My wife, Jen, has her own blog now: http://pitchersprincess.blogspot.com/. Read, enjoy, and if you feel so inclined, make it a link on your own site!
I've been to 5 Sox games so far this year. In those games, they have a record of 3-2. I've seen Matt Clement pitch twice. I've also seen Josh Beckett, David Wells and Tim Wakefield once each. The law of averages is working out pretty well. Just need to see Schilling now, with 4 games left to attend this year.
Get this...we attended 5 games in the first 2 months of the season. Coco Crisp, the Red Sox new center fielder, got injured exactly 3 games before the first game we went to. He didn't come back until exactly 3 games after the 5th game. Go figure...
Saw X-Men 3 over the weekend. I enjoyed it thoroughly. My first impression was that I didn't like it as much as the first 2 in the series, but I need to see it again before I make that official. Either way, it was really good and I would suggest seeing it if you liked the others. I liked it more than I liked The DaVinci Code.
Other movies I plan on seeing, or would like to see, in the theater this summer: Over The Hedge, Cars, The Omen, Nacho Libre, Click, Superman Returns, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, You, Me and Dupree, Lady in the Water, Miami Vice, Fearless, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Snakes on a Plane, Clerks II, The Illusionist, Gridiron Gang.
The over/under on the number of those movies (or any others not on the list) I will actually see in the theater this summer is 7. I'm taking all action...
They finally opened the pool at our complex this past Saturday. Right on time if you ask me. Sunday and Monday gave us a sneak preview of summer, with temps in the 80's. The pool registered at a chilly 70 degrees on Sunday. Felt good, though.
Speaking of temperatures, I think our refigerator was holding steady at about 76 degrees, and our freezer was about 52 degrees. That is why we are getting a new one tonight. Well, it's not brand new. It's used, but it works and it was only $50. If it can make water solid and keep our food fresh, then that's all we need.
I have to go to the doctor's tomorrow to take a stress test. I'm not happy about it, but it has to be done. I'll let you know how it went.
I'm glad it's only a 4-day work week. I think it's going to be a slow few days...
Taylor won American Idol. Good for him. I was rooting for him, and I'll probably buy his CD whenever it comes out.
Anyway...that's all for now. Have a nice day!
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Confession
OK...so I have a confession to make. I've found myself hooked on a TV show that I swore a few years ago I would never get into. I really don't like reality TV whatsoever. I could never get into Survivor, The Real World, Fear Factor, Road Rules, etc. but for some reason I can't stop watching American Idol.
When the show first came out 5 years ago, I watched it once and didn't like it. So, I assumed that it must be a bad show and never watched it again.
In Season 2, I caught glimpses here and there, but still wasn't into it.
With Season 3, I watched the first few episodes to see the really bad singers get made fun of. Then I watched the last six episodes or so because my wife was really into it. That was our first year living together as a married couple. It was then I realized that once you get down to the final 6 contestants, the quality of the performances go way up. The bad singers and the people who don't put in the effort to win get weeded out, and you are left with those people who actually have really good voices, put in a solid effort to learn the songs, make them their own and improve their performances. It's actually enjoyable to watch these talented people grow throughout the competition.
Once Season 4 rolled around, I watched the show even more. By the time they got to the Final 12, I had even picked out a favorite just to make it more interesting to me. I had someone to root for...and that was my downfall. That was last year, and the contestant was Bo Bice. It was the first time they had a "rocker" this far in the competition. In fact, that year they had 2, but Bo was the one I liked. Anyone who knows me, knows that I tend to lean towards rock as my music of choice. So, I thought it would be pretty cool to see a "rocker" as the next American Idol. As you may know, Bo did really well, and made it to the Season Finale, competing against country-singing hottie Carrie Underwood. Anyone who knows me, also knows that I tend to NOT lean towards country as my music of choice...unless it's Johnny Cash. Johnny's the man and always will be (no matter what Jeff says), but that's another subject. Obviously, I wanted Bo to win. I thought he deserved it. he was consistently the best throughout the last episodes. Unfortunately, the final song, which is the song written for the final 2 contestants to perform in the Season Finale was more suited for Carrie than it was for Bo. He was in trouble, and I knew it. So, I did what any sane person would do in a crisis such as this. I voted. Yeah...I couldn't believe it either. I actually picked up my cellphone and texted my vote for Bo to win American Idol, and the whole time I'm wondering to myself "What am I doing?" "Am I really voting for American Idol?" "What is wrong with me?" "Have I gone insane?" Before I had even realized what happened, I had voted probably about eleventy billion times. That's right...I didn't do it just once...I did it many times. Unfortunately it wasn't enough, because every Cletus, Jed and Billy Sue in America had voted for Carrie Underwood eleventy billion times, as well. I can't compete with that.
