archive for the ‘PLife’ Category
Tourists Game
posted 26-August-2009 @ 16:31 by plove
Last night I took in my first minor league baseball game and it provided an enjoyable contrast to a Major League Baseball contest.
In a match-up of vicious team mascots, the Asheville Tourists welcomed the visiting Greensboro Grasshoppers. There were plenty of lead changes to keep the action fresh: Asheville got on the board first, Greensboro put up a six-run 3rd inning to make it 6-1, next Asheville charged back to take a 8-7 lead, and finally in the top of the ninth Greensboro scratched one more run across against the Tourists’ closer before their final man was sent down swinging with the score standing at 11-9 in favor of the home team.
As for the quality of play, there were three or four mammoth home runs and there were multiple pitchers throwing in the mid-90s according to the guns. Baseball really is a game of inches, though, and I suppose putting a 94-mph fastball down the middle of the plate may be why some of those balls traveled to another stratosphere and the pitchers who threw them are still playing in single-A. Two Colorado Rockies’ (Asheville is one of their affiliates) scouts sat across the aisle from me during the second half of the game and made notes after every pitch.
There was plenty of history to soak in at McCormick Field as well. Willie Stargell and Eddie Murray both played for the Tourists, and legend has it the layout of the ballpark is what first inspired Murray to transform himself into a switch-hitter. Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb, and Jackie Robinson have all played as visitors (although some of the games may have been of the barnstorming/exhibition variety) at this ballpark, and in 1972 Cal Ripken, Jr. was a batboy while his father (the elder Cal) was manager of the team. Sparky Anderson also managed the team to a 1968 championship before landing a gig in the bigs. Current major leaguers who cut their teeth as Tourists include Todd Helton and current Texas Ranger Jason Jennings. Even Bull Durham showcases the team as the club Crash Davis joins to finish his career and break the minor-league home run record.
Enough with the glitter. The estimated attendance was 2,596. We got to the box office five minutes before the first pitch and scored sixth row seats behind home plate for $10 each. They didn’t even stop selling beer after the seventh inning like many of the wussy Major League teams do now. The atmosphere was much more like a high school game than anything I’ve ever experienced at big league digs. Well, except for the fact that there was a billboard for the premier local head shop above the seats behind third base. All in all, though, it was a great time and I would go again. As I said, tix were only $10 a piece for the best seats in the house. It is possible to spend $40 a pop, but that comes with the experience of taking BP with the team before the game. Unfortunately, we arrived too late to partake, and besides, I wouldn’t want to embarrass my parents’ new hometown team.
Best of all, I got to see recent South Atlantic League Hall of Fame inductee and current Tourists’ manager Joe Mikulik up close and personal. He even charged out of the dugout to argue a call for us. Alas it didn’t come close to his most famous tirade. Nor could it compete with my favorite minor league managerial explosion of all time. But for $10 it was more than satisfactory.
iLove iPhone
posted 14-August-2009 @ 08:42 by plove
Filthy crunk. That is how I describe the iPhone.
The time had come to take on the added responsibility of paying a monthly telephone bill. I had been living without such a burden for a couple of months since returning to the States, but along with this benefit came the nagging annoyance of having to borrow a phone every time I wanted to make a call.
The previous time I had been stateside for a few months I had hooked up with MetroPCS. Their $30/month “Unlimited” plan really reeled me in. But once I started setting up my account with the guy in the store, the asterisks made their presence known. “$30 only covers local calling. It’s $35 a month if you want to be able to call outside of Dallas.” “Oh, you want our advanced “text messaging” feature? That’s an $5 extra per month.” “Voicemail? No, that’s not included. You’ll have to step up to our $45/month a plan.” Then my first bill comes and boom – $59 with taxes and other nonsense. I’ll give them credit: at check out my phone itself only ran me $5 and the coverage (which some of my friends told me beforehand they had “heard” was terrible) was pretty good. But if I was gonna be paying that much each month, this time I wanted to go see just how much more what I really wanted would actually cost.
Apple’s newest model of iPhone, the 3GS, costs 50% less than the original iPhone did at its debut two years ago.
It turned out it’s not that bad. My monthly plan is $69.99 for 450 anytime minutes + $5 extra for 200 text messages. Granted I don’t talk on the phone much, and I understand how some people will immediately think that they would need a much more expensive plan, but one must first consider that this comes with rollover, 5000 night/weekend minutes, and unlimited calls with other AT & T customers. So basically, there’s a lot of comping going on here – I would probably downgrade my plan if I could. Add ~$13 of tax/fees on top of this and we’re looking at 88 bucks a month. I can work with that.
What about the other two heads of the dragon (cost of the device and evil stipulations of contract)? You can get an 8GB iPhone 3G for $99. Or you can get a 16GB iPhone 3GS $199. I went all in and scored a 32GB 3GS for $299. But this is because I am addicted to the Internet (not just porn) as well as music and I knew I would get my $100 worth out of the extra space; for many people a 16GB will be more than enough.
