Vacation day one (and a half): Ireland

So, the time has arrived and I am finally on vacation in Europe with my dad!!

This whole thing started on Wednesday morning at 3:30 am when we got up to head to Skyharbor Airport in Phoenix. From Phoenix we flew to Newark (Direct TV makes the flight so much more enjoyable!). Then after a five hour layover, that included a little lunch and a ton of Arrested Development, we were on our way to Dublin.


While the hop from Phoenix to Newark was nice...the six hour skip to Dublin kind of sucked!! The seats were smaller and more uncomfortable plus there was no Direct TV. But, on the bright side the in flight entertainment was free...so I did watch Captain America and a ton of one off tv episodes.

So, what started out as an early arrival at the Phoenix airport turned into an early arrival in Dublin, Ireland. How early is early? Well the sun wasn’t up yet. Which, if you have never driven a car on the left side of the road (on purpose…because it’s the law) is a great time to be driving!  We dropped our bags at the hotel and off we went to see Cork southern Ireland and all points in between.  The drive to Cork was uneventful once we made our way through a gauntlet of roundabouts. Actually, the drive reminded me a little of the Midwestern United States in the fact that it was a ton of farm land and major roadways. Once we made it to Cork we sought out the tourist trap of all Irish tourist traps…Blarney Castle.


Along the way we realized that with the exception of of the mountains the drive was a lot like heading through Wisconsin (with more sheep...none of which appear in this picture).


About an hour outside of Cork the flow of traffic seemed to be slowing to pass a single vehicle. When we caught up we saw what the slow down was all about. So, for the second time in my life, as far as I know, I came across a Google Maps car.

So after acting like complete idiots while passing the car we finally pushed forward to Cork and then to Blarney Castle.


Let me say that once we got onto the grounds of Blarney Castle that was more of what I had imagined the countryside of Ireland would be like.

 The grounds to Blarney castle were amazing.  Serene rolling grounds with streams, gardens, groves of trees are the norm here. Like many landmarks in the states there’s a calm feeling you get as you approach. A silence, that seems to be equal parts amazement and respect, that none seem to want to break.  Not until you are in the shadow of the main tower do you begin to hear people talking to each other.

For those of you who have not made the trip to the castle let me lay it out for you like this. In the movies where you see all the stairwells to the castle battlements are wide enough for two guys in full battle gear to run up and down side by side…this is not that type of castle. The climb to the top is scary in the fact that the stairs at some points are no more than 6-7 inches wide while going almost straight up on a tight right hand twist. It really made me happy that I had done as much cardio training on the workup to the trip. As you make the climb you have the chance to step off into man of the side rooms like the kitchen, master bedroom and a few others. A luxury that dad was more than happy to take advantage of when they presented themselves. It was either that or induce a heart attack!. The payoff though was worth it. Once you reach the top you are presented with two gifts.

The first gift at the top of Blarney Castle is the chance to walk the battlements and get a 360degree view of the grounds and surrounding lands. The second gift is, if you are so inclined, to lay down flat, bend over backwards….and kiss the Blarney Stone.  Dad and I both engaged in that oldest of Irish tourist traditions!  Really , you climbed to the top of the bloody castle, why the hell not?

After making our way down we spent a few minutes walking through the poison garden. Where all the plants are deadly to either smell, touch or ingest. Good Times!!

After finishing up there we made the long drive back to Dublin and grabbed a bite to eat. A meal that neither one of us made it through without nodding off at some point.  So, food was eaten Guiness was drank and we were both passed out within minutes of getting into the hotel room.  Day one ended at 10pm with the plan of getting up around 8am the next day to drive to County Carlow and Duckett’s Grove Castle

Torchwood Miracle Day/Strike Back Series 2

Just finished the finale of Torchwood: Miracle Day. The fan boy in me was going to love it no matter what. But, the realist in me knows that there were some major stumbles along the road. I have to say that the finale was really good. Not great..but really good. I hope that Russell T. Davies gets a chance to carry the story forward. The last 30seconds could be a game changer for Torchwood if it gets a new series in the states or elsewhere.

On the flip side of American/British TV show projects...season two of Strike Back keeps getting better and better with each episode. While I thought the new season was going in the wrong direction by the end of episode one (shocking!!) it has picked up running since then and never looked back. The first four episodes are as good as anything in the first series run, which was solely aired on SKY if memory serves.

This is how the formula should  be handled. Torchwood stumbled by taking away the charm of Cardiff and exchanging it for Washington DC and sunny California. They also tried to appeal to an American only audience. A mistake that I hope doesn't cost the show a chance at a fifth (overall) series.  Strike Back, on the other hand, has kept the international setting in place (kinda had to given the subject matter) and has replaced a one man show (Richard Armitage) with a kick ass ensemble.

Both shows are great in their own right. If you've never watched Torchwood, don't let this season sour you! Go back and start and series one and take the ride from the beginning. Or, at least go back and watch Children of Earth...but some of the emotional impact is lost without the back story of seasons one and two. Grow with the characters and learn to love them!  Strike Back is the same way. GO back and watch the amazing performance that Richard Armitage gave over those first six episodes and then give me your opinion of episode one of season two!

Movie Review -- Alien Opponent (2010)

Some movies defy explanation...some combinations are money. This movie is a little of both.

I came across this movie the other day on the Chiller  network. Why did I watch? Strippers, rednecks, aliens, Jeremy London and Roddy Piper. I'm shocked that this movie is in no way available on Netflix. Streaming or disc.

Aliens crash land in a rednecks junk yard...shortly after the redneck was killed by his hot young wife's crazy mother. The problem is that they can't get his body out of the junk yard in order to collect on his life insurance. What is a person to do? Why put out a $100,000 reward for the person who will go into the junk yard, kill the alien and bring out the dead redneck losers body.

At this point the movie becomes re-DAMN-diculous.  Yes, up to this point the movie was just bad...now its ridiculousness is on a whole new level. Including a drunk Jeremy London, a housewife with a full on Thompson submachine gun and Roddy Piper as a fighting priest. Oh, did I mention the French maid? Yeah, there's a girl who gets kicked out of a car at the start of the movie and spends most of her screen time in a French maid outfit even though she is dragging around a suitcase.

Apparently in this redneck town all you need to do is have people sign a waiver and it's okay for them to run around trying to kill an alien (or each other for that matter).

At the start of the movie the alien is what appears to be, how do I put this....a bear in a space suit with a Halo helmet on. But, when the idiots start to run wild in the junk yard they turn into the slugs from Slither. If this movie had a coherent thought I must have missed it.

The collection of characters ranges from the above mentioned nutters to: A man who is looking for his long lost daughter,only to find her before having a grenade blowup in his hands. A group of kids and their karate teacher. A bunch of jar heads. A woman looking for a husband (while dressed up like she belongs in the movie Gone with the Wind). A Lara Croft wanna be...or maybe Jill Valentine would be a better choice? A high school football team and baseball team!  (for the record I refuse to spend time looking up/remembering any actual character names!)

Death scenes have't been this cheesy since, well, I really don't have a good point of reference for this level of crap. Jeremy London just acts like a dick the whole movie. At one point tossing a puppy for no reason other than he must really hate dogs. There's something that can only be described as a mechanical alien land shark.  Oh and the alien makes some sort of mech out of the junk that has saws and shoots cell phones. (I COULDN'T MAKE THIS SHIT UP IF I WAS TRYING)

Seriously it was like this movie was written by 12 year olds who were asked what was cool? Aliens...cool! Halo...cool! Ninjas, guns, girls in bras, rednecks, more guns----cool, cool, eh.., cool and cool!!!

