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Looking Ahead To Next Year

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersMajor League Baseball released their tentative 2016 schedule earlier this week and, while the 2015 squad focuses on taking the second Wild Card slot, let’s take a look at what’s on tap for next summer for the North Siders.

The Cubs open the season on April 5 on the road against the Angels, the first time they will start the year in inter-league play.  The home slate kicks off the following Monday with a night game against the Reds.

This year’s inter-league slate is against the AL West, with the Rangers, Mariners, and Angels making trips to Wrigley Field, while the Cubs hit the road to visit the aforementioned Angels, A’s, and Astros.  The club also has a 2 and 2 series with the White Sox during the last week of July.

The Cubs finish the season on the road against the Pirates and Reds, which should make for a great pennant race if the team is once again in contention.

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Moving On To Next Year

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersMajor League Baseball released their tentative 2016 schedule yesterday and, with little more to be concerned with for this season, let’s take a look at what’s on tap for next summer for the South Siders.

The White Sox open the season with a 4 game set on the road against the A’s on Monday, April 4.  The home season begins that Friday, when the Indians come to town for a 3 game tilt.

This year’s inter-league slate is against the NL East, with the Nationals, Braves, and Phillies making trips to US Cellular Field, while the Sox hit the road to visit the Mets, Marlins, and Phillies.  A 2 and 2 set with the Cubs occurs the last week of July.

The White Sox finish the 2016 season at home against the Rays and Twins, with 23 of their final 29 games coming against the Central Division.  Should make for a great pennant race if the team can be in contention.

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Fitbit Week 31

Week31_FBAnother successful week, saved by a very impressive day at the end to boost the totals above blah.  Things got off to an unassuming start with Kid’s Day at US Cellular Field on Sunday, where the White Sox managed to sneak past the Mariners in extra innings.  Monday’s afternoon coffee run helped to bump it up over the 7000 step mark.  Tuesday through Thursday were all touch and go, but did all manage to cross the 5500 step barrier.

Most of Friday was spent in a car driving to Canada, but I still managed to just barely cross 6000 steps, thanks to my running around in the morning to pack and then briefly walking around the city while looking for dinner.  Saturday, however, turned things around for the week, as I broke 15,000 steps for the first time with the Fitbit and notched my 4th best total of all time.  The morning started with a walk for breakfast, followed by a trip down to the waterfront for some exploring.  After that, it was over to the Rogers Centre for exciting Blue Jays baseball, then back to the condo and, eventually, a trip out for dinner.  All told, I finished just over 16,000 steps, my highest total in over 2 years.

Total steps: 55,488

Daily average: 7926.9

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Historical iTunes Top 10 Albums

itunes_imageI recently came across an iTunes Music Library XML file from an old computer that covered some time frame between 2003 and 2007.  I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the 785 songs I had listened to in that timeframe and, eventually, incorporate some of those numbers into my current library.

Today, we will look at the top 10 albums, in terms of total listens, from this iTunes library.  My initial observations are, again, that these totals are completely out of whack.  When I last looked at the album totals for my current library, Bon Jovi’s greatest hits collection came in at #60, with only 6 more plays than they have here, where they are by far the leaders.  So, without further ado:

#1: Bon Jovi – Cross Road
iTunes stats: 48 plays
An abnormally large total for the first greatest hits package from the boys from New Jersey

#2: The Cast of Buffy The Vampire Slayer – Once More, With Feeling
iTunes stats: 39 plays
The soundtrack album to the musical episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, which took home the top spot last year in my current library, has a strong showing here.

#3: The Cast of Sesame Street – Sesame Street Platinum: All-Time Favorites
iTunes stats: 35 plays
The best tunes from Sesame Street got a lot of plays back when Angelina and Danny were younger, enough to take the third slot here.

#4: Bon Jovi – VH1 Storytellers
iTunes stats: 25 plays
A bootleg album of the band’s performance on the afore-mentioned VH1 Storytellers.

