FRS

79,000 Doves Cry

We got up at 5:00 AM and headed southeast, destinations: Dorchester, Ridgeville, Summerville, Summerville, Ravenel, Hollywood, Edisto Island, Adams Runs, Jacksonboro, Cottageville and Round O.

Just before crossing the bridge over the intercoastal waterway in the South Carolina Low Country at the intersection of No and Where, the Emperor ticked past the seventy-nine thousand mile mark. Somewhere within 25 miles either way of that event a young male bluejay tufted titmouse committed suicide by flying right in front of us. He was given an un-proper burial (i.e. dumped) under a bush along the side of the Adams Run, SC Post Office.

I didn’t listen to the ballgame on Thursday or Friday and the FRS beat the MFY. I watched the game yesterday afternoon and they lost. Tonight they are playing on ESPN and I figured that if I didn’t watch they might win like Thursday or Friday. I’m listening on the internet and that might be the wrong thing to do too, as the Yankees are up 1 to 0 in the second. Maybe I should quit listening… Nine o’clock on USA are new episodes of Law & Oder: Criminal Intent, followed by In Plain Sight.

Oh, word of advice, if you live on a hill and your neighbor has a pool, don’t forget to set your parking brake.

Started up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 235

TV Stars

MAL: We’re not gonna die. We can’t die, Bendis. You know why? Because we are so very pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die. Huh? Look at that chiseled jaw.

This is what happens when you win the World Series, you get to play on TV a lot. Last Saturday on FOX, yesterday on TBS, tonight on ESPN and this coming Wednesday on ESPN2. So far the FRS are 1 and 1 and trailing by one run tonight going into the 9th.

Hasn’t left much time for Netflix disc watching. We still have 3 episodes of Due South to watch on the first disc of Season One and we also have P.S. I Love You collecting dust on the coffee table.

On the way home from work tonight we stopped by the cable company and picked up a converter box. We need the box to get Versus, Le Tour starts in less than two weeks.

Started up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 217

Official Cheese Doodle of the Boston Red Sox

Wise. They also make the Official Potato Chip of the team too.

“Looks like it is coming down on Landsdowne St, better call 1-800 Fifty-Four GIANT” “Dave how’s your new Azek Deck coming along?” “Now at Papa Gino’s, buy any Rustic Pizza and get a small traditional cheese pizza FREE!”

Not only do I hear all those commercials between innings of the baseball game, but now these guys are squeezing little comments into the middle of their play by play. I’m almost immune to the ads though, but something happened the other day that was very disturbing. When I fired up the media player to listen to the FRS, before the radio broadcast came on there was an actual video commercial. I don’t remember what it was for I was so in shock. Disturbing, I could no longer, turn on the game in progress and get in with the usual 1 minute delay, now I had to wait another minute sitting through yet another plea for my money. At least it doesn’t seem to be an everyday thing, I only saw it once, but my innocence is lost.

Washed the Miata yesterday because it needed it and I figured I was safe because they weren’t calling for rain for about a half dozen days. Today the Weather Channel revised their forecast, it is now going to rain tomorrow or the next day and then there is a small chance of rain for the whole rest of week.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 192

Pretty In Pink

We are in the middle of a British Movie Binge — Casino Royale (well sorta British), Once begat The Commitments, The Last Detective (Disc 2 of Season 3), Death at a Funeral (didn’t finish), Starter for Ten, Keeping Mum (on the coffee table) and Rumpole of the Bailey: The Lost Episode (next in the queue.)

Starter For Ten, was pretty darn good. It reminded me of those 80’s John Hughes movies, Pretty in Pink, 16 Candles, et al. In plot it was probably most similar to Some Kind of Wonderful. The 80’s soundtrack (The Cure – Psychedelic Furs – Echo & The Bunnymen) probably helped the comparison along as well.

This is interesting – The Netflix Player by Roku. I’m trying to justify the purchase, but I’m having trouble. Of the Netflix library there are only 10% available for viewing using this box. Admittedly that is 10,000 titles, but they are mostly older flicks and TV shows. Not that I can’t find a bunch of stuff to re-watch, but I already have 100 movies in the regular rental queue to watch, there is bunch stuff on HULU that I want to see and the FRS are on the radio nearly every night, so my free time is limited. I haven’t really explored Joost or Miro or even Find Internet TV. The $100 would be better spent on a PC to TV converter so that other internet media could also be watched on the tube besides just Netflix.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 172

P.S. Which Sports Car Are You?

Exorcising The Devil

Usually it happens in June and usually it is the MFY overtaking them, but this year it is different. The FRS almost always start strong and lead the Eastern Division until the middle of June or early July when the wheels come off and they fall from the top spot. Usually the New York Yankees replace them in first place.

This year the swoon started early as yesterday’s loss to Baltimore caused the Red Sox to relinquish first place in the division to the Tampa Bay Rays. Who? Up until this year the team from Tampa was known as the Devil Rays and for the first ten years of their existence have never won more games than they have lost, even their best year, 2004, they were 21 games below .500. If they knew all it took to become a winner was remove the Devil from their name, I’m betting they’d have done it a lot sooner.

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 158

Charlie Wilson’s War

Joanne Herring: Why is Congress saying one thing and doing nothing?
Charlie Wilson: Well, tradition mostly.

Julia Roberts has a throw away role, Tom Hanks is excellent, but this is Philip Seymour Hoffman’s movie and he is great.

Charlie Wilson: You mean to tell me that the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan is to have the Afghans keep walking into machine gun fire ’til the Russians run out of bullets?
Gust Avrakotos: That’s Harold Holt’s strategy, not U.S. strategy.
Charlie Wilson: What is U.S. strategy?
Gust Avrakotos: Most strictly speaking, we don’t have one. But we’re working on it.
Charlie Wilson: Who’s ‘we’?
Gust Avrakotos: Me and three other guys.

This is the second movie in a month about war in the middle east, Lions for Lambs being the other, both were interesting, thought provoking and worth a watch, but Charlie Wilson’s War was much more entertaining.

We are on vacation, but not going anywhere, so it was odd not going to work today. Even odder was going for a bike ride at eight o’clock on a weekday. We may have to start riding earlier on weekdays when not on vacation. I went to the store this morning to get some actual paintbrushes for the bead board instead of my usual foam-on-a-stick things and when I went by the corner quickie mart the price of gas was $3.72, passing by the same store tonight the price had jumped by a dime to $3.82.

I’ll be glad when the FRS aren’t on ESPN anymore and I can go back to listening on the radio because tonight looks a lot like last night. They have gone and dug a themselves a 4 run hole again that I’m betting they aren’t going to be able to dig their way out of either.

Started up, went down, back up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 156

Another Rainy Morning

I put the top up to drive through the downpour to get a Sunday paper. The car spent the rest of the day dripping water on the garage floor. It was also my only foray outdoors as well.

Did a little painting, did a little reading, did a little surfing and now I’m watching the FRS on ESPN trying to get back in the game against the Twins.

Hopefully tomorrow morning it won’t be raining and we can get in that threatened bike ride or a walk in the woods.

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 153