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Bread and Puppet celebrates half a century
by Natalie Hormilla
GLOVER — "The assessment is more important for the participants than for me."
This is what Peter Schumann answers when asked what he thinks of Bread and Puppet Theater turning half a century old this summer.
Mr. Schumann has been the artistic director, or whatever you want to call him, of the theater since he founded it in New York City in 1963.
Bread and Puppet is often referred to as political theater. The company, comprised of a small cast of core employees who are complemented by a large set of mostly seasonal volunteers, puts on shows with strong, political themes, usually in protest of capitalism, corporatism, and imperialism. These shows, which Bread and Puppet refers to as "the circus," happen here in Glover every Sunday for a couple months in summer. After each performance, audience members are treated to homemade bread, baked by Mr. Schumann himself.
Bread and Puppet also hosts a variety of other events at the Bread and Puppet farm — sometimes talks, sometimes shape-note sings, sometimes art exhibits — but it's the Sunday circuses for which they're best known.
Local people, even if they've never been to the circus, will recognize Bread and Puppet's trademark larger-than-life, papier-mâché puppets, some worn by people on stilts, which appear regularly in community parades. The company also tours around the world, appearing at events like festivals and rock concerts.
The Bread and Puppet Museum, housed in an old barn on the company's farm, has long been a site frequented by visitors and natives of the Northeast Kingdom. The museum displays many of the old puppets from shows past, and has a small area where Bread and Puppet's trademark posters, prints, and calendars may be purchased.
Bread and Puppet has been based here in Glover for most of its existence, but an eye to the whole world has informed its performances since the very beginning.
Mr. Schumann said he chooses the Bread and Puppet show themes using "things we're totally upset by. We don't choose them, they choose us."
He says he focuses on issues for which there are no other outlets.
"You meet people who are so frustrated with the state of the world," he said. "But there's no outlet for them."
He says the circus themes are the "result of the stupid New York Times, or whatever, these miserable news organs. What they don't print, or talk about, is what we do, or what they only mention — things that need more mentioning."
For an example, Mr. Schumann points to an edition of the New York Times from this past April. He says that the front page read something like, "Boston bomb outrage," and that a story about the destruction of an Afghan village by U.S. drones was buried on page 35. He said the village was seen as just "collateral damage."
Bread and Puppet circuses often refer to many different world incidents — the performance on July 28 paid respect to Operation Enduring Freedom, including the number of people killed, and a solo dance for Trayvon Martin, involving a black flag. Those acts were part of the "Total This and That Circus, Part One: This, Part Two: That," which is the theme for Bread and Puppet's fiftieth year.
"People come for obscure reasons, not the normal theater reasons, getting your money's worth of giggles and tears. We don't provide that. We don't feel obliged," Mr. Schumann said.
"It's bread and puppet, and we mean that. The puppetry is to create the situation to share the bread, because without that you couldn't persuade them, in a capitalist country, to come and eat bread. They'd be too skeptical.
"What we're trying to sell is zero value," he said, in reference to the free bread. "And that's hard to sell, so we must make puppetry. It's a trick."
A bit of history
"The bread came before the theater," said Elka Schumann, in an interview on the Bread and Puppet farm.
Ms. Schumann has been married to Mr. Schumann a long time, and is deeply involved in Bread and Puppet, and particularly in its music.
"Peter is the founder, the artist, and the director," she said. "I gave support and criticism, I've nagged, and done all those things wives are famous for."
Ms. Schumann said the famous Bread and Puppet bread is a Schumann family recipe.
"Peter learned it from his mom, sourdough rye. She baked it for the family until her death at over 100."
She said the original recipe is pure rye, sourdough, salt and water. The original, all-rye bread used to be served to members of the circus audience. "But Peter kept noticing bread in the garbage with one bite taken out."
So he created a recipe that is half rye berries and half whole-wheat flour.
"It's more generally liked," she said.
She said the rye berries are still ground by hand on the farm, using a mill from England.
The bread is baked in ovens built in a Quebecois style, with clay splashed on bent branches. "Sort of like a loosely woven basket," she said. "It's just a really simple, great place to bake over 100 loaves at a time."
She said that Mr. Schumann bakes bread about four times per week in the summer. The bread is served at the circuses, but it's also sold at some locations, and it is devoured by the puppeteers at the farm.
The Bread and Puppet bread is always served with aioli, which they started doing after encountering it while on tour in southern France. Ms. Schumann said the aioli is just mashed garlic with oil dribbled in.
But long before aioli and hundreds of loaves of bread at a time, came the puppet shows in New York City.
Mr. and Ms. Schumann lived in the Lower East Side in the early 1960s. They had a loft on Delancey Street, within walking distance of their home, and it was there that Mr. Schumann began his puppet career.
Ms. Schumann said that Mr. Schumann had dreamed up a new sort of dance as a high school student in his native Germany. The dance would include ordinary gestures, like walking and then stopping, done by a group of people all very focused on what they were doing.
"There was no interest in this in Germany, in the '50s, in something so strange," she said.
But then they came to New York.
"In New York City he met this whole world of avant-garde artists," Ms. Schumann said. "Then he went to a puppet festival of the Puppeteers of America, who had a very orthodox style. But there was a group there from Sicily with marionettes with simple technology, which Peter liked. Their plays were retellings of the Crusades. It put puppetry in a totally different light."
That was 1961.
Mr. Schumann would put on puppet shows for kids in his Delancey Street loft. Before long, he moved on to bigger puppets.
"And then right away he made huge masks, and had the puppeteers inside the whole figures, and then later they got so big they needed two people — one person manipulating and one inside," Ms. Schumann said.
"In the U.S., in the early '60s, there was a real openness in the air to strange kinds of theater," Ms. Schumann said. "There was an audience for those things."
"There were immediately volunteers who wanted to express political feelings, who wanted to do more than attend meetings and hold a sign."
Bread and Puppet became known for protest against the Vietnam War. Their first tour abroad was for the piece, "Fire," which was about three Americans who set themselves on fire in protest to the war. Bread and Puppet performed the piece in their loft and in a New York City church.
"A French talent scout saw it and invited Bread and Puppet to Nancy, France, in 1968, for a big festival," Ms. Schumann said.
"We were somehow riding this wave of protest, anti-war feelings, general turmoil of society. Things were moving away from talking head monologue in theater, to spectacle and audience participation."
Bread and Puppet's big puppets were a hit, and the company was invited to many big festivals from there. Ms. Schumann said that they traveled to Europe several times per year over the next decade to perform.
In the early '70s, Goddard College in Plainfield invited Bread and Puppet to be the school's theater in residence. The Schumanns stayed at a nearby farm, the Cate Farm, during the four-year appointment.
The invitation was a welcome one. The Schumanns had been living in New York City with their five children, and had been longing for the countryside.
"It felt so good to have a home in the country, and to have gardens," Ms. Schumann said.
Bread and Puppet's stop at Goddard was an important one. It was there, in 1974, that they performed the first of their annual "Our Domestic Resurrection Circus."
"That was the prototype," Ms. Schumann said.
Different versions of that circus would be performed from then on, every summer, until 1998.
But the circus would not live on in Plainfield. "We were there until the college politely implied that this was temporary faculty housing," Ms. Schumann said. They paid no rent and made no salary, "but had a beautiful facility," she said.
As luck would have it, Ms. Schumann's parents had recently bought the old Dopp farm in Glover. Restoration of old buildings turned out to be more than they bargained for, so they let their daughter and son-in-law move onto the farm with their family. It was there that the circus, which became a major two-day event, would continue.
The Domestic Resurrection circus was the result of two to four months of work each summer, Ms. Schumann said. The circuses were performed by the core company and many volunteers, sometimes off the street.
The Glover farm had a ready-made amphitheater in which the circuses were, and still are, performed. The space was originally a gravel pit.
"Scores of trucks would take gravel away, and it went to I-91," Ms. Schumann said. "It was supposed to be filled back in, but Peter said, 'don't touch a thing!' It was perfect for the circuses."
The first circus in Glover was in 1975, the same year the Bread and Puppet Museum opened.
Over the years, the Bread and Puppet circus, held in late August, would become a major attraction for people from all over the world.
The circus
The annual Our Domestic Resurrection Circus was something like an allegorical play dealing with good versus evil, involving giant papier-mâché puppets, stilts, and a big brass band.
It was a show where you would see Governor Madeline Kunin in the crowd, or Congressman Bernie Sanders in the performance itself, on election years.
The circus was a weekend event which drew crowds of tens of thousands to a town in which fewer than one thousand people resided.
This meant many cars, and many tents, stationed near the Bread and Puppet farm, located off Route 122.
A Chronicle article from August 17, 1983, reads that the circus "left a line of parked cars that stretched 11 miles along routes 122 and 16 in Glover, and filled several hayfields and gravel pits that were pressed into weekend service as parking lots. Because the circus is free, nobody knows how many people came. But Deputy Sheriff Ray Young of Glover measured the miles of cars, made some calculations, and estimated crowds of 15,000 on both Saturday and Sunday."
By 1998, the crowd estimate reached 30,000.
The people brought with them traffic, but they also brought business.
"Oh mister, talk about busy," said Jimmy Currier, who owns Currier's Quality Market on Route 16 in Glover, a short distance down the road from Bread and Puppet.
"That was the busiest day of the year, when the old circuses were on for a weekend, years ago. It was unreal.
"If a show was out, and you came into Currier's, all you could see was heads," he said. "And on the street there were so many people."
