Weekly TV Recap for June 29th

Melissa & Joey - So I like Melissa's new guy.  I wonder how much longer he'll be around.  I hate knowing they'll break up.  And can we stop hearing about how lonely Ryder is?  Seriously, give him something else to do.

Royal Pains - I was wondering just how long they were going to keep Boris' secret.  But I wasn't expecting them to kill Demetry.  And it looks like Divya is really going to be pregnant, too.  That will be interesting to watch.  Evan on village counsel.  That's going to be fun to watch.

Necessary Roughness - Yes, the show is still formulaic, but I am enjoying it more now that they've cut out her personal life issues with her kids.  Now, if we just knew what was going on with her new company.  My guess is if involves the CFO in some way since he's just a guest star, but we'll see.

Wipeout - That was just embarrassing for the brawn side of the camp.  Maybe I'd have a shot if I went on the show after all.

Burn Notice - Was not expecting them to kill off the man Michael is trying to take down.  Is that girl his daughter?  Why is she so important?  And where is she?

Graceland - Not quite as good as last week, and I still don't have a feel for where the show is going.  I don't think this is ever going to become a favorite.

Summer League Game 4

Monday night was the fourth summer league game.  And we had another close game despite how it started out.

We decided to try a new strategy, and it pretty much failed.  (Our captain took full credit for his idea in the official recap.  It was quite funny, actually.)  The result was we only scored 4 or 5 points in the first half.

But then we went back to normal for the beginning of the second half, and we really turned it around.  We went on a 7-1 run and were actually ahead at one point.  Sadly, we couldn't keep it together after that, and we wound up losing 14-17 yet again.  Sigh.  It's time we won another game.  Really.

My favorite moment of the night was when I lopped it over a defended to our captain after he repeatedly told me not to do it.  I had to let it go since I had a high stall count on me, and he got it.  Actually, I was very confident in that throw even if he didn't think it would work.  I don't think he was happy until he caught it, however.  We even went on to score that point.

On the plus side, we were playing JV's team.  We've had a friendly rivalry going on for years.  As in when our teams play, we always guard each other since we're about the same speed.  He's just a great all around guy to joke with on the sidelines.  That made it well worth going down for even if we lost.

Word Association for June 26th

Here's this week's word association.

1. Tears :: Cry
2. Press :: Briefing
3. Rowboat :: Lake
4. Society :: High
5. Magazine :: Newspaper
6. Mars :: Red
7. Gone bad :: Turn Good
8. Celebrity :: Appearance
9. Umbrella :: Rain
10. Core :: Earth

Irvine Lake Summer of Mud 2013

I was just there two months ago, but I headed back to Irvine Lake on Saturday for their summer mud run.

And they put the mud in mud run, which I love.

The course was fairly similar to last time.  And yes, that includes the mud slide, my favorite part.  That’s just awesome!!!!  Totally worth the wait.

There was one long part that was slippery and shallow mud, which was fun to tromp through, although it does tend to slow you down.

And there was mud.  Lots and lots of mud.  Mud to run through mud to crawl through.  I had a blast with that.

I did it with my friend Sanjay.  We get together about once a year for a mud run, and it’s always great to catch up with him.  A friend of his came along for the ride, although he didn’t wind up running with us.  Maybe next time?

I am always surprised at how long it takes.  But the line for the slide slows us down as does the mud.  Then we had a wait a little while for them to get more water so we could shower.  This one seems longer than most.  But it was a blast and completely worth doing every time I do it.

Weekly TV Recap for June 22nd

I bet you thought I'd forgotten.  Nope.  I'm just finally now finished watching everything from the week.

Melissa & Joey - Yes, I had to look up who the guest star was.  He's playing a much older character than he did on 90210.  And it looks like he's there for a few episodes at least.  I just wish the characters could admit their feelings for each other when there wasn't someone else involved.  It's a bit tiring already, and we've just started season 3.

