Rush to idiocy…

July 27th, 2010

Yesterday, Rush Limbaugh said:

In the old days the definition of winning a war was killing people and breaking things. In the old days, there was no such thing a “surgical strike.” In the old days, you purposely killed innocent civilians. That’s what war was all about.

Wow. Really? So maybe, since Al Quada and the Taliban started the war on 9/11, that we shouldn’t feel so bad about 9/11. I mean, killing innocent civilians is what war is all about. We should just accept it and move on with our lives because everyone who died on 9/11, it was just what happens in war and that’s the whole point. To kill as many innocent civilians as you can. So, good job on 9/11 guys. You really got us there. You all are doing a great job on your side of the war and stuff. And really, we’re not doing too badly either. In fact, we are totally winning because there are some reports out there saying that over half a million people have died in Iraq alone.

Not sure how Rush Limbaugh would know anyways. Wasn’t he a draft dodger?

Tags: , , ,
Posted in News Stuff | No Comments »

Game 3 and stuff.

July 19th, 2010

Game 3 was awesome. I loved it and stuff. Basically, I was kind of worried going in because it was Paul Maholm vs. Roy Oswalt. Maholm hasn’t been the most effective pitcher lately for the Pirates and Oswalt shut down the Pirates a few weeks ago in Houston. Basically, everything flipped around and Maholm was just down right dominating. Meanwhile Oswalt get hit in the foot by a Pedro Alvarez liner and pretty much was off his game the rest of the afternoon. Then in came the Astros bullpen who basically handed the game over to the Pirates. Maholm pitched the whole nine innings, it was pretty awesome.

So overall, a very good season for me (or at least a very lucky one). I went 3-1 at Pirates games this year. So this is the first winning season for games I was at since 2004 (when I went 2-1). So yeah, yah for me.

As soon as the game ended, I was out of the ballpark and in my car not too long after that. Since I had everything packed and was checked out of the hotel that morning, I just started driving. And I drove from about 4:30 until about 10:00 at night. I stopped at Elkhart, Indiana. Never heard of this place before, but apparently it’s only a couple thousand people smaller than Dubuque. I can now understand how some people have never heard of Dubuque before. Even though Dubuque rocks the fucking house.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Pirates | No Comments »

Game 2 and stuff.

July 17th, 2010

After starting out the 2nd half with a real downer game yesterday, the Pirates came back tonight and kicked some series Ass-tro. Ohlendorf sucked the big one tonight, which was very disappointing for me. I wanted to see him go for a while tonight and notch the W. Instead, he was out and Carrasco was in after less than 2 innings. He did a pretty good job for a few innings but got in a jam later on. Then came Lopez who coughed up the lead. It looked pretty grim going to the bottom of the 5th.

Then the Pirates bats came alive for seven runs the last four innings. It was amazing. It seemed like whenever they got a hit suddenly another guy would be getting a hit. Meanwhile, the four pitchers that ended the game the last four innings (Donnelly, Meek, Hanrahan and Dotel) kept the Astros quiet. In fact, I took a look at the line-up in the 7th when Meek was on the mound and wondered if Bourn would be the last out because that would mean that Meek, Hanrahan and Dotel pitched a perfect 3 innings. Turns out it went just like that. Those three guys are like going to the bank. They always have da good stuff. And Lopez, who gave up the lead in the 5th got the W. Wins and Losses are not a real stat! Just like RBI!

Then came the awesomest fireworks show I ever saw. It really put the Dubuque and Cascade ones to shame with the sheer awesomeness of it all. I always sort of wondered why people would bother with Fireworks shows because the ones where I live just aren’t that impressive. But these ones certainly proved to be otherwise.

Before the game there was the meeting of a gang of guys from the BucsDugout website and hanging around with them. There were also people there from a Pittsburgh message board site called “Pittsburgh Sports Tavern”. Much like high school, the two websites later on sort of divided off in the two cliques. Since the two websites have different formats, it kind of made sense.

Another cool thing is that the Stats Geek guy from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette must have got wind about the gathering and came over and talked to us for a while. He was a very cool guy. He told me about the book he wrote and I told him about the farm and Iowa and he explained why the drinking laws in Pennsylvania were so insanely prohibitionist.

