Views from the North Side of Dallas

Voters Registration

2011-09-28T18:00:00.002-05:00

Once again the debate is on for who should win each baseball award. So here are the hypothetical votes that I would submit and which awards I would vote for.

Best Pitcher - Cy Young Award
This is the award for who had the best stuff during the entire year.

Rank	AL	NL
1	CC Sabathia	Roy Halladay
2	Justin Verlander	Clayton Kershaw
3	Dan Haren	Cliff Lee
4	Jered Weaver	Madison Bumgarner
5	C.J. Wilson	Matt Cain
6	Doug Fister	Matt Garza
7	Felix Hernandez	Cole Hamels
8	David Price	Ian Kennedy
9	James Shields	Daniel Hudson
10	Justin Masterson	Tim Lincecum

Best Non-Pitcher - The Babe Ruth Award
This is the award for the best position player. Both hitting and fielding are considered

Rank	AL	NL
1	Jacoby Ellsbury	Matt Kemp
2	Jose Bautista	Ryan Braun
3	Ian Kinsler	Joey Votto
4	Dustin Pedroia	Justin Upton
5	Miguel Cabrera	Troy Tulowitzki
6	Curtis Granderson	Jose Reyes
7	Alex Gordon	Brandon Phillips
8	Adrian Gonzalez	Shane Victorino
9	Ben Zobrist	Andrew McCutchen
10	Adrian Beltre	Prince Fielder

Most Valuable Player - Lou Gehrig Award
This is the award for the person who added the most during games to get their team a win.

Rank	AL	NL
1	Jose Bautista	Prince Fielder
2	Miguel Cabrera	Joey Votto
3	Jacoby Ellsbury	Matt Kemp
4	Josh Hamilton	Ryan Braun
5	Justin Verlander	Lance Berkman
6	Jered Weaver	Ian Kennedy
7	James Shields	Roy Halladay
8	Dan Haren	Cliff Lee
9	Ricky Romero	Cole Hamels
10	Josh Beckett	Albert Pujols

Gold Glove Award
This award is for the best fielder at each position per league.

Position	AL	NL
Catcher	Matt Wieters	Jonathan Lucroy
First Base	Adrian Gonzalez	Joey Votto
Second Base	Dustin Pedroia	Brandon Phillips
Short Stop	Alexei Ramirez	Clint Barmes
Third Base	Adrian Beltre	Placido Polanco
Left Field	Brett Gardner	Gerardo Parra
Center Field	Jacoby Ellsbury	Chris Young
Right Field	David DeJesus	Jason Heyward
Pitcher	Felix Hernandez	Jake Westbrook

Deathly Hallows

2011-07-17T14:38:00.003-05:00

Spoiler Alert

The last movie and final movie is over and it was thoroughly satisfying. The movie enhanced the books. Once again a great story and good acting rise above cinematic gimmicks (I saw the 2D version, more on that later). The child actors have certainly grown, but the surrounding giants allow the film and series to excel.

In the final film, several performances stood out. They were helped by their excellent situations, but they took it to the next level. Ralph Fiennes as Tom Riddle was great. The steady deterioration due to parts of his soul being obliterated was done quite well. The quick transitions from pompous triumph to shocked vulnerability were excellent. Matthew Lewis played Neville Longbottom to a T. Limping to his defiant speech and then ignorantly and boldly challenging Voldemort was a highlight of the film. Helena Bonham Carter playing Hermione Granger using a polyjuice potion to play Bellatrix Lestrange was very convincing. Just like part 1, I enjoy watching actors play characters pretending to be other characters. Those 3 exceeded expectations. The others certainly did well and my high standards were met.

3D Rant
I realize that 3D allows you to charge extra to attend a movie, but it typically adds very little to the actual movie (unless it is a low budget 80s monster flick). There were several spots that I am sure would look fun in 3D (e.g. the Gringott's Mine Train). The real travesty to me was that the 2D experience was affected by this. Several times I could tell that rather than the background being out of focus, it was actually doubled up like a 3D film would look without glasses. Unacceptable.

Intermission
Grand films might just need a break. This is not a new idea at all. Movies such as Ben Hur and Lawrence of Arabia had intermissions. Why? Because they were really long. But also because they were a single idea and could not be split up. The Deathly Hallows was split in two at its most logical point, but the story really works as a whole. The drama and setup in part one is entirely unfulfilling. The action of part two really makes little sense without part one. The other epic conclusion this century was 3.5 hours in theaters and 5 hours on extended DVD, yet The Return of the King only makes sense in that context. It could have been split after the battle of Minas Tirith. It makes logical sense but not emotional sense. The ups and downs of a movie need to be there. Separate them by 8 months and you lose all of the buildup that works in the ending of the film. I suggest that the best way to watch both films is to watch part one, take an hour break for food, and then watch part two. As soon as the DVD comes out, I think it will make both parts of this film that much better. The Deathly Hallows as a whole might just be the best movie in the series.

Saber Answer to 300 Wins

2011-07-08T14:23:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I took on the 3000 hits plateau. Today, 300 wins. Trying to smooth out longevity and performance is difficult with pitchers. There are so many eras out there. This list because of its components is skewed towards the former days. I considered all outings since 1890 so that Cy Young would be involved. In the 1880s some pitchers threw up to 650 innings in a year and really skewed things. But for simplicity sake, I chose Innings Pitched divided by WHIP minus 1 times 2. Boy that seems complicated doesn't it. Basically it measures longevity in innings pitched. Performance is measured by (WHIP - 1) * 2. This takes CY Young's WHIP of 1.13, turns it into .13, and then finally into .26. The times 2 part keeps some rarely used pitchers with good stats from sneaking too far up the ladder. I also limited this to pitcher with > 1500 innings pitched. Without that restriction, Mariano Rivera is the greatest pitcher ever (which you could argue for I guess). So without further ado, here is the list:

Rank	Name	Wins	W Rank	IP	WHIP	New Stat
1	Walter Johnson	417	2	5914.2	1.06	48338
2	Christy Mathewson	373	3	4780.2	1.05	40543
3	Cy Young	511	1	7354.2	1.12	28322
4	Pedro Martinez	219	63	2827.1	1.05	25966
5	Mordecai Brown	239	46	3172.1	1.06	24083
6	Pete Alexander	373	3	5190	1.12	21411
7	Tom Seaver	311	15	4782.2	1.12	19755
8	Eddie Plank	326	10	4495.2	1.11	18891
9	Don Sutton	324	11	5282	1.14	18525
10	Greg Maddux	355	7	5008.1	1.14	17492
11	Juan Marichal	243	42	3507.1	1.10	17328
12	Babe Adams	194	107	2995.1	1.09	16257
13	Fergie Jenkins	284	23	4500.2	1.14	15851
14	Gaylord Perry	314	14	5350.1	1.18	14801
15	Rube Waddell	193	115	2961.1	1.10	14521
16	Roger Clemens	354	8	4916.2	1.17	14237
17	Robin Roberts	286	22	4688.2	1.16	13809
18	Warren Spahn	363	5	5243.2	1.19	13465
19	Chief Bender	212	75	3017	1.11	13385
20	Catfish Hunter	224	55	3449.1	1.13	12849
21	Bert Blyleven	287	21	4970	1.19	12551
22	Doc White	189	121	3041	1.12	12429
23	Deacon Phillippe	189	121	2607	1.10	12402
24	Randy Johnson	303	17	4135.1	1.17	12077
25	Curt Schilling	216	68	3261	1.13	11868
26	Don Drysdale	209	81	3432	1.14	11616
27	Kid Nichols	361	6	5056.1	1.22	11372
28	Jim Palmer	268	28	3948	1.18	10945
29	Sandy Koufax	165	177	2324.1	1.10	10938
30	Nolan Ryan	324	11	5386	1.24	10889
31	Carl Hubbell	253	35	3590.1	1.16	10814
32	Steve Carlton	329	9	5217.1	1.24	10566
33	Jim Bunning	224	55	3760.1	1.17	10505
34	Eddie Cicotte	208	84	3223.1	1.15	10369
35	Bob Gibson	251	36	3884.1	1.18	10320
36	Dennis Eckersley	197	98	3285.2	1.16	10204
37	Jack Powell	245	40	4389	1.21	10127
38	Phil Niekro	318	13	5404.1	1.26	10078
39	John Smoltz	213	74	3473	1.17	9870
40	Jack Chesbro	198	95	2896.2	1.15	9623
41	Vic Willis	249	37	3996	1.20	9538
42	Sam Leever	194	107	2660.2	1.14	9415
43	Mike Mussina	270	26	3562.2	1.19	9292
44	Ed Reulbach	182	136	2632.1	1.14	9190
45	Joe McGinnity	246	39	3441.1	1.18	9152
46	Bret Saberhagen	167	167	2562.2	1.14	9097
47	Hoyt Wilhelm	143	240	2254.1	1.12	9044
48	Luis Tiant	229	52	3486.1	1.19	8769
49	Jim Kaat	283	24	4530.1	1.25	8748
50	Tommy John	288	20	4710.1	1.28	8328

The winners? Pedro Martinez and his 219 wins. Lots of people from the early days... Sandy Koufax and his short lived career.

The losers? Lefty Grove and his 1.28 WHIP. Tom Glavine and his 1.31 WHIP.

Saber Answer to 3000 Hits

2011-07-07T16:06:00.004-05:00

3000 hits is always a fun topic. Does it mean anything or is it arbitrary? I decided to come up with a new stat to judge hitters by: Plate Appearances times On Base Percentage. This combines longevity with performance. How does this redefine our top hitters? Currently 27 players have 3000 or more hits. If we sort by PA * OBP, we have to show 76 players to see those 27.

Rank	Name	H	Hit Rank	OBP	PA * OBP
1	Pete Rose	4256	1	0.373	5929
2	Barry Bonds	2935	32	0.444	5599
3	Ty Cobb	4189	2	0.423	5532
4	Rickey Henderson	3055	21	0.400	5343
5	Carl Yastrzemski	3419	6	0.379	5304
6	Stan Musial	3630	4	0.415	5282
7	Hank Aaron	3771	3	0.373	5205
8	Tris Speaker	3514	5	0.416	4998
9	Babe Ruth	2873	40	0.468	4978
10	Eddie Collins	3315	10	0.406	4891
11	Willie Mays	3283	11	0.383	4791
12	Ted Williams	2654	71	0.481	4714
13	Mel Ott	2876	39	0.409	4648
14	Eddie Murray	3255	12	0.359	4606
15	Frank Robinson	2943	31	0.388	4561
16	Craig Biggio	3060	20	0.360	4505
17	Honus Wagner	3415	8	0.383	4503
18	Rafael Palmeiro	3020	24	0.370	4460
19	Paul Molitor	3319	9	0.366	4460
20	Wade Boggs	3010	25	0.413	4445
21	Cap Anson	3418	7	0.391	4433
22	Joe Morgan	2517	91	0.390	4422
23	Cal Ripken	3184	14	0.339	4379
24	Dave Winfield	3110	19	0.352	4351
25	Al Kaline	3007	26	0.374	4339
26	Gary Sheffield	2689	63	0.392	4299
27	George Brett	3154	15	0.368	4283
28	Paul Waner	3152	16	0.397	4281
29	Lou Gehrig	2721	57	0.442	4274
30	Frank Thomas	2468	99	0.419	4222
31	Ken Griffey Jr.	2781	48	0.369	4174
32	Mickey Mantle	2415	112	0.419	4161
33	Robin Yount	3142	17	0.339	4156
34	Derek Jeter	2997	28	0.380	4125
35	Jimmie Foxx	2646	72	0.425	4111
36	Rod Carew	3053	22	0.388	4096
37	Charlie Gehringer	2839	45	0.398	4075
38	Alex Rodriguez	2762	50	0.385	4069
39	Luke Appling	2749	52	0.396	4062
40	Reggie Jackson	2584	81	0.355	4055
41	Rusty Staub	2716	58	0.360	4050
42	Chipper Jones	2562	85	0.403	4020
43	Rogers Hornsby	2930	34	0.423	4016
44	Manny Ramirez	2574	83	0.410	4012
45	Jim Thome	2239	160	0.403	4007
46	Tim Raines	2605	75	0.383	3977
47	Tony Gwynn	3141	18	0.386	3955
48	Jesse Burkett	2850	42	0.411	3954
49	Harold Baines	2866	41	0.355	3942
50	Omar Vizquel	2831	46	0.330	3898
51	Nap Lajoie	3242	13	0.372	3892
52	Dwight Evans	2446	108	0.368	3890
53	Darrell Evans	2223	167	0.359	3863
54	Luis Gonzalez	2591	79	0.366	3857
55	Jeff Bagwell	2314	138	0.407	3843
56	Fred McGriff	2490	96	0.376	3834
57	Lou Brock	3023	23	0.341	3833
58	Mike Schmidt	2234	162	0.379	3820
59	Richie Ashburn	2574	83	0.391	3815
60	Roberto Alomar	2724	56	0.365	3806
61	Billy Williams	2711	61	0.361	3799
62	Eddie Mathews	2315	137	0.374	3785
63	Max Carey	2665	66	0.351	3782
64	Bobby Abreu	2342	127	0.399	3771
65	Brooks Robinson	2848	43	0.319	3761
66	Sam Rice	2987	29	0.366	3751
67	Sam Crawford	2961	30	0.353	3744
68	Goose Goslin	2735	54	0.380	3739
69	Jake Beckley	2930	34	0.356	3729
70	Tony Perez	2732	55	0.340	3700
71	Fred Clarke	2672	65	0.376	3699
72	Harmon Killebrew	2086	222	0.375	3693
73	Harry Hooper	2466	101	0.359	3678
74	Johnny Damon	2662	68	0.352	3663
75	Bill Dahlen	2457	105	0.352	3661
76	Roberto Clemente	3000	27	0.358	3656
77	Frankie Frisch	2880	38	0.360	3639
78	Willie McCovey	2211	171	0.374	3625
79	Edgar Martinez	2247	159	0.417	3619
80	Zack Wheat	2884	37	0.361	3611
81	Todd Helton	2318	136	0.422	3605
82	George Davis	2660	69	0.355	3605
83	John Olerud	2239	160	0.397	3602
84	Chili Davis	2380	117	0.359	3589
85	Lou Whitaker	2369	120	0.359	3586
86	Willie Keeler	2932	33	0.373	3585
87	Eddie Yost	1863	332	0.389	3576
88	Al Simmons	2927	36	0.375	3572
89	Ozzie Smith	2460	103	0.330	3565
90	Harry Heilmann	2660	69	0.396	3556
91	Mark Grace	2445	109	0.382	3554
92	Brett Butler	2375	119	0.371	3542
93	Julio Franco	2586	80	0.363	3541
94	Nellie Fox	2663	67	0.340	3524
95	Roger Connor	2467	100	0.396	3507
96	Mickey Vernon	2495	95	0.355	3499
97	Willie Randolph	2210	172	0.368	3491
98	Rabbit Maranville	2605	75	0.309	3483
99	Andre Dawson	2774	49	0.322	3474
100	Dave Parker	2712	60	0.338	3451

So who wins using this system? Well, Barry Bonds, Rickey Henderson, Babe Ruth, and Ted Williams all move up. Not bad at all.

Who loses? Roberto Clemente (twice as many strikeouts as walks), Lou Brock (over 1700 strikeouts)

So using that stat... hitters with a PA*OBP > 4500 would be:

Pete Rose
Barry Bonds
Ty Cobb
Rickey Henderson
Carl Yastrzemski
Stan Musial
Hank Aaron
Tris Speaker
Babe Ruth
Eddie Collins
Willie Mays
Ted Williams
Mel Ott
Eddie Murray
Frank Robinson
Craig Biggio
Honus Wagner

Not a bad group to be in.

2011 Baseball Predictions

2011-03-29T10:03:00.004-05:00

In the past (2009, 2008, and 2007) I have made predictions about the outcome of the baseball season. I based these on the previous year's record and then added in my own personal adjustment. It is a fairly simple formula.

Previous Years Wins +/- Off-season Moves.

This years predictions are below:

AL East

97 - 65 Boston Red Sox

88 - 74 New York Yankees

82 - 80 Tampa Bay Rays

74 - 88 Baltimore Orioles

69 - 93 Toronto Blue Jays

The Red Sox are far and away the class of the division with their staff. The Yankees have a lineup but a questionable rotation. The Rays will take a step back with the loss of key players. The Jays should stink it up.

AL Central

91 - 71 Minnesota Twins

87 - 75 Chicago White Sox

81 - 81 Detroit Tigers

77 - 85 Cleveland Indians

71 - 91 Kansas City Royals

The Twins have the tools to win this division. The White Sox will put up quite a fight though. The rest are just also rans.

AL West

87 - 75 Texas Rangers

85 - 77 Oakland Athletics

80 - 82 Los Angeles Angels

65 - 97 Seattle Mariners

The Rangers and As will duke it out for the playoff spot. The lineup of the Rangers should give them the edge.

NL East

98 - 64 Philadelphia Phillies

90 - 72 Atlanta Braves

80 - 82 Florida Marlins

70 - 92 New York Mets

66 - 96 Washington Nationals

What's not to love about arguably the best rotation ever. The Braves however will compete mightily in the NL. The Mets and their putrid rotation will fall back this year.

NL Central

89 - 73 Milwaukee Brewers

86 - 76 St. Louis Cardinals

82 - 80 Chicago Cubs

82 - 80 Cincinnati Reds

70 - 92 Houston Astros

69 - 93 Pittsburgh Pirates

This will be the hardest division to win this year. I can honestly see any of the top 4 teams pulling it out. I like the Greinke addition and the Prince contract year to pull it out.

NL West

91- 71 San Francisco Giants

83 - 79 Los Angeles Dodgers

81 - 81 Colorado Rockies

78 - 84 San Diego Padres

68 - 94 Arizona Diamondbacks

As usual, I am not sold on anything in this division except the Giants rotation.

AL Playoffs
Boston over Texas and Minnesota over New York
Boston over Minnesota

NL Playoffs
Phillies over Brewers and Braves over Giants
Phillies over Braves

World Series
Phillies over Boston

January Lessons

2011-02-02T19:00:00.000-06:00

So how is this for a New Year's resolution? Invest better. Better yet, look at your investments rather than just open a statement once a quarter. This is a time consuming pursuit, but one that could be very worthwhile. My portfolio has beat the S&P 2 years in a row now. Pretty impressive until I mention that I made 0 moves during that time frame. Perhaps that works out best... we shall see.

What is the easiest way for me to become interested in something? Why join a fantasy league of course. Yes they do have those. Unlike sports related leagues this only has one category: Return on Investment. I managed to eek out 6 basis points higher than the S&P during the first month. Impressive I know. One important note here is to say that this is 'fake' investing for the purpose of gaining knowledge. I have not make actual investments in any of the thing I will reference.

Lessons

Emerging Market Valuations are highly suspect. Everyone for instance wants a piece of the Chinese market right now. Make sure that it is a credible analyst providing information. Several companies were stung by corruption and bad accounting in January. Their touting analysts were somewhat complicit. I am not saying that company is necessarily bad, just that some numbers may be way off. A good example of this would be RINO or CVVT that both got stung.
Valuations are based on available data. Using old data right before earnings reports come out puts you behind in the game.
Publicity does not guaranty that a stock will go up. Good news in the press does not always mean good news for your portfolio.
Ultra ETFs try to double or triple the return of a given index. Inverse ones do the same thing but bet the thing will go down. These can seem too good to be true. They can be useful, but take extreme caution.
Betting on earnings is a risky game. This goes back to the publicity thing as well. Just because they beat earnings does not mean that their future forecast is favorable.

So at this point you are probably laughing at these realizations, but there they are. Now what DID work for me?

Choosing companies with High Profit Margins and High Earnings per Share Growth. e.g. ISRG or FSLR or GLW
Related to that, I also chose items with High Profit Margins and Low PEG Ratios (PE Ratio / EPS Growth) eg. MU
Last, betting that Silver and Gold was overpriced and would go down. This was pure luck and have decided to stay out of that.

Hopefully February will be even better. Now for those of you wondering. I am not an investment professional. I have no personal stake in the stocks mentioned here in either real money or a fake portfolio at this time.

Play Ball

2010-04-06T11:45:00.001-05:00

Scott Feldman throws out the first pitch of the 2010 season. Baseball is back, and that is a good thing. I was fortunate enough to attend the 2009 opener. It is hard to top the experience of an opening day game. Several opening day quick hits and then some player analysis.

Opening Day Thoughts

First off kids, I found out that Santa is a Rangers fan. He sat 3 rows in front of me and handed out business cards all game long.
Opening Day at the ballpark is a celebration of everything Texas. We had Nolan Ryan and Roger Staubach on the mound for the ceremonial first pitch. Staubach still has quite an arm and threw a great first pitch. I can't think of any 2 bigger names that you could put out there except the Lone Ranger. And yes, he was on the jumbotron leading our 9th inning rally. The singing of Deep in the Heart of Texas has much more passion than Take Me Out to the Ballgame. In this picture our goofy recent mascot Rowdy tries to catch the strike from Roger in his mouth.
Steak Nachos - YES
On the left field wall "Around the League" scoreboard, we kept highlighting the fact that Roy Halladay won his opening day game. That had to be intentional.
Before the game started, a former paratrouper with no legs dropped into the stadium. Incredible.
I am out of practice on clapping. When the game got wild in the late innings, my hands were beet red.
I am pretty sure that if you start drinking hours before a 1 PM game, you might have some issues. Just my opinion.
Speaking of which, the most awkward moment of the game belongs to Budweiser. They sponsored a between innings thing where they announced they would put people drinking Bud on the jumbotron. Guess what, they found NOBODY. For 30 seconds to a minute, just an icon on the screen. Jokes were rampant about how "I guess nobody drinks that stuff."
2 of the 9 Rangers come up to plate with Christian intro music. Josh Hamilton has Toby Mac and Chris Davis has Let it Fade by Jeremy Camp.
I found a new route to the ballpark that had virtually no traffic. Take the Bush Turnpike (161) south until it ends. Drive over I 30 and take a right on SH 180. Take this over 360 all the way to Stadium drive. I had almost no traffic in and out of the game.
The Lexus Club seats in the corners of the stadium are really good. They are priced at $25 for most games, have almost no lines for bathroom and food out back, and on the first base side are shaded from the sun. I will aim for these seats again.

