Ryan Giggs and Ronaldo ... (Oxymoron Project)

Seattle Sounders FC 0
Manchester United 7
July 20, 2011
X-Box Pitch - Seattle, WA

With the 2011 retirement of Brazillian great Ronaldo and the announcement of another year under contract for Welshman Ryan Giggs at Manchester United I found myself pondering the notion of how greatness is measured and careers are remembered. These two men are two of the great players of their generation and as their generation collectively winds down I think that there are reasons to use the two of them as examples.

Ronaldo ... A multi-club mercenary man known more for his international duty with Brazil than for his play (that one highlight reel with Barca aside) than for his play with any of them.

Giggs ... A one club man not know much for his international work with Wales.

The all time greats are generally thought of as Pele, Maradona, Beckenbauer, etc ... and they share the common theme of World Cup Glory. Ronaldo found himself in World Cup finals, despite an injury riddled club career that also found him fighting his weight and fitness.

It seems to be that players like Giggs get punished in the career evaluation for playing for a "lesser" national team. Giggs spent his career playing qualifiers and friendlies, and never in World Cups or Euros. Having all his success in the club realm has hindered how he is regarded.









Think of the Georges; Weah and Best ... No world cup appearances.

Even some great players are not judged as highly if they got to the big stage and did not win anything. Or, if they won a lesser trophy but not the World Cup ... see Platini, Drogba, Messi, etc ...

It causes players to choose and consider their national team representation ... like Gullit or Eusebio.





I never saw Ronaldo play, but I have now seen Giggs twice. Awesome.

Red Dawn Video From Paul's Basement

Five years ago I did a reading for Paul's Basement. I posted the transcript of the reading, I am finally posting the video of the reading. Thanks, Jason. The link to the earlier ShotgunProse post is below. http://shotgunprose.blogspot.com/2006/09/this-will-be-on-pauls-basement-soon.html

Warrior Dash 2011

Warrior Dash
July 17, 2011
North Bend, WA
Team STKD Thai Kickboxing
51:53:55
Sunday Results - M 40-44 (242/393) Overall (2438/7687)

July 15, 2011 - Kirby Krackle at The Comic Stop (Lynnwood, WA)

July 15, 2011 - Kirby Krackle at The Comic Stop (Lynnwood, WA)

Gotta love a concert in a comic shop with little kids moshing ...

Five Bucks

Seriously, FIVE bucks for dinner.

Late night munchies

No, I am not proud of this. But, for me and the boy, this was awesome recent post movie Friday night grub back at the apt.

Parity (Oxymoron Project)

Seattle Sounders FC 4
New York Red Bulls 2
June 23, 2011
XBox Pitch - Seattle, WA


Good organizations in all sports seem to overcome handicaps. Bad organizations stay bad in spite of the help ...

Do you want to be a buying club or a selling club. I recently read Harry make that comment about Spurs and Gareth Bale.

MLS? NFL? NBA? MLB? NHL?

Lots of team have brief jumps to success in US leagues, yet there are some common results in amongst the different financial systems.

Good teams find a way.

Even though the perception in MLB is that only the big clubs rule, all but three have made at least one World Series in my lifetime, and only 4 have not made a Super Bowl. Yes, there are a few clubs that stay up, but that has as much to do with good sense and planning as cash. There are plenty of large market teams, in the same city as the Yankees, that are perpetually awful despite all the financial advantages.
It seems more difficult to get good in the NBA. The NHL is very different after the lost season.

MLS strives for parity, yet even there the good teams seem to stay good.

This was a crazy game.

The 2 early goals altered the intensity of both teams and turned it into a roller coaster sort of a game. However, the Rave Green D played more like Keystone Cops than professional defenders.

After RL scored his second goal I think there was a wave of man crushes on him throughout the stadium. A pressure goal like that only happens once or twice a season, good to see it on our side. Oh, and the Scuba was a great goal celebration.

Greg Sutton was not in good form; he hammered a Sounders player to draw a foul that went the wrong way, overreacted and charged a ref after the 2nd goal without punishment, but Karma bit his ass on the fourth goal to make up for it.

No Henry, Agudelo, or Rafa ... this could have been a very different game.

I am losing respect for Dwayne Diva DeRosario the way he went after an obvious foul at the end when it was totally unnecessary.

Henry, Beckham (03), and MJ (85) ... not playing right before a trip to Seattle? Too much of a habit for me.

46K

Midfield up high is nice.

Probably too excited about this ...

