Matrix Video

I was watching The Matrix Revolutions last night and realized that it was not as terrible as most people make it out to be.  Also, I hope the next Superman movie has a great fight scene.  Hopefully they use a villain who has similar powers to Superman, so they can get pretty crazy with the flying & fighting.  Time will tell...

Ancient Aliens Season Three

I just watched the new season of Ancient Aliens, which was about aliens and the old west and was brought to you by Cowboys and Aliens.  There were plenty of clips from the movie, which if you did not know has a pretty entertaining history behind it.

Pretty much everything in the episode was stuff that had been discussed before on UFO Hunters.  Especially the Aurora, Texas incident.  Everything I have read about the incident seems to point to the idea that the whole thing was a hoax by the journalist living in the town. 

They pointed to the ground-penetrating radar that seemed to show a missing grave, where the alien is supposedly buried.  I am sure old graveyards around the country have graves that are missing markers.  If people really believed it was an alien, how come no one has broken the law and went out at midnight to dig the damn thing up?  The town should want to dig it up to prove their case.  Instead they are content receiving the camera crews every few years and probably a couple of amateur alien hunters.

Then they go to the Utah petroglyphs and how they show that aliens landed there and the local people were Star People or something.  Again, this was something I have heard before from these kind of shows.  Here is the big one they like to show:

Clearly, those are helmets and that thing in the background is a garbage can.  I am not an expert in Native American glyphs, so I have no clue what they mean.  I can see where people would take what they have seen from movies and apply it to these pictures as well.  This could just be some artists attempt to draw the gods.  Or it could be some shitty artist hot girls.

Then they point to this picture and explain how it must be an alien spacecraft.  It is quite clear if you examine it.

Wanna know what it looks like to me?  The ghosts from Pac-Man.  Remember that game?  Well some of you probably do, but those of you under the age of 25 may be ignorant to Atari games.

There was also some weird stuff about Elizabeth Lake in California and how there was a monster in the lake that used to eat people.  Also, cowboys used to chase down a metallic bird and could not kill it. 

Pretty much every lake has some story about monsters (okay not all of them, but it seems like it) and maybe these cowboys just kept missing whatever they were shooting at, or maybe they were just completely full of crap.  I am going with that option, seems more viable.

They also discussed the Serpent Mound and how it was built by aliens (or for the aliens) so they could find their way back.  I had this argument with someone on twitter:  if the aliens could travel billions of light-years across the universe, why would they need some kind of mound to give them directions?  His answer:  landmarks work best.  Yeah, when I drove to North Carolina, it was easier to look for a big oak tree than a mile marker or say, use my GPS.  Ridiculous.  They can navigate the stars, yet once on a planet, they cannot find the places they have been before?  Idiotic.

Also, there was something about this slabs of dolomite that could conduct electricity and the gods must have used these to power their ships or maybe give the ancient people lights.  Or maybe their fuel source was lightning and this guides the lightning...I had no clue what they were rambling about.  Reminded me of an issue of something you would read in the Flash. 

Most of this stuff seems pretty crazy, but then you add in Joseph Smith.  The founder of the Mormon Church.  If you want your theory of ancient aliens to be taken seriously, I say keep referencing Joseph Smith.  People obviously think the Mormons are sane...

Girlfriend of the Week

I am feeling lazy this week, so your GOTW is Eliza Dushku, who is hot and that is the only reason I have.  Sorry...

Links and Videos and Stuff

I have nothing to write about...well nothing that has not been said by better folks than me.  So whatever.

The Pirates
As everyone knows by now, the Buccos lost in a crazy game where the umpire blew the call.  If you checked all the blogs in my links section, they all had something to say about it.  None of them say it nearly as well as WHYGAVS.  That is just pure emotion...

Comic-Con
I was pretty uninterested in the happenings of SDCC this year.  It is crazy to think that I used to want to go there so bad, yet now I have no real interest in it.  I still love comics, but the idea of going there and watching movie previews seems a little insane.  I think it used to be about comics, now who knows what it is...anyways, read Filmdrunks last photo diary from SDCC, pretty cool.

Noah's Ark


This video is pretty funny, a little long though.  Brought to you by:  XKV8R.

Miss USA
Over at Sean's site, he posted this video, which is a great parody of the actual Miss USA contestants answering the question about should evolution be taught in schools.





Stupidity amazes me.

Captain America: The First Avenger

I have not said too much about this film, mainly because I kept forgetting about it.  It is crazy to think that Marvel put out two major films this summer (plus, there was the X-Men film, which is also a Marvel comic, but different production company...)  I keep getting surprised by how good the Marvel films actually turn out.  Maybe DC should just allow Marvel to make their movies as well (minus the Batman films).