Royal Pains - So many great character interactions in this episode, most of them involving Paige.  Have I raved about her this season yet?  I love that characters!!!  And I wonder if the videos are going to prove that Boris isn't dead and that's why they are supposed to be destroyed.  I'm wondering if this episode is going to be all about the characters instead of alternating, but we'll find out.

Necessary Roughness - I think I might like this change, especially if we cut out the parts about Dani's life, which is the part I didn't like as it was.  Although I wonder just what Rico is undercover to find.  This is going to be interesting.

Burn Notice - I knew it wouldn't be that easy with Mike.  I mean, we've got 10 more episodes to go.  But it does make me wonder who the boss is.  My guess is it is someone we know.  But who?  Meanwhile, I loved Madeline's sub-plot.  Her blowing up the wall and her final confrontation were wonderful.  And Fi narrating for us by talking to Maddy was a fun twist on the usual style of the show.

Graceland - Well, one less character to try to remember and track from week to week.  But I wonder if Mike is overplaying his hand and his target is going to figure him out.  I was finding myself more drawn into things this week, so maybe the show is growing on me.

Summer League Game 3

Last night was our third game for summer league this year.  And we took on another amazing team.

We got the first point, and were up 1-0.  But then they came back and took two points in a row.  We played the come from behind thing for most of the first half, tying it up to lose the next point.  Finally at half, we were at 7-9.

We came back from half time to go on a three point run and get ahead 10-9.  They had to call a time out, and that settled their heads because they tied it up with the next one.  Then we traded points until it was 13-13.

Sadly, that’s when we decided we were done playing, I guess.  We got one more point, but the ultimate score was 14-17.

I was thrown the disc twice.  The first time, I reached behind me, but I got it.  The second was over my head, and I fumbled it.  I thought I had it several times, but it kept just not quite coming to me.  Finally, my defender was able to swat it away and it hit the ground.  It was so dang frustrating.

Also frustrating as the fact that I could not keep up with any of their guys on D.  They were out running me like crazy.  All of them.  I ran hard, but there was nothing I could do.  On the plus side, I never got scored on.  When my guys got it, they were always coming back toward the disc.  My guy threw a score once, but that was as close as it came.

Word Association for June 19th

Here's this week's word association.

1. Hook :: Captain
2. Ringer :: Dead
3. Hoodwink :: Con
4. Football :: Game
5. Out of the way :: Hurry
6. Skull :: Crossbones
7. Enough :: Already!
8. Scholarship :: College
9. Ruin :: Old
10. Lawyer :: Trial

Lazy Weekend

After the craziness of last weekend, this weekend I sat around and pretty much did nothing.  As you can imagine, it felt wonderful!

I did get out and have a little fun.  On Saturday, I went to see Man of Steel.  I certainly enjoyed parts of it, but on the whole I thought it was the triumph of special effects over characters.  Too many fights not enough character development.

Sunday I went to my ultimate Frisbee pick up game.  We actually had a good sized crowd out for it being Father’s Day.  I guess enough of the guys said this is what they wanted to do for their special day.  We had 7’s, first time in a long time.  They actually put a guy on me who hadn’t played before, but who had my stamina.  I hated it!  Now I know what everyone is complaining about.  My team managed to take our game to universe point after being down by 6 at one point, so that felt good.

And I spent lots of time working on my review blog.  In fact, I found out that they will get upset with you even for scheduling too many posts in a day.  No, they didn’t shut anything down, but they were asking for word verification.  I took the hint and backed off a bit.

I’m calculating, and if my calculations are correct, I’ve about three weeks posts to schedule before I am done with that project!  Maybe I get it all done before I leave to spend the 4th with my family.  I would be ecstatic if that could happen.  Either way, the end is in site, and I can’t wait!!!!

Weekly TV Recap for June 15th

Melissa & Joey – My DVR didn’t get the memo that there were two episodes, but fortunately I’d heard.  I knew how they were going to catch the guy in the first one, but I still loved it.  And the second?  Way too fast for me, but still pretty funny.

