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Book 31 (of 52) – The Willow Files Vol 1

The Willow Files Vol 1 - Yvonne Navarro

The Willow Files Vol 1 – Yvonne Navarro

For what is likely my last book of the year, I went into the to-read drawer and pulled out this gem, a rehash of 3 episodes of Buffy The Vampire Slayer (“I, Robot… You, Jane”, “Phases”, and “Dead Man’s Party”) with a framing device of Willow writing in her journal.  The joy of reading these media tie-ins is to get a new adventure in a familiar setting.  Reading the plots of episodes that I’ve already seen seems somewhat pointless, but I’m sure was a way to churn out product back in the day.

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Fitbit Week 47

Week47_FBChristmas week got off to a slow start on Sunday, which was mostly spent at home and failed to reach 5000 steps.  Things rebounded during the week, with a high point on Tuesday, when I passed 8000 steps thanks to the arrival of the TV stand and putting up the new TV in the office.  Thursday and Friday, Christmas Eve and Day respectively, both surpassed the daily step goal of 5500, though by the skin of their teeth.  Saturday was another crash at home day, barely surpassing 3000 steps, finishing off my worst week in a month.

Total steps: 39,866

Daily average: 5695.1

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Angels All Time Leaders – Through 2015

laangelsWith 4 months until baseball in Chicago returns, I thought it would be interesting to look at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. We continue today with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

The Angels began life in 1961, joining the American League along with the second incarnation of the Washington Senators.  They’ve changed their location designation multiple times, starting in Los Angeles, changing to California in 1966, moving to Anaheim in 1997 and, finally, awkwardly incorporating both Los Angeles and Anaheim starting in 2005.  I’ve seen them play 31 times, including games 1 and 2 of the 2005 ALCS against the White Sox and Jim Thome’s 500th career home run in 2008.

Home Runs

Name Total
Vladimir Guerrero 5
Chone Figgins 3
Garret Anderson 3
Juan Rivera 3

Hits

Name Total
Maicer Izturis 21
Howie Kendrick 18
Vladimir Guerrero 16

Runs

Name Total
Vladimir Guerrero 10
Maicer Izturis 8
Chone Figgins 8

RBI

Name Total
Garret Anderson 9
Howie Kendrick 9
Vladimir Guerrero 8
Juan Rivera 8

Doubles

Name Total
Torii Hunter 5
Maicer Izturis 4
Casey Kotchman 4

Triples Continue reading →

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Book 30 (of 52) – I Must Say: My Life As A Humble Comedy Legend

I Must Say: My Life As A Humble Comedy Legend - Martin Short

I Must Say: My Life As A Humble Comedy Legend – Martin Short

When I saw that Martin Short’s memoir, I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend, was on sale on the Kindle bookstore, I decided to pick it up despite not being that big of a Martin Short fan.  Sure, I enjoyed him in films such as Three Amigos! and Innerspace, but he wouldn’t have come to mind when I thought of my favorite comedians.  After reading the book, that certainly has changed.

Short chronicles his life, going from Hamilton, Ontario to Toronto and then to New York and Los Angeles, enjoying professional success while suffering personal tragedy, including the loss of a brother and both parents by the time he turned 20.  He also writes lovingly of his wife, who also died early, and that chapter, I must admit, hit me harder than I would have expected.  He does such a good job of conveying the relationship between him and his wife that you really feel the punch in the gut when she finally succumbs to cancer.

Since finishing the book, I’ve watched the only live-action film of his streaming on Netflix that I hadn’t previously seen, the forgettable Three Fugitives.  I’ll certainly be on the lookout for more of his work going forward.

 

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2016 Calendar

2016CalCover-1

Now that Christmas has come and gone, we can unveil the cover to this year’s calendar gift, given annually to my mom and sister, made up of pictures I have taken throughout the year. Once again. this year’s calendar was produced by the good folks at Shutterfly. As in year’s past, we will unveil each month’s photo on the first day of the month throughout 2015.

This year’s cover is made up of 12 pictures, each featuring some combination of Angelina, Danny, and Michael.  We start with the shot above of all 3 riding a camel at the Memphis Zoo from our Elvis trip back in May.

