This Week in Comics

Captain America #30
Great series,, about the only comic that I can't wait for it to come out. I mean for a title that has lost its main character it still is a fantastic read. Each issue gives a little but then tacks on more unanswered questions and the underlying plot continues to build to some unknown peak. Wow especially the Red Skull comment about Winter Soldier and whether he will be of any use to him....hmmmmm






New X-men #42
Kind of a filler issue and the next issue. Did have the astounding team hanging around...gee I wonder if they are back from space or whether they were the clones? Just throw Wolverine into the mix (instant sales...ha)









Ultimate Spider-Man #114
Wow what a new artist does for a series. Certainly nothing wrong with the former artist but I think the book was getting stale and Stuart's art is just what the book needed. Some excitement and good writing don't hurt either. Anyway love reading the book again. Great art great story. Interesting to see what happens to Peter this time.

College Football

Well I didn't expect them to go undefeated but I thought we'd play BYU a bit tougher. A 31-6 blowout (AF was a 11.5 point underdog) and now our first test against our service academy breathren. We first played Navy why back in 1960, them played them off and on until the commander's and chief trophy came into being in 1972. We hold a 25-14 record against them over the years. We did have a 11 year winning streak from '82 - '92. Currently the goats have a four game win streak. They are favored by 2.5 (3 mid-week). The Denver Post has them losing 31 - 24. I say with an academy grad has a head coach there will be no losing to Navy...extra incentive! I see a 27 - 14 win.

2000 27 - 13 W
2001 24 - 18 W
2002 48 - 7 W
2003 25 - 28 L
2004 21 - 24 L
2005 24 - 27 L
2006 17 - 24 L
2007 ??? (gee wonder why Vegas went with 3 points?)

Interesting games last weekend included...Carolina at LSU (can Spurrier steal one?...A big NO) and Michigan State at Notre Dame (12 1/2 favorites going into South Bend...Yikes! and they won 31 - 14).

Games of interest this weekend...California at Oregon (give some PAC10 some love), Alabama at Florida St (good match up in the old days but surprise this one isn't getting more play).div>

David Lipsky - Absolutely American

Fantastic book, absolutely. Now granted it probably isn't for everyone. West Point and its history has always been of interest to me...throw in that I went to a sister academy and well it is always interesting to see how the other guy compares. The honesty and forthrightness of this book is impressive. There was no sugar coating and the writer held to it by really letting people know the inside scoop. Having taken place from 1998 to 2002, it really encompasses an important time for our military. Vast changes really filtered down and the incidences in it really give a microcosm view of what it means to be in the military. The interesting part to me is that officer's who ran the academy basically saw real combat and that filtered into the academy. Up until 1991 - 1992 it had been 20 years since any real combat occurred and I believe the academies changed in regard to this. With new combat hardened officers things begin to change again. I was amazed by some of the vendettas these officers had about letting certain cadets slip through the cracks. Additional things that I took from the book was the following quote:

"Army's downsizing before Desert Storm I, 1 million personnel then a drawdown the service contracted down to a lean 490,000. The result worked like a science experiment: halve the space and you double the competition.. It was like opening the door to admit one of the worst elements form the civilian world: there was no time to watch each other's back when you are busy watching your own"

This quote is so incredibly true. There aren't many officers today really willing to stand for anything. They are by the book, boring, just trying to maintain status quo. Desire to get through 3 years at one post without screwing up and ruining a career. A real shame and the business about the Lt Col standing up for one of his troops and having his career ruin even though he was the essence of West Point for a few years...devastating. One of the many frustrations I saw on a day to day basis while in the military. A real shame that "professionalism" has turned the military into corporate USA.

Haiku Wednesday

Tailgating

Kids throwing footballs
Bands play, colors fly, drinks flow
Win would be nice too

Lemony Snicket - The Bad Beginning

Needed something sweet and simple to read. Fun little book nothing too crazy. Kid book but all the same a good little read. Good characters and the extra little portion in the paperbook version is worth getting the paperbac. Only 12 more books in the series to read! Ha Ha

