Thoughts from the Merk

Of the world New York Comiccon and money,

2006-02-28T07:48:00.000-05:00

As I try to start posting to this thing a little more regularly again. My run yesterday was actually very good. Did 8.25 miles including 10x100m strideouts for a little speed work and to break the legs back in from 4 days off. The new treadmills at my gym are superb. Life Fitness 97TI's. They actually do both incline and decline!! For Boston this is huge. I actually alternate my up and downhills while on the thing after the first mile, which really helps me work all leg muscles, not just calves and shins.

Was at the New York Comicon all weekend, for those of you were stuck outside, I'm sorry. The organizers completely blew the expectations. I've read all the notes on Newsarama about "how could you not know?" You know what, no one knew. You don't have any convention other than San Diego where you have 5-7000 walkups expected on one day. There hasn't been one (BTW, for those of you going to Heroes, given the press and the guest list, I hope someone there has started making provisions for this situation because it could be just as bad since the way I understand it, their hall does not hold more than 6-7K). And for everyone who is complaining about the lines, go back and look at the Newsarama coverage of San Diego last year where on Thursday of the show, it took people 4 hours plus to get their badge and get in, and the same deal on Saturday. There were more tickets sold for this show than for WW Philly last year (and that doesn't include the multiple 1000s turned away on Saturday and the potential ticket sales on Sunday that were lost by taking the safe route and announcing in advance that they would not be selling individual tickets on Sunday). It's safe to say no one expected this much crowd. I have personally already spoken to many of the people at Reed Exhibitions and I can guarantee you next year's will have a minimum of DOUBLE the exhibition hall floor space. It may take a year for everyone to believe it will be done right, but I agree with the assessment that 2 years from now this will be the East Coast Bookend to San Diego. The reason? The retailer/trade portion. The ability for the Macfarlane's of the world to come in and speak to the Harper Collins Publishers about Distribution deals in one central venue while simultaneously promoting their books and making it a marketing expense budget is too great a lure to ignore. Plus the two majors along with TokyoPop and Viz (the 2 majors of Manga) are all based out of NY, so every creator can come in, take a meeting on one end or the other of the show with their editor, and then write off any expenses not covered by the con (food, etc.) as a business expense for their incorporated structure.

Am going to start some eBay auctions hopefully Wed. Night. Tomorrow a big posting on something that has been on my mind.

Remember ME???

2006-02-27T17:32:00.000-05:00

I really do still exist. Apologies for not having posted much recently 9for the 2 of you who actually read this or care). Was at New York Comicon over the weekend. All weekend. Just been crazy. We got back from Disney and Universal a while back. Got caught up in the Blizzard trying to get out of Orlando, so instead of leaving on Sunday the 12th, ended up spending 2 extra days at Disney/Universal and eventually got back in that Tuesday night.

Running training has not been great Had a nice run back from Vacation of 6 days in a row (61 miles). It was honestly 1 day too much and last weekend between that and the show I just recovered over the weekend. Going to try and 7 today if my Hamstring lets me. Still feels very tight. Should go get it worked on , but time and dollars don't always permit such things. Have a Half-Marathon tune-up this weekend. Hopefully that will go well. Like to do it in the 1:27-ish range. See what the body gives me.

Other thoughts of the week:

The Olympics: Sorry Tape Delay has taken basically all the interest out of it for me. It's not sport when you know the results. Sports is not something you can Tivo for the casual interest person. At least this one.

Spring Training: Try to post more this week.

TV: Battlestar Galactica has been superb. Smallville 100 times better than last year. The Shield has been great fun. 2 episodes behind on catching up with lost.

Oh, and HI MOM!!!!!

Hail to the Redskins...

2006-01-09T08:21:00.000-05:00

No this entire entry is not about the Redskins, but in case you missed it...

Redskins 17, Bucaneers 10 1st Stop on our World Victory Tour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, probably not if we actually can't generate some offense again next week, but it felt great, especially after the Giants came out yesterday and dropped something that would have to be upgraded to smell like s--t. Wow. Too bad about Carson Palmer, but it means John R owes me two lunches now!

Haven't been logging my training for a since New Year's because I haven't been. Finished Week 3 feeling great, did 59 miles that week total. Monday AM my foot was sore like you wouldn't believe. Tuesday was even worse. Went to see the Doc Tuesday afternoon. Said it was Stress inflammation on both the Arch and the Upper foot. No running for a few days and anti-inflammatories. Did some XT last week, though probably a couple days less than I should have. Did 4 easy miles yesterday with no pain. Huzzah! Try to do an easy 6 today, Crosstrain tomorrow and then Go back to the Doc Wed to re-X-ray and clear to resume normal work. Will take me a week or so to work up and will probably require me to take one of the Recovery days and turn it into an XT day for a few weeks, but shouldn't be akiller.