Scouting Report

Julio Borbon has a horrible looking swing. I am calling it the Slap Chop. He looks like he is hoping to foul off the pitch.
Michael Young is solid. He picked right up where he left off. Solid hits.
Josh Hamilton did not have the best day, but his swing looked good and his at bats were good. His arm in left kept a run from coming in.
Vlad still has it. That guy has crazy extension. He looks like he is swinging a 12 foot tree or something. He also hit one of the farthest foul balls I have seen to the 3rd deck left of the foul pole. Also, what is his history with the Jays? They threw at his neck on the first pitch he saw.
Nelson Cruz is really really good. He hit a 400 foot shot into the wind. He also has good range in the field. He cut off a line drive in the gap that I figured for a double at least and kept the runner at first.
Chris Davis did not get any hits, but his at bats looked good. There were no ugly strikeouts.
Salty was pretty weak at the plate until the last pitch of the game. He did his job and lifted it over the pulled in outfielders.
Andres Blanco looks like he is not ready for the big leagues. Please come back quick Kinsler.
Elvis Andrus pulled a good looking double play. His bat was so-so.
2-6 was dangerous in our lineup: Young, Hamilton, Vlad, Cruz, Davis. The rest were gimme outs most of the game.
Scott Feldman is hard to judge. He got hit really hard. His box score line looks better than what I saw. A lot of rockets were hit right to people. In fairness, the winds were gusting up to 25 MPH and so that might have affected him. He settled down in the 5th, 6th, and 7th which is a good sign.
Neftali Feliz needs a 2nd pitch. He topped out at 97 MPH and hitters were looking fastball all the way. Breaking pitches were automatic takes and most likely balls.
Darren Oliver still has it at age 39. He should be valuable this season.
Franky was decent in the closer role but made me nervous.
Shaun Marcum had a quiet no hitter going at the park. He does not throw that hard (never saw him hit 90) but until the 7th, no one could hit his stuff except straight to a player.
Adam Lind is the real deal. He made solid contact throughout the game.
Vernon Wells looked like his old self. He crushed one off of Feldman and turned on a Feliz fastball. I am definitely bullish on him.
Besides those 2, the Jays looked really really weak. Their lineup will not fare well in the AL East.

Salty about to hit the game winner:
The crowd goes wild!

2000s - Movies

2010-01-12T21:30:00.003-06:00

I figured I should join in on the best of the decade talk. I have read lots of lists and seen some consensus, but everyone seems to have their individual flair. I decided to go with a different criteria than the rest, so my list will not be filled with critically acclaimed artsy films. I am basing this list upon nothing less than "Rewatchability". I have seen lots of films that were good this decade, but it turns out that I don't want to watch a lot of them over and over again. I also notably left out some recent movies because I frankly don't know yet if I will want to watch them over and over again. So I made the following list counting down the films that I have watched countless times and that I think I will continue to watch in the decades to come.

10. Gladiator

This movie is known for its action sequences, but the famous monologue that screams righteous defiance is the pivotal point in the film. "My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, Commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next." The cheap political pandering that Commodus tries is still a tactic used today. The movie is probably short on historical accuracy, but comes up big in its defining moments.

9. Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers

I will admit that I own the super-extended version of the series. All 13 hours of it. But what do I want to watch over and over again? The Battle of Helms Deep. The main ideas that it conveys are that you can "Lay Down and Give Up or Fight for what You Hold Dear" and that "There are No Neutral Parties because all are affected". Like its predecessor, the cgi balrog scenes are great to watch. Gimli and Legolas baiting each other during battles successfully lightens the mood. The scene with the Uruk-Hai smashing their shields in front of Helms Deep is the most memorable point in the film.

8. National Treasure

For History Channel nerds, this movie had enough truth in it to make it enjoyable. Everyone loves a good treasure hunt as well and this movie delivered. Its just a fun film to get in to. I am sure that the historical sites have had to beef up security because of tourists wanting to see the 'secret passageways' and such. Nicolas Cage plays his stereotypical self, but for once it may actually be called for.

7. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

This is a film that caught people of guard with its strong characters that defied convention. It is way too much fun and humorous for a swashbuckling tale. The film also defined Johnny Depp. His quirky self keeps reappearing in other films such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in Wonderland. It will be interesting to see if he can escape the typecasting. The film's successors tried to remake the magic, but the original is by far the best. "I think we've all arrived at a very special place. Spiritually, ecumenically, grammatically."

6. Harry Potter

Yup, I am one of these people. I have read all of the books. I have seen all of the movies multiple times. For some reason these are comfort movies for me. I do not think that they are Oscar worthy; but when nothing else comes to mind, I will watch any one of them. My favorite so far is The Prisoner of Azkaban and its time travel sequence. Like almost all instances, the books are better. The later ones are so long that they cut out many key things in the films. If you need more of the backstory, read the originals.

5. Elf

This over the top bowl of sillyness is always good for a laugh. The notable quotes are abundant and the fact that it does not take itself too seriously adds to the humor. If you have a chance, check out the soundtrack as well. Faizon Love's scenes as the Gimbel's manager are probably my favorite. Who can forget: "Buddy the elf, What's your favorite color"

4. Night at the Museum

Another nod to us supposed smart people. The humor is slapstick and is frankly my style. Mickey Rooney (Andy Hardy movies) and Dick Van Dyke (tons of stuff, with Diagnosis Murder being the most recent) are old favorites of mine and they play their part well. The scenes of Ben Stiller and Dexter, the capuchin monkey, slapping each other are great. Octavius and Jedediah are greatness together. Like many fell good movies, it has a great dance scene at the end. This light-hearted fun is a great way to unwind.

3. Oceans Eleven

The movie Maverick said it best: "there is no more deeply satisfying religious experience... than cheatin' on a cheater." This series epitomizes that phrase while being quite humorous. The movie leaves out details on purpose until the end and then it seems so obvious and so doable when in reality it is not. The second film got all artsy and such a key point was left out so early, it was infuriating. The third film was better and included the famous line: "Willie Bank: This town might have changed, but not me. I know people highly invested in my survival, and they are people who really know how to hurt in ways you can't even imagine.
Danny Ocean: Well, I know all the guys that you'd hire to come after me, and they like me better than you." These films get better with each viewing. Why is that? Well, now that you know the entire story, you can search for all of the connecting pieces that were purposefully left out. In this way, watching things happen in chronological order is fun vs. the order that they actually tell you. This series is also about the legitimization of Matt Damon. He moves from bumbling novice to running the show in the three films. His bumbling youngster routine has hopefully been left behind for good.

2. Ratatouille

This is a very close 2nd for me. Pixar created a lot of quality in the decade. Their films as ranked by me are Up, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., The Incredibles, Wall-E, and Cars. But the creme de la creme for me is this film. The writing is superb, the delivery is well timed and not forced. The animation is more than good enough. This is my comfort film. I can go to bed with a smile on my face after watching it. I love Skinner's line: "Let us toast your non-idiocy." Peter O'Toole's delivery of the best line is magnificent: "But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so."

1. The Bourne Identity

I debated about putting this here, but in the end I had to. I am fairly certain I have seen this movie more than any other during the past decade. I know that I saw it 4 times in theaters. This film came out right after I studied in Europe. I was at both the Zurich and North Paris train stations right before I saw the film. I knew the climate over there right after 9/11. This movie resonated. I still enjoy the tale and find myself enjoying the sequels more and more. Marie Kreutz's cynical line: "Nobody does the right thing." is probably a view held by more people than will admit it. I love how this was a throwback film. I say that because after The Matrix came out in 99, everyone went to the super-stylish computerized fights. Next came Mission Impossible 2, The latest Bond films, X-Men, and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Now compare those to the action sequences in this film. They suddenly felt both raw and plausible. It reminded me somewhat of the film Bullitt. The sequels were good, but it took time for me to warm up to them. The Supremacy seems better with every passing year. The Ultimatum seemed a little over the top, but then again it was more about closure. The uniqueness and timing of the Identity hold up. By far my film of the 2000s.

How To Build a Flower Bed

2010-01-05T21:45:00.000-06:00

Three months ago I started a seemingly innocuous project. "How hard can it be to make a flowerbed?", I said. Well I learned along the way and so I am now going to share what I learned and the steps to make your project easier.

The major milestones are:

Design the Area
Excavate the Area
Construct a Border
Refill with Good Soil
Plant the Flowers
Cover with Mulch

Required Tools

Work Shoes - At several points it stormed and flooded my half-dug bed. After working for just 15 minutes I would have 2 inches of mud on the bottom. Be prepared to throw away your shoes or be stuck with permanent junk shoes.
Work Gloves - This pair is actually the 2nd that I used. The first pair is in the trash. I wore through all 10 fingers on the first set.
Large Spade - This is the best way to get soil up. I tried a shovel and had no luck. This worked especially well with the black clay that we have.
Whatever This Is - Yup, I have no idea what to call it, but it is the best tool for clearing out defined areas. I used it dig out the outline for the bed before I started.
Spreader - I used this to spread out the new soil evenly throughout the bed.
Small Spade - Most people have this already. You dig holes for the bulbs and flowers with it.
Heavy Duty Cart - Now I did not have this wonderful contraption for most of the project. For the first 40 or so bags, I just manually carried them to their locations. This will save your back when hauling a lot of soil.

Now you may ask why I am going to all this trouble. Well that is because I have lots of Black Texas Clay underneath my yard. It has the nickname of "Black Gumbo". It soaks up water and swells. This is one of the reasons that so many people have foundation problems in our area of North Texas. Most plants need "Well Drained Soil" which is pretty much the opposite of what I have. So I replaced it. I ended up digging up only about 1 - 1.5 feet down. Others have done more, but I frankly got tired of digging. Here is what I replaced it with:

Peat Moss - 10 Bags
Top Soil - 20 Bags
Manure - 10 Bags of the cheap stuff. They have premium manure... but I can't imagine what that means.
Compost - 10 Bags
Top Soil - 20 Bags
Mulch - 12 Bags

So let's take a look at those milestones again.

Design the Area - This is probably the most important step. This allows you to put in a lot of effort without having to redo things. My wife gave in to my pleadings and helped measure the back yard space beforehand. The map came out like this: I went online and printed off a grid and then with help of a ruler hand drew the dimensions. Next, we did an initial master plan, or how we want it to look in the end. Our friends, Karson and Sharon, helped in this process. This keeps each sub-project from being vastly different and looking odd in the end. Next, we prioritized the sub-projects and focused on our first bed, outside of our bedroom. We found a plan in a landscaping book tailored to our area and used it as our base: This plan came from Creative Homeowner's Texas Home Landscaping book. I would highly recommend it. We then took our master plan for the backyard and fit the plants that we wanted into it. The end result looks like this: Sp now that you have a good plan, digging in the right spot and building a border is not a game of chance.
Excavate the Area - This where all the oomph comes into play. At least 50% of my time on this project was spent digging. I am estimating that I dug out about 3,000 lbs of dirt. So be prepared for this phase to go slower than you thought.

The first thing to do is to dig out the border a little bit. This allows you to be reckless inside that border with your spade. I used our hose and snaked it around into the shape that I wanted the bed to be. I then used the yet-to-be-named tool from above to strip the grass along the hose. I then removed the hose and dug a little trench and shaped the border a bit.

The rest is just good ole-fashioned hard labor. One thing that I did not consider before starting this phase was where on earth all of this dug up dirt was going to go. Luckily, the lot next door to me is empty right now.Now lifting all of that dirt over the fence was no fun, but at least it is out of my yard.
Construct a Border - I used two different kinds of border. We have leftover brick from the house construction and so I turned that into a decorative border: I had enough brick to go vertical and it looks good from the grass side. You can also see that famous black clay with the brick there. The fence did not need anything fancy, so I bought the cheap pliable plastic border from Lowes:Before going to the next step of refilling the area, it is a good idea to consider drainage and watering levels. I have a downspout that was pouring right into the middle of the new bed and would erode my hard work. I got a very cheap solid black tube and extended the drain out of the flower bed:I also had four different sprinkler heads that were designed for a lawn and not a flower bed. I found replacement heads that are gentler and used a simple female-female connector to attach them to the main line:
Refill with Good Soil - Now is when all of those bags of 'the good stuff' comes into play. I put the good stuff in quotes because frankly anything was better than my black clay. So when I see a $20 miracle bag and a $1.85 pretty good bag, I choose the cheaper. With the number of bags that I bought, this added up to a lot of savings. I layered Peat Moss, Top Soil, Manure, Compost, and Top Soil. I had a friend recommend a combination similar to this and so far I like it. I used my spreader to evenly mix the dirt around the entire bed. Make sure at this point re-check your drainage. Make sure that it slopes away from the house for instance.In the end, my nasty soil was transformed into this:
Plant the Flowers - This is the part that you actually planned for. This is the easiest stage. We planted a bunch of bulbs and using our nifty plan, I knew exactly where to go. This stage is fairly anti-climactic.
Cover with Mulch - Protect your plant from moisture, bugs, and weeds with a good mulch. This last step also adds a colorful layer to the top

Hopefully this guide can help you. Feel free to post and questions or suggestions. I will be following up in the Spring and beyond with how the plants grow in and look.

Quit Fooling Yourself

2009-08-03T15:12:00.003-05:00

I am tired of being saturated with overly hyped meaningless statistics. At least, I am 63.78% sure that I am. The film industry has been getting away it for years and this chicanery cannot go on. The is one of the few industries that publicly denies that inflation exists. The only inflation that they are aware of involves either bicycle tires or their own track record of success.

The only statistic that is publicly acknowledged is Gross Revenue, or how much money they took in. Now it is one thing to report a statistic such as this, but it is another thing to flaunt it. This film had the largest opening for a non-action film debuting on a second Thursday in July since 1974! I am sorry, but that is really disingenuous.

The business world does not fawn over Gross Revenue numbers like this. They use calculations like Net Profit and Return on Investment (Money you make / Money you spent). And guess what, companies don't break all time records every three weeks!

Another example is baseball. Aside from the sport's recent spotty numbers, they have not inflated their statistics. For instance, what if baseball did what the film industry does and multiply home runs by average price of admission? This year (2009) the average ticket price to a Yankees game is $72.97. The year before (2008) the average price was only $41.40. So Alex Rodriguez's 35 home runs last year would equal 1449. This year's 19 home runs equals 1386. So by the movie theater logic, he is 1 home run away from besting last year's rousing success. I don't think so. Let's go back to $5 dollar seats in 1961 and look at Roger Maris's amazing 61 home runs. Wait no, that only equals 305. ARod is almost 5 times better than Maris this year according to the industry.

So, what is the solution?
A simple acknowledgment of total ticket sales . Now there is once again a problem with this because the population has grown, but not near as much as prices have. Or maybe we can use a percentage of the total census that saw the movie. So in 2009, 17.5% of the population saw that movie. So for example, so far this year, roughly 47 million Americans have seen Transformers 2. Impressive. Current figures put the number of people in the country at 307 million. So Transformers 2 sold tickets to 15.33% of Americans. Now there is a statistic I can buy.

Let's put this in perspective a little. In 1993, Jurassic Park came out. So far, Transformers 2 has sold $30 million more than the Crichton classic. But wait, ticket prices were different back then. Jurassic Park sold more than 86.2 million tickets in America. In 1993, the estimated population was around 258 million people. Jurassic Park sold tickets to 33.41% of Americans.

So while Transformers 2 has grossed more than Jurassic Park did, Jurassic Park attracted twice as much of the population to the theater.

So if we unwind, all of the inflation gobbledygook, we are left with the following list of movies that were 'huge' in my conscious lifetime. And whether you liked the movies or not, you can remember that these movies were huge events out there.

Titanic-1997
Jurassic Park-1993
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace-1999
Forrest Gump-1994
The Lion King-1994
The Dark Knight-2008

Come on Hollywood, let's be realistic.

A Real Yard

2009-06-21T21:41:00.011-05:00

Our landscaping has been installed and looks great. We no longer have a mud pit surrounding our house garnished with a port-o-potty. Life is good.

The Almost Completed Look

The Lone Tree in the Backyard (Red Oak)

The rest of the Backyard

A plant up front (Juniper ?)

Crape Myrtle (we have 2)

Japanese Sky Pencil Holly

Kitchen Sink Fixture

Master Bath Granite and Sink Fixture

We are busy packing right now.
As you can see, we are just about ready to move!

On the Fence

2009-06-05T07:33:00.005-05:00

We now have the backyard officially defined and I like it. The fence has not been stained yet, but you can get a better feel for the yard now.

My panoramic attempt

Oh, and they built our mailbox

Tile was started. Here you can see the pattern around the fireplace

The kitchen and dining room were tiled, but it is covered right now. You can see the light fixture that will be above our table.

85% Kitchen

2009-05-29T15:25:00.007-05:00

The house is rolling along. July 10th is the latest that we will close on it. Here is the latest:

The kitchen now has cabinets and counter tops.

A closer look at the granite pattern (Santa Cecilia).

The walls and trim have been painted. This was taken in the kitchen.

The Living Room so far.

Where the TV will eventually go upstairs.

They have finished grading the site so now it is all level and not quite as trashy.

Feelin the Blues

2009-05-29T07:55:00.007-05:00

We recently made a trip to a prime photo op location less than a mile from our apartment. Below are the best of the best:

Kimberlee and her Favorites

Mollee

Buddy

Now Buddy has something that he is always on the lookout for... clean clothes. Whenever we do the laundry, he finds the freshest pile and plants himself on it. This is him using a recent pile of clothing for a pillow.

Now, If you are going to be on my clean clothes, you had better be clean yourself. Therefore, it is bath time, the most feared time of all. Now in the past, I have treated you to Mollee's bath experience. This time, I will show you a glimpse of the 'Bud Man' in his deepest nightmare.

Since this past weekend was the World Beard Championships, here is a little treat:

Its a Brick House

2009-05-21T07:27:00.008-05:00

The Entrance

Brick Close-Up

Back of the House

Side of the House
Interesting to note how the look changes as the mortar dries. You can tell which sections where done in sequence.

Front of the House

Interior Paint Color
They just started putting paint on the walls. I tried to capture both the base white and the new color in this photo.

We Have Walls

2009-05-10T21:08:00.007-05:00

The sheet rock is up. Things are moving very quickly now. We should have interior doors, cabinetry, wall texturing, and maybe even brick next week.

Entryway:

Kitchen:

Game Room:

Upstairs Guest Rooms:

Looking Down:

Rear of the House:

And in the why not category...

The neighborhood werewolf:

Up

2009-05-04T17:03:00.005-05:00

The house has been moving along quite quickly. Here are a few updates.

The cross-stitch that Kimberlee's grandma made for us:

From across the road:

Kimberlee and I out front:

The first official "Hesse Wave":

Completed Foundation

2009-04-08T12:01:00.001-05:00

The foundation is complete. In fact, as I type they are working on the frame. Things are really moving now.

Opening Day 2009

2009-04-06T20:31:00.008-05:00

Pregame Festivities

Balloons Released Around Noon

Rosters and Alumni

The Biggest Flag Ever

President Bush (43), Nolan Ryan, and owner Tom Hicks on the mound

View During the Game

My Dad and I During the 7th Inning Stretch

Thoughts from the Game

If traffic was that bad for a Rangers game, I do not want to be out there within a week of a Cowboys game
Ian Kinsler is hitting the ball very well. Everything was solid contact
Michael Young is a very good defensive 3rd baseman
Josh Hamilton has not found his groove yet, but his Willie Mays catch in center was great
Nelson Cruz looked off on every play in right field, not a good sign
Hank's Homies should be excited, he seems motivated this year
Marlon Byrd continues to be too productive to ignore
Chris Davis looked silly at the plate
Salty showed why his bat earned the starting job
Andrus was nimble and efficient, exactly what we want
Millwood was fooling hitter all day, lots of sky high pop ups
Grady Sizemore is fast... beat out a for sure double play by making it to 2nd
Nothing like a packed house to fire up the troops
Note to the home crowd, our pitchers throw worse when you get rowdy
Opening Day is much better than Monday at the Office

2009 Baseball Predictions

2009-04-02T14:16:00.003-05:00

So once again, I offer the greatest compilation of sports prognostication around. I crunched the numbers and added in my own special expertise. Without further adieu, the greatness:

AL East

95 - 67 Boston Red Sox

89 - 73 New York Yankees

88 - 74 Tampa Bay Rays

78 - 84 Toronto Blue Jays

68 - 94 Baltimore Orioles

AL Central

85 - 77 Cleveland Indians

84 - 80 Minnesota Twins

83 - 78 Detroit Tigers

81 - 71 Chicago White Sox

74 - 88 Kansas City Royals

AL West

88 - 74 Los Angeles Angels

83 - 79 Texas Rangers

80 - 82 Oakland Athletics

69 - 93 Seattle Mariners

NL East

90 - 72 Philadelphia Phillies

87 - 75 New York Mets

82 - 80 Florida Marlins

75 - 87 Atlanta Braves

72 - 90 Washington Nationals

NL Central

91 - 71 Chicago Cubs

89 - 73 St. Louis Cardinals

86 - 76 Milwaukee Brewers

82 - 80 Houston Astros

74 - 88 Cincinnati Reds

70 - 92 Pittsburgh Pirates

NL West

89 - 73 Los Angeles Dodgers

83 - 79 Arizona Diamondbacks

81 - 81 San Francisco Giants

75 - 87 Colorado Rockies

70 - 92 San Diego Padres

So according to that account the Playoffs look like:

American League: Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles and New York

National League: Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, and St. Louis

World Series: Boston over Chicago

Taking Root

2009-04-01T13:43:00.003-05:00

Today I had the good fortune of checking out our land just as they were pouring our foundation. I got to meet a guy named Mike who was using a remote control to pump the mixture into the ground. A team of guys walked around in the stuff and tried to smooth it out as quickly as possible. I only had my camera phone available, so the photo is a little blurry.

