Crap

Only single tickets are available (the whole weekend series) for the Chicago Cubs v the Arizona Snakes. NO tickets are together.

Lego Universe

If I was 10 this would be pretty cool:



Okay, it actually still looks kinda cool. (Hat tip: Joystiq)

Shock Wave Therapy

There's an interesting story over at ESPN The Website from ESPN The Magazine regarding Magglio Ordonez resurgence after 2 years of recovering from injury. Mags received an experimental treatment in Austria called shock wave therapy, which sounds as though it should leave you with superpowers. This may not be far from the truth as Ordonez is leading the majors with a .383 batting average. Check it out.

Drama

Hat tip: Jonah Goldberg at The Corner.

Dictatorship Vs. Democracy

The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco

One of my coworkers just returned from a week working at one of our plants in Mexico. He had a picture of himself at a party with some of our Mexican counterparts. In the picture, they were all wearing wrestling masks. I noted that it would have been cool if he had that mask and wore it to work. Better yet, we discussed how much fun it would be if we all wore masks to work for the entire day. Of course, we'd all have to come up with Mexican wrestler aliases. I think I would have to wear this mask and go by the name El Mono. My coworker? Definitely El Tigre. How would this not be awesome?

Nothing New

Since we can't quite come up with any plans, can we at least agree the last weekend of July (July 27-29) is the best time still? And if that is the case, can we all agree to still keep that weekend open for any possibilities?

Hold the phones

Without speaking to a human being, I could not find tickets for the July 27-29th series in St. Louis. I only searched for Saturday's games. That's right, GAMES. It seems they play a doubleheader on Saturday, which is awesome because game 2 is at 7:05...NO SUN!!! But, I tried for 6 tickets and then 3 for both the day and night double dip. Nada. But, that's usually the case before speaking to a mammal. Stay tuned for further updates.

New Stadium + World Series Champion = zero tickets


UPDATE: Standing Room Only is all that is available for either game on Saturday, July 28. Suggestions?

UPDATE #2: Toronto is dying to get rid of tickets. Plenty of $30 Field Level 1st baseline tickets available for Saturday, July 21. Feedback needed.

Fritz is willing to go for the Standing Room Only. I'm not so gung ho on driving 14 hours and paying $13-18 to stand (possibly 3 hours in the sun) to watch a team that beat our Tigers in the WS.

Do we try for tickets to the Sunday cardinals game and take off Monday instead of Friday?

Strong Tower

All you ever needed to know...

...about compact fluorescent light bulbs, courtesy of IMAO. Here's a sample:

Q. How is it that CFLs use less energy than regular incandescent light bulbs?

A. A CFL turns electricity much more efficiently into light than an incandescent bulb which wastes 90% of the electricity in consumes in the form of heat. Also, instead of drawing all its power from electricity, a CFL also draws some of its power from Satan (check the packaging of the bulb for the specific percentage).

Enjoy.

9.0-0-0-0-4-12

No, this isn't a post about Lost, that's Verlander's stat line from last night: innings, hits, runs, earned runs, walks, and strikeouts. That's a no-hitter folks, the first for a Tigers' pitcher since Jack Morris in 1984. More from the Detroit News here.

Horsing Around

Chad Johnson beat a horse in a race on Saturday. Well, sort of, he was spotted a 100m head start, which was roughly half the distance the horse needed to cover. Now that's still fairly impressive, but isn't it sort of like saying you "won" in sudden death OT if your opponent decided to give you the ball at the 15? Of course Johnson, being mentally incapable of keeping his mouth shut said he wanted to "conquer" other sports: boxing, basketball, and auto racing specifically. Yawn. That's all talk, tell me when he jumps in the ring with a kangaroo.

Ringtones

I recently replaced my old phone after it broke when it hit the floor. Hard. I might have thrown it. Anyway, the new phone allows me to set individual ringtones for each caller, at least until I'm out of memory. So, any requests?

Transformer Clip

RE: Comic Book Movies

You asked for it, I'm going to geek out hardcore here. I think you hit the nail on the head at the beginning of your post. The main problem is money: directors and actors start demanding more of it. I think boredom is also part of it. After watching Spider-man 3 I can't believe Raimi was as into it as he was during the first two or he wouldn't have made such a mediocre movie. Yes, it made a lot of money, but it's still not all that good.

