The Morrison Hotel Annex

A New Day is Here for America

2008-11-05T20:03:00.000-05:00

No hablo español...

2008-02-24T20:07:00.003-05:00

mi sobrina lo hablará. Espero aprender bastantes para hablar con ella. Pronto espero ser introducido a ella y puedo decir "hola, yo soy su tío Guillermo"

Leaving Friday morning for Dallas

2008-01-23T16:18:00.000-05:00

Gonna spend the weekend with my brother... including a Saturday night show of...

The Reds need to be aware of the Steroid connection

2008-01-13T11:40:00.000-05:00

With the announcement that Walt Jockerty has joined the Reds as a Special Advisor to Bob Castellini has everyone talking about Wayne Krivsky's job security. Because of that, they're missing much more disturbing signs.

This off-season, the Reds hired Dusty Baker as their manager. Ignore the debate over his managerial skill and focus on what happened on his watch in San Francisco. At best, he was woefully ignorant of steroid usage by his players. At worst, he turned a blind eye in exchange for wins. Now, I don't think Baker was anywhere close to as involved in the steroid problem as someone like Tony LaRussa (more on him in a minute), but I have little doubt he knew a good number of his players were using steroids. That gives us a manager that is willing to look the other way while his players cheat to help the team win.

The San Francisco Bay appears to be one of the focal points for the steroid problem in baseball. Both the Giants and Athletics benefited from this on the field to extraordinary proportions. The Giants had a GM who knew what was going on and ignored it. The A's seemed to encourage use to help them overcome their payroll constraints. From Barry Bonds to Mark McGwire, the bay was a haven for steroid users. In fact, another manager from the bay seems to have been more involved then Baker - Tony LaRussa.

Look at a list of players who careers blossomed under LaRussa - Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, Jim Edmonds, Albert Pujols, etc. I'm not going to get into the details here, but just do a search for Tony LaRussa and Steroids. Shortly before the Reds hired Dusty Baker, there were reports of the Reds were interested in talking to LaRussa about the manager job. At best, LaRussa was an enabler. At worst, he was intimately involved in usage by his players. Not the kind of person you want to be associated with your club.

Now, from the same team, the Reds hird Walt Jockerty. A GM who directly benefited from hiring a steroid-enabling manager and watching LaRussa and McGwire spread steroid usage to players Jockerty acquired off the scrap heap to turn them into superstars - Jim Edmonds, Albert Pujols, Chris Carpenter, etc.

In short, the disturbing trend of the Reds hiring or talking to people whose backgrounds are filled with HUGE question marks in the steroid controversy. Doesn't that scare you as a Reds fan? What do I tell my nieces and nephews? What do we do if Matt Belisle goes 24-4 with a 1.73 ERA?

Were the Cincinnati media not totally incompetent, Castellini would have a developing PR problem. As it is, the media is gushing over his moves and, once again, ignoring the steroid question.

I think I made a Wal-Mart manager cry

2008-01-08T18:13:00.000-05:00

On New Years (hungover), I stopped by Wal-Mart looking for a new Lego set my nephew wanted. I saw a cart full of boxes of the new Lego product and assumed they'd work it onto the shelves that day. I walked in the next day after work and no Lego. ANYWHERE. Going through all the aisles, you would think it was a garbage dump, not a retail store. Product just thrown on the shelves or pegboards with no attention paid to where they should've been. I looked for some help and there were no associates to be found. So I left. I was a little frustrated, so the next day I called instead of going - let them run around that mess. I was put on hold for half and hour. THAT is a mistake. I asked for a Manager. I was put back on hold for an HOUR AND A HALF!!! BIG MISTAKE. I went corporate on their ass and lo and behold, the toy manager called me the next day.

After explaining my issues, he started using every excuse in the book. Unfortunately for him, I was in a mood.

"We just got slammed by Christmas"

"So did everyone else and yet their stores don't look like a tornado hit them"

"Our toy associates were both out sick"

"And you didn't think to pull one of your 600 other associates to cover?"

"We're in the middle of a re-set"

"Which should take a day per aisle and we're here almost a week later with ZERO improvement"

"I don't know who was in last night"

"That's the first thing you should check when you have a customer service call to make"

"We've had some problems in that department"

"A reflection of your management success, or lack thereof"

To be honest, I was surprised he kept going when I was shooting down everything he said. After the excuse round, I started a ten minute lecture on management, taking pride in your department, and accountability. It was after this that I think I heard him fighting back the tears. So I added one final thing to drill it into him - "I'll be coming by in about a week to see if you're going to take this seriously or if you're going to be an incompetent dolt."

If it was anyone else other then a Wal-Mart employee, I'd feel really bad right now. But it was and I don't feel bad in the least.

Choices

2008-01-05T17:00:00.000-05:00

Read my new book or Drink tonight?

Pre-game or draw?

Go downtown to drink or to Mason?

Take my phone or leave it?

Beer or shots?

Blame myself for things I can't control or drink until I forget about it?

Pass out on the couch or risk climbing the stairs?

Drink tomorrow or draw?

QB1 or drink and draw?

Call someone to drink/play QB1 or just go old school and go by myself

Coming into Los Angeles or Walt Whitman's Niece?

OSU or LSU... wait, there's no need for a choice there....

Shoes or sandals in 30 degree weather?

Shave or let it go?

Laundry or Video Games?

Call or Ignore?

I Sit at My Table and Wage War on Myself

2008-01-02T20:47:00.000-05:00

Gonna go random here... I hate Wal-Mart with a passion... I didn't get my comics today... I had a shitty day at work... I hate women... I'm drinking WAY too much, although that's par for the course this time of year... I do like this video chat thing, it's cool to be able to see people like my brother and my buddy Justin who live a ways away... Got to talk to Justin and his kid today, pretty cool... Been playing guitar a lot recently... but that's just a sign that I'm stressed out... If I hadn't blown a nice chunk of change on this new computer, I would've left Ohio for good today... I'm still laughing about a couple things from New Year's like Three Hundred Dollar Shirt Guy... That dude was so unintentionally funny... Got to see a couple cats I hadn't seen in a while at New Year's like Ian, Billy, Kevin, etc... Got crap from Ian because I wouldn't hit on this pretty damn hot girl... why the hell didn't I??? Damn it... My buddy Tim is going to the National Championship game, I'm a little jealous... Bengals fired a couple coaches and I'm not sad to see them go... Insomnia is winning right now... What to do this weekend... a guy I know is playing at a bar on Saturday, so I'll probably go to that... That snow storm this morning came outta nowhere... I must be insane not wearing socks around the house... I need a vacation... Going to Dallas in a couple weeks to spend a weekend with my brother... That'll be pretty cool...

How am I feeling right now?

2007-12-26T17:27:00.001-05:00

At night I drink myself to sleep and waiting I don't care that you're not here with me...

Song lyrics that resonate with me at the current time aside, I've come to the realization that I've always been true to the following: The drunker I get, the lonelier I am. The less I drink, the more I want to be alone. This simple appraisal of my personality explains all my relationships. The more I drink, the more I need to be around people. The more I stay away from booze, the more I frequent solitary activities like guitar, video games, and art. That why you'll notice that my relationships tend to last longer if I'm drinking more. Hell, my longest relationship was basically just half a year of two people drinking until they passed out every single night. I can't remember ever doing anything with her that didn't involve booze. Back on point, the reason I've (finally) noticed this is that the current object of my frustrations has blown this theory to bits...

...

2007-11-18T07:53:00.000-05:00

We're going to miss you Joe!

DC Minimates

2007-11-05T23:25:00.000-05:00

Seeing as how 1) I can't sleep and 2) I haven't updated this blog in a LONG time, it's time for a long, pointless post reviewing something my niece, nephew, and I have spent a lot of time with recently - miniature action figures based on DC superheroes called Minimates.

My nephew and I have messed around with them before, but with 1) my strange obsession of having a minimate Justice League for my shelf, 2) my niece's recent upsurge in interest in them, and 3) the huge improvement in quality and availability of DC characters, we've collected every figure from the first five waves (8 figures in each wave).

Overall, the quality among them is outstanding compared to the original try and even when compared to the Marvel minimates (something I'll probably post on later). The biggest disappointment I've had so far was one of the choices of DC Direct made in their pairings - If you're going to do a "Battle-Damaged" Superman, doesn't it make sense to pair him with Doomsday? You know, the villain who actually KILLED him? Especially since DC just released an animated adaptation of the Death of Superman? While I'd hate for DC Minimates to go the way of Marvel and have entire waves based on movies/cartoons/comic stories, it wouldn't hurt to keep stuff like that in mind. For example, they just released the sixth wave this month... how many people who don't normally buy them might have picked up a Sinestro Corps pack?

On to the reviews... (rating of 1-5 after each character, 1= terrible, 5=just about perfect)

Wave 1

Superman (5) - Armored Lex Luthor (5)

Superman was very well done. Probably as close to perfect as you can get. The Armored LexLuthor might be a favorite. I wish Marvel would do Iron Man in a similar way. With the chest piece, gloves, and boots, it feels like old Lex is actually wearing armor. This pairing was a given - you can't do Superman without Lex Luthor. The green Kryptonite accessory was a nice touch.

Modern Batman (1) - OMAC (4)

I've got some gripes with this one. The first one would have been the pairing, but it seems an attempt to tie into Infinite Crisis, so I'm alright with it. The second one is Batman's mask. I hate it. Instead of having a cut-away mask, we get a SUPER HARD TO TAKE OFF fully covered mask. It took me a week to get the mask off. Even then, with some help, I thought we were going to destroy the mask to get it off. It looks like crap too. Too much trouble, not enough reward. The OMAC was pretty good, however.

Joker (3) - Harley Quinn (5)

Harley Quinn, however, is a character that works with the fully covered mask. It came right off and allowed for her face to be white with her mask on and flesh-colored with it off. The big hammer is a great accessory. The Joker is alright. I don't like the smile or the hat, but I like the gun and overcoat.

Green Lantern - Hal Jordan (4) - Star Sapphire (3)

My small issues with the Hal Jordan minimate stem mostly from the outstanding job on the later Green Lanterns. They have a Green Lantern symbol on their hands to represent their rings while Jordan only had a dot. Not to mention he's in the "classic" costume. Those two things aside, it's a great figure. It comes with his power battery. The Star Sapphire... Never a big fan, so... but my niece loves it

Wave 2

Battle-Damaged Superman (4) - Brainiac 13 (1)

I've already covered my disgust with this pairing, so... I wasn't crazy about the whole Battle-Damaged version thing going in, but once I actually got it, my disdain for the concept softened. However, it made me that more upset that the BD Superman wasn't with Doomsday. Hell, the BD Batman should have come with Bane instead of Killer Croc.

Blue Beatle (5) - Booster Gold (4)

Perfect pairing. Blue Beetle couldn't have been done any better (although, the mask could've used some fine tuning). Booster Gold, even with the annoying high collar, is also great, although - would it have been too much to ask for a hairpiece? Most every figure with a mask comes with one, why not Booster Gold? We did get Skeets, however, and that more then makes up for it.

Power Girl (4) - Doctor Fate (5)

Not a big fan of either one, but their figures are great. I like the hairpiece on Power Girl and the mask on Doctor Fate (if their were an Elongated Man minimate, we could have some 52 fun...)

Robin (2) - Penguin (1)

It just doesn't work to have Robin as tall as Batman. I don't know how they could fix that, but it needs to be done. Robin's the first one we run into with what I call the Pixie Boot Problem - his feet don't attach right. No matter what you do or how hard to push, there is always a gap. The goofy grin on Robin also bugs. Penguin... the less said about him, the better...