#5: Various Artists – Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Album
iTunes stats: 18 plays
The soundtrack album to Buffy The Vampire Slayer proper makes the top 5 after finishing tied for 34th in my current library.

#6: Avril Lavigne – Avril Live: Try To Shut Me Up
iTunes stats: 15 plays
Live versions of Avril’s hits, including a cover of Green Day’s Basket Case, place her in the top 10.

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College Football Kickoff

rossadeMy alma mater, the Purdue Boilermakers, kick off their 2015 gridiron campaign today, so I thought it was about time we took a look at the results of the 20 college football games I have attended since the 1993 season, covering 4 different stadiums in a whopping 2 states.

All-Time Team Records
School Won Loss Winning Pctg
Penn State Nittany Lions 1 0 1.000
Ohio State Buckeyes 1 0 1.000
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 4 1 0.800
Purdue Boilermakers 12 6 0.667
Northern Illinois Huskies 1 1 0.500
Illinois Fighting Illini 1 5 0.167
Western Michigan Broncos 0 1 0.000
Northwestern Wildcats 0 2 0.000
North Carolina State Wolfpack 0 1 0.000
Michigan Wolverines 0 1 0.000
Indiana Hoosiers 0 2 0.000
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#137 – Mark Salas

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Name: Mark Salas

Rank: 137

Position: C

Year With White Sox: 1988

Mark Salas came to the White Sox from the Yankees, along with Dan Pasqua and Steve Rosenberg, on November 12, 1987 in exchange for Richard Dotson and Scott Nielsen.  Salas backed up Carlton Fisk during the 1988 season, appearing in 75 games and hitting .250.

In spring training 1989, the White Sox decided that Ron Karkovice was ready to ascend to the big leagues for good, so they cut Salas loose in late March.  Salas returned to the White Sox in 1995 as the bullpen catcher, a position he held through 1999.  He returned again in the same role in 2007 and remains there to this day.

Salas’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

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Oh Canada

If everything goes according to plan, I will be leaving this morning for a road trip to Toronto, where I will meet up with my good friend Hayley.  We will spend about a week enjoying everything our neighbors to the north have to offer.  Not to mention a planned side trip back to the states to take in the offerings of Cooperstown, New York.

I’ll have a full detailing when I get back, but our current plans include the Blue Jays, the CN Tower, an AC/DC concert, the Oddball comedy fest, and a comedy club featuring Cameron Esposito.  Plus whatever comes up along the way.

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Book 19 (of 52) – The Golden Age Of Death

The Golden Age of Death - Amber Benson

The Golden Age of Death – Amber Benson

It’s been nearly 2 years since I last checked in on Amber Benson’s Calliope Reaper-Jones series, so it seemed like a good time to dive into The Golden Age of Death, the final installment of the series.  While fantasy is certainly not my favorite genre, I was on board for this series due to Benson, whose work as an actor I’ve admired.  While the last entry, How To Be Death, seemed to turn a page by mixing up the pace, this book was back to the tried and true formula of someone scheming to kill the newly installed grim reaper.

While I certainly enjoyed this series, otherwise I would have bailed a long time ago, I would be lying if I said they were easy for me to get through.  Even finishing up the last 120 pages of so took me well over 2 hours.  Benson has started a new series, about witches of some sort, but I’m not sure if I’ll follow her over.

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Fitbit Week 30

Week30_FBWhen we left off last week, my numbers were down thanks to a toothache.  This week started in the same place, as I barley managed to break 2500 steps, easily my worst day since starting with the Fitbit.  Things picked up Monday, as I returned to work.  The rest of the work week flowed normally, as I did manage to surpass my goal each day, but nothing special that would save the week.

That all changed on Saturday, thanks to a trip to Wrigley Field to take in the Foo Fighters show.  I arrived much earlier than my planned-upon meeting time, so I just walked around the park a few times, killing time and boosting my step total, good enough for my 12th best day overall and my 3rd best with the Fitbit.

Total steps: 50,512

Daily average: 7216