As some of you may remember, Animated Meat first came to life in 2008 as a way to document some sights that managed to slip through the cracks of most popular travel websites. You may also remember that the original website was built on Apple's now defunct iWeb. From there, it migrated over to WordPress where it met an untimely demise at the hands of Russian hackers. Many of those old, pre-2012 entries have found a new home here in the Before the Now section. I would consider these posts as my starting place as a writer, probably comparable to a musician's first demo tapes. They are very rough, but I took them all seriously and wrote each one with passion. While I would like to believe that I have matured in my abilities as a writer, it is my hope that I carry this same blind passion into all of my new efforts.

Major League Baseball Fan Fest - Originally Published 2010

February 22, 2019

2010 found the MLB All Star Game touching down for a weekend in Anaheim. Based on the proximity, we took the opportunity to see what it was all about.

Rod Carew received some serious respect and the fest.

For a team that supposedly has a curse, the Angels had plenty of hardware on display. Hopefully, the 2010 season is an anomaly and will soon be behind them.

There were plenty of vendors on hand to sell baseball collectibles.

There were some pieces out on tour form the Hall of Fame. That’s a signed Honus Wagner ball. They also had a whole section devoted to the Negro Leagues, complete with one of Satchel Paige’s jerseys.

There were a lot of interactive opportunities. Here was a chance to see if your kid has what it takes to be an on-air commentator.

Video games were a popular stop. This will probably replace the game itself in a few decades. However, it was good to see that some of the kids who attended used the free balls to play catch in an out of the way section.