The Magazine...

well here it is...this finally hit the stands last Friday - which is great timing with everyone on the entire peninsula ON LEAVE somewhere else...whatever, I'm just happy that the damn thing is finally done...and now on to the NEXT issue...whenever the hell that might be - I just love the organization of things here...it's simply amazing that ANYTHING gets done...anyway - enjoy the latest issue of the ROK Steady (Winter 2005) – of which I will only take credit for all of the layout and design and anything that you like about the thing…any errors you may find were obviously someone else’s department and anything you don’t like – well – whatever, it’s free so there…

Omnes lagani pistrinae gelate male sapient…

All frozen pizzas taste lousy…

So we had tacos fool!...and they were stupendous…Merry Christmas to all and to all…

A Taco…and so it was written…

Slept in ‘til around 11 and pulled myself from the bed in search of sustenance and solace…I found the former quickly in the form of a healthy bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch followed up by a monster of a ham, turkey and cheese sandwich – with ALL the fixin’s this year…yummie…

I then found the latter around three in the afternoon when I called my buddy/NCO to find out what the deal was with the Christmas Tacos he had spoken so highly of a few days prior…and after a stop at the store for a bottle of “BeefEater Gin” (he asked for Gin so I got him Gin…and who could resist something so brazenly named BeefEater – it’s from London – which makes sense I guess) and a six-pack for me…and me and my cab were on our way in to Iteawon...

He told me to meet him at the McDonalds…easy enough…until I got out of the cab…“wanna by some of this”…“you need suit”…“blah blah buy this blah blah”…apparently EVERYTHING is still open on Christmas Day here in Korea…it’s all good though…I’m cheery and out and about and what not…“what’s up suit-guy” I inquired…and just as he started in on his spiel I realized that I was right in front of a rather large shoe store…I saw various Nike swooshes in all sorts of colors and immediately forgot that suit-guy even existed…

Briefly in awe – moments later I was removed from the paradise by my buddy – and then confronted by the suit-guy I had so rudely blown off minutes earlier…I took his card…I’m supposed to call him James next time I’m around there…neat…

So we’re not at homeboy’s crib for 10 minutes when the power goes out…“fuck” I say – it’s my Christmas touch of Death again…sorry dude…I should go…BUT…

Hong Kong Phooey was on the job and within twenty minutes or so everything was back on - beef cookin’, lights on music rockin’ – yeah…

Now I guess this is where I would be talking about all the other folks there and how it was a raging party and all that – naw…the other people that were supposed to show pulled a Finch and just stayed in…oh well…me and homey ate up a bunch of tacos, drank some beer and just shot the shit (talked about life and nonsense) while some Marvin Gaye played and Smokey Robinson was busy seconding that emotion…very chill…

and then we decided to head over to another guy’s apartment on the other side of Seoul…

Venturing outside for the first time in a couple hours, it was noticeably colder since I had arrived…ignoring that, we walked in search of the elusive trustworthy-cab…and we were on our way…

This guy is apparently a pimp in disguise – to EVERYONE – but himself…which is fun (for everyone else) to say the least…He always wants to wear suits and when we showed up he was actually attempting to pull off the Hugh Heffner look - sans the Bunnies of course…which, ya know, I’ll give him an E for effort…lots of cool stuff in the crib though, and a very chill place on the 12th floor of this building overlooking the river – VERY CHILL...

Not having had a beer in nearly 45 minutes he quickly poured me a glass of “Cass” (laugh it up Ian, Tim, Tom – haha - bitches) which I would shortly learn was the first, last and ONLY beer on the premises…

We laughed it up and even popped in an old Jerry Lewis movie (The Nutty Professor) …this is when dude started fast forwarding and explaining how much of a Pimp he thought ‘ol Jerry was as the suave professor…lines like when she tells him “you’re impossible” and he quickly replies with “ well hurry up and grab you some impossible baby – you’ll love it” – awesome…and suddenly his whole existence was becoming clear…stupendous…so fun! – you can’t buy this kind of entertainment!...

Anyway…after discussing what I recall as plans B through G for New Year’s Eve we again were off…

A quick stop by the U.N. Club – which is nothing like what the name might suggest…then a snagging of some “chicken on a stick” – which may or may not have been actual chicken…but was scrumptious nonetheless…and then a stop by somewhere that turned out to be somewhere else…and then I proclaimed that my night was through and once again we set out to find a reliable cab…done and done…

A fairly nice evening all around I must say…not nearly as much drunkin’ debauchery as I had expected – which was nice – and a lot of good conversations and some surprisingly good music…so I say to everyone!…Tacos for ALLLLL!

Honestly though, a nice quote that I stumbled across this evening pretty evenly sums up everything right now…

Omnia mutantur nos et mutamur in illis – All things change, and we change with them…

Merry Christmas everybody – hope all is well with You and Yours…muuahh!

Christmas Past...

Alright…so here we go… Christmas Past…at least the Army ones anyway…here’s a quick re-cap for some of you…

Left for the basic training and Fort Knox in August of ’99 shortly after both turning 18 and graduating high school…went on to school at Fort Meade, Md. to learn how to be a “military journalist” before heading off for my first duty station which was none other than lovely Fort Bliss, Tx. all the way down in El Paso (yes, that’s sarcasm)…left there on my way to Wiesbaden, Germany in 2001…left Germany for Kuwait (my third trip no less) in late February/ early March of ’03…hit Iraq in May (a couple days before Mom’s birthday)…got back to Germany in February ’04…became retarded around June right before I reenlisted for three years under the premise that I would be going to stay at Fort Knox for a while…showed up here in Seoul in August of ’05 – so much for Fort Knox...

So heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere we go…

Christmas ’99 – This is a time early on in a young military career that should send off all kinds of flares and warning signals telling you that things are not always as they seem...after recently getting out of basic training, I’m up at Fort Meade in Md. only about 2 and a half hours from home, which was nice…anyway – come Christmas-time the Drill Sgt’s start enforcing upon everyone that YOU WILL GO HOME YOU BASTARDS…and that if you didn’t – they would do things to you that would make hell seem like a Baskin Robins Shop on a warm Sunday afternoon…oh we left folks…and why wouldn’t we – hell we were told we “had to” AND we’d get to go home and away from these crazy bastards for a while…little did we know that it would be a LONG TIME before we would be able to take leave again…taking that much leave, you see, put us all “in the hole” as they say, and we technically “owed” leave days to the Army because of our “forced” vacation…anyway that’s another story for another time…tricky tricky those drill sgt’s…

Well, I can’t remember how I got home – my father no doubt picked me up and brought me south to my mom’s house in the neighborhood…I probably don’t remember much of any of this because of the shock that was occurring throughout my system at seeing things “outside” of what had been my environment for the last five months…anyway, got home kinda late…happiness abounded and all was wonderful…things quieted down and I went off into the night in search of the homies…

Got home very late, or very early – depending on your point of view…and proceeded to pass out…knock, knock, knock…knocK, knOCK, KNOCK…

And suddenly something is a happening…my mom – in the darkness of my room – was asking me if I would go with her somewhere…what…will you ride with me she asks…and I’m thinking I’m either in a dream or she is…so I kinda say loudly WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT…will you ride with me to go pick up your bother…pick him up? WHAT are you TALKING ABOUT?...

…from the Police Station, she said softly…as she turned to go get him…

Christmas ’00 – I’m at Fort Bliss in the middle of El Paso, or North Jaurez (mexico) as I call it…I’m fairly certain that everyone went home to family and I stayed back at Bliss…it was my choice…I had pushed for, and been given, the opportunity to redesign the post newspaper which hadn’t been done in quite some time as I recall…so I spent the non-holiday days working with our civilian publisher and layout designer extraordinaire Val…and with our powers combined - we managed to create a very clean, airy, flowing design which I think everyone was pleased with when it debuted headlining (and scooping everyone else) the new Army slogan – ‘An Army of One’…ahhh good times…anyway – for Christmas I remember getting a sweet drawing of a drunkin’ Santa searching for his deer (and I’m certain something else with it) from Aaron and Dawn – ‘The Thackers’ – which I actually still have and laugh at from time to time…and on Christmas day I think it was around 65 or 70 degrees and I went out and played a little basketball against myself – I won! Ha!...

Christmas ’01 – I got to Germany right around the middle of December…BAD MOVE…I’m 19 in a new country – blah, blah – and so my NCO picks me up at the airport gets me to the unit…I “meet the first sgt.” and get a room…I’m a “senior specialist” so I’m upstairs with my own room – sweeeeet!...then pooof…everyone’s gone…everyone went home back to the states – including my NCO…

So I’m new in Germany, by myself in a room, in a practically empty building, AND my heat is out…not sweeeet…BUT, I call my homeboy – my old roommate from Fort Meade who happens to be married and living with his wife down in Heidelberg…he comes and gets me and I’m gonna spend the holidays with him and his peeps down there…a day and a half later – a day before Christmas – we’re sitting in the barracks room of some dude on leave that he knew – my buddy’s wife had kicked him out…awesome…so on Christmas we enjoyed ham sandwiches and mustard (‘cause we forgot to get mayonnaise) and drank a couple 40oz. Beers while playing NCAA Football on Playstation2...