Wave 3

Battle-Damaged Batman (4) - Killer Croc (4)

Should've been Bane... Both figures are well done and the larger body for Killer Croc adds to the figure. Why could they use a smaller body for Robin?

Aquaman (5) - Ocean Master (5)

Surprisingly, Aquaman is one of my favorite minimates. I don't know why. I don't like the character and have made fun of him as often on the next person. It's a well done figure - the feet having his fins attached look great. I don't know anything about Ocean Master other then he's Aquaman's brother, but the figure is also well done. A hair piece for him would've been nice.

Wonder Woman (4) - Ares (5)

Wonder Woman would be perfect if her hair didn't fall off every five seconds. Hopefully we'll get a modern Wonder Woman where they correct this problem. I like how they handled the lasso. Ares has turned out to be one of my favorites. You have to hold it to see why. It's awesome.

Green Arrow (5) - Deathstroke (5)

Holy crap, this might be the best two pack. Green Arrow looks perfect and comes with a bow that you can attach one of three arrows to (Boxing Glove, Handcuff, and Diamond). I like it so much I won't let my niece and nephew play with it. Deathstroke has always been one of my favorites and his minimate is the same. Not only is the paint job and detail superb, but he comes with a rifle, a pistol, his staff, and his sword. Oh, and the pistol fits in his holster and the sword fits nicely into his bandoleer. If you get the chance to buy this, don't pass it up.

Wave 4

Batgirl (4) - Bane (5)

While I still think Bane should have come with the Battle-Damaged Batman, at least we get one of Bane. Where's the Doomsday? Bane is extremely well done. They even have his venom injection thing. I do like that they didn't give him a hair piece and instead painted the hair on the head. It looks good and is true to the character's closely-shaved haircut. Batgirl is pretty good, but did they have to put the purse on the utility belt?

Deadman (3) - Spectre (1)

There are some problems with these two. First, both have the dreaded Pixie Boot Problem. Second, the Spectre's hood just doesn't fit right. The paint jobs and detail on both are great (and have a great Neal Adams vibe), but they problems just ruin what should be great figures.

Flash - Jay Garrick (1) - Wildcat (5)

Oh my god, they could not have had a two pack of varying quality if they tried to. Wildcat is perfect and Jay Garrick sucks. It all comes down to the helmet and they missed badly with it. It doesn't look right no matter what you try. I'll try and get some photos of it to show how badly they screwed this one up.

Steel (5) - Cyborg Superman (5)

They really did a good job here. As they did with Armored Lex Luthor, they gave Steel the right touches (separate S-Shield, bulky boots, belt, wrist-things) to make it feel like he's armored. (Hey Marvel, please take note for any future Ironman minimates!). I confess I had no idea how they could do the 1/4 flesh face of Cyborg Superman and make it look good, but they did. It looks great!

Wave 5

Guy Gardner (4) - Kilowog (5)

Seeing as how Green Lantern has transformed into one of DC best books, it's nice to see some more Green Lanterns. These two are so well done that they make the earlier Hal Jordan figure look terrible. The only glitch with either is Guy's hairpiece, but that's a minor complaint. I'm glad they went with the bigger chest piece for Kilowog to help emphasise his bulk. The Green Lantern symbols on their hands to represent their rings is perfect.

Hawkman (5) - Hawkgirl (5)

I don't like this Hawkgirl's costume. I've never like it. As much as I liked what they did with the character in the Justice League cartoon, I still hate the costume. Now, they modern one for the Kendra Saunders Hawkgirl? THAT is a good costume for Hawkgirl. I want to see that minimate. All that personal preference stuff aside, this is an amazing two pack full of accessories and great detail. If you're looking for a little bang for your buck, this is the two pack for you. Hawkman, Hawkgirl, hairpieces for both, a mace, a shield, another mace...

Captain Marvel (5) - Mary Marvel (4)

Not much to say, both are well done, although, is it too much to ask for minimates that wear skirts to come with a flesh-colored pelvic piece? Seriously. Mary Marvel looks like she's going commando. I might buy a cheap minimate just to change out parts.

Red Tornado (5) - Ma Hunkel (1)

Red Tornado is well done (love the cape), but Ma Hunkel has to be the worst minimate made since the split Peter Parker-Spider-man figure. So awful, in fact, that it ends my review...

...

2007-09-10T16:16:00.000-04:00

WHO DEY!!!

Since the Reds fired Jerry Narron...

2007-08-25T14:26:00.000-04:00

The have the best record in the National League. How about dem apples?

It's mother-flippin funny how...

2007-08-09T23:20:00.000-04:00

UC football's new coach complains and attacks the local media and they've responded by giving UC Football more attention then the Bengals or Reds... despite the fact that the interest in UC football is the same as before - non-existent.

So, if you're a sports team in the area other then the Reds or Bengals and you want more coverage from the Enquirer or sports talk shows, just have your coach attack them and blame them for the lack of interest....

Should've been Junior....

2007-08-05T00:58:00.002-04:00

I guess it's time to start rooting for Pay-Rod...

GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!

2007-08-04T01:31:00.001-04:00

I need some sleep! Seriously!

If the Reds trade Adam Dunn

2007-07-31T15:02:00.000-04:00

They are the Pittsburgh Pirates.

A star player, a couple good pitchers, and a whole lotta losses.

And enough with the "The Reds can't afford him" talk. If the Reds had a $40 million payroll like they did a few years ago, I would agree that $13 million is too much to spend on one player... but the Reds have a $70+ million payroll this year. There's a good possibility that it'll go up to around $80 million next year. That leaves $67 million for 24 other players...

Not only that, but WHO would you spend the 'savings' from Dunn on? Have you looked at this year's potential free agent pitcher class? It stinks. Just because you have the money doesn't mean there are players in free agency worth spending it on.

Me, I'd rather take another year of Dunn then trade him to spend money on Elmer Dessens....

How was Buffett?

2007-07-29T11:20:00.000-04:00

Well, the show was awesome... I think... I kinda ended up here:

INSOMNIA STRIKES BACK

2007-07-25T02:42:00.000-04:00

That's what I get for complaining about getting too much sleep the last couple nights...

When I’m down to my socks it’s time for business, That’s why they’re called business socks!

In other things, July has flat out sucked at work which is pretty much why I've been a bit slow in updating this... cheers to insomnia for those of you who have been who have been dying for an update... Here's July for you - Work, watch Flight of the Conchords, work, think about Flight of the Conchords, work, read Harry Potter 7, work, put Flight of the Conchords episodes on my ipod, work... etc

Is that Hey Jude? Flip it over! FLIP THE BLOODY TAPE OVER!

My rhymes are so potent that in this small segment
I made all of the ladies in the area pregnant
Yes, sometimes my lyrics are sexist
But you lovely bitches and hoes should know I’m trying to correct this

My Aunt Jean is turning 80 in a week or so and my mom just told me about the party today... I don't think I can get off work... Kinda bummed as Aunt Jean is one of my favorites

Ran into a couple buddies of mine at work today. That was cool.

Buffett's on Thursday and my big sister is going. That's cooler.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was awesome. That's the coolest.

Not in a Strokes mood tonight... or (dare I say it) Arlo... Robert Johnson? Yeah

I really, really want to shave off the beard right now and have some kick ass sideburns for Buffett... but I have to wait until I get off work on Wednesday...hey that's today!

word association - smithwick's - killians - irish - redbeard - pirates - han solo - chewbacca - dogs - mogs - dark helmet - dolls - zinny - wonder woman - terry dodson - hot women - cigarettes and alcohol - buffett - margaritas - tequila - 20th birthday party - headfirst slide - pete rose - westsiders - ex - professor x - cyclops - wolverine - cerda - darth vader - field of dreams - iowa - road trip - key west - southern cross

I've decided that I'm going to ask the next woman to buy me an irish beer to marry me. Seems as good a way as any other.... if only I had some tape...

Love is like a roll of tape
It’s real good for making two things one
But just like that roll of tape
Love sometimes breaks off before you were done
Another way that love is similar to tape
That I’ve noticed
Is sometimes it’s hard to see the end

Bored? Me too...

2007-07-16T00:08:00.001-04:00

It's pretty rare, but it does happen

2007-07-15T23:46:00.000-04:00

Vary rarely do I get frustrated with anyone and by rarely I mean NEVER... except I'm pretty damn frustrated with someone right now... I don't know why it's getting to me and I don't like it... I like being laid back and living life one day at a time...

I'm hooked...

2007-07-14T00:37:00.000-04:00

Flight of the Conchords is frickin funny...

Watch this one first

Can't believe I missed this annoucement a month ago...

2007-07-12T09:31:00.000-04:00

Indiana Jones Legos in 2008! I really must have been busy last month to miss an announcement like this... My nephew is beyond excited... He'll probably be watching the following everyday until they come out to get himself ready...

The Violent Femmes

2007-07-08T22:02:00.000-04:00

They bring all their equipment on the bus.... and you can't fuck with the Violent Femmes, you cannot fuck with this band!

All-Time Home Run Leaders

2007-06-17T00:24:00.000-04:00

TWO REDS ARE IN THE TOP FIVE!!!!

Hank Aaron - 755
Babe Ruth - 714
Willie Mays - 660
Frank Robinson - 586
Ken Griffey Jr - 581*

*active

The Flash is Dead?!?

2007-06-16T14:21:00.000-04:00

I'm calling it - Bart Allen lives and Wally West dies in Flash #13!!!!!

I am NOT in a good mood...

2007-06-15T00:52:00.001-04:00

I'm tired as hell but I can't sleep because of my stupid insomnia, my knee is killing me, and I have to work the next five days in a row. Oh, and I'm stressing out about stupid things like how my frakking cell phone decided all of a sudden that it doesn't work indoors and I'm just now realizing how much I use the damn thing and without it I'm all alone with no one to distract me from myself which is NEVER a good thing and I AM SO FRAKKING TIRED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Which makes me super-pissed off....... Normally I'd drink myself to sleep, but guess what? I'm out of beer!!! Isn't that fantastic?

I saw Ocean's 13 today... way better then the second one, not near as good as the first one. Read Ultimates 2 #13 a week ago... IT SUCKED BIG TIME. It doesn't fit with the rest of the story and ends in the stupidest way possible. The minute the rainbow bridge appeared, the comic officially jumped the shark. Maybe Millar just wanted to ruin Ultimates before Jeph Loeb could....

Bailey's first outing = disappointing

2007-06-09T00:13:00.001-04:00

4 walks, 9 baserunners in only 5 innings? 112 pitches only got him to the fifth inning? Still don't think he's ready to be up here...

Reds to bring up Bailey?

2007-06-03T20:21:00.000-04:00

I don't think he's ready yet. He's walked 24 hitters in 58 innings in AAA this year. He needs some more time down there. This reeks of a manager desperate to save his job....

HELL FRICKING YEAH!!!

2007-06-01T12:03:00.001-04:00

I'm back down to 165 pounds! 15 pounds down, only 15 more to lose! I knew I must have lost some weight because my pants had started to fall down again when I skipped wearing a belt...