Classic Lines:

***Reverend Roddy Piper (I don't care enough to look up his real character name):

"Jesus doesn't approve of you ripping my fucking leg off!"

"I've got God on my side. What do you got tin can?" followed shortly by, "Robots don't go to heaven!"

***Crazy Mother: (after the first day of carnage) "We can't have those bodies lying around the yard! They'll attract flies!"

***Jill Valentine type: (after redneck dude kills zombie Roddy Piper) "I want to fuck your soul!"

What the fuck moments:

Cheerleaders fighting over the head of the recently decapitated football captain.

Guns, flame throwers and football players can't do a damn thing to the aliens mech warrior. But, Roddy Piper is able to rip it's arms off with his bare hands!

The dog that Jeremy London shows back up only to have his neck snapped by the crazy Jill Valentine girl!

ZOMBIE RODDY PIPER!!!

How do I describe the end of this movie? It was a little like Super 8 mixed with the last Predator movie. If either of them had a cannibal biker. I wish half this shit wasn't in the movie. It would make this so much easier!! There was a nice twist at the end....no really! It was kinda out of left field. Almost like it was something they thought of at the last minute and decided to throw in two extra lines to make it work! But, they did!

I wish I could say that I hated this movie. But,I didn't. I can't rightly say that I liked it either.  It was fun in a jacked up, no real story, how did this get made type of way.  If  you enjoy bad movies I'd say avoid this one. If you like horrible movies I'd say avoid it. If you like movies that make no sense, have no plot and even less character development then this is your Citizen Kane.

IN TIME (trailer)

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Nerd....

I'm a nerd. There I said it! How can I prove my nerd-y-ness?

I spent the better part of an hour the other night trying to re-thread my broken 8-track (nerd) copy of the soundtrack to Star Wars (double nerd). In the end I couldn't get the ends to match up correctly with the length of tape I had...so I made a splice and edited out about 8 seconds of music. Essentially I created my own cut of the master work! Can't wait until the 8-track makes its way back around to that spot to see what it sounds like!

I've also been re-watching a ton of Torchwood and Doctor Who. Which has led me to notice things that make me more nerdy for seeing them! But, also less nerdy for it taking this long to notice. Case in point.

The Resurrection Glove (or the "risen mitten" as Ianto said) from season one & two  of Torchwood. 

Jack talks about not knowing where it comes from or who built it. After the second glove was destroyed following the mishap with Owen....it was never mentioned again.

Just one of those strange Torchwood alien artifacts that popped up over the first two seasons that were cool trinkets but never really had a long lasting effect on the show. I think the glove(s) were the only items to make more than one appearance in multiple episodes.

So imagine my shock when watching the last episode of the David Tennant Doctor Who series when I noticed Time Lord Timothy Dalton sporting this fine accessory!

So, it would seem that the glove is a perfect match for Time Lord technology. Makes sense, everything relates back to the Time Lords.

Again I felt a little nerdy when I was all of a sudden saying, "Wait, haven't I seen that iron gauntlet with magical properties before?"

In the magical world of Who everything is connected. So I am not shocked that it was included. Either on accident or on purpose. Consider the scene in Flesh and Stone where Matt Smith's Doctor appears to Amy Pond in the forest when she had her eyes shut. That Doctor had lost his jacket whilst escaping from the Weeping Angels and was sans coat when he headed off with river. But, just a few moments later he appears to Amy and he's wearing his jacket again.  A situation that I noticed at the time (cause I'm a nerd who is tuned into those things). But, it wasn't explained until the last episode of the season!

See the Doctor frolic in the woods with his swish pink/red stripped shirt, suspender and bow tie (bow ties are cool).

Then only a second after running off he's back and you can detect an obvious shoulder of tweed!

Seriously, only the doctor can pull off the combo of pink/red shirt, maroon bow tie, red suspenders,
 brown slacks and a tweed jacket! That alone should be considered a super power.

It's those little things that make watching and re-watching shows like Doctor Who and Torchwood so much fun!

It also makes me wish I could make it out to Sand Diego  for Comicon this year to see some of the amazing SciFi related goodies that will be on display.

I guess I will again have to resort to my back up plan....Paducahcon!!  Follow on twitter at @paducahcon

The Wait is Over

Captain Jack is back...

Very few things in life are worth a two year wait. The return of Torchwood is one of those things.

I would call myself a fan boy. I would say so in public with no shame. To show how little shame I have in this respect let me share this little glimpse.....

I gave a little yelp when Captain Jack Harness (AKA John Barrowman) showed up on the screen for the first time.

To ready myself for the first of 10 new episodes I recently re-watched all the Dr. Who episodes that featured the former Time Agent and all around bad ass.  I also started to watch the original series from the beginning.

I've been looking forward to this ever since creator Russell T. Davis announced that BBC and Starz were partnering together to bring the show to the US as a joint venture. Very rarely do you get a favorite show back after thinking that there may never be more original episodes.

While the five day event "Children of Earth" was well received both in numbers and by critics there was no official green light from the BBC on a fourth series, limited or otherwise. There was also a brief time where it looked like Torchwood may find a US home on FOX.  That idea was bittersweet for me.

If FOX had gotten the show it would have had some decent production values and we would have gotten probably 13 episodes for the first season. But, if it wasn't an immediate hit from the first episode then it would have been doomed to a one off turn. Kind of like the US Dr. Who movie they helped get together (kinda crap movie but I did enjoy Eric Roberts as the Master).

So with 10 episodes in the can, a strong media push, and hopefully great numbers I think we can see more Torchwood for years to come.  Plush you can't hate a cast that has John, Eve Myles and Kai Owens from the original (oh, and the glorious return of Tom Price as PC Andy!) Then throws in Bill Pullman, Mekhi Phifer, and other great guest stars!! I'm looking at you Dollhouse babe Dichen Lachman.

Movie Review -- The Hangover Pt.2 (2011)

She-males, monkeys and Chow....Oh my!!

If you were offended by anything in the first movie...stay away, stay far away.

This movie is not so much a sequel as it is a slightly altered copy of the first movie. A comparison that is not meant to slight this movie or the first one. I loved them both equally.

Vegas is replaced with Bangkok. A lost soon to be groom with a soon to be brother in law. And Stu marrying a stripper with, well an encounter that leads to the best reworking of the Billy Joel song Allentown that I have ever heard!!

Nothing is as funny as having one of those nights where you black out and wake up with a monkey, a naked Asian man, no hair and someone in the party is missing. Well, nothing is funnier when it's a movie about it happening to someone else. I 'm fairly certain that if that happened to me I would piss myself and cry in a hotel room for the whole day!

But, lucky for us the boys have been through this before and night club fires, international criminals, and the constant threat that "Bangkok has him (Teddy) now" won't stop our heroes from their appointed rounds.

Like with many raunchy film sequels the comedy is ratcheted up to a place that will either make you never want to watch this (or any other) film again. But, it works here. I wouldn't be taking my mother to this film...but that's because she doesn't like movies in general. I think she'd find the dick jokes and drinking humor funny actually!

