I'm Back

- Wow its been awhile since I've posted on here. I forgot about it for awhile, then had the holidays creep up, then I got busy interviewing for a new job which sort of fell in my lap, and trying to deal with the logistics of all that, along with a new kid on the way in 3 weeks or so. It's been crazy.

- As I said, I got a new job which I start on Monday. I wasn't actively looking, but a couple of friends, who are former co-workers, contacted me about a similar position with a competitor of ours. I figured I would talk just to see what would happen. After a few phone interviews, they flew me up to Boston a couple of Friday's ago, and then a couple days later, a formal offer, which blew me away. It was too good of an opportunity for me professionally, and for my family to pass up. I'm excited to get started.

- We are only about 3 weeks away from the due date of our next son (Chase). This pregnancy has flown by, and the due date has snuck up on us. It's only in the last couple of weeks or so, that we've really started getting ready. We're at that point now, where Sara could go into labor at anytime.

Other random things...
- A-Rod took 'roids/performance enhancers...really, are we supposed to be surprised about that? I think I would probably be more surprised by the list of people who didn't drug up between the mid-1990s and and the mid-2000s. This whole steroid madness over the past 15-20 years in baseball, really makes the accomplishments of the players of eras past, all that more remarkable. I mean, guys like Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, etc. had to take steroids in order to get the strength and durability to go on their home-run happy streak of seasons in order to eclipse, or even get close to the numbers that guys like Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Willie Mays put up over their careers. The old guys weren't muscle machines, but they constantly put up good numbers over the entire duration of their career, and had to play for a long time to get to their totals. Do I think Bonds. Sosa, McGwire and A-Rod belong in the Hall of Fame someday? Yes. Baseball knew what was going on, and regardless to what they say, they turned a blind eye to it. MLB was in rough shape following the 94 strike season, and it wasn't until 1998 that people started paying close attention to it again, when McGwire and Sosa went on their epic home run barrage. As the old commercial used to say.."Chicks love the long ball"e The home run got the American public into baseball again, and got them to come back to the parks. As the I heard someone (The Sports Guy) on ESPN say, the Hall of Fame is a museum. Anything that happens over the history of the game belongs in the museum. Character issues shouldn't exclude people from being in that museum, I mean we have noted racists in there (Ty Cobb) and other people of questionable backgrounds...but what does that have to do with what they did on the field day in and day out? I'm sick of people who treat it as something that is hallowed, and should be taken with the utmost seriousness, and only the most pretentious of people should have a say in what is and what is not included. Baseball is a silly game..get over it.

- While we're on the topic of drugs and famous athletes, Michael Phelps has also been quite the story as well. Is it wrong for me to say I don't care? It was stupid to do, but really, in the scheme of things does it really matter? We've got bigger problems in the world then to get all in a tizzy about some photograph. Now the sheriff of the county where the party took place, is trying to find a way to pursue legal action against him. Again, I ask, really? There aren't bigger issues in the county than to pursue legal action against something that was photographed a few months ago? I'm sorry, I just don't have the energy to get worked up, or to care about this.

- I've been paying attention to the interviews, and all the news about that pilot Sully who made that amazing landing in the Hudson River a few weeks ago. The only thing I keep wondering is how long until he goes from hero to a villain? Don't get me wrong, he seems like a class act, and the dude is definitely the true definition of a hero. I just get the feeling that someone in the media, or his family, or neighborhood is going to come out with a story revealing that he's a wife beater/tax evader/child slave owner, or some kind of shady character, and everything we've been seeing is a lie. Maybe its just that I expect nothing less of our media these days. They build somebody up to eventually tear them down.

- Its nice to have a President who seems on top of things, and is more intelligent than I am. I can't say I felt the same way over the last 8 years.

- I'm ready for baseball to start. The NBA isn't really doing it for me this year, and I just can't get into college basketball this year.

- I don't have a gut feeling on how I think the Tigers will do this year. At times I feel that they have a good chance to win the division by having their offense hit lights out, and the pitching surprise everyone. But then there are times that I feel that they're old and their age is going to show this year, and the pitching is going to be average at best. I just don't know.

- I am becoming a big fan of the band Death Cab for Cutie. I knew of a few of their songs, and thought they were solid. I was in a music funk at the end of last year, so I got their last 2 albums - Narrow Stairs (their newest), and Plans. I can't get enough of either of them. Narrow Stairs is the first album I've listened to in a long time where I liked every song, and never want to skip one when I'm listening to it. I would like to see them in concert sometime and see how they are live. That is how I judge the quality of a band - how they perform live.