Christmas ’02 – I went to a club in Germany (yes a club was open on Christmas Eve…and yes I of all non-clubbin’ people went to it) and we stayed out ‘til it closed… and my buddy got laid with my friend’s friend… and I let a girl (my friend) from Wuerzburg that wanted to get with ME sleep in my bed while I took the couch like a “gentleman” because I was oblivious to the fact that she was smitten with the Finch…I’m so lame…

Christmas ’03 – This was the day that I was supposed to get medi-vac’d out of Iraq and back to the Hospital in Germany…I was apparently dying which honestly sucked as I recall…I showed up at the hospital almost a week prior (thanks to the lovely Angela) after being sick for a couple days…at this point I couldn’t get up and I was very scared which was a shockingly new symptom…I got to the hospital around 9 or 10 p.m. and had a blood pressure of something in the neighborhood of 30 over 70…not quite sure what that means but from the way the doctors and what not reacted, I think I had just about had it…spent the next several days on an IV, high fever, constant blood tests, chills, medicine time, high fever, a little sleep, chills (they called this cyclic fevers which also, apparently, is a bad thing – I could honestly look at the clock and KNOW when the bastard 103 fever was gonna hit two or three times a day…very scary stuff folks…WahOOO!) the worst part was – besides the fact that NO ONE knew what was wrong with me – that I didn’t want anyone to call my mom ‘cause I didn’t want to freak her out…which worked out because one day my fever missed it’s appointment and I began to get my strength back (much thanks to the lovely Angela) and low and behold they released me on Christmas Day…I still sucked for about a week or so but at least I wasn’t still dying in the hospital…

And if you haven’t read the blog from yesterday – go ahead and get your fill of Christmas ’04…

And for the record – I’d like to say that this is in no way an attempt for sympathy or a way for me to whine and bitch about whatever…I’ve been thinking about the last couple Christmas’s for a week or two now and I just felt like reminiscing a bit…that and I needed to write...that and I wanted some sympathy… and to whine a little bit…shut up…

The Finch that lost Christmas…

Yup – it’s official…I’ve lost Christmas…I thought I had gotten it back last year for good, even with a few crazy and unexplainable what-the-hell-just-happened moments…the Happiness, the Love, the Beauty that the holiday can, and should, Be…

When the Thought IS what really matters, because the Thought is to try and put the purest of pure smiles on your loved-one’s face(s)…that moment when the paper is torn apart and the gift you gleaned to find – the perfect gift – is revealed and your heart is filled with the joy of your loved one…their happiness fills you with a warmth that can only occur right then and there at that place and at that specific moment in time…

It’s funny ‘cause while I’m writing this gibberish I’m thinking about what my family went through back when Christmas was still Santa and his Elves for me and my convict of a brother (gotta give you shit bro)…how they must have nearly shanked their own eyes out trying to figure out what to get, or how to get it, or how to make THIS YEAR special…simply because they Cared about seeing that Moment – that pure happiness – and feeling that Warmth that comes with it…whoa - that was weird…

I remember one year my Uncle Gene (Forrest as he is now commonly known as) and my Aunt Diana (still Diana!) came down to Richmond…this was back before they had their now High School-aged children (jeeze – that’s weird)…it was so fun – I mean this was MY uncle – STILL IS DAMMIT! HA! – and I loved whenever he was around, so this being Christmas time, was even better…both he and Diana treated us like we were their own ‘cause well - like I said – they didn’t have THEIR OWN yet…I remember one year (it may be part of the same, I can’t remember) they got us a Nintendo (which had just come out and we didn’t know what the hell it was) not JUST the Nintendo though, the whole deal people, the PowerPad, the gun, some games – put it this way – even WITH my Xbox360 I STILL find time to play the original Mario Bros. every now and then…but while me and my brother were mystified by the technology I swear I recall Gene and Diana repeatedly snagging the controllers and “showing us how to do it” and havin’ a blast…anyway I digress…

…This one year they came down and the last present was these strange puzzle pieces that they had no doubt painstakingly created which, when put together, was a map of clues to our last present…I remember being so damn impressed with the fact that these people were able to create a couple homemade puzzles…anyway, I think my clues led me outside to the front porch to a new bike – which seemed kinda lame (the front porch aspect) when we deciphered my brother’s puzzle…

You remember those Bigfoot things for kids…the battery powered things shaped like a monster truck that little kids could drive around and stuff…well yeah that was his present…the thing was, is we looked at that damn puzzle for awhile – I mean I found mine pretty quick ‘cause I mean – it’s on the freggin front porch duh!...but we’re workin’ it and we work our way into the bathroom of all places and me and my brother are baffled at this point (yes, I’m helping dammit, what are older brothers for – that and I was genuinely curious)…low and behold there was a Bigfoot in the bathtub…I don’t remember who pulled the curtain back but sure as shit – there it was…I think he actually peed himself – either from sheer excitement or happiness, but bowel control was certainly a concern (hell the kid used to run to piss every time the Pink Panther cartoon came on because he got so excited – it was like clockwork)…

But THAT is Christmas in my mind…I cannot begin to imagine the warmth that my parents and my aunt and uncle felt at those moments…yes, it’s also about religion and celebrating Christ, but more so I like to think of it as an opportunity to press reset on the year and for a day, a week, a month – whatever – for everyone to be happy and move past all the nonsense…a chance to stop working to put smiles on our own faces, but to try and make sure that the people we care about KNOW that we care and how important they are to us…which religiously speaking – if you’re in to that sort of thing – is all done IN celebration of the Baby Jesus…so there…I’m losing track here though…

Anyway, last year I ran out and bought a fake – but lovely – full size tree and a bunch of ornaments and a star for the top and lights and - well yeah, I bought a tree…my lady was coming to town – my fiancé at the time and I wanted it to be Christmas…I shopped…I ordered stuff…I asked people for advice on good gifts or other Christmassy ideas…bought some diamonds for her (ooooohh yeah! Momma ain’t raise no fool) wrapped a bunch of stuff – she sent me wrapped presents in the mail so I had them under my tree in my one-bedroom crib back at Fort Knox…hell – my 42 inch plasma screen (roughly the size of a fireplace) sat on a stand basically on the floor and I picked up this DVD of a fireplace which I thought – while corny – was a lovely touch…

Then it even snowed – this was gonna be perfect…but then it kept snowing and snowing and snowing and snowing and the morning I went to pick her up at the airport I had to get two guys in the parking lot to help push me out…

She was jet-lagged when I got to her but was amazed the whole way back to Knox by the snowiness…then the tree…and then we stayed up late Christmas Eve and opened our presents at 12:01 a.m. Christmas morning…basking in the glow of my “fireplace”…

I finally – after four years of sucky December 25’s spent alone and away from home – had Christmas back…and we were planning to get married, and all Christmas’s future looked to be wonderful and glorious…the Warmth people – I once again had the Warmth…

But alas…that was 362 days ago…and things change…and Warmth cools over time…

I’m now, as you know, in South Korea…and, as you don’t (didn’t know) there will be no marriage…and I am once again relegated to spending another so-called Christmas in the Army… alone and somewhere FAR, FAR away from family…far, far away from any semblance of Warmth…

Wow, this really took off in a whole different direction than I had originally intended…
This time of year always brings about an opportunity – for good or ill – for reflection…so that’s where I’m at right now…I’ve been thinking about posting a nice Christmas Past post about my Christmas’s since leaving home and doing the whole Soldier thing…if for no other reason than in hopes of keeping some poor bastard who accidentally reads my post from putting himself through the same beating…

More so though – just want to write some stuff…keep my brain busy…that and after I post the Christmas Past thing I can then post a Christmas Present thing…which apparently will include tacos and alcohol…so stay tuned – and Merry Christmas!...

While I may be described as a slut becuase of this review, I stand behind my opinion of this game...fun does not begin to describe the overall allure of this game...so here's what I wrote for Amazon.com:

I'm not a "gamer" folks and hopefully will never claim to be, but this game, in my book anyway, has to go down as simply one of the best that I've ever played.
The story is pure (true to the subject) and when showing it to a history buff Major of mine in the U.S. Army he was amazed at the ability to almost relive some of the most brutal and amazing battles that have ever takin place. From a young Russian sharpshooter to a tank-commander to a british line-man to a U.S. Infantry Cpl., this game and its' story takes you through the War.
The graphics are exceptional and I'm saying this even though being stationed in Korea I am unable to play on my high def plasma screen. I honestly can't wait to see this thing on that coupled with my surround sound speakers. It's actually the ONLY game that I would recommend so far (I own Ridge Racer6, Madden 2006 and NBA Live 2006) that I would say warrants the 60 dollar price tag.
The online play may be a bit suspect right now (but keep in mind that only like 100 other people in the world own the system right now) but that's bound to be fixed in the near future. I CAN say that one of my measures of ANY game at this point (keep in mind, that I'm NOT a "gamer") is that if I actually am able to "beat" a game that I should feel somewhat disappointed.
With that in mind, I can assure you that if/when you complete everything in this game you will wish that the story would JUST KEEP GOING... If you're looking for a fun shooter, with some real-life attributes, mixed with a lot of "WoW moments" - this is the game you're looking for.

...I'm such a whore...

The blending of days that became Tuewensday...

5:30am - Tuesday morning: dark, COLD, alarm is going off -uhhhhg - snooze button...

6:04am - oh crap - GOTTA GO!...layers are placed over my body and I'm off for glorious physical training which of course is preceeded by 15 to 25 minutes of standing around outside in the sub 20 degree weather waiting...for what we never quite figure out...

7:40am - walking EVERYWHERE sucks...still cold outside...slipped on ice - ice sucks TOO!...back from PT phew...time to start the day...

9am - at work...yippie! time to rile up the troops!...or not...

work, work - bullshit a bit - a little more work...

