GAME05

i barely know wine, but i'd bet i could tell the difference between a good wine and a bad one. i know beer and i can tell the difference between even Budweiser and Miller, so i don't see why i couldn't make an easier distinction with wine.

i know i posted a bad comment about Wolf earlier, and i've mostly defended him in the past, but it's been a rough couple of weeks for the team and i'm probably just down on everything for the moment.

bad move to let the runner get to 3rd, but those were two awesome defensive plays right in a row. fun to see.

wow. sad. he was a big guy, but he obviously exercised. and a heart attack at only 34? edit: ah, i see he had heart surgery in 2006 because of an enlarged aorta. just the opposite, i remember wishing we took the risk on that European player named Nowitski.

i'm trying to think of some name combination that would say Randy Wolf is our next Jeff Suppan. maybe just "he stinks!" is appropriate enough.

my first time seeing mlb.tv, so i love that Ueck is doing the audio. don't love that i miss the top of the 1st and come back to see that. the Padres aren't good enough to be scoring three runs in an entire game.

why, what's with Wolf not wanting Lucroy as catcher? maybe RR actually doesn't like Kotsay and is doing his best to show DM how much Kotsay needs to be released by playing him. sly. excited i have the day off and will get to watch the game on mlb.tv. just started. sweet.

i hate you, Nap. i'm a bit tired and you charm me with your comfortable bed and your lies of letting me wake up after only a short while, feeling better and ready for the afternoon. and not wanting to fill my bed with sand and salt, i even take a shower, which made me more comfortable. instead i sleep for nine hours and wake up at 1 am. now i'm wide awake and well aware i probably won't get any more sleep, completely ruining my sleep schedule for the next few days.

when i finished watching, all i could think was "What was the point of that?" actually, what's the point of Ferrell in the first place? it's like they're already digging to boost viewership before Michael had even left. i don't care about Will Ferrell. why bother expanding the nature of his character when he's just on for four episodes? this whole season as been odd, especially when last season was just awful. the episodes before they started the Michael-leaving storyline were terrible, then the Michael-leaving episodes were great. now they just went back to their purpose-free writing again. was this the Community thread, too? i'm pretty sure i saw a good episode, but i was only capable of concentrating on Annie and the rest of the characters just seemed to mumble and get in the way of Annie. something something something Annie, something Annie, Annie, Annie something something.

come on. it was definitely bad, but not exactly the worst thing ever. the funny part for me was thinking that these two yoots had to plan out the choreography to it all.

Funketown, just got the note from my friend. the really good brewpub that i went to is Boylan Bridge--we sat outside and played chess, and it has a great view of the city. the good beers he recommended are Big Bass, Aviator and Lone Rider.

sorry, Funketown, i don't really know enough about wines to say much with any authority. i just texted a friend who recently moved out of Raleigh to see what he knows.

i've gotten used to that. it's kinda fun being "that guy" who is rooting against the majority. just, you know, be friendly.

i laughed that she couldn't quite figure out what to do with herself before she started to sing, and so just waved her arms around. it bugs me that the two closest casinos to me (i'm in Texas) are both 4.5 hours away, meaning they're too far for me to make a day-trip out of it. gas and a hotel take too much profit out of it to be worthwhile, and i can't stand online gambling.

on a similar vein, i can't stand names that have an 'n in them.

i've seen the difference between the two and have said so before on here. being very slightly harder on Prince makes the eventual separation after this season that much easier once we've concocted reasons to want him to go. i just hope Fielder gets the standing ovation he deserves after his last game at MP. hard to see why he wouldn't, but there's always that handful of people.

thanks, TLB. you gave me more courage to try out some $6 wine. i'm currently having some Jacob's Creek chardonnay (Australian) and it's not too bad. i got some local wines and maybe they'll be a higher quality for a lower price.

if Ferrell isn't going to permanently take over Michael's job, i don't really understand what the point is of taking series time to train him for the job. they've been shelving any secondary stories with the other characters to spend the most time with Michael, so then what's the point of Will Ferrell? it's not like you need a guest star for the show when we already know that Carrell is leaving.