He said that Currier's would get a tractor-trailer of just ice for the show goers, along with plenty of beer, wine, fruit, and produce for salads.
"They weren't the bologna type."
"If I remember, the juice section would get wiped out, tons of water, cases of water. Sold it all. We would have somebody pumping gas," he said.
"The Busy Bee, the little diner across the street, Edna Chamberlain ran it, and she was right out straight," he said. "Course you got to remember there were a lot of food booths, but Edna was very busy."
Mr. Currier said that he liked the excitement the circus brought. Not everyone in town shared this sentiment.
"I do know there were some people in town that did not like it. I could hear grumbling," he said. "I never discussed it with anybody, but I could hear grumbling. Some did not like it. Flat out right."
Mr. Currier said he never had any issues in the store, even with so many strangers around.
"The Bread and Puppet people were really docile," he said. "Always courteous, never wise."
"I don't really think there was ever any trouble, ever, until the wrong people started coming," he said.
"It was always a very family-oriented environment, and even to the end, the environment on the farm itself was very family friendly," said Randy Williams, an EMT who was captain of the Glover Ambulance Squad when the big circuses were still around. "But the campgrounds did take on a life of their own."
"All the fields surrounding Bread and Puppet were camping areas," Mr. Williams said. "Even the gravel pit, Thompson's gravel pit, back behind Bread and Puppet, that was a big parking area."
Mr. Williams helped treat many people for a variety of issues during the circus weekends.
"We were getting like ten ambulance calls a day, which for us was overwhelming, and in fact we'd have to call in Barton ambulance to take some of the calls," he said. "We only had one ambulance, and we were being run ragged, because it was 24/7 with all the campers."
Eventually, the Glover Ambulance Squad set up a tent right in the Bread and Puppet field.
"Over a period of several years, this tent escalated in size, and we eventually put up an old army tent that was, I believe, 30 by 50 or something like that," he said. "It really for all intents and purposes was a MASH unit tent."
"And we got a lot of visits. Over the weekend, we would treat over 100 people," he said. "I mean most of it was just real benign stuff, like heat problems."
Mr. Williams even went around to all the campground areas and lined up landing zones for the Dartmouth-Hitchcock helicopter, in the event of a major emergency, like a big fire.
"We never had to use that service, but it just illustrates how elaborate our setup was."
Over the years, the number of people who showed up just to party grew. Some people would need to be treated for drinking too much, or overdosing on drugs.
"We had people that had never done LSD before, and somebody gave them some down at the campground and they came wandering up to the field and had no earthly idea where they were, and they got freaked out because they didn't understand what was happening to their body and their mind," he said. "We'd take them to the tent, let them lay down for a couple hours, and generally they'd be fine."
"Part of the reason that that evolved, we understand from talking to people that were doing this, was they saw Bread and Puppet as a fun thing to do between say a Phish concert in Boston and a Grateful Dead concert in Montreal. They would stop over for the weekend and party at Bread and Puppet, and many of them never even went up to see what Bread and Puppet was. They just paid their money and camped and partied, and they ended up dancing in the fires, and eating the local mushrooms which caused some major health issues, so it was a whole other scene when all that started to happen."
Mr. Williams said he had several patients who gave that explanation when asked why they were at Bread and Puppet.
"Peter had been concerned about it for years, that the traffic was bad, dogs were an issue, there were all kinds of things that started to progress," said Betsy Day, who is also an EMT who worked at the Bread and Puppet circuses. "And every year they tried to solve it in a different way, and every year the crowd got bigger."
The final weekend-long Our Domestic Resurrection Circus was held in 1998. That year, a man named Michael Sarazin died after having been punched in the head at one of the nearby campgrounds.
Some people blamed alcohol and drugs, some people blamed Phish, some people blamed bad luck, but one thing was for sure — it spelled the end of the major circus.
In an announcement in the Chronicle on August 19, 1998, Mr. Schumann said that Mr. Sarazin's death "makes the continuation of the event impossible."
Bread and Puppet would continue to give smaller shows throughout the ensuing summers.
"I've always thought very highly of Peter for calling it, because of that," said Mr. Williams. "Because you had to remember that the one weekend circus pageant was their major fund-raiser for the year. But it was obviously, philosophically, the right thing to do."
Mr. Williams also pointed out that many other people benefited financially from the circuses.
"It was a huge financial weekend for Jim Currier, the Busy Bee, and every business within a 20-mile radius probably," he said. "There were no places to stay other than the campgrounds, with what meager pickings there are here for lodging, but the farmers certainly made tons of money, and so when it went away of course that depleted that source of income as well."
"There were of course factions of people that were disgruntled about the whole thing, but there was no denying that it was an economic boon to the community," he said.
He also said the Glover fire department would make thousands of dollars each year through a roadside coin drop.
Mr. Williams said the Bread and Puppet circuses gave the members of the ambulance squad valuable experience.
"You got a volume of varied calls, and you had to use your training to deal with it, and we did a great job doing that," he said.
"It gave us, us on the ambulance squad, a lot of experience that we would not have had, and therefore a real sense of pride that we were able to get it done."
Bread and Puppet in the world
"The theater has given so much to the community," said Linda Wells, who has retired after 28 years as librarian of the Craftsbury Public Library.
She said Bread and Puppet helped when the library needed a new building. "Bread and Puppet did a big show in the high school gym, and all the proceeds went to building the Craftsbury library, which was very kind."
She said that Bread and Puppet works with Upward Bound, a college-preparatory program for kids who will be the first in their families to attend a university.
Bread and Puppet also performs for people in Independence Day parades, at Old Home days, and at libraries and nursing homes.
"The tradition of summer parades are a great chance to bring these puppets to people who wouldn't dream of coming to shows or the museum," Ms. Schumann said. "It's a way to bring theater to the community."
Ms. Wells also said that Bread and Puppet helps teach people how to be heard.
"When there's an issue we care about, or is disturbing to us, they will come and help us with parading and protest," she said. "They've taught us a lot about how to speak out. That can be very hard in a small community, to find a voice for that."
Ms. Wells has been involved with Bread and Puppet since 1977, "before the circuses were even big."
She used to perform in the big weekend circuses.
"It was fabulous. A little — what's the word? — nerve-wracking, in front of that many people, to get your cues right. You'd sleep for about two weeks after. It was intense."
Ms. Wells said that both her children were inspired to become musicians thanks to Bread and Puppet. "No question about it."
Her son played violin for a long time after seeing someone in Bread and Puppet with one; he's since moved on to guitar. Her daughter plays cello in a band called Anodyne Gearhart, based in Portland, Oregon. Her kids were involved with the Bread and Puppet Theater right until college.
"It's had a huge influence on us, in all aspects, and each one of us has been influenced strongly by the theater, in a good way."
She said her family has made friendships from all over the world through the theater.
"We started coming here because we felt very akin to what the stories were about, and things going on in the world."
Amy Trompetter of Rosendale, New York, has been involved with Bread and Puppet since 1968. She grew up in Ohio, attended Berkeley, and found Bread and Puppet in New York.
"It was exactly what I was looking for," she said.
She has a theater company in Rosendale called Redwing Blackbird which is "heavily influenced by building giant puppets, backdrops, and activism."
Ms. Trompetter said that Bread and Puppet is "a model for living outside the compromises of work life in the U.S. The corporate model is dominant. People spend their lives doing something they don't want to do. Bread and Puppet says it's possible to have integrity in what you do. To live simply, without needing."
Ms. Trompetter is one of the many puppeteers who arrange their lives to be able to live in Glover for the summer to perform with the theater.
"It's like my tribe," she said. "When I'm in Rosendale, I'm convincing people that what we're doing is effective and working. But when I'm here, we're all on the same track."
"The wish to live differently is embodied in doing the theater," she said. "It gives us spirit and happiness, which is the kind of life we're wanting."
The Bread and Puppet farm teems with activity in summer. Drop by on a random weekday, and you'll find a group of maybe 20 people singing shape-note songs beneath the shade of a tree. Some are out back behind the shed, painting signs or sculpting papier-mâché. Some are inside preparing the lunch that everyone will share at noon. Some are out in the print shop painting the iris and rose prints that adorn the houses of many, whether they've been to a Bread and Puppet show or not. Mr. Schumann can be found in the thick of it, working on a giant mask, and later, doling out bread to his volunteers.
Everybody is doing something, working on the same thing in different ways. And yet the energy is calm. There is no need to give orders. The schedule is scratched onto a chalkboard that sits near the lunch hut. The different hours of the day list tasks like "paper mache," "turkeys," "stilt rehearsal," and "outhouse gallery walk."
Ms. Schumann said that some people refer to the farm as "a bubble."
"We've been so enormously lucky to find this place and also the people who give creatively and who organize, which is very important," she said. "The days are so full."
Bread and Puppet has few year-round employees. The rest are either volunteers or seasonal employees, many of whom travel from all over the world to work in Glover for the summer.
Katherine Nook, a Utah native, is a Bread and Puppet staff member and lives on the Glover farm year-round. She is the resident puppeteer, which means she does everything from performing on tour to feeding the pigs on the farm in the morning.
She also helps organize the team of summer interns who descend upon Glover every summer. She said they get more and more letters every year from people from all over the world who want to be an intern at Bread and Puppet.
"One hundred and six people wrote letters to be interns this year. There were only 35 spots, though," she said.
Ms. Schumann said that, in summer, there are 40 to 60 people living on the Bread and Puppet farm for a couple months. They mostly stay in tents and defunct touring buses.