4pm - time to go to work AGAIN...report for CQ...and this is the start of my DUTY from 4pm til 9 in the freggin morning...there is nothing happy about this...yes people, after rousing me from my pleasant slumber at what I like to refer to as the ass-crack of dawn and then completing a FULL regular duty day - it's time to go to work AGAIN...

6pm - eat some food - awesome...

9pm - walk around all the buldings in my area of operations...usually makes for about a 25 minute roundtrip...gotta make sure all the soldiers didn't burn the barracks down or anything...i love it!...nope - not burned down...all is quiet - everyone is going to bed early for fear of an early morning work call - word on the street is that we're supposed to get the call around 3am for everyone to report ready to be hooah and what not...either way - still got 12 more hours to go...

10pm - nothing
11pm - nothing
12pm - nothing
1am - uh oh...sleepy...here comes the pain...
2am - eyes hurt...wanna go to bed - not allowed...i love this...
3am - oops - think i was out for a bit...nothing going on - waste of time...
4am - no phone call to alert the troops...huh...brain hurts now...legs gettin wobbly...
5am - nothing
6am - people...go away - just want to go home...tired...cranky...uhhhhhg...
8am - call for a cab to get me in an hour and take me to my crib...to far to walk - to cold to walk - to tired to walk...walking sucks...
9am - released (yes, that's what they call it - how fitting huh?!)...
9:05am - no cab...very tired now...

9:07am - still no cab...getting mad...

9:10am - no cab - screw this...gotta suck it up and walk...

9:20am - halfway to the house and the phone rings - "you call fo' cab?" - i hate you...click...

9:25am - "home" what a great day(s)!

Holly CrapShiet!...

Well judging from my recent posts, or lack there of, you’ve all probably gathered that I did get my Xbox360…and I’m certain that a collective sigh of relief (or a collective something at least) has been let out now…

They called me at about 8:45 in the a.m. as I was (dropping the kids off at the pool) before heading off to work…my phone was in my pocket and on vibrate which always makes me freak out “oh shit I’m vibrating” every time anyone calls…I didn’t recognize the number, but hesitantly (I was dropping “the kids” off after all) answered it…and before he got half a sentence out I realized what was happening and quickly informed him that I would be there in “7 minutes”…which ended up being false because I left in such a hurry (yes I at least took the time to wipe-jeeeze) that about 100 feet from the entrance to receiving my prize I realized that I had left my ID and wallet back at the crib…needless to say (so I’ll say it) I only run THAT hard for a PT test…

The timing worked out though, and I arrived about three and a half minutes before THE GROUP of 20 or so other ME’s in search of the same objective…one bastard tried to cut in front of me and I almost had to remove his penis…this thankfully, was unnecessary and I rolled out with my new toy! Yippie!...I was so happy with myself I nearly peed all over me as I happily walked (half ran) to work)…hell it was all I could do not to show everyone I passed on the way my new prize…and yes…I am now a dork – don’t you judge me!...

Anyway…this is why posts have been nonexistent for the last week or so…sorry (not really though – I’m having a blast with this thing)….I woulda posted earlier that I got it, but I was hoping on having a really nice (funny) picture to put together for the I GOT IT post…it will happen though, but without the same impact…whateva…

I just kept getting sidetracked with trying to finalize a 44-page magazine that I am now the editor of – which may not seem like a lot unless you think about the fact that I’m not only deciding what goes in to the damn thing, but I’m also charged with laying everything out in a creative design, organizing it all so it works together, copy-editing every story, coming up with styles for certain aspects (bylines, photo credits, etc.) and then having to put it all together all while learning completely new software – well then you’d understand that my brain is FRIED…

There’s that, and my Soldiers are keeping me busy…I’m an NCO now after all – a noncommissioned officer for those of you not in the “know” – which means that part of my daily duties in the Army is to be a – in a word – leader…we even have a creed, which while it can seem corny, actually helps me sometimes remember why I’m still in this thing and why I wanted to be promoted and have this responsibility –

“No one is more professional than I. I am a Noncommissioned Officer, a leader of Soldiers.” And it goes on to reinforce that we, as NCO’s are what keep the Army rolling (the backbone).

Basically, I’m supposed to not only KNOW the standard, but enforce the standard, and at all times BE the example – and that’s MY standard…those of you who know me in the military might find this crazy and almost like I’m tryin’ to b.s. my own people, but honestly I don’t think any of you would see me the same if you saw me here…I wake up early – I’m on time or early for everything (even first formation!) and even though there are other NCO’s senior to me in my office I at least attempt to set the standard for the Soldiers around me on a daily basis…it’s good shit – the neat thing is that I have not forgotten all the shit that I went through (or put my NCO’s through) for me to get to this point and that comes through with a lot of the guys that I have out here…

Many new/young/junior NCOs fall in to the trap of turning into assholes or at least completely different people when they get promoted, which in turn causes their Soldiers to see that, and thus lose ALL respect for them as leaders… anyway I’m rambling…and I was an asshole before so it’s no big deal!

ANYWAY - This week I recommended one of my Soldiers for nonjudicial punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (fun stuff, I have three, which is still a record in my last unit!) because he just wouldn’t fix HIMSELF…late, late, late, late, late, and no excuses…the kid kept accepting that HE was WRONG, but just refused to fix it…and thus I was left with no other recourse…I feel like such a bastard, but deep down I KNOW that he deserves it and more so - I KNOW that HE knows that he deserves it…it’s just weird for me and that’s the main reason why I got off on this tangent here…I was always on the OTHER side (his side) of this process and it’s awkward…fact of the matter is that I emailed my old NCO from Germany just to say thanks and APOLOGIZE for everything – all the stress and EXTRA nonsense I caused her…wow…does this mean that I’m growing up? –

Screw that – I’m going to play my Xbox360! HA! Take that!

Xbox360 Day5…

Well after much ado and excited anticipation – I still have not been able to experience the glory that surely is the Xbox360…

I marched down to the PX today ready to start some rawkus with somebody only to find myself shocked, amazed, appalled (and probably three or four other adjectives) at the site of Americans gone bat-shit crazy…apparently some alarm went out to signal to everyone that it is now time to SPEND MONEY…

The odd thing for me was that in my mind I was there strictly for one purpose and one purpose only (alright that’s a lie – I had to grab some more socks and some toothpaste) to get the pearly-white beauty of a 360-Box they call ‘X’ – so I bullied through the crowd and couldn’t help but laugh at these poor bastards…

As I neared the electronics section, the nerves had kicked all the way in – part of me trying to expect the worst - them having already sold the damn things - and thus building up the anger so that I could lash it out on some poor, undeserving, un-prepared store worker…and part of me hoping that they just hadn’t called anyone yet and the consoles would be waiting patiently behind door number two…

So I turn the corner and to my confusion the sign that had once proudly proclaimed the “Xbox360 on sale Nov. 22 – Delivery Delayed” was gone…whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?...and I can suddenly feel the fury inside of me – my thinking being that if the sign has been taken down then they must have gotten them and sold them all – REDRUM…REDRUM…REDRUM!

But, cooler heads prevailed – I took a breathe and walked to the back wall where the games are shelved (just to SEE) and sure enough Madden ’06 the 360 version along with FIFA (soccer) and Tiger Woods (how is this a video game?)…so I grabbed a copy of the Madden and walked over to the Korean lady I recognized as being some sort of manager-type from the DAY1 of this whole fiasco and flashed the game – “what gives?” to which she responded by trying to ring me up for the game(hurry up and bye!)…”no, no – what happened with the Xbox’s?” I asked more compellingly…”they no come yet…we no know,” she explained… “so you’re still gonna be calling off the list?” - “oh you on list? – yes, yes – we call you…” and there we have it…

They call me…

Honestly though, these gaming consoles are undoubtedly being sold on the black market in downtown somewhere here in lovely South Korea – but hey – that’s just one crazy opinion from a guy who realizes that these bastards could get at least a thousand bucks for one of these Xbox’s on the street – it’s like a new heroin…

I feel so dirty…

Hooray for Turkey!...

Xbox360 Day 2...

nothing NEW to report - "we will call you..." - that's all I got today...so it's lookin' like Friday may be the day 'cause I'm fairly certain that they're closed for Thanksgiving...at least I was able to find four really good cd's while hanging out waiting for the damn thing...just casually glancing over the cd’s my eye caught these four gems:

"Think Differently Music: Wu-Tang meets the Indie Culture," which is surprisingly well done...a little box set type thing with three discs(for only 12 bucks) of "MC-Funk," which is genuine old funk - very fun to listen to while trying to think at work...an old Common cd called "Can I Borrow a Dollar?," which was his first LP from way back in '92 - some REAL gems on here...then to round out the four, I found a compilation done between the DJs DangerMouse (who wears a mouse head) and MF DOOM (who always wears a metal face mask) called "Danger Doom" - Danger Mouse is the guy that took the accapella version of Jay-Z's "the Black Album" and the instrumental version of the Beatles' "White Album" and made the underground classic "the Grey Album" - anyway, awesome hip hop, awesome beats, and absolutely hilarious...they have all the folks from the Space Ghost Coast to Coast show and some of the party people from Aqua Teen Hunger Force...what's more fun than Space Ghost trying to get a group of characters to quickly read I am Sofa King retarded...quality stuff - and more proof that I AM sofa king retarded...

