Next year? Well, maybe the year after that …

So last week was a hard week to be an Indians fan.

First, on Monday, they traded Ryan Garko to the Giants. Then it was Ben Francisco and Cy Young winner Cliff Lee being sent to Philadelphia.

Cleveland is the first team to trade incumbent Cy Youngs in consecutive seasons, according to STATS LLC.

How’s that for a stat? Then, the icing on the cake, the final nail in the coffin, on Saturday they gave up Victor Martinez to, of all teams, the Red Sox (does anyone remember Manny Ramirez, or Coco Crisp?)! 😮 All of these trades were for “prospects.” Ugh! Maybe these new names are the future stars, but you need a few seasoned, tested players on the team too!

How much longer is this team going to be in a “rebuilding” mode? They effectively just started over. This quote summed it up the best for me:

In case you hadn’t noticed, the Indians’ 2009 season is pretty much a total loss. It’s the automobile lying on its side in the intersection, glass and broken metal scattered everywhere following the accident, the car, totaled, waiting to be loaded onto a flatbed truck to transport it to the junkyard where it will be stripped for parts.

That’s really too bad … it’s hard to believe I was in Goodyear just four short months ago watching a team that seemed to have a lot of promise for a good season. sigh I guess that’s the beauty and magic of spring training.

Well, at least football training camp has started … maybe I can get a little excited about the Browns or the Bucs? Hrm …

WIJFR: Cradle and All

In the midst of a series of unexplained plagues and famines, two teenage girls are heavily pregnant, despite being virgins. According to the sacred prophecies of Fatima, one will bear the child of Christ and the other, the spawn of Satan. Both Anne Fitzgerald, a former nun turned private detective, and the Vatican’s Father Rosetti are sent to investigate. But which girl carries which child?

So I just finished James Patterson’s “Cradle and All” and, well, I was unimpressed. Patterson originally published this story in 1980 as “Virgin” and then updated it and re-published it more recently under the new title.

In a nutshell, there are two teenage, virgin, girls who are almost 9 months pregnant: one rich and well off in Rhode Island and the other a poor country girl in Ireland. Meanwhile, all around the world there have been outbreaks of disease, terrible droughts, and other signs of a pending apocalypse (if you’ve ever seen “The Seventh Sign” you’ll get the picture). The book jumps back and forth between third- and first-person narratives (which apparently Patterson does a lot in his writing). The chapters in first-person are told by Anne, the former nun turned private investigator who is asked to investigate Kathleen, the pregnant girl in Newport. Meanwhile, Father Rosetti, from the Vatican, checks out Colleen in Ireland. Eventually Anne’s and Rosetti’s paths will cross as both investigators try to determine which girl is carrying the supposed savior and which will give birth to evil.

Have read other semi-religious thrillers like Dan Brown’s “Angels and Demons” or “The DaVinci Code,” or even more recently Patrick Tilley’s “Mission,” I just wasn’t that thrilled or intrigued by “Cradle and All.” It was easy enough to read, so I finished it (I hate not finishing a book once I start it), but it was nothing fantastic or riveting.

I’m going back to hardcore SF for my next few reads: Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy.

Do I still want (or need) a FitBit?

Back in September, when I was in the middle of my weight-loss regiment, I pre-ordered a FitBit. At that time, the little gadget was supposed to be shipping in January. Well, it’s now August and it looks like I might actually finally have my FitBit this month (they hope to start shipping on August 10).

But the question is: do I still need, or even want, it?

When I pre-ordered it almost a year ago I had lost about 20 pounds (via Wii Fit and my new eating habits) and was still trying to lose more. By January of this year I had lost another 20 pounds and have been keeping my weight steady at around 160lbs for the past 8 months.

My gadget addiction is still telling me I want it just for the coolness factor (a little wearable wireless device that tracks my steps and sleeping habits), but the my reasonable side is saying I don’t need this kind of information anymore. Given that a gadget (Wii Fit) kick-started my weight loss in the first place, I’m leaning towards giving the FitBit a fair shake. I could always sell it if I don’t think it’s doing anything for me … stay tuned.

Kingdom of Loathing, an “MMORPG” more my style

I haven’t been a PC gamer in a long time. Other than our annual holiday deathmatches the last major PC game I remember playing with any regularity was the free version of Return to Castle Wolfenstein.

My friends and I used to play the original WarCraft at LAN parties back in the late 90s but I usually got my butt kicked. I would finally have a few modest buildings and be able to build trebuchets and then I would get wiped out by one of my buddies who somehow had armies of flying dragons already. Since I found myself with less free time for gaming as time went by, I never got into World of WarCraft or any of the other MMORPGs that have popped up.

Then this week I heard about Kingdom of Loathing from creator Zack Johnson on the Adam Carolla podcast (the July 27 episode). While not technically an MMORPG, KoL is an online (browser-based) role-playing game with a comical twist. It’s also free (but “donations are appreciated and rewarded”).

my KoL characterIf you need high-res graphics and rich 3D environments, KoL is probably not for you. If you cut your gaming teeth on Infocom text adventures, love the humor of Monty Python, and can appreciate the art of xkcd, you should definitely give this game a try. Just read the “about” page and I’m sure you’ll want to sign up and create a character (I’m a currently a level 3 pastamancer).