And every month my Comics Subscription goes down. I did my Previews Order last week, here is what I chose:
Marvel:Ms. Marvel 1
Pulse 14
Son of M 4
Spider-Man Unlimited 14 (Finch issue)
Ultimate Spidey 91 & 92
Spider-Woman: Origin 4
Captain America 16
Daredevil 83
Exiles 78
New Avengers 17
Ultimate Fan. Four 28
X-Factor 5
Sentry 7

DC:
Detective 817
Batman 651
Batman Annual 25
Nightwing 118
Robin 148
All Star Superman 3
Superman/Batman 25
Supergirl 7
Infinite Crisis 6
Omac Project: Infinite Crisis Special
Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis 40
Birds of Prey 92
Green Lantern 10
Hawkgirl 50
JSA 83
JSA Classified 10
Supergirl & Legion 16
Outsiders 34
Teen Titans 34
7 Soldiers: Bulleteer 4
Mr. Miracle 4
Captain Atom: Armageddon 6
Ex Machina 20

Also pick up Fables, Y the Last Man, Stray Bullets, Strangers In Paradise Fallen Angel and a couple of others.

But that is a significant decrease and many of these may end up being dropped soon (Pulse without Bendis scares me, Ms. Marvel may just be bad, and the miniseries are ending), I could very easily see my Marvel books going to the following: Ultimate Spidey, Cap, Exiles, New Avengers (and that only depends on how much Deodato does not annoy me), Ultimate FF, and the last three Ultimates Issue ( I won't be reading Maduiera, just cannot stand his art and Loeb isn't a good enough storyteller to compensate). Though I will read Astonishing X-Men when it is back as well. DC I could easily see dropping the Batman Books (just picked it up because James Robinson is writing), both Nightwing and Robin if the Infinite Crisis rumors I hear are true, Supergirl, Aquaman (limited tryout because of Butch but I have just never gotten into this character), Green Lantern, Hawkgirl and Outsiders, which would leave me with regular series of: The All-Star books (which I guess are semi-regular), Superman/Batman (if Ethan can get his bu-- in gear, luv ya' Ethan ;) ), Birds of Prey, JSA, Supergirl & The Legion, Teen Titans, Ex machina, Y The Last Man and Fables . That's a total of 14 monthly books, or 3.5 a week. I use to read 30-35 monthlies. I hear about the quality of comcis being better than ever, but everytime I turn around I find myself reading fewer books.

Going to get artwork sales happening this week. Just has been crazy. Finally got all our X-mas stuff put away and now have less than 4 weeks before Disney Vacation. Have to do Taxes and everything else. just crazy stuff. Going to post more this week. At least try.

Also, if you haven't been watching Battlestar Galactica on Sci-Fi, start!!! This week's episode was absolutely tremendous. I am riveted. I may watch next Friday's with the commercials because I can't wait!! Lost is back this week, and The Shield and 24 are starting along with Scrubs just coming back. I'll tell you, if Arrested Development was still on, I couldn't be happier TV wise.

Stay sane. The alternative is just mind-blowing.

Holiday blogging

2005-12-28T13:13:00.000-05:00

Hope all 4 or 5 of you who read this had a great Holiday Season. Kids had lots of fun. Got absolutely no training in Friday to Monday. Ugh! Did 8 yesterday because I forgot to look and realize I was supposed to do 9. Got my Garmin Forerunner GPS (Yea X-mas!) figured out and working by about the 2.5 mile mark. Did the final 5.5 in a 7:21 pace. Probably a little quick, but not too bad. Today was my 13 mid-weeker. Thanks to my GPS I can actually measure it. Did 13.1 in 1:35:17, which works out roughly to a 7:17-7:18 pace. Probably quicker than it should have been but the 4 days off have left the legs feeling stronger than they would usually. Have a nice easy Recovery 5 Jog tomorrow which due to the weather here I'll probably do on the treadmill so I can set my pace, not stress the back too much and do some incline stuff. More detailed stuff tomorrow, but hope everyone got all the toys they wanted from Santa.

Piling on the miles

2005-12-21T14:42:00.000-05:00

A good strong 12 today in under 90 minutes. Tomorrow a non-running today as I try ot get my 17 long in on Friday and a 9-10 recovery Saturday. Doubt I'll get the extra 5 in this week, but that's OK.

Of Running, Nip/Tuck and Johnny Damon

2005-12-21T07:57:00.000-05:00

Let's see, my 5 miles yesterday were pretty painless. Did them on the mill with some varying inclines to get some hill work in. Nice and slow 41:50. Have a 12 miler today then tomorrow will be an off day before doing my long of 17 on Friday to get it out of the way before the holiday weekend.