Anyway - here's the lead in to a very well written piece by ESPN Page2's Patrick Ruby who is "scared" of the NEW and "improved" gaming..."You can see the stitching on his jersey. Rivulets of sweat running down his neck. Zoom in a bit more, and it's even possible to make out the glimmering reflection in Michael Vick's digital eyes. In terms of lifelike, photo-realistic detail, the newest version of Madden football, "Madden NFL 06," -- released today along with Microsoft's uber-powerful XBox 360 console -- trounces every pigskin video game to come before it, like the Indianapolis Colts running roughshod over the hapless Houston Texans.So why does the virtual Vick seem so off?Maybe it's his stilted throwing motion. Perhaps it's the awkward way his lips move when calling audibles.Either way, I feel like an ingrate. A decade ago, football games didn't have players with faces, let alone moving lips. The first time I saw the "Madden 92" ambulance roll onto the field to pick up the fuzzy blob of pixels that was my injured quarterback -- running over a half-dozen other players en route, of course -- I nearly wet myself in quivering awe"...here's the link for the whole article...

as always - stay tuned...

Xbox 360 Day 1...

Well today was the day...it's been a long time comin'...so I woke up, did PT, showered up and was off to the Post Exchange for some pimpalicious 360 wireless, high-definition goodness...

The PX doesn't usually open 'til 10 so I figured I'd get down there, grab some grubbage and get a haircut before heading into the main store. But, to my surprise, it's opening up at 9 this week - outstanding - things appear to be going well and I'm feeling rather optimistic as I stroll through a nearly empty store on my way to the electronics section...

There's a couple guys who are obviously there for the 360 so I give 'em the head-nod to establish contact and communicate that we are there on the same mission…I ask what the good word on the Xbox is, which is answered by all five of them at the same time with all different versions of the same answer – it’s not here yet, dunno when it’s supposed to get here…so at least I’m there before THE RUSH – and am feeling pretty confident that I’m going to be setting up for some glorious 360 action later on in the evening…sweet!

Should be on the next truck – the shopkeeper guy assures us – it’s already a little after 10 and the “next truck” should be here shortly…during the wait we shoot the shit a bit, making small talk and what not – the funny thing is that I’m not really a “serious gamer” – this fact was thankfully reinforced while conversing with the other waiters of my group – their spitting out facts about the system, the latest online gossip about the 360, they’re talking about computer games and their various online conquests – a few times I found myself both laughing a bit and at the same time feeling strangely awkward and uncomfortable…

The play of the day though was yet to come - walking into the PX I was honestly feeling a little like I was wrong as hell for going to try and buy a video game system, in uniform, during duty hours, and I’m a Sgt. – a freggin’ Noncomissioned Officer – I swear when I first walked in I was waiting for someone to randomly give me shit for not being at work…when I reached the group of “gamers” though some of that went out the window – in the group we had three of the five guys in uniform – a Chief Warrant Officer, a Master Sgt, and another Sgt. like me…THEN the most Army-thing-EVER happened – a Command Sgt. Major (that’s pretty much the cream of the crop and highest ranking Soldier on the enlisted side of the house) walks through and DEMANDS that a list be started NOW – cause “I ain’t got no time to be waitin’ ‘round here.” – and the manager said OK (even though it’s against normal store policy) and brought out a binder – the BEST part though was that the Sgt. Major (who hadn’t even been waiting there with us) grabbed the binder and put his name at the TOP of the list next to #1…I just thought that pretty much summed up everything that the Army is in a nutshell – simply a priceless moment and one that I will remember always! – but I digress…

When the list appeared I hesitated briefly – thinking that I should let the gamers who had been there before me sign there names in first – then something in me woke up and followed the Sgt. Major’s lead…I, my friends, was #3…exxxxxcellent…

Many of them stayed to wait out the delivery trucks and have their emotions ebb and flow with the opening and closing of the warehouse doors – I however left three contact phone numbers and headed off to the office…I checked back during lunch and then again around three…nothin’ - more people were waiting, but no Xbox’s…finally the last truck of the day arrived and while nothing of any importance to me and my counterparts was on it, there was some good news to be had – for me anyway…

Apparently this PX is only getting 40 of these things – that’s it…and apparently they’re going to honor this list when the shipment of the 40 arrives sometime this week…the plan is for them to call the first 40 names in order - everyone then has 24 hours to come get their box or forfeit it…The beauty of it all is that one, I’m #3 on the list and two, my dwelling and my office is about a 10 minute walk from the PX while many had to take buses from different installations to get there today…

So that’s it for now – stay tuned for more Xbox 360 updates…

Nothing to write about…

I just don’t really have anything that’s gripping me to pontificate on to the masses…all work and no play make finch a dull skinny white dude…

So I’ll give a couple quick notes:

- took a PT (physical fitness test) today. Took it at two o’clock in the afternoon which was interesting considering that the million or so other pt tests that I’ve done have ALL been first thing in the morning. The human body is funny like that. When you do certain things (like regular PT) at certain times/intervals, your body is prepared for said activity at certain times. So, obviously the 2p.m. start time was odd to say the least…you don’t want to eat a lot ‘cause you don’t want a bunch of stuff on your stomach when you’re about to try and do as many push-ups, sit-ups that you can in two minutes and then run 2 miles…but then again my skinny ass needs to eat food to have energy…so, yes, I ate…and while I didn’t do as well as I could have – I passed – which is really all that matters in this man’s army…72 push-ups, a mere 68 sit-ups(which I WILL chalk up to the food ‘cause I did 60 in only one minute just a couple days ago) and a 14:40 2mile…I’ll take it at this point – it’s cold, the air is crazy-filthy and I don’t do a lot of PT…

- Samurai Jack (the picture at the top) is the best cartoon out there right now – he is the MAN…just thought I’d throw that out there – don’t you judge ME! – ha! It’s really one of the only new bread of cartoons that you can watch without any sound and still not only understand what the story is, but actually enjoy the imagery as well...that, and he's got the BEST theme music ever...check it out…

- After the PT test we have to weighed, and measured – I now, according to the Army, weigh 134 lbs – which, for those of you who know, is me getting’ FAT – I’ll drink to that!

- Everyone is telling me that I’m black…for many reasons that many of you are well aware (baggy clothes, hip hop music, baggy clothes, newport cigarettes, baggy clothes) – but right now because I’m so ashy…weird huh…it’s finally gotten rather chilly out here…the air is very frosty, but also VERY void of any moisture what so ever…that coupled with the heat being turned on everywhere, drying out the air in every building I’m in has turned me into a cocoa butter lathering fool…it can actually be very painful – the cracking of the skin and the constant irritating itching…so I cocoa butter up…does this make me black? Ha!

- FOOP! Is a really odd book so far, – apparently time travel has become such a regular thing that a company is taking groups of people BACK on tours of events that have occurred in the past…the problem is that certain people are not satisfied with merely being able to see historic events take place – people wanna be heroes – so on a tour back to see old Abe get shot in the head – homeboy disappears from the tour group to go and impede Mr. Booth from executing his assassination plot…so the company has to “frame” Booth for the shooting (so that the future is not changed - duh!) – the whole scenario is portrayed MUCH more effectively in the book itself – and that’s just through the first 20 pages or so…check it out…

- In other news: my buddy Josh’s latest couple posts have been nothing short of BRILLIANT…I highly recommend checking them out over in the “links” portion of the ‘ol blog, and click on “The Josh”…maybe I just think they’re good ‘cause I’ve been there (not just Iraq, but almost the EXACT situations that he’s running into) but I think it’s really quality writing...

- and the XBOX 360 goes on sale tuesday - I've been given the morning off that day in order to attempt to stand in whatever line may be at my local post exchange to try and buy the thing...a running diary may come outta that...stay tuned...

We're ALL apparently racists...

I don’t wanna write this…I really don’t…and it will probably all come out as some incoherent gibberish – but hey, it won’t be the first time – and most likely – not the last…

It’s been brewing in my head all night and as I flipped onto ESPN.com – “Jesse Jackson calls T.O. suspension ‘much to severe’ – was the straw that broke the camel’s back…that is, if I were a camel and there was well, hay involved…

Look I actually like T.O…not so much what he says or does off the field…but credit where credit is due people…this dude is money on the football field…

The fact of the matter though, is that while the Eagles hired him for what he can do ON the field, they (as an organization/ team/ COMPANY) have decided that what he does OFF the field far out ways his God-given ability…that’s their right…it’s a business…this dude is getting paid millions of dollars to be a member of the Philadelphia Eagles football organization…and while he’s more than competent on Sunday’s – he’s a tumor the other six days of the week…

Granted, the Eagles could have dealt with this in any number of other ways…give him his own locker room…staple his mouth shut Monday through Saturday…murder Drew Rosenhuas (his agent)…but in all honesty none of these things SHOULD be necessary when you’re paying a guy MILLIONS to play a game that nine out of ten human males would play for free every Sunday…But, I am merely regurgitating things that have been talked about all week by countless REAL sportswriters ie:

As the Terrell Owens Era wound down in Philly over the past week, one thing stood out over everything else: Every single media member agreed that Owens deserved 100 percent of the blame. Some went further than others, but the message was always the same.
T.O. is a selfish jerk. T.O. is an idiot. T.O. needs help. T.O. is the worst teammate who ever lived. You can't win with a guy like T.O. He's not just a cancer, he's like a flesh-eating Ebola virus. We might need to institute the death penalty for sports and give him the electric chair live on ESPNEWS.

