Commander

Well the rest of the weekend was an incredibly fun time. As I mentioned last post, Mal and I dressed up as Dorothy and Scarecrow. I don't like to brag, but yeh, we looked awesome. Here are a few pics of us in costume...

If I only had a brain...

You dont get much more Oz-like than us

Unfortunately, this weekend had to end, and I flew out Sunday night after Mal and I had a nice sit-down dinner. The plane ride took for-ev-er. We had a 20 minute delay while they had to sort out the air field pattern from the air show that occurred. Then 1 hour into the flight, the pilot informed us that only the western runways were open, so we would have to fly AROUND the airport once to get in position to land. We land, and guess what: NO GATE is open. That meant a 30 minute delay! I felt bad because some people on my plane needed to connect to a flight, and they missed it by almost an hour. Nevertheless, I eventually made it back safely to my apartment.

Today I forgot that I had signed up to ride the Shuttle Motion Simulator this afternoon. If you don't know what the SMS is, it is basically the ultimate motion simulator for shuttle liftoff, ascent, and re-entry. It is the PRIME machine used for getting astronauts ready for real space work. Anyways, I was first up in our group, and after it was all said and done, the instructor said I was the best out of everyone :). I sticked the landing almost perfectly; I was only one meter off from the perfect landing position. Everyone else was off by at least 20 meters. My ground speed and sink rate, as well as my knots-equivalent-airspeed(or KEAS), were all within the acceptable bounds. As an added bonus for you all, I included the video of my landing the shuttle. It's about 2 minutes long, so give it time to download. The kind of bumpy part at the end is when I finally touch down. You can look outside the "windows" to see the landscape and scnerey change. The voice you hear for most of the video is the instructor. He is sitting in the Pilot's seat, and I in the Commander's seat. Also, the video was taken from behind me, and it IS a simulator, so the perfect conditions for videotaping are not there, but you can still see me and what I am doing. Enjoy!(give it about 3 minutes at a high speed connection to load)

Commander Horne Lands the Space Shuttle at Kennedy Space Center

I'll talk about the Red Sox GM woes next post :(

-H

I'm World Serious

Yes, I still post on this thing. I have just been slightly busy this past week. With what, you ask? I shall tell you...

Last time I blogged, I told you that the fate of my World Series experience was in the hands of beings high above. Alas, I nor any of my constituents(whom I told to sign up) were selected to have the chance to buy tickets. Needless to say, I was disappointed by that revelation. The announcement was made on Tuesday, so for two days I had to hear about everyone else that got tickets, either at work or somewhere else. Keep in mind that at this point, the Astros had gotten into the World Series, so tickets were a hot item, especially in H-town. Then Thursday(Oct. 20th) rolled around, and Jason and I returned to our apartment from work. I had my usual mid-afternoon snack while Jason checked his email. As I am downing my glass of orange juice, I hear from the living room, "DUDE, I got selected for 2nd Chance World Series tickets!!". My response: "HOLY SHIT!" I ran to the living room, and we read over the email no less than 5 times. We would be able to buy the tickets tomorrow(Friday) at 10 am CT. We were pumped. Of course, we already had determined who would get the tickets. I told Jason to register in the first place, so all I asked in return was that I get two of the tickets, one for me and one for Mal. Jason decided to get the 3rd one, and Walker got the last. With that part figured out, we bought the tickets the next day. We got 2 pairs of tickets: one in center field and the other along the 1st base line in the 3rd level.

I told Mal about the ticket situation as soon as Jason and I found out on Thursday. We had discussed that if I got tickets she would fly down. After we had officially procured the seats, the next problem was finding a flight(cheap and efficient) for Mal. After countless hours of searching, Mal was able to find a flight out of Nashville, which was our best plan. Mal was on Fall Break, and Nashville was on her way back to Chattanooga. She had to cut her break short, but we figured it was worth it. She flew out of Nashville on Monday afternoon, and her first stop was Denver. From there(after a 3 hour layover) she flew down to Houston. I picked her up from Bush around 10:30pm.