Stayed up way too late to watch Nip/Tuck last night. I will say (SPOILERS for the finale if you haven't watched it yet) the Quentin parts were over the top, but the revelation of Kit being Quentin's sister and a co-conspirator in the Carver's work was quite interesting. Matt seems to have been redeemed in the face of the drama with Ariel's Dad. And hey Annie appeared two weeks in a row! Quick question about the Carver: Assuming Quentin knows that Sean and Christian will fix all his victims, wouldn't it make sense he do a Carving that they couldn't fix or at least would still leave something of a scar? He's a plastic surgeon, surely he knows what scars are easier to fix than others and if he is willing to make his point that way, then it would make sense he would want them to be permanent (Kit being excluded of course). And by the way, not for nothing, but how did Julia not know about Quentin's "condition?" I would think that is something that would be pretty apparent in the heat of the moment rather quickly. And of course all the drama is now around the Baby's condition. I would guess by the time Season 4 rolls around, Julia should be ready to give birth any minute, leading into the revelation of the CVS test results. And somewhere in Europe, Quentin, Kit and Ava will all get together and have a drink. You just know it.

Johnny Damon to the Yankees? Ugh. What's sad is the offer he accepted from NY would not have been acceptable from Boston. It's almost like a hometown premium instead of a hometown discount. Not sure if it's right or wrong, but it puts the Red Sox in a real precarious position. They now almost have to go out and try to trade for Torii Hunter to keep up in the race. He's not a true leadoff hitter, but a great centerfielder with Speed and Power. I'm sure we would have to trade some value (Youkilis and one of the Young pitchers), but it will have to be done.

Not really ready for X-mas this year. My mom flies in tonight and the house is still a disaster. We're working on it though.

OK, so a day late...

2005-12-20T07:24:00.000-05:00

And I've been a buck short for years.

So sue me. Life is a little crazy. Got my 8 miles in with my 10 striders. Not sure if they were all exactly 100 Meters. Kind of doing it outside at every half mile point, so I just pushed for about 18-20 seconds for each. Should be good enough. Today is an easy 5 at recovery pace, so I'll do some core strength before.

Trying to get over this cold before it consumes me. It's the holidays so of course everyone is getting sick. Finished all major X-mas shopping last night. I can see why the retailers are worried. The mall was busy last night, but it wasn't jammed. Their biggest problem is inventory management. Their market research teams are absolutely horrendous judging by the shelves.

Example: Had to pick up some last minute toys, so I went into the Toy Section of Boscov's, Kay Bee Toys and Toys 'R Us. Out of curiousity, guess how many Star Wars Action Figures there were? 1. Total. In all 3 stores. Now how many cases of Remote Control $70 RV Cars? More than I could count. The retail stores are in trouble because they don't understand their audience. If something is selling well the previous 6 months, use that as your guide not what the marketers/salesmen tell you will be hot. Know better. There will always be 1 or 2 toys that will be the hot item no one will have. That's to be expected. But if a week before X-mas you can't provide shoppers the product they want to buy for their kids and Amazon.com can where for $6 shipping they guaranteed it by X-mas, then the retail chains will go the way of the dodo...

Of course so will Comic Book Stores too if they're not careful, but that's a rant for a different day. Ciao...

Week 1 in the books.

2005-12-19T07:10:00.000-05:00

Did my 9 miles yesterday in a nice easy 70:00. Actually a little quicker than planned, but that be life. Week 2 begins today and given the holidays next weekend it will be a bit of a struggle to get everything in. May end up skipping one of the 5s this week. If I can get my bu-- out of bed on Thursday AM, I can try and get it in before work, but that will be painful. Plus I'm not quite sure I'm up for 10 days straight just yet, because X-mas just isn't going to happen.

Days 5 & 6, John Spencer & Alias this week

2005-12-17T19:14:00.000-05:00

Day 5: Easy 5 Miles no big deal. Didn't wear a watch so I can't really report a time. Somewhere between 38 & 42 minutes.

Day 6: The first "Long Run" of the Pfitz Plan. 15 miles today. Did it in total of 2:01:30 (About an 8:07-8:08 mile). Just had nothing today in my legs. Where I was hoping to speed up for miles 12-14 to about a 7-7:15 pace. Just didn't happen. Could be the Champagne I had last night. Not too worried about it. I'll worry more if I have the same problem in about 5-6 weeks when I actually hydrate properly and not get alcohol in the system!

Was very sorry to hear about John Spencer. I'd post the link but I figure everyone knows where it is by now. Great character actor. He will be missed. Actually was starting to get back into the West Wing again the last few weeks and he was about the only reason I wanted Smits to win over Alda.

Alias this week: boy can you telegraph that Balthazar Getty was once married to Amy Acker on the show? Wow. Just say telegraph. Though the holder of Sydney was a nice shock. Of course somehow they will still have to bring Vaughn back. And what exactly was the point of Patrick Bauchau? Used to Love the Pretender something fierce (Reminds me I need to go BT the final Movie some time). So I was thrilled he would have a pivotal role, but apparently not so much...

