I went to a Cubs game last week with Sven, Tim, and Adam, and it was awesome. Look at my pictures!
Cubs vs. Astros
5
Monthly Archives: August 2004
UK and Ireland, Day 10.
I’m back with the journals. The trip is almost over. We’re in Cardiff, and see the castle there, then head off to Bath, and end up in London. As usual, there are pictures of all of this.
6/12 Train to Bath
We just jumped on the train to Bath.. we Hope.. our seats are really cramped..
And Joel just got us a seat by a table.. Woot.. plenty ‘o leg room. [comparatively speaking of course.]
So this morning was a success. We got up around 8:30-8:45ish.. and headed off across the street to get our free breakfast.. It was excellent: Free unlimited orange juice [which I made good use of] Cereals of your choosing with milk, coffee or tea, eggs, toast, fried bread, beans [I don't eat baked beans] mushrooms, fried tomatoes, sausage, a baconny ham bacon thinger, fruit salad. It was all very good. Next we headed back to the room, repacked our stuff, and checked out, then headed off to the Castle of Cardiff. 
SWe got in at opening (10:00) and our tour was at 10:20. We were shown around a number of rooms, all decorated and belonging to a very, very, very wealthy man whose name I’ve already forgotten. But he was very rich, and could speak 21 languages, including Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Welsh, Scottish, and Egyptian Hieroglyphics, apparently. the rooms all had particular themes (the kids room had paintings and decorations of all sorts of nursery rhymes and stories, for example.) Many of the rooms had either religious themes (the story of Elijah, the visit of the 3 angels to Abraham and Sarah) or their family history/history of England/Scotland/Wales. All very impressive.
Once we finished the tour we headed into the keep, in the center grounds, which looked like [and was] and old school castle. A bunch of stairs later [the English would know exactly how many (129 I believe) for some reason] we were at the top, in time to see a military band beginning to play, and march across the lawn. We had noticed a number of military personnel and two large guns (like the one at Edinburgh Castle) when we arrived. The tour guide had said that at noon there’d be a 21 gun salute to celebrate the Queen’s birthday, I believe.
So we headed down, and people were already massing for the salute.. so we stood around, and waited for that, and it was all very impressive.. thankfully they called out before firing this time, so it 1.) didn’t scare the hell out of you, and 2.) made it a lot easier to get a picture or two of it.
With the Guns finished, and the band done playing what I assume is either the national anthem or something else very important, we headed off, in a bit of a hurry to the station.. where our train would be leaving at 12:30. We got on at 12:20, and it left soon afterwords, and that brings us to the present.
On my arm is written skyscraperpage.com, as I saw a poster in the hotel I though was pretty kewl, and it had that web address on it. I’d assume one could purchase said poster from said web address.
Injury report update: There appears to be a small cut on my back (1.5 inches maybe?). I do not know where it came from, but it’s not very impressive. Thus far, this trip has been quite injury free.
Now to check the 8000 pictures of guns firing that I took.
Apparently the folks here have never done this before…as they (okay, mainly just the one lady ticket taker) are freaking out.
Also, I just heard the following phrase: “If she gets electrocuted I won’t be very happy.”
6/12 Train to London Paddington
So I’ve got a few drinks in me, and I’m feeling awfully tired. 
We’re heading out from Bath, where (not surprisingly) there is the preserved site of an ancient Roman bathhouse. We checked that out first, and the tour/site took us at least an hour or two. We then headed back to the train station for some information, then headed off to some circus (traffic circle) and half-circle housing thinger… I believe i snapped a picture of me being unimpressed with the circle’s “daring departure from the standard Georgian city square.”
At the half-circle park we saw some kids playing cricket, so that was neat.
Then we stopped at a pub named O’Neils, and had dinner. I had a burger and a Strongbow (tasted like a hard cider beer mix.) Then Joel and I also got a pint of Guinness. All the while we we’re watching the Euro 2004 game Portugal vs. Greece… Greece won 2-1… Also, there was a lovely bartender girl with a bright smile and darling accent… She was lovely…
On the way back we also saw a Ferrari F355… It, too, was lovely.
The game ended, and we walked to the station, and now we’re on our way back to London.
Another addendum: Robb said something a while back (maybe to Morris) that that group of old Irish drunk guys that sang on the train were all from a bowling team…not the 10 pin bowling, but the kind that’s like Bocce… I assume he’s probably right as i had no basis for saying they were military other than the oldness and the matching crest on the breast of their suit jackets.
