Edition #34
Thirteen Things about THE BUMBLES -and the eye-catching signs & such we've come across in our travels...
1. Good advice from Baltimore:
2. Opposite advice from our hometown - or G rated commentary - we're not really sure which:
3. This place in Montreal is CLASSY, in case you didn't notice:
4. This place in Boston is NOT classy - but the food is yummy, trust us:
5. You will feel a little wobbly leaving apres ski festivities in this place at Killington, VT:
6. Canada's "walkin' man" doesn't wobble when he crosses the street because unlike his American counterpart, he has feet:
7. Red Sox fans were looking for something other than walks from pitcher Curt Schilling in the 2007 playoffs and left this sign of encouragement for him at the end of his driveway:
8. During the 2004 Championship parade, Red Sox players got a kick out of this fan's sign and waved it with glee (take that Evil Empire):
9. Lessons about real evil are forever marked in this stone at the Boston Holocaust Memorial:
10. A happier message was left on this cactus in a Hawaiian garden:
11. Gardens are pretty, but riding around in cities offers pleasing scenery as well:
12. If you remember Mr. Magoo then you can understand why riding behind this car might be troublesome:
13. Then again, being stuck behind a rich "Mass-hole" might be more annoying:
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. What do you do? Write Thirteen things about yourself, summarize your week in one entry, make it easy for other bloggers to get to know you on a weekly basis. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is not only encouraged, it is part of being a Thursday Thirteener! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun!View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
 Feature Presentation... MONDAY MOVIE MEME
Molly looked around for a weekly meme about movies and did not have any luck. So therefore she decided to start her own! Andy will play along as well - hopefully you will too. Go to your blog and create your own post on the topic, linking back to us in your post, then come back and leave a link to your post here in our Comments section. If you don’t have a blog, just share your response in the Comments section.
This week's movie topic is all about The Movies You'd Most Like To Hang Out In... Movies transport us to all different times and places and let us live in the minds of the young, the old, as men, as women, famous and imaginary. Sometimes when the lights come up it is hard to leave the world the film just inserted us into. If you could go and hang out in any movie, which would it be? Why? Here are some of Molly's thoughts. Share some of the movies you'd rather be in on your blog and link back here at The Bumbles. And don't forget to visit your fellow participants! LOTR: The Return of the King - What a gorgeous land, where at the end everything is at peace and Viggo, er I mean Aragorn, has vanquished all evil and only has eyes for meThe Bourne Identity - I get to fall in love in Paris with super stud muffin Jason Bourne who takes me on car chases, kicks ass, sacrifices himself for my safety, and then comes to find me tucked away in paradiseThe Song Remains The Same - I just really want to see Zeppelin live - not so much the cheesy and often bizarre fantasy montagesThe Sting - I would get to snooker dangerous men out of lots of money and wear very cool clothes (and hang out with Paul Newman & Robert Redford)Field of Dreams - I could hang out at Fenway with Darth VaderErin Brokovich - It would be nice to represent a strong woman who gets results - and knowing what it feels to look like Julia Roberts wouldn't be a bad thing eitherThe Incredibles - I think it would be fun to have superpowers and still have a family Do you have a topic to suggest to the Monday Movie Meme? Leave it in the Comments section or send us an e-mail.
OVAH THE MONSTAH 
All Star:
The Red Sox were supposed to have the 2000 “Turn of the Century” All Star Game but because of some logistics and money the Sox agreed to exchange 2000 for 1999. Being the oldest ballpark, it was very fitting that Fenway would have the last All Star Game in the 1900’s.
The carryover from the previous season’s home run battle turned the All Star “Home Run Derby” into a jackpot. The Boston Globe had a tremendous picture from the viewpoint of sitting on the Green Monster (before there were seats there) showing Fenway in the right half and showing Lansdowne Street in the left half with a gazillion baseball fans in awe watching and chasing down Mark McGwire’s out of the park shots.
But what most fans will remember from that All Star Game was Ted Williams. "The Splendid Splinter" himself came out on a golf cart and made his way to the mound. Some will remember that he did not have a Sox hat on but a dot.com company instead. He did tip that cap to the fans at Fenway however - something he had stopped doing while a player. There was an impromptu gathering around him on the mound of all the All Stars wanting to talk to and touch “the greatest hitter that ever lived.” The start of the game was delayed while they cleared away the pomp & circumstance and then convinced the All Stars that they too needed to perform in something that Teddy Ballgame held so closely to his heart.
