He's clearly a B A

On the streets of ...this crappy city

I'm in Philadelphia this weekend, gunslinging and crushing players dreams with the Molten Core raid deck. I haven't been doing as well as I would have liked with the gunslinging, but I'm still undefeated with the raid deck.

This city sucks. I think it just might be the whole east coast. The weather here has been atrocious. It has rained pretty much the whole time. The buildings are all old and seem run down. The service is horrible. Heaven forbid that the waitress had to break up her conversation with the cook to just come and take our order. It just doesn't seem like anyone cares and doesn't really want to put forth the effort.

There is one saving grace - The Reading Terminal Market. This place is right across the street from the convention center and it's basically an indoor flea market for food. They have pretty much every kind of food you can think of there. The Amish breakfast was damn good, who knew that they could do eggs/bacon/toast so damn well. Had the chinese and it was tasty goodness. Even went for some overpriced cookies and they were pretty ridiculous as well. Only redeeming quality of this city IMO.

Marnie is ok back home. The fires didn't threaten our house all that much after all. Her and the girls are doing fine and I'll be back in town Monday afternoon.

And SoCal continues to burn

Work was closed today, I have been glued to the TV. There was a new fire that cropped up out by Palomar Mountain, the Poomacha Fire (SE of the Fallbrook fire). This fire, as I type this, is quickly becoming huge, it is just burning through houses out there. Supposedly, if this fire combines with the Fallbrook fire, the 76 corridor could be in trouble. I'll keep you posted, but for now we are ok.


View Larger Map

Yea...so I'm not burning yet

Yea, it's really really close. A buddy of mine's wife is a teacher and her school is closed.

The sky is half black with smoke. Big wall of smoke. Marnie and I aren't threatened...yet.

* UPDATE *

So I haven't posted here in awhile, almost a month now. I never meant to let it lax this long. Here are a couple updates from me.

- The Colorado Rockies -
Jeez, talk about a hot team. I wasn't able to watch most of the Dbacks/Rockies series but the small amount that I did see the Rockies just looked better. They are streaking like hell and should go on to win the World Series. I thought Arizona was a better team, but it didn't matter. I think that if it's Indians/Rockies, it will be the least watched World Series in the history of the MLB.

- Vera -
Marnie's grandmother, Vera Corr, recently passed away. Marnie and I are in mourning and Marnie is sad that she wasn't able to get a hold of her a week ago. I thought Vera was a very strong woman and was always very kind to me, even though I don't think she liked me to start. She saw how I treated Marnie and she knew that Marnie was happy with me so that made her happy as well. I am very disappointed with how her affairs are being taken care of. It would seem like her children are just rushing to put her to rest and I don't know if they really knew what her wishes were. Marnie is sad over the way it is being handled and I am sad as well. Marnie and I are planning to visit, probably next spring or summer to pay our respects.

- My health -
I have been on a couple different medications for a couple weeks now. I had a bad episode about 2-3 weeks ago where I feel that I was stuck in a rut and needed to get out. It wasn't as bad as it was in Arizona before I started to see my shrink, but it was down there. I went and got tested and learned that I was low on testosterone in my system. So the doctor prescribed Andro as well as some anti-depressants. The Andro comes in the form of a patch which I have to rotate the location of so it doesn't irritate my skin to much. I must say it is annoying, but for the first week I could definitely feel the effects. It wasn't as if my blood was boiling, but it was warmer overall and I just felt different. It is too bad that I won't be able to race in the Tour de France now, but on the brightside, I could start setting homerun records any day now.

- My Weight -
It hasn't be going down lately. I actually haven't weighed in for a couple weeks now and I'm afraid that I gained some weight. Marnie has been fixing my meals so I have been eating at regular intervals and the medication has helped the boredom/nervous eating a bit. I'm really going to have to buckle down if I want to hit my goal.

- 30th Anniversary -
Happy 30th Anniversary Mr. Lucas. I will continue to spend money on your franchise as I am still a big fan.

Sigh

Worst Collapse in the History of Sports!

I guess this is what it feels like to be a Brewers fan.

F Football, I'm watching NBC

Chuck

I had my reservations about this show, but I think it delivered. It has a couple B list actors and I don't know how long they can pull of the charade, but it had plenty of good one liners and he sold me on being a nerd. Obviously his ring tong was awesome!

