The Fresh Prince Of Milwaukee

One of my favorite baseball stories of the year...

KILL SCREEN

The Elevator Action one is my fav.

Not Feeling The Writing Lately

Old School

Stuck in the parking lot of Irvine Meadows. No post tonight.

Sent from my iPhone

The Happiest Place On Earth

We're Talkin' Baseball...

With the trade deadline coming up tomorrow, it seemed like a good time to run down some of the happenings on and off the diamond.

Dodgers beat Cards!  I knew this four game set was going to be a nightmare when I saw it on the schedule but I had no idea it'd be this bad.  Blown saves, extended rain delays, extra innings, shutouts.  Good grief, Charlie Brown.  Thankfully they managed to scrape out one win tonight but the pitching staff and offense have both managed to fall asleep at the same time.

Speaking of the pitching staff - the Dodgers made a deal today, sending out two minor leaguers for Orioles closer George Sherrill who is a pitcher I've seen described today as "death on left handed hitters."  The bullpen looks to be gaining some strength back with the return of Kuo and the addition of Sherrill.  It doesn't mean that Torre won't manage to overwork them in the two months left and make them useless but let's hope for the best.  I wouldn't be opposed to seeing another 'pen arm picked up if the price is right.

Still no starter added though which makes me nervous.  I'm fine with Bills, Kershaw, Kuroda, and Wolf.  I truly am.  Sure, I'd love a Cliff Lee or Halladay to lead the pack but I'm really fine without them.  I know, I know.  Everyone wants the Dodgers to have an "ace" but honestly, how many teams have a legit ace starter leading the way?  Besides if Bills is half of an ace and Kershaw is half of an ace... ?  Both of those guys have ace stuff and the potential to be an ace on any given night.  I think both are showing signs of fatigue though which worries me.  What I'd like to see though is one more back of the rotation guys.  Schmidt doesn't appear to be the answer.  Neither does Weaver [although he looks good every once in a while.]  James McDonald?  Scott Elbert?  Maybe.  But neither of them can get settled in that spot before they get yanked out of it.  Who is out there?  No clue.

In addition to all the trade deadline madness, of course there was the Manny story today.  I think I've lost the ability to care.  I officially have PED story fatigue.  I'm just going to assume that everyone from pre-2003 was probably taking something and deal with it.  I'm not sure there are any names left that could come out on that list that would surprise me.  Let's just deal with the people testing positive now and not worry about who tested positive six years ago.

I'll be home some of the day tomorrow so if the Dodgers manage to make any more moves, I might drop in with some comments.

In the meantime... go Blue!

A Shit Ton Of Stuff

Tiffani Thiessen is Busy from Tiffani Thiessen

The End Of An Era Is Upon Us

If the Dodgers first 3-game losing streak of the season wasn't enough to be bummed about, the news broke today that legendary Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully plans to announce in 2010 and then hang 'em up.

Part of me is glad to have that date out there because the man deserves the rest.

Part of me is terrified because the Dodgers have yet to find anyone who comes close to lacing Vinny's proverbial boots in the booth.

And part of me is sad because I just can't imagine a historic Dodger moment going down without Vinny's voice there to call it.

It's the end of an era upon us, folks... just about fifteen months away.

Hot And Cold

I still can't decide if I'm going to like it or not but with just a week or so to go until the G.I. Joe movie finally hits the big screen, they've done a pretty good job lately of getting my interest back up. A couple of decent reviews from the boys at AICN have me leaning towards wanting to see it after months of bad news had me leaning the other way.

They released this video to further hype. Not sure it succeeded but...

OC Fair 2009: A Day In Photos

Finally got my photos from yesterday on the computer so I thought I'd share a batch of them.  Enjoy!

This is the first thing I saw when I got out of the car.  I'd never ride the damn thing [I hate Ferris Wheels!] but it's a pretty imposing sight when you first walk in.

"And they called it... puppy looooooove"

The sheep seemed absolutely terrified when someone got in their pen, all herding up in a pile like this.  That or someone lost their keys and everyone was pitching in.  One or the other.

"By day, I'm just your normal everyday farm animal.  But by night..."