These days when they say that “This Time It Counts” would have truly pissed off Teddy. One of his greatest accomplishments was his clutch performance in the All Star game when he sacrificed his body at the time for the big stage. The only reason they say that “this time it counts” is because it was sadly evident in Milwaukee a few years after Fenway played host that the All Star Game was all about getting everyone IN the game – not about playing the best players to WIN the game.
The media and advertising had made the All Star Game into an All Star Weekend with Home Run contests, Celebrity Softball and Futures games. All of this was very entertaining and enjoyed by the fans there and watching on TV. But – it overshadowed the purpose, which is the actual All Star Game.
Salaries had spiked and contracts were guaranteed. Incentives listed being selected to the All Star Game. So when players were selected it kicked in a bonus, but not going was accepted due to the risk of injury, desire for the extra days off instead of traveling to the circus, having to appear in the side events, etc., etc., etc. If you were an All Star after all, you got to act like one. I suppose this is why the Managers of the All Star Games decided if they made a point of getting every selected player into the game, they might actually show up.
Eventually, after treating the All Star Game as a joke, it came back to bite the players, managers, and the Commissioner in the ass – on live TV. Just as there is “no crying in baseball” there are no TIES in baseball. Unless it was the All Star Game of 2002. Game called – every player used so their fans could see them play often no more than a third of an inning. An All Star tie had happened once before (they didn’t have the enormous amount of players selected then – it was a matter of a true managed game played so closely) so The Commish – in his own team’s Host City decided this impromptu decision was best. WRONG!!!
After the majority of fans exhibited the fact that they were purists and never wanted to see that blasphemy ever evolve again – the “This Time It Counts” slogan appeared. MLB took the All Star Game from something that was perfect, to something that was overdone, to something that was ruined, to something that now has random players helping to determine who has an advantage in the World frickin' Series.
Hank Blalock of the Texas Rangers hit a home run in that first “serious” All Star Game to ensure that the AL received (former alternating rules would have given the NL home field advantage that year) home field advantage in the 2003 World Series. I’m just not sold on the fact that an All Star Player in July really needs motivation to win the game for your League for World Series home field advantage. By the “old” rules, if you were an All Star you were competitive and wanted to win at all costs.
Yet now, if they play for a crummy team I don’t think that they are really motivated to make sure the runaway favorites get home field advantage in October. But as often as players get traded or hit free agency, perhaps they should do their best in the All Star Game for their contract’s cause. Forget about performing for the honor of the game and its fans. Play for the money and maybe the play you made in the All Star Game for the crummy team will get you traded to a playoff team and you can make an even bigger play to win the World Series. Ted’s frozen head is surely rolling now.
next week, CLEVELAND VOWS, where Molly finds a way to follow the Red Sox playoffs while attending a wedding...
Here are links to Guest Posts that we have done on other sites:
"Readers Wanted" @ Cardiogirl 05/06/09 (self-promotion)"Men vs. Women" @ Who's More Awesome 06/03/09 (humor)"The Story Behind Rhody" @ Fond of Snape 06/18/09 (humor)"The Time Traveler's Wife Review" @ You've GOTTA Read This! 06/21/09 (book review)"Motherhood From Another Perspective" @ Mommy Journey 07/08/09 (essay)"How I Wedged My Pinky Toe Firmly in the Freelance Writing Door or Freelancing Is Wicked Hard" @ The Life and Times of a Freelance Writer 08/07/09 (essay)"Life Is Just A Fantasy" @ Momspective 09/21/09 (sports)"The Thrill of Victory" @ Momspective 12/07/09 (sports)"Holiday Movie Chat" @ Backseat Movie Talk via Blog Talk Radio 12/16/09 (movies)
REMINDER!!! AS MENTIONED IN THIS WEEK'S TEASER TUESDAY, MOLLY'S REVIEW OF:  IS NOW APPEARING AS A ON SANDY'S YOU'VE GOTTA READ THIS - ISN'T HER KITTY CUTE? 
Last month, Chris @ The Mommy Journey gave us this award. It is super cool and a favorite of ours due entirely to it's simplicity (and the fact that it looks an awful lot like a beer stein):  Chris is a frequent participant in our Monday Movie Meme. We are flattered because as a Mom she is very busy and hosts her own meme each Friday called Mommy Moments. How she has the time to follow our little corner of the blog world we have no idea but we are glad that she does. Go visit her in the Philippines and take a look at that beautiful family of her's - she's quite the photographer. Most blog awards come with some rules but this one does not seem to have any. SWEET!!! We therefore assume that it should be forwarded along to anyone we deem to be interesting. So, with a drumroll, we will spotlight: Margot is on the "GO" - she is retired and owns an RV. What better way of living could there be? She takes the time to share her favorite travel spots on her blog along with moments from her family, reviews of books and some terrific recipes. You never really know what Margot is going to throw up there, but you know it will be interesting. That's why we follow her journey - and you should too. Go retire vicariously through Margot today.