- I'm not sure what to think of the new U2 song yet. Its...interesting. The first few times I listened to it, the verses remind me of the '80's song Wild West by The Escape Club. Yes, that's a random comparison, but that's the first thing that popped into my head when I heard it. I saw them perform it on the Grammy's the other night, but the sound mix was so bad, I didn't get a good feel for it. I'm still excited for their new album next month, and even more excited for their impending tour. I really need to see at least one of their shows on the tour.

- Watching the Grammy's the other night, I realized just how out of touch I am with the music scene now. Years past I used to be able to at least recognize all of the songs/artists nominated for awards, and the presenters and performers. Not so much this year. Maybe not listening to the radio (or pop radio at least) has something to do with that.

- I don't know what's happened over the last month or so, but Facebook has gotten crazy. Since I've joined, I would get a steady amount of friend requests, like a couple a month. Most were of friends/co-workers I currently keep in touch with on a regular basis, and they were just joining. Over the last month though, I've gotten bombarded with requests from people I haven't seen or talked to since I graduated high school. It's cool to get back in touch with all these people, I just don't understand why it happened all at once. I'm not the only person who has had this happen to. Sara was saying the same thing is happening to her as well.

- Sara is selling Avon. Check out her blog to find out how to sign-up and buy stuff..if you are into that sort of thing...

- I think that's about it for my random thoughts for now. I'll try to keep this updated on a more consistent schedule.

Rants and Stuff

Excuse me while I rant about some stuff that's been bugging me lately

- It seems that lately whenever I go through the drive-thru lane at the local McDonalds on my way home for lunch, there is some dude with a portable power-washer, spraying the drive-thru lane. First, why in world does anyone need to power-wash pavement, let alone doing it at the busiest time of the day? When he sees you pulling up to get in line, you can tell he gets annoyed that he has to stop while the car drives up to place the order, and then again when the car pulls up to go to the window. Don't get me started on the crap that is spraying up off the pavement and splattering all over my car.

- While we're speaking of McDonalds, at this same McDonalds when you go in to eat, they have an old man working, whose job is...I'm not sure. I think they gave him a uniform and a name badge, just to give him a job, and he seems like a nice guy, but he parks himself right in front of the island where the drink machines and condiment dispensers are. As you are trying to fill up your drink, he'll start trying to hand you a lid and straw, while standing in the way of everything else you are trying to get. Again, this happens during the busiest time of day. And yes, maybe I do eat at McDonalds a little too much!

- Over the last month or so at work, there have been painting contractors painting the walls in our office, during the work day. Its annoying trying to work with the smell of paint in the air, and then when you try to walk down the hallway to get to the copier room, restroom, kitchen, elevator, etc..there will be tape up going across the hallway saying you can't get to where you want to go because there's people painting. Really...they can't get someone to do this on a weekend, where the painters don't have to worry about people getting in the way, and when we don't have to worry about hallways being closed, and dealing with the paint smell?

Enough of my rants...onto some random stuff.

- It seems the buzzword of this election season has been "fundamental" or a derivative of that word. I hope after this election I don't have to hear it for another 4 years. I saw an interview with Joe Biden somewhere today and he used the word twice in the same sentence. I'm sure by the time the election process is over, another word I will be sick of (again) is disenfranchised. That seems to be another one that pops up.

- Joe the Plumber from Ohio. Turns out his real name isn't Joe...nor is he a licensed plumber...or an independant....and he was never actually serious about buying the business. If it was possible for a plumber to make $250k a year, I was getting ready to find out what I need to do to sign up. Something tells me he was nothing more than a McCain plant. It reeks of it. Someone saying that they're something that they're not, and McCain jumping all over it. Sounds like he went through the same vetting process that Palin went through. Can't they get a little bit smarter (and less obvious) than that?

- The Lions made a shrewd move this week by trading Roy Williams for three (3!) draft picks, including a first round pick. I had to read that story about 10 times until I actually started to somewhat believe it. For the first time since they drafted Barry Sanders, they actually did something right for once!

- The Phillies win the NL..ick. I really hope the Rays can finish off the Red Sox tonight to go to the World Series. They've been a lot of fun to watch, and it would at least give me someone to root for against the Phillies. If its a Philly-Boston World Series, I don't know if I would be able to watch much of it.