As follow ups go I don't think it's better than the original in the fact that the original was just that....original. But, I also think that it can stand alone as a funny "worst case scenario" film.  If you don't like bad things happening to people in movies, then don't watch this one.

If you look back fondly on your blackout dunk days then have at it. Or, even if you are still in your black out drunk days then enjoy. And with a box office take of almost $250Million on an $80Million budget it's no surprise that a third installment is being discussed for sometime in 2014.

Plus, you are kinda forced to respect a film that features Billy Joel's "Downeaster Alexa" for an extended period of time!! (Storm Front RULES)

Review: Transformers 3 (2011)

Consider this an open letter to Michael Bay....

Dear Michael,

I went to the theater and threw down my $20 dollars for a ticket, popcorn and drink to see the new Transformers movie....I fucking hate you.

The movie was exactly like the other two movies and a little like every movie you have ever made.

It was: loud, had a crap ton of effects, was loud, had crap dialogue, was LOUD, and had talking cars that turn into other shit...granted that last one is pretty much only reflected in the Transformers movie. (I would say that Pearl Harbor would have been more fun with things that turned into other things!)

Basically I really enjoyed myself!!

I have no doubt that this will be no where near the Academy Awards, in any major category. Not so slight sound mixing and special effects artist everywhere!  But, it will probably pick up a Teen Choice or two!  Overall I enjoy this series. I even like the second film. Nothing was lost with letting Megan Fox walk...alternate hottie was found to plug right into the formula. As a matter of fact I think that this whole franchise could go on without any of the main actors.

Shia LaBeouf could be replaced with any young actor, Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson could be replaced by any halfway decent looking guy in an Army uniform to keep the ladies happy!

Comedy can always come from some wacky transformer or crazy actor a la John Malkovich and John Turturro....come to think of it...John Turturro may actually be the one actor that, if he didn't come back, I'd be pissed.

All things considered you know what you are getting with a Michael Bay film. Heavy on the action and SFX and low key on the dialogue. I didn't even have a problem with him using scenes from The Island in this movie. Hell, it was his film! Probably helped keep the cost low. Let's face it, the dude who noticed that scenes had been lifted from The Island for use in the freeway chase scene, must have been a fucking Michael Bay fan boy to start out with...either that or an extreme hater who was looking for a reason to rip the film. Either way the Island was a nice film...but I would have never noticed the lifted scene if it wasn't for the lead up buzz after the opening.

Michael Bay makes fun movies. Let's face it: The Rock was BADASS, Armageddon was a fun film, Bad Boys I and II both had their high points, Pearl Harbor...okay that one kinda tanked, and the Transformers films which will no doubt cross the $2BILLION mark once the third film runs its course...are box office gold.

I would say that if you had even a passing fancy with either of the first two movies give this one a shot. If you hated the first two? Don't expect sweeping changes with this one!

Oh, one more thing.....Leonard--FREAKING--Nimoy!! Nuff said.

Blargh....

Nothing to say...nothing to do...

I really wish I had a hobby that involved...well hobby like activities. Right now I am a half assed gamer. Started LA Noir...started Dead Rising 2. I'm a half assed reader. Started like three books and currently haven't finished one book in the last maybe...three months. Got a ton I would like to read if I had the patience and time to read! But, usually I will just check out the audio book. And by check out I mean obtain through other means than purchase (library if you were wondering)

I'm not artsy, I'm not crafty. I have no patience for models or things with little parts that take a long time to make. Essentially I have a limited window of opportunity to get involved in, well, something.

Does surfing the internet count as a hobby? Are there meetings for people to attend and discuss "surfing" stories? Can I join a club and pay a dues to pretend that I have a hobby?

I guess I could start stalking a celebrity on Twitter until they acknowledge I'm there...or until the block me. But, what fun would that be?

Honestly, I really don't want a hobby...because hobbies, like hookers, cost money.  Not sure I have ever strung those words together to form that sentence before!!

Oh well...I'll think of something. Maybe I can start a Justin Bieber fan fiction chat site? That should be good for a few million hits! Maybe I could take up crappy internet poetry...nah.  I guess I could take some online classes so I could feel like I was again wasting my time in college!! Those were fun years...and I seemed to always have something to do other than my homework!

Office/Mancave

So, I finally got my home office/man cave all set up last week.  Moved my tv from my bedroom, hooked up my computer to the tv. Brought in the PS3 to watch Bluray movies. Bought a ton of furniture from IKEA. Hooked up my stereo system (still need to buy speaker wire to get the last three speakers connected though.

All in all it's a fine area to work/play. Which got me thinking. Now that I am going to be spending most of my time in this room; what other accents should I add?  I have posters for the wall (as you can see from a few posts ago). I have a panoramic shot of Soldiers Field above the couch which is one of the first thing to get replaced by the way..(couch not picture). I've also ordered another print of one of my photos from Canvas on Demand   But, I still need a few special touches. Not sure what to go for, what will really make it special? Only time will tell I guess.

Right now I guess I have everything I need here to keep me busy on my down time at work and all points before and after. I have a Nintendo DS but all I find myself playing are mods of original NES games.  I have a Playstation 3 with: L.A. Noir, Tiger Woods, Uncharted, Assassins Creed and a few other games but I only seem to play 24: The Game (ps2), Katamari Damacy (ps2) and Lupin III (ps2).

This is sitting on the shelf next to my 8-track player which is on top of my laser disc player, which is to the right of my record player. But my pride and joy is my Tardis money bank that is hanging out with my Yoda action figure, desk patrol Dalek, and Buddy Christ....yeah, that happened!

Tomorrow I am faced with the toughest question of all....what to have as my afternoon snack? Animal crackers, flavor blast goldfish, or Dunkaroos.  Yeah, I'm six what's your point!

Making plans...

So the planning has finally begun in earnest for my October trip to Europe with my travel companion Don (aka: Big Poppa Shields). 

Originally it was going to be fly in to London for a few days, then go to Ireland, then back to London, then train to Paris....then leave.  But, after thinking it over...that seems mighty stupid!  More jumping around from country to country with London as base was killing our chances of doing stuff.

So a plan was hatched. Fly into Dublin, stay for three days and leave for London on the fourth day. Stay in London for three days, leave for Paris on the fourth. Three days in Paris and then home to the States on the fourth.  Seems like a solid plan....until I realized that some of the things I wanted to do would be left out in the cold with that plan...namely Scotland!

One can never underestimate flexible travel plans! This is why I didn't want to get roped into a group tour. I can't even commit to a dinner choice long enough to order sometimes.

Now, I think we have a time table hammered down that we can live with...or at least not deviate too far from! 

Day One: Get into Dublin around 7am...rent car and drive south! On way to Cork stop in Co. Carlow and visit Duckett's Grove Castle. Carry on to Cork to take in the sights and stay the night.

Day Two: Get up and drive back to Dublin. Grab hotel, hang out in Dublin and head north to Belfast for the afternoon/evening. Get back to Dublin late and crash.

Day Three: Fly from Dublin to Glasgow on early flight.  Rent car make trip to Loch Ness. This was a must for me and one of the reasons that the travel plans were changed. I, for some reason, thought it was a much shorter trip from London to Loch Ness...not so much the case!  Spend time in Loch Ness and then meander back to Glasgow in the the early evening....enjoy.