"They come for two months," she said. "They learn to do it all — print, wash dishes, mow the lawn, rehearse. We encourage people to do their own little shows before the big circus."
Ms. Schumann said that many people who have traveled to Glover to work with the theater have bought land in the area to live permanently.
Linda Elbow of West Glover, who is a native of New Jersey, began working with Bread and Puppet in the '70s. At the time, she was working in theater costuming at Goddard.
"When Bread and Puppet was based at Cate Farm, they would come into that theater to perform before going out on the road, and so I was spying on them," she said. "And I was also very interested in what Peter was talking about, like scale, depth, and sound. But I was totally terrified of getting to know those people, because they were like wild European hippies in my mind. But I just got to know them better, and I decided they weren't so wild after all."
These days, she's the business manager for the theater, which means she handles the money and books the shows on tour.
Bread and Puppet is one of the oldest nonprofit theaters in the country. It does not seek out grants of any type, which Ms. Elbow said is important.
"We just want to be free," she said. "We don't want to have any restrictions on what we're doing."
Ms. Elbow acknowledged that some Bread and Puppet performances most likely happen because of grant funding, which is sometimes from the government.
"When we perform at a local school here in Vermont, chances are they got their funding from a state council through the government, and that probably happens when we go to colleges, too," she said. "But we do not apply for these things directly at all."
Ms. Elbow said that a mix of donations, payments for touring shows, and sales from the print shop, along with countless volunteer hours, are what make it possible for Bread and Puppet to function.
"We do get donations throughout the year," she said. "Anything from $10 to like a $1,000. One family gives $10,000 each year. That helps."
"We try to be very low budget," she said. The paid puppeteers make very modest salaries, she said, and the theater company provides them with room and board.
Bread and Puppet also asks to be both housed and fed when invited on tour.
"We usually stay in local homes. I can remember sleeping on a church floor one time when I was touring with the company."
A single afternoon on the Bread and Puppet farm revealed several ways in which the company pinches pennies.
Mr. Schumann said that, not counting paint, Bread and Puppet has only spent about $30 on its papier-mâché supplies over the last 35 years.
The company has been using the same batch of cornstarch — "either a half a ton, or a ton," he couldn't remember — in its papier-mâché puppets for over 35 years, after buying a big load in the late '70s.
"It was a nice deal," Mr. Schumann said. "We share it with the mice."
He also said most of the cardboard used for papier-mâché is from a load of scraps he received in the late '70s from a friend who worked at a cardboard factory. Bread and Puppet continues to add to that supply, picking up cardboard from furniture and appliance stores for free.
"That's our religion — 'cheapicity,' it's called. I don't know which Gods," he said. "Dozens, probably."
Mr. Schumann acknowledged that volunteer work is a major force at Bread and Puppet.
"We can't afford to hire," he said.
Providing entertainment to everyone, even if they don't have any money, is a focus of the theater.
"We performed in a park in downtown Richmond, Virginia, and most of the audience lived in the park, homeless on benches," said Noah Harrell, who works with Bread and Puppet in summer. "And they went there for the bread, and they saw the show.
"They would stick around afterwards and eat bread and mingle with the other people who didn't live in the park," he said. "When would those two people spend time together? And share bread together?"
Mr. Harrell said that Bread and Puppet tours all over the world in a variety of venues. He said the theater did a show in Tuscany, Italy, last month, where Bread and Puppet was the highlight performer of a big festival. But the theater has also worked in Palestine, and in Haiti after the massive earthquake in 2010.
"Usually when we tour abroad it's organizations that have enough money to bring us. Unfortunately, that's the reality of it," he said. "Often the groups that would benefit most from the Bread and Puppet style of performance aren't necessarily the ones that could afford to bring us, so there are a lot of festivals, puppetry festivals, performance festivals, music festivals."
When he's not in Glover, Mr. Harrell runs a small theater company of his own in his native North Carolina called the Rural Academy Theater. He said Rural Academy provides horse-drawn theater that tours mostly in the southeast.
Mr. Harrell studied theater and has a master's degree in directing.
"I often say that to join Bread and Puppet, I had to unlearn that training," he said.
He said his time at Bread and Puppet has informed his company's work.
"It's hard not to see the influence," he said. "I've learned at Bread and Puppet not to make things too carefully, and that's not a criticism of Bread and Puppet at all. One of the strengths of Bread and Puppet is leaving something for the audience to do, not finishing a visual piece completely, giving a hint at something and letting the audience participate.
"It's not a polar opposite to traditional, Western theater," he said, of the Bread and Puppet style. "But there's a lot more emphasis on the group, and the strength of a group of performers, as opposed to individual performers."
He said it can sometimes be difficult for an actor to let go of the ego of being the solo performer, "but the effect can be powerful."
Bread and Puppet's work is well known in the arts world. The theater has received numerous awards, including the Obie Lifetime Achievement Award, in 1984, which is given by the New York City newspaper The Village Voice, for off-Broadway productions. That year Mr. Schumann also accepted the Erasmus Prize, a major arts award in Europe. Other past Erasmus winners include Charlie Chaplin, Ingmar Bergman, and Peter Sellars.
"Bread and Puppet has been around for 50 years, so the name is familiar enough and the style has become familiar enough to a lot of people that that reputation alone can sometimes be what brings us on tour," Mr. Harrell said. "But at the same time, in the U.S., even in New England, people have never seen us before, and that's exciting. Bread and Puppet isn't mainstream. There's a big following and a big family, but it's still somewhat under the radar."
"Some people come for the theater and get the bread, some people come for the bread and get the theater, and the message is somewhere in the middle in there," he said.
The future
Mr. Schumann will turn 80 years old next year. When asked if he envisions a future for Bread and Puppet beyond his own life, he surprised this reporter by giving a direct answer.
"We're talking about that a lot, naturally," he said. "It's complicated — the farm, the agriculture, the living situation, the print shop, the storage, which has way more than the museum."
"Some of Bread and Puppet is continuable, and some not," he said. "It's a problem. I have no answer for this."
As a member of the core company, Ms. Elbow has been working on the issue some.
"About five years ago, we created a new board, to talk about what's going to happen when Peter's not here," she said. "Do we want to tour? Perform here? Do we want to forget about it? No major decisions have been made."
Ms. Elbow said that Mr. Schumann is the company's artistic director. "And that's the only director we have.
"He thinks up these ideas. Sometimes he even comes down to us with a script or with a good outline of ideas. Other times he has vaguer ideas, like 'go out to the shed, find some stuff, start having some conversations, and tell me what you got,'" she said.
"Sometimes we're successful, sometimes we're not. Sometimes the best ideas have come up when we've broken for lunch. Sometimes it comes from fooling around and Peter says, 'yes, yes, that's a good idea,' so it depends on the resident company and all the interns we have."
She said that though Bread and Puppet's cast of workers all collaborate on the shows, Mr. Schumann is, ultimately, the decision maker.
"I've always thought of him as the big eyes and ears," she said.
For now, Mr. Schumann has ideas on how the circus should proceed. This year marks the beginning of a return to the old style, of just one complete show.
In years past, the Sunday shows have been divided into two parts: the circus, which takes place in the field, which is followed by a short break, then the pageant portion of the show, which happens uphill. Then comes the bread.
"It was too comfortable," Mr. Schumann said, of the two-part shows. "Now we make it so you have to come uphill to see the rest of it."
Mr. Schumann called this new form, which is really the old form, "a landscape piece."
He said it's "something that is an attempt to create what Greeks did, Chinese, Balinese, to make a total, complete whole, or an incomplete thing — a giant, arrogant idea. We're still chasing it, we're not done."
Bread and Puppet's Total This and That Circus will continue every Sunday, starting with smaller, side shows at 2 p.m., through August 25.
contact Natalie Hormilla at [email protected]
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From the outside, The Hummus (18090 Collins Ave, Sunny Isles Beach, FL; 305.974.0031) looks like it might be just another of the trendy hummus houses that have popped up all over NY in the past few years (my favorite being Hummus Place in my old 'hood). With a sign above the door that says "Fresh Hummus, Healthy Proteins" and the emphasis is on the nutritional value of the chickpea, this newly opened niche player is aimed at a vegetarian and health-conscious clientele.
Walk in, and there is a bright friendly Miami vibe and a distinctive Israeli feel. The color scheme is apple green (or, what I personally call Kate Spade green) from the walls to the chairs. The A/C is on, but the door is open to let in the breeze just a block off the Atlantic in this strip mall (location might not be ideal, especially being perpendicular to Collins, but that's kind of par for the course here in Sunny Isles, and this aint South Beach). And of course there's a bar with high stools, wifi, and a laptop browsing Ynet (English version here).
I wasn't sure what to order and stared at the menu in English and Hebrew on the wall for a few minutes, finally querying, "hummus shakshuka?" at this combination of familiar favorites. Alon, who I would soon learn is the owner-chef, said that it is their specialty and to the best of his knowledge, he is the first person to put these two dishes together. That was enough to convince me to try it along with some lemonana (lemonade with nana, fresh mint).
I felt perfectly comfortable walking in, dropping down my backpack, and plugging in my computer. Before I was even able to log on to the free wifi, setting up to do a little work out of the beating-down sun, Yael the waitress, set down several small dishes: pickles and marinated olives with lemon rind, radishes and onions, and seasoned toasted pita. Admittedly, I mainly nibbled on the pickles and olives.
