I forgot how much fun science fiction can be. I just finished The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton and once it got going it was impossible to put down. The book is almost 1100 pages long, so needless to say, it would be pretty difficult to write up a synopsis without going into way too much depth.
What I enjoyed about the book though was the multitude of characters and worlds. So many well written characters. My favorite by far was Joshua Calvert, and not just because he has an awesome name, but because of the way he is so cool and also such a jerk at times.
He basically has sex with tons of girls and becomes a completely badass starship captain. He also has gut feelings which help him stay out of trouble.
Aside from introducing a ton of characters, the book also sets up what the major problem will be in the series. The dead are able to come back from some sort of nothingness and take possession of the living. Once they have done this, they are virtually unstoppable. The majority of the book deals with learning a little bit about them (even though the majority of the time is confused as an invasion by an old villain named Laton).
One of my favorite moments is after Laton is taken over and his body is used to take over an entire island (not going into much detail), he then proves he is a superior being by retaking control and helping destroy the island and the possessed. It was a very cool moment.
I am looking forward to reading the next book. Especially since the book is almost the same length, but will not have the problem of needing to explain the universe as much or the characters. I am guessing the final two books will be jam packed with action (and probably more characters), which excites the hell out of me.
Anyways, I realize this book is older and some of you may have read it before, what did you think?
This was a week I needed to win, or at least lose with some dignity. I did neither and helped Offord leap frog into first place. Always good to help a friend I suppose. Offord beat me 8-3, sadly most of the week was crappy for both of us. I am sure Offord would disagree, but my team sucked and it was still kind of close...
My team decided to only hit one day this week and that was Sunday. My team hit four homers to tie it up on Sunday. I think going into the day my team was only hitting about .195, but after that it jumped to .220. If they would have hit at all during the week it would have been a better match up.
Pitching was pretty well even. Tyler Clippard and some of my other relievers decided it was a good week to just suck it up. Which is bound to happen at times, but really sucks when they all do it at the same time.
I made some changes, I dropped Happ and Starlin Castro. I picked up Mike Aviles and Troy Tulowitzki. Yes, I realize that Troy is on the DL, but someone dropped him. He will be back at the end of July (I think) and he will be an immediate upgrade over the shitty shortstops I have been using.
My big player this week was Heath Bell, who had four saves and seven strikeouts with a 0.00 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. Nice job Heath. Screw the rest of you guys. This keeps me at fourth place (technically third place because Offord and Ryan are tied for first with Imler in second, but whatever) with a 73-61-10 record. I need to beat the crap out of whoever I play this week in order to get back into the race. Those three are like 10.5 games ahead of me.
Wow. This is just creepy. Notice how serious he seems around the 1:20 mark, especially when he starts singing the "let you go" part? Thank you Filmdrunk for giving me nightmares.
As most of you know, the Pirates have called up a good bit of their prospects, and some of them are not doing so well. The big two are Brad Lincoln and Pedro Alvarez. Personally I felt that it was a bad idea to bring Pedro up at this point. He could have used some more AAA work, but whatever.
I was talking baseball with an older gentleman the other day, and he happens to be a season ticket holder for the Altoona Curve. He must not be a Pirates fan and asked me what happens to pitchers when the Pirates get them from Altoona. The way he said it, made it sound like the Curve have a say in the matter, but that is beside the point. I just shook my head and told him I had no clue. I have learned not to argue baseball with old guys. He then pointed out that Zach Duke was great at Altoona and then sucked for the Pirates.
I wish I would have informed that pretty much all starting pitchers in the majors had success in AA. I decided to take a look at the Orioles pitcher David Hernandez, who was recently moved to the bullpen, and was what you would consider, a fifth starter. He is 2-6 with a 4.64 ERA, not very good. How was he in AA?
10-4, 2.68 ERA, 10.60 K/9
Duke's AA #'s: 5-1, 1.58 ERA, 6.30 K/9
Lincoln AA #'s: 1-5, 2.28 ERA, 7.80 K/9
Maholm AA #s: 6-2, 3.20 ERA, 8.30 K/9
These guys all pitched rather well at the AA level. Like I said, there is a huge difference between AA and the majors. I realize most of you know this, but sometimes I feel like people in the Altoona region do not get it. Sorry for interrupting your weekend, enjoy the pictures of Jesse Jane below this post.
This week's GOTW is another porn star. This time it is Jesse Jane, who you can see in plenty of films with Riley Steele. As I said a few weeks ago, porn stars are fun twitter adds, mainly because you get some funny stuff about work, but also you get random tidbits about their daily lives. Jesse Jane usually talks about taking her kid to his baseball games, which is pretty cool.
I am posting this now because she will be in Pittsburgh tomorrow night (Friday) at the strip club, Cheerleaders. I really wish I was off work because I would like to go down and check her out. So for those of you in the area, head down for me.
Another reason you should like her: she is a huge fan of Sons of Anarchy. Those of you that know me, also know that this is one of my favorite shows. She is just a cool chick.