"I AM EL DANDY!  FAMED LUCHADOR!"

Poor guy.  I never really thought sheep and goats and the like were personable animals but these guys really seemed like they were almost like pets.

"What?!  The Dodgers are letting Jason Schmidt pitch again?!"

All together now... "Awwwwww!"

The rabbits had it the worst of any animals I saw all day.  Some of those cages weren't any bigger than a shoebox.  

This was the cutest little guy.  He kept sniffing the bars when I moved the camera closer so I got some really cool closeups.  Damn bars get in the way though.

A moment before this shot, the little guy tried to stand on the other one to reach the feed bag but fell flat. I guess this was good enough for him though.

I swear, for the first few seconds, I thought this pig was dead (swine flu!).  All the pigs just looked exhausted, sprawled out and sleeping.  Don't worry - I didn't lay on the ground next to the pig for this one but the camera did get lowered quite a bit for it.

A Dodger pig!  AY!  Save the Lasorda jokes, jackass!

Speaking of pigs... here's the pulled pork sandwich I had for lunch.  I didn't even realize I ate pulled pork after looking at pigs until I just wrote that.  Egads, that's awkward.  Oh, and large beer = $9.  Painful but oh-so-nice on a warm day.

Giant sand sculpture of Weird Al's head.  No, we didn't go the 3-D showing of Al's Brain and yes, this is a very close second for most disturbing photo I've seen this week.  First place of course goes to the Twilight Moms.

I thought this was a cool shot.  I need to play with the coloring a little bit when I get some time.  Oh, and those gondolas look like the most potentially deadly things I've seen in ages.

Ah yes.  Fair food.  The quickest way to a stomachache.  I successfully avoided the plethora of fried foods that sabotage all fair trips.  Last year, we ate corn dogs and some horrific Australian ranch fries thing where they cut big slabs of potato, deep fry them, and serve them with ranch and liquid cheese.  The mere sight of those this year made me feel sick all over again.  My mom thought the Deep Fried Avocados might not be bad.  I couldn't bear the thought of eating anything from this "menu."

Of course, since I had a photo on exhibit in the Visual Arts area, that was the main reason we were attending this year.  I knew I hadn't won anything but I still wanted to see it on display and check out some of the others.  I felt weird taking photos of other people's photos - although there were some fantastic pictures and anyone who goes to the Fair should spend plenty of time checking them out - so I snapped a few of pieces of artwork that I liked.

And of course, I had no qualms about taking a photo of my photo.  I'm still pretty proud of it even though there were no less than 3 peacock photos within a fifteen foot radius of each other including one that looked almost identical.  

Thank you, thank you.  Hold your applause.  No, no, really.  Okay, fine.  Anyone who wants to buy a print of it, let me know!  I'm a not-so-starving, non-college student who could really use the money!

When rides collide!  Well, not literally but at a Fair, would you be surprised?  God damn carnies!

And lastly, the award for Worst Sounding Fair Food goes to...

Ugh.

We had a fun time in our few hours there but we were very glad to be heading home as the crowds got larger as the day went on.

Besides, we got in a game of the BSG board game last night to boot so that's well worth cutting a Fair day short, you know?

Affliction DOWN!

I was planning to do a photo blog tonight about my day at the Orange County Fair alas I haven't had the chance to upload my photos to the computer yet.

Instead, we'll talk about one of the happiest days in Dana White's life.

Affliction as a fight promoting company is dead. Not a big shock. I think we all saw it coming at one point or another but I think we also all thought they'd manage to get one more show out before the end. Josh Barnett and his love of being muscly ruined that one, didn't it?

So, with Barnett out, apparently Affliction decided they had no marketable Main Event available to save their show - a fair estimation in my point of view as they had presented no potential opponents that I'd pay to see Fedor against. Now, granted, I wasn't going to pay to see Barnett against Fedor either but...

Once again, there's a vacuum in MMA as Dream, Strike Force, and the UFC will scamper to pick up the pieces - not that there's a lot of pieces worth picking up. Anyone not named Fedor could pretty much have been had at any time.

One more obstacle is out of the way for that Fedor vs Brock match.