Heroes

Jeez, this show just keeps delivering. Did you see Nathan bump into Ando? Marnie did, even before I pointed it out to her. I love this show. Who is Nathan, is it Sylar? Was Peter meant to be found by the irish guys? Is poor Hiro gonna be locked in feudal Japan all season? I hope not. This show continues to be an A in my book.

oh...and I really really wanna buy a Nissan Rogue. No idea why, but I feel compelled to go out and buy one.

Week 3

Last week was tough, there were a couple upsets. Who knew that Cleveland would wake up and put up big points vs. Cincy. I ended up going 10 for 15, which is only good for 67%. This week has to be better.


Date & Time Favorite Spread Underdog
9/23 1:00 ET Indianapolis -6 At Houston
9/23 1:00 ET San Diego -5.5 At Green Bay
9/23 1:00 ET At Kansas City -3 Minnesota
9/23 1:00 ET At Philadelphia -6 Detroit
9/23 1:00 ET At New England -16.5 Buffalo
9/23 1:00 ET At NY Jets -3 Miami
9/23 1:00 ET At Pittsburgh -9.5 San Francisco
9/23 1:00 ET At Baltimore -7.5 Arizona
9/23 1:00 ET At Tampa Bay -3.5 St. Louis
9/23 4:05 ET At Denver -3 Jacksonville
9/23 4:05 ET At Seattle -3 Cincinnati
9/23 4:05 ET At Oakland -3 Cleveland
9/23 4:15 ET Carolina -4 At Atlanta
9/23 4:15 ET At Washington -3.5 NY Giants
9/23 8:15 ET At Chicago -3 Dallas

Monday Night Football Point Spread
9/24 8:30 ET At New Orleans -4 Tennessee

It will be a miracle if I win 11 this week.

2.5 Games!!!!

Take that Buckner!!!

Week 2

The AZ lose put me below 80% last week. Still over 70% so it wasn't that bad. The week was easier though, here are my pics for week 2.


Date & Time Favorite Spread Underdog
9/16 1:00 ET At Pittsburgh -10 Buffalo
9/16 1:00 ET Cincinnati -7.5 At Cleveland
9/16 1:00 ET Indianapolis -7 At Tennessee
9/16 1:00 ET At Carolina -6.5 Houston
9/16 1:00 ET At St. Louis -3 San Francisco
9/16 1:00 ET At NY Giants -2.5 Green Bay
9/16 1:00 ET At Jacksonville -10.5 Atlanta
9/16 1:00 ET New Orleans -4 At Tampa Bay
9/16 4:05 ET At Detroit -3 Minnesota
9/16 4:05 ET Dallas -4 At Miami
9/16 4:05 ET Seattle -3 At Arizona
9/16 4:15 ET At Baltimore -10 NY Jets
9/16 4:15 ET At Denver -10 Oakland
9/16 4:15 ET At Chicago -12 Kansas City
9/16 8:15 ET At New England -3.5 San Diego

Monday Night Football Point Spread
9/17 8:30 ET At Philadelphia -7 Washington

Not many upsets this week. You have to be careful when picking upsets, you can't force them.

We are official california residents

Went to the DMV today to get licenses and registration for both vehicles. Marnie has been worried this whole time because you have to take a written test. She looked over the handbook and was stressing pretty hard. I said, "meh, I'll be fine."

You could miss 6 out 36. She missed 5 and I missed....2.

The two I missed were, what is the blood alcohol level in which it is illegal to drive? The options were .05, .08, .10. I chose .05, for the state of california, the answer is .08. The other question I missed was When do you have to fill out a (SR1) form for the DMV. The answers were like 90 days past due registration, get in an accident and the damages are over $750, and getting a traffic violation. The answer is #2, I chose #1. Oh well, I got the "paperwork" questions wrong and actually undershot on the blood alcohol level one.

I just find humor in that I did nothing to prepare and got less wrong.

New TV

Marnie got a job and she starts today. The first priority after her getting a job was to get a TV for the front living room. We were sporting a 27 inch or so and it was small.

We headed to Sam's Club and got a Vizio. It's a 37 inch flat screen. It's pretty nice and was cheaper than the other ones.

Evidently we don't have Top Gun, so I went and used the Wizard of Oz. In hindsight, should have probably gone with a Star Wars.

The Goal is 80%

Do you know why Monday Night Football is the most bet on game of the week? It's the last chance that these guys have to break even before they visit their bookie on Tuesday.

Yea, I watched Two for the Money again. I think I'm going to watch it every year before football season, it's a good sports betting movie. I'm also gonna make my picks every week. Like the title says, the goal is 80%. The bold are my picks.