Royal Pains – They are setting up the soap for this season between Hank’s pain pill addiction and Divya’s pregnancy.  And this neighbor will be an interesting twist as well.  Wonder how long they are going to play out the mystery of Boris’ “death” and all it means.

Necessary Roughness – So how will TK still be on the show with the focus moving elsewhere.  Plus both kids are gone.  They are really streamlining the show.  The Hawks were one of my favorite parts, so I wonder what I will think of it after the next few episodes happen.  Certainly interested in seeing more of John Stamos and wondering how much David Anders will be around.

Burn Notice – I felt so sorry for Michael at the end of the episode.  I completely get where Fi is coming from, but it was hard to watch.  Still rooting for them to get back together in the final 11 episodes.  Great use of code there to save her life.  How much of the show will take place in South America and how much will take place back in Miami?  Certainly looks like the gang will be heading south to help at this point.

Graceland – I have a feeling this will be much less case of the week but some longer stories with the biggest story of all being what is Mike’s trainer hiding?  Those are the only two I’m feeling any connection for at the moment, but they’ve also had the biggest screen time.  Didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as last week, but I’ll keep watching.

Summer League Week 2

And on Monday, I had my second summer league game of the year.  So if you are keeping track, I was running for three days in a row for various things.  Sure am thankful my legs are used to it these days.

In fact, my legs weren’t that sore from the weekend on Monday.  I did notice a bit of shin soreness, but it wasn’t that bad, which made me thankful and happy at the same time.

Anyway, it was a very hard fought game.  Neither team got up by more than a point in the first half.  Usually they were ahead, sometimes we were ahead.  They took half at 9-8 and scored right away at half, but then we came back to tie it up.  And we had some very long points, too with lots and lots of turn overs.

This kept up until we got to 13’s.  Then we just couldn’t get it together and they scored 4 in a row to win 13-17.

On a personal front, I was not as much a part of things as I was the week before.  One point in the second half, I successfully got the disc and passed it on again.  However, a couple points later, my defender swapped a disc down before I could get it (although I would argue that I couldn’t have gotten it given his position at all, but others would say I should have gone to the disc).  Then after a couple of turns, my guy took off and sprinted down to the end zone.  I did my best to catch up, but he scored easily on me.

Oh well.  We are at 50% right now, so I’m still happy.  Next week our game is on Thursday.

However, I got a compliment after the game.  One of their players, who I’ve played against for years, said something to me about being faster.  I must admit, while I do still have endurance over speed, I do feel like I am getting faster.  Still, I was thrilled with that.  Definitely helped my ego after the point where I got scored on so badly.

Word Association for June 13th

Here's this week's word association.

1. Rubbish :: Pile
2. Court :: Jester
3. Bangs :: Hair
4. Affinity :: Connection
5. Wholesome :: Clean
6. Jessica :: Rabbit
7. Trumpet :: Band
8. Treatment :: Medical
9. Happening :: Place
10. Pain :: Gain

Camp Pendleton Mud Run 2013

Originally, when I planned to do two mud runs on back to back days, I planned to stay down closer to Camp Pendleton in between and not go home.  All that flew out the window when Spencer, who was supposed to do them both with me, wound up having to work in between.

As it turns out, he decided one was enough for him, so I headed down to Oceanside late on Saturday, but not as late as it would have been.  As originally planned, I stayed with my friend Ian who is stationed there.  And he ran it with me.  Well, sort of.  He took off at his own pace at the start and beat me by half an hour.  Still, it was nice to have someone waiting for me at the finish line this year.

And I had a blast.  I love how getting to the mile two marker always seems too early these days.  The rest of them feel about right, but I always have a hard time believing I’ve made it to mile 2 by that point.

This year marked the 20th anniversary of the mud run, and they added some new obstacles, including a small mud pit probably around mile one.  Of course, the water levels are so low that both of the water crossings were dry, which was a bummer.  Anyway, they added a rope wall and hay bails and an over/under section.  And they still had the classic mud pits and the walls, although the second wall seemed higher to me this year.

