Tag: history

The Ragtag Titles of ‘A League of Their Own’

There’s a new television series streaming on Amazon Prime based on the 1992 comedy from director Penny Marshall ‘A League of Their Own’. The series is a re-telling, not a prequel or sequel and has its own brand of unique charm that fans of the film will appreciate.

There’s a lot to love in A League of Their Own including new a cast of diverse, realistic characters, a roster full of laughs, a spectacular big band soundtrack and some top-notch acting and visual effects. I really appreciate the visual style of the series with its period costumes, old fashion cars and 1940’s locations which all seem on point.

One of my favorite parts is the show’s opening credits. Lasting only three to five seconds, the title is displayed as a montage of homemade baseball patches in dozens (maybe hundreds?) of sewn styles. I went through and screen captured all of the patches from the opening of the first three episodes. To say they are amazing is an understatement.

Click for a closer view of some of the title sequence patches.

My mind boggles at the amount of work that went into these patches. Each looks to be hand-sewn (not CGI) with distinct color palettes, fabrics and thread patterns. I adore how much care went into making them look home grown and not machine-stitched perfect. They are absolutely charming and I look forward to seeing the rest of the patches at the start of each episode of season 1. I’d love to see a behind-the-scenes story of the production design explaining how they were created, how many total were fabricated, filmed and who designed them.

I’m really enjoying A League of Their Own on Prime. If you loved the original film but felt the characters lacked a bit of depth, or just want to chill out in some 1940’s nostalgia, you’ll most likely love the TV series. Check it out!

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One of Our Experts Is Missing

If you’re a fan of the break-out TV hit that is Pawn Stars then you’ve probably noticed something strange is afoot. One of the best parts of this guilty pleasure from the History Channel is when the gang at the World Famous Gold and Silver Pawn Shop call in experts to appraise rare or exotic items. Chumlee and the Old Man are wonderful TV personalities but so are many of the experts featured on the show. I always enjoy seeing Drew Max pull out his over-sized magnifying glass and confirm the value of Babe Ruth’s signature, or Danny Koker break the bad news to a customer that their custom-built trike just isn’t worth the $30,000 they were asking for.

Lately however, one of the show’s most well-known and loved experts has gone missing. Sean Rich is a Master Antique Gunsmith and has appeared in over 50 episodes of Pawn Stars since it debuted in 2009. He’s usually called in when the gang needs antique guns, swords or other armory appraised and his visits are always fun. For the last two seasons Rich has been the go-to guy for these types of appraisals, but he’s been completely absent from season 5 (and much of the last half of S4 as well). The producers started substituting other experts when Rick needed firearms appraised but they’re just not Rich. I knew something fishy was going on when Mark Hall-Patton, the beloved curator of the Clark County Museum System, was called in to appraise a rare LeMat pistol from the Civil War. This was an item that would have made Sean positively dance with glee, and yet here was Mark at the pawn store, looking over an item that was clearly out of his area of expertise. So what’s going on?

The last expert on Pawn Stars that suddenly took a hiatus from the show was Rick Dale, now the star of the spin off show American Restoration. Rick and his shop proved so popular that producers gambled viewers would watch a show just about restoring antique items, and they were right. American Restoration is a great show and Rick is a wonderful TV personality, but is the same thing about to happen with Sean Rich? I think it’s more likely that Sean is simply busy with another project that’s filling his time. Sean worked as a consultant on some of the Pirates of the Caribbean films and so I’m hoping that he’ll eventually return. In addition, Sean’s business Tortuga Trading Inc., is run out of his home and doesn’t have a traditional shop like Rick Dale that could be used as the basis for a new show. The only other explanation is that Sean and the show’s producers had a falling out, and I really hope that didn’t happen.

One of the things I love the most about Sean is how excited he gets to see a genuinely rare piece. He obviously has a great appreciation for history as he often explains in geeky detail what makes a firearm valuable and I must admit his enthusiasm is infectious. Before Pawn Stars came along, I really didn’t know anything about antique guns or why they were awesome but thanks to Rick Dale and Sean Rich I now have a greater appreciation for the value of these fine pieces of history. Here’s hoping Sean eventually emerges from some dusty tomb or secret Hollywood film set and takes his occasional place along side Rick, Corey and the Old Man yet again.

Update: Thanks to an email sent by another curious fan, we now have the answer of what happened to Sean on Pawn Stars. Seems as though the executives at the History Channel and the production company behind Pawn Stars wanted to lock Sean down into an exclusive arrangement for his appearances and offered him little or no money. He refused and so they replaced him. Damn shame, I was afraid of something like this. Thanks a lot History Channel, this is why we can’t have nice things. 🙁

Update II: After two full years, it appears Sean Rich is back on Pawn Stars. Sean briefly appeared on the Oct, 2nd 2014 episode and was brought in to appraise a colt firearm. I was astonished to see him again and stricken by the fact that absolutely no mention was made about why he had been away or why he didn’t receive a nice “Welcome back, Sean!” from Rick or the guys. It seems like The History Channel wants to pretend he never left. Hopefully he’s back for good. Fingers are crossed.

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Unburdened by Evidence

Human beings love conspiracy theories. We are all born and raised with certain biases that taint our world view, so when events unfold in ways we don’t agree with, we tend to make up reasons to bargain away the result. True believers of two such conspiracy groups have gained media attention in recent weeks – Obama “Birthers” and those who insist the Apollo moon landings were faked.

