So I missed it, but the 1-Year Anniversary of the www.theblarg.com was on Sunday, August 14th. I’d go back and count every post I’ve made, but that would take a really long time. Maybe a bored Jr. Higher with nothing else to do would like to make the count for me. Technically blogger is supposed to keep track of posts, but it’s been broken since about 3 weeks after I started this. Hopefully they get it fixed soon. Here’s to another year!

This weekend Stacie, myself, Andrew, and Sarah are going camping in Big Bear by the lake. Camping is a lot of fun because once you have your main gear, it’s really cheap. We already had a tent, but we got Stacie a sleeping bag, and we bought some cool sleeping pads. Camping is great because you get to be close to nature, and did I mention it’s cheap? haha. Now we have to decide on a camping menu. I’m lobbying very strongly for beans and weiners.

I officially finished the regular season in my dynasty on MVP Baseball 2005. All 162 games are done, and the playoffs are here! I finished up the regular season 92-70, which was good enough for the wild card spot, 6 games behind the Padres in the West. I brought up a young pitcher (Chad Billingsly) to pitch the final game of the season. He did ok (lost 8-2), but he’s got some growing to do.

After the season is over the awards are handed out. J.D. Drew was robbed of the MVP by Beltran. Kent won the Gold Glove at 2nd, and Drew won the Silver Slugger in the outfield. We’re facing the Mets in the first round of the playoffs.

GAME 1
The first game did not go well at all. Maybe the guys were still shook up from the last lost, but we just couldn’t put it together. Odalis Perez gave up 4 runs, and the bullpen gave up another 4. The only bright side for the Dodgers offensively was a 2-run shot by Choi, but it wasn’t enough as we lost the opener 8-2.

GAME 2
The second game we turned to Jeff Weaver for some solid innings, and he came through. Weaver pitched 6 scoreless innings and the Dodger bats came up with 3 early runs. Sanchez and Carrara both pitched scoreless innings, but Gagne had everyone on pins and needles in the 9th. Having surrendered 2 runs so far in the inning and men on 1st and 2nd, Gagne got a strikeout to end the game.

With the 5 game series evened at 1-1 the Dodgers turn to Derek Lowe in game 3. The series heads back to Los Angeles for the next 2 games where the Dodgers hope to win the series on home turf.

Today I fixed a bunch of stuff.

I put in a new pop-up stopper in our bathroom sink. Those are a pain and a half because I replaced the rod thingy and the ball thingy that goes into the pipe thingy. Yah, that’s all official wording.

I replaced the hinges on all of our cabinets because I screwed up the first time. I had put self-closing hinges on, but turns out they’re maybe an 1/8 of an inch wider than regular hinges. This caused a problem: the doors hit each other. It wasn’t a lot, but just enough to be annoying. Now we have regular hinges and the doors shut like normal.

I put up a new shower head. That was pretty easy. Take down the old one, put up some new pipe tape to get a good seal on the threads, and then screw the new one on. The old one was low and about chest level, but the new one is a good foot taller. Much better. It also has a hose so I can take it down and give the dog a bath. Yes, I give the dog a bath in the shower. Be quiet.

I bought a new strainer for the kitchen sink. I got paint all gooked up in the old one. My bad.

I replaced the filter in our AC/Heater. My dad’s has cool cardboard ones you just slide in, but ours is a “hammock” style. You have to buy this loose fiberglass filter and then kinda fold it on. In short it’s harder. The old one was way gross.

I’m tired of fixing things, as I’m sure you’re tired of reading about it. I think I’ll let Stacie fix everything else.

Stacie and I finished the last LOST episode last night, and now we’ve got a month until the new season starts.

Overall it’s quite a good show. There is a lot of suspense about what’s happening on the island and what has happened in people’s pasts. I’ve read that the first episode of season 2 will show everything that’s inside the hatch, so that should be exciting. There’s still so much to learn about the characters. I want to learn more about Hurley and when he was at the insane asylum. He was probably running around yelling dude, dude, dude. That word is sweet, it’s coming back.

Ok, now to start watching all the movies on the IMDB top 250. Starting with #250…In the Mood for Love. Hmmm, I’m not sure this is such a good idea. Haha. But that deserves an entirely different post.

Update: So I guess Hurley was never admitted to a mental institution…but I think I remember him saying he’d been at one. What he probably meant was he’d visited one though. At the end of the season though he’s starting to look a little certifiable!

My first MVP Baseball season on my dynasty is coming to a close. With only 7 games left in the regular season, my Los Angeles Dodgers are 5 games back of the Padres in the West, but they have clinched a playoff berth! Until recently there was hope of catching the Padres, but that was before the Pirates swept us (stop laughing, they’re much better on the videogame).

After I finish the regular season comes the playoffs, and after the postseason is the offseason. During this time people retire, I can draft new rookies, and I have to re-sign current players. The attributes of players even changes where some improve and some get older and lose a little something.

This is by far the best sports game I’ve ever played. There are so many ways to tweak the difficulty of the game for your specific skill level and keep it challenging. My team better turn things around and go into the playoffs on a high note! I’ll keep you posted.

Back when I interned at the ad agency I had the opportunity to look at a lot of comic books that we advertised in. There was one in particular that caught my attention called "Rising Stars." The jist of the story is that a town is hit with a meteor or something, a bunch of kids are born with special powers, and as some start to die, the abilities of the others grows stronger. This leads to bad ones trying to kill the others, and the good ones trying to protect them, something like that.

For the last week I’ve been browsing Ebay trying to find a good deal on all 25 or so issues, but then I found THIS. Just two months ago they came out with a 600+ page hardcover book that has every issue in it. SWEET! I already ordered it and can’t wait to read it. At the ad agency I think I only got to read the first 8 issues or so. I’ve never been into comic books, but maybe that will change?

UPDATE: Turns out it doesn’t come out for another month or two I think. I’ve looked at a ton of other bookstores and they all say 4-8 weeks, and Amazon sent me a mail saying it will ship in September. Oh well, at least I’m on the list.

Stacie and I had a great time throwing away trash yesterday. The normal trash guys won’t pick up big stuff, but you can call ahead of time to have them come out and get it. For a good couple hours we loaded up trash 10 ft. high outside our garage. It feels REALLY GOOD to get all that junk out of our house.

After our exciting afternoon of trash we went out to Lonestar for Kurtii’s 25th bday. Man, lots of birthdays lately. In typical Kurtis fashion he posed for this wonderful picture below. Kurtis is the expert at getting a good picture in one try. Happy birthday dude.