The movie starts out with Steve Rogers being rejected yet again from being able to sign up for the Army.  Actually the movie starts with a modern day search team finding something in the Arctic.  Anyways, Steve finally gets into the military because a doctor wants him for a special project.  We learn that Steve has plenty of the intangibles, he is very David Eckstein-esque.  He then gets an injection and becomes taller and stronger.  He becomes a super-soldier, but the good doctor is killed, so they cannot make any other ones.  The Army uses Steve to promote buying war bonds.

Honestly, the beginning was entirely too slow.  I get that they wanted to show that Steve was a great kid, and how hard he would fight and never give up.  Why not cut that back a bit and just show the grenade scene and have someone list all his characteristics?  Or something, they could have cut it down a good fifteen minutes.

After that the action picks up and Captain America rescues some soldiers and leads his own team against Hydra.  He then saves the world by crashing a plane into the Arctic Ocean and defeating the Red Skull.  He gets rescued in the modern world and learns that he has been sleep for seventy years.

The Good
-The fight scenes were pretty cool.  He made using a shield look pretty cool and not hokey.  Also, they did not make him ridiculously strong.  Granted, he is strong, but I was afraid we would see him catching cars out of the air, or flipping over a tank.  Not that strong.

-Haley Atwell is pretty damn hot.  The character of Peggy Carter was also cool.  She is pretty tough, and I am sure they will introduce Sharon Carter at some point.  My guess is that the movie makes her the daughter of Peggy.

-Chris Evans did a great job.  He did not come off as the same character as Johnny Storm.  I have always liked him as an actor, although I realize some people do not. 

-I also loved how they set-up things for the Avengers movie, but not so much that it was irritating.  That was a minor problem in Iron Man 2, all the Thor references, which I guess put some people off.  Instead, the references were pretty plot integral.  Red Skull mentions the Cosmic Cube (he calls it the Tesseract) being one of the greatest treasures from Odin's Treasure Room.  Howard Stark was also more than just a cameo, which I thought at first when he was at the World's Expo.

-The ending was pretty much straight from The Ultimates.  Steve wakes up and they trick him into thinking it is still the 1940s and then he escapes.  I liked that touch.

The Bad
-Why did Cap jump to the conclusion that his only option was bringing the plane down?  Maybe someone can explain this to me.  If he is able to control it so that it will go into a dive, why not turn it around?  Or try to land it somewhere?  Were the bombs flown by Hydra agents?  If so, once he killed all of them, what harm would it be to turn around and try to land somewhere?  They should have went with the old fashioned nuclear rocket option instead.

-Bucky's death scene was good, but when they bring him back (and they will), it will seem pretty crazy that he somehow survived that fall.

-Hugo Weaving's accent

-Chris Evans need to bulk up more, his chest was not big enough...

Comic Book Movie Grade:  B+/A-

A Dance With Dragons

As most of you can imagine, I was pretty excited about the release of A Dance With Dragons.  I went to Wal-Mart after work on Monday around midnight hoping it was out.  I was informed by the girl old lady working that they did not have it.  I woke up the next day with a sense of purpose.  I went back to Wal-Mart because I was told that it might come on the truck in the morning.  Unfortunately, it was not there and there were no other bookstores in Ebensburg.  I asked Lindsey if there was a bookstore in Johnstown and she said yes.  I then checked my account and found that I had no money.  How depressing!

Lindsey came home from work and surprised me with a copy.  What an awesome girlfriend!  Although, it was probably a bad move for her since she barely saw me after that, haha.  Alright, fun story, but now for the thoughts on the book.

I have decided not to bore you with a lengthy recap.  Honestly, only a few of you actually read books and of that small group, only a few of those people read this series.  Instead, I have decided to just look at some of my predictions and see how close I am.

Jon's Parents
My prediction was Rhaegar and Lyanna.  Unfortunately, it really does seem like Jon is Eddard's bastard son.  More than one character has made a comment about Eddard's woman (I cannot remember her name).  I still believe that Rhaegar and Lyanna ran away together and were probably in love. 

Arya's Blindness
I was right about that and an earlier prediction was that she would become a great assassin.  She refused to allow them to give her the antidote to cure her blindness and she goes about continuing her training.  At one point she figures out who keeps hitting her with the stick and gives him the three things she learned as he wanted.  She also succeeds in killing the insurance agent.  It made me laugh as they explain to Arya what the man does for a living and she is completely astounded that people would waste money on gambling whether there ship makes it or not.

