Hitting For The Cycle

Moved

2005-11-25T00:47:00.000-05:00

Check out a newer, better-looking blog at http://tom.ifoundbob.com. It's a new home; hopefully it inspires some new writing!!

Play Calls

2005-09-12T14:56:00.000-04:00

I was very upset while watching the Lions-Packers game last night (yes, it was last NIGHT... I had to tape it because they played the game while I was in church. Need to get a memo to the NFL concerning these scheduling shenanigans). The Lions won, and there were a lot of good things to take away from it, but I was quite incensed by some of the play-calling. I don't know if it was Mooch, or the new O-Coordinator Ted Tollner, but some of these 3rd-down calls... MAN!! There was one 2nd-down-and-12 play that Joey Harrington just missed. He had Roy Williams wide open, he (Joey) was on the run, and he just missed him with the pass. It was a bad play, but as soon as the ball hit the ground, I knew the next play-call would be to Kevin Jones. Mooch doesn't like Harrington, it's become very evident, and he was going to be frustrated by that 2nd down play. So with a 3rd-and-12, he calls a draw. A DRAW!! And part of me couldn't help but feel that it was nothing but spite, a way to send Harrington the message that they didn't think he could get the job done.

I might be reading in too much, but after that, I was watching the play calls, and there were just some STUPID calls made on 3rd down, and in the red zone. Taking the ball away from Joey (and thereby his receivers), when the run play really wasn't needed. I was ticked. Anyone else see these things that I saw?

Oh, and how awesome is this picture?

On another note, for those of you that could care less about my football analysis, I made another great play call myself yesterday. I went over to my neighbor's house after the football game, and they were playing Bang. Again. Even though I am technically to blame for getting my friends started on this game, I have HAD IT!! When will it die? I am so SICK of this card game! It's actually a great, innovative, interactive and fun game to play, but twice a week for about eight months will eventually get to you. Well, to me, anyway. So I instead went over to Andy & Rachel's house and played Mario Golf. Beat Andy by two strokes. Now THAT was a good play-call.

Conned

2005-08-12T09:43:00.000-04:00

I got to work a full 17 minutes early today, enough time to share some thoughts on my weekend experience at the WizardWorld Comic Convention in Chicago. I was hoping to have some pictures, still waiting on some of my fellow attendees to email me those. Perhaps soon you will share in the experience with me, through those photos. Perhaps not.

I came to a stunning realization after about a day at the Convention - I am not a comic Geek. I'm not even necessarily what you could a Comic Enthusiast. I'm probably more of a Respecter of Comics, which is still more than I can say for most of you, my audience. No matter. You'll grow up someday.

I came to this realization because I discovered that I did not get anywhere near as much out of the Convention experience as my cohorts did. And I certainly didn't get as much out of it as the participants who dressed up in Jedi garb, or as the Joker, or as Red Sonja, or as a hooker. Except I think the last group of people really were hookers. But, seriously, after about the first day of conventioning, I was done. I was even somewhat bored. I was thinking, "One more full day of this?" (two, as it turned out). My friends accused me of not getting into the spirit of things. I'm sure they were right - I couldn't.

There is a lot to see there - even if you are only a Respecter of Comics, you can fill up a day or two easily. All the publisher booths, hundreds of artists with tables (some well-known, some not as much), hundreds of dealers looking to unload their excess or rare stock. Just a quick walk-through, without stopping anywhere at all, would take you two or three hours.

My biggest problem was that I wasn't really interested in getting autographs. Half the thrills at these ComicCons are getting autographs from writers and artists that you've been reading for years, but never met. Folks bring their books, stand in long lines, and get a few minutes to chat with their favorite creators. I wasn't interested in doing that, really, so I ran out of stuff to do pretty fast. Eventually, I actually did start collecting autographs - I woke up on Saturday and decided to just collect as many as I could on behalf of my customers, then just give them away as gifts. And the more I did it, the more fun it was - it was cool to spend a few minutes talking to these guys, 99% of them are very intelligent, friendly, and happy to advance the hobby by talking to fans.

I have more to share, but I have to open up the store, so you can anxiously await part Two - Life On The Streets Of Chicago (or Suburban Chicago) soon.

Codes

2005-07-26T16:39:00.000-04:00

You, dear readers, have two reasons to celebrate. The first reason is what you are reading right now - a return to my blog, a follow-up performance, a fabulous comeback with lights and red carpets and such. Though I have no idea what sort of regularity to expect here, I have never been happy with the "unfinished" work that I began here, and I want to give it another whirl. Like many before me (and after me), I hit the blogging wall and just flat-out quit for awhile, and although my return won't be quite as regular as I was out of the gate, it is still a return. So give me at least a little credit for that.

Looking over the 10 comments on my last post, it appears I have some people to answer. Sorry to stonewall you for so long...

"I actually pay for my bandwidth...".... ah, whatever. Come and get me.

" three weeks, no posts. time to turn in your blog card."... three weeks? I'll do you one better. I'll go over four months!

" PULL THIS BLOG, its so stale!!! Get a life Flammer!"... I thought my absence from my blog would be more of an indicator that I had actually found one. As opposed to my visitor, who repeatedly visited despite a lack of anything new to read.

" Ok, so why not bring all of us baseball 'inadequates' up to speed on the Tigers brilliant trade with the Phillies?"... Polanco is hitting .324 since signing with us, and will probably sign a multi-year deal to stay here in the winter. Urbina has a 4.82 ERA with one (1) save since he went to Philadelphia. I'd say we made out OK.

I have another reason for you to celebrate. I am inviting all of you to share with me in the joys that come with entering contests. That's right, I am a proud participant in the Pepsi "Go Pro" promotion. All those codes you've been finding under your bottle caps and throwing away? I've been hoarding them like a madman, rallying others to join me, and slowly building up a pool that will eventually score me up to 8 free T-Shirts from major league baseball (I've got 5 so far). If there's anyone left out there who still checks this page, and you have codes you'd like to share instead of tossing away, hurry and send them to me! I only have until August 30th to milk this promotion for all it's worth!

Rummy

2005-02-18T14:14:00.000-05:00

A quick post today, as I was struck by a few things while reading the newspaper.

John Negroponte has been tapped by Bush to be the new National Intelligence Director, the position created by the 9/11 Commission to play arbiter/babystitter to the 15 different intelligence agencies. I find it fascinating that Negroponte has scarcely a whiff of experience in intelligence, outside of his time as an ambassador to Baghdad. Instead, his primary qualification seems to be his gift of diplomacy (the UN, in addition to Iraq). Which tells you all you need to know about the state of relations between the FBI, CIA, NSA, and the other 12 squabbling glee clubs who trust each other about as much as you can possibly trust a corporation whose job it is to keep secrets.

But the winning quote of the day comes from Donald Rumsfeld, who was asked by Hillary Clinton at a committee hearing if it would be worthwhile to install our missile defense system, even though we've never had a successful test with it. Rumsfeld replied, "If you didn't do anything until you could do everything, you probably wouldn't do anything".

Everybody follow that? I was just thinking today that I would like to finish everything, but since I have so far done nothing, and that leaves just about anything (and everything), I might not bother with anything and be content to finish with nothing. Donald is most certainly right.

Popcorn

2005-02-14T19:55:00.000-05:00

Valentine's Day is very important to me. I have annually marked this day on the calendar, first and foremost. It is worthy of celebration, and I don't understand those who think of it as a commercially-manufactured holiday. It is, after all, the day that pitchers and catchers first report to spring training in Florida.

This year things are a little screwed up. The first players actually report tomorrow, and the Tigers aren't getting there until Thursday. But still, it's roughly about this time every year.

In related holiday chit-chat, I came across the actual movie "Valentine" while flipping channels last night. Whatever happened to Denise Richards? She was getting plenty of good roles playing a general boy-toy, and then she tried to get all Bond on us. Since then, it's been a downward spiral, stupid comedies and horror movies. Poor, sweet, Denise Richards with her furry eyebrows and her famous lesbian scene.

I am currently scheduled to go see the movie "Hitch" tonight, my secretary put it on the agenda and now I can't get out of it. Actually, I volunteered to go. I like Wil Smith, and I like Deb (my movie-going partner), so it will be a pleasure. But I will not purchase popcorn. If anybody reading this actually purchases popcorn, you are a dope. You are a free-spending, snack-addicted, gullible dope. You are so insistent that the "theatre experience" includes popcorn that you will pay the $6 asked of you. Six dollars is a meal, my friends. A supporting view.

For anyone who wants to know what's going on with me, the comic book store I run is moving back into Lansing, and opening downtown on March 1st. The next month or so will be busy for me. Ash and Kelly had their baby. Tim and Samira are still waiting on theirs. Mom's on her way to Philly. Church retreat went well. And there's your semiannual report. I just felt like I needed to blog today, so this random pattern of thoughts is what you get!

Super

2005-02-05T22:18:00.000-05:00

We Got 'Im: If it's on CNN, it's gotta be true. The Tigers officially landed Magglio Ordonez, but damn, it was expensive. Dave Dombrowski (GM) has been very careful about getting good deals on his free agents, making sure he gets contracts that protect against any persistent injuries, and pulling out of the market if he feels the player is not worth his demands (Derek Lowe, Matt Clement).

Is Mags really a $15-million a year guy? Over 7 years? At the age of 31? I read all the contract specifics, there are a lot of protections, but it still seems a little risky. Oh, well. No less stupid than paying Bobby Higginson $8 million to platoon this year.

Fred asked me today if the Tigers can finish over .500. You kidding me? They won 72 games last year. Troy Percival and a refurbished Fernando Rodney are added to a bullpen that blew 28 saves last year. If they can cut that number in half, they've now won 86 games. Add a few win shares for Ordonez, and play Brandon Inge at third base over the dropped weight called Eric Munson, and we're talking 90 games. Anyone think that 90 wins can't take the AL Central Division this year?

11 Days, 13 Hours until pitchers and catchers report to Lakeland, Florida.

Prayers and Baby Names

My friend Ash is due to have his first child on Superbowl Sunday. He and Kelly are expecting that the baby may be late, but just in case he comes on time, how about some Superbowl-themed baby names for this blessed boy? Donovan Brady Harris? Super Harris? How about Ash Harris XXXIX? Or perhaps Ty Law Harris sponsored by Pepsi?

Any ideas for the pregame? Even if you don't know Ash & Kelly, your ideas may be useful to them.

Candy

2005-02-02T17:24:00.000-05:00

I've sort of had a "falling out" from Christian music over the last few years. It's probably because of a multitude of factors: inital cost of Christian music vs. secular music, a slew of new incoming Christian artists which has led to (in my opinion) a lot less overall talent. But mostly I think it's just that Christian music doesn't really speak to me the way it used to. Recent friendships spurred me back to radio listening, and I've found that I identify with a lot more of the music there than I thought I did.

All of this is an elaborate lead-in to say that I still respect the concept of Christian music, reinforcing themes and beliefs in my life that Green Day has not yet embraced. And it so happens that I was listening to a Steven Curtis Chapman song today (talk about my diversity of taste!) when these lyrics struck me:

Sometimes it's like
I'm playing Gameboy standing in the middle of the Grand Canyon
I'm eating candy sitting at a gourmet feast
I'm wading in a puddle when I could be sitting in the ocean
Tell me what's the deal with me
Wake up and see the glory

Allow me to wax poetic for just one post. Someone somewhere hypothesized that life is in the details. I think it's important to sweat the details, but only when you're doing it while looking at the big picture. It's so easy to get stuck thinking about my business, my car, my family, my hobbies, even my church.... all important things to varying degrees, but all are meant to drive toward a greater purpose. God has set a will and a path for my life. I might not always know the path, but I do know the will, and I need to remember that in all of my daily activities. I need to stop playing Gameboy in the middle of the Grand Canyon.

(Note: the above statements are not intended to begin a Calvinistic discussion on the nature of pre-destination.)

Mags

Everyone else saw the Sammy Sosa trade last weekend and either applauded or tongue-lashed the Cubs for letting him go. My only thought was: "Crap. Mags?"

You see, the Tigers have been talking at great length with former Chicago White Sox outfielder Magglio Ordonez the last few weeks, and we're actually making some serious headway. They got an offer back from his agent, the evil Scott Boras, which was good news, since he was the agent who helped us sign up Pudge Rodriguez last winter. A counter-offer also shows that Mags had some genuine interest in coming to Detroit, which has been difficult to muster this off-season from other players. Not to discount the very valuable signing of Troy Percival, but the Tigers had serious offers on the table to many worthy position players (and one pitcher), and have just completely come away empty.

So now this great-hitting outfielder is interested in D-Town, and just when things are looking good, the Cubs trade away Sosa. Now they've got an opening in right field, where Ordonez has been playing for the White Sox for the last eight years. In Chicago.

This had better not turn out the way I think it might.

Diesel

2005-01-27T14:38:00.000-05:00

I know, two days in a row!! Just enjoy the game, my readers, and do not fool yourselves into thinking that I will remain this consistent.

We're always hearing funny radio commentary about the Dumbest Criminals on Earth. I submit a nomination for one of the Wittiest Criminals on Earth, at least among those who were caught. After all, if they got caught, they can't be that bright.

This Dutch robber, after being sentenced to four years in prison, was able to deduct the cost of his pistol from his court fines as a business expense. Yessiree. The robber had been arrested after stealing a significant amount of money from the Dutch town of Chaam. However, the gun being a necessary tool of the trade, the judge allowed him to claim it as an allowable reimbursement.

Makes me wonder what kind of deductions I've never even considered on my own tax returns.

Problem Solving

This will be a fun little spot for anyone who appreciates sports - box score analysis. Can anyone else spot the weird anomoly with these final game numbers from Monday night's Heat-76ers game?


MIAMI (98)

                          fg    ft    rb             

                   min   m-a   m-a   o-t   a  pf   tp

E Jones             38  3-12   5-5   0-6   2   3   14

U Haslem            27  5-13   3-4   2-9   4   6   13

S O'Neal            35  9-12  6-17   3-5   0   3   24

D Jones             26   2-6   0-0   0-5   4   2    5

D Wade              43  3-13 11-11   1-6  11   4   17

S Anderson          13   4-4   0-0   1-4   0   3    8

K Dooling           22   3-5   0-0   0-1   1   4    6

M Doleac            19   1-4   0-0   0-4   1   2    2

R Butler            17   3-7   0-0   0-0   2   1    9

W Person           DNP  - COACH'S DECISION                               

C Laettner         DNP  - COACH'S DECISION                               

Wang               DNP  - COACH'S DECISION                               

  

_____________________________________________________

TOTALS             240 33-76 25-37  7-40  25  28   98

_____________________________________________________



Percentages: FG-.434, FT-.676. 3-Point Goals:

7-20, .350 (E Jones 3-7, D Jones 1-5, D Wade 

0-1, K Dooling 0-1, R Butler 3-6). Team 

Rebounds: 11. Blocked Shots:7 (S O'Neal 2, E 

Jones 2, D Jones, D Wade, U Haslem). 

Turnovers:16 (D Wade 6, S O'Neal 2, E Jones 

2, K Dooling 2, S Anderson, D Jones, R 

Butler, U Haslem). Steals: 7 (S Anderson 3, R

Butler 2, D Wade, U Haslem).



PHILADELPHIA (106)

                          fg    ft    rb             

                   min   m-a   m-a   o-t   a  pf   tp

K Korver            34  4-11   4-4   0-6   6   3   14

K Thomas            26  4-10   1-1   0-3   1   6    9

S Dalembert         32  6-11   4-6  3-11   1   3   16

A Iverson           44 13-30 18-19   0-2  11   1   45

A Iguodala          31   1-3   0-0   2-9   1   3    2

A McKie             18   1-3   0-0   0-7   0   2    2

K Brown             11   0-1   1-2   0-2   1   2    1

M Jackson           16   2-4   1-2   1-5   0   1    5

C Williamson        22   4-9   4-5   2-3   0   3   12

W Green              6   0-2   0-0   0-1   0   2    0

J Davis            DNP  - COACH'S DECISION                               

J Salmons          DNP  - COACH'S DECISION                               

 ___________________________________________________

TOTALS             240 35-84 33-39  8-49  21  26  106

_____________________________________________________



Percentages: FG-.417, FT-.846. 3-Point Goals:

3-11, .273 (K Korver 2-7, A Iverson 1-3, W 

Green 0-1). Team Rebounds: 10. Blocked 

Shots:4 (S Dalembert 3, A Iguodala). 

Turnovers:9 (M Jackson 3, C Williamson, A 

Iverson, W Green, K Korver, K Brown, K 

Thomas). Steals: 11 (A Iverson 4, K Korver 3,

A McKie, A Iguodala, K Thomas, K Brown).



-------------------------------------------

MIAMI                 27  28  21  22  -   98

PHILADELPHIA          32  25  20  29  -  106

------------------------------------------- 



Technical fouls: Miami - 2 (S O'Neal, 2:55 

1st; Defensive Three, 3:10 1st). Philadelphia

- 2 (Defensive Three, 9:46 2nd; COACH 

O'Brien, 3:41 3rd).

Flagrant fouls: None. A: 19,172. T: 2:24. 

Officials: Leon Wood, Mike Callahan, Phil 

Robinson.

I know it's a long box score, but I wanted to make the mystery especially difficult for those of you who fancy yourselves to be basketball gurus.

Did you find it? Shaquille O'Neal had five (5) rebounds in 35 minutes of play. Five. He was out-rebounded by 3 other players on his team, and 4 Philadelphia opponents. The man is listed at 7'1", 300 lbs. Five rebounds is usually ten minutes worth of work for this guy, at the most. Shaq could clean the glass five times in a game if he was wearing snow boots and a thick winter coat.

I'm not saying he took the night off - he did score 24 points. But geez, Diesel - get in there and mix it up. You probably outweight the 76ers' combined frontcourt, but they doubled your boards on Monday.

Basket Case

2005-01-26T18:54:00.000-05:00

So I'm drifting away, watching Letterman last night as a precursor to sleepy time, when I am jolted awake by the strangest of things. It was not a new coffee, nor was it any sort of shock treatment. It was a guy on the TV. Green Day was performing on the Late Show, and I was mesmerized by the drummer, one Tre Cool. This guy was bizarre. A fantastic drummer to be sure, but I was laughing out loud just watching him perform. The guy is a complete show-stealer. In a lot of the camera shots you could see him over the shoulder of the lead singer, and he's just spacing out, rolling his head around, eyes rolling around looking at everything while he's playing, all the while with this huge goofy I'm-insane smile on his face.

After the song wrapped up, he fipped his drumsticks over his shoulders and dove over his drums, which were elevated on a platform by about three or four feet, and sprawled on the floor in front of the band. Letterman trotted over to make sure he hadn't hurt his head (would we be able to tell?) and the commercials ran. I guess the point of this whole post is - if you need a good laugh or just want to gawk at one of nature's anomolies, make a point to see Green Day live some day, or just download the music video for "Basket Case".

