i'm not actually responding to flax's post about his (warranted) excitement at the release of a new ben folds album, because i can appreciate the excitement.

but i'd like to reflect, instead, how lucky i am to be a fan of the greatest songwriter in the history of the world, and how lucky i was to be around for the final six years of guided by voices, the greatest rock band this fine world has produced.

flax writes - again, it's warranted - that "21 new songs in four years is nothing to sniff at."

and i think this is admirable, and mostly accurate.

and then i'd like to point out 1999, my first full year as a gbv/pollard fan:
january: kid marine - 15 songs
may: lexo and the leapers ep - 6 songs
may: nightwalker ep - 9 songs
july: teenage f.b.i singles (various european issuings) - three b-sides
august: do the collapse - 15 songs
november: speak kindly of your volunteer fire department - 15 pure classics

now, i'll admit that this crop was generally fairly week - although speak kindly is one of the top four or five full lengths in the discography - but it's notable that this amount of songs was out.

and, of course, during 1999 i believe i saw the band at least four times - austin in march, chicago in august, st. louis in november, chicago in december. and while the geekiness factor is in full effec, the fact is that they managed to hit chicago twice in four months.

other stretches:
1996: under the bushes under the stars - 22 songs
not in my airforce - 22 songs
official ironman rally song single - three more b-sides
sunfish holy breakfast "ep" - 11 songs
1997: mag earwhig! - 21 songs
bulldog skin ep - 2 b-sides
i am a tree ep - 3 b-sides
tonics and twisted chasers "fan club only" (but not really) release - 22 songs

and i'm sure there are more i've forgotten...the tigerbomb ep, perhaps plantations of pale pink.

certainly, my love for the guy was perhaps over the top, but, god, he sure was great.

as for ben folds, reinhold is my favorite...i've got whatever, and i downloaded then deleted (i use about a three-month waiting period - buy or delete) rockin' the suburbs.

my computer just fired on without a problem. i'm bringing it on the road with me, although i'll also be bringing a phillips screwdriver, and my contact information for dell tech support.

i'll also be bringing 24 season two.

the best part? i'm anal about receipts...i've got two months' worth to finally input into my file. i'm a pud-and-a-half.

- - - - - - - -
ate dinner with my parents, and the intern, and the grandparents, and the visiting broadcaster (one of my top 20 people in the world) and his number two guy tonight. almost 3 hours at the restaurant, and all generally interesting.

the highlight? calling around to find a place. the port's odd...they'll pack the new place until there's a newer place.

we called local texas-themed steakhouse chain number one: busy signal, several times. finally we got through. wait for a party of eight? four hours!

then we called local texas themed steakhouse chain two: no busy signal. wait? about 20 minutes.

ha!

as an aside: does anybody actually wait four hours for dinner? no.

it's well-documented that i break 90 percent of items that i touch. several pairs of glasses in my youth? yup. a tv in february? check. a computer purchased in december? apparently, check.

i wrote earlier this week about the fact that, finally, the technician had arrived and, finally, the machine had been fixed. and it seemed that way for at least six hours. until it froze on me. and now it's not turned on (well, twice...but then froze within the next 90 seconds) since.

so i held for about 25 minutes today, and then i got 'shawn' on the phone. and shawn had me go through the several basic troubleshooting things: 'reset' the power by unplugging and things like that...check the battery...check the ac adaptor...attach it to an external monitor and see if that changes anything...nothing.

next step: "we need to remove your hard drive." and i started shaking. "i'm not really qualified." "oh, oh andrew no need to worry." "this is insured, right? if i break it, i'm not on the hook, right?" "certainly not. and it's not difficult and i'll help you along the way."

and it goes on like this. and i'm assured that, if i break it, they'll fix it/replace it (which, honestly, might be the best thing to happen.)

thankfully, i head to my closet to get the phillips screwdriver and, thanks to a successful-but-ultimately-unsuccessful attempt to fix a coffee table last year (since been thrown out, but it was old and beaten up when i got it...i swear), all of them were completely stripped. no unscre hard drive. no fix machine.

so shawn explained to me that "you can get a phillips screwdriver at any local store" then gave me a case number and encouraged me to call back.

so, i guess, i'll plan to do it sunday, before i go on the road. but i sure am nervous about, like, breaking it.
- - - - -
nothing else to really report. last week, gurs was nice enough to burn me automatic for the people. if you've ever liked r.e.m., let me just encourage you to re-listen to that album. i owned the cassette when i was a columbia house subscriber as seventh grader, but didn't dig it. i'm a pseudo-adult now, and i can't get enough.