Dorne
Quentyn Martell makes his way to Daenerys and shows her the letter that was an agreement to wed Viserys and the princess of Dorne.  Viserys was to return to Dorne with an army and they would join forces to retake the Iron Throne.  Unfortunately for Quentyn, he is a little late, as Daenerys is about to marry a guy from Meereen.  In his desperation to prove that he is not a loser, he breaks into the pyramid holding the two chained dragons and wants to steal one.  He figures he has a little Targaryen blood in him, he will be fine.  HAHAHA, how does being burnt alive feel Quentyn?  Yeah, he died pretty horrifically. 

Daenerys
I predicted that she would raise an army and come to Westeros.  Well Meereen has been a slight detour.  She has an army and a bunch of enemies, but instead of being a conqueror, she has become a true ruler.  She worries about how to feed her people and keeping them from slavery.  After her wedding, she is almost assassinated by her own husband.

Fortunately, she is saved when Drogon comes to the fighting pit and starts killing people.  She is able to control her dragon and hops on his back and flies away.  They are out hunting together when they come on the khalasar of Khal Jhaqo.  Ser Barristan Selmy has led a coup against Meereen's new king (Daenerys husband, who Barristan believes tried to kill her), but unfortunately, the armies assembled outside have decided on war.

New Predictions
-I still believe that Daenerys will eventually return to Westeros and conquer it or at least become Queen.  I think with Drogon, she will cause Khal Jhaqo to join his khalasar to hers.  I believe that from the first book, when two khalasars met up, they would battle and then the survivors would form into a new one and the leader would be the new khal.  With her new khalasar, she will return to Meereen and defeat the armies outside her walls.

-The new dragon, and I am guessing the real heir to the Iron Throne, Aegon, will not survive.  He will cause a ton of problems and probably give Westeros a real scare, but in the end, he will be defeated by someone.  OR, he will ride one of the other dragons.  As will Victarion, with his horn, but he will turn against his brother and join Daenerys cause as well.  I doubt that last one though.

-Tyrion will reclaim Casterly Rock and become the other force that everyone worries about.  Actually to piss off his sister, he will lend his support to Aegon and eventually Daenerys. 

-What will happen with Jaime?  He is now in the hands of the resurrected Catelyn Stark (Lady Stoneheart).  I loved how he handled the situation with the Bracken's and Blackwoods.  If you combined all three Lannister children, that would make a great king (or queen).  Anyways, I am guessing that Brianne promised to deliver him to Stoneheart in exchange for her life. 

-Jon Snow will not be dead.  He is wounded and will probably be saved by someone.  I have a feeling he will still lead his wildling friends against Ramsay.  Hopefully Jon will kill Ramsay and become the new Lord of Winterfell.  Although, he is still a bastard and if Stannis is dead, he has no shot of being naturalized.

-In fact, is King Stannis really dead?  I just hate Ramsay.  I never liked Theon, but after reading about his horrible captivity, I really want him to go back to the Iron Islands and either claim his right as the king, or just ask his uncle to kill Ramsay.

-I also still believe that the Others will make their way over the Wall or at least make a very good attempt.  The Night's Watch will regret losing Snow, but they will be saved by an unexpected source:  Bran and his friends, the Children of the Forest.

-Speaking of Ned's children:  Rickon will be the new Lord of Winterfell.  Davos will find the boy and help him regain his position. 

I am sure I will think of other things, but since I will have a few years between now and then, I will definitely write more about this series.

Fantasy Baseball Week 16

It was the moment you have all been waiting for:  the rematch between Ngewo's World and Sean's Ramblings.  I won the last match-up and needed a big win to keep myself in the playoff hunt.  Needless I gave Sean a smackdown he will not forget!  Okay, that is not true, I beat him 8-4.

He beat me in Wins, Ks, Holds, and SBs.  How weird is that?  The categories I lost were the ones I usually win...Sadly it was a week where Sabathia and Verlander had only won start each.  Normally they would pile up the strikeouts and get me a bunch of wins.  Also, Drew Stubbs usually gets me stolen bases, but I have not been starting him since he is slumping.  Oh well, you cannot win them all I guess, right?

My team hit 11 HRs, and hit .310/.373, pretty awesome.  My pitching was also great with a 2.16 ERA/1.08 WHIP.  Why can't they do this every week?

I had some major hitters this week:  Ryan Braun, Eric Hosmer, Derek Jeter, and Ryan Zimmerman (amazing that I had seven stolen bases, but still lost that category).  My best hitter was Miguel Montero, well that is a toss-up since Braun was pretty awesome too.  Just take a look at these numbers.