Anyway. Easy 9 tomorrow to complete week 1 of Pfitz.

Boston Plan Day 4 and the Fantastic 4 Movie

2005-12-15T14:01:00.000-05:00

Not much to report. Yesterday, work killed my run (2 VTCs), but today I got in my midweek long of 11 miles. Did it in 84 minutes (a Spiffy 7:37 pace). Will take that given the couple stomach cramps I had along the way and the cold weather.

Watched the Fantastic Four Movie last night. Entertaining Popcorn Flick. Personal favorite was Chris Evans as the Human Torch. I remember when the movie came out there were a lot of comic purists complaining about his interpretation: THEY WERE WRONG! This is exactly how a hotshot test pilot would react to something like this. He was so far and away the best part of the movie, which is scary considering how hot Jessica Alba is and what good actors Chiklis and McMahon have become (I'm sure Gruffield has a good background, but I never watched the Horation Hornblower stuff) And the origin makes so much more sense this way it isn't even funny. They probably could have put a :30-:45 second text graphic up at the beginning to make Reed and Victor's Backstory a little clearer, but otherwise the origin actually makes sense. Since technically it was done as Private Citizens, They could have anyone they wanted up on the ship, which explains who was there. Also presumably prevents the Government from being able to really hold them. Only 2 problems are (spoiler warning just in case you actually care about the movie but still haven't seen it):
1) Given it was proven based on power requirements that the "mutation" could be reversed, and with Doom safely locked away, the rationale for Ben to stay the Thing is beyond ludicrous ( I know the electric company in New York is overtaxed but I find it hard to believe that that would be the problem given what is seen up until now, heck have Reed create a way to turn Johnny's Supernova into Stored Energy, which he could then spin into a patent to save the world energy crisis, everybody wins), much less the others given Reed's concerns regarding the impact the radiation had on their bodies. which leads to:
2) Reed stating on TV we aren't sure how safe they are given the levels of Radiation they were exposed to. OK, so we have 4 people who have been exposed to massive amounts of mysterious radiation where the smartest guy in the room admits he doesn't know anything about the impact, and yet the government or the people aren't worried about their proximity to the general public? C'mon this is the society who thought you could get AIDS or Cancer by being in the same city as victims, but this wouldn't raise an eyebrow??? Sure..
3) How could Reed still not work on a way to cure Victor? He's a hero/good guy. Means he would work on reversing the mutation anyway, not having him shipped back to Latveria in a storage trunk????????

One last note, with Doom you have to live with it, but if Spider-Man and FF have taught us anything, no metal masks on the screen/tube!! Talk about draining the emotion out of a villain scene. Osborn's was worse, but Doom's was pretty bad.

Training Day 2 and Fantasy Football

2005-12-13T15:11:00.000-05:00

Day 2: Easy 5 Mile at Recovery pace. Did it in 40:42 (8:08 mile pace). Nothing too hard. Also did a Core strength routine.

And both my Fantasy Football playoff teams lost this week so their seasons are over.

Very sad.

New Computer is up and running. Need to replace one IDE Cable for some reason, but otherwise I'm good.

And So it Begins...

2005-12-12T13:08:00.000-05:00

No not the Babylon 5 Season 5 opening Credits (which for my money were the coolest opening credits I ever saw), but today is 18 weeks from the 2006 Boston Marathon. I said I would be posting daily updates, so here I go.

Day 1:
Yes I know the Pfitzinger 18/70 calls for Monday as the XT/rest day, but that just seems wrong, so I did the Tuesday Workout (8 miles, 10x100 striders), then I did an extra half mile at the end. I'm still figuring out the strider thing, but since I used a treadmill today (yes elevation was at 1% the entire time), I just put in :20-:25 seconds at 12 MPH (the max the treadmill would go) at every 1/2 mile from 1.5-6. It may not be quite a defined strider, but I kept form for all 10 and it felt right at least. Miles 7 & 8 I alternated between 1 & 3% grade at a 7:18/mile clip. Did the 8 miles I cared about at 57:29 (7:11 pace). Goal is a 7 min/mile Boston (which is roughly 3:03:24, which would be a 7.5 minute PR).

Post workout I weighed myself (same time I weigh myself every week so it's consistent). According to that I weigh 180.5 (of course that's sans clothing and at the lightest I will be all day). But I do that once a week as a measure of if I ate too much.

Not a horrendous first day.

Oh to Tivo...

2005-12-12T10:17:00.000-05:00

So you may ask in my spare time, what do I watch on television (OK, you probably don't but I imagine a couple of you are tired of my Hot Stove Baseball Commentary). Anyway, here is what I have set to TIVO every week a New Episode is on by Day:
Sunday:
Currently Nothing, though I did record Rome from HBO all season. Still catching up on this series, but it has been much better than I expected.