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Edition #33
Thirteen Things about THE BUMBLES -and the Secrets to our Success...
We have known each other for just about half our lives. We met during college in Boston and spent 4 years as great friends. Then we dated for for 7 more before getting engaged. It only took 7 months to have the wedding. And we have been married coming up on 7 years this fall. In all of that time we have learned a lot about ourselves and what makes it work for us. Here are 13 of them...
1. Have things in common - We spend so much time together and it helps that we both enjoy spending time the same way rather than one being bitter that they are always sacrificing their fun stuff for the other's. We'll drop anything to go to a baseball game or take a road trip off the beaten path to look for interesting sites. 2. But be good at different things - Andy specializes in cooking, opening jars, working heavy equipment and navigating. Molly's specialties are cleaning, working remotes, keeping budgets, and documenting memories. 3. Don't be too sensitive - We tease each other all the time. Molly mimics Andy's Boston accent all the time and he knows to just do the opposite of Molly's navigational instincts. 4. Remember the little things - Mental notes about a certain something mentioned in passing easily turns into a special present. Andy bought Temperpedic pillows for Valentine's Day one year after Molly's passing comments (constant nagging) about his snoring. That small gesture may not seem very romantic but it made a big difference. 5. Remember alone time - Everyone needs their own space and time. Andy turns into Concert Boy heading off to let loose at a concert and Molly is more than happy to stay behind with a good book enjoying the peace and quiet. 6. But make room for date night - We like to keep Fridays to ourselves with a movie at home and an unhealthy dinner treat. It doesn't always work out that way but we make an effort - even if Andy ends up snoring on the couch. 7. Compromise - You have to give a little to get a little. The DVR is great for this. Molly records all her Reality TV shows so Andy can watch his hockey games. Then he doesn't complain when Molly puts him through a personal marathon of them on the weekend. 8. Be each other's biggest fan - Andy is very supportive of Molly's travel writing foray - never complaining when she drags him off to various attractions for new material. Molly is very proud of Andy's softball managerial skills - even though she shows her support via #3 more often than not. 9. Brush off each other's slumps - Being supportive of successful ventures is easy. Sticking with someone through the lows is more challenging. We are there for each other through everything. Serious roadblocks and little bumps in the road - we plow through them together. 10. Patience - As mentioned in #3, Molly is not blessed with an inner compass. Andy patiently maps out routes for her to unfamiliar places (like the grocery store). Molly patiently waits for Andy to figure out that a Garmin would make a nice birthday present. 11. Live vicariously through others - We know our limits - financially and energetically. We would love to do nothing but travel around exploring the world with no set agenda. But then again, we might get real sick of each other after a while - not to mention ending up broke. So lucky for us we have friends who took their savings, found a way to take a year off of work and traveled all around the world. We fell in love with their photos and heard great stories. And maybe someday when we get our act together we can use their experience to plan a few trips ourselves. 12. Live day by day - Rather than becoming depressed about unfulfilled dreams, it is better to live in the present and just be happy for what we have that day. When you focus on the here and now a little more often, it changes your perspective. Instead of getting overwhelmed with how to find time to accomplish all those things Molly has put on the to do list, Andy takes a deep breath and finds a way to cross off a few one day at a time. See how that makes life better for everyone involved? 13. Love every minute - It takes a lot of energy to hold a grudge. It's a lot easier to let things go and laugh it off. Just because we've spent almost half our lives together doesn't mean it could always be that way. Might as well enjoy the moments we share - happy memories make better stories anyway. P.S. - I'm sure as a good follower/participant of T13 that you already visit T13's co-host, Janet @ Fond of Snape. But if you don't - hop on over there today and you'll discover our guest post on her blog today. Something to do with Andy & a Chicken...The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. What do you do? Write Thirteen things about yourself, summarize your week in one entry, make it easy for other bloggers to get to know you on a weekly basis. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is not only encouraged, it is part of being a Thursday Thirteener! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun!View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Have you heard of this site? Have you heard of their concept? This is a new discovery for me although they have been at it for 8 years. It truly is a "novel" idea (pun intended).
Essentially - you take all those books you have lying around that you don't want anymore and release them into the world for random discovery. You register on BookCrossing and then you take that pile of books and register them one by one so that each of them is assigned a unique BookCrossing ID. Then you write that ID number on the inside cover of the book, include a little note with the BookCrossing website and set the book free.