When my steaming hummus shakshuka was ready, Yael looked at my table already scattered with my papers and laptop and said, "Eh, there's no place for your food," and I promptly moved my bags over and pushed my computer to the edge. She serves everything up with a sweet but no-nonsense, "B'seder?" — Is everything OK? — and the patrons nod, already too engrossed in their food to mutter much more than a grunt and a simple non-verbal cue and a smile.
I started by dipping the fresh pita, crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside, into the center of the plate, scooping up some slightly runny egg bathed in a spicy tomato and pepper sauce. A great shakshuka reminiscent of what I've eaten in Tel Aviv. Eventually I made my way towards the outside to hummus, mixing it with a bit of the sauce, another good combo, essentially a fresh, warm, dense hummus with matbucha. I couldn't finish everything on my plate, and brought home nearly a pint of hummus and sauce which my family later devoured.
When my snapping pictures of all the food (including standing on chairs) made it clear to owner-chef Alon that I was more than a mere hummus consumer, he insisted that I try some falafel – refusing to take no for an answer when I explained that I was already quite full.
I passed up a full order…
… but did accept the filfil (singular of falafel) that he had fried up special for me.
The falafel crust was uber crispy – the way it's supposed to be (not baked the way that Chickpea in NY does it) — without being greasy. When I commented that the falafel was green the way I like it — Alon, eager to share his love of food and recipes, explained that there are two types of falafel: Egyptian which is completely green and made from fava beans, and Lebanese which is yellow and made purely from chickpeas. He said that most Israeli falafel is a mixture of both fava beans and chick peas, and that's how he makes it. I had actually always thought that the green color came from parsley and other spices.
While I could had no room for dessert, I couldn't resist one final picture of a gorgeous malabi, an almond pudding, covered with rose water sauce, that one of my neighboring diners ordered.
While there is a familiar and homey feeling to the restaurant, I did stop short of asking my neighbor if I could grab a spoon and taste his dessert, so unfortunately I can't report on how the malabi tasted.
The restaurant was a bit empty when I arrived around 11:30, but as I sat working on my computer, there was a rush of quick business lunches and beach picnic-ers around noon. And after a short lull, business really picked up around 2 pm with many families drawn in by the colorful and relaxed atmosphere, grabbing a late lunch, and several pre-shabbat snackers munching at the bar.
As a newly opened restaurant, there are some minor kinks to work out. A few diners seemed annoyed at the delay in getting checks promptly just before closing, coming up to the register rather than waiting for at their tables. But the staff, seemingly committed to ensuring that service quality remain high,was firm but pleasant in leading the customers back to their tables and bringing checks within moments.
The Hummus does a few dishes and does them well, reaching beyond the kosher customer. Overall, the food, atmosphere, and friendliness take the best of Israeli dining and culture and transplants it to the area of Miami that until recently was known as "Little Tel Aviv."
Notably, The Hummus is open from 11 am – 3 am, or "until we run out of hummus" Sunday-Thursday, until 3:30 pm on Fridays, and 1 hour after sundown on Saturday night. I would suggest calling to confirm Saturday night hours. The restaurant is under the supervision of Kosher Miami.
As I was sitting in the The Hummus, there was mostly Israeli music playing in the background, including the band Shotei Hanevua ("Fools of Prophecy") whom I had first heard when my dance company in New York performed to their song "Kol Galgal"…
… and then I later bought a few of their CDs. Below is one of the songs that was playing in The Hummus the afternoon when I visited.

subset: commoncrawl


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Tuesday, February 9, 2010
What's wrong with Travis playing right?
This leaves us asking: Why it is that people are so down on Snider as a right fielder? With only 28 career games in right, it's difficult to draw much of a conclusion from the metrics, such as they are. (He posts a career 1.7 UZR/150 in right, although that number barely means anything given the sample size.)
Qualitatively, Snider wasn't a graceful fielder in right last season, but we chalk that up to his following in the elegantly smooth strides of the Gazelle. Most teams don't have an high level defensive center fielder playing in right as the Jays did for the past few years, so maybe our sense of things is skewed. Snider runs hard, lays out, occasionally makes the wrong throw and takes some odd routes to the ball, but he seems athletic enough to play the position, at least in the short term. What sort of bulk gets added to that stocky frame, and how it will affect his mobility is an open question, but the Jays don't need to resolve tomorrow's problems before they become problems.
If the thing that is standing between the Jays making a run at Johnny Damon is the belief that Snider can't hang out in right, then that's not much of an argument. Let's not preemptively remove our own roster flexibility.
47 comments:
- Steve Guttenberg said...
Snider is only going in to his age 22 season, so I wouldn't write him off as a defensive liability yet; defense, at least the fundamentals and common sense can be improved with a player still only that age. He moves well for a bigger guy and his arm seems to be less of a liability than a number of guys we've had out there over the years. I don't see him with any defensive trophies at the end of the year, but as he matures I think he can be a servicable Major League corner outfielder.
Also, will be re-making 'How the West Was Fun' with the Olsen twins this spring with a Christmas release. Look for it in theatres; could eclipse 'The Godfather Pt. II' on the top 100 movies of all time if my projections are correct.
- February 9, 2010 at 11:15 AM
Especially considering that the Jays will (hopefully) be moving an aging Vernon Wells over to left in the coming years, getting Snider used to playing RF in the vast confines of the Skrogers Centrome would probably be a good idea. I mean, if Bobby Abreu can play RF at the major-league level, it can't really be THAT hard... Plus, isn't RF where we'd always stash the fat kid, anyway?
- February 9, 2010 at 11:34 AM
- Tao of Stieb said...
Abreu is precisely the guy who comes to mind for me when I think about the slugs who ramble about in right field. Snider's gotta be as useful as Bobbyman out there.
- February 9, 2010 at 12:11 PM
- Gil Fisher said...
I'm not opposed to Snider in RF at all.
But JBau has the skillset to play there too, while it remains to see whether his platoon partner does (Jeremy Reed, the real McCoy).
- February 9, 2010 at 12:24 PM
Sure, put Snidey in right. At the very least, you are going to get lots of Canseco-like highlight reels
- February 9, 2010 at 12:36 PM
- MJK said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- February 9, 2010 at 12:43 PM
- MJK said...
this is the year you devote to finding out just how bad both Lind and Snider are in the field. If they're even remotely average then you leave them there and fill the DH spot with the best hitting FA in '11 unless that person is a better fielder than Snider or Lind. If one of them can't hack it then you move him to DH in '11 and start looking for a CF in the FA market.
This team cannot hope to compete by the draft alone. They will have to sign high priced FAs to fill positions of need. Finding out what you have is the first step in that process, which is why giving Bautista RF is a huge waste of time and evidence of continued organizational dysfunction.
- February 9, 2010 at 12:43 PM
- MelancholyInker said...
I am not convinced that all these OF's are going to be on the opening day roster. Not allowing Snider to play is a major mistake imho.
- February 9, 2010 at 12:52 PM
- Ty said...
I've said it before, but I'll say it again because it bugs me so much: I'm almost 100% certain that Cito thinks Snider came up as a left fielder, and that's why he's going to be playing there next year.
Exhibit A:
"What's unfair to him is that he was playing left field the whole time he was in Triple-A, and once Rios got picked up on waivers, then they put him in right field," Gaston said. "So he's been used to playing left field, and to change is hard... He's been used to playing left field, and to change is hard. He might find it easier -- left field is tougher to play -- but unfairly to him, he had to go to right field. "
(from http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090826&content_id=6632364&vkey=news_tor&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor)
In the very same article, Snider tells us "I've played right field my whole amateur career."
The verdict: that's just fucking stupid.
- February 9, 2010 at 12:53 PM
- Peter DeMarco said...
Snider has made 17 errors in 158 minor league games in RF and made 3 errors in 39 major league chances (20 games) in RF.
He probably can't play RF at the major league level, and will make a bunch of mistakes and look bad, however, really what does the team have to lose.
- February 9, 2010 at 1:14 PM
- Ian Hunter said...
I heard Snider's interview on the Fan last night, and apparently he also played catcher and first base when he was younger. Flexibility!
- February 9, 2010 at 1:14 PM
- Ty said...
Peter, errors can be a pretty misleading stat and I wouldn't write off a guy's abilities in RF based on how many of them he made there before his 22nd birthday.
- February 9, 2010 at 1:18 PM
Tao, I think the second last sentence should read "is the belief that Snider CAN'T hang out in right...".
Ian, every good baseball player growing up experiences every position across the diamond. My college team's starting C this past year saw time at every other position, including P.
The idea that Snider can't play RF and Lind can't play the OF is absurd, an idiotic Cito fabrication that is going to cost this team because Beeston remains loyal to the fucking idiot. There is absolutely no reason to not use 2010 to make sure that Snider can't play RF, Lind can't play LF, and Wallace can't play 3B. Moving people off their most valuable defensive position before you've established they can't handle it (when it costs you nothing to have a peek because you aren't competing anyway) is lunacy.
- February 9, 2010 at 1:43 PM
- Tao of Stieb said...
The Manager is just full of negativity. "He can't" and "he doesn't" and "it's too hard"...it's all shite.
Not that I'm a big proponent of rah-rah cheerleading managers, but they've got to be better than having Eeyore filling out the lineup.
- February 9, 2010 at 1:59 PM
- Ty said...
It's bizzarre though because Cito's reasoning behind that kind of thinking is that he's protecting his players' confidence by keeping them away from situations that he perceives as being too hard for them to handle... I just can't believe that nobody's ever explained to him how wrong he is.