Horton

Illinois is good, but they won't go undefeated.

I was really impressed watching them beat Wisconsin last night, it was my first Illinois sighting this year. They hit clutch shots, they stretch the floor by turning almost every possession into a fast break, and they can play in-and-out to get the matchups they want (even the backup center, Ingram, hit a couple 3-pointers last night).

But they're also streaky, and sooner or later they're going to be down 8 points with 10 minutes to go, like they were last night, and they're not going to be able to go on a run. But all I'm saying is that they won't go undefeated. They'll still be in the Final Four. And they certainly won't get beaten by Michigan since...

Michigan point guard Horton suspended after domestic violence charge. Thanks a lot, Horton!!! Our NCAA tournament hopes this year? Buh-bye. Your chances of being selected in next year's NBA Draft? Buh-bye. I'm sure the squabble with your girlfriend was worth it.

Asinine

2005-01-21T22:48:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting in the middle of a birthday party, but I was surfing the web while some of my friends are playing an increasingly annoying card game. And when coming across this notion, I couldn't help but add a quick entry to my blog.

What sense does it make to torpedo our economy, in order to send a message to the political seat about our economy (among many issues, like Iraq, that these extreme-left-wing idiots have a problem with)? I'm not saying boycotts are bad, although they are very usually ineffective, or that trying to make your voice heard is not your right as an American. But enacting a stratagem that will hurt retailers, waitresses, and many other people around the country who had nothing to do with Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, is completely asinine.

Gametime

2005-01-19T19:49:00.000-05:00

The legal downloading of music singles is apparently getting a boost, according to BBC. Looks like there were 200 million track downloads in the last 12 months, even though there are still roughly 870 million illegal tracks available for people through the "pirating" services.

According to this article, half of the respondents questioned were able to name several legal music downloading sites. I personally don't know any. What are they? I tried to do the legal download thing once. The idea was, I'll use my friend's computer to buy a couple tracks (since I don't have internet at my house), burn them to a CD, take them back to my house and then burn them along with some other mp3 files I had, all onto one master compilation.

Good idea. Except that the mp3 files I burned and took back to my house wouldn't play. Seems you can only listen to them on the computer on which they were purchased. I went back to my friend's house and tried saving them in a different formt, like wmv. Still wouldn't work. So I had paid for these tracks that I couldn't really do anything with. Eventually I had to burn the files to an actual audio CD, take the audio CD back to my house, rip them back into files on my hard drive, after which I could finally make my master disc.

All of which is to say that I am through with purchasing tracks. At least until they loosen up the restrictions. I understand that they want to prevent these tracks from being freely distributed by those who purchase them, but check online, fellas - that's already happening despite your best efforts. Why are you making it so troublesome for me to do the right thing?

Gametime

I didn't see it, but I'm told that the Wake Forest player who stood at the free throw line last night against Florida State, was a little too arrogant for his own good. Wake had just made an amazing comeback to tie the game, and if Taron Downey made the free throw, would complete a come-from-behind win to save their national #3 ranking. Wake Forest had also just set a college record for making 50 free throws in a row, as a team. Add to all that, Downey was the best free-throw shooter on the team.

So he steps up to the line, mouths the words "Game Over" to the Florida State players standing close by - and bricks the shot. FSU goes on to smoke Wake in overtime, 91-83. I love it when players are forced to eat their Nikes.

Honorable

2005-01-12T16:58:00.000-05:00

Everyone's hopping mad at Mike Vanderjagt this week, the embattled placekicker for the Indianapolis Colts. When asked about the New England Patriots, the Colts' opponent in this weekend's NFL playoff matchups, it seems Vanderjagt made this comment to a local TV station: "I think they're ripe for the picking".

Now all hell has broken loose. How dare he? We always talk about how we wish athletes would show more candor in their interviews, would give honest answers to honest questions instead of the formulaic double-speak that even the listeners have memorized by now. When it comes to being honest, in my mind, this comment is really nothing at all, not really all that insulting, just one man's genuine assessment of his team's opponent. If this comment came from a defensive lineman or even the quarterback, it probably wouldn't be that big of a deal. I've been hearing it from analysts on ESPN all week.

So why is this such a firestorm. Because Vanderjagt is a kicker. Kickers, apparently, do not deserve to talk smack, give interviews, or offer opinions. Kickers are like children, they should be seen and not heard, silently doing their job. Why such lack of respect? Because they don't tackle? But they do! How many times have you seen the punter or kicker, the last man who can save a touchdown on a kick return, make the play? Kickers have the heart of a football player - it's not their fault they happen to excel at placekicking. Do you know who the top 3 scorers in NFL history are? Gary Anderson, Morten Andersen, and George Blanda - all kickers.

"The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I don't need you!' And the head cannot say to the feet, 'I don't need you!' On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. ~~1 Corinthans 12: 21-23

Kickers are a very important piece of a football team. I'd like to see Peyton Manning or Warren Sapp ply their trade booting field goals. That would be laughable. If Vanderjagt's comments were stupid, let them be stupid in and of themselves, and not simply "because he's a kicker".

Backing In

2005-01-07T16:56:00.000-05:00

It cracked me up when I saw Herm Edwards' press conference from Tuesday. Addressing the media who were accusing the battered Jets of "backing" into the playoffs, Edwards held up his official letter inviting the Jets to the playoffs from the commissioner's office.

"They only send out 12 of these", he said... "After listening to you guys, I wasn't sure, but I got my letter, they invited us, so I guess we're going."

This guy is going to be remembered as one of the great press conference coaches of all time.

Landlord

2005-01-07T13:57:00.000-05:00

I read this article in Time magazine last night, and thought I'd throw it out there for comment, after adding a few of my own. It's about violent video games, and whether "Mature-rated" video games should be sold to minors, without any legal danger to the retailer. A governor from Illinois is pushing for new legislature that would punish anyone who sells an "M-Game" to a minor, up to $5k in fines and a year in jail.

Most of the video game retailing community is against this, of course, but I'm actually for it. What really annoys me is this part:

Nevertheless, three previous attempts to block the distribution of violent games to minors--initially approved in Indianapolis, Ind.; St. Louis, Mo.; and Seattle--have been overturned in federal courts on the grounds that video games are protected "speech" under the First Amendment.

How is violence and pornography freely available to minors under the First Amendment? We have rules about selling pornographic magazines to them, or letting them into R-rated movies, but I am currently legally allowed to sell a 10-year old a copy of "Leisure Suit Larry" for the X-Box, in which the protragonist Larry is basically given a roster of women he has to get into the sack in order to beat the game. And the video game graphics leave absolutely nothing to the imagination.

At the very least, we have a precedent for shielding kids from porn, the "obscenity for minors" portion of the law, even if we don't have a very solid one for violence. According to the article, 69% of kids ages 13 to 16 who tried to purchase M-rated games were able to do so, versus 36% who were able to get into R-rated movies. Does anyone else find this bizarre?

Finally, I loved this quote from a parent at the end of the article, who lets her 9-year old play Grand Theft Auto San Andreas:

"I hate that the games are violent and so over the top, but this is the world we live in," she says. "I want to raise my kids with a sense that I trust them to be good and to know how to set their own limits."

I like this theory. In fact, if my 7-year old kid comes home one day with a beer, a doobie, a hooker, and swearing like a sailor, I'm going to let him know that I even though I don't personally enjoy hookers, I trust him enough to be good and know how to set his own limits. I'm not there to raise him or try and instill any sense of values, I'm really just his landlord.

Doomed

2005-01-03T14:11:00.000-05:00

We've all had great ideas that sounded good on paper. Businesses understand that not all new product lines, not all marketing ploys, not all of their promotional ideas, will work. Crystal Pepsi. Euro Disney. Hulk the Movie. Every corporation is bound to experience the Idea That Didn't Work.

With that in mind, I submit to you that Blockbuster's new "No More Late Fees" policy will be extinct within six months. I've considered the pros and the cons of this program, and I cannot fathom how Blockbuster's bottom line could be improved under this new approach.

I imagine that it was dreamed up to generate new business. Blockbuster may have a lot of the glizz, glamour, and overhead that other video rental businesses do not, but their prices are no longer competitive, and even their rental lengths don't stack up. Family "Porn" Video rents a movie for a week, for a buck, that would cost you $3, five days, at Blockbuster. So I'm sure the suits decided that the "No More Late Fees" would attract back those who have migrated to the cheapo rentals over the past few years. It's also an attraction to customers who have started using Pay-Per-View more often at home. Pay-Per-View's biggest marketing pitch is that you don't have to deal with video store late fees.

However, as I see it, they're going to lose a ton of money, not just one way, but two:

First, movies will be out-of-stock longer. What is supposed to be a two-day rental could more easily be out for four. This means that the movie is not back on the shelf in the store, and cannot be re-rented. Lost rentals. To try and make up for this, Blockbuters will have to spend even more money on having additional copies in stock. But they'll basically be spending more money, to generate the same amount in rental revenue, that they had coming in before. (Side note: with all these extra copies being purchased, you can count on getting used DVD's even CHEAPER at Blockbuster in the future, as they'll be looking to move these things out after the rental interest in a title has waned)

Second, late fees. Nobody likes late fees. Everyone argues about late fees. I'm sure it was a big hassle for Blockbuster employees to handle late fees. Let's face it, you get up there to rent a movie and find out you had a late fee, the clerk who was ringing you up is no longer your friend. And the video store itself has taken on a bit of a negative psychological image with you. But late fees were, realistically, a huge source of income, AND an incentive for people to get movies back so that they could be re-rented. We're talking about a LOT of money.

The new Blockbuster policy is fundametally faulty in this respect: it assumes that most people are respectful, responsible, and considerate of others. But they are not. If this policy works for Blockbuster, a great vote of confidence in human nature will have been struck. But for the moment, call me pessimistic.

(For more on this development, and how it has already been forecast to drop Blockbuster's earnings in 2005 by .08 cents a share, click here)

To The Letter

2004-12-30T13:08:00.000-05:00

Don't usually blog on Thursday, but I wanted to link to this movie trailer because it looks like another landmark for the comic industry.

I'm excited for this movie, because this is the kind of story and setting that makes people realize that not all comic books are Superman and Spider-Man. The film looks like it's going to follow Frank Miller's Sin City work to the letter, and I think it will drive more people into the comic book / graphic novel industry as a result.

This trailer just looks fantastic. Had to share it. Also, here is the IMDB page with more details.

This movie includes a Michael Clarke Duncan sighting. Whatever happened to this guy since The Green Mile? TV voiceovers and movies called "George And The Dragon"??

Dismayed

2004-12-28T13:40:00.000-05:00

Random observations from the day thus far:

A new snack that could easiy become addictive is the pepperoni cheese sticks from Little Caesar's. While in no way part of the recommended diet for Any Human Being Alive, they taste good, and let's face it folks, it's all about the here and now. If it feels good, do it, that's my philosophy. Don't worry about tomorrow, indulge your sins and worry about the consequences some other time.

Staying with those same thoughts, I bought a new pair of jeans this morning. Up until then, I had only owned one pair of jeans that were useful. By useful, I mean that they didn't have any of the typical rips and tears, in unmentionable places, like the jeans that are often worn by, say, Ryan Bunce. So I thought it was time to double my "useful jeans" stock. I was dismayed to find that I did not fit into a 32 waist. I had to settle on the 34. To remedy this alarming problem, here is my plan:

- Start playing basketball / soccer twice a week
- Stop drinking soda

You read that last one right. My dear mother, bless her heart, is going on a strict organic diet, an undertaking that I would never be able to pull off myself. I told her that if she can do it, I'll quit pop. So starting on January 2nd, we're off on the Weird Wild Larry Martin Get Your Damn Self In Shape dietary plan. My friend Rhonda is also joining us, although she's just giving up desserts, since she's already off the soda. I don't even think my mom knows Rhonda.

For Those Who Know Me: What's everyone doing for New Year's? If you don't have plans, we're meeting at the Bunces, around 7. Call me if you need more info. We're usually at Shannon and Cindie Caroland's this time of year, but apparently having a baby trumps our New Year's party, so we hastily made other arrangements. I say hastily, because I didn't even realize until a few weeks ago that Caroland Junior was due around this time. Everyone keep them in your prayers over the next week or two. And encourage them to think long-term when planning their next conception.

Here's why I'm not concerned about the Pistons currently holding the #6 seed in the East: yeah, their record stinks for a reigning champ, but it's early. Their new bench is going to get better with more minutes. Importantly, they're beating good teams. The big games, the showcase games, they're winning those. So far in December, they've won home games against Cleveland and the new-look Nets, and road games against Dallas, New York, and Indiana. And they lost to the Spurs by a 3-pointer.

That tells me that they're just not getting up for the lower-profile games, the Bulls, the Hawks. When the time comes, when they need to play a good game, they can. So the second half will be a different story from the first. If Larry Brown is telling these guys not to burn themselves out in the first two months of the season, I trust his judgment.

Records

2004-12-20T14:46:00.000-05:00

This week, maybe, feels a little like Christmas. Whatever Christmas is supposed to feel like, anyway. There's a different feel to everything, with so many people done with work and school for a week or so. Trying to make sure I see some people one last time "before Christmas", which is silly, since they will still be there after Christmas.

Maybe I'm just excited for my friend Jeremy Kissling, who marrys tonight. He will be married at my nominee for the most Unoriginal Church of Christ Building Ever, the West Lansing Church of Christ. The people that I know from this church are great, it's just that the building itself is so boring. So drab. It's the cookie-cutter example of exactly what you'd expect a church of 200 40-somethings, to look like. Even the name is uninspiring. Anyway, Jeremy is marrying Erica Vance, and it will be a joyous occasion.

Another joyous occasion will be Wednesday night at 9:30ish, when a bunch of us are getting together to play cards. I'm looking forward to taking home some extra Christmas money that evening. If you're interested in joining us, call me.

I was impressed with the Colts last night. Not because they played a solid football game against the Ravens, but because of what they did with less than a minute left. With Peyton Manning one touchdown pass away from tying one of the NFL's most hallowed records (48 TD passes in one season, set by Dan Marino), a Colts defender intercepted a Baltimore pass and ran the ball back, stepping out of bounds just short of the end zone. This set up Manning, already winning the game 20-10, with one last chance for a touchdown pass. So under the watchful eyes of most of the football fans around the country, probably Marino, and indeed, even history itself, what did coach Tony Dungy call in for a play?

They kneeled on the ball and ran out the clock, knowing, as all good sportsmen do, that you don't run up the score when you already have the game won. You also don't set or tie NFL records by fraud, like Michael Strahan did several years ago in setting the single-season sack record. If Manning is going to have that record, he needs to earn it in real, hard competition, and I think he knows that. So it will be all the more sweeter when he gets it against San Diego next week.

Yuletide

2004-12-14T16:10:00.000-05:00

Somehow the major insiders (read: Peter Gammons) are still predicting that Adrian Beltre is going to sign with the Tigers, even though I have not seen one account in Detroit or LA newspapers that they have even been talking. It would be fantastic if they did, because since signing Troy Percival, they have not been able to land any other big names that they've been associated with: Carl Pavano, Troy Glaus, Steve Finley, Corey Koskie. They still have some big holes to fill at 3B, CF, and in the rotation, and if they don't get another good free agent on the line, I don't know how much better we can expect to improve next year.

If you have any interest at all in their postseason wheelings, use the link down on the right side for The Cutoff Man... it's the best Tigers day-to-day coverage I can find, he finds links in every major newspaper in the country, if there's a Tiger rumor to be had.

Now then - I'm not a big Christmas person anymore. It's honestly just another month that comes and goes. It's not a bad thing, I appreciate the general spirit of the holidays, it's just not something I look forward too all year or anything. It's just not a big deal to me.

Nonetheless, I'm not above some occasional festive writing, and with that in mind, I present to you this enjoyable account of "The Night Before Christmas" that just came across my e-mail. I apologize if you've seen this already.

'Twas the nocturnal segment of the diurnal period preceding the annual
yuletide celebration, and throughout our place of residence, kinetic
activity was not in evidence among the possessors of this potential,
including that species of domestic rodent known as Mus Musculus.
Hosiery was meticulously suspended from the forward edge of the
wood-burning caloric apparatus, pursuant to our anticipatory pleasure
regarding an imminent visitation from an eccentric philanthropist
among whose folkloric appellations is the honorific title of St.
Nicholas.

The prepubescent siblings, comfortably ensconced in their respective
accommodations of repose, were experiencing subconscious visual
hallucinations of variegated fruit confections moving rhythmically
through their cerebra. My conjugal partner and I, attired in our
nocturnal cranial coverings, were about to take slumberous advantage
of the hibernal darkness when upon the avenaceous exterior portion of
the grounds there ascended such a cacophony of dissonance that I felt
compelled to arise with alacrity from my place of repose for the
purpose of ascertaining the precise source thereof. Hastening to the
casement, I forthwith opened the barriers sealing the fenestration,
noting thereupon that the lunar brilliance without, reflected as it
was on the surface of a recent crystalline precipitation, might be
said to rival that of the solar meridian itself -- thus permitting my
incredulous optical sensor to perceive a miniature airborne runnered
conveyance drawn by eight diminutive specimens of the genus Rangifer,
piloted by a minuscule, aged chauffeur so ebullient and nimble that it
became instantly apparent to me that he was indeed our anticipated
caller. With his undulate motive power traveling at what may possibly
have been more vertiginous velocity than patriotic alar predators, he
vociferated loudly, expelled breath musically through contracted
labia, and addressed each of the octet by his or her respective
cognomen...

"Now Dasher, now Dancer..." et al -- guiding them to the uppermost
exterior level of our abode, through which structure I could readily
distinguish the concatenations of each of the 32 cloven pedal
extremities.

As I retracted my cranium from its erstwhile location, and was
performing a 180-degree pivot, our distinguished visitant achieved --
with utmost celerity and via a downward leap -- entry by way of the
smoke passage. He was clad entirely in animal pelts soiled by the ebon
residue from the oxidations of carboniferous fuels which had
accumulated on the walls thereof. His resemblance to a street vendor I
attributed largely to the plethora of assorted playthings which he
bore dorsally in a commodious cloth receptacle.

His orbs were scintillant with reflected luminosity, while his
submaxillary dermal indentations gave every evidence of engaging
amiability. The capillaries of his molar regions and nasal
appurtenance were engorged with blood which suffused the subcutaneous
layers, the former approximating the coloration of Albion's floral
emblem, the latter that of the Prunus avium, or sweet cherry. His
amusing sub- and supralabials resembled nothing so much as a common
loop knot, and their ambient hirsute facial adornment appeared like
small, tabular and columnar crystals of frozen water.

Clenched firmly between his incisors was a smoking piece whose gray
fumes, forming a tenuous ellipse about his occiput, were suggestive of
a decorative seasonal circlet of holly. His visage was wider than it
was high, and when he waxed audibly mirthful, his corpulent abdominal
region undulated in the manner of impectinated fruit syrup in a
hemispherical container.