"sidewinder sleeps tonite" and "man on the moon" and "find the river" and "nightswimming" and "try not to breathe" and "drive" (which is just fabulous...i don't care what you say) and just about everything is absolutely fabulous. please, for your own good, listen again.

but since the computer is no longer fully functional (or functional at all), i've not been able to add it to the ipod. in due time, i hope, in due time.

but i'll probably just break it anyway.

- - - - - - - - - - -

last point: i've forgotten to give you my prediction for the indie-turned-mainstream pop breakout start of the season. i've tested it with the biggest incubus, matchbox 20, and nickleback fan i know, and it got him, big time. it's hot hot heat's "you owe me an iou," which is infectious beyond belief. i've already heard "goodnight goodnight" at a ballpark, but i think that "iou" will be the mega-breakout-smash. as big as "float on."

and it should be, because it's mega-fantastic.

i hate stephen a. smith because he's arrogant and annoying. also because he aspires to be the next ahmad rashad, which is to say that he really enjoys asking the question "great game shaq."

30 seconds ago, on the ridiculous "let's name every segment" segment on sportscenter called "five burning questions," dan patrick asked mr. smith: "what can you tell us about phil's meeting with the lakers?"

and stephen a. smith, telling us what he knows, said "i can tell you that phil met with the lakers for approximately five hours last night. [ed: that's a fact, worth reporting, i guess.] i can tell you that it presumably went well. [ed: that is not a fact. that is an assumption. or a presumption. certainly not a fact worth reporting.]"

he also just said, "if you can go to los angeles, you go to los angeles. kobe's there, he won you three championships..." [again, not factual. shaq won titles. horry won titles. slava medvedenko won titles. kobe was there. shaq won titles. kobe helped.]

i wish sportscenter would report news, and not report that reporters are yelling at each other.

after one month, my computer mess is fixed. patrick spent an hour with the machine, and now it's charging up, and now i can bring my dvd player (this computer) on the next road trip and watch the entirety of 24 season two. and believe me, i will. woof!

moving into adulthood...

i have about 60 or 90 minutes of 'hotel' work to do after every road game. the rest of the time i'm killing time. in the past, i've done my work the night after the night game, tooling around on the internet, then maybe talking on the phone or watching sportscenter, then getting to work. generally, this keeps me up until 2 or 3, because i'm not particularly efficient when i'm working laptop-on-bed.

however, on tuesday night (1015 bus to the yard for noon game) and thursday night (friday bus at 130 for a night game), i've done the 'adult' thing. that is, i've gone to sleep at a reasonable time (before midnight both times, i think), set my alarm, called for a wake up call, and actually gotten up in the morning. 740 both days. then i've done my work, then i've showered, and all has worked out well.

it's odd, but i guess i can do this 'get up before 11' thing. not completely sure, though.

after wednesday's day game, dad picked me up at the hotel, i comandeered his car for a trip to the city, and i got a solid four hours of quality time with gurs. really, not much happened, and i can't think of any odd inside jokes to reference, but it was a really nice time. (actually, an inside joke, shared by hundreds, is located here, and is worth your time if you've got the 3 minutes to spare.) neilesh showed up as i was about to leave, which was perfect, and dave and ktb were there. it was sweet.

then i went back to glenview and, seeing that my brother had left his ps2 hooked up in the basement, i tried to recruit the cats to a national championship in ncaa 2005. i was bowl eligible at 6-6 (with a win at michigan...woof!) for the 2004 season, then went 3-9 (starting 0-7 in the big ten) in 2005, and was 0-4 when i gave up on 2006. i recruit and simulate...no need to play the games.

i shut off the tv at 5 a.m., and was up at 7. not really an adult, i guess.

