Just in case ...

Bailey

Had to take the queen of the house to the vet today because I found a lump in her right groin area. Turns out everything's fine -- it was just a fatty deposit. But she is 8, and after the ordeal we went through with k.d., I didn't want to take any chances.

For those who don't know, k.d. was the dalmatian Ed and I owned before we got Bailey and Dexter. When she was 5, a nasty cancer attacked her and killed her, all within a matter of a few weeks. I don't ever want to go through that again. We bought her at a pet store, and we think that had a lot to do with her becoming so ill. Never, NEVER buy a pet from a pet store. Bad, bad news.

The vet says Bailey is just fine, very healthy, and that we can look forward to more fatty deposits as she gets older. Fine by me, as long as she lives about another 8-10 years...

*Update: Had to take Bailey back to the vet yesterday (May 28) because she was having a few "female issues." An antibiotic and some estrogen were prescribed, so she should be good to go in about 10 days. Been giving her some Glucosamine too. I think some arthritis might be settling in her back legs...

Oh, the NCAA tournament ...

Did anybody really care who won this year? All four top seeds in the Final Four=BORING.

Kansas won, but only because Memphis choked at the end of regulation and couldn't hit a free throw if their lives depended on it.

Oh well. Enough said about that. It's baseball season.

Reality TV update

It's been awhile, hasn't it?

Big Brother is down to the final four (Ryan, Sheila, Sharon and Adam), Ozzie was eliminated from Survivor (stupidly, he didn't use the immunity idol), and American Idol is down to the final six after Kristy Lee Cook was voted off last week.

We'll keep this short and sweet with my predictions:

Big Brother: Adam is voted off this week after losing the POV, leaving Ryan, Sheila and Sharon in the final three. I predict Ryan will win.

Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites has been pretty good. With Ozzie being backdoored last week, the women are definitely in charge. Cirie seems to be running things (I really don't like her). If James can hang on a couple of weeks, I think he has a shot. But watch out for Cirie. She's devious.

American Idol: David Archuleta, David Cook or Carly Smithson will win. My pick remains David Archuleta. He's just so damn cute.

Until next time ...

Ryan photo courtesy CBS

Cubs vs. Nationals

Two teams going in completely opposite directions. My beloved Chicago Cubs come to D.C. this weekend for their only trip to Nationals Park this season, barring a playoff berth for the Nats (stop laughing!).

After a 3-0 start the Nationals are now the worst team in the National League. Pitching was supposed to be suspect, but has actually been pretty good. It's the hitting and defense that have let this team down.

The Cubs, on the other hand, moved into first place in the NL Central yesterday after completing their sweep of the also woeful Pittsburgh Pirates. A 12-6 start was just what the doctor ordered. Pitching and defense have been there all season, and Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Kusoke Fukudome and Mark DeRosa have been blistering the ball.

The Cardinals are not as good as their record and the Brewers are ... well, the Brewers. So a second consecutive playoff berth is definitely possible. I know, the whole 100-year thing. But if there was ever a year the Cubs were going to do it, it would seem to be 2008.

But then I said that in 2003, when with five outs to go Steve Bartman and Moises Alou ... oh God, I don't want to relive that. You live, you learn, you move on.

Anyway, Cheryl and Val are coming from Iowa on Friday morning. We have five tickets to all three games, but there's some softball thrown in there too, so we'll see if we actually go to all three.

Cheryl, Val, Josh (pictured at his first-ever baseball game, at Nats Park) and I are huge Cubs fans. Ed is too, but I think he'd like to see the Nats pull the upset. It'll be the only time all year I cheer against the Nationals. A sweep would be wonderful. There's probably going to be more Cubs fans in Nationals Park than Nats fans. Would love to see 40,000 people break out in Go Cubs Go, Go Cubs Go, Hey Chicago whaddya say! The Cubs are gonna win today!

Nothing like a Cubs victory and an Old Style beer. Saaaaweeet!

Back on the diamond ...

... Well, the Metropolitan Media Softball League started this past Saturday, and my work team split a doubleheader. We beat Comcast Sports Net 14-7 and lost to Team Video 10-6.