And I'm still just emotionally drained from Starman. I knew I was into it, but I'm a little surprised at how much I invested on an emotional level with that book. Normally I would be on my second, maybe third re-read, or even maybe a marathon re-read of all 10 books, but I keep looking at the two I just read and.... Can't do it

I've finally finished Starman

2007-05-31T13:52:00.000-04:00

After starting it over a decade ago, I've finally finished the last two books of Starman. Without a doubt it's the most emotional book I've ever read - weaving in and out of my life over the course of 13 years at random, yet appropriate, times. Had I read it as it came out or finished it a few years ago, I don't think it would've had the same impact that it did have on me.

I'm emotionally drained after reading Grand Guignol and Sons of the Father this morning. Every page brought excitement, dread, laughter, sadness, and genuine concern for the characters - even the ones whose fate I had already had spoiled to me by other books. It was the hardest time I've had reading a book while also the easiest time I've ever had. It took me to places I don't like to go and places I love to go.

I may like other books or movies more, but Starman is the one that I care most about.

Now, if only DC would get off their asses and put it in a Absolute version... and re-insert the Times Past stories back into the proper place....

Ty McQueen

2007-05-31T00:13:00.000-04:00

Say Hey, I met this daddio the other night and he's one of the coolest cats out there. He's got a great voice and an even better personality. Take a minute to check out his stuff at ty mcqueen

Congrats!

2007-05-26T00:08:00.000-04:00

To Ken Griffey Jr for passing Harmon Killebrew for the 5th most home runs in baseball history! Next up - All-Time Reds great Frank Robinson!

1. Aaron - 755
2. Ruth - 714
3. Mays - 660
4. Robinson - 586
5. Griffey Jr - 574

And one thing for me...

2007-05-24T23:14:00.001-04:00

OK, I lied, two thing for me... because I just found Bob Dylan singing a cover of my favorite Dead song Friend of the Devil!!!!!!!!!!

A couple things for the coolest girl that sings "Mcdonald's drive-thru worker guy"

2007-05-24T23:03:00.000-04:00

Man... was I wasted last night

2007-05-24T10:38:00.001-04:00

Although, surprisingly, the hangover isn't so bad. Good night. I think the bartender winked at me... and didn't charge me for a couple drinks because my tab for something around 12 tall ones was super-low... and by super-low I mean $11. Other then the terrible Karaoke guy, it was a pretty damn fun night... It's kinda nice to be able to drink in town instead of driving down to Hyde Park...

So frickin pissed off!!!

2007-05-23T16:47:00.000-04:00

The TiVo didn't record the last fifteen minutes of Scrubs!!! Of all the shows it could do that to, it just had to be Scrubs.... ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

I can't wait for this frickin movie!

2007-05-21T08:14:00.000-04:00

More Josh Hamilton

2007-05-15T04:46:00.000-04:00

The new "star" of the Reds is hitting .217 (17-78) with 3 HR, 7 RBI, and 14 K over his last 23 games... I'm not even going to tell you what he's hitting over that time frame if you take out the two games he went 6-9 against COL... Yeah I am, it's .159...

UPDATE: I ran the complete numbers out of boredom (and a lack of beer). Enjoy:

Josh Hamilton
First 11 games
30 AB, 10 R, 10 H, 5 HR, 11 RBI, .333 AVG, .429 OBP, .900 SLG, 1.329 OPS
Last 23 games
78 AB, 10 R, 17 H, 3 HR, 7 RBI, .218 AVG, .295 OBP, .397 SLG, .693 OPS

Edwin Encarnacion

2007-05-10T12:10:00.000-04:00

I am absolutely livid with the Reds handling of Edwin Encarnacion. It's 100% on the shoulders of Jerry Narron, although Wayne Krivsky deserves some blame for allowing Narron's actions.

First, take a look at how well the great third basemen did in the majors at EE's age. That .190-something average of Mike Schmidt's doesn't look too good, does it? Nor does those couple of .954 fielding percentages. What about the .938 and .943 fielding percentages Harmon Killebrew put up at third at Edwin's age? Look at George Brett too - .948 and .957 at Edwin's age...

Get my drift? Third base is a place young players are going to make errors. You're not going to get an All-Star player without some growing pains.

The thing that bothers me most about Narron is how impatient he is with EE. Slumps happen. Hitters as good as EE will get out of them, sometimes all it takes is one big hit. You know, like the two-out, two-strike, two-run single Edwin got to pull the Reds within one run on April 16th. What did Narron do? He benched EE for the next two games, which killed any momentum EE might have gotten from that hit. EE got another potential slump-busting two-out, RBI single (two inches from being a two RBI single) on April 22nd that pulled the Reds within two (almost one)... Narron benched him the next inning. Where would EE be if Narron protected him like Narron does with Hamilton?

Narron has NEVER liked EE. That's a problem for Reds fans. You know why? As bad as EE has been at the plate this year, he still leads the team in RBIs when runners are in scoring positions. That's right. Despite hitting .218/.301/.287 overall, Encarnacion is hitting .276/.382/.488 with runners in scoring position. HE'S STILL GETTING IT DONE!!!

Josh Hamilton

2007-05-10T06:47:00.000-04:00

From Lance McAlister's blog:

The adjustment game for Josh Hamilton
1st Series vs a Team: 21-58 .362 avg 8 hrs 13 rbis
2nd/3rd Series vs a Team: 5-38 .132 avg 0 hrs 4 rbis

Best Comics of April

2007-05-09T16:08:00.000-04:00

1. 52 #49
2. All-Star Superman #7
3. 52 #50
4. 52 #51
5. Amazons Attack #1

Normally I don't include 52 in my best of, but this month is gonna be different. The reason? 52#49 was so frickin awesome and had one of the best covers EVER - right up there with All-Star Superman #1. If I'm going to include one issue of 52, I thought I better put all of them in there. Good thing I did too because it was another crappy month of comics. Every last Marvel book I read sucked. Almost every DCU book I read sucked. Thank Marley for 52, Grant Morrison, and Pete Woods.

I think the biggest reason why this month sucked was things like no Paul Dini Detective this month or Astonishing X-Men or Ultimates... just kinda a down month... or is it? Maybe I've raised my standards since I've been reading so much Y: The Last Man, Fables, Ex Machina, and Sandman recently... something to ponder...

WORST BOOK OF THE MONTH: Every last one written by Brian Bendis. 'Nuff said!

What are you waiting for Castellini?

2007-05-09T12:57:00.001-04:00

FIRE NARRON BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!!!

Movie Review: Spider-man 3

2007-05-05T12:56:00.000-04:00

A darn good film. I don't have a lot of time, so I'm going to go stream of consciousness.... It was a little long, but still not nearly as long as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was. The fight sequences were awesome, although I think my expectations for the subway fight were a little high because I felt a little disappointed in that. The last fight sequence was awesome. I like how they simplified the black costume's origin. It might have been better as two films, something they considered, but there wasn't a good cut-off point... It felt like Sandman could have used a little more development along with the Gwen Stacy-Peter Parker relationship.

I loved what they did with Harry Osborn and the black costume. I also loved how they kept away from the Mark Bagley-style Venom tongue and more in line with the Todd McFarlane-style. I liked the action scenes. I like the tension in the love triangle between Peter, Harry, and Mary Jane. I liked Sandman, which is saying a lot because I always thought he was one of Spider-man's lamest villians. I think I still like the second one better, but this was a great movie, worth seeing a couple times in the theater...

So, big surprise, I give it a rating of EVE

I'm outta here!

2007-05-04T00:37:00.000-04:00

Don't know when I'll be back, but you'll know when I am!

The ocean sang, the conversation's dimmed

2007-05-02T17:27:00.000-04:00

I've got a lot on my mind recently... and it all came out of nowhere. You know what, though? I could care less because I got to shake Eric Davis' hand!

I'm finally over the cold my mom gave me for my birthday

Only one more week until the new Y: The Last Man book. I'm so frickin excited

Taking my niece to see Spider-man 3 on Friday for her birthday...

Going to the Reds game on Sunday (I think), but I'm going to miss the Kentucky Derby Saturday for the first time in... I can't even remember ever missing it. I'm taping it, so hopefully I can avoid all mention of it until I get off work at 11....

You know, I wasn't too fond of Bookie's husband when I first met him, but he's really grown on me over the years. When they were in town last time, he said something that's been cracking me up everyday since. So funny....

Chris Sabo stopped by my bookstore yesterday. Pretty cool to see him.

Davey Concepcion

2007-05-01T08:25:00.000-04:00

It's about damn time the Reds retired his number. More later...

One quick question

2007-04-30T16:34:00.000-04:00

Can someone explain to me the difference between Chris Henry and Josh Hamilton? Why is one loved and one hated? Aren't both of them losers who don't deserve the privilege of playing professional sports?

We're not talking about giving them a second chance - these guys are both 0n their 7th or 8th chance....

The trees will bend, the cities wash away

2007-04-29T20:37:00.000-04:00

You must do what you feel is right, of course

Will: 1
Cold: 0

That's right cats, I'm back with a vengeance! No coming home from work and going to bed, it's drinkin time! Hope you can keep up!

In all seriousness, you wanna get a beer this week, give me a call. I'm up for anything and EVERYTHING!

NFL Draft

2007-04-28T07:10:00.000-04:00

I'm not too big on the whole draft thing other then I like watching to see who the Bengals pick and where some local players end up. If you're looking for predictions here, I got nothing. Once we know the Bengals' pick, I'll share my thoughts... as long as it's before I have to go to work... and I'll probably just update this post...

FIRST UPDATE (12:45)
I'm surprised. The Lions draft ANOTHER receiver in the first round and the Browns draft a tackle instead of a QB? That's the fourth receiver the Lions have taken in the first round in the last five years. The Browns, I can mostly understand - tackles are important and QB's are always risky.

UPDATE (2:00)
I feel bad for Ted Ginn Jr. Miami is terrible and doesn't have a good track record in developing receivers aside from Chambers and he's only had one 1,000+ yard receiving season. He did get into the top ten which will give him some mega-bucks, so that's a positive for him...

So far things are looking good for the Bengals to draft a DB - after the first 10 picks, only Landry is off the board. I'm curious to see, as Houston is taking all of it's time right now, if Green Bay trades up to take Brady Quinn. They made a huge mistake a few years ago when they drafted Aaron Rodgers and they realized it almost immediately. Let's see what happens here... Nothin... I was kinda hoping that Okoye would fall to 18, but the secondary is a more pressing need anyway...

FINAL UPDATE (11:50)
Just got home from work to see what the Bengals did... I like the pick of Hall even though 1) He's a Michigan guy (Seriously Bengals, there's only ONE school I don't want you drafting from and you've spend two first round picks on players from that school the last few years) and 2) Ohio State tore his arse up. There were only two DBs gone when the Bengals picked, so it looks like they got the guy they wanted. In Marvin We Trust. This might even have an effect on Deltha O'Neal, maybe getting him to play back at the Pro Bowl level he was at in 2005. T

The Second Round pick confuses the hell out of me. A RB? I know that Chris Perry ( the other Michigan guy) is worthless with his injury problems (he makes Ken Griffey Jr look like Lou Gehrig), but Kenny Watson's filled in pretty good for Rudi. I don't understand why you spend a second round pick on a running back. Granted I know nothing about the guy we got, but I just didn't see a need there. There were (and are) more pressing needs... like LB and S... but...

In Marvin We Trust

Can Cincinnati get his own version of US currency with that on there? I probably won't comment on the second day picks mostly because I don't know enough to comment about them. My interest in the draft is watching Mel Kipper make a fool out of himself in the first round (remember how much he hyped Akili Smith?) and seeing who the Bengals pick up. That's about it.