- Tucker has been a maniac lately. We moved our coffee table out of the middle of the living room, to give Tucker a lot of floor space to play in. We moved his toy box in the living room as well, so he can have all his toys in reach to play with whenever we have him down on the ground. We just put up a little obstacle in front of the TV and in front of the fireplace to keep him away from those two areas. What does Tucker decide to do? He plays with his toys for a little while (30-45 seconds) and then immediately goes over to one of the two areas we have blocked off and tries to get through the barriers we put in place. What is it with these two things that makes him obsessed in getting to them? There isn't anything that even remotely looks like anything that would be fun to play with..but he keeps insisting on getting there. At least with all the crawling, psuedo-walking he's doing, its wearing him out at night, and he sleeps all the way through.

- I'm really liking the album "Honeysuckle Weeks" by The Submarines. Its a very catchy album from start to finish.

- 3 weeks from today until we find out what the next kid will be.

Tuesday Night Randomness

- Good riddance Matt Millen....it's about time!!! Really, that's about all that needs to be said about that. Let's just get this season over, and hope that old-man Ford finally gets it right by cleaning house and hiring the right people. Then again, that's asking a lot out of the senile old
man who has made us fans endure suckdom our ENTIRE LIVES. Why would he change now?

- I don't know if I've anticipated watching something on TV as much as I am with the VP debate on Thursday night. After seeing the way Sarah Palin has answered the few (very few) questions she's faced so far, the potential for the unintentional comedy factor is off the charts. This woman is clueless. When SNL has a sketch that makes fun of you, and they use your EXACT quotes to do it...yikes.

- In all seriousness, watching her on TV is one big cringeworthy experience. Between the lost look in her eyes when she gets asked questions (like the Bush Doctrine question) , or when she thinks she knows the answer to a question and gives one long answer that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever once she's finished talking (her discussion about her foreign policy experience with Russia)..its really painful to watch. I get the feeling that I, just doing my everyday reading/watching of the news, and keeping up with the current events of the day, know more than she does, and that's what's scary. I want my leaders to be smarter than me. A lot of negative things had been made of Obama having a Harvard education, at the GOP convention. Is that really a bad thing? Shouldn't we expect our leaders to be well educated and articulate?

- Speaking of SNL and Sarah Palin, I'll have to admit for that for once, I think Tina Fey is actually funny.

- The baseball playoffs are here. I'm hoping that Boston and Philly get knocked out early. Boston, because I'm sick of seeing that city win everything, and Philly, just because I can't stand any of their sports teams. I'd really like to see an unconventional World Series of Tampa Bay and Milwaukee. The side of me that appreciates the historical side of baseball wouldn't mind seeing a Chicago-Boston World Series.

- Yes, I know my last point was a complete contradiction. I think I've been watching the Sarah Palin interviews a little too much.

Randomness

- I don't know how much more suck I can take of the Detroit Lions. I wasn't expecting a whole lot from them this this season..but seriously, getting blown out by Atlanta? 21 points in the first quarter? What happened to Marinelli being a defensive genius, and having all the "right guys" (everyone who ever played with him in Tampa Bay) on the team this year?

- Polio is famous (the video and story at the very top). My buddy and ex-roommate/bunk-bed mate Jeremy Polio, that is..not Polio the disease.

- I won my first week in my work Fantasy Football league.

- It was sort of nice to see Brady go out for the season in the first half of the first game of the season. Hopefully that will be all we hear of the Pats for the season. Last year was over kill..first Spygate, then the perfect season watch, then Spygate again, then the choking in the Super Bowl. I'm sick of Boston sports teams.

- The Daily Show continues to out do themselves during this election.




- And yet another one for good measure:


- I hope Michigan slaughters Notre Dame this weekend.

- We find out if our next kid will be a boy or a girl on November 6th. That's turning out to be an exciting week. First we find out what we're having, then the next day is Tucker's 1st Birthday, then that weekend we'll have a party for him. Good times.

- I'm really liking the Spoon album "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga"

Flip Flop

The amount of flopping the GOP gestapo talking heads have done since picking Palin is humorous. I'll just let the video speak for itself. I wish the mainstream media would point this stuff out.

Randomess While Watching the Convention Coverage

Sara's at work, and I'm bored looking around the web, while listening to the convention coverage in the background. Thought I'd throw some random thoughts around..