Two totally different games. We hit well, pitched well and played very good defense in the first game. But the second game was the total opposite. We jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but walks, bad defense and cold bats doomed us.

We're back at it this week against AOL and the Washington Times, our division rivals. Check out the website. The MMSL does a really good job.

My gay team, NITRO, got the season started this weekend in Philadelphia. Our league season begins the first weekend in May. Hopefully the weather will continue to cooperate. It was in the 80s over the weekend before the monsoons hit yesterday.

The World Series is in Seattle this year. Would love to go back. A beautiful city. But my silly work schedule could get in the way. Policy has it that nobody is allowed off during the Olympics, which is silly and stupid. We'll see what happens. Luckily the Olympics end the same weekend as the opening of the Series.

I could really have something to blog about come August ...

Sister Sue update

Well, not much to report actually, which could be considered good news. She's still under 80 pounds, and is having a few issues, but all in all, she says she's feeling somewhat better.

If we could only get her weight up, get her some strength ... and believe it or not, get her to quit smoking ...

Back in action ...

... I've just been a bit busy. Haven't really had a chance to blog, but hope to get back in the swing of things this week ...

Something's wrong with this picture

My beloved Chicago Cubs have started the season 0-2 while my beloved team No. 2 the Washington Nationals have started the season 3-0 (three Curly W's are in the books!) I think if you ask most people they'd say they would have thought the reverse would be true.

No need to panic for the Cubs, though manager Lou Piniella has already decided to move Alfonso Soriano back to the leadoff spot in the batting order. Which I agree with. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If they lose to the Brewers again today, then maybe they begin to panic. A bit.

As for the Nats, what a nice start. The pitching has been surprisingly good, though they can't afford to be without closer Chad Cordero for long. But it's nice to see Jon Rauch, the tallest player in Major League Baseball (Ed and I joke about him all the time), picking up a couple of saves in his absence. And they are scoring runs, with RYAN ZIM-MER-MAN! (pictured) slugging two homers already.

Can't wait for the Nats to get back home to that brand spanking new ballpark. And the Cubs are in town in only three weeks. Should be a great weekend...

Big Survivor Brother Idol

My perspective on the week in Reality Television:

*Well, Joshuah is gone from the Big Brother house, but our favorite gay housemate went out with class, unlike some people who have left. But how Sheila keeps slipping by without getting nominated is beyond me. She is so two-faced -- just ask James. And will somebody please tell Natalie to just not talk? Ever?

*Is it just me or are the guys SOOO much better than the girls this year on American Idol? David Archuleta, David Cook and Michael Johns are head and shoulders above anything the girls have to offer, though I do like Carly Smithson. Bye, bye Ramiele.

*After a week off, Survivor returns tonight. And it looks as if the injuries continue, if you believe the previews. Seems to me this season of Survivor, while a good one, has a bunch of wimps playing the game (not counting the injured players of course). Maybe it's just me.

Til next week ...

Joshuah photo courtesy CBS

Nationals Park

Awesome. Beautiful. That best describes the Washington Nationals new stadium on the banks of the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. While RFK Stadium had it's own charms, there's really no comparison to Major League Baseball's newest stadium.

It's big, it's open. It has a gazillion food and drink outlets. It has PlayStation, You can bat against a simulated Randy Johnson or the Phillie Phanatic. It has a big bar, The Red Porch and The Red Loft in left-center field. Every seat has a cup holder.

And it has a BIG scoreboard. I mean big, tops in baseball. In high-def. Like Ed said, it's like watching our own TV in our own living room. Only with 40,000 of your friends. Did I mention how big it was?

Metro performed, at least for us perfectly, dropping us off a block from the gates. Even the security for a certain president's visit seemed to go off without a hitch. And Ryan Zimmerman ended an almost perfect Opening Day -- a very, very cold Opening Day -- with a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2.

All in all, there's really not much to dislike -- they do need to do something about the long lines at the concessions, which weren't any better than RFK. I was fourth in line for a hot dog and it took 35 minutes.

And we've already switched our season tickets. We were in section 138, right over the Nats bullpen. The seats were OK, but you couldn't see the scoreboard because of the upper deck and the sun was going to blind us right at gametime. So we moved to section 105, which still gives a perfect view of the rest of the park and the BIG scoreboard.