But will it be enough?

Oh, and don't get me started on the Tito Ortiz stuff!

This Is The World We Live In

I don't know if I should be disgusted or frightened.

Sweet, Sweet Vinyl

After a pair of technological challenges tonight that had me ready to throw my TV off the balcony, there was one shining light that illuminated the path to happiness on this summer evening.

Vinyl.

At long last, I bought a turntable on Saturday at the local Guitar Center. And yes, I returned that one and got a different one on Monday. But nonetheless, I finally had a turntable to play all the old vinyl I had brought home from one of my most recent visits to my Mom's house as well as a batch of newer stuff the Missus and I have slowly been gathering on trips to Amoeba.

Tonight, the turntable was hooked up to the new sound system and nirvana was achieved [ooh, make note to buy Nevermind and Unplugged on vinyl.]

The test record was something old and damaged that I didn't care if I fucked up. There was sound! Audible sound! This was immediately better than the one I bought Saturday that didn't have a pre-amp like the guy told me [or at least, I think he told me.]

We moved on to another. Another old one but this one was something I knew at least - "Soul & Inspiration" by the Righteous Brothers. Ahh, the long-lost pop and crack and hiss of vinyl was alive once more. The record was in pretty bad shape and although it was just fun to hear music off of vinyl again, I started digging for some newer stuff that might sound better.

A Black Kids EP I picked up at Amoeba after Record Store Day was next... just so we could hear "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You." It was fantastic to hear on vinyl although it sounded pretty much like I'd expect it to on CD or MP3.

Vampire Weekend was next - a full-length I'd bought months ago since it also contained digital copies of the album.

One word: GLORIOUS!

The sound was alive and was beautiful. I could hear subtle things that I had never picked up on digital copies before. The pop and hiss was just enough to make me smile while the music itself took flight. We listened to the entire album - a rarity in these times of 99 cent singles and artists who couldn't make a full album worth buying if their lives depended on it. It's an era where the single is king but for one record, I was back in a time when I knew songs by their name and not by a track number... where I knew the next song coming up and the one after that and the one after that... and even if I needed to wait 10 minutes at the end of the album for a hidden song. An entire album in one sitting? Like I said... glorious.

The Missus took over DJ duties at that point, putting on a copy of the Go-Go's "Beauty And The Beach" that we had picked up at Amoeba a few months ago. The second song that came up sparked a, "I've never heard this before - what is it?" from me - a sure sign that we may be embarking on a new era of DEEP CUTS!

We called it a night after that but immediately started making a list of vinyl to buy in the near future - perhaps as soon as Monday as my eyes are looking west towards Amoeba and a first-time trip to Origami. The pile of vinyl on the floor that we need to work through is staggering but just as much as I can't wait to hear albums I've heard time and time again, I'm equally as excited to dust off my Grandma's old Johnny Cash albums [mostly gospel but fuck it, it's Cash] for the very first time.

A Sign Of The Apocalypse

At several points throughout the past few days, I've lamented the fact that I'll be missing my second Comic-Con in a row. However, I just read something that makes me quite glad I'm not there...

The "New Moon" panel at San Diego Comic-Con might not start for another 18 hours, but "Twilight" fans aren't taking a chance on missing it!

The most dedicated fans started lining up two days early just to make sure they could get a front row seat to see Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner and other stars of the movie. As the final
night before the big panel begins now, there are already more than 500 people camping out to attend the most anticipated panel at Comic-Con.

Hatred. Sweet, sweet hatred.

As The World Turns

Sometimes the best soap operas are in real life. And I say that as someone who has watched soap operas for my entire life.

I kinda didn't want to write about this but it's getting more interesting all the time. While Raw is struggling to try to make me come back after my 30 days off, ECW is slightly entertaining, and Smackdown is flat out great... well, the real excitement in competitor TNA is off-camera.

Here's the story...

Jeff Jarrett has been the creative force behind TNA for almost the entire time since he created it. Kurt Angle has been with TNA for a few years now - a move that many thought could possibly edge TNA at least past ECW in the pecking order of pro wrestling. Jarrett returned to TV a few months ago in what seemed to be a pretty decent comeback.

