April 14

An eventful day, to say the least. A semi-early morning of feeling a tad bit sick, then it was off to finish up my taxes - aka paying my taxes. What? Listen, I know tomorrow is technically the cut-off date. They'll be post-marked in plenty of time. Anyway, a huge thanks to Brad for getting me set up and literally writing down to a "T" what needed to be sent with what and keeping me organized. I swear, if he and Rhett ever met each other, they'd find a common bond in their organization.

After all of the important stuff, it was time to head to Saginaw. Why was I going to Saginaw? Long story short, a lot of craziness happened to Donnell's vehicle(s) and so I was picking him up to go to a concert in Royal Oak. And what a show it was. Lupe Fiasco wsg B.o.B, who I will now be seeing every chance I get. Wait, that was meant for Bobby Ray. I'll see Lupe more, too, but B.o.B put on a hell of a show. It was almost a double headlining show, with B.o.B getting over an hour for his set and Lupe playing over 1.5 hours. As for the actual concert, it was fantastic. You can't beat a live band playing with a DJ and ultra-talented emcee (in both cases). I think the reason why Bobby Ray stuck out so much was (A.) it was the first time seeing him live and (B.) it was a set to push his first major label release. The reason the latter matters most is because he doesn't have a lot of "mainstream" material built up yet, so in addition to his new album songs, we got to hear tracks from his mixtapes, which would never happen otherwise. It's like the first time I saw Lupe. He was promoting his first album, but had to stay true to the music that got him recognized in the first place, so he performed a ton of songs from his mixtapes. Now that was a great show. And that's what will probably stay with me about the show tonight. After this, who knows when I may see B.o.B perform "Voltage" or (personal favorite) "Generation Lost" ever again.

The show ended around 11:15 and by the time I got back to my house it was closer to 2:15. I had a late night snack, started watching My Left Foot on Netflix, and now, am headed to bed. FYI, the current time is 4:34am. In closing, it was a great day. Hell, it usually is when you get to see one of your favorite artists perform.

When I turn the radio on, out comes crap,
B

April 13

It's almost 2:30 and I'm still up. I really need to start going to bed earlier. There are only so many commercials you can see for TheGeneral.com until you want to throw something at your TV screen. I'm serious, they're so bad. Anyway, a good day today made up of all of the same things that have been happening for a while. This includes another Tigers win after falling behind by 5 runs. Then came the 7th inning, where we scored 6 and maintained until our closer finished it. I'll take the wins, but I'm really concerned about the slow starts we've gotten out to in these games. It'd be nice to see some offense in the first 5 innings at some point, guys.

I have a terrible throwing motion,
B

April 11

Some days are better than others. The Tigers lost, so that wasn't cool. Also, I was just feeling tired the whole afternoon. Not the most appealing feeling. Kind of hard to explain. On the other hand, I got word from my pal Josh that he's probably going to be moving back to MI around May. He's spent the last year out in LA finishing up his film degree and working. With him and Rhett potentially coming back as well I'll be surrounded by plenty of creative minds once again. Well, in terms of film and video. Haha.

Two very different teams,
B

April 11

Well, after an early morning of work I got home to have some lunch and watch the Tigers game. This is going to be the topic of the post.

Now, we were playing the last game of a 3-meeting series against the Indians and had Verlander scheduled to pitch. Instant win, right? Well, apparently not. After the FIRST inning, it was already 5-0, Cleveland. Considering we've came from behind in all but 1 win to start this early season, you knew it wasn't over...but that's a pretty hefty deficit to find your team in after 1 INNING. That's why we play the game. As it went on it seemed our offense wasn't clicking, and when we finally got a run back in the 5th, the Indians answered with 2 more in the 6th. 7-1 going into the bottom of the 6th now. This is when the bats finally started coming to life. We got some hits, scored a couple more runs, but left a ton of men on. This continued in the 7 and 8, where we got a few more runs back, but continued leaving the bases loaded. Going into the 9th inning, it was 8-6. Raburn grounded out to start. The next better, Ordonez (who's been red hot, so far), got a hit and Cabrera was walked. So, two men on as Carlos Guillen stepped to the plate. He hit a ball deep to score Ordonez, get Cabby to 3rd, and grab himself 2nd. Inge grouded out and so Santiago was up next. Mind you, men on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs. With the luck we've been having today, I figured we'd leave these guys on and call it a game. Nope. Walk. So, now, bases loaded with Damon coming up to bat (pinch hitting for Laird, who has no offensive game). 8-7, Indians. The pitches go like this: ball, ball, ball, ball. The Indians' "closer" just walked in the tying run. So, 8-8, bases still loaded, and rookie Scott Sizemore is up to bat. I'm now thinking that this is good enough, and even if we leave the bases loaded, we came from behind and may be able to win it in extra innings. Hell, down 6 runs in the 6th to tie it in the 9th is HUGE in baseball. Sizemore is still learning, so I had no idea what may happen. So you could imagine my shock when the first throw of a bases loaded, tie game, 2 out situation from the Indians' "closer" (Perez) was a wild pitch that got away from the catcher and scored the Guillen for the game winning run. 9-8, Tigers, on an error. Wow. Talk about a game we had no business winning, but I'm sure as hell glad we did. Now, I'll admit, it's mighty impressive coming back from such a huge deficit, even if we got help from Cleveland's terrible defense, relief pitching, and unbelievable errors. BUT, throughout the game, we left 18 - yes, 18 - runners on base! That's almost like having the bases loaded for 6 straight innings and not scoring at all in that period. And we still won. Go figure.