Contract. Boy I hate these things. I think the guy in the Apple Store was confused about how I could be so excited about getting an iPhone and at the same time asking so many questions about the details of the early termination fee. Hey, I like to travel. Anyway, I am amazed at how manageable this deal is. I had heard all this talk about “they really rope you in with the contract so you’re stuck owing them for two years.” No you’re not. The fee is $175. Each time you pay your monthly statement, it drops by $5. So if I decide to hop to South America in five months, I’ll give up $150 (less than two monthly bills) and be free as a bird.
To be clear, I am not saying I really think AT & T needs $90 per person to keep their network up and running (if they want my financial advice it would be to stop running so many corny advertisements), but rather that compared to other popular providers like Cingular/T-Mobile/etc. its really not that bad to get an iPhone. And before I move on from the subject of cost, I will say that there is a one-time activation fee of about $40 and the protective cases for this thing are way overpriced. I dropped $15 for a screen film and $35 on a sleek black rubber incase with a front lip. But considering I bought the most expensive model of iPhone and I’m a complete klutz who likes to drink 23 beers in a night, I deemed this a worthwhile expenditure.
Enough with all that. I got it two weeks ago. My life has changed since that day. I don’t even know where to begin, so please excuse the lack of organization in the following drool of praise.
Can you say all-in-one device? It fits in your pocket without the slightest feeling of unwanted bulk. It is a camera (go 3GS and you can also include camcorder), an iPod (for music and video), a GPS, a video game player+controller, an e-mail client, an Operating System for an ever-expanding library of apps, and a fully functional Internet browser. And cool features like the touch screen and accelerometer (I’m not even going to pretend like I fully understand what that is) serve to exponentially increase the potential for developer innovation.
Not only is it all of these things, but each one of them is built superbly. The camera has a one-touch button on screen to send a photo you’ve just snapped to a friend. The iPod automatically syncs with updated podcasts just by plugging it into your computer, and you can listen to them at 2x speed to save time. The GPS is basically Google Maps, except it magically determines your current location for you and you can even scroll to one of your contacts as a destination address. Miss a turn, get lost, or the directions were bad? Just pull over and fire up an updated map from your new coordinates. I’ve already played some video games on here (i.e. Metal Gear Solid Touch) that compete graphically with the PSP, and the versatility of other apps is virtually infinite. In fact, new paragraph, lemme list ten sweet ones:
- Pandora Radio: Just like the Internet site, all you have to do is enter a song or an artist, and voila! Pandora creates a radio station that plays songs similar to what you entered.
- Shazam: Ever ask yourself, “I know that song. Damn it, what is it?” Just open Shazam and hold it in the air. It’ll tell you.
- Voice Memos: Comes preloaded on the iPhone. One click to record a Norm MacDonald-style “Note to Self.”
- WordPress: Have a blog (like this one)? Streamlined interface for efficiently cranking out a new post.
- iHandyLevel: Just put your iPhone on top of that picture frame and adjust accordingly.
- Offender Locator Lite: See pics and addresses of registered sex offenders nearby. Sometimes you can’t help but wonder …
- Postino: Instantly turn any photo you’ve snapped into an e-mail postcard to be sent to a close one. Oh, you prefer a traditional postcard that someone can hold in their hand? Just charge $2 and consider it mailed.
- Urban Spoon: Can’t think of anywhere fresh to eat? Adjust the filters to your desire and spin away. Urban Spoon is a slot machine that costs nothing to play and spills out tasty restaurant locations near you as jackpots.
- Skype/textPlus: Actually two different apps. I think using the Skype for phone calls in lieu of your minutes might take a little hacking, but as it is you can IM chat on Skype or send free SMS texts with textPlus.
- Paper Toss: An awesome office basketball game played with a wad of paper and the trash can. The defense? That electric fan off to the side. I got stuck in nightmare traffic on the highway last night. Before iPhone? Pissed off plove. After iPhone? New high score on medium difficulty setting.
By the way, these are all free apps since I’m a cheap bastard. I’m afraid to see what lurks in the actual marketplace.
Still not convinced? I’ll leave you with this epiphany I had today. I was sitting in a Sonic Drive-In (large Caramel Mocha Java Chiller if you must know), thinking about how the iPhone was like having my laptop (which I also love) in my pocket. I was browsing cars for sale on craigslist and I couldn’t shake the feeling that this device was actually somehow better than my laptop. Obviously there’s the size difference but it was something else. Oh I know! If I was in my car with my laptop, how would I connect to the Internet without WiFi? My phone has unlimited Internet everywhere – I don’t even need a modem and a router.