Day Four: Fly to London.  Originally this was going to be a train trip through the English countryside. But, a rail pass (as far as I could see) was actually going to be about the same price, if not more expensive, than a quick flight. The flight would also cut out about 5 hours of travel...unless Google maps lied to me! Arrive in London and do typical touristy type things for rest of day.

Day Five: Stuff in London....trip to Stonehenge ("The Greatest Henge in the World"....I'm going to be seriously sad if I can't get that on a t-shirt!)

Day Six: Stuff in London

Day Seven: Stuff in London...and a trip to Cardiff. As a fan of British Sci Fi I can't pass up a trip to this great Welsh city. Home of the Millennium Centre, shopping, Cardiff bay...and of course the fictional former home of team Torchwood. (yeah that's right, I am planning vacation locations based on Russell T. Davis' Dr. Who spin off!)

Day Eight: Bullet train to Paris...hotel...food....museums

Day Nine: Paris...food .... Museums

Day Ten: Paris ...maybe out of the city travel...

Day Eleven: Wake up and get my ass to the airport to fly home and hate the fact that I am only a few days away from going back to work!

Now I need to find the small things to fill in those wide open days in London and Paris. Also, need to make sure that my netbook has plenty of space for movies (for the trip) and photos (of the trip).  Probably would be a wise decision to renew my Flickr pro account too.

Things that will fill the gaps in time I am sure will include: eating, drinking, tours of places you can drink, tours of famous places, tours of infamous places. Shopping---oh God the shopping is going to kill me! Lounging in awesome locals...sadly it will be October so probably going to be indoor lounging.

Blogging, Facebooking, Twittering and generally lamenting the fact that I will eventually have to leave should also factor heavily into the rotation of things to do. Sadly the one thing that will not be on the schedule is the planned NFL football game between my beloved Chicago Bears and the Tampa Bay Bucs. Not necessarly because the game may not happen (boo)! The real reasons tends to lean more towards the fact that it would be cost prohibitive to stay the extra two days.  Between tickets to the game, getting back to London from Paris, two more nights in a hotel and switching flights AGAIN, it would add about another $1200 to a trip that I already am on the boarder of not being able to afford!

But, stuff is purchased, plans are made...money can be made with extra work! It's all a go! Pretty sure that Europe (and myself) will never be the same after this trip.

Strange Dream

Had a strange dream last night...

I was on the run from the cops here in Arizona.  Seems I was under suspicion for drinking and driving. But, not alcohol. Just a Pepsi!!

Apparently in my dream world it was illegal to drink anything, and drive anywhere.  So I decided rather than spend hard time in one of Sheriff Joe's fine tent city establishments I would make a run for it. I headed up north towards Flagstaff then decided to cut over towards Colorado. Which is when it got really strange.

Remember the musical/movie Brigadoon about the town that appears like once ever century (or something)? Well, apparently I ran into the town from the mid to late 90's.  There was everything a kid who grew up in the 90's could ask for: kick ass Saturday morning cartoons, bad ass toys on every store shelf (the kind where G.I. Joe's guns didn't really fire), and Crystal Pepsi flowed like water.  Seriously...it came out of the water fountains in this town!

Now I've never been able to nail down my fascination with a drink that almost did to Pepsi what "New Coke" did to Coke. But from time to time I have strange dreams that seem to feature this clear Pepsi product as some sort of Holy Grail of the soda world!

Apparently, not much a search is actually required thanks to ebay  you can open the bidding at $49.99 or buy it now for $249.

I think I need to look a little cheaper for some Crystal Pepsi gear...maybe start with a magnet or sign before I drop $249 on an unopened 6-pack of almost 20 year old soda!!

Sadly I woke up before I ever got to Colorado...or resolved my issues with the state of Arizona. I'd like to think that somewhere in my dreams I am sitting back pretending that GI Joe is shooting Cobra, watching Denver the Last Dinosaur and drinking a tall Crystal Pepsi, the "clear cola".  I man can dream.

Cub's...to this point.

30-44

I wish I could say that my goal of watching/listening to all the Cubs games this year was on schedule. But, sadly that is not the case.

As I said before I was pretty solid through about the first 40 or so games. But since then I have fallen off the proverbial wagon,  Not the bandwagon. I still love the Cubs and watch or listen at every chance. But, my simple plan of a quick blog update following those games has fallen off, way off over the last month or so.

When I last checked in the Cubs were 22-26, only four games under .500.  Oh what great times those were!! As of today's lose to the cross town rivals the White Sox the Cubbies are 30-44 (fourteen games under the .500 mark),

Things are looking better though after taking three of four games from the Brewers and playing close games with both the Yankee's and White Sox. The team seems to be heading in the right direction, But, the question is can Mike Quade and crew turn thing around heading into the All Star break to help make a run at the second half? I would like to think that things are looking up. Carlos Pena is hitting home runs, Carlos Marmol seems to be getting back to his old ways, Carlos Zambrano is his old reliable self (too bad the bullpen can't keep a lead for him), Once Barney and Byrd are healthy I think we have the change to make a run

Changes....

Well...things finally changed today. I was asked to pack my desk up and go home!!

The writing was on the wall. I pretty much saw it coming.

So here I am now....Working from home! Not in a make $1,000,000 in your spare time flipping homes...work from home. Instead I am doing my normal job, just much closer to my bed!

Here's an example of how my day has been altered: my usual day consists of a total of 90min between lunch and breaks...the rest, is work time.

On a normal day for lunch I will re-heat my lunch and watch some random TV show that I have brought in on a flash drive, then spend about 10-15minutes surfing the web. For my break I will surf the web or read a book. Not a lot else that you can get done at 10:30 at night.

Today though was a nice change of pace. I was able to run to Best Buy and return a Cat6 cable I didn't need. Drop a package off with my parents for delivery to the post office. Grab a bit of dinner at the Greek Pita and watch a little Hollywood Treasure over on Syfy.  For my break I fixed a bag of popcorn, watched some Criminal Minds, straightened up my office, started some laundry, and wrote this. All in about 30 min.

Maybe it isn't a big change. Or even a dramatic change. But, I feel like I will be getting more out of my day if ever day can be as packed as this. Maybe in the future I will mix in some video games and cooking just for fun!

Games 39-49

22-26

You would think that being flat on my back for almost two weeks would allow me ample chances to listen to and/or watch the Cubs play during that time.  Not the case. While I was able to listen to or watch all or parts of the first 39 games of the season I have only seen maybe one game over the last few weeks.  So instead of going game to game I am just going to look at an overview of the suckfest that has been these last few games.

Game three -vs- San Francisco was rained out

Two game series with the Reds resulted in two loses.  Two with the Florida Marlins went the way of the Cubs.

Which brings us to a three game series with the Boston Red Sox. The first game was a blow out with the Cubs on the wrong side of a 15-5 final score.  The next game would see the boys in blue putting 8 runs on the board in the top of the 8th inning to comeback for a 9-3 win.  Game three, while closer than game one, would again go to  the Red Sox.

The Cubs would then open a three game series with the New York Mets with an 11-1 win, Ryan Dempster would pick up the win to move to 3-4 on the season. Game two was a strange game.  With major rain forecast, the Cubs went a little strange with their pitching.  Casey Coleman would load the bases in the second inning, with a 4-3 lead. and would get pulled by manager Mike Quade. The bullpen didn't really help his cause...letting all three base runners score.

