Summer League Game 4

Unfortunately, last night was pretty much a reverse of last week's game.  We finished it 8-17, so we did score twice as many points as the team we beat, however.

Honestly, I was expecting that going into the game.  We'd gotten quite a few e-mails from people saying they weren't going to be there.  As it turned out, we were missing several key people.  Then when I got there, I saw who we were playing.  Their captain was my captain last year.  I know how good he and his friend (who was on the team again) are.  The rest of the team was strong as well.

We had 8 people show up.  They had 9 or 10.

Plus the points were short.  We were done in about an hour and a half instead of the normal two hours or so.

And despite the lack of people, I didn't feel like I got to play enough.  The game was over, and I wanted to keep going.

On the plus side, I did get the disc a few times and pass it on successfully.  We had a new guy there who really throws it fast, and I dropped a few from him.  I'm going to have to get used to his throws so I can catch them.  And I did a decent job on D, although I was scored on a few times.  Honestly, we were on scored on.  I felt like I contributed and wasn't the weak link, so that's a good thing in my opinion.

If I Had Something Exciting to Say

I feel like I need to update my blog.  The problem is I really have nothing too exciting to blog about.

The big news last week is my ultimate Frisbee game, which I already talked about.

Saturday, I did go see Cars 2, which I really enjoyed.

Sunday was a bit disappointing since I drove across town to play ultimate only to find out later they didn't play until 5PM.

Today, I finally signed up for the 10K on Monday morning.  I've been hesitating only because it starts at 7AM.  But I know if I don't do it, I will be very upset that day.  Now, to see if I can break the 1 hour mark.  Haven't really been training for it, so this will be very close, I have a feeling.  I have done a few 6 mile runs, so it won't be a foreign distance, but most of my running has been playing ultimate Frisbee.  I think that's going to wind up being my downfall more than anything else.

The auditors are at work this week for the preliminary stuff.  Having them around is always interesting, although I've been here long enough that I can answer most questions no problem.

And I think that's about it for this exicitng episode in the life of Mark.

Weekly TV Recap for June 25th

Is this summer or the regular TV season?  I remember when I used to have time to catch up on my reading and TV on DVD viewing during the summer, but I guess those days are behind me.  And I've got three new shows to add to the mix next week.  I know, I could always cut back.  I just don't want to.  :)

In Plain Sight - You know, it doesn't matter how predictable the stories are, they always managed to move me. I knew this week's witness would reconcile with his family in the end and his son would give his liver, but it was still emotionally satisfying. Mary's pregnancy is certainly making things interesting. I wasn't sure if I would like it or not, but I think I do. I wonder if she really will wind up giving it up for adoption or keeping it when the child is born.

White Collar - Well, we finally met Diana's girlfriend. They've mentioned her enough, it was about time, although frankly the fact that she is a lesbian is my least favorite part of the show, for obvious reasons. Still, it was a fun episode with the usual twists, although their definition of white collar crime seems to be stretching all the time. I find the story of Neal and Moz trying to escape with the loot always interesting. Part of me hopes they get away and part of me hopes they get caught because they stole it. Obviously, they won't go anywhere with it permanently, so I'm curious how it will all play out.

Wipeout Tuesday - They've got some fun obstacles for the summer, so this looks promising. I love the swing set, for example. The drop into the Wipeout Zone scares me, and I'm on my couch. Overall those obstacles look almost impossible. It will be interesting to see how many even finish it.

101 Way to Leave a Game Show - This was interesting to watch as a one time deal because I was curious about it. They manage to cram 30 minutes of interesting show into an hour. Once and done was my only interest in this show. Too much else I want to be doing this summer to make it a regular part of my week.

Covert Affairs - I've got to admit, this one snuck up on me. I enjoyed it more than I have either of the others this season. And I really did think the instructor was the bad guy, too. All around entertaining, and that scene in the airplane made for an awesome climax.

Burn Notice - So, I was wondering where they would go with the story this season. And I'm still wondering. Again, it felt like they were really trying to close some things off. True, Michael doesn't know why he was burned yet, but it's looking like he'll be back in the CIA very soon and out of Miami. What obstacles will they be throwing in his way? Come on, tell us already!  On another note, you can really see how his relationship with his mom has changed, especially in that last scene of them together.  I love that.

