Beanie

So at the beginning of the year I wrote a little something about one Chris "beanie" Wells and sited him as the big reason that Buckeye fans are excited about the year. I think Saturday pretty clearly showed why. Mike Hart rushed for all of 44 yards on the day in going 0-4 against Ohio State for his career and Beanie ran for 222 yards on 39 carries for 2 TD's in a 14-3 win. I would have to say that he lived up to the hype. That was just awesome. A cold gray rainy day in the midwest means plenty of running and low scoring football. Illustrating why Big Ten teams will recruit mammoth offensive linemen and D-lineman. The southern schools can get away with moving a linebacker to DE, a Safety to Linebacker, etc, etc and maximize team speed. (which is really where this whole southern speed myth really comes from. The SEC teams set up their defenses for speed and only speed. They don't have to deal with late season games in 40 degrees and rain.. or even snow. For that weather you need mudders, big plodding immovable objects, because speed is useless if you can't get the footing to run around the O-line. I really would love for a team line Miami, or LSU etc to make a trip up to Columbus in November. That would be a very eye opening experience for a lot of the SEC fans out there.

You know what really sucks though.. passing up on the NFL because you had unfinished business and needed to come back to beat your rival. And not only do you lose the first game of the season to a 1AA team, but you lose the first 2, then you end the season by losing the last 2 as well, including a home loss to the rival that you came back to beat. That really really sucks. It would really suck to be that guy, or in this case guys... and in plural.. ahhhh 3 losses in the big house in your senior year has to sting a bit.

I'm Back

I have basically been avoiding posting anything on here for fear of saying something to jinx the Buckeyes unexpected undefeated season. After Saturday, that is no longer a problem. That one sucked.. there have most assuredly been worse losses to take though.. That one wasn't fun, but the truth is they couldn't make a stop and deserved to lose.

Moving on from that, At the beginning of the year I was thinking something like 2-3 losses and a possible capital one bowl or an outside chance at a BCS bowl, so a win Saturday and a trip to the Rose would be great.. Better than great actually... depending on who comes back from the D, 08 could be a monster.. and that is really what I have been expecting all along. Here is hoping that Mr Laurinitus, Jenkins and Gholston all decide that they still have something to prove once it's all said and done.. I will say no more for fear of jinxing the game Saturday... Analysis is that no analysis is possible.. something unexpected will happen.. a play will occur that could go either way.. Mike Hart could get hurt again... or not.. Chad Henne could as well.. Beanie could do the same... it is a true toss up and I can't freaking wait.. Here's hoping my opinion of football is still high sometime around 3:30 Saturday afternoon.

Basketball season is starting finally as well.. and Duke looks different to say the least. playing 10-11 guys.. running and playing extra aggressive defense.. felt like I was watching a for real duke game last night for the first time in about 5 years. The recruiting is improving as well.. I mentioned some names that would tell the story on coach K's next few year several months back.. They were Greg Monroe (committed to G-town, big loss, but not the end of the world) who they missed on, but the good news is that the net has widened for 09.. they aren't targeting just 3 guys and hoping for the best anymore. The 08 class got Elliot Williams (another name I mentioned and he will be a MASSIVE addition as far as a super athletic guard) and another athlete in the Polish kid from Reno (apparently 6'8 240ish with a 40+ vert.) not bad at all.. and like I said 09 is looking better good. The rumors of Duke's downfall were vastly overrated. I'm just happy to finally be able to enjoy watching their games again... less walking the ball up, more high pressure, less 35+minutes a game for the backcourt, fresher legs, more athletes. About damn time.

I hate the Big Ten Network

Those that are not Big Ten football fans are probably oblivious to this whole thing, but there has been a battle raging between the Big Ten and cable companies. There are faults on both sides, but as is typical in these types of things, it is the consumer that suffers. The Big Ten claims it is doing all of these things FOR the fans, and that is just completely false. The fact is that I was able to watch every single Buckeyes game last year on TV from home, with the lone exception being the ESPNU game, which is just a whole other issue. Basically, the situation now is that I will have to go to a bar somewhere to watch up to 4 games this year that will be on the Big Ten Network. Last year I subscribed to gameplan at a significant cost to myself to make that happen. The fact is that I didn't care because I wanted to watch those games. People who want to watch them will pay for them.. what is happening though is that the Big Ten wants EVERYONE to pay for it, whether they want it or not. The reason is because it would pay out a LOT of money... The O-Zone has a great article about the whole situation and I can't really do it to justice.. but if you are interested, check it out. Either way, I have a definite feeling that I am getting screwed out of being able to watch several games that I otherwise would have been able to see this year. I am not cool with this. It isn't enough for me to get Direct TV, the thing is that I honestly agree more with the cable operators argument over this one. People shouldn't have to pay for a channel they don't want.. and this really would include having to pay for the OTHER things that exist in the sports tier that the cable companies want me to pay for. I would only get it for football games and immediately cancel it the rest of the year. I don't want to watch women's or Olympic sports, or any of the other shit the big ten network is trying to force on me. I just want to watch the freaking buckeyes game.. that's is..

Fall Practice is FINALLY here

After one of the longest and slowest summers of my entire life.. The darkest days in American professional sports history (The Mike Vick stuff, Bonds, an NBA ref on the take and the biggest positive story of the summer is an Englishman coming to play soccer in LA) are hopefully ending and it is finally football season again. Time to start anew, and well... people in buckeyeland are once again pumped. Losing pretty much every skill position from the offense is pretty rough, but people are still optimistic. The reason for that is most definitely the fact that they have Chris Wells... Looking at the picture you can see why... He is reportedly up to 240... which makes him a fast 6'1 240 pound ball of devastation... He is being touted as a possible Heisman candidate... I think he is still a year away from that, but the fact is that this is easily the most anticipated season for a running back since Eddie's senior year. (Ignoring the non season that was Clarett's sophomore year of course) People are all set for him to EXPLODE this year.. provided he can hang onto the ball and not get hurt, I don't see why he won't either.. sweet...

Taking Care of Business....

IN A FLASH!!! more on that later... but last night I happened to be running the scoreboard at a 40 and over league. Usually pretty boring stuff, but last night was much much different. for one thing, one of the teams broke 100.. final score 102-52... just silly.. must have made about 20-25 threes. But the real story was one of the refs. Dude comes in giddy.. and I mean nearly coming out of his skin... He could barely get his name down on the sign in sheet. We're like what the hell is with you man? and he says, "Man, Kenny Chesney's comin', I'm ready to rock! I'm so excited... This generations Elvis!!! WOOOO!!" I lost it. And I do mean I lost it. This guy was serious though, but once that wore off and things calmed down, he says, "Man, I'm just kiddin'. Ain't nobody ever gonna replace Elvis." and he rolls up his sleeve to reveal the TCB symbol.. for those that don't know what this is, I have an example picture above... This is the slogan and logo that Elvis invented way back when meaning taking care of business in a flash... yeah, lame I know, but Elvis fans LOVE it. anyway... showing me that tattoo.. I lost it AGAIN!! I can't believe someone would EVER get that permanently stuck to their body. Are you freaking kidding me??

It's Over

Well, we had to do it. We put Luna down Monday. I will spare any further details, but it is just terrible. I hated having to do it, but it was just a nowin situation. It is hard at home right now without her there. I know things will get better, we will eventually also get another dog, but it might be a while before that happens. It just wouldn't be good yet. We will probably wait until we have moved to a new house, but we will see what happens. I am just really glad it is al over with and we don't have to think about it anymore. We just have to deal with the repercussions at this point, and that can only really get better from this point on.

