News for the Week of July 16, 2008
Rick’s Writin’s
Happy Birthday to me. Happy Birthday to me! And to my birthday buddies
Patrick Stewart (Star Trek TNG's Captain Picard) Harrison Ford (Star Wars
Han Solo, or…Indiana Jones!) and Cheech Marin from Cheech and Chong!.
I think I have cool birthday buddies. The newspaper birthday list seems
shorter for July 13th than for many other days though. I wonder why that
is. After some checking I also found that famous very rich guy John Jacob
Astor, who died on the Titanic, Father Flannagan, who founded Boy's Town,
Cajun Chef Paul Prudomme and Bob Crane, better known as Col. Hogan on
Hogan's Heroes all had/have July 13th birthdays. IMDB or Internet Movie
Data Base is a great web site!! Who do you share your birthday with??
I find it fun to know.
I had a request from a reader to mention this week's driving peeve: People
that don't know how to use or don't bother to use their turn signals.
I think it shows a total disregard for other drivers aside from leaving
us guessing what the next move the bonehead driver is going to make. There's
so many drivers out there trying to squeeze in front of you at the last
second to make a turn, cutting you off in the first place, and doing it
with no signal of their intentions to boot. That's just outright rude.
Another instance is in intersections where you're waiting to see what
the on-coming driver is going to do before you make your own move (Paula's
peeve). You're left hanging…should you go? Is he turning or going
straight?...No...Yes...No, Oh, they're turning. Mine is the driver going
10 MPH or more under the speed limit for miles it seems, until they finally
pull over into a turn lane. La De Dah De Dah. I'm driving down the road
but I have no intention of telling you what to expect from me. As a driver
who ALWAYS signals, I find it hard to see why so many drivers don't. What's
so tough? I think part of it is the fact that we have many, many more
drivers on the road now that have never taken a formal Driver's Ed. course
than we've ever had before. If you're over eighteen when you apply for
your license and you can pass the test, off you go. Besides, I guess it's
probably hard to use your signal if you're holding a cell phone in one
hand and a cigarette in the other (or you're texting, which requires both
hands) and the knee you're using to steer with doesn't reach, and you
don't want to move the burger and book you have in your lap to use the
other knee because you might spill your Big Gulp.
Books are back on Wednesday, and it's a bit lighter week than the past
couple. I'm pleased because I'm getting a double dose of Cassie Batgirl!!
(Take That! You know who you are, making fun of my comic girlfriend!)
First, is Batman and the Outsiders (#9) with Cassie part of Batman's assembled
Outsiders team, but more importantly, Batgirl (#1 of 6) gets her own mini
series starting this week. Much has happened to Cassie since she's last
had her own title, some of which we know (brainwashed and drugged by Deathstroke,
involvement with the League of Assassins). Some we don't know, which is
the reason for the mini. Also this week is Birds of Prey (#120) with Oracle
and the girls working in a new headquarters, in a new town, where they're
not really very welcome. The town is an upscale Bellevue type city and
the powers that run it aren't happy the Birds have chosen their town to
roost. I think they got something to hide. Final Crisis has its first
mini starting, involving Flash's enemy Rogues with Rogues Revenge (#1
of 3). The Rogues were involved in the death of Impulse Flash Bart Allen
among a bunch of other problems they have and have many good and baddies
searching for them. Captain Cold and his bunch want to hide out, but ohhh
sweet, sweet revenge is too enticing to pass up. How to taste that sweet
treat and keep from getting caught by those after them is the dilemma
before them and our story. Marvel offers the last Garth Ennis written
Punisher (#59). They've drug that out because the last issue was supposed
to be a couple three ago. Mighty Avengers (#16) brings this weeks installment
of Secret Invasion. And, to clear up a point about Secret Invasion. I
asked for feedback on how you folks were liking the story, and I appreciate
what feedback we've received. Please though, don't tell me the story and
what is happening. I'd like to read it for myself. Thanks. Lastly, Buffy
and Angel fans get a third book joining in the group as favorite character
Spike gets his own After the Fall (#1 of 4) mini. That’s it for
comic news...next Mariner Talk.