And then the news broke...

A TNA "insider" called the Bubba The Love Sponge radio show with his voice disguised to give a big piece of breaking news. Kurt's divorced wife, Karen, had taken her kids and moved in with Jeff Jarrett, himself a widower.

Then it gets a little more interesting as Jarrett is suddenly removed from television by Dixie Carter, who essentially bankrolls TNA in what many are considering a "suspension." Angle is telling everyone that he'll soon have Jarrett's job in creative because if he doesn't, there's no chance he'll stick with TNA when his contract is up.

Fun stuff, no?

So, if Angle gets control of TNA creative, does anyone really think they'd be worse off?

Is it possible that Jeff Jarrett deciding to fuck Karen Angle may be the best thing to ever happen to TNA?

That'd be one of the greatest stories in wrestling history.

A Barrage Of Digg News

The good, the bad, and the crazy brought to you by the fine folks at Digg this morning...

*** Speaking of crazy, how 'bout that Catholic Church? I'm sure I'll take some heat for that comment from my church-going wife but this time, I've got proof in this story that tells the tale of a 9-year old girl in Brazil who was raped and impregnated by her stepfather. She got an abortion from a sympathetic doctor and the all-too-powerful Catholic Church responded by ex-communicating the girl and the doctor and anyone else who assisted with her getting the procedure done. Awesome. You've gotta love the theory that the Church's policies are more important than the physical and mental well-being of its followers. But hey, everything happens for a reason, right?

*** As someone who was among the first people booted off of Napster thanks to Metallica, I took special interest in this story with Lars taking great pride in their part in bringing what was once [and my opinion, all time] the best file-sharing platform ever. When asked about the downfall of Napster, Lars says, "You have to give props to the other side because they did run a brilliant campaign, and they did portray me and Metallica as being greedy rock pigs and luddites who were completely behind what was happening technologically. But I am proud of what we did, and what we stood up for." Good grief, Charlie Brown. Talk about delusional.

*** THIS is how Walter Cronkite should be remembered. For the legacy he leaves that today's media couldn't dare dream to live up to. If you only read one of these articles posted today, read this one because my words couldn't do it justice.

EPIC FAIL!

Damn.

After over a year - WELL over a year - of posting each and every day on this blog come rain or come shine, I have failed you - the loyal readers of YMB,B!

I got so caught up in my own shit yesterday, I completely forgot about all y'all.

And it's not like I had some huge event going on yesterday to take my mind elsewhere but between leaving here early for the Farmers Market and spending most of the day trying to reroute and re-run every wire to every piece of electronic equipment in our living room including a new Home Theater System and turntable... well, I got a little pre-occupied.

Alas, I failed you all and totally didn't even realize it until I was on my way home from work tonight around 8. That's how badly I forgot!

Please forgive me, my loyal fanbase. Pretty please with sugar on top!

Here Comes The Pain

After a week of Brock Lesnar being vilified by almost every sportswriter in the country, anyone actually get some perspective on it yet?

No?

I'm guessing not since I'm still seeing people complaining about his "post-fight antics" and the like.

Pro wrestling/MMA journalist Dave Meltzer had this to say - the best column I've seen so far on the situation...

There have been 61 fighters in Ultimate Fighting Championship history who were pro wrestlers at one point or another. There are nine on the current UFC roster. Of the six fighters in the UFC Hall of Fame, three – Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn and Mark Coleman – dabbled in wrestling.

But UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar is the only one vilified for it.

...

This is not a defense of anything he did after the fight. But the reaction to Lesnar’s postfight comments and his flipping the bird at fans is just the latest example of a double standard Lesnar has faced in his MMA career.

What if the Lesnar and Dan Henderson fights and postfights on Saturday night were transposed? If Lesnar had thrown that totally legal but devastating second blow on an already knocked-out foe – and remarked in his interview that he was doing it to shut Mir’s mouth – people would have spent the past week demanding that he be banned from the sport. And would Henderson have gotten nearly Lesnar’s heat if he had pulled the same postfight antics as Lesnar?

You want to deny there’s a double standard here?