Wipeout Thursday - After the showing on Tuesday, I can't believe how quickly two of the people did the Wipeout Zone tonight. The girl could have won on just about any other night. I was hoping the Star Wars geek would go further because those jokes were my favorite. All in all, a fun episode.

Suits - I definitely could have done without the strong language, and it took me a while to warm up to the characters. But I'm beginning to like them and I think I could get hooked on the series. I'll definitely tune in next week and see what I think. If I don't like it, it will probably get cut.

Expedition: Impossible - Okay, so it's basically an extreme version of The Amazing Race mixed in with a little bit of Survivor. That means I'll probably wind up hooked on it as well. It isn't nearly as compelling as those two shows, at least not yet. But I already feel like I know something about all the teams, which I don't feel like with the other shows. Again, it might get cut, but for now it looks interesting.

New TV on DVD Reviews:
The Big Bang Theory - Season 3

Word Association for June 23rd

Here's this week's word association.

1. Diligence :: Hard Work
2. Volume :: Loud
3. Hospital :: Sick
4. Binge :: Indulge
5. Loyalty :: Friends
6. Pediatrics :: Medicine
7. Authorize :: Transaction
8. Cage :: Match
9. Studious :: Student
10. Transfer :: Funds

Spring Reading 2011 Wrap Up

According to most calendars, Spring ended yesterday.  (Although I do have one that says today is the first day of summer.)  So I need to post the results from Spring Reading 2011.  All the links will take you to my review at Epinions.

Books from My Original List Read:
The KenKen Killings by Parnell Hall
The Resurrection by Mike Duran
The Brothers of Baker Street by Michael Robertson
Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz and David Hayward
Burn Notice: The Reformed by Tod Goldberg
Berried to the Hilt by Karen MacInerney
Twice as Dead by Sue Ann Jaffarian
To the Maner Dead by Sebastian Stuart
The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
10th Anniversary by James Patterson
Meaning at the Movies by Grant Horner
psych: Mind-Altering Murder by William Rabkin (Okay, finished this one today, but I'm counting it.)

Books Not on My List Read:
Dear Mr. Holmes: Seven Holmes on the Range Stories by Steve Hockensmith
The Sherlockian by Graham Moore
Half Upon a Time by James Riley
"The Rabbit Died" by Sue Ann Jaffarian

Okay, that's 15 books and one short story.  But only 12 of those books were on the list I started with.  Here are the books I didn't get to.

Unread Books from Fall 2010 List:
Secrets of Harmony Grove by Mindy Starns Clark
Dog On It by Spencer Quinn

Unread Books from Spring 2011 List:
Formula for Murder by Diana Orgain
Mr. Monk on the Couch by Lee Goldberg
Killer Routine by Alan Orloff
The Albuquerque Turkey by John Vorhaus

So there you have it.  I actually did get further with my list then I thought I would, especially when I started reading books not on the list.  However, if I want to finish my list again during one of these, I'll have to make a shorter list.

Summer League Game 3

Last night was the third game of this season's summer league.  Before the game, we were talking about how the team was young and fast but probably inexperienced.  I knew that would be a problem for me keeping up with whoever I was supposed to be guarding.  And I was right.  I was running hard almost the entire time I was on the field every time.

However, that hardly mattered.  We won 17-4!  What's funny is the other game going on last night was also a blow out like that.

I was only thrown the disc once and dropped it.  However, after the game, I was praised for how good I was during the zone defense (guarding one area, not chasing one man around the field).  That felt good, especially considering the source.  I've often thought I was good during z defense, so it was nice to hear that from someone else.

We're in the middle of some heat (which will be dropping again this weekend), and it was still quite warm last night.  The game was over so quickly that we played some pick up afterward.  I was dripping with sweat at 10 at night afterward.  It felt wonderful.  I love summer evenings like that, and that's one thing I love about summer league.

Weekly TV Recap for June 18th

In Plain Sight - That episode was the worst kept secret of the season. It might have been interesting if they hadn't started teasing that Mary was pregnant before the season even began. And I guessed who the father was, too. I will be interested to see how they play that out; hopefully it will be better than the reveal was. However, I did enjoy the story with the Amish couple. I actually felt sorry for the woman. The man? He was an idiot.