James Fenimore Cooper - The Pathfinder

A beast of a book! Started it about a month ago...it has been on my "to read" bookshelf for about 15 years :-(. Finally decided to get through it. Natty Bumpoo (aka Hawkeye, Leather Stocking, and Pathfinder to name a few) is a frontier legend. The LeatherStocking tales is Cooper's most recognized work. It is 5 books written at various times in the Pathfinder's life. Written in 1840, it is the 4th novel telling the tale of Pathfinder. It is a simple tale of leading a young woman through the woods, getting her to her father on an outpost, an adventure to a secret fort, a battle, and then the fade away. Mixed in is a love story (sort of). Decent story, a little wordy in parts, and well a little too much old English. I would shoot someone if they talked like that today...ughhhhh. Difficult to slog through as the tale wasn't gripping, the characters somewhat cardboardish, and the plot a bit see through. Interesting read as the main character has somewhat become the archetype for the American Male mythos. Natty can be traced to Hemingway's male characters which are stoic, easy going yet always prone to having life turn on them. Their resilience is always present and they take each event thrown at them with grace and honor. Good read overall just tough to read a 19th century novel.

Colorado Rockies - Week 25

A 7-0 (OMG!) week against the Dodgers and Padres. Better late than never but did the Roxs wait too long? They certainly got back into the hunt. Unfortunately they still have to hurdle over 2 teams, the Padres and Phillies, for a wild card spot and Arizona for the NL West title. Makes the season ending three game series in Denver suddenly take on greater meaning. Wouldn't it be awesome for the D-backs to roll into Denver with a 2.0 game lead over the Roxs with 3 to play? Ughhh it would be like a pre-playoff series. I'd be a train wreck. But before they get too far ahead, they've got a tricky 3 game series an LA, a notorious difficult place for the Roxs to win. Interesting stat in USAToday. The Roxs, beginning on May 22, are 66-45, 2nd only to the Yanks for the best record since that date. Not to shabby. Hopefully we can keep riding this wave...playoffs? Let's get there first then we can talk playoffs (can you say sleeper, Cardinals, and best offensive in the NL....one week, 6 wins)

Well after all that the Roxs are in 3rd place (4.0 behind) and 1.0 behind in the wild card chase. The Roxs currently stand at 84- 72. Currently 48-30 at home and 36-42 on the road, the Roxs have outscored its opponents 813-731 (expected wins is 86 versus historical wins at 73). On pace for 87 wins. Roxs graphical wins (home in Purple, away in grey).

Weekly WPA leaders (a 7-0 week sure helps the WPA numbers!)

College Football

Hey, hey, hey how about those Falcons. Beating TCU last Thursday night, 20-17, coming behind in the 4th quarter with 2 TDs then winning it in overtime. What a big game (AF opened as a 7 point underdog which moved to 8 by gameday) and now we head back to Utah for a game against our nemesis, BYU. We first played BYU back in 1956 and since that lost we have gone 6-21 against them and have only managed a 2-10 record at BYU. The glory year that was 1985, AF went 12-1 and the only game they lost? Yup BYU. So an evenly matched set of teams over the last 7 years with big blow out wins and big scores. Don't think we will see that this weekend. Once again the Post picked them to lose 27 - 17 and I had this game as another loss. AF could be looking ahead to next weeks game against Navy. A win this weekend would help AF a long way to possibly winning a conference title. Unfortunately history says to me AF's luck will run out and they will lose 24 - 21.

2000 32 - 12 W
2001 33 - 63 L
2002 52 - 9 W
2003 24 - 10 W
2004 24 - 41 L
2005 41 - 62 L
2006 14 - 33 L
2007 ???

Interesting games last weekend included...Citadel at Wisconsin (Citadel kept it close for a half). Tennessee at Florida (Why isn't Florida number 1, they haven't loss since winning the national championship??), and Notre Dame at Michigan (no tie, just a Michigan blow out).

Games of interest this weekend...Carolina at LSU (can Spurrier steal one?) and Michigan State at Notre Dame (12 1/2 favorites going into South Bend...Yikes!).

Project Oxcart

The Oxcart Story maintained at the CIA website is an extraordinary honest depiction of one of the most secret airplanes of all time. In fact I find it amazing that it is so honest. Check this section out, "Instead, a secluded site in Nevada was finally picked. It was deficient in personnel accommodations and POL storage, and its long-unused runway was inadequate, but security was good, or could be made so, and a moderate construction program could provide sufficient facilities. Lockheed estimated what would be needed in such respects as monthly fuel consumption, hangars and shop space, housing for personnel, and runway specifications. Armed with the list of major requirements, Headquarters came up with a construction and engineering plan. And in case anyone became curious about what was going on at this remote spot, a cover story stated that the facilities were being prepared for certain radar studies, to be conducted by an engineering firm." Wow for a site that isn't supposed to exist this report comes out and pretty much spells it out. What an interesting report...world's most secretive plane followed by proof of the most secretive Air Force Base in the world.