2009 Baseball Predictions Primer

2009-03-11T11:59:00.002-05:00

In the past (2008 and 2007) I have made predictions about the outcome of the baseball season. I based these on the previous year's record and then added in my own personal adjustment. It is a fairly simple formula.

Previous Years Wins +/- Off-season Moves.

This year I am taking a different approach. I have run some regression statistics and will be using those. I figured that I would explain the process before I actually posted the predictions. I have run a regression analysis on the premise that Win Total is a function of OPS and WHIP. To make it simpler, Winning is a combination of Hitting and Pitching. I chose OPS and WHIP as indicators of each respectively. Running a regression analysis on the past 5 seasons, I came up with this formula:

Win Total = 55.19 + (192.8 * OPS) - (86.2 * WHIP)

Now, you may ask, "How accurate is that formula?" A good question. According to the regression model, the adjusted R squared is .7835. In other words, The above formula accounts for 78.35% of the reason wins are the total that they are. For baseball, this is a fairly strong relationship. There is obviously no way to account for random occurrences fully, so a good 21.65% is still left to chance and situational factors.

So with that formula in mind. I calculated how many wins each team would have won if that formula were perfect. I then took the difference between reality and prediction and multiplied it by 78.35%. So with that, I have come up with the Adjusted Win Total for each team last year.

I will use this as my base prior to adjustment this year rather than actual results. Why do I want to do this? I want to know how good teams were, not how lucky they were. Therefore my formula this year is:

Previous Years Adjusted Wins +/- Opinion of Off-season Moves.

So what exactly are the adjusted win totals that I will be working with?

AL East

96 - 66 Boston Red Sox

92 - 70 Tampa Bay Rays

89 - 73 Toronto Blue Jays

87 - 75 New York Yankees

68 - 94 Baltimore Orioles

AL Central

91 - 71 Chicago White Sox

84 - 78 Cleveland Indians

84 - 78 Minnesota Twins

76 - 86 Detroit Tigers

75 - 87 Kansas City Royals

AL West

88 - 74 Los Angeles Angels

77 - 85 Texas Rangers

72 - 88 Oakland Athletics

61 - 101 Seattle Mariners

NL East

88 - 74 Philadelphia Phillies

85 - 77 New York Mets

82 - 80 Florida Marlins

77 - 85 Atlanta Braves

63 - 99 Washington Nationals

NL Central

98 - 64 Chicago Cubs

87 - 75 Milwaukee Brewers

87 - 75 St. Louis Cardinals

81 - 81 Houston Astros

71 - 91 Cincinnati Reds

61 - 101 Pittsburgh Pirates

NL West

86 - 76 Arizona Diamondbacks

85 - 77 Los Angeles Dodgers

74 - 88 Colorado Rockies

70 - 92 San Diego Padres

68 - 94 San Francisco Giants

Which team was adjusted the most?
Los Angeles Angels (-12 wins)

Feel free to post comments or suggestions. Is there a stat that you think would be better to use than either OPS or WHIP?

Starved for Attention

2009-03-07T19:10:00.006-06:00

I had to get my camera out and capture the fun that our dogs bring to our lives.

This picture is Mollee trying to get my attention while I am studying by chewing on my chair.

Buddy is a fun dog to have. He seems genuinely happy and frankly excited just to be alive. So you can do all sorts of things to him and he is either clueless or too excited to care. Take today, when Kimberlee decided to put some Easter Bunny ears on him, this was his reaction.

Now Mollee being the spoiled little thing that she is deems silly things like this to be both pointless and humiliating. Therefore, she gives us the evil eye whenever we try to make her prissy.

Outlines and Trenches

2009-03-05T21:00:00.007-06:00

If you are like me, this title evokes thoughts of presentation summaries and World War 1 fighting strategies. But, these two words can adequately describe the current state of my house. The builder has put up form boards that will be used later on for the foundation. This is like having a chalk line of your house. It is pretty cool to see where it is going to go, but boy does it look small when you look at it. Kimberlee wanted me to double check that the builder wasn't skimming some of the square footage off. The familiar view across the street is now:

They have dug a bunch of trenches that will be used for pipes of various sorts. They have to get all of that done before the foundation is poured. Because of this pre-design, we should only have 1 hole in the foundation for all of the pipes to enter the house.

Current estimates are that we will have a good amount of the framing done by the end of the month!

Bear Down

2009-02-26T08:15:00.006-06:00

How does a baseball team's ability to keep runner's from scoring affect their win total? Today I am going to look at the relationship between Team Wins and Left on Base %.

Team Wins
Number of total wins for a team

Left On Base %
The percentage of hitters that reach base but do not score.

I charted out 2008's values to see what kind of trendline it would generate. The Correlation is only about 60%, but if you remove the 1 obvious anomaly, it jumps to 70%.

It is quite obvious that holding runners or bearing down is a key component to winning. What determines how far a team is above or below the line? Hitting

The anomaly? That would be the 79 win Texas Rangers. The equation Wins = 435.37(LOB %) - 231.28 describes the slope of the line without the Rangers. That would peg the Rangers at 55 Wins last year based upon pitching.

The teams that were farthest from the line were (Actual to Equation):
Can't Hit
Seattle Mariners (61 to 77)
Washington Nationals (59 to 74)
San Diego Padres (63 to 77)

Hit a lot
Texas Rangers (79 to 55)
California Anaheim LA Angels (100 to 87)

Don't Hold Back

2009-02-20T14:08:00.002-06:00

In preparation for the upcoming baseball season and because I am finishing up a statistics course, I am going to do a series on interesting stats from the great game. These are not necessarily original statistics, but the ones that I find interesting. All stats come from last season.

Fast Ball Percentage
To what degree do pitchers feel comfortable throwing the heat? Are they pretty sure that you will chase junk in the dirt? I think answers to these questions should help a player focus on areas to improve during the offseason. The average player sees about 60% fastballs when they come to the plate.

Let's start with players around the league who should swing early and assume fastball. Pitchers think that they cannot get around on a good fastball.

Player	Team	Fastball %
Juan Pierre	Dodgers	70.1 %
Chone Figgins	Angels	69.1 %
Placido Polanco	Tigers	68.1 %
Johnny Damon	Yankees	67.8 %
Matt Holliday	Rockies	67.0 %

Two Rangers this year need to take notice:

Player	Team	Fastball %
Taylor Teagarden	Rangers	70.8 %
Frank Catalanotto	Rangers	66.6 %

As far as players who can't hold back on any pitch, the following are in the cellar. Pitchers think that they can get them to whiff on anything with movement. If this group does not stay planted on their back feet, they are toast.

Player	Team	Fastball %
Alexei Ramirez	White Sox	47.0 %
Hunter Pence	Astros	49.8 %
Dan Uggla	Marlins	50.2 %
Aubrey Huff	Orioles	51.0 %
Ryan Howard	Phillies	51.2 %
Geovany Soto	Cubs	51.2 %

The offending Rangers are:

Player	Team	Fastball %
Hank Blalock	Rangers	53.2 %
Josh Hamilton	Rangers	53.4 %
Chris Davis	Rangers	55.3 %
Nelson Cruz	Rangers	55.4 %

That's So 2003

2009-02-17T14:52:00.004-06:00

Today the media got all hyped up and was ready to lynch someone who dared offend them. They posted their 'questions they would have asked' and demanded answers. And today, Alex Rodriguez gave a bunch of answers. Answers that in my opinion are plausible and a demeanor that seemed believable. He claims that he stopped taking something 6 years ago.

If this press conference was held 6 years ago, 500% more fans would care and 5000% more average joes would care. The fact of the matter is that I, like most people, am over it. I have other things to worry about right now (job, savings, a house, grad school, work...). I may have given an impassioned response in the past, but not these days. I think a lot of people have reached this point. Let's move on.

Back when ARod quit using banned substances...

50 Cent and Evanescence had successful debut albums with Outkast's Hey Ya being the most downloaded song of the year.

The Lord of the Rings movies finally closed, Pirates of the Caribbean came out, 2 Matrix films hit the theaters, and Finding Nemo defined a 12 step program for sharks.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl over the Oakland Raiders... yes the very same joke of a team that we have today.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected Governor of California.

I was in college that year.

I wasn't even engaged to be married until the end of that year...

Caring about juiced players is sooo 2003.

The Doldrums

2009-02-07T18:51:00.004-06:00

We went to check on the house today. Since we are done making decisions, I figure that they should be about done by now too. WRONG! Permits apparently take some time to go through. So until then, nothing happens on the lot.

This reminds of the baseball talk this time of year. Everyone is fishing for a story but is just scrambling for who knows what. Today I hear that "that the Rangers are 'considering' signing Andruw Jones." No one in their right mind would do such a thing. Further proof that things are puttering along waiting to be kicked into gear.

This is a view from about where Kimberlee's office will be:

Thank goodness that Spring Training is just around the corner.

Blog Stimulus

2009-02-04T14:11:00.011-06:00

So what has kept me so busy the last couple of months?
Glad you asked, and it happens to be a new house!

We started on January 11th by securing our lot.

We then selected floor plan and options:

So 2 story brick with a front porch.

Bay windows on the Master Bedroom. 12x12 covered patio in the back.

Kimberlee's office in the front.

My office on the middle left. Guest Bedroom on the middle right.

TV / Game room on the bottom left.

Finally, we finished the interior design last night. Below are the samples that we chose. The first has our maple cabinets, granite kitchen countertop, and entry / kitchen / dining tile.

Next we have our bathroom cabinetry, linoleum, master bath granite (bottom left), other bathroom marble (bottom center), carpet, and main paint color for the house.

Thoughts from Panera Bread

2008-12-13T14:15:00.007-06:00

Free WiFi is awesome. It allows you to get out of the house and do the exact same thing as always, but with scenery. Panera Bread has given me the opportunity today and I am grateful. Obviously I am a little busy these days if I am posting from here, so let me throw some quick shots out today.

Sports
I am about footballed out right now. Being in Dallas, the Cowboys occupy 75% of the airwaves this time of year at a minimum. This team has done its best to take my little interest and step on it. The high school feuds that exist or are trumped up by the talking heads have me wishing for sports talk in place of the tabloid gossip.

The Ranger's off season so far has been non-dramatic which makes me somewhat happy. We sold on the down tick with Gerald Laird. His five tool player status along with his experience merits more than a high school kid and a slow to mature AA player. I don't think the return was horrid, but it was underwhelming. So far they have yet to sign a blockbuster player. Thank Goodness! Kerry Wood and his permanent spot on the disabled list went for over 10 million a year. Thankfully we are not weighing down our future with such contracts. I don't care how good you are (Teixeira, CC, etc.), 6+ year contracts are nuts in this league. It guaranteed... results are anything but. I for one would love to see contracts have a consistent base league-wide based on experience and then having significant bonuses tied to performance. 55 home runs one year brings in 8 million extra, the slump the next year to 21 homers only brings in 2 million. How much drama could we eliminate with such a system. How much easier to keep franchise players that build a fan base. Most likely it is too simple to actually happen.

Church
I have a structural engineer teaching our Young Marrieds class at church this quarter. This bodes well for both my excitement and my comprehension. I have a subtle feeling that some us may have to be translators if he gets too technical, but I bet his lessons won't be hard to understand.

Cinema
Once again the holidays are here and movies that technical have not been released are being considered for yearly honors. Just sad. I wish they would have awards that require 100 million in sales to get be eligible. No more artsy films that are only released in 17 theaters. I am not saying that all of these films stink, but at least talk about films that people have heard of. Using my new eligibility rules from above, here are the best films of the year based upon the buzz generated by the common man:

Roundhouse to the Oscars
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Wall-E
Get Smart
Kung Fu Panda
Indiana Jones
High School Musical 3

Not the list that you will see anywhere near the Academy Awards, but certainly the list of movies that I have been hearing about.

New Laptop
I got a new laptop about a week ago. I am so pumped. The last computer purchase that I made was before I started college in the summer of 2000. I went with an Asus that I got off of NewEgg. It has an Intel Core2Duo P8600 processor, 4 Gigs of RAM, a 320 Gig Hard Drive, and a huge 1 Gig NVidia GeForce 9650 GT graphics card. The best games from my old system look like an Atari on an HD TV. Oh, and I got this since I started grad school this fall...

Heard While Making This Post
Weezer - Possibilities
The Calling - Wherever You Will Go
Jimmy Eat World - Sweetness

Artsy

2008-11-25T08:27:00.013-06:00

I figure that since the title of this blog includes the word Views, I had better add a few. Before the weather became too cold for afternoon strolls, I took my camera with me as I walked the local jogging trail. I also do this to highlight my oh so excellent and unprofessional camera. I have a Kodak EasyShare Camera and have taken close to 3,000 pictures with it. I have had camera store clerks scoff at it, but I still believe that it does a great job.

This was taken prior to the walk on my back porch. This plant of ours turns bright red in the fall.

Self Portrait - Reflection in the Creek

This was an experiment to see if I could capture a car going at least 45 miles per hour through a bridge railing.

Souring - How High Can You Fly?

Disgust... Disgrace... Disrespect

Freedom

Dancing Lights

Depth Perception - Floating Leaves

Fluidity

Resilience

I am In Charge

Blockade

Vision - During the recent election, candidates were shown looking up in a way to signify leadership and vision. If I ever run for office, I will use this picture as a telling early sign of such traits.

Redundant Redundancy

What If

2008-11-10T12:20:00.004-06:00

I had no job, no responsibilities, and was bored out of my mind? That question was the answer to my question of "Why?" after watching a video earlier today. Here are some answers:

Turn myself into a quartet and cater to nerds - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk5_OSsawz4

Learn every batting stance ever and record them in my mom's back yard - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B34vVWisTPQ

Blog

Master Table Tennis - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8IVASo0umU

Post new Facebook status updates all day long

Learn the robot (wait for the guy 45 seconds in) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSoVKUVOnfQ

Watch Youtube

Make a Tutorial on How to Boil Water - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kieGBkOdyMU

Let me know if I forgot any

The Lighter Side

2008-11-07T13:24:00.004-06:00

It is time for a post on the lighter side of things. I have noticed that Baseball has slipped to #2 on my topics list, so today I am going to help it and other topics get more recognition.

It's Hot Stove Season in Baseball Land
Oh boy am I excited. Possible blockbuster deals and team upgrades make this time of year a fun time to keep up with the great game. Being in Texas, I don't see many of the big names coming here. I would love to trade Salty for a pitcher. Greinke appears to be a possibility that I would go for. Any trade must be for a promising pitcher. We don't need anything else right now.

The Best Stadium?
Today on the lovely Ticket, the broadcasters boldly predicted that the new Dallas Cowboys stadium was so expensive, so luxurious, and so innovating that it would be the best sports stadium for at least 10 years. They justify this position by claiming that Jerry Jones is more ambitious and has more money to spend than anyone else.

I am going to boldly take the opposite side of this argument. I think it will be less than 5 years (probably 3) before some new stadium takes over the title. I can't count how many new stadiums were hailed as the best ever and would never be topped, all have since been dethroned. I guarantee that this one will be topped and saying otherwise is not a wise stance to take.

Now don't get me wrong, I think that it will be a great place for many years to see a game. But the best? I tend to think it will be outdone by someone and in the not-so-distant future.

How To Cut In Line
Check out this article on the best ways to cut in line. A quick look:

researchers have tried to unpick the psychology of the queue, though most work has focused on reducing consumer frustration. However, one classic study found that New Yorkers were more likely to react to people who cut in front of them in a subway queue than behind.

Yankee fans only care about who is in front of them (Red Sox), they never see it coming from behind (Rays).

A cheap shot and off topic... you bet. Thoroughly satisfying... definitely.

A Smart Choice
I rented Get Smart the other night and it exceeded my expectations. It had plenty of witty comedy, but kept from being downright silly. I give it a solid 4 out of 5.

Too Long?
People often complain about the length of the Baseball season. 162 games is a long season. But now that both Hockey and Basketball have started up, I suggest that they feel longer. Baseball goes roughly from March through October, or about 8 months. Basketball and Hockey go from roughly November through June, or about 8 months. The difference to me is that at least in baseball, my team is playing every day or two, not every three to four. All of the down time combined with the length of the playoffs make the 'Winter' sports drag on and on.

I think that we might need to take the schedules down a notch, but let's apply it to several sports.

Election Musings

2008-11-06T08:25:00.000-06:00

Feel free to refine or poke holes in the following ideas.

The Primaries
Is anyone confused about the primary process? I know that I am. This process wreaks of a lack of planning. It just sort of fell together this way over time. I live in one of those states that doesn't matter in the primaries. Texas. The state that holds 34 electoral votes has virtually zero sway in the primaries. Who chose Iowa and New Hampshire as the king-makers of this country? Iowa doesn't even use a legitimate selection system (caucus) in my opinion.

So here is my plan. It is simple, and it is allows the nation (not a handful of states) to choose who gets to run.

Super Tuesday 1
The First Tuesday of February of the election year. All 50 states will hold a primary election. Candidates that can gather signatures amounting to 0.25% of the popular vote in the previous election are eligible for their party. That would be slightly over 300,000 signatures in 2012.

Super Tuesday 2
The last Tuesday of April of the election year. The top 3 vote getters for a party will be eligible. All 50 states will hold a primary election. The top popular vote getter wins the nomination.

How hard is that? You get rid of caucuses. You get rid of superior first choice states. You get rid of goofy delegates, super-delegates, and all that jazz.

Election Day
I think that everyone can agree on this one except for my boss. Let's make election day a federal holiday. This will help prevent the end of the day rush (when people get off of work). We don't have to sneak out during the lunch break to vote. This day is a celebration of our country's freedom. Let's celebrate.

Next, let's move election day to the first Friday of November. Why you ask? Because I want a 3 day weekend... just kidding. Most people stay up late and watch the results, most people also get little sleep, and most people spend the next day at work talking about the results. The result... a very unproductive workday.

Voter Registration
The most controversial measure on my blog today. Let's do away with Voter Registration! What?!? Why or how would you do that? Simple, use the same form of ID that everyone else requires... a Driver's License.

If I go the movie theater and look young, they demand it. If I go to 7-Eleven and use my credit card, they sometimes demand it. If I want to drive a car, I must have it. If I want to get on an airplane, I must have it (or a Passport). Whenever I get a new job, they make a copy of it. Everyone else accepts this form of ID, why not the election board.

Why do I want to do this? So we can simplify the process of voting and eliminate the occurrence of minimize suspicion of election fraud.

Issues to Overcome
Fake IDs - If high school aged kids can produce McLovin, we need to check for it. Answer: Every polling place uses an ID verification webservice that takes Drivers License Number, First Name, and Last Name. This webservice interfaces with the state's database and spits back a Valid or Invalid verdict.

Using the Same ID More than Once - This same webservice puts a little X next to everyone name as it is checked. After being checked once, it will return invalid.

Security or I Don't Trust Those Newfangled Machines - This is a valid fear, but it nothing more than that. I work in the financial software industry. I pull people's credit reports, wire money, send SSN numbers around all via a webservice. How is this allowed? Because we use secure methods (ones that I will not divulge here). If I can do it with that information, we could have the NSA whip up something better in no time I would bet.

This Disenfranchises People - I know, I am suppressing the vote of people who don't have an ID. I am against the poor, the immigrant worker, and the elderly. You know what, I think that would could figure something out here, I just haven't come up with it yet. Help me out.

What Band Would Play At Your Inauguration Party?
Ah yes, the really important question of the day. I thought about this one and came to the conclusion that the word Party was the key. So my initial verdict is:

Toby Mac

I could party to:

Let's Get This Party Started - to set the mood
Feelin' So Fly - I could do some goofy dance like them
Extreme Days - to go along with the urgency of things
Boomin - just to bring everyone together

Could you wish for a President that sang with him, I don't want to gain the whole world and lose my soul!

...and yes I am white... so is Toby Mac.

Please feel free to offer other suggestions...

A Rebuilding Year

2008-11-05T10:16:00.004-06:00

So yesterday my candidate lost. What am I going to do about it? More importantly, what is the party or movement going to do about it? I think that there are several good answers.

First though, some perspective. The popular vote so far appears to have shifted 4% since the last election. That is all that it took to switch the party affiliation of the President. If it can swing 1% a year for 4 years, it can switch right back. So, in other words, it is a very attainable goal in 2012. Also, consider the 1992 election that brought forth a 1994 redo of Congress. In 2 years, a lot can change in the house.

So, back to my original question. What must be done to to bring Conservatism back to the top?

Remain True to Our Principles
It is time to stop redefining Conservatism. We have a great mission statement, so let's stick to it. We promote individual freedom through limited government. Is that so hard to follow through on? We can not let power go to our heads and start adding to that. The past administration did a bad job or sticking to it and Congress went right along. Government expanded under Republican control and guess what, the people saw through it.

