An Old Favorite And A New Favorite

Psychedelic Furs - James - Dear Boy
Franklin Music Hall
Philadelphia, PA - July 13, 2019
Photo Gallery
I first saw the Psychedelic Furs in Jim Thorpe nine months ago and they were incredible.  I couldn't pass up the chance to see them again; this time at the Electric Factory in Philly (I still can't bring myself to call it "Franklin Music Hall").  As great as they were last October, this performance was even better.  I can't begin to tell you how awesome it is to hear Heartbreak Beat live.  It's my all time favorite song, and I cannot put into words how thankful I am to have been present to see it performed by the Psychedelic Furs not once, but twice.

As great as their performance was, I was completely and unexpectedly blown away by James.

When I first bought the tickets, I really didn't even notice Dear Boy and James, and I had assumed that they were both opening acts.  Dear Boy is a relatively new group, and they performed a good opening set that I enjoyed.

A few days before the concert, I did a quick search on James and learned that they had a hit in 1993 called Laid that I know and enjoy.  If you've seen the American Pie movies, you've heard it.  It's one of those songs that most people might not know by the name or the artist, but if you play two seconds of the beginning, they can sing the rest of the song.  When I learned about this, I was happy that I would see an opening artist who had a song I was familiar with.

Before the show, I met a dude from Rhode Island who told me that James is his favorite band and this was his third time seeing them on this tour.  Not gonna lie - I was a bit shocked to hear that, but it made me think that maybe there was more to this band than I was aware of.  He filled me in on who this group was and what they're about.  They're an alternative rock band out of Manchester who began in 1982.  The band broke up in 2001 when lead singer went off to work on other projects, but they came back together in 2007 and have been touring and releasing new albums ever since.  He told me the band toured with The Smiths back in the 80's, and cited a few artists who had a similar sound and message, all of whom I was a fan of.  It sounded right up my alley, and I was pretty hyped up to see his set before it began, but nothing could have prepared me for how incredible this would be.

Tim Booth may be the most intense and captivating singer I've ever seen live in concert.  His presence demands your attention, and it's entirely genuine and real.  The set began like a shotgun blast with a song called Hank.  The lyrics make it very clear what the song is about and the values that the artist stands for.  It is everything that a protest song should be - powerful, intelligent, and unmistakable in it's message.  It was also a fantastic opening to a set that included Booth scaling the wall and singing Tomorrow while hanging off of the balcony on the second floor, and singing Picture Of This Place while crowd surfing face down.  Between these, Booth explained that he wrote All I'm Saying about his best friend who died of cancer, but didn't tell anyone that she had the disease.  As he sang his incredibly moving tribute to her, I doubt that there was a dry eye in the building.  By the end of this set, I went from barely remembering this band as the guys from the American Pie song to feeling a level of respect and admiration that is equal to any artist whose work I've been lucky enough to experience.

Porking In The Car

Pulled Pork King
Burger King - Hazleton, PA
First of all, I love that this is product includes the words "Pork King".  I'm picturing an ad campaign where a car is in the parking lot.  It's rocking and the windows are all steamed up.  The manager knocks on the window and it rolls down to reveal the King eating this sandwich, followed by the tag line "Pork King in the car... have it your way."

As for the food itself, my opinion is a bit torn.  It was a good sandwich and I'm glad I got to try it, but something is missing.  Maybe it would be better with cheese or bacon?  I don't know.  I just know that I wished I had gotten a Rodeo King instead.

Really Dude?

For the discerning gentleman who wants a clean ass, but is scared to death that touching it might make him gay.

Pop Ink

A friend of mine recently got to meet Tiffany and Debbie Gibson backstage at a concert.  The ladies signed his arm, and he had the autographs tattooed.  Timmi posted it on Twitter, and it was re-tweeted by Tiffany.

The 2019 All-Star Phillies

During Spring Training, there was a lot of speculation over how many Phillies would be All-Stars by mid season.  The general consensus among fans and podcasters was that Harper and Realmuto would definitely get voted in, and there was potential for Rhys Hoskins, Aaron Nola and Jean Seugra as well.  It wasn't an outlandish prediction.  The Phillies added four players over the winter who were All-Stars in 2018.  As it turned out, the Phillies won't have any starters on the 2019 All-Star Team, and we'll have our third consecutive season of only one All-Star representative who will ride the bench to start the game (Realmuto), but two of my favorite Coffee Cup Phillies from the past have experienced a career resurgence and have been voted to start for the American League this year.