Haiku Wednesday

Haiku - Autumn

Aspens golden hue
Brush upon nature's canvas
Green lonely pinetrees

Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona

Game 152 was good for the home team, and not so good for the Giants who appearred to have mailed it in. 3 pitchers through four innings! Yikes. To be honest I wasn't all that thrilled to be going to game with the Rox's adversaries. But it is baseball and well that is well worth the price of admission. This is my 12th ballpark. I have been to Turner Field, Camden Yards, Yankee Stadium, Fenway, Metrodome, Coors Field, Safeco, and Dodger Stadium (Also been to the Fulton County Stadium, Mile High, and Cleveland's Municipal). The ballpark is kind of quirky. It sorta of feels like a converted football stadium. The building is a big rectangular box with the roof sliding together with the crease meeting at the home plate to center field line. Thus the interior is a mirror image of one another (although it is 350 down one line and 355 down the other). Because of this you feel a bit awkward as everything is same. At least with Seattle's Safeco the roof slides over but the ballfield is situated off the centerline so there is no symmetry. Other unusual things...the home team dugout was on the right side (3rd Base side) of the plate (?) Is this unusual? Coors, Fenway, and Camden all have the home team on the first base side. There was a monitoring well in the middle of the concourse in left center (hey I'm an environmental engineer!). The game was played with roof open and there was a lovely moon with Antares. I sat out by the pool in right center. 44,000 people showed up for a Tuesday night game! And there was alot of energy...Coors Field just doesn't have this type of atmosphere. I was bit surprised as I thought Arizona was kind of like California baseball...laid back...but there was an excitement for this team. They are in a pennant chase (the Roxs are too, sort of) but this town loves the D-backs whereas Denver had an affair with the Roxs in the early 90s but then Denver is and always will be a Bronco town. Too bad because baseball in town that is excited about baseball makes the game a real joy to be at. If the Roxs don't make it, I'm pulling for the D-backs.

Colorado Rockies - Week 24

A 3-4 week against the NL East, Phillies and Marlins. Well if the Roxs don't make the playoffs this past week will be the reason. An okay 2 -2 road trip to Philly, although we could have taken a 3rd game if it hadn't been for a missed HR. Not a definite win but an extra run and who knows. This is the 3rd missed HR for the Roxs this year. Instant replay for baseball? Something to think about...with technology the way it is, how could you not want to get the play right. Although my guess is that it becomes a slippery slope...could we see the day without a umpire calling balls and strikes? Anyway, then the real slap in the face...losing 2 of 3 to the Marlins...one of the worst teams in baseball. Again the Roxs will look back over the year and see their record against poor teams as the reason they weren't playing in October. Got to win the gimmes. Well, the Roxs are in 4th place (6.5 behind) and 4.5 behind in the wild card chase. The Roxs currently stand at 77- 72. Currently 44-30 at home and 33-42 on the road, the Roxs have outscored its opponents 771-707 (expected wins is 80 versus historical wins at 70). On pace for 84 wins. Roxs graphical wins (home in Purple, away in grey)

Weekly WPA Leaders:

Well what can you say? 13 games to go, all against the NL West. 7 games with LA, 3 with SD, and 3 with Arizona. & games with LA can certainly leap frog us over them, we might still be withing striking distance of SD and the final series with Arizona (could we be spoilers at least?). Who knows at this point, the Roxs gave a good run. Let's go out swinging at least!

Game 149 - Colorado Rockies

Game 149 - Wow, I keep going to games! Everytime I think I've been to my last one then off I go again. This one was an easy one to watch...no 9th inning rally...my last two were bottom 9th nail biters. This was over early and thus was nice to watch. Todd Helton got his 300th home run. That puts Todd 114th all time home runs, one behind Roger Hornsby. George Brett sits at 100th with 317. I think Todd might get there! The Roxs previous 1B sits at 399 and his tied for 43rd. At 33 Todd probably has another good 5 years in him and at 20 a year he might get to 400 but I doubt it. He seems to have become a doubles hitter and doesn't appear have that HR power anymore on a consistent basis. Anyway good game left after 6 has the rains came and it was 11 - 0.

Heroes....or Where Was I?