I am still in 8th place with a record of 89-94-9, but I am slowly making my way back up to at least sixth place.  I am taking on Offord this week, he is in 2nd place.  Imler is in 7th place, but he is taking on James this week, so you an imagine who I am rooting for...

ADWD GOTW

This week's GOTW is from a book, which almost always means I have finished reading said book and a review is coming soon.  That is right, I finished A Dance With Dragons and I decided to make Daenerys this week's girlfriend of the week. 

 

 

Monday's Antics

Last week I looked at my schedule and realized that Lindsey and I were both off on Monday.  I decided we should head to Pittsburgh to watch the Buccos take on the Reds.  We left here around 3:00, which was a little later than I would have liked.  I wanted to get there pretty early so we could head to the casino.  Unfortunately, Lindsey got stuck doing errands, which sucked for me since I woke up early, even though I worked third shift the night before and fell asleep around 8:30 a.m.

We got to the stadium around 5:00 and hopped in line for tickets.  I know, can you believe I just typed those words:  a line for tickets...Anyways, I had coupons that I bought from work so our tickets were free.  We then walked over to Finnigan's for some beers and food.

As we sat there eating, it started to pour down rain and then it started thundering.  I checked on twitter and found out that the tarp was being put on the field and the game would be delayed.  We sat there and had a few more beers.

We finally went over to the stadium at about 7:45.  We sat down (our seats were in section 127, pretty good considering they were free).  The game started and things started out poorly.  With the bases loaded and two outs the lightning and rain returned.  At first we were not get wet because we were just under the second level, but then it started raining harder and we decided to get up and walk around.

We adventured around the park for a bit, but then we grew bored of walking and went to grab a beer.  I bought a Penn Pilsner and we stood around waiting for the start of the game.  I was able to get some peanuts off the people beside us, which I think embarrassed Lindsey.  I turned and asked the guy if I could have a peanut, he looked at me like I was nuts (HAHA, pun intended!), but then his wife was like "yeah, you can have some."  I took one because I am not greedy, but then she laid a huge handful on our little table.  When they got up to leave she gave us some more.  I like that lady.

The rain was coming down pretty hard and it really did not look like there was any end in sight.  It slowed down just enough for us to make a decision:  stay and wait it out, or head to the casino.  If we stayed and the game started around 9:30 or 10:00, the game would most likely not be over until 12:30 or 1:00.  We would not get home until 3:00 or 4:00. 

After considering all of that, we decided to leave and go to the casino.  Lindsey met her friend Kristina there and I went over to play three-card poker.  I started with $100 and after losing the first couple of hands, there was a dealer change.  This lady was fantastic!

Actually, she was a terrible dealer.  Twice she misread my hand and was about to short me money, luckily the guy beside me caught it since I was watching the Pirates game on a TV above us.  Then, she paid me out as a winner when I clearly had nothing.  Luckily the guy beside me did not say anything.  Aside from those idiotic things, I was also on a nice hot streak.  At one point I had $400 in chips.  I kept hoping Lindsey would come by and say that she was ready to go.

Granted, I could have quit playing and just walked away, but what fun would there be in that?  Anyways, she never came around and the original dealer came back.  I then hit a major cold streak.  The kind of streak where if you have a pair of kings, the dealer gets a pair of aces.  Ugh.  I had a king/jack/ten once and the dealer flipped a king/queen/ten.  What kinda bullshit is that?  I ended up walking away with the same $100 I started with, which I gave to Lindsey to put towards our vacation.

We left the casino around midnight and guess what?  The game was just ending.  Apparently it started as soon as we left and went fairly fast.  Ugh, how dumb was I?  Granted, I had a lot of fun at the casino, but I would have rather been at the game.  Oh well, live and learn I guess.  Also, my luck if we had stuck around then there would have been another storm and another delay or a postponement. 

The last two pictures made me think of Gotham City and it is pretty obvious why they chose to film the new Batman film in Pittsburgh...

Breaking Bad Premier

The fourth season of Breaking Bad kicked off with a bang...haha, see what I did there?  The season began where last season left off, with Jesse shooting Gail.  The episode actually started with Gail setting up the lab and then convincing Gus that whoever makes the blue meth, makes a perfect formula and it is beyond Gail.  He was the reason Gus changed his mind about Walt.  That is tragic.

Most of the episode sees Walt and Jesse in the lab awaiting their punishment. Gus shows up as Victor proves that he can replicate Walt's recipe.  Walt then pleads for his case and to be allowed getting back to work.  He then challenges Victor with a bunch of variables that could change the recipe.

