Early Wednesday This and That

Earlier this evening, I read a bit of Gretchen Rubin's Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill. For anyone who has never read anything about the British leader (or for those who have read a lot about him), this book provides you with a variety of prisms through which you can glimpse him and his significance.

Basically, Rubin has looked at virtually every book written by or about Churchill. She gives forty separate chapters which present the events of his life from widely disparate perspectives.

Was Churchill a military genius or a muddling amateur?

Was he a Victorian imperialist or a wise diplomat?

Was he a great writer or a self-indulgent hobbyist-historian?

Rubin is a good writer. At present, she's working on a similar treatment of John Kennedy. It should be interesting.

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After the New York Yankees jumped to an 8 to nothing lead over the Boston Red Sox in the first game of the American League Championship Series on Tuesday night, things changed. The Red Sox, owners of the most potent offensive line-up in the AL, roared back at their rivals. The Yankees held on for the win.

Unlike many sports nuts, I wasn't looking forward to a series between these two Eastern Division teams. They hate each other and there is so much bad blood, fights seem likely to happen. I for one, don't think that fighting is good for a sport. It certainly doesn't make NHL hockey compelling, as ratings and gate receipts attest.

But these are two good teams. My humble prediction: Boston wins in the AL and will face Saint Louis from the National League in the World Series. I think that the Cardinals will win it all. (Note: I could very well be wrong. It happens all the time...just ask my wife.)

More posts on more subjects later, the good Lord willing...