Thursday, October 21, 2004

"You could look it up."

The Movie: Bull Durham, 1988 (Ron Shelton, screenwriter and director)
Who says it: Susan Sarandon as Annie Savoy, part-time English professor and provider of life wisdom to the Durham Bulls
The context: This is the last line of the movie, after Annie’s just quoted Walt Whitman on the subject of baseball. It’s also a standard line in any conversation about baseball statistics.
How to use it: To back up a statement of fact that you’ve probably just invented.

I love Annie Savoy because she does make stuff up. In the movie's opening monologue, for example, she says that Catholic rosaries have 108 beads, the same number as stitches in a baseball; I have no idea where this number comes from, because traditional rosaries have 59 beads (I had to check; I was thinking it was 60, but it's 59).

This morning Dizzy and I are off to Washington, DC for the weekend. We'll stay with Ashton & Joseph and their two Boston Terriers, Lucy and Milo. Milo got banned from doggie day care for not playing well with others, so we'll see how he does with Dizzy. We're leaving just as Dizzy has come to a truce with Mom's cat, which is too bad.

Of course, that's assuming that Dizzy will agree to leave. I tried to take him to the beach yesterday, but he wouldn't get into the car. I hope he doesn't give me trouble about it today.

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