The Phillies signed Carlos Santana to a three year contract prior to the 2018 season.  He was a productive bat in the lineup (and to televisions in the clubhouse), but it's fair to say that it wasn't his best season.  While I would have loved to see him stay with the Phillies, his signing caused a problem because it forced Rhys Hoskins to left field - a position he should never play again under any circumstance.  Santana was traded with J.P. Crawford to the Mariners for Jean Segura and Juan Nicasio.  Ten days later, the Mariners flipped Santana to the Indians for Edwin Encarnación, and Santana has been having a fantastic season in his return to Cleveland.  He will be the starting first baseman for the 2019 AL All-Star Team today.

Hunter Pence was acquired by the Phillies in 2011 after a mid-season trade with the Astros.  He wasted no time endearing himself to the city after scoring the winning run in extra innings shortly.  In the post-game interview that night, he was asked what was going through his mind as he rounded third base, and he responded with "Great game.  Let's go eat."  The phrase became to the 2011 NL East Champion Phillies what Brad Miller's Bamboo briefly became to the team this year.  Sadly, the good times didn't last into 2012.  The team fell into a tailspin and began trading away all of the star players for prospects.  Pence was traded to the Giants for Tommy Joseph, Nate Schierholtz and Seth Rosin.  None of the players that we received in that deal did much for the Phillies, while Pence helped lead the Giants to win the 2012 World Series.  Prior to the 2019 season, most of the baseball world had assumed that this was the end of Pence's career.  He was a 36 year old free agent coming off of several seasons of sharply declining production, and there weren't very many rumors of teams that were interested in signing him.  In fact, he didn't sign with the Texas Rangers until the first week in February, and it was a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training.  However, Pence has been on fire and has already hit more home runs in half of 2019 than he had in each of the previous four seasons.  From a minor league contract that didn't guarantee a roster spot, Pence was voted to be the AL All-Star Team's starting designated hitter.  Unfortunately a strained groin will keep him from playing, but it's an impressive comeback story nonetheless.

Congratulations to Carlos Santana and Hunter Pence.

Orange You Glad They're Not Banana

Orange Cream Pop Snack Balls
Herr's (2019)
The Hometown Farmers Market is the place to find all of the bizarre snack foods that no stores carry.  These are basically cheese balls that are Creamsicle flavored instead of being covered in cheese powder.  They're surprisingly very good with a flavor very similar to sugary breakfast cereal, but with a more light and airy texture.

Swahili Conservation Message

Lehigh Valley Zoo
Schnecksville, PA
It's been a nice, sunny weekend - perfect to spend a little time with some animals.

Happy National Fried Chicken Day

Today is National Fried Chicken Day.

I want to see Hallmark come out with a greeting card for this.  I want to see communities get together on the local high school football field and do the chicken dance.  I want to see eight herbs and spices strapped to the leftover fireworks from Thursday and shot into the sky, sprinkling the crowd with Kentucky fried deliciousness.  I want to see a birth announcement today for a child named Colonel Popeye.

Make it happen.

Uncle Rocket Pants

A Return To Hawkins

Stranger Things
Season 3 (2019)
After months of anticipation complete with New Coke, Upside Down Whoppers and David Harbour throwing out the first pitch at Citizens Bank Park, the third season of Stranger Things is on Netflix today.

Two Milestones, One Swing

Tonight in Atlanta, with one swing of the bat, Bryce Harper recorded career hit #1,000 on his 200th career home run.  He's the first person to ever reach both milestones at the same time.  As of tonight, 20% of Harper's career hits have been home runs.

Cody Rhodes Makes Pudding With Unicorns

All I can picture is a kitchen where Ultimo Dragon casts spells on a Snack Pack treasure chest and Stardust sitting on the back of a unicorn while stirring a massive pot of pudding.

