Too much airtime

From last Thursday to next Friday I will have been on 12 different airplanes. I like to travel and I enjoy flying but this might be too much for me in two weeks.

Tomorrow we're off to NYC for a nice family trip though. My mom is actually able to join us so we're incredibly excited.

Over Yet?

Is interleague play over yet. Man the Braves interleague schedule this year has been brutal.

No Day Games

Crash says that Congress should outlaw the DH and astroturf, I don't like either of those things but eh. I do think there should be a law requiring at least one day game every weekday. How am I supposed to waste time at work with no baseball game. Bastards.

Faster than the truth

I've long had a belief that once Fox started showing baseball games they also started jacking up the pitch speeds. Faster pitch speeds apparently makes for better ratings. I also believe that a few years after that ESPN followed suit and starting jacking up their pitch speeds. Being a Braves fan I am fortunate enough to watch a bunch of games on TBS, Turner South, Sports South, and various other local-ish channels. None of those pump up the radar guns like Fox or ESPN, Smoltz would pitch on TBS and clock in around 93 or 94 mph, on Fox or ESPN he'd be 97 mph. They were different games and I never had the truth.

Today I checked out the difference though. The Braves/Red Sox game is on ESPN and I had the MLB.com feed. Tyler Yates was pitching and ESPN had his speed at 97mph on every fastball, then I looked up the MLB.com feed, 93 and 94mph. Hmm, I wonder which one was correct.

My job is great sometimes

Good times.

[Edit, I made this post in the future so Beal wouldn't complain too much. I'll probably change that in a few days though. This is my ranting, not your underage fantasies, yes I'm talking to you. So read down if you want to see my latest ramblings.]

[Edit again. I changed the date back, sorry Beal]

Metrodome

If we don't go back to the Metrodome for another 16 years it will be too soon. At least the Twins are one of the AL teams I root for, only two every three decades do I have to worry about playing against them.

Mmm...cheesesteaks

Off to Philadelphia and Wizard World Philadelphia. I might have time to blog about it, I might not. If I don't I'll see you on Monday.

Kansas City, MO

"Press Pass, this is Trevor, thanks for holding."
"Yes this is Michael from UPS."
"What can I help you with?"
"Yes I have your big black case with display wall in it."
"Huh, that should have been delivered on Thursday."
"Yeah it here at our distribution center in Kansas City, Missouri."
First off, why the hell is Kansas City not in Kansas, that is for another time.
"I'm assuming you mean actual Missouri and not the name of a building next the Philadelphia Convention Center."
"Yes sir, we're in Kansas City."
"Well, um, that booth needs to be in Philadelphia for a convention, well now."

Then we spent time with them getting information to my trade show display from KC to Philadelphia by tomorrow. How it got in Kansas City, who knows.

Events occur in real time

One thing is for sure, events occur much quicker than I would like, at least it seems that way. Anyway the official 24 TCG website is up. Take some time and go look. There isn't much content right now but that is coming soon. As soon as we have an approved picture I will make sure to post it here.

Family Endings

Tonight is the ending to the Sopranos, which I'm sure every media outlet in the world has told you. I have really loved the show over its 8+ year run. I expect Tony to live tonight but more than that I expect there to be no real resolution. David Chase is big on leaving things dangling. We'll see in a few hours.

About this time last year

Is about the time when the wheels fell off the wagon for the Braves. It seems they are doing that again this year. Hopefully they can right the ship but with the inconsistent play and injuries it might be a long few weeks. I guess it was a fun first few months.

Two and Half Day Weekend

Hit me sometimes on Monday through Thursday and I probably don't like our summer hours. The convention schedule also messes up my enjoyment. But man days like today I love leaving work at 11:30, good times.

No sympathy

I have a lot of sympathy for balancing work and a family. I have it for firemen, policemen, nurses, any other emergency worker, etc. who works all hours. I have sympathy for people who can't make ends meet quite yet and have to work extra hours/jobs to do so. I have it for the small business owner who puts in 90 hours a week because he can't afford to pay someone else. I really have it for the servicemen who are deployed for months or years at a time.

I do not have any sympathy for a professional coach (or even athlete for that matter) who can't make time for his family. None of the people listed above have anymore time then a coach does. The difference is the coach is incredibly well compensated and in many circles incredibly famous. A serviceman who spend 15 years in the Army isn't going to be able to take a few years off for quality family time, he didn't make a few million a year. To be an NFL coach seems to require some 60+ hours a week, 50 or so weeks a year. At an average salary of $2,000,000 a year that ends up being about $640 an hour, not a bad hourly wage if you can find it. Stop whining and go do something else if you want a family life.

June 6, 1944

Thousands upon thousands of people lost their lives liberating mainland Europe. It isn't a day to celebrate, war sucks ass, but it is a day to remember. They say World War 2 was the last good war and I counter with there hasn't been a single good war. There have been many wars that are necessary, World War 2 being one of them, but none of them have been good. What an absolute waste of lives they all are, just absurd. That being said I would still like to remember the ultimate sacrifice thousands gave so that many others could be free from tyranny.

Stupid Marlins

Man I hate the Marlins. How do they play the Braves so well every single year. They turn over their roster every year, I guess they just teach them in the minors to beat the team in Atlanta. Stupid Marlins.

Race in Sports

What a shocker, someone wants to talk about race in American sports. I would actually be shocked when someone doesn't want to talk about race in American sports. I'm not some naive white guy who wants to sit at home on Sunday and dismiss any minority when they want to talk about racism in sports. Well I'm probably naive but not about this, well maybe but not that much. In American sports the majority, that is white men, control most of the money, make most the decisions, and hold almost all of the management jobs. Yet the talent, the people actually playing the games are minorities, either black, latinos, asian, whatever. Anything hierarchy with that dynamic is going to cause racism and probably a lot more than average American sports fan will ever begin to understand. That being said, there is real racism, real problems to fix, and then the useless, sugarcoated stuff.