Like I said yesterday, I would start posting a quiz from the silly game MindTrap. I just randomly picked some cards and will see if you folks can get them right. Do not cheat though. Let us begin.
1. If 3 plums are worth 2 apples, how many apples are 24 plums worth?
2. Assuming that you are paying, is it cheaper to take one friend to the movies twice, or two friends to the movies at the same time?
3. Hardy Pyle was washing windows on a high-rise office building when he slipped and fell off a sixty foot ladder onto the concrete sidewalk below. Incredibly, he did not injure himself in any way. How was this possible?
4. A high speed electric train is traveling southeast at 90 kilometers per hour. The wind is blowing westward at 30 kilometers per hour. In what direction will the smoke from the engine blow?
5. How far can a dog run into the woods?
6. There is a certain crime, that if it is attempted, is punishable, but if it is committed, is not punishable. What is the crime?
7. What is the beginning of eternity, the end of time, the beginning of ever end, and the end of every place?
8. Candy Barr has five bags of candies to give to her nieces. Four of the bags have a total of 84 candies. The fifth contains four candies less than the average of the five bags. How many candies are in the fifth bag?
Give it a shot. We shall see if you can escape the MindTrap!
This video is long, but it is definitely worth it. Darth Vader's scenes redubbed with James Earl Jones lines from other movies. It is hilarious how some of them fit quite well. Or how silly some of them can be. Trust me and watch it. You will not be disappointed.
The other day, Adam and I went up to our Dad's house in order to visit him for Father's Day. Over the past about five years, he has asked us to come up and get the stuff from our youth. As I have told him before, I really do not want any of it, unless there are some comics. I have also said that I would take some of the baseball cards (mainly the complete sets) and Star Wars stuff.
Adam and I are taken into the old junk room, which is supposedly full of all this stuff. Wow, talk about some ridiculous stuff to save. We did not go through everything, in fact we grabbed two giant tubs which were full of stuff and brought them to my place where we went through them. We only kept a few things, the rest we tossed in the dumpster.
The funny thing was how much idiotic stuff was saved in the room. Like computer disks. I am not talking CD-ROM, I am talking floppy disks. Yes, 5.25" and 3.5" floppy disks. I cannot even remember the last time I saw a computer with a floppy drive, especially a 5.25" drive. Why would anyone save shit like that?
Another fun find: a poster of Bob Dylan in concert, which we bought for Dad a few years ago. Nice to see that he cared enough about our present to actually hang it up. Also, Adam found a tap for a keg. It looks like it is from 1975 and it is definitely from a local beer distributor. I told him he should take it in and see if he can still get his deposit back.
This is the stuff I decided to keep: some Anakin Skywalker collector thing, probably worth nothing. My scrapbook from junior high wrestling (has a great description by me of one of my matches: "I got decked."), a book that Adam read (Raptor Red), 1989 Upper Deck complete baseball card set (anyone want to buy? Has Griffey's rookie card...), and Mind Trap (some weird game that asks questions, which I might post on here occasionally for fun).
I also picked up my shotgun and my rifle. I really have no idea what I will do with them. I could take them out and shoot stuff. I could sell them (again, any takers? Mossberg 835 twelve gauge and a .243 Winchester Rifle), that is always a good possibility. I thought about modifying the shotgun into a pistol grip and maybe sawing off the barrel...make it more mobile for the Zombie Apocalypse. Never know when that shit will happen.
I will try to keep you folks abreast of any more cool findings while treasure hunting in the subbasement of my childhood home.
I beat James 8-2, but did not make up any ground because Ryan, Jason, and Offord all won by almost the same margin. I actually had a small scare at the beginning of the week. I woke up late on Wednesday and did not have time to set my pitchers, so I missed out on two wins and a bunch of strikeouts. Sadly, we tied in wins and James won the Ks. Damn, I could have beat him 10-1...oh well though.
My hitting was a little off, but that was also my fault. I kept debating who to start on certain days regarding Stanton/Vlad/Glaus. Everyday I seemed to make the wrong choice. I missed out on Stanton's grand slam, last week I missed Glaus' 4/5 day with 2 homers (I think that was his stat line)...oh well, you cannot be right all the time.
My big hitter was definitely Carlos Santana. .471 average, .491 OBP, a home run, and 5 RBI? Not a bad week at all. I think Lincecum would have been my best pitcher, if I had started him. Instead the honor goes to Colby Lewis for his one win and nine strikeouts. Oh and Texas closer, Neftali Feliz for picking up four saves. Damn impressive week for Texas pitchers.
This week I take on Offord, who is right ahead of me in the standings. I must beat him. That is all there is to it.
Other Baseball Stuff
Instead of boring everyone with a second baseball post this week, I figured I would mention this whole Pirates fire Pierogi runner because of facebook story. In case you cannot read (what are you doing here?), the Pirates fired a kid (he is 24) who is one of their pierogi racers for posting some disparaging comments on facebook about the Pirates front office.
