The weather is beginning to turn for the better, and this time I believe it is for good. That being said, it didn't help much yesterday when I drove 250 miles to Detroit for a Tigers game. It was just a comedy of errors yesterday.

First, I woke up late. I wanted to be on the road by 8am, well, I woke up at 8:12. So, once I fueled up, got a Mt. Dew for the road, it was 8:40ish by the time I actually got on the road. At first everything was smooth, until about Saginaw, when the rain started to come down. That was when my windshield wipers decided that once I turned them on for mist, they were just going to stay on. For the rest of the trip, whether it was raining or not.

I made really good time getting down state, and Picked up my friend Patti just after noon, and off to the park we went. When we found parking, I tried putting my iPod in the glove box of my car. Well, that wasn't going to happen, because the glove box opened, but then wouldn't close. So fine, I just decided to take the thing with me. Ok, can't have anything else happen right?

Wrong! We get to the gate, and I hand over the ticket. Now, I bought the tickets on Stubhub.com, and printed them out from home. Well, one of the tickets printed out just fine, and the other? No barcode or number on it. All the relevant information was on it, except the barcode. There was simply the word "barcode" printed in it's place. This meant we had to head over to the stadium box office and get it sorted out. Well, we did, and finally made our way in, and found our seats.

Now, the seats were really nice. The "Tiger's Den" is a great section, with wooden deck chairs with pads, and plenty of leg room. Plus a small table in between, and a wait staff. So yeah, we were doing good, getting ready for the tarp to come off the field, and just as Patti was saying "let's get a beer", the announcement came. The game was postponed due to rain. So great. Well, at least they will honor the tickets when they eventually reschedule the game. If I can make it down for that game. We'll have to wait and see on that one.

And so, after hanging out at Patti's for a bit, I made the 4 hour drive home. And that was that, 8 hours of driving, 0 hours of Tigers game. Oh well, I did have a good lunch in Greektown, and I'll be heading back down sometime soon.

Play Ball!; or, The Start of Baseball Season

Spring has kind of arrived here in northern Michigan. And by that I mean that you can see grass (not just snow), and the temperature is slowly climbing above the freezing mark.

That being the case, it also means we have entered my favorite time of year. That would of course be Baseball season. I am something of a rarity these days, a rabid baseball fan in a time when everyone is a football fan. Don't get me wrong, I like football, and certainly watch plenty of it during the fall, but my first love is still baseball.

I will watch most any game when it's on TV, or listen to them on the radio, but at heart, I am a Detroit Tigers fan. They've been my team since I was just a 3 year old and they won the World Series in 1984. I grew up with guys like Jack Morris, Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammel and Kirk Gibson. Then the early 90's and Cecil Fielder, Travis Fryman, Bill Gullickson, and Mickey Tettleton. Whether the team is good or not doesn't stop me from watching, and following them.

This year's team is a bit of a conundrum for me. On one hand, I'm looking forward to watching them this year. To see Miguel Cabrera with a year in the AL under his belt, Brandon Inge getting to play a full season at third base, and the hopeful bounce back of the pitching staff. Which is where the problem is. The pitching staff is a bit of a mystery. Justin Verlander needs to return to his form from 2006-07, instead of the man masquerading in his place in 2008. Will Jeremy Bonderman ever live up to his potential? And let's not even start on Dontrell Willis and his Anxiety disorder. But, I am still hopeful that they can turn it around.

The bullpen will also be an interesting thing to watch. Can Brandon Lyon be a solid piece? I have my reservations about Fernando Rodney ever getting the command of his pitches to be effective. And 2006's wunderkid Joel Zumaya needs to stay healthy and be able to utilize his 103 mph fastball, as well as fully develop something off speed.

All in all, I'm remaining positive about this years Tigers team. Especially given the wide open nature of the American League Central Division. All 5 teams have a legitimate shot at winning the division. Expect quite a few posts this summer about baseball in general, and the Tigers specifically. I'm looking forward to a good season.

Tweets Ahoy!; or, Twitter isn't really that new folks...

There has recently been a rash of stories, and segments involving Twitter all over the news. In the past couple of months, every major news channel has had at least one mention of the website during a broadcast. Or have used it to "crowd-source", and/or reach out to their viewers in a new way. Even ESPN had an article involving Twitter in the past few days, as well as nearly an entire hour on the radio program "All Night" with Jason Smith on ESPN radio.

All this exposure for twitter is a bit of a double edged sword. See, here's why I think this. I started using twitter about a year and a half ago. I thought I was one of the Johnny-come-latelys to the party, having heard about it a few months before that, but signed up on Jaiku first. In the end, I joined twitter because the community was so much better there. Sure, the site was constantly down, and holy unreliable, but yet I stuck with it because the people were there.

Skip ahead to now, and we see a massive influx of celebrities, athletes, and the like joining twitter. Everyone from Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, to Shaq, have joined and started tweeting. This is all well and good I suppose, as they way I see it, the more the merrier. But, all this attention to Twitter has some calling it a fad, and has led to the mass miss use of the service.

First, let me address the fad angle. It's entirely likely that Twitter is nothing more than a fad, and will die out in a year or so. But, keep in mind that it has been around for quite some time, and unlike some other social networking sites (myspace, facebook, etc.), Twitter opened up the service to let others build widgets and such for any site. You can add your twitter feed to your blog, facebook, myspace, or any other page you want. Meaning that no matter what social network is the next hot network, you can always take your tweets along with you. I personally tie my tweets in to my facebook status messages. That way I can update both at the same time.

