It was not practically possible to have a continental baseball league without safe an reliable air travel. Baseball is played more or less every day but a train ride from Pittsburgh to LA is not a simple redeye type of trip. You could have done football, tho.
My fact: despite the name and association with Indian cuisine, Vindaloo is originally Portuguese. The name derives from the Portuguese “vinha d’alhos,” which means “marinated in garlic.”
Good point about the planes. Trains were one of the crucial elements of modern pro sports emerging in the late 19th century along with the telegraph and high speed printing presses. Without planes the element of rapid travel was missing from the west coast.
Didn’t know about vindaloo exactly, but it is a dish associated with the Indian state Goa, which was a Portuguese colony. OTOH ‘arigato’ in Japanese, a word used to say ‘Thank you’, was not picked up from the similar sounding Portuguese ‘obrigato’ meaning ‘Thank you’.
That “beauty micrometer” looks scary as hell.
I have no reason to doubt you (and sadly my vindaloo eating days are long gone) but every vindaloo I ever had included potatoes - the same thing you get in aloo gobi, sag aloo…
OK, so if your derivation is correct, we have to ask: was there a critical point when the etymology had been forgotten, and a chef (presumably new to the dish) suddenly thought: Hang on - vindaloo? - better put some potatoes in this!
And with that, the history of the world changed course.
j
Jonesing for some chicken Vindaloo now.
The chicken vindaloo from this place was by far the spiciest food I ever ate.
I can feel my mouth burning just thinking about it!
The hotter the better.
As well, AFAIK garlic has no particular prominence in Vindaloo; it’s just a minor constituent of the spice blend. Certainly garlic’s not a very apt namesake for the whole dish.
So I’d sooner go with your “aloo” = potatoes etymology than @RickJay’s Portuguese garlic version.
Not that I have any actual expertise on the point other than eating a lot of Vindaloo over the years. I’ve mostly given up on it since I don’t eat much potato rather than I don’t each much spicy hot. If I’m going to have a halfway decent helping of basmati I have no carbs left to waste on silly potatoes.
The word “canter” meaning a three-beat gait a bit faster than a medium trot, is derived from “Canterbury Gallop” which is the slow easy pace that pilgrims to the shrine of St.Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral used.
Dang, I was betting on the Cozy Inn in Janesville, WI. But they opened their doors in 1922.
Phal is the hottest curry. But I think it might be an invention of the Indian restaurants in the UK rather like the chicken tikka massala.
It would have been a 40-50 hour train trip from either Chicago or St. Louis (the MLB cities closest to LA at the time). That would be two days between games - not unreasonable - and you wouldn’t have to worry about rainouts in LA. (I would assume the teams would have a private train - not depending on scheduled services). A four-game series, and then you’re back on the rails again with another two-day break. Probably more double-headers would have had to have been scheduled to keep the season a manageable length.
Another option would have been to have LA play several series at home prior to the standard Opening Day (e.g. April 14 in 1930 - not around April 1 like now) - in particular, those teams that did spring training in Arizona - a shorter train ride away than Florida.
Max’s brother Jake was a piece of work.
Speaking of Dodger Stadium, it once helped keep a guy out of prison.
Long story short:
Juan Catalan scored last-minute tickets to the game on May 12, 2003. He was later charged in a shooting that happened about 20 miles away from the stadium. He was identified by a witness as the gunman.
He was facing the death penalty.
As luck would have it, the show *Curb Your Enthusiasm * was filming an episode at that exact game. He and his daughter appeared in the background of one scene, and his attorney was able to use that footage to help exonerate his client.
Watching Later With Jools Holland I learned something I never knew about the famous Scouse band The Zutons, best known for the hit song Valerie.
Well, sometimes I go out by myself
And I look across the water
And I think of all the things of what you’re doing
And in my head I make a picture
Since I’ve come on home
Well, my body’s been a mess
And I miss your ginger hair
And the way you like to dress…
So the songwriter has imagined his perfect woman, and pictures himself down on the riverside, gazing across the iconic Mersey – “And I look across the water” – dreaming of her. Right?
Wrong. According to Noel Gallagher (transcribed by me):
Noel: One night… we’re on tour, High Flying Birds in New York, and he [Russ] introduces me to Valerie - the actual girl from the song. Who has got ginger hair.
Jools: Where was she from? Was she from New York?
Noel: She’s from whatever the bit is across the river in New York – is it New Jersey or something? And Dave had apparently wrote it looking across… every night he would go out there and stare across the water. She’s a real girl. Lovely girl… I’m not sure she realizes how big that song actually became.
Here’s the song:
j
PS: if you have access to Later, it’s well worth watching this one. Noel Gallagher is, as always, excellent value.
Missed the edit - it would be better if I had clarified that Russ and Dave were members of the Zutons. Sorry 'bout that.
j
Despite the rumors, Joseph Kennedy was not a bootlegger during prohibition.
Kennedy did arrange one big shipment of liquor, but that was when repeal was imminent, and not delivered until after.
The rumor was spread by his enemies and gained traction when JFK was running.
I’m loving the unexpectedness of the Factor family; but here’s something from John’s Wiki page that I had a Wait-What? over:
In late 1962, Factor was scheduled to be deported to the United Kingdom but received a presidential pardon
Can this be correct? A deportation would be for an offence committed in a different jurisdiction - in this particular case, the UK. How can a US president “pardon” that?
j
Wouldn’t he be deported from the US for an offense caused here in the US? Then he could be pardoned to prevent deportation. If it was something he did elsewhere he would be extradited. He might be officially deported to perform that extradition, but it would be referenced as extradition usually.
Don’t want to do a hijack here, but the wiki says:
In 1926, Factor perpetrated a stock scam in England that netted $8 million (equivalent to $94,017,000 in 2019). Some of his victims were members of English royalty…While in the United States, he was tried and sentenced in absentia in England to 24 years in prison. He fought extradition all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court…
I presume that’s what the stated pardon related to. At the very least, “Pardon” seems a strange word to use.
j