Monday:
Arrested Development: How can this show be cancelled????????????? This has been the funniest sitcom TV has produced in years. You actually aren't insulted by it (which I guess is why it's cancelled and Freddie is picked up...). Proof of the old axiom you can never go wrong underestimating the intelligence of the American Public. Sigh... At least I have my DVDs of Seasons 1 & 2, I guess my season 3 set will be cheap since it's less episodes.

Kitchen Confidential: Only an OK show and already cancelled, but I like all the cast members and as a compliment to Arrested Development it is still better than Freddie...

Tuesday:
Nip/Tuck: Season 3 has just reached borderline bizarre status. The whole Carver thing has gone on too long. Realistically they set it up to make everyone think it's Quentin, but for it to mean anything it has to be Matt. It can't be one of the main 3, everyone is writing off Quentin anyway, and to make it someone who is a non-regular (Joey Slotnick's Plastic Surgeon character, who's name I'm forgetting, etc.) would just be a copout. I guess they could make it Ava (Famke Janssen would have time for a one minute cameo), but again it would cheapen it. Making it Matt would setup some serious issues for Season 4 and serve as a real wake up call to Julia and Sean. It makes too much sense, so of course they won't do it.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: The only one in the whole Law & Order/CSI vein I watch regularly. I like the chemistry between the two leads (Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay), the Supporting Cast can actually act (even Ice-T has finally learned to act and the current ADA has grown into the role), and the storylines just seem better written than the others.

Honorable Mention: Boston Legal. I would record this if it wasn't on at 10 PM too. Only can record 2 at a time.

Wedneday:
Lost: This show has surpsisingly not jumped the shark yet. I really expected it to go nuts after the whole Desmond thing, but it seems OK. Ana Lucia doesn't bug me the way most people seem to be bugged by her. A few questions really need answering though (not the big mysteries or the stupid things like why they had to dig up the hatch instead of going to the door they use now, but here are some basics): If everyone is desperately looking for a way home, why did someone not try to track Desmond? He obviously believed he knew a way off the island. Say a Boat and a Map???? You would think that would come in handy to people trying to LEAVE the island. Or it's pretty obvious from the film they showed that there was at least one additional installation on the island somewhere. Well when you are starving and looking for food/transmission capability, wouldn't it be worth Sayid taking a recon mission to try and find it?? He left once before, how can no one have tried this yet?

BTW, Shannon was the obvious choice to go so they didn't have to keep doing Backstory for her and try to bring a way to get Boone back to Hawaii for filming.

Alias: It's on Wednesday for a couple weeks so I'll put it in this spot. This season has not been good. I'm not sure why they brought Balthazar Getty into the cast. He must be thinking this is the easiest Paycheck he's ever earned. Unfortunately Sidney's pregnancy (which they had to write in) and Vaughn's departure (and return if the previews are to be believed) has really messed with this show's chemistry. And they have neutered Jack from a real hard-ass in addition to completely marginalizing Sloane. The piano thing at the end of this week - I know Victor Garber is an accomplished Song and Dance person from his many years on Broadway but Jack Bristow is not. These encroachments work on other shows, not on Alias. And Rachel Gibson - well she looks good in a Bikini. Hopefully after the hiatus, they can ramp things up properly and this show can go out with the Bang it deserves from the ride we were taken on the first two seasons.

Invasion: The only new show this year I'm watching other than Kitchen Confidential. It has been a fascinating journey. William Fichtner is doing great stuff in his role as the Sheriff. And it is nice that this is a stor where you are finidng out details and yet still have more to learn. Unfortunately the Ratings keep dropping so it is likely only to last one Season. It is back in January for New Episodes and I encourage everyone to watch it. It has been very well done and easily the best new show of the season.

Thursday:
Smallville: Always been on and off with Smallville. I watched the first two seasons religiously. Seasons 3 & 4 only every so often. Season 5 has been good so far. I think they realize now that they only have so many more episodes to go so they can really work on moving forward the stories. Though why Lex Luthor would want to be a State Senator from Kansas I have no idea. I guess this officially makes him under 25 (to be a U.S. Congressman requires being 25 years old, while Kansas State is only 21, which is the only reason this makes sense). Lois is hot and it seems like the writers are really working toward a different look to how Superman in the Smallville-verse will evolve, instead of being a slave to either the Silver Age Weisinger era or John Byrne Reboot era for Lois/Clark/Lana/Lex. I don't think Lana and Pete are getting married and having a kid at the end of this one, and it would be impossible for Lex not to know Clark is Superman in this world (ditto Lois for that matter), which makes it all the more unpredictable. Haven't watched the Lex-mas episode yet, but can't wait as the Lex-centric really are my favorite. It's obvious Michael Rosenbaum should be bound for bigger things than Tom Welling, though I guess it isn't working out that way in Hollywood. That's a shame. Lex in this show and his descent is really the true strength of the show and that's a reflection on the actors more than the scripts. And this is a show where kitschy highlights work (see Tom Wopat sliding in to the Dodge Charger and Marsters saying there is no such thing as Vampires on the Halloween ep.). Not very depth, never need to own it on DVD, but it's been fun to watch this year.

