Sunday, April 26, 2009

Kings Of The Comeback

From The Joy of Sox (It's a way of life)....

In the last eight days:

April 17 - Red Sox trailed Orioles 7-0 in 2nd inning, won 10-8.

April 24 - Red Sox trailed Yankees 4-2 in 9th inning, won 5-4 in 11.

April 25 - Red Sox trailed Yankees 6-0 in 4th inning, won 16-11.

***The winning streak is now at nine (from 2-6 to 11-6).

Tidbits (from mlb.com)

The Red Sox are 25-24 against the Yankees at Fenway Park since 2004. The all-time record of the rivals at Fenway Park is 446-446, with four ties. ... The first two games of this series have both lasted four hours and 21 minutes. ... Third baseman Mike Lowell has a nine-game hitting streak, during which he is hitting .447 with five doubles, three homers and 18 RBIs. ... Leadoff man Jacoby Ellsbury has eight stolen bases, including four in the past five games. ... David Ortiz has a 20-game homerless streak dating back to last season -- his longest drought since he went 42 games without a homer with the Twins in 2002.
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What I missed while attending Justin's Bachelor Party!


Haircut? I'm skeptical...
The lollipop guild


Bea Arthur Dies at 86

Beatrice Arthur, the tall, deep-voiced actress whose razor-sharp delivery of comedy lines made her a TV star in the hit shows "Maude" and "The Golden Girls" and who won a Tony Award for the musical "Mame," died Saturday. She was 86.



In addition to Jen's attachment to "The Golden Girls" and the joy the show gave her, I will always remember Bea Arthur as Ackmena in the delightful romp that is "The Star Wars Holiday Special."


Saturday, April 25, 2009

Bay homers in 9th, Youkilis in 11th for Red Sox

Jason Bay homered off Mariano Rivera with two outs in the ninth to send the game to extra innings, and Kevin Youkilis hit a solo shot in the 11th to help the Sox beat the Yanks for their eighth straight win. (AP, 11:49 p.m.)


Even before tonight, Kevin Youkilis was on fire. Batting .429 with 14 runs scored, six doubles, four homers, and 12 RBI.


As David Ortiz recently said about Youk, "He gets up in the morning and he's already got a hit."

EDIT: I found the NESN video of the game ender here:

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

THE ONION: OBAMA DISAPPOINTED CABINET FAILED TO UNDERSTAND HIS REFERENCE TO 'SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN' #24

January 27, 2009 Issue 45•05

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama expressed frustration Wednesday after members of his cabinet failed to recognize his allusion to the 24th issue of the comic series Savage Sword Of Conan during their first major meeting together.

Obama, whose upcoming challenges include organizing a massive effort to rebuild the nation's infrastructure, was reportedly unprepared for the confused silence he received upon suggesting that his cabinet "team up with Taurus of Nemedia" to secure the necessary funding from Congress.

"If my inner circle of advisers can't even communicate about the most basic issues, how are we going to tackle the massive problems our nation faces?" Obama said during a press conference. "When I tell my cabinet that getting bipartisan support is exactly like the time Conan got Taurus to help him steal Yara's jewel, they need to understand what I mean."

After receiving no reaction from the assembled reporters, Obama added, "Because a giant spider is protecting this chamber full of precious jewels, just like Congress is protecting its…. God, how are you people not seeing this?"

Obama, an avid collector of Conan The Barbarian and Spider-Man comic books since he was a child, was referencing the 1977 story "The Tower Of The Elephant," written by Roy Thomas. According to administration sources, no one in Obama's cabinet was familiar with the magazine-sized comic, though Labor Secretary Hilda Solis claimed to have once seen Conan the Destroyer.

Aides also confirmed that Obama has refused to lend his copy of issue #24 to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, fearing the former Republican congressman will carelessly bend or rip the pages. The commander in chief is reportedly intent on keeping the comics in pristine condition for their eventual inclusion in his presidential library.

"How am I supposed to effectively lead this nation when [attorney general nominee Eric] Holder has to stop the meeting and ask what the story of Taurus using the black lotus powder to kill the five guard lions has to do with increasing broadband Internet connections nationwide?" Obama said while vigorously rubbing his temples.

Added the president, "For the love of Crom, am I the only one here who wants to keep the U.S. technologically competitive?"