And, in case you're wondering, I am feeling better. So tomorrow night will see the start of the irresponsible and impulsive drinking binge. Don't be surprised if I call you at 4 in the morning asking you to bail me out....

The city on the river there is a girl without a dream

2007-04-27T07:11:00.000-04:00

I'm so frickin tired and sick. I hate this. Thanks for getting me sick on my birthday mom... I'm in a downright grumpy mood... I'm warning you now

I decided to go into work yesterday and boy, was that a bad idea. I was moving so slow and had zero energy and keep feeling like I was going to faint. It sucked. Big time. The part that sucked most was putting on the fake happy face. Scratch that, the part that sucked the most was that everyone had to stay later then normal because I couldn't get my crap done. I felt bad...

I have done an exceptional job at avoiding any birthday celebrations so far... but that's mostly because I'm sick and my family knows to stay the hell away from me when I'm sick...

For someone who says he likes to live in the here and now, I've been spending an awful lot of time thinking about the past recently...

The Man Who Toast Ronald Reagan is right. I've been acting like a grown up WAY too much. It's time to be irresponsible and insensitive... It's like that time I was having a few beers with my girlfriend at the time and Jessy after softball - Jessy complimented me (from her point of view) on how much I'd matured since I dated her. I immediately went on a drinking binge, ended up in Clifton, picked a fight with someone twice my size and almost got arrested. As soon as I'm over this cold, I'm going on a party binge unlike any Cincinnati has seen before! You better get ready!

And you know what? I suck at shaving when I'm sick. I missed spots left and right this morning and since I hadn't shaved in a week or so, it looked pretty bad....

I have so much crap to show Harlow and I can't because I don't want to get him or Zin sick...

I think I just fell back asleep while sitting upright in a chair... weird. Remind me to tell you sometime about how I used to fall asleep sitting on the toilet every morning back in High School...

First person to e-mail me the correct answer to this trivia question gets a beer: Name the only two players to ever steal 80+ bases and hit 20+ home runs in the same season

These rivers of suggestion are driving me away

2007-04-26T06:45:00.000-04:00

So it was my birthday yesterday and it was lousy. I'm not a big birthday person in the first place as I don't like the attention. I usually like to work or slip away to a bar with someone who doesn't know it's my birthday. This year? I woke up at 5 in the morning with a sore throat. I knew right away that it was going to be a sucky day. Despite my best attempts, the sore throat evolved into a full blown cold before I could even eat breakfast. It sucked. I pretty much spent the day staring at the wall and listening to (soft) music. I tried to watch TV (catch up on all my TiVo-ed stuff) but I couldn't do it. Watching Lost last night was a struggle as well. Not to mention that I kept getting birthday calls every five minutes... I feel bad because people are being nice and stuff, but I just didn't want to talk to anybody. I ended up turning my cellphone off at one point and that didn't work out too well. I only answered my sister and brother's calls and even then I didn't want to talk. I just wanted to veg out... I can be a real grump when I'm sick, you know that? I thought a shower would help - no dice. I thought dinner would help - no dice. I thought a nap would help - couldn't sleep. How bad did I feel yesterday? My mom bought me Reece's Cups (the one sweet food that I devour) after she took me out for dinner and it's still sitting on my kitchen table... All in all, I've had better days... There was a silver lining as I got a birthday card from my older sister Heather. That's pretty much the only thing I care about on my birthday every year. I need to make time to go hang with her...

I still feel pretty lousy right now... I don't think I fell asleep until 2 last night and I was up at 6... I don't know if I'm going to go into work later... speaking of work, I have to work the next six days. Meaning that my only day off in a span of 9 days was spent sick... good stuff, huh?

Trying to get more positive and not be a grump, I did re-read a couple books yesterday - Batman: Evolutions and the fifth Harry Potter book. I wanted to re-read the sixth Harry Potter book, but I discovered that I never bought it - I just borrowed my mom's book-on-tape of it... Anyway, re-reading that Batman book got me itching to try something artistically, but the cold zapped that right out of me... man, I just cannot stay positive when I'm sick... I'm gonna quit before I start ranting about stupid stuff...

My nephew called it...

2007-04-25T07:41:00.001-04:00

At the game Sunday, during one of the 65,482 times the Reds left runners on base, my nephew said "If Griffey was playing the Reds would be scoring"...

Griffey pinch-hit in the ninth and BAM - RBI double...

I turned to Harlow and said "You were right"

Fast forward to last night's game... Griffey starts for the first time in a week and the Reds put up 10 runs...

It was inevitable...

2007-04-24T07:16:00.000-04:00

A case of the Mondays in full force... but that's to be expected the day after the Best. Day. EVER!

I worked, watched the Eric Davis DVD again, re-read Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall, and caught the return of Heroes. Pretty boring...

and no Reds game...

and I got sunburnt at the game and it started hurting yesterday...

BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER!!!

Best. Day. EVER!!!

2007-04-23T07:54:00.000-04:00

Man oh man, where to start...

Man oh man oh man oh man
I gotta red hot plan if you understand
cannot fail, it's plain to see
I'm having fun and making money

Alright... First thing to mention is that Molly thought it was time for a new glove for Harlow, so she gave him Justin's old one... an Eric Davis one. So Harlow and I headed down to the game, got our tickets, and hit the gift shop. Harlow didn't care about anything in there except the baseballs. He had just found out that his little league team this year is named 'Red Sox', so after debating for a while, he chose the Boston Red Sox ball. We went inside, got him his Ryan Freel Dirty Shirt, and he had to put it on right away. We checked out a couple things in the ballpark before we headed down to try and get Harlow an autograph. Todd Coffey was out signing for a long while, but Harlow didn't get one. No fault to Coffey, he was really cool and signed for about four thousand people, so even though he didn't get us, I was still impressed with him.

We headed over to the Eric Davis signing and after buying his DVD (which is AWESOME), we got in line. Harlow asked if Davis would sign his ball and I told him I didn't know. We got up there and Davis' full attention was on Harlow - "Hey there little guy, what's your name?" He shook Harlow's hand and signed his ball without hesitating.

While he was signing my DVD, Harlow told him how he had an Eric Davis glove, so I pulled it out. Davis then surprised the hell out of me and asked Harlow if he wanted him to sign his glove. Harlow got a grin on his face twelve parsecs wide and said yes.

Davis: "Now see, I've signed this glove even though it already had my signature, so you got a two-for" IT WAS AWESOME!!!

Davis is everything that's right about, not only sports, but life. He's a guy who, despite making millions, is still down to earth and excited to see people. He's someone who has overcome greater obstacles in his life then any of us could ever dream of facing. I would've bought his DVD regardless of getting it signed and I would've paid eight times as much for it. In a world that keeps giving us garbage like Chris Henry and Josh Hamilton, we need more attention paid toward people like Eric the Red.

Harlow and I grabbed our scorecard and headed to our seats. The game pretty much sucked. Belisle was the Belisle I expected. Hamilton got a gift single that should have been ruled an error on Howard and struck out when it really mattered. Freel got a triple, that was cool. Encarnacion delivered a HUGE two out, two strike, RBI single... and then got benched by Narron (WHAT DOES NARRON HAVE AGAINST EE??????????). Griffey got a pinch-hit, RBI double in the ninth. The Reds lost.

But who cares. I got to meet and shake Eric Davis' hand. He took five minutes to talk to my nephew even though Harlow was being shy. I just can't stop thinking about it. It was the coolest thing....

Something I noticed

2007-04-22T08:55:00.000-04:00

I've posted something new for seven straight days. That's gotta be a record. I don't really have much to say, but I kinda wanna keep this streak alive... we'll see how long I last!

I'm taking my nephew to the Reds game today, I'll tell you all about it tomorrow...

For The Man Who Toast Ronald Reagan

2007-04-21T13:42:00.000-04:00

and then one thing led to another and soon I'd discovered alcohol, gambling, dope...

2007-04-21T08:54:00.000-04:00

Don't read anything until you watch the video.

I'm serious

Stop reading and start watching!

I'm not on a mission from God, but I am on a mission - I'm scheduled to work the night my sister and her husband wanna go out and drink. I haven't gone out drinking with them in a long while, maybe years. Last time I can remember was when Justin puked the whole way home and Molly said "Screw him, I'm still going to White Castle"

You know, Sometimes I Just Crack Myself Up...

2007-04-20T12:02:00.000-04:00

Apparently, if you spend most of your time out with your friends rather then with a girl (who you only consider a friend) you've been hanging out with for a few months, that's not a good thing... I was informed of this on Monday. I gotta say that I thought I was pretty upfront about how I wasn't interested in anything but hanging out and having some laughs. Guess that didn't matter as she thought otherwise. You'd think the fact that I ditched her on New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day would be pretty big signs supporting my daily reminders to her that I wasn't interested...

I know that with my inability to be serious, some, like her, take my comments with a grain of salt, but I'm actually serious when I say I don't want to date anymore. Everyone thinks that a joke, and it partly is, but I have zero interest in 95% of the women out there. It's very rare that I meet someone who interests me... Hell, I even told her I met someone like that a while back and she still thought that she and I had a chance! Frustrating, if only because I told her every day since I met her five months ago that I wasn't interested...

It's times like these that I miss my old drinking buddy who lives in Cali now... although, after last night, I think I'm going to lay off beer for a while... I'm starting to get like it was a few years ago and that's not good, I need to be careful

The Bane of My Existence

2007-04-19T02:47:00.000-04:00

I think it's time to reveal the bane of my existence. If one had to guess what it was, I'm sure we'd see such guesses as Jerry Narron, broken guitar strings, drama, the Dodgers, cigarettes, Joe Quesada, ex-girlfriends... heck, alcohol would probably sneak in there...

But they would all be wrong

No, the bane of my existence is very mundane - laundry

Here's the funny thing - I don't mind doing laundry. It's not so bad. What sucks about it is folding shirts. I can fold pants, boxers, sheets, towels, even napkins... but I can't fold a shirt to save my life. I'm terrible at it. I hate doing it. I purposely put off doing laundry (which forces me to buy new boxers and undershirts when I run out) just so I don't have to fold one shirt. Some have suggested over the years to simply use hangers for everything. Think about putting every last shirt you own on a hanger... impossible... My favorite trick is to leave the shirts in the dryer until I need one and then set the dryer to 'dewrinkle' just before I put it on...

So there you have it. The bane of my existence is laundry. How funny is that?

Going out to Uncle Woody's tonight, hope to see some of you there!

So when my usual method...

2007-04-18T23:15:00.000-04:00

... to calm down isn't available, I watch this

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come

Jerry Narron keeps on losing us games...

2007-04-18T21:22:00.000-04:00

I'm usually really laid back when it comes to Reds games, but tonight's game has me worked up. First, Narron sits Encarnacion for the second day in a row. How is EE going to get out of his slump on the bench? He had that huge two out, two run single (which is the kind of hit that gets players out of their slump) and then sits the next two games. I don't care how talented Hamilton is, Encarnacion is more important to the offense - he's our run producer from the right side. We have tons of great left-handed hitters, it makes no sense to sit our only legitimate right handed power threat for yet another lefty.

Then Narron decides to bring in Coffey for the third game in a row, two nights after he imploded against the Brewers. What's Coffey do? He hits the first batter he faces on a 1-2 count. Narron leaves him in. Marty and Thom were all over him (and they should have been!), especially right before Berkman came up to the plate. Berkman then delivered an RBI single to tie the game. Narron still leaves Coffey in and he walks Carlos Lee. Then Narron pulls him for Cormier BEFORE THE NEXT HITTER WAS ANNOUNCED!!! So of course the Astros took advantage of Narron's incompetence and pinch-hit a righty and one base hit later, Cormier gives up a three run bomb...

