Baracklyn Cyclones - Phantom Meets Barack Obama

Minor league baseball is great fun - you see good athletes who hope to play in the big leagues some day in a small arena setting. For much less money than the thieving major leagues would charge you.

But its a lot more than that. The minor leagues are fun . The low cost regime allows for the stands to be jam packed with families and young kids. There are loads of activities designed for those kids, and their parents.

And the teams will do anything for the sake of fun. Tonight, the Brooklyn Cyclones, who play their games beneath Coney Island's Parachute Jump, made the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of fun. They re-named their team for one night in honor of the election of Barack Obama. They became the the Baracklyn Cyclones

And the world was amazed when Barack Obama himself arrived at Keyspan Park to throw out the first ball. He made it a point to seek out the Phantom. Here, we shook hands after some extended policy discussions on Iran or one of them countries that begins with an I. It was like Nixon traveling to China, but I'm not sure who the Nixon is in this situation.

Barack Obama was not the only celebrity to attend the Cyclones game tonight. King Henry himself was there, from England or Bensonhurst, or one of them foreign places. Here, he says hello to Angelina, Bobby, and Keri, as we move from left to right.

Tonight's tickets cost $5 each. For that, we all had the best time. They announced Keri's birthday on the PA system, and she so loved that. If you're in the Brooklyn-centric universe, I highly recommend a trip to see the Brooklyn Cyclones

If you're in the US or Canada but not in near Brooklyn, I recommend that you attend a minor league game near you. It's good, it's very good, and I intend to see the Cyclones again this year.

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Baracklyn Cyclone night as reported by Brooklyn Eagle
and
NY Daily News
and
the Staten Island Advance which reports that some Brooklyn fans hated the "gimmick"

Canadian Invasion - Fleet Week, May 2009

( click on image to enlarge )
My nephew Bobby and I went to the Phillies- Yankees game on Saturday, May 23. I went to get him at grandma's house in NJ. We parked the car near Tottenville, Staten Island, and went to traveled to Yankee Stadium by the Staten Island Railway, Staten Island Ferry, and the No. 4 train.

As we passed the Stapleton SIR station, we saw a cluster of navy ships, in for the annual friendly Fleet Week invasion.




On the ferry, we met up with Jordan Payne, from Prince Edward Island, and Renee Blais, and Philippe, both from Quebec, from the Halifax-based HMCS Fredericton, one of those ships off Staten Island.

Gents, hope that you had a good time in the Big Apple. Come again.

Is Verizon FIOS In Bay Ridge Already?

I saw a Verizon truck just now, and I asked the employee ( Rick ) if FIOS was going to be coming to Bay Ridge anytime soon. He said that the lines were already being installed along 71st Street, and that you could expect it to be available in much of the neighborhood by the end of the summer.

This fiber optic technology offers the fastest internet connections available in the US, and, I am told, the best TV images.

Plus, Verizon includes the BBC World 24 News Channel, which neither Time Warner nor the satellite TV companies have chosen to offer. That's a big deal to a news junkie like me.

I love my Directv, but when FIOS comes to 68th Street, I expect to switch.
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More than one year after the construction ended, the incompetent Bloomberg Administration has removed the No Parking signs on Senator St, by Bay Ridge High School. In another city, this could have been done in a week. In Bloomberg's New York, it takes more than a year to execute the removal of a " No Parking " sign.