…one interesting angle though, was taken by ESPN’s Sports Guy, Bill Simmons here…

Now, all that being said, next up on the NFL Today show is an ‘in depth’ look in to where T.O. came from – a poverty sticken, southern boy named Terrell Owens…blah blah blah…this coupled with people screaming about how UNFAIR this suspension is and the outcry from Jesse “freggin” Jackson is – is, in a word– retarded…the man is under contract to perform the duties stipulated in said contract…and yet all year it’s been non-stop whining from the T.O. camp and constant distractions to the Eagles run at any sort of chance at a championship…

Let’s look at this in terms of real world scenarios…if I signed a contract to say, serve in the Army (crazy as that sounds) – I couldn’t very well go up to my senior supervisor (my coach if you will – we’ll call him Andy Reid) and tell him to Shut up and to speak to me only when he’s spoken to…that shit wouldn’t fly…and consequences would surely follow…

Now say, I’m getting paid at some office somewhere to do some sort of menial task – now for weeks I’ve been constantly antagonizing my coworkers and then one day I walk in and start fighting with some dude – I’d probably get fired right? No?

OK…say I do all these things and STILL haven’t been fired…say, my bosses tell me, if you do this or that and apologize and what not we’ll forgive and forget and let’s all move on…and then I basically say Fuck That!...well that would be that…right?

Now say I’m a black athlete, with tons of talent, but no respect for anything or anyone, who has a history of telling everyone around him to go to hell, getting paid millions to do nothing more than play a game…

It’s suddenly racist…and we've got shysters like Jesse Jackson screaming from the rooftops how unfair any type of punishment is…for God’s sakes people…how can you feel sorry for this guy…

I’d rather hear less about how “unfair” we’ve all been on T.O. and hear more about how a guy like Steve Smith can go from crawling off the field in agony with a completely shattered leg and ankle to the NUMBER 1 receiver in the league after the doctors all told him he would NEVER play again…playing simply for the LOVE of the game…and EARNING respect…

all that being said - word on the street is that the Dallas Cowboys may be the only real player in the T.O. sweepstakes...and i would almost, definetly, without hesitation, possibly think about getting a T.O. jersey the day they signed him...yet another shining example that I am an insane...

Some random thoughts:
as much as i'd like to keep the picture of me and my South Korean homies at the top of the page ...

I think: That every boy grows up dreaming of two things – EVERY BOY…one is of course playing a professional sport…usually beginning with baseball as that is the sport of choice for young adolescents, but can often morph as a youngin’ finds a particular niche in say, football, basketball or in some rare cases even hockey(travis!)…in any case the dream is there – a game-winning hit, last second touchdown, buzzer-beater basket, shoot out goal – whatever…it’s in the genes…the other dream - I think - is to fall in love with a beautiful girl… and while I never had much success with the former – I have been lucky enough to fully experience the latter…
Yes – as many of you are aware I’ve been in love for quite some time now with whom I hope to one day marry – a one miss Angela…a beautiful lady that I happened to meet in the middle of a desert surrounded by bombs and the ever-present fear of death…kinda surreal huh!?...
The thing about these dreams that WE have is that they always seem to manifest at the most odd times and ultimately require some of the most strength and determination to bring to full potential…life is such a strange (and many times) beautiful journey…

I want: the t-shirt that reads “Gay-Rod” which of course plays on the Yankees’ “slugger” Alex Rodriguez…that one and the one that on the front reads – “Yankees Suck” and on the back says (of course) “and Jeter Swallows”…I would wear these at every opportunity…hook me up!

I’m fairly certain: that no one really cares that France is burning itself down…

I’m positive: there are way too many games played in the NBA - we're talking more than eight months of basketball...that's a bit rediculous...much like major league baseball, they really should think about shortening the season or at least cutting back on the number of games played...it's just hard to get excited at a 5-o start for a team when you know they've still got 300 more games to play...anway...

I’m very close to: deciding that I am done with the Army…I’ve been thinking about writing a piece on the bloggage for a couple weeks now, but simply haven’t felt the push(if that makes sense)…I’m really not sure what to do at this point and that in itself is rather scary at this point…24 years old…a Sgt. in the U.S. Army…been overseas and away from family for the majority of my adult years…done a year and change in Iraq and have been to Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia on separate occasions…and even ventured around Europe as a Soldier…six years and some decent experience as a military journalist…NO SCHOOL though(which I will accept some of the blame)…quite the quandary…
If you’re keeping score at home – we’re NEVER leaving IRAQ…we may move in to other countries, but I really don’t think we’re ever going to leave – which means they’re gonna keep blowin’ shit up and killin’ young American boys and girls sent to fight for something that they never asked for in the first place…hell – I’ll defend freedom all day – but you start askin’ me to give up my life for SOMEONE's desire to send countless troops on a wild-goose chase – and because now that we’ve dug ourselves into such a deep hole we literally can’t dig ourselves out...sorry homie – not really my cup ‘o tea…

As it stands: I’m in Korea until at least August of next year…at that point I’m currently scheduled to depart from here and head to “lovely” Fort Bragg N.C….home of 82nd Airborne or “America’s Army”…now if you’ve owned a TV over the passed two years or so you may recognize the name of that unit/place – yes they go EVERYWHERE & ANYWHERE…upon my arrival there I would have a little less than 7 months left on my enlistment – which, according to my math, would be just enough time for them to stop-loss me (not allow me to ever leave) and deploy me wherever in the hell they want to…again – not really soundin’ like my cup ‘o tea…

So I may: just extend to stay here for the last few months and then call it a day…I’ve been looking in to some schools (including UT Arlington because I just love Arlington!) and, along with the aforementioned Angela, have been looking in to using my VA Loan benefits for purchasing a little casa down there in lovely Tejas!...

BUT: No decisions have been made, and only time will tell of course…things will transform in to whatever they need to be over time…it’s all part of the BIGGER plan right?…I just thought I’d spit out some random thoughts for everyone to ponder…

Me and my Posse!...

Dirka, Dirka Bitches!

What a waste...

Well it's Sunday already and after getting off at nine this morning my skinny ass was definitely feeling all 24 hours of no sleep...I actually think that I drifted into oblivion at some point because the phone rang and scared the hell outta me…oh well – nothing was going on anyway…

The weekend wasn’t a total wash though…word on the street (in the office) is that they (the bosses) are planning on making me (me) the new full-time head of the magazine…which would be wonderful because it would give me something productive to do rather than checking up on my fantasy team and fending off the forces of the command in their never-ending quest to break the spirit of my troops with crazy missions, invented requirements, and 5-mile runs at 5:30 in the morning…but I digress…

As much as I enjoy my job in the military as a writer/photographer-guy, I really enjoy doing layout and design…that’s been the case since I started this whole thing back at ‘ol Fort Bliss where I stayed there while everyone went on leave for Christmas and worked with our civilian printer to come up with a revamped new design for the post paper The Monitor…good times…

Anyway, this is a good opportunity which should give me some much needed experience with some of the newest desktop publishing software…long story short – I’m looking forward to the chance to breathe life in to what will now be a regular 50-plus page magazine…

With that in mind, I spent the majority of my 24 hours on duty toying around with some new ideas for the magazine on my laptop…and now my brain hurts…

In other news: Texas destroyed Baylor 62-0 and the icing on the cake was Miami finally showing up for an entire game this season and whooping up on an-overrated Virginia Tech team 27-7…young Vick threw for a couple interceptions and couldn’t stop dropping the ball all over the field…much like when Texas Tech arrived in Austin a couple weeks ago – it’s amazing what happens when you actually play against a top-tier TEAM…hell at this point I’ve got five bucks that says VaTech loses to UVA in a couple weeks…now everyone can shut up about who the top teams in the NCAA are, and baring any unforeseen collapses by either Texas or USC we will have a genuine championship game at the Rose Bowl in January…

Moving right along...

Well the weekend is finally here again...and I've got CQ duty from 9a.m. Saturday morning until 9a.m. Sunday morning - CQ for those of you not directly involved in military nonsense is basically a detail(job) where you sit and wait for something to happen...hopefully nothing bad goes on during your shift and you're good to go...throughout the day and night my responsibilities as the dude in charge is to walk around every so often to ensure that none of the junior Soldiers are killing/raping/stealing from/ or doing anything else that would be horrible thus causing me more freggin work/stress/paperwork/ and otherwise challenge the balance and stability that IS the U.S. Army...basically I'm babysitting and personally - I'm Excited! not really though...

Anyway might try and pull a running diary about it - maybe not though 'cause that's 24hours of nonsense...either way though - yippie for me!

In other news...the NBA season has started up again - and in a mere 18 long months it will finally crown another champion...

One question that has dominated the media (actually I’m making that part up – I honestly have no idea of what is “dominating the media”) is the ongoing saga and racist implications of the new NBA dress code imposed by the league’s commissioner (yet another example of why baseball’s commissioner is an idiot and should be strung up – he brings nothing to the table to help the game). David Stern – in his infinite brilliance – decreed that all NBA players will dress professionally when coming to and departing from games and while sitting on the bench when not playing…holly sense making batman! – yup it’s true…no mo' Bling-Bling...I only wish that this new rule didn't apply to Allen Iverson, because part of his being as an NBA force somehow lies in his off-court appearance and the fact that he IS just HIM - on AND off the court...while others are obviously just trying to be "gangsta" and "down"...

The method behind Stern's madness is this simple, according to the Sports Guy -

Why did the NBA institute a dress code? Because David Stern is a genius, that's why. During the busiest sports month of the year (October), the NBA managed to steal mainstream media attention away from the baseball playoffs, the NFL season, college football, the NHL, "Survivor," "Amazing Race," the debut of the "Adam Carolla Project" on TLC, Franz Ferdinand's new album, Kate and Tom's immaculate conception, the first photos of the Federline-Spears baby, Jimmy Snuka's triumphant return to the WWE ... you name it, the NBA dress code overshadowed it. You couldn't ask for better publicity heading into a season.