More updates

Well, it is looking more and more like we are not going to be able to find a suitable home for Luna. There is just nobody out there willing to take in a potentially dangerous dog. Everyone is more than happy to refer a dog trainer or a behaviorist. Each person or place has given us a different one however.. This just isn't going to work. People are more than happy to refer a behaviorist, but none of them would ever take on the responsibility that going through that would require.... both monetarily and just in sheer time spent. They will happily look down their noses at someone that will put their dog down in a desperate situation, but they would never actually put themselves in those people's shoes and completely alter their life for a misbehaving dog. It is looking more and more like our only option is the one I have been dreading most. I know she can't live with us anymore. The risk isn't worth it. I made the decision that I don't want to live with an animal that would just as soon bite me if the mood strikes than kiss me. There is something really wrong here that I am pretty sure a trainer would not be able to cure. It would be us having to adjust and change so that we would limit the opportunities for her to strike and well, we have been living like that these last few days and that just isn't a long term option. and there is no way in hell that dog will be present when we have children. It just is not an option, she has to move out.... and truly, with all the bleeding hearts and all the PETA folks out there.. I am positive not one of them would take her in at this point, but they would be glad to scream at me for what I am planning to do. I can't stand that, and I don't care. No amount of behaviorists or trainers professional opinions are going to change the fact that we can no longer have her in our house and we are completely unable to find anyone else willing to take her in. At the end of the day it is us that have to live with her, and live with the consequences of both decisions. I am not happy about it in any way, but we may be forced into the circumstance where we have to bring about the premature end of an animals life that we love dearly. I can honestly think of no alternative.

we still have her

So Luna is still with us. The SPCA basically said that they would take her, but they would immediately euthanize her. There would be no chance for adoption because of the incredible amounts of dogs they already have that HAVEN'T ever bitten someone. So we took her back. Anna is still very set that she will not be staying with us permanently. Which I understand... There is just too much of a chance she will do that again. Yesterday Anna took her to the vet just to see if there was something physically wrong.. Nothing. The vet says it isn't a physical thing and her basic recommendation in this circumstance is to put her down. I am really against this, but it is looking more and more like there will be no choice. We are now looking for someone, anyone really that will take her in and save her life. I know now that we can't keep her, I just can't believe that our only option would be to kill her. I love that dog, even if she has bitten me. Anna will flat not allow that to ever happen again, and I understand. Someone could really get hurt, well really I am the only one that would probably get hurt. I want to be able to just accept the fact that she will maybe hurt me. I could live with that, but Anna can't. It is looking more and more like we have no choice at all and that really really sucks.

what a weekend

I know it's been a while for this from me but, how's this for a weekend? Aside from the Harry Potter book, which I am about 3/4 of the way through at this point. I went and conversed with a buy at the Apple store about computers for the business. Went really well, and I am starting to genuinely get excited about this. Still a long way to go, but it is moving well so far.

Later on I get a call from my mom saying that they are considering a move to Birmingham.. Alabama. My only thought really on that was that it would be a pretty extreme culture shock for them.. This will be MUCH different from anywhere else they have ever lived. Pretty interesting option though... but my question is.. who moves to Birmingham? It might be really nice though.. who knows, I've never been there.

The last thing was easily the most scarring. Yesterday afternoon there was a major meltdown by Luna. She had been acting really weird all weekend, but yesterday we were all sitting on the couch and I went to move a little and apparently it rubbed her the wrong way because she immediately went into insane growling mode. Well, I pushed her out of there to get her away and let her chill out, but she just came back. This time ready for battle. When she came at me I just grabbed her neck and tried to get her to stay still and calm down. She was NOT backing down. She has done this many times for really no reason and usually will calm down and snap out of it after a few seconds, but this time she wasn't settling down. She was just sitting there growling at me like a a freaking wounded wolf. Well, I just kept holding her there, and she kept growling. Eventually I pulled her towards me a little so I could hold her a little tighter and keep her from biting and she just snapped. Just absolutely flipped out. She has bitten me before, but she usually just mouths me a little to tell me she isn't happy. This was different, she bit me as hard as she could and just was fighting for her life. I had to basically take her by the neck and pin her to the wall to keep her ripping my hands off. It was a scary situation. She bit me pretty bad this time. I have a couple puncture holes on my hand, scratches up and down my arm and some great teeth marks and divots running across my wrist. A good bit of swelling to go along with it as well just from the impact of it. well.. this was all Anna could take. The dog is gone. We are giving her away today. This really is heartbreaking to me. I just want my dog, but I understand if she is going to bite me for no real reason, I can't really have her. I can only hope that she will find a home where someone who knows how to handle her anxiety issues can take care of her and get her to calm down. I just don't know what else to say about it. This hurts... Both my hands from the bite and my heart. I really love animals. and I really love that dog, even if she did bite me and annoy the hell out of my 90% of the time. I'm having a lot of trouble seeing her go. I can't do it, Anna has to take her away by herself today because I just can't face it. I just hope Luna will be ok. I'll really miss her

Best movie of the summer

Transformers is easily the best movie of this summer. Just totally blew all the sequels out of the water.. Just great stuff. Funny, entertaining, silly, great effects, great storyline (in my opinion at least).. a little too long.. but great all the same. This is a must see movie. I am tempted to go again.. which is really crazy... I never do that. The last movie I saw more than once in the theater was the phantom menace... yeah.. episode one.. 8 years ago. The only reason for that really was that I was in Peoria with nothing to do but go see a movie...

Anyway, I will spare you spoilers. Good stuff all around.. I will say this though... when there is a sequel (which there will most definately be) if they kill optimus prime... I'm done.. I can't take him dieing again.. It's just too much...

Today is the day

So it is finally here. Transformers is out wide today and I am all set to go tonight. I went from excitement to dread, to acceptance... it really has been a roller coaster ride. Right now I would best be described as giddy... I can't sit still. I am VERY excited about this thing. I can't help it. I have been hearing a real buzz around this thing in the last couple days. The critics are lukewarm on it, which is to be expected... but the fans are absolutely nuts so far. That's huge. It definitely seems to be a real pleasant surprise. This thing could be absolutely huge. lets hope... full report coming soon.

transformers

So I have been eagerly awaiting the release of the Transformers movie next week for well over a year now. I am still very excited about it, but I have basically resigned myself to the fact that it will suck. Odds are I will go, be somewhat entertained by it.. but ultimately disappointed with no real interest in ever watching it again. Pretty much the reaction that everyone had to Spiderman 3.

I guess that's ok... but not really what I wanted. This had the possibility of being the next huge franchise.. multiple movies, all summer blockbusters... but they picked michael bay as director, and that immediately turned it into something else.. huge blockbuster yes.. but not for the right reasons. It will be all based on hype, but it will have no staying power. That's sad to me. We are talking about a franchise that I LOVED as a kid. So much so that I still watch the old movie from time to time. Now I will have this, with the weird designs for the transformers, and the human oriented plot, and probably REALLY lame lines delivered by Tyrese and Josh Duhamel.... can't wait.

I'll still be there the day it comes out, but I'm expecting the worst with this one. If they work it out, great.. but it may just be that this director can't actually make a good movie.. it is very possible.. I might be overwhelmingly satisfied, it does happen.. but usually movies that fly under the radar a bit and make it big based on merit.. Think the 300 here... that movie was advertised a bit, it looked pretty awesome with the visuals.. then the movie was EPIC.. just awesome... Too many summer movies go on all hype like the transformers movie is.. I tend to find that the more hype a movie gets, the worst it will be. They are hyping it to try and cover other shortcomings. The big shortcomings for this one appear to be the overuse of CG robots that become muddled and confused, especially when you blend that with the impression I get of this is that you will only really get glancing views of these things.. almost as if they are a teaser for a majority of the movie.. I could definitely be wrong on that, but still... unidentifiable CG is always bad.. never a good thing that's for sure.... then there is the complete lack of attention to the fact that robots are the stars and not the humans.. the really awesome part about the cartoons is that it was the robot characters that lead the way.. they were given real human emotions, but in the form of this huge hulking cold metal machine.. it was interesting and fun.. but too much of this looks like it will make the robots too much like in the terminator, where they have a complete lack of emotion and act well... robotic.. that's what made the transformers different, and it looks like the director and producers really missed the boat here... ah well.. I'm still going on the first day.

found a name

I think we may have found a name... Now for the even harder part.. Forming our LLC, getting registered, getting trademarked and getting started....