As you can see from the screenshot to the right, the interface is point-and-click simple. I love the “hand-drawn” look too. It reminds me of playing D&D with friends on the school bus using paper and pencil to create the “dungeons.”

Again, KoL isn’t massively multiplayer, but it does have some multiplayer features: there’s a chat room and player vs. player combat, neither of which I’ve experimented with yet. There are clans as well, but I’m not sure if you can go questing with other online players at the same time, ala WoW. I’m content just to do a little questing on my own, though.

Another neat “feature” of the game is that it’s turn-based and you’re allotted a certain number of turns each day. Some might think this is rather restrictive, but I don’t mind having a limit to how much I can play per day. So if you love pulling all-nighters killing orcs with your guild, this game isn’t for you. But if you don’t mind spending a few minutes a day killing possessed cans of asparagus in the Spooky Pantry or meatsmithing some components together (did I mention the in-game currency is meat?), you’re going to love Kingdom of Loathing.

My current character stats:

Greetings, programs!

Check out the new trailer for Tron Legacy (aka, Tron 2):

Oh yeah! Can’t wait to see that …

The 1-2 punch of “TRON” in 1982 and “WarGames” in 1983 is what jump-started my computer hobby that turned into an addiction and eventually a profession. I also pumped a ton of hard-earned quarters into that video game (if you want to re-live some multi-player light cycle action, check out Armagedtron).

15 geek movies to see before you die

Listening to TWiT episode #204 the other day I heard (at about 40:47 in) Dwight Silverman mention he had written a blog post some time ago about about 15 geek movies to see before you die that keeps resurfacing on Digg. He did say that he took a lot of flack for not including “Blade Runner” (and others) on the list. As with any “top xx” list, there will always be people who can’t believe you didn’t include this thing or that thing. Check out the comments on his post for other good movies he “missed.”

Anyway, on Dwight’s list there are only three recommendations I haven’t seen: “Brazil,” (which surprisingly I hadn’t heard of even though I’m a big Terry Gilliam fan),  “Dark City,” and “Repo Man” (Emilio Estevez … really?). I’ve added these to my personal “watch” list so I’ll get to them at some point and decide for myself if they belong on that list with the other twelve.

WIJFR: Black Friday

A courageous federal agent, a powerful and resourceful woman lawyer–only they can possibly stop the unspeakable from happening. New York City is under siege by a secret militia group–and that’s just the beginning of the relentless terror of Black Friday. While Patterson’s thriller is slightly out-of-date with its Cold War setting, it remains dramatically contemporary in its vision of a stock market thrown into chaos when a group of saboteurs blows up several Wall Street institutions.

Taking a break from my recent run of science fiction and fantasy books, I found an old (but unread by me) copy of James Patterson’s novel “Black Friday” (originally titled “Black Market”) on my bookshelf and decided to give it a go. Like the excerpt I included above mentions, the Cold War setting is a bit outdated, but considering Patterson wrote this book in the mid-80s, before 9-11 and the current economic crisis, it still seems timely and feasible.

The story opens with terrorists threatening to destroy a large swath of Wall Street in New York City that Friday evening. At first I figured the bulk of the novel would be about trying to stop the bombings (and find out who was behind them) but just pages in, boom the buildings of major financial companies (banks, etc.) in the Manhattan financial district are gone. With the threat of the collapse of the entire Western economic system hanging above their heads, anti-terrorist agent Archer Carroll and SEC investigator Caitlin Dylan find themselves traveling around the globe trying to unravel the mystery of Green Band: who are they and what do they really want?

A little chilly at the “beach” …

Beach Week at Progressive Field It was Beach Week at Progessive Field, which turned out to be a little ironic since the temperature at game time Saturday night was in the low 60s and the wind blowing in from Lake Erie was downright chilly. Thank goodness the rain held off!

Despite that, and the Indians’ 3-1 loss to the Mariners, I still had a good time out last night with my brother and the rest of the groomsmen from the bridal party. We even got his name on the scoreboard in the fourth inning wishing him congratulations.

the groomsmen at Progressive Field after the game

Hard to believe my little brother’s wedding is only two months away (I’m sure it’s hard for him to believe too!).

Heading to Cleveland …

I’m waiting in the Tampa airport for my flight to Cleveland this weekend for my little brother’s wedding shower and bachelor party.

We’re going to see the Indians and Mariners baseball game tomorrow night. I can’t remember the last time I went to a game at Jacob’s, er, Progressive Field. I don’t think I’ve been back there since we moved to Florida, so it must be at least 8 years. Wow.

I’m really looking forward to it (and seeing my brother, of course). Should be a fun weekend.

Side note: ya gotta love wikipedia. I’m surprise this hasn’t been changed yet:

… it was changed to Progressive Field prior to opening day 2008 so that Indians owner Larry Dolan can get more money to put in his pocket and not spend on resigning players or signing free agents.