6/12 Hotel in London
Funny way we ended up here.. kinda. Robb had booked us two nights in a hostel near South Kensington .. So when we got of the train at London’s Paddington station, we hopped onto the Underground, and tried to make our way to South Kensington station. First we passed Notting Hill Gate, so I was geeked, and took a picture. Woo. Then, on the way to our stop [Earl's Court], the train just stopped… for a while.. then they announced they were sorry for the delay, and should be going soon… then sure enough, they started up.. and then soon stopped again… and we sat.. and they apologized and said there was a delay. We started up once more, momentarily slowed, then headed off, and made it soon to earls Gate, where we got off, and got on the one to South Kensington, and boom, we were there. We were looking for Queensbury Place. We walked around a bit, found a map, and there was Queensbury, so we headed off (after getting lost having headed in the wrong direction on on first try.) We found Queensbury, and it looked seedy… like back alley , Jack-the-Ripper type seedy… we searched all around, and could not find our hostel. After a time, we made it through the whole alley, and there was no hostel. At this Robb said the thing was supposed to be on Queensbury Place, and then I mentioned that the road we were looking on might have been Queensbury Way… so we headed back to the Underground station to look at the map, and sure enough.. Queensbury Place was a little ways beyond Queensbury Way. WE headed out again (try three) an we found it in no time.
The guy behind the desk had a think Pakistani accent, and did not seem to have a firm grasp on what it was he was supposed to be doing. When we arrived he called the manager, and described the situation… but seemed lost when it came to the whole Internet reservation and all that.. For his part, the manager on the other end seemed to think we were some other group of guys that had apparently been in earlier. Anyway, After one phone call, a lengthy delay, and then another phone call from the manager, the Pakistani dude was set to help us…. only we would not be staying there, apparently. They sent us to the Kensington Embassy Hotel… 
He said it was just a bit down the road (not far to walk at all).. they’d give us the same rate, and it’d have 3 beds (we had booked 3 beds in a 4 bed room.) and it was a “very nice place.. better than this.” So we walked…and walked…and walked.. It was a fair ways away… and the neighborhood went from kinda seedy to somewhat less seedy, to pretty posh.. and we hit the hotel.. and it seemed nice. The Sign inside quoted rooms at 130 pounds.. and we were getting it for less than 1/3 of that Score!… Only a credit card would charge us a 15% VAT… so Joel and I agreed to go down to an ATM to get some cash…. And we walked for a ways… found a closer underground station, then eventually found an ATM, got some money, and came back and paid… and now we have this fairly nice (Not quite Cardiff, but way better than Dublin) room for the last two days of our trip.
And that said, I should head to sleep, but first, I have to think of the theme song to “Growing Pains”, cause it’s been driving me nuts ever since Bath Spa station.
“Cockfosters. Australian for cock”
– Ron
“Cockburn. Australian for burn.”
-Robb
August, and Everything After.
I’ve been hella busy lately.. mainly with work, but a few other things thrown in there as well. As for work, it’s going extremely well, which is a good thing, but it does suck up a lot of my time now… especially the days I work from home. I’ll casually look over and notice that it’s already past 7 p.m. Weird. Anyway, it’s not as though a ton has been going on, but I jotted a thing or two down in the idea that at some point I’d have some time and some desire to write… meanwhile weeks have past, and it turns out I never have the time and desire to write these days, so I’ma just quick say a few things and call it good… I’ve still got a little bit from my trip (journals and pictures) to take care of as well. So anyway, here’s some stuff.
- The West Wing: I like the West Wing. I started watching it during its second season, as soon as I saw Ed. (It was on right after Ed…) So I saw almost all of season 2. (I started watching Edmidway into the season, but managed to see the first few episodes in order first, that’s to some screwy rerun schedule.) Anyway, this past season of the West Wing (Season 5), I watched only the first few episodes.. just enough to resolve the cliffhanger from the season finale, then stopped watching. I still taped them all (I taped Ed and then just taped the West Wing afterwards…filling the 2 hour tape.) but didn’t even watch the tape, assuming I’d find some time in the summer when I was bored, and needed a good show to watch. Well, it’s summer, and I had just finished watching Arrested Development and Deep Space Nine, and Simpsons Season 4, so I decided to start watching The West Wing…. after one episode, I was hooked.. and I mean big time. I ended up watching the first 4 or 5 episodes in a row, (leaving me up til 4 or 5 in the morning, of course. I got home late from a wedding last weekend, [2:30ish], and started watching, and finally convinced myself to go to sleep around 8:45, having sailed through 8 episodes, unable to stop. I don’t know how many of you out there watch The West Wing, but man, I thought this season was good. I really like Josh and Donna [and I wonder where Amy disappeared to towards the end...], so the end of this season left me screaming for season 6 to start. All this to say “The West Wing is good” and, “I have an addictive personality.”
