fstorm1

He's right about what I expected, which is to say not too bad, but not nearly good enough for him to have complained before the season about playing everyday. I think a real question is whether or not the Crew should resign him? Probably best answered in a couple months after he has or hasn't "heated up".

I miss County something fierce, have ever since they tore it down. Now, granted, I love M.P. Loved it when I had season tickets, and love it now that I (sadly) don't. It truly is something for everyone to see. But I spent the best years of my life in County, and had waaaaaay too many great memorable days and nights there (and quite a few that I don't remember). It was a dump, to be sure, but it was our dump. One man's garbage is another man's treasure. Miss ya, C.S. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/frown.gif

I happened upon the game by accident right as he came to the plate. After the first couple of AB's, I was thinking back to the night when McGwire set the new record. I recall vividly how I was on the edge of my seat, and when he hit it, how all the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. And how exciting it was when he hugged everyone and their grandma, and how players on the other team shook his hand as he went around. Fast forward to tonight, and I had no excitement at all during the AB, not a thing when he hit it, and even less after he crossed the plate. I couldn't (and still can't) tell if this is one of the games I will remember and tell me grandkids about or not. The difference between my reaction tonight and back when McGwire and Sosa were chasing a record is like night and day. And that's what's so sad about it. We should all be giddy and excited that we were alive when these guys played, just like when the "old-timers" talk about Aaron and Maris and Joe D. and so on. And yet, what's the legacy that we'll all remember? Cheaters. What a drag. At least I can take some solace in the knowing (or hoping) that Bonds' records won't last long.

In March I purchased a Gateway with Vista from that nice BF.net fella, Jason21nl. As nearly all of the units that they (Best Buy) sold at the time already (only) had Vista, it was hard to heed his warnings about Vista, so I bought the system and hoped for the best. Yikes. The biggest problem, and it's a biggy, was the graphics card. In my case, it is an nVidia, and it simply just wasn't compatible with Vista, plain and simple. This despite the label on the box saying it was. It took months and months before they released a driver that was/is stable enough, and it's barely that. Depending on usage, I would get blue screens of death, lock/hang ups, freezes, etc. on average of about 5-10 times a day. Just ridiculous. Pretty sad that I had just bought this good but not uber rig and I spent nearly all my time at the nVidia forums looking for answers. It's finally pretty stable now (knock on wood), but it was shear madness for 4 months or so. There's still quite a few apps and hardware that aren't completely compatible with Vista, and the real kicker is they may say they are. Lots of lists out there to check, but I can tell you already that some don't work, despite what the box says. I like Vista, it's might pretty, has some real nice features, but to be honest, if I had known then what I know now, I would've gone with XP and waited a year or so till they fix all the bugs. It's just the nature of the beast with new OS's. At any rate, if you decide to go with Vista, post it here and I'll list all the sites I have bookmarked to fix known probs with Vista...little tips and tricks.

Honestly, I think the whole season has been a hot streak. We're a day or so away from August, and the team's in first place. I'm happy they're at least in this position. Like so many others, I've waited a long time for this. Would I like to see them win the division by 20 games? Sure, be alot less nerve-wracking, but then what's the fun in that?!? Love ya Brew.

Okay, yeah, I wasn't gonna say anything negative about the nic. But now that I've seen the generic team logo...blech. Sad that I actually think the Admirals have a better team logo. Yikes.

Perfect choice, me thinks. Good for him. I enjoyed him immensely on "Whose Line...", still do, if there's nothing else on. Which happens quite often, now that I think about it.

I attended a Green Bay Blizzard game last year (couple friends have season tickets), and I can say that if Milwaukee manages to get even a fraction of the fun Blizzard games are, it's gonna be a great night out for Milwaukeeans. May actually have been the most fun I've ever had at a "professional" sporting event. Just awesome.

Hmm. I thought it was absolutely awful. Always though softball was/is an untapped subject for a movie, and I really had no expectations, good or bad, going in this film, but I maybe chuckled a handful of times. Oh well. To each their own.

Money quote: "He's one of the top backup centers in the league..." Based on: averaged 4.4 points and 3.5 rebounds in 14 minutes per game with the Charlotte Bobcats last season. Yawn is right. I'd take Gadz over "one of the top backups" in the league. At 4.8 points and 4.6 rebounds, Gadz must be the greatest backup in the world.