HOW MANY TIMES IS THIS GOING TO HAPPEN BEFORE THE REDS GET WISE AND CAN NARRON???????????

UPDATE: Something else has to be bugging me, I don't get this worked up about sporting events...

Well in the end my friend we will all be together again

2007-04-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

Say Hey, I'm tired... well, you're probably thinking I should get some sleep, right? I thought the same thing last night. Problem is, my brother-in-law loaned me a book yesterday night that I can't put down - Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall. It is frickin awesome.

Speaking of that family, I played catch with Harlow yesterday. I accidentally hit him in the chest a couple times (he should have caught both) and I have to say I was shocked at his reaction. In the past with my oldest nephew and niece, they would shut down and cry if they got hit. No more catch. Harlow went down to a knee, but got right back up to keep playing catch. You could tell it stung him a little, but he didn't want to stop playing... although, he was a little more tentative after that, but hey - he didn't quit. It's nice to have a nephew to play catch with...

I'm taking him to the game on Sunday. I'm kinda excited for a couple reasons - 1) it's live baseball (I almost stopped to watch a high school game on my way home yesterday), 2) it's just me and Harlow (I can teach him how to keep score!), and 3) Eric Davis will be at the park. Gonna be a good time

The Reds game last night was good despite some ugly mistakes. Freel had a great night with four hits. Phillips could have had an inside-the-park home run instead of the triple he got had he not watched it. Valentin got a three run double after swinging at 2 balls which would've been the 11th and 12th straight balls from that pitcher. I didn't like how Narron sat Encarnacion the day after he got a big two out two run single - that's the kind of hit that gets a player out of a slump

Gonna end today with the best... Last month, my brother and I were joined by some fantastic souls in shaving our heads in memory of Keegan for St Baldrick's Foundation to help raise money to fight childhood cancer. We set out to have ten shavees raise $20,000. We ended up with 19 people raising over FORTY THOUSAND DOLLARS!!! How cool is that?

It's been a long, long time since I felt so fine

2007-04-17T07:04:00.000-04:00

You try to be good by eating at Subway instead of McDonald's and you get food poisoning. Yesterday had to be just about the worst day ever. I woke up at 6 in the morning and had to run to the bathroom to puke. All I did until the mid-afternoon was puke and lie on the floor. It sucked. I'll spare you the rest of the details....

I did learn how to play Dying Cub Fan's Last Request, however, so that was cool...

That was pretty much my day. The Reds game sucked. I don't understand how Narron can be so Tony LaRussa-like with the bullpen (using 37 pitchers to get through one inning) and then stick with Coffey after he hit a batter, gave up a single, and hit another batter. That's just another example of Narron's inconsistancy that drives me up a wall...

And speaking of that inning, my buddy Whiskey said it perfectly in his text message last night - If Bill Hall goes to the Hall of Fame, he should go in with a Reds hat on

You gotta love Clifton...

2007-04-16T12:44:00.001-04:00

I had so much fun last night. My buddies Padawan Matt and Ken are in town, so I met them down at my favorite bar in Clifton... We met a cool girl who was celebrating her 21st (and had an awesome name), so we had to have a shot with her... which led to more shots... you know the drill. We had the jukebox playing pretty much nothing but Grateful Dead songs even though I think only myself and the-girl-who-turned-21's friend were fans of the Dead... It was a lot of fun... until the hangover this morning of course...

I had a pretty good laugh when Padawan Matt and his girlfriend got there - neither had seen me without a (thick) beard in a long time, so they didn't recognize me at first...

We were talking about getting older and how it sucks. We couldn't believe it had been ten years since Padawan Matt showed up to one of my famous Victor Street parties at 3 in the morning in a tux after his prom... of course, I don't actually remember that as I was passed out in the back yard...

I had my first cigarette in four years last night. I'm not too happy about that. Since the smoking ban passed, I've realized that the reason I was able to quit so easily was because I spent so much time in smoke-filled bars... now that those bars aren't smoke-filled, it's been pretty tough...

Just watched last night's Sopranos. It's gonna heat up now. Johnny Sack is gone and Phil Leotardo is ready to blow...

I'm freaking out about stupid stuff today. I'm a freak sometimes... all right, pretty much all the time... and the hangover is making it worse!

UPDATE: I've been throwing up all day. I thought it was just the hangover at first, but as I kept on puking ALL DAY, now I'm thinking it's because of food poisoning. I've gone two hours without seeing the toilet, so hopefully it's over...

Man, what a weekend

2007-04-15T07:39:00.000-04:00

I haven't drank like that in a LONG time... and it's not over yet. Apparently, I'm going out tonight... Friday was a normal night out, Saturday was out of control - I've got some blanks in my memory - that hasn't happened in a couple months. I didn't think I drank all that much, but I started early and it snuck up on me. Feel like crap right now and I can't find my cell phone (I already checked the dog food)....

I screwed up and admitted something to a friend of mine that I didn't want to share with anyone. That's gonna bug me. A lot. It's not that I don't trust her or anything, it's just that I have a hard time sharing the personal stuff that matters with anyone...

And even though I’m not as cool as han
I still want to be your man
You’re exactly the kind of
Alderranian that I need

But when you were available,
I was Drinking colt 45’s with lando
I was hanging out in the cantina
On mos eisley

Music, Sweet Music... There'll be Music Everywhere

2007-04-13T11:18:00.000-04:00

I'm bored, so I thought I'd share what I think of when I hear the following songs...

I Feel Home (o.a.r.) - Drinking beer on Victor Street with Casey, TMWTRR, Sara, Jo, and some others. That was one of the funnest nights ever. I don't even know how we ended up down there...

Any Jimmy Buffett song - Beer, Margaritas, and the Lawn

Stir It Up (Bob Marley) - Jessica

Blister in the Sun (Violent Femmes) - Wendy's which gets me thinking about Mr Deeds

About An Hour Ago (o.a.r.) - Drinking in Oxford with my little brother and breaking into his dorm room in the middle of the night. Which makes me think of the time in Oxford I was up there drinking with Kelly, Joe, Sara, and some others and I crashed at Kelly and Sara's on their Papasan chair (which they still laugh at how I ended upside down in it with my feet pointing to the ceiling). Right as we're all about to crash, Casey bursts in, points at the folded out bed from the couch where Kelly's sister was sleeping, and asks Kelly "CanIsleephereCanIsleephereCanIsleephereCanIsleephere"

Dancing in the Street (Mick Jagger and David Bowie) - my mom, unfortunately

Night Shift (o.a.r.) - seeing o.a.r. in Columbus with Jessy

She Has a Girlfriend Now (Reel Big Fish) - The parties on Victor Street in Clifton

Piano Man (Billy Joel) - driving to Alabama with TMWTRR

Candy Everybody Wants (Natalie & 10,000 Maniacs) - my older brother

Song 2 (blur) - KITCHEN BALL!!!

Bottle of Rum (Jared Michael Hobgood) - Key Frickin West

Sentimental Journey - My Grandpa

All I Want is More (Reel Big Fish) - Carmen

Boys in the Hood (Dynamite Hack) - The Man Who Toasts Ronald Reagan

Alice's Restaurant Massacre (Arlo Guthrie) - Seeing Arlo live in a bar in Dayton

Crush (Dave Matthews Band) - working Racer South with a girl who's name I can't remember

Uncle John's Band (Grateful Dead) - seeing Bob Dylan live

Jump (Van Halen) - my little sister

Any Blues Traveler song - The campout to bridge Buffett and Horde Fest... not that I remember much other then "Casey - I need my keys/car - Will"

Best Comics of March

2007-04-12T18:30:00.000-04:00

This month sucked....

1. Justice League #6
2. Batman #664
3. Justice Society #4
4. Nightwing #130
5. Flash #10

Justice League ended it's first arc and it was pretty good. Meltzer's pacing was a little off, but I'm thinking that has something to do with what's coming in the rest of his run. Grant Morrison's latest Batman issue wasn't all that great (certainly not as good as his crazy Joker issue), but it looked great. If Justice Society wasn't crossing over with Justice League the next few months, I'd drop it. Starman is the only interesting thing from the first 4 issues. Nightwing and Flash are getting better every month.

Months like this make me want to drop superhero comics for good. If it weren't for the 4 outstanding 52 issues (I don't rate those because they're impossible to compare), I'd feel ripped off. Scratch that, I DO feel ripped off. I might drop all superhero books except Countdown and use that money to catch up on the Vertigo books that I enjoy....

WORST COMIC OF MARCH - Screw one book, we're giving the ENTIRE Ultimate line at Marvel the Worst Comic of the Month tag. The only good book (Ultimates 2) from the line NEVER comes out! Bendis has been lost on Ultimate Spider-man for about 70+ issues, Kirkman has destroyed Ultimate X-Men, and even Mike Carey can't make Ultimate FF work. The line is a disaster that needs to be either rebooted or thrown out.

I was gonna call my friends and get 'em all together

2007-04-12T09:48:00.000-04:00

I HAVE TO RENEW MY DRIVER'S LICENCE!!! If you see me, ask me why I haven't done so yet!!!

Tim, I'm working on that "baller-ass" Spider-man, but it's going slow and work is getting in the way. I haven't forgotten.

You know, if Subway or Jersey Mike's had drive-thrus like Penn Station where you could call your order in and pick it up without getting out of your car, I'd eat there every single day. Instead, I end up eating the crap that is McDonald's and Taco Bell....

Anyone up for a jam session this weekend?

You know, I didn't shave for four months and now I'm shaving everyday. My skin is hating it... and I have a headache - considering I finshed a six pack in an hour last night, it's no wonder

I'm working on the Best Comics of March but I have to say that the majority of them were so-so... The best one might have been my niece's...

Speaking of which, I need to stop by and see my little sister tomorrow so I can give them their comics.

The new Y: The Last Man comes out in a month!!!!!!! I might buy the newest Ex Machina book to tide me over the last few weeks...

My goal this summer: Buy a 12-string

GO REDLEGS!!!!

The mind gets dirty as you get closer to thirty...

2007-04-11T05:41:00.000-04:00

I am in a frickin great mood! If you need a favor, now is the time to ask....

Got my March comics yesterday (a week late because my niece's comic was a week late), I'll get around to throwing up the monthly BS session about them sometime later today or tomorrow....

My new favorite thing - taking dogs for a walk

What am I listening to right now? Mozart, OutKast, and Robert Johnson...

Got an itch to play some hoops...

I have had, as Carmela would say, verbal diarrhea the last few days - I can't get what I want to say out of my mouth. I go to say "I had fun last night" and it comes out "Man, how about that last night we did this and then we went over and did that and it was awesome and then I drank a beer and it was really good and...." I think you cats get the point...

That comes up because I talked to my newest friend (who needs a nickname) and also The Captain last night and couldn't talk at all. I think it's all the caffeine I've had the last few days. I'm just not making sense... but I don't care because life is grand!

Life is an adventure, Made for an adventurer
Made just for the boy who can, Grow up strong and become a man
Nothing will bother you, You will do what you want to
Laughes and loves and hopes and dreams, Action will supply the means

I believe in coyotes and time as an abstract

2007-04-10T07:12:00.000-04:00

One thing I've noticed recently - I don't watch TV anymore (save Reds games). I have to force myself to watch my shows. I'm not going to tell you how many shows I have on TiVo that I haven't gotten around to watching yet...