E/R: I still watch this show for Mekhi Phiffer. That's really it. His scenes I stop and watch, I'll watch Maura Tierney and Goran, but the rest of the cast I fast forward through. Some episodes I can watch in 15 minutes. Why I really still watch this still I have no idea.

Friday/Saturday: Currently nada

Looking forward to come January:
Scrubs, 24, Battlestar Galactica, The Shield

More on those shows then.

It's like I I don't remember how...

2005-12-09T09:46:00.000-05:00

Life has just been crazy recently, but let's hit some highlights:

1) http://keepmanny.com is a link to an online petition to keep Manny Ramirez on the Sox. Go sign it.

2) The Renteria trade: Don't like absorbing 8-11 mill, but we needed to get him out when this happened, especially if Marte is spun into Lugo and/or Baez.

3) Of course wonder what it would take to get Tejeda out of Baltimore...

Marte & one of our Pitching Prospects enough if you take the Salary back? Hey I can dream.

3a) Other than Damon, Free Agents the Red Sox should pursue: Jarrod Washburn. He's better than you think and lefties with ability are tough to find. He's nice insurance given the ?s on the staff (Schilling's health, Clement's confidence, Wells going out, Wakefield can't knuckle forever, what if Papelbon bombs) that should come probably at 3 years 18 Million.

4) The Redskins are still in the playoff hunt. Yes they are 6-6, but they have two very winnable road games (Arizona and Philly on the road) and the home game against Dallas is winnable since they beat them in Dallas. The home game with the Giants will be interesting. Assuming no slip ups by the Skins' the winner of that game would win the NFC East.

5) Running training is going well. Participating in a local 5K this weekend just for the fun and I think based on comments from more established marathoners than myself that I would be well served by doing a 12/70 Training plan with 6 weeks of 50-55 Base Building. Makes the holidays a little less stressful, slightly reduces injury risk, allows for a little more weight training going in.

6) Been catching up on Comics. Infinite Crisis has been great so far, but this schedule delay is ugly. The art has been superb. Need to pick out a page for myself.
A) Avengers has actually still been very good. Not looking forward to Deodato on the book.
B) And the Flash relaunch is just a great excuse for me to drop the title, especially if Wally isn't the Flash anymore.
C) I also am dropping all the Spidey books except for Friendly Neighborhood (though depending on the Other Resolution, I may drop that too.), Outsiders (just has been dull the last 4-5 issues and now that Clark is off the book, the art is terrible), Probably Green Lantern after Ethan leaves (though I am pumped for Ron Marz returning to a Kyle Rayner book). Hopefully Inifinite Crisis will be done by then...

7) Just completed a deal to buy a bunch of art from the House of M Series. Much of it will be resold via eBay and My Comicartfans Gallery. Watch this space for more details once I get my act together. (If I did this right, the scan above is one of these House of M pieces).

8) Need to post the last couple months of Art Acquisitions. Just haven't gotten the scanner going in a while.

9) Upgrading the home computer this weekend. Haven't done it in 3 years, so way overdue.

10) It's 2 weeks to X-mas and we haven't started decorating yet. Most of the shopping is done at least.

That's what I have for the moment.

Blogging is Hard...

2005-11-30T07:19:00.000-05:00

Which always sounded like a copout when I heard it from other people, but when faced with it yourself, it's hard to debate. One of the ugly realities of the world is that time slips away from you faster than it ever should. My life is one constant loss of time between work, home, the kids, training, website stuff, and occasionally doing something for me, it's amazing I get as much done as I do (and yes it sounds arrogant, but it isn't meant to). I still have a Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 game I got last X-mas that I haven't even played (loved 1 & 2). Anyway since this is supposed ot be something to get things off my chest, I'll see how it goes.

Few more quick hits:

1) Mets with Delgado and Wagner? Wow. Now if they're smart they keep Zambrano for Pedro's "shoulder stiffness" trip to the DL say Mid July/early August for 4 starts or so to keep his shoulder healthy after the World Cup stuff. Then trade him August 1 for something.

2) Despite the Beckett trade, the Red Sox are still in the same position they were last September, reliant on Schilling and Foulke to be 100% for their season to mean anything. The Overbay deal if it happens doesn't change that either, though between him and Lowell our Infield defense would be greatly improved. And they still need to keep Manny.

3) Wow can the Redskins blow more games? If they could execute on defense, at home (forget the Alstott play), they would be 7-4 and tied for the division. Now their season is over short of something miraculous.