I was definitely tired by the time I finished.  In 24 hours, I’d done 10 miles of mud run.  But I recovered quickly after a good lunch.

And I finished in 1:28.  Yes, about seven minutes slower than last year, but last year I was training for Tough Mudder, so I was doing a lot more running by that point in the year.  Frankly, I was thrilled with my time considering how under trained I thought I was.

Afterward, we went back to Ian’s to clean up and then met up with some of his friends from church for lunch.  Then we cruised the coast a bit before I packed up and headed home.  It was a nice, relaxing afternoon.

The day would have been perfect if Spencer had come like originally planned, but overall it was a great day.  I’m ready for next year!  And considering last year I wasn’t feeling the same way, that’s saying something.  I’m sure it ahs to do with having someone to run it with this year.  Although some year, I’d like to do it with the people I sign up with again.

Spring Gladiator Rock n Run

As I mentioned last week, this was a two mud run kind of weekend.  So on Saturday, on only two hours of sleep, Spencer and I headed down for the Gladiator Rock n Run in Irvine.  We arrived in plenty of time and proceeded to get ready and go.

This was a four mile mud run with plenty of obstacles.  We jumped into ice cold water.  We crawled through mud a couple of times.  We ran across an old air strip.  And we crawled through the longest mud pit they could build – set a world record in fact.

However, I wasn’t exactly thrilled with that mud pit.  The barbed wire they had for us to go under was too low.  I love getting muddy, but I like to keep my face out of the mud.  It really irritates the eyes if you go all the way under.  Sorry, but so low I have to do that takes all the fun out of it.

There were some other hard obstacles, especially the dumpster dive.  But I made it through that one this year.  I tried the big wall at the end twice as well, but I just couldn’t quite make it over this year.  Last year, I did it, but this year I just kept sliding.

I got pretty scratched up, which is funny because I don’t remember it happening.  But I’ve got a scrape on my elbow and knee and several scratches on my legs.

Clean up was a joke again.  They had some company there promoting their soap, but they gave us hardly any time to get clean and hardly any water.  I still had quite a bit of mud on me when we were done.  But we survived.

Yes, some complaints.  But overall it was fun.  I’ll be seeing them in Pasadena in September.

Weekly TV Recap for June 8th

Melissa & Joey – I’m kind of surprised they didn’t have Mel and Joe dating a divorced couple before now.  It was actually a very funny episode.  And the poor nephew.  I could see his sub-plot coming since everyone would think staying at home means isolation, but it was pretty funny.  Especially when he created a school with kids too cool for him to sit with.

Burn Notice – I hadn’t heard about the mini-Heroes reunion with the two guest stars on the show.  I’m surprised they’ve jumped ahead like that, but I think it is going to work well for them.  And I’m very curious to see how this all wraps up since we know this is the final season.  For that matter, I wonder if it is a split season or if we’ll get it all at once.

Graceland – Okay, so it probably would have helped if I had sat down and watched it all straight through, but it was a bit hard to track who all the characters are, the agencies the work for, and their relationships to each other.  Still, this one has promise with the creative way the main character was thinking on his feet.  I’ll definitely give it another few weeks at a minimum.

Fighting a Cold

It’s been a while since I had a cold period, and even longer since I had one that ended with a bad cough.  But that’s just what I’ve caught this time.  Last week, I was fighting off the cold, and this week I’m coughing like crazy.  Actually, it’s not that bad during the day, but as the sun goes down I can feel myself stopping up.

As a result, I haven’t been running much outside of ultimate Frisbee the last two weeks.  It’s frustrating because this is the big weekend with two mud runs back to back.  I really wish I could have gone on my long run last week and a run at all last night, but I’m trying to rest up to knock this things out.

I am feeling better each day, so hopefully I can get rid of it soon.

