Sox Games
In the past 2 days, I went to 2 Sox games. Unfortunately, the team is pretty much out of the race after getting repeatedly handled by the Twins. But I decided to go anyways, seeing as how baseball season is almost over and it will be a long winter with the Bears.
Yesterday's experience driving to "The Cell" was one of the most frustrating I have ever had. I was stuck at the exit ramp at 35th St. for literally half an hour. Then, parking people routed me all the way back to IIT where they charged me $15 anyways. Man, I can't believe I paid 15 bucks to park somewhere and walk 10 minutes to get to the stadium. It's so stupid how they complain that no fans come out to Sox games, and then they jack you with ridiculous parking fees and overly priced food.
An interesting incident was when a cop tried to scalp me a ticket on the way to the gate. I was like, "why is he looking at me funny", and then when I got closer he mumbled "hey, you need a ticket", trying to be all subtle and everything. Now, I'm used to all the ghetto people trying to scalp outside the ballpark, but not one of "Chicago's Finest".
The Sox eventually won in a pretty good game. Magglio hit a walk-off 3-run homer in the 10th inning. Also, Soriano got me 2 jacks which could prove to be quite valuable in the very tight fantasy race against P. See his blog for more details.
Having gone to quite a few games in the past few seasons, the in-game festivities are pretty routine to me now. I'll take the opportunity to outline the highlights:
- The Races. They have the airplane race and the frog race, in which I always cheer for blue. The pizza race, gotta go with Sausage. Then they have the 3 people running around the bases and making ATM transactions. I hate how they trip for no reason, can't you people even run without falling down? But anyways, I usually bet on the black lady for that one.
- Guess The Attendance. I've gotten pretty good at this by now. You can't just guess by looking around the stadium, it's imperative to also consider other factors. Such as, how bad was the traffic, how full was the parking lot (or which lot did you have to park in), and each of these in turn must be weighted in accordance with the time you arrived.
- The Hat Game. Nobody should ever get this one wrong. No matter what kinds of funky tricks they do, you should always be able to easily follow the one with the ball underneath. The only time I miss it is if I blink at a critical moment, but usually I'm willing to bear the significant dryness of my contacts in order to follow the hat. One thing that's always puzzled me is, how does the ball always stay in the hat when it's moving all over the place, and there's nothing physically holding it in there? Maybe there are magnetic forces, but I dunno.
- The Aquafina thing. Quite possibly, the dumbest and most annoying gimmick ever. All they do is move the camera around and zoom on people with Aquafina bottles, and people are supposed to get excited about it in between innings? Just for that, I'm gonna buy only Evian from now on.
- Fireworks. I think they have the extended fireworks after Saturday night games only, and those are usually some of the more quality firework shows I've seen. But even if it's just the fireworks after a home run, I like it and I think it's a good thing that adds to the Sox game experience.
- 7th Inning Stretch, sponsored by Cracker Jack. How clever, Cracker Jack sponsoring a segment when people sing a song that already advertises their product. Now, maybe I'm blind or something, but I don't think I've seen them selling Cracker Jacks at the ballpark in a long time. Not that I care, those things sucked anyways, even with the little toy inside. But yeah, maybe it's time to make an adjustment to the lyrics of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame". Also, I think I heard somewhere once that the name "Cracker Jack" has certain negative racial implications and there was some controversy about it. Not sure about the details though, maybe I'll look it up sometime if I remember.
- Kiss Cam. Most of the time it's all in good fun, but what happens when they zoom in on a brother and sister? Cousins? Will and Grace? Maybe I need to get a life, but I truly wonder a lot about these kinds of things.
- The Wave. Not all that common in my experience at Comiskey, but at US Cellular, it seems to happen more. I usually don't care when the game isn't close, and it's entertaining to see how into it some people get (mostly middle-aged women and kids). But last night people were starting the Wave in the bottom of the 9th inning with the score tied. That's just retarded, people.
- Intro music. Another thing I always wonder about is whether or not the players get to choose their music. Does Paul Konerko pick all the alternative rock intros for himself, and Carl Everett pick 50 Cent all the time, or did the people upstairs just base it on stereotypes? Also, does Magglio like that stupid "OH-EE-OH... MAAA-GLIO" thing? If I were him, I'd be looking to shoot someone every time I heard it.
- Grounds crew dragging those comb things on the infield dirt. Does that even make a difference? And it's definitely not as cool as the Zamboni in hockey games.