The game would go into a rain delay in the 7th, a move that would not sit well with Quade. Quade broke out from the dugout to have a screaming match with the umpires while the grounds crew pulled the tarp out to cover the field.  After a delay the umpires called the game and the Cubs suffered a 7-4 lose.

For the third game of the series the Cubs would score four runs in the fourth, two in the fifth, and one run in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Carlos Pena would hit his 6th home run of the season while Kosuke Fukudome hit his first to help Carlos Zambrano improve to 5-2 on the season. Big Z would also go 3-3 from the plate to help his own cause.

Overall in the 10 games I didn't really see or hear the Cubs went 5-5 and had one came washed out completely.

Torchwood: Miracle Day (Trailer)

To say I'm excited about the upcoming 10 episode season three of Torchwood would be an understatement. I seriously hope this does well and STARZ keeps cranking out a few more Torchwood series. I remember reading somewhere that most of the principle actors signed something like six year deals. Fingers crossed it does well enough to get at least a few more series orders after this one....

Lonely Island

Just for fun...couldn't resist I'm on a Boat after the others were posted...it just didn't feel right to leave this off.

SNL Shorts/skits Pt. 2

Natalie Portman Raps



Schweddy Balls

SNL Shorts/skits Pt. 1

Thought I would put up a few of my favorite SNL shorts/skits...starting with the EPIC--Dick in a box.



Lazy Sunday

It's Not Gay if it's a three way....

Timberlake, Samburg and Gaga....love it.  Also, I just realized that when she doesn't look like a complete nut job...Lady Gaga is kinda hot!!

R.I.P-- Randy "Macho Man" Savage

For a pretty funny tribute to Randy "Macho Man" Savage take a look.

original content from: thefrogman.me - "thefrogumblelog"

There Can Be Only Only One

While sitting around the house with a bum back. Or rather while laying on the floor with a bum back I decided to give my Bluray collection a bit of a work out. Last night I started in on one of my favorite movies series....The Highlander!

I can still remember the original Highlander (1986) as being the first movie I ever wanted to see based on a tv commercial. The scene from the original where MacCleod  is taking the quickening, after killing the Kurgan, with the windows exploding was permanently seared into my 7 year old brain.

The original had great fight scenes, a great cast, an original idea and a kick ass soundtrack by Queen. When the original film was a hit the studios got to work on a follow up.

Five years after the original we got the abomination that was Highlander 2: The Quickening.

How this movie didn't kill the franchise I have no idea.

The film not only jumps into the distant future of 2025, but we finally find out the true origins of the Immortals. They were fucking aliens from the past of another planet!!  MacCleod and Ramirez were exiled to the future from the planet Zeist for trying to start a rebellion. From there the film never really decides if it is a action film, drama, or an eco friendly diatribe on us killing the planet.

Essentially this movie is just as confused as the viewers who paid to see it at the time.

Somehow three years later someone was able to revive the idea of the immortals battling for the ultimate prize  as a TV show. When the TV show found success Hollywood was convinced to make another feature film.  Christopher Lambert would return for a third go round as the immortal Scotsman. This time there would be no Sean Connery but we would have Mario Van Peebles doing his best to bring back the swagger of the original films villain.

The only way you can watch all the movies is to realize that continuity means nothing...and most importantly, forget the second movie ever happened! Seriously, if you try to figure out how MacCleod won "the prize" in the first film if Van Peebles character was buried under a mountain like we see in the third. Or if you try to figure out why after the second movie that whole train of thought (fucking aliens!) is never mentioned again...you'll never wrap your mind around the series.

Lambert would team up with Adrian Paul (TV's Duncan MacCloed) for the last "good" Highlander film, 2000's Highlander: Endgame. Squeeze in a direct to video movie centered around the characters from the show Highlander: The Source (2007) and a fairly craptastic animated film Highlander: Search for Vengeance.

With a reboot on the horizon it seems the franchise is still alive and well....for now. There can be only one.

Gram Parsons....

Spent some time trolling youtube while I was flat on my back and found some great Gram Parsons videos that I wanted to share.  Gram has slowly become one of my all time favorite musicians and these are just a few of my favorites that I found.  I only included either actual concert footage (very rare) and official music videos.

BIG MOUTH BLUES -- feat. Emmylou Harris


STREETS OF BALTIMORE -- feat. Emmylou Harris


CHRISTINE'S TUNE (AKA: DEVIL IN DISGUISE) -- Flying Burrito Brothers


OLDER GUYS -- Flying Burrito Brothers


SIX DAYS ON THE ROAD -- The Flying Burrito Brother (from the Rolling stones doc. Gimmie Shelter ... about the tragic Altamont Speedway show. While I like the stones I bought the Criterion DVD just for this performance.)

Doctor Who meets Top Gear

Two of my favorite things...Doctor Who and Top Gear (also Tennant and Clarkson..so technically four of my favs...)

I so can't wait!!!

Backiotomy!

I feel like Sir Smoke a Lot...you know without the lawyer having sex with my momma, the impotence, and the weed smoking. Really it's just the back part...but the clip is funny as hell!!

Games 37, 38

17-21

Games one and two versus the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants

Ryan Dempster...this is how you pitch!

Dempster won his second game of the season (2-4) behind six innings of work where he struck out 11 and only allowed six batters to reach base.  Dempster finally also got some back up from the bats!

Cubs hitters plated 11 of the eighteen hitters who reached (14 hits, 4 walks). The top four in the batting order wold go 9-18 with six runs scored, and six RBI's...including 3-5 for Starlin Castro (2runs, 2 RBI) and 3-5 for Darwin Barney (1 run, 3 RBI).  The top of the order wasn't the only portion of the lineup to produce. Reed Johnson went 3-5 with four RBI's and a run scored out of the six slot in the order.

The defending champs pitched like anything but champs. all four pitchers to appear for San Fran gave up at least one run.  Starter Madison Bumgarner 3 ER, Jeremy Affeldt 4 ER, Guillermo Mota 1 ER and Dan Runzler 3 ER.

Game two saw the return to the majors of Doug Davis who took the hill for the Cubs.

Davis, who hadn't pitched since July of last year, pitched five innings and gave up 3 runs while striking out six in a rain shortened game.  Thanks to some untimely errors only one of those three runs was earned. It's been a rough year for Davis, according to the mlb.com story for the game "He (Davis) was diagnosed in 2008 with thyroid cancer, and one year ago in May, he discovered he had pericarditis, an inflammation of the lining around the heart. Then, his elbow flared up."

It looks like the Cubs may have finally found a stop gap pitcher while they wait to see what Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner pitch like on their returns from the disabled list.

The game ended up being official after a forty minute rain delay after six innings were played. That delay, and errors by Koyie Hill and Blake Dewitt, ended up costing Davis a chance at a win in his return.

Games 34-36

16-20

Bring on the Cardinals!!

Game 1
Chris Carpenter and  Carlos Zambrano faced off in the first game of a three game series featuring one of baseballs greatest rivals.

Carpenter pitched a solid seven innings. Well, solid in the fact that he got a win. Not sure if you would count 13 hits over seven innings as solid. But, he did get a win in a 6-4 game.

Carlos Zambrano looked good again giving up only four runs over seven innings. Ultimately the Cubs bats and bullpen couldn't get on the same page and Kerry Wood took the loss giving up two runs on two hits with three walks all in an inning of work.