If you miss this one, many of the points below become irrelevant.

Switch to the Positive
This means that it is time for us to update our message. People want to be inspired to do great things, not scared away from evil. The best way that I know how to explain this is through the evolution of church evangelism. In the 50s, the church could have revival's and convert people because they were going to hell. Likewise, voters would vote against the scary Commies blowing us all to... well hell. Now, we have a different evangelism style in the church. We preach on love and forgiveness and grace. We make it attractive, not scared out of your mind. Why do we do this? First off, it is more effective. Second, our culture has shifted this direction. Conservative candidates must make this shift as well in order to stay viable. They must advertise the great strides that can be made rather than using fear-mongering as the chief get out the vote effort.

Quit Whining
People go with winners. They want someone who acts like a winner. Whining about the media every day is not the action of a winner, but a sore loser. Let's make the best out of what we have rather than complaining about what we don't have.

Redefine the Face of the Movement
To piggy-back on point number 2, things have changed over the years. Methods used in 1990 are not as effective today. Therefore our inspiring leaders of the past are starting to become hindrances. On the 'conservative' radio station in town, we get 8 hours of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin. Let's realize something here. They are not converting many people to the movement. They are in the business to well, have a successful business. That means catering to their clients. They use tactics like point #3. Again, they are not winning people to the movement in any significant way.

What kind of leader or voice of the movement am I looking for? Someone who inspires people to better themselves, someone who educates people on how they can make their family situation better, and someone who makes the movement attractive and enticing to newcomers.

Walk the Walk (Strict Ethics Control)
We need to be the movement of the American Family. And frankly, the American Family wants us to be just that We align closely to them on many of the social issues. Now we have to follow it up with upright living.

We need to take decisive and immediate action to curb ethics problems. This goes from weird perversions to being buddy-buddy with all of the lobbyists. No more shenanigans. With the presidential election still close to 50-50, why are the Senate and House so one-sided? One of the major reasons is that politicians here and there keep getting into scandals. I am frankly proud of people voting against their party to get the scum out of office. We will not regain or hold Congress with a continuing record of somewhat frequent scandal.

Educate
I don't think that we have a done a good job of educating the general public about the superiority of our ideas and principles. We have facts on our side folks. We have results and prosperity to show for it. Nobody seems to know it though. I do not fault an ignorant voter for voting the other way. I mean ignorant with no condescending tone. A lot of voters just don't have all of the information to make a truly informed decision. We must do better about getting the facts out there.

Keep the Message Simple
We have to build and maintain a brand that is easy to define and understand. I like a lot of things that Ross Perot has to say for instance, but he bored more people than anyone with his TV specials back in 1992. It was a big joke about his flip charts and such. They may have contained great information, but it was nothing that would become a catchphrase or grab your attention. We have to develop our mission and then simplify it so that it is easy to spread and remember.

Appeal to Young Voters
For the life of me I don't know why we can't do better here. We are the Keep Government Out of My Business group. This stay out of my business idea is a rallying cry for young people. We need to expand on this effort greatly.

Target Minorities
That is right, I said it. African-American (AA) and Latin-American (LA) voters are a huge voting block. We have a lot to say to them.

For the AA group, we have railed against programs that help them more than other groups. We have to shift to instead promote the great opportunity that can be realized by leaving those programs in the dust.

For the LA group, we have become the "Get out your shotgun and run 'em back across the border" party in many respects. I like in Texas, I see it. We must expand our opportunity of the American Dream to LA voters without threatening them constantly. We must completely redo our immigration / deportation stance. We need to look at the history of immigration and how it has benefited our country. We must deal with the realities of the times and reach out to people.

Become Vocal
The silent majority is a problematic paradigm. We are getting totally overrun in certain arenas because we just don't stand up for what we believe and voice our opinion. This goes back to #1, #2, and #6. I am not talking about becoming a loud obnoxious group, just one that knows what it stands for and is willing to talk about it.

This is very doable. Let's start right now and see what we can accomplish.

This post can almost be flipped to be a religious discussion now that I read it through. Winning people over to great ideas has a lot of things in common apparently.

Tomorrow I will post my goofy suggestions for how to make the election cycle both simpler and better.

The Big Day

2008-11-04T12:29:00.003-06:00

Finally, after too many hours of analysis, election day is here. I won't go into too much detail on this issue or that issue. I think everyone has frankly already decided. I got my "I Voted" sticker today. My new solution to the federal deficit is to eliminate the "I Voted" stickers from the budget. I was even given a 2nd sticker. What a waste of taxpayer money.

I posted earlier this year about reading the book, Free to Choose by Milton Friedman. It is just excellent. Many people do not know that it was a television series back in 1980. Now a website has the video up streaming to you for free. These are well worth checking out. You can even see the goofy intros that were added in 1990. Go visit http://www.ideachannel.tv/.

Finally, some thoughts for the election day.

Luke 12: 22-31

Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

AOMB: Posing

2008-10-25T22:19:00.005-05:00

Today Mollee and Buddy both got a bath. So we decided to capture the moment before they decided to get back to normal. Here is the result of our coaxing them to pose for you!

And this is what happened when I asked them to make a goofy face.

Capturing Nature

2008-10-25T21:48:00.010-05:00

Most people that I know are very proud of their photographic abilities. I am by no means an expert and I certainly don't have professional equipment. However, Kimberlee and I are quite proud of the picture below.

While on vacation, we visited the Daniel Stow Botanical Garden outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. This relatively new garden has plenty of room to grow. They have a special orchid conservatory that was housing hundreds of butterflies. Naturally, we tried to take a picture of every single one. First up, the butterflies...

Next up, the orchids!

And the rest of the garden...

Symetry... I love it!

The biggest wild spider that I have ever seen.

The weirdest flower that I know of.

The best scenery of the day!

This feels like a scene from The Secret Garden.

A water spout that shoots over a path? You bet I am all over that.

I am quite brave. Look how close I got to this bee.

Catching Up

2008-10-25T21:38:00.003-05:00

Like most people out there, I have been busy. So busy that I forgot to blog for a while. Therefore tonight is catch-up night. I considered doing one gigantic post, but I think that things should be separate. I hope that you enjoy the next few posts.

First off, back at the beginning of the month Kimberlee and I visited Luke, Rebecca, and Micah Adams in North Carolina. We had a great visit and got to celebrate Rebecca's 28th birthday. As you can see below, I worked hard on the candle arrangement. She and Kimberlee have been friends since college. Rebecca is one tough cookie. She isn't going to beat anyone up, but she has fought hard of late against cancer. The dreaded chemo is finally over and she has surgery coming up. Please pray for her.

AOMB: Love At First Sight

2008-10-07T13:53:00.009-05:00

So the old heading of AOM has to be revised to AOMB. Why? Because we now have Buddy!

We adopted him last night from a local rescue group. His is still a puppy and is feisty enough to put up with Mollee's antics. If the first 24 hours are any indication, he will be a great playmate for her. And before you ask, both of them have had their special surgeries so there should be a zero chance of puppies. Now he looks an awful lot like Mollee. The easiest way to tell them apart is that he is solid black on he back and she has white streaks. Their eyes also look different. The following are from last night.

Buddy was initially confused about his new surroundings.

They got to know each other by rolling around on the floor.

Mollee then spent the rest of the night jumping on him and playing as much as possible.

They have both decided that the thing that they most want is what the other one has. Mollee in this picture is not sure what to make of him chewing on her rawhide.

In the end, they both want attention. Buddy is on the right and Mollee snuck in on the left.

The Untouchables

2008-09-29T14:11:00.002-05:00

The following is a list of baseball players that have 1 thing in common. See if you can guess it!

Batters
Carl Crawford
David Ortiz
Adam Dunn
Chone Figgins
Russell Martin
Eric Byrnes
Travis Hafner
Paul Konerko
Jeff Francoeur
Troy Tulowitzki
Todd Helton
Jorge Posada
Ivan Rdoriguez
Michael Cuddyer
Gary Matthews Jr.
Andruw Jones

Pitchers
Erik Bedard
Aaron Harang
Javier Vazquez
Justin Verlander
Fausto Carmona
JJ Putz
John Maine
Pedro Martinez
Chien-Ming Wang
Joe Blanton
Brad Penny
Jeff Francis
Clay Buchholz
Eric Gagne
CJ Wilson

Figured it out yet?

These are all players that you should have avoided on draft day this season.

Yes, that is correct, this list of well knowns all stunk it up. Well maybe not all were awful, but they all produced much less than the preseason hype. Some broke down physically, other mentally, while others were just the cool pick of the year. There are many people that, upon looking at the above list last February, would call that a dream draft.

So you ask, what were the smart people buying?

Batters
Josh Hamilton
Dustin Pedroia
Ryan Ludwick
Aubrey Huff
Kevin Youkilis
Nate McLouth
Carlos Quentin
Carlos Delgado
Matt Kemp
Raul Ibanez
Jorge Cantu
Mark DeRosa
Xavier Nady
Andre Ethier
Milton Bradley
Randy Winn
Melvin Mora

Pitchers
Roy Halladay
Mariano Rivera
Cliff Lee
Tim Lincecum
Rich Harden
Joakim Soria
Justin Duchscherer
Ervin Santana
Ricky Nolasco
Grant Balfour
Mike Mussina

I hope that your team looked more like the 2nd list this year. Mine probably favored a little of both, but not enough of the second.

Season Awards

2008-09-25T08:43:00.002-05:00

Now is the time of the year for the age old debate of who was the best of the year. A lot of people views these awards as definitive in validating a players place in history. I think I can judge from this year's list of candidates that there are many difficult and maybe even arbitrary decisions to be made. Here is how I break down the races:

AL MVP
1. Justin Morneau - .308 BA, 23 HR, 129 RBI
2. Dustin Pedroia - .325 BA, 17 HR, 118 Runs
3. Carlos Quentin - .288 BA, 36 HR, 100 Runs
4. Grady Sizemore - .272 BA, 33 HR, 38 SB
5. Josh Hamilton - .304 BA, 34 HR, 126 RBI

NL MVP
1. Albert Pujols - .350 BA, 34 HR, 108 RBI
2. David Wright - .300 BA, 33 HR, 123 RBI
3. Lance Berkman - .314 BA, 29 HR, 104 RBI
4. Hanley Ramirez - .298 BA, 33 HR, 122 Runs, 33 SB
5. Matt Holliday - .321 BA, 25 HR, 107 Runs

AL Cy Young
1. Cliff Lee - 22-3, 2.54 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 170 Ks
2. Roy Halladay - 19-11, 2.81 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 201 Ks
3. Ervin Santana - 16-6, 3,25 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 209 Ks
4. Francisco Rodriguez - 62 Saves, 2.27 ERA
5. Mariano Rivera - 38 Saves, 1.43 ERA, 0.68 WHIP

NL Cy Young
1. Tim Lincecom - 17-5, 2.66 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 248 Ks
2. Brandon Webb - 22-7, 3.24 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 176 Ks
3. Johan Santana - 15-7, 2.64 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 197 Ks
4. CC Sabathia - 16-10, 2.80 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 244 Ks
5. Ryan Dempster - 17-6, 2.99 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 183 Ks

Running Diary - Storm 2008

2008-09-13T08:36:00.005-05:00

Because of Hurricane Ike's fury, we here in North Texas, a mere 300 miles from landfall, have been warned about today's weather. I, your trusty reporter, will put my thoughts on paper as STORM 2008! rolls through.

September 12
11:06 PM CST
The winds are a changing. They now blow out of the East, Southeast direction. This is an odd occurrence, for they never come from there. The air smells like the town of Houston, warm, dense, and very moist. I think that I just killed a mosquito. I feel like the captain at the beginning of Mary Poppins. I can sense change in the air.

September 13
8:02 AM CST
Armed with my trusty weather vane, I have traveled outside to take a read on the situation. I find that there is no more trusty weather vane than a dog that should be doing its business. Our particular bloodhound pointed straight into the steady stream of air from the East, Northeast. This time the air smells less moist and the clouds remind me of the dark soul of winter. The sun peaks through and winks at us every couple of minutes as the clouds permit. Somethings amiss. I did the usual test of leaning into a gust of wind to gauge its speed. I nearly fell flat on my face... approximately 30 MPH.

9:17 AM CST
My companion tricked me into going out into the storm again, although she did alert me to the new Northeast wind direction. I chose to figure out the wind intensity by looking at the trees as opposed to my previous method. We have had the first heavy rain drop fall on our quaint abode and I can only assume that there will be millions more. I now have a full stomach from a breakfast of cinnamon rolls and a wet mop on the end of a leash. So far, it feels like any other Saturday...

10:09 AM CST
Tricked again... for the last time? I doubt it. The winds and rain have died down, but the wind shifted once again to the North, Northwest. The hood on my jacket almost lifts off of my shoulders when I turn my back to the wind. I can't help but to think back to simpler times in our fair town. Softball-sized hail and mile-wide tornadoes plagued out town, but this swirling devilry just makes my bones shiver.

11:48 AM CST
My wife and I are about to venture out in search of food from south of the border. This may very well be my last entry if the storm turns out to be truly vicious.

3:14 PM CST
We made it back! What a terrible sight it was. Trees were swaying, traffic lights were blinking red, and an old lady in a robe was peering out of her garage looking very concerned. The wind was blowing so hard (how hard was it?) that the rain was coming down at a 45 degree angle. Several creeks were running high and I wouldn't be surprised is water splashed onto a bridge or two. The eye of the great storm is now due east of my apartment. Let's hope that it does not turn its wrath this way.

7:13 PM CST
I am braving the elements once more to get some entertainment for the evening. Something from the local Blockbuster store should distract our minds from the tempest. The furious wind is throwing the rain from the Northwest now. It slashes against my clothes and seeps inside. I have stepped in several large puddles; it I accumulating faster than I would have ever anticipated.

10:47 PM CST
I stand on my balcony and survey the destruction. The storm has passed. It worked like a slingshot and flung the moisture from the gulf in a vast circle that landed in our area. Unfortunately for it, it tried to do the same with the west Texas air. It is still moist out, but it is a dry moisture. This whirling cyclone gave us its best, but it was no match!

Uncommon Knowledge

2008-09-10T14:34:00.004-05:00

Today I want to highlight an excellent program that is free online. The show Uncommon Knowledge is run by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. This show reminds me of the American Studies lectures that I heard throughout college. Each episode is 5-8 minutes in length and is in the question and answer format. The topics of conversation are usually centered public policy and more specifically politics.

Peter Robinson is the moderator and does an excellent job of phrasing questions in a way that encourages the guest to share his or her vast knowledge and expert opinions. He is a former Reagan speech writer and author who now works at a policy think tank.

Interview with Andrew Klaven - This accomplished author talks about his distaste for empty religion and how he came to an atheist view of the world and then how he found his faith. I am extremely impressed by his gifted way to articulate his faith from an outsider's point of view, meaning someone who wasn't born into their current beliefs. I think that you will find this interview very interesting, I find it fascinating.

Chizzeled in Stone

2008-09-06T10:31:00.002-05:00

I promised a while back that I would lay out my predictions for the upcoming season, so here they are:

Dallas Cowboys: 12-4

@Cleveland - W
Philadelphia - W
@Green Bay - L
Washington - W
Cincinnati - W
@Arizona - W
@St. Louis - W
Tampa Bay - W
@NY Giants - L
@Washington - W
San Francisco - W
Seattle - W
@Pittsburgh - L
NY Giants - W
Baltimore - W
@Philadelphia - L

Standings
AFC
East

New England Patriots 14-2
Buffalo Bils 8-8
New York Jets 8-8
Miami Dolphins 3-13

North

Cleveland Browns 10-6
Pittsburgh Steelers 9-7
Cincinnati Bengals 8-8
Baltimore Ravens 4-12

South

Jacksonville Jaguars 13-3
Indianapolis Colts 11-5
Houston Texans 10-6
Tennessee Titans 6-10

West

San Diego Chargers 13-3
Denver Broncos 9-7
Kansas City Chiefs 4-12
Oakland Raiders 3-13

NFC
East

Dallas Cowboys 12-4
NY Giants 11-5
Philadelphia Eagles 10-6
Washington Redskins 7-9

North

Green Bay Packers 11-5
Minnesota Vikings - 10-6
Detroit Lions 8-8
Chicago Bears 5-11

South

Carolina Panthers 9-7
New Orleans Saints 8-8
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7-9
Atlanta 2-14

West

Arizona Cardinals 9-7
Seattle Seahawks 7-9
San Francisco 49s - 6-10
St. Louis Rams 3-13

Super Bowl - Jacksonville over Dallas

Oh the Diversity

2008-09-04T11:32:00.004-05:00

I figure that it is time for a more lighthearted post. I get IMed and emailed links to cool or funny videos all the time. So today I will share a compilation of music from the 80s. Now I was very young during the decade, but I do have faint memories of some of this stuff. I am just amazed at the varied level of music that existed. Some are respectable, others I might attribute to Canada. Since I have so many to post, I will just post links and not embed them all.

1982 - David Frizzell - I'm Gonna Hire A Wino To Decorate Our Home - This is just the song, not video. But anything with a title like that is on my list.

1983 - The Police - Every Breath You Take - Perhaps the coolest use of a chello in pop culture. I can hear the critics of the day hailing the innovative film techniques. The official stalker video of a generation.

1984 - U2 - Pride (In the name of love) - The best stadium rock band of all time. Bono pre-glasses. A religious song. Its got it all.

1983 - Weird Al - I Love Rocky Road - Probably his first big music video. Watch out for endless cheese.

1985 - A-Ha - Take on Me - Awesome graphics here. A flipbook artist's dream. Falsetto... why!

1987 - Guns N Roses - Paradise City - Typical 80s rockers. Hair, festival crowds, good guitar riffs.

1987 - Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up - Mr Youtube / Rick Rolled. This guy has all the smooth moves...

1987 - Kool & The Gang - Victory - Is this pop, R&B, Hip Hop? I am not sure. They use instruments that I have never seen before or since.

1988 - New Kids on the Block - This video is an instructional lesson on how to get yourself beat up. Since when is singing falsetto for an entire song cool? This one is painful to watch.

1988 - DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince - Parents Just Don't Understand - Does the rap community still recognize this? Can you see 50 cent doing this song?

1989 - Clint Black - Better Man - The quintessential country music video and song. This is what I think of when I think of the genre.

1989 - Metallica - One - The best metal band of all time shows off its crazy guitar skills and the crowd that goes with it.

Scatter Shooting

2008-09-03T11:02:00.004-05:00

I am re-reading a book that was once a college assignment. Because of the nature of required reading, I gave it the minimal amount of attention. I am really enjoying the second and more thoughtful look at Milton Friedman's Free to Choose. Friedman is a Nobel Prize winner for economics and applies his theories to just about everything in this book. The political implications are especially striking. This book was written in the late 1970's, but it quite relevant in its discussion of oil prices and other trends that seem to be affecting us again. Some of the quotes that struck me so far are:
We have shifted from a expectation of equality of opportunity to the expectation of equality of results
Experience shows that that once government undertakes an activity, it is seldom terminated.
Major wars aside, government spending from 1800 to 1929 did not exceed about 12 percent of the national income. Two-thirds of that was spent by state and local governments, mostly for schools and roads. As late as 1928, federal government spending amounted to about 3 percent of the national income.
(Today the federal government spend 6 times that, about 18% of national income)
Sincerity is a much overrated virtue.
(In other words, being convinced that something is correct does not make it so)
We refer to ourselves as a free private enterprise society, as a capitalist society. Yet in terms of the ownership of corporate enterprise, we are about 46% socialist... The federal government is entitled to 46 cents out of every dollar... The federal government therefore owns 46% of every corporation.
(This was using the 1979 high tax rate. Change the # to the current standards. It is quite a thought.)

Fred Thompson's speech last night at the Republican National Convention reminded me of why I liked him so much during the primary race. No, he is not the most polished public speaker. He does however have a keen sense of how to break apart the issues in a way that is easily understandable. He knows how to refute the other side in a clear concise way. He is very good on policy, just not flashy enough.

I recently watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The 1977 Spielberg film that shows aliens and such. One of the biggest questions was how well the graphics would hold up. For the vast majority of the movie they did a very good job. The aliens at the end felt somewhat more like claymation than a modern movie would present them, but that was my only main complaint. Richard Dreyfuss does a great job of playing a lunatic. His ability to play that role sometimes scares me. Is he really acting? I was surprised at the novelty of the film. In recent years we had the film Signs. A lot of the ways in which they show you alien interaction were just copied from Close Encounters I think. They were very similar. Communicating with colored tones... ok. I guess that is one way we could do it. I would give it a 3 out of 5. Some of the crazy scenes went on a bit long for me.

Our small group at church is reading Everyday Christianity by Grumpy Smith this quarter. So far it seems like an enjoyable read. Since I go to church with his daughter Miranda, it is even more fun to laugh at his stories. His ordinary man approach looks promising.

Preseason College Poll - Is there anything more worthless?

Initial Reaction

2008-08-30T15:10:00.003-05:00

Like many people over the past few weeks, I have been keenly interested in who each of the candidates would choose to be their backup. I think sometimes the role of the VP in an election can get overblown, but this year both candidates chose to shore up weaknesses in their argument. In Biden, Obama looks for legitimate experience and advice, long time Washington connections, and foreign policy advice. In Palin (pronounced Pay Lynn I do believe), McCain looks for a younger face, a female face, the opposite of a Washington bureaucrat, and a person that the average family can identify with. Since I think it is obvious who I support in this election, I am going to throw out my initial uninformed reactions to the Palin nomination. And these are in chronological order and show my evolving thought pattern.