- February 9, 2010 at 2:09 PM
Well Bautista's problems are with the bat -- he looks like a pretty decent outfielder when he's out there -- gun for an arm. So you play him in right against lefties and play Snider in right against righties as you say until he proves he's a liability. I mean he looks awkward, but it's not like he's Jack Cust or anything. Moving a sub-average fielder around is not going to hurt his development IMO. If anything it'll focus his mind on that side of the game. Lind, on the other hand, can't really play any position he's being asked to play now (he was a 1B in college I think) so you're stuck DHing him which of course is not an ideal spot for a young player if you want a competitive AL batting order. I'd trade him for a young outfielder with a similar skill level and upside. His trade value might never be higher. Even if you move Overbay and try Lind at first, you create a problem with Wallace, who no one thinks will be a good defensive 3B. And you block Ruiz, whose numbers I'd love to see after about 400 ABs, and maybe ultimately Snider, who looks like a first baseman to me.
We also have Encarnacion to think about, especially if he bounces back from his one poor year (during which he was injured). So it's EE, Wallace, Lind, Overbay, Ruiz, and maybe Snider down the road for two positions. Two of those guys have to be moved. Overbay is Casey Kotchman at twice the salary and is hard to trade (maybe at the deadline?). In the meantime, given Cito's history, I'm guessing we see platoons all over the diamond.
And I can't see how Wallace starts with the big club unless there's a trade.
- February 9, 2010 at 2:10 PM
- Peter DeMarco said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- February 9, 2010 at 2:18 PM
- Peter DeMarco said...
Errors tend to be a misleading stat for infielders and OF's with significant range. However if your right fielder has just average range, and projects to make 20 errors in a full season, that is not good.
With that said, I am agreeing with Tao, there is no significant reason for not playing Snider in RF this reason. One of three things will happen:
a) He will be worse than expected and the team will know going forward that it's just not going to work for Snider in RF.
b) He will be as advertised and make about 20 errors, which is not good enough for a major league right fielder and he will move over to left field next year.
c)He will show improvement and the potential to be a capable right fielder. Jays fans rejoice.
- February 9, 2010 at 2:20 PM
- dave57 said...
Wow Peter did you even read the post about the trouble with projecting errors? It seems strange to me that that you would move a couple 20 somethings out of the field when as butterfield has showed us over the years defense can be taught.
I also think that its interesting to see that Lind is actually a more effective hitter when playing LF vs DHing. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?n1=lindad01&year=2009&t=b
I really hope to see both of them in the outfield on a daily basis and see if they can be serviceable fielders, its not like you have anything to lose. I don't trust that Cito will let that happen but then again I don't trust that Cito will remember the name of the reliever hs putting in the game either.
- February 9, 2010 at 2:42 PM
- Tao of Stieb said...
You know, I have seen some fat slow stupid bastards playing right field in my time, and Snider looks to at least be a step up over those dudes.
Faint praise!!!1
- February 9, 2010 at 2:42 PM
- Mylegacy said...
Clearly Snider is going to be a big part of the future and this year is a "lets see what they can do year" - SO - play Lind in LF and Snider in RF. Defense can be taught if the guy has any athletic ability - Snider has a LOT of athletic ability. IF we can get Dopriak or Ruiz bat into the lineup at DH I think that would make us a better team now - and going forward - than we'd have by not letting the kids play the field. IF they can't cut it - so be it - but - give the guys the chance.
- February 9, 2010 at 2:47 PM
- Twitchy said...
The way I see it, Lind shouldn't be an OF. He takes brutal routes, his arm is pretty weak, and in limited time he's produced a very poor UZR. I figure long term he's either a 1B/DH type.
It probably wouldn't hurt Snider to play in RF this year just to see if he can handle it. Long-term I still see him as a LF though, and that's probably because he throws left handed. Anything that's hit down the left field line is an easier play for him than a guy who throws right handed.
For what it's worth I remember Tabler said something similar about Snider being a long term LF. I don't know if that helps or hurts my argument though...
- February 9, 2010 at 2:54 PM
- Peter DeMarco said...
Dave57, where in my comment did I say that I would move Snider out of RF (or Lind out of LF for that matter?)
- February 9, 2010 at 2:56 PM
- dave57 said...
where did I say you did? I just said that projecting errors is not an exact science. Which I think is fair. It seems to me that everyone but Cito would actually like to see what the kid can do out there.
- February 9, 2010 at 2:59 PM
- Peter DeMarco said...
"It seems strange to me that that you would move a couple 20 somethings out of the field "
Maybe the you, was intended to be the universal 'you' and not directed at me?
My intention was not to project errors, but to comment on Snider's historical errors, which I think is two very different things. We know that Snider has averaged about 20 errors over a full season in RF in the past, if he does this again, I don't think his future is in RF, that is unless he somehow develops incredible range, which we can pretty much rule out.
- February 9, 2010 at 3:06 PM
- MelancholyInker said...
I know a lot of people are down on Bautista, but he hit the ball pretty well at the end of last year when he got to play everyday. We could do worse for what he makes(insert your favorite Wells salary punchline here). Not saying he's better then Snider, because there's no way that's true, but give Bautista a chance. I never expected him to hit 25 homers, but it isn't impossible. I just doubt he can do it from the lead-off spot. Nonetheless, this is a Snider thread, and I wanted to throw in my two cents about Bautista because he came up. I am, however, in agreement that Snider should be able to handle RF, and if not, move him to left. NO big deal. I just dont think people should sleep on Bautista.
- February 9, 2010 at 3:08 PM
- MelancholyInker said...
***Slaps himself***
- February 9, 2010 at 3:09 PM
- dave57 said...
It really was a universal you and not a direct you sorry for the confusion.
Again I don't think its fair to project errors. He may well end up with 20 errors in a full season, I just don't think you can reliably predict that based on his minor league performance. That was my only point on your post.
- February 9, 2010 at 3:11 PM
I don't really see any problem, line-up wise, giving Lind and Snider full-time duties in the corner OF spots. Overbay and Bautista are the perfect platoon partners, and JoBau has even played some (very limited) time at first base... and error-free time, I might add (wooo sample size!). In all seriousness (isn't it a little ironic that "seriousness" actually sounds kind of made-up?), 1B should be the last resort for ANY player the Jays plan on keeping around for 2011 and beyond... so we might as well let the guys who we don't see as being long-term solutions earn their vast paycheques lazily picking all those perfect throws from Johnny Mac, and watching in disgust as E5 airmails balls into the stands behind them. Ruiz and Dopriak can slug it out for the DH role this year, knowing that, in all likelihood, they won't be there for long.
- February 9, 2010 at 3:12 PM
- MelancholyInker said...
"1B should be the last resort for ANY player the Jays plan on keeping around for 2011 and beyond"
I TOTALLY AGREE Hilleraj! We aren't going to be a competitive team regardless of when if we have 5 1B's on the roster. AA has already stated he sees Lind as DH, which is perfectly fine, but that leaves Overbay, Ruiz, Cooper, Dopirak and Wallace all looking for playing time (I assume that Overbay will be gone next season). If we cant get some players to play the corner OF spots, we're going to have a problem...
Excellent statement.
- February 9, 2010 at 3:18 PM
Lind's defensive metrics for 2009 were bad, yes, but they were much better for 2007-2008, when he played there more regularly. Check it out. He actually improved greatly with the experience.
Snider actually has a plus arm, the only thing you need to play RF over LF. What makes a LF'r is a rubber arm, not range. Snider has the arm to play RF.
I would argue that:
vs LHP JoBau should be playing RF, with Snider in LF, Lind at DH, and Ruiz at 1B.
vs. RHP, Overbay 1B, Lind LF, Snider RF and Ruiz DH.
Problem solved.
- February 9, 2010 at 3:23 PM
At first, I was thinking something along the same lines as Andy... a massive switcheroo depending on the pitching match-up. I shied away from this for two reasons, though:
1) We aren't trying to field the most competitive team that we can. We're looking to give young players a chance to prove that they can play every day at the Major League level. Switching players back and forth every 2-3 games will stop them from getting the consistent , in-game experience which I think is crucial at this stage in development. I'd much rather inconvenience JoBau slightly by making him play 1B, than mess with Snider by shuffling him around all season.
2) The plan requires a competent manager, who has the foresight to actually, you know, consider which side the opposing pitcher will be throwing from, when he fills out the line-up. Chances are, Cito will be so impressed by JoBau's first game playing in RF that he'll hand him the starting job some time in early May, and proceed to comment that he wants to try stretching Snider out into a starting pitcher, or something to that effect. Young talent and time to test it we have - a sensible manager, we do not.
- February 9, 2010 at 3:37 PM
- MelancholyInker said...
Hilleraj - amen.
- February 9, 2010 at 4:18 PM
That's a good point - let's just stretch Snider out as a starter. Frees up some of the positional logjam, and maybe he could even pinch hit occasionally when he's not pitching. He'd be a decent bat off the bench, eh?
- February 9, 2010 at 4:20 PM
Keep in mind that the ball comes off the bat differently for a right handed hitter and tails away when it's hit to right. Just because you can play LF well doesn't necessarily mean you can play RF well without a bit of practice/experience. So it doesn't surprise me that Snider would make more errors in RF than LF at an early age.
- February 9, 2010 at 4:25 PM
- MelancholyInker said...