The current topic with baseball and it has been all year is black players or rather the lack of black players. This is the made up stuff, the useless topics that shouldn't get any bandwidth. Let's spend time talking about the lack of minority GMs, managers, scouts, coaches in baseball or the lack of minority coaches in college football. Spend time fixing those problems. This is just a made up problem. Outside of being openly gay (which is a completely different topic) I have no doubt that professional sports teams look for talent far and above everything else. It isn't about white or black or yellow or purple. If you can throw a ball 95 mph or hit a 12 to 6 curveball, you can get a job in the MLB if you're bright pink.

The lack of black players and the rise of latino players is due to two things in my opinion. Of course these two things are exactly what Ozzie Gullien said in response to Gary Sheffield's latest foot in mouth comments. I told my comments to JDub today at lunch, I will summarize my version.

One is popularity. Hold baseball tryouts in a large US population center for blacks the same time as basketball tryouts, I'd be surprised if you got enough baseball players to field one team. Do the same in white community against football or soccer, again you're lucky to get enough players. Even things like golf and NASCAR take potential players away from baseball. In addition baseball is a very expensive sport on parents, much more expensive than some of the other choices. So the children who'd make good baseball players are just playing other sports.

The other one is the draft set up. Countries outside of US and Canada are not subject to the MLB draft, if I find a player he is mine. I spend a bunch of money scouting JD Drew it doesn't matter, he goes to the draft. I spend a bunch of money scouting Andruw Jones and he is mine, no draft. In addition to 'finders keepers' the draft is subject to tremendous contracts. Many teams do not draft a player because they are afraid they wouldn't be able to sign him, that doesn't apply in countries outside the US and Canada (and now Japan and Cuba). Albert Pujols is one of the best players in baseball, probably top 2 or 3, and the Cardinals signed him for not a lot of money. Johan Santana is easily the best pitcher in baseball and the Twins signed him without a huge signing bonus. Players like Jason Varitek, Travis Lee, and JD Drew were passed over by teams because of the 8 figure plus signing bonuses they would require. Todd Van Poppel in almost any other draft would be picked first but he wanted a huge signing bonus and Ted Turner wouldn't pay it (of course that did work out well for the Braves).

It isn't always about race, sometimes it is but not always. The silly crap just turns the American public off and makes them ignore you when it actually is about race.

Congratulations Michael and Emily

I've (finally) returned from our trip to Atlanta for my youngest brother's wedding. It was a LONG Thursday and Friday since some of the help for the wedding fell through so it was up to others of us to step up. The ceremony was great, the party was even better and the bride and groom are in on some island somewhere so all is well. Now I'm back to the grind, good times.

Bring on the winning teams

The Braves are 14-8 vs. teams with a winning record, the only series they lost was to the Red Sox. That is 6-3 vs. the Mets, 2-1 vs. the Dodgers and Brewers, 3-1 vs. the Padres, and 1-2 vs. Boston. They are 16-15 vs. teams with a losing record. What the hell is up with that. That is just crazy.

No Star Wars

Well the Little One was away and Pretty Bird was off work Friday. There just wasn't time to watch Star Wars. George Lucas would understand, hell if he got busy more maybe the prequels wouldn't be as underwhelming as they were.

Vote Early, Vote Often

The MLB All-Star game is basically a joke but I'm not here to rip it. I actually do enjoy watching it every year and I really enjoy voting. I mix my vote between favorites and players that are having the best year. If I vote for one of my favorite players then I make sure he is at least close to the guy having the best year. Of course none of it really matters, household names, players from popularity/population centers NY and Boston, notorious ballot stuffers Philly and St. Louis, and anyone from Japan (online voting means a whole, high population country votes for you) are usually the ones near the top of the vote. Voting also takes place too early and you get 25 votes per person. So go to mlb.com and vote, maybe even 25 times.

Here is my ballot
American League
1B Justin Morneau, Minnesota (David Ortiz will win. Either deserves it)
2B BJ Upton, Tampa Bay (Robinson Cano will win, Upton or Bip Roberts deserve it)
SS Derek Jeter, New York (Jeter will win, easily. Jeter probably deserves it)
3B Alex Rodriguez, New York (ARod will win, easily. He also easily deserves it)
C Victor Martinez, Cleveland (Jorge Posada will win. Jorge also deserves to make it but I can't vote for three Yankees)
It is really dumb you vote for OF but you do
OF Vladimir Guerrero, Los Angeles (Will win, deserves to win. Great player)
OF Torii Hunter, Minnesota (Ichiro will win, Torii deserves to win)
OF Magglio Ordonez, Detroit (Manny Ramirez will win, Magglio deserves to win)

National League
1B Prince Fielder, Milwaukee (Carlos Delgado or Albert Pujols will win, Prince deserves to win)
2B Kelly Johnson, Atlanta (Chase Utley will win and deserves to win)
SS Edgar Renteria, Atlanta (Jose Reyes will win, JJ Hardy deserves to win)
3B Chipper Jones, Atlanta (David Wright will win, Chipper or Miguel Cabrera should win)
C Russell Martin, Los Angeles (I wanted to vote for McCann but couldn't. Paul LoDuca will win, Martin easily deserves to win)
OF Jeff Francouer, Atlanta (Carlos Beltran will win and deserves to as well)
OF Matt Holiday, Colorado (Barry Bonds will win but I haven't voted for Bonds, ever. I used to only vote for players I liked and Bonds played for the Pirates and Giants vs. the Braves, not good. Holliday deserves to win)
OF Ken Griffey, Jr., Cincinnati (Alfonso Soriano will win, Adam Dunn or Griffey deserve to win but I like Griffey)

So go vote early and remember to vote often.

X-Men

Pretty Bird and I have been playing a lot of Marvel Ultimate Alliance on the 360, it is a really good game. In fact I think it is better than both of the previous games. It really made both of us want to watch a movie based on comics and for some reason we picked X-Men. I think X2 is much better than X-Men but I haven't seen the original in quite some time. After watching it again I still think X2 is much better, probably even more so. The acting is good, the story is pretty good, it just doesn't have much action, it is kinda boring.

Maybe there are Baseball Gods

I was thinking about blogging in a negative fashion about the Brewers, a team I actually like, I didn't obviously but I was thinking about it. The Baseball Gods have repaid by making Smoltz leave with a shoulder injury, which frankly is balls. Oh Baseball Gods, I beg for Your mercy, please allow John to only have a minor injury.

