Summoning Synchronicity
I participated in what turned out to be a controversial experiment ” using one of the world’s most ancient texts, the I Ching or “Book of Changes.”
My Book of Changes
This blog explores my 50-year fascination with the I Ching, the ancient Chinese "Book of Changes". My approach is not to act as a medium to the oracle or scholar of one of the oldest texts in the world. I come to the I Ching as a journalist. Thus, this blog intends to feature original reporting and research - including interviews with scholars and divination experts - into the esoteric world of the Taoist I Ching.
Pittsburgh Bill and The Buccos
Buccos stumble to 'Killa-bruisers' in senior softball semis
My 70-something body, responding to the conflicting voices in my head, glitched and crumpled to the ground by second base, badly scraping a knee.
No Mercy! Buccos humble Dukes in quarterfinals
Was the Dukes manager trying to send a messaage?
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Earth, wind and fire, oh my! Buccos edge Dodgers in elemental battle
“I stood with both feet facing the pitcher, pulled my cap brim down against the sun and just swung and hoped,” Eric said.
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Buccos snatch defeat from jaws of victory
Errors littered the field like leaves after autumn winds. Except not as pretty.
In a game of inches, Buccos edge Yanks by a foot
An All-Star shortstop races home for the tying run in the last inning with another All-Star shortstop trying to throw him out.
Ernie brings the electricity as late Buccos rally jolt the Smoke
Manager Bill Tarrant and other voices in the dugout started chanting “our breakout inning” going into the 6th. Tarrant waved an imaginary pirate sword around (the plastic Halloween one was missing from the dugout), which few of his teammates seemed to notice
Fathers and sons, a baseball heritage in Senior Softball
Fathers and sons bonding over baseball is a tradition as old as the sport itself. Sy and Eric Badener are one of three extraordinary father-son duos in the Los Angeles County Senior Softball League.
Out of Order! Buccos trounce Mudhens despite brain fart
Bucco pitcher Bill Tarrant had left his on-deck position after what he thought was the third out, retreating to the dugout to fetch his glove and pitching mask, only to see with some consternation Raul Aguilar at the plate.
A Rejuvenated David Aguilera walks it off again for Buccos
“For the first time ever, I raised my hands over my head,” said David, a former Cal State Fullerton outfielder who had coached high school sports for decades before his retirement.
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Buccos run down unlucky Stars
Santa Ana winds blasting off the desert, dubbed the "hot breath of Satan" by Spanish missionaries, challenged hitters and pitchers at senior softball league games in the Sepulveda Basin
Bottoms up! Buccos upend Red Sox behind Big Mark
The Red Sox held a fragile 9-8 lead going into the bottom of the 4th in a nip-and-tuck battle “and then boom! You put the pedal to the metal,” Sox manager Ben Franco told me afterward. The lopsided final score was an outlier in the league this season which has seen an unusual number of ties and one-run games.
Parity On! Buccos-Junkies Junkies one of three League games ending in ties. A trend?
The three tie games with less than a quarter of the season played equal the three tie games for all of last season in the LA County Senior Softball League. Five others were one-run games.
High on life after traumatic accident, OF helps Buccos beat Spare Parts in 'vengeance' game
Mike Pivarnick is lucky to be alive, let alone playing softball at an elite level.
Déjà vu: In Championship, Spare Parts Dismantle Buccos 15-6. Again
It's miserable to get butt-kicked in a championship game. Worse than losing miserably is for one to play miserably in the debacle. And worse yet is to miserably manage the game.
‘How I wanted to go.’ Allan Judkowitz hangs up spikes in cancer battle
A fixture in Los Angeles softball leagues for decades, Allan Judkowitz is hanging up the spikes in his six-year battle with pancreatic cancer.
Buccos 'razor sharp' in overcoming injury to skipper and limping to championship game
The game was a nail-biter, early on with defense dominating. But then an odd turn changed everything: while sprinting to second, “Pittsburgh Bill” collapsed in a heap with what appeared to be a season-ending injury.
