Month: September 2019

The Secret to Adam Ottavino’s Calm: A Little Black Notebook

Baseball
Jason Tate

James Wagner, writing at The New York Times:

Before every game, one of the linchpins of the Yankees’ talented bullpen, Adam Ottavino, finds a spot in the clubhouse to sit and write.

To combat the six-month mental minefield of self-doubt that is baseball’s regular season, Ottavino has found solace in a daily routine of writing in a journal. In it, he tracks how he cares for his powerful right arm, how he sharpens his focus, how he plans to attack an opposing lineup and, sometimes, he gives himself a pep talk by writing such messages as, “I am a great pitcher.”

“Sometimes you slip into that natural state that you’re getting beat out there,” Ottavino said. “Or maybe you’re starting to doubt your ability a little bit. Sometimes it’s important to remember how good you really are and the many tens of thousands of good pitches you’ve made.

“So I just try to remind myself, ‘I can do whatever I want with my breaking ball.’ Or, ‘I can throw perfect fastballs.’”

There’s some good advice in here for just life in general.

Sponsor: ‘Who Will Survive:’ New Book Inspired by Murder by Death

Book-Sponsor
Sponsored Post

Chris Vuoncino has released the new book, Who Will Survive, inspired by the music of Murder by Death. The story of Jack, the Devil, and the small town that is forced to face their demons is now available for purchase in paperback and for the Kindle via Amazon.

The blurb for the book reads:

It’s late in the night at Bart’s Saloon, a seedy hangout on the outskirts of small town. The drinks are flowing, patrons are laughing and the Devil himself is at the center of attention. The night seems set to end without conflict until three gun shots ring out and leave the Devil a bloody mess, just a few steps from making his exit. Jack didn’t know he would be pulling the trigger when he entered the bar that night, but he felt justified in his actions as he made his way out the back door of Bart’s. What Jack could not have known, is that the Devil’s idea of revenge is far deeper, far crueler and more far fetched that anything he could imagine. One man’s actions will reverberate throughout a seemingly innocent town and everyone will be forced to fight off their demons, those which haunt them internally as well as externally.

The author received the blessing of the band in creating and publishing this story.

Read More “‘Who Will Survive:’ New Book Inspired by Murder by Death”

RIAA Releases 2019 Mid-Year Report

Jason Tate

The RIAA have released their mid-year report and vinyl sales are creeping up on CDs.

Net revenues from physical products bucked the recent trend in unit sales and grew 5% to $485 million in 1H 2019; however, this growth was the result of a reduction in physical product returns, and on a gross basis the revenues from physical product would have been down for the period. Vinyl albums grew 13% to $224 million, but still only accounted for 4% of total revenues in 1H 2019.