Griffey Jr. joins 600 club

The Kid is in some manly territory now. Ken Griffey Jr. surpassed a high-altitude mark with his 600th home run on Monday in Miami vs. the Florida Marlins.

I saw Griffey play in person only once and was treated to a home run. It was in Milwaukee when he was still with the Seattle Mariners. The ball took off like a meteor down the right field line, banged off the foul pole (which is in fair territory - shouldn't it be called fair pole?) and caromed close to center field. The force of the shot had the pole wobbling for several seconds.

At one time, it was assumed Junior would not only get to 600, but probably 700 and perhaps be the person to top Hank Aaron's career mark. Injuries slowed the former Seattle Mariner and current Cincinnati Red on his quest.

Griffey, 38, has been a class act in baseball ever since stepping on field at the young age of 19. His dad had been a member of the Cincinnati Reds' Big Red Machine of the 1970s, and the younger Griffey grew up around the park.

A durable, acrobatic player earlier in his career, Griffey joined the Reds after 11 years with the Mariners. His first year in Cincinnati, in 2000, Griffey belted 40 home runs. He would hit only 63 more the next four seasons, as injuries took their toll, and Griffey limped into the 500 HR club.

A resurgence put Griffey back on track from 2005-07 as he hit 35, 27, and 30 HR.

Ahead of Griffey on the list are Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714), Willie Mays (660) and Sammy Sosa (609).

The good folks at Major League Baseball have a nice tribute page to Griffey reaching the 600 milestone.

Wet Monday

A line from Samuel Taylor Coleridge seems appropriate for today: "Water, water, everywhere."

The country's midsection is taking a wet sock to the gut over the past several days. Here in Indiana about half the state seems to be flooding (not where I am, thankfully). Some areas haven't seen it this bad in 90 years and rainfall totals exceeded 7 inches in some areas. Add to that toradoes - one which nearly literally wiped the towns of Moscow (Indiana) and possibly St. Paul (Indiana) off the map - and Hoosiers are hurting along with other states.

While people dry out and wonder how they'll recover, here's an interesting story about a man whose house survived Hurricane Katrina.

Good luck graduates

Nothing much to say today: Just a hearty congratulations to all high school graduates. Go out and make the world a better place!

D-Day turns 64

The Allied invasion of Normandy began 64 years ago today.

For most of us in our 40s, our parents or grandparents would have been the closest generation to fight in the war. My mother - who was 41 when I was born - quit high school to work in a factory that manufactured shells.

The Ken Burns series "The War" or the opening sequence of "Saving Private Ryan" is about as "in your face" as war can be without having experienced it. Even then, screen images are a poor substitute for the real thing. Fortunately, though, that's as close as most of us get.

That invasion ultimately helped turn the war in the Allies favor. Other notable battles dot the landscape, but D-Day is the one that gets the attention.

Looking at our current situation in Iraq, it's difficult to tell what the "turning point" reference will be 60 years from now when people review the conflict. Maybe it hasn't happened yet, or maybe it has and we haven't realized it. Military commanders and regular folk in 1944 may not have grasped the impact of D-Day while living in the moment. We can only hope the tide-turning moment is in our favor.

'Swing'-ing into summer

The temperature is up here in the heartland - and it's not just the mercury.

CBS debuted "Swingtown" on Thursday night. The first show was enough to get me hooked to tune in next week. The cast looks like regular folks - good-looking regular folks is what I meant.

If you missed it, the first show went like this: Couple moves into upscale neighborhood, meets new neighbors (who opened the show by having a threesome). Uptight old neighbors drop by and attend a party in their friends' new neighborhood and are shocked at the drugs and sex. Show climaxes (snicker) with the couple and their new neighbors swapping parnters (the actual sex is not shown; it is network TV).

Other developments are the promiscuous daughter (will she and the teacher hook up?); the son and the wierd next-door neighbor girl (not sure what her deal is yet); and the wimpy kid of the uptight parents who got beat up by a girl.

It's set in Winnetka, Ill., an upscale Chicago suburb. The Chicago Tribune had a nice piece about the show's creator. Could be must-see TV for the summer.

Men's only diet

I'm a person whose dedication to health is questionable at best.

My breakfast sometimes consists of a cup of coffee (times 3), and occasionally I'll have a lunchtime dessert - minus the lunch. Exercise is a foreign word (although I need to do something about that.)

But I do read lables more carefully now, trying to cut out the fat where possible. While I used to be a frozen dinner junkie, I'm convinced that a skull and crossbones should appear next to the nutrtional information on some meals.

But 18 months ago, I got tired of the spare tire I carried around my waist. I was by no means obese - 5' 10" and 205 lbs. isn't bad if you're carrying muscle (I was not). But my waistline started approaching my age; I found myself slightly out-of-breath going upstairs in my house; my gut pinched me when I sat.

Then God intervened - or at least I was at His house when it happened. The Lenten season approached and a friend challenged the congregation at my former church to give up soda and coffee for Lent. No way could I give up coffee, but I could probably do without those three to five 32.oz convenience store sodas that I chugged out of habit each week (and who knows how many 12.oz sodas).

