Reds vs Jays

I am officially a fan of the interleague play now, anything that gives griffey more at bats (DH, as we are near the end here) AND allowing me to see them is a good thing.

last night, as I settle into my seat in the 4th inning ($10 ticket from some dude on the street, as I was walking home at 8pm, and realizing the reds are in town), it takes me back to the mariner kingdome days: a really bad old indoor ballpark, no real grass (well, if you don't include what people are smoking), less than half full, watching the team (s) that is mediocre at best. At least the people who were there seem to actually care about the game and their team. Just as I was thinking that, a group of 4 grabbed the seats in front of me, and proceed to take approximately 800 pictures of each other in the ballpark, with 4 different cameras passing back and forth; they probably looked at the field for a total of 10 minutes the entire time. they looked like they were enjoying themselves though.

of course griffey went 0 for 4 and the best young pitcher reds have had in years got shelled, I am no reds fan, but I sort of feel bad for them, even the brewers have a decent showing once in a while .....

no one on either team had a slugging percentage higher than .500 as of last night, where are the roids, or good baseball players?

still no chair, but a new amp

the summer I was accepted into probably the best high school in taiwan (you go to different high schools, if at all, base on a test, not unlike SAT in the states, but more comprehensive in scope), my dad bought me this Kenwood stereo/cd/tape deck combo deal, it wasn't the best system in the world, but it was for me, and it continued to be my most prized possession for a long time. It cross the pacific with me to the northwest, it went with me to college, it still sounded great while I lived in san francisco, but the exterior has shown some wear.

well, it came with me to toronto, but it started acting weird, the equalizer display comes in and out, it the sound would cut off sometimes, my guess it is the power supply going flakey. but you know how these things go, it will cost me more to get it fixed, than to get something different.

instead of getting another complete system, I wanted to start small, so I just bought an integrated amp, I will not be able to listen to tape, but I don't know if I still own any tape to begin with. I can listen to CD through my computer for now, plus mp3s. most importantly, the old speakers still sounded good, I won't have to think about spend money on that for a while.

then perhaps some chairs.

bad mariners

went to the blue jays and mariners game earlier this evening. there were more people than I expected in the opened sky-dome (it is actually called Rogers center now, just like every other ball park, it is either name after a bank, a phone company, or a airline), since they were playing one of the most pitiful team in the league.

and the mariners sure looked horrible, although they actually won the opener of the series last night, in extra innings (they some how escaped in the bottom of the 10th with bases loaded, no out and just a one run lead), but they looked just bad tonight. They were up there swinging like they had not clue at all.

just being at the park, in the warmth of the earlier summer (something that doesn't happen in SF), was really nice, just wish that my team had shown up.

stroll the fuck out of here

One thing that gets to me in a crowded market is people with strollers, and nowadays, these things are not compact at all, they are like a tank, without the guns, in most cases at least. they take up like the width of the entire aisle, and they seem to always be moving very slowly, blocking where you are going. And a lot of the times the kids in the stupid thing are way old enough to be walking on their own. The fact that some people have the ability and urge to procreate doesn't give them the right to be dickheads, unapologetically inconvenient everyone else.

it is not hard

I don't want to sound like a snub, because I am not.

But if you go through the trouble to buy a suit (you know the deal that the pants and a jacket are made from the same fabric, color and pattern), and make sure it fit (a lot of people skip this part), then why not actually wear a pair of shoes that are half way decent, not made completely from petroleum byproducts (tree hugger/animal activist will have some issues here, then again, tree huggers don't wear suits). Even an expensive, nicely tailored suit with good fabric will look cheap and fucked up if it is worn with a pair of cheap, fucked up shoes. If you are going to make the effort to look presentable, why not go all the way and look good?

I hope I will never have to buy and wear a suit; but if it ever happens, you bet you money I will buy some decent shoes.

I just realized it now wtf he was saying

one of my worries about moving to canada was not about having to learn the game of curling, or adapt a canadian accent, it was how easily (or not) I would be able to find decent, affordable wine. With everything (including wine and beer) retailed and wholesaled only through state run stores, I wasn't sure how readily one can find diverse, interesting, and reasonably priced shit to drink.

A while back, must be six months or more ago, I was in drinking with friends in san francisco, bullshitting with some dude sitting next to us, he was from Australia. at some point the topic turned to wine, as we all know, down under is known for the ripe, fruity shiraz from southern part of the country, some of them I like, a lot of them I don't. this dude was telling me about this peninsula or some shit near melbourne that produce some wonderful pinot. I was thinking, he is either drunk or he really knows his shit, or both.

I kept my eyes open for any fucking pinot from some bullshit peninsula in australia for a while, didn't see any, although I wasn't trying hard. About two weeks ago, I went to a LCBO store that actually had a nice selection of wines, a lot of high end shit that I can not afford. but I saw this bottle of pinot from mornington peninsula, australia, and it was like $20 I think. I was like, I have to try it.

I am drinking it right now, it turned out to be more than decent. for those who are getting use to some of the pinot from california and oregon that is so ripe that it doesn't really taste like pinot no more, you will hate it. but for me, it is drinking nicely, nothing crazy, it probably won't age that well, but it was certainly enjoyable, isn't that what it is all about?

well, drunk australia dude, thanks.

what can possibly be in there?

you have all seen this before, a girl with a gigantic backpack, for no apparent reason, I am not sure if this is a condition you born with or it is something you pick up along the way, but it can not possibly be healthy.

it has been a while since I have seen it, I use to see it all the time in college; I use to give them the benefit of the doubt, since text books can be pretty big, but still, wtf. I saw this girl in my elevator this morning with a backpack at least three times the size of my shoulder bag, and my bag is got a laptop, my lunch and some papers. She definitely didn't not look like she is going camping, but what the fuck is in there? I don't get it at all.