laserbomb

If you're going to be out in that area with that kind of time, NYC sticks out by not being on your list, my suggestion would be maybe let it on your radar if you have any interest at all. A 1- or 2-day stop there wouldn't really do you justice but don't let that stop you.

I don't know if it's still like this, but a few months ago on my phone JSOnline started always showing a crappy mobile version of their site instead of just the regular site like you'd see on a computer. I couldn't get to half the parts of the site I look at. There are a couple free apps in the market that are just different options for internet browsers beside the browser that comes on the phone. Some different browsers have a specific option to choose whether you want to see the mobile versions or the regular full versions of sites. That way JS can't force you to that stripped-down site that doesn't have everything on it. Skyfire is one that has that option, Dolphin Browser Mini has it and I ended up using just using that browser all the time in place of the one that came with it. I know it's not ideal compared to just getting the JS site to work in the browser you're used to. But it's been pretty nice, I didn't want to get one of these phones until the internet by and large looked the same way it'd look on a computer screen. To me a very few mobile versions of sites were really well done to fit being on a phone better, but most of them sucked and I didn't want to get used to 2 different versions. For the battery, I didn't try any batteries from other companies, but ended up just getting the HTC bigger extended one through Verizon. The battery that came with it was just not really cutting it. The extended one is decent. Big improvement. The phone getting thicker from the bigger battery isn't that weird. If you ever put the original one back in, it'll feel really tiny again, which is kind of cool until your battery gets low within a few hours again. The size trade off and cost of another battery was definitely worth it for me. I'm not on the phone constantly but it sounds like you're not either. Basically it was a noticeable difference, and now I can use the phone through the day, charge it at the end, and not have to be conscious all day of using the battery or getting low on battery through the day.

Paul, I just got a 42" plasma a couple months ago and like it a lot. Looking at them compared to LCDs, I just like how the picture looks, with dark and bright colors. It's a Samsung, and in the menu it lets you set it to scroll a gray bar across your screen. If you run that once in a while during the first couple weeks you use the TV, you'll be able to see the pattern fixing any station logos down in the corner or anything else starting to try to burn in. After a couple weeks, nothing even began to burn in any more, so they must have made a lot of improvements in the last few years. Glare isn't a problem here, I don't have it sitting across from windows or anything but I believe they build something in now to help with that too. There's another way to maybe save a couple hundred bucks or more. At the size you're looking for, most people can see the difference between a 720p or 1080p picture. But there's not much around in 1080p beside Blu Ray and I think a little on Dish network, and it looks like there are technical reasons why it'll probably be years before more networks use it. So depending whether you plan to get a Blu Ray player in the medium future, a 720p (1080i) TV would be enough to see just about anything on TV into the foreseeable future. You sound like you're ready to go and stare at a wall of all of them for like 20 minutes and see what looks the best to you.

Maybe he'd have fun with Big Brain Academy. There are a couple handfuls of quick games split up into 5 categories, and after you run through a section they give you a brain score based on how fast and well you did. We had a lot of fun with it for a while until there wasn't quite enough variety to keep us coming back playing the same handfuls of games and watching our scores for months. The reason I bring it up in spite of that is I'm not sure how that might all translate for 5-year-olds, and I wonder if it might be in a good way.

Too live: No great baseball game yet. The BIGs was messed up, the game forced you to learn the wrong timing (swing early to get a hit, if you swing at the right time you won't hit it) and that turned me off all by itself. Power Pros sounds great at what it does, but I don't like RPGs or a lot of extra stuff outside playing the game. It does sound like the best so far, by far. But I'm just not interested for a few reasons and it sounds like you're not either. So that's pretty much it for now.

Godfather and Resident Evil 4 are my favorites so far. But these holiday games are coming just in time, it's starting to get a little stale waiting for new exciting stuff to come out. We love our Wii, but I'm tired of waiting for it to get to that potential too, so I'm getting a 360 and XBL to go along with it. Check out the list of Virtual Console games that are available so far, and definitely hook it up to the internet if you can (it can pick up a wireless signal, otherwise you have to pay for a usb/ethernet wired adapter).

My wife had the soundtrack for the movie Cherish and I think it was on there. PS Gypcasino, could you check your inbox for an unrelated reason?

Sometimes it's interesting to see what people might have available, like tickets or some other less common things. It seems like the number of people who're into trading cards, bobbles, and autographs might have grown into something a little different that maybe could justify having a collector's board to themselves. I don't know anything about the logistics, or if it'd be appealing to anyone else or they see where I'm coming from or not.