Phillips for me is the poster child of the vomit being spit out by the once great ESPN. Yet another reason to avoid that channel.

Ironically, I was at the docs just this past wednesday, and his nurse mentioned a stop smoking drug that all I could remember was that it started with a "C". Guessing it's this one. She said that she's been keeping track of the patients he has that are using it and she's seen a near 90% success rate. 'Course, I didn't ask about the side effects, which are always fun. I've started and stopped a number of times in the past 18 years. Whatever course you try, I wish you the best of luck. I'm pullin' for ya.

I like Olbermann very much, have for many years, back to ESPN, then his short gig at MSNBC, then his shorter gig at Fox Sports, and now back to MSNBC. My nice lady friend and I watch him just about every night. That said, the one thing I don't like is his "Special Comment". The very first one he did was excellent, but they've gotten progressively worse since. Only part of the show I can't stand.

I enjoyed Craig K on ESPN, and I liked him as host of the Daily Show. But somewhere between T.D.S. and Late Late Show, he (and his shtick) really lost any likability for me. I definitely enjoy Stewart more, and I like Craig Ferguson quite a bit as well. I personally think he's (Kilborn) too swarmy for Price Is Right, but Carey would work perfectly. And I have to disagree with you, Al, on Stewart. I think he realizes full well what impact his show has on "youthful culture". Although he always manages to remain playful regardless of the guest, he asks some very, very poignant questions of the "important" guests. The fact that he/Daily Show manage to get the guests they do get, be it politicos or actors or whatever, speaks volumes about the power and influence the show has. My only regret is that his interview sessions are too short (the whole show is for that matter). But the shows tones remain "comical", and that scores very well. Not to turn this into a political-ish thread, but I would much prefer a Stewart interview with someone important, than say O'Really (deliberately spelled wrong) or Scarborough or just about anyone else doing the interview.

Thank god. Good for him. Now I can officially distance myself completely from all things ESPN. Sadly, I can't really find a sports web site that's as "thorough" or easy to read as ESPN.com (and by easy to read I mean stats and headlines-reading any ops are a waste of time). Where do you go?

Although it may not "hurt" the team from a RB standpoint, it hurts him as he loses a year of eligibility (which he can gain back), and can't practice with the team this year. A bit disheartening to hear, frankly. Future is/was so bright. I can't speak for anybody else here, but if I had that talent, I'd make darn sure I 1)did my schoolwork and 2)kept my nose clean. I didn't have that talent back in school, and so didn't bother with #1. #2? Yeah, did that. Hmmm, maybe I should have partied more. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/tongue.gif

I have yet to see a Brad Bird film that isn't among my all time favorites. The Incredibles, Iron Giant, and now Ratatouille. Absolutely spectacular. I still remember back in '99 how Iron Giant failed to attract a big audience, then, after a re-release, there was a movement of sorts to get folks to see it, which didn't work. I remember a few years later how sad I was to hear WB was dissolving the animated feature film division...I thought about Bird and how Iron Giant could and should have "re-opened" the glory of non-CGI animation. Fortunately the good (and smart) folks over at Pixar came to the rescue with perhaps my all time favorite animated film, The Incredibles. After the release of the Special Edition Iron Giant on DVD, I was proud to have a sig which read, in bold letters: YOU HAVE TO HEAR: "Halcyon Days"-Bruce Hornsby YOU HAVE TO SEE: Iron Giant Special Edition I, like many others, was disappointed in Cars. It's the only Pixar film I don't own, and frankly, don't have any desire to see again, much less purchase. My bias against Owen Wilson may be a factor... I also remember reading a review of Ratatouille the day before I saw it where the reviewer stated that this film heralds the "golden age of animation". And while I agree that Ratatouille and literally everything Pixar makes is gold, I still long for the days of "pencil and ink" anmination...or at least the days of Iron Giant. Still (Ratatouille's) a beautiful and rich film. Glorious in every detail. I know that we said went to see it "for our daughter", but I'm not the least bit embarrassed to say I saw it for me as well.

Last I heard Drew Carey was the front runner. But that was last week, and thing's have prob changed by now.