- - - -
fascinating moment from 2:20 yesterday. first bus at 1:30, second at 2:30. owing to my 5 a.m. video gaming, i was tired and therefore elected, for the first time in a few years, for the late bus. because the hotel is far from the ballpark (25 minutes or so), the bus doesn't arrive back until 2:25 or so. so i went down to the lobby at 2:15, and waited there. i had been watching cubs-cardinals in my room, but the lobby was showing fox news. the lobby was empty, so i changed the channel.

as i was hitting 'channel up', the desk person said, "excuse me sir. we have to keep it on 54. i know it's boring, but we have to." i think it's a fascinating policy, and i don't know if it is a policy of this hotel's proprietor, or of best western's regional management, or of the company as a whole. if it's latter, it's particularly interesting.

i have no problem with wanting to keep a news station on at all hours - it's probably better for the populace to have an idea of what's going on. (i wouldn't have known about the pope if it wasn't on when i got in on tuesday...then i went to the room and watched cnn.) however, it's odd that such a clearly slanted network(of course, conservatives probably say that about cnn, but i think cnn's less blatant, don't you?) would be the choice. interesting, that's all.

we've just finished a blast of an opening weekend. the weather was beautiful - 70s and sunny for all three games - and we got almost 9,000 people in the park over the three games. bear in mind, a team like us usually draws two-thirds of our crowd in the second half of the season, and we averaged about 2,900 last year, so this is a real nice start.

friday night was the opener, and a post-game fireworks (which is what brings out the people). we had sold about 1,600 tickets at 10:30 on friday morning. our attendance was 3,968, which is a mega-walkup. i mean, a mega mega walkup.

in baseball, there are two days of the week: every day, and sunday. sunday games are in the afternoon; you're at the yard until 11 on non-sundays. today is sunday, and it's been a very good one. i was at the yard at 9:45, out of the yard by 5:30. and then i sat for a while. watched the last 40 minutes of 60 minutes (but missed the report on the 'controversial practice of parents serving alcohol at home to prevent their children from driving drunk,' which i think would have been fascinating.) i did see the report on the private aircraft that will come available in the next 15 years, and i'm scared. i also saw andy bitch about tax law. and some interview with a miami herald columnist who writes novels about the degradation that is florida. i think i'll find out who he is, and read one or two. then i'll report back.

and i've been on the phone all night. brother dave, who, if all goes well, is soon to be a milwaukee mailman. (awesome.) the boy, who watched arrested development and really liked the gob-franklin recording studio scene too. ("it's so tough to be brown..." / "i got all those kids running around town...") and i talked to my grandma, who turned down the volume on desperate housewives to talk to me, and i also talked to my parents, who called me back when despearte housewives ended. my brother named his dog buster, but i don't think he was named after everybody's favorite prosthetic-hand-wearing tv character.

the main topic of conversation with the parents was the use of a car when i'm nearby this week. noon game wednesday. then a night in the city with the gurs-i-nator.

i've been wearing out my digital copy of the new hot hot heat record lately. i think that means i'm officially a poser. or perhaps just a really really cool longhaired 13-year-old.

i know it's not my fault, but i interviewed a relief pitcher before the game today. the team was pounded yesterday, but the reliever had thrown a perfect inning. also, he seems to be well-spoken and, more importantly, seems to be a bit silly. also, he went to north carolina, and had tickets but couldn't get to the national championship game, so that's a still-semi-timely 'not about the game' topic to bring up when a team is struggling.

so, after six-up, six-down in his first two games, the reliever came on in the bottom of the eleventh today and surrendered a game-ending home run to the first man he saw. it's not my fault, but it probably sort of is.

the team's scored 21 runs in six games (not that bad), but scored nine runs in one of those. (that's 12 in the other five games - pretty bad) we're hoping for more hits and better execution from here on out.