Administration officials said the incident has caused the president to question whether his staff has ever understood any of his Conan references. One such instance he is reportedly reexamining occurred after his loss in the New Hampshire primary, when Obama rallied his staff by reminding them, "There is always a way, if the desire be coupled with courage."

Although campaign workers smiled and nodded at the time, Obama has begun to seriously doubt that any of them connected the inspiring quotation to the story line in which a Kothian rogue informs Conan that it is impossible to climb to the top of the Elephant Tower because the sides are more slippery than glass

While Obama has not scheduled another meeting with his cabinet this week—a respite the president hopes they will use to brush up on the 235-issue Savage Sword series—he is expected to meet with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on Friday to discuss Afghanistan. A holdover from the Bush administration, Gates told reporters he may have gotten off on the wrong foot with the new president, citing an occasion when Obama asked him what he knew about 1984's Secret Wars, a 12-issue limited Marvel release. Gates then handed a visibly confused Obama 1,400 classified pages on covert CIA operations in El Salvador.

Later, the defense secretary attempted to find common ground with Obama by making casual references to the comic book Spawn. But the 44th president reportedly brushed him off with an abrupt laugh, saying, "no one in [his] administration likes Spawn."

Minutes from the first cabinet meeting indicate it lasted just under 35 minutes, coming to a standstill during a discussion of minimizing public waste. When Energy Secretary Steven Chu failed to understand the president's instructions to "be like the barbarian wielding his steel to cleave flesh from bone," Vice President Joe Biden attempted to clarify the president's thoughts.

"I think what the president is trying to say here is that this is just like the time when Barney had to put Fish on restricted duty because of his health exam results," said Biden, a longtime fan of the late-'70s police sitcom Barney Miller. "It's pretty straightforward when you look at it like that."

When asked by the press corps if this week's hiccup has caused him to rethink any of his appointments, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton interrupted the president to assert that she and her colleagues have already begun educating themselves about comic books, and will soon be "an invincible team of Supermen and Wonder Women working to save America."

"Wonder Woman? That's not even Marvel," Obama responded before storming out of the press room. "Who are you people?"


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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Hugh Jackman supports FCBD

Rich, at the awesome Comic-by-Comic site, posted this and encouraged reposting.

"This is a great idea from Diamond - get Hugh Jackman to plug Free Comic Book Day alongside the Wolverine movie. Kudos to the people who put this together!"



"If you have a comics, movie, or, heck, any other kind of blog, why not put this up on it?"





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What I Was Reading....Until Last Night

The Catch: A Joe Gunther Novel (Joe Gunther) The Catch: A Joe Gunther Novel by Archer Mayor


My review


rating: 4 of 5 stars
After the last few Gunther novels, my expectations were low. (While on my latest reading jag, I read one of the books without even realizing I had already read it before!)



This one was a bit better. Once again, most of the action takes place outside of Vermont, but this time it did not seem as forced as the last few novels. Most of the references to Joe's age have been muted (I think, if the timeline for his life established way back in Open Season was still being followed, Gunther would be over 70 years old) and the background stuff for new readers did not seem so ham-fisted.



While with a lot of Mayor's books, the ending seems slightly rushed and dependent on far too many coincidences, overall it was worth reading, especially if you are a fan of the genre, had given up on Mayor or have a couple of days to kill.


View all my reviews.




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Friday, April 10, 2009

Peekaru is a Baby Snuggie



I beleive that this is indeed a real product, but all I can think is...

"Quaid...Quaid...Start the reactor. Free Mars... "

Monday, April 6, 2009

What I Was Reading...Until Last Night

The Hard Way (Jack Reacher Series, #10) The Hard Way by Lee Child


My review


rating: 4 of 5 stars
As good as the Reacher novels get. This one had some good twists and turns. I thought the whole mystery was good and I even figured out a few things before they were revealed!



On a side note, unlike James Patterson's recent (preachy) take on the horrors of modern Africa, I thought Child did a much better job of conveying what is going on over there. It was touched upon briefly by a character who was a red herring but made sense to the overall story (again, unlike Patterson's recent "Cross" novel).



Pure escapist adventure. I had a recent "debate" on Twitter as to how many books in a series you should read in a row. I find myself wanting to grab the next immediately.


View all my reviews.

Friday, April 3, 2009

First baseball Thoughts of 2009

"No team has won a pennant in 29 years or a World Series in 54 years with a shortstop as old as Derek Jeter, who turns 35 in June."

--Tom Verducci, SI.com

whos.amung.us

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