It has long been difficult to get a good read on balls & strikes while watching on TV. Slate explores the camera angles here.

I have always wondered about New Order's "Love Vigilantes": is he really dead, and he's just having a vision about going home just before he dies? Is he a ghost? Or did the army mistakenly send his family a message that he's dead? Anyway, Iron & Wine's version of it is awesome.

Lastly: Dance! Dance I said! (props to Patricia)

Of course, the Metro crash is completely out of the news now, thanks to the death of Michael Jackson (as I was informed by EVERYONE'S Facebook updates last night). Posnanski says it well here--I have never been a Michael Jackson fan by any stretch, but growing up when I did, he was pretty well inescapable. I have gained an appreciation for his earlier work over time. But mostly, I view him as a sad commentary on the perils of unlimited fame and wealth. At one point, he was pretty much the most famous person in the entire world. And it drove him completely insane.

Top 6, Nats up 1-0. Two down, runners on first and second. Jordan Zimmermann goes 0-2 on Rod Barajas, the #8 hitter. JZ is nearing 100 pitches; he's also due up fourth in the bottom half of the inning. So this is a big spot for him--without a doubt his last inning, if not his last hitter, and you'd like to see him get out of it so the Nats can pinch-hit for him or work a double-switch.

Might be a good time to cheer for your pitcher, right? Instead, the 20,000-odd home fans sat on their friggin' hands, apparently with no idea this was potentially a key spot in the game. So the baseball gods frowned, and helped Barajas get a base hit to tie it up. That was it for Zimmermann. Yeah, the team is awful and blah-de-blah, but when free agents start leaving town for greener pastures, remember this.

Then there was the bottom of the 7th. Guzman led off with a single, then Johnson doubled, moving Guz to third. Ryan Zimmerman... struck out looking. Dunn was intentionally walked. Dukes... struck out looking. Josh Bard... STRUCK OUT LOOKING. I can't recall ever seeing all three outs in an inning as Kc, and certainly not with multiple runners in scoring position. Now, from my vantage point, I couldn't tell if these were ridiculous, fall-off-the-table curve balls. But nonetheless, I continue to believe that modern players take too many close pitches with two strikes. What happened to "protect the plate?" Put the damn ball in play already.

Nonetheless, the bullpen held the line, and Adam Dunn finally drove in a run in the 11th. I can't stand sitting through an extra-inning game only to see the team lose, so, good.

Lastly, I have spaces on my score card for the winner of the Presidents' Race, and "Why Teddy Lost." Last night, for the latter I wrote "Failed to attack Abe with a shark." Anthony, who was in from Milwaukee, was a bit incensed that the Nats have brazenly plagiarized the Sausage Race. Hey, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. Tag 15 friends, including me because I'm interested in seeing what books my friends choose.

Edward Abbey "The Fool's Progress"
Kurt Vonnegut "Cat's Cradle"
Douglas Copeland "Microserfs"
Sparky Lyle "The Bronx Zoo"
Michael Pollan "The Omnivore's Dilemma"
Hunter S. Thompson "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72"
Boris Pasternak, "Doctor Zhivago"
Don DeLillo, "Underworld"
Arthur C. Clarke, "Childhood's End"
Tsai Chih Chung, "Zen Speaks: Shouts of Nothingness"
Philip José Farmer, "To Your Scattered Bodies Go"
Ernest Hemingway, "The Sun Also Rises"
John Steinbeck, "Travels With Charley"
Lawrence Ritter, "The Glory of Their Times"
Alexis De Tocqueville, "Democracy in America"

The key to farm-fresh sugar snap peas: steam them for three minutes, and not a second more.

Also, if you own a stand mixer, you are hereby forbidden from ever buying Cool Whip or whipped cream in a can ever again. One cup of whipping cream, three tablespoons of sugar, and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Put on your whisk attachment and let 'er rip.

Sunday: The July issue of Bon Appetit has a somewhat silly article on hot dogs. Six over-the-top hot dog toppings, including "Indian-style" dogs with dal and raita. So what the hell, I made hot dogs with manchego cheese and roasted garlic-red pepper relish. That's right, I bought $14/pound imported Spanish cheese and PUT IT ON HOT DOGS! They were pretty good, but I don't know that I'll be swearing off ketchup mustard 'n' onions as a result. Served with grilled potatoes and corn on the cob.

Of course, this new toy is now referred to as Happy Fun Ball.

Many idiotic and sad stories over the past few weeks. F'rinstance, the notion that Guantanamo prisoners are so super-scary that American prisons can't hold them. Even worse, the murder of Dr. George Tiller. The pro-life side seems permanently under the impression that late-term abortions are simply women deciding at the last minute that they don't feel like having a baby, when in fact it is never, ever that simple. I've linked before to this piece on women who picket the clinic one day, then come in the next--it's apparently too easy to believe in a caricature of what an abortion is all about (particularly a late-term one), rather than try to understand what such women are really going through.

Equally stupid: if only everyone who says "Waterboarding isn't torture!" would try it for themselves.

For NoVA locals, and anyone else interested in modern land development trends: Neddie provides interesting fodder on how Loudon County's past continues to shape its future.

