Cards From The Captain Comics Board.

I posted this card on the Captain Comics Board. It was the birthday of one of my friends and he had mentioned that Cal Ripken was one of his boyhood idols, so what better than to post a picture of Cal for him. I also am a fan. CR is one of the players I collect. Eventually I will post the others and explain why I like them. The reason I have always liked CR is that he never let his celebrity go to his head. He would stay to sign autographs after every game, no matter how long it took. Although he is best known for his consecutive game streak, he was also a good hitter and a great fielder. It was no surprise he was voted into baseballs Hall Of Fame with 3184 hits, 431 home runs, 1695 runs batted in and a lifetime batting average of .276. With all the bad press some players bring on themselves, it is nice to have a good role model.






Earlier this month I posted this card for another Captain Comics friend, Jeff. Since he is obviously a Cincinnati Reds fan, I thought the team picture from 2008 Topps Heritage would make a nice touch.











The only other card I have posted on the board is this one. The reason I posted this one is one of my friends is a fan of the manga Cromartie High School. Warren Cromartie was a decent player here but became a star in Japan when he played there. The only thing he has to do with the manga is provide the name.

Happy to be arrested?

Every Friday on Smokinggun.com they show a series of mugshots. Here are 8 people who seem to having o good time while their mugshots were taken. I will be posting more of these pictures later. I am also saving some bad hair day shots, but I don't have enough yet.

Autograph Time.

Here is John Smiley who appears to be deep in thought while signing autographs. Maybe he is trying to figure out what to do after baseball. This card is from the 1998 Fleer Ultra set, and Mr Smiley did not appear in any games.

Quick posting.

I have been trying to do too much and not getting anywhere fast. For the next two weeks I am just going to post a baseball card and make a few comments on them. I am trying to get my baseball card collection in order, than I am going to tackle my comics. I picked this card because of the old fashioned uniform. I like it when teams honor their past like that.

Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Tuesday movie night was a little different this week. Normally I go to Vickie's house and we watch a DVD. Tonight we went to the theater and watched Journey To The Center Of The Earth in 3D. This is a really good movie and the 3D effects were amazing. It is not a retelling of the Jules Verne novel. The novel is one of the stars of the movie. I will agree with some of the complaints that I have read that the movie goes in almost a straight line with very few story curves, but I enjoyed that aspect of it. I also am a big Brendan Frasier fan so that added to the movies appeal. If you are wanting to see a movie where you can turn off your mind and enjoy the ride, this one is for you.
IMDB rating:6.7
My rating:8




Todays card is from the 1988 Fleer set. It is a good thing Tim Flannery played for the San Diego Padres. That surfboard would not have done him much good if he played in Kansas City.

The traveling trophies have returned.

I am a die-hard Chicago Cubs fan, and have been since 1969. My buddy in Illinois is a St. Louis Cardinals fan, and we have a lot of fun kidding each other about this. Several years ago I started our version of traveling trophies. Just in case you are not aware of them you can read more about them here. Since I collect baseball cards of course the trophies are cards. Originally they were cards of Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire but that changed when both left. Since the big stars are now Derrek Lee and Albert Pujols they are the trophies. The way it works is when the two meet whichever team wins the series the cards go to them. If it is a two or four game series and the teams split the series, the cards remain with whoever had them. Since the Cardinals had won the first series this year, my friend had the cards. This past weekend the Cubs took two of the three the cards returned to me. Normally we buy a greeting card to put the cards in, the funnier the card the better. This time however my friend was feeling cocky and he upped the ante. Not only were the cards on the line, he wanted to increase the bet to include a DVD. Had the Cardinals won I would have sent him the first Inuyasha movie. Instead he sent me the cards with the Record Of Lodoss War. I'll be reviewing that later. The next time the Cubs and Cardinals meet I will blog about their rivalry.

Todays card is one to make you go ahhh. I really like it when they do cards with the players kids and this is the best I have seen. I will post more later.

Critics.

I realize that when critics review a show they don't like they can be very harsh. To me this critic, Doug Elfman, goes too far. I get the point that he doesn't like American Idol, but his review seems to say his opinion of music is the only one that counts. Before I start I will say I have never watched an episode of American Idol. I have nothing against the show, just I prefer cable shows to network ones. I am going to quote a few things and comment on them.

"And as fans screamed, (David) Cook opened his rock-guy beard mouth to eke out his first horrible song, which they loved: a cover of Lionel Richie's "Hello."

If you don't remember this simpering pop ballad, it meekly goes, "Hello? Is it me you're looking for?"

When it came out in 1984, everyone with decent taste laughed big hearty laughs of humor-horror at how it gave sentimentality a bad name."

I like that song, so according to Mr. Elfman I do not have "decent taste". I am glad someone has pointed that out to me. Just because I don't like something does not make me superior to someone else. I am not familiar with the Josh Groban song he refers to, but the sentence that really got me was this one.

"Another performer sang the 69-year-old "Over the Rainbow," and a teenage girl in the aisle yelled, "That's my song!"

Imagine that. A teenager actually likes a song her Grandmother probably liked. What is the world coming to. I guess we shouldn't like anything that was done before we were born. Let's see, for me that means no big band music, no Humphrey Bogart movies, the original Three Stooges, anything else before 1956. This man is an elitist. Anything that doesn't meet his lofty standards is pure ****. 7000 people enjoyed the show. One didn't. Do the math.

No baseball card today. I need to get a few more scanned.

Decisions.

I have been contemplating this post for awhile now. Life seems to be rushing by and I am not getting things accomplished like I want to. I have decided to make a few changes.

First, this blog. I really want to post everyday, and when things happen that I can't I get discouraged and then don't post for awhile. I am not going to give up and will post at least three times a week. That way if I miss a day it is not so bad. I am going to be doing a few easy posts over the next few weeks. I have been making top ten lists from several different movie genres and I will be posting those, along with a few other ideas I have.

Second, Taco Bell. I have been working three days a week. I am getting physically exhausted from it. I have told them that from now on I will only work two days a week, Monday and Thursday, which is when they get their supplies. I have also given them a six month notice. After this year I quit. I figure a six month notice is much better than what they usually get. Normally they don't even get a six minute notice. I do not plan on ever working two jobs again. After all, I am not getting any younger. I can do it if I must, but only if I don't have another choice.

Third, my comic book collection. With my working and being tired all the time, I have fallen way behind on reading my comics. I am looking closer at the titles I buy and I am going to drop several. I still fight myself over wanting to like a title and keep buying it hoping it will get better. That ends now. Some titles are cheaper buying the trade paperbacks instead of buying the individual issue, so that is what I will do. I am also going to give much more thought to any new titles before I buy them. I have been getting caught up on what I have bought, and I am trying hard to get it all read.

I am going to try and pace myself better, get more rest, and take my medicine regularly. I have high blood pressure and have a bad track record when it comes to taking it. Well, that is my plan. We will see how it goes.