Grow up, Carlos.

Most years it can be very trying being a Chicago Cubs fan. This is one of those years. However the last couple of weeks have been going very well for the team. They had a seven-game winning streak, and had won nine out of their last 11. Then came last Friday night in Atlanta. It was Bobby Cox night, when the Braves retired Cox's number. Carlos Zambrano was pitching and was being extremely hospitable to the Braves. He allowed five home runs, including back-to-back home runs by Freddie Freeman and Dan Uggla. The next batter was Chipper Jones and Zambrano threw two pitches at him. Of course, the umpire tossed him out of the game for that. Zambrano is well-known for tossing temper tantrums when things don't go his way. At those times, a two-year-old shows more maturity. He has fought with his catcher, destroyed a Gatorade container, ripped his teammates in the press, and generally acted like a spoiled brat many, many times. This time he went to the clubhouse, cleaned out his locker, and went home, claiming he was retiring. It was a real mature way to handle the situation. I don't think he was prepared for the Cubs reaction, however.

The Cubs have placed him on the 30 day disqualified list which means he not only is not playing, he also is not receiving any salary. Of course, the players union has already filed a grievance, but I really hope the Cubs stick to their guns. I appreciate the fact that Carlos is a very intense player who doesn't like to lose, but we have seen this kind of behavior too many times. His teammates are tired of the drama that he brings. They have made it pretty clear they don't want to see him return. I am sure he will pitch again but I don't believe it will be in a Cubs uniform. He has come close a few times before of burning that bridge, but this time he used gasoline. He can be a very good pitcher, but his skills are clearly diminishing. Factor in that personality of his and he becomes a liability instead of an asset. Some team out there will be willing to give him a chance. Let them try and tame this man child.

The Cubs seem to play much better and August and September. If we could only start the season, then we might see some success. No matter what, I will still root for them. I am a die-hard Cubs fan, not one of the fair weather fans that only root when their team is winning.

The baseball card pictured here is from my collection. It has in it a piece of uniform that Carlos wore during a game.

Sunday Song.

Jedi Beatles.

Disposable Printers.

Last night I had a gentleman who came in looking for a new printer. He asked me how much the ink cartridges for the printer cost. I looked on the box,  found out which numbers were needed and then went to the shelf to find out. He told me that he had bought one of those printers and had figured out that it was cheaper to buy another printer, rather then to buy the ink cartridges for it.  He had a point on that. It was actually was cheaper to buy that printer than to buy even one of the cartridges. The printer companies today are basically giving you the machine to get you to buy the ink for them, which is where they make their money. I personally wouldn't go that far, but I can see where some people would. It won't work again for him in our store because the printer he bought is not one that we carry on a regular basis, however, it did work last night.

We are living in a very disposable society. It's rare to find products anymore that are meant to last any length of time. We have become so used to things breaking down that we just accept that that's the way it is. It's not going to change anytime soon, it's just a sad commentary on our everyday lives. It is harder to find someone today that takes pride in their craftsmanship. Fortunately there still are a few who do, and it is always nice to run into them. Sometimes all you can afford is the cheapest available, but that doesn't always make the best deal. If you buy something and then six months later have to replace it, how much did you save? I've started using that as a factor when I buy anything. That kind of scares me because it makes me think I'm becoming a responsible adult. (shudder)

During the night my cynical side began kicking in. I thought of a way that the gentleman could be using that to scam us. He could take the printer home, remove the ink cartridges, place the used cartridges back in the box and bring it back for a refund. I'm not saying that he's the type that would do that, but I have seen it done before. When I was working at Kmart I was called to the front to take a gas grill to the back. The first thing that I noticed was that the gas tank was gone. That particular model came with one provided. Then I did what the person who refunded it should have done. I opened up the grill, and saw where the person had used it as a charcoal grill. Sherlock Holmes would've been proud of how I made that deduction, the used charcoal briquettes were still in the grill. What the person had done was come in, bought a new grill, took that home and then brought us back their old grill. Had the person up front been paying attention, it would've been caught. Instead, the guy got him a brand-new grill for free. There are plenty of scam masters out there and you really have to watch out for them. A lot of times is the most unlikely people who will get you.

