Happy 57th Birthday Warren Cromartie

Among the Montreal Expos Top 10 list, Cromartie ranks fifth in doubles (222), triples (30), games played (1,038) and at-bats (3,796), sixth in runs (546, hits (1,063) and total bases (1,525), and 10th in walks (310) and average (.280). His 659 at-bats in 1979 are a Montreal record.

Out Today: Superman/Batman: Apocalypse

This Mad Me Laugh But Then Feel A Little Sad...

I don't think I have hidden the fact that I consider myself a geek. I love comics but never read any of Tolkien's books. I saw the movies and was sort of underwhelmed.

That being said, when I first saw the above picture of Sir Ian McKellan I chuckled but then felt a little sad that he had to wear it in the first place.

I have absolutely no difficulties with homosexuality. It makes me sad that some have SUCH difficulty with it (and apparently enough in my geeky community) that McKellan wore the shirt. If any community should be welcoming of those who are "different" it probably should be us geeks and nerds.

Dennis Miller once said "I'm left on a lot of things. If two gay guys want to get married, I could care less. If a nut case from overseas wants to blow up their wedding, that's when I'm right." Jon Stewart said gay marriage was fine with him unless he was going to be forced to "marry another dude". I think that is about where I am these days.

And on the flip side, I get a little frustrated with things that go the other way, like JK Rowling revealing (in an interview) that Dumbledore was gay all along...it seemed unnecessary. It took nothing away from my enjoyment of the books, but that's because it was never really in the books.

I don't know really where I am going with this. Maybe I should have just put the picture on tumblr and left it alone.

A Movie I Would Watch....

This is something I would just normally throw up onto tumblr, but upon further reflection, I realized I really liked it, both the composition of the poster and the concept of the movie.

This was part of one of Cracked's photoplasty contests, 22 Awesome Ways to Reboot Classic TV Shows. This was entry #26 (not a typo, I've checked twice!) and is far superior to almost everything that follows it!

Perhaps using the Blade Runner theme for the poster hurt it (given that many others were more "original") but I think the casting choices are spot on, especially the idea of James Roday as Elroy. Nice work, Mr. E!

How could I not post this?!?!?

I'm Watching This One

The ads for all the ESPN Films in the 30 for 30 series have been impressive. I find myself pulled in whether the ad is on TV or the radio even when I have had little to no interest in the subject matter previously.

"Four Days In October" premieres on Tuesday October 5 at 8:00 PM and I will be there. Red Sox-Yankees is what it is all about (even the Armchair Squid, an ORIOLES fan, gets sucked in sometimes) and the story of this video was blogged about better than I can do in other places.

Suffice it to say, EVERYTHING about 2004 can bring tears to my eyes and give me chills. I remember being in our local grocery store the night of Game 4 of the World Series and EVERYONE talking to each other like we were the best of friends. We still had that fatalistic streak that had us convinced that after winning four in a row against the Yanks, we could easily drop four in a row to the Cards.

And the old superstitions reared their heads. I had popped a beer during each of the losses against the Yankees. Didn't have one for game 4 and lo and behold they won. While the rational part of my brain knew there PROBABLY wasn't a connection, I couldn't risk it. The next beer I had was at 11:40 on October 27th as Renteria grounded back to Foulke and Foulke turned and tossed the ball to Mientkiewicz at first and the Sox were the World Champions.

I raised the bottle to my grandfather who never got to see the Sox win it all and hugged both my sleeping kids with tears streaming down my face.

I am watching this on the 5th and I will be buying this on DVD.

From MLB Productions:

When the night of October 16, 2004 came to a merciful end, the Curse of the Bambino was alive and well. The vaunted Yankee lineup, led by A-Rod, Jeter, and Sheffield, had just extended their ALCS lead to three games to none, pounding out 19 runs against their hated rivals. The next night, in Game 4, the Yankees took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning, then turned the game over to Mariano Rivera, the best relief pitcher in postseason history, to secure yet another trip to the World Series. But after a walk and a hard-fought stolen base, the cold October winds of change began to blow. Over four consecutive days and nights, this unlikely group of Red Sox miraculously won four straight games to overcome the inevitability of their destiny. Using extensive archive coverage from that week, Major League Baseball Productions will produce a film in "real-time" that takes an in-depth look at the 96 hours that brought salvation to Red Sox Nation and made baseball history in the process.