It being the All Star break I think this is a good time to spell out what
I'd like to see happen in the coming couple of weeks leading into the
July 31st trade deadline and beyond as far as the M's are concerned. It's
disgusting to see how truly broken the team and the whole organization
is after five years of Bavasi buffoonery. There's nobody in the minors
ready to help us soon to really get excited about. And there's a major
overhaul needed at the major league level that's going to take years,
not just one season to fix. Anyhow, now is now so first, I'd like to see
a new look M's when they come back from the break. Both Vidro and Cairo
should be gone when the M's come back unless they can trade and get something
for Willie Bloomquist, then keep possibly Cairo for utility. No more giving
at bats to guys that don't figure into the plan. Bring up newly acquired
Craig Wilson to have a real first baseman, but don't kid yourselves that
this guy will be around long term. He'll be a good fill in until the end
of the year, unless we get a first baseman in a trade in the next couple
weeks. Lahair isn't ready, even for a look/see. Split the catching and
DH'ing with Clement and Johjima. Trade Raul and Bedard for sure and Washburn
if you can get something decent for him. Move Beltre now if you can get
something good for him. We can find a third baseman to tide us over until
the off season if need be, but that move can wait too. I'm becoming fed
up with Yuni's bonehead base running and bat hacking. I'm a fan, but he's
killing us with that crap as my buddy Shonn says, and I now agree. I'd
like that fixed somehow. I don't think Morrow should start, but I'm in
the minority. I just don't think his arm will hold up as a starter. I'd
rather have him healthy in the bullpen than to get a few starts out of
him and then lose him for three months or more because he hurts his arm.
Rowland-Smith looked pretty good as a starter. I sure don't want to see
the bullpen committee used for a start like they've done a couple times
recently. Bring a guy up to start for the day if need be but don't burn
up the bullpen arms. Rhodes could probably go, and we could try out some
minor league lefties and see what we've got. And no, don't trade Ichiro.
If some guys hitting behind him were actually hitting, he'd have more
runs scored and if guys hitting in front of him were hitting and on base,
he'd have more RBI's. I'd like to see him hit for more power though, and
in the gaps. Supposedly, he can do pretty much anything he wants with
the bat. Let's see something more than slap singles. Bottom line is we
just can't keep putting 4-5 guys in the line-up hitting in the low .200's
or lower and expect anything to happen other than the pathetic offensive
display we've had. And pitching wise, tired bullpen arms give up late
inning runs and walk off homers. Hopefully these next couple weeks bring
us more to be happy about other than just Dave Niehaus's Hall of Fame
induction. Congrats Dave, and thanks for all the great memories and years
of enjoyment listening to your game calling! (Like he's actually going
to read this. But if you do Dave, Thanks very much! You're the best!)
Paula’s Picks
Happy Birthday to Rick! He's 72! Doesn't he look great! It's because he
takes his vitamins!
I’m not getting nearly as many books this week as I did last week.
We are getting Burn #3 written by our very own Scott Sanders! We’ve
sold out of the first 2 issues, so if you’ve been reading it, you
should add it to your pull list to make sure you don’t miss out!
A new book I’ll be checking out is Batgirl #1. This is the Cassie
Batgirl and I really like her so I hope this book is a good one.
I was really good about riding my bike last week. It was the first week
that I rode every day. New Comic Day doesn’t count though because
I have to bring boxes home with me for recycling. After riding all week,
it took me about 2 days for my legs to recover! They were so sore! It
was like growing pains all over again! I was surprised that it didn’t
hit me earlier in the week, but I guess since I was using those muscles
all week, they didn’t have the energy to hurt. That’s my guess.
I don’t know the actual science of it. Hopefully, my legs are used
to it now and this week won’t be so bad. I did have my first crash
earlier in the week….into a bush. I took the turn out of the parking
lot and got a little too close to the curb and it knocked me over. It
was during rush hour too, so I know a bunch of people saw me. How embarrassing!
I got to see Hellboy II this weekend. It was really good. It was funnier
than the first one, but that’s just fine with me. I really liked
the creature design too. They were cool with just a little bit of creepy.
PS. He's not really 72, but Ollie is close to his age...in dog years!