4) Just can't get into Hockey yet.

5) Nip/Tuck. Great show that is moving beyond it's greatness into the bizarre. You can tell Ryan Murphy is trying to bring it back to the 1st season vibe, but it's tough given what they have done with Julia and Sean. And they are trying to mature Christian while keeping him immature. It's a tough mix. He definitely couldn't marry Kimber, though. That just would have been the Kiss of Death for the show. BTW, any reason Annie couldn't have been the Flower Girl at least? And unless they are ending the show, you can see who the Carver is a mile away.

6) My Fantasy Football leagues: My money league at Sportsline, I'm tied for my division, but lost both games to the guy I'm tied with, so I need to not be tied. The Playoff Scenarios are just bizarre with a week to go. Could really use a healthy Corey Dillon this week.

More tomorrow hopefully including my lamentings on Arrested Development...

Random Thoughts

2005-11-25T13:38:00.000-05:00

1) 8 mile run the day after Thanksgiving - Bad for the stomach cramping. Don't do hills ;)

2) Saw the Sox got Guillermo Mota thrown into the Beckett trade in addition for some other Single A Player. Nice throw in that could pay dividends. Mota-Hansen-Timlin is a pretty good bridge to Foulke in theory with Myers as the designated lefty specialist.

Of course with Delgado now with the Mets, not sure where you would trade Manny to in any deal that would bring back a good enough slugger to compensate (Helton wouldn't do it either as a player or in terms of Contract). Probably have to try and sign Konerko as a FA now, even though he doesn't want to be East Coast side.

Not sure where Manny thinks he going now. The Angels just don't fit personnel wise (Dallas McPherson does nothing for us now to put it mildly, and we can't just trade him for low level prospects especially because of Salary). A's, Dodgers and Padres can't afford him. Giants only can if they trade us Bonds (talk about nonsense for both teams). Seattle? For who, Ichiro and Sexson? I'd do it, doubt the Mariners would. 'Zona not an option (the day they bring Javy Vazquez in as a Red Sox for Manny is the day you know we don't have a GM). Not you are back to the East Coast teams unless you really think the Cubs want him (Houston and Texas don't have the players and St. Louis doesn't have the budget). They say it's a personal situation with Manny (which you know means "personal" ), but boy is it in his best career interest to find a way for his family to deal with the personal stuff and stay in Boston, put on his 150 games of hitting brilliance with Ortiz and go to the Hall of Fame.

3) I promise some Comic Columns soon, but how about Bill Willingham doing a Mainstream artbook again??? Long tiem since we've seen his art on a regular book.

4) BTW, the Neil Gaiman University class for Anansi Boys is a really fascinating way to share with other people about his new book. http://www.bn.com/university and search for Neil Gaiman. It ends next week but it's great to hear his perspective and observations. Given his schedule, it's the only chance you will have to ask him questions about these things so I really recommend it.

5) Black Friday Note: Into Target at 6:15 AM for 3 things in the flyer, picked up all 3, a couple extra things, and was out of the store through Checkout in a total of 25 minutes. Went to Circuit City, where they estimated the length of time for people standing in line for checkout was 2 HOURS. Needless to say I skipped that, came to work, ordered 3 of the 4 things I needed online with free shipping an they'll be here next week. Total time elapsed: 10 minutes. Online Shopping Rocks!

Why Do I run???

2005-11-23T06:58:00.000-05:00

Probably the thing many people ask me the most other than "do you want Fries with that?" (actually I prefer Onion Rings) is why do you run so much.

The Real reason I choose Marathons over other exercise plans is 3 fold:

1) It provides a tangible goal for me to reach for regularly. Training for 2 a year on two cycles keeps the motivation strong to keep going to the gym. Without the motivation of wanting to push myself on those days, I would find it very easy to bag that Wed 12 miler or the Sat. Long Run when it's a little chilly out. But with the Marathon coming up, I find the mental energy to get myself changed and onto the road/treadmill and put the miles in. I've found it too easy to slack without that goal out there to shoot towards.

2) It also is something the family while they may not like the time I spend running, can understand I need to put in the time in order for the marathon to be successful.

3) And probably the other sad point is I LOVE TO EAT. I eat way too much. Running 50-60 miles a week in a typical training cycle (upping it to Pfitz 18/70 this time) allows me to not worry so much about those extra snacks I shouldn't eat but do.
Why the Marathon is probably # 1, but all 3 play a part.

