Fantasy Baseball Draft Part 2

Last week, Ryan posted an invite to join his friends fantasy league.  I talked to the guy in charge, Brad, and decided that this was a league I wanted in on.  The league is a keeper league, which is something I have always wanted to do, but unfortunately our leagues always have people who decide not to play one year or whatnot.  This is also a Rotisserie style league, 5x5 basic scoring.  Usually we do head-to-head, so this is a nice change of pace.

The way they do it, the four rookies in the league get to draft first, the others can keep up to three players from their last years roster.  I wound up with the second pick, Ryan had the first.   Unfortunately, these were the players already taken:

Joe Mauer
Prince Fielder
Mark Texeira
Miguel Cabrera
Ryan Howard
CC Sabathia
Adam Wainwright
Jon Lester
Josh Beckett
Ryan Braun
Carl Crawford
Matt Holliday
Albert Pujols
Matt Kemp
Tim Lincecum
Chase Utley
Roy Halladay
Alex Rodriguez

I had two strategies depending on what pick I had and who was available (obviously).  If one of the big power hitting first basemen was available, I would take them.  If Tim Lincecum was available, I would take him in the first round.  Why Lincecum?  Well, I figured if I took him, I would go the pitcher route and just use my first two picks to take top pitchers.

You see, the lineups favor hitters, 13 batters only 8 pitchers.  Brad said that most guys take six starters and two closers.  If I was going the pitching route, I was going to take 5 big gun starters and 3 big closers.  Unfortunately, after seeing his name off the board, I realized I had one of two players to take:  Hanley Ramirez or Evan Longoria.  Ryan took H-Ram.

Here is my lineup, with the round I took them in:

C:  Ryan Doumit  (20)
1B: Adrian Gonzalez (2)
2B: Rickie Weeks (18)
3B: Evan Longoria (1)
SS: Elvis Andrus (11)
CI: Adam Dunn (7)
MI: Alcides Escobar (15)
OF: Adam Lind (4)
OF: Nick Markakis (6)
OF: Nelson Cruz (9)
OF: Jason Heyward (14)
OF: Chris Coghlan (17)
UTIL:  Travis Hafner (16)

P: Dan Haren (3)
P: Matt Cain (5)
P: Heath Bell (8)
P: Brian Wilson (10)
P: John Lackey (12)
P: John Danks (13)
P: Phil Hughes (19)
P: Fausto Carmona (21)

I like my team, as long as guys stay healthy.  There are also players I am looking at if certain guys start out slow.  I had a few pitchers I liked with the final pick (well next to last pick of the draft), but Carmona interests me.  Can he regain even 70% of the skill we saw when he won 19 games?  Most of the other guys left were mainly projected as 11-12 game winners.  Still, some of the guys left are guys I like, so if Carmona and Hughes start off badly, I can replace them.

I had to laugh because there are pay outs if you have the All Star MVP and Home Run Derby champion.  Longoria was my pick to win AL MVP this season, maybe I will get lucky and he will win one or the other for me instead...

I will post results each week about both leagues.  Maybe in the same post on Mondays, but who knows.  I wouldn't mind input from everyone about this league, well except Ryan, who had a good draft as well.

Lost: Episode 610

After last week's episode, I was hoping that we would get more episodes giving us answers and a straight-forward story.  Also, I was hoping there would be no more alternative time-line crap.  Unfortunately I remembered the whole Jin being trapped in the cooler where Sayid found him. 

Jack's Camp
SmokeLocke leaves his camp to go visit Sun.  He offers her the chance to join her and be reunited with Jin.  She runs away from him and hits her head.  Ben finds her and she somehow loses the ability to speak English.  Seems like a case for House.

Richard returns to the group and say they need to leave.  They must destroy the plane so that SmokeLocke cannot leave the island.  Sun does not like what she hears and storms off.  Later Jack joins her and says some encouraging words and gives her a piece of paper to write on.  He says that he promises to reunite her with Jin and get them off the island...

SmokeLocke's Camp
There is some kind of saying about when the master is away, the mice will play (I might be mixing sayings here).  My point is, Widmore's group attacks when SmokeLocke leaves.  They use stun darts and take Jin to the other island.

They have the old DHARMA maps of electromagnetic pockets, it seems they were marked by Jin during his days as a DHARMA grunt.  He will not help them until he speaks with Widmore.  Charles gives him a camera of Sun's, which has pictures of their child. 

Widmore wants Jin's help in stopping SmokeLocke from leaving the island.  He says for them to bring in the package, which Jin asks what it is, and Widmore replies that the package is not a what, but a who.

SmokeLocke is upset that they took Jin, so he and Sayid take the boat over to the other island.  Sawyer asks where they are going, and when SmokeLocke tells him, Sawyer asks why he doesn't just float across the water.  SmokeLocke says that if he could do that, he would have left the island a long time ago.  Sawyer makes one of the funniest comments of "yeah because that would be ridiculous."  Cracked me up.

SmokeLocke walks up to the pylons and a group of guys with guns come to meet him.  He says that he wants Jin back and Widmore says that he does not have him.  SmokeLocke then says that "a wise man once said that war was coming to the island.  I think it just got here."

Later, as they are bringing the person out of the submarine to see Jin, we see Sayid in the water.  He gets a good look at the guy, and it turns out to be Desmond.  At the camp, Sawyer asks where Jin and Sayid are.  SmokeLocke asks if he remembers the room they were guarding on the sub, well he does not like secrets.

Flashsideways
I will keep this short.  Basically, Jin and Sun are not married, yet they are having an affair.  Jin is set free from customs, but without the money.  Martin Keemy comes to the hotel room and does not like that they do not have the money.

Sun says that she has money and will pay him.  Mikhail (remember old eye-patch?) speaks Korean and takes her to the bank.  Keemy takes Jin to the restaurant.  He ties him to the chair and then explains to him that he was delivering him the money because Sun's dad found out about the affair and paid Keemy to kill Jin.  Obviously Jin cannot understand a word of it.