Four First Round Future Phils

Monday, July 1, 2019
New Hampshire Fisher Cats @ Reading Fightin Phils
First Energy Stadium - Reading, PA

Pitching: Jon Harris vs. Mauricio Llovera
Results: Fisher Cats defeated Fightin' Phils, 7-5
Photo Gallery

For a brief time last week, the Double A team had four first round draft picks on the team at the same time:

• Cornelius Randolph (LF) - 10th overall pick in 2015 - 22 years old (tomorrow)
• Mickey Moniak (CF) - 1st overall pick in 2016 - 21 years old
• Alec Bohm (3B) - 3rd overall pick in 2018 - 22 years old
• Adam Haseley (CF / RF) - 8th overall pick in 2017 - 23 years old

Since then, Haseley's rehab assignment has taken him to Triple A.  Also, Moniak was removed from the 6th inning of the game last night after tweaking his hamstring, so he sat out of tonight's game to heal up.  However, Alec Bohm and Cornelius Randolph both played and had a great game.  Randolph went 2-4 and Bohm went 2-5 with a stand-up triple to right center.  First baseman Darick Hall also had a great game, going 2-3 with a home run and two walks.  It looked like the Phils were cruising to a victory, but the Fisher Cats tied the score at 5-5 in the 7th and pulled ahead in the 9th when Josh Palacios hit a triple to score Nash Knight.  He then scored on a Christian Williams double.

It was a bummer that the Fightin's lost, but the game was a lot of fun.  Bohm is the real deal.  The talk is that he may be the starting 3B in Philadelphia next season.  The highlight of the night for me happened in the 8th inning when they put me on the big screen for one of the trivia games.  The way it worked is that I represented the guys in attendance, and the trivia question was "what percentage of the Fightin' Phils players have shaved their legs at some point in their life".  I had to give a number, and then the woman who was selected to represent all of the gals in attendance had to guess if the correct answer was higher or lower.  I guessed 25%, and the female contestant guessed that the correct answer would be lower.  Mickey Moniak then came on the big screen to say that the right answer was 33%, so I won four tickets to a game later this month, which was a pretty awesome and unexpected birthday present.  The dude who asked me the trivia question mentioned that it was my birthday, so as we were leaving the stadium, a bunch of people who recognized me from the big screen wished me a happy birthday.  I'm not always super comfortable with attention, but honestly, it made my night.

AEW Is The Real Deal

AEW Fyter Fest
Ocean Center - Daytona Beach, FL
If you are a fan of professional wrestling and you didn't watch All Elite Wrestling: Fyter Fest, please do yourself a favor and go stream it now.  This show was held in conjunction with the CEO Gaming and it was streamed live for free on B/R Live in the United States and Canada, and on the Fite Network elsewhere around the world.

I don't want to spoil any of the matches or label anything with star ratings, but I will say this: I have never heard of 22 year old Darby Allin prior to this show, but he is an absolutely incredible pro wrestler.  I cannot overstate how excellent his match with Cody Rhodes was, and how much command over his character and his performance that Allin has.  I highly recommend watching the entire show, including the "Buy In" pre-show, but if you only have time for one, Cody vs. Allin is the one to watch.

The Heyman/Bischoff Era

On Thursday, Sports Illustrated reported that Paul Heyman has been named the Executive Director of Monday Night Raw while Eric Bischoff will take on the same role on Smackdown.  According to the article, the roles are legitimate and not part of a scripted storyline, like the "general manager" role that WWE rolls out from time to time, but the advertisements sent to potential ticket buyers for next week's Raw and Smackdown seem to indicate that the roles will be acknowledged on the show.

Paul Heyman has a reputation of being one of the most creative and effective bookers in the history of the industry, taking ECW from an unknown brand operating out of bingo halls to a worldwide brand.  Meanwhile, Eric Bischoff took WCW from a runner-up brand in a dying industry in the early 90's to the premier brand of professional wrestling, and is largely responsible for the renaissance of the industry in the mid to late 90's.

While both promoters have strengths and weaknesses, both have created pro wrestling characters and storylines that are far superior to the disastrous writing that has plagued WWE television for nearly 20 years.  The success of this move depends entirely on one person - Vince McMahon.  If he can stay out of the way and let Paul and Eric work with their creative teams, this has the potential to greatly improve WWE programming.  If he continues to meddle in the creative process, this will be just the latest in an ever growing list of professional wrestling that could have been great if not for the influence of a man who is several decades out of touch with the audience.

They're Very Refreshing

They're giving away a free download of the Junior Mints episode of Seinfeld from 1993 when you buy a box of the candy.  It's the perfect snack for having your spleen removed.

The Mets Are Bamboo-zled

Mike Francesa’s live reaction the Jean Segura’s walk off home run is an instant classic.