Don’t let these people who tell you they type too many text messages to mess with a touch screen (the keyboard works great too, by the way, but you probably figured as much by now) slow you down on your way to the Apple Store. And don’t worry about what this guy had to say; the data plan is included nowadays.
And no, I don’t secretly work for Apple, because if I did, I wouldn’t have another tab open trying to figure out how to jailbreak this thing so I can get all the apps I want for free.
Baseball Doubleheader
posted 10-August-2009 @ 03:22 by plove
I am the player/co-founder/manager/part owner of a new semi-pro men’s league baseball team in the DFW metroplex. The team is named the Colt .45s, and yes we plan on jamming that Afroman song before every game. We are registered to play in the D.A.B.A. 25+ fall league that plays seven-inning games with wood bats. Yesterday we had our first preseason game against the Mud Cats.
The team’s debut was a rollicking 10-5 victory. I contributed a line of 1-2, HBP, 2 SB, 2 R (including the first run in the franchise’s history), and I also pitched a scoreless seventh with 1 K, 1 hit allowed, and no walks. The 2 steals were more a result of the Cats not exactly having their pitching/catching battery fine-tuned at this point than of any newfound blazing speed on my part.
We participated in the league draft two weeks ago and so today was the first time we really got to see all our guys playing together. The draft itself was a neat process as the other members of our ownership group and I watched the free agents try out while we made notes and rated their abilities before convening with owners of other teams and the commissioner to commence the draft. As it turns out, we got some good players, and thankfully we assembled a squadron of good-natured dudes that seem to get along quite well also. Definitely looking forward to contending for the crown in our inaugural season.
What was that I mentioned about a doubleheader? It was awfully nice to return home and see that Derek Holland hurled a three-hit shutout against the Angels. I don’t think the Rangers will be letting go of him anytime soon, so if the 45’s decide to make a roster addition we may just have to settle for Padilla.
” … and two zig zags, baby that’s all we need.”
Concert Atmosphere
posted 7-August-2009 @ 23:24 by plove
Concerts aren’t entirely about the music. Other factors are often at least as important in determining how noteworthy the night is.
A friend and I went and saw Atmosphere last night at Dallas’ House of Blues. It is a great venue and it was my first time to see a show there. The sound quality was superb. I would rate the concert very high in many categories, although I will say Atmosphere has a big enough catalog that they could have hung around long enough to play an extra four or five classics.
But for some reason, it didn’t feel “special” like some other shows have. So I started wondering why. I came up with ten criteria that make a show speical.
1. Sheer star quality of the artists. Imagine attending a Beatles show.
2. The intense energy generated by the passion of the artists. Seeing Rage Against the Machine in 8th grade taught me plenty about this one.
3. Musical virtuosity. Watching Phish jam for hours would be hard to forget. If you were sober that is.
4. Happiness. It doesn’t matter whether its some frilly pop music or Bob Marley. Any show that makes you want to hug and be best friends with everyone around you is special.
5. The show that’s so good you wonder how there can be so few people there. Guru at the Granada Theater in Dallas was excellent in this regard – I walked out feeling lucky that I got to take part in something so awesome in such an intimate performance with the artist, and yet I was astonished that I was one of less than 500 people in Dallas who realized that this show was going to be the shit. A corollary to this is when the small attendance is a result of catching the band before it catches its “break.” My brother rarely misses the opportunity to remind me that 25 years ago he saw U2 play a wet t-shirt contest at a Dallas hole-in-the-wall.
6. Seeing one of your favorite songs (of all time, not the jam of the month) performed live for the first time. Seeing Nas crank out “If I Ruled the World” at Rock the Bells brought this one to light for me.
7. The artist does something crazy. I will never forget Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace climbing up a 25-foot speaker tower at Stubb’s in Austin, TX, turning his back to the crowd, raising his arms by his sides, and falling backwards into the crowd with no warning before being crowd-surfed back to the stage. That fool just expected people to catch him, and, well, they did.
8. You do something baller or something cool happens for you. Hooking up with a good-looking girl or going backstage to hang with the artist makes for a memorable evening.
9. Setting/circumstances. Musically, the Insane Clown Posse don’t blow my socks off. But going to Detroit with my best friend when I was 16 to see them rock their hometown for three days at the first annual “Gathering of the Juggalos” convention? That was tight. So was catching Bone Thugs-n-Harmony at a private party they played at my friend’s frat house in college.
10. Seeing somebody before he/she dies young. I didn’t see Tupac or Nirvana and I often lament this. I can’t really blame myself for missing Jimi Hendrix or Mozart.
Atmosphere is a great storyteller. His songs are a personal journey into his relationships and what a wonderful odyssey many of them are. But it is a personal experience. His strength does not lie in being an amazing entertainer of mass groups.