Those who subscribe to these conspiracy theories have several legs up on reality that make them both frustrating and infuriating to try and deal with. Their foremost advantage is that, in scientific method, it is difficult to prove a negative result. This is doubly so when the people in question refuse to acknowledge the rule of law, insist on approaching the argument from preconceived viewpoints or simply make facts up to suit their needs. All three which are routinely done by birthers and moon hoax believers.

In the case of Obama Birthers, as they are called, despite piles of physical and legal evidence that Barack Obama was born on August 4th, 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii (one of the 50 United States) these fringe elements insist that Obama is not a citizen. When one fact is presented, such as the authenticity of his birth certificate (certified by the Republican governor of Hawaii herself) the birthers shift gears and instead claim Obama is trying to block the document’s release. Or they claim that since Obama’s father wasn’t a citizen at the time of his birth, than means neither is Barack. Forget the fact that simply being born in the U.S. grants one “naturalized status”, or that 2 separate Hawaiian newspapers announced Obama’s birth on the same day in 1961. None of this evidence meets their warped criteria of truth.

Then you have disturbing people like Bart Sibrel, a total nutjob who insists that NASA faked the Apollo moon landings in order to beat the Russians in the eyes of the American public. As we approach the 40th anniversary of this landmark event in human history, mainstream media feels the need to shine the spotlight on people like Sibrel. It is true that millions of Americans living today have no memory of the actual event, but that makes it no less factual than Lindbergh flying solo over the Atlantic or the Wright brothers flying at Kitty Hawk.

Many people find the idea of Sibrel’s beliefs disgusting and disrespectful to the dedicated men and women of NASA. Not to mention the over 400,000 people who worked for the better part of a decade to land men on the moon and return them safely to the Earth. Professing the moon landing hoax also denigrates the memory of those lost in the attempt like Command Pilot Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Senior Pilot Ed White and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee who died on the launch pad of Apollo 1 early in the program.

For birthers and moon hoax pushers, reality doesn’t come into play. No amount of evidence would ever be enough to assuage them from their pre-held beliefs. This is the root of their fallacy – that they purport to be interested only in the truth, yet when directly presented with overwhelming piles of it, retreat to the excuse of conspiracy. Some say we shouldn’t confront such fringe elements, that they don’t deserve the legitimacy our attention pays them. This may indeed be true, but simply ignoring the screaming man in the corner doesn’t make him go away. He’ll still be there screaming and he’ll get louder the longer you ignore him. No, the answer is to confront these kooks head on and if reason won’t work, as Astronaut Buzz Aldrin will tell you, try a good right hook.

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Time Keeps On Slippin’

Inspired by a recent tweet from my friend Craig, I’ve sat down and thought about the various forms of media / technology transitions that I’ve personally taken part in. This list is amplified by the fact that my 39th birthday is coming up and for some reason, I’m keenly aware of my age.

How many of these evolutions have you experienced? Do you have others you could add to the list? If so, I encourage you to post them in the comments section. Are these changes painful reminders or fond remembrances? You’ll have to decide that for yourself.

• • •

vinyl > 8-track > cassette > CD > MP3

Walkie talkies > rotary > touch tone > cordless > cell

Finger paint > crayon > Lite-Brite > Etch-A-Sketch > Magna Doodle > WACOM

8″ floppy > 5 1/4″ > 3 1/2″ > SyQuest > Bernoulli > ZIP > removable

Apple IIe > IIgs > IIvx > Performa 6400 > Powermac G3 > PM G4> Dual PPC G5

Mattel Football > Merlin > Quiz Wiz > Game Boy > Nintendo DS > iPhone

Laserdisc > VHS > DVD > Blu-ray > Bit Torrent

Coca-Cola > “New” Coke > Coca-Cola Classic > Coke 2 > Coca-Cola Classic > Coke Zero > Coca-Cola Classic

Rubylith > Letraset > Pagemaker > QuarkXPress > InDesign

Adventure > Ultima > Bard’s Tale > Moria > Diablo II > World of Warcraft

Dewey Decimal > microfiche > Encyclopedia Britannica > Wikipedia

Odyssey > Atari 2600 > Intellivision > Nintendo ES > SEGA Genesis > Super Nintendo > Playstation > N64 > Game Cube > Wii

serial > SCSI > USB > Firewire > USB2 > WiFi

Play-Doh > Tinkertoys > Lincoln Logs > Erector Set > LEGOS

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Things Younger Than John McCain

While surfing tonight, I found a great site that highlights just how old John McCain really is. If elected, he would become the oldest first term President in our nation’s history. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily, but being the leader of the free world is the most demanding, stressful job on the planet. Can a man who would take office at the age of 72 deal with the pressures, both mentally and physically, that the job would require?

This fall, the country is looking to elect someone who represents real change as we look to the future to solve important problems such as renewable energy independence, health care reform and global warming. Electing someone who is older than the state of Alaska itself is not a vote for the future, it’s a vote for the past. Here are some other things younger than John McCain (born Aug 29, 1936):

• The AARP (1958)

• McDonald’s (1940)

• The Polio Vaccine (1955)

• Bugs Bunny (1938)

• Both of Barack Obama’s parents (1936 & 1942)

• Dick Cheney (1941)

• Many, many more…