Now we're in Season 5, and the Season Finale is a week away. I think I have watched more American Idol this year than any other previous year. Not only did I watch the beginning episodes to see people get made fun of, I watched many the middle episodes and all of the Final 12 episodes. I picked out my favorite very early this year. Another rocker, named Chris Daughtry. He was the odds on favorite to make it to the last round, but he was voted off in a shocking turn of events 2 weeks ago. It's OK though, because everyone knows how good he is, and he apparently already has an offer from the band Fuel to be their new lead singer. Great news for him if he accepts. I'd buy that CD. Luckily, I have a backup favorite and he did make it to the final. That would be the 29 year-old Taylor Hicks, the soulful singer from Alabama. He sounds a lot like Joe Crocker mixed with a bit of Ray Charles. Taylor is probably one of the most interesting people that has ever been on the show in it's 5 years. With his salt-and-pepper hair color and his animated dance moves, he may not seem like he fits the typical mold for an American Idol. In fact, Simon Cowell, the tell-it-like-it-is-even-if-it-hurts judge said that Taylor would never make it to the Top 10 when he first auditioned. Simon didn't even want to put him through to the 2nd round. Yet, week after week, Taylor sang his heart out. His infectious personality and his increasing fan base, dubbed the Soul Patrol, has kept him in the competition until the end, and he has never been in the bottom 2 for votes. Never! He gets better every week, and he grows on you. Even Simon admits he was wrong and says that he now believes Taylor will win the whole thing. Taylor's competition? Another hottie...the sultry Katherine McPhee, whose rendition of Somewhere Over The Rainbow, a song picked out for her by Simon, was one of the best performances all year and, in my opinion, is the only reason she made it to the Finale. She has struggled in recent weeks, and should have been voted off during Elvis week when she bombed on both of her songs. The Finale could, once again, come down to the fact that the final song is better suited for one person over the other. Usually, it's better suited for a voice like Katherine's which, obviously, would be bad for Taylor. It's a good thing they also get to do a 2nd song of their choice out of their previous performances (they did last year anyway). Looks like it's going to be another Finale after which I will be texting vote after vote for the next American Idol on my cellphone. Go Taylor!!!
When the show first came out 5 years ago, I watched it once and didn't like it. So, I assumed that it must be a bad show and never watched it again.
In Season 2, I caught glimpses here and there, but still wasn't into it.
With Season 3, I watched the first few episodes to see the really bad singers get made fun of. Then I watched the last six episodes or so because my wife was really into it. That was our first year living together as a married couple. It was then I realized that once you get down to the final 6 contestants, the quality of the performances go way up. The bad singers and the people who don't put in the effort to win get weeded out, and you are left with those people who actually have really good voices, put in a solid effort to learn the songs, make them their own and improve their performances. It's actually enjoyable to watch these talented people grow throughout the competition.
