River Bank Books & Music needs a monkey. there. i have said it, and now it is on the web so we know it has to be true (...). we need a monkey of some sort here, be it a gorilla, a baboon, chimpanzee, or some sort of other smaller simian. it would be eager to help and loved by everyone, especially me, because i would like to see a monkey climbing the ladder. heck, i bet the monkey wouldn't even have to use the ladder, just pouncing from shelf to shelf in a beautiful ballet of hairy fascination. laughing joyously from the counter, i'd bellow out, "Hey, Monkey! go fetch me a copy of 'Deception' by Philip Roth!" (because the monkey's name will either be "Monkey" or "Dr. Reginald Belfrey"), and he'd scamper up there cackling maniacally, grab the book, hop down, and dance his way over to me, because i feel our monkey should know how to dance.

on a completely unrelated note, i just finished "My Life After Baseball" by Ernie Harwell, and i will say that i do miss his tigers' telecasts. however, after reading through his collection of anecdotes and ponderings of the modern day game and those related to it and the journalists involved, i felt the same way i did when i got to hear him calling a game, and that's always a nice nostalgia to embrace. it was a quick read, and well worth any baseball fan's time. other baseball readings i can't endorse enough are "Moneyball" by Michael Lewis and "Eight Men Out" by Eliot Asinof.

right, Monkey?


"You betcha, grant!!"