- New Glove: The softball glove I used this season is the same glove I’ve been using since I was in 8th grade. That glove had seen it’s share of joys and sorrows, and had become a close personal friend… but was also showing it’s age. Screaming liners no longer contented themselves with staying firmly embraced by it’s leathery webbing… fingers held together with leather ties were beginning to separate… Also it was brown, and I hate brown. Midway through the season it was quite clear that I needed a new glove… But breaking in a glove during the middle of the season wasn’t going to happen, so now that the summer league is over and done, I’ve gone and found myself a new glove. It’s black, and beautiful.. I’ve found myself on a number of occasions just kinda walking around the house with it on, slamming my fist into it’s palm… I’ve been working on breaking it in, which has proved more difficult then I remembered. I’ve gotten out to play catch with it just once so far. [Yesterday, with Sven.] But anyway, I have a new glove, and to me, that’s a big deal.
- Pool Table: Remember how we got that pool table? Yeah, well it turns out having a pool table kicks ass. Now you know.
- Alex Gonzalez: Despite my best efforts, Boston is unwilling to give me Nomar in my MVP Baseball season. [I've tried straight up for Maddox, Maddox + Gonzo, and a variety of other combinations, all with no success.] Alex Gonzalez was injured for almost 70 games, and has finally returned.. before he left he was not great, but not horrible… in his first 4 games back, he had a 2 homer game, a 3 homer game, then another 2 homer game, then a 1 homer game. Currently, he’s hotter than Sosa, who, just like his real world counterpart, is in a pretty nasty slump. He’s still got 93 homeruns in 99 games, but he’s just not hitting the way he used to. I lost another game, pushing me to 93 – 6.
- Fogless Mirror: I bought a fogless mirror. I took a shower… the first thing the mirror did was fog up. I think when choosing a name for something, one key ought to be describing what the product does, as opposed to what it does not do. Seriously.. everyone in marketing should just watch The Muppets take Manhattan until they understand.
- # Johnny 5: Know what’s seriously funny? Hearing Joel say “Input!” repeatedly. I was dying.
- My Watch: I went to Detroit and was convinced I left my watch there. I was very sad, because I liked my watch, and it made look even sexier than I already am naturally. But yesterday when I was getting back to my car after shopping, I opened the passenger seat, and found it hiding, trapped underneath the passenger seat in such a way where it wasn’t on the ground, but wasn’t really visible from above. Anyway, my watch is back, and I’m pleased.
- Ed: Deedre was over the other day, and we watched the first episode of Ed. The first season of Ed is my favorite. It’s… it’s perfect, is really what it is. “Pretty Girls and Waffles” is perhaps the finest hour of television ever created. I look forward to watching more episodes. I’ve begun work [again] on getting each episode into a digital format. It is time consuming.
- Mandace: As most of you ought to recall, Mandace moved out to New York.. but she was back 2 weeks ago, and I got to hang out with her a bit. It was very fun to see her again, and she seems to have had a good time while she was back her. She and I went out for lunch as well, so I got a good chance to talk to her for a while. Things out in New York seem to be going well for her, so I am happy about that too.. She is certainly missed back here, though.
- My turtle is an idiot. My tank has green rocks in it. Swac’s tank has green, black, and white rocks in it. Swac was gone to Maryland this past week, and while he was gone, i was feeding his turtle. One day I decided to see how his turtle and mine would get along, so I bought Ned over to Swac’s tank. I set him in, and Ned instantly swam to the bottom, and after looking around for a sec, he took a big bit and swallowed a mouthful of black stones. I figured I had missed something, like, say, some food that was there, or something. But nope, there he went again, swallowing a white stone. I estimate he got 7 or 8 stones into his system by the time I got him out of the tank.. He’s stupid, and he eat everything.