White Collar - What a blast of an episode. I wasn't sure that a treasure hunt would work on the show, but it completely did. Neal and Peter make a good team, so I hope they don't do them irreversible harm with the treasure that Neal and Mozzie are hiding. Also, I love Elizabeth and I think it's great when they work her into an episode.

Covert Affairs - This is how little of the show sticks with me - I didn't recognize the guy in the episode as someone we'd seen before. When they talked about Annie's history with him, I barely remembered it. Still, the episode was interesting with some decent twists and turns. My favorite part was Joan's jury duty sub-plot. Obviously, she liked it in principle better than reality. That was funny, especially the judge excusing her at the end.

New TV on DVD Reviews:
Lois and Clark - Season 4

First Two Summer League Games

I had my second game of this year's summer league last night, and my team is now 0-2.  I'm getting an incredible feeling of been there done that.

Both games we started out with the first point or two.  Then we let them tie it up to get ahead at half time 5-9.  Sadly, in the second half, try as we might, we haven't been able to overcome that difference.  Last week was close at the end since it was 15-17.  This week?  13-17.

For me, last week's game was a little frustrating since I wasn't really part of the action when I played.  Heck, I was trying to play some by let my legs rest up for the mud run last weekend since they were killing me.  (And it worked.  After playing, they felt much better.)

This week, I barely missed one in the end zone and later successfully caught and passed it on again.  What was nice about that second one was that I threw it across the width of the field forehand - not my strongest throw, so I was happy it made it there pretty decisively.

But defense last night really made me happy.  Only once or twice as my guy able to get that far from me.  I was never scored on, and there were several points where I know I kept my guy from being open to score.

Of course, the fact that we lost last night didn't surprise me.  The team was a bunch of jerks who made sure every single call went their way.  You want proof that mankind are sinners?  Just go to an ultimate game where you make your own calls.  Also some fighting, but it can get heated pretty quickly.

Word Assciation for June 14th

Happy Flag Day!

I thought I'd break with tradition and do the word association today since I just have a few minutes.

1. Adventure :: Jungle Cruise
2. Truth :: Lie
3. Expose :: the Truth
4. Applause :: Audience
5. Hostility :: hatred
6. Sauce :: Red
7. Constipation :: Pain
8. Explore :: Wilderness
9. Senator :: Congress
10. Children :: Young

Camp Pendleton Mud Run 2011

This weekend was a lesson in flexibility.  And anyone who knows me knows that I am not in the least bit flexible.  Not only can I not stretch well, but when I make plans, I hate having to change them at the last minute.

I did the race with my friend Luke, which wasn't the original plan.  Fortunately, he was able to keep me from doing it by myself.

If I'd had my way, I would have left to pick him up in Pasadena by 11:30 at the latest.  Instead, I found myself waiting for a friend to get his mail, and I didn't leave until after 3.  This meant we hit major commute traffic.

Luke was interested in buying a dirt motorcycle that was along the way.  This certainly didn't make the drive any less.  Saturday, after the race, we spent some time trying to get that figured out before giving up.

We were going to spend the night with his girlfriend, but decided to stay closer to the race itself.

Even with all those changes of plan, the race was great.

I was actually happy with how the race felt.  When I saw the sign for the 3 mile mark, I was very surprised.  I didn't feel like I was half way done.  Unfortunately, my time wasn't much better than last year, mainly because we got caught in crowds a couple of times and we wound up having to walk some when my hip started to bother me.  That part really frustrated me, but I took it a little easier after that, especially after I almost fell down one hill area.

There were a few changes to the course here and there.  I missed the Marines shooting us with water in Combat Town.  But the biggest change was the resivoir.  Instead of being the normal 4.5 feet deep, it was over 6 feet deep.  Trying to swim that was a challenge since it was hard to really swim without kicking your neighbors.  But it was a fun challenge.

Despite all the uncertainty and stress of this week, I really enjoyed the race itself.  It was a lot of fun.  And on the way home, I got to visit with my friend Brian for an hour or two as well.

Naturally, it left me with way too much I wanted to do Sunday and not nearly enough time to do it all, but it was a great weekend.  Now, to rest up.

Weekly TV Recap June 11th

As you are reading this, I am started out on the Camp Pendleton Mud Run for the year.  (Assuming this actually posts when it is supposed to.  I've been having problems with that recently.)

You might have noticed I missed last week.  That was due to the fact that I had no new TV shows to watch.  USA gave In Plain Sight the week off due to the holiday.