Date & Time Favorite Spread Underdog
9/9 1:00 ET At Houston -3 Kansas City
9/9 1:00 ET Denver -3 At Buffalo
9/9 1:00 ET Pittsburgh -5 At Cleveland
9/9 1:00 ET At Jacksonville -7.5 Tennessee
9/9 1:00 ET At St. Louis -1 Carolina
9/9 1:00 ET Philadelphia -3 At Green Bay
9/9 1:00 ET At Minnesota -3 Atlanta
9/9 1:00 ET At Washington -3 Miami
9/9 1:00 ET New England -6.5 At NY Jets
9/9 4:15 ET At Seattle -6 Tampa Bay
9/9 4:15 ET At San Diego -6.5 Chicago
9/9 4:15 ET At Oakland -2.5 Detroit
9/9 8:15 ET At Dallas -6 NY Giants

Monday Night Football Point Spread
9/10 7:00 ET At Cincinnati -2.5 Baltimore
9/10 10:15 ET At San Francisco -3 Arizona

I think the lock of the week is the Pittsburgh game.

Stupid Stupid

It's a good thing I didn't start Buchholz today on my fantasy baseball team. Gawd I hate the redsox even more.

How Old Are You?

So I got one of these forwarded emails from a family member of mine. You know the ones. This particular one kinda set me off a bit, here is what it said and then I'll comment after it -

____________________________________

Stay with this -- the answer is at the end. It will blow you away.
One evening a grandson was talking to his grandfather about current events.The grandson asked his grandfather what he thought about the shootings at schools, the computer age, and just things in general. The Grandfather replied, "Well, let me think a minute, I was born before: television
penicillin
polio shots
frozen foods
Xerox
contact lenses
Frisbees
andthe pill

There were no:
credit cards
laser beams
orball-point pens

Man had not invented:
pantyhose
air conditioners
dishwashers
clothes dryers
and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air
andman hadn't yet walked on the moon

Your Grandmother and I got married first, . . . and then lived together.
Every family had a father and a mother.

Until I was 25, I called every man older than me, "Sir".
And after I turned 25, I still called policemen and every man with a title, "Sir.
"We were before gay-rights, computer- dating, dual careers, daycare centers, and group therapy.
Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments, good judgment, and common sense.
We were taught to know the difference between right and wrong and to stand up and take responsibility for our actions.
Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country was a bigger privilege.
We thought fast food was what people ate during Lent.
Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins.
Draft dodgers were people who closed their front doors when the evening breeze started.
Time-sharing meant time the family spent together in the evenings and weekends-not purchasing condominiums.

We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings. We listened to the Big Bands, Jack Benny, and the President's speeches on our radios. And I don't ever remember any kid blowing his brains out listening to Tommy Dorsey.
If you saw anything with 'Made in Japan' on it, it was junk
The term 'making out' referred to how you did on your school exam.
Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and instant coffee were unheard of.
We had 5 &10-cent stores where you could actually buy things for 5 and 10 cents.
Ice-cream cones, phone calls, rides on a streetcar, and a Pepsi were all a nickel.
And if you didn't want to splurge, you could spend your nickel on enough stamps to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards.
You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600, . . . but who could afford one?
Too bad, because gas was 11 cents a gallon.
In my day:"grass" was mowed,
"coke" was a cold drink,
"pot" was something your mother cooked in
and"rock music" was your grandmother's lullaby.
"Aids" were helpers in the Principal's office,
" chip" meant a piece of wood,
"hardware" was found in a hardware store and
"software" wasn't even a word.
And we were the last generation to actually believe that a lady needed a husband to have a baby. No wonder people call us "old and confused" and say there is a generation gap...
and how old do you think I am?
I bet you have this very old man in mind...you are in for a shock!Read on to see -- pretty scary if you think about it and pretty sad at the same time.

Are you ready ?????
This man would be only 60 years old
__________________________________

So I kindly responded to my family member with "that's not all they had". They also had this little thing called apartheid. And that man that is 60 years old today, probably wouldn't have lived to see 60 back then, you know, without polio shots, penicillin and all that nonsense. I'm sure they also thought it was ok to beat their wives when they "got out of line a little" or even "take the kid out behind the shed to give him an attitude adjustment". yea...they had it so great back then compared to today. If anything, it was scarier to live back then.

Blast from the Past #1

I am so conceeded that I tend to google myself and see what I come up with. Well, there are a lot of interesting links out there so I thought I would link some of them from my past.