I think the other big problem is that the studios worry about losing audience interest, like you said. Comic books never really end since the publishers can't afford to kill off their most popular characters. This results in lots of stories to choose from when adapting a character to the screen, though only a few classic or important stories. There's also generally plenty of villains to choose from though they may not all be well-known. Batman, for example, is generally considered to have the best rogues gallery of any superhero. Everyone knows Joker, but here's a few more off the top of my head: Two-Face, Man-Bat, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Ra's Al Ghul, Mr. Freeze, The Penguin, The Ventriloquist, Bane, The Riddler, The Scarecrow, Killer Croc. All of these are strong enough to keep the audience's interest if there's a good story. And that's the problem: instead of good writing most superhero sequels go for a bigger spectacle. In Spider-man 3 the story suffered while they tried to shoehorn in 3 villains. The result is all are wasted AND you lose the audience. X3 did the same thing. We had more mutants but less story.

So, I guess my answer would be that a superhero movie could attain Rocky-esque levels of sequelage IF the studios were willing to wait for a good story instead of rushing out a script. Not killing all the villains would help too.

One further note: television would be the perfect place for a superhero story, but networks haven't been willing to take the risk to go all-out with it. The current television model means you probably can't put the money necessary to tell a good story with most superheroes, but this is where they would really shine, especially if you let their universes be connected. Smallville does this, more or less, but those aren't classic versions of the characters. A Batman show would be cool, a Batman show with a guest appearance by Superman would rock. Spider-man with special guest the Fantastic Four. Deadpool and... well, Deadpool doesn't need special guests. All right, that's enough for me. I better quit before I really start to ramble.

Comic Book Movies

I'm no comic book expert, but I enjoy many of the movies made from them. And, they are usually quite successful. But I'm curious, at what point do "they" stop making more sequals to a particular comic book movie? I realize the more sequals made, the higher the chance it will be a new director and/or difficulty of signing important cast members to return. And, the more movies, the less interest in the series usually.

I want to use the new Batman series as an example. I don't know a whole lot about Batman actually. But I know, like most comic books, Batman has lots of characters and villains. We know in "The Dark Knight" that the Joker will be in the movie. But there are so many characters and villains, how do you fit them all in the movies. If you don't make enough sequals, you won't get many of the characters in the series. Or, you run the risk of too many characters in one movie to fit them all in. But, if you make too many sequals, you run the risk of people losing interst in a 4th or 5th Batman movie (unless they were all like "Batman Begins").

There has been one Batman movie so far (under the new series). Can anyone tell me what most directors are thinking? You have this long list of characters (Catwoman, the Penguin, Two-Face, the Riddler, Robin, Mr. Freeze, etc, etc.) so who do they make sure gets in the sequals and who do they not mention? What order of characters gets introduced? Who are the "main" characters to be in all the movies? Is the "Batman" story every finished or any comic book story EVER completed? When does a series just finally end? Could "Spiderman" just go on and on and on? Adam referenced the villain "Venom" for the "Spiderman" series. Is there ever an end to all the villains in a story? Do they just keep coming up with new characters to keep fighting crime?

For those of you comic book guru's, what is your take?

Oh, and I read on espn.com today that Gary Sheffield is the nephew of former MLB pitcher/druggie Dwight Gooden. Does that strike anyone as odd? Shouldn't that be the other way around? Isn't Gary like 50 years old and Dwight 45? Dwight can't be that old can he? Gary is 38 and Dwight is 42 actually.

...BOOM.

It's here. Sign-up for Yahoo Fantasy Football 2007 has begun. The league ID number is 1880 (that's right, I was on it that fast) and the password is, of course, monkie. You can see the league at this link. All of the settings have been imported from last year, so if there's anything you didn't like you've got plenty of time to complain. The live draft is currently set for Tue Sep 4 6:30pm CDT. If this needs to change I need to know ASAP. It looks like Yahoo has taken the time to integrate all of the data from previous leagues, so we should be able to see all kinds of things like all-time head-to-head records. That's right, bragging rights will no longer be at the mercy of foggy memories. So what are you waiting for?