the only real reason i'm posting is to reveal what a dork i am. i have two caps (a twins cap and a cats cap) that i use. the twins cap i can't wear, because we're with a new affiliate. that leaves the cats cap. (i always bring a cap on the bus...usually it stays on my knee, but bringing it on the bus is a force of habit.)

i have four jackets. my main winter coat. my odd 20-dollar leather jacket with a fake velvet lining (thanks mom). a windbreaker i got for my sporting news subscription. its odd-smelling, and i've worn it once. and then my cats windbreaker, purchased before entering the school (thanks mom).

so, of course, i wear the cats cap. and the cats windbreaker. and that's just uncool.

actual conversation (slightly abridged) between me and the boy today...

me: i'm not sure i like this cubs team
boy: yeah.
me: bad karma.
boy: yeah.
me: i don't understand why dusty insists on playing todd hollandsworth.
boy: there's a reason he's 30 and has never been a regular.
me: you know what you're getting with him. there's a chance dubois could be a real good one. you might as well find out.
boy: yeah.
me: why has hollandsworth 'earned his trust' and dubois, who's a pretty old guy anyway, not gotten a chance.
boy: it's a little annoying.
me: oh yeah. so how'd they wind up doing today?
boy: hollandsworth game-winning hit in the 12th.

note: i still don't think that hollandsworth should be the slam dunk starter. and the boy generally said more than 'yeah,' but i wanted to give myself the credit for being the force behind the conversation. i usually am, you know.

finished the first trip today, and have a nice off day tomorrow. it's an 'off' day, however, as i'll be heading for appleton tuesday and need to get stuff ready for our home opener (coming friday, and i'll be returning from appleton at about 5 a.m.), this is my big day for prep. combine that with the fact that i've got a meeting to find out if my investment guy is crooked and that the computer repair guy still hasn't called me (although 'andrew' calls me twice a day to make sure he has, then assures me that the technician will call me in 'an hour's time,' then calls back to say 'the technician is out of the cell phone coverage area. he will call you as soon as he gets back in' then calls me the next day to see if the technician has called yet, and then the cycle repeats) and that my day is starting at our printer at 7 a.m., and combine that with the fact that the official 'intern: i'm screwing you over at my boss' request' meeting is tentatively scheduled for sometime when me and weasel 1 and weasel's less-weasely counterpart and intern are in the office, and it won't really be off.

but my clothes do stink, so i need to find laundry time. and 24 continues, and that's much better live than taped. so i'll plan a 'home by 7:45' kind of day. i bought rud-jita materials at the grocery store when i returned.

willie's destroyers are apparently headed for a 8-1 week 1 win, losing only because juan pierre hasn't swiped a base.

i've got a ragtag bunch of utility guys on my team:
juan uribe - eligible at 3B, SS, 2B
michael cuddyer - eligibile at 3B, 2B, 1B, OF
pedro feliz - eligible at 3B, SS, 1B, OF
and now,
clint barmes - eligible at 2B, SS

casey blake, eligible at 3B, OF and soon 1B, is also out there. i'm going to wait to spring on him

barmes was an acquisition for probably this week only, and he'll take justin morneau's spot in the lineup this week. morneau is struggling after getting whacked in the head with a pitch last week, and i went with colorado's barmes - 2 HRs in week one, with games at home and at arizona - because he's hot and conditions are favorable.

i also have dallas mcpherson, 0-8 in triple-a, on my roster. woof.

Okay…I’ve posted this twice and I’m having problems getting it on and I’m just really really hoping that the machine for some reason isn’t trying to make it so that my utter happiness at the conclusion of this day calms down a little. That didn’t make sense. (I’m now typing in word, so I’ll have autocorrects that I wouldn’t normally have, and I hope you don’t mind.)

