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!