Hanging Chads

After talking with some other members of the CCMBTC, a suggestion has been brought up and possible re-vote. How about going to St. Louis's new ball park? Or, is Toronto a chance? So, I decided to look at some weekend dates of the Jays and Cards.

St. Louis:
July 27-29 (Milwaukee)
August 10-12 (Dodgers)
August 24-26 (Atlanta)


Toronto:
July 20-22 (Seattle)
August 3-5 (Texas)
August 17-19 (Baltimore)

The only thing I haven't looked at is ticket availability. I'd say no matter which ballpark we visit, we'd have to do a Saturday game. Let the people speak. Just like that fellow member, I am also a team player, so whatever works. But I like the Cardinal idea. We could pick up Adam in Chicago and still have plenty of QT with a hairy beast.

Who Knew?

I just discovered that R. Lee Ermey has an official website. It has pictures, sounds, and a store where you can buy various merchandise like a 12" R. Lee Ermey motivational figure. That's not enough? How about recipes, a fan club, a forum, and podcasts? It's amazing. So what are you waiting for? Click on the link, maggot!

History Lesson

I've just gathered the data from Yahoo and compiled the standings of every Cass City Monkie fantasy football league to date. I think I'll have to put this in a spreadsheet so I have it handy, but this will do for now. Enjoy.

* = made playoffs

Cass City Monkies 2006 Results
1.All Night Long! 12-1 2262.90 W-4*
2.Time to lose again 11-2 2089.80 W-3*
3.Battletoads 9-4 2001.30 L-1*
4.Pooper Scoopers 8-5 2169.70 W-2*
5.Crackers Dont Matter 6-7 1806.40 L-2*
6.Losers! 3-10 1656.50 W-1*
7.Non-competitives 3-10 1604.00 L-2
8.Your Chance to Win 0-13 1275.80 L-13

Playoffs
1. GOOD NIGHT NOW!!! (All Night Long!)
2. Time to lose again
3. Pooper Scoopers
4. Battletoads
5. Crackers Dont Matter
6. Losers!
7. Non-competitives
8. Your Chance to Win

All Night Long!= Fritz, Time to lose again= Schott, Pooper Scoopers= Haag, Battletoads= Stack, Crackers Dont Matter= Andy, Losers!= Barrigar, Non-competitives= Matt, Your Chance to Win= Kid Loe.

Cass City Monkies 2005 Results
1. Clobberin' Time 12-1 2217.00 W-4*
2. HorribleSpaceMonkies 10-3 2173.00 W-3*
3. DoggiesThruTheEndzon 7-6 2038.60 W-1*
4. 22 Pull Sweep on 1 6-7 1856.80 L-2*
5. KindaHypeThatlClrARm 6-7 1774.60 W-2*
6. Trade teams anyone? 5-8 1808.60 L-1*
7. The Sunday Suckas 4-9 2007.10 L-4
8. Let's go 2-11 1648.00 L-8

Playoffs
1. Clobberin' Time
2. HorribleSpaceMonkies
3. KindaHypeThatlClrARm
4. Trade teams anyone?
5. 22 Pull Sweep on 1
6. DoggiesThruTheEndzon
7. The Sunday Suckas
8. Let's go

Clobberin' Time= Stack, HorribleSpaceMonkies= Andy, KindaHypeThatlClrARm= Kid Loe, Trade teams anyone?= Schott, 22 Pull Sweep on 1= Fritz, DoggiesThruTheEndzon= Haag, The Sunday Suckas= Bader, Let's go=Barrigar.