Anyway, a tremendous day. A tremendous opener. A snappy, well-played game on the field, and I think that my 2005 debut matched the quality of play. I didn’t have any lulls where there was nothing to say, I did a fairly good job of discussing the players histories while fitting in a bit of humor and some general description, although I was probably more on top of the nuts and bolts of gameplay than on the real ‘cream rises to the top’ portion, which is the setting of the scene and the addition of analysis and wittiness, within reason. Still, a strong broadcast, and one that I’m proud of.

It helped that the game was a very fine one, and that the other team carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning and that I did a good job of bring up ‘the last time’ for both franchises without making it sound forced. This is one of the worst habits of radio novices – having a stat, and wanting to mention it, and forcing it in awkwardly – I’ve developed the skill to not do this, and I’m proud of that. It also helped that I did know both teams well, as it was our new affiliate playing our old affiliate, who I followed very closely last season.

After receiving it yesterday and only testing at 1 am last night, I had trepidations about the new mini-disc player. But the sound was absolutely pristine, and the interview with the skipper was similarly fabulous. It does not have a key editing command that I assumed would be there in all ‘recorder’ mini discs (Nemo – no edit / divide command), but there seems to be an easy upload/download connection, and I think that, if I play with it, I’ll be able to really do it quickly in conjunction with the laptop that I carry with me anyway. I’ll try to learn that tactic soon, perhaps on 4/18.

I was generally very comfortable as one ‘of the team,’ and I didn’t feel apart or an individual or alone today. I felt comfortable making small talk in the clubhouse, which is really a step above where I had been in the past. I think the new affiliation helps – I may have developed a reputation for timidity and shyness, which probably would have been accurate when I was a vaguely intimidated and way overmatched and way underaged rookie back three years ago. But that reputation is gone, and I think that the staff respects the knowledge of the game and of the league that I’ve displayed, and I think the players respect my ‘veteran’ status and view me as an equal, or as someone worth talking to, which is above what it’s been in the past. I think that, while I’ve never been lonely or frustrated in my position in the past, I’ll probably become closer, personally and professionally, to this crew than to previous ones.

Of course, it’s just the opener, so who knows? Maybe I’m just delirious, which is possible.

Note: I achieved a longstanding (three years anyway) dream today when my music was used as bump backs. We’re talking two gbv cuts, and the futureheads, and pavement, and some spoon, and a lot of Lucinda, and some white stripes and a little xtc and, in a fabulous decision, the postal service. Dream accomplished.

Just a really really nice day. Started with the bus ride and some shuteye. Continued with some phone calls to the office to try to tie up some loose ends. Then I was on with aol service people to make sure that my connection would work. Then I went to the yard and did my pregame and did a solid on-air job, then the reporters who came to the game wrote in my hotel room and then we had a beer afterwards. Good to be back, yknow?

Following up on yesterday…
Because we were playing an old affiliate, I do know the coaching staff (three) and some players (surprisingly, only three), and so I did my jump in the clubhouse and say hello and make some small talk (ten minutes with ‘luke’ and the skipper, five with a backup IF’er and rudy, and one with an outfielder). Anyway, four of the five people that I talked to made definite ‘have you lost weight?’ comments and, after telling them how gay it was to ask me that, I said yes. In fact, the skipper came in while I was writing down his lineup in the clubhouse, he said something to the team, then he looked at me, got a good look, and walked past, then I walked in to say hello, then he said ‘is that you?’ it was a bit gay, but very satisfying as well.

Also, due to my hurried schedule and the lack of eating yesterday, the official number hit 34.5 pounds as of this morning before I hit the bus. It’s tough to maintain, but I think I can.

However, not annoying enough to ruin a fabulous, fabulous day. Lots of work remains, but this was absolutely invigorating. I’ve got a few hours of editing to do still tonight, but I’m cranking on adrenaline anyway.