Apprehension since she was unknown to me before a few days ago. Maybe I have been hiding under a rock, maybe I have not.
Oh my, its a woman. Is she the 'token' female in the race? Is she just here to appease disgruntled Hillary fans?
I just checked out her Wikipedia page. She seems solid on the issues. She seems like an 'average Joe' meaning that she isn't some inside-the-beltway Yes man.
After hearing her during the big introduction, I would have to say that she seems anything but a 'token' face in the race. She seems legit as far as her public speaking goes, as far as her positions go, and as far as her family stands. I like this.
The are really touting that union connection in their family. This makes me a little nervous as my position on 90% of unions is that they are outdated and abusive.
On second thought, she can really work the upper Midwest states of Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. According to the RCP election map right now, 2 of those 3 states would get the election. While I am nervous about the union angle, it can be used.
She is weak on the experience side of things. However, as a governor (although limited in time), she has viable leadership experience. This is no doubt what the Obama campaign will hammer on, but this really brings his lack of experience to the forefront too.
It appears that the campaign is also highlighting that she is from a small out in the middle of nowhere podunk place. I am not sure how this angle will play out. Ridiculing small town America is not something that I would overplay.
From the political coverage that I have seen, I hear a lot of talk of this being a desperate move to try and leach Hillary supporters from Obama. The more I think about it, the less I think that is true. From what I can tell initially, this will do that very little. She holds little in common with them on their key feminist issues. What she does bring to the table is the soccer mom of America. This is a move to galvanize the Republican party. And from what I can tell it is working. The average mom in America can relate to a lot of her story. Do not underestimate the voting block of moms out there. I still think that this and most elections are won not by enticing defectors from the other party, but they are won by convincing your people to show up to the polls and be excited about it.
I am also hearing some apprehension from women out there. They wonder if McCain is just trying to dangle a carrot out there and sucker them in. This is a legitimate concern. The answer to that for me is her showing her competence throughout the race. But if he does burn women somehow by 'using' this pick, they will not easily forgive. If any females read this, I would love your take on this. Do you feel like you are being 'played' here?
This lady has reformer credibility. She has fought corruption in her own state. And most embarrassing to me is that it was corruption inside her own party. She fits the bill as someone not putting up with junk just for the party's sake.
I think that I have identified my favorite quality about her so far. She looks, acts, sounds, and thinks what I would call normal. She is just your average American. Too often we have some elitely educated politically entrenched person running for either party. She has a life outside of politics. This is going to be her best strength and should be played as much as possible. Obama has presented himself as a man for the common person. She is a common person.
Palin - Jindal 2012 really excites me now.

re: John McCain and Habakkuk

2008-08-20T13:35:00.004-05:00

The following entry is entirely in response to my friend Philip's blog post. I found that my comment was getting very wordy and also worth a post here. To summarize, he asks the question, "Why vote for an only sorta good candidate?". And secondly, "If you don't like him that much, why not vote for the other guy?"

Great question to ask. Let me give you my logic and my worries on this thought.

I feel that I have a responsibility to vote. I have great freedom that many people in the world do not have. Many people died to gain this freedom. I take it seriously. This means that I am not going to 'not' vote if the perfect candidate is not there. I am fairly sure that there will never be a perfect candidate. Spending all of time complaining about the lack of a perfect candidate and taking no action seems like a waste of time to me. Therefore I will take a stand and make a choice, even with a limited or imperfect set to choose from. So my first decision is that I will participate in the vote.

The way I vote in virtually all elections is to line up the candidates on a whole array of issues and see who I agree with on each issue. Normally it is fairly lopsided. The candidate with more check marks wins the vote. Now, when I compare the two candidates that are in the race now, I get the same lopsided affect. So my second decision is that I will vote for the best person according to my personal philosophies, thoughts, etc.

Now, a question that is often asked these days is, "Why not punish your party by voting for the other guy because they have strayed from their core values?" This is a valid question.
- In the past years, McCain for instance has been known as a fringe Republican. In many instances he has undermined various party positions. He has also not being a traditional conservative. He prefers the straight talk Maverick label. I think of his as one of Moderates stuck in a 2 party system. However, as fringe as he may be, he is still miles apart from Obama. These are arbitrary numbers here, so do not take these seriously. If my ideal candidate was 100 out of 100, I would consider McCain probably a 65. My favorite primary contender was probably a 90. Obama is closer to a 30. Now Mr. 90 is no longer in the race. The highest person left is Mr. 65. And 65 is a lot better in my mind than 30. So part 1 of this answer is that I still think that McCain is a lot better than Obama. So lowering my standards to punish the party really seems like a contradiction of point 2. Also, I will say that if Mr. 90 was still in the race as a 3rd party, I would vote for him.
- But the stronger argument in my mind is the following. Laws that are enacted get ingrained in our society. They stick fairly fast and people get used to them. In punishing my party, I can enable harm to be done that will last a very long time. This is my fear. I look at legislation that was enacted for the New Deal around 70 years ago. Some of those programs (Social Security being the obvious) are already straining our budget these days and will only get worse. Again in the 1960s, the Great Society legislation was passed. It had its plus and minuses. Some of the minuses in my opinion are the Medicare, Medicaid, and Welfare systems that strain our budget as well. These are pieces of legislation that have lasting fiscal effects on our nation. We are so dependent upon them now, that it is nearly impossible to get rid of them. This is just from a financial standpoint. The nomination of Supreme Court Justices is a vastly important function of the President. Do we want more rulings that allow municipalities to take our land or deny rights to the unborn? I personally say no. I see much more harm that can be done to my country in the long term. I do not think that it is worthwhile to punish my party.

Since Philip brought it up, I do not feel a calling to punish my party or my nation. There may very well be one, but I am unaware of it. I think that there are certain citizens who are hoping for this, but I am not one of them. Also, if it is the providence of God, then I doubt that I will be able to stand in the way.

On the Edge of My Seat

2008-08-20T09:10:00.003-05:00

The Carrot Has Been Dangled
Today is the 20th of August, 2008. The show's big star has all of the contestants lined up. There is silence among them. A grimace from one who can not handle the pressure. A look of quiet confidence from another. Who will be picked? Who will be deemed worthy of the prize? They have all courted in one way or another. The star has spent time with all of them, but now it all comes down to this special point in time. Bom, bom, bom! ...And we go to commercial. Come on! Just tell me already. Am I talking about the TV show the Bachelor? Not a chance. I am talking about the Veepstakes. Who is going to be the running mate in the election? Just tell me already! The anticipation is killing me...

Yes, It Was Me
You may be wondering who jinxed the Texas Rangers, that would be me. In my previous blog, I warned the Dallas Cowboys to watch out and put the region on notice. Since that time, they have gone 2-10, lost Ian Kinsler, thrown poor stand-ins up against major league hitters, and basically lost all interest from the city. Way to go guys!

and Yes, I am still Watching
According to Forbes magazine, the Texas Rangers have the most loyal fans in baseball.

No team's attendance is less tied to its on the field performance than the Rangers', and nowhere else in the country do fans peel off at a slower rate when the club has thin years.

I am not sure that is something to brag about. But yes, count me in that hapless group.

Where's the Passion?
The Cowboys are tanking the pre-season. Fine, the Indianapolis Colts do it every year. But this assumed Super Bowl contender needs to find motivation. My fear is that the Cowboys are going to take 2-4 weeks in the regular season to find that special something. You can't afford to do that in today's NFL. I am not sold on this team yet...

This Just In
Poll results change more often than the weather. McCain is up by 5! Obama is up by 5! Its a toss up, but I think Obama has it! Not only that, all of these results are at the exact same time. I am personally part of that swing 10% of voters that flips a coin before a pollster gets an answer out of me.

My Hero
Josh Howard apparently went off on a reporter for asking him at a youth event whether or not he is a good role model. I guess the admitted drug use, street racing, and not showing up for his team could be emulated. Of course, that lifestyle doesn't lend itself to being successful in life. Someone please get this joker out of my town...

Training Camp Fun

2008-08-08T11:04:00.003-05:00

Let's Move On
Since I am a Cowboys fan and remember the rivalry of the 90s, I have always treated Brett Favre as a enemy to be booed. This off season has turned that sport's rivalry distaste into a full on personal dislike for him. I don't believe for a moment that in the past 2 months he has had any desire to be a Packer. His actions and comments to me seem all about getting to play wherever he wanted. In the process he dragged his old team and teammates through his mess. That irks me. His constant shenanigans have wasted both their time and my sports viewing time. He tried to squish an I into TEAM and it just doesn't fit. I am thrilled that the Packers did not just give him whatever he wanted. The small town country boy rolling in on his private jet and making demands was not given the silver spoon in this case. Trading him and more importantly getting back anything of value was a great move. I hope the Packers go to the NFC championship and lose to the Cowboys while the Jets sit at home in January. Sorry Jets fans, but I can't root for you this year.

Saying the Right Things
I am always somewhat irked and very leery of the how the Cowboys treat their team as a rehab center for people who have messed up but have talent. Do I want a headcase on my team? No. Do the Cowboys care? Apparently Not. This years special project is Adam Pacman Jones and so far, he is staying clean. Do I like this guy at all as a person? From what I can tell from the past, no. Will I cheer for him if he stays clean? Yes. For what its worth, I am very skeptical that he stays clean once he gets back to the big city.

The Spurs of the NFL?
I wonder about the Patriots this year. For many years in the NBA, the Spurs have been the model franchise, aka the dynasty. How have they done this? By blowing off most of the regular season, shoring up their playoff position, and dominating the playoffs. Did the rush to the perfect season drain the Patriots last year? Many might say yes. Do the Patriots try to pull a Spurs this year? Maybe. I can see the question "What is it all for if we don't win the Super Bowl?" being asked. I can also see the Bill Belichick of last year running up the score in every game. This will be an interesting story to watch.

On The Record
I thought about doing my season predictions here, but I figured that I should wait until at least another couple of weeks. Baseball is all that I have really been following, so my official prediction would be like throwing darts at win numbers.

Lonely At The Top ?
We are constantly told about the NFL is the number 1 sport by far in America. Since the Rangers have surged in Dallas, I don't sense the full scale bull rush to the football world like I have in previous years. This city used to switch entirely to football in mid-July. Baseball is winning over fans; maybe not in attendance just yet, but in the consciousness of fans. Watch out football, here we come...

An Outsider's View

2008-08-05T13:28:00.003-05:00

Alexander Solzhenitsyn was a man that was before my time in many respects. Therefore when I heard that he had passed away a few days back, I did a little research to learn more about him. He won a Nobel prize for his Gulag expose that brought to light many of the problems with the former USSR. In 1978 he gave a speech to graduates of Harvard that really shows off his skill. He was able to use his outsider's view of the U.S. to look at us and point out places that needed improvement in order to better our society. I will highlight some of them below.

When the modern Western States were created, the following principle was proclaimed: governments are meant to serve man, and man lives to be free to pursue happiness. (See, for example, the American Declaration). Now at last during past decades technical and social progress has permitted the realization of such aspirations: the welfare state. Every citizen has been granted the desired freedom and material goods in such quantity and of such quality as to guarantee in theory the achievement of happiness, in the morally inferior sense which has come into being during those same decades. In the process, however, one psychological detail has been overlooked: the constant desire to have still more things and a still better life and the struggle to obtain them imprints many Western faces with worry and even depression, though it is customary to conceal such feelings. Active and tense competition permeates all human thoughts without opening a way to free spiritual development. The individual's independence from many types of state pressure has been guaranteed; the majority of people have been granted well-being to an extent their fathers and grandfathers could not even dream about; it has become possible to raise young people according to these ideals, leading them to physical splendor, happiness, possession of material goods, money and leisure, to an almost unlimited freedom of enjoyment. So who should now renounce all this, why and for what should one risk one's precious life in defense of common values, and particularly in such nebulous cases when the security of one's nation must be defended in a distant country?

Even biology knows that habitual extreme safety and well-being are not advantageous for a living organism. Today, well-being in the life of Western society has begun to reveal its pernicious mask.
He points out that living a life of total abundance leads to a weaker society. He also shows how man's search for contentment is usually never ending and constantly yearns for more.
The defense of individual rights has reached such extremes as to make society as a whole defenseless against certain individuals. It is time, in the West, to defend not so much human rights as human obligations.
This quote really focuses in on a societal shift that I think hurts us as a whole. What this points out is that the freedom to do whatever I please for freedom's sake leads to moral decay and a sense of being totally shielded by rights. When you fall into this mindset, you lose your sense of being obligated to treat others well because of the focus on your own freedom.
Hastiness and superficiality are the psychic disease of the 20th century and more than anywhere else this disease is reflected in the press. In-depth analysis of a problem is anathema to the press. It stops at sensational formulas.

Such as it is, however, the press has become the greatest power within the Western countries, more powerful than the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. One would then like to ask: by what law has it been elected and to whom is it responsible? In the communist East a journalist is frankly appointed as a state official. But who has granted Western journalists their power, for how long a time and with what prerogatives?
He really takes both the press and their readers/viewers to task. Why do I say readers? Because we demand instant knowledge and instant perfection that is unattainable by human standards.
All the glorified technological achievements of Progress, including the conquest of outer space, do not redeem the Twentieth century's moral poverty which no one could imagine even as late as in the Nineteenth Century.
This is a sharp jab that really hits home. We pride ourself on our achievement, but at what cost.
There is a disaster, however, which has already been under way for quite some time. I am referring to the calamity of a despiritualized and irreligious humanistic consciousness... ...If humanism were right in declaring that man is born to be happy, he would not be born to die. Since his body is doomed to die, his task on earth evidently must be of a more spiritual nature. It cannot unrestrained enjoyment of everyday life. It cannot be the search for the best ways to obtain material goods and then cheerfully get the most out of them. It has to be the fulfillment of a permanent, earnest duty so that one's life journey may become an experience of moral growth, so that one may leave life a better human being than one started it... ...It would be retrogression to attach oneself today to the ossified formulas of the Enlightenment. Social dogmatism leaves us completely helpless in front of the trials of our times.

Even if we are spared destruction by war, our lives will have to change if we want to save life from self-destruction. We cannot avoid revising the fundamental definitions of human life and human society. Is it true that man is above everything? Is there no Superior Spirit above him? Is it right that man's life and society's activities have to be determined by material expansion in the first place? Is it permissible to promote such expansion to the detriment of our spiritual integrity?
This is by far my favorite quote of his. He really calls out man's search for achievement and asks whether it is all worthwhile without a higher spiritual calling.

AOM: Banned From Vegas

2008-07-20T20:16:00.005-05:00

Kimberlee and I have a fascination with the card game Speed. We enjoy the game and we are both naturally competitive. Tonight we tried to play, but Ms. Mollee kept wanting to get in on the action. She recently had her 'special' lady surgery and so she has been cooped up for a couple of days. All of that energy poured out when we started to shuffle the deck.

She then proceeded to migrate different sets of cards to different parts of the living room. She was quite proud of her stash.

After all was said and done she told me to pick a card. I am still amazed that she knew that I had chosen the 3 of hearts.

AOM: What Is Your Greatest Fear?

2008-07-17T19:52:00.013-05:00

My buddy Philip suggested that I start a series a while back, and today that series begins. The Adventures of Mollee is all about my young dog and seeing things from her perspective. Today's post focuses on the deep feelings inside of us that make us shake and become restless. What do you worry about that keeps you up late at night.

Is it a natural disaster?
How about being attacked?
Or do you have everything riding on a hot stock?

For Mollee, none of these ever phase her. She is a beacon to the Monks of this world. Food, shelter, family; these are all secure. Her deepest dread is by far the monstrous bath!

I let her secret out. If you ever need to secret information out of her, just threaten a good soaking and she will become putty in your hands.

After she escapes the vile trenches, she still has to deal with a blocked door and oh so powerful hair dryer.

But our meticulous work is not enough. Oh no, she has much higher standards. Mollee takes this job into her own hands and makes sure to remove every drop of water.

After all is said and done, we get an extremely disgruntled yet good smelling puppy and she gets to give us the evil eye while lounging on her throne.

What a Difference a Year Makes

2008-07-16T13:25:00.002-05:00

Dallas - Fort Worth is abuzz right now with sports talk. It was last year too, but the subject has changed. Within a year, the Rangers have leapfrogged past the Mavericks into #2 in this sports town. It is 1 week from Cowboys training camp and I haven't heard too much talk about it other than station promos. Last year, training camp talk started in June. One year ago today I had half my fantasy football draft list done; this year I have no clue about that league. What a great time this is. The Cowboys are preseason NFC favorites and the Rangers are showing us a glimpse of a fun future. What makes this even more fun is that the guys involved are fun to root for. We aren't looking at overpaid ringers on the Rangers, we are looking are young talents trying to prove themselves. Its a great time to be a sports fan and I am just soaking up every minute of it.

Church Golf Scramble

2008-07-14T11:09:00.003-05:00

Saturday a group of maybe 50 or so guys played in a scramble (best ball) at Sherrill Park Course 2. I had a blast. Playing with people who are fun to be around in general makes the day much more relaxing and enjoyable. This is my 3rd outing with this group and I can't wait for the next. Some highlights from our team:

Mark somehow teeing off with a 5-iron and hitting it 300 yards. Then his dad out-driving him...
Actually using my drives in the round. That is definitely a first.
Russell driving the ball through a parking lot and inadvertently cutting the dogleg left.
Me hitting a 3-wood recovery shot that barely skimmed a dune and somehow landed in perfect position.
Tom being the solid player that saved us several times.
Russell sticking his approach shot on 18 less than 2 feet from the pin. Thus clinching our solid 68.
The chocolate milkshake at Country Burger after being in 102 degree heat for 7 hours.

Why I am glad that I went to Harding University

2008-07-10T17:50:00.003-05:00

I hear certain people's views of Harding University, my alma mater, and figured that I should throw mine into the pot. I also know many people who have never heard of it, so here goes. I attended from 2000-2004 and am a proud alumnus.

Why did I originally go to Harding?
This is a fairly simple one to answer. I wanted to go to a Christian university (church of Christ affiliated) so that I could find a good wife. Second, because of biases from my early schooling, I did not want to go to ACU. Therefore, I chose Harding because I liked the campus the best.

Why am I glad now that I went to Harding?
This is more complex, and I am glad that it is. In no particular order:

I met great friends. I recently attended the wedding of my suitemate from my freshman stay in Armstrong Hall. Several good friends that date back to that year attended. We had a blast. It says something that we can still get together and have a great time in post-college life. This is just one example of many.
The smaller size allowed the professors to take interest in their students. I still remember going to Dr. Steil's house for his wife's homemade cinnamon rolls. I played Halo at Dr. McCown's house and beat him in ping pong to win the McChallenge. And who in my department doesn't remember Dr. Behel's fish fry! During my first 2 years I had experiences like these while other friends at other universities were stuck with teaching assistants. When the professors are able to really care for you as a person, you are much more apt to both respect them and learn from them.
The education was great for my career. Education is always what you make of it, but I was given a good foundation to build upon. I have never been under-skilled in my computer industry because of training. In fact, the methods taught to me in the CompSci department put me ahead of the curve for quite some time.
The study abroad program. I was privileged to live outside of Florence, Italy for an entire semester in the fall of 2001. I was able to travel the world per say. During this time I gained valuable life skills in terms of knowing how to get around in an unfamiliar place and relate to people that I had hardly anything in common with. I attended a very accommodating church in Florence. I remember going to church both in Sterling, Scotland and sitting next to a guy who grunted something that couldn't be English as well as sitting next to a man at the Omonia church in Athens, Greece who had walked from Iran. Both men praised God and taught me something.
The religious maturity that I gained was invaluable. I had many teachers in our 'required' Bible courses that shaped my thinking. I can think of Neile Prior, Joe Brumfield, Duane Warden, and Ross Cochran. There were others as well in general classes who always encouraged and challenged my faith. My CompSci professors taught me how to be a Christian in the computer industry and had devotionals every Friday morning.
The small town of Searcy. Now many people complain about this, and I certainly did my fair share. But going to college in a small town was a great experience. I come from a very large city and frankly don't always relate to country folk very well. I attended a smaller country church named Pineview and made many great friends with the good people in Pangburn, Arkansas.
Wouldn't you know it, I ended up finding the wife of my dreams at Harding. My high school ambitions were realized.
I got a liberal arts (rather than technical) education. I was forced to learn about history, business, bible, english, and other things that have nothing to do with computer programming. All of those subjects have proven useful in shaping my opinions, shaping my attitude, and giving me perspective in general.
I was forced to learn to deal with people who didn't always agree with me. This is what roommates are for. This believe it or not prepared me for marriage more than a lot of things. It took some of the attention away from the center of the universe, which is of course me.

I am sure that more will come to me, but for now I will leave it at this. I hope that you had at least as great an experience during your college years.

Note: I edited this post about 12 hours after posting it. I did not retract or change any meaning. I instead expanded upon areas that I think deserve more thought. I have also added more than a few links to the post.

Inter-Church Communication

2008-07-07T13:07:00.002-05:00

As a long time member of the church of Christ, I can say that one of our tenants or main features is how each and every congregation is independent of the others. We have no church hierarchy and we have no standard of belief other than the Bible. This has allowed the church to both emulate the 'New Testament model' and build leadership in every location.

Unfortunately this has also created self-sufficient environments that can become somewhat isolated from others. The church that I regularly attend is undergoing a remodeling project and is meeting elsewhere in the afternoon. My wife and I decided to attend an extremely close congregation this week that we have passed on the road many times, but never been to. I am astonished to find a very nice group of people that I have never met. Astonished is a strong word, but many people there had never heard of my congregation, and I would guess less than 5 or 10 percent of my congregation had ever heard of them.

It certainly seems like we could get together in a collaborative service effort or even an ice cream social more often and get exposure to more sides of our faith in the same town...

