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Book 20 (of 52) – Lost Souls

Lost Souls - David Mack

Lost Souls – David Mack

The final chapter of the Destiny trilogy brings a Borg invasion deep in to the Federation as the Enterprise, Titan, and Aventine, with the help of the now 800-year old Captain Erika Hernandez, try to find a way to save the universe.  While attempting to stop them from attacking the Federation’s core planets, Captain Hernandez learns the shocking truth of the Borg’s origins, and the avenue to shut them down for good.

David Mack uses the fact that Paramount is mostly finished with the original Star Trek timeline to his advantage, giving him free reign to both define the origin of the Borg and then remove them as threats in the future.  He does so by building off of the worlds he has built in the previous outings in the series.  I must say that I enjoyed this three book trip back in to the world of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  If I ever come across another Kindle sale on these types of books, I may just pick up a few more.

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#185 – Dick Tidrow

008-dick-tidrowName: Mark Teahen

Rank: 185

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 1983

On January 25, 1983, Dick Tidrow, along with Scott Fletcher, Randy Martz, and Pat Tabler, were traded across town from the Cubs to the White Sox in exchange for Warren Brusstar and Steve Trout.  Tidrow slid in to the bullpen for the eventual AL West champions, appearing in 50 games and picking up 7 saves.

Tidrow made one appearance in the ALCS, giving up a run in 3 innings pitched in the game 3 blowout loss against the Orioles.  Following the series, the White Sox released Tidrow.

Tidrow’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

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Top 200 Albums – #120 – 130

itunes_imageMy latest desktop computer arrived in late 2007, at which point I transitioned all of my music off of my laptop. 2 iPods, 3 iPhones, and an iPad later, that computer is still my main repository of music, with iTunes updating its stats every time I listen to something.

Having already gone through cassette tapes and CDs, and digital music, it’s time to roll everything up with the Top 200 albums whose songs I’ve listened to as of September 2014, according to iTunes. Today we continue climbing up the list and look at the 6 albums tied for 120th with 34 listens and the 5 albums tied for 127th with 33 listens.

#120: Arrested Development – 3 Years, 5 Months And 2 Days In The Life Of …
iTunes stats: 34 plays
The debut album from the Atlanta-based alternative hip-hop group has a nearly even split amongst its 3 hit singles to make up this total.

#120: Various Artists – Clueless
iTunes stats: 34 plays
The hit movie soundtrack makes the list thanks to songs from Smoking Popes, Jill Sobule, and The Muffs.

#120: Sam Kinison – Have You Seen Me Lately
iTunes stats: 34 plays
The seminal comedy album from Sam Kinison uses his standup routine and a twisted remake of Wild Thing to chart this high.

#120: Hole – Celebrity Skin
iTunes stats: 34 plays
The second Hole album, alledgedly written by Billy Corgan, Courtney Love’s boyfriend at the time, has 2 tracks make up this total.

#120: George Carlin – You Are All Diseased
iTunes stats: 34 plays
Another standup routine from George Carlin puts him on the list again.

#120: Stone Temple Pilots – Purple
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Book 19 (of 52) – Under The Dome

Under The Dome - Stephen King

Under The Dome – Stephen King

When a mysterious dome cuts a small town off from the rest of the world, its residents must find a way to survive while a power hungry local politician sees this as his opportunity to become the ultimate authority.  Such is the plot of this tome from Stephen King, the third longest book I’ve ever read and the longest since I tackled The Stand back in 1992.

Prior to reading 11/22/63 2 years ago, I had stayed away from King’s work since finishing Dolores Claiborne back in 1993.  But based on my enjoyment of that book, and a sale at the Kindle store, I picked up this one on the cheap.  After watching the first two seasons of the television adaptation, which CBS has aired over the past 2 summers, I finally found myself in the mood for this thousand page monster.

The show deviates pretty quickly from the book, sharing little more than character names and a dome at this point, so reading the book was an entirely new experience, although I did picture the show’s actors as the characters in my mind.  Overall, I enjoyed the book, though the ending, and the force behind the dome, left a little to be desired.  I do have a couple more King works waiting to be read, though none of this magnitude.

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#186 – Mark Teahen

Seattle Mariners v Chicago White SoxName: Mark Teahen

Rank: 186

Position: 3B

Years With White Sox: 2010-2011

Following the old adage that if you can’t beat them, join them, the White Sox sent Josh Fields and Chris Getz to the Royals in exchange for Mark Teahen, who had terrorized White Sox pitching.  Teahen got off to a slow start in 2010, but was starting to come around, putting up a .368 average in the 12 games prior to breaking his right middle finger on May 30.

He returned in mid August and finished the year with a .258 average in a career low 78 games.

Teahen returned in 2011, but again fell victim to the injury bug, suffering an oblique injury in early May.  He returned in early June, but struggled with reduced playing time.  As the trading deadline approached, he was packaged with Edwin Jackson in a deal with the Blue Jays, bringing back pitchers Jason Frasor and Zach Stewart.

Teahen’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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#187 – Tanyon Sturtze

TS_7.24Name: Tanyon Sturtze

Rank: 187

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 1999-2000

Tanyon Sturtze, fresh off of rotator cuff surgery, joined the White Sox organization on November 23, 1998 after signing as a free agent.  He spent the 1999 season at Triple A Charlotte, trying to work his way back to the major leagues.  He started the last game of the season for the White Sox, going six scoreless innings against the Twins.

Sturtze found himself in the bullpen as the White Sox broke camp in 2000, but things did not go well for him at all.  Appearing in 10 games, he gave up 25 hits and 23 runs, 21 earned, in only 15 2/3 innings pitched.  On May 23, with an ERA over 12, he was designated for assignment.  A week later, he was traded to the Devil Rays in exchange for Tony Graffanino.

Sturtze’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

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#188 – Salome Barojas

salome

Name: Salome Barojas

Rank: 188

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 1982-1984

As spring training wound down in 1982, the White Sox purchased the contract of Salome Barojas from the Mexico City Reds of the Mexican League.  Barojas quickly became the team’s closer, finishing the season with 21 saves.

In 1983, as the White Sox ran away with the AL West title, their first divisional championship, Barojas split the closing duties with Dennis Lamp, picking up 12 saves in 52 games and finishing the year with a career best 2.47 ERA.  Unfortunately, Barojas struggled during the ALCS, appearing in 2 games against the Orioles and giving up 4 hits and 2 runs in 1 inning pitched.

Like the rest of the White Sox, Barojas struggled to duplicate the success of the previous season in 1984.  His ERA had jumped over 2 runs in 24 games before he was traded to the Mariners on June 27 in exchange for pitchers Gene Nelson and Jerry Don Gleaton.

Barojas’ numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

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GF4 – Week 21

Y4Week21Thanksgiving week brought a new low for the year, with only 1 day surpassing the 5500 step mark and only 2 others above 4000 steps.  Aside from Tuesday, which was the only day I was able to get out for a walk around the neighborhood, the rest of the week was a complete and utter bust, capped off by Sunday, where I didn’t even manage 1000 steps.

Total steps: 26,336

Daily average: 3762.3