- E-mail: To all the people I’ve been meaning to e-mail in the past 3 months or so, I’m sorry. Things have been busy, and I kinda suck at stuff.
- Media Machine: I had my media machine all set up, and running well (save for a noisy CPU fan) running Fedora Core 1. I’d use it to watch movies, and play music… but I could never get it working with the TV very well… the Linux TV/video card drivers just didn’t seem to like the situation at all. So after much dinking, and some thinking (and realizing that a lot of the linux video game console emulators kinda sucked, I threw a Windows XP install on the machine, and now it’s running quite well. Robb and I actually just watched some Arrested Development on the Living room TV using it, and it ran really well. I’ve also ordered a new super quiet fan, so I think I’m pretty much set. I just gotta install some emulators, and the Media Machine will be complete.
- Movies: I watched Can’t But Me Love, Mean Girls, and Stealing Harvard. Can’t Buy Me Love is an 80′s movie that doesn’t hide its age well, but I couldn’t manage to stop myself from watching the whole thing. It’s your typical “Nerd wants to be popular so he hires a cheerleader to pretend to be his girlfriend, but she really falls for him, but he doesn’t realize it, and becomes popular, and goes to far, and becomes a complete asshole, but then becomes humiliated, and realizes all he really wants is the girl, and she for no clear reason gives herself to him shortly after going off on him for turning into such an asshole” type movie. Mean Girls I was expecting to mildly enjoy, but it turned out to be really, really good, I thought. Some of the humor was really well written (I love you, Tina Fey), and some characters (Tim Meadows, Tina Fey, and Amy Poehler especially) were just really well done. There were your expected high-schooler type storylines going on, but still, I really liked it. And I was surprised that I liked Stealing Harvard as well. I hate Tom Green, but really like Jason Lee… and this movie made me laugh out loud a number of times as well. Well done, Hollywood. Now make sure Batman doesn’t suck, and I’ll not destroy you with my awesome powers.
- Freaks and Geeks: I’m gonna start watching Freaks and Geeks.. I’ve seen the first 3 episodes thus far. I’m excited.
- Weddings: Both Erin and Lindsay Veldhof got married. Gwen’s wedding is coming up. I had quite a good time at both weddings… and danced quite a bit at Lindsay’s. (Dino and Selena were there, as Dino DJ’d the thing.. so it was really fun hanging out with them there.) I also got a group to dance the Disco Duck.. which was awesome… and whipped out “the Farmer” transitioning occasionally into “Thriller”. I’m a dancing machine.
- An Open Letter: Dear Female Humans: You piss me off. Love, Ron.
That is all, as I am tired, and it’s 2 a.m.
A Post with Pictures
With all the England journals, work busyness, significant life decisions to be made, and a seemingly rekindled social life, I’ve not really had a chance to just ramble on about dumb stuff for a while…. But here I sit, in Gwen and Rob’s apartment out in Detroit, watching The Fellowship of the Ring, drinking a beer, and eating chocolate, and I’ve got myself about an hour to blow.. so I’m going to ramble… and the phone is ringing.
30 Minutes Later
Okay, anyway, I’m just going to jot down a few things, and see what I have to say:
IRAG
I rule at golf. Apparently the trick is to golf very, very rarely. I’ve been out a total of 3 times this year. The first time out (with Sven and Swac… and for those of you playing at home, Swac == Matt, my roommate), we played best ball, and I did not do all that well… and I was not surprised, as it was the first time out. Later on, I went out with Max, and golfed quite well [for me at the very least], shooting a 45, and ending with a birdie on the par 3 9th. Then, a week ago Saturday my cousin Tim (Sven’s older brother) came on out, and the 3 of us (Tim, Sven, and Me) went and golfed a full 18, and I shot a 50 on the front, and a 41 on the back. I was chipping well, putting quite well, and my drives were treating me alright as well. Times that that are when I decide I like golf. Tremble at my feet, puny earth mortals!
