Friday, March 23, 2007

Political Vid

YouTube will be a POWERFUL player in the 2008 presidental election. This video was not done by the Obama campaign. The author of the vid is currently unknown.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Spring Training Day Three 3/10/07

The final day of our trip had arrived. We got to the ballpark at 10 instead of 11:30 for a 1:05 game. Today, the Angels were playing the hated Oakland A’s. Adjacent to the main parking lot there are three practice fields and a number of the Angels were taking batting practice. Angels’ such as Bartolo Colon, Jered Weaver, Scott Sheilds, and Kelvim Escobar were catching fly balls and giving them to the children. That was cool.

A half hour later, a few of us walked around Tempe Diablo Stadium looking for any balls that were hit out during batting practice. Bryan was lucky and found one and some girls were able to reach through a fence to grab another. Twenty-minutes later, I walked to a walkway where players often walk in between the practice fields and Tempe Diablo Stadium. I was able to snag a few autographs from a few minor leaguers. Alex was able to get relief pitcher Justin Spier. But I thought he was just another minor leaguer. I was bummed because Spier was one of our big free-agent acquisitions.

When the gates opened at 11:30 I went to the first base line and waited for more autographs. I waited for until 12:45 until I scored and got John Lackey and Jered Weaver on separate balls. That made my day because I really wanted Jered Weaver’s autograph since last year. Alex and Jonathan were able to get Angel shortstop Orlando Cabrera’s autograph. Sunday was a great success.

The game went back and forth between the Angels and the A’s. The A’s jumped out in front early but the game was equalized by a solo homerun in the bottom first inning by Casey Kotchman. The Angels carried the lead for most of the game but in the eighth inning the A’s jumped into the driver’s seat. Unable to mount a rally, the Halos fell to the A’s. I really didn’t care if the Angel’s won but I was just excited to see them play. Baseball season is just around the corner and I can hardly wait!

Overall, the trip was a lot of fun. Although, I felt the players were not as accessible this year compared to last, it was still plenty of fun. I hope that we can go again next year. Every baseball fan should try to make it to spring training because it is different atmosphere unlike the regular season.






Spring Training Day Two 3/9/07

We were expecting to get a lot of autographs today. We got to the ballpark at 11:30 for a 1:05 game. The five of us decided to wait near the Angels dugout for autographs. Brian got lucky early by getting Angel great Booby Grich to sign a baseball. We were able to get a few autographs but there were mostly from players trying to make the sqad. I got nothing….

The game was exciting for a few innings because the Mariners, won the game 14-2. Our seats were down the first base line. We were not as close like Friday but we were in the shade for the entire game. There was a bit more cloud cover compared to Friday and that made increased the humidity a tad but it was still great baseball weather.

After the game, we upgraded our rooms to the fourth floor of our hotel. We knew from past experience that a few baseball players stayed on the fourth floor of our hotel. The upgrade included a free mini bar and a free continental breakfast in the morning.

After that, we met up with Tim’s sister and her husband Mike who lived outside of Scottsdale. They fed us and we relaxed at their house for a few hours. On the way back to our hotel we went to a mall called Arizona Mills. It was basically The Block of the Phoenix but indoors. So, that was the end of day two. With one more day to go, we were optimistic that our fortunes would turn…







Friday, March 9, 2007

Angels Spring Training - Day One

Here are some pictures from day one of my 2007 Angel Spring Training Excursion in Tempe, Arizona. The Angels beat up on the San Diego Padres 14-2. It was a great day. It was about 90 degrees and there was not a cloud to be seen. The weather was perfect for a ballgame. I am with my friend Alex Larios, John Lusk, Brian Lee, and Tim Glenn.

It is impossible to not talk to other baseball fans while at the game. I had an elderly lady sit next to me during today's game. She was talking to EVERYBODY around her. During the game she noticed my camera and she mentioned that she was the first woman photographer allowed to work at the LA Colosium and the Rose Bowl. She mentioned that women during the 60's were not allowed to work at most sporting events. She worked for the OC Register and then later Knotts Berry Farm for over 15 years as a photographer. I guess the moral of the story is that you will never know who you will meet at a ballgame. I am sure that I will have more stories and pictures. Tomorrow's game will be between the Angels and the Mariners.





Thursday, March 8, 2007

Go Bears


Tonight, was without a doubt my best softball game EVER. It didn't start out that well because I struck out looking at my first at-bat. My second AB was much better as a roped a base hit to left field. My third AB was a carbon copy of my second. The fourth was a line out to the pitcher. And my last AB reached first base on a fielding error. I was not keeping track but I think I had two or three RBI's. We played a bunch of barneys who had no clue what they were doing. Their shortstop was a total donkey as he interefered with my friend Matt as he was rounding third. He totally held him by the jersey. My nickname for that team was the Asian Mafia or the Viet Cong because most of them were Asain. With that being said, our ump was lame too. He kept telling me to "ease up, ease up" when i was about to touch home plate. LIKE I AM GOING TO LISTEN TO HIM?!?! Give me a break. When he said that I muttered, "Its kinda hard to ease up." I have noticed how competitive I can get. When I get super competitive I get VERY quiet. And usually when I mention something I am really upset.
I admit that I am not the best defender on the team but for some reason nothing was getting past me. I fielded three grounders two of which I threw the runner out at first (I was playing third) the other I tagged the runner. In the last inning, a line drive hit to my left and I speared it. The next out was one of my putouts at first base. The final out of the game was a soft line drive hit to me. Recording all three outs in the inning was unbelievable. It was great. All around it was our best game as a team yet. Offensively, we were unstoppable and defensivley we were great. We were even shorthanded a guy!!!! GO BEARS!!!!

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Peter, Bjorn, & John (PB&J)

KROQ is the lamest station. I laugh when I hear this song when it is played on their station. I HAD THIS SONG ON MY-MYSPACE LAST DECEMBER!!!! This is an insanely catchy tune. The rest of the CD is good as well. Watch the vid.

Silversun Pickups


Buy this CD. It is a great find. If you love the exploding genre of "indie" music, then the Silversun Pickups are for you. They bring back the "fuzz" guitars, amazing vocals, and a fresh sound. They are from LA and they just played a show with Snow Patrol and OK, GO in SD. Buy this CD. You will not be dissapointed.

Jury Duty

So, yesterday there is an envelope sitting on my chair. It was a Jury Summons. After hearing of one of my buddy's recent experience of being an alternate on a murder case, I am somewhat excited. My date is April 15th. The last time I had jury duty was nearly three years ago. I was placed on a court case of a guy who was accused of assulting someone with a deadly weapon. The case never went to trial because the guy admitted to the crime and we were all released from jury duty the next day.