‘The Russian Bomber’ helps swashbuckling Buccos into semifinals
A rookie manager brings a new team to the summer 2023 season of the LA County Senior Softball League. The scheming and gamesmanship. The last hurrah for the lame and ill. The thrills and spills. Herein is a week-by-week narrative focused on my team called the Buccos, evoking my Pittsburgh roots, and more broadly, looking at probably the most popular adult team sport in America.
Brothers lead Bucco family to win over Dodgers in playoffs
The Aguilar brothers have been playing baseball together all their lives since Little League. The family vibe was a winning formula for the Buccos in the first round of playoffs.
Homeless Man Helps Buccos Conquor the Rockies
He almost didn't make the game after he and his wife were forced to flee their home in the Valley. Then in the first inning he was struck in the mouth by a line drive that glanced off his mitt. Still, Mike Novak had four hits from the bottom of the order and a crazy good shoestring catch in the last inning to help the Buccos trounce the Rockies and finish with a winning record in the summer season of the LA County League.
Close call for Buccos and their third baseman
Greg Waskul, who has a spinal cord injury, was apoplectic after a runner plowed into him at third base. It was a close call for him and the Buccos who lost a nailbiter to the team tied for first place in the LA County League.
No Guts, No Glory
Media personality Doug McIntyre raced long and hard to catch two flyballs, only to have them clank off his glove. The Buccos lost but not because of that.
Senior Buccos stay hot as temperatures rise in Valley
The Buccos, after beating the Hollywood Stars 11-6 with a “phenomenal defense”, were bunched in a virtual three-way tie for fourth place in the 14-team league.
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At midseason, senior Buccos in the thick of it
The midseason managers meeting of the Los Angeles County Senior Softball League features the politics and gamesmanship that often roils amateur sports in America.
Buccos ‘participate’ in draw. Who are we?
Pittsburgh Bill's Bucco team approaches the midseason point with a winning record - barely. But a blowout loss, followed by a blowout win and then an anemic tie has the manager scratching his head about the team's identity. He turns to the I Ching for advice.
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Bunch of Bill
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Korean players give new meaning to K-pop in Pittsburgh
It was the shot heard ‘round Korea.
Ji-wan Bae, a charismatic rookie infielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, hit a stunning walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the 9th inning against the World Series defending champions, the Houston Astros. (Click to open article)
Ji-wan Bae, a charismatic rookie infielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, hit a stunning walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the 9th inning against the World Series defending champions, the Houston Astros. (Click to open article)
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My personal Deejay joins the bot family
I have my own personal deejay, courtesy of Spotify. His name is X. He sounds like Ice T!
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The Enduring Mystery of MH370
I was a news editor for Reuters in Singapore when the story about the disappearance of MH 370 broke nine years ago. And to say it consumed everyone's attention is like saying Godzilla consumed much of Tokyo on an empty stomach. Richard Quest was hyper-venting so robustly on CNN I thought he would spawn his own mini-me. Click on item for full story. (Photo shows the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur)
Tubby, the fat cat
I never considered myself a cat person until Tubby came into my life at the end of 2019. We always had dogs growing up. My family did have a Siamese for a short while in Pittsburgh in the 1960s. She was alien and antisocial, often perching atop the living room curtains, for the view, I guess. She was expelled from the house after leaping into my father's lap while he was sipping coffee. I used to sneer at all those annoying cat videos on social media, digital therapy for the feline fixated.
• Tu
• Tu
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Crazy, Rich and Asian
When the creators of “Crazy Rich Asians” were shopping the film around Hollywood, one prospective producer suggested they cast a white actor for the lead. That didn’t happen and the romantic comedy, based on the best-selling book by Singapore-American Kevin Kwan became the first all-Asian Hollywood studio movie since “The Joy Luck Club” in 1993, a uniquely Chinese-American tale that would have been impossible to cast otherwise. (Click here for the full post)