Thank goodness that Apryl baked some butter cookies because for all practical purposes, we’re snowed in. The snow, which started around 8 o’clock last night, is still steadily coming down. The news are reporting that the city has already received 4 inches of snow and could be expected to see another 1 – 4 inches by the end of the day. Below, a short video of me walking outside and surveying the damage:
January 10, 2009
January 6, 2009
From the Hot Stove…
Now, I’m not 100% sure but it seems I promised that I wouldn’t post anything more about baseball until the new season. However, that was before I discovered the Korean comics of Choi Hoon. From what little I can gather, Mr. Hoon has been creating baseball comics that satirizes the teams and players of the MLB since 2004. And since they’re all in Korean, I think I can safely assume they weren’t attended for an American audience. Even so, there must have been a big enough buzz about the strip to warrant a translation of several of the strips in the The New York Times in 2005.
I’ve discussed baseball comics on the blog before. My favorite, the White Sox cartoon An Illustrated History of the Sagacious, chronicled (quite wittingly, I might add) the entire 2008 season. Stylistic, Sagacious is black and white with illustrations that resemble political cartoons. Hoon’s strip is in vibrant color and feels like it belongs on the Sunday funnies. Still, since the entire strip is in Korean, it leaves a lot to the imagination. However, I find them a treat to the eye.
Through the past years, Hoon has taken on the White Sox on more than on occasion. Here is one from 2005 that seems to depict Ozzie Guillen going through the bullpen (check out #45 Big Bobby Jenks) to strike out a batter. The last frame shows the rest of the Sox pitchers frustrated and quarreling. Of course, 2005 was the year the Sox won the World Series, and the start of the silly phrase “Grinder Ball” (For official Grinder Ball rules, click here). So, instead of fighting, I suppose they could just be grinding it out. Either way, enjoy:
BTW, the title of this post references the term Hot Stove League, which itself refers to the baseball off-season.
January 4, 2009
Rose vs. Carney aka Bulls vs. Timberwolves
Last night, Apryl and I made our way over to the United Center to catch the Chicago Bulls take on the Minnesota Timberwolves. We were joined by others taking part in the Memphis Tigers Chicago Club (if you follow the link, you’ll see me in two of the photos). Typically, we get together to watch major games throughout the season at Junior’s Sports Lounge, so last night felt more like a field trip. Unfortunately, we were in the midst of folks that already seemed to know one another, so we felt a bit left out.
Oh well, it was still fun to watch fellow Tigers Derrick Rose (22 pts) and Rodney Carney (6 pts) playing against one another on a professional level. It was also nice to see past Grizzlies Mike Miller and Brian Cardinal out on the court playing for the Timberwolves. Check out this great, diplomatic (albeit oversized) shirt that Apryl made for the game:
In front of a crowd of 20,000+, the Bulls lost 102-92 to one of the worst teams in the NBA. Still, you have to admire such a turn out:
Towards the end of the game, the crowd dwindled and started to look more like a Grizzlies crowd:
Of course, any trip to the United Center requires one to pay their respects to the Legend:
January 3, 2009
Fetching Eva
For those who don’t know, Eva will fetch like a dog. When she was younger, it seemed like she would play the game for hours. And if you grew tired and stopped paying attention to her, she would push her toy with her paw under your foot making it clear that she wasn’t done playing. Well, she might not fetch as often as she once did, but every once in awhile the mood will still strike her. This is especially the case when she receives new toys like the ones in her stocking this Christmas. Below is an extremely short video of her playing fetch with a new toy monkey:
However, it’s been an old mouse toy that she had forgotten and that my dad put in her stocking that has been getting the most attention. I took a short video of her playing with it as well but it kept failing to upload on Flickr. Oh well. For the most part, Eva Cat has been sleeping about 23.5 hours of the day on the couch keeping warm.
January 1, 2009
If you build it…
About as dramatic as turning a corn field into a baseball field, the folks at the NHL have converted the baseball field at the Friendly Confines into an ice rink for this year’s edition of the Winter Classic with the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings. Check out this time lapse video of just what it took to make this amazing transformation. Game starts today at noon!