Since Brad Miller brought that bamboo plant into the clubhouse, the Phillies have broken a 7 game losing streak by sweeping the Mets in a four game series.  They capped off the sweep by hitting two home runs off of Mets closer Edwin Diaz in the bottom of the 9th.  In each game of the series, the Phillies came from behind to beat the Mets, including two walk off victories (their first two of the season).  This is the first time the Phillies swept the Mets in a four game series since 2007.

The latest walk off home run by Jean Segura earlier today inspired Mets radio personality Mike Francesa to launch into a tirade and suggest that the team head south down the turnpike and allow the '69 Mets to suit up and take on the Braves in their upcoming series.

Meanwhile in Philadelphia, bamboo has become the hottest selling item in Chinatown.  Also, Brad Miller's Bamboo has its own profile on Twitter, and the souvenir shops at Citizens Bank Park have gotten on board with their own collection of lucky plants for sale.

The Phillies are flying down to Miami this evening for a three game series with the Marlins that starts tomorrow.  John Clark of NBC Sports bumped in to Phillies reliever J.D. Hammer, who is making sure that Brad Miller's lucky bamboo makes the trip with the team.

Whoops There Goes Another Bamboo Plant

Tuesday, June 25, 2019
New York Mets @ Philadelphia Phillies
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Pitching: Walker Lockett vs. Jake Arrieta
Results: Phillies defeated Mets, 7-5
Photo Gallery

Someone that my dad works with gave him tickets to last night's game, so we had an unexpected Tuesday night at the ballpark.  Because of this, I spent most of the day in a Rockstar and coffee-fueled haze as I tried to get through a day of work without collapsing into a coma, but it was well worth the lack of sleep.

Prior to the game, the Phillies honored The Sounds of Philadelphia as a part of African American Heritage Celebration Night.  The highlight of the celebration was Russell Thompkins Jr (lead singer of 70's soul icons The Stylistics) singing You Make Me Feel Brand New before the start of the game.  He also sang Take Me Out To The Ballgame during the 7th inning stretch.

Actor David Harbour threw out the first pitch of the game.  He plays police chief Jim Hopper on Stranger Things, and he showed up to the ballpark without New Coke or an Upside Down Whopper.  On the plus side, it looked like he threw a strike.

It didn't look like it was going to be a good night for the Fightins for the first few innings.  Jake Arrieta didn't have his best stuff.  He gave up a base hit on the first pitch of the game, and the Mets scored in each of the first three innings, including home runs to Amed Rosario and Dominic Smith. The Phillies hit a pair of solo home runs - Scott Kingery in the 1st and Rhys Hoskins in the 4th.  By the middle of the 6th, the Mets were leading 5 - 2, but the Phillies fought back in the bottom of the 6th.  Bryce Harper drew a walk and J.T. Realmuto hit a double to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. Jay Bruce scored Harper from third on a groundout to bring the score to 5-3. Caesar Hernandez then singled to drive home Realmuto, and Maikel Franco hot a two run homer to give the Phillies their first lead of the game. Brad Miller (inspired by his lucky bamboo) came up to bat next and hit his first home run as a member of the Phillies to take a 7-5 lead that the Phillies would hold for the rest of the game.

After giving up home runs in consecutive at bats to Franco and Miller, Mets pitcher Wilmer Font proved himself to be a real piece of garbage by throwing at Scott Kingery's head. He ended up catching Kingery in the shoulder, and instead of ejecting the pitcher, home plate umpire "Cowboy" Joe West issued a warning to both teams. Gabe Kapler came out to argue the ridiculous call and was thrown out of the game. West has been the biggest horses ass in all of baseball for many years, so this is just another line on his long resume of asinine decisions. It's safe to say that absolutely no one in the game will miss Joe West when he's gone.

The Phillies bullpen didn't make it easy, but they managed to get through the rest of the game without giving up a run.  This is the first game in Philadelphia that I've been to with my Dad that the Phillies won.  Whoops, there goes another rubber tree bamboo plant.

Health Food At The Ballpark

Donut Burger
Boardwalk Eats
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
My dinner at the game tonight consists of a thick hamburger topped with applewood smoked bacon bacon, American cheese and cherry pepper jam in a glazed donut bun.

Brad's Bamboo

This horribly pieced-together collection of screenshots from an NBC Sports video shows Phillies utility infielder Brad Miller holding his lucky bamboo.  Brad is confident that this plant will end the Phillies losing streak, which is currently at 7 straight games after being swept by the Nationals and the Marlins.