First of all, this should not be a story. The newspapers would not run a story about this kid if he was fired for smoking weed in the bathroom, then why post this kind of story? Well obviously there are reasons, mainly to fire up the angry fan base. Whatever.
As you are well aware, I do not mention my place of work on here and that is because I was warned about saying anything negative about the company. Write some negative comments on your facebook status about your boss and see how long you keep your job.
The part that cracks me up was how his mom made such a big deal about he was a lifelong fan and all that. It reminded me of George Carlin's last stand-up. Check it out about the 4:30 mark where he talks about Bobby...
This kid got warned for violating policy, then violated policy again. He says it was because there was a miscommunication involving his schedule. That sounds to me that he partied too much one night and then missed work. I hear that crap all the time from my employees.
People need to realize this is not a violation of his rights, this is the world we live in. If you choose to write a blog, have a facebook account, or use twitter, then you also have to realize that there can be consequences for your actions.
It is Sunday night (technically Monday morning) and that means two great shows on HBO.
True Blood
-So the werewolves are really no match for a vampire, unless they are hopped on vampire blood? Bill pretty much killed the five he faced, or at least three of them. He ripped an ear off one and did not face the one named Cooter.
-A war between Mississippi and Louisiana? Really? Would this be like a battle of the illiterate? Do all vampires live in the moron states? I am being mean to both states and I apologize to anyone from there who is reading this.
-Jason is still one of the coolest characters ever. The stuff that comes out of his mouth cracks me up. I really hope he decides to take the case of the missing Bill Compton. He will not find him, but he will probably end up in Alaska fighting Santa Claus.
-Is Jessica's dead trucker going to turn into some kind of freaky zombie? Like the doctor in Blade? Jessica should have just talked to Pam, maybe just ask her for help. Now this thing will be out killing everything and it will be up to Eric to kill it...
-Speaking of Eric, how cool is he? "Stop crying, it makes me feel.........human." Goes from being all honest and heartfelt to talking about having primal animalistic sex with Sookie.
-And it all comes back to Sookie, she is oh-so-special. Oh, and she was Bill's assignment from the Queen? Hmm, sound odd to anyone? I know, I know, I should read the books.
-Only complaint: the stupid blood/food references. "He only ate tangerines for a week." Blood made into dessert, blood champagne. It was dumb. Knock it the hell off.
Treme
Tonight was the season finale, and let me say that it was a fantastic season. It ended the way it started: with a second line parade. This time for the funeral of Daymo. -Annie catches Sonnie being a scumbag and decides to ask Davis if she can stay with him. This comes after Davis takes Janette out for her final day in New Orleans in an attempt to convince her to stay. How the hell Davis gets girls is beyond me...
-The show then does a flashback of the characters making their decisions to leave/stay in New Orleans during Katrina. It was such a cool scene. Seeing how the characters got to where they are, and how Daymo got arrested.
-The saddest part had to be when Cray's wife finds his note in his wallet. She knows it was suicide. The best part about it though, the way the police handled it. Especially since she comes down hard on the New Orleans Police Department most of the series. David Morse is such a good actor...
-The parade of Indians with Big Chief was actually pretty damn cool. I loved how after it was done, you think that father and son will bond and be all buddy-buddy. Then they start playing music together and you see that those fights and problems will always be there.
Before I go on to long and tell you all how great the show was, I am just going to recommend everyone start watching Treme. And I also realize that there was no GOTW this week, so without further adieu: I give you Kristin Bauer van Straten. She plays Pam on True Blood.
I think she is pretty hot and she is such a sassy bitch. I love it.
I figured since I have nothing to really write about, I might as well bore everyone with some things going on in my life. Prepare for a lot of rambling...
Work
Since returning from vacation, The Place That Shall Not Be Named has not been that bad. In fact, I have actually looked forward to going into work. Pretty weird if you ask me. Actually, I have a feeling it has more to do with my personal life at the moment. Generally when things are off in that department, going to work is more of a relief. Spartacus
I think at some point I mentioned how I watched the first episode of Spartacus: Blood and Sand on Starz and I thought that it absolutely sucked donkey dong. Well I watched the rest of the first season recently (thank you Starz marathon and OnDemand) and I must say that my opinion has greatly changed. No, the show is not all that good, but it has some good qualities.
It is fun to watch the mindless violence and graphic sex. Yes, I enjoy shit like that, I am a guy. Andy Whitfield is pretty awesome as Spartacus. He seems like the guy who could lead a slave revolt. The plot of the show is decent, mainly because of all the backstabbing and maneuvering. Every character has some kind of deal going on with someone or is trying to bribe someone.
Now, let me tell you what I do not like. I hate the excessive use of language, especially the misuse of certain dirty words. I know they are trying to go the Deadwood/Rome route, but those shows made the language fit, this show does not. Sometimes guys will say things that make no sense: "I will fuckin' cockcunt dick arrgh." What? That makes no sense. Also, the violence gets to be a little much at times. In fact, I would say there are scenes (especially some of the stuff when Spartacus fights in The Pits) that should be in the next Hostel.