Bad baseball weekend

The holiday weekend wasn't very nice to the Braves or my fantasy team. Being swept by the Phillies, ick. I dropped out of first in my league for the time in four weeks. Oh well, that is the nice thing about baseball there is another game very quickly, like today!

Argh!

Lose the first two against the Phillies and then now we get Cole Hamels, wtf. These last two weeks they just haven't been very good, maybe they'll save a little face and win today, I doubt it though. That would leave the Phillies only 2 games behind the Braves, blech.

Is is so weird

The Little One is visiting her grandparents for the week, Pretty Bird has to work all weekend, and I'm off for three days. I guess it is going to be a boring weekend. There isn't even a movie I want to go see since I've seen the two out that look good.

Happy Star Wars Day!

For those that live in a cave, today is the 30th anniversary of the release of Star Wars. I've written a number of times about how much I like Star Wars and I'm going to keep writing things like that. I really do like Star Wars, I've had so much fun enjoying the movies, the video games, the RPGs, the toys, the CCG, the minis, shit I could go on for hours, they do merchandise the hell out of Star Wars. Sure it is over the top and sure some of it is crap but man a lot of it is great as well.

Today we're going to see Pirates (which like every other blockbuster movie wouldn't be what it is without Star Wars) but tonight we're going to watch Star Wars. Hell I might even bust out some SWCCG (doubtful) or KOTOR (probable). I'll probably write more about Star Wars later.

200, How sweet it is

Congratulations John Smoltz on your 200th win, against Tom Glavine and the Mets. Right now the Braves are 6-3 against the Mets. The best (or worst) part of that stat is that they are 0-3 vs. Oliver Perez and 6-0 against everyone else. It has been a great year so far in terms of watching games.

Smoltz vs. Glavine 3 - The Revenge

Man I hate Oliver Perez, he is fricking Bob Gibson versus the Braves. Tonight however is good times, Smotlz vs. Glavine. Of the big three Glavine was always my least favorite, probably because he got shelled a few times early in the playoffs and he was the union rep for the Braves during the strike. I do like him fine, wish he would have finished his career as a Brave, and think he is a first ballot Hall of Famer, I just liked Smoltz and Maddux more.

Smoltz is 2-0 vs. Glavine this year so that is good. The bad of course is the Mets actually are a better team than the Braves and Glavine is due. We'll see tonight.

A really funny letter

I have a picture of a really funny letter we got at our PO Box yesterday, OMG was it funny. The letter wasn't directed towards us, we received it in error. It was a letter requesting some sort of a meeting with an African American guy who lives in Charlotte. I'm going to wait to post the letter until after my lovely picture of The Little One scrolls away. I can't see having a letter with words that rhyme with rock, rick, paved, slow, hallow, and a word used to describe a house cat and my daughter up at the same time. That being said, it is a hilarious letter.

Last Day in Uniform

Today was The Little One's last day in a uniform. Friday is her last day of school this year and next year she is going to a different school and it will actually be a public school. There a a number of reasons why with the biggest one being it is almost an hour each way from the new place to her school. That is a good bit to drive twice a day. We've loved the school, it has been absolutely incredible for her and for us. Hopefully Friday won't be too traumatic on her (or Pretty Bird).

5 Wins, 2 Losses

To catch the Mets we need a Mets loss and a Braves win. Good thing the Braves were playing the Mets and they destroyed the Mets tonight. Tomorrow should be a sure win for the Mets, stupid Oliver Perez. Even if the Mets pull out the next two wins this series that leaves the Braves at 5-4 vs. the Mets, not bad since they don't play again until August or September. We do need to get another win this series though since the Mets destroy everyone else in the league.

Fantasy Baseball

Today begins the third week in a row that I've been ranked first in both of my fantasy leagues. I'm sure this will not keep up for the entire season, it isn't possible. It is really cool though. Actually the eight team league I've been in first place every day of the season except for one, which is really cool.

Letdown

I will fill it in more later on but right now both of the finales were somewhat of a letdown. Actually I really enjoyed Heroes and think it was really good but it was very predictable. Jack and his clan in 24 however, that wasn't very good, at all.

Jack is Lethal

I wrote a few months ago about my top five TCG cards and I left one of them blank. I’m not quite filling in the section now because the cards aren’t approved, nor in fact are they completely done. Either way the card is Jack Bauer, well not a specific Jack Bauer but a gameplay mechanic that was started with the Jack series of cards.

I will get into how 24 TCG plays at a later time. Obviously we aren’t reinventing the wheel so if you’ve played other TCGs then you can play 24 TCG with little effort. To set up what I really love about Jack then I do have to explain a little bit. The basic premise of the game is that you play your characters (CTU or Insurgents) and they have an overall mission to score 24 (obviously) points. A character may attempt a mission and then your opponent may have one of their characters try and stop that character. That is how battling happens. The characters each have a skill rating and a health rating. When a character losses a battle they are wounded, when they get wounds equal to their health rating then they die.

Our game also has keywords, loaded (a gameplay macro) and unloaded (just to hang stuff off) but we call them traits (loaded) and keywords (unloaded). There were a lot of initial discussions about Jack and how we can give him some impact to the game, something that fits the IP but also is appealing the TCG. One day the conversation went a lot like this, I think this is pretty close to how it went.

“So what do we do about Jack?”

“Well one thing about Jack, anyone who walks into a room with Jack Bauer comes out wounded.”

And that was that, it just clicked with everyone. The trait Lethal was born. The name could change but we really hope not. Lethal works pretty simple, you deal an extra wound. When in a mission attempt with someone with the Lethal trait you receive a wound; win, lose, or draw.

In a game where most characters have one or two health the Lethal trait is incredibly powerful and has required a good bit of testing. When Jack (or anyone with Lethal) is one the table you must be very careful. It makes for some fun, fast paced games, which is obviously the goal.

Hopefully I’ll be able to post a card before too long. We have a few work in progress images up coming in Scrye and InQuest, I’ll post links once they are out.