Turns out Sun's father closed her secret account (probably used that money to pay Keemy).  When Mikhail and Sun return to the restaurant, everyone is dead.  Jin then fights with Mikhail and kills him.  During the struggle, Sun gets shot in the stomach.  Jin picks her up and she says that she is pregnant.

Thoughts
-Ugh, I hate these alternative time-line stories.  They make no sense.  How could the island sinking cause them not to get married?  How did Jin rise up to his position if he was not married to Sun?  So stupid.

-Miles also had a funny line about Hurley only being able to track Richard if he was wrapped in bacon.  Also, his mocking Sun's lack of English and Lapidus saying "says the guy who communes with dead people."  This was at least a very funny episode.

-Did anyone else notice that Jack never used any kind of language that would indicate he was going to leave the island with them?  He promised to get them on the plane and to see that they were off the island.  Not we, not us, nothing like that.  Seems interesting to me.  I bet that time staring out at the beach has helped show him the way.  He is looking more and more like Jacob's replacement.

-I would definitely have enjoyed more of Sun slowing stripping.

-I am happy that Desmond is back, but how the hell is he the package to stop SmokeLocke?  I really thought it would be Walt, guess I was wrong.  At least we get to hear him say Brotha one last time.

24: 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.

Way to go 24, nothing like bringing back the CTU mole and the government dissension plot in the same season.  A general decides to send in an elite team to capture Hassan and turn him over to the terrorists.  Obviously the president foresaw this and sends Jack Bauer to escort Hassan. 

The worst part about the episode though, why did the service tunnel underneath the UN look like some hoarders garage.  There were pallets of wood chips (it looked like wood chip bags to me, since my mom always gets a pallet of wood chips) and random barrels everywhere.  Why the hell would this stuff be underneath the UN and why would it be so cluttered?

It was awesome watching Jack take down an elite team all by himself.  I guess that one chick helped and President Hassan did take out someone, but really Jack did all the work himself.  I bet he regrets not throwing some grenades into his purse.

Jack now has one of the soldiers under his custody, maybe there will be a civil war because of this general's actions.  I really hope Jack tortures the shit out of Dana for making us sit through that entire Kevin story.

Shaving

So I was in the shower a little bit ago and I had a thought.  I wondered how long it would take my leg hair to grow back if I shaved it.  For those of you who do not know, I have very hairy legs.  I look like a Wookiee. 

My guess is three weeks and it would be completely back to normal.  Any takers?  I am putting a poll up on the right.  Vote yes or no as to whether I should do this.  If you go with yes, let me know what your prediction is.

Do not fear, I will be scientific about this, I would start out measuring a bunch of hairs to get an average.  Then continue to measure it until it gets back to that length.  I will keep photographic proof for the sake of history. 

This is what happens when you have a generic day off and try to stay awake all day long.  Oh well, I will stand behind whatever decision you folks make.

Girlfriend of the Week

This week's GOTW is Death of the Endless.

Let me guess, you never heard of her?  Well allow me to educate you folks.  She is the brother of Dream and she is exactly what her name says, she is death.

Fortunately she is not the scary Grim Reaper kind of death figure everyone is used to.  Instead she is a pretty sweet girl.  For example, she visit's a friend of Dream and says that if he wants to, he can die whenever he wants (way too long to explain).

He asks what happens when you die, she asks what he thinks happens.  He then says he believes that it is like some poet (I cannot remember which poet).  She then says that is exactly what happens.

Interesting, the afterlife is whatever you envision.  People who go to hell, that is what the truly believe should happen to them. 

Also, she is pretty damn cute.  I would not mind having her come pay me a visit when my time is up. 

MonsterQuest Fail

I usually do not watch Monster Quest on the History Channel.  Mainly because it is really dumb, and they never come close to finding anything.  Most likely because none of these things exist.  Last night I ended up watching one of the episodes.

The episode focused on werewolves, and they were trying to find a bipedal wolf-like creature up in Michigan.  They call the thing the Michigan Dogman.  Most of the stories and evidence was really lame.  People seeing a regular wolf or a bear...

Then before a commercial break they say that coming up next there is exclusive footage of the legendary beast.  That piqued my interest.  Apparently the film was discovered in a box of junk that was purchased at an estate sale.  It was filmed on 8MM and was given to a Michigan DJ (one who wrote a song back in the 80s about the Dogman).



They call it the Gable Film and I decided to Google it.  I found a paranormal message board where people were discussing it.  Apparently people think it was a silver-back gorilla because of the way it moves.  The one thing most people and even the animal experts on History Channel, a human could not move like that, it is too fluid.

As the show comes to an end, the DJ admits that the film was a hoax!  They meet the guy who made it.  He said that he used an old camera and that all the stuff in the film is junk he has at his house.  He dressed up in this suit and just ran across the ground.  When you see him recreate it, he moves almost exactly like the film. 

How funny is that?  Every time there is some video footage of Bigfoot or some stupid monster like this, they immediately bring in these behavioral biometrics experts to prove that a human cannot move that way.  They always talk about the gait, which seems to me that there has not been enough study done or these people have no clue what they are talking about.

I realize that people want to believe in weird monsters, but they are not real.  People just need to accept that fact.

Lost: Episode 609

We finally get the back story on our good friend Richard.  And it was pretty much what I predicted all along. 

Richard's History
Richard's story starts on the Canary Islands.  He accidentally kills a doctor while trying to get medicine for his wife, Isabella.  She dies.  Richard is arrested.  A priest tells him that he can never be absolved for his sins.  A naval officer comes and purchases Richard and asks him if wants to go to the new world.  He then says that Richard is the property of Magnus Hanso.

We then see the Black Rock sailing the high seas and crash into the Island, smashing into the statue.  Richard and some other guys are chained in the hold.  The officer comes down and starts killing them since he figures if they are free they will kill the officers.

The smoke monster comes and kills the officer and then stares at Richard and then leaves.  For a few days, Richard tries to escape, but to no avail.  Isabella comes to visit him, says that they are in Hell and that the devil is coming.  She tries to run, but we hear the smoke monster get her.

Then, the Man in Black comes to visit Richard.  He frees him from his chains and says that he must kill the devil in order to get his wife back.  He gives Richard the knife (the one that Dogon gave Sayid) and tells him to stab him before he has a chance to speak.

Richard heads to the statue and all of a sudden, Jacob comes out of nowhere and beats the crap out of Richard.  He explains that he is not the devil and that this is not hell.  In order to convince Richard, he dunks him in the ocean a few times.  Once they are seated, Jacob explains a few things.

He says that the Man in Black is evil or a malevolence that needs to be contained, like the one in a bottle.  The island is the cork.  Jacob says that he brings people to the Island to prove to the Man in Black that humans are not all corruptable and bad.  Unfortunately, Jacob cannot interfere with them, yet the Man in Black can, so he offers Richard a job to act as his advisor/representative. 

Richard then asks if he can have his wife back, which Jacob replies that he cannot do that.  His next request is for his sins to be absolved.  Jacob cannot do that one.  Richard then says that he does not want to die then because he does not want to go Hell.  Jacob can do that.

Richard then goes to the Man in Black and gives him a white rock as a gift from Jacob.  The Man in Black informs Richard that if he ever changes his mind, the offer to join him is still on the table.

Later Jacob and the Man in Black sit together.  Jacob is astounded that the Man in Black tried to kill him.  Man in Black says that he wants to leave the island and that he will eventually kill him.  Jacob says that someone will replace him.  He then gives Man in Black the wine bottle and says that he will see him later.  Man in Black smashes the bottle and says to himself  "sooner than you think."

Back to the Present
Ilana explains to everyone that Richard will know what to do next.  Unfortunately Richard is now a good bit crazy and says that he needs to go talk to someone else.  He goes back to where he buried his wife's necklace and shouts that he has changed his mind.

Out of nowhere comes Hurley, who says he has a message from Isabella.  Basically she forgives him and he puts the necklace back on.  Hurley then says that Isabella said to never let the Man in Black escape the island or else everyone will go to Hell.

Thoughts
This was definitely a good episode, and the thing that amazes me is how much people over think everything.  People putting way too many rules on what Richard can do and what his role was.  Basically he is exactly what people said, the representative of Jacob.  He does not age and cannot kill himself. 

I really thought that Jacob was going to say the Man in Black's name, but I guess they are holding that one back for a few more episodes.

Interesting sidebar, the actor who plays Jacob, also plays Lucifer on Supernatural.

It was pretty cool to see Hurley as the one who reasons with Richard.  Glad that Hurley has went from bumbling idiot to the guy who knows things and seems to be a major player in this game.  Unfortunately, I do not believe he will be Jacob's replacement.  Can you imagine people coming to the island and Hurley being like "Okay, dude listen up.  You must not be bad, okay?  Cool." 

That is why that Jack is really the best candidate.  Plus he has always been the one to oppose the real Locke at every turn.  I think he would be the right choice. 

Training Day

Last night I was watching Training Day and started thinking about a few things.  When I first saw the movie, I did not really like it, but after a few times, it started to grow on me.  It was one of those movies that every time it was on, I could not help but watch it.

I think my main reason for not liking it at first, was that it seemed like The Shield.  I saw the movie after seeing the first few episodes of The Shield.  It reminded me too much of Vic Mackey.  Fortunately, after viewing each multiple times, you can the difference in the characters of Vic and Alonzo.

I bet you are wondering where I am going with this?  Well as I was watching the movie, I started to think about the new movie (which I could not remember the name of) by Fuqua.  You know, the one with Ethan Hawke as a cop...and I started to wonder if the movie was a sequel.  Turns out that no, it is not a sequel.  In fact, it is called Brooklyn's Finest.  I guess that should have been a clue.

Usually, sequels do not work for most movies, but I think if done right, you could make one for Training Day.  Wait, what?  The movie ends with Alonzo dead.  Very true astute reader.  Think about how it ends though:  Hoyt walking into his house, with a voice-over saying that Alonzo was shot and killed while serving a warrant near LAX.

Someone lied at the end of the movie.  Someone covered up what actually happened.  Could it have been the Three Wisemen?  Did Hoyt keep the money?  Did he turn it over to the Three Wisemen?  Did he somehow take over Alonzo's unit and maybe fall into the same trap as Alonzo?  I believe that Alonzo started out as a good cop, I think that he was telling Hoyt the truth about being just like him when he was young.

Imagine a movie set ten years after the original, Ethan Hawke being all bad ass and maybe even crooked.  Who cares which way you take the story, just seems like the story needs to be continued.  Unless in Brooklyn's Finest, Hawke's character is Hoyt, but he has moved to NYC because the heat was on him in LA...

Also, a sequel could include more of Charlotte Ayanna.  She played Hoyt's wife and as you can see, she is super hot.

I figured it would help ease the pain of having to suffer through this post to put up a picture of a hot girl.  Did it work?

24: 4:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m.

Talk about symmetry.  At least that is what I am hoping the writers were trying to achieve by making Dana the mole.  Season one it turned out to be Nina, the chick Jack had a thing with.  This year they introduce us to Cole, maybe someone they could continue doing the show with if Kiefer leaves or retires.  He has a girlfriend, who has a similar position as Nina...see where the symmetry comes in?  Or it was just absolutely lazy writing.  You decide.

Although Dana strangling Stephen Root was pretty cool.  Sadly, last two shows he has been on, he dies very painful deaths.

Chloe was badass during her takeover of the servers.  I really thought she would die though.  I am always waiting for her to bite the bullet.  I figured her plan would work, everything would get back online, then there would be a fire and she would die trying to put it out.

Why the hell would anyone ever not listen to Jack Bauer?  Stay behind this shield wall.  Yes sir.  I am doing exactly whatever you say.  I feel bad for Owen, I liked him.  He did last a few episodes longer than I thought he would.

It is also about time that the terrorists recognize Jack.  I mean seriously, he has to be a celebrity in the counter-terrorism community by now.

Renee came to the rescue, which reminded me of season four (maybe?) when Tony came to the rescue in a similar fashion.  Also, Jack has a collapsed lung, but he will probably be fine.  In fact, he will go out and kick ass like normal.

Fantasy Baseball Draft

Tonight was our fantasy baseball draft, and I think it went well for me.  Yes, I am going to subject you to a round by round analysis, I am sure this is exactly what you were hoping for.

My original strategy was to try and draft one of the major first basemen (Pujols/Howard/Fielder/Teixeira).  I was going to take Fielder with the fourth pick, but then I realized I could not pass up Ryan Braun.  The odd pick in the first round was definitely Ryan taking Joe Mauer with the sixth pick.  I can see why he would take him that early, even though he railed against him being the MVP last year...

Since Offord was not there for the first few rounds, he ended up with two third basemen in the first two rounds.  Nothing wrong with that, but I am hoping he will want to trade one of them for something...

By the third round, Votto was definitely the best option for first base, plus his high OBP makes him a little more valuable than he normally would be in other leagues.  It was a toss up between him and Reynolds, but I decided on Votto. 

Since we decided to use Ks and not K/9, I could not pass up Lincecum.  If we had went with K/9, I was going to draft starters in the later rounds and load up on middle relievers.  I would have punted wins, but my other stats would have benefited. 

I wanted Zobrist or Zimmerman, but they were gone by then.  I decided to take Jeter, and then I highlighted Aaron Hill to take him next.  Gideon snagged him and then took Morales as well.  I then decided to take Haren, might as well load up on starting pitchers.  The next round saw Jason take Adam Lind leaving me with Jason Bay.  I realize he may not match the production he put up in Boston now that he is with the Mets, but he will still be productive.

As you know, I have a love affair with Adam Dunn.  I had to have him.  Sorry, 40 HRs and a .400 OBP, how could I pass up on that?  I then decided to take Broxton, mainly because I usually do not take closers and that has not worked out well as of late.  I wanted Matt Wieters, but definitely not in the 9th round.  I would have taken him maybe in ten or eleven.

I am banking on Offord trading Wright for something that I have, so I decided to draft Gordon Beckham, who I think could have a really good year.  Stewart was just a second base pickup.   Bell and Broxton, yes I have solid relievers.

I decided to take Doumit as my catcher.  I probably drafted him a bit early, but whatever.  Happ was my next pick, I actually was shocked that no one took him.  I realize he is not a dominant pitcher, but he will probably win games.  Quentin, well I guess I am hoping he has a season like he did a few years ago.  Ryan had a nice pick of Beltran.  Amazing how far he has fallen, remember how he used to be a first rounder?

The last few rounds were uneventful, I took Garrett Jones with my next to last pick.  He may end up as a bust, or he may hit 30 homers, either way, nothing lost.

I need to move some players around, pick up a few middle relievers, get rid of a few of the hitters I took because I was not paying attention to which round we were in.  I think my team is very solid, but as always, it really depends on what happens.  I will be writing about the results each week, usually on Monday.  Good luck to everyone...

Wow, I am DUMB

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Dating Site

I am embarrassed by this score.  I was going to retake the quiz to see if I could do better, but figured that would be disingenuous.  Let me know how you score...

Tiger Woods

I did not plan on even addressing the whole Tiger Woods thing, mainly because I do not care if he cheats on his wife.  I mean, who would I be to judge someone for cheating?  Unfortunately, while reading the text messages between he and Joslyn James, the porn star, I noticed some pretty funny stuff.

People seem to think it is horrible that he says these dirty things to this girl.  She is a porn star.  She has probably had multiple cock inside her at once.  She gets paid to do crazy, weird shit like this every day.  I would be more shocked if Tiger was texting his wife like this.  "Hey hun, I want to come home and choke you then stick my dick in your ass."  That would probably be a little weird.

Oddly enough though, it was the turkey comment that cracks me up.

Apparently Tiger hates turkey unless it is in a club sandwich.  Wonder what he would do to someone if they brought him a stuffed turkey dinner?  I bet it involves choking and anal sex...

Kick-Ass Preview

I do not know if you guys realize how excited I am for the movie Kick-Ass.  Watch the preview, tell me you do not want to go see this with me when it comes out.  I have never read the comic and I am still pumped for this movie.

Girlfriend of the Week

This week's GOTW is Emmanuelle Vaugier.  I realize she is similar to last weeks GOTW, but this is my blog and I can choose any super hot actress that I like.  She has been on two episodes of Human Target this season and she is definitely easy on the eyes...

Lost: Episode 608

This was a pretty good episode.  Mainly because it focused on Sawyer, which is always a fun and entertaining time.  Oddly enough though, SmokeLocke delivered some of the funniest lines of the episode.

The Island
SmokeLocke sends Sawyer to the other island to do a little recon on what is going on over there.   Before this though, Sawyer confronts SmokeLocke about the smoke thing.  SmokeLocke says that he is the smoke thing and then explains that it was either kill or be killed...and he doesn't want to be killed.  Just the way he said it made me crack up.

Over on the other island Sawyer is captured by Widmore's group.  They take him to Charles and they have a little palaver (to steal a line from Roland).  Sawyer does what he does best.  He cons everyone.  He tells Widmore that he will deliver SmokeLocke so they can kill him, as long as no one else is harmed and they are given safe passage home.  Widmore agrees.

Sawyer then returns to SmokeLocke and informs him of exactly what he told Widmore.  SmokeLocke thanks him for his loyalty.  Sawyer then talks to Kate about his plan to get off the island by waiting until they are killing each other and then stealing the submarine.  Classic Sawyer.  I bet Jack screws it up somehow.

Flashsideways
We see Sawyer with some hot chick and he is about to pull the con we have seen him do before.  She double-crosses him and he says that he is working with the cops.  She does not believe him and he says LaFleur and the cops burst in, led by Miles.  He throws Sawyer a badge and tells him to put his shirt back on.

Turns out that James is a LA detective.  Miles sets him up on a date with a girl that works with his father.  Turns out the girl is Charlotte.  They have sex and afterward she is going through James' drawer looking for a shirt.  She finds a folder labeled Sawyer and inside is a newspaper clipping about his parents death.

He throws her out.  Later Miles learns that James went to Australia and not Palm Springs.  James explains about his parents and how he is tracking down Anthony Cooper in order to kill him.  Before they can continue the discussion, a car slams into them and someone jumps out.

James chases after the suspect and it turns out to be Kate.

Thoughts
-The story SmokeLocke told Kate about his Mother being crazy and how he went through growing pains.  I kept thinking that maybe SmokeLocke was Esau (from the Bible), but he never says anything about losing a birthright.  There are way too many insane theories out there and most of them are really stupid. 

My favorite idiotic theory:  SmokeLocke is actually Aaron.  Since he had to be raised by Claire's goodness and ended up being raised by Kate, he somehow became the smoke-monster and went back in time to become the enemy of Jacob...worst theory ever.

-Who is locked in the submarine?  My initial thought was Walt.  But then after reading some theories online, I am starting to believe it might be Desmond.  The island is not done with him yet...

That is about it.  At least next week we finally get Richard's story.  I am excited.  As long as the Joker does not try to kill him...

24: 3:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m.

This was hyped as episode with a "twist you will not believe."  The twist ends up being that CTU gets attacked by terrorists.  This time with an EMP bomb.  Seriously, I feel like most of this season was taken from the Ocean's XX script.

Basically the twist was Tarren pretends to help Kayla escape, unfortunately it was a set up.  He pretends to die and she escapes to CTU, carrying the bomb.  Jack and Cole are now on their own without any kind of techno-help.

I was happy to see Jack realize quickly that Tarren was pretending to be a cop.  You know why he realized it?  That is the exact same thing he would do in that situation.  They are doing a great job of setting up the Jack vs. Tarren battle, they better not let us down.

Also, I do believe at some point we will see a Jack vs. Cole fight.  Probably because Jack will be ordered to do something and he will go against it and Cole will try to stop him...we have seen it before.

At least House was pretty funny...

Time Warp

I have been thinking about the changes in the world a good bit lately.  I was wondering what the world would be like if the internet had always been around.  Think about it for a second.  Remember when Michael Jackson died?  Remember how there were twitter rumors that Jeff Goldblum had also died that die?

Watch this video of Walter Cronkite talking about JFK being assassinated.  Can you imagine if something like that happened today?


Picture it for a second.  You check facebook or twitter, OMG KENNEDY SHOT!!!  :(
Then the people would start making up things.  KENNEDY SHOT BY ALIENS!!!
People would start doctoring pictures where it would show JFK being shot by a dog wearing sunglasses.  The conspiracy theorists would start immediately saying how they thought the assassination was an inside job by the government.  Some crappy film would be put out.

And the way the media handles situations, are there any great news anchors out there for a moment like this?  Maybe Anderson Cooper...hell, think about to 9/11.  Remember how news networks were just reporting whatever rumors they could to beat the competition without trying to verify anything?  It would be just like that, only worse.  Now they would be receiving their news from someone on the scene via their Blackberry.

Any point to this?  Not at all.  Just something I noticed.

Girlfriend of the Week

Allow me to tell you a funny story.  Way back in 2007 I wrote a review for the first episode of show Life and posted a picture of Sarah Shahi.  Apparently after that if you searched for her on Google, my page would pop up as one of the first results.  How do I know this?  A friend sent me a message on facebook informing me to check it out. 

When I started using Google Analytic's, Sarah Shahi was always the number one search topic that brought people to my site.  Again, very cool for me, right?  And then after awhile, it seemed to drop off.  So the other day I did a quick search of sexy Sarah to see where I stood.  Unfortunately, my site did not come up until page 27.  I guess people noticed her since then...

So in order to celebrate her hotness and to basically find an excuse to post a bunch of pictures Miss Shahi.  Also, maybe I can jump back up to page one.  Very self-serving.

Wow, she is so freakin' hot.  She is becoming my GFL (girlfriend for life)...

NCAA Tourney Challenge!

Hey everyone, I am setting up a NCAA men's basketball tournament challenge.  You know the drill, fill out the bracket and we shall see who wins.

Here is the link.  The password is yummy, the group name is The Pancake Challenge, the group ID is 44802.  There is no money involved, too hard to gather the money, so it is just for fun.  Maybe I will award the winner some kind of prize...

Good luck to everyone...

Lost: Episode 607

This was a very cool episode.  Although, let me just say that there are people out there on the internet who over think this show.  I know, this coming from the guy who writes about every episode.  Just go out and check the Lostpedia page, some people just spend way too much time trying to come up with rules and theories...

Ben Linus
The episode focuses on everyone's favorite character, Ben.  Ilana stops Miles and asks him how Jacob died.  Miles says that Jacob was killed by Ben.  Ilana then says that Jacob was the closest thing she had to a father.  Once they get to the beach, she shackles Ben's ankle down and forces him to dig his own grave.

As he digs his grave, he receives a visit from SmokeLocke, who explains that he wants Ben to join him on the other island.  When SmokeLocke leaves he needs someone to be in charge of the island and that someone is Ben.  He releases the shackle (with some Jedi trick) and tells Ben that there is a gun 200 yards into the forest, and that he better not hesitate because Ilana will not.

Ben takes off running and Ilana follows.  He reaches the gun and turns to kill her.  She drops the gun and instead of killing her, Ben starts talking.  He says that he killed Jacob because he was angry about losing Alex.  He realizes now that he lost Alex because he could not stand the thought of losing his power.  He then says that he just wants to join Locke's group because he is the only one who will have him.  Ilana says that she will have him.

Ben decides to join up with Ilana's group on the beach.  It was one of those great redeeming moments in Ben's story. 

Flashsideways
Ben is a frustrated teacher because the principal acts like a jerk about actual education.  His prize member of the history club is Alex.  She tells him that she heard the principal and nurse having sex.  Ben tries to use that to blackmail the principal into resigning so he can become the principal (at the behest of Locke).

The principal says that if Ben does not rescind his blackmail attempt, he will not write a letter of recommendation for Alex to Yale.  Ben decides to forgo the power, and instead see Alex get her dream.  So, in the alternate universe, Ben may not have Alex as a daughter, but he does the right thing.