I'm getting pretty jazzed up for Buffett this year even though the show isn't until July. Last year's sucked as it was the first one in over a decade that The Man Who Toasts Ronald Reagan wasn't there with me (his roommate got married out of state on that day). We're going to make up for it this year. The closest we had ever come to missing one was when I was being an idiot a few years ago. I had taken the girl I was seeing at the time, an unusual thing for me to do, and that relationship ended badly not long after the show. Emotional scars and all that were having me say "no" the next year until The Man Who Toasts Ronald Reagan saw through my (lame) excuses and forced me to go. I was able to get right back into the swing of things.... Matter of fact, that ended up being one of the best we've been to.... This will be my 14th or 15th year of going to Buffett, I can't remember exactly. You know, the pre-game is almost as fun as the show...

Keep letting my hair grow or keep it buzzed? That's the question right now.... That and what to do with my facial hair - kick butt sideburns or goatee or mustache?

Wow, I spelled everything right on the first try.... pretty impressive that I can spell mustache

When I think about it, I guess it's a sin, but next weekend I'll do it all over again!

2007-04-09T06:27:00.000-04:00

I have nothing to say...

Reds took two out of three Pirates over the weekend. 4-2 is a pretty good start. Big surprise that Adam Dunn has been a big part of that - both the Cubs and the Pirates started pitching around him like he was Albert Pujols. I was very surprised to see Lohse and Belisle pitch as well as they did. Milton started off good, but he seemed to get tired quickly...

I had a fun weekend until Saturday. Not going to go into specifics because I'm still ticked off about it... and it takes a lot to get me that angry. I should have just stuck with my gut and gone out with my little brother to the bar that has $2.50 Killians in April. Yeah, I went there Friday...

Finally got to meet my good friends Jessy and Aren's son. Cool little guy. He liked trying to eat the package of the Star Wars toy I gave him. Turns out Aren was right across the street from me at the parade on Opening Day... but he got to go to the game.

I was talking music with a pretty lady Saturday night (before the drama), and I've always said that I like everything except 99% of modern country. I think I have to throw Opera in with that. My Dad's a big fan of it so I've listened to a lot of it over my life, but it just doesn't click with me. I'll go from listening to rock to classical to rap to broadway to pop, etc, but I never listen to Opera. Weird....

I love Sunday mornings. Breakfast with the Beatles and a McGriddle. Even hungover, it's awesome.

I'm getting sleep again (knock on wood)

I have successfully kept my cell phone away from dog food the last few days

I did not successfully avoid my family's Easter festivities this year as they tricked me. They celebrated on Saturday instead of Sunday because some of them were leaving for Florida on Sunday morning. I guess it's my oldest sister's (and her boy Liza Minnelli) kids spring break so they're going, along with my folks, to Disney and all that jazz...

I feel bad. My little sister needs me to watch her kids Thursday at 4, but I work until 4. I don't think I can do it...

Adam Dunn is frickin awesome

2007-04-08T13:31:00.000-04:00

How many of you saw Adam Dunn's flyout pop out of Xavier Nady's glove and go over the fence for a home run? If you haven't, use the video player on ESPN's recap...

Nady arrived at the ballpark today to find a bottle of vodka with a note attached to it in his locker. The note read "Thanks for the home run - Adam Dunn"

Dunn cracks me up....

Good Friday

2007-04-06T12:51:00.000-04:00

Well, I was going to put up a song for you cats in honor of a holiday I don't celebrate, but I can't figure out how to do it.

I couldn't even find it on youtube or ifilm, so just track it down yourself - the song is Good Friday by the Black Crowes....

In it's place, how about the beautiful Natalie Portman acting like my dream girl?

How I confound you and astound you

2007-04-06T05:26:00.000-04:00

I MISS MY BEARD!!! It's cold outside....

Busy day today. I work, but only for four hours, then I'm stopping by my friend Jessy's folks house to see her, her husband, and meet their son (and give him the Star Wars toy I bought for him months ago). Then I think I'm stopping to see another friend. After that I think I'm taking a nap and then doing something involving beer and friends...

Come to think of it, I've been really busy since March began. I had a busy December and January, but February was super quiet. I kinda like the busy. I have noticed a downside - when I have a day to relax and re-charge, I get so frickin bored that I can't stand it. Like yesterday. I had the hardest time focusing on my commission that I kept screwing up. Although, that's mostly because I am beyond burnt out when it comes to anything artistic. It used to relax me and I used to enjoy it. Now I can't stand to even think about it let alone doing it....

I was on the verge of another pointless paragraph. I could feel it coming. So I stopped!

Two days ago, I walked outside in shorts and a tee shirt and BAM! The cold weather sent me running back inside. I threw on a hoodie and a pair of jeans. I noticed the coffee stain on my jeans from St Patrick's Day didn't come all the way out. I don't know what's funnier - I haven't worn jeans since around St Patrick's Day or that I still have a battle scar from the greatest holiday ever (Opening Day excluded of course).

I couldn't find my cell phone yesterday when I needed a phone number off it. I eventually found it when I fed the dogs dinner - it was in the dog food bag. For some reason, I must have thrown that back in there this morning when I fed them instead of the scoop. I need to write down some of those numbers as I don't have them anywhere else... Before cell phones, when you had to dial the number, I could remember phone numbers for years after dialing them once or twice. Still can do that, actually, but I rarely get the chance to... another example of trying to keep the Irish man down...

I went to Wal-Mart yesterday to buy a new toothbrush and, naturally, someone called my name out... Didn't recognize her at all. I didn't even bother trying to fake my way through it and told her I didn't know who she was. Boy, was that a mistake - apparently we dated for a few months something like ten years ago. Still didn't know who the hell she was. Eventually she told me how we broke things off. That was the ticket to remembering her - that break-up remains one of the favorites of The Man Who Toasts Ronald Reagan. I hear the story all the frickin time... it is a pretty funny one though...

Huggins to West Virginia?

2007-04-05T16:37:00.000-04:00

THAT is going to be interesting. Not only is Huggins finally in the Big East and gets to play UC every year, but he's also right in their backyard for recruiting. I imagine that's going to spur quite a rivalry between WV and UC.

I'm gonna have to get tickets for the first time Huggins goes back to the Shoe. That will be crazy...

I don't care what field it's in, Willie plays all the fields!

2007-04-05T06:00:00.000-04:00

You know, I'm fraggin happy that it's baseball season. Two of my favorite lines ever involve baseball and oddly enough, my older brother

First, a few years back when my brother was dating his future wife, we all went to a Reds game with one of my brother's friends and his wife Diana. Somewhere in the middle of the game Diana turns to my brother's girl and says "So, Jaimie, huh? Hope you like baseball..." Perfect. I spit my beer out.

Second, my buddy called me up once to settle a baseball argument he was having with a friend. After I gave him the info he needed, he said "Thanks man, of all the people I know, you're the second most knowledgeable person when it comes to baseball". I was a little shocked as I replied "Second?". Calmly, he said "Yeah, behind only your brother"....

Go Redlegs!!! We'll get them back today!

I was talking to a friend of mine about baseball last night and the Pirates-Reds playoff series in 1990. I can't remember if I went to all three games in Cincinnati or just two. I do remember that my brother & I went to Game 6 and that two of my sisters were ticked off that the Reds wrapped things up that night because they had dibs on the tickets for Game 7. I also know I was at Game 2 when Paul O'Neill made one of the greatest throws I've ever seen nailing Andy Van Slyke at third on a Barry Bonds flyout in the 6th... But I can't remember if I went to Game 1...

Baseball aside (I know, it's hard), I had a rough night sleeping-wise. I dog-sat my sister's mutt last night and he kept moving around the bed to get comfortable. Of course, I then had to get comfortable which in turn got him moving again. It was a vicious cycle... Luckily, the only thing I'm doing today is laying out a page I promised a friend. Figure I lay it out today, pencil it Saturday afternoon, and ink it on Sunday. We'll see how that plan goes...

I need a new toothbrush, my old one shot craps this morning

I've been listening to Natalie since I woke up, mostly her solo records. Life is Sweet is a darn good song. I've got her doing a cover of Driver 8 somewhere and I can't remember where it is... I have WAY too many CDs....

McGriddle for breakfast or try to get some more sleep?

Eric the Red!

2007-04-04T13:40:00.000-04:00

While I have a minute today, I thought I'd throw up the pictures my brother-in-law took of Eric Davis in the Findlay Market Parade...

Eric the Red was was far and away my favorite player growing up. He was the one who turned me on to Willie Mays. That's all you heard about Davis in the late 80's - 'He's the next Willie Mays'. There's no doubt in my mind that Davis was far and away the best player in baseball from 1986-1990. If it wasn't for that dive in the 1990 World Series....

Look at what he averaged per 150 games those 5 seasons compared to Willie's first five full seasons....

Eric the Red
104 R, 34 HR, 103 RBI, 47 SB, 79 BB, .277 AVG, .371 OBP, .527 SLG
The Say Hey Kid
106 R, 38 HR, 100 RBI, 24 SB, 71 BB, .315 AVG, .389 OBP, .601 SLG

Willie was better, no doubt, but Davis wasn't too shabby until that lacerated kidney in the World Series. What might have been if Davis could have stayed healthy....

If that is the fact then in actual fact I'm not where it's at it's all over

2007-04-04T12:00:00.000-04:00

Some things you would think I love but I secretly hate:
Fantasy Baseball, Spider-man comics, solitude.

Some things you would think I hate, but secretly like:
water skiing (thanks to Matt), mornings, musicals

Been missing the following recently - playing guitar/going to the batting cages with Matt, drinking after work with Jessica, Jessy's insane ability to tell me what I need to hear, going on Skyline/Comic runs with Justin.... in other words, I miss my friends who've moved out of Ohio...

I just wrote the longest, most pointless paragraph of my life. I have no idea what I was trying to say or what I did say. Re-reading it, I felt like that guy in Billy Madison who says:

At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

So, yeah, that paragraph fell victom to the backspace key. Maybe I'm still drunk from this weekend past...

Things I have to do this week:
work, hang out with Peanut, renew my driver's license, get my records back from my friend, finish those pages I started last week, buy Reds tickets for me and Harlow for the game in a couple weeks... oh, and avoid my family so that they don't bug me about not celebrating Easter (not off to a good start with that as my mom just called and asked if I was eating Easter dinner with them)...

And I have 37 e-mails to respond to (I'm actually not exaggerating this time) from over the weekend....

and I just broke a string on my acoustic....DAMN IT

I love Opening Day...

2007-04-03T05:02:00.000-04:00

So this Opening Day was a little different from years past... my nephew had his spring break this week. Harlow, his dad, and I went down for the Findley Market Parade (ran into Travis and Andy) and Harlow loved it. He couldn't stop jumping up and down for the first half hour of it. The crowd erupted once Eric Davis came into sight. Harlow got so interested in Davis after hearing his dad and I rave about him all morning that we had to watch the home run he hit in game 1 of the 1990 World Series after the game. The best float by far was the billy goat float. Props to whoever came up with that idea. Anyway, we watched the parade, Harlow broke my heart when, as we were walking back to the car, he said "But I want to go to the game". Next year I'm buying season tickets just so Harlow can go to Opening Day. There is nothing else like it anywhere.

