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October 30, 2005

All Real Postings Begin Again Tomorrow - The Partying is Coming to an End.

By: The Dude on the Right
Well, the celebrating is over!  The Chicago White Sox have won the World Series in one of the best World Series I have seen in a while.  Alright, maybe it wasn't the best, but with a team to cheer on, there was a vested interest in the games.  That and the fact that my sister and her family won't be able to taunt me because their Astros, well, lost.  They could have won, won any of the games, but they didn't.  So I'll just let this one last thing fly: "Na na na na.  Na, na, na, na.  Hey, hey, hey.  Goodbye."

So, now, with baseball over in Chicago, there is only one thing to ask:  Are you ready for some football?  Yup, all focus now turns to the Chicago Bears, who tonight sit alone, atop the mighty NFC North Division, with the phenomenal record of 4-3.  Kyle Orton is the man, or at least the first quarterback in a long time to play seven consecutive games, and that gives me hope, especially since he seems to get a little smarter with each game.

Anyway, enough about sports, what about this place.  Well, this week I've got a lot planned to finish.  There will be a movie review of "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang", a podcast on some last thoughts about the World Series, a DVD review of "Kicking & Screaming," and maybe also "Batman Begins," a written CD review of Bon Jovi's "Have a Nice Day," hopefully a CD review of the latest CD from  "Story of the Year," and a movie review of either "Saw 2" or "The Weatherman," leading up to, hopefully, covering Bon Jovi at the United Center next weekend.  And if that's not enough, I came up with an idea for a new web site this weekend, so even though you may not see it directly, I've got to put some initial work into it.

So I'm off to get my audio clips ready for my podcast, have some CD listening to do, and some writing to be posted later.  And if you say, "But Dude, I'm tired of coming back here day after day only to find nothing new," well, if you've got a Yahoo!, Newsgator, MSN, or an RSS news reader, you can always subscribe and get What's New? when it's new.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 5:56 PM | Comments (0)

October 26, 2005

All Real Postings Have Been Delayed Until the End of The World Series.

By: The Dude on the Right
First, I have to admit, I did fall asleep and missed the ending of Game 3 of the World Series last night.  I was tired to begin with, the game was all over the place, and Aaron Neville's version of "God Bless America" just put me to sleep.  So, yea, I missed everything from the 7th inning slumber until my body woke up somewhere around 3AM, the TV still on, and me wondering what happened.

In any case, as much as I would like to see the White Sox win the World Series in Chicago on Saturday night, the person in me who wants to get back into a normal groove sort of just hopes the Sox sweep the Astros tonight, and I won't even taunt my sister and her family much if that happens.  Also, from the way things have been going, it seems God is on the White Sox' side, and definitely not on my side to win the lottery.

I will say this, no matter what anyone says, and with some respect for the Astros, it's been a hell of a World Series so far, but it just seems the White Sox have been able to capitalize on nearly every break they have gotten, whether a mistake by the other team, or a wacky call.  The Astros, last night, had a home run that wasn't a home run, but nobody made that big deal about it, and who would have thought that Oswalt would give up five runs in an inning, but for me, with everything that has happened for the White Sox so far in the post-season, it seems that God and his cronies of Baseball Gods want the White Sox to win the World Series.   Either that, or they are in the midst of the cruelest joke He and his He's could pull - let the White Sox win the first three games, then shift every break to the Astros for four games and let the Sox go down in history as the first team in Major League Baseball to lose a World Series after winning the first three games of a seven game series.  Two groups of people would love that:  Cubs' fans, and Astros' fans.  And to top all of that, they would also probably not have me win the Mega Millions which is now up to $147 million.

And I guess lastly, I'm hoping the White Sox win the World Series tonight, simply so that no one in America will have to suffer with the choice of singers Fox is pulling out to sing our "National Anthem" and "God Bless America."  Most every ballpark or city would have their go-to guy, or gal, to sing these songs, and they are fantastic at it.  In Chicago, most no one does it better than Wayne Messmer, and I'd like to also think that Houston has one of their own.  Both the "Anthem" and "God Bless" don't really need to be sung by someone famous, just someone who does a fabulous job.  The TV folks still haven't figured that out.  If I can get the gumption, I just might also try a podcast about this singing stuff, but I suppose we'll just have to see if I can get back in my groove.

I've got to go now, Game 4 is starting, I want to get this posted tonight, and if He and his He's want this series to continue, I guess, in continuing with my prayers for this World Series time,  I now pray "Go ahead, but if that's your will, at least let the Astros win two and get it back to Chicago and let the Sox win there, or at least let me win the lottery on Friday night.  $147 million would surely drown my sorrows if you really want the Sox to go down in history in the wrong way."