Oh and I also love that the emissary in 300 plays the guy training the gladiators. And yes, this is just an excuse to post this video.
Shitty Westerns
I watched the movie Texas Rangers the other night. This movie had the "greatest cast" ever. I mean James Van Der Beek, Ashton Kutcher, and Usher as badass Rangers taking on Alfred Molina and the Mexicans? Throw in Tom Skerrit and Robert Patrick with a little Rachel Leigh Cook and a bunch of Dylan McDermot and what do you get? A terrible film.
Also, has anyone seen the previews for Jonah Hex? I know nothing about the comic book character, so do not think I know if the film is going to be like the comic. But seriously, it is usually a bad sign when a western tries to have massive explosions. I am sure someone will have some kind of mechanical horse.
Quitting
Okay, I know some of you are going to make a big deal about this next statement. I am quitting smoking. Before you ask how long it has been, let me tell you that I smoked my last Blackstone Cherry Cigar last night. I will continue updating everyone on my progress.
I suppose I should explain why. Mainly because I know they are bad for me. Lately though, they have not been tasting all that good. In fact, I have cut down on the amount I smoke because sometimes they make me want to gag. Also, this habit is becoming way too expensive.
The hardest thing is going to be driving. It makes the drive go by so much quicker while enjoying a smoke. Usually I would say that when I go out drinking, but since most bars do not allow you to smoke, I do not think it will be that big of a deal.
Now these are the kind of weeks that I truly enjoy. Seeing that my team is as good as I thought. I played the first place team and utterly destroyed him. Beat him 11-1. He only beat me in home runs, which is funny because Prince Fielder hit three (and judging by his average, that was his only three hits).
I made some moves such as picking up Mike Stanton and Carlos Santana. Yes they are rookies, but along with Heyward and Strasburg, these were the highest rated prospects in the minors coming into the season. Those moves paid off, especially since I was able to bench Wieters. His lack of production has been killing my average all season.
My pitching was also pretty damn dominant, mainly being led by, well there were actually a few. Mainly Colby Lewis and his two wins and fifteen strikeouts, but also Tyler Clippard. He had two holds, his first save, five strikeouts, and a nice 0.00 ERA/0.55 WHIP. And he wears those cool glasses...
I would like Ryan to thank me because my beat down of Jason allowed him to jump into first place. I also moved into fourth place and I am only 10.5 games back as opposed to 18 games back like I was last week. This week I take on James, who does not pay attention and I should have no problem beating. Hopefully Gideon can beat up on Ryan and I can gain some ground...
As most of you know, I have been on vacation all week long. That is right folks, I have been off for the past ten days and I have loved every minute of it. I get four weeks of vacation, so this one was meant to be somewhat relaxing. Needless to say, it ended up being superawesome! Yeah, it's a word, I just made it up. You know what this means, right? Yep, I am going to chronicle my entire vacation.
Friday
I got done with work at 11 p.m. (I will be honest, I shut my brain off at work around 6:30) and headed home. I decided to head over to the Pub for a beer or two. I ended up leaving the Pub with some folks and heading to some place in Morrisdale where there was live music going on. It was actually pretty cool, the band was playing a good amount of Bob Dylan, which I enjoyed. Saturday
I went to my friend Jason's party to celebrate his birthday. I did not want to say birthday party because that makes him sound like he is eleven. I hung out for awhile, with all intentions of drinking heavily and spending the night, but then I got a killer headache and had to go home. Damn shame too, drinking is fun.
Sunday
I ended up waking up pretty early on Sunday, mainly because I went to bed at like midnight. I got breakfast, read my book for awhile then came back to the apartment. I spent the majority of the day watching baseball and reading. It was a nice relaxing day, which helped prepare me for Monday...
Monday
I woke up and went to lunch with Kacie. It was a good time and after we took a walk. We ended up at the park, enjoying the swingsets. It was a fun afternoon and it led up to me leaving for Pittsburgh.
I drove down to Pittsburgh to stay with my friend Steve. We went out to Mugshots to partake in some trivia, like before. We got pretty drunk and we did not win at trivia this time. In fact, because of my stupidity we ended up losing. If I had listened to Denise, we would have won (I think). Instead I made the mistake of convincing everyone that my answer was right. Although, I did draw a pretty good map of the United Kingdom and Ireland to prove my point that the only country bordering the UK is Ireland.
After trivia we continued drinking and then Steve, Denise, Mikaela, and myself went back to Steve's to continue drinking. The following pictures were taken by Mikaela and illustrate how insanely drunk I must have been.
What the hell kind of face am I making?
I love this picture. What the hell is that? Some kind of weird dance?
Sometimes I really wonder what goes through my brain during an intense drinking session.
Tuesday
I did not wake up until about three and decided to head on home.
By the time I got home, I had missed the first inning of Stephen Strasburg's debut against the Pirates.
I sat at home watching the game and amping myself up for Wednesday.
Wednesday
I already wrote about the entire day. Read all about it here.