As I write this, the Mets just took a 6-5 lead in the top of the 5th inning.

Four Birds In Five Hours

A certain 22 pound schnoodle is having a field day chasing birds.  This little fellow is the fourth one that he's caught or cornered in the past five hours.  He has also managed to chase a baby bunny into a bush, and he's kept a close watch on it in the hopes that it will hop out.

My Sunday afternoon has been spent chasing after the wildlife in the yard and relocating Harvey's new feathered friends to my neighbors yard where they will be safe, and hopefully smart enough to not come back and get caught again.

The Moon Is Made Of Marshmallows

Oreo Marshmallow Moon cookies
Mondelēz (2019)
If ever there was a product marketed specifically to me, this is it.  Limited edition snack food?  Check.  Glow-in-the-dark packages?  Check.  Free stickers?  Check.  NASA and rocketships?  Check.  Delicious cookies with creme that tastes like Lucky Charms marshmallows?  Check.

Someone wake me out of my sugar coma before work on Monday.

Ten Year Challenge

Better late than never.

The Warehouse In The Woods

Dave Matthews Band
Summer 2019 Tour
Bethel Woods Center For The Arts - Bethel, NY
When I was in my early teens, my favorite store to visit was Gallery Of Sound.  Not only did they have tapes and CDs at decent prices, but they also had imports that no other store had, and they would tear the cover off of the previous month's Guitar World magazines that had gone unsold and put them at the front of the store to take for free.  Next to this pile of free rock magazines were a line of cardboard boxes in front of signs, with a pencil and little scraps of paper nearby.  If you filled one out with your name and phone number and put it in the box, you were entered for a chance to win a prize.  I never won the grand prize, but I did end up with some pretty cool things, like an autographed Deep Purple CD box set.  This was also how I was introduced to the music of what would become one of my favorite bands after I won a copy of Under The Table And Dreaming along with a t-shirt and a hat.

These tickets were an early birthday present, and it was a very good show.  I didn't get to see much of the stage due to the two massively tall hippies dry humping each other directly in my field of vision, but Bethel Woods had recently installed screens on the lawn, so I still got to see the show.  The acoustics of the venue are fantastic, and Dave sounded as amazing as usual.

Standing Guard Outside The Hippie Mecca

ZacMax Monster
Bethel, New York
I passed this awesome statue of a metal cyclops holding a ray gun on the way to see the Dave Matthews Band.  He's on County Road 117 just a little bit before you get to the entrance of The Museum at Bethel Woods in Bethel, New York.

This was the best picture I could get of it while I was driving past, but there are better photos of it on his Instagram.  He has a ton of pictures of his rad art there, and on ZacMax.com.

Killing The Shift

Matt Carpenter just bunted for a double... yes, you read that correctly! pic.twitter.com/mtJUNpG4ji

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) June 18, 2019

The shift has been one of the worst things to happen to the game.  I hate when the Phillies do it, and I hate when other teams do it against the Phillies.  I hope Matt Carpenter can start a trend of left handed hitters throughout the league stuffing the shift down the opposing team's throat.

Lunch Truck Cheesesteaks

Provolone Cheesesteak w/ Onions & Mushrooms
Taste Time To Love Us food truck
They may have a wonky name for their restaurant, but they make a damn fine cheesesteak.

Eat Cereal and Meet Egon

The New Ghostbusters Movie Mystery Sweepstakes
Ghostbusters Cereal (1989)
The sequel to Ghostbusters was released to theaters thirty years ago today.  I think of Batman, Ghostbusters 2 and Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade as being the closing chapters of the 80's - the last big things of the decade.

One of the many ways that Ghostbusters 2 was marketed was through The New Ghostbusters Movie Mystery Sweepstakes.  The name of this contest makes me wonder if they had other ideas besides "Ghostbusters 2" for the name of the movie.  The marketing materials usually go into production long before the movie hits theaters, so referring to the film as "The New Ghostbusters Movie" might have been a way to hedge their bets, just in case.  The record featured the voice actor who played Egon in The Real Ghostbusters (the Saturday morning cartoon) asking three trivia questions based on the new movie.  If you knew the answers, you could write them on a 3x5 card and mail it in for a chance to win the grand prize of meeting Egon (Harold Ramis) in person.