Recently, my trusty toaster emitted a giant blue spark. Countertop kitchen appliances should not do that, even if it is sort of exciting it doesn't really toast anything at that point and leaving it plugged in is sort of a bad idea. So ... off I went toaster shopping and I found this on clearance at Freddy's for $8.99 and felt plenty proud of myself for finding such an awesome deal. This picture is of the ceremonial first Eggo's. There will never be a frosted Pop Tart tainting this toaster.

The greatest potato chips ever.

Main Street Alehouse in Bothell fresh potato chips ... cajun style with nummy dip.

I Heart Epsom Salt

Sitting on my couch with my feet in an epsom salt hot water soak while watching the third season of True Blood on DVD.

Ted's old team

Seattle Mariners 1
Atlanta Braves 3
June 27, 2011
Safeco Field - Seattle, WA
Interleague Play

Larry had a rough game, but it is harder than many think to temporarily transition to DH as a position player.

Flirting with a couple of girls with my bro might have been a first.

My first Smoak and Ackley sightings. Oh, and I do not believe I saw Bedard pitch before. Of course, the Ms wasted a another solid pitching performance with their lack of offense.

Hopefully, these kids will start to hit and become the offense they need, because they will be fine if these guys mature into an offense.

The kids are all right.

Even using sunscreen

One day in the sun a few weeks ago ... and two coatings of sunscreen were not enough. Given that I am of Celtic and Viking ancestry, this is not hard to find unsurprising.

Rough Cut Screening of The Historic

"The Historic"
Rough Cut Screening
The Historic Everett Theatre
Everett, WA
June 25, 2011

Yes, I do have a brief appearance in this.

Yes, I did use my cell phone during the film to capture and post these pics on Facebook.

But, this is better than big budget films I have recently been to. I look forward to future Nick Terry films.

The City At (Almost) Night

Seattle, from what is no longer Qwest Field just after the June 23, 2011 Seattle Sounders FC victory over the New York Red Bulls.

Four seats away ...

2011 Science Fiction Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
EMP JBL Theater
June 24, 2011


So there I was at EMP in the JBL Theater for the SFM HOF ceremony. I realized that Harlan would not make it and was kind of bummed. Then, I realized I was FOUR seats away from Neil Gaiman and he was listed in the program as inducting Harlan ...

I got to watch him typing on his laptop ...

I seriously thought my son was going to get up and walk out, "You are being such a girl," he told me. However, he did not sell me out later when I lied to Neil about having seen his Doctor Who episode. Given that my son knows that I have never watched a single episode of any of the 11 doctors that was very nice of him and I probably owe him something for it.

Reading list 2011 first half

I have not done a monthly reading list or set a particular numerical goal in 2011 like in recent years. My real goal this year is to complete some series, clear off some reading lists I have, and to get caught up on some comic series so that I am close to current and can read new issues as they come out without being so far behind. The list is not as OCD as previous years, but close.

Books
Agatha H and the Airship City by Kaja and Phil Foglio
The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking
Why AC/DC Matters by Anthony Bozza
True Grit by Charles Portis
Death By Blackhole by Neil deGrasse Tyson
Go The Fuck To Sleep by Adam Mansbach and Ricardo Cortes
Zombie Haiku: Good Poetry For Your...Brains by Ryan Mecum
Agent To The Stars by John Scalzi
Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines by Janna Levin
Countdown to Lockdown: A Hardcore Journal by Mick Foley
Dexter is Delicious by Jeff Lindsay
Magic at the Gate by Devon Monk
Magic on the Hunt by Devon Monk
A Touch of Dead by Charlaine Harris
All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris
The Day After and Other Stories by Wil Wheaton
Sunken Treasure by Wil Wheaton
Clash Of The Geeks by John Scalzi, Wil Wheaton, et al
Among The Free by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Bruce Dickinson: Flashing Metal with Maiden and Flying Solo by Joe Shooman


(Select) Short Fiction
"The Extinction Parade" by Max Brooks
"The Strange Case of Finley Jayne" (Steampunk Chronicles 0.5) by Kady Cross
"The Sweet Smell of Cherries" (Allie Beckstrom short story) by Devon Monk
"Hunter" by Wil Wheaton
"The Sentinel" by Arthur C Clarke


(Select) Graphic Novels and collections
Batwoman: Elegy by Greg Rucka and J.H. Willams III
Powers by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming (volumes 1-13)
The Boys by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson (volumes 1-7)
Superman: New Krypton by various (complete series)
The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman and various artists (volumes 1 & 2)
The Devil's Panties by Jennie Breeden (volumes 0, 2, & pirate book)
Girl Genius by Phil and Kaja Foglio (volumes 1-10 + various shorts)