Thursday
I decided to just relax and sleep in for a good chunk of the day. I then went to my mom's house and picked up laundry detergent and came back to do some much needed laundry. After awhile though, I got kind of bored with it and decided to go out to the Pub.
The Pub was actually kind of busy for a weeknight. I got pretty drunk. No lies.
Friday
Adam, his girlfriend Lora, Lora's daughter Aubrey, and I went to a graduation party. Unfortunately, we were told the wrong date. So while in Spring Valley we stopped out at our grandparents house and spent the evening hanging out with them. The plan was to go home and get some sleep because I was going to Hershey Park with Adam and Lora. Unfortunately, I could not sleep at all. I only got like two hours of sleep.
Saturday
We got down to the park by ten and immediately started hitting up the coasters. We had a great day. Sadly though, it started to rain at like 6:30 and we ended up heading home. Needless to say the lack of sleep made my drive home a little difficult. Once home, I watched the Pirates lose again and took a shower. Adam called me and we went out to the Pub. We played some darts and pool, drank some beers, then walked home. I then had a great phone conversation with a superawesome (there is that word again) girl. I did not get to sleep until after 5:30 a.m.
Sunday
I slept almost all day. I then went up to mom's house and ate a burger. Then I came home and continued to just relax. I watched True Bloodand Treme. I then went to bed.
Needless to say, it was a fantastic vacation. Now I must shave the beard and go to work. Look at that face? Can you see how sad I am.
Like last season, I will not be writing about this show each week. Unless there is something awesome that I feel like talking about, then I will write about it. How does that sound?
This season picked up where we left off, Bill kidnapped, Eggs dead, Jessica eating a trucker, and everyone going back to normal and not knowing what happened because of Maryann. The episode was pretty awesome and pretty intense.
-The guys that kidnapped Bill, I wonder whose orders they were falling? The werewolves we see at the end, or maybe some vampire in Mississippi? Somehow, I see the King of Mississippi using werewolves to somehow start a war between Louisiana and Mississippi.
-I am glad the show decided to just use wolves. If they had went with giant wolves like from Twilight, it would have ended up being lame. Plus it actually makes sense, since when Sam shifts he becomes a normal animal, why would the werewolves be any different?
-I was wondering if they were going to address the fact that Sam had some of Bill's blood. Sam's dream of Bill coming to his motel and offering him to shower together was pretty funny, if not slightly uncomfortable.
-Are the magistrates more powerful than the queens/kings? The hierarchy of vampires on this show is pretty cool. I need a chart or something.
-"Conscience off, dick on." The greatest piece of advice ever given.
-I really wish they would just kill Tara off. She is really quite useless. Sadly though, we get to deal with her for another season and now we have to listen to her bitch about losing Eggs.
This week's GOTW is Lucia Micarelli, who plays Annie on Treme. If you ever watched the show, you would know that Annie is the super cute violinist with the dickbag boyfriend. What you might not have known was that she is actually a musician.
Now, I am not going to sit here and tell you how I am a huge jazz fan or that I even remotely understand jazz, but from watching the show, I have grown to appreciate it and kind of want to start listening to it. I also would like to start listening to her music as well.
Aside from being cute and sexy (which can be such a hard combination to pull off at times), and then when you see her playing her violin, such passion. Definitely a huge turn-on...now as long as she kills Sonny before the end of this season and ends up with me, I will be happy.
Yesterday I went down to Washington D.C. to see the Pirates take on the Washington Nationals. I went down with my friend Michelle, actually it was her idea. We met up with Offord at the park and watched the Nats beat the Buccos 7-5. This was the debut of Brad Lincoln, the Pirates number one pitching prospect. And yes, I planned it out this way. Stephen Stras-who? Why would anyone want to see that guy?
For those of you who do not care about baseball stuff, do not fear, just scroll down a little bit and you will get some tidbits about the adventure of going to the city...for you baseball fans though, keep reading.
As most of you know, this was also the debut of Jose Tabata. He had two hits (one was an infield single, but the other was a nice shot out out to the outfield) and showed that he has some speed by swiping a base. Actually the Pirates did a nice job of stealing bases, Walker, McCutchen, and Jones also stole bases. Tabata seems like he could be a very good lead-off hitter and then use McCutchen in the two spot. Or switch them around.
Now, Lincoln pitched alright. He was pretty efficient, I think by the sixth or seventh he only thrown like 70 pitches (I cannot remember the exact numbers). He struck out Zimmerman and Dunn in the fifth inning after getting roughed up in the fourth. Unfortunately, I do not believe all of those runs should have been earned. Milledge made some terrible outfield plays which allowed a runner to score. Cedeno gave up an infield single to the pitcher which allowed a run to score as well. The scorekeeper was very generous to Nats players, ruling no errors in the inning, when there were clearly two and arguably three.
Lincoln did get hit pretty hard though, but from what I remember, that has happened to him at every level he has advanced to. He then adjusts pretty quickly. I do not believe he will ever be a super-dominant ace, but I could see him being a number two or three guy. And right, on a team that has a bunch of fours and fives, a three is a nice welcome.