Independence Day

2008-07-03T17:22:00.002-05:00

232 years ago today John Adams wrote to his wife:

Yesterday the greatest question was decided, which ever was debated in America, and a greater, perhaps never was nor will be decided among men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony, 'that these United Colonies are, and of right out to be, free and independent States... Britain has been filled with folly, and America with wisdom.'"

On this day before Independence Day, I thought it would be fitting to look at the sacrifice that was paid by some of the 56 brave men who signed the Declaration of Independence. The following summaries are taken from Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence written in 1832 by the Reverend Charles A. Goodrich.

Abraham Clark
Two of his sons were officers in the army and were captured. They were confined on the prison ship Jersey in the harbor of New York. Mr. Clark never complained about his family's condition except for one instance. His son had been put into a dungeon and received only the food squished through a keyhole by the other prisoners. Once the Congress knew of this fact they immediately rectified the situation.

Francis Lewis
In the fall of 1776, his house was plundered by the British. His large library filed with valuable papers was destroyed. His wife was put into captivity for several months and denied a bed or a change of clothes. She was so shaken up by the situation that she died a couple years later.

William Floyd
While attending the Continental Congress, Long Island was taken over by the British and his family was forced to flee across the water to Connecticut. For almost 7 years they had to live as refugees.

Lewis Morris
He owned an estate of over 1000 acres near the city of New York that was totally destroyed. His house was greatly damaged, his fences ruined, and his livestock driven away. His family had to flee and live in exile for the remainder of the war.

Candidate Comparison: Economics

2008-06-28T08:39:00.003-05:00

Since the Economic consequences is easily in my top 3 issues in the election (probably the top), I thought that I would do a rundown of the current candidate plans. I hope to take a look at this and present both sides along with my thoughts. In order to help me reach this goal, I am going to use a recent Fortune Magazine article to get views from both sides.

Style over Substance
I want to set up this analysis with what I will be the American people's decision on this subject. This is certainly from my perspective, but I think it aptly describes this election, especially on this issue.

John McCain
McCain was obviously not my first choice for the Republican nomination. That was more for social reasons and loyalty reasons than economic reasons. His economic plan calls for in general for both lower taxes and less spending. He has me hooked on those two items right away. He is against the federal government propping up failing businesses. His main crusade will be cutting spending, trimming the fat, and cutting the pork. McCain is only for tax cuts that can be linked to spending cuts. This distinction separates him from the last 8 years and shores up the biggest complaint that conservatives have had about Bush.

This sounds great to me, but I do not think that he is articulating this well enough right now. His 'straight-talk' is not going to win him many votes. This example from back in 2000 is why people are going to find it hard to vote for him:

The Senator was visiting a shuttered mill in South Carolina, talking to a worker who had lost his job. "And the guy said to him, 'I worked in this mill for 30 years. What is my son going to do?' And McCain looked at him and he gave the economist's best answer/ He said 'You know, I would have hoped that we both had higher aspirations for your son.'

Episodes like that may in fact be what people need to hear in the long run, but they certainly don't win over any votes in the short term. Now in 2008 his position with displaced auto-workers is:

To begin, they'll have to find another job.

With answers like that, he is not going to win Michigan. His 'straight-talk' needs to address the needs of people and how his plan will help them, not just tell them 'tough, move on'.

McCain's stubbornness however is just what we need as far as a spending goes. I am not sure about a lot of people, even those I like better, sticking to a no spending plan as much as I think McCain would. His temperament is perfect for trimming the budget.

McCain leaves a lot of things as they are now, so I will not argue for them as much as argue against the proposed changes from his opponent.

Barack Obama
The Obama campaign can be summed up in the following in the following quote:

What I do get frustrated with is an economy that is out of balance, that rewards a very few - with rewards that are all out of proportion to their actual success - while ordinary, hardworking Americans continue to get squeezed.

Based on this, the campaign plans on both raising taxes and spending more. Now they don't phrase it like that exactly, but here are the some of their plans.

Raise minimum wage to $9.50
More than 170 Billion in new spending on health care, alternative energy, homeowner foreclosure relief, and more
Raising taxes for those earning more than $250,000 (this is phrased as removing the Bush tax cuts)
Middle class earners would be about the same on taxes while lower class will get a large tax break
Increase the capital gains tax by 50%
Raise the dividends tax
Reinstate the Inheritance tax (Death tax) at a rate of up to 45% on large estates.
Close corporate tax loopholes

A lot of what is proposed is this: Spending more on lower class people by raising taxes on the wealthy. I for one do not like a wealth redistribution plan, such as Obama's. While I agree that the wealthy should shoulder a larger tax burden, I do not think that they don't already. The following statistics come from the IRS based on 2005 data:

The bottom 50% of American tax payers pay 3.2% of all collected income taxes.
People making under $61,055 per year pay a total of 15.5% of all income taxes, and that accounts for 75% of America. These same people account for 30.6% of all income earned.
The top 5% of earners in America pay 58.8% of all collected income taxes. These people account for 37.2% of all income earned.

Based on these stats and many others, I cannot say that the rich are not putting in their fair share. And on top of this, Obama wants to swing this even more out of proportion.

I also take issue that raising capital gains and dividend taxes is a way to redistribute wealth to the lower and middle classes. This distinctly discourages investing, and investing can really help these classes. When you have little to invest, compound interest or returns take a while to develop into a nice nest egg. Taking another 10% off of gains just further elongates the time to really get going with your investments. This will affect higher earners more in the pocket book, but affect lower earners by keeping their investments from growing enough.

The death tax reinstatement is another issue that I think affects more than just wealthy elites. I get irked that I get taxes before I see my check, when I invest the income, when I spend the income, and now when I die. You say, well that is only the elite who have more than 3.5 million dollars when they die. Well there are 2 scenarios that this really hurts. Most personal is that I hope to get to that point someday. Not only that, but I can through prudent saving and investing. This is no scheme to rip off poor people, this is working hard all of my life and being responsible with my money. This will hit more middle class folks eventually than they are letting on. Secondly, this tax hits farming communities hard. The heartland works hard building up a successful business. It is hard work, but when a farm is passed on of any significant size, it is valued land and all more than this amount. Many common regular folks are forced out of their family's land by this tax. After all of that, really wealthy folks know how to use trust funds and other estate planning mechanisms to avoid a lot this tax. Therefore the super wealthy will get out of this crunch to some extent while the hard workers who get there will get squeezed.

Now, as you can tell, I am not a fan of these policies. However, I am a fan of Obama's presentation and style. He has a very warm personality that exudes thoughtfulness, caring, and leadership. This has drawn a large number of common folks to him of late. He sympathizes with the homeowner who can't pay his mortgage, the mom who can't afford gasoline, the worker whose job was outsourced. This is how you win votes. Barack Obama always gives the appearance that he is looking for a common consensus that works best for everyone. Now I don't necessarily agree with that statement, but it certainly plays very well to the average voter and the media.

Conclusion
Obama is running a campaign that is geared to winning. He attempts to give hope to the largest voter pool. McCain is geared towards telling us what we don't want to hear, but that we might need to hear. This may be what we need, but we vote what we want over what we need. The following crude chart is how I think that this issue is going:

Democrats and Independents both prefer Obama's style and presentation. Republicans and some Independents prefer McCain's policies. Republican's find it hard to get excited or on board with McCain's style. In this arena, so far Obama is winning the voters.

Ice Cream Festival

2008-06-14T22:43:00.011-05:00

Now that is what I call advertising. There is no way that you could ever pass that up. And my family certainly did not consider letting this gem slip by. Kimberlee, my dad, my mom, and our dog Mollee made the 1 1/2 hour trek to Sulphur Springs and Hopkins County Dairy Festival. This was certainly not limited to the ice cream, but that is the highlight for us.

They always have a Corvette show at the festival. The dairy theme shines through though...

The interior of this 1960 white Corvette was amazing. They don't make cars like that anymore.

They also have a contest to determine the festival queen every year. This for some reason involves a milking contest. This consists of both the contestant and her parents milking for 2 minutes apiece to determine a winner.

Of course, we came here for the main event, which of course is the ice cream.

I personally tried 7 flavors of ice cream in the following order. Honey, Chocolate Chip, Caramel Peanut Butter, Chocolate, Peanut Butter Cup, Vanilla, and Butter Pecan. #41 - Caramel Peanut Butter was by far my favorite. My mom preferred the Peanut Butter Cup. Kimberlee preferred Peach. My dad claims that he preferred Blackberry, although he only ate 2 cups compared to 3 of Peach.

Mollee attempted to steal the show today by grabbing the attention of every kid out there. This little guy apparently liked her so much that he kissed her on the mouth.

This was our 2nd year to attend the festival and we definitely plan on attending a 3rd. This is a first rate family weekend excursion that is extremely affordable.

Gems on the Road

2008-04-28T14:05:00.002-05:00

I have spent most of the past 2 weeks at the opposite end of the country. This has been frustrating in some respects, but there are some things that I enjoyed.

Mongolian Barbecue - Oh yes this stuff is good. I tried out BDs Mongolian Barbeque and it was great. I was a bit overwhelmed by the options that were presented, but I managed to get a great bowl of food. I think I combined chicken, 2 kinds of steak, broccoli, corn, and carrots with 3 or 4 different sauces. For all practical purposes I stumbled upon a good recipe. Thankfully they have recipe cards to suggest proven combinations of taste. Don't rush your decisions at the food line.
Late night reruns of early 90s cheesy shows. I caught an In Living Color episode that introduced a new Texas guy named Jamie Fox. I saw a magic show involving jugglers impersonating comedians. I think that I even saw an America's Funniest Home Videos. Boy do I know how to live on the edge.
During one of the weeks I was given a Chrysler Sebring convertable. I figured that I could drive a car that was cool enough for Michael Scott. I did not like this car one lick. The Hyundai from the next week had much more get up and go on it. The Sebring also has a low ceiling in the front that makes it nearly impossible to see traffic lights.
I rediscovered why I loved Baseball Tonight on ESPN. I could watch this show for hours if and only if they still had Harold Reynolds. Boy do I miss that guy.
Applebees has a Quesadilla Burger. Oh yah! This thing is very very good.
Because Detroit is the auto capital of the world and Daimler bought Chrysler, I got German stations at the hotel. What a strange strange language they have. Makes for a good alarm clock in the morning.
I drove by a place called Tim Horton's every day. Never stopped to eat there, but I bet its good.
Airport's built during the age of heavy national smoking have not aged well. That burnt yellowish color on the walls just wreaks of the 70s.
I turned on my MP3 player somewhere over the Mississippi River and picked up an Oldies station playing the Beach Boys at 34,000 feet. Way to go KLOU 103.3
While I was gone my Mother-in-Law decided to spoil my puppy. Now it just rolls over on its back and waits for you to pet it.
I caught glimpses of the Chrysler test track. I wanted to take the rental car up there soooo bad. It was unused every time that I drove by.

2-Fer - Hollywood Edition

2008-03-25T12:57:00.008-05:00

My wife and I watched two movies this weekend that had previously skipped under our radar. When you get an active Blockbuster subscription, you run out of mainstream movies fast. The following two we watched and enjoyed.

Dan in Real Life
3.5 / 5

This film is billed as a comedy. I think of it more as a drama. I ended up feeling sorry for the guy rather than laughing at him most of the time, but this isn't a horrible thing. The best part of of the film is its realism. The in Real Life part of the title isn't just there to add length. This film is pulled off in such a way that makes me believe that this is a family that I actually know or can see myself knowing. This doesn't feel like a typical Hollywood attempt at being down to earth, it actually is.

I would highly recommend going into this film without reading the promo bits about it. They give away too much of the plot. The movie starts a bit slow, but as the the movie progresses you can see how it fits into place. This movie also is exciting in that comedian Steve Carell breaks out of his typical comedy routine and resists the urge to be goofy. Of course he can't leave his dancing ability at the door, but his other usual tricks are nowhere to be found.

This film is rated PG 13 for what I would call one main awkward scene where his brother give him advice. I think the general mood elevates this movie to a more mature level as well. Don't let the pancake DVD cover art scare you off.

August Rush
2 / 5

This is the story of a young boy who uses his music to find his parents. I enjoyed the music or soundtrack of this film more than any other part of it. The songs were well thought out. Unfortunately the plot line was far too predictable for me. I found that after maybe 20 minutes that I had the whole thing scoped out fairly well, and I was right. The main undertone of the movie was that there is music and creativity everywhere just waiting for people in tune with life to hear and release it.

The acting in this film varied from person to person. Freddy Highmore did a fairly good job considering his age. The little choir girl tore it up. Robin Williams never ceases to amaze me with his ability to be freaky. This movie was rated PG but pushed that boundary in my opinion. The main relationship was pushing it as well as scenes involving Robin Williams. Those made me question its soft rating. The movie ends in a utopian climax of music and family.

2008 Baseball Predictions

2008-03-24T09:12:00.003-05:00

Last year I had the good fortune of putting my oh so prescient baseball predictions down in writing. Therefore this year I must at least do my part in predicting the upcoming season. Playoff teams are in italics. Bold if they make it to the League Championship. In the end I pick the Detroit Tigers over the New York Mets.

AL East

90-72 Boston Red Sox

88-74 New York Yankees

79-83 Tampa Bay Rays

74-88 Toronto Blue Jays

67-95 Baltimore Orioles

AL Central

94-68 Detroit Tigers

91-71 Cleveland Indians

79-83 Chicago White Sox

73-89 Minnesota Twins

70-92 Kansas City Royals

AL West

92-70 Los Angeles Angels

85-77 Seattle Mariners

79-83 Texas Rangers

72-90 Oakland Athletics

NL East

91-71 New York Mets

89-73 Philadelphia Phillies

85-77 Atlanta Braves

73-89 Washington Nationals

68-94 Florida Marlins

NL Central

88-74 Chicago Cubs

83-79 Milwaukee Brewers

82-80 Cincinnati Reds

78-84 Houston Astros

77-85 St. Louis Cardinals

69-93 Pittsburgh Pirates

NL West

91-71 Arizona Diamondbacks

86-76 Colorado Rockies

85-77 San Diego Padres

82-80 Los Angeles Dodgers

69-93 San Francisco Giants

2-Fer

2008-03-18T07:58:00.006-05:00

I hit a sort of mini jackpot on Sunday night. I took out the trash to the apartment dumpster and found that someone had thrown away an entire collection of CDs. There were probably 75-100 of them stacked next to the dumpster. Well my curiosity got the best of me and I sifted through them and found a few that I wanted to listen to.

When was the last time that you listened to an entire CD from start to finish? In modern era of IPods and MP3 players, a custom order playlist is much more common than listening to an entire album of possibly less than perfect songs. So here is my review of listening straight through two very popular albums that I found on the side of the road. More reviews will come as I have time to listen to them.

Artist: Pearl Jam

Album: Ten

Year: 1991

This album is one of the most popular of the decade. It quickly took over the as the leader of the grunge movement, at least on the popular side of things. Ole Eddie Vedder was an instant pop culture icon with his passionate lyrics. The guitar of the period is very good and blends well with the songs rather than sticking out for the sake of having a crazy solo. This being the band's first album, they had a less time pressures and therefore had a good amount of time to perfect the sound. Here is my rating of each song as I listened yesterday.

Once - 4
Even Flow - 5
Alive - 4.5
Why Go - 2
Black - 4
Jeremy - 4.5
Oceans - 3
Porch - 3.5
Garden - 3
Deep - 3.5
Release - 4

The opener and non-radio hit Once was the best surprise for me. I enjoyed the entire album as a whole. 3.73 is the average song rating that I gave. I will boost the album up a quarter point to a 3.98 based upon the way that it worked together so well.

Artist: Matchbox Twenty

Album: Yourself or Someone Like You

Year: 1996

This band features a similar vocal sound as the previous album. Rob Thomas presents a more soulful sound as compared to the rougher Vedder voice. The big difference in my opinion is the development or further emphasis of the singing. Popular Rock took a turn towards less of a guitar emphasis and this is one of the first groups to pull it off.

Real World - 4.5
Long Day - 4
3 AM - 4
Push - 4.5
Girl Like That - 2.5
Back 2 Good - 3.5
Dam - 3
Argue - 3.5
Kody - 2.5
Busted - 1.5
Shame = 2
Hang - 2.5

The hidden non-radio gem on this album was Long Day for me. Unfortunately the second half of this album tended to drag on in my opinion and left hoping that it would be over soon. The first few songs are all ones that you can sing along to and enjoy. The average song rating of this album is 3.17.

Welcome Back

2008-03-11T11:16:00.004-05:00

Because of my schedule over the past month, I have been absent from blogging. Today I will describe my first trip to Detroit (for business).

The first thing I noticed about the city was the snow. Being from Dallas I have not seen that much snow in probably forever. It was snowing when I arrived, and 4 days later it was snowing when I left. I am going to guess that they got 8-10 inches while I was there. I also had no idea that 8 degrees was that much colder than 30 degrees. Boy was it ever and with wind added in, it was brutal for me. I arrived around 11 PM at the airport and the first thing that got my attention was what I thought was a disco at the bottom of our escalator. It turned out to be an extremely long moving sidewalk with constantly changing walls. It is hard to describe the way that the colors fluidly morphed, but here is a youtube video of it.

The city of Detroit has had a rough go of it lately. While I was there, the Axle Workers Union went on strike. The Silverdome is vacant. I saw no Chrysler vehicles driving into the Chrysler headquarters. My boss warned me to stay well above 12 mile. In spite all of that, the people that I interacted with me very friendly. I had some excellent local pizza. I even managed to stay warm some of the time.

If I ever go back, I hope that it is in the summer and that I get to see a Tigers game.

... also I hope that my father-in-law who admits to reading this blog occasionally heals fast from his broken toe.

Currently listening to: Audioslave - Be Yourself

March 4th

2008-02-20T12:43:00.003-06:00

I hear many people fed up with presidential choices or just plain tired of the race at hand. A lot of people saying that their vote won't count in the primary race. I want to encourage you to look at the other issues on the ballot and see if you are motivated. District only measures have relatively small amounts of voters and so your vote counts a great deal. So for my district, I have the following:

Texas U.S. Congress District 3

Sam Johnson - The 77 year old Republican incumbent of 20 years.
Wayne Avellanet - A 46 year old Republican businessman opposed to the war in Iraq
Harry Pierce - A 71 year old retired Republican pilot.
Tom Daley - A 44 year old Retired Democrat businessman who wants to go back to the economic times of Bill Clinton
Ronald E Minkow - A retired teacher and defense contractor running for the Democrats who wants the people to have their say.
Christopher Claytor - A 38 year old tech guy from the military whose Libertarian party wants the government out of our business.

If you can't find someone in that list you like, good luck...

For the presidential race, there are still 10 Republicans on the ballot, even though it is all sown up. The Democrats have 6 on their ballot.

There is a Senate seat up for grabs...

John Cornyn - the Republican Senate Incumbent
Larry Kilgore - a Republican candidate who wants Texas to become its own country.
Gene Kelly - and 82 year old retired Air Force Democrat
Rhett Smith - seems be a 58 year old Democrat who is very anti Bush/Cheney
Ray McMurrey - is a Democrat school teacher who wants to give power back to the people
Rick Noriega - A Democrat congressman from Houston who has served in Afghanistan and other areas of the military.

There are also resolutions on the ballot:

There is a resolution to say that we should enforce immigration laws.
A resolution for requiring photo ID when voting.
A resolution to limit state government spending increases to be indexed with inflation.

Note, I could only find these resolutions on the Republican ballot.

Hopefully there is something in that list that you care about that will motivate you to show up and participate!

Page 123

2008-02-15T08:56:00.002-06:00

Since Philip tagged me...

Here's the deal:

Look on page 123 of a book.
Find the first 5 sentences
Post the next 3 sentences
Tag 5 people

So I picked up the book Foundation by Isaac Asimov above my desk.

But Nyak hunting was still the royal sport and a good eye with the needle gun still the first requirement of Anacreon's kings. Lepold I, King of Anacreon and - as was invariably, but untruthfully added - Lord of the Outer Dominions, though not yet sixteen had already proved his skill many times over. He had brought down his first Nyak when scarcely thirteen; had brought down his tenth the week after his accession to the throne; and was returning now from his forty-sixth.

I hope you are as enlightened as I am.

Here are the people I can tag...

Brian
Mark
Ted

Thoughts on the Super Bowl

2008-02-04T09:11:00.000-06:00

ETrade baby wins the commercial race. I liked several. The ones that come to mind are the parade balloons going after the Coke, the What is Love head bounce commercial from Diet Pepsi Max, the Tide to Go shirt that talked, and the Coke Frist/Carville commercial. Bridgestone came close with their tires commercial. If they had run over Richard Simmons I would have put it in the top tier. Doritos dropped the ball. I remember them for their bad commercials...
I was blown away by the arms that the two quarterbacks have. In the 4th quarter they both accurately launched 70 yard throws. Amazing to see.
I swore up and down that the game was over when Eli got buried by linemen. I actually stood up to get my coat and take off from the party during that play. Totally blew me away that he pulled out a Romo on that one.
Tom Petty was really really good. And during the long drawn out 3rd quarter, we were all saying that we wished his set was longer.
We pulled a its not delivery, its Digiorno and it was great. We didn't have to wait for the overworked pizza guy. Combine that with chewy Chips Ahoy and I was set!
I don't know if you caught this moment, but we did. Peyton Manning jumps up and pumps his fists after his brother throws the game winner. A woman, I presume his wife, jumps up and down next to him and tries to hug or high five or whatever and he totally snubs her. She tries a couple times and he never even turns. That was a little awkward.
The morning show guys that I listen to for comedy on WBAP said to that they need to put Archie Manning out to pasture because they could get Barbaro like stud fees...
I don't buy the whole Belichick snub with 1 second left thing. Brady held my respect after the game with his classy interview. What a game.

