Month: December 2011

Target marketing

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During the summer, I was out in St. Louis for a baseball trip.  On the final day of my trip, I had the slight itch to play some blackjack, and I eventually found myself visiting Harrah’s St. Louis.  There, I got yet another Total Rewards card that was completely different from all the other ones I’ve collected throughout the years, and learned that nearly $150 worth of comp dollars were down the toilet due to inactivity.  These are a few of Jack’s melancholy tears of jew sadness for lost money.

I also ended up losing $100 extremely quickly due to a dealer that couldn’t bust even if they hit on 21.

But ever since that trip, I’ve been getting periodically in the mail, these “offers” of incentive to come back out to Harrah’s in St. Louis.  These offers are as unsubstantial as a free $5 bet to put on top of your original bets, to getting 10% off your meal at one of their overpriced restaurants.  Absolutely nothing that would get me to go out to St. Louis again for anything but more baseball.

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#7

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I once said that I would stop at five, since my shelf only carries five.  But then my best friend got married, and nothing other than a WWF Tag Team belt seemed like an adequate gift for the occasion.  So I said I would stop at six, but then Cody Rhodes began brandishing the old school WWF Intercontinental Title belt, and it was at that moment that I decided that I needed to have one too.

Although I would have loved to have gotten the snazzy white strap IC belt like Rhodes’, when I came across this black strap belt on eBay, the price was too difficult to ignore.  In the end, I sniped this Intercontinental Title for roughly $100 less than what a typical white strap belt goes for, so I don’t really feel like I settled.  This sets things up more adequately if I ever want to do any gaudy wrestling costumes for future DragonCon/Halloweens, like the Macho Man or Honky Tonk Man.

So the question is, will I stop at seven belts?  The answer is likely no.  Although it’s never necessarily been my favorite belt of all the options, the WCW World Championship belt (AKA The Big Gold Belt), or any of it’s WWE-version reincarnations would have to be number eight.  With that, I would feel as if my collection could be complete.  And the best part is, The Big Gold Belt is fairly common, therefore the general cost of one probably wouldn’t be more than any of my existing belts.  But I’ve spent enough money over the last few weeks now, and will put such a notion on hold for the time being.  Maybe if I bank enough winnings in Vegas, I can take a gander.

Finding true pain: The Ultimate Final Level from Battle & Brew

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I’m finding that for the first time in quite some time, I have an evening with absolutely nothing planned. Nowhere to be, nothing scheduled to watch, nothing planned to do, no chores, self-appointed obligations, no nothing. So with that in mind, I guess I’ll take a little time to catch up on some writing, since National Novel Writing Month is now in the rear view, and I haven’t felt like writing about baseball in a long while lately.

The monstrosity pictured above is an item from Battle & Brew, the nerd bar where I frequent most every Wednesday to play geek trivia. Over a year ago, they came up with this food challenge known as The Final Level sandwich, which I promptly owned like a slave, and have successfully abused it thrice more since then. Needless to say, it was of little challenge to me, and I was satisfied at knowing that it was my culinary bitch as far as all concerning parties, were concerned.

A few months ago, Battle & Brew decided to up the stakes, and a beefed up challenge was put on the table – the Ultimate Final Level sandwich.

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Real Men Don’t Wear Small update: The Arizona Fall League

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‘Tis an odd time of the year for me to be making an update to this ongoing project, but the Arizona Fall League doesn’t operate on the same timeline as the rest of Major League Baseball.

Having never been to the state of Arizona in my entire life previously, the Arizona Fall League was a perfect excuse to go out there for a visit for the first time.  A glorified exhibition league of minor league all-stars, championing the notion of “tomorrow’s superstars,” the AFL is a mini league consisting of six teams spread out throughout the remote Phoenix area.  In my first ever visit out to Arizona, I managed to find time to visit five of the six parks, and subsequently write entries into my ongoing project of the pursuit of visiting ballparks across America.

As far as pure baseball trip experiences go, as I’m sure I’ve said it before, I’m pretty much ruined.  The cost-effectiveness, quality of baseball and relaxing nature are second to absolutely nothing else, and it’s going to be something, when I’m forking over fifty bucks to sit way far from the field at some Major League ballpark in future years.

Mixed feelings for American Horror Story

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Alexandra Breckenridge as young Moira O’Hara = Stupid hot

Nine episodes in, and I can’t really put my finger on it.  I’m continuing to put forth effort into watching American Horror Story, but I can’t honestly say that I’m really a gigantic fan of it.  Not like how I feel about Dexter, or The Walking Dead, and not even close.  I was never really captivated, and I feel as if I’m more fascinated with the fact that it’s the same people who did Nip/Tuck that created AHS, and I’m often curious to see how far they push the envelope of cable television, more than I am of the story.

Like Nip/Tuck, every character is deeply flawed, and they all do some immoral things on a fairly regular basis.  Men are made to look like bigger villains than women are, and there’s no shortage of gore, sexual situations and brutal violence in each episode.  Now I dig all of the above, but I’m not finding myself obsessively restructuring my schedule in order to watch AHS; Jen and I are watching it when it’s convenient for us.  But the core characters are put through so much torment on such a regular basis, it goes beyond the realm of reality of just how much bullshit a fictitious family can endure before everyone ends up dead, or the family runs away without any fear of the consequences.  Seriously, story or not, the family probably should have gone insane and left six episodes ago.

Alexandra Breckenridge on the other hand; I’ve had a thing for her since I saw her on Dirt, and it’s like she’s fulfilling all sorts of sordid fantasies for the male (and some female) worlds with the way she prances around as young Moira.  This, I cannot get enough of, and without any hint of lying, is a key reason for me to actually tune in.

Gripping. Absolutely gripping.

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That’s pretty much all I can really say about The Walking Dead mid-season finale.  I haven’t felt this hooked into a television show since the fourth season of Dexter.  But I don’t think even Dexter could pull at the heart strings like The Walking Dead does.

I really can’t think of anything that disappoints me about the show, other than the fact that it’s not on more.  I’ve more or less developed at least one emotion to pretty much every character to this point, and I feel my entire body going tense while watching each episode.  There are parts where I can’t even sit down, I’m so far beyond the edge of my seat.  The zombies themselves are an afterthought for the most part, it’s the constant threat of them being around that is enough to create the necessary tension.

A long, long time ago, I read the first few issues of the comic book, so beyond the first season, this is all more or less new territory for me, beyond the few differences and wrenches the television storyline has embarked on.  Now, I dare not even think about delving into the comic books just yet, for fear of ruining the suspense and anticipation that I’ve created for myself in regards to the series.  Maybe later, in the future I will, but certainly not now.

I love where how the show is progressing with my boy Glenn, and it always rules to me when a male protagonist can have an emotional monologue, and get good results out of the words.  Vicariously, I want to be Glenn, with the opportunity to kill zombies and pursue a relationship with the hot farmer’s daughter.

I’m not even upset with the whole mid-season finale thing they’re doing.  I’m more in admiration for AMC’s intelligent decision to not bother competing with the stretch run of football, as well as the coming bowl season, and I’m guessing they’ll re-air the first seven episodes again, and try to snare some more loyal viewers, right before restarting the season in February, with hopefully a bigger following.