The Richard Experience
Hurley and Jack leave the lighthouse in order to get to the temple.  Hurley keeps trying to stall Jack.  They then run into Richard, who tells them that the temple is the way he is going.  He instead takes them to the Black Rock.

He informs them that everyone at the temple is dead, and that he did not see their friends.  He then says that he is going inside to die.  Once inside Richard tells Jack that he has not been to the ship in a very long time.  He seems to know his away around the ship.

Richard takes a stick of dynamite and asks Jack to light it because he cannot kill himself.  Jack says okay and lights the fuse, then sits down.  Jack explains that he too has been touched by Jacob and that he should not be able to die as well.  The fuse then goes out.  They then leave together and eventually meet up with Ilana's beach group.

As the show comes to an end we see a sub periscope watching the group on the beach.  It turns out to be Charles Widmore and he says to not bother with them and to proceed as planned.

Thoughts
The big thing that people seem to be discussing online is the rules by which a candidate gets power and how they can kill each other, blah blah blah.

I am just happy that they pretty much confirmed the idea that Richard must have been one of the crew members aboard the Black Rock (he also seems regretful about having been a slaver).  Jacob gave him a gift.  Who cares really what the full extent of the gift was, we now know that Jacob was the reason and not the island, right?

Any episode where I can look down Alex's shirt is pretty much great...

Odds and Ends

Big Ben

I cannot believe I have the urge to talk about this, but I do.  Unless you are living under a rock the past few days, you may have heard about Ben Roethlisberger's recent run in with the law.  He is accused of sexual assault down in Georgia.

I would link to any of the sites out there making fun or posting the full story, but I really do not see the need for it.  Since I do not know the facts of the case, I will not say too much about it.

The best thing I have heard so far was on local radio today discussing what the Steelers should do next.  Unfortunately I missed what he had to say about it.  I think at the moment the team needs to look at one of the many qualified backup QBs out there (not Michael Vick).  Or, and this one will sound pretty bad, but throw Ben's name out there as a trade option.  Obviously most teams will stay way away from a guy like Ben right now, but who knows, maybe the Redskins will hear about it and decide to give up their first three rounds of draft picks this season and their next two years worth of first rounders...that would be awesome.

To Ben, I offer him my services.  For $45,000 a year, I will go out to clubs with him and his boys.  I will stay sober, and whenever he decides to try and hook up with some girl, I will then have her fill out some forms stating that she understands that they will be having sexual intercourse.  I may even test her BAC and have her do a voice recording so folks can see that she is of sound mind and body.

Facebook
I have a few beefs with facebook.  Do not get me wrong, I enjoy using it, in fact it is up right now.  However that does not mean I care about your farm or fish.  I am not going to join your mob, or battle you in fight club.  I am not going to help you kill vampires or werewolves.  I could care less about your farkle or bejeweled scores.  I hide every single one of them.  And it feels good to do it.  And everyone should feel privileged to receive updates about this very blog you enjoying at the moment.

So what the hell does that leave me?  Well not a whole lot actually.  A few random quotes from people about their day.  Sometimes I like to put up song quotes or maybe I get super silly and write ridiculous things.  For example, let me share you some of these funny posts.

-how many girls do you know that can play a harmonica with their pussies? Very true Bloodhound Gang, very true indeed.

- it is time for me to leave you now. i know you will miss me, and my heart breaks to have to say this, but goodbye...wait, sorry,what am i talking about? heart??? hahahaha

That last one was a two-part post that I threw up right before I left for Pittsburgh.  While I was down there I received multiple text messages from Kacie asking if everything was okay.  I called her and asked what she meant.  She said that people read my facebook and thought I was depressed.

I do not see it.  Maybe I am crazy.

Also, recently I saw on my news feed that one of my friends (who I have no clue who they are) father had just died.  What the hell kind of society do we now live in where you find out that a parent just died and you feel the need to share that on facebook.

Text Messages

I love receiving funny text messages, especially when I wake up at 4:00 a.m. and have to figure out what the hell could have been going through the drunk person's head. Here are some of the examples:
-Hey who played Sean Connery on snl when we were talking about it the other night at work. (this came from Brent, apparently we were discussing this at work the other day and it came up at a bar.)
-Port matilda?? U know where that is?? (this one came from Steve at 2:45 a.m. and I have yet to learn why he sent it.)
-you dont love me anymore :( (the sad face makes it so much better. makes me realize how serious the sender was. Also, I have no clue why she sent this.)
-I forgot to tell you, friday is dress down day you can wear jeans and tennis shoes and a nice shirt, have a nice night! (This was actually a wrong number, but it got me pretty excited about not having to dress up, only to be let down immediately.)

Well I hope you enjoyed my stupidity for the day.

24: 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m.

I have decided to write about tonight's episode of 24 live while I watch it.  Probably will be a pretty stupid idea, but now that I have a laptop, it seems like such a great idea.  Speaking of the new laptop, it crapped the bed on Sunday.  I went to Best Buy today and traded it in for a nicer one.  It was the one I looked at for a long time the other day, yet I decided it was too expensive.  Anyways, since this one is much faster and more powerful than the other, I have decided to sell my desktop to my brother (I cut him a VERY good deal)...anyways, the show starts in about twenty minutes, join me for the stupidity...

Opening
Why the hell wouldn't Hastings have sent someone to get Bomb Kid's mother as soon as they knew his identity?  Only Jack would think of something like this?  No wonder CTU sucks at keeping terrorists away.

Well at least Hastings gave Freddie Prinze and Dana a nice lecture.  I would have fired them.  And now Chloe is in charge, which is great.  She is obviously the smartest person CTU has ever hired. 

2:13
Awe Chloe is such a great team leader.  Those words of encouragement were great.  Unfortunately Dana is acting like a megabitch.

Arlo better turn out to be the criminal mastermind behind everything.  He is funny, slightly pervish, and much more fun than any of the normal villains.

Jack begging a kid not to blow himself up, and wanting to talk about the situation instead of just shooting or torturing.  Jack is truly a changed man.  Do not worry though, he will threaten the kids mom sooner or later...

