7/2/09 Ringo and Roids

I got up later than expected and went right to Camden Market to meet Renee. I checked my email and mom said that Ringo sent me back my picture autographed. I was super excited and in somewhat disbelief. More on that later.

It was a lot less crowded than the last one but there were a much greater variety of stores there, including a lot of vintage shops. But I didn't get anything.

I went from there to Sainsbury's, the big supermarket with great prices compared to the ones down here. I bought four boxes of veggie burgers, three pizzas, two bags of clementines, cheese, and buns. I came home and ate two veggie burgers and four clementines. I missed them.

I Skyped home and mom and dad showed me my Ringo autograph. I've always dreamed about getting an autograph from a Beatle. It's a little surreal to think that Ringo actually looked at my photo and signed it. I have all sorts of autographs, from Hall of Famers, Presidents, James Earl Jones, but this is just another level. The Beatles aren't even real people, they're myths. And to get a photo signed that I actually took at a show of his makes it really unique. I was laughing about how cool it was all day, I even listened to some Ringo songs ("A Little Help From My Friends" is far and away his best song.) It's one of the coolest things I own and a true piece of rock memorabilia.

Unfortunately my Ringo excitement came crashing down when I saw A-Rod tested positive for steroids in 2003. I've always thought the steroid issue was sort of ridiculous, everyone was doing it and the players were getting demonized for even being mentioned in the same sentence. Is it so bad for A-Rod to homer off of Roger Clemens or have have a hit robbed by Brian Roberts? But still, this one really hurt. It kills the game of baseball for ten years or however long he plays. McGwire and Bonds went away. A-Rod isn't about to, not with $250 million on the table and still among the best in the game. I hope he comes clean this week, it can only help. He was sort of the great hope in baseball, the guy to save the home run record. I've always really liked the guy, admired him for his greatness and work ethic. And he signed a ball for me at Tiger Stadium. I wrote a column about it for RedEye, we'll see if it gets in or not, I'll put the odds again at 500-1.

I went to Leicester Square to see "Twelfth Night," a Shakespeare play that I wasn't really familiar with. It was sold out but they had standing room so I took it. It was in the very top of the theater but I had a pretty solid view still. I really enjoyed the play. It was funny and incredibly well acted, even though with Shakespeare supposedly you can only comprehend about 30% of it (sound about right.)

I walked back, going past 3 Saville Row and the old Apple store on the way, it just made the day cooler. I can't believe Ringo actually signed it, I didn't even think I'd get it to him in him. Crazy.