Back from the ATL

It was a real short trip but a needed one. Now we are back (only to go down again in two weeks) and it should be a weird week. This is the first week of summer hours so I get four 9 hour days and then one half day on Friday. I'm not a huge fan of these hours but some people in the office love them.

Rain Out

I guess a rain out is better than the sure loss the Braves would have received at the hands of the Red Sox. The AL is just better than the NL and the Red Sox are the best team in baseball. Tomorrow is great though, according to Ernie Banks "Let's play two!"

Down to ATL

Minus the Mustang. Pretty Bird needs to get around some separate from what I have to do and she can't drive the Mustang. I make my fourth (or fifth) trip to ATL since I purchased the Mustang and it is the first without it. It is going to be tough going from 210hp to 122hp in four hour trip. Oh well, it will just mean Monday is that much more fun to drive to work.

Are you kidding me?

Losing three out of four to the Nationals. What the fuck is that crap. I guess that shows like I've been worried that maybe the Braves aren't that good. Still losing to the Nationals just sucks.

Trevor on the DL

Like everyone in the world I was listed as day to day yesterday. A few of my many symptoms that bother me in completely random intervals decided yesterday was a good day to mess with me. That just caused me to basically do nothing all day except sleep, I felt like a complete loafer. Anyways I'm back at work today trying to figure out which cards should go with Jack Bauer in the Jack Bauer deck. Good times.

Happy Birthday John Smotlz

There are two things in my life that makes me feel old. The first one is my daughter, to have a 7 year old means I need to be at least a certain age. The other thing is the age of baseball players. Most of the players I've been a fan of have always been older than I am but when they hit milestone ages it really shows how long you've been watching them as well. I guess watching a group of people play ball 80 to 100 times a year, every year, means you identify on some level with them, as pathetic as that sounds. Anyway happy 40th John Smoltz.

Good Pig

He raised a talking pig, got killed by Russell Crowe, invented warp drive, and is Gwen Stacey's dad, oh yeah he is Jack's dad and a fucking terrorist. James Cromwell is all of those things he however is not easy to get images of, fun times.

The Matrix

Both the Kill Bills (which oddly enough we don't own, weird) were on TV over the weekend. We caught some parts, mainly the Crazy 88 showdown. The crazy on-screen kung-fu madness made me really want to see some more high flying martial arts. We own a few but I decided on The Matrix, #4 on my list. Yes it was still great, yes Keanu still says "Whoa" like an idiot, what a nice way to waste a few hours.

Fantasy Golf

Isn't fantasy golf really decided with who gets the first pick. If you get the second (or later) pick don't you just decide not to play that year. Of course you could get an owner that decides to pull a Houston Texans and take the 5th or 6th best player on the board instead of the #1.

That fricking sucks

We almost get no hit, lose Smoltz for who knows how long (probably at least two starts), and then the Mets win and take away first place. What a shitty night in baseball. At least Heroes was really good.

Happy Mother's Day

We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for our mothers. Me, of course I'm a bad son and forgot to mail my mom her card and gift so it would be there in time for today. I'm a bad son and she is a great mom and very forgiving, I think she'll like the gift.

The other mother in my life, The Little One's mom, actually has to work today. The Little One and I picked her out a nice gift though and are making her a really nice dinner. I think she'll at least end the day on a good note.

The Fifth Element

A movie that just gets better with time. Every single time I watch it I enjoy it more. It was on earlier this week on HD which means I had to watch it. Man did it look great, good times.

Brewer Magic

Come on Tom, whatever magic you guys can come up with would be helpful.

The Break Up

Taking advantage of our last few weeks with HBO we decided to TiVo The Break Up. I'm a pretty big Jennifer Aniston fan or at least I was at one point. Both Pretty Bird and I enjoy Vince Vaughn when he is on and for the most part in this movie he was. I didn't see this movie when it was released despite the chance of seeing Jennifer's ass, well it was a nice ass two years later. The movie was pretty funny and we both enjoyed it. It wasn't great and I'm glad I didn't spend any extra money to see it but it was worth two hours of my time.

Sleep

I'm so excited I get to sleep in a little tomorrow. I haven't had a weekend in almost a month when I was able to get a little extra sleep. A combination of travel, work, and some around the house stuff has just made things hectic. I really just want to sleep in tomorrow but I'm sure I will be up early enough with the family running around. It is nice to at least hope for though.

Home Run

So that is what a home run looks like. With the Braves going eight games without a home run I was begging to wonder. I still can't complain since they have now won four games in a row and seven of the last ten. The ass end of the rotation is not looking so ass end and the bullpen has been incredible. When the offense is back on track they might actually be a decent team.

Jason said it right

It is always a good day when you get two checks. Today is payday and we both got our Vegas expense check. Sure the expense check is just money they gave us back but it is still nice to get two checks. Good times.

Smoltz > Maddux

Well Maddux was pretty damn good, hell so was Smoltz. Smoltz only gave up 2 solo HR and the bullpen is who gave up the game for Maddux. It was a fun game and great to watch. Vintage Maddux with him cussing every single mistake he makes. There is no better family entertainment than watching a 40 year old man say 'fuck' a few times on TV.

The Braves bats have really fallen asleep the last 7 or 8 games but they are still 6-4 in their last 10 games, not bad. This is in addition to the closer being on the DL, the 3B and catcher playing hurt, starting a rookie pitcher, and Chuck James sucking up the joint. If you can win with all of that going on then you might actually be a good team. It is still only May, we'll see how it all ends up.

The Rock

Today I was trying not to fall asleep. I'm still beat from the weekend and really just dragging. It was a lot easier with The Rock on HBO. I just love this movie, easily one of my favorite action movies of all time. Like I've written before just look at it as "What if James Bond was caught". It is also pre-drugged out Nick Cage, well at least before he took that much coke. Good times.

Lerew > Redman

I've been saying any random starter from AAA would be better than Mark Redman, it turns out for at least one start I was right. Yes, Girard it was still smoke and mirrors. I do love me some comeback wins though. Tomorrow is Maddux vs. Smoltz, what good times.