Two other things I noticed: Milledge, while going 3-5 did cost the Pirates some runs. His outfield play as I mentioned, and then he his baserunning. He hit a lead-off double, but on a flyball to the deeper part of right-center, he failed to advance to third base. Then after another pop-fly he was still stuck on second instead of scoring. The Pirates have to be the best team at leaving runners on without getting a run.
Also, I usually defend Andy LaRoche, but he is not playing all that well at the moment. He failed to get a runner in, especially when he had multiple chances. I think Offord commented that technically he left seven guys stranded, but the box score will only say four...plus he had a costly error. Oh wait, another time where they gave a guy a hit. The ball was hit sharply, right at Andy and he just let it bounce off his glove. At this point, Pedro Alvarez could not do much worse in the field, and maybe he would drive in some runs every once in awhile.
Let me just say, the Nationals Park is pretty nice. We sat in left field, in the first row. It was actually pretty cool because we were hoping to catch a homerun. Unfortunately, Adam Dunn only hits towering shots to right field. Jerk.
We did not really walk around the stadium much, but as nice as it seems, it is definitely no PNC Park. PNC just feels like home. This feels like they are forcing you to feel at home, like being at a wealthy great-aunt's house, it seems nice, but it also feels very sterile. Does that make any sense? I am not saying that I did not like the place, it just makes you appreciate PNC Park so much more.
The Adventure
Anyways, I drove Michelle's car, which has GPS. I have never used GPS before and I can now see how it would definitely spoil a person. It made life so much easier. Instead of my normal method of just getting lost and asking random crackheads for directions.
The plan was to stop at the Greenbelt Park-n-Ride and take the Metro to the Navy Yard, where the stadium is located. Unfortunately, we accidentally put in the stadium as the final destination. Once we hit I-495, the stadium was the wrong way from where we wanted to go. Sadly, we missed any of the park-n-rides and ended up just trying to find parking near the stadium. We found a lot on Maryland and 12th. As soon as we left the car, we had the misfortune of not paying attention which way we were heading...this could be a disaster.
Also, the parking garage was only open until 11:00. What the hell kind of parking garage closes at 11? Anyways, we tried to find the stadium, but to no avail. So we hopped on the Metro at umm, L'Enf-something...and got off at the Navy Yard.
After the game, we caught the Metro back to the French sounding station and then realized we had no freakin' clue how to get back to the car. Apparently streets do not just go straight in DC. Maryland Avenue just stops so we had to walk around. We then asked a bus driver for directions, and his response was "I have no clue where that is, sorry." He did however guide us up the street towards 12th Street. We luckily found the garage with about three minutes to spare.
Leaving the city, the GPS took us on a completely different route. We got to pass the Washington Monument, hell I think we were about 25 feet away from it. Kind of cool. Leaving the city was weird, we were on so many roads that seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere. Hell, at one point, we saw a deer crossing sign, and not two feet from the sign was a deer. Now, I live in the hinterlands of central Pennsylvania, and I have seen thousands of those signs. However, I have never seen a deer standing right beside one.
After that, we arrived home without any troubles. The pictures above were taken on my shit-tastic cellphone. Someone please buy me a camera...the top picture is of the players stretching and the other picture is of Jose Tabata in the outfield.
Ugh, I lost again. This time 7-5 to Pat. That drops me to fifth place with a 51-50-7 record. Basically I got destroyed on the hitting stats. This is starting to get frustrating. I fear that I might get drastic and do something silly/stupid (not that the Fielder trade does not already count).
I decided to look at the full stats to see if my team was just this bad, or just unlucky.
Runs: 320 (rank: 2), Record: 2-6-1
Home Runs: 81 (3), 4-5
RBI: 298 (3T), 4-5
SB: 52 (4), 5-2-2
AVG: .273 (8), 2-7
OBP: .364 (2), 3-6
Damn, that is actually kind of depressing. Granted I am in 5th place, but how do you have the second most runs and have only one two wins? That is one of the bad things about a head-to-head league. Now let us look at the pitching stats (maybe my luck evens out on that side?).
Wins: 41 (2T), 4-3-2
Saves: 49 (2), 7-2
Ks: 568 (1), 6-3
Holds: 9 (5), 5-2-2
ERA: 3.53 (5), 4-5
WHIP: 1.28 (5T), 5-4
I cannot believe I have three losses in strikeouts. I am 31 Ks ahead of second place and about 80 ahead of third place. The good thing about looking at something like this is that it helps me see where my team needs help. Things have to even out eventually. My team is scoring runs, so I do not need to try to add more runs. In fact, I could probably give up a closer or two and try to pick up some average (although, I could do that just by adding a few candidates and my dropping Matt Wieters...)
I picked up Mike Stanton, the home run crusher that the Marlins just called up. He was considered the third best prospect behind Jason Heyward and some Strasburg guy. I figured I would add him because it always seems like a guy will hit a home run in their MLB debut. I figure it cannot really hurt too much. Denard Span was absolutely atrocious last week.