We went back to Lebanon after lunch to watch the game and made it just in time to see Adam Dunn's FIRST home run (which moved him past Barry Larkin on the Reds all-time home run list). Alex Gonzalez looked as good as advertised. Griffey looked great in right. Josh Hamilton looked overmatched in his pinch-hit flyout. Adam Dunn and Aaron Harang were far and away the stars of the game. After Weathers sealed up the 5-1 victory for the Reds, my nephew had to run and say the following to his mom: "And this one belongs to the Reds!"

Oh, and I called it - Carlos Zambrano is such a head case. If you can rattle him, which isn't hard to do, you're going to roll over him....

Opening Day

2007-04-02T06:00:00.000-04:00

With apologies to St Patrick's Day and Thanksgiving, my absolute favorite day of the year is Opening Day. There's nothing else like it. Let me put it this way - Ohio State plays in the national championship tonight and I could care less. It's Opening Day. I'm watching baseball all frickin day....

And somewhat related, I finally gave the Reds schedule a once over and my favorite current player, Vlad Guerrero, is coming into town this year! Since he left the Expos a few years ago for the Junior Circuit, I haven't seen him play live. I might go to all three games the Angels are in town in June.

Here's my two cents on where the Reds stand on Opening Day:

Most important player - Adam Dunn

If he can reverse the three year drop in his numbers by hitting the ball to left field more often, the Reds will score a lot of runs.

Player fans are too hard on - Eric Milton

Look, I'm not a Milton fan. I hate the contract as much as the next guy. I hate the flyball machine he is. Heck, I think he's a lousy pitcher. But we know what we're going to get from a healthy Milton - a 5.00 ERA and 10 wins. Who knows what Kyle Lohse or Matt Beslise are going to do? Those two are bigger question marks to me then Milton. Yeah, Milton stunk it up this spring, but so did Aaron Harang. Spring numbers mean jack squat.

Most over hyped player - Josh Hamilton

Forgive me for being skeptical about a player who has about as many professional AB the last four years as you or I do. Memo to John Fay - Josh Hamilton hasn't "emerged" yet. In fact, he hasn't done anything. Spring numbers don't matter in any way, shape, or form. Maybe he'll live up to the hype, but we don't know yet. What we do know is that a player with his resume shouldn't be getting favoritism from the manager - and yet, Narron's moving heaven and earth for Hamilton.

Most underrated player - Ryan Freel

I say it every year - you don't find leadoff hitters that can run AND get on base very often. Freel is an OBP machine with great speed. I don't think enough fans understand the value of that.

Why the Reds will win: nice balance of power, speed, pitching, and defense.
Why the Reds will lose: Jerry Narron

As far as the lineup goes, I still like the one I threw up here in January. It looks like Narron's leaning toward the following:

Freel CF
Dunn LF
Phillips 2B
Griffey RF
Encarnacion 3B
Hatteberg 1B
Gonzalez SS
Ross C

That has to be just about the worst way you could arrange those hitters...

And I might as well just grin and bear it 'cause it's not worth the trouble of an argument!

2007-03-29T09:20:00.000-04:00

Badhead, what a good song...

Went to a fundraiser thing last night, the second time in less then a month that me having some beers helped people. What a crazy world we live in.... Got to see a good friend of mine who lives literally 30 seconds from me and I never see. That was awesome.

Starting the weekend early, so this is it for a few days. Let's see, I've got my brother in town on Friday, no definitive plans for Saturday other then beer at this point, playing whiffle ball on Sunday, Opening Day on Monday, and Jessica gets into town on Tuesday. Can't wait.... I don't wanna say nothin else, so how about some Badhead?

People Will Come Ray

2007-03-28T11:00:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking some more about which was my favorite Opening Day. I think it was the 2002 season's, and since I'm bored, I'll share it...

I convinced one of my closest friends, Jessica, into skipping class and going down with me. Not really hard to do since neither of us had been to the parade or game in years. After a quick trip over to McDonald's for breakfast, we were on our way. We noticed that the bar at 5th & Vine didn't open for a few minutes, so we did a quick look through the Reds gift shop looking at hats. We didn't find one. So with tears in our eyes, we headed over to the bar, got a bucket of beer and suddenly the tears disappeared. We couldn't really see the parade out the window through the throngs of people, so we just watched it on TV, talked, joked, laughed, and drank. Stories were flying, beer was disappearing, new friends aplenty, good times were all around...

Until...(dramatic pause!)

People, including our new friends, started leaving.

We figured it was either one of two things - The bar ran out of beer or it was getting close to game time. The waitress answered the question when she arrived with another bucket of beer. This lead to the discovery of how much money we had spent on beer in those two hours we had been there. Friends, two people spent over $200 on beer in just two hours. That's a lot of beer. How we didn't end up in a hospital, I'll never know, especially since her and I probably weighed under 215 lbs combined at the time. Anyway, we were faced with a dilemma - Spend all the money we had left on tickets from a scalper and stop drinking or grab a table and watch the game on TV while drinking until the money ran out....

No question there really. We grabbed a table, drank beer until our money ran out over the next three hours, and watched the Reds score the winning run in the bottom of the ninth all while cheering wildly. Alright, I don't remember that, I had to retrosheet it. Somehow, we made back to Jessica's apartment. We were pretty drunk so naturally we called up all our friends and invited them over. A few of them actually made it before...well, we'll get to that here in a second...

Now Friends, to this day Jessica insists that she kept up with me that day, drinking just as many beers as I did. I'm here to tell you differently. It was at the very least a two-for-me-one-for-her ratio.

That's important since I puked.

And passed out.

Before dinnertime.

And she didn't.

That was a fun day. Nothing crazy or unbelievable that day, but it was still a heck of a lot of fun. We talk about giving it another go every year and yet fail to do so... Our livers are thankful for that...

WILL STAT OF THE DAY
Final amount of money spent by me that Opening Day - almost my entire paycheck that week - $350*

*to this day I still don't know how I ended up paying for everything...

Just when you think you're out...

2007-03-28T08:45:00.000-04:00

Insomnia roars it's ugly head again. Last night was one of the worst. I was so frickin tired since I didn't get any sleep the two previous nights but I couldn't fall asleep. I went to bed around 10. I finally fell asleep somewhere around 6 or 7. I woke up at 8:30.

So, out of the eleven and a half hours I was lying in my bed, I slept all of two hours. HURRAH!

The reason behind the insomnia isn't a mystery but just when I seem to have it under control...WHAM... it hits me like a freight train. The last few weeks have been as bad as it's ever been...

I'd love to be able to go to bed early tonight, but I got plans. Luckly those plans involve having a few beers, so maybe I'll get drunk sleep tonight which is better then no sleep....

So Moved On

2007-03-27T10:00:00.000-04:00

First - I HATE TUESDAYS!!!

I was talking about books yesterday with a stranger and of course I brought up Y: The Last Man. The 9th book comes out in May and I think the last book will be out in the fall. I don't know what I'm going to do when it's over. Sure Fables is awesome and Ex Machina kicks major arse, but.... it's just not the same. As far as enjoyment goes, I think Y: The Last Man ranks right up there with Star Wars and The Godfather.

A Bottle of Rum or was it Gin?

2007-03-27T04:20:00.000-04:00

My little brother will be home for the weekend. I talked to him yesterday and no surprises - I guessed the bar we're going to on Friday. The last time he was in town, we had a great time but I woke up the next morning someplace I shouldn't have been (DRAMA!). Time before that, we had a great time but I entered into a puke contest afterwards with a friend who likes to toast Ronald Reagan. Time before that, I can't remember what happened but I woke up in on the floor of his apartment. Which makes me think of all the good times we had over in Oxford while he was a student there... and how I always ended up on his floor... and how I avoided the pancakes...

Leave it to my nephew to remember that the team name he gave me last fall for whiffle ball was The Mohawks because I had a mohawk. Kids are awesome.

What's not awesome is that I just now realised that if Jessy and Jessica are coming into town, I'm going to have to see someone I don't want to (DRAMA!). Last time that happened was in December and that got ugly. Mostly because I started pounding beer and shots when she got there. I got so drunk I didn't really know who I was let alone who I was talking to. It got worse the next morning when I had the hangover to end all hangovers and my sister-in-law kept offering to make me Velveeta Fudge....

Will Stat of the Day
Number of video games I've played in 2007 - ZERO

I'd love to stay here and be normal, but it's just so overrated

2007-03-26T09:00:00.000-04:00

You know all it takes is a couple of shaved heads for me to notice that my brother and I really do look alike...

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

I hate drama. I really, really hate drama. Why must people continue to re-insert old drama back into my life? Old drama just creates new drama, a fact I was reminded of this weekend past....

My newest friend cracks me up. I'm still laughing at her Liza Minnelli line...

Seems like a lot of my friends who have moved out of state are coming back for a visit in the next few weeks... It'll be good to see them. Except Jessica. She wouldn't last a DAY on the Creek! Unless she flat out drowned my arse...

Watch out for the never nudes!

I finally found my one particular pencil Saturday. It was exciting. Really.

I was watching something on TV where a hottie was giving advice on how guys could get their girls into comics. She recommended a Star Wars comic. I love Star Wars. I love comics. I would never in a million years hand a woman a Star Wars comic as a way to get her into the medium. That's what Y: The Last Man is for...

Let's see, what else happened this weekend... talked to some friends, drama, a little beer, played catch with my nephew, a little more beer, had some chili dogs, a little more beer, gave a guitar lesson, laundry.... that's about it. St Patrick's Day hangover, I guess....

J. Walter Weatherman Lesson Learned this week:
Beards are for cold weather, not warm weather

Something to tide you over....

2007-03-25T16:45:00.000-04:00

until I get the photos I'm waiting on...

Frag

2007-03-23T16:00:00.000-04:00

I can't get 'Big Yellow Joint' out of my head...

Chickens Flying Everywhere Around the Plane

2007-03-23T12:00:00.000-04:00

With Opening Day right around the corner, I've been thinking about my favorite Opening Days. The one where I got a flat top like Chris Sabo at the parade? The first one I went to with my dad? The one where Jessica and I started drinking at the parade and never made it to the game? The one where Justin and I watched at a bar in Lebanon? The first one Harlow and I watched together? The one where we got stuck in a traffic jam on 75 afterwards watching everyone pee on the side of the road?

I just don't know. There's so many good memories.

I do know my least favorite - 1995, when Bud Selig made the Reds open the season on the road.

Just ONE more Arrested Development... maybe...probably...

Part of the reason there's been so much Arrested Development the past few days is that I prepare a bunch of days posts ahead of time to save time. When it's time to throw one up each night, I'll go back and throw in a few things to fatten it up. In other words, I watched a LOT of Arrested Development on Monday....

A beer for the first person who can tell me where the title of this post is from

Will Stat of the Day
Fastest Time I can run the 40 yard dash in - forty yards? I can't run that far anymore!

Arrested Development - Charlie Brown style!

2007-03-22T12:00:00.000-04:00

You know you love the red dog house in the backround and the Saddam-style bunker...

Gob and Tobias rule. Oddly enough, Tobias always reminds me of a relative of mine whose nickname is Liza Minnelli...

OK, so my folks have been giving me a lot of crap about ditching their St Patrick's Day party early to go to a bar. It's St Patrick's Day. Let me say that again - It's St Patrick's Day. Come on! I'm Will. This is what I do. I'm impulsive and Irish.

I'm a little bummed about not being able to go to Dallas this weekend, but that's life.

I drank a few too many yesterday because it was just so darn nice out and got a mild sunburn. Huh, I have a splinter. When did that happen?