The Chronicles of Narnia Pt. 1

2008-01-29T20:42:00.000-06:00

I just finished reading the entire Narnia series over the past month and I enjoyed the series immensely. I would definitely have to recommend the series to anyone. I am going to review several aspects of the series and therefore split my posts up on the topic. I read over 1500 pages in one month, so it had to be good.

This series was written over a period of many years by C. S. Lewis. This series is undoubtedly written for children and Lewis was inspired by one. A young girl named Lucy actually stayed with the professor during the air raids of World War II. The imagination of this girl and Lewis's desire for a good story got this series going. Now you have to be wondering why on earth a grown man would read such a story. It all started back in 4th grade when a teacher sparked an interest in me. I read them over 15 years ago and enjoyed them thoroughly. I forgot many of the details and upon hearing a second movie was coming out, I decided to reread the series.

They carry a Christian theme throughout that has been the cause of some controversy. And given the knowledge of Lewis's other books, this is quite and obvious idea. There are many other themes though that may trouble strict traditional Christians. Many themes from various mythologies are incorporated on top of the Christian base. I will expand more on these themes in a subsequent blog.

There are 2 suggested orders to read the books, the order of publication or the fictional chronology. I prefer the following chronological order:

The Magician's Nephew
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Horse and His Boy
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle

For my money, The Horse and His Boy was the most enjoyable read while The Silver Chair was the most tedious.

Ode to Fred

2008-01-23T08:50:00.000-06:00

I am sad to see that Fred Thompson has dropped out of the race before my local primary. He had a lot to offer that I don't hear or see from other candidates. Just like him, I can't endorse anyone else right now. But here is a quote from a recent speech he made that shows what we are losing in this race.

That means remembering the fundamental, conservative principles that have unified us for over two centuries.

What are those principles?

-First, the role of the federal government is limited to the powers given to it in the Constitution
-Second, a dollar belongs in the pocket of the person who earns it, unless the government has a compelling reason why it can use it better
-Third, we don't spend money we don't have, or borrow money that our children and grandchildren will have to pay back
-And the best way to avoid war is to be stronger than our enemies. But if we’re caught in a fight, we need to win it because not doing so makes us much more likely to be attacked in the future
-Also the federal judiciary is supposed to decide cases, not set social policy -- and bad social policy at that
-And the bigger the government gets, the less competent it is to run our lives.

I hope that we can find a candidate who will stand up for these principles.

Amazing Grace

2008-01-21T11:17:00.000-06:00

Rating: 4 out of 5

Two things really make this movie worth seeing, the original story and the supporting cast. Being in the Bible Belt, this movie was advertised as a film about the Christian song Amazing Grace. This movie was different than what I expected. It was a movie about the English slave trade and how William Wilberforce fought to end it. I did not time it this way, but it was an excellent film to consider on Martin Luther King Jr. day.

The story itself has many great struggles in it. The struggle of looking the other way for economic prosperity or doing the right thing. The struggles of the late 1700s about whether the people's voice could be heard in government. The amount of loyalty and integrity that you keep throughout your life. This movie is rated PG but I was frankly surprised by that rating afterwards. It does not just tackle the issue of slavery, but it shows you the cruel reality that many people chose to ignore. They even use the N word (although it is obviously given a very negative tone). The shear force of the true story elevates this movie immediately into high regard in my book. This is a history story that I have never heard until now, and it is one that more people should hear.

The supporting cast on this movie was superb. The main actor Ioan Gruffudd (somehow pronounced YAn Griffith) probably wasn't as appealing to me because of how he had be true to Wilberforce. The ones that really stuck out to me were Albert Finney (John Newton), Benedict Cumberbatch (William Pitt), and Michael Gambon (Lord Fox). If you are familiar with the Harry Potter movies, Gambon has been portraying Dumbledore and is quite an excellent speaker. A side item that I noticed was how well the film broke people down from their public selves to their real true inner core. One way that it accomplished that was by constantly showing how different people looked when they were not wearing the fashionable wigs from the period.

The main detractor for me on this film was the way in which they told the story. The first half of the movie is constantly moving back and forth from the present(1797) to years prior. Everyone looks relatively the same so at certain points you are confused at whether or not you are watching a memory. Overall, the historical story and superb acting win out on this movie.

An Alternative Choice

2008-01-17T11:45:00.000-06:00

This week has been a hard week for Dallas. Our Cowboys, who we hoped in the summer would make the playoffs, did not win the Super Bowl. In fact, they didn't even win a single playoff game. For most of my life, football has been 3rd on list of sports to follow. For professional teams it always was ordered Texas Rangers, Dallas Mavericks, and then the Dallas Cowboys. The Dallas Stars made a brief run up the charts in 99 and 2000, but that was short lived. This year I got caught up in Cowboys mania and they hopped over the disappointing Mavericks. Now though, they are back down to their normal third.

I say all of that to set up the fact that I did not watch the playoff game last Sunday. In fact, I didn't listen to much of it. Now most of the city was enthralled with the game. I was in fact curious. However, it was the weekend and my wife was craving my attention. This is a dilemma for men everywhere, and one that I think we too often choose incorrectly. I decided for one day, to give up my sports and spend time with her. I could have done this bitterly and with many snide comments, but I think I kept them to a minimum. Our afternoon involved the oh so exciting grocery shopping and other errands. In between shops I caught snippets of the game. While we were driving to get some chips and salsa for dinner, I decided to turn off the radio for a bit and just drive. We drove in silence for probably 10 minutes holding hands and it was pleasant to say the least. When I got to the restaurant and the nostril-clearing salsa, I saw on the television that the Cowboys were about to throw away the game in the 4th quarter. On my way back to the car I had an epiphany that I was so glad that I had not stressed about the game, but rather enjoyed so much just sitting in silence with her. Coincidentally, the next morning I flipped to I John and read chapter 2 verses 15-17

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

I think for once I chose the right thing, and I am really happy that it was the Cowboys and not the Rangers in the playoffs. I needed a warm up round.

Overdoing It

2008-01-12T14:57:00.000-06:00

The NBA has outdone itself again. They are going to replay the last 51.9 seconds of a Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks game. The scoring table said Shaquille O'Neal had fouled out with 6 fouls at this point when in fact it was only his 5th. This is the first time since 1982 that the NBA has replayed a game.

This has to be one of the weirdest decisions that David Stern has made. I think this is in response to the whole referee fiasco of last year. The game must be fair and determined by play only! Now if you have ever played sports, then I know that you have been involved in bad calls. You either correct them immediately or you more likely just move on. These calls usually tend to balance out over the long run. The thing that you do not do is continue on and then weeks later redo part of the game. This is unheard of by me. Basketball more than almost any other current sport is all about momentum. Teams constantly go on a 12 point run and then give up a 12 point run. It's all about the energy and emotions and being in the groove. So abstracting out a minute portion of the game to replay at a different time makes no sense whatsoever. I know the boys in Vegas are going to love this scenario.

Bad call commish...

What I look for in a Candidate

2008-01-04T08:23:00.000-06:00

This is part 1 of a potential series of posts. Today I am going to explain the values that I look for in a presidential candidate and the issues that I am keenly interested in. Over the next few days I am going to do research on each of the candidates and report back which candidates match up with each item and then tally up who matches the most. I am an issues voter more than a good vibe voter, so you will see my points slanted that direction. Also note that I plan on actually researching each candidates info from first hand sources (i.e. each candidates websites) rather than what I heard some radio commentator say the candidate believes. I also think that past record is important. In looking at that, you can tell if a person is just saying something to get elected or actually believes something. Without further ado, the issues in random order:

Tax Policy It is hard for me to believe that anyone who receives a paycheck does not want tax reform. There is a ton of money taken out of each paycheck. I like lower taxes and am all for them. I think we need several things including simplifying the tax code and drastically reducing or eliminating the IRS. The tax policy is not investor friendly and lends itself to punishing those who attain success. Down with the taxes!

Immigration Living in Texas I know that this is a sensitive topic. I know that immigrants do many jobs that we wouldn't dream of looking at. I know that many immigrants work very very hard. I also know that people we don't want sneak into our country as well. I am for several steps. First, securing our borders and stopping those who want to sneak in. This has to be the first step. Second, reviewing and redoing our legal immigration policy to encourage law abiding people to come here and prosper. As for those who are here illegally, I am not sure what to do. But I can't imagine kicking them all out at this point. We have to find a way to integrate them into our society.

War in Iraq I think at this point debating who did or did not support going in originally and to how much extent is sort of a moot point. Several candidates have taken so many sides that I don't know what to make of it. What I am interested in is how they will handle the situation going forward. I will first admit that I am a fan of General Petraeus. I do not think that this war has been managed perfectly, but I think that he is doing an excellent job at this stage. I really hope that the next president will finish the job over there. I personally think that the next president will, no matter what he or she says. To leave too soon will create the biggest mess ever and almost certainly cause more harm than the national poll numbers matter on the subject. I want a president who will look for solutions to the issues and finish the job.

Free Markets vs Big Government This is a big pet peeve of mine. I really think that government is too big and that it meddles too much in our lives. This includes business, regulations, and other laws. The bureaucracy is huge and part of the reason that our budget is not under control.

Moral Issues This one is a huge one for most people. I am most certainly pro life. I am also a follower of Christ. So I fall that direction on moral issues as much as I can. To me this category comes down to the word character. I know that we aren't going to have a perfect person in the office, nor do I expect it. But I certainly hope for someone who will earnestly try to do the right thing.

Conviction I am looking for a leader that takes the right stand whether or not the polls support him or her. This means not flip-flopping on issues. Now that term has become synonymous in recent years with certain people, but I am not singling them out. I want a leader who will stick to their guns when it isn't easy.

Experience I for one don't want a Washington outsider that many people claim to be. I think being an outsider has distinct disadvantages. Connections are huge in the beltway and get things done. This does not mean that I want a lobbyist for president, but I don't want a greenhorn either. I think that governors are qualified, but other than that, you need to be involved in Washington somehow. With that, I want experience that the candidate is proud of and that has been consistent. This experience needs to show a pattern of staying on the right side of issues.

Budget Reform and Earmarks Here's an idea for the government: SPEND LESS. This would be my battle cry as a candidate. We often talk about tax cut or tax hikes and we are always worried about the budget. This happens in my own household. There are two options when you have a budget problem: make more or spend less. I choose spend less. Some politicians will have you believe that we just need to raise taxes on this or that class, but I say no. I think that it is time to figure out what we really need, and what we can do without. I am sure that this sounds oh so lovely, but I think that it really necessary. Our nation, just like its people, has a problem with overextending its debt. I am looking for a fiscally responsible leader. I also want earmarks done away with or at least regulated better. Congressmen are constantly stuffing bills with pork after the bill has been voted on running up our bill. This spending can be and should be eliminated.

Judicial Appointments I really appreciate judges that make decisions based upon what the law says. This is not what they think the law should say, but what it actually says. I want a president who will appoint judges that do not legislate from the bench. Say what you will about Bush 43, but his appointment of John Roberts to chief justice was one of his best decisions. I hope that our next president can appoint judges in that mold.

Energy Policy and the Environment I live in the grand state of Texas, the home of the Texas T. I have worked at two different oil companies as an intern. I can say from my limited experience that there was no evil conspiracy at either to destroy the earth or rip off the world. I actually found that some of the most environmentally conscience people I have ever met worked for the companies. Also, my grandpa runs a solar energy company so I know all of the great benefits of it as well. My view is this: First off, I do not think that the world is on the brink of disaster. I have done some study on the subject. It is a very hard subject to study by the way because of the excess of passionate diatribe that clouds the cold hard facts. Having said that, I don't think that we really treat the planet that well, or at least don't put much thought into how we treat it. We are making great strides towards being much more fuel efficient across all sorts of technologies. Besides coal and oil being used better, solar, wind, and a host of other nifty ideas for harvesting energy have come a long ways. I am a nerd who followed the Ansari X prize. This is an ideal model in my opinion for spurring innovation. I really hope that more of our federal budget can be spent to make us extremely efficient. The other side of the coin is that American's just pollute, even the environmentally sound. I am not sure how to egg people on to do less, but I am not sure that the government should be all that involved in the process.

Foreign Policy I might be different than some in my way of thinking, but I am not quite the expansionist that others may be. That means that I really want to take care of the home front first. A biblical thought on the subject might be taking the plank out of my eye before the speck in yours. I think that there is a lot that needs fixing here in our own place before we stick our necks out to fix others. This is not a state of illusion where I pretend that our world is perfect and ignore problems. Rather, it is a mindset that our citizens come first and that we should take care of them above other nations. I would love a more domestic policy than perhaps we have had of late that tackles the big issues of our nation, not everyone else's.

Homeland Security Having now worked in the real world for several years, I am beginning to understand the effect that bureaucracy can have on solving real problems. And I am not complementing the system. I am quite excited to see that we have taken steps to remove walls and get people the information they need to do their jobs. I am not super excited about seceding all of my rights in the process, but I realize that something has to be given up in order to obtain higher security. I general fall on the law enforcement side of the argument, but that assumes that they are inherently good. Since I am not totally disillusioned, I realize that we need reasonable checks in place for the process. So this is one of my less passionate issues, but one that should still matter.

Poverty and Education I group these two items together because I think that they are tightly coupled. Education is the key to getting out of poverty. I am not a big fan of no child left behind. I think many people have hashed that one out. If there ever was a program that I would expand in the government, it would be student loans. I think first off that we are not a poor country, but that those who are less fortunate can pull themselves up quite quickly via education.

Social Security

I just realized that I just wrote a chapter in a book that is way too long. Therefore I will leave my explanations at that and explain further on specific issues if prodded.

The New Year is looking up

2008-01-03T11:03:00.001-06:00

The sports world in Dallas is on an upswing right now. Bolstered by the return of the Cowboys, 2008 looks to be a good year.

Cowboys
With a first round bye, we are set to win our playoff game in years. This is by far our best team in quite some time and the offense will most likely explode in January. We have been beat up and injured in December and the extra week off should really boost our team. Look for Romo to keep showing off the ice water that runs through his veins. Look for Marion Barber to emerge as the running leader of this team and stiff arm the competition. And look for whichever receiver that the defense forgets to cover (TO, Terry Glenn, Jason Witten, or even Patrick Crayton) to become a local hero. Demarcus Ware is going to trounce the other team as well. To the right is our office mascot. The tortoise is an adaptation of the Marion Barber stiff arm. Because of course, that is what we do to the competition.

Mavericks
This has been a weird season for the boys so far. However, after listening to last night's trouncing of the Golden State Spoilers, I think they might be coming together finally. While not performing well, this team has stepped up for some big games and I think that Avery will have them playing quite fluidly come playoff time. Watch out for the Brandon Bass squad. If Dirk gets his head straight, this team could take off really quick.

Rangers
Being a long term Rangers fan, I am excited about the next year. According to Baseball America we have improved our farm system from 28th to 4th in the league. That is a big jump. We no longer have to put all of our hopes in 2 or 3 prospects. This bodes well for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Now I know that won't get most fans excited, but I am all about doing things the right way. I have lived through the era where we brought in every old has been that the league could offer. I am ready to have some home grown talent. Meanwhile, I think that the lineup that they will put out in Arlington will actually be decent. I think the outfield looks a lot better. The main concern as usual is pitching, but I am not over eager and ready to sell the farm for this year. So lets hope players like Taylor Teagarden and others develop further this year.

Ainulindale vs The Magician's Nephew

2007-12-31T09:43:00.000-06:00

I have recently read both the Ainulindale[A] and The Magicians Nephew[MN] and thought I would do a comparison between the two. Now the Ainulindale is part of The Silmarillion if you actually want to find it. This can also be seen as a comparison between J. R. R. Tolkien (author of the Ainulindale) and C. S. Lewis (author of The Magicians Nephew). These two were part of a literary group known as the Inklings and probably shared each of these stories with the group. Therefore I think that these two accounts probably have some each person interwoven into them even though they reflect the author in the end.

First off, both of these stories are most likely elaborations on the the biblical genesis story. Both of the authors were Christians and no doubt had interesting views of how it all began. The theme of music is shared by both is used as the method of creation. No doubt both men had visited cathedrals and heard choirs of voices resounding throughout the massive buildings. The view of creation as a beautiful harmony seems almost natural if you have heard certain masterpieces. The instrument of the music is different in each. In [A] the Ainur are created by Iluvatar (represents God) and they in turn sing the part of the song that was put in them. In [MN] the singer is a singular person in the lion Aslan (represents the Christ, son of God). The Lewis version of having the Son involved in creation reflects thoughts presented at the beginning of the gospel John. John chapter 1 verse 3 states

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Aslan therefore is the personification of this scripture. Tolkien's presentation could be best described as God creating angels and giving them a purpose. Those angels then fulfill their purpose in creating.

The literary style in [A] is much closer to the actual biblical account of creation than [MN]. Tolkien himself was a linguistics professor and wrote many languages for his books. This knowledge of the origins of many languages most likely caused him to write a structured and believable account of creation. For his writing style can easily be seen to closely mimic ancient stories from almost all origins. This style can be perceived as distant or detached to some people, but it is nonetheless accurate from a historical standpoint. Lewis on the other hand uses [MN] to take the reader to the date of creation and makes them an observer. The creator seems much more personable. He even laughs with creation. Most people tend to prefer this version because it seems more personable and fits better with modern times.

The timeline presented by Tolkien is somewhat vague. For an unknown amount of time creation was occurring being designed. The actual creation process in his account takes many centuries to complete. Lewis has the account occur in a singular day and would fit more literally with the Genesis account. I think that you also have to take into account the intended audience. While Lewis's audience was explicitly stated to be children, Tolkien's book takes on a much more scholarly take. This take presents a much more serious and intricate look at things than a mere children's book would.

Taking all things into consideration, it is hard for me to choose a favorite. Although from a personal standpoint, [MN] gives me a much better feeling.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

2007-12-27T12:46:00.000-06:00

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

This film has been trashed by more than its fair share of critics of late. But you just can not deny that it is fun to watch. If you liked the first film, you will definitely like the second. I had the pleasure of viewing this with my family on Christmas afternoon and it was a great way to end the day.

Just like its predecessor, this film is rooted in history. I put that in italics because it of course pads the truth for the sake of the plot. However, as a guy who loves history, I think that they do quite a good job of drawing people into the field. This (like the DaVinci Code) has lit a fire in people who would otherwise be bored by the subject. The history is accurate enough for my take.

As for the constant conspiracy theories and the like, put me down in the not buying it category. Its either that or the don't care enough about it to worry category. I just don't buy that there are vast hidden conspiracies out there all the time. I know I know, that is what they want me to believe. But I figure that I have enough to worry about without having to worry about what I don't know.

A big plus to me in the film was the character of Riley Poole, played by Justin Bartha. The humor that he constantly added to the film was much needed and provided the main (if not only) humor in the film. Without his character, this movie would not flow well.

Nearly everyone is raving about the must-see portion of the movie... the Goofy short. Disney pulled a Pixar on us and showed a 5-10 minute short film that was quite witty and unexpected. I was quite impressed at how well the animators and writers developed the skit. It was very true to the Goofy namesake, and it was very good.

There were 2 downsides to this movie, and only 1 was correctable. First, the ending was a bit slow paced after such a roller coaster ride of a film. It just did not seem to have the bite that the rest of the script had. The quest for historical significance has been overplayed in many films before (i.e. Troy) and I just didn't buy it. Next, and this is my pet peeve, the security of high international installations was way too easy to bypass. The Buckingham Palace, White House, and Mount Vernon scenes were laughable in that respect. They movies always feature a hacker who can bypass any security. As a computer person, I know that this is not the case. If you are in the oval office and getting into the president's desk (below), the secret service will stop you faster than anything. I can guarantee that.

Overall this movie was fun to watch, not at all realistic, and a great way to relax at the theater. I would definitely recommend it.

D V D

2007-12-26T14:43:00.000-06:00

The Rangers over the holidays dealt another piece of the coveted DVD trio (Danks, Volquez, Diamond). This time Volquez was sent to Cincinnati for outfielder Josh Hamilton. This feels like a slight upgrade, just like the previous trade did. We trade the promising future for a more tangible now.

I have been hearing about the promised land of DVD for maybe 4+ years. I had heard of Danks (major / minor) prior to his Ranger draft in 2003 for a bit on the high school circuit. He graduated the same year as my brother. I am not sure yet how his trade for McCarthy (major / minor) will be looked upon in the end. But for now, I don't think we got taken in the deal.

The same thing applies to this Volquez (major / minor) trade. We rushed him to the majors too early. For the past 3 years we have brought him up during the garbage time of the season to see what he was made of. This year, we had to send him all the way to A ball because his head got messed up. His stuff has become better, but I am not sure what his ceiling will be. Watch for Hamilton (major / minor) this year. We brought him over to fill our depleted outfield. He, like our vaunted DVD trio, came in with much promise and is now resurrecting after several lackluster years and a drug issue. He hit 292/368/554 last year and looks to be on the upswing. Of note is also the fact that we brought his coach over as well. Our outfield has been full of platoon players for some time and hopefully he can fill and thrive in center. His major league portfolio is a bit more extensive than Volquez and hopefully he can adjust and improve on American League pitchers.

We still have the last piece of our future here in Thomas Diamond. He spent the entire last season recovering from surgery. So for me, this will be the year we find out if he is the real deal. Thankfully the Rangers have beefed up the farm system and so we have several backups. But it would be nice to see at least 1 of the 3 become successful on our major league team.

