For the fifth consecutive year, the White Sox have decided against physical tickets for non-premium season ticket holders, meaning that, once again, this year’s ticket package is nothing more than digital bits on a website or the MLB Ballpark app. While this does make the actual game day use of the tickets more convenient, it does lose some of the excitement of ticket arrival day.
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Fitbit 6: Week 2
Yet another disappointing week. Things got off to a typical slow start on Sunday, coming in a mere 1 step shy of 3000. Monday was the best day of the week, earning over 9400 steps. Tuesday and Wednesday were limited thanks to all day meetings with IBM in Schaumburg, so I pulled down 4200 and 3800 respectively. Thursday bounced back over goal, thanks in part to a post-work snowblowing session, and finished with 8300 steps. Friday was another disappointment, with 5600 steps. Saturday was its usual mess, with only 2200 steps.
Total steps: 36,689
Daily average: 5241.3
All Time Pitching Leaders – Through 2019
White Sox pitchers and catchers hold their first spring workout today, so it is time for our annual look at the pitching leaders in the now 948 games I’ve attended, and identified, between 1984 and 2019. Very little difference from last year with no new faces, but a few categories have some movement on the leader board. So, without further ado, let’s get things started with our first category, the always popular:
Wins
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Mark Buehrle | 31 |
| Gavin Floyd | 24 |
| Carlos Zambrano | 21 |
| Chris Sale | 21 |
| John Danks | 19 |
Losses
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Mark Buehrle | 17 |
| Jose Quintana | 17 |
| John Danks | 16 |
| Carlos Zambrano | 15 |
| Gavin Floyd | 15 |
ERA (>= 35 IP)
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| David Robertson | 2.17 |
| DJ Carrasco | 2.20 |
| Nate Jones Continue reading → |
The 10,000 Step Club – 2020 Edition
Last year, as I was finishing up my fourth year with the Fitbit, I took my last look at my 25 best step days since I first started tracking my steps way back in July of 2011. At the time, I had surpassed the 10,000 step plateau 217 times. In the past year, I have managed to add an additional 45 occurrences, my 3rd best year to date, for a total of 262. With my fifth year using the Fitbit coming to an end last week, I thought it would be appropriate to take a new look at my top 25 step days over the past 8 1/2 years, featuring only 3 new entries.
1: 4/14/2018 – 27,470 steps
My best single day total is from my April 2017 trip to New York to see Angelina. The day’s excursions included trips to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, the Museum of the City of New York, Central Park, the Guggenheim museum, and the Empire State Building.
2: 7/21/2018 – 27,278 steps
My July 2017 trip to Virginia, to hike up Catawba Mountain to McAfee Knob with Jeff and Val, fell just short of the top spot.
3: 6/6/2013 – 24,988 steps
2013’s trip to Disney World, which spent 5 years as my single day best, included excursions to both Epcot Center and the Magic Kingdom, and yes, falling 12 steps short of 25,000 still irks me.
4: 6/3/2019 – 24,665 steps
The first new entry comes thanks to last summer’s trip to Washington DC, and the day spent at the Smithsonian Zoo.
5: 8/8/2019 – 23,866 steps
The second new entry is from last summer’s work trip out to San Francisco and the day I walked to Pier 39 and then back to Oracle Park to see the Giants take on the Phillies. It would have been even higher but I was dead tired and took an Uber back to the hotel after the game.
6: 3/18/2018 – 23,780 steps
Dropping out of the top 5 after only 1 year is my first day in Las Vegas for the 2017 IBM Think conference. The day’s totals include gallivanting around town, including a trip up to Caesar’s Palace from the MGM Grand to see Absinthe.
7: 10/24/2018 – 23,362 steps
My October 2018 trip to Boston to see Angelina for our birthday gives us our next entry. While she was in class, I took tours of Fenway Park and Harvard, before meeting up with her for a late lunch and then heading to the airport for the trip home.
8: 3/22/2016 – 22,493 steps
My one-time second highest day took place during the ill-fated trip to Disney World in March of 2016. The day’s excursion started at Hollywood Studios before heading over to Epcot Center with Jeff and Val.
9: 7/27/2013 – 20,592 steps
Still my highest total at home in the state of Illinois, the next entry comes thanks to the 2013 BTN 5K and a, for lack of a better word, misunderstanding about where I should be picked up after the race.
10: 12/29/2018 – 20,374 steps
We wrap up the top 10 with 2018’s trip to California and the trip to Disneyland to see Danny perform with the Lincoln-Way Marching Band.
11: 8/5/2017 – 20,218 steps
The next entry came in August of 2017 on the first day of my trip to Boston with Danny and Michael. After landing in town, we traipsed to the Science Museum, a breakfast joint, our hotel, and, finally, Fenway Park.
12: 7/14/2017 – 20,208 steps
Down to #12 is my 2017 trip to Disney World, a one day journey with Angelina to celebrate her high school graduation. Continue reading →
iTunes Top 200: #144
4 years ago, we last counted down the Top 200 songs in my iTunes library. Since my iTunes stats are still intact, across multiple PCs, iPods, iPads, and iPhones, I figured it was time to take another look at my most listened to songs, based on number of plays as of January 1, 2020.
We continue on today with the next batch of songs tied for 144th place with 31 listens since my stats began in late 2007.
#144: Hole – Celebrity Skin
iTunes stats: 31 plays, most recently on 12/20/2019
Previous ranking: #79
A big drop for Hole’s most commercially successful single, being the only one to reach #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.
#144: Harry Caray – Take Me Out To The Ballgame
iTunes stats: 31 plays, most recently on 10/2/2019
Previous ranking: Unranked
An impressive debut for this version of the baseball classic, which features on my Cubs victory playlist.