Overall, I think the White Sox home game experience is above average. The stadium isn't as "friendly" as Wrigley, and there aren't as many hot chicks, but as long as the team is worth rooting for, I'll continue to try and make it to a few games a year. Maybe one of these years I'll even invest in some season tickets? Hmmm....
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Friday, September 19, 2003
New Job
The past few days at work have felt like it was my first week all over again. After work on the last program was pretty much wrapped up, I was shifted to a completely different division of the company to work on a new project. So, I've spent most of this week meeting my new managers and reading up on the stuff they gave me, to get up to speed on this program's efforts.
I kind of miss the meeting of new people, shaking hands and actually walking through parts of the building I've never even seen in almost a full year of working here. One thing I definitely don't miss, though, is the interviewing that comes along with starting fresh.
Officially, I wasn't being interviewed, but basically every new manager I had to meet with started by asking those kinds of questions. What kinds of skills do you have experience in? How much experience do you have in each skill? What projects did you work on in school? What area do you prefer to work in? Analog? Digital? RF? Do you like design, testing, both?
Of course, they were just asking me that stuff to get a better idea of what assignments to give me, which is fair enough. I must say that being asked all those questions without having to wonder, "is my answer gonna screw up my chances of being hired here", takes a lot of pressure off and makes is so much easier. Still, I've never enjoyed or felt comfortable in the process of being interviewed.
I think a big part of it is that I'm not used to "tooting my own horn", which is kind of key to being a successful interviewee. Unless I feel very confident in something, I hate to tell someone that I'm good at it. And the list of things in life that I feel "very confident" in is fairly limited:
- NFL Blitz
- Mariokart 64
- Math (up through multi-variable Calculus only)
That's all I can think of right now. Pretty sad, eh? But seriously, for basically everything else in life not listed above, I just rate myself as being "average" to "below average" or "piss poor".
Anyways, for the time being, I'm quite thankful that my interviewing days are behind me. I definitely don't envy those of you out there who are either about to begin the grueling job-hunting process, or are continuing in the hunt. All I can say is, good luck, and let me know if there's anything I can help you with (not likely, but still). And I'll offer you the words of 2pac:
Keep ya head up
ooooooooh child things are gonna get easier
Keep ya head up
oooooo child things are gonna get brighter
The past few days at work have felt like it was my first week all over again. After work on the last program was pretty much wrapped up, I was shifted to a completely different division of the company to work on a new project. So, I've spent most of this week meeting my new managers and reading up on the stuff they gave me, to get up to speed on this program's efforts.
I kind of miss the meeting of new people, shaking hands and actually walking through parts of the building I've never even seen in almost a full year of working here. One thing I definitely don't miss, though, is the interviewing that comes along with starting fresh.
Officially, I wasn't being interviewed, but basically every new manager I had to meet with started by asking those kinds of questions. What kinds of skills do you have experience in? How much experience do you have in each skill? What projects did you work on in school? What area do you prefer to work in? Analog? Digital? RF? Do you like design, testing, both?
Of course, they were just asking me that stuff to get a better idea of what assignments to give me, which is fair enough. I must say that being asked all those questions without having to wonder, "is my answer gonna screw up my chances of being hired here", takes a lot of pressure off and makes is so much easier. Still, I've never enjoyed or felt comfortable in the process of being interviewed.
I think a big part of it is that I'm not used to "tooting my own horn", which is kind of key to being a successful interviewee. Unless I feel very confident in something, I hate to tell someone that I'm good at it. And the list of things in life that I feel "very confident" in is fairly limited:
- NFL Blitz
- Mariokart 64
- Math (up through multi-variable Calculus only)
That's all I can think of right now. Pretty sad, eh? But seriously, for basically everything else in life not listed above, I just rate myself as being "average" to "below average" or "piss poor".
Anyways, for the time being, I'm quite thankful that my interviewing days are behind me. I definitely don't envy those of you out there who are either about to begin the grueling job-hunting process, or are continuing in the hunt. All I can say is, good luck, and let me know if there's anything I can help you with (not likely, but still). And I'll offer you the words of 2pac:
Keep ya head up
ooooooooh child things are gonna get easier
Keep ya head up
oooooo child things are gonna get brighter
Thursday, September 18, 2003
Initial B
For those of you who like buying CDs of good artists, I have a recommendation. Coming soon to a Best Buy near you will be the release of an album by an artist called Britney Spears.
