For the love of the game

If there is a TV turned on the house, these days it seems Nolan will have tuned to the Little League World Series.

I think he really enjoys watching kids close to his age playing ball on TV. Right now I think he's predicting Texas will go all the way.

The fact that Little League World Series 2009 on Wii is one of his favorite video games probably doesn't hurt either.

I find I kind of enjoy watching it too. It's a nice change of pace -- no egos, no giant paychecks, no steroids. Just the game.  There's something pure about it that a baseball fan can't deny.

The other day I was watching a game during my lunch break. The young third baseman playing for Connecticut, I think, snagged a ball that was lined like a shot down the third base line.  It would have been an amazing grab for any major leaguer.  And as I watched the huge smile on the 12-year-old ballplayer's face, I couldn't help but smile myself.

It's a terrific reminder of everything that's great about America's pastime.

Gotcha Day 2010

It's been seven years since we made the trip to New York City to pick up 4-month-old Thomas at JFK and bring him home. We lovingly refer to each August 19th as "Gotcha Day."

Flash forward to 2010...Thomas and Nolan are much bigger and about to enter into 2nd and 5th grades. They are brothers through-and-through.  Best friends -- except for the times when they want to kill each other, as siblings are also prone to want to do now and then!

I try to snap a photo of the boys every Gotcha day.  Here's this year's before and after...

'An elegant weapon for a more civilized age'

This has been floating around on YouTube for a week or so.  For everyone who ever wished to have a lightsaber, here's every lightsaber ignition and retraction from all of the Star Wars movies...

Doctor D'oh!

Ever wonder what "Doctor Who" would be like in the hands of Matt Groening and the creators of "The Simpsons?"

Thanks to co-worker Pat Skerry for finding this and passing it along...

Charting the chart toppers

Listening to the most recent Current Geek Weekly this morning, they referenced this funny-sounding flowchart that maps out the Beatles classic "Hey Jude."

But then in looking it up so I could post it, I saw that whoever created it was inspired by this flowchart of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (click on it to see it bigger).

'In the event of a flight attendant freak out...'

By now we've all heard the tale of disgruntled JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater. But no one tells the story quite as well as Stephen Colbert -- who has named Slater his Alpha Dog of the Week...

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Alpha Dog of the Week - Steven Slater
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election Fox News

Meanwhile, the Taiwan-based studio that brought us that CGI summary of the Leno-Conan late night debacle have recreated the flight attendant frenzy for those of us who weren't there to see it first hand...

'Even the darkness must pass'

Nolan has discovered the "Lord of the Rings" movies. He watched "The Fellowship of the Ring" for the first time about a month ago and tonight we watched "The Two Towers."

I enjoy these movies so much. I love the characters. Aragorn is such an awesome hero. Gimli and and Legolas are lots of fun. But my favorite might be Sam. I don't think there is a more loyal friend in the world.

Of the three movies (Nolan is very eager to see "The Return of the King" now), "Two Towers" is the one I've seen the least.  There is a speech that Sam gives at the end that I had forgotten about, but I really liked it a lot. So I figured I'd post it here:

It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?

But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer.

Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why.

But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.

As long as we're on the subject, I'd be remiss if I didn't include a link to this clip, which may be my favorite moment in the entire LOTR trilogy. I admit, I get a little choked up every time I see it.

May the cupcakes be with you

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Thanks to Shawn for passing this one along. These Star Wars cupcakes look pretty awesome. Which one would you eat first? And what's the most creative thing you'd do with the Jar-Jar cupcake?

600

It’s not unusual for my kids to greet me each morning with the following question: “Did the Yankees win last night?”

For the last couple of weeks that’s been immediately followed with another question: “Did A-Rod hit his 600th homerun?”

Just when I was beginning to resign myself to the fact that Alex Rodriguez was never going to knock another ball over the fence, he finally belted career homerun number 600 this afternoon in the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays.

A-Rod is now the seventh and youngest slugger ever to each that milestone. He just turned 35 on July 27.

It’s quite an accomplishment and as a Yankee fan, and a baseball fan in general, I’m excited for A-Rod.

But I’m not as excited as I could be, given that I know this achievement isn’t 100 percent “pure.” After all, Rodriguez has admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs from 2001 to 2003 while playing for the Texas Rangers. We’ll never know for sure how many of the homers he hit during that period were “enhanced.”

When Barry Bonds – another steroid abuser -- broke Hank Aaron’s career homerun record I thought to myself, “That’s okay. In time, A-Rod will pass Bonds, and he’ll do it in a Yankee uniform.” If and when he does, I’ll still applaud him. But I can never be quite as excited as I once thought I’d be.

As for my kids, I’ll go home tonight and tell them about the homerun. I’ve talked to them about steroids and about A-Rod in particular. I don’t think it’s really sunk in for them. Maybe someday it will. But for now, I’ll let them be thrilled for the Yankees third baseman.

It actually works!

I've had this blog for six years now. Finally it's paying off!

I don't remember exactly when I added Google ads. I know I put them on at one point and then removed them and decided to try putting them back again. I don't know if I ever really expected to see any return on them.

But low and behold, yesterday a check arrived in the mail from Google for $104! That's really impressive considering I hardly write on the blog anymore.

This could be yet another incentive to keep writing. Google doesn't pay you until you're earnings reach the $100 level. Hopefully it won't take another six years to get another check.

So thanks, everyone, for the clicks.  I'll keep writing if you keep clicking.