Which brings me to my point: They could have announced this decision in July, August or September. Instead, they waited until October ... as if they didn't know it would turn into a racial issue (what isn't a racial issue at this point?), or that some players would react poorly, or that millionaire dopes like Marcus Camby would demand a stipend for new clothes, or that Cuban would dress like a homeless man in retaliation. Come on. It was brilliant, it worked, it got people talking and it's just another reason why David Stern should be running the country some day.

(Imagine Stern as president after the New Orleans debacle? You know he would have come up with some convoluted way to knock FEMA off the front pages, something like "President Stern announced today that members of Congress would have to wear white wigs when they were in session like everyone did back in the late-1700s, explaining, 'It's time this country went back to its roots. ... what, you have a problem with America celebrating its roots?'")

And that’s all I’ve got for now…if you’re lucky I’ll be bringing you 24 hours of CQ bliss in the coming day’s post! Here’s hoping…

Defining Irony?…

Over the course of the last week or so, much of the Nation has taken time out to pay tribute to and remember the late Rosa Parks. The former seamstress became the first woman to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda – an honor that has traditionally been reserved for the nation’s highest leaders.

Outside, thousands waited to pay their respects to the civil rights pioneer who helped spark the modern civil rights movement simply by refusing obey a ridiculous law and give up her seat to a white man in 1955. This started what would end up being a 381-day boycott led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and helped change the face of America forever…

Or at least that was the plan anyway…

Walking through my office today I stopped for a minute to see what the talking heads on the news channels had to tell me. To my surprise there was Ray Nagin, the mayor of the city formerly known as New Orleans. How he was still able to be “mayor” and pontificate his outlooks on anyone was beyond me – so naturally I was mesmerized and wanted to hear what he had to say NOW…

At a town hall meeting with small business owners, Mayor Ray Nagin said on camera: “How do I make sure that New Orleans is not overrun by Mexican workers?” Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?

No shit, true story…Now my initial reaction was to look at one of the officers and the sergeant major (both of whom are African American) that I work with and say “Are you serious – thank God he’s not some WHITE GUY sayin’ that!” I continued to watch simply out of sheer curiosity to see WHERE they were going with this story…of course the story HAD to be asking how can a “prominent” black politician spout off such demeaning statements against another race…

Nope…they were headed in a whole DIFFERENT direction with this…

Here’s part of the transcript and link of the report filed by CBS’s Byron Pitts:
Byron Pitts: New Orleans' distinct American culture, threatened first by floodwaters,
is now threatened again, say locals, by a flood of a different sort. Sunrise to
sunset, both legal and illegal immigrants arrive here by the busload, brought in
by big corporate contractors like Halliburton. While tens of thousands of New
Orleans residents are still scattered across the country, the crescent city's
newest occupants are fed, clothed, and housed in makeshift living quarters
around the city.
"Nuevo New Orleans," they call it, where construction work
and day labor is plentiful, unless you were born and raised in New Orleans.

In disbelief that a report like this was not followed up with outrage over the obvious racial bigotry being demonstrated by Mr. Nagin (and the report itself for that matter), I quickly recalled that last week or so, the headlines out of the very same city were that there was PLENTY of work, but no one willing to do it…not that people there COULDN’T do it – it was that the people there WOULDN’T do the menial labor necessary to clean out a city that was completely ravaged by water.

The pay is low, the work is hard and the people of New Orleans were basically sayin’ “FUCK THAT…I’ll be back when everything’s done – HOLLA!”

So companies were bringing in cheap labor and people willing to do the dirty work…and yes Mayor Nagin…these PEOPLE happen to be “Mexican”…Two months after the hurricane, Hispanics – both legal and illegal – have shown up to clean up and restore YOUR city. So shouldn’t you just be grateful? The fact of the matter is the people of New Orleans weren’t doing it and the rest of the country, for the most part, didn’t agree that it was OUR responsibility to foot the bill. Rather than showing your thankfulness though, you, and some of the citizens of your city, chose to lash out and shed light on what appear to be some rather substantial racist tendencies.

For more than a century, people in this country – black and white – have worked to erase hate and prejudice. And 50 years after the start of the modern civil rights movement a black mayor stands on camera and assertively attacks another race for working to rebuild HIS hometown.

While so many people are afforded the opportunity to do so many things because of so much work over the years, I’m actually very curious to know if THIS is really how far we’ve come.

And more so – where’s the social unrest over THESE comments…like I said at work – can you imagine if some white dude had said this? Kanye’d be back on TV in a flash…

One does have to wonder why there is no outrage over these remarks.

So while we lay a woman to rest who represented SO much of what this country has been able to become socially and morally and "gave every ounce of her devotion" to fighting racial inequality, Nagin and his ilk have apparently missed the point.

I’m eagerly waiting though, for Kanye’s latest proclamation:
“Ray Nagin Hates Mexicans!”

Well, a couple days removed from the END of the series I guess I should say SOMETHING...Yeah, yeah, yeah congrats to the White Sox blah blah blah…the fact of the matter is, that out of the two teams in this year’s series – they were the one’s that were SUPPOSED to be there – so good for them for doing what was expected of them…(and yes, I’m a little bitter)

Anyway, that being said, I thought – though short – it was actually a pretty decent set of games…14 innings here, a shut out through 8 in another, all one and two run games that EITHER team could have won…the Sox just got it done – plain and simple

While everyone is pointing the finger at Phil Garner for leaving Roy Oswalt in too long or for not pinch hitting for Willy Taveras – whatever…Roy was his guy and Roy just collapsed – he pitched brilliant and then the wheels just came off – it happens – that’s why they play the games…wow that’s cliché…as for Willy – you don’t pinch hit for your teams hottest hitter – period.

Fate is a tricky little character and it was clearly on Chicago’s side throughout the postseason…there’s little one can do to challenge fate and this year’s Astros did all they could, alas it was not enough…honestly though – they’re still the Champions of the National League and while they didn’t win in their first ever World Series appearance remember – Rome wasn’t built in a day (unless you ask young Mr. Bush).

If you MUST lay blame however, it can be squarely put upon the shoulders of one Morgan Ensberg (which honestly ended up being apart of one of the weirdest aspects of the series – we were beaten by a guy who can’t even spell his own name right “Geoff” while our hopes were let down by a dude with a girls name “Morgan”) He came up to bat with a chance to win the game with nothing more than a base hit at least three times in that 14 inning game and left more runners on base than I care to count over the course of four games…if anybody shoulda been getting pinch hit for it shoulda been Morgan…but I digress…

I’d also like to point out that while past World Series headline stories slammed fans for interfering with the play by either reaching in to the field of play or not allowing the players to reach in to the stands to play a ball, this year “sports people” are slamming the Houston fans for not giving the business to Uribe when he ventured in to the stands to make what would prove to be one of the final outs of the series…and they’re right I remember watching and immediately asking my Korean homie “where the hell is the FAN INTERFERENCE jeeze-us”…some may call it good sportsmanship but I’ll call it lack of payin’ freggin attention to the game…It’s something I’ve said about Houston fans since the days that the Rockets won a title in the NBA – their fans are some of the weakest in the country…while they do rally around the Astros teams of the last two years, they’re still just lazy, half-hearted fans…(I’m speaking of the majority, of course there are the few that care and the few that will forever cherish just having the opportunity to take their kid to a World Series game with the hometown team playing)

That being said, another great example of the feeble fan support in Houston was in the 14 inning game the ‘Stros and Sox played…game three and a game that could get the ‘Stros back in the series (a rather big game right?)…up and down – up and down…a great baseball game…9th inning-tie game…10th –tie game…now look, I’m all the way in freakin South Korea, I’m watching this game during work (it started at 9:30a.m.) and at this point I’m in this game for the long haul…lunch pssht whateva…bring me something back…can’t leave – this is a great game and I’ve invested too much into it at this point…11th inning…12th....i’ve got work to do, COME ON SOMEBODY HIT THE BALL! 13th…14th – ahhhh crap…back to work…the point is – I STAYED WITH IT EVEN HALF A WORLD AWAY…the stands in Houston though were quickly emptying from the 9th inning on – absolutely unforgivable…don’t believe me? – look at the tape…

Word on the street is though, that the Rocket is coming back next year, Biggio signed a one-year extension, and Bagwell may have a shoulder by then…Berkman will be back, Taveras, Pettitte, Backe, Lidge(bless his soul), Everett, Ensberg, Burke, Ausmus, Lane, Palmero – Hell the whole squad should be back next year! Shit – Who’s up for another RUN AT IT? Go ‘Stros!...

MLB & Bud Selig pull the roof from over the 'Stros heads..

In yet another example of why Bud Selig is the worst commissioner in all of sports - he has stepped in and made HIMSELF a part of this year's World Series by ordering the Houston Astros to open their retractable roof at Minute Maid Park...with the roof closed Minute Maid is deafening - with the roof open it's an inconsistant, wind swirling mess...
This time of year each team's home field advantage is critical (ie: the home teams have won about two thirds of the games this postseason) and now in the biggest stage and the most important game of the Astros' season, someone who shouldn't have ANYTHING to do with the outcome of the game itself has stepped in and basically changed the rules in the middle of the series...I don't recall Selig forcing the games in Chicago to be played during the day because it's too cold for the Astros at night in the Windy City...