Albert Pujols held the hot bat for the Cards going 4-5 with a run scored in the game.

Game 2
Matt Garza picked up his first road win of the season with five innings of one run baseball. Garza failed to top double digit strikeouts...but he came close, K'ing 7 Cardinal batters.

This was finally a game where all the hitters in the Cubs lineup were in the zone.  The Cubs combined for a total of 17 hits. Five of those 17 hits were for extra bases (3 doubles, 2 triples).  Koyie Hill went 2-4 with a double, triple and 2 rbi's.  Starlin Castro was a perfect 4-4 with a triple and three RBI.

Over all the Cubs plated 11 of those 17 batters that reached on the way to a series tying 11-4 win over the Cardinals.

Game 3
Casey Coleman ... Sucks!  He started strong with a few good showings, but since then it's been a bit downhill. This time the damage was only nine hits, six runs and four walks in four and a third innings. The killer was the second inning where Coleman gave up five runs.

The series had a total of thirty five runs scored...but only one home run was hit (Matt Holliday in this game).  The Cardinals 4,5,6 hitters went a combined 8-14 with five runs and 2 RBI's to back Jamie Garcia.

Garcia improved to 5-0 by spreading nine hits over seven innings. He struck out four while only walking one and only allowed one run to score.

Jeff baker was the only Cubs batter to collect multiple hits, going 3-4 with the teams lone RBI

Movie Review: Thor (2011)

The God of Thunder is here...and he's awesome.

Why does Marvel make such awesome super hero movies? Source material is a strong first step...so major props to Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and the countless others. But, mostly Stan Lee...dude is a comic book icon, a twitter "general" and steals ever scene he's a part of!

Casting is another strong characteristic of most Marvel movies. Think about it...when was the last time you saw a Marvel movie with a weak cast? I can't think of one right now...but Thor would definitely not qualify as "weak".

Chris Hemsworth makes a good Norse God. Anthony Hopkins is amazing as always, Idris Elba (nuff said), Academy Award Winner Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgard...no weak links in this cast

For the movie itself I think a big part of my enjoyment was rooted in the fact that I had no prior knowledge of the Thor cannon. I was never a reader of the comics, honestly never got into the Avengers comics either as a kid. So, the extent of my Thor knowledge is a basic understanding of the Norse mythos. Due to those facts I wasn't really nit picking the movie the was I do when I watch an Iron Man movie or a Batman film.

I have friends who said they liked the movie overall but there were a few things that didn't click for them. Either info on a character or how a character was portrayed. Story wise people seemed to generally like the movie.

From start to finish it was exactly what I look for in a super hero movie:

 It was a strong origin story--doesn't get bogged down in details but does set the stage to let you know what the character is about.

Strong casting -- as I said not a weak link in the cast. The only down side for me was I wanted more out of Hemdall (Idris Elba). When Elba was cast I wanted him to play a huge role in the film since he is slowly becoming one of my favorite actors. Watching the film I can see where if I had read the comics I would have maybe had lower expectations!!

The movie is serious...but doesn't take itself to seriously.  The film, like many good movies, has a good balance of action/drama/comedy.  If you take a superhero character and make him too serious you run the risk of the character becoming too dark.  Even Thor, while not a dark hero like Batman, if he doesn't have a sense humor he just seems like a crazy person. The humor of the moves seem to humanize the characters. Thor, while an alien "god" becomes more human with his humor, and if you ask the women in the theatre...his ripped abs (a scene that had my dad asking out loud when Natalie Portman would follow suit!).  Look at Iron Man, without humor Tony Stark would just be an alcoholic rich kid with dangerous toys...but the sense of humor seems to soften him and the obvious emotional and mental issues he may or may not have!

For me the move was entertaining from start to finish and definitely hooked me into the characters and just amped up my interest in The Avengers movie. Which reminds me...is Joss Whedon done making that yet? I really want to see it now!!

Games 31-33

15-18

A three game series with the Reds was a close series...but one that would ultimately go to the team not from Chicago.

Game one --

Here we go again!! This game, once more, saw hard luck loser Matt Garza drop a close contest (5-4) to fall to 1-4 on the year. Garza tried to keep the Cubbies in the game with six innings of work and seven strike outs. But, he did give up all five of the Reds runs.Including a three run HR to Jay Bruce. A margin the Cubs hitters couldn't overcome.

Marlon Byrd was the only Cubs hitter in the game to collect more than one hit. (2-4)

Game two

Well, this was a close game again. But, this time the Cubs were able to come all the way back. Granted they needed almost every last out to do so. 

The Cubs needed big home runs from Blake Dewitt in the 4th and Carlos Pena to eek out a 3-2 win.

With Reds closer Cordero having control issues the Cubs were able to tie the score on Carlos Pena's 3rd round tripper of the season. Blake Dewitt would follow with a single and move to third on a Jeff Baker ground rule double to center. A hit that most in the park thought was the winning hit. Dewitt wouldn't have to wait long to score the winning run though...he would come around to score the winning run when Kosuke Fukudome singled in the winning run one batter later. 

Cubs pitcher Marcos Mateo would pick up the win in relief with a scoreless top of the 9th to even his record at 1-1 on the year.

Game three

This one would go back to the Reds who would have five pitchers combine to shut out the Cubs. Ryan Dempster would pick up yet another lose falling to 1-4 on the season. But, not for a lack of trying....Dempster would pitch seven innings giving up five hits and both Reds runs

Fox Blocked...

Well, good tv (or mediocre but fun to watch tv) has died yet another sudden death over at FOX.

The network that brought you powerhouse shows like 24, House, Bones and American Idol has decided that some of it's shows needed to be turned out to pasture.

There was a long list of shows that were "bubble" contenders at FOX: Lie to Me, Human Target, The Chicago Code, Breaking In, Traffic Lights. Many assumed that a few of them would get another season. Personally I was holding out home for Human Target and Lie to Me to make it to a new year....sadly my choices didn't make the cut. But, neither did any of the other shows!

With Breaking In not getting picked up, or possibly finishing out this season, Christian Slater is now 0-3 (over three networks) for TV shows making it through a first season...let alone getting a second.

Human Target, a personal favorite of mine, also never found it's audience. Can't say this was much of a shocker to me. The show was bounced around for weeks at a time. For a few weeks Fox was burning off two episodes a night. Then it got pre-empted...never helps!

Lie to Me was always a solid show, but never really flashy or big on the ratings. Another causality of the Fox schedule. The three seasons of the show were broken up so strangely that it almost felt like there were four or more mini-season that ran.

Traffic Lights -- don't care, never watched it.

Chicago Code -- Well, I have mixed feelings on this one. While I am a huge Shawn Ryan fan I never got around to watching the show. So part of me is pissed that it got cancelled. But, part of me says I was a bit of the reason it never got the viewers! Guess I'll just save myself the time and pain and just delete the 13 episodes (or whatever number there were) from my DVR and forget about it.

On a bright note... it looks like the backdoor pilot for The Finder" was a success. According to Bones star David Boreanez's twitter account "the finder got picked up as a pilot as did a comedy staring Zooey Deschanel (sister of Boreanez's Bones co-star Emily Deschanel). In other good TV news, rumor on the internet has it that Chuck will get renewed for a fifth season!!