The exact date of release is November 18th and the title is "Get Into The Zone". I don't know about you, but I am definitely looking forward to getting into the zone 2 months from now. Britney is also on this month's cover of Rolling Stone. I highly recommend for all red-blooded, heterosexual men out there to check it out.
Currently playing in my head: Britney Spears - Autumn Goodbye
Not on any of her albums, but one of my favorite Britney songs of all time.
For those of you who like buying CDs of good artists, I have a recommendation. Coming soon to a Best Buy near you will be the release of an album by an artist called Britney Spears.
The exact date of release is November 18th and the title is "Get Into The Zone". I don't know about you, but I am definitely looking forward to getting into the zone 2 months from now. Britney is also on this month's cover of Rolling Stone. I highly recommend for all red-blooded, heterosexual men out there to check it out.
Currently playing in my head: Britney Spears - Autumn Goodbye
Not on any of her albums, but one of my favorite Britney songs of all time.
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Initial D
For those of you who like buying DVD sets of TV shows, I have a recommendation. Coming soon to a Best Buy near you will be the DVD release of a Japanese animated series called Initial D. It's about the world of street racing in the mountainous regions of Japan. I was first introduced to this show a few years ago by a friend, who downloaded the first season episodes off the internet and got me semi-hooked on the plot. Later, he bought the DVD sets in Japan while vacationing there and let me and Olivia borrow them. After watching the first 2 seasons (there are only 2, plus a movie), me and Olivia became pretty big fans. The DVDs for the movie are sitting on my desk right now, so we'll probably finish that sometime soon too.
Anyways, the show has a lot of quality racing scenes with cool drifting sequences, and also is packed with all the drama, laughs, and girls with high-pitched voices and huge eyes that we all love about Japanese cartoons. Well, I'm not a big fan of all that "anime" stuff, so I mostly just like watching the races and the parts when they talk about cars. There's some sweet cars in there, like the Skyline R34, Lancer Evolution ("Lan-Evo"), RX-7, while the main character dominates everyone with a old beat up 1986 Toyota Corolla. But yeah, even though this show might not be of the caliber of 24 (which I have still yet to see a single episode of), I recommend anyone who is even mildly interested in cars to check out Initial D when it becomes available in this country.
For those of you who like buying DVD sets of TV shows, I have a recommendation. Coming soon to a Best Buy near you will be the DVD release of a Japanese animated series called Initial D. It's about the world of street racing in the mountainous regions of Japan. I was first introduced to this show a few years ago by a friend, who downloaded the first season episodes off the internet and got me semi-hooked on the plot. Later, he bought the DVD sets in Japan while vacationing there and let me and Olivia borrow them. After watching the first 2 seasons (there are only 2, plus a movie), me and Olivia became pretty big fans. The DVDs for the movie are sitting on my desk right now, so we'll probably finish that sometime soon too.
Anyways, the show has a lot of quality racing scenes with cool drifting sequences, and also is packed with all the drama, laughs, and girls with high-pitched voices and huge eyes that we all love about Japanese cartoons. Well, I'm not a big fan of all that "anime" stuff, so I mostly just like watching the races and the parts when they talk about cars. There's some sweet cars in there, like the Skyline R34, Lancer Evolution ("Lan-Evo"), RX-7, while the main character dominates everyone with a old beat up 1986 Toyota Corolla. But yeah, even though this show might not be of the caliber of 24 (which I have still yet to see a single episode of), I recommend anyone who is even mildly interested in cars to check out Initial D when it becomes available in this country.
Monday, September 15, 2003
Monday Blows
So, the routine continues. I walked out of the house this morning to find that it was cold. Which made me realize that hey, we're halfway through September. Seriously, what happened to August? Before I know it, I'll be digging my car out of a pile of snow every morning just to drive 3 miles to work.
I noticed that my blog has been mostly an informal diary and running commentary on the media/pop culture lately. It makes for regular updating, but I think I'm gonna try to write more challenging entries again (in addition to the other stuff). I guess I haven't been in an introspective mood that much lately. But anyways, if you are a regular reader of this blog, like it or not, there will probably be more of those entries coming that scream, "Hmmm, better just skim this one". Maybe I'll try writing more on the weekends again too, but we'll see. Now, on with the diary/running commentary...
Friday evening, I took the first good nap I've had in a long time, quite a noteworthy event in this exciting rock star lifestyle of mine. I fell asleep with the Sox losing 4-3 in the 3rd or 4th inning, then woke up exactly one Billy Koch outing later, when it was 7-3 or so, with my face mashed in a drool-soaked section of my pillow.