(AP) HOUSTON -- Major League Baseball pulled the roof out from over the Houston Astros' heads.
Over the objections of the Astros, the commissioner's office ordered the roof open at Minute Maid Field for Game 3 of the World Series on Tuesday night and said all games in Houston this week are likely to be played outdoors.
"It is a gorgeous day," baseball commissioner Bud Selig said. "In Milwaukee, you don't get a day like this until July Fourth…"
…The Astros like playing with the roof closed because, among other things, it increases the noise. They were not thrilled with the decision.
"They had the opportunity to close it in the division series, they had the chance in the championship series, they didn't say anything then," shortstop Adam Everett said. "It surprises me they're saying something now."
Solomon said that the forecast is favorable for the rest of the week and that the roof is likely to be open for all games in Houston. The Astros played their first five postseason games this year with the roof closed. Solomon said the temperature was over 80 degrees for all except Game 3 of the first-round series against Atlanta.

Quality Television...

Clicking through the TV before heading off to sleep I came across CNN just as the hurricane of the week was blowing through south-Florida...I have to say that while you're not really learning ANYTHING from these idiots "braving" the storm it's great fun to watch...
It's like a new sport or something - Hurricane Reporting - and the teams are already broken down - CNN, FoxNews, the other people...it's great...
I've got two guys on a roof holding onto each other in their red-CNN team jackets while their homie is hangin' in the split screen out in some open grassland...basically just praying...literally holding on to a sign for a bit of leverage…
The camera swirls and we’ve lost the shot on the roof…wait, we’ve still got audio…
"He's fine he's fine," they say - "he's just adjusting, he'll be fine, just give us a minute."...
So we've lost CNN team1 and the lone member of team2 is borderline scared shitless and has given up his position...this should be negative points or something
...The best part is that the guy back in the studio is giving out directions to these poor bastards - FROM THE STUDIO! –priceless…
I guess he's like the coach...yeah that fits...
"You guys should really try and get to your fall back position..." he instructs them…
"No, No we're fin---sdlafjdslkajfsdkjfalsdjkfa (static)"
Team1 is down - are they throwing in the towel here?
"I think we may have to head inside..."
Coach just instructed them all to "take a 10minute break" too which they responded by with a weak "OK"
What's great is that every now and then these guys keep saying – “yeah I think this may be the worst of it right here” and then the signal goes out - you can't see or hear them so the coach just tries to go to the other team...What if one of these bastards blows away or gets diced up by some debris?
Coach don't care bitches - MUAHAHAHAHA!
This is great - coach is such a trip shouting instructions and asking "Am I gonna need to get you outta there?" I wish one of them would yell back - "yeah dickhead - come on down and get me outta here...you bastard..."
And then the inevitable coach moment – “Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There’s no CRYING!... You make me sick!” followed by a thunderous bitch slap – talk about must-see-TV!

Gibberish...

First off... I Love the fact that two teams like the 'Stros and White Sox are playing in the Series...seriously...it's very refreshing...two great stories of teams succeeding in years that NO ONE IN BASEBALL ever gave them a chance to even make the playoffs...Hell every five minutes on Baseball tonight Kruk is reminding us that he called for the Astros' to be "disbanded" early in the season...
Then you've got two teams with REAL baseball players...quality players like Bags, Biggio, Everett, Ausmus - Podsednik, Pierzynski, Crede...and the pitching - ohhhhh the pitching - is it possible for every game to end in a tie and for the series to be ruled a "push?"...honestly...any starter on either team could walk out and be a starter at an All Star Game...Hell with this year's series there's a shot that any one of these guys could throw a no-no, shut out, or the dreaded perfect game...dun-dun-duuuuuuuhhhh (maybe excluding Backe but he's still a great young gun)
And then you've got two managers who are as much a part of their teams as they are managers of their teams while still being complete polar opposites of each other and have both done things that were thought impossible with teams made up of guys who supposedly couldn’t win you a championship - it's great...you've got the low-key Phil Garner who is as much a part of the TEAM itself as any player there (biggio and bagwell of course, are on a different level of astrodom) but you gotta remember that Garner came in last year in mid-season and managed to somehow, with a little trade help, turn around a team that was playing horribly and had them one game away from the World Series...he's done something in that dugout to get these guys to believe and to come together and just "buy” into his system…
Then you’ve got Ozzie who I will profess my love for right now…I think he’s awesome…throughout the season he’s been great…when skeptics in Chicago started acting surprised at the Sox’ winning and good play he took it in stride basically giving the bastards one of those “yeah we're winning – duh!” responses – “we’re good – stupid” that’s great…he is who he is – a baseball guy through and through and that’s great for the game – Bud Selig’s punk ass could stand to learn a few things from Mr. Guillen…the great thing about him (being a TRUE baseball guy) is that even as arrogant as he seems/sounds/looks/is he respects other teams, other players, other organizations as a whole…and more so he respects and understands the game…I just watched him gush for five minutes about Andy Pettitte – while Clemens is being touted all over ESPN Ozzie knows the deal – Pettitte is arguably the best postseason pitcher in a long while – we’re talking consistency here…he shows up… (i'm sorry Roger - you know i love you! - i can just see my uncle's jaw dropping when he read that last thought that seemed like i ws nocking Roger...i'm not nocking him - i''m just sayin')
And honestly I love the contrast of this series…as far as the confidence factor goes you’ve got the back to back to back to back complete game pitchers and the loud confident arrogant manager going up against the low key grandpa figure type manager with a group of players who almost seem to be treating each game with an “alright let’s get back to work” type attitude…all season the White Sox were SUPPOSED to be here while the ‘Stros were 15 games under .500 to start the season…they lost the bats (and defense for that matter) of Carlos Beltran and Jeff Kent (both sell-out punks who are sitting at home watching this on TV – just thought I’d point that out)…and yet here they are…
I can’t believe that I just spit out 600 words of nonsense here – it took me almost day just to write a simple counseling statement for one of my Soldiers today…
Anyway, now for my predictions, which for the record, I should have been RIGHT ON with my Cardinals v. Astros series prediction-damn you Pujols. If you look back a few posts you’ll see that I had the ‘Stros winning 4-1 with Pettitte closing it out at home…fucking Pujols…
Honestly though, this series is weird…neither team has really seen each other which makes the pitching that much more insanely great…but, I’ve said this all day and will stick by it…Astros in 6 with Pettitte closing it out on the road in Chicago…Go ‘Stros…

for more on the 'Stros check out the Sports Guy's take and being the accredited(sp) journalist that he is - i feel as though his take gives a bit of validation to my earlier post regarding the fall of the 'Stros...for all intents and purposes it SHOULD have happened...alas it didn't - and we're (i'm) much happier...Go 'Stros...

Houston, we have a Pennant...

Did you hear that?...Yeah that was my huge sigh as I leaned comfortably back into my chair - arms raised and smiling like an eight year old...
Yes, I'll admit it - I'm an idiot...after watching last year and now going through nearly the exact situation I didn't want to put myself through it again...
But it’s like crack man, and there I was watching every pitch...every swing...every freggin' Pujols homer highlight…every why Houston CAN’T win...and just kept hoping...
And it feels sooooooooooooo goooood...
It wasn't the erupting-jump around-screaming happy...the joy is more inward - more heartfelt maybe - it feels good...
This is kinda the way it SHOULD feel with this Astros team...more reserved, less in yo' face - more heartfelt...these guys came from 15-30 at the start of the season...they hung in, played fundamental baseball and took the entire National League by surprise...
Did I mention how good this feels right now?
To sum up the Astros - Bagwell and Biggio - class acts...and it really seems like their quiet, unflashy demeanor's have rubbed off on the rest of the team...They were standing next to each other in the dugout when the final out was made...now remember in these days of free agency and the go where the money is philosophy that is baseball, these two guys have stayed in Houston through all the good and more of the bad...more than 2,000 games they've waited...so now, headed to their first World Series ever, how do they react...
A bright smile, a handshake, and a hug...
Ladies and Gentlemen...I present the National League Champion - Houston Astros
Awesome!

Word up Maryland...

Hats off to the great State of Maryland for stepping up to the plate on the whole issue of the government being able to take people's private property.
"Private property is private property," said state Republican Sen. Allan H. Kittleman. "When you own something it shouldn't be taken by the government."
What a crazy idea huh?...If the amendment to the state's constitution goes through, citizens will actually be able to keep the property that they OWN. This comes as a slap in the face to the crazies up in Massachusetts-land where WalMart can sweep in and take your land to build a SuperDooper-grocery/gas/convinience/clothes/shoe-store...right next to the old one of course...and right accross the street from the new Lowe's which now sits on your old nieghbor's house...
This normally obscure issue of eminent domain came to national attention with a controversial decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in June, which established that government could force the sale of private property for economic development.
"This is encouraging the displacement of low income residents," Kittleman said. "It's a reverse 'Robin Hood effect' — taking from the poor and giving to the rich."
Eminent domain should only be used when a legitimate public use can be demonstrated and when just compensation to the property owner can be paid - ie: public parks, schools, roads, hospitals -NOT ANOTHER MINI-MALL or in Florida's insane case: ANOTHER MEMBERS ONLY BOAT CLUB - seriously...
Can we vote to pass a COMMON SENSE LAW?...