As the axe continues to swing at the networks where will the rest of my favorite shows fall? Is this the year that a CSI (not the original) gets canned? Do we lose a Law & Order spin off or two? Will the fact that Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior is still a Criminal Minds show be enough to get it to a second season?

Only time will tell....

Movie Review: Scream 4 (2011)

"New Decade, New Rules."....same film!

Where I thought Fast Five did justice to elevating the franchise, Scream 4 just manages to not let the previous films down.

I can still remember seeing the first Scream in the theatres way back in 1996. It was a shocker. It set the standard for the genre at the time. As any wildly successful, and slightly unexpected, hit it was followed up with a sequel in the form of 1997's Scream 2. Three years later we had Scream 3 (a film that was highlighted by an appearance from Jay and Silent Bob). But, we then had to wait 11 years before the next chapter.

In the grand scheme of the series I feel that four sits in about third place. You can't mess with the original. Scream 2 has one thing that I have to love..Liev Schreiber...seriously! You say Liev, I say Cotton Weary....it's sad I know. But, I can't help it, Cotton rules.

Scream 4, while fun, didn't really bring anything new to the table. It was like watching the first one again. The only difference was the characters were older!!

Ever since the first movie "inspired" the internal films of "Stab" we have always had some really fun guest stars for the movie scenes within the movie and Scream 4 doesn't let down in that respect. Actually, it kinda felt like a Family Guy joke...it just seemed to go on a little too long! But, it did showcase Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell (love her) in a great scene.

This was supposed to kick off another trilogy of movies for the franchise. But, with lackluster box office numbers, $35,496,200 as of May 1st ($40,000,000 cost to make), odds are stacked against a 5th showing from the Ghostface Killer  and crew. On a side note...was Ghost Face too busy to do a bit role in any of these movies? Wu-Tang for life!!

To me this was the ultimate, "if you liked the other movies you'll probably like this one" film. A newbie to the series wouldn't be totally lost if they went in with no back story. But, at the same time, wouldn't really feel compelled to run out and rent/but the other three films.

Movie Review: Fast Five (2011)

Usually I would say if you've made it this far into a franchise you'll probably have no problem with the fifth installment. But, for Fast Five I have to go a little stronger.

If you've like the last four movies...you will LOVE this one. No doubt in my mind, not only is the franchise doing well, it may not have hit its peak yet.

Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster and a lot of your favorite car crazies are back for a fifth helping in the high octane bullets and muscle car series.

Directed by Justin Lin the movie starts out strong and ends even stronger. I'm gonna get this out of the way up front. If you usually  leave as soon as the screen goes dark...don't!! Stay through the middle of the credits...you'll hate yourself if you don't!

Justin Lin has a great eye for action and he knows drama (Better Luck Tomorrow, Annapolis). With the last three Fast and Furious movies under his belt he's a lock to direct a fourth FF film. I'm also feeling a little more comfortable with him being attached to another personal favorite franchise, the reboot of the Highlander series.

With Rio as a backdrop you get all the hot cars, hot women and action that you would expect from a FF movie. The movie opens with enough of a flashback that if this is your first FF film you won't be totally lost. It's helps set up how the main characters Dom, Brian and Mia got to where they are at the start. From there you get a great action scene to open the story (train robbery hasn't looked this cool since "The Train Job" on Firefly). From there it's off to the races, if you'll pardon the pun.


Other fan favorites are back for this film: Vince (Matt Schulze), Taj (Chris "Ludacris" Bridges), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Han (Sung Kang). Not to mention the addition of Dwayne Johnson and Elsa Pataky. If you have never seen any of the other movies...or if you haven't seen them all you may be lost on who the characters are and how they relate to the previous films, but that doesn't change the movie. You get enough of a background to see what their skills are and why they are being brought into the fold.

For me the movie was a fun departure from the previous films. It had almost a caper feel. Actually, I kept thinking, "This is the movie that's gonna kill any chance of The Brazil Job (long rumored follow up to The Italian Job) being made.!"

Vinny D. has decided to stop trying to be a dramatic actor, granted "Find Me Guilty" was pretty good, and he's back to playing to his strength...being a bad ass.

I was sceptical going in when people I knew were throwing around words like: Amazing, Awesome, Best of all...etc, or the critics who were labeling the move as a "must see". But, I am willing to admit when I am wrong...and in this case I jumped the gun, they were all right!

On a funny side note, THIS story from George Lopez's Facebook account was a pretty funny look behind the scenes at those fight scenes between Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel

It could happen to anyone...

But, you'd think it wouldn't happen to a US Senator!

By now we all know that Osama Bin Laden was shot and killed by US Special Forces in a gun fight Sunday May 1st.  In the aftermath of coverage we have learned that, for the time being, President Barack Obama has no plans to release a death photo of the terrorist leader. A step that was taken by the previous administration upon the death of Uday and Qusay Hussien back in 2003.

With no official death photo to be released that doesn't mean that there aren't "official" photos floating around the internet. Some look real others...not so much. But, you would think that a US Senator would have the best information he could before he went on TV to say that he had seen the proof and that Bin Laden was dead.

Sadly, that's not the case with Senator Scott Brown ...senator Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) ... or Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.)...

You have to feel bad for these guys for looking a fool like this. You'd also have to think that the staffer who gave them the info is probably feeling even worse.

On the bright side those guys are probably taking some personal time to flesh out their resume!  I just hope that the "trusted source" that the article I read wasn't referring to a link on Facebook or Twitter! (#justsaying)

Games 28-30

14-16

Three game set with the Dodgers
Game 1 --  James Russell - vs - Clayton Kershaw

I can't wait for Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner to be healthy and back in the starting line up so I don't have to see James Russell's name come up ever five games!

Four and two thirds innings, six hits, five runs (four earned) is not what I want to see from my teams starter. Granted it was a gem in comparison with some of the other guys starts over the last few weeks. 

The Cubs jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first but the Dodgers struck back with two in the second and three in the fifth. Andre Ethier extended his major league leading hit stick by collecting a infield single in the three run fifth.

Alfonso Soriano hit his league leading 11th home run in the seventh to score the Cubs final run.

Russell dropped to 1-4 on the season with a bloated 8.15 ERA. Clayton Kershaw improved to 3-3 with the win. Dodgers Closer Jonothan Broxton picked up his seventh win.

Game 2  Ryan Dempster - vs - Chad Billingsley

Happy Birthday to Demps. I think I speak for all Cubs fans when I say I really wanted to see him get a win on his birthday. But, keeping the team close and getting out of the first inning would also be acceptable as a present from him to the fans! Only one of those two things happened. Sadly both didn't.

Dempster, in contrast to last game, pitched seven innings of good baseball while only giving up one run. Unfortunately, the Cubs hitters decided to wait until the top of the ninth inning to wake up and score some runs.

When Dempster left the game after seven he still had a chance for the win as long as the team could score an eighth inning run or two. Well, if a win wasn't in the cards...at least it wasn't going to be a Lose.

New Cubs first baseman Carlos Pena finally connected on his first home run of the season for the team since signing in the off season from Tampa Bay. The seventh inning bomb into the right field bull pen would tie the game at one.  The bats would rally in the top of the ninth off (soon to be former?) closer Broxton and Blake Hawksworth.

Kerry Wood worked a scoreless 8th inning to improve to 1-1 while Carlos Marmol picked up save number 8 with a scoreless ninth. Dodgers outfielder Andre Either extended his hit streak to 29 games with a bloop single in the fourth inning.