Blocked

So the last several days there has been some hardcore brainstorming to think of a name for our new business. This is hard stuff, whatever it is we choose is something we have to live with for a long time. It has to be catchy, but informative, and all at the same time not sound stupid, or too funny, or anything that could in any way be a turnoff to anyone that may want to shop there. This is not an easy task, and one that we definately are taking seriously. It feels like we will never figure it out though, and in that case nothing will ever happen. We'll see though.. We are creative enough people, it shouldn't be THAT hard. I think what it will come down to is just finally settling on something and rolling the dice. Hopefully it will grow on us with time. If not we're fucked.

Finally some encouragement

Something very cool just happened. As you may know I am getting pretty serious into this whole business venture idea, well I had sent out an e-mail or two to some people around the country who had started similar businesses, looking for advice, encouragement... whatever. Well, one of them sent me an e-mail back just now... basically, just saying to stick with it. It is worth it, and they are happy to have more and more people to get the word out so to speak about this stuff. Well, they even included some vendors/manufacturers for me to check out that would be great for inventory once I get started. REALLY AWESOME stuff here.. I mean, I knew pretty much all the names already, but this is a for real recommendation from someone that is already actively selling the stuff. Needless to say I am now VERY charged up. This is seeming more and more feasible every day. I can't wait to do more.

Anyway, if anyone is interested, this is one of the companies that I plan to almost definitely carry. Looks pretty easy to become a dealer, and their products look amazing.

I've been looking into becoming a dealer for biodiesel production equipment as well. If anyone out there knows of any good ones you know where to go. I've found some, but most of them just look a little too amateur... People are only going to buy them if they look sleek and professional.

Hitting the wall

Things here recently have started getting pretty serious around the household over this possible business venture. For those that do not know I have been tossing around the idea of starting my own business for a while now. I finally came up with what I felt was a feasible idea, and I decided to do some more looking into it. I am really early on in this... but I have started attending a class to help me through a draft of my business plan, and to help me secure funding to get this off the ground. It is just going to be an extremely hard and long process. Pretty scary as well.. just no way to know how things will pan out. I could very easily end up in a real financial mess over it, but the general feeling is that I just can't keep doing what I am doing now. The pay and responsibility are progressively getting better, but I just don't think I can stay in this industry. I'm not happy with it and that will never really change.

Right now though, after the initial excitement of trying this new thing has worn off, I am sitting here contemplating what the hell I am doing.. The feelings of, how the hell is this going to work out? and why am I even wasting my time on this? keep cropping up. It is at this point that most people walk away from an idea and the main reason why most ideas are never brought through to anything useful. I realize that, but it is tough.. It's just a lot easier to just walk away from it and keep pulling in OK paychecks every couple weeks. Mentally I just can't do that though. I think I'll probably totally lose it if I don't walk away from it sometime in the pretty near future. still though... that wall is a tough barrier to keep moving through/over.. I have another class thursday, perhaps that will re-energize me. The fear of course is that it just digs me farther into this hole I'm in now, but I've decided that I have to give it a shot. If it doesn't work out at all, oh well..

Hybrids are NOT the answer

I've discussed the use of hybrid cars with friends, etc. quite often. Recently more and more often. The general idea is that by getting A hybrid you are somehow helping the environment. I disagree with this 100%. You may indeed be buying slightly less gas, but you are still buying it. The oil companies KNOW that something has to be done, and Hybrids allow them to continue to make money. There is also a distinct reason why the car companies are pushing the idea as well.. They get a bigger cut. Instead of that money going to the oil companies, it will now go to the automakers for their more expensive hybrid models.

I put this spreadsheet together a couple years ago where I compare the total cost of several cars... this would the car payment and the average amount spent on gas in a month. Unfortunately I cannot attach files to this page. If you want to see it, feel free to e-mail me. I will gladly share it.

Anyway, let me just share some numbers with you that came from this sheet. I calculated the average car payment from the general rule of thumb of $200 for every $10k of total price. I estimated the price of the car based on the MSRP (Going about $1000 below MSRP for your standard cars, and right about at MSRP for Hybrids, which is what you would see in a real world situation) the rest is based on about 15000 miles driven per year and gas prices at $3 a gallon.

Based upon those assumptions you will be paying an average of $2000 more a year to own an Accord Hybrid than you would just an Accord EX 4 Cylinder. Getting a Civic EX Rather than a Hybrid will save you $575 a year and $500 a year will be saved if you bought it instead of a Prius. True.. at $3 a gallon you will be spending about $30-50 less a month on gas, but you will be more than making up for that in what you will be giving to the car companies.

So, basically with a Hybrid you are STILL forking money over to oil companies. It may be less, but they are still getting your money. Meanwhile you are shoveling so much more money to the car makers that you are actually spending MORE per year total. So... you are telling me I should feel great about hybrids because I am replacing one evil with another.. not just replacing, but ADDING MORE COST. Oil companies are still getting your cash, and car companies are getting even MORE of it. Is there any mystery why both of them are pushing us into the idea that these things are the answer??

Environmentalists will tell you that buying a Hybrid will help. The better gas mileage, the less fuel is burned, etc. While this may indeed be true, how much of an impact is buying an Accord Hybrid (with the same EPG MPG as the 4 cylinder) really making.. uh none at all would be the right answer to that question. A Prius, though one of the ugliest and possibly most uncomfortable cars ever made might be consuming gas at an outstanding 55 MPG, it is still running on gas. The umbilical cord to oil has to be cut totally for any real impact on the environment to truly be felt. We have had electric cars on the market.. where'd they go.. oh yeah, the car makers replaced them with hybrids. (there are many reasons why. Who Killed the Electric Car? is a GREAT movie about this). Please be smart people. The Hybrid cars are not the answer, an alternate fuel is the answer. Amazingly we already have 2 perfectly good alternatives that are ready to go RIGHT NOW... no waiting until 2030 for Hydrogen.. I am talking about Biodiesel and Electric. We have the technology and infrastructure to move forward RIGHT NOW with both of these. What we do not have is support from automakers and the government. We the people are the only ones that can make it happen... sadly every time someone buys a hybrid automobile we are just prolonging our attachment to oil.

nice...

check this out, just passing it along to folks.. this is funny funny stuff...

My question is how they figured out it had this effect... I mean.. really.. Did the patients instructions for the clinical trial include inhaling this no more than 15 minutes before sex and then running it on a stopwatch?? This is just too damned funny to me, but aren't there other factors in this that they just can't account for... such as how long has it been for the guy.. 2 weeks?? or 2 years?? How hot is the girl?? is the girl his wife or a hooker?? Did she suck his dick first?? I mean... this is hardly a black and white scenario...

I couldn't imagine ever paying money for something like this.. but, I guess some guys are really desperate..

Draft Lottery

So am I the only one that has been laughing HYSTERICALLY ever since the draft lottery last night??? After reading Bill Simmons constantly writing about Oden and Durant and how the Celtics MUST get one of those guys somehow some way.. They just gotta have them.. They got the lottery odds on their side.. yadda yadda.. So how's that Joakim Noah parting gift treating you right about now... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA thats a nice shit burger to wake up to this morning. After months of telling yourself that these 2 guys are must haves and after them there is a huge dropoff.. you now have to settle for just one of the rest. It isn't like they have anything to trade to move up.. As if either the Sonics or the Blazers would trade those picks for ANYTHING.. oh man I am giddy.. This is just too damned funny.