Cass City Monkies 2004 Results
Season
1. Go Deep!!! 11-4 2178.15 W-3*
2. Soon 2 be the leader 9-6 2050.45 W-8*
3. BimSkalaBimmin' 9-6 1978.75 L-3*
4. Turf Smack 8-7 1999.10 W-1*
5. DTownThunderCats 8-7 1887.30 L-2
6. The Tecmos 7-8 2134.25 W-2
7. The Living Legend 7-8 2064.85 L-1
8. Bone Collectors 1-14 1574.70 L-3

Playoffs
1. Go Deep!!!
2. Soon 2 be the leader
3. BimSkalaBimmin'
4. Turf Smack
5. The Tecmos
6. Bone Collectors
7. The Living Legend
8. DTownThunderCats

Go Deep!!!= Barrigar, Soon 2 be the leader= Fritz, BimSkalaBimmin'= Andy, Turf Smack= Haag, The Tecmos= Stack, Bone Collectors= Matt, The Living Legend= Bader, DTownThunderCats= Kid Loe.

Cass City Monkies 2003 Results
1. Gruesome Gamecocks 13-2 2172.00 W-1*
2. Forearm Shiver 13-2 2121.00 W-7*
3. Hail Mary! 11-4 2058.00 L-1*
4. Crackback Headhunter 9-6 2028.00 L-1*
5. Calm Like A Bomb 6-9 1850.00 W-2
6. Dirty Const. Workers 3-12 1442.00 W-1
7. kungfu death monkies 3-12 1436.00 L-3
8. Tenacious_D 2-13 1448.00 L-7

Playoffs
1. Hail Mary!
2. Gruesome Gamecocks
3. Crackback Headhunter
4. Forearm Shiver
5. Dirty Const. Workers
6. Calm Like A Bomb
7. kungfu death monkies
8. Tenacious_D

Hail Mary!= Barrigar, Gruesome Gamecocks= Bader, Crackback Headhunter= Haag, Forearm Shiver= Fritz, Dirty Const. Workers= Matt, Calm Like A Bomb= Stack, kungfu death monkies= Andy, Tenacious_D= Labar.

Cass City Monkies 2002 Results (Gridiron Madness)
1. Fireproof 12-2 1097.00 L-1*
2. GO Lions!! 9-5 1076.00 W-1*
3. probable losers 7-7 1007.00 W-1*
4. kidloe kickers 6-8 899.00 W-2*
5. Kevin's Team 5-9 903.00
6. Gansters 3-11 866.00 L-2

Playoffs
1. Fireproof
2. probable losers
3. GO Lions!!
4. kidloe kickers
5. Gansters
6. Kevin's Team

Fireproof= Stack, probable losers= Andy, GO Lions!!= Barrigar, kidloe kickers= Kid Loe, Gansters= Matt, Kevin's Team= Schott.

Sleepers, Part I

With fantasy football leagues about to form all over the country we're about to embark on a long summer of... waiting. Once you've picked out a team name, the only thing left to do is start on your cheat sheet. Now, if you're a busy sort, you'll wait until about Sept. 4th and just print something out. If you're crazy, you'll start doing research now. Let's get crazy! Here's Mike Harmon of Fox Sports on potential sleeper QBs. Top of his list? Jon Kitna. Someone's been passing the Lions kool-aid around.

Fred Thompson Facts

I haven't been following the Republican presidential nominee race all that carefully, but at the moment if I was going to vote I'd vote for Fred Thompson. So I decided to read this article by Jonah Goldberg at NRO this morning. It included some interesting facts from humor site IMAO, some of which I'll reproduce here:

-Fred Thompson once ended a filibuster by ripping out a senator’s heart and showing it to him before he died.

-Only two things can kill Superman: Kryptonite and Fred Thompson.

-Fred Thompson once stood on our south border and glared at Mexico. There was no illegal immigration for a month.

-Fred Thompson vows not only to win in Iraq but also to forcefully free Vietnam from Communism, thus giving America a perfect win/loss record for wars again.

-Fred Thompson often fills in for Paul Harvey and Batman.

-They say that after a nuclear blast, the only things that will survive will be cockroaches and Fred Thompson... except that Fred Thompson doesn't like cockroaches. So the only thing that will survive will be Fred Thompson.

-Fred Thompson kills at least one terrorist every day before he even has his first cup of coffee. You don't want to be the terrorist he kills before he gets his first cup of coffee.

-Fred Thompson's favorite color is the blood of his enemies.

You can see more fact about Fred Thompson at IMAO.