Unless you live under a rock, you must have heard about the blown perfect game by umpire Jim Joyce. Let me recap for those of you who traveled to the Moon or something. Armando Galaraga, a pitcher for the Tigers, threw a perfect game. Well almost. With two outs, a ground ball is hit, the first basemen fields it and tosses to Galaraga coming over to cover first. Joyce calls the runner safe, but replay shows that Galaraga clearly beats the runner. After the game, Joyce apologized to Galaraga for blowing the call.
Interesting fact, I was actually watching this game. Actually I was watching the Cardinals/Reds game, but every inning that Galaraga was pitching ESPN would switch over. So I got to watch him pitch the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings. I have never seen a no-hitter/perfect game live. I have always caught the highlights later. Needless to say, when Austin Jackson makes the catch for the first out in the ninth inning, I was clapping.
When the infamous play happened, I got sick to my stomach. He looked out as soon as I saw it. Twitter immediately exploded with people being angry and saying how Joyce should be fired. The next day I started hearing discussions on the various sports radio shows about Bud Selig maybe overturning the call and awarding Galaraga a perfect game. Since then, I have been trying to find a way to describe how I feel about the whole situation. Fortunately fangraphs did a much better job and I will just link to them.
The worst part about this whole debate is the slippery-slope argument. If they overturn this call, then they have to overturn the '85 World Series and then they have to overturn, blah blah blah. Look, if Selig were to overturn it (he said he will not) then he could stipulate, if this situation ever happens again, then we have set a precedent. And by this situation, I mean a perfect game getting blown in the 9th inning on the final out with the umpire admitting he made the wrong call. Can you fathom the odds of that ever happening again?
Imagine this, it is September 30, 1972. Roberto Clemente hits a ball to the first basemen. He clearly beats the Mets pitcher, Jon Matlack, to first. The umpire calls him out. After the game, the umpire apologizes to Clemente for costing him his 3000th hit. They joke about getting it next year (maybe the ump will call him safe if he is out, haha). Then Clemente dies in a plane crash. Do you think the commissioner at the time would have overturned the call? Remember, when Clemente died, they waived the Hall of Fame waiting period (I realize that is a different governing body).
Personally, I think they should award Galaraga a perfect game. But, if they do not give it to him, then he will go down in history as the guy who pitched one and did not get credit for it. In fact, as James pointed out, can you name any of the perfect games aside from the ones this year? Harvey Haddix came to mind, but his is not considered official since he did not win the game. Actually, it is a funny story (from wikipedia):
On May 26, 1959, Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitched what is often referred to as the greatest game in baseball history. Haddix carried a perfect game through an unprecedented 12 innings against the Milwaukee Braves, only to have it ruined when an error by third baseman Don Hoak allowed Felix Mantilla, the leadoff batter in the bottom of the 13th inning, to reach base. A sacrifice by Eddie Matthews and an intentional walk to Hank Aaron followed; the next batter, Joe Adcock, hit a home run that became a double when he passed Aaron on the bases. Haddix and the Pirates had lost the game 1–0; despite their 12 hits in the game, they could not bring a run home. The 12 perfect innings—36 consecutive batters retired in a single game—remains a record.
How the hell does someone get passed on the bases?
Okay, so I forgot to do this yesterday. Actually I am on vacation so I would not expect too many posts from me for a few days. This week's GOTW is Riley Steele, the porn star. Why? Because she is super hot, why the hell else? Plus I follow her on twitter and she is actually pretty funny. In fact a lot of the porn stars are pretty good adds on twitter, but that is neither here nor there. Time for pictures.
Well now, that should make everyone happy. I know I am. Now it is time to go kill brain cells with insane amounts of beer.
Now that 24 is over, I thought it would be a fun idea to look at some of my favorite things about the show. Despite some bad seasons and some stupid story lines, it was one of my favorite shows of all time. One thing I can say about it, the series always knew how to have a fantastic premiere. The first couple episodes were always some of the best and then it would pretty much fizzle out with watered down or recycled plots. Anyways, let us celebrate the good and ignore the bad... Favorite Season: Day Four
Reason: Season one was pretty good, but for me, season four will always stick out as the one that blew my mind. There was a very good bad guy terrorist, who was actually quite scary, Marwan. CTU has to kidnap someone from the Chinese Embassy, and it does not go well. The season ends with the Chinese wanting Jack Bauer, the President ordering his own Secret Service Agent try to kill Jack, and then Jack faking his own death. It was also the first season I actually sat and watched every week.
Also there were so many great moments, such as Jack rescuing Audrey (wish she would have died) and her father from Marwan's men. He did it by himself and took out like eight guys. And that was just the beginning. Jack tortures Audrey's ex-husband, in front of Audrey, with a lamp.
Favorite Torture Method: Towel Method.
I realize that Jack did not actually do this, instead he just threatened a guy with it. It sounded so scary the guy told him everything. This came from season one. Here is the quote:
You probably don't think I could force this towel down your throat, but trust me I can. All the way. Except that I'd hold onto this little bit at the end. When your stomach starts to digest the towel, I pull it out. Taking your stomach lining with it. Most people probably take about a week to die. It's very painful.