But here are my thoughts on this week's three new shows.

In Plain Sight - Man, that guy was a creep, wasn't he? I did not like the outcome at all. I wanted him to fry as much as Mary did. It's funny because usually the show is about proving Mary wrong, but in this case she was right and still didn't get what she wanted.

White Collar - The entire time, I was wondering how they were going to keep the team together. Turns out they did it by changing the perspective on that opening scene. So, Mozzie stole the artifacts, huh? I really wasn't expecting that. And Peter is going to be watching Neal like a hawk. I've long loved their relationship, but it looks like it will really be tested this season. I still don't quite see how they can get out of this without ruining the show.

Covert Affairs - I so wish I could remember where we were with this show. I feel like I've been dropped into the deep end and I can't quite remember what all the pieces were. The episode of the week involving the tennis player was good, however. The other characters should just trust Annie's instincts. She is the main character, after all. I'm all ready for the crossover with In Plain Sight, although I know that won't actually happen.

New TV on DVD Reviews.  (I've certainly been busy in this area.)
Psych - Season 5  
White Collar - Season 2  
Burn Notice - Season 4   

Word Association for June 8th

Here's this week's word association.

1. Circles :: Squares
2. Born :: Yesterday
3. Teddy :: Bear
4. Comfortable :: Shoes
5. Chaste :: Pure
6. Burned :: Spy (Yes, I reviewed Burn Notice today)
7. Blouse :: Shirt
8. Threats :: Violence
9. Cuddly :: Stuffed Animal
10. Condemned :: Building

Yes, I Do Have a Life Outside of Mud Runs

I realize it hasn't seemed like it lately, but there is more to my life than mud runs.  That's just been all I've been blogging about.

So, what else have I been up to?  Let's see.

My friends Josh and Beth had a game night on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend.  That was lots of fun.  And that Saturday, Angelique and I went to see Happiest Millionaire at Glendale Centre Theatre, which was great.

Probably the biggest news is that I have another roommate.  I'm actually sharing my room again for the first time in three years, which means there are 4 of us in the condo.  It appears that we've got two different schedules going on, so it will probably be only two home at any given moment, however.  It will make things interesting, but my pocketbook will like that.

That also means I've been doing lots of cleaning.  My room and closet had gotten out of control with junk.  If nothing else, I am thrilled to see how clean things look right now.

And I've been playing lots of ultimate Frisbee.  I actually found a group that plays a couple of times a week here in town, and I've been playing with them.  It's been good and hopefully it will keep my skills up for Summer League, which starts for me tonight.  Go team Red Bull!

Mach 1 Mud Run

Well, since last weekend's mud run fell through, I had to find another mud run to take it's place in my quest to hit 6 mud runs this year.  I sighed up for the first ever Mach 1 Mud Run that took place this last Saturday in Corona at the airport.

Mud wise, this was was interesting just because there were only two true mud pits.  Obstacle one was a pit to run through, and they ended with mud we crawled through.  However, they had several area we had to crawl through that included mud an inch or two deep.  It was enough to get mud on me, although all their mud was so thin that I didn't look too muddy at the end.

I was actually surprised by how much fun one of the obstacles was.  They had a rope swing.  We just swung out over a couple of feet of a shallow mud pit.  But it was a blast.  I would have loved to circle back around and do that one again.  The tunnel crawl was pretty cool, too.

All in all, I did have a good time and I got muddy.  The showers had so little water pressure that it was hard to get clean at the end.  All told, I finished in 42:35, which put me in the middle of the pack, my usual place.

What made this one stand out to me was that I had fans there to cheer me on.  My friend Luke and his girlfriend Sarah came out and cheered me on and took some pictures.  I signed up for this one last minute and figured I'd be doing it alone, so it was really nice to have them there.  And it was the first time I had friends at a mud run who weren't running with me.  We hung out for a late lunch as well.  Honestly, that was the highlight of the day for me.

Word Association for June 1st

Time again for word association.

1. Decoder :: Ring
2. Cake :: Ice Cream
3. Sense :: and Sensibility
4. Geek :: Chuck
5. Cousin :: Family
6. Goggles :: Swimming
7. Social media :: Facebook
8. Butterfly :: Pretty
9. Search :: and Destroy
10. Manicure :: Peticure