i think you'll like Raleigh. it has a lot of Yankees there ("Yankees" are from New England; "Northerners" are just from up north), and so there isn't as strong of a culture shock there. Highland is available in bottles, but you may have to hit a larger beer store to find any Pisgah. i've only been to one pub in Raleigh, but it was a beautiful place to sit in the daytime. i'll get the name of it for you before you leave. you'll find Red Oak on tap down there a lot (though not in bottles). it's a red ale sold as a cheap beer there, so it's not the light pilsner you might want for a summer afternoon, but for the money, it's an excellent beer. not an award-winner, but the best low-budget beer in North Carolina. Natty Green's is a brewpub in Raleigh and Greensboro that you'll also find on tap there. their Buckshot Amber is probably the most popular and is so-so. i always got their Southern Pale Ale for a good, lighter beer. and their Old Town Brown is very good. their Wildflower is popular for whatever reason, but is only good if you like a mildly hoppy beer with a cup of sugar in it--i couldn't even finish my first one. Foothills is a brewpub out of Winston-Salem, so i know that place well. their Double IPA is by far their best beer and it's excellent--you'll love it. their pilsner is ok (but not lighter and sweeter like you'd expect). otherwise, the rest of their offerings are absolute garbage, and i can't emphasize that enough. apart from that IPA, every other beer they make somehow tastes the same. they're all just one-note beers with a poor aftertaste. and that one note is a vague bitterness that sits terribly since it doesn't have any higher notes to balance the flavour out. Foothills offers a sampler of all their beers, so you'll see what i mean. i could probably rant a while about that place. not beer-related, but an area west of Winston-Salem compares seasonally to Napa Valley, so the wine coming out of North Carolina is superior to their beer. there's a lot of beautiful restaurants in that area and some good wine tasting tours if you two like that sorta thing.

i like that Gomez is hitting #2. maybe it's not his absolute ideal spot this year, but Gomez isn't really going to have any long-term value unless he learns to hit high in the order. unless we get to the All-Star Break and it still isn't working, i like that RR is giving Gomez a shot there. and maybe his bunting isn't spectacular yet, but it still keeps the infield from sitting back too far and gobbling up what would be easy grounders. very few players are going to be ideal at their position or batting order when they come up, but you gotta give a guy a chance. i really love that RR has this team running a lot. people can certainly argue that running has almost a negative value to a team, but it at least has an aesthetic one for me. the games are just that much more fun to watch than if people just stood on the bases. sure enjoyed seeing Gomez steal second on a pickoff play.

what, a beer thread but no wine thread? i've been moving away from beer some in favour of liquor and wines. i'm no wine snob by any means, but quality is quality. the $6 bottles are most always nasty, but i hesitate at paying $20+ for a bottle of wine that will only yield four glasses worth. if other people are in this same boat, maybe there are some recommendations that could help us all out. also, what goes with what? there's a lot of fish down here in Southern Texas, and i know enough to serve white wine, but what kind?

i spent the last six years in Winston-Salem/Greensboro (near Raleigh). Highland brewery is in Asheville and is the best (obviously my opinion, but i'm right) brewery in North Carolina. Another good one mostly only in the Asheville area is Pisgah Brewery. a friend of mine used to be the assistant brewmaster there, and it was always fun to go beer-snobbing with him. Pisgah's beer used to be garbage, but they've done a 180 in the past year. if anyone is ever in the Winston-Salem area, PM me for the scoop on the best beer and bars there.

on your all's advice i've taken down my hammock stand and will return it once i buy some duct tape. i'll keep the hammock for when i go camping. i have a bad back to begin with, so i shouldn't be making it worse, either. and heck, i don't even need the futon stand, but just the pillow top, so that shouldn't be too expensive. thanks all.

i was about to say something about how i liked the faith RR showed in Green. now i don't know.

i'm having to listen to the Astros radio announcers. they're to-the-point and not too bad. not even that homer-ish, which you'd expect.