I have now run 5 Marathons (Steamtown 1999, New Jersey Marathon 2004, Richmond Marathon 2004, New Jersey Marathon 2005, and New York 2005, which is where the above picture is from). My two for Next year are Boston (April 06) and the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC (Late October). I start training for Boston two weeks before Christmas and as hard a training schedule as it is, I am actually looking forward to the challenge. It's the one thing I do on a regular basis I get to do pretty much solely for me. There will be some days I will be sore and I hope I do enough stretching/core strength that I don't throw my back out again, but come April when I can honestly say to myself I actually achieved a goal I set out to do when I was 22 years old and 261 pounds, I will feel like I left it all out on the course (and I assume that to be not literally).

Red Sox 2005 and beyond

2005-11-22T08:02:00.000-05:00

I am a Red Sox fan. I lived and died through 2003 and 2004. After the 1986 series I was so sick I couldn't go to school for 2 days. Not saying it's healthy, it just is. Injuries killed us in 2005 and hopefully 2006 will be a return to health. Lots of questions. For anyone who may not have read this

http://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?showtopic=1692&st=40

First of all it's a great message board for Red Sox fans. Schilling posts there when he has time. Several other past and current players have done so as well. The above thread is worth a look as John Henry, Red Sox CEO, actually takes the time to answer a lot of questions, both regarding the front office, player decisions, etc. Haven't seen an owner other than Mark Cuban take this much time to address the fans directly in a public forum, so it's worth a read.

As to Josh Beckett: This is a trade you have to make. He's 25, relatively inexpensive (even if you half Lowell's salary and apply it toward Beckett, 8-9 million is relatively cheap; heck it's less then we are paying Clement), and given the absolute lack of Free Agent pitching to be had, almost a necessity. Now if you assume Schilling/Foulke are healthy, then the Sox have a legit staff for the season and for a short series.

Three way trade proposal: As much as I'd hate to see Manny go, assuming he has to, send him to the Mets, the Mets then send Lastings Millidge, Victor Diaz and some other considerations to Florida, who then sends Carlos Delgado & Guillermo Mota to the Sox. Use the savings to resign Damon for 4 years 40 million with a 5th year option assuming he reaches certain incentives by the end of 3 years (1500+plate appearances, whatever is deemed appropriate). You can also use Wells and/or Youkilis as a chip for an outfielder to play Left and provide some defense to help out Damon. Your lineup then is as follows:

Leadoff/CF Damon L
2/SS Renteria (who we are just stuck with, deal with it) R
3/DH Ortiz L
4/1B Delgado L
5/3B Lowell R
6/RF Nixon R (As an aside, Terry, let him try against some lefties, huh?)
7/C Varitek S
8/LF ??? Perhaps a Jacque Jones type on a two year deal would be a good fit here. he plays good defense.
9/2B Graffanino R (Yes Graffanino made that error, but he plays serviceable 2nd and is cheap and gives us a place to hold a salary spot cheap)

You can move Lowell down the lineup a bit if necessary. The dynamic duo both being lefties can make you vulnerable to a premier lefty specialist in a late inning situation, but how many of those are there?

Starting Rotation:
Beckett
Schilling
Clement
Papelbon
Wakefield

Bullpen Top 3
Foulke
Timlin
Mota

have Mike Myers as a situational Lefty specialist (25 innings over 45 appearances a year and he does fine, you use him for more and that's where the trouble starts).

Also have Wade Miller sitting out there assuming he is healthy finally. Still could use a Lefty in the pen (perhaps package Miller and Wells to a team if you truly believe Schilling and Foulke are healthy) or instead make a run at B.J. Ryan and package Foulke for a bigger threat in left field. And don't forget if the Giants aren't doing well by the All Star break, Jason Schmidt will be out there for a 2nd half run...

Either way it ain't half bad assuming Clement isn't going to pitch scared again like he did after the beaning last year. It still gives Lester at least the first half in Triple A to get a bit more experience. If he's ready by the All-Star Break, then you have more strength to address the inevitable injury somewhere.

Deep Thoughts

2005-11-21T17:10:00.000-05:00

And a big welcome to those of you who are bothering to read this. If you are, you are one of the following groups:

A) Family or the one or 2 non-family members who actually care enough about me to wonder what I think.

B) One of the Runner's World types who may care enough about my training process for Boston '06 to read my daily diary beginning December 12.

C) Random Comic Fan who googled the words George Perez Infinite Crisis Cover art and my blog ended up high in a search engine (Yes the above was a blatant pull for readers)

D) Scary individual who needs to read all blogs across the country at all times. Of course you I love most of all for reading this.

Groups A-C usually have to read this just to say they did when I ask them. You guys in D read this for the love, and that makes my heart warm with pride. Or that may be the lean pockets I had for lunch. Not sure. Anyway, welcome.

Over these first couple days I'll post some basic things you should know about me in order to understand why I write what I write and think the way I think. This is mainly for me since I'm not famous or important enough for anybody to actually care about what I think and I actually do realize that. But any comments are welcome.

If you have read this far, than you are doing very well and will fit in on this thing nicely.

See you in the Funny Papers.