I got the funniest Text Message EVER the other day. It was awesome. I would share it but I have a feeling it wouldn't be near as funny to anyone but me and Jessica.

I hate politics.

I had the hardest time staying awake last night to watch Lost. And of all the frickin Star Wars movies HBO can be running non-stop, why is it Return of the Jedi? And why do they wait until 4 in the morning to play Empire?

Will Stat of the Day
Number of cousins on whose names I know off the top of my head:
on my mom's side - NINE (I think)
on my dad's side - FIVE

Now, you probably would like to know how many cousins I have, but HOW WOULD I KNOW? I can only name 14 of them!

Screw it...

2007-03-21T13:14:00.000-04:00

It's just too damn nice out so I'm going to take my sketchbook outside, pour a glass of beer, put on some music, and sit on my bum!

and I still can't find my one particular pencil

More Arrested Development

2007-03-21T12:00:00.000-04:00

Fraggin Family Ties. Why can't youtube have what I want to see from it? Arrested Development to the rescue!

Three songs I've been listening to that last day or so:

About An Hour Ago by o.a.r.
First We Take Manhattan by Leonard Cohen
Upside Down by Jack Johnson (Thank you H & Z for making me watch the video 27 times)

Only two weeks until Opening Day, I can't wait....

Wasted a lot of time yesterday in my room looking for a particular pencil (don't ask) and I ran across some photos I kept (which is a miracle in and of itself). One was of the last time I had let my beard go wild with no trimming for the winter. Looking at it, it doesn't come close to the beard I just shaved off. I would've thought it the opposite. I tried to upload the photos here, but brain kills beer cells. Speaking of which...

Will Stat of the Day
Days in a row I've gotten a full night of sleep - 4

St. Patrick's Day

2007-03-20T12:00:00.000-04:00

Man, I love St Patrick's Day. Every frickin year it's awesome. How awesome? I opened the cheese drawer in the fridge two days later and found four of my Killians had survived the party after I left. With the weather starting to get nice, I think I might save those for this weekend and grill out. Wouldn't mind going to the lake either. Of course, they'll probably be gone by tonight....

I have to run to a music store today and get a new cord for my amp. The old one didn't survive St Patrick's Day. I think Karma is trying to make me play the acoustic more since I neglected it for so long.

I heard a rumor Griffey was going to play soon AND play right field. The move to right field is one that should have happened years ago. I'm a little afraid that Narron's doing it because of Josh Hamilton. Narron treats Hamilton like a Hall of Famer even though he hasn't done diddly-squat yet. The sooner the Reds fire Narron, the better off they'll be.

I was at my cousin's the other day and saw normal dogs for once. It was weird. They didn't run away at the first sign of people.

My little brother is coming into town the weekend after next. That will be fun. Hope I handle my alcohol a little better then I have the last couple times I've seen him. Speaking of family, I talked to my older sister the other day. That was cool, I hadn't talked to her in a while. I am the worst person at keeping in touch with people.

I think I'm going to hit the batting cages this week.

I think I'm going to listen to some o.a.r. (once I get my records back from Michelle) to get that Leonard Bernstein song out of my head. It that doesn't work, it's time to listen to Arrested Development's 'Big Yellow Joint'...

I think I'm glad someone reminded me how awesome Arrested Development was...

Random Junk

2007-03-14T15:11:00.000-04:00

Still a lot of hype over Josh Hamilton because of a few spring training at-bats and I'm still waiting for someone to explain to me how he fits onto this team.

St. Patrick's Day is this weekend, so I wouldn't expect much updating of the blog for the next week or so unless something major happens - like Griffey actually playing in a game.

Pretty excited for St Patrick's Day, although I don't have my usual kick-butt sideburns for it... or any hair on my head for that matter. I shaved yesterday for the first time since October. That was fun.

My computer isn't reading CD's right now and that's ticking me off. Maybe I just need to get around to buying an ipod, but I don't think they make one with enough memory for my library of songs. Now the computer is reading them. What the frag?

I acutally have all my guitars but one with complete sets of strings. It's a miracle. Unfortunately, the one that doesn't is my favorite. I've been holding off buying strings for it because the one I get for it are expensive. I'm actually playing my acoustic for the first time in a couple years (loaned to a friend then I broke a string the first day I had it back). I forget how good it sounds, although I don't like the strings I bought for it.

I don't mind the Bengals' off-season moves so long as they do well in the draft. With Carson 100% healthy, I expect 2007 to be a heck of a lot better then 2006.

Upcoming Movies

2007-03-12T09:00:00.000-04:00

Let's take a quick look at what upcoming movies interest me (subject to change, of course)

TMNT - March 23rd

Sheer curiosity of how the handle a dead movie franchise and something I liked as a kid is why I'll probably see this. I don't expect it to be any good, but stranger things have happened.

Blades of Glory - March 30th

Will Ferrell and Gob, er, Will Arnett? SOLD

Spider-man 3 - May 4th

Loved the first two, very interested to see how they fit three villains into one movie.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - May 25th

While the second movie wasn't near as good as the first, it had one heck of a cliffhanger. Can't wait to see how Captain Jack gets out of his current predicament

Ocean's Thirteen - June 8th

Yeah, Ocean's Twelve wasn't very good, but I'm willing to give this a shot.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer - June 15th

The trailer looks awesome even if the first movie was so-so

Evan Almighty - June 22nd

I liked Bruce Almighty and I love Steve Carell, so yeah...

Live Free or Die Hard - June 29th

It's Die Hard. Every man is required to see new Die Hard movies. It's a man law.

Transformers - July 4th

Yes, I hate Michael Bay. Yes, I hate how Michael Bay has turned the robot modes of Transformers into generic robot looking pieces of crap. But I'll still see it because it's Transformers... and it'll be like watching a NASCAR race - you're waiting for the crash...

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - July 13th

I didn't like this book near as much as the others because it had a lot of fluff that should've been cut out. I think it will turn out to be an excellent movie.

I Now Pronouce you Chuck and Larry - July 20th

It's Adam Sandler, so of course I'll give it a shot.

The Simpsons Movie - July 27th

I hope it's better then the last few years of the TV show...

The Bourne Ultimatum - August 3rd

Man, this is another year heavy on sequels, isn't it?

Revised Movie Ratings

2007-03-11T09:01:00.000-04:00

Out of boredom, I've decided to revise my movie rating system. Simplify might be a better word.

EVE - EVENING SHOW - worth full price to see
MAT - MATINEE - worth seeing in a theater
DVD - worth buying the DVD or renting
TV - wait for it to be on TV
DB - Don't Bother seeing it

I've gone back and updated all my previous movie reviews to reflect the new rating system. Here's a handy-dandy linkfest to all of my reviews on this blog:

300 - EVE
Ghost Rider - DB
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - EVE
Superman Returns - TV
X-Men: The Last Stand - DB
The Da Vinci Code - MAT

Here's the ratings I've given some movies (the ones I can remember) I've seen of the last year-plus that I didn't have time (or was too lazy) to write a review for:

Curious George - EVE
V for Vendetta - MAT
Stranger the Fiction - MAT
Syriana - DVD
Nacho Libre - DVD
A History of Violence - DVD
Date Movie - DB

Movie Review - 300

2007-03-09T19:20:00.000-05:00

Frank Miller strikes again as another one of his graphic novels, 300, was adapted into a film. 300 is the story of how 300 Spartans held off the millions in the Persian Army for three days before being overcome. How is it?

Pretty darn good.

In a nutshell, it's got fight scenes on the level of Lord of the Rings and an inspiring, heroic story. It's very well done... the director, Zach Snyder did an outstanding job. The acting isn't anything to write home about, nor is it lacking. Some might find it a bit too gory, but I had no problems - and I'm pretty squeamish when it comes to gore.

I'd say it's worth a full admission price - EVE

Who's the Best? March Edition

2007-03-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

Time once again to rank the Top Five Writers and Artists in comics...

Top Five Writers
rank-writer-(previous rank)

1) Brian K. Vaughn (1)
2) Paul Dini (3)
3) Brad Meltzer (2)
4) Geoff Johns (NR)
5) Grant Morrison (5)

Brian K. Vaughn continues to put out amazing books month in and month out. His stuff is amazing. There's not much else to say about him. Paul Dini and Brad Meltzer flip-flop for a couple of reasons (mostly Meltzer's Justice League's erratic schedule, but also Dini's wonderful one and done approach to Detective Comics), none of them to do with the excellent quality of their work. Geoff Johns jumps onto the list thanks largely to 52, Action Comics, and Green Lantern. I'm not really all that impressed with his Teen Titans or Justice Society of late, but his other books have been outstanding. He certainly is one of the best superhero writers around. Grant Morrison's recent take on the Joker (Batman #663) was... interesting. He's also part of the machine that makes 52 so good each week. Joss Whedon drops off the list because of the lack of substance in his last two Astonishing X-Men issues. Those two issues really should have been one issue, but the Marvel style of decompression strikes again.

Top Five Artists
rank-artists-(previous rank)
1) Adam Kubert (1)
2) John Cassaday (2)
3) Terry Dodson (NR)
4) Ivan Reis (NR)
5) Barry Kitson (NR)

Lot of movement here this time, mostly due to Bryan Hitch (3), Ethan Van Sciver (4), and Andy Kubert (5) not having any books come out in forever. Another artist with trouble getting his work out, Adam Kubert, was able to retain the top spot by getting an issue out in February...although, I haven't updated this since December, so that played a factor as well. Cassaday continues his brilliance on Astonishing X-Men. Terry Dodson's art is perfect for Wonder Woman, it's a shame that he's been waiting on scripts from his writer, Allen Heinberg. Ivan Reis' work on Green Lantern has been outstanding. I see a lot of Alan Davis and Tom Grummett in his work. Speaking of Tom Grummett, I wish Marvel wouldn't waste him on books like Thunderbolts. Marvel wastes a lot of talented artist like Grummett, Scott Kolins, Barry Kitson, etc. I'd buy a Tom Grummett Fantastic Four even if Tom Brevoort edited it. Or a Barry Kitson Avengers. Or a Scott Kolins Spider-man. Speaking of Barry Kitson, I'm sad to see him leaving Legion of Super-Heroes, especially for a book like The Champions.

Hey Castellini - NO MORE POLITICIANS!!!

2007-03-08T16:00:00.000-05:00

Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory will throw out the opening day first pitch.

I've ranted about this before, and nothing has changed - politicians shouldn't throw out the first pitch on Opening Day. This makes the FIFTH year in a row a politician has had that honor. For all their talk about tradition, the Reds sure forget about it when it comes to Cincinnati's Highest Honor. I'm sure each and every one of us can name about two hundred people more worthy of throwing out the first pitch on Opening Day then any politician.

I'm sick and tired of it.

Enough is enough with Josh Hamilton

2007-03-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

Seriously.

Enough is Enough.

Let's look at him from strictly a baseball perspective. Can he help the team RIGHT NOW? That's the question. Can a guy who has only had 50 low-A at-bats in the last four years hit Major League pitching while only getting around 10 at bats a week? I don't care how talented you are (and Hamilton is), that's a tall order. If he's going to have any chance at a major league career, he needs to play every single day and get his four or five trips to the plate. He's not going to get that on the major league roster. Spring Training isn't enough to overcome the lack of ABs the last four years. Hamilton needs either A) to go to the minors or B) be on a team hurting for outfielders.

The Reds aren't hurting for outfielders, nor can they send Hamilton to the minors without losing him. Where does he fit? Please explain it to me. I just don't see how he fits in with this team.