As for the miss use of Twitter, well, this happens to any and all websites that get popular enough. Spam happens. Anything that gets enough traffic will eventually have to deal with spam, and spammers. Why? The almighty dollar that's why. Spammers see all that traffic, and think only of the money they could possibly make off it. Thankfully, Twitter is set up in such a way that just because someone wants to read your posts, you don't have to read theirs. There are different levels of involvement, Followers, and Friends. Followers simply see your tweets and that's it. Unless you choose to follow them as well, you don't have to even know about them. Which is nice to keep the amount of spam down.

The other thing is people starting fake Twitter accounts in the name of someone. Like a fake account of a celebrity or athlete, or prominent tech person. For the most part, this is harmless as you can usually tell right away it's a fake, as those who do it tend to either do it for fun and are just having a harmless goof, or THINK they're funny, and are in fact just plain simplistic and sad. Either way, the fake Twitter accounts are kind of silly, and in the end don't get anywhere.

So, as long as there are people on Twitter that I find interesting or are friends of mine, I'll keep tweeting. It's a nice way to communicate, or just get a thought out in the ether for others to digest.

On the Grift; or, My Review of Confidence

Tonight, I decided to re-watch the film Confidence starring Edward Burns, Rachel Weisz, and Dustin Hoffman. 5 years after it's initial release, and in my opinion, the film still holds up. A great script with a wonderful cast, and tight pacing and direction drive this underrated flick.

Confidence came out in 2003, and I really think part of the reason for it's underrated status is a product of timing. The film plays like an R rated version of Ocean's 11, and being just a couple years behind it, I think a lot of people thought it was a copy cat of a movie, and passed on it. Now while I will agree there are similarities between the two, they really are quite different in tone and feel. Ocean's 11 is very glitzy, tongue-in-cheek and Vegas. Confidence is a little grittier, harsher, streetwise. Both are polished, snappy and funny; but while Ocean's does it with a wink and a nod, Confidence does it with more of a wry grin.

A film like this truly relies on everyone involved knowing their roles and playing their parts to perfection. Just like pulling a con, if any one part falls short, the whole thing collapses. This all starts with the writer. Doug Jung crafted a very tight, and well paced script that twists and turns like a mountain road. The dialog is quick and biting, and believable. I was rather surprised when I looked up Doug Jung on IMDB that he hasn't written more movies. A few TV shows, and another movie coming soon, but I would have expected a couple more under his belt given how well written this one was.

James Foley's direction is also spot on. He does a great job of crafting the script in to a film that is very much a con. Realistic and believable, yet upon subsequent viewings, you see the layers to the narrative and the little quirks that can tip you off to the plot twists and turns ever so subtly.

The cast is truly the heart of a film like this. If you can't buy that these people, you can have the greatest script since The Usual Suspects, and it won't matter. Thankfully, that's not the case here. Edward Burns pulls off the cocky grifter as if he's not even trying to. Rachel Weisz is likable as always for me, you're never really sure if she's playing a scene honestly, or as a grift. Paul Giamatti is wonderful as always. I've always like him in any role he's in, but he's at his best when he's wise-cracking and sarcastic. Dustin Hoffman is a bit over the top, but because it's Hoffman, it doesn't feel like it's too much. A lesser actor would have just felt too campy, Hoffman gives off a different vibe. Brain Van Holt is under utilized, which is a bummer for me personally because I really like his work. Donal Logue and Luis Guzman are fun as LA cops on the take, and Andy Garcia is having a blast as a slightly nutty, off kilter special agent. And check out Leland Orser in the beginning of the movie doing his standard yelling and crazy persona. Always fun.

All in all, I feel Confidence stands up to the better known Ocean's 11 in many ways, while still being it's own movie. A strong script, great cast, and tight editing and direction make this one I bring out every so often to re-watch and enjoy

Beers, Basketball, and Blizzards; or, The Weekend at a Glance

Not much to really say for this past weekend. I did manage to drag myself out to the gym Friday for some basketball, followed by one of the worst nights driving my cab yet. 5 hours of work for 4 fares, one of which tossed their lunch in the back of the van. Thankfully, the guys were nice about it (the sober ones) and actually cleaned up the mess for me. After that, I called it a night and went home.

Saturday night was a lot better as far as work went. It was a fairly busy night, and I made some good money, so I can't complain. But that's really all that happened. Well, that, and I watched 4 episodes of "The Pretender" because I'm addicted to that show. Having the whole run on DVD has been nice, as it's very much a serial show that should be watched in order. I'll most likely have a review coming on that series, possibly in parts as it is 4 seasons and almost 90 episodes long. I also have the two tele-movies coming from Netflix, so I can finish the series in it's entirety.

Sunday came, and it was time to attempt my new culinary project. Corned Beef. I bought a seven and a half pound brisket at the local Sam's Club, and made up a brine all on my own. With a recipe courtesy of my cooking patron, Alton Brown. Said brisket is happily pickling away in the chill chest, and next week will be time for sandwiches and Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner. Just in time for St. Patrick's Day.

Then last night, went down to the local watering hole for some birthday beers for Anna. It was a good time. A few friends showed up, others could not make it. Not that I blame them. We had a blizzard that would have kept Jim Cantori off the roads. Honestly, in the span of a few short hours, well over a foot of snow fell, and I'm pretty sure actual dogs and cats were falling along with it. It was bad, so much so that I got stuck in the road attempting to pull in to my own driveway. Not on the side of the road mind you, but in the middle of it, due to the fact that nary a plow truck had gone by.

And today's weather? Sunny, near forty degrees. All the snow is beginning to melt again. Schizophrenia is difficult to cope with. Even more so when it's the weather that is afflicted. Well, I'm off to prepare for the next bout of winter. Because we all know it's not over yet