Tigers Finish April with 16 Wins

 

As you know, my daughter Stephanie has been blogging about the Detroit Tigers.  As one of her favoutite teams, she's actually never grown up and seen them have a good season, until now. The Tigers have just finished a very nice month of April.  If you want to know the particulars, the won 16 games, the most wins in the month of April since the glorious 1984 season, when the team went 35-5 and won the World Series.  They also enjoyed 5 shut outs, which is the most ever.  When you think of the long history of the Tigers that is amazing.

What has done this for the Tigers has to be the pitching.  I know what you must be thinking, Pitching amd Tigers isn't the combination most think of when thinking of the Tigers, yet it's true. Right now the Tigers have a combined team ERA of 3.35, which is the best in the AL and the second best in MLB.  If you want to compare, last year the team's ERA was 4.51 and in 2003, when the only won 43 games it was 5.30, so in the space of three years, their average has decreased by almost 2 runs per game. 

I know some will say that there's still a lot of baseball to be played and certainly that is true, but on the other hand, they've played 25 games and they won 16 of them and that's 16 wins they don't have to try and get at another time of the year.

Go Tigers

 

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while on the subject of Television shows such as Doctor Who, another one I've been re-introduced to is one from the 60's. The show in question is The Time Tunnel. Each week the adventure would start with the following narrative:

Two American scientists are lost in the swirling maze of past and future ages, during the first experiments on America's greatest and most secret project, the Time Tunnel. Tony Newman and Doug Phillips now tumble helplessly toward a new fantastic adventure, somewhere along the infinite corridors of time

That is the premise, two scientist decide to test the new invention, the time tunnel to see if they could travel back and forth in time. The problem being, they were able to enter it and travel but to the end of the series, they couldn't get out. They were lost in time, as it were. Each week the viewers would witness history through the eyes of the travellers and the crew working on the Time Tunnel. The hope was always rescue, but it never worked. They could get them out of the situation but they couldn't bring them back to the present.

The show was the work of Irwin Allen, the man who gave us Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space and other television science fiction shows. He became equally famous in the 70's for disaster movies by the way.

I've only watched a few episodes and I must admit I am impressed; considering this was the 60's the sets are quite elaborate. The adventures are interesting enough and are enjoyable. I do remember watching some of the episode, I'm sure I saw all of them when it was running way back when, so it is rediscovering an old favourite.

So do your own google and do some time travelling of yoru own.

BBC - Doctor Who - Tooth and Claw - Starring David Tennant and Billie Piper

The beauty of the Internet is the fact it does transcend both time and space. What I mean by that is a show broadcast in the UK and not available until the Fall can be found. Case in point, Doctor Who; the BBC has just commenced showing the new season, which does feature David Tennant as the new Doctor. Those of us who are fans caught his introduction with the The Christmas Invasion.

I have to admit I am a huge fan of Christopher Eccleston who brought the character of the Doctor back in a big way. He gave life back to the Doctor and made the first season a tremendous success.

I am not going to post any spoilers but let me say, David Tennant takes the role and makes it his own. We are introduced to some new characters and some old 'friends', yes Billie Piper is back as Rose and the first episode shows us another side to her, after she encounters an old 'friend'.

The second episode is fantastic, a period piece and there is something for fans of the second doctor as well as Canadians, and if you find out what both of them are, you can email to me.

I just saw upcoming for the third episode and it looks like another treat.

The Doctor is Back!

APPLE'S NO. 1 HIT By TIM ARANGO - New York Post Online Edition: business

No kidding.

The Recording Industry has to capitulate. If they had decided to say "we're not going to work with you Steve". Steve would have simply said "That's fine". Remember Apple once had as its slogan "Rip, Mix, Burn". That was for the owners of Apple computers, but to the recording industry, the slogan was taken to mean 'screw you'.

So the bottom line, there's a whole lot of ipods out there and they will get filled with music. The source of that music will depend upon whether the industry and demonstrate it does possess a modicum of brains. Either from Apple iTunes Music Store or from the Internet. The owners of all those ipods probably don't care where the music comes from; the majority would like it from the Music Store. But if the industry plays stupid there's always Limewire or the various newsgroups, or chat, or, well you get the idea.

Welcome to Thru the Bible Radio--The Bible Study Program Taught by Dr. J. Vernon McGee! - Thru the Bible

This has been a special week for those who enjoy the radio ministry of the late Dr. J. Vernon McGee. His radio program "Thru the Bible Radio" is starting another 5 year series of going through the Bible. As they like to say, the Bible Bus is just starting to pull out of the station and start another journey through the entire word of God.