I still don't check in more than once or twice a month or necessarily post without getting jumped all over, but I think I have some perspective for that, and for the record since the last time I made my opinions known I think most everyone in charge is less cliquey, maybe more helpful, or making their "power" known a little less. I'm sure it's been difficult to handle what's probably been a chunk of growth in size and membership. In my opinion, compared to other sites that might be a little less strict, some people scroll around here ore with repressed rocks and unload pointlessly, or work too hard to show they're "up on things" or worthy of respect, take things too seriously or take some of the fun out of things, whatever that means here. That's probably part of being the best resource around, and mods probably have to work harder in general to maintain the standards rather than just closing things down when necessary, but that's your choice. That said I understand what you're going for and think you're hitting the mark. Clearly there are enough people that appreciate the PG rating, and whether or not I could handle R doesn't matter. There always seem to be a few frustrated wannabe sportswriters or people who righteously seek the respect of a message board but this is an outstanding resource for new or old fans alike. I think it's worth not a lot but a little something that I've managed to avoid getting warned or banned through any disagreements I might've stood by or taken a break after, and if anyone seeks my opinion they know where to find me. In the meantime, I think the pitch chart and at-bat song pages could be a little more closely updated but cheers to the dozen or so who keep this rolling. I'm not up on fan sites all around sports but it's hard for me to conceive there are many sites around MLB, NFL, NBA or anything else that are much more comprehensive. I think those who recognize my name will know I'm not here to suck up for any reason or curry favor, still it's hard to overstate what a great resource this site is. Maybe someday all the fans at MP will be into the game and knowledgeable about it. So here's to the last 50 regular-season games; Yost making good decisions since we're ultimately standing or falling with him; Weeks, the pitching staff and everyone else; Skaalen not feeling too much like Wynegar for too long; one-color bobbleheads next year if they still need them for attendance since people can't be civil or maybe rational; and thanks to everyone who cares for all the hard work. From an outside view it doesn't seem likely that the JS will dig too deeply into anything good or bad here, and it seems like a good chance there's not so much worth worrying too too much about. I mean, people can say, "take your customer service, bf.net story or whatever to the JS," but without getting carried away let's appreciate this for what it is. This isn't about to become a national or regional story. I don't always agree with some of the principles and guidelines here but I can stay away for a while if I disagree and you're the ones hanging around, and I think those principles are made well known clearly enough. Magic number = 48 or 44 if the Cardinals are the greater long-term threat, personally I'm having a lot of fun with this even sticking mostly to brewers.com and watching every game, and checking in a couple other places from time to time. The losses are hard to take but nothing so far has outdone the sweep in FLA and 10-game losing streak yet.

Go on. I don't check in here very often and I called it like I saw it, probably with sarcasm but not with any bother, and don't have any aim beyond that. You're going to tell someone else on a message board they used too many words? Go shine your collections.

laserbomb, that is a little harsh, i have all the blue ones and pinstripe ones, it isn't that hard, and even if I don't get them at the gate, I get them from other people at the park. It really isn't that hard. You're right, 12.5% or 0.00....0018% isn't that hard, compared to some even farther long shots. But if there're tricks at the gate, it's not random. Or if you just have the initiative to go around to people who don't care or don't know what a blue one is, that's great that you've figured it out and it works out for you. The last part of that post is pretty bush league. Oh, you think I leaned over the plate into that one? Just wait til Ned gets here, he'll scream at you until he's ejected!

You sound pretty certain. Sweet, I thought I heard MP workers were going through the boxes before giving them to fans randomly. I'm not even a collector but it's pretty cheap if that's how it is. Not accusing you personally of anything. Let's see, 5000 blue ones out of let's say 40,000 every time, that's 1 in 8 or or a 12.5% chance at the gate. To pull in the long odds every time, am I figuring it wrong or is that a 0.00000000018% chance? You sound pretty sure of getting the whole team together. People who care more about bobbleheads or pay a lot for their sets might call someone like that a lucky fan, or a born winner. PS I offer a striped Gorman (don't know if you're missing some of the striped ones), two probably striped Harvey Kuenns, a Chorizo and a Turnbow from last year with real hair that I could paint any color for an interested party. Could probably persuade my wife to throw in 2 retro logo margarita glasses and 4 mini helmets from cheese fries; she heard people like those blue ones and that they may be willing to $$ or maybe even $$$ for a comprehensive set like that.

It blows my mind that they've sold out every game since the new stadium opened and probably had a streak going back at the old Busch. The metro area's got about a million more but that doesn't account for the knowledgeable part. I couldn't really speculate about the reasons for that, but if no one tries to start the wave during the middle of a rally that'd be kind of impressive.

You should sit front row between home and first if any of those seats are still available for this year, and have Corey come over starting the bottom of the first and ask your companion, "what is the meaning of life?" But I'm not sure why you want to go to all the trouble to ask a question that has no answer. Seriously though, it'd be pretty cool if the ring was all covered in pine tar. Good call avoiding the scoreboard, I think. There's no accounting for if she has to go to the bathroom or something and you're sitting there like, "Could you wait a little bit, I need to see if Suppan makes it through 5 and I want to have you here with me because it looks like he could do it with under 105 pitches!" If they can't let the players be a part of it, maybe try a fighter jet fly-over after the national anthem, and they could drop the ring box down to you with a little parachute attached. Or if you went to the Fan Zone before the game and said, "hey, try on this foam finger, no, on your left hand" and she does but there's something small and round stuck inside, oh snap! Best of luck with all of it, sounds like you've got it covered. Edit: Sheeeeeeet, hope I don't get fired for responding.

Anyone get at Strikers yet? I'm curious about the online but can't see picking this one up without being pretty sure it'll be fun for a long time. Might have to rent it.