Everyone was very impressed that I came here all the way from Iowa, as though that was some sort of huge achievement. The next furthest away guy came from Chicago.

The most exciting part was meeting WTM, a guy who is basically a guru-know it all when it comes to minor league players. I was shocked by his age, because I thought he’d be a younger guy about my age and he turned out to be a lot older than that, probably about my father’s age. The only disappointment was not having the BucsDugout “editor in-chief” Charlie there. Charlie is a Pittsburgh guy who now lives in San Diego, so that would be a huge trip for him to make and he was just in da Burgh a few weeks ago. But for most everyone else, it was nice to put names on the blog to faces.

One guy, CaptainAwesome kept calling me Cave Man. It came from the fact that my screen name is IAPiratesFan. I thought it seemed pretty obvious that it meant Iowa Pirates Fan. He thought it was some sort of cave man talk “I a Pirates fan!” because he couldn’t fathom someone from Iowa being a Pirates fan.

Oh, something stupid at this hotel. It doesn’t have ice machines in the hallways. Instead, the brilliant guys who run this place have fridges in the rooms that produce ice. But if you want a lot of ice, you have to turn it on several hours before you can get any ice. Stupid! People need lots of ice for their coolers if they’re driving a lot. But otherwsie, great hotel. Lots of nice parking and nice rooms and uh, yeah. Cool.

So tomorrow afternoon is game 3. If it’s turning in to a huge blow out by the Astros (which seems possible since it’s Maholm vs. Oswalt) I might duck out a bit early and start to head on home. Otherwise by this time tomorrow night I’ll be somewhere in Indiana or Ohio.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Pirates | No Comments »

Game 1 and other stuff.

July 16th, 2010

Well that game sucked. Basically, the Pirates made a lot of fuck ups and it cost the Pirates the game. If Carrasco and the pen was able to hold the Astros down, maybe the Pirates could have taken the game to extra innings and won it.

I heard that Dave Parker was going to be in the HOF Club after the game for 1/2 hour. It was cool meeting someone so famous. Sure he’s not the most famous ballplayer ever or even the most famous Pirate ever, but had he controlled his weight and not done so much cocaine, he might be a Hall of Famer these days.

After that, Rocco DeMaro was doing his post-game show in the HOF Club and there was Neal Huntington getting interviewed. I wanted to go back to the hotel, but I stayed and listened to Neal talk about draft signings and that 15 year old pitcher in Mexico the Pirates might sign. When I decided to leave, Neal was coming back and so I basically walked right past him.

Also, during the game, hung out with another guy who hangs out at BucsDugout. I ended up getting really kick ass seats near RF for the two of us. They were awesome seats because we were pretty much right next to the field and they were only $26 each. Take that you idiots at Yankee Stadium paying hundreds of dollars per seat. You people are suckers. Almost as big of suckers as the guys who waste time watching the Pirates these days.

In the ticket line, I heard two guys complain about how bad the team is. If they suck so much and you hate them so much, why are you here? Then there was a guy in front of me saying that he can’t stand the people who have given up on the Bucs because the day in the distant future when the Bucs start winning, then all those people will be back and taking up all the good seats at PNC Park.

The stadium tour was nice. We got to sit in the pressbox, the dugout and saw the batting cage. The guide told us that the turf in the cage was left over from TRS. Saw all sorts of stuff. I’d say it’s about the same as the Busch Stadium tour.

Tags: ,
Posted in Pirates | No Comments »

Stuff bothering me.

July 16th, 2010

So while eating breakfast at the breakfast room this morning, they had Fox News on and they had this interview about Iowans upset about illegal immigration. I couldn’t hear it well and just saw the subtitles at the bottom of the screen.

Basically they went fishing for anyone who might be upset about immigration and used it to slam Obama. They found a guy who just couldn’t find a job. Then they had some sister from Marshalltown talking about it. Boring stuff.

But the thing that bothers me was that Kilmeade said “our commander in chief”. “Our” commander in chief? George Bush was not my commander in chief and neither is Obama! They are commander in chief of the military, for fuck sake. Stop using collectivist speak. It’s like saying “We invaded Iraq.” I didn’t do anything like that. The government did. Argh!