Without utterance and with dispatch, he commenced filling the
aforementioned hosiery with articles of merchandise extracted from his
aforementioned previously dorsally transported cloth receptacle. Upon
completion of this task, he executed an abrupt about-face, placed a
single manual digit in lateral juxtaposition to his olfactory organ,
inclined his cranium forward in a gesture of leave-taking, and
forthwith affected his egress by renegotiating (in reverse) the smoke
passage. He then propelled himself in a short vector onto his
conveyance, directed a musical expulsion of air through his contracted
oral sphincter to the antlered quadrupeds of burden, and proceeded to
soar aloft in a movement hitherto observable chiefly among the
seed-bearing portions of a common weed. But I overheard his parting
exclamation, audible immediately prior to his vehiculation beyond the
limits of visibility:

"Ecstatic yuletides to the planetary constituency, and to that
self-same assemblage my sincerest wishes for a salubriously beneficial
and gratifyingly pleasurable period between sunset and dawn."

Francis

2004-12-10T15:27:00.000-05:00

So I got a comment on my Wal-Mart from some wacky goofball named Francis. He was arguing in favor of the Wal-Mart juggernaut, so at first I wrote him off as some overly-conservative CEO muckety-muck. But then I investigated further and I discovered my good friend John Datema!!! My long-lost friend from college, whom I only get to see about once a year, and even then he always ditches me to go to a football game!! But nonetheless, I was pleased even further to find that he also keeps a blog, and updates it regularly, far better than I do. So please add to your bookmarks, or at least your regular internet routine, the musings of Francis.

ESPN is airing another new original movie this weekend, "3", the life of Dale Earnhardt. It's on Saturday, at 9pm. But if you miss it, I wouldn't sweat it, since it will undoubtedly get endless reruns for a solid month on the Deuce. What intrigues me, really, is the previews. Barry Pepper plays the part of Dale, and I couldn't believe how much like the real deal he looked, in the TV spots. I'm not a huge NASCAR fan, although I do keep an eye on it, and I'm in favor of the playoff system they've implemented. Most of the NASCAR-type of customers that I've seen come through the store actually serve as a vote against it, but nonetheless, I like it, and I would like to see this movie.

ESPN has actually put together some pretty good original movies recently. "Hustle", on the Pete Rose controversy, that Bobby Knight movie, some others that I can't recall right now. There is no shortage of entertainment in this country when even the sports that I watch must be immortalized in film, and essentially watched again.

What I'm really waiting for is for the sports industry to put out DVD boxed sets of full games, postseason series, or even seasons (16 football games could fit nicely on a 6-disc set, including postgame press conferences and coach interviews!). I'm every bit the sucker, and if they ever got around to doing this, here would be the first items on my shopping list:

1984 World Series (Tigers/Padres)
1990 NBA Finals (Pistons/Lakers)
1993 Final Four (Webber timeout in the final)
1997 Michigan Wolverines season (co-champs w/ Nebraska)
2000 Tennessee Titans Postseason (Music City Miracle; 1-yard Superbowl)
2003 World Series (Marlins/Yankees)

What I suspect is the holdup is that the earnings potential of ESPN Classic and other such sports-nostalgia stations would lose their shine. Each of the leagues probably have exclusive contracts with the Giant, especially NFL Films.

What would you like to see?

Wassail

2004-12-03T17:07:00.000-05:00

Things I noticed this morning while going for a walk (no, I'm NOT joking, unbelievers!):

Somehow I never noticed this before, but as I walked down one street, I could see the backstop and dugouts from GLCC's baseball field, right behind a couple of the houses that faced me. A foul pop-up could easily drop onto their back porch or take out the family dog. I can't believe this sort of thing hasn't happened more often. Or maybe it does, and I just never heard about it. After all, I only played on the team for one year (the only winning season we've had in the last two decades, although I'm not suggesting that I contributed to that success). Aside of that, what motivation did I have to attend a GLCC ballgame? They haven't even had a team on the field for most of these years . The one game I did attend last year, we gave up seven earned runs in the first inning.

One house I walked by had a Notre Dame flag flying out front, but what momentarily puzzled me was that it was at half-mast. This perplexed me for all of about five seconds, until I remembered that Ty Willingham had been fired as head coach this week, and most of the fans, players, and sports broadcast networks are not happy about it. He was one of only a few black head coaches, for you who are uninformed, and it's being spun as a racial issue in many circles. They only gave him 3 years to turn things around, which was the real crime in my opinion. It was an unjust firing, but not for the stupid prejudiced reasons that many are claiming.

I can almost understand the win-now mentality in the NFL, in which 3 years with the record Notre Dame had, would be far too long for a head coach to keep his job. But in college, 3 years is not even enough team for you to fully develop your first recruiting class. And it takes a few years for you to establish yourself, recruiting-wise, in the states in your area.

Went to Madrigals last night. It was a good show. They did a few new songs this year, or at least did them differently, and I really liked the new compositions. As to the story.... I didn't really follow it very well. But that could be the wassail. (J, did I spell it right?)

Service

2004-11-29T19:49:00.000-05:00

Couldn't pass up the chance to share this article that I came across while surfing at work (hey, c'mon, it's a slow night). Some fellow comic retailers were speculating about the impact that the comic book industry might feel, if Wal-Mart were to get involved in the game. Someone in that forum pointed us to this article. Definitely take the time to read it. If you don't have time now, come back later and do it.

Now, I personally avoid shopping at Wal-Mart because of the lines, and just because of this spooky feeling I get, that this low-selling corporate giant could turn out to be the eventual undoing of retail America. But this article really opens the doors to the sort of "deal with the devil" a supplier has to make in order to sell on Wal-Mart's shelves. It scares the hell out of me, frankly... if WM's sales continue to grow exponentially, we the consumers will be purchasing ourselves right out of our own jobs.

Someone speculated to me, sometime in the last year, that the entire United States economony could one day be entirely service-driven: every person is employed to provice a service. A restaraunt, a mechanic, a store clerk, management, etc... but the point was, manufacturing and agriculture could disappear. We could actually import ALL the goods that we need, and everyone in America could make a perfectly good living by servicing everyone else. I would leave my job here selling comic books at the end of the day (service), and spend my paycheck on a restaraunt (service), at WalMart (service), and renting a movie (service). And the perpetual cycle would be sufficient to employ everyone.

I don't know if that's true, or possible. But if Wal-Mart's stranglehold on US suppliers continues to tighten, AND other companies take up the same business practices of bigger and cheaper (recent Sears-KMart merger?), AND we as consumers continue to support them, that "service" theory had better be true. That's all that will be left.

Great Minds

2004-11-13T22:58:00.000-05:00

I will make no excuses. And I shall not apologize. My life is what it is, and certain adjustments have kept me away from internet-accessible computers. At least for the half-hour or so of free time, that I require to compose a readable blog entry.

It's not neglect. I still contend that I would continue to be a dedicated blogger had I the resources of convenience or time. They have not been afforded me lately. But I don't think that I'm one of these quick-habit fad-starters who abandons his hobby within a month of picking it up. I just really can't do it right now.

It comes down to this - imagine that your only internet access was at work. You are one of two employees. The other fellow works 28 hours a week. Then, circumstances force you to slice the other guy's hours down to 13 a week. Any work that he might previously have done in those other 15 hours, you are now trying to squeeze in during the same amount of work hours you were already putting in before. Hey, now you feel like me! Get out of my body!

So that's where I've been. I have, however, taken the time to update my list of links to the right. Surprisingly, there were only three links that needed to be deleted. My only requirement to make the cut, was that you had posted sometime since my last post. Cause we all know that I haven't been holding down the fort here. Aubrey Malcolm and Steve Higgs had to be, regretfully, eliminated. And one of my favorite baseball blogs had been closed because intense political discussions had wound up ruining the relationships there. Oh, well - the guy was a flaming liberal - he must have had it coming!

But, added now to the list you will find blogs from Dan Harris, Shannon Caroland, Mike Fabian, and Jason Orton. Undoubtedly some of the greatest minds of our time. Plenty of reading to help you struggle through those days when you find nothing new here.

I have been thinking of starting a new, more public, blog focusing on Detroit area sports. Some in my life have called on me to keep my sports-writing "skills" sharpened. Just in case. But who am I kidding? WHEN would I do that?

Craze

2004-10-10T13:47:00.000-04:00

Well, gee whiz, it's only been about three weeks, what should I write about? My new home? The baseball playoffs? The Lions? The presidential debates? My church, my friends, how things are going at work?

I know I've done a horrible job keeping everyone in the loop lately, but here's my pat excuse - I have no internet at home. I only have internet at work now, and I try to do work stuff while I'm at work. And when I have the opportunity to leave work, I usually don't feel like hanging around and doing internet-related things, because I will only wind up working again. It's inevitable. Some customer needs me for something, some kids start causing Alec trouble, I get a phone call or an email that needs to be taken care of.

So that's why my blog sucks lately. Sorry. I feel somewhat responsible for starting the recent blog craze, and here I am letting you all down. Cursed be my name.

This weekend I am at the Fabian household in Bailey, Michigan. It seems like it's been months where I've had a weekend where I didn't go ANYWHERE besides Lansing. But I suppose that is what we single people do. Anyway, here is what I decided to write about, while driving here yesterday: Leaves.

Leaves are pretty. You, dear reader, are probably like me, in that you don't often really look at leaves. We're vaguely aware, in the bustle of our lives, that autumn is here, and that the leaves have changed color. But isn't it really something? Drive down the expressway like I did, and just take a wide-view look at the landscape. It's breathtaking. Blue, cloudless skies, framed by huge bundles of trees of all colors. It almost looks like something out of that Robin Williams movie, What Dreams May Come. It looks like the trees and foliage are not even of this earth.

It's beautiful. And you should really look at it. You won't get to for another year after this. Unless the phenomenon of autumn leaves is included in the "new earth" concept of Revelation. And how does that work? Who gets to live on the new earth, as opposed to maybe the cloud cities in heaven? Is there a draft?

barns

2004-09-21T01:29:00.000-04:00

Anyone see John Kerry on Letterman last night? I have to admit, a pretty good performance. He did his best to put to bed the accusations of his "flip-flopping" on the Iraq war, and had a nice visualization of the difference in world attitude towards the U.S. on the day after 9/11, versus their attitude today.

The only beef I have with that is: of course everyone was going to be mourning with us on 9/12. Of course no one was happy about innocent lives taken. Of course other countries would be sympathetic. Why does a president's approval ratings always hit 90% shortly after an assassination attempt? Those numbers are completely soft, and I'm pretty sure that Pakistan didn't like us anymore on 9/10, than they do today.

I definitely think that W is headstrong, and that when he's got his mind set on what he thinks is right, that nobody is going to get in the way. That could easily offend other countries and their leadership, and it did. But those countries weren't exactly our best friends before that, and we certainly shouldn't pretend that all the international support we had after 9/11 was because we had built up so much good will on our own.

Can someone help the Vikings track down their offensive line? I think they must have got on the wrong train while traveling to Philadelphia.

How awesome is a church in which 80% of its members would travel two and a half hours to help someone's (mine) mom and dad paint their barns, fix their fences, fill in holes in their driveway, and eat their hamburgers? Well, I'll tell you... it's pretty.... well, it's awesome.

Status

2004-09-16T23:33:00.000-04:00

What have I been up to lately? Well, I've been working a lot more, getting home and doing some posting and maintenance work on the GLCC Alumni website, and trying to fit in meals. Mix in a four-day trip to Baltimore last weekend, and I haven't even been able to watch any TV lately! So you know my life is busy.

Thanks to the aforementioned trip, I missed the Michigan-Notre Dame game last Saturday, and the Lions' season opener on Sunday. So I'm not really able to comment on those games since I am talking without sufficient information. Sure, I can talk about what I read in the papers and saw in the highlights, but that would just be a form of regurgitation. I know that you have all come to expect quality sports analysis from me, and I would be doing you a disservice. I grudgingly include the shown photo, in deference to the team that was supposed to lose to us by a couple of touchdowns.

So, yeah, haven't practiced the guitar, haven't really read anything except for when I was in the van on the way to Maryland. Haven't played any video games, haven't played soccer or basketball in a while, haven't even done any laundry!! Tomorrow I will be out of work by 2pm, and will be "off" until we (my church) goes to my mom's house in New Baltimore to help get the house fixed up. I'm looking forward to the "downtime".

Meanwhile, I wanted to comment more on my housing situation that I mentioned on this blog last week. It will probably be lengthy, but it will be personal, so for those of you who really care, read on. At the end of the month, I am moving in with John and Beth Nugent, and their 3 kids. It is amazing. It symbolizes a complete transformation in the way I've come to feel about my "privacy" and "status", and it is also a no-doubter Godsend. I'll try to explain.

Rob and Damian (current roommates) expressed a need to move closer to South Lansing. They are moving into a house on Pennsylvania Ave, at the end of this month. I needed to find two new roommates, or find a new place to live. I was absolutely dedicated to staying near this side of town to be nearer to my church family, and I believe that God honored that, in the way this played out.

Before a year or two ago, I guess I have always looked at the place that I was living, as a symbol of "how far I had come" in my life. Bigger, nicer aparments or duplexes, own bathroom, bigger room, etc. The climax would be my own place, all to myself. Meanwhile, people in my church had begun to live with each other, because of circumstance, and at first it was odd to me. Then I started to get used to it, and even appreciate it.

So when this came up, at first I was thinking it was finally the time to get my own place. Pay a little bit more, but have complete independance. I went and looked at a couple possibilities... they were crappy housing, but still, on my own. Then after talking to people at church, I began to see that there really might be a better way to go. At first I cringed at the idea... this is John & Beth's first new house for their family, etc. The more I began to think about it, I saw that this might be exactly what I needed, and because I knew John & Beth so well from church and what they believed, I knew that they really cared even less about the "status" of their own private home than anybody else I knew. So I bit the bullet and asked. They thought and prayed - for one day. One night, really. And then they called and asked me to move in.

It's gonna be great. I'll help with the kids on occasion so they can get out. I'll help with rent, easing the burden of the mortgage that was really going to tighten things up for them. And the money I save - well, for the first time in my life, the student loans are going to start to get paid off. I figure that I can knock off close to 5k a year on these loans that I didn't ever think I'd be able to pay.

So for those who were wondering what in the world I am thinking, moving in with a whole family in their new house, there it is. Hope that helps explain it. Come visit sometime, and John will pull out all of his back-stabbing, manipulative tricks in beating you at Settlers.

Denied

2004-09-09T01:16:00.000-04:00

I spent an hour crafting a nice big blog entry last night, one that would make up for my extended vacation. Then Blogger, after repeated denials, told me that it would not post my entry, that I was a bad person, and that I could just go to hell. So I lost all my work. After an experience like that, would YOU re-type the whole thing? I should say not!!

So I'll try again tonight. And I'll also cut and paste the entire composition into another document before I try and submit it.

Now, of course, the challenge is to write the same things that I wrote last night, try and push myself to revisit the same thoughts that I had yesterday, even though I don't want to. I want to think (and write) new thoughts. I don't want to rehash the same crap I did yesterday. But then you, the deserving audience, would miss out on all the great things I had to say. It's a real quandry. I'm going to write more below, and you just won't know what's new, and what isn't. I'll be the only one. Besides the Lord. He's probably going to get bored with this exercise, also.

I golfed a 55 on Labor Day. I golfed it with my sister, who, bless her soul, would have made me feel good about my play even I had put up a 70. Let's just say it wasn't her day. It wasn't much mine, either, to begin with. After 4 holes I was probably 13 strokes over par, including a couple drop shots because I couldn't find my ball in the woods. Guys, have you ever been in that place where you just took a drop shot, your game is in the toilet, you're angry, you're sweating profusely, you can't hit anything right, and the bugs are flying around your head because they can sense the impending disaster, like vultures over a creature about to die? That's where I was - and I was really happy with my game that day, just because I was able to pull it together. I finished with four bogeys, and a double, on the last 5 holes. That's pretty good, for me.

I am happy to announce in this space, that I am moving in with the Nugents. John and Beth, not Ted or Eddie. There's this new house, see, that the Nugents have purchased, and they are graciously allowing me to stay with them on a somewhat permanent basis. I will help them with the very tight financial situation that they would have had with their new mortgage payment, but don't get me wrong, I am FAR getting the better of the deal. They will have to put up with my insolence, my bad guitar playing, my poor taste in movies, my backwards theological views, and my general presence. I figure that for every year I live there, I should be able to pay down about 5k on my student loan, which is currently well in excess of 30 grand. This is big news, a huge answer to years of prayer - how will I ever make a dent in these loans?

It occurs to me that I do more, and live more comfortably, on 26k a year than most people are able to manage on 75k. This is largely due to my church. I eat five home-cooked meals a week on ten bucks, and now I will find housing, rest and relaxation on very cheap rent. Hallelujah.

Much more to say; will have to say it later. I work all day tomorrow, after which I plan to watch the Patriots and Colts kick off the NFL season. The following day I plan to be quite busy preparing for, and participating in, GLCC's Alumni weekend. Then Saturday through Tuesday I will be in Baltimore, MD, participating in a retailer convention for other "people like me", comics and game shop managers and owners. Regan'll be there.

nonsense

2004-09-02T23:53:00.000-04:00

Are you weary, O Traveler, of wandering the internet today? Do you tire of long blogs dealing with theology, politics, and the meaning of life? Has posting on certain college alumni websites taken some of the spring out of your blogging steps? Do you long to feast your mind on nonsense, on nothing, to read the blogged equivalent of a silly Seinfeld episode?

Then let's keep things easy. Simply enjoy this fascinating commentary on this year's political conventions:

Oh, another note: I was saddened to see this news. Evidently some men in Venezuela kidnapped the mother of the Detroit Tiger's closer, Ugueth Urbina. They haven't made demands yet, but they'll most certainly be monetary, since Urbina is making big bucks in the bigs. Urbina left the team to go home, and the Tigers are trying to provide additional assistance to the police there.

Spoken For

2004-09-01T00:00:00.000-04:00

Recently my online life has become ridiculous.

Since we started the GLCC Alumni site, I've easily been there about an hour or two a day, and I know that others are too. Blogging has taken a back seat. It won't always be like this, I'm just trying to do my part to keep the website moving until it has enough contributions from a variety of people. My goal is to post once or twice a day there and do light maintenance. Right now I'm post about ten to twelve times a day, reading about sixty posts.

I used to read blogs. My friends. My enemies. Baseball blogs. Political blogs. I used to know what was going on. glccalumni.com has taken away my leisure time this week. It has become the newest habit, as blogging was for a few months. I don't plan to quit on either. I'm enjoying the writing. I simply plan to better moderate my time.