This is literally the deepest and best draft I can ever remember.. Must be what it was like nearly every year in the 80's.. but still.. one lucky bounce of the ping pong ball means the difference between Oden and Durant... or like.. Spencer Hawes.. awesome.

Slater vs. Morris

I came across this linked from another blog earlier. It's the Slater Vs. Zack fight from Saved by the bell.. A REALLY well done fake fight. It really is about how a good school fight goes down.. starts with pushing.. maybe one guy throws a punch, then it is just rolling around on the ground trying to get the upper hand.. One thing.. There is absolutely no way Slater doesn't just absolutely mop the floor with Zack.. I'm sorry. It's true.. I can buy that Zack could get in the first punch.. but from then on it would have been absolute domination. Allowed to continue there is truly no doubt that Zack would have been crushed. His only hope was that the weird haircut guy was actually able to break it up in time.

Another interesting Saved By the Bell reference happened yesterday.. Flipping though channels I came to TBS.. next scheduled was the Braves at the Red Sox, but that's not what was on. I got some studio guy giving me highlights from around MLB, so I stopped for a minute to check it out. Turns out the Braves game was in a rain delay, and this is what the guy said at the end, word for word. "Right now the Braves are on delay. They hope to get the game started here at 2:35. We will provide updates as they come, but for now we will be bringing you an exciting episode of Saved by the Bell." Then he IMMEDIATELY cuts out and the multi colored opening credits begin to run. I loved that. I absolutely love what you get out of WGN or TBS or whatever when you are in a rain delay. It is normally stuff that is so damned bad that they only have it in case there is a rain delay. It is pretty much the only time you can ever find Alf, or Mr Belvedere on TV anymore. I wish it happened on ESPN more.. they of course just show you the feed of ESPNews.. but I would prefer it if they had to just go to old episodes of Playmakers.. or Worlds strongest man... They already show poker constantly on the other stations... so that wouldn't really fit into this category.. but it really should.. They have to fill programming space I guess.. and it really isn't any worse than bowling or golf.. still though... There really is nothing quite like a good rain delay. Just one more thing to add to the list of things that make baseball great.

Is it august yet???

For the love of god can fall football practice start already?? PLEASE!!! The Reds are ALREADY in last place and I just don't know if I can sit through an entire Summer like this. At least Junior is tearing it up.. not that that helps.. They actually have decent pitching this year, and guys are hitting really well.. so what the hell is going on.. how is the bullpen THAT bad?? how is that possible. No lead is safe.. they better have about 4-5 runs minimum going into the 8th or it's a loss. That is absurd.. absolutely unreal to me. The best Reds teams in my memory have always had shut down relief for basically the 7th inning on. The 90's team with Dibble, Myers and Charleton was the best.. they were deadly... which is why they went on to a world series. Nobody could claim a comeback against them. All 3 of those guys (the Nasty Boys as they were called) were legit closers, and they all did close for other teams once they left the reds. the 99 team that missed the playoffs by a game had about 4 young prospects in the bullpen that would clamp a game down from the 7th on.. this team.. no such luck.. decent starters, decent run production.. a bunch of pansies in the bullpen.. I can't take it anymore.. They are dead to me until they figure out how to fix this problem (my suggestion is to trade Dunn, or Encarnacion.. or Hatteburg for a for real live young arm.) it may be too late anyway... they have lost something like 7 in a row... ah well.. August can't get here soon enough..

I am craving football big time right now... There is NOTHING to talk about, but I can't help myself. I need it, I want it.. All that is really going on right now is that they are installing field turf at the Horseshoe... Looks pretty damned nice to me.. The big stress this year among fans is the red endzones.. I kinda like it.. Keep checking that link periodically to see any updates (just find the most recent photo timestamped on the list).. they just got all the numbers on in the last couple days. anyway, it has to be an improvement from the slop they were playing in last season. I just wish we had been able to see Ginn play a year or 2 on it. He had a kickoff return in Minnesota a couple years ago on field turf.. and it was completely unfair.. He was mindbogglingly fast on that stuff. ah well.. maybe another speedster will show up to wow us all... Not really holding my breathe on ever seeing someone as fast as Ginn though.. I said the same thing about Robert Smith though.. so who knows.. They have this kid Saine coming in to play RB that ran the 100 in like 10.3, so who knows.

Youth Baseball

Last night I did a little work with the town's youth baseball league.. specifically the 9 and 10 year olds. Now, I'm not one to boast, but I remember clearly when I was that age (4th grade) that I was making plays at shortstop (diving catches, rifleing balls across the infield) ALL the time. It was pretty damn common as a matter of fact. I was good for a diving catch about once a game. but these kids... my god. They could barely throw the ball back to the pitcher. For one they don't even HAVE a pitcher.. They are using a pitching machine set at freaking 38 miles an hour.. and they could still barely hit it. For one... they are up there swinging at everything with absolutely no reguard for balls and strikes. For the other, they still can't hit it a lot of the time.. I had to send several kids to the bench after their allotted 5 pitches.. often times giving them extras because they swung at bad ones when they should have let them go. I was even dropping the speed from time to time a mile an hour or so to help some of them out. The coach saw me do this and berated me for "confusing them.. they can't make the adjustment." I was like.. I am dropping it a mile an hour, this will make no difference in adjustment, just make them able to get around on it slightly better, they should be facing real pitchers anyway... you don't think a pitcher will vary a mile an hour or 2 on any given pitch?? It wasn't liek I was dropping it 5-10 miles and hour... throwing them sliders and brushing them back... . whatever... anyway, how much do we really need to baby kids these days?? I know for a fact that the little kids in venezuela and puerto rico aren't having perfect balls thrown to them out of a pitching machine. These kids reminded me more of what a 5 year old playing t-ball should look like, not a 10 year old. It was bad.. there were a couple injuries as well.. One kid took one HARD off the nose. They play on these damned sand fields that are hard as a rock and the balls FLY off these things, so it took a high hop and got him.. He was out of commission the rest of the game with an ice pack on his nose... Another kid took one off the chest just because he hadn't been taught how to catch.. He had his glove turned the wrong way and it hit him right in the middle of the chest. He had no business out there, he will hurt himself unless he learns how to actually catch a ball. I was ashamed of the state of youth baseball. I used to get popped with balls all the time.. usually because I was trying to make a hard play and sticking my face in there.. these kids both were afraid of the ball and were turning their heads.. thats why they got hurt.. There is no reason why they shouldn't have kids pitching at that age either. And they should DEFINITELY have balls and strikes.. and strikeouts.. They can go to the batting cages and hit all day long if they want something from a machine.. but once you are out on the field.. it isn't practice time anymore.. either you can hit, catch, throw, slide, etc. or you can't. We need to stop babying kids and shielding them from defeat. It is no wonder so many people grow up feeling entitled to get what they want.

Cheerleaders in baseball???

This came to my attention yesterday and I just now have the time to post it. The Cincinnati Reds now have cheerleaders... or a dance team... or whatever.. They call themselves the MDX Crew. How stupid is this.. I think the cheerleaders or dance teams in professional sports are retarded. I always have. Do they serve ANY purpose whatsoever? Would you miss them if they weren't there? The answer to both of those questions is most definitely NO. They are lame and pointless and I honestly have to ask what is wrong with these girls. At least when you do this in LA you can always say you are trying to be noticed and get into acting.. but not in Cincy... They just like the attention it gets them I guess. Whatever.. I genuinely hope that this is not something that catches on in other ball parks, and I hope the reds end it pretty soon as well...

All that said.. the knee high stirrup socks are NICE....