After staying inside on a beautiful afternoon to watch that game, I wanted to get out. So I drove over to hang out with Mitch for a little bit. I checked out his house and learned that within the next few weeks he'll probably be moving with the wifey to a new place a couple blocks down. Still, it was good to see him. Then it was off to Brad's where we were going to have a mini-cookout. I went up to Meijer to pick up some ice cream and different topping for dessert. I ended up running into Brad, Richie, and Robb there, who were getting food and drinks as well. We got back to the house where Bradley's brother, Kyle, was sitting on the porch, waiting for us to arrive. We headed inside, the cooking started, and we hung out until everything was ready. A few appetizers, burgers, brownie sundaes, and drinks later we were laid out and ready for The Pacific, which I hadn't watched yet. It was on part 5 but, just like Band Of Brothers, I figure on catching up later. It's shows like this that make me want to get HBO. I can't wait until it comes out on Blu-Ray. Instant buy. Afterward we hung out a little more and I headed on home. A few rounds of CoD and I was done for the day. Looking back, a pretty good day. Pretty good day, indeed.

OH, also, the Red Wings beat the Blackhawks in Chicago to clinch the 5th spot in the Western Conference playoffs. This mean we have the Phoenix Coyotes on Wednesday to kick off the Wings' post season. We've been playing great since the last half of the season. Hopefully this translates to wins.

Sorry, Pistons,
B

April 10

Well, here we are. Posting on time and in bed. And it's all BEFORE midnight! Crazy, ain't it.

There was an early meeting at the Buy this morning. Afterwards Brad and I headed out to French Laundry for some breakfast. I got a waffle topped with homemade whipped cream and tons of strawberries. Holy crap...so good. On top of the great meal and great service, the deli was shopped up and I brought home a fresh loaf of bread and some amazing cheese spread. Love that place.

I got home and tried to get some rest, but it wasn't happening. I did some work, watched the Tigers beat the Indians (after a great 4 2/3 innings by Bonderman), and continued my work. Dinner, some online time, and now bed. A good day.

NBA playoffs and NHL playoffs are starting soon. Add in the first week of baseball coming to an end and this is a great time of the year.

Flagrant foul,
B

April 9

Again, a little late, but the day is not missed. Today involved a lot of banking and hanging out. A little bit of depositing and a little bit of transferring. After some confusion on my account number and a couple fixes, I was off to Brandon's to help with his new deck. When I arrived, other plans were made and the deck was put off until tomorrow when he gets out of work. I might be busy with work but we'll see. Anyway, I'm about done for today. I hope you enjoyed.

Oh, Klondike bars,
B

April 8

I know, I know, a little late on this one. Haha. Well I was pretty tired last night so I needed to go straight to bed. Outside of that it was a pretty normal day. Work, errands, cleaning, and sleep. Sorry, but this boring life is the one I've chose.

Tiger Woods,
B

April 7

Well, short version, Joe was back today and we go some good dinner with the guys. Later we headed to Bradley's to hang out for the night. Now I'm home and tired. Haha. Sorry. I'm dozing off as I type this via my phone.

Zzzzzz,
B

April 6

Worn out right now. The only thing I can tell you is Joe will be back in town tomorrow for a couple days. We'll definitely be getting together. Speaking of coming back home...heeelllllllllllooooo Rhett.

Kevin Durant is good,
B

April 5

What a day in sports, folks. What a day in sports. Duke ended up beating Butler not 10 minutes ago by 2 points. However, the last two shots attempted by Butler (Hayward, specifically) were dead on and rattled out at the last minute. The last shot was a half-court heave with time running out at the end of the game. Still, Butler proved they deserved to be in the championship game tonight. Too bad Duke won - National Champions 2010.