I certainly cannot put into words my dumbfounded confusion over the spring training invite list... we have SO MANY PITCHERS! We have too many first basemen (or at least projected ones). And some scrubby OF's.
I just cannot imagine how this team is going to look come opening day. It's going to be a hot mess!
How much would it screw things up if Wallace makes the team in spring training? LOL - granted, he could probably hit 20hr in the spring, hit 500 and still not make the team. He is destined for the minors regardless of what he does I think.
Maybe the Jays are trying to set a MLB record for pitchers invited to Spring Training. It's hard to imagine more then 12 or 13 making the roster, and some of them (Like Zinicola, Hill, McGowan) have to stay on the 40-man unless we want to risk losing them (though Dusty will be on the DL most likely).
It's going to be an interesting few months...
- February 9, 2010 at 4:55 PM
anybody hear that clown tom dakers on that "hot stove TV" interview? what a fucking idiot. sounds as dumb as his writing is bad.
the guy from hot stove says "hows it going up there in toronto?"
stupid tom dakers (not even from toronto, actually lives in bum fuck alberta) "its winter, should warm up in about three months"
HAHAHAA! good one tom. make the ignorant americans more ignorant of canada and toronto especially, where there is hardly any snow on the ground now and will be 15C in a few weeks, unlike bum-fuck northern alberta, where the stereotype holds true. no wonder they laugh on US TV when the possibility of the Jays doing anything or chris bosh staying, with winners like tom dakers taking questions and misrepresenting a place and people he knows nothing about (toronto)
great job. the rest of the interview is embarrassing as a jays fan as well. and this tool really thinks he is a professional baseball analyst/writer of some kind.
right on tomo, keep up that great work, dipshit!
- February 9, 2010 at 4:57 PM
The ball tails off the same way into LF off of lefties. Also, way more balls are hit to LF, making the left fielder that much more busy, which equals more chances and more opportunities to screw up.
I played a lot of LF, but could never hack RF, only because of my inability to hold runners at second base. The position and the way it plays is almost identical to LF.
- February 9, 2010 at 5:09 PM
- Gil Fisher said...
Not to mention Snider's been exclusively a right fielder since high school.
- February 9, 2010 at 5:40 PM
Anon 5:07
I agree, but didn't make it clear in my rambling comment above. Any competent RF can play left competently, and it doesn't hurt Snider to try him at both positions. But both Snider and Lind look like they'll end up at 1B based on what they showed so far.
Lind WAS getting better with playing time in left two years ago, as someone above suggested. Maybe you just leave him there for three months and see how ugly it is. He has a decent arm.
- February 9, 2010 at 6:26 PM
- Bitey said...
I think the last time Snider played right last season, he had that ball go through his legs. He'll probably never get another chance with Cito as the manager.
- February 9, 2010 at 10:19 PM
where's that guy who said Snider & Lind in the outfield is a bad idea because the young pitching staff needs support from the field? Wasn't that an accepted line of reasoning around here last week?
- February 9, 2010 at 10:32 PM
- Tao of Stieb said...
Last week was last week. Daddy's home, and there's new rules around here.
- February 10, 2010 at 12:09 AM
For some reason, up until about 2 minutes ago, I couldn't put my finger on why I didn't think that above-average outfield defense was particularly important for a developing pitching staff... it's amazing what kind of clarity a boring, snowy day at the office can bring. So here it is:
I think it's safe to assume that the goal of an average defender - be they in- or outfielder - is to not commit errors. Errors prolong innings, and frustrate pitchers (and fans, but we don't count). Young pitchers, when faced with a defense that is error-prone, tend to try to do too much themselves. They want to strike everyone out, because the thought of giving up ground balls (which should be every pitcher's goal) is no longer, in their minds, a good thing. This gets them away from their game-plans, and limits their growth as professionals. I think we can all agree that errors are bad... but very VERY rarely are errors made on routine fly balls (unless your last name rhymes with "Banseco" - not a real word). Without bothering with fancy argument tools, such as statistical proof, I think it should still be pretty obvious that errors are much more likely to occur on a typical infield play than an outfield one, as there are at least three separate actions on which an error can occur (field, throw, catch), as opposed to the one catch made by an outfielder to record an out. So having a good defensive infield should be a priority if you're looking to reduce the number of errors your team commits.
Well then, you might ask (or you might not... that's why I ask it for you!) what is an outfield defense good for? The simple answer is: Run Prevention. Great outfielders get to those balls hit deep into gaps, and turn well-hit line drives into highlight-reel outs. This is awesome if you're looking to win close ball games... but if a young pitcher makes a mistake, and leaves a pitch where he shouldn't, just to be bailed out by an amazing outfield snag, the lesson isn't necessarily learned. I'd love to spend another paragraph or two elaborating, and beating the point home... but this is Tao's blog, and I think my point is pretty clear. I'll finish with this, though: I would much rather get my pitchers used to having a sub-par outfield defense, then upgrade a year or two down the line, rather than handicap the growth (and roster flexibility) of my team, just to win a couple ball games in a meaningless season.
- February 10, 2010 at 9:48 AM
i prefer snider in LF with wells moving to RF ASAP.
i don't think anyone who is paying attention thinks wells should be playing CF (AA has to move him out of CF soon, right?)... so the question boils down to which allignment provides better defence wells in RF and snider in LF... or vice versa?
IMO, the obvious answer is that wells will be playing RF soon... so i'd be inclined to give snider LF now and tell he's there for the long term and let him concentrate on raking.
- February 12, 2010 at 10:04 AM
Only both AA and Cito have said they like Wells in CF. So forget it, even if it makes a lot of sense. Only problem is Wells' arm is average, while Bautista piled up the assists in limited playing time there last year.
Signing Chavez, provided he's not diminished by the operation, makes more and more sense, even if they stubbornly keep VW in centre.
- February 12, 2010 at 4:14 PM
- Unknown said...
This coming from an organization that had the likes of John McDonald, Frank Menechino (?), and even Shitske playing in RF. Seriously what's the harm in seeing if these kids can hang it in the OF. It's not like you have a vastly superior defender being bumped.
- February 18, 2010 at 11:49 AM


text:
10.15pm: The government has won by 557 votes to 13 – a majority of 544.
via Politics blog + Commons Libya debate – live | Politics | guardian.co.uk.
Now that's a majority and a half. Clearly it shows widespread support for the intervention in Libya… but we also have to note the real tone of the debate, and it was far from positive. Reading through a few of the comments, it shows that people are uneasy. With a British submarine, alone with American ships, launching missiles at 20 targets on the coast (Gaddafi's missile defence system, clearing the way for the pilots), we've become involved more than perhaps some MPs expected. The Arab League is also wavering in support, condemning the bombing of civilians – despite the fact that intervening in a near-civil war was always going to result in civilian casualties, especially as Gaddafi's supporters were, he claimed, willing to be bussed in to key targets to act as human shields. The prospect of assassination of Gaddafi, hinted at by Secretary of State for Defence Liam Fox, is outrageous to many – frankly, I find that speaking openly of it is a foolish move. If you want to assassination someone, you don't bloody tell Fleet Street. At least the Israeli's have the common sense not to admit it if they do it. Having said that, assassinating Gaddafi is foolish in-and-of-itself. Martyrdom for Gaddafi is not an advantage to anyone – forcing him out may be our best option, but openly killing him. If he does chose to go down with the ship, so be it. Good riddance. But we can't openly support it, or plan for it. Our legal mandate is to defend civilians, not assassinate politicians.
The Noes.
John Baron (Basildon & Billericay)
Graham Allen (Nottingham North)
Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley)
Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North)
Barry Gardiner (Brent North)
Roger Godsiff (Birmingham Hall Green)
John McDonnell (Hayes & Harlington)
Linda Riordan (Halifax)
Dennis Skinner (Bolsover)
Mike Wood (Batley & Spen)
Caroline Lucas (Brighton Pavilion)
Mark Durkan (Foyle)
Margaret Ritchie (Down South)
Labour's Katy Clark (North Ayrshire and Arran) and Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South East) acted as tellers for the noes.
An excellent summary of the debate can also be found here :-http://blogs.ft.com/westminster/2011/03/unease-in-the-commons-as-mps-debate-libya-action/
Related Articles
- Unease in the Commons as MPs debate Libya action (ft.com)
- Libya: Military Chief Rules Out Gaddafi Hit (news.sky.com)
- Politics blog + Commons Libya debate – live (guardian.co.uk)
- PM: 'It Is Not Our Job To Kill Gaddafi' (news.sky.com)
- Patrick Cockburn: Gaddafi will fall. But who will replace him? (independent.co.uk)


text:
The purpose of this email is to extend my sincere thanks for the prompt processing of my order for a Hozelock hose reel that I ordered late last week. That it arrived first thing this morning is an amazing effort and a credit to your company and to your staff. Based on the fantastic service you provided, I will have no h....
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I have been buying products from Rock Around The Block for years now. Their products are second to none and they back their products with excellent customer service. Nothing seems to be a problem for these people. Yes, you can buy products from big department store type hardware that sell cheap products but why would you....
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However, blackberry brambles have increased on our small property, so your sprayer will be used tomorrow morning provided th....
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Pump picked up today and installed.
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I have received the 36W ballast module and it works perfect. I would like to take this opportunity to thanks you for your patient and go all your way to help me. I really appreciated your help.
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Good customer service deserves to be recognised so I wanted to leave some feedback. My order arrived super fast, even interstate. When I emailed an after sales question the response, again, was super fast and friendly... Phil was extremely helpful. Thank you :)
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Mum said to pass on her thanks too
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done. You are awesome!