Our next games probably won't be until Cheryl and Val come for the Cubs series. The Cubs started the season with a tough 4-3, 10-inning loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, but it's still going to be a great season. Especially if Kosuke Fukudome continues to hit. He had a single, double, walk and three-run homer in his debut.

Thank God for baseball.

I'm back ...

... and there's lots to blog about ...

Who knew veggies could act?

The story of Oedipus, in eight minutes, performed by vegetables.

From Oedipusthemovie.com.

Opening Day ...

... for the Cubs is only 11 days, 23 hours, 28 minutes away.

Lots to do ...

We're getting to the time of year where it's all about being busy, busy, busy. To wit:

*I have a live Fantasy Baseball draft this Friday at noon. Six teams this year. I swore I'd never do that again. But I just can't help it. And get this -- because my sister Cheryl and friend K.C. will be working, I'll be drafting for them, too.
*Saturday is the spring meeting for the Metropolitan Media Softball League. To me, this meeting always signals the beginning of softball season. I just hope the weather starts cooperating. It's really been kind of sucky around here lately.
*Next Friday, I have my first-ever colonoscopy. Oh yea for me! I'm sure I'll be in good spirits, so to speak, later Friday when one of my other Fantasy teams has it's get together at The Brickskeller in D.C. I hope I am in good shape for that -- love The Brickskeller. They have more than 1,500 beers from around the world. And the atmosphere is unmatched.
*Friday's night's festivities are followed Saturday by the league's draft in Baltimore, which I hope will be done in time to get back for the Nationals-Orioles game that night at the new ballpark. I'm not counting on that though. Last year's draft was an all-day affair.
*Sunday night finds the baseball opener between the Braves and Nats at the new park. Never been to an opener, and never been to an opener at a new ballpark. Can't wait.
*After that, it's softball practice every weekend until the season opener April 19. Cheryl and Val come in the following weekend for the Cubs series.

Whew! As you can see, lots of places to go, people to see and things to do. I just hope everybody else can keep up...

Happy St. Patrick's Day ...

... to me!

A little late, but I wouldn't be able to celebrate it until I get off of work anyway. Still a couple of hours before I can celebrate what little bit of Irish heritage/blood I have.

I just wish I could have been in Chicago to see city officials continue the tradition of turning the Chicago River green.

Down the hatch!

It's NCAA tournament time

This is really about the only time of the year where I pay any attention at all to college basketball.

The NCAA bracket was announced yesterday, and really there are no big surprises. Arkansas got a No. 9 seed, which I think might be a little low considering they beat Vanderbilt and Tennessee in the SEC tournament. But losing Sunday's final to Georgia, which had to win just to get in, may have hurt them just a bit. Probably doesn't matter anyway. Assuming the Razorbacks beat Indiana, they get No. 1 seed North Carolina in the second round. Nice seein' ya Hogs!

My Final Four is pretty much Memphis, North Carolina, UCLA and Kansas. My pick to win the whole thing, and I've done two brackets so far, is Memphis. The Tigers have only one loss, and while Conference-USA may not be the strongest league in the world, going 32-1 or 33-1 is quite an accomplishment.

I'd love to say that I think Drake will go far, but my favorite team from Des Moines is likely to go out after two games, just like Arkansas. Would have been kind of cool if somehow they had been paired up in the same bracket.

Games tip-off Thursday, so make sure you get your brackets in on time. I know I will. When thousands of dollars are at stake, especially in this time of recession, every little bit helps.

Sister Sue update

It hasn't been a very good few days for Sue. Sammy called this morning to say that she was taken to the hospital and is currently in TCU, a minor version of ICU. She's been having seizures, which apparently can be traced to low potassium.

Anyway, I think it might be a good thing that she's in the hospital for a couple of days so she can get some fluids and food into her body. Until she gets her weight back above 80 there's not going to be a whole lot that she's going to be able to do for herself. And sitting around at home, I think, helped to get her in somewhat of a rundown condition.

It does look like she's done with the chemo, which is fine. She needs to do what she needs to do. And we need to accept it, no matter how hard it might be ...

The secret life of Peeps ...

... Who knew?

Funny