I just hate the way people include me in something that I never did.

UPDATE 12:15 PM: I forgot to put a link to the video. So here it is.

Tags: ,
Posted in Stuff on TV | No Comments »

Jerry in da Burgh!

July 15th, 2010

It’s so much fun being in Pittsburgh. Driving in city streets are scary and weird and stuff. And driving here was the most boring 12 hours ever. I listened to about 6 episodes of Free Talk Live on the way here. By about 10 hours in, I was listening but not paying much attention. They were just talking about the same things over and over again. Like how much can you really listen to the same conversations about privatizing the post office or roads or how L. Neil Smith is kind of a jack ass or how Ian is a bit condescending towards people. I tried listening to the Sunday Internet only show and I got bored with it. FTl is all about Ian and Mark. They are Free Talk Live.

As for my car, all the highway miles made my car very fuel efficient. My car got about 36 MPG the last two fill ups. Most of the time it gets between 27 and 32. In an effort to defeat boredom, I kept checking it while driving. With a 11 gallon tank, I would be impressed when I got to the half way point and I had driven about 190 or 200 miles because usually it’ll be about 150 or 160 miles.

Also, one of my comments on YouTube is a top rated comment on the video of “Nuking the Fridge”. Check it out.

I just noticed this, but Futurama is a lot funnier when you have a bit to drink.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Life, the Universe and Everything | No Comments »

Shaving stuff.

July 14th, 2010

Just a few days ago, I decided to change my shaver back from electric to regular plain old disposable shaver/cream. I got a Sensor Excel, somehow, in 1998. I think Gillete might have sent it to me. They still make the blades so I was able to get a five pack at Wal-Mart. I really don’t bother with upgrading to the latest and greatest model that the shaving companies have come up with. Sure maybe a young man today who’s just reaching the age in which he needs to shave might want to get the latest and greatest in order to insure the longevity of the holder part that stays around forever.

So no sooner do I do that than this article appears. Just get something easy to use that you can replace the blades when they go dull. In other words, just use common sense.

I better get to bed. Got a long drive tomorrow. To Pittsburgh.

Tags: ,
Posted in Life, the Universe and Everything | Comments Off

Pirates stuff.

July 11th, 2010

First of all, Dejan over at the Post-Gazette just wrote that Jeff Karstens was the first half’s MVP. That activates the hilarity unit. He had a few lucky starts and that makes him a MVP? The guy certainly has the mental attitude to be a starter but not the stuff. He’s only a starter because someone has to start and it might as well be him. But I’m not really sure who would be a good first half MVP for this group. Maybe McCutchen. Also, Neil Walker ending up at 2B and doing a good enough job to get rid of Iwamura is a gaffe as well while the whole Dana Eveland mess was a good move by the Pirates. And his logic for it seems kind of convoluted. Also a guy who spent half the first half of the season out with an injury shouldn’t be a goat.

Then there’s Arthur Rhodes. He was part of the Jason Kendall trade mess. Kendall was traded to the Athletics after the 2004 season for Mark Redman and Arthur Rhodes. A few weeks later, Rhodes was flipped to Cleveland for Matt Lawton. Lawton was traded later that summer for Jody Gerut who played less than 10 games with the Pirates before getting injured and then leaving the team. Anyways, Rhodes is going to be playing in his first All-STar game this year at 40 years old. Pretty cool.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Pirates | Comments Off

Speeding ticket.

July 7th, 2010

So yeah, on Saturday night, I got one of those. It kind of sucked. At first I thought it was $148, but I looked at the wrong place. I finally looked at the damn thing last night and it’s $119, but if I take it to court it’ll cost me $148.50. Uh, that seems wrong.

Some funny things from it:

1. I admitted to the cop that I was going to Club Shakers, which is a local strip club. He told me he catches a lot of guys speeding there. To make matters worse, I got there and they were closed. Even though they’re supposed to be open from 7 until 2 Thur-Sat. Assholes closed on a holiday weekend. Also married guys are lucky, they can get sexed up whenever they want.