In better news, the Tigers opened the season today against Kansas City. A tale of two games. If Greinke would've pitched all 9 innings, the Royals probably could've pulled this one out. However, as was the case last year, their bullpen let them down. It didn't help that, as is the opening day norm, the starting pitchers on both sides were on strict pitch counts. Mid-90's is usually the limit. Greinke allowed only 2 runs in his 6 innings and J.V. allowed 4 runs in 5 innings. In the top of the 7th the Tigers put up 6 more runs - including the first major league hits for Scott Sizemore and Austin Jackson - to go up 8 to 4. The score would remain until the end of the game. A great start for the Tigers, thanks to (drum roll) the Royals TRRRRRRRBLE bullpen. Honestly, though, the Tigers just got hot in the 7th. Hopefully that maintains throughout the rest of the...season?

Boo = Duke, Yay = Tigers,
B

April 4

Well, Happy Easter to you all. The magic holiday where Jebus turned into a zombi rabbit and gave kids colored eggs. I think that's what all the hype's about.

It was a good day. Brad and Colleen got back from their Chicago trip and picked up Sloan. That dog definitely missed them. Once they took off, Bailey instantly laid down to rest and Frank came out of hiding. The cat just wasn't having a good time this weekend. The family started arriving around 5 and dinner was served shortly there-after. I love me a nice, big meal. The visiting was next and the night ended in some cards. Classic.

In other news, the MLB season started tonight with the Red Sox beating the Yankees. I watched bits and pieces of this game mainly because I wanted to see how our - yes, I'm still referring to Curtis Granderson as OUR's - centerfielder made out in his pin-stripe debut. Home run first at bat. Enjoy, New York.

Tigers at Kansas City tomorrow at 4:10. Verlander vs. Greinke. I can't wait.

Take me out to the ball game,
B

April 3

Well, it was fun while it lasted. Michigan State lost tonight against Butler in a game that went down to the very last possession once again. I wouldn't have expected anything less. This tournament has been full of some of the best games and finishes I've seen. I just wish State would've played better. I'll be completely honest with you, I was amazed we were only behind 1 point with 23 seconds to go. With the turnovers, missed FT's, disappearance of Raymar Morgan's game, dumb fouls, we probably should have been trailing by a lot more. Yet, 1 point was it. Watch out, next year. Lucas will be back (almost guaranteed) and our incoming freshmen are beasts.

Earlier today I went out to eat with Ben, who is in town with the wife for family Easters. I hadn't had Famous Dave's in a while, so it was a good break. After that I ran home, watched the dogs for a bit, and then Josh stopped on by for the game I described above. A little later Meagen drove over and hung out for a couple hours. A good surprise and a great visit. Always is.

Now I'm sitting here and thinking about all of the what-ifs. I need to stop. Definitely isn't healthy.

Next year,
B

April 2

April...fools? OK, so yesterday was a weak attempt at an April Fools joke. I have been informed, however, that April 1st is no laughing matter.

Yesterday did bring some pretty good bits o' fake news, though. Everything from Google changing their name to Topeka, Starbucks introducing their new cup size (128 fl. oz.), Google Maps Australia offering up directions in "Aussie speak", YouTube streaming videos in new TEXTp format, and so-on. Classic. Oh, there was also the "announcement" that Tim Burton has taken over for Christopher Nolan on the third Batman film and Johnny Depp was confirmed as The Joker. Yup, all in all, a good day o' pranks.

Today was all about dog sitting. Brad and Colleen headed out to Chicago for the weekend so I said we could watch Sloan. As soon as she was dropped off, her and Bailey were off and running outside, where they stayed for the majority of the afternoon. The energy never ends with those animals. However, at about 9:30pm, they were both passed out. A late night bathroom break at 1:30am and now they're back to snoozing.

Outside of the pets, I worked for a little on the computer and got stuff ready for the weekend. Tomorrow is the State game at 6:07pm. The anticipation...

Send it in,
B

April 1

This will be my last post. I'm done. I wish I could throw in some words of wisdom, maybe a funny little anecdote, but alas this is all she wrote.

Insert French word for "finished",
B

March 31

April starts tomorrow. I wonder what fake reports will be coming out. Hmmm.

They aired "The Room" on Adult Swim tonight. You may have heard about it years ago, as it was gathering a cult following as one of the best worst movies ever made. Unbelievable doesn't begin to describe it.

Chocolate,
B