December 31, 2008
End of the Year – lists
So, we’re back home. And it was a great holiday break (short sleeves, really?) But as always, even though it seemed like we were always visiting, we still didn’t manage to see everyone. Hopefully, we will see all those we missed on our next trip back South. Of course, I took photos, which I will load on Flickr today or tomorrow. Until then, I thought it would be appropriate to end the year with a few End of the Year lists. So, here we go:
Top 10 Favorite Songs of 2008
10. Dent May – Meet Me In The Garden
9. TV on the Radio – Family Tree
8. Silver Jews – Strange Victory Strange Defeat
7. The Avett Brothers – Murder in the City
6. Bon Iver – Re:Stacks
5. Arthur Russell – Love Is Overtaking Me
4. Breathe Owl Breathe – Playing Dead
3. Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal
2. Destroyer – Foam Hands
1. Vic Chesnutt – You Are Never Alone
Top 10 Concerts of 2008
10. (tie) Harlan T. Bobo – Schubas/Caleixco – Millennium Park
9. Dolly Parton – Chicago Theatre
8. Ornette Coleman – Chicago Jazz Festival
7. Radiohead – Lollapalooza
6. Jarvis Cocker – Pitchfork Music Festival
5. Magnetic Fields – Old Town School of Folk Music
4. Girl Talk – Lollapalooza
3. Animal Collective – Pitchfork Music Festival
2. Bill Callahan – Millennium Park
1. Andrew Bird – Millennium Park
Honorable Mention: Vanilla Ice – Cans
Top 5 Cities Visited (work related) in 2008
5. New York
4.New Orleans
3. Charleston
2. Boston
1. Reno/Lake Tahoe
Top 5 Places Visited (non work related) in 2008
5. Mount Horeb
4. Memphis
3. Nashville
2. Greers Ferry
1. McGregor/Prairie du Chien
Top 5 Celebrities met in 2008
5. Bill Rancic
4. Mark Wahlberg
3. Garrison Keillor
2. Cookie Monster
1. Svengoolie
Top 10 Tourist Stops of 2008 (in no particular order)
- Mustard Museum in Mount Horeb
- Sears Tower Skydeck
- Architecture Boat Tour, Chicago
- Hopper/Homer Exhibit at the Art Institute
- Fenelon Place Elevator Cable Car in Dubuque, IA
- College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, IN
- Cafe du Monde in New Orleans
- Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque, IA
- Cheers Bar in Boston
- Weird Chicago Tour
Top 5 Most Memorable Moments in 2008 (other than Obama)
5. Sox win the AL Central.
4. Apryl graduates from IIT.
3. Eva gets cancer. And is okay.
2. The Tigers play in the NCAA Finals.
1. McKenzie Hayden Madden is born.
Top 5 Favorite Personal Photos of 2008 (in no order)
Perhaps more lists to come later. Perhaps not. Either way, here is a selection of other photos from the past year. Goodbye 2008!
December 18, 2008
December 17, 2008
December 4, 2008
Chicago in December
Above, Eva checks out the new Christmas tree. When we get all the lights and trimmings on, I’ll post another picture. Other than that, the posts will be slim until I finish up editing this year’s cheerleading video. Until then, here a few photos I took on Monday while I was working downtown:
I took this photo of our sidewalk on my way to the train station. Since we’ve gotten back from Memphis, it’s been snowing pretty regularly.
The Western train stop.
A statute outside the Four Seasons Hotel downtown.
The view from the 35th floor.
A HUGE Christmas Tree inside the Michigan Avenue Shops Mall.
Back at home. Since I have been using my camera as a deck for my edit, Eva has been taking advantage of the empty case. OK, that is all.
November 18, 2008
Who you rootin’ for?
So, last night I braved the cold weather and shivered on over to the Map Room where I catch the Tigers take on UMass on ESPN “Up All Night”. Really, what was up with that tip off time? 11:00pm?!? I guess they were hoping to grab some of the Monday Night Football viewership, but I could have easily done with a earlier time on ESPN 2. Of course, few bars in my neighborhood would have shown anything other than the football game, so I suppose I should be thankful I got to catch my Tigers at all.
So, what do I think of the post Dream Team team? Well, I have to say we sure look sloppy. To be fair, even the Dream Team looked sloppy at times but still… Last night, there were way too many turnovers, failed layups, and poor three point shooting. I know, it’s early. But if it hadn’t been for those 24 turnovers allowed by UMass we might have been unnecessarily biting our nails. OK, so what about the positives?
We look good as a team (though I have a feeling we’re really going to miss having big man Dorsey dominating the inside). We play well together. No selfish play here. It sure was nice seeing Dozier and Anderson back on the court as well as seeing more playing time from Kemp and Taggart. And, my goodness, Henderson-Niles is a tank! I looked it up, he’s 310 pounds! Of course, the asset most worthy of praise is #12. Evans will be a joy to watch this season! Sure, he might not be Derrick Rose, but who is? As good as Evans is, I’m hoping he’s more CDR good, meaning he’ll stay longer than a season.
And, let’s not forget the most meaningful thing about last night’s win. At 221 wins, Coach Cal is now the all-time leader of victories in Tigers’ history, surpassing the legendary Larry Finch! Congratulations Coach!
Should be another fun season!
P.S. Anyone else see this great photo?