“Play ball!” Never have there been finer words!

it is totally and completely crunch time for me. opening day is less than 24 hours away. it's 9:30, and i'm pulling my second consecutive post 9 (going on post-11) day at work, and i have to be up at 6:30 tomorrow so that i can get to the printer at 7:00 a.m. and to the bus by 8:30.

that said, i am completely running on fumes but completely excited and ready to go. it seems like we've got a really good group of kids - perhaps not top prospects, but they all seem to be good guys. i don't want to judge people because i learned early on in my 'career' that any high school kid tossed into pro ball has to be pretty on top of things to succeed and that most high school draft picks are just that, but it is nice that most of these players (all but four, i believe, plus the three venezuelans) are college prospects. (of the high school kids, one was drafted in 1998 [!], one in 2000, one in 2002 and one in 2003...not a single teenager on the roster, which is not so rare for the cardinals at this point in time.)

today was our media day, and the coverage was strong. three of the four tv stations (the fourth, the one that never comes out, didn't) and we had to take the players upstairs to do their on-video-board head shots, and that process was incredibly smooth. (last year: 4-plus hours, this year: 1:10) our coaching staff, particularly the manager, comes in with a reputation of being a generally difficult person to deal with. at this point, outside of the fact that he's a chain smoker, it seems that he's an okay person. and i think he respects my attitude and my knowledge and that fact that, on the outside, at least, i've made a point to look professional and, more importantly, knowledgable about my responsibilities.

unseen fringe benefit: i apparently ruined a tv guy's shot. (actually, i was just in the background at various points of an interview) my grandparents (who, i'll have you know, watch all four local affiliates' newscasts at some point or another each night) happened to see this. so they gave me their traditional "good luck and have a fun season" call (is four years a tradition?) and my grandma pointed out that she saw me on tv and then she said "you look skinny."

so the answer is that, in just over three months, i'm down 31.5 pounds. this is a healthy, but likely unsustainable, pace. i am still significantly above my target weight, but perhaps less than obese at this point in time. and, of course, now the fun - if fun includes 'macho nachos' and 'the swimmin' pig' and 'deep fried twinkies' and 'i'll have the philly cheesesteak' and 'a brat and a stuffed pizza pretzel and a super rope' and 'how about those chicken fingers' and 'yeah, i'll have the fries, too' and - is trying to at least maintain my weight through the season. it'll be a challenge, but with discipline, a bit of exercise (the 10-minute walk to and from work, a 45-minute walk when i'm on the road), and smart decisions, i should manage. however, i *will* allow myself at least one deep fried twinkie this year. sweet jesus!

i wish deron williams had more stones down the stretch. i think he passed up too many open shots. it's a shame, because the best player has to hit the biggest shot (or should at least take it) and, in this humble observer's opinion, luther head has not been one of the top three players since january, and probably not better than the fifth-best (think the rest of the starting five) for the tournament. of course, i've never much trusted luther's jumper, and it came back to bite 'em tonight.

still, carolina's a pretty darn good team, and i can't imagine that may will stay for another year. if he does, he'll perhaps go down as the best college player of the 2000's (the decade, not the millennium). so steady, so smooth and, if he stays, probably a two-time ncaa tourney mop.

i've got to imagine that, if i were a real illini fan, i'd be really, really empty right now. probably not worse than me after game six of the 2003 nlcs (after all, there *was* a chance, be we all knew how it was going to go), but pretty bad. there's nowhere to go but down, at this point, sadly.

- - - -

a slice from my sometimes office space like existence.

scene: my cluttered cubicle
time: about 9:45 a.m.

bill (my name for the purposes of the scene), overworked from a long weekend and a fairly intense previous week, is rapidly typing away on clearly important work in a crowded and cluttered cubicle when he is interrupted from behind by his weasel-like boss .

boss: uhh...bill?
bill: (turning) yes?
boss: i tried calling you on your cell phone this weekend. i went straight to voicemail.
bill: yeah?
boss: (using the tone of voice that one generally uses with a misbehaving four-year-old you see. the reason we have the cell phones is so that we can reach you in important situations. it sort of defeats the purpose when you keep it off.
bill: hmmm...i had it on all weekend. it was right next to me, and i didn't miss a call. [note: that is 100% true] (pauses, then quizically) ... are you sure you have the right number.
boss: hmmm...let me check. (reading from cell phone display) XXX-XXXX?
bill: oh, no. that's my old verizon phone number. we lost that contract back in september, so i've got a new team phone now.
boss: what's that number?
bill: (reading from staff list) XXX-XXXX.
boss: oh. sorry. thanks for the number.