My other conscious decision was to cut out late-night eating. In my previous newspaper job, I worked evening hours. I might get home around midnight or 1 a.m. and have a slice of pie, a bowl of ice, half a bag of chips - or sometimes all three.

By the time Lent ended, I was down 20 pounds. Right now my weight fluctuates between 175 and 180, and I'm not tired going up the stairs. Best of all, I feel I have more energy than before.

My wife (and other women I know) were jealous, of course. "Only a man could lose weight that way," they said.

I did no research beforehand, but I later saw a diet book that supported the no-soda theory. I also found a story on CNN that discusses the link between no soda and weight loss.

I have the occasional soda - maybe one per month. I'm probably preserving my teeth a little longer by avoiding all that acid and sugar.

And if this blog disappears soon after this post, you'll know that the Coke or Pepsi mafia got to me. Look for my body somewhere is a shallow grave. Just follow the trail of empty soda cans.

President and President 1A?

The Democratic race is over. Regardless of Hillary Clinton's claims of winning a.) the popular voting, b.) states that matter (which not be any state she lost), or c.) winning states with an even number of consonents in the second half of the alphabet, the simple fact is Barack Obama is the Democratic presidential nominee.

The $64,000 question (or maybe the $20 million question for Hillary) is who will be No. 2 on the ticket? And if it's Hillary, is the No. 2 slot really 1A?

The former first lady brings a ton of positives to the slate: Millions of people voted for her in the primaries. She's got great name recognition. Veep candidates typcially wallow in the mud a little more during the general election season, and nobody is more suited than transplanted Razorback Hillary C.

The negatives? Former President Bill Clinton - the once Democratic savior-turned-albatross - needs to be muzzled or at least sent to a strip club for the next five months. Republicans would open a double-barreled attack on both Obama and Hillary, slinging the mud that would have been reserved for her presidential run. And most pressing is Hillary's controlling nature. How hard will it be for her to tout Obama's position on health care, foreign policy, etc., when she (at least in her mind) believes her ideas are better?

Obama faces a tough choice. Weigh in on the poll at right or toss out your suggestions for Democratic VP choice.

Note: Given the title of this blog, it's worth noting that Obama is 46. A hearty congrats to a fellow 40s member!

Pain in the back - literally

My posture has never been the best. While my knuckles aren't dragging the ground when I walk, my slumped walk may predate the Neanderthals.

One thing that probably doesn't help my posture or my back in general is my habit of crossing my legs at the computer. I read somewhere recently (though I can't find the reference) that this is bad. While I will attempt to adopt better posture - difficult since I've already uncrossed my legs twice while writing this entry - some simple exercises can be helpful as well. And if we can shed a few extra pounds, that's even less pressure on the spine.

I'm not a doctor (nor do I play one on TV), but back pain seems to get a little worse as we age. Knees, too, but that's a topic for another day. If yours is more serious than mild discomfort, the American Spinal Decompression Association has some information on non-surgical ways to help.

Maybe we'd all have been better off if we listened to Mom or our teachers when they said, "Sit up straight." I still have my doubts starving children in third world countries would have wanted to eat cauliflower.

Rules are rules (unless they are not)

Let me see if I've got this straight:

- All the major candidates running for the Democratic contest agree to the rules that Michigan and Florida will not be counted.

- One of the major candidates - after a disorganized campaign blew its built-in advantage of name recognition and a huge lead in the polls - decided that the voters (and, though not said out loud, the delegates) must be counted in those two states.

- Supporters of that major candidate cry foul when the DNC Rules Committee awards half delegates in the disputed states (as opposed to zero, which would have been the case).
According to the Clinton math, Hillary is leading in the popular vote, if you include the disputed states. She's also leading the delegate count in states that begin with letters in the second half of the alphabet and have even numbers of vowels, not to mention her overwhelming lead in the "important" states. If you're keeping track, the important states are those won by Hillary.

It's 3 a.m. The phone rings in the White House. Who's going to answer it? Hillary - because the only time Obama is going to let her within granade-throwing distance of the Oval Office is when he's not in there.

Hillary's not upset that Obama came in and "stole" the nomination. The Illinois senator likely swiped the big prize: The presidency. In her mind, the weak GOP choice - McCain - is very beatable, and an Obama win means she's out of the running for the presidency until 2016.

All of this is moot if Hillary takes her ball and goes home, sabotages the election for Obama, and re-emerges as the person to beat in 2012. Stranger things have happened...

Made it to 40

Well the big day has arrived ... and went. Maybe it's appropriate that my 40th arrived on Hump Day. Now that we're over the hump, we'll see what the next nine years and 364 days bring.

I would have posted on my 40th, but the wife had a mini-surprise get together with a few friends. The drink special - Long Beach (rum, triple sect, gin and a juice base) - went down smoothly. Maybe a little too smoothly. But I was up at the crack of 7:30 a.m. with no side effects - either I didn't drink enough, or my body has built up an immunity to the hangover.

If you are celebrating big and are feeling a little hung the next day, the good folks at About.com have an article with some great tips to get over that hangover.

The posts will be more frequent and have (hopefully) more depth and discussionable items as we go forth. You'll learn more about me, how these 40s work and more fun stuff. Enjoy!