My actual non-computer life is a little crazy right now too. Trying to come up with innovative ideas to push our store into profit mode, and the ideas have to be economical. I have 30 days to either find a new roommate or move into a new place, so I have to be looking for someone at the same time that I'm scouting new living places, never knowing which will pan out. All that and a few other, more personal things, has got me all tied up.

So it's nice to hear "Spoken For" by Mercy Me on the radio, and be reminded to keep my eye on the ball. Some people almost live vicarious spiritual lives though Christian music on the radio, a spiritual habit to replace having to do other ones, like go to church or pray. Thatsa no good!! But it still is an excellent ministry to people, and it hit its mark with me today.

And just so you don't think that I don't love ya, I found this important breaking news for you to look over. The dog-walking population loves W this November.

Precipitation

2004-08-30T00:28:00.000-04:00

No pictures, no links, no politics or sports. Just a quick note, and then I've gotta turn in for today. We went camping this weekend, as you surely know since you read my post last week. For companionship, it was great. For actual camping conditions, it was miserable. Rain the first night, cloudy all day, then rain the second night. Add to this a leak in my tent SOMEWHERE (haven't been able to find it), and most of my blankets and clothing were wet after the first night. They couldn't dry, since we never saw the sun. So Night Two was just as impossible to sleep as Night One.

We did go to the dunes by Silver Lake. Soon I hope to have a really cool picture to show everyone, as soon as Bunce lifts it from his digital camera. That was a good time. And we did go to a very nice disc golf course nearby - this place had 3 different 18-hole courses. And after it was clear that maybe the term "camping" wasn't going to be our legalistic approach to the weekend given the conditions, I enjoyed going up into town on Saturday night, ordering a beer and wings with Ben and Crystal, and watching the first half of the first college football game of the year, USC vs. Virginia Tech.

Other than that, yikes. The overall weather this summer has just plain sucked, and this past weekend really drove that home. I was almost getting mad at God as I lay there last night, on my wet bed, freezing, and totally unable to even close my eyes. Don't I deserve a decent night's sleep? (Don't answer that, I know the answer, my emotions do not always present credible theological questions)

Nintendo

2004-08-25T23:28:00.000-04:00

I'm pretty excited about Clem's this week, because we just set up a couple of 32" TV's in the back, along with X-Boxs, Playstation 2s, Gamecubes, Super Nintendos, etc. We're going to charge people (kids, mostly) $2 an hour to play whatever they want. We're also using the new video-games offering to start selling used video games for all systems from Nintendo on up. I think it's going to be a big boost for our store. Although we are one of 7 comic-and-game shops in the mid-Michigan Lansing area, we are the only one with this kind of diverse lineup.

Plus, as one retailer I was reading online wrote, "Video games really help me with the people who come in and look over all of our card games, board games, and miniatures games and then ask me, 'Where are all of your games'?"

So, anyhow, yesterday I built two of these TV stands, with only one major error (I was pretty proud of that), which I was able to fix. And the whole time I was doing it, I was giggling to myself because I remembered this story from Eric Vitz' blog. Blogs are great.

How about this great bit from Alan Keyes, Regan? Even if you think that this guy is the best moral character to happen to politics in our century, he's still going to lose Illinois by at least 20 points.

Alumni

2004-08-23T23:25:00.000-04:00

This weekend I go "camping". It will be my second time "camping", last year was the first. I was a little concerned about it last summer, I wasn't much of an outdoorsman, and I didn't imagine that I would do very well roughing it. But as it turns out, "camping" isn't all that rough. We didn't take a trailer up there with a TV and Nintendo or anything like that; we did the tent thing and the firepit thing and the beach thing. But my worst fears were never realized: no bears came poking into my tent, I didn't have to shoot a squirrel and eat it. And thanks to the presence of a nearby community bathroom, I didn't have to wipe with a leaf.

So now that I have a better idea of what "camping" entails, I am much better prepared. This year I'm going to the Dunes, where Ryan Bunce will try to turn doughnuts in the sand with his Suburban. I will not ride along, as I believe he will upset his vehicle and go rolling down a hill. But I'm sure that the Suburban will wind up just sitting upright and ready for work after the tumble, much like the Ford F-150 commercial.

Jeremy Bonderman. Wow. This is pretty neat; first read this story from the Free Press, dated Monday morning, about how the Tigers are a little concerned that Jeremy Bonderman hasn't shown more progress in his two years in the majors, but that they're not giving up on him and just want to keep putting him out there and look for a little more progress. Now look at this box score, dated tonight, Monday night, in which Jeremy pitched his first complete game AND his first shutout of his career. Nine innings, no runs, ONE walk, FOURTEEN strikeouts!!!

If Carlos Pena can keep raising his average and being more selective at the plate, the Jeff Weaver trade of last year is going to go down as one that was a key transition point for the organization.

OK, lastly. Very important news here for all of my readers who attended Great Lakes Christian College. I'm really excited to announce that the Alumni Association has launched glccalumni.com, as a central place for alumni to be able to communicate, swap pictures, get news on the school, and catch up with each other. And as it happens, I'm in charge of the project. So visit there, and not just today, but often, and post some messages. I really want to get this site moving and shaking, so that there's always new stuff to read when you visit, from a variety of different people. I just went there tonight, not more than two hours after sending out an email about it, and things are already happening. It's gonna be great.

Omelettes

2004-08-23T00:34:00.000-04:00

Another fantasy football weekend come and gone. It's always a good time to get together with friends that you might not otherwise see for the whole year, and it's an even better time when everyone is just making fun of everyone else for the whole evening. For me, I don't even think much about football until after the fantasy draft, and now that it's over, I can't wait for NFL Opening Weekend. And college football opening weekend. And the women's synchronized diving championships in Athens... er, wait...

Somewhere out there is Bald Omelette-Making Guy. Every year my immediate family, and some not so immediate, gets together for a big brunch at a hotel in Angola, Indiana. It's usually about 20 of us, and this is easily the biggest family-related gathering I will attend all year. Which is a little different from, say, other regular people who routinely attend family reunions of 300 people or more. But that's an item for another post.

Anyway, at this hotel, every year, is the main attraction, Bald Omelette-Making Guy. He's probably in his early 30's by now, like me, and he whips you up an omelette with ingredients of your choice, right in front of you, and cracking jokes as best he can while you watch it stew. Most of the jokes are recycled, that is, you get the feeling he's going to use the same material on the people right behind you. But regardless, he's an entertaining person and if he ever comes to work in a somber mood, I haven't been around for it. So lift a Budweiser for the Bald Omelette-Making Guy... without these steady Eddies in our life, where would we be?

Lastly, I have two more blogs to introduce to you. Isn't this nuts? I think in about 3 months, the stories will be about the blogs I'm taking OFF the list, because of a lack of attention by their authors, but for now, let's enjoy each other's lives through this little fad. Both of these guys are dedicated friends that I've known for many, many years, and are both pouring their hearts and souls into ministry. Welcome Sam Long and Wally Lowman to the blogosphere.

527

2004-08-20T18:52:00.000-04:00

I found it mildly poetic yesterday when John Kerry publicly denounced the Swift Boat Veterans' group yesterday, but stopped short of denouncing the activities of all so-called "527" organizations. I knew it was a little hypocritcal, but I didn't have the numbers. Then I came across this post today.... look at the funding numbers and I think the reasons for Kerry's "stance" (besides the fact that he's getting roasted on this issue) become a little more clear.

Another reason to be happy today, besides the 7 or 8 people coming over to play poker tonight: new U2 album due out in November.

Gymnastics

2004-08-20T10:15:00.000-04:00

It is currently quite, cold and peaceful in my little Grand Ledge store. But soon things will be hopping. For today Eric Vitz comes to town, laden with hopes of fantasy football immortality. Tomorrow is the crucial draft which will determine, in large part, his fortunes for 2004. Though many are missing, there shall be 9 of us together for this event, and the burgers and beer will flow like milk and honey.

See what grand bloggers shall gather for this tribute! See Jamie Wetzel, with his ability to stretch out the time limit for each of his selections to double the maximum allowable!! See Brandon Caroland, with his barbed and amazing wit equaled only by his inability to ever draft a competitive team! See Eric Vitz, with his many championship trophies from previous campaigns, and his many lists and spreadsheets prepared at the expense of his business and family!

It's gonna be great. And then I get a free brunch with my family in Indiana on Sunday morning, at some hotel that I can never properly pronounce the name for.

I found a quote from Bob Costas that I think gives some insight into many American's apathy toward Athens this year. It was in a magazine I was reading, in which he was asked "Now that the U.S. is an unrivaled superpower, do you think the Olympics matter less to Americans?", to which he replied "The automatic rivalry, the battle among warring equals, just isn't there anymore. Right now none of our perceived international enemies are great sports powers. It's not like al-Qaeda is fielding a gymnastics squad." Makes sense to me.

I also found this... a PC game that I'm excited to play. It's called "The Political Machine", and you get to basically run a presidential campaign and make all the decisions that go along with it. Seeking endorsements, taking campaign positions, spinning stories, managing the media and TV appearances... tell me this doesn't sound awesome. Plus, you get to matchup all sorts of potential candidates... like Hillary Clinton versus Arnold Schwartzenegger. Why hasn't our Sim City generation thought of this yet?

Mini-putting

2004-08-17T00:20:00.000-04:00

If it weren't just twenty minutes after midnight, this would qualify as a three-post day!! Live it up, message-board breath. You never know when I'm gonna get busy again and wind up with a two-post week.

Went mini-golfing tonight, or as Crystal calls it, "mini-putt-putt". I tried to explain that it's not a miniature form of putting, it actually IS putting, but there's just no reasoning on such things. She is the loose, non-competitive one, and I am the win-at-all-costs jerk who has to correct everyone on their verbiage.

My putting sucks right now, by the way. I lost by one stroke to Ben Brown. Mark, if you're reading this, I need you to take me back to putting school.

I'm all into buying CD's online lately. Mostly just Christian ones. The "evil" CD's I can get at Best Buy for a reasonable price, but it costs an average of $16, and up, at the price-gouging Gift & Bible. They make the gasoline refineries look like Aldi's. So in order to stick to my new rule of not stealing (downloading & burning), I just have to price-shop a little better.

So for those who care, here are my two CD purchases online in the last week:

Jars of Clay - their original album. Got it for $6.50, total. Bob, I was reminded of how much I missed this album when you posted the lyrics to "Take My World Apart" on your blog. Very reflective stuff.

Various - In the Name Of Love. An album by Christian artists, all covering U2 songs, mostly from the early 80's to mid-90's. All the proceeds went to Bono's AIDS for Africa foundation, though I'm not sure how much profit they turned on the $8.41 total that this one cost me.

Elijah

2004-08-16T13:58:00.000-04:00

Commercial showtimes for August 16th: 3:26pm and 6:15pm on WB. I am certain that we are going to clean up on new customers today, with these crucial spots airing during "Xiaolin Showdown" and "Elimidate".

I have a new blog to add to the blogroll, which is kinda nice, since we haven't had a new one for awhile. For a short stint there, it looked like everyone and their mother was going to start a blog, and I would have to find a new hobby, because I certainly can't appear to be a "fad" person. Anyway, the addition is none other than Aubrey Malcolm. She has a beautiful daughter, and spots all over her blog. Hopefully she does not also have a beautiful blog, and spots all over her daughter.

Breaking news... congrats to Scotty and Stephanie Johnson on another addition to the fam... Elijah Michael was born Sunday night. And he just got circumcised. Go team!

Pommel horse

2004-08-16T10:09:00.000-04:00

Somebody's gotta blog about the Olympics, it might as well be me.

So far, through two days of competition, I've seen snippets of women's swimming, men's gymnastics, men's beach volleyball, women's synchronized diving, women's court volleyball, and (sadly) men's basketball. I know that sounds like a lot, but it actually all adds up to about an hour of viewing.

For the most part, I've tuned in to the Olympics because I almost feel some sort of patriotic responsibility to do so. They said on the telecast the other day that the Romanian gymnasts are national heroes in their country. They're seen in commercials and on billboards. Does anyone even know who the American gymnasts are? But I could tell you who the backup quarterback is, for at least half the NFL teams.

Like soccer, Olympic-type sports just don't compete for the dollars in our country, despite having a legion of followers in other nations. I wouldn't say that they are necessarily lesser sports than the Big 4. On the whole, the participants are probably even better athletes. You know what really sets the Big 4 apart from everything else? They're more television-friendly. They're easier to watch on the tube. Jim Lampley doesn't help the Olympic cause.

Here is the current medal count. This page constitutes most of my Olympic-related surfing each day. If you think the Olympics are the greatest thing since the electric razor, make your voice known. Otherwise I will assume that everyone is, like me, watching bits of the Olympics only when Seinfeld reruns on TBS are at a commercial break.

Pong

2004-08-13T01:38:00.000-04:00

I've been a bad, bad blogger. And the thing is, I'm not even sure that I care. Because you will all keep coming back. You'll keep coming back because of my smooth, creative writing style and my dry wit. And mostly, you'll keep coming back because you like the list of blog links that I have on the right side of my screen. Go ahead, use me. Abuse me. See if I care.

The Lions' first preseason game is tomorrow night, Saturday, at home against Pittsburgh. 7:30pm. You may have picked this up from my post on the Hall of Fame game, but I hate the preseason games. And particularly, Lions preseason games just scare the hell out of me. Four games that don't count for anything, four games' worth of chances for us to have key players injured for the year. Boss Bailey is already toast, and we haven't even started our four stupid games against the plumbers and high school teachers.

And in other quick football news, I just got my copy of the Sports Illustrated college football preview in the mail today. Only one Big Ten team is ranked in the top 10 (Ohio State, 8th), and Michigan is 12th. What a pile of crap. More on that in the future.

One "sin" that I never thought I would be convicted on was the practice of pirating music and games, but in recent years, that is exactly what has happened to me. I've found that I more enjoy waiting for a game to get cheaper, and then buying it and owning it, than I do ripping it off online and then feeling guilty about it. It's not much of a witness to others either. It's grand larceny. I have to still admit to a few music CD's that I have ripped, but 95% of them are now purchased (remind me sometime to tell you my Andrew Peterson story... it's the closest justification I've ever had for copying music).

All of which is a good lead-in to this link that I'm sure some of you will appreciate. It's a list that some guy put together of some of the best FREE games available on the internet, and we're not talking about cheap knock-offs of Pong or Space Invaders, either. Check it out. The post is also followed up with six pages' worth of replies from other people who have links to other great free games. And if you still think these are poor PC gaming options, just wait two months, and your favorite PC game will be twenty bucks. Seriously.

Regan, this link is for you... an article I found from a guy who thinks that Alan Keyes is a whackjob. Problem is, he doesn't actually make any salient points.

And one more bit of news, this one movie related... seems Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise are getting together to recreate HG Wells' "War of the Worlds". I'm a difficult man to impress at the box office these days, but if done correctly, I think this is one of the most fantastic stories of our time, and would love to see it.

Larry Carter for President!! "Don't like it, then get the hell out of God's country."

Thespians

2004-08-10T15:04:00.000-04:00

Daily Clem's Commercials update: watch WB at 3:27pm, and 5:16pm, and you should be able to see the theatrical exploits of Dan Harris, esq., and the structural wonder that is Clem's Collectibles of Grand Ledge.

It's been awhile since I pimped a comic book, so allow me to toss one out there: Gotham Central. The series is up to #22, and they do have one trade paperback in print so far, which I purchased. Which is saying something, because I actually don't buy many books at all from the store. I figure, I work there, I can read them anytime I want. The only time I'll actually pony up my hard-earned pesos is if I read something REALLY good, that I know I'll want to read o'er and o'er again in my life. To all members of DCC out there, you're welcome to borrow it from me. I might even make some customers out of you guys yet. Austin gave it a "not bad", which translated from Long-speak means, "Out-freaking-standing!!".

Just watched the USA beat Turkey in their last warm-up before they head into Athens. I could not BELIEVE the calls the Turks were getting, and when they got fouled... well, I watched about 15 minutes of the game and I saw two different guys go to the floor in that time, writhing and screaming in "pain". They brought out stretchers, they brought out oxygen. After about two minutes, they limp off the floor. After about five more minutes, they're back in the game. These thespians belong in the NBA.

OH, YEAH, and football is back, with the annual Hall of Fame game last night. Redskins lose Jon Jansen for the SEASON, in their first pre-season game. Pre-season drives me nuts. A few big names are always lost for the year, right off the bat, because they got hammered by a high-school metal shop teacher who's trying to make a name for himself, and hopefully make the team's practice squad. And in fantasy football news, I thought Quentin Griffin was very impressive. But then, even I could rush for 500 yards in Mike Shanahan's offense. You hear that, Vitz? I could be an NFL running back.

Soccer tonight at 7pm. Last week it was so humid that I was done like dinner, after about 20 minutes. Tonight I bring a secret weapon - Gatorade. See Gatorade replaces a lot of vitamins and fluids that water doesn't, getting me back in the game, faster. Plus it makes my sweat turn green.

Jahres

2004-08-09T16:45:00.000-04:00

For those in the Lansing area wishing to see acting talent on display, tune in to the WB channel around 6:53 tonight and take in the Clem's Collectibles commercial. Now, it's almost 5pm as I write this, so that's probably not much of a window. But on the off-chance that you're interested, there it is. I'll try and post those commercial times more often, and earlier in the day.

Finally, a new board game for our entertainment-starved house church. Ticket To Ride is the new fad, proudly started by yours truly. It won the "Spiel des Jahres" award in 2004, which is German for "I have no freaking clue". But it's the same award that Settlers won back in 1995, and since my church has become all Settled out (finally), I thought we'd try something with the same pedigree. So far, so good.

Attended the Tigers-Red Sox game yesterday and then scuttled back to Lansing just in time to be an hour late for church. The Tigers scored nine runs, including seven home runs, so it was a slam-dunk win, right? Wrong, thanks in part to the pitching efforts of Nate Robertson and Roberto Novoa.

But I can't pile on Robertson... after cursing he and his family roundly yesterday, I heard on the radio this morning that he had a close friend die in an auto accident over the weekend. And he went out and tried to pitch anyway. I hate it when I put my foot in my mouth, even if I'm the only one who knows it. Which isn't even the case anymore, since I just blogged it.

Maddux got 300 on Saturday. Hope that some of you were able to see it.... you shan't see it again, for a very long time. I don't think Glavine's gonna get there.

Tune in

2004-08-07T16:20:00.000-04:00

For anyone who has shown any interest in my continuing "300-win" watch for Greg Maddux, the Cubs are playing the Giants RIGHT NOW (Saturday, 4-7pm). It's even a national broadcast on Fox, for you cable-impaired types. Take a few minutes to watch The Professor today.