2:23
Oh Kayla, lean up please.  I just want to see her breasts.

Cole definitely played it cool with Marcos' mom.  Instead of going the anger route and arresting her, he realized she was genuinely shocked that her son could be a terrorist.  It will make it even cooler if Jack puts a bullet in her leg.

2:33
It looks like Mr. James is okay after exploding all over Jason Stackhouse (notice that I mixed two different shows there?  Yeah, I am awesome.) 

It appears that Dana is still mildly retarded after this whole ordeal.  I really do not think this guy is actually the probation officer.  I bet he is Kevin's father or other partner in crime.  Or gay lover.  One of those options.

Death to America!!!  Except, well my mom.  Please spare her.  I think Marcos might be the dumbest kid ever.  Oh wait, never mind.  He will stick to his principles.  And now Jack will start the threatening.  Oh god, I am getting excited.  I think that makes me a sick individual...

"Go ahead and blow yourself to tiny bits.  I am going to make your mother come in there and clean it up."

I have missed this Jack Bauer so much.  I think I am about to orgasm right now.

And then he threw the kid into the chamber and watched him explode.  And it turns out I was completely wrong about Tarren.  Oops, I guess maybe President Hassan was right about being  paranoid.

2:52
Did Tarren just take a one minute shower?  His hair is not even wet.  I thought I took quick showers.  I was really hoping Kayla would turn out to be in on the plot.  She would have made the hottest 24 villain of all time. 

I guess we will see a Jack versus Tarren hand-to-hand battle at some point.  Although if Owen gives him a beat down, he will totally redeem himself.

 

Funny Freakin' Video

This is Jim Jeffries.  He is hilarious.  I suggest you check him out.  Be warned though, he makes fun of religion and pandas.  He also swears a good bit. 

Laptop

For those of you who know me, probably have heard me say that I want to buy a laptop.  I have wanted one for the past two years to be exact.  Mainly because I am lazy and want to be able to sit on the couch (or lay in bed) while writing these awesome posts that keep the majority of you entertained day in and day out.

Recently I got it in my head that I wanted a netbook (or maybe an iPad).  I went over to Best Buy to check them out today and was very close to buying the one, but then I realized this laptop was only $20 more.  My desktop is six years old and has been through some tough times.  It is only a matter of time before the thing decides to explode, leaving me with nothing.

The laptop can now fulfill the role as my everyday computer.  My desktop will basically be used for music (and porn).  Eventually I will buy an external hard drive to store all of my songs.  Funny thing is, years ago I felt that I needed to have the most kickass computer out there (my desktop was very expensive and at the time it was pretty impressive), but now I realize that the only thing I use it for is to write, and do internet-y things.  Do I really need the fastest, most expensive computer out there? 

I came to the conclusion that I do not, that a laptop with just the minimum would help get me through my life.  I do need some practice typing on a laptop though.  Also trying to work through Windows 7, plenty of little things to get used to...

I had to buy a new router and then make not one, but two phone calls to Linksys to have them help me configure the damn network.  Fortunately, everything is working quite well.

I am happy...

Girlfriend of the Week

This week's GOTW goes out to the hot girl in the post below:  Nazneen Contractor.  She plays Kayla on this season's 24.  She is apparently from India or something, honestly though, who cares.  She is hot.  Also she is a practicing member of Zoroastrianism, which is much cooler than Christianity.  Well it is as cool as a religion can be...

24: 1:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.

The cool thing so far seems to be the lack of insane twist, like agents from Venezuela show up with another nuclear bomb.  Nothing worse than the first terrorist plot being a ploy for a second, bigger plot.  That has been the problem the last few seasons.  That and characters doing completely idiotic things...

-Why do people never respond like sane people on this show?  Remember during last season when Jack was in the hospital with a suspect, and the dude comes in, gives him some kind of paralyzing poison, then frames Jack for the suspects murder?  What does Jack do?  Stick around and explain to the FBI what happened, demand they test his blood for some kind of drug?  No, he runs away.

What is the point?  Why would Tarin and Kayla just run off to some hotel?  It makes them look incredibly guilty.  I suppose the prospect of being tortured might cause someone to flee...and is Tarin the Arab version of Jack Bauer?  And what better way to hole up in a hotel then with some hot chick having premarital sex.

-We all know that Owen is going to die at some point.  It is just a matter of time.  When he does finally take a bullet, probably saving Jack's life, and Cole returns a few moments later, how pissed will Jack be at Cole?  Anyone else excited to see Kiefer beat up Freddie?

-Speaking of Cole and Dana.  They will get fired when the return to CTU, right?  Everyone else in this show gets crucified for making mistakes.  Secretary of state disagrees with nuking a country, he must resign.  Some key employees of CTU disappear during a terrorist attack?  Slap on the wrist.

-I never picture NYC as a swampy place...Gideon, can we go to that swamp and poke dead bodies with a stick.  Also, I thought the East River was where you go to dump bodies?

-When the episode ended with the kid in the pressure chamber, my first thought was:  WHAT?  The old Jack would just threaten to have his mom brought in and tortured in front of his eyes.  You don't think Jack would do something like that?

Remember when he threatened some foreign guy by having him watch a video of soldiers shooting his family (granted it was all a setup, but still).  Remember when he quit CTU for like one hour so he could go break the fingers of some Amnesty lawyer?  Or was that the US Marshall?  Remember the dude in the limo from I think season one, where he twists the towel down his throat? 

Fortunately the preview came on for next week and we see that Jack already thought about connecting the lil' Terrorist Boy with his mommy.  I will be disappointed if at some point Jack does not pull his gun on the woman and scream "YOU HAVE 'TIL THE COUNT OF THREE TO OPEN UP OR I SWEAR I WILL BLOW YOUR MOTHERS HEAD OFF!"

Also, one last thing, I thought hospitals and most major buildings used really strong windows.  Ones that people just can't jog through.  Just once, I want to see someone run at window and bounce off.  Would be hilarious.