Just Plain Weird

Tonight's 24 was much more enjoyable than Heroes. Obviously Heroes was setting up the final two episodes and a nice transition from last week's Days of Future Present episode. For 24 it was its usual absurd, over the top show that just rehashes the same plot over and over again. I still really enjoy the hell out of it and season 5 was incredible. Season 6 hasn't been very good however, it is probably their worst offering so far. There have been a few great episodes with a bunch of junk. Tonights was very enjoyable however, it had lots of things I love to watch out of Jack and 24. Heroes was good just a little slow paced for this late in the season. The sucky part of course is only two weeks left for each one, that just sucks ass.

Working on the weekend can be tough

The worst part is missing the Braves games, it is tough knowing I could be watching Smoltz and Hudson pitch. Now I'm going to get to watch some games during the week and get the ass end of the rotation, the junky pitchers. Oh well. At least they aren't just going win/loss, win/loss, for 10 to 12 days in a row. They still aren't winning four or five in a row but they are winning 2 out of 3.

Long Day

What a long day. I haven't a playtest weekend in quite a few years. I think they are a great tool on a limited(ish) budget to get a bunch of playtesting done. Not everyone can be one of the two big boys and the rest of us must test however we can. This is a great way and this weekend has been great so far, so much work is done. It is kicking the hell out of me though, I'm so beat.

Spider-Man 3

Well it was opening night, where else did you think I was going to be but watching Spider-Man 3. I loved it, absolutely loved it. The Stan Lee and Bruce Campbell cameos were incredible. Sam Raimi really turned up the camp in this one compared to the other two, to the point that I'm sure most critics and comic fans will absolutely pan it. The Spider-Man fan in me enjoys the first two more but the movie goer in me probably enjoyed this one more than the other two. It was just so enjoyable. I highly recommend it, in fact why are you reading this when you should be watching it.

To the DL with you!

It seems Mark Redman has a made up injury. Well I'm sure it isn't a made up injury but he is also a professional athlete, with a 10.60 ERA I'm really stretching that term. As a professional athlete he is expected to play through some of the aches, pains, and injuries that normal people wouldn't to suffer through and still play. So while I don't want anyone to suffer pain I am glad I have at least 15 days without this Kansas City reject giving up 5 runs in two innings.

Good win vs. the Phillies. Once James gave up the blast to Ryan Howard I figured the Phillies would go on to win the game. But Bullpen version 07 is actually pretty damn good. If starting rotation version 07 could keep up past Smoltz and Hudson life would actually be pretty good. Still can't complain too much since they are in first place.

Hot Fuzz

The Little One had a camping trip with the Girl Scouts over the weekend so we decided to take a trip to see Hot Fuzz. I'm not a huge fan of Canadian/British humor, I typically like my comedy to be funny, but Pretty Bird really wanted to see it. I enjoyed Shaun of the Dead, or at least the 75% I've seen. Hot Fuzz was actually pretty funny. It was the type of parody I enjoy, over the top just enough but not too much. Now I will have to try and watch Shaun of the Dead the whole way through.

The future sucks

At least in Heroes it sucks. Man what a great episode of Heroes. I didn't even see the Nathan reveal coming, it was awesome. I thought future Hiro was great but future Peter is even better, he does look different with the scar. I think it is a lot better that you don't see the Peter/Sylar fight. Man I haven't geeked about a show this much probably since 24 first started.

Sucks!

Mark Redman fricking sucks. Someone at AAA has got to be better than this guy. A 10.50 ERA, wtf.

Walk Off!

Andruw gives us a walk off in the 9th, not much better than that. What good stuff. The Jones' went deep in the same game again and they are now 3-0 this year when they homer together.

Tomorrow I will bitch about Baseball Tonight. In between sucking the Yankees or Mets dicks they did their first month wrap up, I think. One would wonder who has the best record in the NL or who has taken two series from the Mets, their choice for the best team in the NL. Oh yeah, I also get a 10 second highlight of Andruw's walk off. I saw a ton of Yankees, Red Sox, and Mets highlights tonight. Mets got their ass kicked, some Marlins highlights would be good but Beltran went 4 for 5, gotta talk about him. The Yankees and Red Sox highlights were key though, more important SINCE THEY HAD THE NIGHT OFF! Idiots. I miss Gammons on the show.

Sorry Bob

Bob Wickman was put on the DL today. His last three games were actually horrible, he looked like he was in pain and he didn't pitch well. Hopefully a few weeks of rest and he'll be good to go. Without him it will be interesting to see how the bullpen does.

Bound to happen

The bullpen last year blew five saves by this time last year. This year they've blown three, not exactly a huge improvement, at least to the point of being elite. I think with Hudson's improvement and a full year of Chuck James they are actually a better team. However blowing a two run lead in the 9th, not a good way to win ball games. Maybe tomorrow against the redhot Phillies.

Marketing Powerhouse

I work in marketing, I have worked in marketing for over five years now. Some days I hate, some days I love it. I feel for the most part I'm pretty good at it. When you have some knowledge in a field you really tend to notice good or bad examples in that field. One great example of marketing is the NFL, man they are good. The fricking draft is a huge deal. People wonder why they make so much money, anything that can make a hiring selection a media sensation over two leagues playoffs and the beginning of what used to be America's pastime, incredible.

Back from the desert

Well I'm back from Vegas. The show went really well. I had a good time and everyone seemed to enjoy our new game. I'll write more once I get over some of this jetlag.

Off to Vegas!

Off to Vegas, yet again for a trade show. I do love this city and we do announce our newest game but I would just as soon stay home. For some reason this trip seems too rushed or maybe it just a little off. We'll see how it goes. I am excited to see Peiper, Goodrich, Kim, Beal, Hayden, Brune, Andy, and a few others again. Hopefully Bojo made the trip. If you're in Vegas see you then, if not see you when I get back.

Bullitt

Steve McQueen and a 1968 Ford Mustang 390GT Fastback, what could go wrong. What a great movie, a precursor to Dirty Harry and even the Die Hard/Lethal Weapon type movies. The badass cop and a great high speed car chase. Man the Mustang looks good and sounds incredible. What a fun movie.

