I'll keep this name. I'm your Madonna now! Muahahahaha!"

July 2004-early 2005: "You know, I had forgotten how much I loved Madonna. She still kicks ass!" (Wait, does that mean I kick ass?)

Sure, I found (and still find) this new "Esther Madge" to be weird, and I look at her sometimes and think "I miss the old Madonna". But, at the same time, it's definitely brought me back full-circle, to the days where I thought Madonna was awesome. Though, I must admit, I spend more time enjoying the old Madonna - 1983-1995 than the current one.

(Cue the old NFL playoffs commercial from 1999: The one with a father and son in Jets gear in 1969. As time goes on, the father changes teams - Cowboys, Steelers, 49ers, Broncos, etc. The son the whole time is still a Jets fan...

1999 rolls around. The Jets are in the playoffs and doing well. The father is once again a Jets fan. His son rolls his eyes... Caption: I was here all along.)

Much like that father, over the course of 19 years, I wasn't here all along. I went through periods where I really didn't care much for Madonna, and times where I despised her... And while I can't say I love her more than Sherrie Austin (or even The Beatles), she's definitely way up there once again...

But, I miss the old Material Girl. I love the Maternity Girl, but she just isn't quite the same. Though, while she's not as much fun, she definitely seems to be trying to become a better person (and for that, I say good for her).

Why this post now? Because we must come to the most recent phase...

June 2005: "Madonna has gone bye-bye, Egon. What have you got left?"

Esther Madge seems to be going "deeper and deeper" into Kabbalah, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't leave me scratching my head... Red strings, a new name, and even a Kabbalah hotel in London. Plus there is the controversial feuding with other celebrities (such as Boy George lashing out at her), and rumors (neither confirmed nor denied) that she has walked away from people because they aren't into Kabbalah as well.

It's my hope that Esther Madge finds happiness, but sometimes I fear she's setting herself up for a deep disappointment on this path. While I know there are legitimate and serious teachings of Kabbalah, I do wonder if the form she's following are being used as a pawn in a Scientology-style cult religion. I wonder if she'll find herself used and hurt as a result of all of this.

All I know is that at times like this, I do miss that gum-popping, chain-smoking, breast-revealing, fetishwear-donning, f-bombing outrageous young woman who took the world by storm. Which is, well... why I guess you're stuck with me now. :P

You can call me Madonna. And as for you, Esther Madge... Finders keepers, losers weepers! Muahahaha... :P

Labels: Madge Worship, Reinvention

Well, the unthinkable happened on Friday at 12:00am - I turned 30. I hope all of you took the "over" on the over/under 30 bet in Vegas - because the odds of reaching 30 were astronomical.

In fact, I'd say the odds were about as astronomical as, say, living long enough to find out who Deep Throat was... Wow. Though, knowing the truth about W. Mark Felt, I'm actually disappointed to know. I grew up viewing Deep Throat as a hero. Felt was anything but - he just managed to do something (likely with the wrong motivations) that turned out to be the right thing.

The good news is I don't feel a day younger than 70 - which kind of makes sense. After all, if I was born on 5/27/75, but I've now reinvented myself as Madonna - who was born on 8/16/58, that would make me a combined 76.

The good, the bad, and the ugly:

This anniversary isn't as bad as last ones, simply because at least there's one semi-enjoyable, new anniversary that also falls on this day. But my mother's been gone for 17 years now. Still hurts like hell, and I've lost hope that the day will come when it doesn't hurt like hell. It hurts knowing that someone who truly would be your best friend and biggest supporter and would understand you better than anyone is gone and never coming back. That void has never been filled, and probably truly never will be.

I can only hope the bastard who took her from me is rotting in hell - or has a reservation already made...

I do hope she is at least at peace. While I miss her like hell, she sure suffered too much in her 37-plus years.

Taking a little (and I do mean little) of the sting away is this is also the one year anniversary of something that was enjoyable. It was 365 days ago when episode #4558 of Jeopardy! aired, with two-day champion Jerry Harvey facing off against Julia Lazarus, and a software engineer from Utah named Ken Jennings.

Of course, 365 days later, NOBODY thinks of him as "software engineer Ken Jennings" anymore...

However, sadly, THEY KILLED KENNY, AGAIN! After four months of anticipation, Ken got his ass soundly kicked in the Ultimate Tournament Of Champions. Not that I dislike Brad Rutter in the least, but I would've been happier if he had kicked someone else's ass instead...

Of course, it's not the last we'll see of ol' KenJen. He will be the host and executive producer of a new game show that will air on Comedy Central, expecting to debut in late 2005/early 2006. This, of course, means that my other blog, which looked like it was headed for retirement on November 30, 2004, now has a THIRD life just around the corner...

Ken better looked out, though: One day he may walk onto the set and have ME standing there as one of his contestants!

Goodbye to yet another sports legend: George Mikan, the NBA's first superstar, the man who changed the game forever (widening the lane, the shot clock, the goaltending rule), passed away Wednesday night at the age of 80. Mikan lead the MINNEAPOLIS Lakers to five championships in six seasons, and to this day it burns me that the LOS ANGELES Lakers refuse to retire his number 99. He looked like Clark Kent, but played like Superman. May he rest in peace.

I just wish this time of year could be associated more with joy than with death.

Labels: Gone But Not Forgotten, Mi Vida Loca, The Stormin' Mormon