Sweet Annie | City Reliquary Museum | Roman Empire | Ireland vs Wales Rugby Notes | YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
Today’s tune on this sunny Sunday of Stumblin’ Along is Sweet Annie by Zac Brown Band. The song came out in August of ‘13 and reached #47 on the US Billboard Hot 100 while being the #1 Country song played on the radio. (Source: Billboard)
The burning bright here has two meanings. The obvious one would be that Zac Brown has been starring in shows, but the corresponding lines tell a different story. It describes that he’s burnt out by what comes with being one of the best country music bands in the world.
Oddly enough, this song reminds me of my family. Last March 4th ‘23, we went to my grandparents’ house in Westwood. They have a nice cozy music room about the size of a single-car garage filled with tools where my grandpa and uncles will pick up the guitar. Last year they played this song, and my cousin, who’s got a great voice, sang it excellently. He and one of his boys who goes way back to when they were kids will sometimes square off at karaoke bars. This is one of his go-to’s. The Good’s can cover this tune pretty good, just saying.
He promised Annie a lifetime together, but he’s been out on the road so he’s not with her enough. Wow, he’d even be willing to give up drinking, or the country rock star lifestyle. Jeez, it sounds like the boys are down bad, c’mon Sweet Annie, give him a shot!
I guess the song's moral is sorta you can’t have your cake and eat it too. Zac Brown Band is living out their dream and they have to make certain sacrifices that make them lonely. But one day, lightning will strike And my bark will lose its bite is a phenomenal lyric. Love a good doggo reference.
In Verse 3, he’s turning out the bright light from Verse 1. A very romantic scene ensues.
I went with Sweet Annie for today because it feels like a Sunday song and I love it.
Great tune, on to the Stumblin’ Along…
A few Sundays ago, somehow in my drunken stupor, I Stumbled Along to The City Reliquary in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The museum filled with cool New York City history is open on Saturdays and Sundays from Noon to 6 PM. For a $10 visit, you can see a ton of cool relics from The City, this week's Stumblin’ Along on Week to Week Notes features a piece on New York’s World Fair of 1939.
The New York World’s Fair of 1939 took place in Flushing Meadows, Queens, from the Spring of 1939 to the Fall of 1940. The fair's motto was “The World of Tomorrow” as it hosted exhibits by 60 countries, the League of Nations (before the United Nations), 33 states, several federal agencies, and New York City’s flair. The idea behind the World Fair was a way to generate New York City and the United States out of the Great Depression. If you’ve ever been to Disney World, think of the concept of EPCOT.
In 1935, New York men of means such as Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, former chief of police Grover Whalen, New York City Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, and others, devised a plan to get the world together while fetching The City a buck. They needed land in The City’s vicinity and Robert Mosses knew just the place…Queens. At this point, Queens was not yet fully developed compared to the likes of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Da Bronx. As F. Scott Fitzgerald described the Flushing Meadow area in his The Great Gatsby of 1922, “This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.” Mosses’ plan as NYC Parks Commission was to build up the area for the World Fair and then turn it into an attractive place to live afterward. (Source: NYC Department of Records)
All 3 New York baseball teams, the Yanks, Giants, and Dodgers, helped promote the World Fair of 1939 by wearing patches on their sleeves during the 1938 baseball season. The Yankees won the 1938 World Series by sweeping the Cubs. While the 1938 Yanks no longer had the Babe, they were quite alright with a cast of stars such as Bill Dickey, Lou Gerhig, Joe Gordon, Red Ruffing, Lefty Gomez, and this 23-year-old fella who was pretty good named Joe DiMaggio. Sadly, the 1938 season would be the last full season that The Iron Horse would play for the Yanks as by the time of the 1939 World Fair, Gerhig’s health would only allow him to play 8 more games before he had to retire at 36 years old. Despite the start of his worsening health in 1938, Gerhig played every game, hit .295, walked enough to get on base 41% of the time he was at the dish, slugged 29 homers, and drove in 114 runs.
I’m heading to The Tavern at Iron Horse in Westwood for some pints of Guinness with the family. Everything written below was done Friday night and Saturday morning, but here are some of the cool antiques they had on display…
- The Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, which is still around today, created a souvenir for the Glass Center of World Fair. ($48 on eBay)
- One View-Master Reel was a cool toy for kids. It featured the 7 Wonders of the World along with more cool stuff in 3D pictures in full-color Kodak.
- The World Fair had its own customized pocket knife. Very handful, maybe not for kids. Then again they grew up fast in those days.
- A book called Trylongs and Perisites by Oley O’Leahy…It sounds like a made-up author… Somebody much smarter than I am should look into it.