One out away...and other gibberish:
Yep, one out...that's it - that's all they needed to get and they could've punched their own tickets to Chicago for a pitching duel of a World Series...I was leaving the doctor's office when Berkman hit what shoulda been a game winning - series ending - home run...I was the picture of happiness - nearly skipping back to the office to enjoy lunch and the final innings of the game...I wanted to make sure I got back in time to see the final pitch - the final out...I wanted to "feel" IT...
Those of you who know what I mean by IT then you know - and if you don't, that sucks for you, sorry...it's such an excited, happy, eager, joyful feeling...MY team...the World Series(I'm literally jumping around the office now)...one out...beating the "BEST" team in the National League...doing it with their home fans there...two outs(still jumping and now clapping)...how GREAT is this...one more strike and we're home free...damn - base hit...alright no problem(not jumping anymore)...ball four(not clapping)...ok, ok, settle down Lidge...you got this...(Pacing now)
But he didn't...he had nothing...he had a hanging slider down the heart of the plate to the game’s BEST hitter(yeah I said it - screw you Barry, Albert ain't on the juice)...
As Pujols was walking to the plate I looked wearily at a co-worker and commented that “it's almost like somebody was writing this...”
As soon as the pitch left his hands I screamed (yes - in the office) NO WAY...ahhh DAMMIT!
At this point I'm walking outside while pulling my uniform top up over my head...unbelievable...I was a mess - so much so that I was given the rest of the day off...THAT IS HOW BAD I LOOKED...horrible...like a horse just kicked me in the chest...or the balls - whatever...
I hate this...this feeling is one of the worst - yeah, yeah it's just a game blah blah blah - SHUT UP...if you’re a FAN you invest part of your being to trying to help in some way WILL your team to victory...that's why people get caught saying "we" when talking about their teams...it's part of a true sport's fan's identity...going to the World Series is like...well…never mind...I wouldn't know anything about that now would I?...
As for the rest of the series - I honestly think the tide has turned...and we're talking a HUGE tide here...the Cardinals had one foot on the bus headed home while the 'Stros were one strike away from going to their first World Series EVER...at home with the best closer in the league on the mound - they couldn't close it out...just like last year...they left Houston up 3 games to 2...and came back to Houston for yet another disappointing winter...
If I was a betting man I’d have my money on the Cards in seven…it hurts to say, but that Pujols homer just felt like it closed out more than just that game…this sucks…
To top off the copious amounts of suckage...I returned to the doctor's office (on my way to the house) to pick up my perscription and recieve a shot to relieve the tightness/pain in the tendons and muscles in my shoulder and side of my neck...the best part of course, is that the needle was plunged into my ass...that, coupled with the fact that it hurt like wholly hell (and my shoulder is still tight) can simply be described as the perfect ending to the perfect day...

In other news: Apparently the word in the Black community is that the government “blew up the levees in New Orleans.” Now I know I get the news way out here in South Korea land and what not, but someone please tell me that Farrakan’s crazy ass isn’t REALLY peddling this nonsense…someone please tell me that I didn’t REALLY hear this a minute ago on the Bill-I’m a pompous ass-O’Rielly show…insane bastards these people are…

Also: I would just like to take a moment to discuss my only objection/point/argument against this Miers lady being on the highest court in the land…I HAVE AS MUCH EXPIRIENCE BEING A JUDGE AS SHE DOES…that is all…

'Stros v. Cards: GAME II:

Screw it, I'm gonna do it anyway - you're not the boss of me! ha! (see previous post)
This is why it's basically cheating for me to write the game one post - because I already had the outcome of game two - but I had the ump from the Sox/Angels game who said no but then mysteriously saying YES...so I ran with it - ha! lame pun! AWESOME...
I didn’t get to watch this game (for the most part) because I was sent to cover a nonsense story for my office which meant that I had to travel an hour away to take pictures of a ceremony and miss what would be a classic Roy Oswalt pitching performance…
And while I should be upset and feel cheated – it’s all good…they won…Roy was great and Bae had nothing to say…bong…
The trick to the game – for ME – was that, for game one my hats on the TV were parallel and facing the same direction – ‘Stros lose…
This game however, right before I left the residence, I rotated the hats so that they were at an angle and facing each other…AND I DIDN’T WATCH THE MAJORITY OF THE GAME…
This crazy scenario might sound strange, but it’s the same one in which the ‘Stros won the 18 inning epic and now, worked for the game that evened the series to one game a piece…
I’ll take one game a piece leaving St. Louis…seems fair enough…hell they’re supposed to be THE BEST team in baseball…we don’t stand a chance right?
Houston did what it did all year though…good pitching, good hits where they counted, good base running (the white sox would be up an easy two nothing if they were awake) and Brad Lidge…That’s Houston Astros baseball folks…clean, simple and to the point…nothing fancy – just get it done…
Everyone on the lineup comes to play…case and point rookie Chris Burke…5-8, 4 RBI, in three games…
Just good team ball – and it’s lovely…
How scary is that to MLB honchos, a team that JUST plays baseball with no flash – aside from the pitching of course…who’s gonna watch that?...
I’ll be there – count on that…Go ‘Stros...

'Stros v. Cards: GAME I

I meant to write this right after Game I so I could do a; Game I, Game II, Game III type thing, but couldn’t actually post on the army system and then was way too lazy to actually put forth any effort to write anything once I got off of work…shut up…
So here’s a “Game I” thing from me – the Finch –
I’m watching this in my office at work with my Korean Hommie – Sgt. Bae (who will be forever referred to simply as Bae) who is THE biggest baseball fan that I’ve ever actually met…seriously – the bastard knows stats from two years ago and tendencies that have accumulated throughout the season. It’s actually rather incredible when you think about it…here’s a dude all the way in Korea who loves baseball so much that he’s damn near more knowledgeable than any stateside fan…needless to say (which means I’m gonna say it) he makes it more fun…
To start the game he puts an action picture of Chris Carpenter as the wallpaper of his computer screen – fucker…he will go against ANY team I root for – fantasy teams included…the bastard…I think I might actually hate him sometimes...I know he's doing it on purpose...
Then he laughs at every strike Carpenter throws…and then Pettitte comes up and puts a PHAT pitch down the heart on a 1-2 count with two out…anybody explain that one –
HA HA - Yes as a matter of fact – they can – He SHOULDN'T have been pitching in the first place…
After the game, which was well played baseball and the Cards won on the field…I’ll give them that…after the game I (we) learned that during batting practice Andy took his swings, as is customary, and then ran the bases, also customary…during said trot however, he was inadvertently struck hard, by a line drive directly on the inside part of the right knee…ooooouuuucchhhh – you might say…
Ouch indeed – this happens to be the leg that Pettitte lands on, on every pitch…
Anyway THAT phat pitch landed in the left field stands and put the Cardinals up to stay…
As I’m watching the game – not knowing about the batting practice snafu which was only brought up AFTER the game – I’m rambling to Bae about “why would that pitch be THERE…blah blah blah…and that was really the main story of the game when it came down to it. THAT one pitch set the tone. Non baseball people might not get it and jabber on about 9 inning game and what not...that pitch was supposed to be a hooking inside cut fastball, which 8 times out of 10 will break a batter's bat leading to an easy out...THIS however, completly started the Astros off on the wrong foot and they never really picked up their step...if you watched the game you know what i'm sayin'
The issue for me is this: You start Oswalt instead of an injured Pettitte, you’re not down going into the 3rd down two runs… you’re attitude is different, you’re bullpen setup is different etc, and your hitters don't feel like they NEED to go yard to get the game back…
Still though…there were opportunities in the game…On both sides...
For the ‘Stros to come back, but also for the Cards to shut it down…good game - whatever – shut up – damn it…

No sleep...must watch...base...ball...
Well I'm slowly weening myself back on to "regular hours" out here...back to work on Wednesday so i think I'll make it...been getting up at 6 or 7 in the afternoon to watch the games this weekend (they start around 1 or 2 in the morning)...dying around 7 this morning while the Astros marathon was going on...thought the game was over and just happened to flip back to it from the cowboy's massacre of the eagles when Ausmus came up - no shit...home run (barely)...and then i couldn't get away from the TV for a couple hours...i honestly didn't want to move or adjust the way i was sitting when he hit the homer to tie - not that i believe in jinxes or anything...and how sweet it was...unbelievable..."they're" calling it possibly one of the greatest games EVER...
Now the Astros must face the powerhouse that is St. Louis, but for those of you keeping score at home it is worth mentioning that while St. Louis are 11-5 against each other this year, that the 'Stros did sweep the mighty Cardinals in a two game set at the end of the season...i'm predicting 4-1 series victory with Pettite closing it out at home in game five for Houston...but that's just ME...
Now as far as football goes...I give up...what a very, very inconsistant group of teams...no way to really tell WHO is going to show up each week...hell Green Bay put up 52 really quickly while mighty Eagles couldn't even move the ball ten yards for a first down against Da'Boys...And then I finally get a decent performance out of a QB and my ILLs have they're biggest loss yet - i grabbed some Henderson guy on the Saints cause he was supposed to be put in to the #2WR slot (which obviously didn't happen as he had 0 catches), Detriot puts up an astounding 35pts but Roy Williams apparently broke his leg or something(2catches for 24 yards), and somehow Westbrook got less carries(6) than he did last week - oh, and the Broncos picked this week to switch from Anderson(34yds) to Bell(127yds/2TD) - wonderful!...oh well...i'm currently trying to figure out how i can get the Astros starting rotation and all the "B"ees (Biggio, Bagwell, Berkman, Burke, Brad) put into my lineup - and Lidge in as my starting defense - for next week...couldn't possibly hurt...go Stros!...