[Sca-cooks] Porridge, tobacco

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On May 17, 2006, at 8:08 PM, Elaine Koogler wrote:

> Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius wrote:
>> That would be another good example. Then there's Julio Franco of  
>> the NY Mets, too. Recently he hit a home run and went on the  
>> record books as the oldest professional player on record to do  
>> that, and then the next day he stole a base and became the oldest  
>> player to do that since 1909... the joke going around is that the  
>> bat he used was cut from a tree his grandson planted during the  
>> Civil War.
>>
>> He's pretty frightening, actually... His morning regimen involves  
>> eating a dozen egg whites and oatmeal for breakfast every morning,  
>> then working out for five or six hours. That's before going off to  
>> work.
>>
>> I was thinking of asking him if he had encountered cuskynoles in  
>> his youth, and what they were like.
>>
>> Adamantius
> So how old is this guy anyway?  I know I'm at least the same age as  
> Keith Richards....and, if this fellow is still playing ball, he's  
> probably in his 40's, right?

Yes. He's 48, which of course is not old as a general thing. By  
baseball-player standards, though, it's pretty old. Specifically,  
it's at least 10-15 years beyond the point where most players  
experience a noticeable decline.

>   I guess that definitely puts me into the joke zone as well...and  
> no, I haven't seen cuskynoles up close and personal...at least not  
> the ones made in period.

Let's see how you respond to the egg-white diet, the workouts, and so  
forth. Maybe people will start calling you Mother Time, too.

> Kiri (feeling a little older these days...especially after a  
> discussion on the Atlantian Kingdom list about our Principality  
> Coronets, which have gone missing...sadly!)

We all have that feeling occasionally. I worked  a feast last weekend  
where I physically could not have done all the work myself, even if I  
wanted to. That came as quite an eye-opener to me, and all the old  
saws about age and treachery overcoming youth and skill were much on  
my mind.

It _was_ fun, though, telling one of the cooks that the water in the  
pot several feet away was just reaching 160 degrees, and watching him  
gasp when he took the temperature. It was such a basic thing that  
_looked_, externally, like a rather profound Kurosawa moment. He  
didn't have to know I was guessing and got lucky...

And we all experience the occasional moment where we feel just too  
old to deal with this &%$#*. Rest assured, though, that it is not  
_you_ who are getting too old.

Adamantius


"Why don't they get new jobs if they're unhappy -- or go on Prozac?"
     -- Susan Sheybani, assistant to Bush campaign spokesman Terry  
Holt, 07/29/04