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Hi....I wish to thank you for the prompt delivery of my phone order made on 29/8/2014. The 12.5mm X 50metre Hozelock Flexi Plus garden hose with the necessary fittings to suit were received the next working day after ordering.....FANTASTIC service.....Thank You.....Robert
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Thank you so much for such prompt, friendly service. You'll be pleased to know that our Hoselock is already in place and in use.
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Good morning Phil. Just wanted to tell you that I received the replacement Hozelock sprayer this morning and I'm happy to report that it appears to work well.
Thank you for your excellent customer service in quickly responding to my problem. Very Much appreciated. Thank you also for the complimentary spray wand. T....
Dear RATB
Thanks for a most prompt delivery of the sponges and fountain head thingy...Just what I was after!
No wonder I keep coming back!
Regards Benita H
Hi Guys, I ordered an impeller on Monday and it arrived on Tuesday. Fantastic service. My waterfall stopped working as the impeller in my Hozelock 3000 destroyed its self on Monday Morning after about 3 years. That's really good going. As I said the new impeller arrived on Tuesday and after installing it the waterfall is....
Just a note to thank you for the outstanding service you provided in fulfilling my order.
The hose reel arrived this morning, well packed and in perfect condition. In just over 24 hours from placing the order on-line.
I was not expecting to receive it until early next week.
I would definitel....
Thank you for the prompt delivery today of my retractable hose. Very good service. Caroline R
Please pass on my thanks to your team for such prompt and reliable service.
Many thanks, Graeme
Hi Phil, Thank you very much for repairing the mower. I will be very careful with it in the future. I would like to you add this to the testimonial page for RATB if you would like:
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I have just received a pond pump from you, & felt that I must commend you all there for the advice I got on the phone, as well as the very fast delivery to here.This kind of service is becoming quite rare now, so it's good to know that it still exists. Many thanks to all the team there. Regards,
(---the p....
I received the item today moring, what a great service. The entire process was very smooth and comfortable. I will recommend you to my friends as well.
Thank you for your fast and helpful service, will definitely use your service again
I have just received my order for an Aqua Nova NFP10000 pump this morning. I would like to thank you for your very prompt and efficient handling of
this purchase as well as the helpful advice that Phil gave me when I rang 10 days prior to placing my order. I will certainly contact you again should I nee....
Thankyou for the recent supply of the pond liners. The material was perfect for the application, was easy to handle, and the installation / tech info available from your website made it easy for our crews to do the install. We were so impressed we have taken the material to another client for use on their pro....
Monday night I made a query on your website about a pump and filter. Last night (Tuesday) I had your reply, and I ordered what I needed through your site at about 9PM, and specified standard delivery. The pump at filter were on my doorstep when I got home at 5:30pm tonight (Wednesday). Holy smoke - DJ's c....
Thankyou for your service and help over the past few weeks. I collected my filters from the courier on Saturday and they were there waiting. I hope they are as effective as expected. It is a pleasure to see a business running with such efficiency and courtesy.
Graeme, The pump arrived before your email did!! Thanks for the great service and prompt delivery - I'll be recommending your business to others. Regards,
Just to say thanks for the excellent service regarding the 3000LV pump. It arrived in good order at 9.00am yesterday (Tuesday). Please pass on my thanks also to Peter who took the original order on Saturday. Thanks again,
Thank you for providing such an excellent service. My husband was very very impressed. He is not "into" the internet – usually spends time doing searches for things and they don't work . . . . . Considering I have had your price list since April 2002 and he said he would get around to purchasing a....
Your service is very efficient, I appreciate the professionalism. Regards
For the record I must let you know that my interaction with your company via the net has been my best experience thus far. It is very professional. Thank you and best regards,
Thankyou for your mail and I am delighted to report the my pump arrived safely today. The manner in which my order has been processed is impressive and speaks well of your company... Thanks again for the prompt processing of my order and dispatch of the pump. Cheers
Thank you for your prompt and secure service. Received the product yesterday and I'm really impressed. More power to your company! Regards,
Good Day! Once again thank you for the quick delivery. Regards,
Pond Liner arrived today, thank you for your prompt service, I look forward to dealing with you again if this an example of the way you guys do business. Thanks again.
Have been away for a few days and now have the pump. I must say that your attention on this relatively minor purchase has been outstanding. We will be back and have already talked about your service to our friends. Many Thanks. Have a Happy and Safe Christmas and I hope your business prospers in '04
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I cannot thank you enough for all your help. The quickness of all your email replies, and the speed in which I received the impellers has impressed me greatly. Would you believe me if I told you a local Aquarium was going to do me a favour of only charging me $60 for one impeller????
You supplied 3 including ....
The delivery took place so early, thankyou for your prompt service.
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Order arrived this morning. Thanks for the prompt shipping of the order. Good Service! Regards
Received Pond balance today & applied it to the pond. Thanks for the excellent service - it couldn't have been any faster! Regards,
WOW!!! thanks Derek! excellent service!!!
Guys! Congratulations on your incredibly rapid service, I received the filter yesterday morning (5th Nov) having placed my order only the night before. Regards
That was quick. I love your website and think I'll be back from time to time! I read on the website that you normally dispatch in 24 hours, so it should arrive sometime this week? Thanks again,
I placed an order on Tuesday evening. Received package on Thursday morning. Excellent, speedy service and high quality products. The UV Clarifier has been installed and is chugging away by the pond. Thank You
Derek/Phil. I have recently purchased my pond liner, pump and bioforce filter from your company. I write to thank you guys for the superb customer service and post sales service that I have received. Whenever I have a technical issue with the liner, pump or other sundry matters I have always received the best....
Goods received thank you very much Regards
Package received it's all good - wouldn't hesitate to recomend you to friends, great service. Cheers
Thank you for your excellent service - all problems fixed, pump and filter installed, waterfall flowing, pond looks great. I'll certainly give you a call for other supplies. Kind regards
Just a note to thank-you for fast and efficient service in sending me a replacement rotor for my older model Hozelock 1000. I was very happy to receive the kit the day after my order. Unusual service in my experience. Thank you again
Great service, order impeller late thursday part arrived friday. Coulnt ask for more. Leaving for Adelaide today (Sat) so will have everything working before i leave. Thanks again,
Parcel arrived. Thank you so much. That was amazingly fast delivery and it looks as though it will be great.
I just want to say thank-you for providing such a great service have now brought two items now on two separate times & I could not fault your service either time & thus would recommend your business to any of my friends that need what you guys sell.Again thank-you One very happy customer.
Thank you for your prompt and efficient service. I will certainly buy from you again and recommend your company to others. Regards
Congrats to you and your team for great service - parcel arrived just now. With this level of service your online business is sure to succeed! Cheers
Liner arrived yesterday in (apparently) good condition but will confirm after installation this weekend. Thanks for your good service. Regards,23/1/2006
Update - Fitted liner over the weekend. Very pleased that I decided to spend a bit more money (3 times the price actually) and do it right.
The rubbe....
You guys have great customer service. I will continue to always buy my pond supplies from you and recommend you to others. I was going to ask if you normally have problems with these bulbs as I am planning to buy more once I test if the light output is sufficient.
Thanks again. Regards,
I placed an order for a pump and accessories at lunchtime yesterday. It was delivered this morning. You saved me two hours travel and $8 in petrol. How good is that? Well done. Best Regards
Brilliant service once again. I have called the call centre already and paid by Visa card. Regards
Just sending you a thankyou for your promt and efficient response to my pump problem. Over the many years I have dealt with companies who show absolutely no interest when it comes to dealing with warranty or other problems faced by their customers, That is till I started buying pumps from R.A.T.B.&....
Pump arrived ok. Works a treat. Eparcel tracking great idea. Will use you and eparcel again Thanks
Thanks for prompt delivery!! Next day is unheard of these days!
Thankyou for your prompt and efficient service, I am very impressed. Regards
Pump has arrived safely, set up and working beautifully first go. Thanks for your great service.
Thanks for a great service! Being able to deal online and so prompt a service was a luxury. cheers again rock type people. Expect more of my business.
Thank you for your excellent & prompt response. I intend to order the Bioforce 9000UVC. The local aquarium shop has a cast of thousands hell bent on quick sales but little good advice. Well bad luck to them and good luck to you. Thanks again.
Just a quick note to let you know that the 24v pump I ordered after our phone conversation early week arrived on Friday. I set it up straight away and it is functioning very well. Many thanks for your help and advice. Regards
Received the order, thank you very much. We installed everything on Wednesday and it looks great. Thank you so much for your assistance and prompt action. Look forward to doing future business with you. Cheers
Thank you for prompt dispatch & delivery. It arrived today. regards
Hi all Thank you for your prompt attention to a very small order. I have no hesitation in recommending your firm as being number 1in all applications of a truly professional online business. Your web page is smooth and easy to work. Thanks again to all you team.
Just want to thank you so much for delivering our new pond pump last night. It was greatly appreciated and the fish are much happier....
Many thanks........... You folk are unbelievable....I only ordered the pump on Friday and the jolly thing is here and in and working less than one working day after I placed the order! Is Superman working for you or do you have a post office truck ready and waiting. I must confess that I originally purchased ....
Our order arrived today - thanks for the prompt delivery. Also thanks for combining the 2 orders we placed and refunding the 2nd lot of postage. If I need anything else - I know where to go. Have a good Xmas guys!
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The service that your company offers makes all others look pretty ordinary.