Nomah

2004-08-05T19:48:00.000-04:00

For those of you who ask me, and I keep putting off because I don't want to get into a big discussion, here is TRADING DEADLINE OPINION #1: Yes, the Cubs got an amazing deal for Nomar, even if he doesn't re-sign (although his agent is already rattling cages about wanting to do just that). The prospects they lost were mostly marginal, the exception being Justin Jones. But even Jones... well, I had mentioned to my roommate Rob (Cubs nut) that he was the only name the Cubs might really miss, but that was before I looked at his numbers in the minors this year. He was a top-5 guy in their system at the beginning of the season, but after tossing a 3.78 ERA for your Lansing Lugnuts this season, he's not really tearing it up anymore.

The real story is how badly the Red Sox screwed themselves with this one. When they first started circulating Nomar's name as trade bait, it was because they wanted to land A-Rod last winter. They didn't get him, the Yankees did, and now you've got a pissed-off Nomar who wouldn't even think about signing a contract extension with the Sox after this year. So he's gotta go, and at the end of the mess, instead of the best player in baseball (A-Rod), you wind up with Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mientkiewicz.

And that concludes my first part of Trade Deadline Opinions. It may, or may not be, the last part.

Alliances

2004-08-05T15:59:00.000-04:00

Two good stories from yesterday.

Story #1: I went to Best Buy with a friend, and bought one of those movie 2-packs that they package together for twenty bucks. I'm thankful that I've become so spendthrift, I don't think that I waste a lot of money except for eating out. But these were what I considered to be two very good movies, and I hadn't bought any DVD's in a while, so I got them. I am careful when I buy CD's or DVD's, that I'm not just buying them just so that I have them, so that my collection is bigger. That's the allure of materialism, and it's very subtle.

Anyway, that's not even the story. My friend decided he wanted to buy "13 Going on 30", which I also want to watch, but he was afraid that the purchase of the movie would make him look very feminine to whoever the clerk was to ring him up. So upon paying for his movie, he actually went so far as to ask for a gift receipt, so that it would LOOK like he was buying the movie for someone else. Does anyone else think that this is just a little over the top. (Friend's name is withheld, to protect the not-so-innocent).

Story #2: I played Settlers with 4 women. 4 women who had never played the game before. It was a lot of fun, and only occasionally tedious, but that many women introduce a lot of new dynamics I had never considered. For instance, at one point a resource trade was made, on the condition that neither of them would place the robber on the other in the future. Alliances were formed, that it had never occurred to me to make. I'm convinved that the people who invent new variations for board games, need only monitor a game whose participants are all female, in order to invent new rules that would never have otherwise been considered.

My job especially rules on days like these: there was a day game on ESPN (Yankees-A's), and I was pretty much caught up on my store work. So I got to watch some of it. This question might be lost of most of my audience, but when did Bernie Williams start hitting leadoff? I thought they dropped him to the bottom third of the order this year, and since he's hitting .245, that makes perfect sense to me. But today, at least, he was hitting leadoff. And so why did they trade for Kenny Lofton in the first place? He's hitting 40 points higher than Williams, but Williams has 200 more at-bats than Lofton.

I love baseball.

Acoustic

2004-08-04T11:00:00.000-04:00

The rain falls in a mist this morning, and I am led to listen to Coldplay in my car, as I drive back to the store from south Lansing. Coldplay has become one of my favorite bands over the last year... they have two CD's in wide-release, I own both. I think they also released a live double-CD earlier this year, I have yet to spring for that one. And then they played the Red Rocks this year also.

They just have a bluesy feel to them that I really attach to. Brandon and Shannon really like Coldplay also... Shannon told me once that he thought it was because their songs reminded he and Brandon a lot of their father, who is a great acoustic guitar player. Hi Wes!, if you're reading. I have a lot of love for the Caroland family, and that just made me like Coldplay even more.

A bit more politics, if I can get some of you to bear with me. I saw Clinton on Letterman last night, and I think he was great. Obviously Clinton is an excellent interview / orator, always has been, but he really impressed me with some of his answers. He didn't bash Bush, he actually backed him up on more than a few points, while still stressing that he thought John Kerry would make an excellent president. I guess he just didn't sound extremely partisan to me - and this election year, that's a rare thing. This country is SO polarized.

Staying with that theme, comes this... a Drudge Report break that a well-funded veterans group will release this book later this year called "Unfit for Command". The book accuses of John Kerry of terrible, terrible things done while in the service, including providing false information in order to obtain his battle medals. Stuff like this, I just don't know what to believe anymore. Austin, you said we'd be hearing something like this about Kerry before too long... here it is.

One Guy

2004-08-02T16:36:00.000-04:00

Buy your gas NOW while it's still down to $1.8eighty-something. U.S. crude hit another all-time high again today.

A very interesting bit of news today - GW authorized a full autonomous counter-terrorism center to be created, and a national intelligence director to oversee the FBI, CIA, NSA, Secret Service, and all the other bits and pieces. Both of these were recommended in the 9/11 Commission Report, but I wasn't sure if W would go ahead with them or not.

Here's why... on the one hand, creating a position for One Guy at the top, that all the agencies answer to, allows more freedom in co-ordinating information and intelligence resources than we've EVER had before. This is something that everybody has been harping on since 9/11. On the other hand, though, it means that there will basically be ONE vision for counter-intelligence in this country, to which all the agencies and their facilities will be answerable. So if that guy (or girl) is headed in the wrong direction, look out.

I love how this news article drops in short quotes from John Kerry throughout, either praising Bush for taking these steps, or criticizing him for not doing it the way that Kerry would. Kerry is currently a senator from Massachusetts. Leave him out of reports that deal with actual things going on at the White House. If you want to write up a separate story about what he thinks on such matters, since he is RUNNING for office, I'll read it later, should I choose to.

Satan

2004-08-02T12:24:00.000-04:00

As so often happens on the great mixer known as The Internet, I am reading all sorts of new opinions to mull over, through other blogs. From groundbreaking thoughts such as "Blogs are a tool of Satan", to new information like "House churches are unbiblical". I have kept my blistering retorts to myself. I consider this to be a step of self-discipline.

So Maddux didn't get #300 yesterday, thanks to a quick hook from Dusty Baker. Which is bizarre, now that I'm thinking about it, because Dusty Baker has a reputation for over-working his pitchers. And of all pitchers to get jumpy with, why Maddux, who routinely logs 200+ innings a year, and who had just worked a scoreless sixth? But I digress... his next start will probably be this Saturday in San Francisco.

Jekyll and Hyde

2004-08-01T01:12:00.000-04:00

So tonight I watched "The Big Bounce" at the Brown house and man, did it ever suck. With a lineup of Owen Wilson, Morgan Freeman, Charlie Sheen and Gary Sinise, I expected a little entertainment, and in some spots it did have it. But I think that was only because I was watching it with other friends that I could laugh with. At home, by myself, this would have been one of the worst movies ever.

Ben, the director's name was George Armitage. His IMDB file is here. Something tells me he's not going to be getting another gig anytime soon.

I called SO many people today to go to Comerica Park with me, and everyone was either busy or broke. What's funny is that I have a long list of people that I have said "We need to go to a ballgame together this summer" to, and sometimes I feel that I will never live up to all of those promises. But here it is, a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, I've got the time and the desire to drive to Detroit and watch the game (which they won in the bottom of the 10th inning), and I can't find ANYBODY to go. Even my sister, who lives about three blocks from the stadium, couldn't go.

So I went golfing instead. By myself. It was an afternoon of encouragement and discouragement. Out of the 9 holes I played, I had 5 bogeys. Which is great for me. If I carded a 45, which is a bogey per hole, I would be very, very happy. But I carded a 59. I was a combined 18 strokes over par, on those other 4 holes. Talk about your Jekyll and Hyde.

I like golfing by myself. I really do. Whenever I participate in anything requiring skill or competence, even if it is a team sport or game, my true battle is always against myself. So when I golf alone, it's even easier to play that game, witout anyone else along to watch the jousting.

Do you remember the three key conflicts from Lit class, one of which is always the key to every story? Man Vs. God, Man Vs. Man, Man Vs. Himself. You're surprised I remember that, aren't you?

So Kerry, according to the latest Newsweek poll (liberal magazine), now enjoys a 7 point advantage over Bush, 49 percent to 42 percent. The poll showed only a 2 percent lead the night before his speech in Boston, and 10 percent in polls taken the night after. But what I found most interesting about this article was this: "the top issues among voters are terrorism (21 percent), the economy (19 percent), Iraq (18 percent) and health care (15 percent)." This is because I honestly believe that if we see a stable situation in Iraq three months from now, Bush runs away with this election. Terrorism is still a front-page story because we see car bombings and assasinations in Baghdad every other day or so. And every time in the last few months that I've spoken with my financial advisor about the markets and the economy's health, he tells me, "It's all about Iraq".

That said, it's going to be interesting to see how things play out if Iraq just continues to remain volatile. I want to see what kind of a bump Bush gets after the RNC in New York... I'll bet it's not enough to put him back in front. At least, depending on which poll you put your faith in.

This is an interesting story, which, like the previous one, I just pulled off of the Drudge Report. Seems Kerry's stance on Iraq isn't necessarily so popular with the military, even though all I ever here about on CNN is how disgruntled they are with Bush, and how little they think of their current tours of duty in the Middle East.

I still have a post I need to write on stem cell research soon, but not tonight. And count on some comments soon about all the baseball trades today, but not tonight. Maybe I shouldn't even write those advertisements. I think most of my female readership just decided not to come back for a week.

Don't forget to watch for Maddux's 300th win tomorrow!! 2:20 pm on WGN.

300

2004-07-27T23:08:00.000-04:00

Some of you have enjoyed the brief little vacation from baseball that I've taken with recent blog postings. Well, time's up, blog-breath... for Greg Maddux hath won his 299th career game tonight, on the threshold of 300, and I intend to put in my comments before the rest of the nation's sports-writers get involved. This may be painful for some of you, but I'm trying to make my baseball-talk as dummy-friendly as possible, so bear with me.

In the 100+ plus years of professional baseball, there are 21 pitchers who have won 300 games. Many of these pitchers piched in the first half of the century, when a starting pitcher could routinely start 3 or 4 games a week, versus 1 to 2 today. Some of the names: Cy Young. Nolan Ryan. Tom Seaver. Warren Spahn. Christy Matheson. And of course, Roger Clemens. (Full list)

What you have to appreciate here, is that the days when a pitcher comes anywhere close to winning 300 career games, are rapidly fading. Bullpens are used in greater capacity then ever before, so starting pitchers are not left in games to try and pitch out of a jam (and thus record the five innings of work needed to get the win). Almost all teams now employ a 5-man pitching rotation, so even the most durable pitcher will only start 35 games a season. Better-developed minor league systems mean that there is always a fresh rookie ready to step in and take over for an aging pitcher, at the first sign of injury or duress. After Maddux, the next-closest active guys to 300 are Tom Glavine with 258, and Randy Johnson with 240. Those guys aren't going to get there.

So take note, this Sunday, when Greg Maddux pitches against Philadelphia. You might see something that won't be matched again for quite a while. In the pantheon of baseball stats, 300 wins is one of those magical numbers that puts you on a pedestal. This one will be special, not just because of the smart type of pitcher Greg Maddux has had to become to continue to win, but also because it's not something we're probably going to see again for a long time.

Am I bugging you? Don't mean to bug ya....

DeWeese

2004-07-27T00:14:00.000-04:00

Today, I had a full day.

I worked for most of the day, of course. It has been a somewhat disappointing month in July, for the store. The 20% growth we experienced from May to June will most definitely not be repeated in our final sales figures for July. I'm just hoping to match June at this point. So we've got a ways to go. But I'm slowly getting bills paid off, and I think we'll be adding a few more productive lines of sales in August and September, so I'm still optimistic about my 6-month goals for the shop.

Afterwards, I stopped by the Little League ballfield, which is situated next to our store. Because they are customers, I knew some of the people in the stands, and got to watch an inning or two. It's really cool feeling being a part of that GL community... I could totally see myself living in a town like that, although I would still like to be within 30 miles of a Detroit or Chicago, ideally. I don't know what town in the USA that could possibly be.

Then I found out that there was a Republican primary debate, for the Michigan 7th district, that was taking place at the Grand Ledge main hall, right across from the store! So at 6pm I trotted over there and took in the debate for an hour and a half, before coming back to Lansing to help a friend fix his computer. The debate was very good - they touched on a lot of things I was interested in, like embryonic stem cell research, and the No Child Left Behind education bill. I would really like to address those things and get comments from a Christian vantage point, but it's just too late for tonight. Maybe later this week. In the meantime, I was really impressed with Paul DeWeese, but I don't think it matters, because I don't think I can vote in the primary (on August 3rd) unless I'm a registered Republican, and I have no plans to do that. He wasn't as experienced in politics as Schwarz, but he was very idealistic, and at least on the matters that were addressed tonight, I found myself appreciating his idealism more than the matter-of-fact answers from Schwarz. Which is weird, because I'm usually not much of an idealist. I want you to tell me how you're going to get it done, and when.

So there you have it - now you have some idea of those names you keep seeing on all the lawn signs.

A spider just crawled across my desk. I let him (her) live.

The new title for Star Wars has been announced: "Revenge of the Sith". After Episodes I and II, I'm not very optimistic that this new film will be able to touch the original movies (IV, V, VI) in its dialogue, wit, or creativity. I'm hoping Lucas will surprise me and stop micro-managing so much, like he did with those ground-breaking originals.

DNC

2004-07-23T23:51:00.000-04:00

The results so far ... 11% of people actually like the Catwoman movie. "Catwoman doesn't belong on the big screen. It belongs in the litter box or to be scraped off the bottom of our shoes as we head quickly for another theater." Ouch. I personally have absolutely no plans to see this movie, which sucks for Catwoman, because as a comic reader, I think I am a part of their intended demographic. But it just looks like a nonsensical vigilante movie with a paper-thin plot, and the fact that they completely got away from the comic book (you can tell this just from looking at that ridiculous outfit) pushes me even further away.

So, any plans to watch the DNC on televsion this week? Check your local listings. I will watch some, but I think most of the country feels roughly the same about political conventions:

Man Of Steel

2004-07-23T12:22:00.000-04:00

You just can't create stories like these.

Sunset

2004-07-23T10:19:00.000-04:00

I haven't watched a sunset yet, all summer. Last night, just as I was pulling into home, the sky was very red, so I pulled out a chair and watched until it was grey (lot of cloud cover). But it doesn't count because I didn't actually see the sun... so I'm still 0-for-summer. The reason is always being busy. Actually, as soon as the redness faded from the sky, I had to pick up and get going somewhere else again (I was late).

I like the Drudge Report, but lemme tell you what drives me nuts. Pop-ups. Last night I left the Drudge Report opened on this back machine for an hour, and since it automatically refreshes every 60 seconds, I had a gazillion pop-ups to close when I finally came back.

The 9/11 Commission Report was finally released, in book form, so that everyone can pick it up themselves. If you've been following the circus at all, the resistance to the Commission, the Condi Rice hearings extravaganza, and the early report, then you probably have the idea that it's not good news for Bush. It isn't essentially, but it's not good news for Clinton either. The only difference is that Clinton isn't running for president. There is at least this interesting section that most of the liberal papers are glossing over. (Link to Instapundit)

Not sure how many racing fans are out there, but did you see the video of Dale Earnhardt Jr's corvette burning up last weekend? With him in it? He was entered in a Le Mans race in California last week, crashed, gas spilled all over the place, and in a few seconds, he was just sitting in a fireball. They got him out with only second-degree burns on his legs and face. And I guess that as long as he STARTS this weekend's NASCAR race in the driver's seat, he doesn't actually have to finish it himself to earn his points. Talk about playing hurt.

Ex Machina

2004-07-21T14:24:00.000-04:00

The Tigers dropped both of their home games this week to Minnesota, so they're back to 5 games under .500, and 6 back in the division race. Tough losses, too... they played pretty well. But that was their best shot to move up. Now they have 2 more games at home against Kansas City, and then six games on the road against division rivals Chicago and Cleveland, followed by three more at home against Chicago. With all these games against other teams in the division, we will know in about a week and a half whether we still have a good shot at the playoffs.

I was just telling Freddie Lab that if the Tigers trade Ugueth Urbina before the trading deadline (July 31), I won't be heartbroken. I misquoted the blown saves stat, Fred.... he's only got 2. But he does have 4 losses also, only one of which was a blown save. Against his 15 saves, that's still a 25% blown-game rate. In an age where a man can save 84 straight games (Gagne), I expect a little more from our 3.5 million-dollar "closer". And certainly a better ERA than 4.38. Comment if you think I'm being hard on the guy. His stats are here.

Sorry, non-sports fans. My rant there for the day. You're obviously looking for something of a bit more substance, so I would direct you to go here and check out the cover and first four pages of my currently favorite comic, Ex Machina. I'm a sucker for political stories.

GM's quarterly earnings were posted 49 percent higher than expected today. 49 PERCENT... and yet the Dow is still down 7 points right now. I was expecting to see my IRA hitting new heights today.... maybe not. Even in spite of the sales spike, they set an earnings target for the third quarter that was much lower than the number-crunchers expected. I could speculate on that strategy, but I'd better off leaving that sort of business to the David Lunds of the world. Wonder how ol Dave's doing? Anyone know?

We had a great time playing soccer in the sogginess yesterday. For any out there that don't know, we play soccer outdoors, at the GLCC practice field, every Tuesday at 7pm. Although I probably shouldn't put that out there... lately we've been getting more players than we can fit on a field!

Big Mac

2004-07-20T12:04:00.000-04:00

The countdown to 1,000 is on!! I expect to welcome my 1,000th visitor to the blog today. So if it's you, leave a comment at the end of this post and tell me who you are. You shall go down in the annals of Flammer. Maybe I'll buy you lunch, too.

A good friend of mine, and many of ours, is going through an unfortunate time right now. Some kind of virus is going around, and it seems lately that there are a lot of good people going through the pains of divorce. Aleks Tapinsh started his own blog, more as a therapeutic outlet than anything else, and he let me know that he welcomes anyone who would like to stop by. His one request was that comments left on the blog be left anonymously.

And in other, less disastrous news, this guy just ate his 1,000th Big Mac. Really. One thousand.

Centerpiece

2004-07-19T10:51:00.000-04:00

Exciting times in church.... it was probably only a month ago that our somewhat large house church group decided to "branch off" and become two smaller house churches. We had become a little too big, and were having problems on some Sundays, having room for everyone in the Bunce basement.

So we split into two groups, one that meets in the AM, one in the PM. I'm in the PM group, and there was about 8 of us to get started. Well, last night we had 13, and we were missing 2 of our regulars. We're going to have to "branch off" again soon! It's a lot of fun, watching something like this grow. I wonder if we needed to split into two groups before God would bring more people in like this, or if it's just a coincidence that we started to meet some of them this month, instead of two months ago.

The Tigers are 4.5 games out of first place. For all of you that don't watch sports at all, you should at least know from reading my blog, that the Tigers aren't doing badly this year, as Michiganders have become accustomed to assuming. But they start a 2-game set with Minnesota tonight, and could be as close as 2 games to first place by Wednesday morning.

My biggest problem with their current lineup, is the staying power of Carlos Pena and Eric Munson. I know that the Tigers don't really have anybody else to fill their positions regularly right now, but it bothers me that these guys are still struggling to hit. First base and third base are supposed to be solid power-hitting positions on good baseball teams, and while they have the power, Pena and Munson are both still hitting in the .230's. They started the entire 2003 season, have now played half of 2004, and are showing few signs of progress. What really bugs me is that the ONLY reason the Tigers are waiting so long for these two to show up, is because of what the team has invested in them: Pena was the centerpiece of the Jeff Weaver trade a few years ago, and Munson was an overall #1 draft pick in 1999.

You knew that sooner or later, Arnold Schwartzenegger was going to give us a good, solid, politically incorrect statement.

Lefty

2004-07-17T12:00:00.000-04:00

Sitting at home this morning watching the British Open. I didn't know this until today, but they're 5 hours ahead of us. Right now it is 5pm in England. Lefty's on the leaderboard, but Thomas Levet is in the lead, and he's playing so well that I don't think Phil will be able to grab the lead today. Maybe tomorrow.

The other story is that Tiger Woods is playing pretty well. Finally. You might see him in the news tomorrow also.

I was driving to Charlotte last night, straining to hear the Tigers-Yankees game on the radio. The weather was so messed up that I could barely make it out, but I still tried, leaning forward as if that would help my ability to hear the radio. Brian Walter once told me about a time he and Lisa were driving away from Indiana, but there was a big IU basketball game on the radio, and he fought to hear the broadcast for two hours. Lisa got a little frustrated, I think. You see, as guys, we would rather listen to the buzzes and crackles of a fading sports broadcast, than to listen to actual crystal-clear music.

New items at Clem's Collectibles: enough of my friends have given me sufficient reviews to order the new board game Ticket To Ride. We'll see how it goes. Also, after talking to Regan this morning, it looks like the Clem's chain will begin carrying poker chips and accessories, which I'm sure my compatriots from church will be all over. Regan and I even tossed around the idea of holding poker tournaments at the store(s). For some reason, I'm thinking there might be some legality issues. I mean, some guys can get together on their own and play for money, but is a business allowed to host such a tournament, if not associated with a casino or holding a gambling license? I don't know.

Hoping to golf today with Brian Carter. I plan to be completely honest with the blogging community about the mediocrity that is my golf game. I ended last summer shooting in the low 50's (for 9 holes). But so far this year my scores have been 55, 66, 63, and 60. I was doing OK my last time out, until I carded an 8 on a par-3. I had two water balls on that same hole. The first was off the tee, and the second was when I tried to pitch onto the green from my drop, and I hit a rock and it bounced right back towards me, and into the little stagnant creek that had claimed my tee shot.

Ever have a problem in college where you kept losing your floppy disks that had all your important papers on them? Then you can identify with the dolts who work at the Los Alamos National Lab, who have yet again misplaced classified nuclear secrets, in the form of a couple CD-R's. These are the guys who invented the atomic bomb back in '57, but it's been all downhill from there. Same facility that was accused of giving up nuclear info to China a few years ago. And the same facility that lost two hard drives containing nuclear secrets, only to have them turn up behind a copy machine. You just know these missing discs are serving as a coaster for somebody's coffee mug.

Embers

2004-07-14T23:53:00.000-04:00

Apparently I've gone and irritated the populace by making my little four-day vacation blog-free, so I've a responsibility to get back to it.

Because you care, here was the weekend: two days with family in Angola, including feature showings of "Out of Time", "Secondhand Lions" and "Cold Mountain". Other than that, those first two days were spent moping around, waiting for my sunburnt feet to heal. Because my feet hurt so bad, I decided to scout for movies for us to watch online, and then I had my dear grandmother go into the video store and pick them up for us. My investigations, however, did not turn up the gratuitous sexual situations in "Out of Time", and they severely reduced the graphic nature of "Cold Mountain". If you ever have a choice, you're going to want to choose to NOT watch sexual-content-heavy movies with your mom and grandmother. (Of course, this isn't to say that you should really watch it with anyone else, either).

The second leg of the weekend took me to Avilla, Indiana to stay with Scott Vitz. For those of you who read my blog last week and are curious, his wife's name is Sarah. Furthermore, his children's names are Aiden, Gavin, Austin, and something else (not my fault, the fourth kid wasn't there this week). They have a nice little establishment there with a trampoline, and I ate steaks and watched baseball. I also drove an hour east to Defiance, Ohio to check out Regan's store. It was impressive.... I must say that we have a ways to go in Grand Ledge.

So Shaq is a .... what is he, anyway? What do you call a player for the Miami Heat? An ember? Shaq is now an ember, having been traded for three former embers and a future first-round pick. I have a feeling that I will be going against the prevailing opinion of most sportswriters (have not yet read much about this), but my first reaction is that Miami got fleeced. Lamar Odom AND Caron Butler? Shaq is dominant, but you only get him for two years, and his is the largest contract in the NBA. They were able to move the albatross contract of Brian Grant in the deal, so..... I don't know. I just think Caron Butler is extremely underrated, I guess.

I still haven't watched Jeopardy with the guy whose won two billion dollars, but I did enjoy the Top Ten list he presented on Letterman the other night, with the top ten ways to irritate Alex Trebek. My personal favorite was #2: Your only response during the game is "Who gives a rat's ass?"

Someone dug up this old column by Peter Gammons, in which he cites a recent Boston sports radio appearance by John Kerry (Kerry is the Senator from Massachusetts). Kerry told listeners that he had been a huge Red Sox fan growing up, and his favorite BoSox player was Ed Yost. The punchline is that Yost never played for the Sox. Who says politicians only tell us what we want to hear?

Ditka!

2004-07-09T14:39:00.000-04:00

The sunburn slowly fades away, but it's still tough to walk. I'm supposed to be taking another little four-day gallop across the countryside again this weekend, to the Fort Wayne area this time. Not sure how much my severe podiatic pain will affect the plans.

I don't recall if I ever blogged about it, but I really liked Joe Dumars' pick in the NBA draft this year. After winning the NBA Championship, they were at the bottom of the draft order, but still came away with a great player, Ricky Paulding from Missouri. You may argue that the Pistons are in no great need of extra guards, but we should probably wait until after the free agency/trading offseason to make that statement. Meanwhile, Paulding is doing well in the NBA summer leagues so far.

I'm going to see the following people this weekend, so if you have any messages for me to pass on to them, go ahead and let know. Since two of them have their own blogs, I guess you could do it that way too. My mother, my brothers, my grandmother, my uncle and aunt, Bob and Kara Soulliere, Eric and Jamie Vitz, and Scott Vitz. It should go without saying that I will also see the children in each of these families, since I did in fact not say it. Scott is re-married, but bad friend that I am, I cannot remember her name. I have only been able to meet her once. After this weekend I will never forget again. I'm hoping that she has also forgotten my name, so that we'll be square.

Can you think of anything more ill-fated than Jack Ryan re-entering the Illinois Senate race? I'll go you one better - Mike Ditka entering the Illinois Senate race.

Lightning

2004-07-07T18:26:00.000-04:00

Two posts in one day... it's only because I'm on house arrest. I just had to post this picture that I was fortunate to find via the Baseball Crank. Which is one of my favorite blogs by the way... it's half baseball, half current events. Very interesting posts. Anyway, here's the picture, with the accompanying caption:

John Kerry works his famous personal magnetism on John McCain, with predictable results.

A new blog to read: You may think that I've inspired more than enough blogs already, but I wouldn't encourage you to read these if I didn't think the authors had something worthy to say. And Austin Long has something to say, always. He just usually keeps it bottled up. But now the lightning is out of the bottle. If you're not sure whether you'll like it, just read the ground rules.

Sunburn

2004-07-07T13:01:00.000-04:00

I'm about three minutes away from the first pitch of the rubber game between the Yankees and Tigers, on ESPN. I get to watch the entire game, as I did last night also, because I'm on a bit of a "sick leave" from Clem's this week.... with sunburn. It may sound silly, but my feet got so burned at the beach last weekend that I could hardly walk on Tuesday. I'm hoping that a day of treatment and staying off my feet, will get me back in the saddle by tomorrow.

There was an interesting piece in the Free Press today about what's going on with Tiger Stadium. Yes, the old, un-used stadium that the Tigers used to play in. And the basic summarization is this: nothing. They don't want to tear it down, but they can't come up with any good ideas for its utilization.

Did everyone notice that Carlos Guillen was selected to the All-Star team? I guess sometimes I actually know what I'm talking about!!

Cartoon

2004-07-02T11:32:00.000-04:00

I've finally been given the green light to link to another blog. This blog has been up for a while, but while the author was playing with the script and doing other tinkering, he asked that I not give out its location. But now I can.

I remain as emotionally connected to this person today, as I have to anybody that I've met in my lifetime. Plus, he has provided me with free e-mail and web space for a long time. Most of my readers will know him, or at least of him.... most of my readers also probably haven't had a chance to actually talk to him in about a decade, as life has taken him in quite different directions from the rest of us. But Bob Soulliere has always been a great friend, and even a great minister, to me... and now, through his blog, he is ministering to me even more! Read it and you'll see what I mean. And leave good ol' Bob a comment and say hello...

There's also a really great editorial cartoon posted there on June 30th, that I wish I'd found first....

Brita

2004-07-01T20:18:00.000-04:00

I've got plenty to write about, and no time to write it... but I had to put SOMETHING down here.... it's been almost a week.

I wasn't sure if it was time to change out the Brita filter on my water pitcher or not, so I finally just went and bought a new one. And I think I was right, because it takes about a fourth of the time to filter the water now, than it was before. I have gone through this entire day now without drinking any pop, but it's still only 8:20pm... still plenty of time for me to mess it up.

National Free Comic Book Day is July 3rd, this Saturday! Stop in the store and see me. Preferably before 2 or 3.... I'm leaving for South Bend for the "Independance Weekend".

It's official... this blog is being read by loyal followers all around the globe. Witness this recent correspondance from the far Dominican Republic: "I have been reading your blog. It recently has been my source for the news. I agree with all you say about the Tigers all-star stuff." OK, ok, so it's one of my best friends who just happens to LIVE in the Dominican, and yeah, maybe Tim does have an obligation to agree with me. I'm right, nonetheless. By the way, if you want to read a little more about what a cool guy Tim is, read this story from a past post.

This post at Wizbang has multiple links to information and transcripts of "Farenheit 9/11", and why it's such a load of BS. Or more accurately, why an abundance of material from the movie is contrived.

If you ever visit Philadelphia, don't forget to visit the Rocky steps....

Beer Tent

2004-06-25T11:11:00.000-04:00

If you want to find me this weekend, good luck. Here's the schedule:

Today: Work til probably 5. Grab dinner. Going to see 'Dodgeball' with Eric Vitz and Brandon Caroland, both here from out of town. Late night poker game with others to follow.

Tomorrow: Hosting the "Clem's Collectibles Shootout" disc golf tournament, at Grand Woods Park. Basically I just roll out there with a truck full of discs and sell, sell, sell. Going to see the Tigers-Diamondbacks tomorrow night with Eric, hope to see my sister there also.

Sunday: Probably stop in at work for a short while - we're expecting a lot of people through this weekend because of the "Yankee Doodle Days" in Grand Ledge. First meeting with my new, smaller, house church.

Incidentally, the beer tent for this grand Grand Ledge festival is set up across the street from our store. That could be good or bad. At the very least, it will be a short walk for me to go pick up a draft after work!!

If anybody cares, you can see the Clem's commercial airing on the WB network today, at 5:26pm, 5:47pm, and 9:45pm. Rollie was here yesterday and he loved it. Everyone loves it. Maybe I should sell everything I have and go into show business. I could make it. And I would remember all of you, the little people, with postcards after I hit the big-time.

This is rich. I never could figure out why the Germans refused to support the UN in the Iraq war, although I highly suspect that their economic gains from the Oil For Food rip-off played a big part. But you gotta love these kind of hindsight rationalizations - they're comparing the Abu Ghraib screw-ups to the Holocaust.

So Todd Bertuzzi is getting sued in Canadian courts for his on-ice assault against Steve Moore. Expect the whole issue of how far we can go with prosecuting on-field altercations, to crop up again. I don't know yet what I think about it. Obviously the field of play for athletes cannot be a safe haven for them to break whatever laws they wish, but do we prosecute prizefighters? Kickboxers? Fighting, like it or not, is a big part of hoceky, and if properly controlled, I don't even have a problem with it. When not properly controlled, the league is expected to punish, which they did here (Bertuzzi is indefinitely suspended).

Guillen

2004-06-22T21:39:00.000-04:00

Did I ever mention that we finished shooting our commercials for Clem's? The first one was a generic sports spot that UPN will run during Tigers, Wings and Pistons games... it was ok. But the second was absolutely great, and I'm proud to say that I wrote it myself. It has played to rave reviews, although those reviews have all come from friends, family of friends, and loyal customers. Nonetheless... it stars the personable Dan Harris and is on a rotator over at WB, which basically means I have no idea when it will come on. They determine every morning what time the spots will be on, and sometimes fax me a list. Today we were seen during "Elim-i-date" and "Will & Grace". I'm sure there were a great many comic book readers watching those shows.

Actually, though, the spot was written to target the non-comic-book reader and the non-card-game-playing person, to try and get them to come in and give them a look. So for those purposes, it might actually work.

Most of you who know me, also know the affable Russell Brown. Russell has started his own blog, no doubt inspired by my great musings, and those of the other great poets we know who have joined the blogging pantheon. I'm quite sure he just wrote me a few days ago to tell me about it, but his first and only post thus far is dated Monday, May 17th. Hmmmm.

There was actually a fascinating piece last week in Newsweek about blogging, bloggers, and how they are changing the way the world, and even the established media, gets its news. I tried with all my might to find a link to it on their webpage, but it appears that it will be for magazine subscribers only. Sorry. But if you're able to get it, it was in the June 21st issue.

Pudge Rodriguez is leading all AL Catchers in the all-star voting. The last time a Tiger started an All-Star Game was when Big Daddy had to replace Mark McGwire, at the last minute, in 1991. The last Tiger to get voted to a starting position was in 1988 (Tram). So this will be cool.

However, I still have a beef with two other positions in the voting. Compare Carlos Guillen's numbers with those of the other four shortstops leading him in the AL All-Star voting:

Derek Jeter (1st): .255 BA, .315 OBP, 9 HR, 32 RBI
Nomar Garciaparra (2nd): .265 BA, .333 OBP, 0 HR, 3 RBI, has only had 34 AB's
Michael Young (3rd): .326 BA, .364 OBP, 10 HR, 40 RBI
Miguel Tejada (4th): .298 BA, .357 OBP, 10 HR, 51 RBI
Carlos Guillen (5th): .322 BA, .386 OBP, 10 HR, 47 RBI

If the voting was going according to Hoyle, the order should probably be Guillen, Young, Tejada, Jeter, and Garciaparra wouldn't even be on the ballot. On to Point Number Two: compare Alex Sanchez (not even listed among the 15 leaders in the AL All-Star outfield voting) to some of those ahead of him:

Alex Sanchez (not listed): .328 BA, 2 HR, 18 RBI
Gary Sheffield (3rd): .301 BA, 10 HR, 44 RBI
Hideki Matsui (4th): .283 BA, 13 HR, 42 RBI
Johnny Damon (5th): .287 BA, 4 HR, 35 RBI

The first thing that seems to leap out is that folks are looking for power in their all-stars. Home runs are sexy; batting average is not. People would rather watch the long ball than see one of Sanchez's 25 bunts-for-hits. However, Johnny Damon is a leadoff hitter just like Sanchez, and he doesn't have huge power numbers. So the other number that stands out is RBI, and although the Tigers are in the top half of the league in run production, it hasn't been Sanchez that's been knocking them in.

I understand that the All-Star Game voting is a popularity contest, but if Garciaparra and Jeter get put on the team ahead of Young or Sanchez, that is a big-time goof. Garciaparra has been hurt all year, up until a couple weeks ago. Jeter was hitting .189 in the middle of May. I understand that we want to see our favorite players in the game, and I DO remember Ripken's All-Star home run in 2001, when his stats in the first half of the season might not have merited him a spot on a minor league team. Nonetheless, I AM biased, and we're talking about MY guy Guillen now, who just signed a 3-year contract extension with the Tigers for dirt cheaper than he was worth, so I love him, and he deserves to be on this damn All-Star team!!!!!

You can make a difference! Rock the Vote!!

All of you who are not baseball fans tuned out long ago, I know. It's too bad, because you're missing some of my finest work. Go back up and read through my comments again, then come back down here. I'll go back to normal talk now.

Wait, one more sports note. Please? The talk-shows across America have bandied back and forth, the concept of the world champion Detroit Pistons as a truly "team" effort, with no All-Stars in their midst. And that's true. And that salient point received one more explanation point today when the NBA held its expansion draft for the new Charlotte Bobcats, allowing the Bobcats to choose some of their new players from among the lower-tier players from each existing NBA team, that each team had decided to leave exposed for their selection. They didn't pick a single Piston with any of their 19 picks!!! Isn't that nuts?? They didn't even want one of the bench warmers from the NBA championship team, because as individual players, the Pistons aren't much. They're only something as a team.

This one is fascinating: Apparently the players for the Czech Republic national soccer team are required to take an oath of celibacy during the Euro2004 championship. After clinching a quarterfinal berth, I guess they earned themselves a nice little reward: lots of sex.

One last question: how does William Hung make the Forbes 100 Celebrity list?

Pathetic irony

2004-06-21T01:40:00.000-04:00

Just found this interesting tidbit. The DNC is throwing a little celebration, on the first night of their convention in Boston, to commemorate the party contributions of Ted Kennedy. That salute will take place on July 26th... which also happens to be the 35th anniversary of the whole Chappaquiddick fiasco. Nice.

If you ever want to read more about that whole mess, and you have an hour or two to spare, this website is pretty comprehensive. It doesn't even pretend to come off as unbiased, but given all the evidence, it would still be hard to argue the point.

Will blog more tomorrow...

Yeah, I had a 2:00 appointment...

2004-06-17T17:43:00.000-04:00

This just in - a black bear triggered one of those sensors that automatically opens the door when you approached this hospital in Utah. So this 300-pound bear is just wandering through the hospital. Eventually it meandered into a computer room and they shut the doors behind it. They couldn't figure out a way to sedate it, so an officer eventually just shot it. I'll bet we'll be hearing from PETA over that one. Anyway... I just thought it was a funny picture, so I thought I'd share.

Undone

2004-06-17T00:27:00.000-04:00

Tonight I only paid 1.81 for a gallon of gas. Actually, I bought 9.5 gallons of gas, so my savings just increased!! It was like a little party there at the gas station.

Some of you may not believe this, knowing me as you do, but for a short while there I was really kicking the pop habit. I was down to maybe one or two a week, sometimes even less than that. I just drank more water, fruit juice, gatorade, and yes, a bit more beer. And people would say to me, "That's great!! Don't you feel 3 times healthier?" And I would pause, give their question the thought it deserved, and reply honestly, "No."

I felt exactly the same. No additional energy, no more or less emotional or depressed, nothing really. So I don't feel quite so bad, now that I'm back to more like 1-2 a day. I'm sure I will come to my senses soon and regulate it a little better, but, yeah... the habit is back.

Currently in the Black Beauty CD player: Mercy Me's new CD, Undone. The title track is a great worship song, I think, although Wetzel will probably say it sounds too middle-aged. Remember that great worship CD from Phillips, Craig & Dean, Jamie? Anyway, you can listen to it (part of it) at that link up there, and you can find the chords to it here... it's easy to play.

Some speculation that Tom Izzo is looking at an NBA job, but he apparently denied it. Unlike the old MSU football coach, Nick Saban, I believe Izzo. Saban would deny he was interested in other jobs every winter, even though he'd be interviewing for every NBA and NCAA vacancy that came up. You just knew the guy was lying right to your face. I think Izzo wants to stay. I also think that Izzo had a lot to do with convincing his buddy Steve Mariucci to come back to Michigan to coach the Lions, and it would be a little hypocritical now to leave the state, so quickly after singing the praises of living here. Yeah, the guy's got a right to search for a better job, but who's going to argue that coaching the Raptors would be a better gig than the Spartans?

I know you are all asking... here are two of the books that I was anxious to read this week. Both of them were well worth the hype. Ultimate Fantastic Four #7, written by Warren Ellis. And Ex Machina #1, written by Brian K. Vaughan.

We shot the TV commercial in the store today, the one that I had "written". The featured star was Dan Harris... I think he was great, I'll let you all know how it came out.

"The Battle of Normandy, Invasion or Liberation?". Unbelievable.

And lastly, this.... nothing like using tragedy for all it's politically worth. Incidentally, the below advertising campaign was NOT sponsored by anyone with Bush '04.

Pouch

2004-06-14T19:18:00.000-04:00

It's been, what, four days or so since my last post? I'm getting as bad at this as Ben Brown... you guys will have to keep me a little more accountable.

What to do, what to say? I know there have been about a half-dozen times over the last weekend that I said to myself, "I should blog about this", but now I can't remember any of the events that prompted that statement. What do you think of the new layout, color scheme. Yes, it is Tigers oriented. It was originally mauve and green. I literally spent close to an our trying to figure out how to change the style sheets (I never learned style sheets when I was into web design, they just came into "style" when I was getting out of the game). But I am a much smarter man for the time I spent on it, and the end result is what you see here. Please feel free to suggest other changes, so that I can consider them and discard them.

Last night was, of course, exciting to watch the Pistons draw within a game of the national championship. No one expected this. Very few expected a sweep by the Lakers, but very few expected anything more than one or two wins for the Pistons. Including myself. I've been really surprised at how well we match up, how well Kobe has been shut down, how completely stifled anyone not named O'NEAL has been. Tayshaun Prince came to this series to play, so did Billups after a disappearing act against the Pacers.

It's been tremendous to watch, and it's just really weird to think that next year we will be the Team To Beat. The Defending National Champs. For some reason it almost doesn't seem to hang on us right, it feels like we should always be playing from behind.

One thing I've noted for future consideration - I love my friends dearly, but I really need to watch these games, at least the Finals games, in the company of either other basketball fans, or no one at all. All the hubbub going on around me really takes away from my ability to watch, and last night I had no idea why Phil Jackson got a tech, or Kobe Bryant got a tech, or other things like that because I couldn't hear the announcers. I am a selfish, spoiled sports spectator. I have no problem with that.

I am up to 160 games played in Settlers online... Have you still not downloaded it?

Hey, I just want to throw this out there... I need a new little leather pouch for my Palm Pilot. I used to have one, then I went to one of those bigger things that can hold your Pilot, your phone, your credit cards, television, satellite, etc. Except I don't like it anymore. Plus I just got these really good new pants, cheap too, that have these pockets down on the sides that I would be able to fit my Pilot into. So I want the leather pouch thingy back to protect it. Can't find my old one. Anybody got one they're not using anymore?

OK. A lot of blogging ink is being spilled over the Christian Exodus site. This gives me the perfect opportunity to link to another new blog that you're gonna love... Regan Clem!! Regan is one of the most thoughtful persons I know. In fact, he thinks way too much. So if you like thinking, you'll like reading his blog. He's also entertaining when he's got a little sugar in him. But I specifically want you to read this entry, as it is directly related to my field of occupation. It's about the role of the Christian in the world of gaming (not video games), such as Magic, D&D, etc. Although not a big D&D fan, I know nothing about it, I still come down on the side of gaming, of course, or I wouldn't be doing the job I'm doing. Read Regan's post. Tell me what you think. Or tell Regan what you think, and I'll read your post over there. No reason for you to have to type it twice. Unless you Ctrl+C it and then paste it.... ah, brglflickle.

Speaking of comments, you should feel free to comment on this blog for no particular reason at all. You can post anonymously if you don't feel like signing up for a stupid account, and then just put your name at the end of your rant. Or you can get an account, as Regan felt compelled to do, since he didn't want to remain anonymous. But it's nice to know the people that are stopping by. Especially if you're a stranger.

This post is getting away from me. I think I'm rambling. So how about this.... The Supreme Court overturned Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, keeping "one nation under God" in the Pledge of allegiance. It's really just academic to me... The Bush administration had heavily pushed for this decision, and its given reason was that the reference to God in the pledge is more about ceremony and history than about religion. That may have just been Bush using whatever argument was necessary to keep the line, but that mode of rationale just tells you that the phrase isn't being kept for the same reasons that it was originally installed.

Tigers got flattened by the "D-Train" yesterday. Dontrelle Willis is performing almost exactly as well as he did in his Rookie-Of-The-Year season in 2003. He's averaging roughly the same amount of innings per start, same ERA, same WHIP, same W/L ratio. His strikeouts per 9 are down a little, he may be learning to use his fielders a little more. Other than that, this guy might be a very consistent pitcher for years to come. Except for those playoff appearances.... hmmm. At least those don't count against my fantasy stats.

Geneva

2004-06-10T11:22:00.000-04:00

I'm wearing a watch, and it feels a little weird. I've never been much a watch person. But this guy walked into my store last week with what seemed like a really good deal... nice Geneva watches, with their own little box and everything, ten bucks. He's selling them door-to-door. Something about how his company bought a ton of them, and now they're trying to move them out, blah, blah, blah. It's probably hot.

Anyway, it sure looks like a nice watch. I'll have to wait and see if it holds together for more than a month.

It's College Friends week here for me... just a call from the reputable Joe Moleski, who will be here on Tuesday for a meeting, and will hang around to play soccer and watch the NBA Finals that night. And the ever-cool Eric Vitz is going to be here on Saturday. He wants to go disc-golfing, but as I previously blogged, I'm a little apprehensive about my ability to do that right now without blowing my top.

Regan wanted me to link to christianexodus.com (I think he found this link on Jamie's blog), a website that is being setup for American Christians to band together and create a separate country within the borders of South Carolina.

It is evident that the U.S. Constitution has been abandoned under our current federal system, and the efforts of Christian activism to restore our Godly republic have proven futile over the past three decades. The time has come for Christians to withdraw our consent from the current federal government and reestablish the sovereign Christian nation of South Carolina.

Didn't some people try this back around the late 1800's? Wasn't there some kind of war?

Finally, in tribute to the great Ronald Reagan, who really just isn't getting enough news coverage the last couple of days, I offer to you this comprehensive list of comic books in which he appeared. A man can know no greater honor than this.

It's the People, stupid

2004-06-08T18:55:00.000-04:00

A quick update to my story a few weeks ago of the singing hot dog man at Comerica Park. Apparently the Tigers are calling all the season ticket holders in the lower section behind home plate (the hot dog man's sections) to poll whether or not he should be allowed to sing. The protests have come so vehemently from Tigers fans since his silencing, that they want to do right by at least the paying customers.

Boiling Point

2004-06-07T18:22:00.000-04:00

As I was flipping channels last night before I went to bed, I came across a show on MTV called "Boiling Point". Have you ever seen this show? They deliberately test the patience of an unsuspecting average Joe or Jill, to see how long they can hold out before blowing up.

For example - last night they put a girl behind the register at a drug store, and told her she needed to take at least 10 minutes to ring somebody out. She would have trouble scanning barcodes, call for price checks, accidentally charge the debit card twice, call for a manager to void out an item, and then ask you to please put your items back on the shelf, when you decided that it wasn't worth the trouble. Two people finally lost it and told the clerk, in less polite terms, to mate with herself. The third person, though losing her patience, actually made it through the ten minutes, and then they brought in the balloons and the video cameras, told her they were from MTV, and handed her a hundred bucks for "winning".

The sad thing is, I'm picturing myself in this situation, and I know I wouldn't last the ten minutes. That is, I don't think I would use the language, but I would probably eventually put on my scathing attitude, which is just as bad a witness as using obscenities. I wonder how often God puts me into "Boiling Point" situations to try to get me to learn how to chill out. Or how often I put myself into them. Or how often the devil puts me into them, just to get me pissed off. But that's a whole new theological conversation... I welcome, you, the readers, to hypothesize.

Speaking of MTV.... The MTV Movie Awards. Is there a greater display of excess in any other "formal" awards situation? And... look, I didn't mind KILL BILL VOL 1. I thought it was unnecessarily gory, but if you sit down to watch a Quentin Tarantino movie, you have to know what you're signing up for. But seriously... Was Uma Thurman honestly a Best Female Performance candidate? Was there some serious acting and dialogue in that movie, because all I remember is three hours of swordplay!

I don't think that the Academy "nails it" every time when it comes to Oscar nominees, but I don't recall seeing BILL nominated for anything this year. Does Uma Thurman's combined total of fifteen minutes' acting really beat out all of the Oscar nominees, like Naomi Watts in 21 GRAMS and Diane Keaton in SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE? Even the most cynical among us, I think, would have to say no. This is actually much more the territory of my friend Eric, but I do think that I at least know my butt from my elbow when it comes to this sort of stuff.

Enough rants for today... here's my last two links.

This article on Yahoo Sports does a good job of summarizing all the problems facing the NHL, and why we could be without any pro action for a season or two, while they try to hammer all these things out.

Tom Brokaw interviews George Bush... Didn't see it on TV, but here's the full script. One question that some of you have been asking me about is made pretty clear, at least from the president's standpoint:

Brokaw: During World War II, FDR had the draft. He could summon as many men and women as he needed to serve in the armed forces.

Bush: Right.

Brokaw: Some people are beginning to believe that the United States is going to need the draft again, because we're putting such a strain not only on a regular military, but also on the reserve forces and on the National Guard. As you do your projections, do you think that the draft will ever return to America?

Bush: No.

Brokaw: Think it's a bad idea?

Bush: I do. I think the volunteer force is necessary and been the model of efficiency.

Status Quo

2004-06-04T16:50:00.000-04:00

I've discovered that there will be two types of posts, if I am to maintain a steady blog... the first is the well-thought out, heavily linked, pretty pictures, sit-down-and-spend-some-time post. The second is more along the lines of what this present post will be: a quick entry, on the fly, with no direction clearly laid out. Just a little something so that I feel "updated".

I just spent twenty minutes trying to hang a mirror in our store's bathroom. You're not going to see me as a pitchman for Home Depot in my lifetime, but I'm enough of a problem-solver that I can do simple jobs like this. However, this was a mirror that I got for free from a friend (thanks Faith!), so I didn't really take a long look at it before. It has absolutely no way of mounting it. So I had to get all improvizational up in here. Izzat a word? Also, the mirror is huge in proportion to the size of our relatively small customer bathroom. Small sink, little room to maneuver, then you look up at yourself in the mirror, and WOW.... you're a movie star. You're bigger than life.

I feel like I should offer some comment today on George Tenet's resignation, or the NBA Finals matchup, etc. But I can't. I gotta go. See, I'm going over to Ash and Kelly Harris' house for dinner. And I'm taking another married woman (Hey Crystal!) with me. What's it called when 95% of the women you enjoy spending time with, are either married or have boyfriends? For me, status quo. And that's fine.

Am

2004-06-02T23:53:00.000-04:00

Many of you don't know this, but I have actually spent the last year learning how to play the guitar. The acoustical guitar, anyway. There's actually a good story behind it. When Brian Carter (who is returning to Lansing in a month, by the way!) left for graduate work about four years ago, I convinced him that I was serious about learning the guitar, and he left me his very own instrument, the one that he used for many years to lead the way in the Shepherd's Pie band. It's a nice guitar, a Fender. Of course, right after he left, I lost interest. About a year ago, for some reason, I really felt badly about not playing, especially in light of his gift to me. So I started up again.

I hear you saying, "Wow, a year now! You must be pretty good!". Not so fast, champ. When you practice an average of about ten minutes a day, progress doesn't come quickly. But it does come. I'm doing pretty good on it, but I still haven't got the nerve to play in front of any groups of people... I want to be mostly flawless when I do. So I'm holding back. And then one of these days I will just appear on the scene, BAMM, the reincarnation of Eddie Van Halen, and take the world by storm.

New comics this week got pushed back by a day because of Memorial Day, so we get our shipment tomorrow. I know none of you really care, since I am mostly alone in my appreciation of the graphic novel, but if you ever give me the chance, I will show you the light. Anyway, I'm looking forward to reading this and this.

I'll go ahead and warn you now, the rest of this post will be about sports. For all my fellow bloggers who are utterly convinced that the Pistons will be waylaid by LA (and I did rhyme that on purpose), I provide you now a link here to a columnist who isn't so sure, and to the Sportsline matchup page here, which gives LA only a slight advantage. I'm picking LA in 6, but I think the Pistons will only lose one game big. The rest will be tight. My roommate thinks that Memo+the Wallaces will be sufficient inside game to give LA headaches, but Memo has barely even played this series, so you have a cold shooter who doesn't like to get physical, making his first appearance in the Finals. And Sheed has been offensively inconsistent, good foot or bad foot.

Great start tonight by Jason Johnson!! Almost eight innings of scoreless ball. Nine hits and 3 strikeouts don't look fabulous, but this does: zero walks. 108 pitches. That's what we got this guy for: eat up innings, save the bullpen, keep us in the game. Pudge getting scratched from the game because of inflammation in his right wrist is a little scary, though. At least it's not his back.

Jim Callis speculates that the Tigers are looking at Homer Bailey in the draft this year, a high school pitcher. That's assuming that Jared Weaver (yes, Jeff's brother) isn't still there at the No.2 pick. It was originally assumed that a college pitcher named Justin Verlander would be the top pick, but his stock has dropped like a rock in the last couple weeks after a shaky finish to his college season at OD. WHY are we still fascinated with taking high school pitchers in the first round? 75% of them never get past AAA, because you can't judge a pitcher's ability to handle a workload after he's started in about 10 games max, against high school hitters. The high school pitchers who make the bigs, are all late-round picks, when it's less risky to use picks on potential.

Finally, an amusing quote from Baseball Prospectus on the Tigers' flirtation with .500 (an even record) starting to fade into the rear view mirror:

.500 is a girl who used to like you
.500 is a puppy who ran away
.500 is a car that wonÂt run anymore
.500 is a cushy job you used to have

Se la vie, .500...We hardly knew ya.

Passwords

2004-06-01T11:01:00.000-04:00

Have you ever gotten to the point where you finally realize that you have way too many passwords? I keep a master list of passwords on my Palm Pilot for every internet service that I sign up for, and it's easily about 50 entries long now. All of my passwords are basically a derivation of the same root word, but I can never remember which version of my password that I used from website to website. A random listing of some of the websites that I have passwords for, just because I know that somebody out there finds this to be fascinating reading:

The bank. I pay all my bills online now! It really is as easy as the commercials make it look. You know, the one where the lady pays her bills while she's waiting for her microwave popcorn.

Classmates.com. Yes, I finally clicked on these banners that run rampant all over the internet, and looked up my high school graduating class. The funny thing is, probably about 75% of my class is on there... apparently everyone still has the basic curiosity I do about what became of everyone else. But if you want to send email, you have to pay a fee... haven't gone that far yet. Even if I do, who's to say that the recipients of my mail have paid their twenty dollars, and can write me back?

Random message boards all across the web, that I sign up for thinking that I will have the time and the persistance to become a regular poster, then after a week, I never visit again.

I just signed up for something yesterday... what was it? Oh, yeah - a page counter for this blog! Even now, I can't remember which password I chose for the counter.

As if falling four games under .500 weren't bad enough, the Tigers have pulled another boneheaded move this week, in my humble opinion. You know the hot dog guy that works the area behind home plate, the one who always belts out an operatic number every half hour or so? Apparently on the basis of a handful of complaints, the Tiger have silenced the singing hot dog guy. This censorship must not stand! The singing hot dog guy has been a part of Comerica Park since it opened, as much a part of the ballpark experience as the ferris wheel or that dirt track to the mound. When you listen to Tiger games on the radio, you can hear him singing. When you rent the MVP 2004 baseball game for the X-box, you can hear him singing in the background when you play at Comerica! How can they turn this guy off?

Thankfully, my friends, we have recourse. Sign this petition today!

As for the actual ballteam, it was pretty disappointing to see Mike Maroth's outing get ruined in the 9th inning the other day. Maroth used to have a lot of control problems, but lately he's really been getting straightened out, and on Sunday he only allowed one walk in seven innings. He was in line for the win until Ugey Urbina imploded. Urbina's gotta get more work if he's going to be effective - I haven't seen him pitch very much lately.

No ideas?

2004-05-28T12:45:00.000-04:00

Not a single good commercial idea among the lot of you? Disappointing... (see yesterday's post).

Carlos Pena was 6-for-6 yesterday, setting a club record for hits in a 9-inning game, as the Tigers beat the Royals 17-7. This is a guy I have really been pulling for this year, but his average had dropped down to .204, going into yesterday's game. He raised it over 30 points with that performance. One thing I've really been disappointed with so far this year is how poorly our carry-over players from last year, have hit alongside our new acquisitions. Batting averages for starters through yesterday's games:

NEW PLAYERS
Rondell White - .327
Ivan Rodriguez - .322
Carlos Guillen - .311
Fernando Vina - .226

OLD PLAYERS
Brandon Inge - .286
Bobby Higginson - .280
Carlos Pena - .236
Eric Munson - .190

Inge has been a great surprise, and Dmitri Young was hitting well before he went on the DL. But a good baseball team, even an average baseball team, needs better production from the corners than Pena and Munson have shown. It's going to be tough to contend next year if we still have to replace both of those guys.