Well, I loved the new show Heroes that started last fall. I watched it pretty closely up through mid season then I missed a couple of shows and then I could never get back on track. With the release of the DVD of Season 1, I finally caught up on the 11 shows that I missed! Four days of straight heroes and wow what an awesome first season. What is great with this show is that it responds to cliffhangers and then brings new ones on. Other great shows like Lost or X-files was good but the twists and turns just never completed the story. Season 1 of Heroes, like a good comic book series, had cliffhangers after each episode but they became a part of the story rather than just a plot tool to bring us back. Of the 11 shows, there was some not so good episodes but overall the series was a must-see. Characters all grew, the plot weaved through 23 episodes, and the ending was like a good Christmas gift (nicely wrapped up and having enough mystery to make us wonder but once opened satisfied with what is was!). My only complaint was Peter really wasn't all that believable about him not controlling his powers. He had controlled it previously what caused him to go nuclear with this episode...I thought that was particularly weak and the only real bummer because everything else wrapped up nicely. Season 2 starts next week...it will be interesting to see if they can launch and hold onto another season.

College Football

TCU visits Air Force today. Short week for both teams with AF coming up big against Utah (AF was the underdog giving 7 1/2 to Utah, opened 10, and over/under was 47 1/2) and TCU crashing against Texas. TCU has had AF number for quite sometime. Back in 1993, AF was undefeated until losing at TCU. Since TCU joined the mountain west AF has never been close. The game in 2005 was infamous in that it led to DeBerry looking like a fool because of some statements about black athletes. Neither game has been close, AF looks to get on track this year. TCU's coach has already put out some fighting words claiming not to believe in Calhoun and that AF is still an option team. Well we shall see, I hope AF lights them up!

2005 48 -10 L
2006 38 -14 L
2007 ???

I predicted this game to be a lose but I think it will be close. TCU 27 - 14.

Interesting games this weekend...Citadel at Wisconsin (Yikes!). Tennessee at Florida (look out Vols...it will be punishing), and Notre Dame at Michigan (hee hee too bad there aren't ties anymore!).

Haiku Wednesday

Haiku - Popcorn

Movie theatre
Buttery smell, sweet cola
Feet stuck to the floor!

Little Bit of This...Little Bit of That

Indiana Jones 4 is now titled "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" I mouthful of a title.

Comics for the last two weeks

Buffy #6
Great start with new writer, Brian K. Vaughan and I have to admit it writing was a heck of lot easier to follow. I enjoyed Whedon's work but I thought it was a bit convoluted and it wasn't until I read the wikipedia entry and then finally figured what was going on. I almost think Joss is so familiar with these characters he forgets to fill the rest of us in. Anyway good launching point for Brian...I enjoy the Faith and Giles teaming. Should be a good series.











Uncanny X-men #490
Why can't anyone put together an interesting take on this book? Have all the good stories been taken? Is the x-mythology just too weighted town. Returning to the Morlock tunnels sounded good and it is neat to see Skids again (SHIELD agent?) but why can't there be action, adventure, fun? These plots just don't go anywhere...I just don't care. Girrrr

Colorado Rockies - Week 23

A 4-2 week against the division rivals, Giants and Padres. Two good winning series. Would have been nice to sweep the Giants but we did gain some on the Wild Card standings so you can't expect anymore. It is good to be talking Roxs baseball in September but it will certainly be a struggle down the stretch. The bandaid that has become our pitching staff can only go so far. Dessens and Redman certainly aren't going to take us there. Francis can only pitch every 5 days and Jimenez has done a good job. Fogg is inconsistent and Morales is just over his head. Prime example of this is Hurdle using 10 pitchers (!, tied a major league record for most pitchers for a 9 inning game) to steal a win against the Padres on Friday night...Yikes! Don't think we want to try LaRussa experiment while in a playoff hunt. The Roxs are in 4th place (6.0 behind) and 3.0 behind in the wild card chase. The Roxs currently stand at 74 - 68. Currently 43-28 at home and 31-40 on the road, the Roxs have outscored its opponents 721-670 (expected wins is 76 versus historical wins at 66). On pace for 84 wins. Roxs graphical wins (home in Purple, away in grey)

Weekly WPA Leaders: Well the relievers were the big winners this week with Corpas and Herges. Helton continues to show why it is too bad he wasn't traded to a real contender. I think Helton would do like Walker during his sole world series appearance, hit the crap out of the ball. Here's hoping Todd makes it next year (alright he still has a chance this year but unless he can go out every 5 days and pitch, I'm not holding my breath!)