Bourne Supremacy
As I mentioned, cousin Tim was in town a week ago, timed perfectly so that we could go see the new Bourne movie: The Bourne Supremacy. In the off chance that you did not know, or did not remember, I very much enjoyed The Bourne Identity. Before that movie, I did not like Matt Damon, and did not like any of the movies he was in (Save for the Kevin Smith Films..where I enjoyed the movie, but wasn’t overwhelmed with his parts in them. [He was the other dude at the meeting about making the cartoon along with "Dante" in Chasing Amy.] .. Okay, I thought he was funny in Jay and Silent Strike Back.. I’ll grant you that one.) Anyway, I saw Bourne Identity [and I don't recall who rented/brought it, but whoever it was, I ought to thank you.], and it was awesome… and I decided Damon was good, and went on to very much enjoy Good Will Hunting the next time I watched it. So anyway, I really like The Bourne Identity, [Julia Stiles was in it, so.. Duh.] and I was quite excited about the next one.
Verdict: I really liked it. Perhaps not quite as good as the first one.. but put the two together into one giant film (Think Kill Bill 1 and 2) and you have one really slick movie. There’s also a lot to be said for movies where you already like the characters, and know who is capable of what.. then you get your hero hopping into a car, and the techno music starts up, and you know he’s about to kick some ass. That’s just a kewl feeling all the way around.. Then add to that the lovely Julia Stiles, and you have yourself an excellent movie. Once again her part was short, but nevertheless appreciated.
So taken was I with this series, and this character, and urged on by the claims of the finest softball first baseman I’ve had the good fortune to play with, that I did something I very, very rarely do. I purchased books:
I hope to read them as soon as I finish Harry Potter 5, and 2 JD Salinger books I’m borrowing. I’m excited.
Cubs have Nomar!
In the off chance that my lovely graphic wasn’t enough to clue you in, the Cubs now have Nomar Garciaparra! This is a happy, happy day for Cubs fans everywhere. Here’s the deal: Alex Gonzalez wasn’t good. Nomar is good. Cubs + Nomar == better. Plus, it provides a new reason to walk around yelling “No-mah!”. I am very pleased. Also, we didn’t have to give up too much to get him, which is awesome.
All – Star Game
I have made it to the All-Star game in my MVP 2004 season. I currently lead the league in Homers (Sosa has 81, and the top 6 spots in the league are Sammy Sosa, Derrek Lee, Mark Grudzielanek, Aramis Ramirez, Moises Alou, and Michael Barrett. [Yeah, that's all me] Corey Patterson leads the league in doubles, Grudz and Lee are tied for the lead in triples, Sammy has the most hits, RBIs, and leads the league in batting average (.389). He and Lee are also over 1.0 in slugging percentage. On the pitching side, Clement leads the league with 19 wins and 11 complete games, Zambrano has 18, and Wood and Prior each have 17. Prior has 2 losses, as does Maddox, who was taken out of the starting rotation after suffering his second loss. (He’s 8-2, I believe.) Borowski has about 9 saves, I believe. Saves seem hard to come by. Clement leads the league in ERA, sitting right above 2.0. So heading into the all-star game, I was a healthy 82-5, and had a fairly comfortable lead over second place. I was also pleased to see that I had 4 starting pitchers in the All-Star game (Wood, Prior, Clement, and Zambrano), and also starting were Barrett, Lee, Gruzielanek, Ramirez, Alou, and Sosa. Martinez, my backup shortstop, even showed up as 5th place in all-star voting for shortstop, which isn’t too shabby for a guy who’s only played about 45 games (A-Gonz is out 64 games with an injury). My big goal now: get Nomar on the team. They don’t seem to be nearly as willing to trade him in the game.
Deacon Resignation
I turned in my resignation as deacon at my church, and will begin looking for a new place to worship once my term is done (I said I’d stay in until they have a replacement for me [They're voting in mid august for new elders/deacons, so they're just going to be picking one extra deacon to fill my 2 year slot]).
Pool Table
I went out to Detroit for the weekend to hang out with Gwen and Rob. Saturday we played a lot of beach volleyball, and it was hella fun. I am still a bit sore today as a result… but it was a perfect day for beach volleyball. Anyway, while I was there, Rob and his roommates were moving out of their old place, and were getting rid of a lot of stuff… including a pool table. So I claimed it, and thanks to Swac and Robb, who were willing to drive up yesterday in a truck to come get it, we now have a pool table at our place. Awesome! This (coupled with a leak problem that forced us to move around a ton of stuff in our living room and never really moved back) prompted the three of us to reorganize our house a bit, and move quite a bit of stuff around. As you can see, we now have all our entertainment/stereo stuff in our old dining room, with the poker table and pool table moved to our living room. I think it’ll be nice.
Nomar!