- Stevie Wonder just played 2 songs. One new one, and one old school one (Sign, Sealed, Delivered). It got me wondering (and please I'm trying to be as tasteful as possible here)..how does he remember the lyrics to his older songs? Now days I know teleprompters are pretty common for bands who have been around awhile (I've seen Dave Matthews, and U2 use them). Obviously Stevie can't use one of these.

- Whenever I hear Stevie Wonder now, the first thing I always think of is the scene from "High Fidelity" where Jack Black asks "Rob, top five musical crimes perpetuated by Stevie Wonder in the '80s and '90s. Go. "

- Super Right Winged Conservative dude, James Dobson begged and pleaded for all his listeners to pray to God for storms to hit the Denver area for tonight, in order to screw up Obama's speech. Well the weather looks pretty nice from what I'm seeing on TV. Meanwhile, next week when the Wackos..er..Republicans have their convention, it looks like a pretty big sized hurricane is going to hit somewhere along the Gulf Coast, which would probably take away some of the publicity. If the hurricane does hit, is it safe to assume that God is an Obama fan too? I mean it has to be some kind of omen, right?

- Obama fills a stadium of 75,000 people with many more wanting to get in. Crazy Old Guy is giving a speech tomorrow in a place with 10,000 to announces his VP choice...and they can't even give the tickets away.

- How does Michael McDonald have a music career? They don't come very more bland than him. Every song sounds the same.

- I was listening to my iPod today at work and a string of songs that were popular when I was in college played one after the other. Whatever happened to bands like The Verve Pipe, Tonic, Better than Ezra, and Toad the Wet Sprocket? Ok, maybe I shouldn't have listed The Verve Pipe. They may have been more a Michigan phenomenon.

- I hate how the news networks get advance copies of the speeches, and then start reading bits and pieces of the speech, and tell us what the speaker is going to say. I think Matthews and Olbermann spoiled the entire speech for everyone watching their show tonight.

Seriously?

So as our country is going to hell in handbasket thanks to the mis-managment of everything W and his cronies have touched, one would think that the least important issue in this country would be the design (yes, its a Faux News...er..Fox "News" article, but who better to link to, in order to show the ridiculousness of it all?) of the set where Barack gives his acceptance speech tonight. Unfortunately when a crazy old man is running for President, and is grasping at straws, you have to come up with something.

I mean seriously, using pillars as a prop is that big of a deal?! Of all the crap going on in this country, the thing you (and your team) have to scream about is the design of a set? If you really do want to go there, maybe you should do a little backchecking before you raise a stink about things.

Case in point - 2004 Republican Convention:





Woops.

I guess someone could point out to the Crazy Old Man that today is the 45th anniversary of MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech, and maybe, just maybe the columns there are as a symbol of the columns that are at the Lincoln Memorial where the speech was given.

Then again, if someone brought that up to him, I'm sure Crazy Old Man would probably say he missed that speech, because he was TV-less, and locked up in a POW camp. Sure the timeline wouldn't fit quite right, but who would call him out on it?

R.I.P. Roi and Randomness

LeRoi Moore, of the Dave Matthews Band died unexpectedly the other day due to complications from an accident on his farm back in June. It was pretty shocking news to me. Anyone who knows anything about me knows how big of a fan of DMB I've been over the years. I used to be able to be talked into going to a show or 49 any time, any place, with little to no notice. While my obssesion of the music has subsided consideribly over the years, I still listened to them on a regular basis, and have always eagerly anticipated their next album, because for the most part I knew it would be something good to listen to. Their first couple of albums were basically the soundtrack of my life for a good 5 to 6 years. I had them on A LOT. If it were possible to wear out a CD, I would have worn out a few. Whenever I listen to some of the albums, I'm immediately taken back to that time period with fond memories.

Roi was one of the quiet guys (if not the quietest) in the band. On stage he just stood off to the right side of the stage, an unassuming figure usually hiding behind his sunglasses. You wouldn't even know that he was there until it was his turn he made his presence known. He was like one of those guys in a group of people who sits in the back kind of taking the scene in, when suddenly he'll speak up and crack a joke that brings the house down, and then everyone wonders who he is, and where did he come from. That was Roi. Some of the best shows I'd ever been to were ones where he completely took them over. Yeah, Dave would be front and center singing, doing his crazy dancing, telling his incoherent stories, but Roi was the one bringing it all home with his sax/flute/penny-whistle playing. After the show was over, Roi would just silently walk off the stage, and no one would notice, because everyone was focused on what Dave was doing, and where Carter was going to throw his drumsticks to.