...

Of all the pro wrestlers who have come into the sport, only two – Lesnar and non-UFC fighter Bobby Lashley – have ever been disrespected by fellow fighters for being a pro wrestler. In Lesnar’s four UFC fights, only one opponent didn’t throw some kind of variation on “It’s not the WWE,” at him before the fight. In hyping the match, Mir implied Lesnar was strong but clueless when it came to fighting. Heath Herring and his camp had complained behind the scenes to company officials that it was a joke he was even put in the ring with a fake pro wrestler, and made public comments about how the punches were going to be real.

The only opponent who didn’t disrespect Lesnar before the fight was Randy Couture. The only opponent Lesnar didn’t trash talk afterward was Couture. Coincidence?

And Mir probably won’t be the last, given the fact that his potential next opponent, Shane Carwin, already has played the pro-wrestling card in starting the hype.

“We have no scripts in this port, no predetermined earning amount and no predetermined outcomes,” Carwin said.

...

Lesnar never asked to become the biggest villain the sport has ever seen, but he’s also smart enough and experienced enough at it that he knows it’s not all a bad thing. While running down Bud Light – UFC’s leading sponsor – was not the best of judgment, he’s turned out to be one of the greatest things for building the popularity of the sport.

Just as tennis had John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, and boxing had Muhammad Ali, and football has Terrell Owens, it is good for the sport to have a great villain. You don’t want a sport where everyone is like him; but when push comes to shove, Lesnar is great for the sport, just as St. Pierre is in a very different way.

...

The history of fights which have garnered the most interest and drawn the most money in UFC history, matches built by inflammatory interviews fashioned out of pro wrestling, are what made the sport and saved the sport. The examples are endless – from Tito Ortiz’s grudge with Ken Shamrock, to Couture spanking Ortiz at the end of their match, to Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans nearly coming to blows in the crowd. It’s a lesson very much worth examining for anyone arguing about what is good or bad for the future of the sport.

That’s not even a bad thing. But it’s simply accepting the truth of what all of this is, as opposed to living in a world of pretend – and then complaining about somebody because he used to be a pro wrestler.

Emmy Snubs

I want to be happy for my favorite shows - I really do.

I want to be happy for 30 Rock and The Office for gaining well-deserved Best Comedy noms. I even smiled a bit at seeing Weeds, Entourage, and Flight Of The Conchords on the list even though all three were probably at the worst last season and don't deserve the praise this time around. And yeah, I smirked a little bit at seeing Family Guy nominated. I don't watch Family Guy and don't plan to start but I think it's awesome that at least one of the major nominating bodies isn't afraid to treat a piece of animation on the same playing field. And most of all, I want to be jump up and down thrilled for How I Met Your Mother for FINALLY feeling the love even though it too probably wasn't at its best last season compared to others.

I want to be happy for Big Love and Lost for their Best Drama nods. I don't watch the rest of the shows on that list so I'm sure my chances of being happy on Emmy night is pretty pathetic but both of these shows deserve the love.

I want to be happy for Steve Martin and Alan Alda for their guest spot nods. For Tina Fey for the appreciation for her Palin impression AND her weekly awesomness on 30 Rock. For Alec Baldwin, Jemaine Clement, and Steve Carrell. For the hotness of Mary Louise Parker even though she doesn't deserve the acting nod this year. For Dr. Horrible and the Springsteen Super Bowl show. For Jane Krakowski and Kristin Chenoweth. For Tracy Morgan, Jack McBrayer, Kevin Dillon, Rainn Wilson, and the incredible Neil Patrick Harris in potentially my favorite Emmy nom lineup EVER! And for the incomparable Michael Emerson at long last feeling the love.

I'd love to be happy for all of those shows and amazing actors and actresses...

But I can't.

FUCK YOU, EMMY VOTERS!

WHERE'S THE SHIELD?!?!

WHERE'S BATTLESTAR?!?!?!?!?

You fuckoffs have one final chance to pay tribute to two of the greatest shows to ever grace a television screen and you piss it away again.

Arrrrrgh!

I don't have the words to appropriately express my hatred for you all right now.