Smoltz > Glavine Again

Well not really. It was the Braves bats > than the Mets bullpen. Either way I'll talk it. Like I've said before the Braves do have some skills they just haven't put it all together quite yet. If they do they could be good, if not they'll win about 85 games. We'll see what happens, it is a long season.

I'll take the first two series against the Mets 4 to 2 though, way to go Braves.

Goldeneye

We received some Best Buy money in the mail and figured it was time for a trip to get some useless junk. Goldeneye was on sale for $7.50 and it made sense to pick it up, I love me some James Bond. I just love this movie, its got James Bond, Queen Elizabeth, Q, Hagrid, Jean Gray, Nightcrawler, and Boromir in it, what other geekness do you need. I think it is Brosnan's best Bond movie, by far. My favorite part of the movie is how they make fun of previous Bond movies, just great.

A lot of Heroes

Yesterday evening NBC ran a mini Heroes marathon of the recent episodes before the break. Pretty Bird, The Little One, and I watched the last two, well the little one didn't make it through the last episode, she fell asleep, it was late. I can't say it enough, that show is so good. I'm actually upset that I'm going to miss the episode on Monday. Hopefully we'll be able to catch it at the show but I doubt that we'll be able to catch it. Right now I'm having issues with the number of lines in the house so the TiVo can only catch one show. I gave Heroes priority over 24, it pains me after years of watching Jack save the world but Heroes just takes the cake. With NBC and Fox showing Heroes and 24 online the day after they air I'm not that worried, I'll catch them both.

Smoltz vs. Glavine Part 2

Well it seems Oliver Perez is shit against the rest of the league but the second coming of Bob Gibson against the Braves. Oh well. The Braves went from the best record in baseball to the third best record with today's loss. I still think they are doing a lot of it with smoke and mirrors. The rotation is pretty good, top 3 got game. The bullpen has some talent and some scrubs, the defense is a little suspect. The offense actually might be okay if some of them would start hitting. Andruw and then then whoever is hitting 7th and 8th really need to get going. I won't be surprised if they win some games but I expect them to just have an average season.

Tomorrow is Smoltz vs. Glavine again, good times. At least time I get to watch it.

Larry, Larry, Larry

I guess that is the best way to make sure the Mets lose when the Braves win is to actually have the Braves play the Mets. Hudson has been incredible this year and it is even better than he beat the Mets.

Pretty Bird and I were watching the first inning and the PA guy announces "playing 3rd base, #10 Chipper Jones" and the Shea faithful let him have the boos. Every since September 21, 1999 they've really hated him in Queens. Too bad they forget he crushed them before that but it was the two home run day against Al Leiter and the 2-1 win vs. the Mets that started the real hatred. That three game sweep of the Mets pushed the Braves ahead of the division for good, Chipper hit 4 HR and drove in 7 of the 13 runs during the sweep.

Anyway, Chipper comes up, boos, and the Shea chant..."Larry, Larry, Larry" and Chipper does what he does against the Mets in Shea, Home Run! What good times. Hopefully we can win one of the next two and end up taking two of three against the hated Mets.

Most of the work is done

It wouldn't really matter if it wasn't done because the trade show starts on Monday. We're mostly done, I think. My direct boss really likes to do everything right near the deadline and it is really annoying. I don't mind running around when something needs to be done, I just really wish it because of poor planning. Anyways most of the stuff looks great, I think we're going to have a decent GAMA Trade Show.

One thing I got to work on this week was a lot more photoshop/indesign stuff than I have in the past. I don't really know much about it but I'm learning and it can a little fun. Stressful that I have so much to do with no real knowledge but someone's gotta do it.

I should have an update on Monday or Tuesday on what our new game is, we're really excited in the office.

So Tired

Good lord it has been a bit of work this week, I'm beat. Working until 11:30pm isn't a lot of fun. Well at least the idiot from Kansas City didn't give up 11 runs but the Braves still lost. Maybe tomorrow I'll offer more insight.

My Hats Off

I really must applaud the Washington Nationals for wearing Virginia Tech hats during yesterday's game versus the Braves. It was a great showing by a bunch of professional athletes. Other than game results most of what you hear about sports is how an athlete acts like an idiot. It is really nice to them do something really nice.

It is even better

The Mustang is even more fun to drive after I've spent time driving a different car. I drove a truck from work for a few hours tonight (picking up a gas grill, just in time for warm weather) and I dropped it off. It is a tough truck to drive but it just made driving the Mustang that much more fun.

Paint By Numbers, 24 Style

Tonights episode was pretty enjoyable it was just very transparent, not good writing. Every single turn was so obvious, at least in 24-verse, and that was a little disappointing. Jack is quick on the draw though, sorry Silver Spoons.

Next week presents a problem, Heroes returns and I'm out of town, tough stuff.

Opinions are like...

We'll they're like something.

I've wrote a few times now about that I'm going to write about my opinions on race in the US and I'm still going to. Today's horrific events at Virginia Tech however prompted me to want to write about something else.

Even with events like tragedy in Blacksburg I don't think the world or United States is any worse now than it was before. I truly believe the number of sick bastards in the worlds, the kind of person that thinks their personal problems merit shooting up a school, or they should sleep with a student, or molest one of the members of their church, whatever sick ass thing that shows up in the headlines. The number of those bastards in the world hasn't really increased, in my opinion, at least percentage wise.

There are over 6 billion people on the planet, if X percentage of people are going to be sick fucks and you have three times as many people as some 30 or 40 years ago, you're going to have three times as many sick fucks.

Instant news has made the news global and quick. If some psycho in another village 200 years ago freaked out and killed 20 people you didn't hear about it. Hell even 15 years ago it took the evening news or the next day's paper for most of the world to catch, if not days. Instant news isn't making these things more prevalent it is just making these things more on our collective consciousness.

Jackie Robinson Day

Like I wrote earlier this week I'm going to write about my opinions about race relations in the United States. Today makes perfect sense to do it, it is the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's debut in Major League Baseball. I'm still going to write my opinions on it just not yet, I'll summarize real quick though. I think it is incredibly naive to think there isn't still race issues in the US. I think those relations are even worse when it comes to American sports and sports fans. I do believe however most things that are viewed as race issues are actually economic issues. Like I said I will write more on it later.