To me, the day Roi died - DMB died with it. I would say that about anyone of the founding members. Sure the band will go on, and I'll still buy their albums, and go to a show every now and then, but its no longer THE band. I'm sure they'll find a replacement, and that replacement will do fine over time..but it just won't be the same.

To hear Roi in what I think is one of his best performances on an album, check out the song "Lover Lay Down" on the Under the Table and Dreaming Album.

Ok on to random thoughts that have been going through my head lately..

- I really think McCain should be tested for dementia or alzeheimers or something. Actually any one running for President should be evaluated. He doesn't know how many houses he owns? This is a guy who claims that Obama is an elitist, but it turns out he's the one who has at least 7 homes all over the country, many worth over $1 mil, but Obama is the elitist? Then when Obama calls him out on it, his campaign staff says the following "This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years -- in prison," Oh good, he's now throwing around the POW card, like Giuliani threw around the "9/11" card when he was running, and losing, in the primaries. Here's a copy of what the "POW card" looks like by the way:

Yes, its a "Monopoly" like card. Apparently life is just a big game of Monopoly to McCain, with all his houses scattered everywhere and whatnot. I mean when I play the game..the board game that is, I lose track of all the property and houses/hotels that I own from time to time.

- Speaking of McCain and his time in POW camp maybe he should stop referring to that so much. According to his buddies W and Cheney, he wasn't tortured in that camp, and no war crimes were committed against him. All of the techniques used against him (stress positions, beatings, sleep deprivation, etc..) are the same ones that the White House knowingly used on people rounded up in Afganhistan and Iraq, and we all know that none of those people are tortured. They just had "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" used on them. There's a much better article written about this point. I wish someone in the media would bring this up to McCain and see what he says.

- Please note, I don't mean to belittle McCain's time in 'Nam. I wouldn't want to trade places with him for nothing. The fact that he lived, let alone kept his sanity is amazing and he should be commended for that. But the more he goes on using the POW reference to rebut anything anyone says about him, the more it looks like he's using that as a crutch, but it looks more like a joke. If's he not going to be serious about it (which admit it..in the context used about the house situation is absurd) then how does he expect anyone else to take it serious anymore?

- I bought a can of Coke from the machine in the kitchen at work today, and got a Santa can. The first thing I thought was "man, they're starting Christmas earlier and earlier every year". I then saw that it was a Christmas 2007 Santa can, which got me wondering just how safe it was to be drinking it.

- I had my first fantasy football league draft last night. I'm not impressed. I guess that's what I get for not following football as closely as I used to. I don't think I have a shot at winning anyways. The same guy has won our league the last 3 years in a row. He's a well oiled fantasy football machine.

- Rumors of the new U2 CD are heating up. Apparently some songs have leaked onto the internet, because Bono was blasting the CD at one of his beach houses really loudly, and someone passing by recognized it was new U2, so they sat outside and recorded it all. I haven't heard the leaks. I want to wait for the full thing to come out and hear it then. I can't wait.

- UVA students moving back into town this weekend. Trying to get anywhere in town is going to be a nightmare. Its going to look like 3,000 Griswold families driving all over town, raiding the stores of EVERYTHING, and clogging up the roads because they have no idea where they're going. Good times.

- The Tigers season turned out to be a bust. I can't get too down on them..the management went out and got the players they thought they needed to contend. Unfortunately some of the players were a bit washed up. I still like the Cabrera deal, and I'm excited to see him in a Tigers uniform for years to come.

- Aadam has decided to start a blog. Its still in the early development stages, and I think he's still trying to figure out what exactly he wants to do with it. There's a link to it up on the right side of the page, and its tentatively called "Legends of the Silverdome". Check it out when you get a chance.

Some EMU Love

Going through some of my sports blogs earlier today I came across the following picture:


Love the George Gervin reference...an Earl Boykins jersey would have been cooler.

Picture Time

Some random pictures taken after dinner the other night, when Tucker decided to get silly.


Tucker showing off 2 of the 3 weapons teeth that he now has.

Gearing up to let out a loud yell. Eating baby food really gets him hyper.

Now he is in mid-yell. He's really into it..fists clinched, eyes focused.

Here he is after he's done being goofy, waiting for me to pull him out of the chair.

Here are couple pictures from the 4th of July:

Sitting in his Exersaucer, making spitting noises.

Here he is letting it known that he's done playing, and wants to be held by someone.