One Year in the Books...or Forever Lost Electrons

Yup...one year tomorrow. I've bored myself for 226 posts last year or 62% of the available days. Not bad, pretty consistent. Since I started tagging my posts the "Rockies" have won out at 31 posts, followed by books at 21, and haiku with 14. Favorite posts include the 10/9 rant on NASA, my classic movies, my cute titled post on 1/10, "Apple Newton 3.0", the Captain America RIP post, my Chabon posting on 5/17, and the Monday Roxs feature and finally my Wednesday Haiku. It has been a fun ride so far...and so here is to another good year of posting!

College Football Friday

Air Force visits Utah on Saturday. An interesting series over the last few years. DeBerry played the Urban Meyer teams pretty closely over the years. Alot of heart breakers for AF.

2002 30 - 26 W
2003 43 - 45 L
2004 35 - 49 L
2005 35 -38 L
2006 14 -17 L
2007 ???

I predict a 28 - 24 Win for AF! What the heck, we're due! Good win last week, I was a bit nervous for the Falcons has we had a new coach and new offense. Some things I never expected to read in my local paper, the Denver Post, and I quote:

"However, Guenther (the center) had trouble with the center snaps with quarterback Shaun Carney in the shotgun early in the game...." Shotgun????

"...surprised South Carolina St. coming out with 5 receivers and empty backfield..." Hmmmm...what happened to run, run, pass, punt???

Too bad for Michigan and Notre Dame last week, HA HA...at least we don't have to listen to any national championships. Big games of interest LSU vs. VTech and TCU vs. Texas.

Camping

Went camping this weekend. Living in Colorado you sometimes forgot how close you are to beautiful majestic places. I think I've become dulled to the beauty. A pleasant weekend camping trip was all it took to readjust that attitude! A nice campsite outside of Jefferson, Colorado, named Lodgepoll about 3 miles south of Lake Jefferson. Also right near the Colorado Trail. There is something to be said about leaving the electronic world behind and returning to an earlier time. Very primal and almost surreal. Sitting next to a fire each night watching the wood burn, the flames lick, the embers glow like nature's LED lights. If memories and DNA are related than camping is that bridge to remind us of a time when fire was the most important thing. In addition to being outside the one thing you really notice is the night time sky. The milky way gets blocked out by the city lights but in the mountains it glows with an eerie silence. To sit and gaze into a sky where constellations lose their urban definitions. Although you still can't lose sight of the technology blanket we have as you watch satellites stroll along the stars. Seeing a sky like that is somewhat humbling as the universe is thrust upon you and infinity becomes visual. I pity the city dwellers who never make it out and see the wilderness and sky and realize the world is a much bigger place then the city blocks that surround them.

Haiku Wednesday

Haiku - Remembering

Cubicle's forest
Post-it notes stuck everywhere
They flutter like leaves

Game 138 - Colorado Rockies

Game 138 was another wild ride...felt like I was watching Game 128 but in a different section! One of those games they probably should have lost. Had the bases loaded twice and didn't score (left 11 on for the night). Got lucky with the umpire's ejection of Wilson in the 8th which ultimately lead to Matsui's (!) score tying hit. Kind of hate September baseball with the the deeper bench. It makes the manager do crazy things like managing like he is in an all-star game. Two pinch runners, Stewart pinch hitting in the bottom of the 3rd for Morales (who obviously didn't have it). Then crazy pinch hitting throughout the rest of the game. Atkins looked awful at the plate, can't believe he walked on 4 pitches in the bottom of the 9th which then brought up Atkins and his heroic basehit. All in all a good game.

Colorado Rockies - Week 22

A 3-3 week against the division rivals, Giants and D-Backs. Not a real positive road trip. A good 2-1 against the D-backs and a good win against Webb, but 1-2 against the cellar Giants. Always good to play well against the division. Looking at the expanded standings and it is somewhat revealing. The Roxs are only 26-27 while the division leader Padres are 32-22 against the NL West. Also, all the division teams have a good home record but to be a contender you need a decent road record and the Roxs 31-40 record is below that of the Padres, D-backs, and LA (who have 34 and 35 wins). Looking at the runs scored/runs against on the road (313-319)shows that the Roxs certainly are capable of playing better but for some reason are 4 wins behind where they should be...and would in fact be closer to contending! The Roxs are in 4th place (5.0 behind) and 5.0 behind in the wild card chase. Another important homestand against the Giants and Padres. The Roxs currently stand at 70 - 66. Currently 39-26 at home and 31-40 on the road, the Roxs have outscored its opponents 660-647 (expected wins is 72 versus historical wins at 63). On pace for 83 wins. Roxs graphical wins (home in Purple, away in grey)

Weekly WPA Leaders: