Stars - Your Ex-Lover Is Dead

"Live through this and you won't look back."

A gorgeous song.


Bonus: Amy Millan, the original Zooey Deschanel (see 1:40)

The Anniversary - Sweet Marie

I used to listen to this band a lot back in the day when I worked at Utah Valley Dental Lab. Now That I am back working there again, it is only fitting I celebrate with The Anniversary. They are uptempo to keep me working fast, and awesome to keep me working happy.

Rogue Wave - Solitary Gun

cool song, but mostly like it makes me miss taking the Bay Area Rapid Transit from Pleasanton into SF

Maritime - Peopling Of London

The song is actually called, "Peopling of London," and it's awesome. Maritime is a great band, as was The Promise Ring. That's it, really.

Bonus: stream the entire album here

5/3/2011: No-no and 1-2-3

Ok, this first one doesn't really count because I only tuned in to watch the last couple of innings, but it's still pretty cool. The first no-hitter of 2011 by Francisco Liriano of the Twins. Went to a few Twins games in the old Metrodome, so I have some love for them.

Anyways, this no hitter was cool because Liriano has struggled this year (formerly boasting an ERA over 9.00) and hadn't even ever pitched a shutout in his career. He walked six and only struck out two. The game ended 1-0, which is also rare for a no-hitter... I was waiting for Adam Dunn to smash a 2-run jack to end the no-hitter (and the game), which absolutely would have been something I haven't ever seen before.

I guess I can't remember ever seeing a less dominating performance result in a no-hitter, but there is nothing wrong with getting a little help from the baseball gods.

(My Giants had plenty of it in their 2010 World Series Championship run... see this ultimate example from Game 2 of the World Series)




So I watched the Giants tonight get a 1-2-3 double play (pitcher-catcher-1st base). Although I'm sure I've seen this before, I can't remember seeing it in a tie ballgame, in the 9th inning to send the game to extras. A beautiful thing and the Giants end up winning in 10.

The Findings of Steve Physioc

Evidence of the victory

Note: The theme of that year's contest was, "Life at BYU," and we were only allowed to use the Apple software "iMovie" while editing the film.

5/2/2011

Again, yesterday's moment involved two pitchers. Usually the pitcher's spot is an easy out for the defense, if the ball is put in play at all. So I can't remember ever seeing two pitchers get robbed by diving catches in the same inning.


Hairston robs Giants' Pitcher in the top of the 6th


Fontenot robs Nat's Pitcher in the bottom of the 6th

CRESTB from 4/26/2011

The background on this moment:

The Giants' offense had been sputtering for several games and runs were harder to to come by than a Newport Beach parking spot. Darren Ford, the star of this show, is a rook who doesn't even have a major league base-hit. So what he does here is unbelievable... (think Benny's dash at the end of the Sandlot epic).


I can't remember ever seeing this before:  Speed Doesn't Slump



Especially not in extra innings, especially not when there is the risk of being the rally-killing third out, and especially not when your spot on the roster is shaky at best.

Kudos, Mr. Ford, on having the cojones to make this split-second decision that ultimately won the game
(Hey, if Hemingway can use the reference in an athletic setting, so can I... Ernest Hemingway's description of a bullfighter's audacity).

Is it too late to try to become a pro baseball player?

The Franchise: A Season With the San Francisco Giants

A thank you to my sister-in-law Devry who tipped me off to this.

CRESTB

A new and exciting topic for my readers... Marty Lurie, who does some of the SF Giants radio post-game show, often talks about how when you watch a baseball game, you often see something you've never seen before. He says he's been watching the game for years and that is what still makes it exciting.

So my CRESTB is not a tribute to toothpaste (although I do like teeth), but rather "Can't Remember Ever Seeing That Before". (I was going to do "Something I've Never Seen", but I didn't want people thinking I had a bunch of random confession posts...SINS)

So my CRESTB of a few nights ago was seeing a pitcher get picked off at first base. Usually their leads away from the first basemen are high-school slow dance distance, but not this time.

Baumgarner picks off Kershaw

Song of the day - Have a nice year everyone.

I apologize if the MV creeps you out; I think it's awesome though. So many random smiles. It's just a shame that it's not Jan 1... so let's just extract the theme and realize that we can start fresh any time we want, which is a very refreshing thought, actually.

Time really is a valuable thing. It's wild to think that in the same seven minutes I wasted posting this, someone else used the same time to do something meaningful; a doctor just cut the thread of a suture, someone important somewhere signed an important document, a lady just had a baby, etc.

Sometimes when I realize those things I get overwhelmed and discouraged. But instead, why don't we just get inspired and be optimistic for the future. After all, "it's gonna be a good year."

Giants Primer

Nice article for longtime Giants fans from former Mayor of S.F.

A History-Making Ride... by Frank M. Jordan

MLB 2011 Predictions (Repeat)

March 31, 2011. Opening day; one of the greatest moments of the year. The beginning of the movie, Rookie of the Year sums up all the emotions better than I ever could. Can't find the link. But picture a beautiful, sunny day at Wrigley Park.

Anyways, here's my predictions for 2011:

NL East:  Atlanta Braves
NL Central:  Chicago Cubs
NL West:  San Francisco Giants
NL Wildcard: Colorado Rockies


AL East:  Boston Red Sox
AL Central:  Detroit Tigers
AL West:  Oakland A's
AL Wildcard:  Tampa Bay Rays

NL Playoffs: Giants beat Cubbies, Braves beat Rockies
                     Giants beat Braves

AL Playoffs: Red Sox beat Rays, A's beat Tigers
                      Red Sox beat A's

World Series:  Giants beat Red Sox

NL CY Young: Tim Lincecum (w/ Matt Garza close behind)
AL CY Young:  Justin Verlander

NL MVP:  Hanley Ramirez (Troy Tulo. close behind)
AL MVP:  Miguel Cabrera

NL ROY: Brandon Belt
AL ROY: Daniel Barnes


Ya sure I'm a homer, but it's kinda like on a matching test where at least one of two questions has be "C," so you put it on both to make sure you don't end up getting both wrong. Also, I am all for being biased in my sports predictions and letting the teams you cheer for have a little more sway. But that only flies when they actually have a realistic short, or else you are just being retarded.

Yup, so the heralded Phillies don't make the playoffs, hahah. Important pieces have left and they have been plagued with injuries. (Utley, Lidge). The rotation is obv. amazing, but I just think they'll fall short.

Also, the Cubs are my dark horse. Garza has a stellar year and so does Pena. The Cards are a close second here for me with that scary lineup, but losing an ace hurts too much.

Yup no Yankees either. I don't trust their pitching rotation. The Sox obv. have a sick lineup that will carry them, but I like the Rays' staff and I think their lineup will produce. I do expect the White Sox to make the Central a close race, though.

Why

Why does this exist? Well I started in the blogging world a few years back actually, but the blog was only created to embarrass my college roommates. So I am very familiar with the blogging world from the 4 posts I did back then. I wanted to have a place where I could post what I will, when I will, without clogging up my wife's blog. In short, here's where all my clutter will go.