Of course, my lack of sleep certainly didn’t help.  From Saturday to Tuesday night, I was not able to fall asleep until sometime between 2 and 3 AM.  That made for a very tired Mark come Wednesday, one who almost didn’t come into work at all.  Fortunately, I have slept better the last couple of nights and am feeling better in that department.  Hopefully I can get enough sleep over the weekend even with everything else going on so I don’t wind up making myself worse.

Summer League – Off to a Great Start

Monday night was my first week of summer league for the year.  And here’s a twist – we won!

It really helped that they only had 7 people for the first half.  My friend Luke showed up at half to give them one sub.  We had enough for two full teams, so we were able to run and wear them out.

We did stay very close for the first half.  It was tied more often than not, but we did take half at 9-7.  Then in the second half we really took off.  I think it was 17-11 or something like that at the end.

It was a typical first week where we were all getting used to each other to a certain extent.  However, I was able to get open and get the disc several times.  I only dropped it once, and that was one I had to jump to even touch it was so far over my head.  And I successfully passed it on the rest of the time, although a couple were thanks to good hands by teammates.

We had fun, although winning does help with that, too.

Here’s hoping it will be a good, fun season whether we win or lose the rest of our games.

Word Association for June 6th

Time for this week's word association.

1. Progress :: Forward
2. Wife :: Husband
3. Denim :: Jeans
4. Wow :: Factor
5. Jacket :: Chilly
6. Studio :: Portrait
7. Boyfriend :: Girlfriend
8. Tablet :: Stone
9. Hidden :: Talent
10. Closer :: Further

New Car Radio

I don’t think I mentioned it, but my car radio started giving me more grief about a couple months ago – right after I got my iPhone.  (Heck, did I mentioned I got an iPhone?  I love it!!!!!)

I was pulling into work one day listening to my iPhone via a tape adaptor when I guess I hit a bump wrong or something.  My tape player stopped working at that point completely – I could play nothing on it at all.

This was on top of the CD player acting funky.  A few of my CD’s it was refusing to play.  And books on CD from the library?  Forget about it.  In fact, I had started putting the books on tape on my iPod (and planned to on my iPhone) to listen to via the tape adaptor.  Um….

So, I bought a new radio just over a week ago.  And so far, I’m enjoying it.  It has a USB adaptor that hooks up my iPhone directly and charges it.  And it is smart enough to know the tracks on at least some CD’s that I stick in (it’s been hit and miss so far).  It definitely pops up with the songs from my phone.

And it plays burned CD’s, something my old one never did.

As I said, so far so good.  I do wish I had the option of turning off the display on the CD’s and just have the default be the track number and time.  And there may be a way I haven’t figured out yet.  I’ve got to give the manual a closer read.

But it is so nice to have my phone back as an option and know I won’t have to worry about things next time I drive home.  On my last trip home, I listened to stuff on my phone via my Bluetooth, but that wasn’t a permanent solution.

Weekly TV Recap for June 1st

Melissa & Joey - I was wondering how they'd keep Joey around when they introduced this plot line.  Having the nephew home and Joey tutoring him will be very interesting.

Psych - Way to go out on a high note.  The episode was funny and a decent enough mystery.  I'm very curious to see where they will go with the cliffhanger, although as cliffhangers go it wasn't the most suspenseful I've seen.  And I wonder how the musical episode is going to play in to all of this.

Wipeout - I was rooting for the pastors and a little surprised they didn't make it further.  Those were some impressive runs through the Wipeout Zone at the end with very little wipeouts.

Thoughts on Next Season:

I do believe this is a first for me.  Not one of my shows ended this last year, although Nikita is only coming back for six episodes.  I'm glad they are getting that much time to wrap things up because they need to after the way they left things.

So that means no new shows, right?  Of course not!  I'm going to have to give SHIELD and the Once Upon a Time spin off chances, right?  And I will probably at least start watching the new Robin Williams/Sarah Michelle Gellar sitcom.  Beyond that, I haven't paid too much attention to what else is out there, which is probably a good thing.  I don't have time for more shows, so I really shouldn't be adding these.