At no point does Gus speak to anyone, he just takes his shirt off and puts one of the red chem-suits on and then goes around to each of them with a boxcutter and menaces them.  He then stands beside Victor and cuts his throat.  It was pretty much a moment that made everyone scream "HOLY SHIT!"  Well, except for me, I even said to Lindsey that it was going to happen.  Victor made the mistake of being seen by the neighbors at Gail's apartment.  Although, some people will probably think it was because he could not answer Walt's question.

After Gus kills Victor, he goes back to the clothes rack, washes himself off, and puts his suit back on.  He then walks out of the lab, but then tells them to get back to work.  Walt and Jesse struggle to put Victor's body into a plastic barrel, and we then see them grabbing some hydrofluoric acid, which we all knows what that means.  Mike asks if the stuff will work, but Jesse finally speaks by saying "trust us."

It is hard to explain how suspenseful the entire episode was.  I half-expected Gus to cut off Walt or Jesse's finger.  I knew they would not be killed, but you never can be too sure about bodily harm.  Also, you know it is a great show when there is a cripple pooping scene and it barely gets a mention...

Fantasy Baseball Week 15

I love shortened weeks.  I beat James 9-3.  Sadly, my team actually did alright minus Sunday.  I rocked 20 Runs, 4 HRs, 21 RBIs...hell, normally that would be my total for an entire week.  I would have won batting average, but then Sunday pretty much blew.

Not too much to analyze here.  My best player was probably Mike Stanton.  I have already used him before and I figure I should use someone different.  So this week, I chose Koji Uehara.  He picked up the one hold which won that category for me.

My record is now 81-90-9 and I am in 8th place.  This week I take on Sean, who I beat 6-5 back in week five.  Hopefully I can finish the sweep...

The Dark Knight Rises Teaser

You excited yet?

Treasure Hunting II

So recently, Lindsey has decided to start cleaning out all the boxes in our closet.  Most of the boxes are full of stuff from her youth, such as birthday cards, school projects, etc...Also though, there a few funny things.

My favorite part of this is the fact that she tries to sell her sister by saying she is mean and bad.  She must have realized that would not do the trick, so she adds that Kayla is also sweet.  Plus, she must have been pretty worried about the government getting their share since she noted the price was $500 + Tax.  Is there a tax on selling humans?  I am not sure.

Today is Nov. 27, 1994.  It is Sunday.  I am playing with my sisters birthday toy.  And it is the 7 dwarfs.  And my favorites dwarfs are Dopey Happy Sleepy Doc Bashful Snesy And Grumpy!

 I tried to scan pages of her journal, but they would not show up since she wrote so light with pencil.  I always thought Snesy was the coolest dwarf.

Today is Sat. Feb4, 1995.  First me and Kayla were playing school in the morning.  We had fun!  Next we ate lunck I had awolful Kayla had a pan cake.  It was good.  Then we got a bath.  The water was hot.  Last we went to bed at mid night.

It took me awhile to figure out what Lindsey ate, at least until I read what Kayla ate.  Also, if you read enough of this journal, she and her sister played school way too much.  It seems like they came home from school and then immediately started playing school.  Also, she went to bed at midnight, you have no idea how funny that is to me.  She can never stay up until midnight nowadays.

8-18-96
We are at the beach it's the first night at the beach.  It's Sat. today.  I like the beach.  I like to jump the waves.  We are at Myrtle Beach.  We went to Dick's to eat.  I had fun.  Love, Lindsey.  P.S. See you tommaro.

I love that she signed this entry and said that she would see the journal tomorrow.  This is funny because she never wrote in it again. 

Now, before people jump on me about making fun of her journal from when she was seven years old, allow me to say that I am not really making fun of her and she gave me permission to use this stuff.  I am excited to go to my mom's house and find some of my old writings from school and post them as well.

We also found this hoody from one of those boxes.  Unbeknownst to most of you, Lindsey was a pretty damn good long jumper in high school.  Which seems pretty improbably since she is like 5'2.  I always picture long jumpers as tall...

Captain America Fight Scene

More Captain America: The First Avenger Videos

Throwback GOTW

I was feeling a wee bit nostalgic today and figured that there would be no better GOTW than 80s cartoon character Cheetara from Thundercats.  Does it make me some kind of weirdo that I thought she was hot when I was a small child?  Most likely, but you guys out there cannot lie and say you did not look at her a little differently as well...

Baseball First Half Results

What can I say?  This has been one helluva season so far.  There are all sorts of things happening around the league, but none of which are all that important because the Pirates are one game out of first place with a 47-43 record!  They are above .500 at the All-Star break!  That is absolutely crazy when you think that at the beginning of the year we were wondering if they would win 70 games.

Anyways, you can find my original prediction's here.

In the NL East, I have the division race pretty much on point except that the Marlins and Nationals are flip-flopped.  I was also right about how much Nationals fans are loving Werth.  Haha, suck it Washington!  My insane prediction was that Mike Stanton would hit 40 HRs, which probably will not happen, but he does have 18 and he missed games with a nagging quad injury.  Also, it took him awhile to really get rolling.  This kid is going to crush balls for a long time.

I completely screwed up the NL Central.  Who would have predicted it this way?  Ryan thought the Cubs would win the division, I think we can all agree that one is probably not going to happen.  My insane pick is actually way off:  the Pirates lost to Greinke and Halladay, but beat Lohse.  They have lost twice to Dillon Gee, but none of those were shutouts.  They have not faced the others yet.

My NL West picks are almost exact if you take out the D-Backs.  Apparently they decided to be pretty good as well.  Hey, Mat Latos started the season hurt and is not having a very good year.  He will probably not win 20 games.

My NL MVP was Troy Tulowitzki.  He is having a good season, but not the best player in the league type season.  Statistically speaking, Matt Kemp and Andrew McCutchen are having the best seasons, if the Pirates win the division or even break their losing streak, I think people will mention Cutch as an MVP candidate.  As of now though, the kind of guy that the writers love to vote for is either Jose Reyes (if he stays healthy all season, and stays in the NL) or Ryan Braun.

My prediction for Rockies players has not helped them at all.  It looks like the Cy Young award is a nice race between the Phillies staff and Jair Jurrjens (you could toss a few other names in there as well).  Honestly though, I think Roy Halladay will end up winning it from this point on.

ROY awards are difficult, they should be split into pitcher/hitter.  Espinosa seems to be the leader in the NL, although, Freddie Freeman is heating up and could possibly pass him.

Over in the AL East, I was almost completely right except for the Red Sox being in first place, fortunately they are only one game above the Yankees.  I was right about the Blue Jays not hitting as many HRs as last year, but what I hinted on was that Jose Bautista would not continue to destroy baseballs...I was way wrong.

Who knew?

I hate the AL Central, seriously.  At least I was right about the White Sox not being in first place.  Unfortunately, I did not picture the Indians and Tigers battling for first place.  This is still a long season, who knows what will happen.

I pretty much nailed it with the Rangers, but Ryan was close with his Angels pick as they are only one game back.  I was completely wrong with the A's though.  Minus the hitting part.

Naturally my picks in the AL awards races are way off.  Jose Bautista is the favorite for MVP and Weaver/Verlander are probably the main Cy Young candidates.  It looks like Mark Trumbo could probably win the ROY.

Anyways, there is still a good amount of baseball left and anything can happen.  Hopefully more of my predictions are right and if they are going to end up wrong, let us just make sure it is the Buccos that completely wreck my division picks.  I would love to have to buy playoff tickets...

All Sorts of Television Stuff

Where should I start?  Well just sit through the first one and then some of the better ones will come.  How does that work for you? 

True Blood
Witches, werepanthers, Bill's the King, blah blah blah.  Seriously, if this episode would have cut all that crap out and just focused on Eric not having a memory, it would have been a great 23 minutes.  Eric was cracking me up with the entire change in personality.

Also, when Tara pulled the gun on Pam, I really wanted Pam to use her super-speed and just take the gun from Tara and maybe rip her in half.  That would have been cool.  I really wish someone would kill Tara.  That would make my day.

The Glades
I enjoy this show most of the time, for a simple police procedural, it is pretty good.  The main character is pretty funny.  Unfortunately, this weeks episode was a little weak.  They used the partner is the killer trick during the pilot and it worked well.  This time though, I saw it coming a mile away and it was pretty lame.  Do better next week, or else!

Suits

I am digging this show.  It is not really the typical lawyer show.  It focuses mainly on corporate law, instead of criminal law like every other show.  Also, there are almost no court scenes, instead it is all about the research, which from what I have heard from a lawyer friend, is basically what most law ends up being.  Plus Meghan Markle is pretty hot.

Eureka
I cannot believe how much I missed this show.  And luckily, the season premier was pretty good.  Zane and Fargo accidentally launch a rocket into space with themselves stuck inside.  The best part about it though was Fargo ended up being the one to be cool and get them out of the mess.  Usually he gets himself into jams, but everyone else has to get him out.  It was nice to see him as the hero.

And it is about time that Jo and Zane got back together.  Not that I root for things like that because I am so uber-manly.  Speaking of manly, I loved when Andy was on the back of Carter's horse and yelled "I'm on a horse."  Great reference to the commercial, without being ridiculous.

Warehouse 13
Alright, I am glad they did not have Myka out for too long.  She is just too hot and she is a great foil for Pete.  Although, I did enjoy the new guy, I think his name is Steve.  I hope he sticks around, that way we can see more mult-case episodes with one of them going out with Claudia.

Fantasy Baseball Week Fourteen

Oh bloody hell!  I hate you world!  If I would have written this yesterday, I would have said that I beat Ryan 6-5.  Unfortunately, after a stat correction took away a stolen base from Eric Hosmer on Sunday, Ryan ended up winning that category, which means we tied 6-6.  UGH!

Anyways, my team played pretty well.  I finally won batting average and OBP with a .295/.358.  I also won RBIs, Saves, Ks, and ERA.  It was definitely a nice change of pace. 

My best hitter was some guy that collected his 3000th hit.  I would tell you all about his huge week, but most of that was due to his five-hit day against the Rays.  Also, I could tell you that Sabathia was my best pitcher, with two wins and 20 Ks, and 0.00 ERA/.75 WHIP.

Instead though, my player of the week, my big hero was definitely Alex Presley.  He hit .368/.429 and also scored five runs.  Not too bad for a guy just called up because of Tabata's injury.  If there was a category for looking like a 12 year old, Presley would have dominated for me.

Go To Church People!

I might be inclined to go to church if there were Star Destroyers sitting above.  Or at least, I might go nearby and watch to see if they start firing on the parishioners...

Picture comes from Cory Doctorow.

BREAKING BAD SEASON 4 PREVIEW

Almost time!!!!!

The Fires of Heaven

Last night I finished reading the fifth book in the Wheel of Time series, The Fires of Heaven.  It was pretty damn good.  There were plenty of really great moments, such as Mat giving away his secret knowledge of war, or Rand losing his virginity. 

The big splash came at the end of the book.  It starts with Moraine dying while I also taking Lanfear with her.  Then, Rand's friends are killed, but he uses balefire to kill Rahvin and thus erase what he did to Rand's friends.  What an awesome weapon, something that can erase someone from existence.  The more powerful the blast, the further back in time it can erase.  I wonder what the consequences were for Rand's actions?  Did someone that Rahvin kill maybe end up living?  Is that who Asmodean was confronted by at the end?  That would be interesting...

Predictions
-Moraine and Lanfear are not dead.  I have a feeling they will come back after meeting with Mat's snake/fox people.  I think it was Lanfear that showed up and killed Asmodean, hence the reason for his surprise.  I also think that when Moraine does come back, she will be more powerful than ever.

-Speaking of snake/fox people, Mat will eventually meet up with Perrin.  Mat's army and Perrin's army will be a major force that will defeat the Whitecloaks and help Rand win the world.

-Elayne and Nynaeve will end up being full Aes Sedai, especially after Nynaeve shows that she has captured one of the Foresaken.  Or they will leave Salidar and head out on their own.  Probably head back to Andor, since Elayne will be needed since people think Morgase is dead.

-I really want to know what is in the letter for Thom from Moraine.  Could it be something about Thom being Elayne's dad?  Yeah, I predicted that last time, and I will stick with it.  Or maybe I am completely wrong.

Aside from predictions, I want to make an observation about the similarities between The Wheel of Time and the Dark Tower.  Both series have technological societies that have been broken and are now much less advanced.  There is an overarching fate/destiny that drives the story:  the wheel and ka.  In fact, there is a saying in the Dark Tower:  "ka is like a wheel."  Hmm, just something I found interesting.

GOTW and Speeding Tickets

Yesterday I was driving home from Altoona and happened to be going a little over the speed limit.  When I look in the mirror there was a Cresson Township cop behind me with his lights on.  I had been pulled over once before and given a warning.  I knew that this time I was absolutely screwed.

Needless to say, I was right.  Luckily the cop gave me a ticket for just failing to obey traffic signs and he was actually pretty cool about it.  He seemed genuinely concerned that I might forget to pay the fine and have an arrest warrant put out for me.  Not like this has ever happened before.  Okay, that is a lie, it happened once before. 

Funny story, I got a ticket for doing 32 in a 25 in Crafton.  I had every intention of paying the fine.  In fact, I wrote the check, put it in an envelope, and thought I mailed it.  One Sunday, I am sitting at my place and there is a knock on the door.  Do you know how many knocks I had at my door while living there?  Not many.  I opened up and there were two constables standing there, they said they had a warrant for my arrest.

I argued up and down that I paid the fine, and then I looked at my desk and saw the envelope.  I forgot to mail it!  This is where things got shady.  The constables said that if I gave them cash, then it would be cool.  I told them I could give them a check, but they wanted me to go to an ATM and get cash.  I said that I could not do that because I did not get paid until the next day.  They said if they checked with the magistrates office and it was not there by 4:00 p.m. on Monday, they would come take me to jail.

I went down to the magistrates office the next day and paid the fine.  I wonder if the constables were just trying to take my cash from me?  I guess I will never know.

Back to this ticket, I really wish the cop would have looked like the girl above.  I would be much happier about getting a ticket if Denise Milani was standing there.  Also, if you are already giving me a ticket, why does it take so damn long to sit there and write the bloody thing.  And, why the hell do cops always ask:  "do you know why I pulled you over?"  Yeah, I am well aware of it.  In fact, do not ask me why I was speeding.  I like to drive fast, I am in a hurry, whatever.  If I lied and said that I had to get home to poop, would you let me go?  Probably not.  I am sure that cops already know as they walk up to the car whether they are giving you a ticket or not.

Okay, sorry about that rant.  Here are more pictures of Denise Milani.

True Blood Episode 402

There is really nothing to say about this episode, other than it pretty much sucked balls.  As I said last week, this season seems to have nothing going for it.  The only storyline worth anything was Jason, but that one became a letdown right away.

-Bill is the king because the AVL basically gave him the title after he gave them Queen Sophie.  Apparently he was working with the AVL since the days of British punk rock and Margaret Thatcher.

-The witch-gang wants to raise a human from the dead, but Eric comes to stop them.  They band together to fight him and he somehow loses his memory.  And his shirt. 

-Tara is reminded why she is lame.  She tries to visit Sookie, but gets blown off after a few minutes.  Then goes with her cousin to see some witch action and almost gets eaten by Eric.  Probably not the best way to impress Sookie...

-Luna, Sam's new girlfriend, once changed into a human.  I wonder if all shifters can do that, or did her stupid story have some weight to it.

-Hoyt and Jessica are like a lame, old married couple.  She goes and gets dirty with that weird dude from Fangtasia.  Still not at all interesting.  And if she is going to the club, she needs to wear less clothing.

-Jason is being held by Crystal and Felton.  She is high and he wants Jason to impregnate her.  He is impotent.  However, they must first make him a werepanther.  Yep, this will be dumb.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Hey Ryan, hope you had a great birthday...

Last year on your birthday did you think:  "Man, I bet next season the Buccos will be in second on my birthday and will be four games over .500.  In fact, they will be this good without Pedro Alvarez, Ross Ohlendorf, Ryan Doumit, and Chris Snyder.  Karstens, Morton, Maholm, and Correia will be some of the better pitchers in the NL."

If you did think that, I would have liked to smoke whatever it was you were smoking.

Oh, and since the ladies out there complain that I do not show enough pictures of sexy guys, here is one of Ryan and I pretty drunk...

Fantasy Baseball Week Thirteen

The winning streak came to an end, although I guess it was not really much of a winning streak.  Imler beat me 8-3, which pretty much blows since a win would have brought me to almost .500 and the win did bring him over .500.

Both of our teams were bad, this was not an epic battle.  My team had a .241/.311 OBP/AVG and those are the categories I won.  I had 10 SBs, but only 14 Runs, in general that should not happen, right?  Also, I failed to start Jon Lester (he and Sabathia had been starting a day apart and when I saw Sabathia/Verlander starting, I assumed Lester was not going to be pitching that day).  I missed out on a win from Lester, which would have given me one more category, plus the drop in ERA could have given me the lead there as well.  I am too lazy to figure it out.  Also if Brian Wilson did not suck, my ERA/WHIP would have been pretty good.

Speaking of good players, Ryan Braun should have had a great week:  he hit .529/.600, but had no Runs or HRs and only 3 RBIs.  I guess my best player was Mike Moustakas, he scored two runs and had one RBI, with a line of .421/.476.

I am glad that interleague play is over so that David Ortiz can return to the lineup.  He is not much of a pinch hitter and having him on my bench seemed to kill any of my chances for RBIs.  I am still offering any of my pitchers for hitters.  Imler, I do not want another starter, sorry.

Happy Fourth of July!

Today is our great nation's birthday.  This is a pretty damn good place to live, even if we sometimes take it for granted.  Just think, you could be stuck in Albania.  While the rest of you are out celebrating, I will be at work.  Pretty much the worst part of my job.  I almost always have to work on the cool holidays that involve cooking out and drinking.  I figure that looking at pictures of girls showing their patriotism is better than being bitter all day.  Enjoy the day off folks!