2016CalCover-10Continuing counter clockwise is another shot of all 3 standing in front of the famous ivy on the outfield wall at Wrigley Field from the Season Ticket Holder Appreciation Day conducted by the Cubs this summer.

Continue reading →

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Book 29 (of 52) – The Good Girl

The Good Girl - Mary Kubica

The Good Girl – Mary Kubica

Another in a seemingly long line of books christened as the next Gone Girl, The Good Girl, Chicago-based author Mary Kubica’s debut novel, tells the tale of a kidnapped girl, the man who took her, the family left behind, and the cop assigned to find her.  As each chapter switches viewpoints, we slowly learn how and why Mia was kidnapped and why she had taken on a fake activity once she was rescued.

Going in to this, I didn’t know this was Mary Kubica’s first novel and nothing about it would lead you to that distinction.  I was engrossed from the get go and, though I guessed the surprise twist about 100 pages before the end, I was entertained.  This, along with its follow-up, were both on sale in the Kindle bookstore and I’m glad I picked up both.  I’m looking forward to diving in to the next one early next year.

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Orioles All Time Leaders – Through 2015

oriolesWith 4 months until baseball in Chicago returns, I thought it would be interesting to look at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. We continue today with the Baltimore Orioles.

The Orioles began life in 1901 as the Milwaukee Brewers, one of the charter members of the American League.  They moved to St. Louis the following year, becoming the Browns, before finally arriving in Baltimore in 1954.  I’ve seen them play 28 times in 5 different stadiums, first in 1985 at the original Comiskey Park and most recently in September at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Home Runs

Name Total
Brian Roberts 3
4 tied with 2

Hits

Name Total
Brian Roberts 31
Nick Markakis 17
Melvin Mora 14

Runs

Name Total
Brian Roberts 17
Nick Markakis 8
Melvin Mora 8
Luke Scott 8

RBI

Name Total
Brian Roberts 12
Nick Markakis 8
Luke Scott 8

Doubles

Name Total
Brian Roberts 6
Melvin Mora 4
Adam Jones 4

Triples Continue reading →

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Fitbit Week 46

Week46_FBThe week got off to a tremendous start on Sunday as I went from store to store looking for a TV stand for my new office TV, finishing with nearly 10,000 steps.  The rest of the vacation week was some variation of cleaning up the office and working around the house to make sure I hit the daily goal.  Friday got a bit of a boost thanks to a trip to Best Buy.  Saturday broke past 7000 steps thanks to a trip to the movie theater to take in the new Star Wars film followed by the grocery store.

Total steps: 48,808

Daily average: 6972.6

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Red Sox All Time Leaders – Through 2015

redsoxWith 4 months until baseball in Chicago returns, I thought it would be interesting to look at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. We continue things today with the Boston Red Sox.

I’ve seen the Red Sox play 25 times at 3 different stadiums, first in the White Sox home opener in 1985, through the 2005 ALDS, and, most recently, in 2012.

Home Runs

Name Total
David Ortiz 5
Mike Lowell 4
4 tied with 3

Hits

Name Total
David Ortiz 20
Mike Lowell 17
Kevin Youkilis 15

Runs

Name Total
David Ortiz 15
Dustin Pedroia 9
Mike Lowell 8
Kevin Youkilis 8
Jacoby Ellsbury 8

RBI

Name Total
David Ortiz 16
Mike Lowell 13
Kevin Youkilis 12

Doubles

Name Total
David Ortiz 6
Manny Ramirez 4
4 tied with 3

Triples Continue reading →

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Book 28 (of 52) – The Human Factor

The Human Factor - Graham Greene

The Human Factor – Graham Greene

Sometime back in the late 1980s, I somehow acquired a paperback version of this 1978 novel.  It sat unread before being thrown in a box during a move at some point.  Within the past few years, I found it in a box of my things and decided to put it back in the “to-read” drawer, where it sat until earlier this week.

The Human Factor is a tale of an MI-6 agent assigned to the Africa desk who is passing information on to the Russians.  When a leak is detected in his office, his co-worker takes the fall, causing the double agent to quickly fall apart and reveal his true loyalties.

I’m not sure what I expected out of this book, but a slow burn British spy tale without any real action was certainly not it.  I had no previous experience with Graham Greene’s work, and, truth be told, I won’t be looking for any more.