So, the Nats. Yeah, they suck. I went to the ballpark Wednedsay and hung around in the rain for four hours. The most stunning stat I've seen on them is this item on Winning Percentages When Scoring Six or More Runs. The gap between the worst and next-to-worst records is mind-boggling.

Elsewhere in sports, shout-out to FOTF Jason who earned 15 minutes of fame recently with his Vote for Manny blog. And lastly, an enjoyable note on Jon Miller's most memorable games.

Another great article making the rounds: this piece by an American living in Holland. It challenges the right-wing notion that Europe is a tax-heavy, socialist, "less free" place.

I am amused by the furor over Cheerios, which is one of the more egregious examples of Big Food making somewhat dubious health claims.

Lastly, Wednesday was the darkest day for DC sports in a while; Ryan Zimmerman's hitting streak came to an end at 30, then the Caps laid a total egg in their final playoff game. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this earlier item on the Caps' efforts to keep Penguins fans from buying tickets.

Frequent topic of flogging at the FoolBlog: the folly of cutting "wasteful spending" from the federal budget. It's not going to get you very far.

The Yankees learned nothing from the Nationals, apparently, as they totally overpriced their best seats, and have actually cut prices as a result. They're not they only franchise cutting ticket prices, either.

YouTubery: Auto-tune is indeed out of control. Also, enjoy this piece on the mayor of Mississauga, Ontario.

Devoid from the teabaggers' arguments is any talk of what they'd cut to make the budget whole. After all, the government uses tax revenues to fund its programs. That's what taxes are for. When you get down to it, we're talking about defense, social security, and medical programs. You want to have a real discussion about cutting those, fine. But instead we get vapid rants about "taxes" as if feudal lord Scrooge McDuck is taking your money and then bathing in it.

Lastly, it may be shooting fish in a barrel, but these fast food pictures vs. reality photos still amuse me. I'll have a failure pile in a sadness bowl, please.

Not that I can do better, but Nick Johnson had the saddest take-out slide at second base I think I've ever seen. He stopped a good five feet short of the bag. Of course, he may have just been trying to get out of the way of the throw rather than trying to break up the double play. Either that or trying to avoid injury--we are talking about Nick Johnson here.

Also, Hard Times chili nachos + garlic fries for dinner = bad idea.

Friends of the Fool who are theoretically interested in attending a game with me, but always manage to be busy when I have tickets, take note: Thursday, May 21 vs. the Padres, and Wednesday June 3 vs. the Giants. Drop me an e-mail if you're interested, then put it on your damn calendar and plan around it.

Aside from the rebirth at RFK in 2005, and the opening of the new ballpark last year, this was easily the most momentous Opening Day I've been to. (Of course, taking out 2005 and 2008 leaves me with a sample size of two.) Somehow, the club dragging its sorry butt home with an 0-6 record made this opener more gripping than if they'd been 3-3. Are we faced with another year of crap baseball? (Signs point to yes.) This team needed a win.

Then came the pre-game news that Harry Kalas had died in the broadcast booth a couple hours earlier. Harry the K has been doing Phillies broadcasts roughly as long as I've been alive. He and Richie Ashburn WERE the sound of baseball as I was growing up, and now that they're both gone, I feel that a piece of my childhood is gone too. Harry had been in ill health the past couple years, but that doesn't make it any easier. At least he got to call the World Series final out before he went. One side effect: the many Phillies fans in attendance seemed better behaved than usual.

So as always seems to be the case when I go to a Phillies-Nats game, my dual fanhood left me conflicted. Harry's death notwithstanding, however, I was prepared to root root root for the home team this early in the year. So of course I was left disappointed, despite three Nats home runs (including BIG DONKAAAYYY, who is now my favorite National). Three errors sure didn't help, but it was the top of the 7th that really did them in. Saul Rivera only needed three pitches to hit the first two batters he saw, bringing up Ryan Howard. Anyone who pays any degree of attention to the Phillies knows Howard hits right-handers much better than lefties, yet Rivera stayed in there, probably because it happened so quickly Manny didn't have time to get a lefty warmed up. "This does not bode well," I said, and sure enough, BANG titanic home run to left field. Just to make sure, Rivera gave up another homer to Raul Ibañez before closing out the inning. My Phillies half: elated. Nats half: not so much.

And now they are 0-7. They'll win a game eventually, right? RIGHT?!? I'll be back Thursday night, perhaps I can watch them go to 0-9.

I also missed Jack Black's Yo Gabba Gabba episode, but you can see part of it here.

Hard to imagine how one would react to a traumatic event like a plane crash until it actually happens to you. This account of a survivor of the Hudson River landing is quite compelling.

Sports: The New York Mets hate Little Leaguers! Also, Mason's pep band sits in for Bemidji State at the Frozen Four.

I somewhat sympathize with this article on the difficulty of dealing with weird CSA vegetables. Though during our CSA years, I think I did a pretty good job coming up with recipes. I quite enjoy bok choy, thanks.

Sports: blah blah blah Ovechkin goal celebration. Sure hope he doesn't get beaten to a pulp tonight.

Lastly, I may actually check out this Josh Freese record now. If I had an extra 20 grand, I would TOTALLY play miniature golf with Maynard from Tool.