Here is the one - Link

This is a tournament report from a Star Wars CCG touranment that took place in Tucson on October 2, 2000. Almost 7 years ago, I sat down across from Kiki and engaged him in a fight that would have determined the winner of the tournament. It was a hard fought match but it was Enrique's day to shine. He played well and deserved the victory. That deck that Kitani had was a great build too.

Fantasy Football 08 Team #3

This is the last team that I have for this season and arguable, the most important. It is in my dad's Beeline Fantasy Football League. There is a lot on the line in this league. Outside of the money, there is, more importantly...respect.

Team Name - The Sushi Machine

I mean, have you tried a ZigZag roll?

QB - Tony Romo
RB - Shaun Alexander
RB - Travis Henry
WR - Roy Williams
WR - TJ Hoosyermamma
TE - Kellen Winslow
K - Nate Kaeding
DEF - San Diego

Bench
JP Losman
Michael Turner
Eric Moulds
Jason Witten
Josh Scobee
Raiders

I think that this is my strongest team. This is a big league as well, so the teams aren't as stacked and we have to carry 2x kicker, 2x defense on the roster. I'm pretty happy with the QB situation here. I have two guys who have huge potential upsides. They won't be as solid as a Peyton, but both have a higher chance to just go off on any given sunday. My RB are solid. My bench is on the weak side, but it's a big league. I think this team will perform the best out of my three teams. I will probably snap up a breakout WR in week 1/2 to replace old man moulds.

Fantasy Football 08 Team #2

Team Name - Playtester Rage

The team name came from my days of experience when communicating with Playtesters and being a playtester myself. It always felt like there was no grey area, it was just always black or white, broken or sucks. This is for Trevor's league and I did this draft live...except for the part where I took Chester Taylor.

QB - Peyton Manning
WR - Roy Williams
WR - Hines Ward
WR - Vincent Jackson
RB - Travis Henry
RB - Marshawn Lynch
TE - Kellen Winslow
W/R - Marion Barber III
K - Robbie Gould
DEF - Dallas

Bench
Devery Henderson
Chester Taylor
Rex Grossman
Mushin Muhammad
Michael Turner
Ted Ginn Jr.

Meh...i'm pretty weak in the RB department overall, but Petyon slipped to like the 9th pick or so and I thought he was better than the RB that were available and I knew I could float Travis Henry around the wheel. I think that Lions WR (Williams/Johnson) are fine picks. I think with Mike Martz there, an improved pass blocking line, and a decently armed QB, the Lions will put up numbers on the scoreboard.

Fantasy Football 08 Team #1

I stole this idea from Trevor, so here are my Fantasy Football teams.

Team Name - Chastrength

Team named after a typo in one of the Lord of the Rings TCG sets. Who knows how it got in there. This team is for Brian Fred's yahoo league. I got this team completely on auto draft.

QB - Jon Kitna
WR - Lee Evans
WR - Calvin Johnson
RB - Shaun Alexander
RB - Travis Henry
TE - Antonio Gates
W/R - Brandon Jacobs
K - Nate Kaeding
DEF - New England

Bench
Brett Favre
Joey Galloway
Kellen Winslow
Kevin Jones
Isaac Bruce
Jason Hanson

It's not bad. I seem to have a thing for Travis Henry this season. A good RB a couple years ago in a system that rewards RBs seems like a good matchup. Who knows...it could be a trap.

GenCon wind down

Well, i'm sitting here in the lobby of the Marriot waiting for the taxi to come. It has been a great show. We got a great turnout for both WoW Nationals and the Vs. Pro Circuit.

I was able to see a lot of my friends at this convention. Chuck, Evan (I couldn't stop by and say hi, but I did see you), Kyle, Mark, Trevor, Mr. Beal, Matt Kirk, Charlie, and a couple blast from the pasts in Jon Vandermeer (yes, that Jon Vandermeer and yes, that infinite loop deck at Worlds '98) and the Terwilligers (they have all growed up). I also saw both Hunter brothers towering over everyone else. I was half expecting Jeremy Lamere to come strolling in. It was good to see some people back playing. I know that they will do well.

I did coverage over the weekend, you can find my handiwork here. It was fun doing coverage again, but man am I rusty.

Can you guess which Orc Shaman I am from the Dark Portal set in that picture? I'll give you a hint, he might double as a rogue borg.

I'm happy to be going back to sunny southern california (nice stench and humidity Indy...you cesspool). I have to nurse this cold back to health or Ant is going to kill me if I miss a day of work.