The idea is that someone will come along and discover this book, pick it up and take it home. They will then go log on to BookCrossing and type in the book's ID number and add a note in the book's online Journal entry letting the system know where they are, how they came across the book, and even what they thought about it. Then they in turn will pass along the book and the process repeats so everyone can see the little book's journey through the world.
I have heard that only a small percentage of the books put out there on a "Wild Release" are actually ever journaled by those that find them. Better success is obviously found in a "Controlled Release" where you actually give the book to someone specifically and they then journal the book's progress before passing it along. But since I didn't have anyone wanting to take the random books in my collection off my hands I decided to try a Wild Release.
I felt like I was part of a secret society plotting where I could release my book incognito. When we decided to try out this breakfast place a co-worker had recommended I thought that might be the perfect spot for the release. When we got there the line was quite long. Any place where people are forced to wait is a good spot for releasing a book. The problem was that the benches were occupied with people - waiting of course. There wasn't a spot for me to sit and I really didn't think it would be very sly of me to set a book down between random people and get back in line. I could see it now - "Excuse me Miss (because I certainly can't look old enough to be called ma'am) but isn't this your book? What kind of a weirdo are you slinking up to me and sticking your book next to my leg?" So I decided that it would be best to try the drop on the way out.
All through the meal I had to cram the book in next to me on the chair because we had the smallest table possible - or at least it shrank in size from all the plates of delicious breakfast items we ordered. So after stuffing ourselves sufficiently we had to waddle our way out the front door past the waiting area - even though we were parked right outside the back exit. As it was close to closing time there weren't any people waiting any longer so I threw the book on top of the newspaper pile and hightailed it out of there before the hostess came chasing after me waving the book in her hand saying - "Excuse me Miss but it appears you didn't notice your book fly out of your hand onto our bench!"
Thus far, no one has gone online and added themselves to the book's journal entry so I don't know what has become of it. This makes me sad because now I am worried that it is languishing in a Lost & Found bin underneath the register. But then again, maybe a really old Grandpa picked it up and doesn't understand what a website is but really likes that he scored a free book at breakfast. Oh well. I've got more to release into the world and am headed off for a long weekend to Rhode Island - maybe the people there are more web savvy readers.
You can release your own books on BookCrossing, or you can go there just to find where books were released recently in your area and "capture" yourself a freebie. C'mon - you know you'd rather feel like a Special Agent tracking down a book in the wild instead of going to the library. Who doesn't like a Scavenger Hunt?
 MizB asks you to: - Grab your current read.
- Let the book fall open to a random page.
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.
- Share the title of the book the teaser comes from…that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
- Please avoid spoilers!
From pg. 519 of THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE by Audrey Niffenegger (fiction)... "Our love has been the thread through the labyrinth, the net under the high-wire walker, the only real thing in this strange life of mine that I could ever trust. Tonight I feel that my love for you has more density in this world than I do myself: as though it could linger on after me and surround you, keep you, hold you." Stay tuned for my review on Friday this week when I guest post on You've GOTTA Read This! and find out if I thought the above was just another mushy romance or something with more substance.
Feature Presentation... MONDAY MOVIE MEME
Molly looked around for a weekly meme about movies and did not have any luck. So therefore she decided to start her own! Andy will play along as well - hopefully you will too. Go to your blog and create your own post on the topic, linking back to us in your post, then come back and leave a link to your post here in our Comments section. If you don’t have a blog, just share your response in the Comments section.
This week's movie topic is all about Trauma... This week's topic is brought to you by the ever uplifting Sandy @ You've GOTTA Read This! She suggested we share which movies have shaken us to the core so much that we've never been the same because of them. Most of our traumatic movie experiences occured in childhood, but there is one that came as an adult. Check out our list below and share some of your traumatizing movie experiences on your blog and link back here at The Bumbles. Don't forget to visit your fellow participants! Jaws (1975) - Well, we certainly didn't see this movie in the theater - we were just little tykes when it came out. But Molly remembers distinctly, for several summers beyond the initial release, all of the paranoia at the beach as a little girl with endless shark alerts that kept her from enjoying the ocean. Undertow and jelly fish were worries real enough - add sharks to the imagination and ocean swimming became even more troublesome. All because of this book and that movie (which we now love). Bambi (1942) - Instead of going to see Jaws, Molly remembers going to see Bambi - not in 1942 of course - must have been re-released. But the horror of watching Bambi become orphaned in the forest fire while his sweet mother perished was as bad as being fed to Jaws. What kind of sicko was this Disney guy anyway?! His franchise accomplished the same feat with The Lion King a few generations later.Friday the 13th (1980) - We've mentioned this one before. Molly was exposed to this movie on Beta by her friend's older brother and was too frightened to walk home in the dark 5 houses down the street by herself. Trauma seems to be an enjoyable experience for Molly however since this is one of her all time favorite movies.Super Size Me (2004) - So much for ever being able to eat at McDonald's again. This was a fascinating documentary with lots of humor - but essentially, fast food will kill you. You do not want to know how Mickey D's fries don't ever decompose. Do you have a topic to suggest to the Monday Movie Meme? Leave it in the Comments section or send us an e-mail.