Game 3  Carlos Zambrano - vs - Ted Lilly

THANK YOU BIG Z!! It's nice to see one pitcher return to form while others struggle to regain theirs.

Zambrano had another stellar performance on the way to a 4-1 record on the season. One run on five hits over eight innings in gonna lead to a win 9 times out of ten and this game was no different.

Solo home runs from Geovany Soto and Carlos Pena (his second in as many games) along with a three run blast from Marlon Byrd kept the Dodgers from getting close. Sean Marshall worked a scoreless ninth in a non-save situation to seal the win.

Andre Either was a scratch with a wrist injury so he will have to wait another game to attack Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hit streak (a mark DiMaggio reached in 1941).

Blake Griffin: Rookie of the year....

And in other news....water is still wet!

Games 24-27

12-15

Four game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks

Short version: We Sucked, we played okay, we played okay, we sucked. In stat form that's: L-W-W-L

The first game of the series was all Arizona. With the D-backs rocking Ryan Dempster for seven first inning runs on way to an 11-2 victory. the seven runs on four hits, including a Steven Drew grand slam home run, and four walks over a third of an inning was by far Dempster's worst start of the season and was the second shortest outing of his career.

Game two was a little better for Chicago with Carlos Zambrano pitching another gem, going six innings and allowing only two runs. Alfonso Soriano went long for his 8th an 9th HR's of the year. While Geovany Soto hit second round tripper of the year in the fifth on the way to helping the Cubs secure a 4-2 win.  Carlos Marmol picked up his fifth save of the season.

Game three was a lot like game two. Cubs starter Matt Garza again had double digit strikeouts (10) over 8 innings. Saving the Cubs bullpen to only have to work the ninth.  Soriano collected his 10th home run along with his 19th and  20th RBI's of the season. Marmol got his seventh save while Garza finally got his first win as a Cub (1-3)

Game four....was more like game one. The Cubs had a golden opportunity to take three of four games from the D-Backs and inch closer to the .500 mark again. But, that didn't seem to be in the cards. The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a infield ground out. Pena would also reach on a bunt single later in the game when the Arizona shift left the third base line un-guarded.

Arizona would tie the game on  a Ryan Robert home run in the bottom half of the second and then tack three more runs on Cubs starter Casey Coleman (1-3) in the fourth inning.  J.J. Putz would get a double play to end a possible 9th inning Cubs rally to secure his sixth save of the season and a 5-3 D-Backs win.

What does $30 million buy you these days?

Watching coverage of the royal wedding, and by coverage I mean the actual wedding, I saw that Prince Charles dipped into his own personal wealth to come up with the $30 million that the royal wedding cost. Now if/when I get married I think that is the only way to go.

Westminster Abby (with live trees inside), Rolls Royce to and from the church, celebrity guests with crazy hats...that's the only way to go.

But, if you don't want to spend that cash on a wedding I thought, "What else could Charles have gotten for his money?"  Most of the prices were found over at a fun little site called: most-expensive.net  check em out....so here's what I came up with for Charles (keep in mind Charles you have the spare to marry off too!)

12 Bugatti Veyron Super Sports -- With a price tag $2,500,000 each Charles could have taken possession of 12 of 40 planned Super Sports for this year. He could have used them to bribe the Queen to abdicate the throne...let's face it at like 86 she's still going strong. I think her plan is just just make sure she out lives Prince Phillip!

2 sets of Red Hot Fantasy Bra and Panties -- Courtesy of Victoria's Secret, this set of delicates contains 1,300 precious stones (including 300 carats of Thai rubies). Think of how smashing Camilla would look in this and maybe a set for the Queen. On second thought...strike that, reverse it...never think of that ever again! Clocking in at a cool $15 million each, Charles would have nothing left over for himself...poor royal!

4 Stuart Hughes iPhone 4 Diamond Rose Editions -- It's the blings, bling of cell phones. You take your typical $400 iPhone and hunt down you jeweler quality bedazzler to tack on diamonds...diamonds...and more diamonds including a 7.4 carat pink diamond for the home button. You also get a solid granite box and a 8 carat diamond to replace the pink one. I would imagine that's for the days you don't feel very rosy...or maybe for when you drop it in the toilet and the pink one is lost!

Fish and Chips -- If spent wisely on a fish and chips meal on a Tuesday through Friday, from noon till four, at The Fish Club, 189 Saint John's Hill, London ( 020 7978 7115). Charles could have treated approximately 2,564,760 people to an afternoon meal. Not to shabby...granted I wouldn't want to be there when they ran out of tartar sauce!

Whiskey -- Lots and lots of whisky!! If Charles is a drinker, and let's face it he probably is (I would be). He can drop that cash on a Bottle of Macallan Fine and Rare Collection 1926 (60year old).  To be more precise he could pick up 789 bottles of what Forbes describes as, "The oldest and most sought-after of Macallan's revolutionary Fine & Rare Collection."  Sadly, it's sold out... so those 789 bottles will not be avail. I guess he could always change it into about 715,000 bottles of something in the $40 a bottle family!

D-Bag...

How would you like to be a young student who finds out that he has won 2 make that 1 ticket to the NCAA tournament game between Butler and VCU for winning a leadership award. Then finds out he has to go with his assistant principal rather than take someone he wants to take...oh, like say his dad. Then, imagine after the fact you find out that the assistant principal was full of shit and made up the one ticket deal in an attempt to go to the game himself.

Well, imagine no more because this ass hole in Texas did just that one of his middle school students. Go here to watch the news story and judge for yourself what should happen....

Ebay

So I was trolling the wonder that is ebay the other night looking for, among other things, a copy of a couple of old Gram Parsons LPs.

Ebay, being the awesome monster that it is had just what I was looking for. But, there was a catch....it was a four week long auction. That's right, 28 days!

Now, since I really want a copy of this album I will keep an eye on it. But, what the hell is the point of a four week auction? Sure you can drum up interest, watch the price slowly creep ever so close to your dream high bid! In the end though you have a wait a damn long time to get your crap sold.

I guess if you were looking for a quick buck you could turn to a pawn shop or craigslist. But, four weeks seems like a long time to wait for something to sell that may only bring in $20-$30. Personally I'm more inclined to pay a stupid amount for an item if I get into a last second bidding war with someone.  If I have to remember to tune in a month down the road to find out what happened I'm probably going to forget about it.

To me the month long auction for anything that has a starting bid under $100 is a waste of time. Now, if you are unloading a car...or even this rare Elvis gem I can see letting it linger for a while. But, if you have a month long (or more) bid time on a used cd that you can get at your local record shop for $7.99 you're just kidding youself. Granted most of those have the buy it now price set at under $2...so I kinda get that. Still crazy in my book.

Things have changed since I was selling on ebay about 10 years ago....at least you don't have to pay a fee to start the auction (up to 50 auctions a month). But, you still get the honor of handing over a percentage of the final price to ebay, for their service!

If you are looking for cash, and have a ton of merchandise to drop, I can see this being a decent plan of attack. Me, personally, I just take the crap I don't need and walk into my local Zia Records, or Bookman's and take my chances that  I will walk out with a decent amount of cash or store credit.

But, I digress, what was the point I was trying to make at first? Oh, now I remember...there's some dumb ass auctions on ebay.

Enough said...now I need to get back to some last second bidding.