Tuesday, October 28, 2003
Come the 2004 season, this will be standard equipment for fans in the first few rows in Wrigley. (Thanks, Gapers Block. –What’s a gapers’ block?)
This isn’t suburbia, let alone urbia. You won’t find the sounds of the city here. No, it’s Americana, pure and simple, like something by Currier and Ives. Remove the cars and asphalt and you could almost swear that a horse-drawn carriage was going to make an appearance over the next hill. It’s textured similarly to Massachusetts; no Nor’easters here, but you can still travel over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house, or go sleigh-ridin’ along with a song in a wintry fairyland.
I can feel the surreality of my trips to Boston starting to color my new existence.
I notice that Filipina nurses have finally made it into the fictitious world of ER. It’s about time–the Asian contingent was sorely lacking (unless the show is really supposed to be set in, say, Pittsburgh rather than Chicago). From what I’m told, their portrayal isn’t entirely accurate, but since when was ER accurate? I’m just amused that “dinugguan” made it into the dialogue, and the nurses called Abby snotty. Heehee. (For the record, neither I nor my dad are sure who would think that dinugguan makes for good baon.
Also, the Treo 600 shall soon be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine. For I have ordered it. It shall be mine.
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
I am choosing to ignore the primary “greater good” theme of tonight’s The West Wing in order to make the following comments: I’m not sure many people care about exactly what Josh and Amy’s relationship are, and the minute spent dwelling on that issue is probably 50 seconds more than Aaron Sorkin would have, were he still writing for the show… I can see this devolving into the Carter/Abby crapfest on ER, also a John Wells production… The Will/Toby-goof setup was so painfully obvious, it was painful to watch. Perhaps this was done deliberately to highlight the casting choice of Gary Cole as VP. I can see him riding the staffers about the new cover sheets they’re going to be using for their TPS reports…
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Still here. Lots to catch up on, like the weekend of FORMULA ONE RACING RACING RACING and cousin Wendy’s wedding, but I’m channeling all of my motivation towards work and getting my apartment in order and SIX SIGMA!. Sigh. A whirlwind of a week spent out west, only to return back to an apartment full of half-empty boxes and materials strewn about, amplifying an existence supported more by the inanimate than the animate. I wait for the Treo 600 to be released for T-Mobile…that’ll take my mind off things for a few minutes.
Let it be known that of five items purchased from Ikea last weekend, requiring assembly, two failed quality assurance. Let’s just say I’m annoyed.
I got to see Babs for a little bit in the context of a Space Prom, and I just have to say: if I had known that the future would have been full of college students, I wouldn’t have been in such a hurry to grow up.
Most everyone I know is either a good deal older or a good deal younger than me. I wouldn’t mind meeting just one person my age.
Thursday, October 16, 2003
This is by no means an attempt at rationalization, but let’s be realistic. The Cubs had a great turnaround season, led by Dusty Baker at the helm and GM Jim Hendry. It was a late push that landed the Cubs in the postseason, helped along by misfortunes plaguing the Astros and a relatively weak division, and Cub pitching shut down the Braves sufficiently to get them to the NLCS. Wood and Prior are young pitchers and there is no doubt that great things await them. There’s no reason to believe that the Cubs won’t do better next year.
That is, assuming the team works on their weaknesses enough in the off-season. They showed that they’re still incomplete (the win against Atlanta was comparatively easier with only needing to win three games) in the showoff against the Marlins: too many times did the Cubs fail to execute offensively, leaving runners on base in clutch situations, and Sosa needs to learn more patience. Cub pitching, while strong with Prior and Wood leading the league in strikeouts, is hit-or-miss at best. Zambrano and Clement (hmm, maybe we should have hung onto Dontrelle?) are terribly inconsistent. Farnsworth has a rocket arm but that’s about it. The rest of the bullpen is the same story: unreliable.
While the Marlins deserve a lot of credit–Josh Beckett pitched a gem of a Game 5–the reasons why the Cubs lost, among other things, include my stopping for gas on the way home in the top of the 8th of Game 6 and me still checking in on the score online after having turned off the TV after Wood gave up the three-run HR in the top of the 1st tonight. Hey, Cub fans are nothing if not superstitious.
But losing three straight after leading three games to one? Unacceptable. Truly disappointing, even for a cynical Cub fan like me. Oh well. AC005895 is fine by me, and we’ll put more zeros on that next year.
The bright side of this is that a Cubs-Red Sox World Series won’t happen, so the world gets to keep on turnin’ for another year.
Thursday, October 9, 2003
One four-hour flight from Midway to McCarran Airport (VEGAS!), T-bone steak dinner at the Chicago Brewery, watchin’ the Cubbies pound the Marlins 12-3 in the company of some reassuringly loud Cub fans/restaurant patrons… good times.
In other news, stress test -> angiogram -> possible angioplasty (mmm, stents) make me wish I didn’t know so much about cardiology (without having studied cardiology) but also makes my work that much more relevant (and motivates me to med school). +
Solid eight-inning outing from Kerry… early jump on Hampton… two-run shot from Aramis…
CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN! HOLY COW!
There is celebration in Wrigleyville tonight.
(If only I were there with them.)
So, yeah. Indy was a blast. My good ol’ friend, cognitive dissonance, paid a visit in the guise of New York friends in a Midwest setting and manifested itself in such forms as “My God, I’m surrounded by corn!” and “It says ‘pop’ in the grocery aisle!” I can forgive them, for they were able to escape before their collective disease went terminal and didn’t exceed my tolerance for their New York/East Coast-centricity. It’s cute and endearing the first time, but after that, it’s neither. Apart from that, it was good to just be with old friends and enjoy having them around.
(Gene was so amused/scared by the term ‘pop’ that he heeded the time-worn advice of “Why don’t you take a picture, it’ll last longer!” Share his amusement/fright here.)
I figured I should clear the queue before I have another trip to write about (I’m heading westward for my cousin Wendy’s wedding), so here goes…
(Continued)
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