it should be noted that i've known he had the incorrect number since i first checked the old voice mail and received a message from him in mid-october. i just figured it was humorous to let it pass and, indeed, this was a pretty satisfying situation. problem is, i wish it had been resolved a few months later. as it is, i'm now officially "reachable."

particularly satisfying was reading it from the staff list, as he seems to demand a new, updated one (new interns always coming in) every three weeks.

team arrived tonight. meet the team dinner. do i buy the hot hot heat record tomrorow? bus leaves at 9:00 on thursday and, having just lost the ebay auction, i've just dropped 220 on a new minidisc player. good news is, my parents gave me a check for the b-day.

two straight days of shorts and t-shirts have left me spoiled. i'm pretty sure we'll get killed by rain in the next two days. but we hit 70's today, and i celebrated by walking to the office and then locking myself inside for about 8 hours.

it's that time of year, but i feel strangely accomplished at this point. sure, there are several things that need to get done by wednesday aftenroon (like, uh, record one or two or 14 radio spots), but the program is in order and my intern is competent enough that he can handle a fair amount of things. basically, the team shows up monday at about five. it's an all-new group, as we've got a new affiliate, so i'm looking forward to it but also not looking forward, in a way.

the main thing is that, but for editing, the program is done. i think i'll finalize it by the time the bus leaves thursday morning. if that happens, it's smooth sailing.

while i was doing laundry and dishes and inventory yesterday afternoon, i was listening to the american idiot record. it's ambitious, but i think it's pretty effective. by no means is it as good as a lot of my favorite records from last year, but it's certainly worthy of the praise heaped upon it, which is nice.

because i've got nothing else to write about, and because it seems appropriate, it's time for my major league baseball picks. sadly, there's no old guy radio for me to make them on, so i'll settle for here:

american league:
east: yankees - they've got reason to be playing with a bit of a chip on their proverbial shoulder, and the additions of pavano (realish deal) and unit certainly outweigh the fact that arod's a confirmed loser
central: twins - they've not really improved from last year (cuddyer for koskie is a wash) and they've still got a hole in their lineup (dh) and a question at short and, for that matter second, and their rotation's not particularly good after the 1-2 punch, but nobody in the division's taken a step forward. or, anyway, detroit hasn't taken enough of a step. (although bonderman will be an animal this year.)
west: i'd say that the angels have too much talent to not win. texas is my number two pick, but buck showalter is sort of like a lot of managers in that his system simply becomes annoying after a while.
wild card: boston. why not?

mvp: derek jeter. if he didn't suck for two months last year, his numbers would have been incredible.
cy young: unit.
rookie of the year: scott kazmir, who'll win about 14 games. let's pick tampa for the third spot in the al east this season. perhaps they'll crack .500.
manager of the year: when the angels win 104 games, it's got to be mike scoscia (sp?)

national league:
east: just for fun, i'll pick the mets. david wright will break out. the middle infield will be great. they've got great defense at first and at least in center and right. and pedro-glavine-leiter isn't all that bad at the top.
central: st. louis. it's tough to replace matheny-renteria-womack with molina-eckstein-grudzielanek, but people forget that renteria wasn't particularly good last year. they've got an ace now, provided mulder is healthy.
west: dodgers? nope. d-backs? nope. rockies? nope. (maybe? nope.) by default, it's peavy and otsuka and hoffman on the mound and loretta and greene (very good middle infield) and burroughs and nevin and klesko, i guess.
wild card: i can't see it being the cubs. not with burnitz playing a central role. not with prior dl'ed, not for an injury, but for 'precautionary' reasons. if not the cubs, it falls to one of the al east teams, florida or atlanta. i think atlanta is about as good as last year's club, so i'll go with them. i hope smoltz wins 20.