Back to Jackie Robinson Day. I think it is great that Major League Baseball was way ahead of the rest of country in allowing a black player to do something equal to a white player. My biggest thing about Jackie Robinson personally, yes I have a Jackie Robinson story. My grandfather, the only man long term in my life, was a huge mentor for me. He knew baseball better than anyone I've ever known and was far and away the biggest baseball fan there was. I don't hold it against him that he was a Phillies fan but still a huge fan. My grandfather however didn't hold people who weren't white protestants in high regard. He kept it away from me until I was in my teens. I do not share his opinions and I really think they are out of place. However when I was in my teens I felt it wasn't my place as a 14 year old to tell someone in their late 60s, who had raise three daughters, been with their wife for 45 years, lived through World War 2, how to think. If he wants to think that way it is his right. Actually 15 some years later I still believe that. I think everyone is allowed their opinion and to think what they want.

I came down to visit him when I was 18 or 19 for a week or so. We went to a few spring training games. One of the games he made sure we went to was the game with the Expos. He knew I was a Braves fan so we went to a few of those games. But we went to see the Expos play and I wondered why and he asked him. He said he wanted to make sure to see some kid play, someone who was going to be a huge star, someone in his words he was going to love watching play. My grandfather was excited to see a player he was going to look forward to watching play for years in the bigs. He comes up to bat and I was pleasantly shocked, it was Vladimir Guerrero. If you follow baseball you know how correct my grandfather was, Vlad has been incredible. During the game he was 3 for 4 with a homer and a triple, the triple was just nuts watching him move around the bases. I just really wasn't expecting a non-white player.

Later that week I asked him who the greatest player he'd ever seen play was. This was 50 years of baseball players, maybe Ted Williams, maybe Mike Schmidt, even Pete Rose, or Steve Carlton, lots of different options. My grandfather doesn't even hesitate and the words that come out of his mouth, "Jackie Robinson. His career numbers don't match up but that is because MLB took too long to allow blacks to play." He went about the time he'd seen him play, how good he actually was, how good he could have been. My grandfather, a man I love, a man I respect but with this personality issue I can't stand, him disliking everyone who isn't white. The sport he loves as much as anything in the world (except probably his family) and he thinks Jackie Robinson was the best player he'd ever seen. He spent 20 minutes talking about Jackie Robinson, it wasn't just respect, he really liked watching him play. He even went on to say that Baseball was dumb in not letting him play. He even added that players like Satchel Paige or Josh Gibson would have really put up incredible numbers if they were allowed to play in the bigs.

So that to me is one of the great things about sports, the great gift that Jackie Robinson gave to the United States. He gave us as a country the gift of being color blind. We don't care if the person is Japanese or black or Jewish or even orange, if they are good and help our chosen team win then more power to them. Sure when they act the fool off the field we destroy them but on the field there is no color. You root for your team, if your a Braves fan than everyone is red, white, and blue, if your a Yankees fan then everyone has pinstripes. You don't care about the person in the uniform as long as he is in your uniform and he performs and helps your team. I've seen lifelong racists root for Michael Jordan or Emmit Smith, color doesn't matter in sports, at least on the field.

That is what I remember about Jackie Robinson and I really must say thank you. The country has a long way to go but at least for the most part sports shows us what it is like when we get there.

1/3 of the total runs

The Braves have given up 35 total earned runs and of those 12 of them have been given up by Redman. Over 1/3 of the runs, wtf. They've given up 41 total runs in their 11 games. In the two starts by Redman they've given up 22 runs or an overage of 11 runs a game. In the other 9 games they've given up a total 19 runs. Yeah that is right less than half the total runs in 9 games compared to more than half in just two games. I think my solution is to just stop starting Redman, idiot.

Neat

Spotting Willis 5 runs in the first, not the best way to try and win. Idiot, Kansas City can have this guy back.

Go ahead and write it down

The Marlins are going to win tonight. The Marlins are probably going to take 2 of 3 against the Braves during the weekend. Tonight is a sure loss though. Dontrelle Willis vs. a reject from Kansas City, really why does that guy pitch for us?

I expect even a blowout, just like like time the dope started.

First Loss

The Mustang suffered its first loss today at the hands of a 2002 Camaro Z28 SS. I shouldn't have taken his bait, I was giving him about at 130 or so hp advantage to my V6 Mustang. He didn't smoke me but he had me beat in the 1/3 of a mile or so before the next top light by a good car length or so. Too bad, I guess I'll have to stick to picking on other cars.

Earl is my Hero

I do love My Name Is Earl, really funny. Tonights was really good, started slow but really got funny. The best part of the episode though was the Heroes promo. Only 11 days to go!

Best but Fragile

The Braves still have the best record in baseball despite the loss but the team is so fragile. You're supposed to lose games you only get 2 hits. The offense really needs to get on track or it will soon be third place instead of first place. Plus now we get the ass end of the rotation.

Next up is the Marlins who always play us so tough. I fully expect them to take 2 of 3 from the Braves, man we can't beat them. Bastards.

Don Imus

Sure no one expects the US media to be anything but overhyped sensationalism anymore. That doesn't even pretend to describe how they've behaved this year with Anna Nicole, the Artist Formerly Known as Britney, a few others and now Don Imus.

The only reason I'm writing about it all is because based on recent events in my life I've been debating writing about race relations in the US. I still might write about it, it would be better than just writing about the Braves all the time. Anyway.

None of this is new with Don Imus, he's done race related jokes and insults for a long time or so I come to understand it. His recent remarks weren't overly racist but they were very thinly hidden race insults directed at college kids. I think he is an idiot for the remarks and I wouldn't listen to his show anyways.

I think him being fired is entirely up to his employer. I wouldn't rant about him being fired, if he worked for me I would fire him but I probably wouldn't have employed him to begin with. I think he has every right to say what he wants. I think his employer has every right to employee him if they want or fire him if they want (which they did).