This Week’s Bit on The Roman Empire
This week your quick bit on The Roman Empire brought to you by Week to Week Notes featuring Ancient Rome: The Exhibition in New York is on the Scorpion Ballista.
A ballista is a two-armed torsion catapult or giant crossbow capable of firing bolts and stones with considerable force while being accurate. It's a pretty badass Ancient Rome weapon. They were built in various sizes and often used in sieges.
The Scorpion ballista was a light bolt-shooting ballista that had ultimate precision. This weapon was a bit smaller in size than others of its kind. Scorpions were used to target individual enemy troops or war machines. For it to be shot, only two people were needed to operate. Scorpions were well-known and feared by enemies of the Roman Empire. They could penetrate shields, armor, and defensive fortifications with ease. This form of ballista would eventually give way to the crossbow. Historians believe this weapon was inspired by a small portable dart-throwing ballista that the Greeks invented in 50 BC called the Gastraphetes.
Generally, the Scorpion Ballista had 2 sizes of bolts. A 2-foot bolt (70cm) could travel about 100 meters or 110 yards and up to 400 meters or 438 yards. The larger bolt was about 4-foot (130cm) and traveled at a maximum of around 650 meters or an astounding 710 yards.
How to build your own Scorpion Ballista…
Step #1
What you’re going to want to do is get a 1" x 8" x 6' hardwood board, 1" x 4" x 6' hardwood board, 24 feet para-cord for springs, cheap click pen (for the spring) or make your own, finish nails, and gorilla glue. Then go to your shed which should have a Square, Chisels, Ruler/ Tape measure, Clamps, Drill bits, Box Knife, Round file, Rasp, Coping Saw, Vice, Mallet, and Sandpaper.
Step #2
Okay after you’ve collected all those items. Go Google it on your own, Week to Week Notes can’t afford to be held liable for violence. You’ll shoot your eye out!
Ireland vs Wales Rugby Six Nations ‘24 Notes
Pregame
9:00 AM Saturday 2/24 ‘24
- Decker was very excited to greet me at the door, Jessie peed a bit per usual, and Mac brought me a pillow right off the couch.
- Shane looks more like Maggie than before. Sadly, he still hasn’t asked me to have a catch.
1st Half
- In the opening minutes the Irish free flow of passes gets a bit sloppy with a knock forward.
- Bundee Aki forces a penalty and the Irish get possession back. They take the lead 3-0 on a Jack Crowley penalty right over da bar.
- 7 minutes in and this time Andrew Porter causes another Welsh turnover. The announcer on the tele says, “This is like watching the Harlem Globetrotters” about the Irish wizardry of passing. It's pretty cool that the Harlem Globetrotters are universally known like that.
- Dan Sheehan scores the first Try of the match around the 20-minute mark. Mac, a 2-year-old fully-grown ass American bulldog and pitbull mix is laying on my lap like a laptop so forgive me if the Notes aren’t neat.
- James Lowe scores a Try at the 31st-minute mark. Crowley has been on the money so far Ireland goes up 17-0. Now it’s Decker’s turn to lay claim on my lap as I try to watch the match and take Notes.
- The Irish announcer says, “Ireland has been using their scrums as a penalty-generating machine.” 17 to nothing at the half, the boys in green are dominating.
Halftime
- The Welsh play has put Shane to sleep.
- RTE Irish commercials are more entertaining than the American ones. Cadbury Chocolate and Aer Lingus commercials were well done about the kids.
2nd Half
- Decker is starting to give “walk me” eyes. The Welsh get on the scoreboard as they score a penalty try. 17-7 Ireland, who are now also down a man for 10 minutes.
- Amid a scrum, Andrew Porter throws Gareth Thomas’ shoe toward the Irish bench. The Welsh man finally puts it back on after 15 minutes of playing with one foot in just socks. Good craic.
- Tadhg Beirne, who was the man penalized on the Welsh try, immediately returns from his time in the sin bin to force a huge turnover. Wales was nearly about to score, good on Beirne.
- The Irish drive down the pitch and Bundee Aki looks as if he scored a try, however, it would not stand as the score was taken off the board - there was a knock forward found in the review.
- Former Morgan Stanley intern, Ciaran Frawley scores a try in his first Six Nations start.
- Off the bench, Stuart McCloskey just absolutely laid the hammer down on a Welsh ball carrier. Good clean rugby hit, shoulder with the part. (That’s a Gaelic football term, whoops.)
- Over the loudspeaker, it is announced that Bundee Aki is the Guinness 6 Nations’ Man of the Match.
- To cap off the match, Tadg Beirne gets in on the scoring to give the Irish their 4th try, which means they get a bonus point for the standings.
- Ireland wins 31-7 as the Irish announcer states, “Job done, more to do…” Yes, like give Decker a walk while listening to Sweet Annie.