'Bosch' house evokes amazing California memories

I have lived in a lot of different places, some special and some not so special.

Some provided spectacular views, others were pretty mundane. Seeing the monuments and memorials of Washington, D.C., at age 13 pretty much blew me away. By 32, when I was getting ready to move to North Carolina, it was "been there, done that" for the Nation's Capital.

As I worked my way across the country in the 1980s, I saw the Mississippi River (and the Gateway Arch), the Rocky Mountains and the deep blue of Lake Tahoe. But it was April 30, 1990, my first day on the job as a suburban sportswriter covering the Los Angeles Dodgers that gave me my first look the the most amazing view I would ever see.

Dodger Stadium by night.

You sort of have to imagine this one from the photo. The press box is essentially at the top part of the photo, behind home plate.

Parking for reporters was at the top level behind the home plate portion of the stands. When I came out of the building at 11 p.m. and looked to the southwest, the lights seemed to go on forever.

Incredible, and for most of the next two summers, it was a view I saw almost every night.

Random thoughts and perspectives for a May day

In a world of too much information, there are many things I would rather not know.

For example, I'd rather not know ...

Down the stretch

... that Donald Trump thinks the horse that crossed the finish line first at the Kentucky Derby was disqualified because of political correctness.

... that when comic books started being called graphic novels 25-30 years ago, people who read real novels let them get away with it.

,,, how long it will be before I can stream the latest "Avengers" movie. I certainly don't want to go to a theater to see it.

Still in jail, but Rule Brittania and another cheer

What's it all about (Alfie)?

Well ...

It's the eighth day since I deactivated my Facebook account in response to a 30-day suspension for so-called "hate" speech.

I'm not going to write again about what happened and why. The only purpose of mentioning it is that whenever I first go to my computer in the morning, Facebook is one of the first websites I visit.

Over the last 10 years, Facebook has been my primary tool for keeping up with friends and family. In fact, with many people, the only contact I have with them is on Facebook.

I'm sort of at a loss where to start.

It ain't Supermax, but Facebook jail is no fun at all

Again!?!

As you can see from my post several weeks ago, I received a seven-day sentence in Facebook Jail for what they called hate speech.

I referred to Donald Trump as "(rich) white trash."

I served my sentence, did my time, and when my sentence was up, the warden gave me a suit of clothes and a $20 bill and told me the next train to Memphis was leaving in two hours.

Huh?

Never mind. I promised to be more careful and began posting again.

Rich have it good, but there are ways you can succeed

Back in the 1950s, there was a television show called "The Millionaire" that ran for six seasons.

The premise was that a wealthy recluse named John Beresford Tipton would select a different person each week and give them a check for $1 million. They were not allowed to tell anyone where they got the money.

In a country where the average family income in 1955 was about $5,000 and the average home could be purchased for less than $12,000, a million was big bucks indeed.

Fortune magazine reports that in 1955, there were only about 30,000 American executives who made in excess of $50,000 a year, and they paid about 40 percent of that in taxes.

Numbers aren't easily available for every year, but in 1953 there were about 27,000 Americans worth at least $1 million.

A very special week and a handful of random notes

As sports weeks go, the one we're in the middle of right now might be my late friend Tom Kensler's favorite of the year.

Two of the events he most enjoyed covering for the Denver Post happen in this particular week. First is the NCAA men's basketball championship game. It takes place on Monday night. I don't know how many Final Fours Tom covered, but it was more than my two.

2013 in the ATL

In fact, the last time I saw him alive was the morning after the 2013 championship game, in which Louisville beat Michigan in the Georgia Done right here in Atlanta.

Strangely enough, the last Final Four I covered also was a Louisville victory, in 1986 at Reunion Arena in Dallas. I don't think Tom was at that one.

But it's the second event of the week that makes it so special. Starting Thursday, right here in Georgia, the best golfers in the world get together at Augusta National Golf Club for the tournament known as the Masters.

After half a century, Virginia's one shining moment

And in the end ...

When I sat down to fill out a bracket before this year's NCAA tournament, I did it with my heart rather than my head.

The fact is, despite a good long run covering college basketball in the '80s and '90s, including two seasons as a voter in the Associated Press poll, I've never been good at predicting.

I didn't do that well this year either. I picked Nevada, a team I covered for two seasons 20 years ago, to win the Midwest Region and reach the Final Four.

Nevada lost in the first round.

I missed on Texas Tech, predicting a Sweet Sixteen loss to ... wait for it ... Nevada.

My bracket

I did pretty well on the top half of the card. I had Duke and Michigan State in the East Region and I even had Sparty winning and moving on to the Final Four.

I had the South Region too. Virginia and Purdue in the final and Virginia emerging.

That's where my heart came into play. I have followed Virginia basketball faithfully for more than half a century.

After last season's shocking first-round loss to UMBC when the Wahoos were the top-seeded team in the field of 68, I figured redemption would come this year.

So I picked the 'Hoos to go all the way and win their first-ever NCAA title.

And they did.