Just a quick thankyou for your very good service. I made a limited knowledge phone call asking for advice and received an answer in easy to understand format. I then placed my order on Christmas eve and received delivery on 2/1/07. I have now installed my transformer and have nearly completed my pond.&nbs....
Hi Guys, Thank you very much for the prompt service. Best Regards
Thank you for the prompt service. I received this order at about 1.30pm. That is what I call real service seeing I only ordered it yesterday arvo. I will now amuse myself by rebuilding my filter.
Thank you for your prompt service. I ordered a part for my pond pump on Friday and it was at the Post Office for collection Monday afternoon. I was amazed and soooooo pleased. (and so were my fish). I am still waiting for another parcel from another source which was charged to my credit card 12 days ago!!!....
Just to confirm I have received Order W3830. The 2 filters arrived this morning! Thanks for your great services and fast delivery! Regards,
Thought I'd let you know that the pump and light that I purchased (in March) for small water fountain is working well, thanks for your help.
I meant to write a while ago but I was very busy organising the event that we needed the power travel adaptors for! Just wanted to say thankyou for helping with order and delivering so quickly, much appreciated. Kind regards.
Just wanted to let you know that the O ring fixed the leak and all is working well Thanks again for your help and your excellent service. regards
Thanks for the great service Team, for such a small order. Arrived this morning, very quick. Cheers.
I just wanted to thank you for your efficient service. I asked yourselves along with 3 other companies the same question in relation to advice on purchasing a pump for my fountain. I received a reply from yourself the same day and i am still waiting on a reply from the other 3 companies from close to a week ago. &nb....
Just a quick thanks for the excellent service regarding O/N W3973 . The packaging was more than I expected and the globes all arrived safely. Once again thanks I will certainly be recommending you.
Good morning - thankyou so much for such a great service. The lights are fabulous! And I look forward to purchasing from you in the future! I will certainly be recommending you to my family and friends. Kind Regards.
Just a short note to let you know I have the pump working (Hozelock Easyclear 3'n1 Low Voltage) in a bathtub garden pond and am really pleased ,the water has started to clear up after only 3 days. Thank you very much.
Hi Phil, I got the replacement pond pump this morning, and now my little pond is alive again. Thanks again for your assistance. Cheers.
Short message only to confirm receiving the Hozelock Air Pump 45. It works fantastic, easy to assemble, tremendous air flow out of two stones located about 2.5 m away left and right of the pond using only 2 outlets. Very low noise level. A very satisfied customer. I will be recommending your ....
Hello, Just a note to tell you how impressed I am with your service. I have received the sprayer today (even though I only ordered it yesterday), and appreciate the presents (writing paper & envelopes) included. I am adding your website to my browser favourites, and am telling my colleagues an....
Dear RATB, Just a line to let you know I received the new rotor and impeller, as such, my Hozelock pump is now working perfectly. I wish to thankyou for the efficient and diligent manner in which you dealt with my pump problem. It is a refreshing change to find someone who is interested in their field and who....
Good Morning RATB, Thank you for the great Hozelock Pressure Sprayer. Anyway the unit is just fantastic, great manufactured unit, and works a treat. I received it yesterday 7-12-2007. It is great to see that not all things are made in CHINA, at least this one might last longer than the cheap importe....
Hello, Just wanted to say thank you very much for the speedy delivery of my order and the nozzle, my parents are very happy. I will recommend RATB to everyone. Thanks again,
Thanks to all at Rock Around the Block for great service several days ago. My "Resun" fish pond pump was calling for attention by trying to vibrate the fish into the air. A new impeller was the thing required. My wife said "go and get a new one from Bunnings" but I remembered that several years ago I had q....
Hi Phil, Everything has arrived safely and all is working fine. Thankyou for your help amd assistance. Will not hesitate to recommend R.A.T.B. All the best. Regards
Thanks very much for the very prompt delivery of the pond pump. We much appreciate it. It has made our pond/rock-waterfall look sensational! Regards.
Thanks guys I am most impressed with your service with my delivery arriving in less than 24 hours. regards
Not a question. A thanks. Here I am, someone who knows very close to nothing about pumps. I needed a cheap, small part to get my landlord's pump going. Phil talked me through what I needed, sold me the part, made sure it got delivered quickly, and helped me solve a tech problem afterwards. T....
I would like to thank the gentleman who took the trouble to 'phone me this morning in answer to my E-mail re problems with my pump. I made the adjustments that he recommended and at this stage everything appears to be working OK. Thanks for your professional attitude.
Thanks guys. The Hozelock auto garden hose reel arrived this morn as promised and is now installed. great product great service, you can give yourselfs a pat on the back. Best wishes
Hi RATB
Just wanted to let you know that the pump arrived today and once again I am extremely pleased with the service you have provided. Good price, terrific communication, and very fast delivery. Well done to all involved. With grateful thanks
Hi Phil, I have received my roll of EPDM (next day!). The courier called to confirm a delivery time and helped get it into the ute. Great service thanks. Regards
Hi, Just a note to say thanks for the Hozelock 2415 Compact Reel. It arrived safe and well packed. I am very pleased with the quality and its great to do business. Will keep your contact and pass it on to others.Cheers and goodluck.
Hi Richard, The Jebao 400 fountain pump arrived yesterday, works great. Wanted to say thankyou for the excellent service. Regards
Hi guys. Order arrived - all correct. Thanks very much for your great assistance.
Message to Philip, Thanks for your help, the part you've (Hozellock cascade 2000/3000 impeller 3408) sent was the right one and worked like a charm without any difficulty. Your knowledge and assistance is most appriciated.
Good Morning. My partner and I purchased from you a Blagdon weed controller. We are writing to you to say thank you this product is amazing and in over 2 weeks has cleared up our header pond, rill and bottom pond. The fish and plants are much happier and we are over the moon.
Have a wonderful day. &....
I recently purchased a 9w PL-S TUV lamp on 19/10/08. I would like to thank you on your prompt service as i recieved the product today 22/10/08 . I still can't believe how quick i got it. Much appreciated
Thank you..... just thought i would email you to let you know I received the pond vacuum cleaner today..thank you for sending so fast
Thank you for your help with this order and raising the Paypal refund for the patches that were not required. We actually wish we did have your brand of pond liner as your service is so helpful and we have greatly enjoyed working with you on this. Thanks again.
Just a quick thank you. I had a problem with my new Hoziolock pump and hose. All is now well with the new hose and pump chamber fitted. Your service is terrific.Regards
Thank you so much for your fantastic customer service, I have received the Fiskars weeders this morning right in time for Fathers Day. I will recommend you to all my family and friends.
Just thought I would send some feedback on my recent purchase....
It was the BEST online sales experience I've had in terms of ease and efficiency!! Ordered last Friday....by end of day had notification of shipping and goods delivered next business day!
Congratulations!! Very impressive. Thanks <....
Hi RATB, just a quick email to let you guys know what a great service you offer. I ordered 2 Hozelock 2'in 1 Garden Reels and a Hozelock Multi Spray Nozzle on Thursday 22 Oct and received them on Monday 26 Oct!! How good is that!! Not to mention what great quality both products are!! Thanx again..
Delivery in less than 24 hours, products are excellent and as you stated unopened in their original packaging and your prices are competitive, can't ask more than that, I'll be back.
Just to let you know that I received my quality item. Thank you for your quick and hassle free service. I will be buying items from you again when needed.
To the RATB Team,
This is just a courtesy email to say thankyou for the incredible customer service. I placed my order yesterday and received it today... amazing :-). I am also very impressed with the quality of the Hozelock garden hose I received and would gladly do business with your company again. Thankyou!<....
We just wanted to let you know that the new replacement pump you sent us has been reconnected and is pumping just fine!! Many thanks for your prompt and professional response!!!
Kind regards and thanks again!
Thank you so much for sending those spare parts, you are a legend, its up and running perfectly finally!! Always recommending your shop to people who ask us about ponds, in fact my brother in law set up his pond with Rock around the block.
Thanks so much again.
Received, installed and working, and my pond is getting clearer as I watch - nice work, guys! Appreciate the quick service. Rgds
Hi there at RATB, My order arrived today, thank you for your outstanding customer service!:-) Kind Regards.
"I placed the order lunchtime yesterday.The parcel with the loppers arrived safe and sound at 7:30 this morning.
And of course the Fiskars loppers themselves are as good as i expected them to be.Full marks!"
Water Clarification UVC
Why buy an Ultra Violet Clarifier (UVC)? - A UVC gives your pond clear water.
What does a UVC achieve for a pond?
How does a UVC work?
Why are lamps and glass sleeves expensive ?
The lamps are a form of fluorescent light. In quality UVC' units, the lamp's glass & the glass sleeve that covers the lamp are made from expensive quartz, not glass or plastic. This then allows maximum UV radiation to pass into the passing water.
What is the most efficient design?
The more efficient models allow the water to vortex around the lamp, rather than just flow straight through. This gives a longer dwell time exposed to the lamp meaning a lower wattage requirement of the lamp. This vortex design is closely guarded by the manufacturer's patent. The reflective surface of polished stainless steel barrel designs increases efficiency and cost.
What are some important considerations?
The lamp must be changed every 8000hrs (12months continuous use). At this stage, the lamp may still be glowing but the UV light emission will be greatly reduced.
UV radiation of this type is very dangerous to your eyes & skin. Any bench testing requires you covering the lamp.
You will need to reseal or even rebuild the unit every few years.