Once Season 4 rolled around, I watched the show even more. By the time they got to the Final 12, I had even picked out a favorite just to make it more interesting to me. I had someone to root for...and that was my downfall. That was last year, and the contestant was Bo Bice. It was the first time they had a "rocker" this far in the competition. In fact, that year they had 2, but Bo was the one I liked. Anyone who knows me, knows that I tend to lean towards rock as my music of choice. So, I thought it would be pretty cool to see a "rocker" as the next American Idol. As you may know, Bo did really well, and made it to the Season Finale, competing against country-singing hottie Carrie Underwood. Anyone who knows me, also knows that I tend to NOT lean towards country as my music of choice...unless it's Johnny Cash. Johnny's the man and always will be (no matter what Jeff says), but that's another subject. Obviously, I wanted Bo to win. I thought he deserved it. he was consistently the best throughout the last episodes. Unfortunately, the final song, which is the song written for the final 2 contestants to perform in the Season Finale was more suited for Carrie than it was for Bo. He was in trouble, and I knew it. So, I did what any sane person would do in a crisis such as this. I voted. Yeah...I couldn't believe it either. I actually picked up my cellphone and texted my vote for Bo to win American Idol, and the whole time I'm wondering to myself "What am I doing?" "Am I really voting for American Idol?" "What is wrong with me?" "Have I gone insane?" Before I had even realized what happened, I had voted probably about eleventy billion times. That's right...I didn't do it just once...I did it many times. Unfortunately it wasn't enough, because every Cletus, Jed and Billy Sue in America had voted for Carrie Underwood eleventy billion times, as well. I can't compete with that.
Now we're in Season 5, and the Season Finale is a week away. I think I have watched more American Idol this year than any other previous year. Not only did I watch the beginning episodes to see people get made fun of, I watched many the middle episodes and all of the Final 12 episodes. I picked out my favorite very early this year. Another rocker, named Chris Daughtry. He was the odds on favorite to make it to the last round, but he was voted off in a shocking turn of events 2 weeks ago. It's OK though, because everyone knows how good he is, and he apparently already has an offer from the band Fuel to be their new lead singer. Great news for him if he accepts. I'd buy that CD. Luckily, I have a backup favorite and he did make it to the final. That would be the 29 year-old Taylor Hicks, the soulful singer from Alabama. He sounds a lot like Joe Crocker mixed with a bit of Ray Charles. Taylor is probably one of the most interesting people that has ever been on the show in it's 5 years. With his salt-and-pepper hair color and his animated dance moves, he may not seem like he fits the typical mold for an American Idol. In fact, Simon Cowell, the tell-it-like-it-is-even-if-it-hurts judge said that Taylor would never make it to the Top 10 when he first auditioned. Simon didn't even want to put him through to the 2nd round. Yet, week after week, Taylor sang his heart out. His infectious personality and his increasing fan base, dubbed the Soul Patrol, has kept him in the competition until the end, and he has never been in the bottom 2 for votes. Never! He gets better every week, and he grows on you. Even Simon admits he was wrong and says that he now believes Taylor will win the whole thing. Taylor's competition? Another hottie...the sultry Katherine McPhee, whose rendition of Somewhere Over The Rainbow, a song picked out for her by Simon, was one of the best performances all year and, in my opinion, is the only reason she made it to the Finale. She has struggled in recent weeks, and should have been voted off during Elvis week when she bombed on both of her songs. The Finale could, once again, come down to the fact that the final song is better suited for one person over the other. Usually, it's better suited for a voice like Katherine's which, obviously, would be bad for Taylor. It's a good thing they also get to do a 2nd song of their choice out of their previous performances (they did last year anyway). Looks like it's going to be another Finale after which I will be texting vote after vote for the next American Idol on my cellphone. Go Taylor!!!
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Welcome back!
So, I woke up this morning to something unusual. It wasn't my alarm clock, or my wife, or my cats. Nope...it was something much more odd. Something really bright was disturbing my slumber. It was warm and...well...really freakin' bright! It was the sun!!! Anyone who is reading this knows what I'm talking about because you're all experiencing the same thing. We haven't seen the sun around these parts in about 2 weeks. That's a long time to go without sun. It's amazing what happens when there is no sun for that long. People get moody or sleepy or even depressed (probably because 2.5 Red Sox games were rained out over the weekend). Plants get droopy...sure they like the rain...but they need the light and heat from the sun to help them grown. I think my cats were starting to freak out by the lack of sun, as well. They love their sunbeams! Heck, I even got a text message from Jeff this morning. He took a picture of the sun on his camera-phone and sent it out to people asking us what the heck it was! See what happens to people when we don't have sunlight for 2 weeks??? We get crazy and confused. So, please Mr. Sun...don't ever leave us for that long again. We missed you...and welcome back!!! I'm going to go start deconstructing my ark now. :-)
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