After watching them lose officially, I stopped by Lameworks in Streets of Woodfield and did something that I hadn't done in a long time: Play arcade games. I miss the days when I would go to the MKII machines, beat the guy there as a crowd gathered to watch, and impress everyone by doing a certain "Babality" or "Friendship Move". Or, be one of the people who knew how to drive the "Advanced" or "Expert" tracks on Daytona USA. Hey, when you're in Junior High or High School, people are easily impressed. Now, other than the occasional game of 4 player Blitz, I don't know any of the games well enough to play them anymore. I don't remember a single finishing move in MKII, not that there are any arcades that still carry that game anyways. I can barely even pass Advanced in Daytona nowadays, and all but forgot every single shift in Expert.
Oh, I also got to hang with some old peeps from college. We even took a sticker picture, which I definitely haven't done since high school. Of course, Will the idiot forgot to close out his tab that night, so he was in the area again Saturday morning. But it was a good opportunity to take the following pictures in my driveway:
Riding in his coupe was a pretty cool experience. The car feels a little sportier than mine, but a little less luxury. I guess it depends on what you prefer, even though the differences aren't that huge. I don't think I'll ever buy a 2-door car though. Just so used to 4-doors by now that I can't see myself driving anything else.
The other major sources of excitement for the weekend were football and cards. Even though I can feel another MNF-screwing about to hit me, and I got eliminated twice in poker with a River card draw, I still must admit that it was all good fun. The battles between me and Greg are starting to rival the classics between me and P. In football, it's gonna be another nail-biter tonight. Everyone is highly encouraged to root against Jeremy Shockey and Freaky Barber, and root for Roy Williams to get 2 interceptions returned for TDs.
So, the routine continues. I walked out of the house this morning to find that it was cold. Which made me realize that hey, we're halfway through September. Seriously, what happened to August? Before I know it, I'll be digging my car out of a pile of snow every morning just to drive 3 miles to work.
I noticed that my blog has been mostly an informal diary and running commentary on the media/pop culture lately. It makes for regular updating, but I think I'm gonna try to write more challenging entries again (in addition to the other stuff). I guess I haven't been in an introspective mood that much lately. But anyways, if you are a regular reader of this blog, like it or not, there will probably be more of those entries coming that scream, "Hmmm, better just skim this one". Maybe I'll try writing more on the weekends again too, but we'll see. Now, on with the diary/running commentary...
Friday evening, I took the first good nap I've had in a long time, quite a noteworthy event in this exciting rock star lifestyle of mine. I fell asleep with the Sox losing 4-3 in the 3rd or 4th inning, then woke up exactly one Billy Koch outing later, when it was 7-3 or so, with my face mashed in a drool-soaked section of my pillow.
After watching them lose officially, I stopped by Lameworks in Streets of Woodfield and did something that I hadn't done in a long time: Play arcade games. I miss the days when I would go to the MKII machines, beat the guy there as a crowd gathered to watch, and impress everyone by doing a certain "Babality" or "Friendship Move". Or, be one of the people who knew how to drive the "Advanced" or "Expert" tracks on Daytona USA. Hey, when you're in Junior High or High School, people are easily impressed. Now, other than the occasional game of 4 player Blitz, I don't know any of the games well enough to play them anymore. I don't remember a single finishing move in MKII, not that there are any arcades that still carry that game anyways. I can barely even pass Advanced in Daytona nowadays, and all but forgot every single shift in Expert.
Oh, I also got to hang with some old peeps from college. We even took a sticker picture, which I definitely haven't done since high school. Of course, Will the idiot forgot to close out his tab that night, so he was in the area again Saturday morning. But it was a good opportunity to take the following pictures in my driveway:
Riding in his coupe was a pretty cool experience. The car feels a little sportier than mine, but a little less luxury. I guess it depends on what you prefer, even though the differences aren't that huge. I don't think I'll ever buy a 2-door car though. Just so used to 4-doors by now that I can't see myself driving anything else.
The other major sources of excitement for the weekend were football and cards. Even though I can feel another MNF-screwing about to hit me, and I got eliminated twice in poker with a River card draw, I still must admit that it was all good fun. The battles between me and Greg are starting to rival the classics between me and P. In football, it's gonna be another nail-biter tonight. Everyone is highly encouraged to root against Jeremy Shockey and Freaky Barber, and root for Roy Williams to get 2 interceptions returned for TDs.
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