None of that really isn't my point in this post. I've now heard from multiple people that him being fired hurts his free speech rights. Really? How exactly do you come to that conclusion. CBS and MSNBC both have every right to fire him, he cost both of them money. Sponsors were, for reasons all their own, pulling ads and costing his employers money. It doesn't matter why you do it, cost you employer enough money and watch your ass get fired.

The First Amendment does not allow you to say or write whatever you want. What it does do and for the most part pretty well is prevent the US government from making laws that hinder your freedom of speech. CBS and MSNBC are not obliged by the First Amendment to allow their employees to say whatever they want. They are sure not forced to keep an employee who is costing them money.

I even asked someone who was complaining about it another example. Did that person think it was okay if Google just decided to remove their blog based on what they wrote? That person said no, it would be hindering their free speech. Again, really? Google owns Blogger, they have no obligation to keep your blog if they don't like what is on it. Sure it would probably be a bad idea, it could get them a ton of bad PR. If they started doing that they should get a ton of bad PR. But they aren't required to keep blogs up based on the Bill of Rights.

56

No not the number of games Joe DiMaggio hit safely in. The number of times the Jones' have both hit a HR in the same game. I can't find the number of times they've won in such games but I know it is only like 8 or 9 losses, sometimes they show, sometimes they don't. Last night they didn't. This continues to push the Braves' best record even better.

Tonight is Smotlz going, I gotta say our chances are pretty good. The guy the Nationals have going is usually pretty good against the Braves so that could hurt. Also I sweeps don't have happen very often, it is a lot to expect one. We'll see tonight, it is hard for me to miss a Smoltz game so you know I'll be watching.

6-1

Yes he is going to write about baseball again. It is easy to keep me blogging which is something I actually enjoy.

The Braves have the best record in baseball. Their offense finally stepped up and showed a little bit of life, despite trying really hard not to in the first part of the game. Tim Hudson has been incredible in his first two starts. Of course they were playing the Nationals but like I wrote yesterday, even the bad teams win at least 54 games. More Nationals tonight, let's see if Chuck James can have two good starts in a row.

Nationals come to town

The Nationals are a horrible team, possibly the worst in all of baseball. The Braves have the best record in league. This could still go poorly, all teams win 54 games, all teams lose 54 games, it is what you do with the other 54 games. Some of those 54 games could be the worst team beating us. In addition to that the Nats are throwing pitchers the Braves have never really seen, they typically suck against those. Mix all of that with the possible let down of beating the Mets, could be bad, we'll see.

Dr. Dolittle

Yet another movie I Tivo'd. I didn't recorded this one for The Little One however. She saw the end of it a few months ago and really wanted to watch it again. She loves animals and the talking animal thing just blew her away. I watched it with her even though I'd already seen it, it was at the movie theater I was working at.

I actually enjoy Eddie Murphy, Beverly Hills Cop 1 and 2, 48 Hours, SNL, Shrek, Mulan, and my favorite Bowfinger are all very enjoyable. I enjoy this one as well but like anything that involves The Little One that is the actual fun. She would ask me a ton of questions as the movie went and when it was over, it was a lot of fun.

16 Blocks

This movie was on HBO and I like Bruce Willis and Richard Donner so I figured I would TiVo it and give it a try.

Well, at least I didn't pay any extra for it, it was awful.

The Last Days of Tony

Last night was the first episode of the final run for The Sopranos. It wasn't an exceptional episode but it was very good. I did spend a good bit of time trying to guess how they are going to end the series based on events introduced in the first episode.

I love The Sopranos but I will probably be happy for the end. The series started in 1999 and this is finishing up only its sixth season. This will be the longest season at a whopping 21 episodes which is huge, every other season was only 13 episodes. In 8 years we will have 78 episodes, that is whole lot Bada but not a bunch of Bing. I will be glad to be done with the anticipation. It has been a great run.

Smoke and Mirrors

It seems the Braves are just doing it with smoke and mirrors. I don't mind at all, being 5-1 is much better than 1-5. I am a little worried that one run games will catch up to them before too long. A week done and they are one game in first, not bad at all.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

Smoltz > Glavine

I watched the game and I'm still not sure how the Braves won. I've been saying for two years that the Mets D would hurt them and it did today but that shouldn't have been enough. Smoltz was greater than Glavine but I'm not sold if the Braves are even close to greater than the Mets. If anything though the Cardinals proved last year that all you have to do is get into the playoffs, the best team doesn't always win.

Edit - I did not steal this headline from Yahoo or Fark, I saw their headline after I wrote mine. Pretty cool though.

300

How could it get more appropriate than to write about the movie 300 with my 300th post. I logged in and was going to write about Smoltz and the Braves win over the Mets but then I see the post counter stuck at 299, it just makes sense to write about 300.

Pretty Bird and I saw the movie on Thursday night. When I first saw the previews for it I was very blah about it. As I saw more and more previews I was ever more turned off by it. For me to like something that is stylized it really must be good. Then the movie was released and quite a few reviews gave it a good rating. Then even more of my friends have seen it and raved about it, then I figured it was time to see it.

Well we saw it and both loved it. 300 isn't a great movie, it isn't something that you'll look back on and say "man that was a great movie." That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it. The lead was great, the action was great, the story held your attention. A great popcorn flick in the middle of March (or in our case April). It does set the bar of popcorn flicks high for the Year of the Trilogy.

I've seen two movies released in 2007 and I've enjoyed both of them. Hopefully this will keep up for the rest of the year.

Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade

With all of the Indy 4 talk recently Pretty Bird and I had an itching to watch one of the originals. I love both Raiders of the Lost Ark and Last Crusade so it was a tough choice. I'd recently seen the Raiders, sometime last year and it had been a little bit since I'd seen Last Crusade so that made the decision easy.

Like I said when I talked about Last Crusade (#8) in my Top 100 list, it really makes me laugh. There are so many scenes and one liners in the perfect context to make the movie hilarious. What a great movie.

Ick, that just sucks

What a way to open the season at home, the worst home opener in Braves history. I guess the Mets pitching staff isn't that bad, four games and only 3 runs given up. Maybe we can split the final two and the Mets will leave town only a game up on the Braves. But man 11-1 just sucks.