Favorite Sub-Plot: Tony and Michelle
In season two they slowly develop the love interest, but by season four the two are no longer together. Tony is a loser. Jack needs his help and he cleans himself up. Tony and Michelle fight at first, but then by the end of the season are back to where they were. And then it all goes to hell. I was always rooting for those two crazy kids.
Favorite Dead Character: George Mason
Mason started as the character you believed was somehow involved with the terrorists. Everything the guy did seemed to go against Jack. He just seemed like a sleezeball. Then he gets hit with radiation and does the most noble thing ever, he flies the plane into the desert carrying a nuclear bomb. And even in the end, he is still a jerk about things.
When Jack realizes George is on the plane, he pulls his gun, George makes a joke about "the service being bad enough, he doesn't need to shoot him." Also, he makes Jack look like an idiot about wanting to sacrifice himself instead of facing his own life. He went from guy I could not stand, to the guy I wish was still around...
Favorite Girl: Renee Walker
The cute red-headed FBI agent stole Jack's heart, then took a few bullets. She started out as a by the books kinda girl and then turned into Jack's protege. She defied orders from her bosses, tortured a guy in the hospital, and then topped it all off by cutting a Russian guys thumb off to remove a US Marshall's bracelet. One of the best moments in series history.
Best Kill: Jugular
This was actually a tough debate for me. Most people would say the Season Two kill of Marshall Goren (remember from episode one, Jack needed to kill him to prove his cover for a domestic terror group) or the kick-ass knife throw from this season (you know the episode where Jack removes the knife from his gut and tosses it at a Russian).
However, for me there are two awesome kills that stick out. The first one comes from this season, where Jack kills the guy with an ax. The reason it was so good, the camera stops on the empty case where an ax should be and the blood on the wall. The bad guy should put two and two together and realize that Jack is waiting for him with an ax.
The best kill though comes from season six, after Jack is released by the Chinese and given to the terrorist Abu Fayed to be tortured. Fayed gives his plans away to Jack and then leaves the room. Jack kills the guard by tearing out his throat with his teeth! That is pretty freakin' bad-ass!
Favorite President: David Palmer
We have had six presidents during the course of this show. Six! We have only had five presidents during my lifetime. I have no idea what year it would technically be in the final season (I just looked it up, 2016), but that seems like a ridiculous amount to me. David Palmer seemed like a good president, mainly because he almost always listened to Jack. That should be the lesson to all presidents: Jack is never wrong. Let us examine the presidents of this show...
David Palmer: Almost went to war with three countries, gets booted from office, but then reinstated because Jack is always right. Wife was crazy and helped the terrorists in order to get closer to him...
John Keeler: Gets blown out of the sky, loses nuclear football. Way to go jackass...
Charles Logan: Ended up being the main bad guy of season five. Almost allowed the Russian president to be assassinated. Yeah, he sucked.
Wayne Palmer: He could have been a great president, but then he started having issues with seeming like a weak president and made a bunch of stupid mistakes. Then has a cerebral hemorrhage...
Noah Daniels: He just seemed like a dick. Plus he did not listen to Jack, always a mistake.
Allison Taylor: The latest moron for president. She irritated me.
Favorite CTU Agent: Curtis Manning
We have had some pretty good agents with Jack: Tony, Ronnie (season four guy who beat Jack down and then gets shot), Mike, Cole...but above them all was Curtis Manning.
Curtis had no problem doing whatever Jack said, he may sometimes try to offer the voice of reason or occasionally pull a gun on Jack, but most of the time he knew Jack was right.
Actually, he had one of the lamest deaths ever. Going against his nature, he will not allow Jack to help a former terrorist who killed his unit or something. Jack shoots him in the neck and kills him. I could have watched a spin-off series with him.
Favorite CTU Computer Person Not Named Chloe: Edgar Stiles
Do you remember Edgar? The nervous-nancy who always gave in to whatever Chloe wanted, but was superscared of getting caught. He was what you expect of a geeky computer nerd. Then he died from nerve gas. I think I almost cried that day.
Favorite Terribly Used Character: Mandy
Do you remember Mandy? I sure do. She was the anti-Jack. Super badass assassin, always cloaked in mystery. She would show up out of nowhere and cause damage and then disappear. I loved her. I always felt that she was part of a larger storyline, but then she just got written off. I wonder if in season one they planned on using her more, but then later wanted to go into that whole Jack's family was really behind everything. At least she ended up alive, better than any other villain on the show.
Some highlights from Mandy's short career:
-Starts the show off by blowing up a plane and then parachuting out of it.
-Attempts to assassinate President David Palmer with a toxin.
-Kills her own boyfriend to escape.
-She beats down Tony and tries to use him as an escape plan against Michelle.
Oh and she was super hot and possibly a lesbian.
Well that wraps up some of my favorite things from such a good show. I will try to forget all the idiotic subplots that made me want to gouge out my eyes.
