Cakes For Sale

Matthew sold another cake this weekend. He calls his fledgling business @WorthlessCakesXOXO evidently because there are similarly named cake businesses. Need a cake? Hit him up. He charges $35.00 for plain cakes, and $45.00 for fancier cakes, like this strawberry cake above.

Where I work: southern border of Duluth. Northern border of Norcross. Northeastern border of Peachtree Corners. Eastern border of Berkeley Lake.

Where I live: western border of Roswell. Eastern border of Marietta. Not far from the northern border of Sandy Springs.

Today the Nationals sent out minor league prospect Darren Baker to exchange lineup cards with the Astros manager - his father Dusty. Darren is no stranger to meetings at home plate. As a child he famously ran out to retrieve a bat too early, ad was rescued from harm by JT Snow (below). Several on social media noticed Dusty's colorful Hoka sneakers (above).

So far I've worn nine different sneakers to the gym. Still to wear on weightlifting days: (1) Puma hightops, (2) Stan Smiths, (3) red Puma suedes, (4) grey adidas, (5) black adidas, (6) teal Sauconys, (7) silver Reebok Zigs, (8) orange KD7's, (9) Nike All-Turfs, and (10) the Vans UltraRange sneakers I just picked up. Lots of black Vans out there, but I have enough black sneakers already. These UltraRanges are even marketed as spikeless golf shoes. 

LEFTY GROVE  [SABR Bio] was the only pitcher to win 300 games between the two World Wars. All of Grove's wins came between 1925 & 1941. He was the first pitcher to lead the American League in walks and strikeouts in the same season. In 1925, Grove's rookie season, he led the majors in walks with 131 and led the AL in Ks with 116. Grove won more league ERA titles than anyone else. He won nine ERA titles in the AL between 1926 & 1939, leading the majors one.

Many forget that Pete Maravich was named to both the NBA 50th anniversary team, as well as this year's 75th anniversary team. Cool photo of the Pistol rocking Pro Keds. I wore the same pair back in the day.

Rare early photo of Maravich playing a preseason game his rookie year, before the Hawks donned new uniforms, and Pete changed his number to 44 - his scoring average in college.

I've decided to cut back on Denison's Ukraine discourse - after one more quite interesting interpretation involving the church. 

DENISON: we discussed an article by cultural commentator David French on the threat posed by Russian "tactical nuclear weapons." Now we'll turn to another article by French, this one published a day later. He refers to research by former NSA analyst John Schindler describing an ideological "fusion" between the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and the FSB, Russia's intelligence service. Putin does not seek Russian greatness only out of a sense of secular national chauvinism, but also out of religious mission rooted in the ROC. The head of the ROC considers the "main threat" to Russia to be "the loss of faith" in Western Christianity. ROC spokesmen constantly denounce feminism and LGBTQ activism as Satanic creations of the West that aim to destroy faith, family, and the nation.

The ROC believes it has a "spiritual security" mission to defend Russia from Western spiritual influences, in partnership with Moscow's intelligence agencies. French cites Giles Fraser's article: "Putin regards his spiritual destiny as the rebuilding of Christendom, based in Moscow." TASS quotes ROC Archbishop Kirill: "For us Kiev is what Jerusalem is for many. Russian Orthodoxy began there, so we can not abandon this historical and spiritual relationship." In AD 324, the Roman Emperor Constantine declared the city of Constantinople the new capital of the Roman Empire, calling it the "New Rome." When Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 many in Russia began claiming that Moscow became the "third Rome" and the spiritual heir of Jerusalem. French concludes: "Putin has fused Russian identity with the ROC, sees his nation and his church as a bulwark against western decadence, and is now attempting to seize his church's 'Jerusalem'.

Joe Carter noted in First Things that during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was purportedly asked if God was on his side. He replied, "Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side. My greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right."