We had tickets to Tuesday's game, Game 3 of the World Series. It was the first home WS game for Houston, and it was also the first WS game ever in Texas. Needless to say, the city was excited, even being down 2-0 in the series. Hell, even NASA declared Tuesday as Astros Day, and everyone wore their jerseys, shirts, and hats to suppport the team.

I took off work early, around 12:30, and Mal and I went to the surrounding Wal-Marts and Targets in search of Astors shirts. No luck. We then figured they would be selling that stuff around the stadium; we were right. I was able to find a shirt, but none of the vendors had Mal's size, so that was a bummer. Around 3:00(1 hour prior to gates opening)we ate at a local bar&grille right across the stadium. It wasn't packed, as it was still too early. We shared the chicken fajitas. After lunch, we headed back to my car to make signs. We only managed to get one done; it was a target sign for batting practice.

Mal hard at work in our makeship art studio

Mal was ready for batting practice ball-recovery

I took this from across the field. Look for the target sign, and that is Mal. She's right on the front of the upper level, almost all the way to the left side. Click for larger view. Our seats were about 16 rows up from that spot.

Our reward after hours of yelling for a ball to be thrown to us. Note, this doesn't include the 3rd ball we got. I had to give it to these two kids, as I had trampled over them to get the second ball in the picture above.

We got in right as the gates opened. We manged to get two balls from batting practice; one thrown to us by Willy Taveras(Houston) and one from Jose Contreras(Chicago). We were elated.

Then came the game. My dear lord it was epic. It was the longest game EVER in World Series history at 5 hours and 41 minutes. We stayed and cheered the whole time. Unfortunately, Houston lost Game 3 en route to a sweep from the White Sox. Nevertheless, we had a BLAST at the game, and it will be something we'll never forget.

The boys of Baseball Tonight(from L to R, Dan Patrick, Jonathan Kruk, Harold Reynolds, and Hall of Famer Peter Gammons) doing their pre-game thang.

Right in front of the action


Our awesome view of the real action.


Hanging out between innings...


Hey, you gotta eat, right?


Yes, we WERE there.

Although the game was great, it did last 14 innings, causing us to get to bed at THREE in the morning. We had to be up at 4:45 to leave for the airport, so we were quite tired upon awaking. I was able to get Mal to the airport on time, and everything was good. The funny part about this whole thing is that we had already planned on my coming up to Chattanooga the following weekend. As Mal left to get on the plane, we knew we'd see each other the NEXT DAY. That's right. On Thursday night, I got on a direct flight to Chattanooga, where I am currently typing this.

We tweaked my Halloween costume that night, adding some straw here and there. I forgot that I haven't disclosed my costume this year, so I will tell you now. Mallory's favorite movie of all time is The Wizard of Oz, and with that in mind, we are going as Dorothy and Scarecrow to this Halloween party tonight. Mal's roomate had a Dorothy dress available, so she was set from the beginning. I had to thrift store shop a little, but I managed to find what I needed. I'll post pictures of the evening next post. Our costumes kick ass...

In other news....

Dr. Griffin, NASA's administrator, came to JSC to speak on Monday. It was mainly a q&a session, but I did walk away knowing more than when I entered. It was also cool to see this guy in person; I had seen him many times on tv, but never live.

We saw SawII yesterday afternoon. Wow. If you thought the first one pushed the envelope on seat-squirming, hair-raising, makes-you-not-want-to-look graphic events, then this movie takes it to the next level. It was quite entertaining, and the twist at the end was completely unpredictable, which I liked. Expect the 3rd movie to come out next year.

We also went to a haunted house last night. It wasn't the best one I have ever been to, but it was an experience nonetheless. There were so many periods of just walking in the dark, I believed I could have made that haunted house out of my apartment.

The baseball season is officially over, but that doesn't mean the news has to stop. The Sox(the red ones) are definitely in for an eventful offseason. Today, Damon, Mueller, and Millar signed for free agency. Expect the Sox to try and retain Damon, as that will be their priority after getting a new deal worked out with Theo, which should be announced no later than Monday. Manny also asked to be traded, but that is nothing new. He is a 10-5 guy(10 continuous years in the bigs and 5 with one team), so he can deny any trade that is proposed. That will make trading him away a tough task. Timlin was signed for 2006, which is good news. We need at least SOME stability in the latter parts of the game. There are some free agents available this winter, and I have read that some are being sought after by the Sox. Paul Konerko(of the other Sox) will be free, but he has already mentioned that he wants to stay in Chi-town. A.J. Burnett is also on the market, and he could definitely bolster our starting rotation. If we do end up trading Ramirez, don't you worry; we'll definitely get something in return. I even hear that the Sox might pick up Tori Hunter, if and when Damon is traded. He's not a leadoff guy, but he could improve our outfield defense and give us speed on the bases as well as in the outfield.

Well, I think that should catch you all up on my goings-on. Expect lots of Halloween pictures next post.

I'm off to read...

-H

Weekend Review

Here's a recap of this past weekend's activities...

I was in a sim at work until 7:00pm on Friday, but after I got out we went to see Serenity. FINALLY, a sci-fi movie that's interesting and original. It's based off the now-cancelled tv series Firefly, and all of the original actors from that series starred in the movie. Hopefully this will bring back the tv series, and even if it doesn't, I plan on buying the series on dvd :)

Saturday was Game 3 of the NLCS. Walker and I, knowing we had "standing room only" tickets, made sure to get there early, and we did. We walked up to Minute Maid Park around 11:30, 3 1/2 hours before game time. We were one of the first people in line, and as a result, we got incredible spots to stand.

Always important to any event are the tickets. Yes, this picture is blurry. All my pictures are. That only means one thing: new camera time for me :)

Here's our view of the field. This was taken during the pre-game ceremony. It's a FULL HOUSE of 42,000 rabid Astros fan and 1 Red Sox fan.

This is a shot from the other side of the park, so you can get an idea of where our "seats" were.

Because of our very advantageous spots, we were in prime position for homerun balls during batting practice. Unfortunately, no long-balls were sent our way; however, many fly balls did come close. To keep pitchers loose and give their legs some excercise, ball clubs usually let them(even if they wont even play that day) shag and catch fly balls in batting practice. As luck would have it, today's Game 4 starter, Brandon Backe was shagging balls near our spot. He caught a fly ball, and generously threw it up to our part of the balcony. Whose glove caught it? Yup, that's right. I am now in posession of a ball that was handled by the starter to Game 4 of the NLCS. Needless to say, that made my day, and that ball will definitely be going into my collection of collectible things.

As most of you know, today is the day the Astro Deities will randomly select fans for a chance to buy World Series tickets. The drawing was earlier today, but as far as I know, no one has gotten an email yet. I've been watching the Astros message board all day, and no one has received the aforementioned notice. Many think that they are waiting for the game today(that's going on right now; 6th inning) to be over. It's still up in the air, and I have Outlook running constantly today, so when I get an email, I'm gonna know right away.

Around 700, I'm gonna head to Kemah and the boardwalk over there. Colin's brother, and his brother's friend(both from Boston and HUGE Sox fans), Rachel, Eric, Jennifer, another one of Rachel's friends, Frank, Kim, several others and I are headed to one of the seafood bar&grilles down there. We're gonna watch ALCS game 5 and any other NFL games, I am sure. It should be fun. I've heard Colin's bro is one of the most diehard BoSox fans around, so I'm anxious to get his thoughts about this season and next.

Guess I'll get in the shower so I don't run everyone off.

-H

So Let It Be Written, So Let It Be Done

I registered today for Houston Astros World Series tickets, and I hope that if I sent you an email today, you have registered as well. If everyone I emailed registers, then I have multiplied my chances of winning by 10. Now all we do is wait...and wait...and wait. The guy who promotes the Astros said on the radio this morning that if you do not get an email by Monday morning, then you have not been selected. He said you should get the email(if you are chosen) sometime Sunday, though. I think that sucks; they should at least email you if you didn't get selected. That way you will not have to keep watching ALL day to get an email. Oh well. It's all out of my hands now.

No whammies, no whammies, no whammies...

And the Yankees are Headed...

HOME!!! They got booted out of the post-season by the Rally-Monkey crazed Los Angeles Angels of Aneheim of California of West Coast North America.

NLCS Game 3 Bound

Yes, it has been quite some time since we last met, but I think we all know why, so I am not going to even mention it.

Speaking of baseball(haha)...I'm watching Game 5 of the Yanks and Angels. Nothing would make me happier than seeing the Yankees also go down in the first round; however, there is a rather large part of me that is wanting, no, hoping, that they make it to the World Series where they will hopefully faceoff against the Houston Astros. Then I want the Astros to tear......them.....apart. Limb by limb. Every one of them. Why am I so pro-Houston all of a sudden? I am more anti-Yankee than anything else, but the thought of actually seeing Clemens and the boyz woop up on the Evil Empire is quite enticing. Yes, I said seeing. I am hoping to score some World Series tickets in the next few days, which is the timeframe most of us believe the tickets will go on sale. They go on sale way before anyone knows who is going to the Series, but that's the idea; you get them early, and if you were right, you have tickets of a lifetime. What if I guess wrong? Then I get my money back. It's a no-lose situation.

You're thinking now, "Henry, World Series tickets are rather hard to come by." That's a true statement, but I have people working with me to make sure we get tickets. It's a complicated web of partners, but we feel confident we'll get tickets. Actually, I may not even get Houston World Series tickets; I may get St. Louis tickets. Mal's fall break is approaching, and it is during the period of time when the NL team will have home field(St. Louis if they win); that's only a 4-hour drive for Mal. I can catch a flight to St. Louis to leave right after work, and she could pick me up from the airport. We would go to the game, and then we'd both depart the next morning, with Mal dropping me off at the airport on her way back to school. If we get Houston tickets, then Mal may fly in for the game and leave the next day........but like I said, I don't have the tickets yet, so nothing is finalized. I'll keep you all posted...

Regardless of the World Series situation, Walker and I have tickets to the NLCS Game 3 here this Saturday night. It's a SRO(standing room only) ticket, but for 20 bucks, that can't really be beat. Minute Maid Parks has some very cool places to watch on your feet, so Walker and I will plan to be there early. I'll make sure to describe what I am wearing before I head to the game; maybe you'll see me jumping over people to snag a foul ball :)

Great news on the Team Horne front. I have recently been informed(from a reliable source) that the ENTIRE Horne Clan will be home for Thanksgiving. In addition, my Aunt Dotty, her husband, and my cousin Thomas will be joining us. Let's count that; that means ELEVEN(yes, I counted correctly. Dont forget girlfriends and husbands!) people hanging around the Horne house at any one time. My dear Lord. It's going to be madness. Will, John, and I are already assembling our disc golf ammunition for the classic battles on the greens that are sure to ensue after we all arrive. Will has even mentioned the fact that the Egg Bowl will be right up the road in Starkville; how fun would that be?! Anyways, I am pumped about Thanksgiving.

Ok, funny picture time. My dogs commandeered the truck last time I was home. There was nothing I could do as I stood face to face with the crazy animals...

Don't move. They wont see you if you just stay still. Wait for it. Waaait for iiiit.

Faith

I know you are just itching to hear what I have to say about baseball right now, but I'll get to that in a moment.

I can't believe I haven't mentioned this before, but Jason's girlfriend, Becky, is flying into Houston tonight from Birmingham. She workst at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. How cute. He's been looking forward to it for some time now, and it's pretty amusing to watch how he's cleaning EVERYTHING, washing every article of clothing, vacuuming each and every corner of the floor, and wiping down every surface imaginable in this apartment. It's hilarious until I realize I did the exact same thing last semester. Oh well. I'm glad she's coming to visit. Jason is usually in a good mood anyways, but since this week started, he's had that extra swagger only few men have. I'm happy for him; this weekend will do him good.

Wanting to do something special for Becky, Jason has decided to cook dinner for her Friday night over candlelight. Yeh, uhm, I think it's best I not be here during that, haha. It's OK though; I'm going to spend the night with Walker tomorrow after I get back from the hockey game(more on that later). Wanting to be even smoother, Jason wanted wine for their dinner, so he asked for my assistance in choosing the right one. I gladly helped him, and with his being 21 years of age, we went to the liquor store down the street and picked up a nice Australian Shiraz(my favorite region for wines :) ) for the boy and his lady. I gave him pointers on how to open the bottle, as well as how to store it and pour it into wine glasses. I also told him what were the right glasses for white wine. I feel confident that he's well equipped with the knowledge to be very Bond-smooth tomorrow night.

I guess I'll get to feel how Jason felt last semester when Mal came down, but I think I should be alright. There is tons happening this weekend...

Hockey. The season has started, and it is great. Time Warner is even providing FREE Center Ice(digital cable channel for all hockey) this entire week. BITCHIN!

Hockey #2. I was offered a ticket last week for the Aeros home opener tomorrow night. I'm extremely excited about it. I'm tagging along with Trey and some other guys before the game; we're going down to Two Rows for pre-game beverages and Golden Tee. Then at 7:00, we'll be off to the game in Trey's sexy Audi A4 Quattro listening to XM Radio. Don't worry; the Sox game is at 3. I wont miss a pitch.

Baseball. Oh boy. Our boys sure are in a hole, but to tell you the truth, I'm not as scared as you might think. 1) We were in this position 2 years ago against the A's; they won the first 2 games in a 24 hour span, but we returned with "Cowboy Up!" and took the next 3. 2) Do I need to mention the history that was made last year in the ALCS!?! 3) We have the best home record in all of baseball; however, the White Sox have the best road record. Wait a minute...who had the best road record last year? The Yankees. Who had "the best closer of all time"? The Yankees. Who had 4 tries to clinch but never did? The damn Yankees. 4) When Tim Wakefield and Curt Schilling are your Game 3 and Game 4 starters, you have to feel good despite Curt's lack of wow-ness the past starts. He's got the best postseason winning percentage of all time, so he knows big games. The Force will be with Curt. Wakefield has been our most reliable man down the stretch, leading the staff with appearances, strikeouts, wins, and opposing batting percentage. I like our chances with Timmy on the mound in Fenway. To quote Mallory, "Have Faith."

If ....I mean, WHEN we play Saturday night, I think the boyz and I are gonna head to Buffalo Wild Wings again(we watched Game 1 there). The place is awesome. I counted 32 televisions there, with one being High-Def LCD :) It'll be perfect for Saturday night, as there will be great baseball on, great hockey being played(see above) AND

Football. GREAT games on this weekend, with some of the big ones being Tennessee/Georgia(Mal will be there, 24th row from the bottom) and Penn State/Ohio State(Cory and Erin are going. Gameday will also be there. Look for Cory waving his arms crazily).

With all the buzz around this town and the media picking Houston to win the World Series, I have gotten caught in the World Series Ticket fever. I have joined forces with some of my co-workers, and we have all begun searching and plotting on the best ways to get tickets. The best-case scenario would be a Red Sox/Astros World Series, but even if that isn't the case, I'll go even if the Sox aren't in it. If the Astros dont make it, I get my money back. Good deal, right? I have to get them first, but I'm trying to make sure that wont be a problem. I was curious as to how fast tickets went, so I used the Astros.com website right as the LCS tickets went on sale, and I was able to "get" outfield seats only TEN rows from the field!! Hopefully, that trend will go with World Series tickets. I'll be there right as they go on sale. I am getting two tickets when I buy them. If the 'Stros make it, then I'm gonna fly Mal in the day of or before the game. If the Braves happen to win the LDS, then we may just buy two Braves World Series tickets, and since I am going to see Mall in Chattanooga during the World Series at the National League Park(Atlanta if they're in it), we could just hop right down to Atlanta. If you haven't guessed, Mal and I are determined to see a World Series game this year. Hopefully our boyz will be in the final mix...

Speaking of tix, I may break my record of NHL hockey games seen in one year. I am planning on going to the Avs game in Nashville on December 20. Detroit(my nemesis) and Pittsburgh(team of phenom Sidney Corsby) play in January before school starts. The Avs visit again during February. Finally, Pheonix comes to town late in the season. Why would I see the Coyotes? Only because their coach is none other than the Great One: Wayne Gretzky. Yes, that's alot of driving, but I think I can consolidate alot of those trips with other ones. For at least ONE of the games listed, I plan on getting ICE-LEVEL tickets. That means right in front of the boards. I have sat there only once, but it was incredible. I look forward to doing it again. Talk about great photo opps!

Well, Jason has just departed to pick up the girlfriend, so I will attempt to make my half of the apartment look halfway decent.

-H

Weekend Misadventures

Whew! This past weekend was ca-ra-zyy. Let's see if I can recap it all for you.

Friday was awesome. I talked about it in my last post.

Richard, you would be proud. The PERFECT Stout Pour :)

Saturday, Jason and I got up around 7:00am; we met Colin at his place at 7:45. From there, we went to Rachel's(Colin's g/f) apartment, where Rachel, Eric and Jenn where waiting for us. We all proceeded to pile up into Eric's Grand Cherokee. My advice: never try going on a trip with 6 people in a car intended for 5, haha.

We arrived in Dallas around noon, where we went directly to the Texas State fair.

Evvverything is bigger in Texas...

We began walking around, and Eric and I noticed something as soon as we hit the main area. At that moment in time, it was probably the only place on earth where rap, rock& roll, and folk songs performed on bag pipes were all being played at the same time. I wanted to take pics of the bagpipers of the folk music, but I never got around to it. They were awesome.

Next, we saw a sign that said "Dog Show," so I obviously had to see that. It was just like the Great Outdoor Games, except it was inside(haha) and not on tv. Even so, these dogs were awesome. I am definitely getting an Australian Shephard at some point in my life; they can do tricks like they are going outta style...

Dog jumping into water(I didn't crop, so you could see how this place looked)

Steady.....stea-dy......steaaaa-dy.

Next came our first "meal" of the fair. I craved a funnel cake, and after a long search, I had discovered their hiding place. It was being guarded by Big Tex:

I had to be crafty to get by Big Tex.

The funnel cake was divine...

After meal#1, we encountered these strange women on flex-feet thingies. They were kind of scary. Eric told me not to look directly in their eyes, else I would turn to stone...

Yeh...kinda creepy. They even made weird sounds.

We moved on to the car show. I somehow thought that there would be some exotic automobiles at this thing, but I was wrong. The most exotic they got was a Mazda Rx-8....eh....I see those all the time now. I really wanted a pic of me in a bitchin' car. Oh well. After the first part of the car show, we moved into this transition area where vendors were set up everywhere. I quickly spotted the TimeWarnerCable booth, and as luck would have it, they indeed had a tv(high-def no less) broadcasting the Sox/Yanks game. Eric wanted to move on to the second half of the car show, but Colin and I knew better. We plopped down in front of the tv while the rest of the gang finished the car show. Unfortunately, Colin and I didn't see anything we liked. The Sox lost the battle that day...

We rendezvoused with the crew after a few innings, and we were off to meal#2 for the fair. We found the main eating area. Jenn and I were craving a turkey leg, so we went straight for that. Others got chili, while Jason got a footlong. The turkey leg was SO good; I just had to wash it down with a nice ice cream cone :)

After the meal, we continued walking around. We found this ice sculptor on our journey. He was carving a Texas symbol or something. I didn't figure it out...

I find it amusing that this guy also had a water bottle on this platform. That really necessary??

We walked around for an hour or so more. Eric discovered a wine-tasting session, but the selection was rather weak, so we avoided that. I tried winning a HUGE Stewie doll(from the tv show Family Guy) in a game of skee ball; 180 points would give me victory. I tried 6 times, but to no avail :(. Near the end, I was hot, so I picked up a homemade lemonade...DELICIOUS. As we were leaving the fair for the day, we noticed that one of the bag-pipers had defected to the rock and roll stage; I couldn't miss this oppurtunity.

Trust me, these guys were rockin'.

From the fair, we went to Ryan's house; Ryan was Eric's roomate in college. He went to the University of Michigan and studied architecture, so we definitely didn't have any problems finding something to talk about(Richard lived in Detroit, and my bro also studied architecture, for those of you out of the loop). Anyway, after we unloaded at Ryan's, Ryan and his girlfriend followed us to the traditional pre-game meal: wings at Hooters.

An eerie moment of reflecction: the Depository from which Lee Harvey Oswald shot President John F. Kennedy.

The restaurant was only a few blocks from American Airlines Arena, so it was perfect. The drinks and wings were excellent, as well as the multitude of tv screens, but as the time passed, I realized that we would not escape Hooters in time for the face-off.

I had to make a bold decision. I got my ticket from Eric, and I told the crew that I'd meet them at the game. I quickly evacuated the premises, and I headed to the AAA. I got there at the perfect time; I got to my seat just as the Star-Spangled Banner was about to begin. I was able to take pics of the teams warming up. I took a picture of warmups, but it turned out fuzzy due to the crazy lights they had going.

Big moment. My first face-off the 2005 NHL Season :)

The game was AWESOME. The new rules are well executed in the game, and it flows much faster as a result. Scoring is up this year, and this game was no different. The Avs pulled it out though, winning 4-3. Aebischer looks to be solid this season, Jedi Joe Sakic is smooth as always, and the tandem of Tanguay and Hejduk will still be a menace when everyone is healthy. Hockey HAS RETURNED!!

After the game, we proceeded even farther into downtown Dallas. Eric knew of this quaint bar called Elbow Room.

It says "Elbow Room," I promoise.

The place was pretty sweet. They had this game that was kin to shuffle board, but we never got a chance to play because this one couple would not.....let........go of the damn thing. They also had those interactive tv screens on the bar, so Colin and I engaged in a battle of wits on the machine. We played a rousing game of trivia, and yours truly came on top in a landslide :) I also owned in some basketball and photo night. A barrage of Eric's old friends were at the bar, but I couldn't even begin to remember all their names, so I wont try. We stayed at the bar until about 12:30, and we returned to Ryan's to crash.

We left early the next morning. We returned home around 12:30, JUST in time for the finale of the Sox/Yanks series. Colin and I came back to his place, and we plopped on the couch just in time for the first pitch. Around the 3rd inning, we had a conondrum: Colin and I were hungry, but we didn't want to miss the game. LO AND BEHOLD the power of digital tv and DVR! Colin showed me how he can record LIVE tv and play it back whenever you want. After the brilliant demonstration of this power, we headed out to Freebird's, burrito capital of the world. I ordered the Monster(or Monstah, cuz I was in Red Sox mode) burrito, and it indeed lived up to its name. Here are some reference shots...

This bad boy weighed 1.5 pounds, and here I use a AAA battery as a reference.

This shows how high the Monstah was.

The Sox won the game in a landslide, 10-1. Tomorrow we play the Chi Sox. I'll try to provide my 2005 Playoff insight next post. Needless to say, I am PSYCHED that the Bo Sox are in a position to defend their title. COWBOY UP!!!

-H

Until I post tomorrow, check this out...

Late late late...

GO SOX!!!

Boy, they really showed why they are the World Champs tonight. They played like they played all this summer.

We went to BJ's, a popular bar around here, to watch the game right after work. TONS of people there. They had a setup of four huge televisions above the bar, but only 2 were working. There were tv's elsewhere, but we were hoping the Sox game would be shown big screen on the four tvs. We had to deal with just two, but it was just as good. The game was great. The food, friends, and beverages were even better. It felt kind of awkward being one of the few people cheering when we got a hit, but we didn't care. I wore my jersey, and I was proud of it. We need to repeat tomorrow against Johnson...

After BJ's, Colin invited us all over to his place. It was tons of fun, as is evident by the fact that I'm posting this at 2:15 in the morning, haha. Funny thing is, I have to be BACK at Colin's at 7:45 in the morning. Sheesh. No rest for a guy, is there? The reason we have to rendezvous so early is the Dallas trip. Yeh, we gotta get a head start in the morning.

Eh, I'm tired and pumped. About Sox baseball. I'm ready for tomorrow. And the Texas State Fair. AND the Avalanche. It will be good to see my boys on ice...

"All The Right Reasons" comes out on Tuesday!

-H