I've been a listener for over 20 years and this is a very exciting moment.

I don't listen to Dr. McGee on the radio anymore, since I don't know what stations broadcast him in my area, but that doesn't matter. Thanks to the Apple iTunes Music Store I can download the program to my iPod Mini and listen to the programs at my convenience. As well, the programs are also available for listening on my computer so again I'm not limited.

So, if you want a good solid study of the Bible, this is a good place to start. His approach is straight-forward and clear. As he enjoyed saying, he always placed the cookie jar on the bottom shelf where the kiddies can get some. What he meant was this, a simple approach which appealed to the long time student of the Word and the first timer.

Give him a listen.

Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

For this blog I want to encourage people to sponsor me for the Heart and Stroke Foundation "Big Bike" Event. The "Big Bike" is that, a big bike in which I and about 20 others will be riding to raise money for research into heart and stroke.

If you would like to sponsor me, click on the above and scroll down to "sponsor a participant".

When you do that you will be forwarded to "Search Result" and there, click on the link "Click Here to Pledge Online". There you a window will open with all the information you will need to pledge an amount.

This is my second time riding and I look forward to those of you who can pledge to give me your support.

I'll post pixs of the ride.

Thank you for your support.

» Google Calendar is live! | Googling Google | ZDNet.com

It is up and it is running. The much anticipated Google calendar. It's got some nice features and is worth having.

all you need is a google account and you are in.

go to http://calendar.google.com and start using.

Iran Reports Big Advance in Enrichment of Uranium - New York Times

So Iran has the ability to build The Bomb, or so some would have us believe. Myself, I'm not sure. It is possible they have as their ultimate goal the manufacturing of a nuclear weapon and of course, the first target will be the nation Israel, but more on that later.

I did some digging and discovered that enriched uranium is required for power generation. Here is a quote from Wikipedia:

Enriched uranium is a critical component for both civil nuclear power generation and military nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency attempts to monitor and control enriched uranium supplies and processes in its efforts to ensure nuclear power generation safety and curb nuclear weapons proliferation

.

It is possible this is part of the reason. The other could be simply as a means of to quote from Shakespeare, biting their thumb at the USA and the world. After all, you can't push around Iran, not that anyone has been doing just that, but when you have a crazy running the country...

By the way, the biting of the thumb was an insult and I quote from Romeo and Juliet:

Nay, as they dare. I will bite my thumb at them;
which is a disgrace to them, if they bear it.

So there you go.

Now what about Israel? Certainly they would feel like they are first on the list of nations to be nuked if and when Iran develops the capability to deliver a nuclear warhead. Well I have one simple word that is both a comfort for Israel and a warning to Iran, Zecharaih 2:8. Let me quote it:

"Come, O Zion! Escape, you who live in the Daughter of Babylon!" 8 For this is what the LORD Almighty says: "After he has honored me and has sent me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye- 9 I will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them. [a] Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me.

To sum it up God is saying to the world, you mess with Israel, you mess with me. For some reason I don't think it would be to Iran's long term health prospects to try anything against Israel. I don't know if President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a reader of my blog but I do want to give him some free advice, don't develop the bomb. Period. If you do and if you try it against Israel it will not be very good for you.

By the way, I decided to do a word search on Persia and discern what prophecies were written concerning that land. The only one of reference is Ezekiel 38:5; here they are part of an alliance that invades Israel. If you read the rest of Ezekiel 38 and then chapter 39 you will discover the invasion failed miserably.

Just some sage words for the President of Iran.

My daughter Stephanie had a blog about baseball, actually she had two. She beat me to the punch. Rather then I waxing eloquent about the Game, let me share with you some Baseball Quotes:

Baseball is Heaven's gift to mortals."

George Wills

A hot dog at the ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz.

-Humphrey Bogart

I see great things in baseball. It's our game - the American game. It will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a larger physical stoicism. Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set. Repair these losses, and be a blessing to us.

-Walt Whitman

Strikeouts are boring - besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls. More democratic.

-"Crash"Davis, from the movie Bull Durham

It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone.

-A. Bartlett Giamatti

I love baseball. You know, it doesn't have to mean anything. It's just very beautiful to watch.

-Leonard Zelig( Woody Allen) from the move Zelig

Hating the New York Yankees is as American as apple pie, unwed mothers and cheating on your income tax.