There were two versions of the record.  Vinnie Donadio has shared the recordings on both the white one and the yellow one on YouTube.

Stranger Promotion

Upside Down Whopper
Burger King (2019)
Ok, I love Burger King and Stranger Things.  I'm also a sucker for limited edition fast food items, particularly when they relate to the 80's.  That being said, I think we've reached a new level of bizarre when the limited edition food item in question is literally the exact same hamburger turned upside down.

To make things even more strange, they're only selling these one day (Friday, June 21st) and they'll only be available at eleven select Burger King locations, the closest of which to me is at 2400 Caster Avenue in Philadelphia.

I'm Tempted To Drink It Upside Down

New Coke / Stranger Things Collectors Pack 
The original launch of New Coke happened in April, 1985.  I was four years old, so I missed out on the fiasco that followed when Coca-Cola discontinued the original recipe.  Consumers and bottlers protested the change and they brought back "the real thing" 79 days later.  In the years that followed, they sold the original recipe as Coca-Cola Classic and the new recipe as New Coke.

I don't drink Coca-Cola very often so I'm no expert, but I tasted the New Coke and really couldn't tell the difference.  It was a bit more sweet, I suppose, but nothing to get too worked up about.  I'm glad to have had the chance to try it.

What's Up With Arcade 1Up

That's not a moon! It's the #Atari #StarWars @arcade_1up cabinet on display at #e3 For sale this fall! pic.twitter.com/zYgLrjOmsS

— Bionic Buzz® (@BionicBuzz) June 12, 2019

I'm not sure what to make of the Arcade 1Up machines.  They haven't been getting great reviews, and the ones I've seen and played at Wal-Mart felt a little cheap.  They're much smaller than a genuine arcade cabinet, so they don't have an authentic feel to them.  This is especially true for two player games.  I'm not sure how two grown adults could have a halfway decent match of Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter without elbowing each other.  Additionally, the ones that were on display at Wal-Mart were out for a few weeks, but most of the artwork had worn off of the control panel.  I know kids can be pretty hard on display model merchandise, but I wouldn't expect something to look that worn after five or six years, let alone two or three weeks.

Having said all that, the price is pretty fair for what you're getting.  If you set aside $50 a month and bought one at a time when you saved up enough, you could fill a room of your house as a personal vintage arcade in just a few years - far less expensive and with less upkeep and required technical knowledge than doing the same with the actual vintage coin-op machines.  It helps that they can easily be carried by a single person and fit in the back of a car.  Vintage arcade are heavier than your refrigerator and require freight shipping or a road trip with a truck and a few friends to help you load and unload.

Then, there's always the question of emulation.  You could build or commission a custom cabinet and load it with emulators that will play thousands of games.  It's not entirely legal, but it's also not very likely that the local police are going to be kicking down your door to see if your copy of Defender is licensed by Williams Electronics.  Ethical concerns aside, the joystick configurations and other settings can be a pain sometimes.

The real game changer in my eyes came with the unveiling of the Star Wars cabinet at E3.  I can't describe what these games mean to me.  The vector graphics on the original Star Wars, the chiptune Ewok sounds on Endor in Return Of The Jedi, the feel of the flight yoke in your hands... all of it.  It's a pure experience of few kilobytes of crude lights and sounds that have the power to transport the player simultaneously back to the 80's and to a galaxy far, far away.

This is going to be the Arcade 1Up that I'm going to have to bring home.

Another Retro Gaming Rebirth

Turbografx 16 Mini
Konami (2019)
I never owned or played a Turbografx 16 when I was a kid.  The console comes up in conversation frequently on the Retro Warriors podcast, so I downloaded a few of the games that they recommended from the Wii and Wii U Virtual Console.

It was announced yesterday that Konami will be joining the trend of releasing mini consoles with a built-in library of games.  So far, they've announced that it will include R-Type, New Adventure Island, Ninja Spirit, Ys Book I and II, Dungeon Explorer and Alien Crush, and they've said that many others will be announced in the lead up to the release date (which hasn't been announced yet).

I'm looking forward to this.

Kids... Don't Eat And Drive

I passed this car on the way home.  I feel bad that someone would do this, but not bad enough to not share it.

Bruce Almighty

It's a damn shame that Andrew McCutchen is hurt, but we got lucky by bringing in this dude.  What an incredible way to start in Philadelphia!