Cali Trip Tidbits, Part 3

Alright, where were we... Well I had just fallen asleep at the hotel in Cali after a VERY long day. The night went by uneventfully and I finally got myself out of bed somewhere around 8 AM and immediately hit the room service. They had a cinnamon french toast that I had to try.. I was no disappointed, it was awesome... soo cinnamony... smothered in syrup and butter. Good stuff.. The problem with room service is all the damned hidden cost. You have the delivery fee, the tip money etc.. I wound up having a nice $18 plate of french toast.. ah well.. it was somewhat worth it.

I whiled away the rest of the morning watching Cosby reruns and basically just lazing around the hotel room. This in itself was awesome to me.. I never really have the chance to just hang out alone like that. It is pretty nice from time to time.

Eventually, it is time to head up to the front for check out and the airport shuttle. After checkout I ask if the shuttle will be here for me on time, and they say yes of course.. They give the impression that the shuttle is something that comes and picks me up.. even telling me the night before that we have to fill out the book and reserve the time now otherwise they may not get here to get me.... Well I still have some time to kill, so I head into the restaurant and sit down to a nice piece of cheesecake.. this is the first thing I ate the entire time I was there that wasn't awesome.. it was just run of the mill frozen stuff you get anywhere... well I finish that up and walk outside to sit and wait for the shuttle. It is such a nice day and all.. I just lay back and relax.. at about 12:15.. 15 minutes late... the guy from the front desk comes strolling out.. "here for the shuttle??" "uh... yes.." I say.. confused because I just asked about it 20 minutes ago.. well he says, "ok, I'll pull the van around for you..." huh.. so why did they make such a big deal out of this.. it seems as if I could have just walked up to the desk anytime and said.. hey I need to get to the airport in 20 minutes... really weird...

In the car on the way to the airport I may have inadvertently talked the guy driving into moving away from southern California.. I told him how expensive our house was and he about shit himself.. He and his brother live together and they will have to pay $3000 a month on a "small" townhouse they are planning to buy together.. He currently works 2 jobs and 14 hours a day to pay his rent. (which is twice what I pay a month for our mortgage) anyway... hearing this.. he thought for a second.. then said. "I should move.. I work all the time and never get to enjoy anything around here anyway.. If my house was cheaper I could actually work only one job and have time to do things." I was like.. oh... well... I'm sure it's worth it for the weather here... uhh... I didn't mean to make the guy want to move.. but well.. unless you are loaded, southern California doesn't really make a lot of sense as a place to live. It just doesn't... You have to be bringing in some serious cash in order to live in a somewhat comfortable place... and still have time and money to enjoy the other benefits of the place... sad but true...

anyway, I get on the plane and go... The return trip was pretty uneventful. No delays... I refused to watch the movie ( Music and Lyrics) and so I just watched star wars on my portable player.. By the time I got home it was basically midnight.. I'm exhausted.. and walking through the place to get to the baggage claim.. Apparently I looked friendly because this middle aged woman just decides to strike up conversation... I do my best to give her my attention but it was hard... All she was talking about was the leg room in the plane.. I say.."yeah it can get kinda tight in there." And she just goes on and on about how "Nelson" gets in the aisle seats because you can stick your leg out... but she likes the window cause she can see out.. though you can't really see much can you??? uh.. I guess not I say.. and she just goes on and on about how she needs to use the aisle because she has to go to the bathroom every time... even though she hates using the ones in the plane.. then goes into this story about how she was stuck in the window seat on a flight next to a "young couple" and the girl was asleep and she had to climb over her to get out because she"was just a young girl... probably a young mother trying to rest and have a little getaway" giving me great details like that and that she had "black hair" and her husband "seemed really nice" good times..

I finally somehow escaped that trap.. I think she veered off to the bathroom.. and began the stand around and wait at the baggage claim.. Usually I have to stand around FOREVER and wait.. my bag is always seemingly the last one off the plane. This time I won the baggage lottery.. I was maybe 2nd or third off.. AWESOME.. I got the hell out of there as fast as I could.. Had to brush off some dude in the parking garage looking for jumper cables at 1 AM... and FINALLY I was in my car going home..

Overall.. fun trip... Cali is a REALLY nice place.. just way way way too expensive a place to have to pay to live in... to visit is great.. the food is relatively cheap, the scenery nice.. plenty to see and do.. I didn't get to really take part in any of that, but it was definately a good place to visit. The interview was nice.. it went well... I just don't see it happening. It would be a big step back for us financially just because we would have to pay mountain more for a crappier house... or a freaking condo.. not exactly in my list of wants at this point. I would rather continue to toil in my same crappy job for the same crappy money in relative financial ease, then move to a new place away from everyone and pay as much for our rent as we currently do for our house, 2 cars, cable, cell phones and food.

Cali Trip Tidbits, Part 2

Where I left you last time was getting onto the plane for the 4 hour flight from Chicago to California. I lucked out and got an exit row, which was nice, and find that our in flight movie will be the painted veil (ended up being a pretty decent flick actually) Nothing too eventful really from the flight other than the dude next to me with some outstanding snoring. He even had the whistle in between snores going for a while... I thought that only actually happened in cartoons.

Anyway, the plane landed in California... some awesome scenery coming in.. I had no idea there were mountains like this within sight from the ground in southern california.. I knew there were hills and such, but these were more than hills to me. Very picturesque. It was definitely brown.. I mean it is very dry there... but really pretty all the same. I could definitely see myself living there.. no problem at all... well... some problems, but we will get to those later.

Upon arrival I was supposed to meet Lorenzo at the airport and he would drive me on to the company for my interview. Now, name me what you picture when you think of the name Lorenzo... If you said funny looking Persian dude with goofy glasses and ridiculous comb over you would be correct. After several minutes of awkward conversation with Lorenzo, we finally arrived for my interview. Just to give you a little background on this place... I found out once i got there that it was owned and run by Persians.. There is a HUGE population of Persians in Orange County that settled there after fleeing the oppressive Muslim regime after/during the revolution in the late 70's. So I walk in the door and this place it everything you would expect from a company that is trying to impress people with the look of the building.. marble floors... lots of glass.. typical corporate architecture right... well because of the Persian Ownership I spent the entire time wondering where all the blue curtains with gold trim and hardware were...

The interview itself went well. No complaints... the manager was a really good guy, as were all the people working there. They had good people and VERY diverse. A lot of Persians there for sure, but in my industry there are a lot of different nationalities. I went to lunch with a girl from Bolivia, a Persian and a Chinese guy.. by the way... Persian food is GOOD... trust me on this... get the Kabobs with strips of meat... stay away from the ground meat... but it was damned good. Basically just marinated and grilled meat with some saffron rice.. yum...

There was one really discouraging part of the interview... that was with the HR rep.. usually this portion of an interview is just a pep up and someone being a total shill for the company telling you about how great their benefits are. In this case I really just did not mesh well with the girl.. She had NO sense of humor (she was Indian, go figure) and just seemed to think I was telling her lies the whole time when I told her what my current compensation/benefits/time off was. Basically.. to work there I would get half as much vacation, far worse 401K and decreased medical coverage... and I was supposed to be excited about that??? Then she kept pushing me for an answer on how much money I would want... I told her well about 60K, but honestly with the decreased benefits and the cost of real estate.. it would take more than 70 at this point. I highly doubt they will be able to do that.. but honestly.. I need time off.. 13 days isn't going to do it for me. I would take less money for more time off. That's just me... so ripping my time off in half, cutting all the other benefits.. paying me more money, but all of that is going to a house anyway... not gonna get me there. So that was sort of a depressing portion of the interview.

Once that was over I talked with a few more people and it was off to my hotel. The holiday inn in Laguna.. nice.. just a hotel really.. I was expecting to go out to dinner that night with the recruiter that had contacted me for this job initially, but she was sick... so I just wound up eating at the hotel restaurant after laying around for a couple hours and talking to Anna on the phone.

Dinner rocked... Just awesome.. I got this Turkey club sandwich... It came out and was easily the biggest sandwich I have ever seen. It took up the entire plate.. Here is the order in which it was built... Piece of toast, Mayo, Mounts of Turkey, Bacon, Tomato, Piece of toast, little more mayo, lettuce, cheese, thin slices of avocado, piece of toast... I could not get my mouth around this thing. It was AWESOME.. I wish I could go get it again.. I can't find a sandwich this good pretty much anywhere else. So after that thoroughly satisfying dinner I decided to try and find out about renting a car.. since there is nobody to drive me around this place I might as well try and see some stuff for myself.. all the rental places were closed.. shit.. well that sucks.. so I stroll back to the room with plans to come back out to the bar in a little bit to get a few drinks before bed.. That did not happen... being awake since 4 AM eastern caught up to me and I fell asleep sometime around 9 PM Pacific.

More to come...

I'M OUTRAGED

I am simply outraged by the obvious and malicious attempt by Tony Parker to hurt Steve Nash last night.. The poor guys nose was bleeding everywhere... oh wait.. video evidence shows it wasn't on purpose??? well he should be suspended for playing so recklessly... people can get hurt playing like that.. you know.. like playing hard... where do they get off... we can't have people accidentally getting hurt out there.. (hoping the sarcasm actually translated through the computer)

Cali Trip tidbits, Part 1

I have finally returned and somewhat rested from my trip out to California. I was out there for a quick job interview, stay overnight then trip back home the next day. The trip started with me getting up at about 4 AM for my 6 AM flight out of RDU. This is not an hour that sane people get out of bed, but it has to be done. I get dressed in my finest interview wear and head on out to the airport. There is shockingly little traffic out on the roads at 4:30 in the morning, but at the same time, there is STILL traffic at that hour. I don't really understand how there are cars out on the road at all hours like that? What the hell were all these people doing??? There are only so many morning radio show anchors out there.. anyway, after parking and getting everything checked in... everything went very smoothly through security and everything. As I was strolling through the terminal to gate C15 I noticed that it was pretty damned dark in there, none of the TVs were on or anything, which seemed pretty weird to me. I chalked this up to the fact that it was just before 6 and maybe they just don't turn all the stuff on till then. Well, I go have a seat and wait for boarding to commence. It's about at this time that I notice the entire staff of Maui Taco just sitting there talking amongst themselves in broken English and Spanish... that's weird... ah well.. there was also no airline employees to be seen anywhere. double weird. well.. 6 AM comes and goes... still nothing.. what the hell is going on??? Finally an announcement comes through.. "the power is out in the terminal, we can not board because we have no paperwork and no computer system. Hopefully power will be back online in about 20-30 minutes. OK, now I am nervous. I have a 1 hour layover in Chicago and I have no idea what to do if I miss my flight. I am supposed to be in California at 10:30 and ready for interviewing by 11:30.. This is NOT good. I basically try my best to just sit tight until they figure something out. The American Airlines flight 2 gates down is boarding with no problems. People are calling up United to figure things out and the United people are telling them the flight should leave by 6:30... it is 6:25 at this point, we are looking at the plane.. nothing is happening.. we tell the people on the phone that there is no way it is leaving by 6:30... we are looking right at the plane... they continue to tell us our information is incorrect.. I guess our own eyes were failing much like the customer service at United.. well we sat and waited.. watching minutes go by.. finally someone at United with a brain must have showed up.... they figured out that hey... we can print this stuff in a part of the airport that HAS power and WALK them to the correct gates... then check off the passengers from our list manually.. damn.. what genius actually came up with that idea???

They finally get us on the plane and we get ready to take off approx. 1 hour late.. I am thinking there is no way I can make my connection, but you just never know... I'm preparing myself for a run. I decide now is just the time to relax and try to just get some rest... this is going to be a long day in fact.. so I just sit back and look out the window. It is around this point that while taking off the plane decides to drop about 500 feet in about a half a second.. Apparently we were moving out of the way of other air traffic because I saw another plane come screaming by at a million miles an hour a few seconds later.. how fun... well we finally get up in the air and the flight attendants start doing their thing... these girls could only be described in one way... Dirty Hot... it was a little bit unnerving.. I think United Express has started a stripper outreach program.. unreal. I caught the dude next to me STARING at the one girls ass about 6 times throughout the 2 hour flight.. Every time I got a good chuckle out of it. funny stuff...

Finally the plane lands in Chicago.. it is now 8:05.. My connection to California is scheduled to leave at 8:15. I ask "Hayley" if there is any way I could possible make this.. her answer is.. "You can try, the gates are usually close together, so you could make it." Now we get to wait to get off the plane... This is the longest 5 minutes in the history of the world anyway.. but when each minute is a minute that you can't afford, it is even worse.. Finally I scramble off this thing. Bobbing and weaving through people on the jetway... run out and check out the screen.. I'm at gate C7... my flight is leaving from C26 in 3 minutes... FUCK!!! So this is the point when i go into full Home Alone Reenactment mode. Doing my damnedest to run through a crowded O'hare in a suit with a bag on my shoulder. Those that know me will say that given some room I can get into some long strides and cover some serious ground.. not in dress shoes my friends.. and not with seemingly 10 billion old ladies in walkers between me and my destination. I get to like gate C20 and I just say screw this.. there is no way I am making it.. but I relentlessly jogged to my goal.. I get there finally.. at 8:20.. the plane is still there.. but the door is closed... no United people in sight... wonderful. I finally find one and tell her the situation... she says.. oh Mr Howland.. come with me... she proceeds to OPEN THE DOOR and let me on the plane... I was a little confused.. they always used to claim once that shit was closed.. that's it.. nobody is getting on... This just proved all that was bullshit the airlines made up to make their employees lives easier... well I get on... run to the back row of the plane where my seat is supposed to be.. and I find a mother with 2 children... OK... well I turn around again to all the staring people thinking "motherfucker... he's the reason we haven't left yet." and I finally find an empty seat in the exit row... NICE.. leg room... anyway, apparently the fuel truck was having problems and it was delaying the departure.. had I been just 30 seconds later I would have missed it. Quite the adventure. I was in Chicago for a grand total of like 20 minutes.. but now I was finally on the plane and on my way to California...

Stay tuned for Part 2...

FAA Restrictions

Tomorrow will be the first time I am flying since the newest restrictions on liquids and gels on a plane. So I have been looking through the list of permitted/prohibited items. Looking through the list of Makeup/personal items, I've found some pretty interesting things. One is for "personal Lubricant" which by itself isn't anything big, but the fact that under the explanation the first thing they list is eye drops... uhh.... that isn't the personal lubricant I think most people would initially jump to. The one that really brought a smile to my face though was that they list "Toy Tranformer Robots" as their own category. Not only that but they felt the need to tell us that we could bring our transformers along on the flight... was this ever in question?? Was there a meeting where they were going over all this stuff and going down the list... knives.. no.. nail trimmers... yes... shampoo.. only in 3 oz size.. then from the back of the room... What about Transformers??? hmmm... yeah... I think Transformers are ok... weird.. but why the special category for transformers... does this mean I CAN'T take my GI Joe or He-Man? They aren't on the list... Did Hasbro bribe the FAA so that their toys could get on the plane??? Then they have this list of "sharp objects" listed in that are all sorts of different types of knives... meat cleavers, sabers, swords etc... but why do they need to list that.. what part of no knives allowed do people not get? It's a good thing I read this site or I may have arrived to the airport with full sized bottles of shampoo, A star wars action figure and my M16, Katana Blade and throwing stars.. not sure what I would have done without the FAA there. Another great bit is the sporting goods section... listed as not allowed are bats, bows and arrows, spear guns... etc. I mean.. is there really someone that is like.. "can I carry on my spear gun?? let me check... oh shit..." I am finding all sorts of useful stuff on here... like... we aren't allowed to bring plastic explosives on a plane... Hand Grenades are also prohibited. I can't bring my tear gas canisters... and I was really hoping to show that to the folks at the family reunion... This is all proof that America as a whole is stupid.

Keyshawn blindsided

So those that watched the NFL draft coverage this past weekend of course saw Keyshawn Johnson there working the desk with Berman and Kornheiser etc. I personally found it a bit odd at the time... a current player there commenting about picks of other teams... teams that he would have to compete against.. weird... and whenever the Panthers would pick he would supply insight into "his" team. Here is a link to help out.

The Dwayne Jarrett pick in the second round was especially weird.. He was SO excited. "I'm gonna take this young man under my wing. I'm gonna teach him all I know." He was PUMPED about this fellow USC Trojan. Some people may have said... why'd they take him??? they have Steve Smith and Keyshawn Johnson.. they have enough money caught up in receivers. Well the Panthers solved that problem yesterday in giving Keyshawn the boot. He clearly did not see this coming. There is no way he would have spent draft day talking about "his team" and how "we really need a guy like this" if he knew he was going to be let go in a few days. The shock he must have displayed must have been classic.. but really how do you NOT see this coming?? This is what happens to veterans in the NFL. You have to play several years to get to the point that your contract number is at a certain level.. At that point you are beaten up so badly that you can't run anymore and they just drop you for a young guy making half as much. There is no security in that league.. The best thing you can do it trick a team into signing you to a 2 year deal with a big signing bonus, then rinse and repeat. No team is that dumb though. They WANT you to sign for a 5 year deal.. where they pay you a ton for a year and it goes to their cap number for the next 4 in smaller installments.. especially the back ended deals.. those are their favorites... that way they can release you at the smallest sign of breakdown and delete huge numbers from their salary. The NFL is despicable... Players HAVE to holdout for more money every year. They just have to. This is why I never really get too angry when they do it. The team will let them go with no penalty whatsoever... so if you are in your prime.. the only bargaining chip you have is that you can sit out and they will be without their star RB or WR or something...

anyway... one more tidbit... I can't believe how livid Miami fans are for having picked Ted Ginn and NOT Brady Quinn... can't they see they dodged a big bullet there? I honestly would be shocked if that guy has a career as good as David Carr.. They should be so damn happy they didn't get that guy, but for whatever reason they are pissed.. add in the fact that they got the fastest man I have ever seen in pads... they really have nothing to bitch about. All their complaining will go away once they sign Trent Greene and about midway through the first quarter of their first game of the season when Ginn gets a little bit of open space and breaks out those long fluid strides.. They just picked up the most electrifying player in the league with the 9th pick... and that's just in the return game. I'm not even including the fact that he is actually a pretty damned good wide receiver too...

Finally.... easily the most overrated player in this draft was Jamarcus Russel.. I'm sorry.. but there is NO WAY this guy is that great. Did anyone actually watch any of his games? the LSU offense SUCKED... and that's actually being kind. He had RIDICULOUS receivers (2 taken in the first round... and one projected top 5 next year) and he still couldn't move the ball consistently. They managed 3 points against Auburn... 3!?!?! His measurables are sick... 6'5 240.. fast... able to throw the ball 80 or so yards... somewhat accurate i guess.. that doesn't change the fact that he couldn't move the ball in the SEC.. how's that going to work in the AFC west??? If a QB is going to make it in the NFL I personally need to see one of 2 things... If he is playing at a smaller school, he sure as hell better have crazy stats (like Rothlisburger or Culpepper did) or if he plays in a BCS conference... he better damn well have at least challenged for a title... With the skill guys he had.. they should have had the best passing offense in the country... part of that can be blamed on the coaching staff, but only so much. He had a great game against ND... but I challenge you to find a BCS conference QB who DIDN'T have a big game against that slow assed defense over the last 2 years. Chad Henne freaking lit those guys up for crying out loud. So I'm calling bust on that guy as well... we'll see though... it is MUCH easier to predict a bust than it is to predict a star.

House flipping

Here is a little bit of information for the people out there that may still be interested in flipping houses. You know how you see those shows on HGTV or TLC or whatever and people buy a real shithole, thrown some new flooring down and some paint up on the walls and sell for like a $30,000 profit in a month... well those days would appear to be gone for the most part. The housing market would appear to have finally corrected itself a bit. Earning 50% equity in less than a year is a thing of the past. At least until the government lowers prime interest rate to 2% again.... (hint: it probably will never happen again) I'm not saying there isn't money to be made in real estate... because there is quite a bit, but you will see people have to do it the old fashioned way... long term investments, probably have to rent the properties out for a while to cover your mortgage payments and sell down the road for a profit at the typical 5-10% value gain per year.. you will of course have to make constant improvements and upgrades over the years in order to move that value up and improve your equity. It is doubtful you will ever see people becoming millionaires over night in real estate again. It was just a lucky circumstance for a lot of people, and the quick increases in value drove more and more people to buy like crazy... increasing the values even more. It is the same as the stock market... eventually it gets to the point where nobody can really afford to make that investment anymore and the market is forced to correct... the problem is in real estate, you can't create stock splits to lower the prices to create more trading... someone has to lose their shirt for that to happen with real estate.

Some of you may already know that I am going for a job interview in southern california at the end of this week. There is almost no way I will take this job. I told them they would basically have to double my pay to get me to come... the reason being that the real estate market is about 3X what it is here. That is absurd... There is no way a 1000 Sq. ft. house should ever be over 300K. So that right away is reason for the housing market to HAVE to correct.. why would a company set up shop in California?? you have to pay more for your office space for one.. you are forced to pay your employees more (or else they all have rent apartments even when making upwards of 50K a year). So why the hell would you start a company out there.. You will see this negatively affect that area. This is why you see so many places opening up in the southeast, like Raleigh... Companies are getting huge tax breaks to open up shop here, their costs are down by doing it anyway because real estate and cost of living are right at the USA average and it's not a total shithole like Wisconsin or Nebraska so you can actually attract people to come work for you.

HA

I just found out the Red's pitching coach is named Dick Pole... That is all.

Walker Texas Ranger

Today has been full of my friends and I discussing the awesomeness of Walker. From the descriptions on the guide of the episodes, to the fights, to the dialogue... just easily one of the most ridiculous shows ever on tv. I love it. Those that can remember Conan O'Brien kind of started this whole Chuck Norris craze a few years back when he started doing random clips of it with the "Walker Texas Ranger Lever" as you can see here. He did this for a LONG time... and it was flat out hilarious. I would tape and watch episodes just in hopes of catching a few Walker clips. Here is my personal favorite. Just wow... how awesome is that? I still have no idea why they don't still do it... We are talking about a show that STILL will pull out a John Wayne Bobbitt joke from time to time... how could they move on from comedy gold of this level?

They also started doing this thing with one of their art assistants lately which I absolutely love. It has taken on Walker level with me, meaning I watch entire episodes in hopes of seeing it... it is what they call "Pierre Bernard's Recliner of Rage" I am completely unable to find it on Youtube... how could that site let me down so... well if anyone else finds a clip, let me know and I'll add it. I just love how he is basically the character from 40 year old virgin. good stuff.

Long Live Conan

little cars

Yesterday, as some sort of celebration, they took us to this place for the afternoon rather than have us work. I must say, if you have a place similar to this nearby where you may live. I highly recommend going and checking it out sometime. It was freaking awesome. These little cars FLEW.. I mean we were moving.. tires squealing and everything.

By the end of it I was SOAKED in sweat... arms dead... just felt like I had been in a fight after spending an hour in one of these cars.. freaking awesome.

I always said I wanted to one day build or have my own go-Kart... The first thing people always say is... well you have a real car.. what do you want with a little one... my answer is always... because the little car is awesome.. I can't exactly zoom around my neighborhood weaving back and forth on the street in a real car now can I? anyway, definitely awesome and I highly recommend it.

APACHE!!!

A friend of mine just sent this to me and I HAD to pass it along.

Between the Indian Babes, the dance, The dudes facial expressions, kick ass guitar solos, the laugh, the pure offensiveness to native americans and this.. "Great warriors.... Riders of the Plain."

There was a point in the middle there where they start doing indian calls that I thought it couldn't get any better... and it continued to surprise.. just classic.. I will forever enjoy that video.. thank you youtube.

The ads again

A great running gag with this blog to me to is CONSTANT and seemingly extreme changes the ad content will take after a single blog entry. I make that one entry about Lil' Romeo and now I get an ad for Romeo Ring tones. I am going to start including random things in my entries just to see how extreme and random I can make the ad content, and I'm starting now.

I was watching the wonder years last night (they are showing reruns on like PAX or something like that every night at 10) just good times.. A few nights ago I saw the single greatest moment/line on that show out of it's entire run. What is that you might ask??? Some (very few admittedly) will be able to remember this, but it is the episode where the parents are fighting... something that NEVER happens in the Arnold house and it all started with Norma Arnold taking a pottery class and making some of the more god awful pottery on this planet. Old Jack Arnold isn't just going to lie to her and tell her he likes it when he really hates it, so the fight begins. At one particularly tense moment at the dinner table Kevin takes it into his own hands to break through the tension and turn his parents anger towards him and not at each other, so he takes a massive spoonful of mashed potatoes and whips them into the side of Wayne's face. His dad exclaims "what the hell are you doing." but that's about it.. then there is a short pause followed by the single greatest line to occur on that show... Wayne grabs Kevin's shirt, leans in and says, "Tonight... While you sleep, PAL." good stuff.. I laughed quite a bit just writing it.. If you have seen it, you know just how awesome it is... if not.. your loss..

And now for the REALLY random stuff. There were several cartoons in the 70's/early 80's that operated on a pretty simple formula... A group of teenagers aimlessly traveling around solving problems/mysteries with the help of the "funny"/"nonhuman character" of the show... be that a Dog, or a car, or a shark, or a caveman, etc. The running poll I want to conduct is.. Which one was the best?? To me they were all virtually the same.. All good in their own little ways.. I realize basically everyone will say Scoobie Doo, but if you do you are a loser. That's pretty much what a Backstreet Boys fan would pick.. My personal favorite... and believe me, this was a HARD choice... Has to be Captain Caveman... My reason is that not only was it AWESOME.. he had a kickass battle cry, his club was good for pretty much anything... you just never knew WHAT was coming out of that thing.. and he drove around in this awesome stone RV with a cave on the roof... but the best part was the fact that his "group of teenagers" was about 3 hot ass chicks.. There was definitely something going on there. There is just no way Cavey wasn't puttin the club to them up in the love cave every night. just no way...

Now... what will the ads be now?? Caveman sex?? Scoobie cartoons? 80's tv shows?? we shall see.

Romeo a Trojan

So apparently Lil' Romeo has signed with the USC trojans. And yes I know he wants to be called Romeo now, but if you put out CD's and movies going by a certain name and just decide when you are 16 that you will no longer go by that name because it was given to you as a kid such as this, or Ricky Schroeder, I'll still call you by that name. Sorry, that's just how I roll. Even as a 10 year old I knew that placing a Y at the end of my name or a Lil in front of it would probably be something I would regret in a few years so they have no excuses. Plus it's always funny to me to see someone that is 40 going by a name like Billy, or Joey... Think Billy Donovan here..

Anyway, does anyone remember when Master P tried to play in the CBA because his dream was to play in the NBA? Well perhaps now he can live vicariously through his sons. It isn't like he has anything else to do. Another choice tidbit from that article is where it states he is an All American... which list of all americans does he appear on??? seriously? He is listed as a 1 Star recruit on scout.com, which basically means he exists. This sounds an aweful lot like "recruited walk-on" to me. So I'm thinking All American is a bit of an exaggeration... honorable mention all conference might be closer to the truth.

The other wonderful thing from this is that He goes to Beverly Hills High School... does anyone else have a Fresh Prince flashback of Will playing for Belaire Prep??

80's tv show sets

A couple nights ago I was sitting around the house and something made the pilot of the Cosby Show jump into my head. Most people would remember this episode as the one where Cliff gives Theo his big talk about getting good grades to get a good job to make enough money to live using monopoly money, or even for the fact that as far as anyone knew the oldest daughter, Sandra, didn't exist. I personally remember it more for the fact that it was filmed on a completely different set than the rest of the series. Very interesting no? Well, to me that was just the tip of the iceberg. While thinking about this I noticed some similarities in my head to a lot of other sets of TV shows through the years. This would be the front door is to the right of the screen, with a step inside and immediately to your right as you walk in the door there is a set of stairs that has a small landing a few steps up and then a turn to the left and up to the "second floor". of course right in front of the room is the couch and behind that is not only the set of stairs, but to the left of that there is usually a room that goes back (sitting room, dining room) something along those lines. I can think of NUMEROUS shows from the area that basically filmed on the exact same set.. see if you can think of anymore... (I apologize for not having any pictures.. after a lengthy search I have not yet been able to find any of just a set from any of these shows.) Anyway, the list includes The Cosby show pilot, Blossom, Roc, Amen, Hangin with Mr Cooper, Gimme a Break, I think Sister Sister (I never really watched it so I can't remember for sure), whatever that show was with LL Cool J in it... anyway, there are a TON from that time period of like 1983-1993... This was common in the 50's and 60's, just look at shows like Mr Ed and how similar the set looks to something like my 3 son. They have a set that is based on these from the 50's-60'sthat they also commonly use on saturday night live (and used on Clarissa Explain it All as well...), anyway, that's beside the point.. Did all these production companies and networks not think that we would notice that they were basically recycling the same set over and over again??? Upon further contemplation the sets for Who's the Boss is eerily similar to that of Growing Pains.. This bothers me... did they really think we wouldn't notice?? oh sure there are minor changes, but the set is the same... did they just buy them prefabricated from the same set making company?? Is there a company that only builds sets to look like houses for television family sitcoms? These are all questions that should be answered one day.. I do feel that a portion of my innocence has died with this realization. I'm sorry to have ruined the illusion for everyone else...

Duke renaissance on the horizon?

If you listen to coach K it could very well be. (the article also gave us this really goofy picture... had to include it.) There is definitely something not right in Durham right now, and really K is the only one that can change it. I still say to keep an eye on that 2008 recruiting class. If he brings in a couple top 10 type guys with that and a #1 recruiting class, they are going places because it will mean a through rededication of himself to the recruiting trail.. but if it looks like a few really good but not great type players, then I think we know what the result will be. From the sound of things he is really putting himself back out there in the media (and by that I mean giving interviews and not filming commercials) that alone will greatly impact the image of the program. The other thing is a more personal involvement in the day to day operation of that team. I think he was putting way too much responsibility on Collins and Wojo, and it showed in the results of the last few years. Ever since the 01 title things have been a little different, and they changed even more after the Laker's job offer, and this past season was the reward for that hands off approach. I personally hope any kind of self evaluation will bring the results I believe it will, but there really is no way to tell if the dedication and focus will truly be there until we see what brand of basketball the blue devils play this season, and what kind of results begin to come in for the 2008 recruiting class.... I've got my fingers crossed.