Mambo Loco

Maureen gave me a set of 8 Biggies (Alphacolor Brilliants) for my birthday and I got a chance to take them for a spin this afternoon. I love them! They’re basically kids style blocks of of opaque watercolors. “Opaque” like in you can go back over dark brown with a white!

My new favorite album is Art Blakey’s “Orgy in Rhythm”. I don’t know where I got it but it is a recent addition. You know how it goes today – a friend visits and they slide a batch of songs onto your drive and then you don’t even hear them until a few months later when they pop up in a shuffle and knock your socks off. This record reminds me of the times Brad Fox and I were in our teens playing two sets of drums for hours on end with no other instruments.

There was an article in the travel section this morning on Cartagena, Columbia. Guess it’s sort of safe to travel there again. Peggi and I were there in 1984 when I sold my baseball cards. My mother was ready to toss the old cards when they moved and I took them home. I saw an ad for a sports memorabilia sale at a hotel on East Ridge Road so I took the shoebox out there and stopped by a few booths. One of them was manned by my old high school math teacher, Mr. Setek. He said he would take them all but he wanted to come by our place and study them before he offered me a price.

My first cards were given to me by an older kid who lived down the street from me on Brookfield Road. They were mid fifties stuff and interesting but my most valuable cards were the three Pete Rose rookie cards from 1963. I was at the peak of my buying power with pockets full of cash from my paper route and I also was losing interest in the cards so they were in pristine condition. I had a complete set of Topps that year plus duplicates. He offered me 1400 bucks and I took it. Then he told me he was going to put the cards in a safety deposit box and use them to put his kids through college.

Peggi and I studied the travel ads and the cheapest destination was Cartagena. We found out why after we booked the trip. There was a drug war going on and a travel advisory had been issued. We stayed in the Hilton with armed guards patrolling the perimeter but we did venture out and fell in love with Cumbia. Maybe it’s time to go back.

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