 06-08-2005 - Tiffany Dome - Cultural Center - Chicago, IL (click photo to enlarge) Visit
 to post or VOTE for this (Bumbles) or other interpretations of this week's challenge
OVAH THE MONSTAH
The Hall:
where previously Molly found someone other than the Red Sox to love
I have often said that my husband is a VERY lucky man – for many of the same reasons that women around the world use – but, in addition to those reasons, it is because I wanted to spend my birthday weekend getaway in Cooperstown, NY at the Baseball Hall of Fame. I had been to Cooperstown as a young child. All that I remember from that visit was having ice cream outside with my Mom on a very blue beautiful summer day. As I grew up I knew that there was a lot more I had seen and not connected with.
We started out on a drive away from Boston straight to Cooperstown. We got there late afternoon and got the last room at the motel on the lake. We didn’t realize there would be so few rooms available in the town but were very grateful we got the tiny room next to the ice machine underneath the stairs. I had no idea that there was a lake in Cooperstown but there is – it was extremely settling after a long drive to stroll out to a calming slice of water.
Cooperstown is as it should be. Small Main Street. I am sure that the locals on one hand hate the commercialism of everything Baseball being hawked in stores every which way you look. On the other hand, it still seems to be a small town. Outside of the Main Street world, there is a regular town. All we saw of Cooperstown was Main Street – so we kept away from the locals’ lair. The one peek that we had at true local experience was the first night we arrived. Having checked in to the last available tiny room at the lakeside motel we went to a pub on the main drag. We were seated next to a couple who were Yankee fans openly willing to root for the Sox if they ever got to the World Series. This was mid September. On the TV we were getting ready to watch the Yankees face the Orioles.
“Cal’s not in the lineup! Cal’s not in the lineup!” Some guy came bursting into the bar rushing up to our bartender shouting these words. Sure enough, the starting lineups for the O’s vs. NY came on the TV screen and proved Cooperstown’s local voice correct. We were all stunned - Cal Ripken, Jr. was finally taking a night off after 2,362 games. The end of an era and a record never to be broken had just occurred with us sitting in the birthplace of baseball.
The next day we walked the few blocks over to the Hall. Out in front we met this couple wanting their picture taken in front of the Hall Of Fame. They had no camera and had not anticipated that the experience would create the emotion they had. So we took their picture and mailed it to them, along with our pictures from Fenway later that summer.
I brought my future husband into the Hall and we were welcomed with a special display of McGwire & Sosa’s Home Run race as well as their jerseys and bats when they reached Roger Maris’ record. This was the season that rejuvenated baseball and led to the MLB marketing catchphrase – “Chicks Dig The Long Ball.” We had a blast! We didn't realize then that much of the rejuvenation was due to performance enhancing drugs - which tarnishes a lot of things looking back now.
The place is too small to exhibit all that deserves to be displayed. We took great pride in seeing Sox alumni represented. There was Roger Clemens’ ball & Hassleman’s mitt marking his 20 KO games. There was Teddy Ballgame’s hitter’s zone display. And before him, plenty to view on the contributions Cy Young and Babe Ruth made to baseball history. We were in heaven looking at the less ornate World Series rings that the Sox had NO trouble piling up in the early 1900’s. But the Hall really needs to do something about the pathetic display they had of Fenway Park.
Perhaps they have changed the exhibit since we were there – I certainly hope so. Baseball’s oldest remaining jewel deserves much, much more than a measly plastic tiny replica of the Shrine. It looked like some 6th grader’s homework project. I didn’t even bother taking a picture of such a joke – after all, I had plenty of awesome pictures of the real thing. A collage of my pictures would make a better display in the Hall than what they were offering back then. Once again, no respect.
next week, ALL STAR, where a Commissioner proves there's no crying in baseball, but tying in baseball is apparently OK...
 06-12-2009 - Zippers Have Teeth Too (click photo to enlarge) Visit
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