Seamonkeys

Monday I decided to return to the place I love:  Mugshots.  Let me explain how great a time it was.  I get down there around seven, and Steve and I head to Wendy's for something to eat.  For those of you who know the area, remember to always hit up the Robinson stores instead of the Greentree locations.  Why?  The moron working behind the counter was way too busy (there were four people in the store) and he was ready to freak out.

After eating, we head to Mugshots.  Monday night is trivia night now.  Our team arrives, it is me, Steve, Steve's sister Leah, and this other girl Denise.  We decided to our team would be "Seamonkeys Be Fuckin' in Your Drinking Water."  We ended up destroying at trivia.  We beat every team by a few hundred points.

Our prize was the cool shirts, which Leah helped decorate for us.  We then proceeded to drink heavily for the rest of the night.  I do not remember a whole lot after that.

We hung out on Tuesday and then headed to Applebees for something to eat.  Let me say, we had the greatest time at Applebees possible.  We eavesdropped on not one, but two very entertaining conversations.  The first one was a mother/daughter combo.  The girl was fighting with her mom about her loser boyfriend.  She then called the boyfriend and told him to just go find a prissy perfect girl.

At one point the mother gives a nice long lecture and the girl looks up from her cell phone and says "oh, I did not listen to anything you just said."  I think the mother should have just smacked her.

The other conversation was a first date between a pretty cute girl and some dickbag.  After they finished eating, he goes to the bathroom (she looks absolutely bored), and then maybe five minutes after returning he says this "excuse me again, I warned you that I have a weak stomach."  He then heads to the bathroom.

In what universe does someone discuss their bowel movements during a first date.  I usually save that for a third date, at the least.  When he came back they both talked about it for a few moments (although, she seemed to be just trying to make conversation, he was ready to get very detailed).

After that, we headed to the Fireside and shot pool.  We ended up evening out 5-5.  Later Nicole came to the bar and we continued to drink for a bit.  Then we headed to King's for breakfast, where Steve puked on himself.  Okay, it was not really puke, it was more that he started choking on his steak, which caused him to start hacking up weird fluid..

Also while waiting for my food, I took a bite out of some passed out girls burger, which caused a bunch of other people to crack up.

Anyways, it was a great time and I cannot wait for April 5th.  Yes, that is the Pirates Home Opener, and we plan on doing it right.

Lost: Episode 606

This episode was much better than last weeks.  Unfortunately, questions did not really get answered.  I feel like the show will end without any answers at all.

The Island
Sayid and Dogen have a pretty awesome battle, which ends with Dogen almost killing Sayid.  He lets him go and tells Sayid to leave.  He does explain that every man has a scale, which balances the good and evil, Sayid's scale has tipped to the evil side.

When SmokeLocke sends Claire in, Dogen sends Sayid out to talk to him.  He gives him a knife to kill SmokeLocke, unfortunately the knife does not work.  SmokeLocke does not kill Sayid, instead he gives him a message to take to the Temple folks.  He then promises Sayid something that he wants more than anything (bring back dead Nadia).

Sayid delivers the message that if the Temple folks want to leave, that is fine, but if not, SmokeLocke will be there by sundown to kill everyone.  Sayid goes to the pool and talks with Dogen.  Dogen explains why he is at the island, Jacob promised to save his son, but the condition was that Dogen could never see him again and must come to the island.

Dogen realizes that Sayid made a deal with SmokeLocke, and then out of nowhere, Sayid tackles Dogen into the pool and drowns him.  The second in command (apparently his name is Lennon?) comes running in and says something like "what have you done, he was the only thing keeping him out!"  Sayid then slits his throat.

The Smoke Monster comes in and kills everyone.  Kate runs to help Claire, but Claire is content in her hole waiting for SmokeLocke.  Ilana, Ben, and Frank show up and they take Miles with them, I think through the same secret passage Hurley and Jack used.

By the end of everything, Kate was with Claire and SmokeLocke.

Flashsideways
These flashsideways are getting odd.  I understand the point is to show how their lives would be different (yet the same), but they make my brain hurt.

You see, in this reality, Sayid's brother married Nadia.  Sayid does not think he deserves her for all the bad things he did.  But again, how does the lack of an island mean this would happen?

Anyways, Sayid's brother owes money to a loan shark, who turns out to be Keamey (remember him?).  Sayid kills everyone and then opens a walk-in freezer and finds Jin inside tied up.  I bet we get an episode where the flashsideways shows how Jin ends up in the freezer...

Questions
-Where is Sawyer?   Is he on some other mission for SmokeLocke?
-What is the point of the gray ash, if the actual reason the Smoke Monster cannot enter was Dogen?
-The idea of the scale is definitely Egyptian.  So what is the islands connection to Egypt?

Ranting and Raving

This weekend was the cool event known as State Patties Day over at State College.  Remember when it first happened?  I made fun of it then, and well I am going to make fun of it now.

Let me give you a little history lesson, way back in '07 a remarkable thing happened.  St. Patrick's Day occurred during Spring Break!  For some people this would be great, like the idea of going on Spring Break and celebrating the holiday somewhere insane, right? 

Sadly, the bars (mainly the Phyrst) did not like this too much.  Apparently, certain bars realized they would lose out on tons of  money, since this is their busiest day of the year.  In this AP article, they claim a bartender decided to start a Facebook group to get people to go out the week before, but something tells me that certain bars came up with the idea. 

Now, read this wonderful quote from the above article.

By Thursday, at least two establishments had decided to close entirely. Mangers at the Shandygaff and the Lion's Den both said they were trying to send a message.
"I really don't understand what the celebration is about," said Chris Rosengrant, operations manager at the Lion's Den. "I thought it would be a great statement to make for the promotion of responsible drinking."

Apparently these bars are upset because people are drinking all day and getting in trouble.  Boo-fucking-hoo.  What the hell did you think would happen when you started promoting drinking at 7:00 a.m.?  Did these people think that everyone would break out into some musical number after consuming hundreds of gallons of green beer?

When asked for a quote about the dangers of this kind of excessive drinking, the owner of the Phyrst said "blow me" and continued to shovel money into a sack. 

 Continuing reading after the jump...