How About Some Ice Cream?

Unless you are lactose intolerant, very few people don't like ice cream. However, there are some flavors that you might not be adventurous enough to try. I know I'm not. I ran across a list titled 101 Frightening Ice Cream Flavors From Around The World. A majority of those flavors are from Japan, but there are a few that you can find here in the United States.

Several of the Japanese flavors are fish and seafood based. It does make sense considering how much seafood is a part of their diet. I personally cannot see me ever sitting down and eating Octopus, Crab, Shrimp, Fish, or any other flavors of that type. Of course, outside of fish, I am not much of a seafood eater. Food Network used to carry the original Iron Chef series, and some of the things they served there I wouldn't have ate on a dare. Number 43 on that list, I might've liked as a baby. That one is Charcoal flavored. My Grandma Bagby heated her house with a coal burning stove. I have been told that I often could be found eating out of the coal bucket that she had there. However, I'm not so sure that I would enjoy that flavor today.

There are a few American flavors listed here. The Chunky Bacon that I showed here is one of those flavors. That is one I would actually be willing to try. Doesn't bacon make everything taste good? However, I will pass on the Mustard, Chicken Fried Steak, Chocolate Garlic, and the Sauerkraut Sherbet. I do like ice cream, but there are very few on this list that I am willing to try. How about you?

Captain America: The First Avenger.

Yesterday I went and saw the fourth superhero movie of the summer. Out of the four movies, this is the one that I was least looking forward to. That doesn't mean that I did not want to see it, I just wanted to see the other three more. I enjoyed this movie a lot more than I expected to. In fact, I now rank this as my third favorite of all the Marvel movies. This is an incredibly fun movie, with plenty of nods to us comic book fans. The basic origin story is very close to the comic books with a few minor additions that didn't hurt at all.

The movie is set during World War II, but instead of fighting the Nazi's Captain America is fighting an evil organization from the Marvel comic books, Hydra. They are led by his arch enemy from the comics, the Red Skull. In the original comics Hydra did not exist until the 1960s. I have no problem with them appearing here, in fact, it made it a better movie than had Cap been actually fighting the war. Hugo Weaving was great as the Skull. Weaving is always great as a villain. Chris Evans also did a great job playing Captain America. This is not Evans first time in a Marvel movie, he also played Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four movies.

This movie sets up what looks to be like one of the big blockbusters of next summer, The Avengers. Of course us comic book fans knew how Captain America went from World War II to the present day. There was a small preview of the Avengers movie after the credits. I am looking forward to seeing that next year.

On a personal note, I have now started a Facebook account. If you are reading this and want to be one of my friends, click here. This is actually just what I needed, another way to waste time on the Internet.

Now On DVD.

I'm going to change the way I do the new DVD releases a little bit. They will be listed in the order of how they fared at the box office. None of the movies this week were big box office draws. Leading off the list is Paul, a comedy about two friends who find an alien. It is rated 7.1 on the IMDB and brought in $37,412,945.

Coming in a very close second to Paul, was Jumping The Broom, a film that was produced by the T.D. Jakes ministry. The people on the IMDB were not very impressed with the movie. They only rate it a 4.2. While it is not my kind of movie, I don't think most people who did like it voted. I say that because at the box office it brought in $37,295,394. That is pretty good for a movie of that kind.

Your Highness is, as the title implies a stoner movie. It is nothing that I want to see but it did get rated a 5.8 on the IMDB. It was a little disappointing at the box office and only took in $21,596,445. The producers had higher hopes for this movie. ( pun intended)

Mars Needs Moms was a huge disappointment for the Disney company. The budget for the movie was $150 million and it only brought in $21,392,758. Those rating the movie on the IMDB were not very kind, either, rating it a 4.7.

The final movie was a direct to DVD title, Tactical Force, starring Steve Austin. It is not yet rated on the IMDB. To be rated a movie has to have five votes.