Off my baseball soapbox. If you haven't come across it yet, this should go down as one of the Links Of The Year. David Wong imagines what a real-time-strategy video game simulation might look like, for the war in Iraq, including a liberal press, celebrity loudmouths, and Abu Gharib.

I think I'll leave work at 2 today. It doesn't look like it yet, but it's supposed to be a nice day. Isn't it splendid that I can just knock off work whenever I want to? Don't I have a nice life? Praise be to the Lord who provides 4-hour workdays. I might go disc golfing today, but I've been getting really frustrated my last few times out. I still can't generate any good distance on my drives, and it seems like I should be able to by now! Maybe I'll just go regular golfing... like that will be any less stressful.

Changing

2004-05-27T15:22:00.000-04:00

You may notice that I've added some links down the right side... a few of my daily blogs. I usually don't have the time to read all of those baseball and politic blogs everyday, but if I do have the time, that's where I like to visit regularly.

I'm a little frustrated right now because the Tigers are playing an afternoon game in Kansas City, and it's not televised. Seems like the day games would be the most opportune time to broadcast a game, because you'd probably gain ratings over your reruns of "The Parkers" (UPN) or an episode of "Bluetorch" (Fox Sports Detroit). Nevertheless, the game is not on, so I have to refresh the box score page every twenty minutes to see what's going on. Good pitching by Nate Robertson so far.

You'll almost never see a post from me on a Wednesday because of new comics - I think I talked about that before. Yesterday we got a new issue of "Superman", which is all the rage right now because of the artist. If you've never heard of Jim Lee, check out his recent Superman art here and here to see what the fuss is about.

That reminds me. We're having ABC-53 come out to our store next Thursday to shoot a commercial. We're not going to be running it on TV a ton, at least not initially, due to cash. But it will be the tape they keep on hand for when we want to be on TV a little more. If I choose to, I can have total creative control over what kind of commercial we do, or I can just have their ad department whip something simple up. I'd like to do a funny commercial as opposed to just your basic "Visit Clem's Collectibles!" bit. So.... anybody got any good ideas for a commercial? Here's your chance to drop me some comments!!

Evening plans?

2004-05-25T11:06:00.000-04:00

I'll probably post more later, but for right now, I'm going to fish for some comments here... there are certain people out there that I know read this blog regularly. Two of you are planning on purchasing the Return Of The King DVD today. Is it possible there could be a screening tonight at the Bunce Home Movie Theatre? Let me know...

SportsCenter reported this morning that the Cubs record for players placed on the Disabled List in a single season, is 16 players in 1970. This year, they are already up to 9. Kerry Wood will now be out for another couple weeks, it looks like. But take heart... Mark Prior makes ANOTHER rehab start here in Lansing tonight, and yes, of course I will be there.

Last night's game was a great win, but seriously, the Pistons had SO MANY good looks at the basket that they couldn't hit. That game didn't need to be as dramatic as it was.

Hopefully you were able to see George Bush's speech last night, but if you didn't, there is a full text here. Be sure and read it... I personally think he hit a home run, although I'm sure there are many in our polarized political atmosphere who will discredit every concept he put forth. I know that I am also partisan... but I like to think that I am still capable of independant thought. We have certainly made mistakes in Iraq, but I like this plan going forward. It's easy for some to see the war as a political football instead of a true war against terrorism, but I am with W on this:

The return of tyranny to Iraq would be an unprecedented terrorist victory and a cause for killers to rejoice. It would also embolden the terrorists, leading to more bombings, more beheadings and more murders of the innocent around the world.

The rise of a free and self-governing Iraq will deny terrorists a base of operation, discredit their narrow ideology and give momentum to reformers across the region.

This will be a decisive blow to terrorism at the heart of its power and a victory for the security of America and the civilized world.

8:40 update

2004-05-24T20:42:00.000-04:00

Pistons are down 17-12 after the first quarter. Rasheed Wallace, who guaranteed a Game 2 victory, is 0-6 with a turnover. Little less talk, little more walk, 'Sheed!!

Settlers

2004-05-24T19:45:00.000-04:00

Yes, yes, I know, I'm long overdue for an entry here. You know, I can't tell you much of anything that I did last weekend, I just know I didn't have time to blog.

As I blog, I'm playing a game of Settlers. For those of you who do not know of this delightful German board game, you need to learn it. Unlike Monopoly or other board games, it has infinite replay value, since the board is different every time you play. Yes, infinite.... we WILL be playing this game in heaven. But anyway, right now I'm playing online. An online game takes about a half hour to play. Please don't judge me when I tell you that I have now played about 140 online games. But that's over the course of about a year. So that's not bad, right?

Today I returned about 90 pop cans that kids have drank out of at our store. Disgusting. I also left the trash bag full of cans sitting in our kitchen last night, since I had something else in my trunk. So this morning there was a parade of ants across our floor. I am so un-domesticated. I am also in so much trouble with my roommate when he reads this. Damn these blogs!

I have some days when I think that our store is going to do just fine in Grand Ledge, and I have other days when I think that we'll probably go under in about another year, and I'll have to go back to the job market. Today was a "better update my resume" kind of day. But I guess that all I can do, is all I can do. I just keep praying that our business honors God, and that he blesses us for it. It worked for Regan in Defiance!

Time for the links, cause I know you all love em! First of all, you'll be proud to know that because of me, our blogging legions grow. Eric Vitz, our college bud who is now working for Indiana-Purdue of Fort Wayne, has, at my insistence, started a blog. He's a good writer (and preacher!)... you should enjoy it.

Game 2 between the Pacers and Pistons is just tipping off, and I'll be watching it in a sec, and probably blogging my frustration when Detroit drops another close one. But if you want to read a good piece of sportswriting, Mitch Albom's column about Ben Wallace, from back in April, is excellent. I just found it today.

Apparently the Red Rocks is falling apart, so Coldplay, REM, and U2 are all going to help save it... this looks like a pretty good album!

Later....

Delayed reaction

2004-05-21T10:21:00.000-04:00

Here's a situation that I'm sure almost every guy reading this blog will appreciate. I, of course, wanted to watch the Pistons Game 7 last night (for those who don't know, it was a VERY important game). But I wasn't able to actually be there when the game was going on, so I programmed the VCR to tape it. Which means that I spent the rest of the night avoiding all possible televsion, radio or internet reports that might let me know what had happened. You want to be able to watch a taped game, and still have the suspense of not knowing if you won or lost.

It didn't go down like this yesterday, but the worst is when all your buddies KNOW that you taped the game, and they already watched it, and they will toy with you, try and tell you what happened without telling you everything, "accidentally" linger on ESPN when they're flipping through channels with you, etc.

I felt like Jerry Seinfeld in that one episode, where he answers every phone call this way: "If you know what happened in the Mets game don't tell me, I taped it. Hello?"

I also got to see Mark Prior pitch last night at Oldsmobile Park. I would have seen all three of his innings, but I got stuck behind a TRAIN!!!! There is NEVER a train that holds you up when you've got nowhere in particular to be, or just have extra time to kill. The trains only come when you're late.

It still doesn't look like we're going to get any gas price relief anytime soon. What I'm really getting sick of is seeing John Kerry in the news, blasting the president for his "lack of action" on gas prices. There isn't a damn thing that W can do about gas prices, and there's nothing that Kerry could do either. But since most of America knows nothing but the $2 price tag at the pumps, Kerry is content to prey on their ignorance. We can't use our reserves... we're still trying to get them back to the levels they were at before the energy crisis of the last few years. We can't force the petroleum coalition to take the hit, more than half the cost of gas is still determined by OPEC's production. And we can't force OPEC to increase production, the entire world is already leaning on them, and they're still holding steady. Kerry is a major ignoramus.

Discipline

2004-05-20T14:40:00.000-04:00

To my masses of blog readers, I must apologize for my poor blogging self-discipline. What a crappy week it has been. Without going into a lot of details, I just haven't been myself, and I've also been keeping pretty busy on-the-job, which as we all know, is far and away the best time to blog.

New comic days on Wednesdays are always pretty busy. I have to swing out to South Lansing and pick up the boxes at the UPS hub. Then bring them back here and spend a few hours with Josh and Alec, sorting them, checking our invoices, looking for damages, bagging and boarding them, getting them all checked into the computer (EVERY new issue gets its own part #), and organized on the wall. Dan Harris will show up around 12:45, and we get lunch, then I have to run store-related errands til around 3. Then back here, and taking care of email and other such "paperwork" until I feel I've got enough done that I can leave.

A very good friend of mine is leaving town today, for the summer... that's got me down. Gray skies and sad country music in the CD player just perpetuate the mood, which I sometimes like to just wallow in. My friend Crystal was also having a tough time yesterday, but it looks like she's turned around... maybe the chicken sandwich I'm about to have for lunch, and the televised Tiger game at 3:30, will move things along.

If you saw any of the dust-up last week from the Tim Russert interview of Colin Powell, you might get a kick out of reading this...

Green can

2004-05-17T11:34:00.000-04:00

Didn't have time to stop at Beaner's on my way in this morning (woke up late!), so I purchased a can of Mountain Dew upon my arrival at work. NOT the same. Which prompted me to compose this list of best and worst times to have a Mountain Dew:

Best:
1) 4am in the morning, when you wake up, and for some unknown reason, you're just really thirsty
2) With a Jersey Giant (for those of you that don't know, this describes a sandwich, not a large person from Newark)
3) With a pizza

Worst:
1) When you just had one an hour ago, and you're just going to nurse the second one until it's warm
2) When it's warm
3) First thing in the morning (it actually kind of makes me feel sick; is there a title for this condition?)

Pistons win, Tigers win, I've got work to do, so that'll do it for now. Maybe I'll write more later for you millions who are checking in today.

Triple OT

2004-05-14T23:56:00.000-04:00

Watch the Pistons game with Scott Monette and assorted kiddies from his youth group. The graduate reception was pretty cool. I got to make fun of Jason Vance in front of about 50 people.

OK, technically, if you watched them play, you HAVE to agree that the Pistons should have lost this game in regulation, and in each of the 3 overtimes. They only had a lead for a few seconds of one of the overtimes... they were playing from behind almost the entire time. Their perimeter defense was terrible. And Rip Hamilton had already fouled out by the time the overtimes started.

Despite all that, they hung around, but ultimately lost. And here are the two questions I am left with:
How does a backup center who averages 3 points a game, and shoots 24% beyond the arc, make FOUR of FOUR three-pointers in playoff overtime?
Why didn't Mehmet Okur play at ALL in overtime... even when both the Wallaces fouled out? Why were we playing Darvin Ham over Okur??

Levin

2004-05-14T13:34:00.000-04:00

I found this quote on the internet regarding Carl Levin's questioning of Donald Rumsfeld the other day. Although the line of reasoning is a little outlandish, the general point still stands. At the same time, there has to be SOME line of accountability! If one of my employees here in the store is abusive to a customer, sooner or later the line of checks goes back through me, and ultimately to the owner of the business. I am responsible for my employees, and the owner is responsible for me. So I guess I don't know where I stand on this whole thing. Here is the quote:

"I was so furious at Carl Levin for questioning Rumsfeld in that self-righteous way that I tried to find out about prison conditions in Michigan. I found out that in 1996, Michigan was one of five states investigated by Human Rights Watch which found out about sexual assault and other abuses by the prison guards. Though I live in Ohio, I wrote Carl Levin suggesting that maybe the prison guards had raped women prisoners on his orders, since he was trying to imply during his questioning of the Secretary of Defense that Rumsfeld and President Bush must have given the orders for the Iraq prison guards to abuse the prisoners."

Graduates

2004-05-14T10:00:00.000-04:00

Today I only work until about 2pm, and then I have an Alumni Association meeting at 2:30, followed later in the day by the Graduate Reception at 7pm. Since the Reception thing is presented by the Association, I have to be there. Don't get me wrong, it's usually a nice evening, but it's not as much fun when you don't know many of the students. Not to mention the fact that the Pistons Game 5 playoff game is on tonight.

Rush Limbaugh may sometimes use twisted logic to come to his conclusions, but his show is not crude, and at worst he refer to his opponents, in different ways, as unintelligent. So compare that reality with the new Air America liberal radio now taking root. It's like trying to have an honest discussion of an issue, with someone who just repeats the phrase "You're stupid".

Did you SEE the end of the Lakers-Spurs game yesterday? Things like that are totally the reason that I watch sports. I didn't see it on Sportscenter, I saw it live, when it happened, and I could not believe my eyes. Same thing with Alex Cora's home run off Matt Clement the other night, after he had fouled off 14 pitches in a row. Truly amazing.

More later when I feel like it.....

Current Terror Alert Level

Coffee

2004-05-13T11:33:00.013-04:00

For many years, I abhorred coffee. Vile, bitter stuff... I tried it more than a few times, thinking I must be missing something since everyone else drinks coffee. And since it's so cheap, relatively speaking, and readily available everywhere you go, it would be in my best interests to like coffee. But it never took.

Now, for some reason, it's on. A friend of mine made me start drinking it several months ago, and now I'm finding that there is NOTHING that has ever worked to really get me going in the morning like a cup of joe. I stop in at Beaner's on my way to the store every morning to chat with Austin for a minute and refill my mug. It honestly does work like a charm. And it costs a dollar.

OK, WOW, I've got a good story to tell. Just five seconds ago, the mail lady brought me a package that's been forwarded a couple of times since it was addressed to me at the mall. It came from the Dominican Republic, where my friend Tim lives, and where he directed our mission group that went there in February. I spent a few mornings bending these unholy metal bars (is it called ribar?) into rectangular shapes that eventually would help hold the concrete that we poured on the roof, into place. It was difficult to really get these things perfect, and Jason Vance and I would keep track of our best ones.

Well, my best one got accidentally bumped into a big tank of water sitting nearby, and I guess Tim recently found it when they emptied the tank. He mailed it to me. He MAILED it to me!! I wish everybody could have the kind of friends I have. In no other area of my life like this one, the Lord has truly blessed me. Sometimes people ask me if my education at a Christian college was really worth the tremendous student loan debt I have now, especially since I wound up in retail. I would pay five times my debt just to insure that I had the kind of friends that I made at that college.

(Well, I wouldn't PAY it... I would creatively defer it for fifteen years, as I have done so far.)

Some of you wonder how I can take such an interest in comics... aren't comics for kids? Well, having the benefit of working here, I can tell you that some of the best writers in the world aren't on the NYT bestsellers list, they're in comics. You want to talk about a tough job? Try writing Superman... read this Time article and tell me what you think.

Whether it was a good move or not for the athletic department, I still think this is stupid. The Syracuse Orangemen and Orangewomen, a great mascot tradition in college sports, will henceforth be known as simply The Orange, thanks to a deal with Nike. Some fans think this is selling out, some don't, but like the changeover in Hawaii a couple years ago (from the Rainbow Warriors to The Warriors), the march for political correctness hastens forward... I did like this quote from the op piece:

As far as anyone "selling out" or "being in bed with Nike," how can trying to update your logo, colors and uniforms with the assistance of one of the nation's most recognized brands be considered "selling out?" SU has a long and fruitful relationship with Nike. Getting upset at SU for "being in bed" with Nike is like getting upset at a man for being in bed with his wife of 15 years.

The Tigers lost another one-run game last night, which is disappointing, but the bullpen has showed a lot of mettle in the last few days. During the 15-inning marathon on Tuesday night, the telcast showed a graphic that displayed how the Tigers bullpen had dropped their ERA almost a full run, just with their first eight innnings of work that night. Which probably speaks more to their mediocrity thus far, then it does to their performance on Tuesday.

Air conditioning

2004-05-12T12:07:00.000-04:00

It's supposed to get up to about 80 degrees+ today, so I'm wondering what else can be done to cool down my store. We have an air conditioning vent that runs down the whole left side of the store, but it seems to be insufficient. A few well-placed box fans sound nice, but with people reading comic books and playing card games around here, they could turn out to be a big hassle, maybe blowing stuff around.

I like walking down the street here in Grand Ledge to the bank. In the mall, I always had to drive to the bank. Here, everything is within walking distance. I have to cross a couple of streets... I also like to jaywalk because it makes me feel like a big-city guy who can just do whatever the hell he wants in this little town. Your feeble village rules mean nothing to me. I'm from D-Town, fools!! Well, the suburbs.

I can't figure out if I'm too doggedly conservative, or if John McCain is really just getting close to jumping the fence over to the Democrats. My first tendency is to criticize his flirtation with John Kerry, and to suspect his occasional criticisms of Republicans as just being the proclamations of a guy who couldn't win his party's nomination 4 years ago. But at the same time, I kinda like the guy and respect independant thought that doesn't just follow the party line. Anyway, that was all brought on this morning by this.....

Rain and soccer

2004-05-11T11:35:00.000-04:00

Looking forward to 7pm, at which time I shall run and play outdoors for the first time this year. And then I probably won't get to do it again for another week.... nice weather, eh?

And while I'm doing good news, hope you're not planning on paying less than two bucks a gallon this summer, because it doesn't look like OPEC is going to be moving much.

Last week I ate at the second "local establishment" here in Grand Ledge, in as many weeks. At both of these diners (bars) I was limited to ONE refill on my pop for lunch, and told that this is the norm for any restaraunt. Are you kidding me? Has anyone else ever heard of any such restrictions? Is the independant food service industry banding together for a crackdown on fountain soda? If so, that's called an ANTI-TRUST VIOLATION, my friends!!

Phil Jackson's playoff record is 167-63 ALL-TIME. Is that unbelievable? 100 more wins than losses? That's a 73% winning percentage... any other coach would be happy with 60%. The eternal debate will be whether he would have that record without Jordan, Shaq or Kobe, but think about what he's had to handle. Even tonight, the guy basically has to come up with three different game plans for the Spurs... because of Kobe being on trial in Colorado, he's either got:
1) A full-strength Kobe
2) A tired, half-strength Kobe
3) No Kobe
And he won't even know what he's got until probably an hour before game-time.

Getting started

2004-05-10T23:37:00.000-04:00

As all other efforts in my life to stay consistently organized (journaling, datebooks, prayer life) have fallen short, I am skeptical that I will have the staying power necessary to keep this blog interesting.

However, I'll try anyway. And there you have the stunning introduction.

It rained so hard today that there was a diving board constructed for the dip in the middle of West Michigan Ave. The water in that "puddle" came up past the floorboards of my car. Naturally, my Saturn coupe is perfectly constructed to hold the water out and keep me nice and dry. Still, they should fix that dip though. Then I can spend all summer complaining about the hindering construction on West Michigan Ave.

Still having a hard time believing the Tigers blew a 10-run lead the other night. I mean, yeah, they're pitching sucks right now, but 10 runs in one inning? Or, more to the point, 18 runs in one inning (by the Tigers and Rangers combined)? If you really want a good laugh, look at the poor soul who tried to keep score of this game:

Besides, if our bullpen is so lousy, what's wrong with calling up a few of these guys up? Can't do any worse than Al Levine...