Too Good To Be True

2007-12-20T09:18:00.001-06:00

I have often been told that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I mainly got that lecture after signing my father up to win cars at the mall when I was younger. Well, this phrase can certainly apply to business and investments. I have been told a couple times to get in on the ground floor of the next Google and both times rejected it. This isn't to say that I will never accept risk, but some things are too risky or far fetched for me.

This brings me to the recent banking meltdown. I read a recent article in Fortune magazine that really shed some light onto how banks were caught. Carol J Loomis did an interesting piece on part of the issue that is plaguing Citigroup. Citi used solid safe investments (is there such a thing?) to get some easy cash. This process came back to bite them:

Citi started then to have ominous dealings with CDO's [Collateralized Debt Obligations] that carried a "liquidity put." What Citi did a couple of years ago was insert a put type of option into otherwise conventional CDOs that were backed by subprime mortgages and sold to such entities as funds set up by Wall Street firms. The put allowed any buyer of these CDOs who ran into financing problems to sell them back - at original value - to Citi. Last summer, with the whole world suddenly unwilling to finance CDOs, the holders of the liquidity-put CDOs began to return them to Citi. And that's where they now reside - $25 billion of them

Now CDOs were considered very safe and Citi did some creative accounting to get them off their balance sheet. Well now it is coming back to bite them. Selling puts on safe items will never come back to haunt you...

He Said She Said

2007-12-19T08:47:00.000-06:00

Like many Americans, I feel like I am getting polled out. I think every day they shuffle the deck of politicians and see who is currently winning. I paid attention for a couple days and was thoroughly underwhelmed. So from now on, until someone actually wins or loses, I don't care what the polls say. That attitude really frees me up to choose the candidate that I like best.

Mud is being slung in all directions at this point. I know too much about various candidates 3rd grade aspirations at this point. I know that all sides seem to do this, but I am not voting based upon the latest National Enquirer report. What about voting on actual political records or stances on core issues? Now there is a unique idea.

I ran across this video series featuring Victor Davis Hanson and it is excellent. I really appreciate his ability to take a broad historical look at the current times.

Is anyone else tired of Iowa and New Hampshire deciding who gets to be president? I know I am. March 4th, 2008 is when my state holds its primary. I hope that the candidate I like the most is still around by then. From what some tell me, if you don't do well in Iowa, you might as well drop out. Give me a break!

Shawshank

2007-12-18T10:39:00.000-06:00

Nearly everyone that I know who has seen The Shawshank Redemption has considered it a good movie. Well it seems that 2 guys in New Jersey escaped using the same method. They hung a poster over the hole that they carved out. From the AP article

They hung photographs of bikini-clad women to hide the holes in the walls.
According to police, Blunt, who is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 210 pounds, squeezed into Espinosa's cell through an approximately 16- to 18-inch hole.
The two inmates wiggled through another 18-inch hole in the outer wall. From a roof landing, the two men "took a running jump or they were standing and they jumped approximately 15 feet out and about 30 feet down," Romankow said.
Then they jumped a razor-wire fence onto a New Jersey transit railroad bed to freedom

The best part for me is that they taunted the guards by saying:

"Thank you officer -------- for the tools needed, you're a real pal, Happy Holidays," the note read, with a smiley face drawn next to it.

I guess this means that they won't be showing that movie in the prison anymore...

They Call Him the Streak

2007-10-13T11:46:00.000-05:00

I know that it is a day late for this post, but I thought that I would go ahead and get the info in before the next set of games start. I am torn this week between my favorite sport and the sport that my entire city is talking about. Since it is the playoffs, my favorite sport gets my top nod.

The Major League Baseball playoffs have in recent years become more of a "who is hot right now" contest than a "who is the best team" challenge in my opinion. This year I think that it would be hard to argue that the NL is anywhere near as close to the AL in overall competitiveness. However, just like last year, a hot NL team could run the table.

The Red Sox have been scary all year; their problem has been getting everyone on the same page at the same time. And oh my have they clicked at the right time. Their firepower at the plate seems quite superior to me in the ALCS and that should take them through to the next round. Fausto Carmona is throwing for Cleveland tonight and gives them their best shot to take a game. Sabathia has as good a chance as any player to take the Cy Young award, but his performance last night was not good at all. Pitching, like it does so many years in baseball, made the difference yesterday.
Boston 4 games - Cleveland 2 games

The Colorado Rockies have quite an explosive lineup and their pitching the past month has been good enough, if not excellent. Taking out Brandon Webb in game 1 was the key to this series an basically spoiled the Diamondbacks chances. With their lineup, the Rockies streak is even scarier than a typical hot team. This team has some sustainability. It all rests on their pitchers to see how far they can go.
Colorado 4 games - Arizona 1 game

Now to the granddaddy of them all, the NFL. Nothing has stirred Dallas in quite a while like this Cowboys team. I predicted a good year, but nothing this solid. I am personally pumped that they had their screw-up game last week vs. the Bills. The Patriots however are a different beast. I think we match up quite well against them except for our pass coverage. I think our running game is better, but in the end we will get burned too many times. So I will have to go against my beloved team overall, but I think they will cover the spread.
New England Patriots 31 - Dallas Cowboys 27

Overall record on outright winners, 3-0

The New Revolution

2007-10-11T13:04:00.000-05:00

Every time that I turn around, another stock with the word China in its title is going nuts. It is hard to go a single day without seeing a different stock go up double digits percentage wise. This sort of reminds me of '97 or '98 when anything tech would seem to jump like nuts. However, this new wave of stock mayhem stems from a billion people strong country that is unleashing companies out of communism. This could easily be the basis of major economic growth across the globe for years to come. Here are just a few examples of recent movers:

China Mobile Limited [CHL] has moved from 51 to 87 in the past 2 months
China Life Insurance [LFC] is up from 52 to 98 since August
China Petroleum & Chemical [SNP] is up from 90 to 146 since August
China Telecom Corporation [CHA] is up from 46 to 84 since August
Aluminum Corp. of China [ACH] is up from 37 to 77 since August

That is an average return of 82% over the past 2 months. All that I would have had to pretty much do is pick a random stock with the word China in it, and I would be set. And too bad that I didn't. Now the current question is whether this has true merit or is just a bubble of hype. For that, we will have to wait and see.

Practicality

2007-10-09T11:10:00.000-05:00

I have been recently studying for the Java 1.5 certification exam. The book that I am using is over to the right of this page. It is over 800 pages, but I am making it through. It is also quite thorough and good for preparing for the exam. I know enough to pass the exam, but not enough to do it all perfect afterwards.

Therefore I am for the first time since college, seriously studying for a test. It is at this point that I realize several things. First and foremost, it is really hard to create a programming competency test. It is far too easy to say that you know a language or concept. Resumes are filled with supposed knowledge, but applying it to a job is entirely different. So after 3 years of applying my knowledge, I find it hard to translate that knowledge back to the academic realm. It is not that the information needed for the test is pointless, but the hypothetical situations that the test turns into 'gotchas' just drive me batty. Who on earth sets up a polymorphic tree with 17 levels and every access modifier in the book? I have not seen the situation arise in my line of work, and I write enterprise level software. At the same time, I don't know that if someone completed this certification they would be ready for real life work.

So today is my day to rant about the large gap between learning syntax and knowledge that can only be gained with experience. I certainly don't know a solution off the top of my head, but it seems near impossible to tell on paper is someone is worth a hill of beans in real life situations.

The Big Weekend

2007-09-28T10:17:00.000-05:00

This is an excellent weekend to be a pro sports fan. The college lineup is a little week, but the MLB and NFL are as exciting as ever. Here once again on record are the things that I know will most likely happen if everything goes my way.

Let's start with baseball and the exciting pennant races that are going on right now. Being an American League fan, I have long since figured that everything was aligned back in August. However the National League is up for grabs. So a couple of notes...

I predicted the AL standings to a T 6 months ago
I am always modest
The Cubs will win at least 1 game and the Brewers will lose at least 1 game, therefore clinching the playoff berth for the Cubs.
The Padres and Diamondbacks will tie for the top of the NL West and spoil the Rockies feel good story.
This will cause the following rule to be invoked:
In the event of a tie in the standings at the close of the regular season, league rules provide for a one-game playoff (with the home field determined by coin flip) to determine which of two teams participate in the Division Series. If three teams are involved in a tie, a two-game playoff may be played. If two teams are tied, but a tiebreaker would result in both participating in the Division Series anyway (due to one being division champion and the other being wild card), then no playoff is played and seedings are determined by head-to-head record.
I want the Phillies to win the East, but I think the Mets will not choke enough to make it happen. (And yes I know that is not the popular consensus)

Since I am a big Dallas Cowboys fan, I will always make a prediction for their game and at least 2 other games. So for week 4 of the NFL:

This is an obvious pick for a Cowboys win, which is exactly why many people are scared of this game. I would be too, but I think the lack of Steven Jackson will allow the defense to really attack the quarterback. I expect the secondary to give up a couple of big pass plays, but overall contain the Rams. I see the boys putting up pretty good number on them so this game should go well.
Dallas Cowboys 34, St. Louis Rams 17
The big game of the week is the Vikings vs. the Packers. This is definitely a battle of good defenses. This game should come down to who has more sacks, interceptions, and big stops. I would personally rank Minnesota slightly higher than the Packers on the defensive depth chart. However, Green Bay has a definite offensive advantage. If they can contain the Viking running game, as I expect them to do well enough, than they take this game.
Green Bay Packers 24, Minnesota Vikings 13
And finally, I have to check out the Colts and Broncos. This has the most intriguing match ups with the wide receivers of Indianapolis going against the defensive backs of Denver. This game should highlight how well Joseph Addai really is. Watch for the Colts starting out with a strong running game and then exploiting holes in the Denver defense when they try to plug up the line of scrimmage. The status of John Lynch will have a huge impact upon the game. The Broncos will have to utilize their potent air attack to best the Colts in this game.
Indianapolis Colts 23, Denver Broncos 20

View From the Political Sidelines

2007-09-26T10:36:00.000-05:00

Its been a while since I threw out any political observations, but I will attempt to keep this current.

I watched a News Radio episode the other day from 1998. Bill McNeil (Phil Hartman) sings political songs from the day and mentions that Fred Thompson thinks its bunk that Bill Clinton had the Lincoln Bedroom up for rent.

Sometimes we take our freedom for granted in America. Its scenes like the one in Burma of monks protesting that remind us that not everyone enjoys the simple basics of life.

As of this morning the UAW and GM are back on speaking terms. You hardly need to spend much time with me to know that I think 99% of unions are out-dated and corrupt. The UAW and its hold on the industry here are why foreign car companies are easily beating out our national brands. It is sad to see these 2 entities entwined so tightly, because I fear that it will be the downfall of both groups.

Since we are still over a year away from a presidential election, I will not call this race a done deal. I frankly think people are starting to get "election weary" already. Even if you like the person, they have been out there too long at this point.

2007 Baseball Predictions

2007-03-30T16:47:00.000-05:00

I figured that before the season actually starts I had better get my stuff in writing. That way if any of it actually comes true, I can point it out to you way too often. Playoff teams are in italics. Bold if they make it to the League Championship. In the end I pick Boston over St. Louis.

AL East

94-68 Boston Red Sox

92-70 New York Yankees

83-79 Toronto Blue Jays

70-92 Baltimore Orioles

66-96 Tampa Bay Devil Rays

AL Central

91-71 Cleveland Indians

87-75 Detroit Tigers

85-77 Chicago White Sox

81-81 Minnesota Twins

65-97 Kansas City Royals

AL West

90-72 Los Angeles Angels

86-76 Texas Rangers

83-79 Oakland Athletics

71-91 Seattle Mariners

NL East

94-68 Philadelphia Phillies

91-71 New York Mets

82-80 Atlanta Braves

73-89 Florida Marlins

62-100 Washington Nationals

NL Central

90-72 St. Louis Cardinals

86-76 Chicago Cubs

82-80 Houston Astros

77-85 Cincinnati Reds

73-89 Milwaukee Brewers

68-94 Pittsburgh Pirates

NL West

89-73 San Diego Padres

86-76 Los Angeles Dodgers

81-81 Colorado Rockies

77-85 San Francisco Giants

75-87 Arizona Diamondbacks

Initial Movie List

2007-03-13T14:53:00.000-05:00

My wife was asked in church on Sunday what my favorite movie was. She answered quite respectably and I in turn started to wonder myself. Therefore I started writing a list and what do you know, it became quite large. So for the first round of my debate I present my list in chronological order. Obviously since I am semi-young this will be slanted towards movies in my era. No explanations at this point, just a straight listing. Also, feel free to let me know which ones I left out. It is hard not to skip ones with such a large list. In case you are counting, this is my top 100 (and yes I had to cut some).

1934 - The Thin Man

1938 - The Adventures of Robin Hood

1938+ - Charlie Chan with Sidney Toler

1939 - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

1942 - Casablanca

1946 - It's a Wonderful Life

1947 - The Bishop's Wife

1951 - Strangers on a Train

1952 - High Noon

1953 - Roman Holiday

1956 - The Searchers

1957 - The Bridge on the River Kwai

1958 - The Sign of Zorro

1959 - North by Northwest

1960 - The Alamo

1960 - The Magnificent Seven

1961 - The Guns of Navarone

1962 - Lawrence of Arabia

1962 - To Kill a Mockingbird

1963 - Charade

1963 - From Russia With Love

1963 - The Great Escape

1965 - Shenandoah

1966 - The Professionals

1975 - Monty Python and the Holy Grail

1977 - Star Wars

1981 - Chariots of Fire

1981 - Raiders of the Lost Ark

1983 - Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

1985 - Back to the Future

1986 - An American Tail

1987 - The Untouchables

1989 - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

1990 - Home Alone

1990 - The Hunt for Red October

1992 - Aladdin

1992 - The Last of the Mohicans

1993 - Groundhog Day

1993 - Jurassic Park

1993 - The Fugitive

1993 - The Sandlot

1993 - Tombstone

1994 - Clearn and Present Danger

1994 - Maverick

1994 - The Lion King

1994 - The Shawshank Redemption

1995 - Apollo 13

1995 - Braveheart

1995 - Crimson Tide

1995 - GoldenEye

1995 - Toy Story

1996 - The Rock

1997 - Air Force One

1997 - Contact

1997 - Men in Black

1998 - Saving Private Ryan

1998 - The Negotiator

1999 - Galaxy Quest

1999 - Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

1999 - The Green Mile

1999 - The Matrix

1999 - The Mummy

2000 - Cast Away

2000 - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

2000 - Gladiator

2001 - Enemy at the Gates

2001 - Monsters Inc.

2001 - Ocean's Eleven

2001 - Rat Race

2001 - Shrek

2001 - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

2001 - The Score

2002 - Catch Me If You Can

2002 - Spider Man

2002 - Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

2002 - The Bourne Identity

2002 - The Count of Monte Cristo

2002 - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

2002 - The Rookie

2002 - We Were Soldiers

2003 - Finding Nemo

2003 - Open Range

2003 - Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

2003 - Secondhand Lions

2003 - The Italian Job

2003 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

2004 - Hidalgo

2004 - National Treasure

2004 - The Incredibles

2004 - The Passion of the Christ

2004 - The Polar Express

2005 - Batman Begins

2005 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

2005 - King Kong

2005 - Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

2005 - The Greatest Game Ever Played

2005 - The Legend of Zorro

2006 - Night at the Museum

2006 - The Prestige

Initial AL West

2007-02-12T14:06:00.000-06:00

I have been reading some interesting reads by columnist Tim Brown whose work is posted on Yahoo Sports. He is doing a quick around the league and I am basing much of my comments on his work. The following are the highlights and my added opinion.

Also I would love to point out that once again Yahoo Sports is my preferred internet venue for sports news because of its clean layout. I have tired greatly of the extreme broadband requirements of other sites and love the fact that I can enjoy the site on dial-up or a T1 line.

FYI, I will be making my official predictions about records/playoffs and all before the season begins, but after Spring Training ends.

The Orioles look to be stuck in neutral again this year. They might make some early noise in May, but a weak rotation with Bedard as its high point will eat away at the win column. Combine that with an overpaid closer in Baez and the birds will have trouble holding a lead.

Here is the scary part: "Devil Rays starters had a better ERA in 2006 than Red Sox starters." So what did Boston do but go out and sign a big name in the offseason. Now their rotation looks like Schilling, Beckett, Dice-K, and Wakefield. If Papelbon is allowed to join them then they look scary. Their bullpen will prove to be either the savior or the Achilles heal for this team.

The Bronx Bombers are back once again and a healthy Matsui should prove to be vital. And yes, here we are again discussing whether or not they can outhit the other team. This team is like the Phoenix Suns in their approach to the season. Simply outscore the other team and hope that the defense (pitching) does enough.

Tampa Bay is going to be hard to take seriously again because of their general lack of talent. Kazmir and Wiggington will hopefully provide some inspiration to this otherwise AAA team.

Toronto is once again going to be bearing the brunt of the AL East haterade. They have a solid rotation in Halladay, Burnett, and Chacin. Their outfield should outhit the world again (unless Vernon Wells had a contract season). Watch for them to take 2nd in the division.

The White Sox have a 'great on paper' rotation again that can take them to the top if they regain their form. Dye, Thome, and Konerko need to step up once again though to keep them in contention.

The Indians seem to be stuck in neutral and their lineup and rotation seem ok i guess. They seemed destined to be either 3rd or 4th in the division.

Detroit looks really scary. They added Gary Sheffield for some extra power and retained their elite pitching staff. The key will be whether or not the staff is worn down or overused. Having 4 starters hover around 200 innings last year was mighty nice, but let's make sure that they don't wear out late in the season.

The Royals.... yup.

The Twins are going to have to turn into a Yankees-esque team and muscle their way into the postseason. Their pitching is going to be quite down with the loss of Liriano. Even with Santana doing his usual changeup magic, the rest of the rotation is mediocre at best. Having Mauer and Morneau leaves them open to some pop as that could bring them hope. I have them slated comfortably in 3rd.

The Angels of 'whatever city they pick this year' look to be stacked to take the division. If Vlad comes back strong and Colon starts blowing people away, their team will do well.

Oakland keeps losing good pitchers and so it is hard for me to believe that they will maintain a high level of performance. I am uncertain about the Piazza for Thomas DH swap and think it will be quite hard for Mike to equal Frank's output from last year.

Seattle has spent a lot of money chasing contract year players and are getting hit with the brunt of those bad decisions. They look destined to be bottom feeders this year.

The Rangers seem to be quite a wild card this year. They have built their team around a lot cheap what ifs that could pay huge dividends. If Sammy starts slammin again and Gagne is lights out with Otsuka in front and Brandon McCarthy steps it up and Hank Blalock decides to play again, they win the division. As it is, it is hard to bet on higher than a 2nd place finish in the division.

It's That Time Again

2007-02-09T14:56:00.000-06:00

Now that football is over I can officially bask in the attention that Baseball is now given by the media. Now I can start formulating my opinions on all of the teams since I have more information. Therefore I will start posting my thoughts on the upcoming season and my favorite team.

Some poor shmuck up in New York decided to sign Chan Ho.

The Rangers lost Gary Matthews Jr. to the Angels this offseason. He had a steller year last season, but I am thinking that it may be short lived. He played several years for us and only had this one good season to speak of. Matthews is 32 years old and his lifetime average is not that good (.263 including his breakout year). His contract year play has payed off for him, but I am glad to see the Rangers not chase his escalating salary. And as always, I will probably eat these words.

Bud Selig is not really sure if he is going to follow the breaking of Hank Aaron's home run record. It is quite interesting how shunned the bombers have become in recent years.

The Rangers this year are all about second chances, or third chances. Eric Gagne would be huge if he works out. However, I am hearing talk of dumping Otsuka if he turns out to be good. Even though we could upgrade the outfield in a trade, Otsuka is the most stable part of our sometimes shaky bullpen. Sammy Sosa is worth an extra 2000 tickets a game at least in my book, so I am happy to give him a shot. Kenny Lofton just seems to be too old though for his speed to still be great.

For years Rangers fans have been hearing that the future lies with our 3 perfect pitching prospects (Danks, Diamond, and Volquez). We have refused all trades for them. The only one to actually pitch in the majors in Edison Volquez who has a steller 1-10 record with a 9.20 ERA. Danks and Diamond have never even pitched in the majors. So we finally dumped Danks this offseason for Brandon McCarthy who at least had a 1.25 whip last year. The Rangers betting all their pitching future on these 3 minor league prospects has not payed off.

The major loss for the Rangers in the offseason was Mark DeRosa. He was a solid .296 utility player who reminds me of Michael Young. I think the Cubs will really like this pick-up.

Hipster Cool Dude

2006-12-26T08:25:00.000-06:00

I have long been wanting new gadgets. And I have also been fashionably late in buying those gadgets. I talk myself out of them saying that in 4 months I will be able to get something twice as good for half the price. I am usually right, but when you never buy it makes no sense. So after spending 3 and a half years drooling over MP3 players, I received this one for Christmas:

Boy am I in heaven. This thing lets me listen to the radio, view pictures, and listen to my music on the go. So now that I am ultra cool and all, I have the right to wear this thing around. I mean I have seen people with earbuds in for a long time and it is socially acceptable. So the first thing that I did after receiving the gift and putting the Weezer Blue album on it was of course go out in public. "Hey honey, can you go get a couple items from the grocery store," was my cue. I threaded the earbuds through the jacket, hit play, put the player in my pocket and was off. Of course I did not make it out the door without my wife hanging her head in shame. Am I off or is that not still cool? I told her it was, but I don't think she believes that I am on the cusp of a culteral revolution or anything.