#144: Green Day – Basket Case
iTunes stats: 31 plays, most recently on 8/30/2019
Previous ranking: #79
The third single from the band’s major label debut, it spent 5 weeks atop the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
#144: Great White – Once Bitten Twice Shy
iTunes stats: 31 plays, most recently on 12/11/2019
Previous ranking: #56
A big drop for the biggest hit from the band best known for a fire, which also appears on Volume 4 of my mix tapes.
#144: George Carlin – Telephone Mimes
iTunes stats: 31 plays, most recently on 11/25/2019
Previous ranking: Unranked
Yet another entry from Carlin’s 17th album and twelfth HBO stand-up special.
#144: Foo Fighters – All My Life
Continue reading →
The Academy Award Goes To
As they finish polishing up the statues for tonight’s awards ceremony, it’s time to finish up our predictions with the major categories. In a strange change of pace, I’ve actually seen one or two of these. So, without further ado, we begin with:
Best Picture
Ford V Ferrari
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
Marriage Story
1917
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
Parasite
I’ve seen a grand total of two of these, so I’ll go with 1917, since Hollywood seems to love a war epic.
Best Actor
Antonio Banderas, Pain And Glory
Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes
I’ll pick one of the two performances I’ve seen and go with Adam Driver.
Best Actress
Cynthia Erivo, Harriet
Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
Saorise Ronan, Little Women
Charlize Theron, Bombshell
Renee Zellwegger, Judy
I’ve only seen one of these, so I’ll go with the talented Saorise Ronan from the perennial favorite Little Women.
Fitbit Year 5
A year ago, I set a goal of 2,730,000 steps, an average of 7500 steps per day. Thanks in part to only 12 weeks where I managed to meet that combined daily goal, I fell 237,254 short of my challenge, the first time I’ve failed to surpass my yearly goal since 2014 under the old GlobalFit program. My average step total per week was 47,937.42, which comes out to about 6848.203 per day. The median weekly total was 44,710. My best week was Week 19, where trips to Baltimore and Washington DC propelled me over 105,900 steps for the week. My worst week was Week 44, where Thanksgiving left me wanting.
For the upcoming year, I’m going to keep things as is, in the hopes that I can reverse this downward trend. I am leaving my goal for steps per day at 7500, which would again bring me to a yearly total of 2,730,000 steps. Hopefully the second attempt is the one that sticks.
And The Nominees Are
The 92nd Academy Awards are going down Sunday night, so here’s my uneducated predictions for the non-acting awards. I have seen a couple of these movies, so I will still mostly be going on gut feel and word of mouth with just a little bit of personal experience.
Best Original Screenplay
Rian Johnson, Knives Out
Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story
Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns, 1917
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won, Parasite
I’ve seen none of these films, so this is a total shot in the dark, but I’ve heard lots of good things about Knives Out.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Steven Zaillian, The Irishman
Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit
Todd Phillips and Scott Silver, Joker
Greta Gerwig, Little Women
Anthony McCarten, The Two Popes
I’ve only seen one of these, but my guess is that Greta Gerwig takes home the prize.
Best Animated Feature
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
I Lost My Body
Klaus
Missing Link
Toy Story 4
I’m assuming the continuing adventures of the talking Mr. Potato Head and friends will be the winner.
Best Cinematography
Rodrigo Prieto, The Irishman
Lawrence Sher, Joker
Jarin Blaschke, The Lighthouse
Roger Deakins, 1917
Robert Richardson, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
Well, again, I’ve seen one of these, so I will go with the war effort 1917.
Best Costume Design
Sandy Powell and Christopher Peterson, The Irishman
Mayes C. Rubeo, Jojo Rabbit
Mark Bridges, Joker
Jacqueline Durran, Little Women
Arianne Phillips, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
Quentin Tarantino’s tale of 1960s Hollywood is my choice to win this particular prize.
Continue reading →
Fitbit 6: Week 1
We kick off the 6th year of Fitbit use with yet another down week, though I continue to trend in the right direction. The week got off to a better than usual start on Sunday, with 3800 steps, thanks to my trip to the Chicago Magic Lounge the night before which kept me out past midnight. Monday managed to just slip past my old/continuing goal of 7500 steps, despite a double whammy of PI planning in the morning and a DevOps workshop in the afternoon. Tuesday was not as lucky, as I was only able to score 5600 steps. Wednesday was a nice bounce back, with 7600 steps on the nose as we wrapped up PI planning. The workshop wrapped up on Thursday, though I managed to net over 9300 steps. Friday combined a morning trip to the Tech Café with an afternoon coffee run to score 8700 steps. Saturday was another disappointment, getting only 4000 steps despite a trip to Evanston for the Purdue/Northwestern basketball game.
Total steps: 46,827
Daily average: 6689.6
Fitbit V: Week 52
We wrap up the year with yet another bad week, though things look to be trending in the right direction as I broke 40,000 steps for the first time since early November. Things, as usual, got off to a bad start on Sunday, with just over 2200 steps. Monday was the big day of the week, coming in over 9100 steps. Tuesday finished over 7600 steps, but set the tone for the rest of the week as I discovered that my furnace had given up the ghost. Wednesday, I left work early to come home in the afternoon to wait for the repairman, which left me with only 5400 steps. I repeated that same schedule on Thursday, this time waiting for the installers to arrive with the new furnace, which netted me 4900 steps. When the install took until 1:30 AM Friday morning, I took the opportunity to leave at lunch for third consecutive day, which I ended with 6100 steps. Saturday, I ventured out into the city for an exciting night at the Chicago Magic Lounge, which put me just over 5000 steps.
Oh, and I also managed to get roped into a step challenge at work, so I hope that is motivation to start moving again.
Total steps: 40,631
Weekly average: 5804.4