mvp: miguel cabrera
cy young: carlos zambrano
rookie: freddy guzman, san diego. dave roberts sucks, and this guy will steal 80 bases. (i saw him, going by the name pedro de los santos, and going by an age 26 months younger, in 2002. woof!)
manager: willie randolph.

series pick: yankees over braves. that's fun.

as the new computer problem has worsened, i've been largely computerless over the past few days. not that you care.

a follow-up on last wednesday's or post: i received an email requesting, among other things, the best time to contact me. nice service touch. they'd call back.

i received the callback at about 5:20 on thursday (it should be noted, 10 minutes before 'the best time.') as i was in conversation, i ignored the call. there was a message. it was, i kid you not, four minutes long. from the vaguely unintelligible service person. then i returned home, where i had received an email. i've chosen to replicate it here, using bold to highlight my favorite points (note the lack of punctuation, spell checking, or capitalization...c'mon!):


dear redhothalos--- I am andrew from Dell and i sincerely apologize for thd long wait , i met with a serious accident and suffered multiple injuries on leg , howevere since i was a witness to your long wait for your computer to be mended up and i could not get you in touch with PDMC [my note: portable dispatch management center...i.e. service appointment for portable computers - - the long wait] I sought special permission from my manager to set up a service for your computer and trust me i returned to office only to ensure that your issue is fixed and its my pleasure to inform you that your service order number or DPS is xxx and you may please call up at xxx and refer to this number and they will do the needful , however i have also intimated them to reach you on phone and when you speak with them and do provide the contact number and they would set up an appointment with you and visit you and fix your computer as soon as possible.i sincerely apologize for the inconvineance caused howver please do make a note of it that there has to be a little bit of difference in the way i have handled the issue for i would love to see a smile on your face .i have also ensured the tech visits with all the service parts and misses none so that it gets mend up as soon as possible and i have escalated your dissatisfaction due to delay to the highest possible level so that the issue is addressed to the best of your satsifaction , howver from my level i will ensure that you do not have any complaints hence forth .If you have any further concerns please feel to reciprocate and i would love to get in touch with you as soon as possible and help you further .,

i mean...what do you do with that rambling mess? i appreciate his sincerity, call the number, and hope that it works out. but generally, i'd say this doesn't make much sense.

i did call the number, and the service person said "god. it looks like the service technician ordered about 100 parts." i'm due to get a call on monday, and i'm hoping that we can find a good time by wednesday. i depart thursday morning for our opener.

- - - - -

i had an incredibly productive early part of the day. up by 9:00, sans alarm. immediately got to laundry duty. (they've got new washers and unbelievable new dryers...woof!) while the laundry was laundering, i did my week's worth of dishes...two full, full, full sinks, it should be noted.

then i took a 40-minute walk by the river, in shorts and everything. shorts and a t-shirt. not a bit cold, even. then i went to do some updating and refurbishing of broadcast supplies. i bought a new microphone clip stand (for clipping to walls for crowd purposes). i bought highlighters and a four-color pen (testing out a new scoring method) and a pencil case and mechanical pencils and the like. purchased a new extension cord and power strip (lost my old ones, of course).

the i headed to my local kohl's, where i purchased a bitchin' new pair of reebok's and a new shirt. 50 bucks, a pretty good deal, i'd say.

and then i put it all together and organized it and things and then i got to testing my old equipment. and then i noticed that my mini-disc player is utterly and completely busted. no worko. minidisc no fit. so i've been on a frantic search online for good brands and features to get (i've been using these things for 8 years...i should probably know) and things like that. and my search led me to ebay, and a kid auctioning off the model that i've been using. the auction ends in 2 days. he's not far from me, so i could win the auction monday night and he could next-day tuesday and it'd work great. i'm currently the auction leader, at 28 bucks. i can't think it'll go up much, because it's not a new model. but i've also, illegally, offered to 'keep this off ebay' and pick up the product sometime tomorrow. i hope i don't get reported. that'd suck.

that's my story.