Working in TieLand
posted 27-May-2008 @ 12:00 by plove
That’s right, I don a tie and dress shoes every day now. A couple of you have asked where I’ve run off to – well, I’ve not only been busy as hell the last couple of weeks but I also got sick for about a week. Honestly, I couldn’t even tell you if I picked up some germs on the metro or if my lungs simply got infected from the pollution here.
So two days ago I finished teaching the first course I accepted here (a GRE test prep course). 12 sessions in all, pretty smart kids, and they spoke good English (now I just hope their scores actually go up on the test!). The other classes I am teaching now are 3 sections of Business English at Padaeng Industry (a zinc mining company, operating the only zinc smelter in southeast Asia! How do you like them apples?), 3 sections of Sales English at Pfizer Corporation, and then I am also teaching this one homeschooled, half-Thai, half-American girl some of her school subjects (math and current event critical thinking right now). So up until now, with the GRE deal winding up and my having needed to finish up my “training,” I have been working entirely too much, but things look a bit better moving forward.
So, was that Pfizer I mentioned earlier? As in Viagra? You got it. My company that assigns me to these courses reuses their business materials for just about everything (rather than making new ones each time, obviously a logical plan), so they handed me the standard packet and I took it along for day one. So there I am, reading from the page: “Okay Gift (yes that was her name by the way. The others in this particular class: Cherry, Bee, Ooi, Yok, Kig, Tho, and Meaw. Tho was the only dude.), can you please introduce yourself to me according to the instructions as if you were going to sell me your product?”
Gift (standing up facing me from about two feet away): “Hi. I’m Gift. I work for Pfizer Thailand. I am here today to sell Viagra. I would like to tell you more information about how it can fix your pee-pee problems. [Giggling.] I can give you stage 1, [something in broken English about stage 2], [giggling], I can personally administer you stage 3, [half giggles, half broken English about stage 4]. [Explosive giggling followed by breaking face and looking around at her classmates causing them to join in the giggling.]”
Me: “Uh, thank you Gift. That will do.”
In other words, a very professional start. Now some of the other girls did sell like Celebrex and other Pfizer products, but yeah I just wasn’t prepared for that to be the initial demonstration for the class.
My second “section” with Pfizer peeps is right after that one (these are on Saturday morning). This time, 11 girls and 1 dude. Only this group has weaker English skills and are clearly less confident in their speaking skills. So the first girl goes and not much is accomplished (I’m totally ready for Viagra saleswomen this time around). Then the guy goes. After I have critiqued his speaking, I notice he is wearing a Rolling Stones shirt. Now, I don’t care too much about the Stones, but I feel like the opportunity is there to be really positive and seem like a nice guy to try and get everybody to say a little more during their respective turns. So I tack on to my comments, “And I like your shirt.”
The up-until-that-point silent room erupts into “OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” (including the guy himself).
Oh no. What just happened?
Upon closer inspection, first of all this section is made up of people who signed up to be with their friends. That is, 11 girls and 1 guy.
His Stones shirt is pink.
Got it – my class of otherwise 100% girls is under the impression I just hit on the gay guy. Nice.
Things have gotten back on track a bit since that inauspicious start, and some of the girls are good-looking which is a nice bonus. But I do find it really tough to slow down enough for some of the weaker students to understand me. I’m a natural blabbermouth.
As for Bangkok, I’m adjusting in some ways and not so much in others. I still find it difficult to navigate the sidewalks when people cruise up onto them on their motorbikes to avoid the traffic in the actual ROAD (this happens constantly). And sitting in traffic in a taxi in one lane and looking out the window to see someone on top of an elephant halted in the adjacent lane is not something that really ever becomes normal I don’t think. I’ve found a lot of food that I do like (soups, pad thai, seafood, street cooked chicken, smoothies, sushi), but unfortunately I’m still struggling to get my fiber and veggies. Okay, no more details from that department.
I just bought some pretty decent computer speakers for $8 at Tesco Lotus (think Wal-Mart X 6 or 7 then add even more to the food court as well as a skyway connecting directly to the metro station and you have some idea) so I’m jamming out on those. Oh yeah, I also went to the And1 Streetball Asian Invasion Tour last week. Among the big And1 names taking the court (I feel like I’m forgetting one good one): Hot Sauce, 50, Alimoe, High Rizer, Circus, Air Bama, and 13th Floor. The alley-oop dunks and Hot Sauce’s ability to embarrass defenders were especially cool. The level of basketball play was not too impressive in person though and there were several near-fights between the players (they bring the whole streetball experience, including the lack of professionalism and focus).
And as for weather-related stuff, the tremors of the China earthquake were felt here, and Myanmar (Burma) is still a huge deal cuz its a direct neighbor, but Bangkok is just hot and sweaty. However, we have entered the monsoon season so it just rains out of nowhere for hours. Not always convenient.
Okay so like I said I’ve been working a lot so nothing too exciting, just wanted to get back to those of you that asked that yes I’m good. Let me know what’s up y’all!