Yeah, was The Dutch Doors for years and years. I believe it was last year that it became Angry Dave's. The bar area leaves a little to be desired...every time I went in there it was, well, "northwoods red-neck" city*. Go for the fish fry on friday. Skip the bar, just head straight into the dining room. Chances are 3 to 1 you'll get a teenager to wait on you, and they serve exactly like you'd expect a teenager (the one waitress we could always count on, Carmella, wasn't there this last time we went,she is quite dependable for 130 years old**). Anyway, it's the food, not the service. *No disrespect to the "northwoods red-neck" intended; nothing wrong with NASCAR and guns*** **Carmella is not 130 years old, she only seems that way to me, as she worked with my father many, many, MANY years ago. ***My brother happens to be a "northwoods red-neck", defined as "one who has at least 3 cars and/or motorcycles in driveway, only one of which runs; more that 75% of clothing has a NASCAR or NASCAR related emblem(s) attached; at least 5 guns, only one of which is properly hanging, unloaded, on the wall or in locked cabinet.

My dad, and his wife as well as my brother and his family live there (my mother and here ENTIRE side of the family live in Three Lakes). I agree that it's much easier to live in a larger area (I've also lived in Milwaukee), both for convenience and also economically. Horrid trying to make a living up there. We were just up their last weekend. Love it, go up whenever we can. Yep, you nailed all the things that people mention after vacationing there. Still, no one really know's the crowning jewel: friday fish fry at Angry Dave's (the former Butch Door). Best I've ever had, hand's down.

And you escaped? Lucky you. I moved here. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/frown.gif Actually, it's not terrible. But it has grown waaaaaaay too much in the last 10 years (since I moved here). Have you been back lately? Doesn't much look the same, does it? Maybe it's just the St Germain/Eagle River (hometown) in me, but I'm really getting tired of the growth. Pretty sure we know have one of everything somewhere in the Valley.

Anyone else have a chance to see these two celestial wonders screaming overhead? Tonight (Tuesday) was a perfect night for viewing here in the the Fox Valley, and the two blazed across the sky in 3 minutes flat. Even without a telescope (sold mine years ago http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/frown.gif ), they were brilliant, easily visible to the naked eye, the shuttle a thumbs width behind. Flat out awesome. Always fun, while visiting my father in St Germain, to lay out on his picnic table and just count the satellites whizzing by, but never anything this bright. If you're interested, you can get info from Skywatch 2.0. Well worth it. And brings the kids out, too.

Okay, I have a vent (horray for me): I am sick and tired of people talking about how "weak" the division is. "Well, sure, they're in first place, but that's only because the division sucks", etc, etc. Ya know what? It doesn't matter. Not one teenie tiny bit. I couldn't care less if every team in the division was 20 games under, and the Crew won the Central by 1 game...over the Pirates. The only thing that matters, the ONLY thing, is what happens after the regular season. Everyone and their grandma talked about how quickly the Cards' were going to be shown the door last year. 83 wins. Didn't matter. Do I want the Crew to be 19 games under? Of course not. I'd rather they be 19 games over...19 games into the season. It's June, there's a long way to go yet. I still think this team has as good of a chance as anybody in the division to win it, then be a huge stick in the mud come postseason. My first official vent. Geez I feel dirty.

Having tiled and grouted our bathtub, I can tell you it wasn't a whole lot of fun, especially the grouting. But that was on a vertical surface, obviously, and we are still planning on tiling the bathroom floor and kitchen floor as well (not to mention any other tiling that my nice lady friend wants). That said, I can tell you the whole messy point of grouting is that you essentially wipe it over the entire face of the tile, not just around the edges/gaps. We have glass tiles spaced around and the grout we used didn't damage those tiles, but I can see how that fella would say it'll destroy the artwork. The grout we used was not recommended for use on "delicate" tile. As others have said, head to Depot and chat with more than one person about it (always good to have two opinions). Personally, I'd go the sealing of the tile route, then grout. Good luck. All is not lost.

There was a topic on Shandy a few months back. I mentioned in that one how Leinie's had screwed up a great idea (lemon + weiss). Very, very disappointed. Although as others have mentioned, the ladies seem to like it. I've now tried Sunset 4 times, including once on the Leinie's brewery tour. Although it's not terrible, it's not very good. My pick for worst ever: http://www.ratebeer.com/beerimages/7263.jpg Still remember getting loaded on that at a Halloween party back in '88. It narrowly beats out Smithwick's, which I had heard nothing but great thing's about...from Irish folk, no less. Should've known better.