2. I lied to him about not knowing the speed limit. But it’s a joke, if you go south on Highway 61 right after it divides from Highway 151, it should be 65 MPH right away. Instead they wait a mile keeping it at 55 and then change it to 65 right past the airport driveway. I think they do that just to catch speeders there. Especially since when you head west on 151 it changes to 65 right away.

3. So I looked it up on the Iowa Court records website thing and it says my last speeding ticket was in October of 1999. The cost for it was $28. How does a ticket go up $91 in 10.5 years? I mean that’s insane. If adjusted for inflation, the $28 from 1999 would today be almost $37. $119 in 1999 would be almost $91. When I mentioned the police guy, I mentioned that’s a lot more than my last ticket and he said that they just raised the prices on July 1st. Ha!

4. At that point I said I hadn’t had a ticket in over 10 years. He said “Well, the state has to get it’s money somehow…” I see, the money isn’t mine, it’s their money and they’re just getting it from me, as much as they need. If you’re careful, the state won’t get too much of it’s money from you.

5. “…because the state of Iowa is broke, ya know?” Oh, so the guys I didn’t vote for who are running the state are doing a bad job and therefore the guys who are going a little fast have to pay for it? I mean, shouldn’t those dumb fucks who can’t figure out how to stay within a budget have to pay more? The other funny thing is that the guys who are going a little fast aren’t costing the state anything. I mean, shouldn’t the taxes for people with kids go up unless their kids are going to private schools?  Why should a single person have to pay more taxes for other people’s kids to go to school? It’s bullshit.

6. So the state is going broke and what kind of state vehicle is he driving? A giant, gas guzzling SUV. Are you fucking kidding me? An SUV? I mean SUVs are fucking expensive and they use up lots of gas, which cost money. I mean are you telling me the state is going broke and you’re driving that money wasting vehicle? Nice planning, dumb ass state government. They’re trying to make me feel bad about paying a speeding ticket.

Now for something completely different.

Another thought. I was watching the P&T Bullshit episode where they talked about teen sex and one of the girls they talked to said some guys sent a picture on his cell phone of his area and she thought it was funny because he was proud of it when he shouldn’t have been. I bet the camera cuts off a few inches there.

Ya know, like how camera adds a couple…hundred pounds when you have clothes on.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Political Mind Dump, Stuff on TV | Comments Off

1/2 over.

July 5th, 2010

I remember a few weeks ago thinking there was over 100 games left to the season. I couldn’t believe that there was so much left. Now that it’s past the half way point it seems like it’s time to get ready for 2011.

So how’s everything going? I’d have to say worse than I expected. Although the past week was pretty good, the Pirates were playing the Cubs and Phillies, two teams in huge declines. Then the rest of this month there are a lot of games against the Astros and Brewers, so the next few weeks shouldn’t be too terrible. After a very rough start for Pedro, he’s started to turn things around the last week. Milledge has picked things up, although he still lacks power. Tabata is doing as well as can be expected for a 21 year old and both McCutchen and Jones continue to do well. What’s really killed the team this year is the starting rotation. The team is getting killed by the 5th inning a lot and then they’re wearing down the bullpen. So clearly, pitching is a problem that needs to be addressed by the start of next season.

I think that JR actually made a good point last week. The Pirates are making a lot of mistakes due to youth and inexperience. If they can avoid that, then maybe they can have a decent second half.

Meanwhile, like I predicted before the season, the Reds and Cardinals are leading the division, although both the Brewers and Cubs aren’t doing as well as I thought they would and the Astros are doing better than I thought they would.

The big problem with the Cubs is that they’re old. Looking at their starting 8, only two are under 30 right now, Geovanny Soto and Starlin Castro. Besides Castro, they are an aging team that’s only going to get worse as they get older. And even worse, they aren’t going to be able to trade most of the guys on the team as a lot of them have huge contracts that last a long time. The Cubs went all in for 2007 and 2008 and now they’re reaping the consequences of not planning long term past 2008. Also Carlos Zambrano is being a bit of a jack ass, which doesn’t help anything. However they did get lucky with Carlos Silva, but that isn’t going to last forever either.

Overall, right now, I think the Pirates have a much brighter future than the Cubs do at this point.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Major League Baseball, Pirates | Comments Off

« Older Entries