This Day In Baseball History

On September 24, 1985, while a member of the Expos, Andre Dawson became just the second player in baseball history to hit two home runs in an inning TWICE in a career!

Happy International Talk Like A Pirate Day

Though my wife seriously doubts this thing has legs all around the world...

Something I Wish I Had Thought Of First

So funny and so simple....

Time Line of Your Latest Favorite Song

(click to embiggen)

This is so my life....especially since I had my satellite radio stolen and I can't just get the info on the screen anymore...

This Day In Baseball History

1916 - A's catcher/outfielder Wally Schang becomes the first switch-hitter in major league history to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game. He does it before the smallest crowd in American League history: 23*.

(via Joy of Sox)

* I was trying to think of an Expos joke, but nothing good enough is coming to me...)

Embedding My Prezi Book Project For School Tomorrow

Back to work....

"Morning, Chief!"

Caleb asked if laughing at this made him a bad person or cultural insensitive....I maintain neither...just someone who likes a good play on words...

Hulk courteous!

“I may be a raging monster created by an overdose of gamma rays, but even I know offering a seat to the disabled is the right thing to do.”

(via Hacked In Real Life)

'F**k You' Official Music Video (NSFW)

I downloaded this song last week. I think I love the original TEXT only video better, but this one allows us to see Cee-Lo's trials and tribulations...

A great article on the video and the "radio-friendly" version of the song can be found HERE.

Why I HATE Swimming in Lake Champlain!

I live on the shores of Lake Champlain, America's so-called sixth Great Lake. However, I rarely avail myself of its many "wonders" choosing instead to swim in our pool and turning down ALL invitations to boat or water ski.

It has always been this way for me. I do NOT like lakes or deep water. I can't really articulate why. I don't like the weeds in lakes, in general, and I always fall back to the story of the sturgeons that can grow to lengths of larger than SIX FEET in Champlain. But really its just a sense of...unease...I feel, especially when the water gets deep.

Through all of this, though, "Champ" has never been a real fear. I always secretly hoped that The Loch Ness Monster would turn out to be real, but never gave any credence to our own monster.

Even the below photograph never amounted to much for me. I could "see" something if I tried but...

The story of the above photograph is essentially that a woman named Sandra Mansi from Connecticut was vacationing in St. Albans (north of where I live) in 1977 and spotted the creature and took the above photograph.

Today, while goofing around on the computer, I was on Chive and saw a link to a story on "10 Famous Monster Photographs". I clicked on the link and while EVERY other "monster" was pretty much debunked, there was this nugget about Champ:

"The spot where the photo was taken is reported to be shallow waters (roughly about 14 feet deep) causing many to suggest that the photo is of a floating tree or is simply a hoax. The photo gained some clout though in 2003 when the Fauna Communications Research Institute recorded a sound that was similar to that of an Orca’s call, but had several differences that made it unidentifiable. This has led many to view this famous photo differently and instead of the neck of a plesiosaur-like lake monster, they are now seeing the fin of a large unknown whale-like creature living in the lake."

So instead of being a creature's neck, this photo shows its FIN? And according to the University of Vermont they didn't just pick up just "a sound" but instead made recordings on "three separate occasions, using high tech equipment...(and) the team picked up an echolocation signal on all three occasions".

And there is footage from two fisherman, that aired on ABC, who captured Champ on video in 2005??

Ummmm.....AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Emily Dickinson-Death

(According to xkcd.com, this was written in "ballad meter", meaning it can be "read" to the tune of Gilligan's Island. Give it a try....)

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

We passed the school, where children strove
At recess, in the ring;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.

Or rather, he passed us;
The dews grew quivering and chill,
For only gossamer my gown,
My tippet only tulle.

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.

"Dragon Dick"....wait.....no... "Moby Dragon"....

"Age of the Dragons is an adaptation of Herman Melville's classic novel Moby Dick. Set in a medieval realm where Captain Ahab and crew hunt dragons for the vitriol that powers their world, Ishmael, a charismatic harpooner joins their quest. Ahab's adopted daughter Rachel, beautiful and tough, runs the hunting vessel.

"Ahab's obsession is to seek revenge on a great "White Dragon" that slaughtered his family when he was young and left his body scarred and mauled, drives the crew deeper into the heart of darkness. In the White Dragon's lair Ahab's secrets are revealed and Rachel must choose between following him on his dark quest or escaping to a new life with Ishmael."

(via Acrobatic Flea)