~Mike Royko

Baseball is a game where a curve is an optical illusion, a screwball can be a pitch or a person, stealing is legal and you can spit anywhere you like except in the umpire's eye or on the ball.

-Jim Murray

The one constant through all the years has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good, and what could be again."

-James Earl Jones from Field of Dreams

One more thing- Tigers are 5-0 as of this day.

At Last, Movies to Keep Arrive on the Internet - New York Times

At least its a Start

Usually I spend my blogging time bad mouthing Big Entertainment but for this I will change my tune. I want to commend the major Studios for at least starting to get with the plan. Over the years people have been complaining about the reticience of Big Entertainment to release media onto the Internet. Not that it ultimately mattered since it found its way there anyways, thank you ripping software. Now six major studios want to devise a plan to make their movies available for download over the Internet.

As I read the article it mentioned that one online company will have 300 movies and another 75 but I don't think the amount is that important today, its that it's there for the downloading. Some are complaining about the price, but I think there will be fluctuation of that and a proper amount will be forthcoming. Read the article. It is a step in the right direction and hopefully we will see more of this sort of thing happening. So to the major studios, good on you for entering the 21st Century.

Of course, after this good news comes this article. Yes the major recording companies are complaining about the standard $0.99 price per download that Apple charges through the Apple iTunes music store. Here's what it comes down to:

Jobs has argued that recording companies already make more profit by selling a song through iTunes than on a CD, which carries extra marketing and manufacturing costs.

“So if they want to raise the prices, it just means they’re getting a little greedy,” Jobs said at the Apple Expo in Paris in September.

The push by labels reflects an industrywide scramble to reap the most from a business model that only three years ago seemed unlikely to survive amid overwhelming online piracy.

Before we forget why this all works is the fact that consumers aren't feeling ripped off by it. There is a feeling that the price asked for is a good one and no one is complaining. You know the music industry likes to throw around the word 'pirate' a great deal but at this time they forget it. Steve Jobs is right, they are making a good deal of money off iTunes and will continue as long as the consumers are kept happy. Make them angry again and hello the next Napster, or LimeWire or Kazaa. These stand ready in the wing, all that's required is consumers who feel they are getting ripped off and they won't pay the outrageous sums. It happened before and it will happen again.

Suggestion: keep it to a maximum of $0.99 a download and perhaps lower. Keep your customers happy and watch the money continue to roll in. Make them angry and watch the p2p networks explode again.

eMachines Desktops: T6532 Product Details

After five years with a Pentium 1.0Gig machine, we decided to get a new one. This is it.

Now for the story. The family has been complaining about the speed of the old machine and the fact it was freezing and crashing. So we went to Best Buy, although not for the reasons of buying a new machine. We looked around and saw some emachines. By the way BestBuy had one of those

24 months equal payment

option.

The first machine we looked at was the T6528. It had double the memory and double the hard drive space. It was a package and came with a flat screen monitor. We thought it was a good deal and agreed. Just as we got ready to make the purchase the sales representative looked and noticed they were all out, he said he could issue a rain cheque but then went to talk to his supervisor. He came back a few minutes later and ask if we would take a better machine for the same price.

After some deliberation we agreed and so we ended up with the T6532 which has 1 Gig of RAM, 200 Gig HD and is screaming fast. Now playing "Need for Speed" is really speed and I should imagine such things as Sims and Tiger Woods will be equally impressive.

The old machine has been retired and is down in the basement, we have some things to take off it and we will. We haven't decided what to do yet but we will. The girls are fighting over taking it to University, although I think it would be better for them to buy new machines for themselves.

By the way, the 9-in-1 card reader is a very interesting feature.

Later

Sudoku

Yes, I will admit it. I've become interested in Sudoku. One article I read suggests this is the Rubik's Cube of the 21st century. I was visiting someone and saw a small book of Sudoku and became interested. The local paper has been running sudoku puzzles every day, but I didn't take the time to read the rules. However, this person told me I could pick up a book for $0.99 at a local bargain store and so today I did.

Let me tell you, this is interesting and what's even more interesting is the availability of the game on the internet. One site offers daily sudoku puzzles for printing.

The rules are straightforward enough:

Fill in the grid so that every row,
every column, and every 3x3 box
contains the digits 1 through 9.

Of course that's where the fun comes in. Trying to figure out where the numbers go, not only in the small grid, but both horizontal and vertical.


There are all sorts of tips and strategy pages out there, so discover this fascinating game.