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:57 PM | Comments (0)

October 23, 2005

I Still Wonder What God Has In Store - The World Series or the Lottery

By: The Dude on the Right
Well right now it seems that God is granting my prayer that the White Sox win the World Series because, well, I didn't win the Mega Millions game on Friday and the White Sox took Game 1 on Saturday night.  Since no one won the jackpot, though, I told God this morning that he could still let Houston win the Series as long as I win the estimated $128 million jackpot coming up on Tuesday.  I guess we'll see which way God is leaning after tonight's (Sunday) game, as well as Tuesday's game, and if I win the big money on Tuesday night.  I can't help but hold my breath either way, and I'm not re-taunting my sister's family until at least Tuesday night to see exactly which way God wants to take this.

In the meantime, this weekend, I almost got all of my podcasting connections working like I want them to, I just have one more thing to work on, and that's trying to come up with an easy way to get some TIVO sound into my iTunes library because I've got some audio from the World Series Game 1 that really needs to be revisited, and I'm not talking about Liz Phair's version of "God Bless America," because that stood out on its own, and sadly, not in a good way (don't get me wrong, I love Liz Phair, wish I would have gone to Oberlin College back in the day just to maybe hang with her, but is it really a good idea to put someone who notoriously has been known for not being the most comfortable in front of a crowd, and plopping her in front of 41,000+ people who aren't really fans of hers, as well as the thought of millions on TV?).

Anyway, the Bears won this afternoon :-), the Browns lost :-(, Doom pretty much sucked, and that Snake Plissken, I mean Kurt Russell horse movie was really enjoyable.  I'm settling in for Game 2 as I write this, and the weather has gone to shit here in Chicago, but not nearly as gone to shit as Florida is about to get.  The baseball folks seem to think they can get the game in, and with the money involved, they probably will, but it might be a long night, hopefully with a White Sox win, unless, of course, God has the intention of me winning $128 million on Tuesday.  Only God knows right now, I just hope he's kinda got Hurricane Wilma on cruise control and doesn't let something slip by in the World Series or the lottery.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:07 PM | Comments (0)

October 20, 2005

A World Series Gauntlet Has Been Thrown Down.

By: The Dude on the Right
I suppose I threw down the gauntlet, with this line in my last, "if it's a White Sox/Astros' World Series, it's going to be a fight for pride between myself and my sister's family."; I have no concerns, I have the utmost faith in my White Sox, they've always been my team, sort of ;-)"  Thinking back on it, I really shouldn't have encompassed all of the family into the "loser" category, just my sister.  It's always her I have had the beef with, but I suppose, as a family, I would hope they would also rally around her like they have when I grouped them in as a bunch.  So, I've got the entire family blasting me, and I suppose it is fair, except I still contend the SAT's were tougher back in my day.  Ahh, togetherness!  But, it is a White Sox/Astros' World Series, and as much trust that I have in my White Sox, I really have to hope and pray that The Wizards of Oz show that a Wild Card team doesn't belong in the World Series.  Why?  Because if the White Sox don't win, I will never hear the end of it, and that is now my fault.

In any case, tonight I posted my podcast prayer to God, to please help the White Sox win the World Series.  I know he listens a lot to many of the singers out there, so I really hope he has the time for me, and if he doesn't have the two to three hours to devote to the World Series games each night, I'm just hoping he has a few seconds so that my Mega Millions numbers pop up in those little tubes.  If that were to happen, my sister, and her family, could taunt me all they want, but I wouldn't recommend it if, I mean when, I'm 100+ million dollars richer.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:58 PM | Comments (0)

October 17, 2005

I Am Sorry

By: The Dude on the Right
Okay, I apologize for my latest lack of not getting anything posted, but I have a lot of excuses, so let's get to them.

First off, I went back to Ohio to visit my parents.  I could lie and say that I forgot the charger for my laptop, but the truth is that I didn't even take the laptop out of its case.  I just thought it probably felt so cozy and warm in its snug case that it really didn't want to be disturbed, let alone have me pounding away on its keyboard.  Sure, I could have probably used Mom's computer to type up some movie previews and my KMFDM review, but Mom really wanted to play Solitaire, so I was stuck watching sports, which gets me up to...

Second, there were just too many sports things going on while I was back in the old country.  Now that I've jumped aboard the White Sox bandwagon, the ALCS playoffs seemed that much more important to me.  With that, baseball filled my evenings and college football filled my afternoon.  Ohio State didn't seem to be doing that well against Michigan State, so I headed out to see my Dad at the hospital (he's got some wacky infection, it's a long story, I'm not going to get into it), and then I ended up back home to find the Buckeye's taking charge of their game.  Then came one of the most exciting college football games I have ever seen, namely the Notre Dame/USC game.  Un-fucking-believable!  Notre Dame controlled the clock yet USC seemed to score most times they had the football.  On one of the Irish's last drives, I told Mom that they better get a touchdown because USC could probably come back.  Sure enough, there was USC, a couple of seconds left, threatening to down the ball to set up the field goal to set up overtime and low-and-behold, it's a touchdown and the Notre Dame fans are decimated.

Third, after the six hour drive back to the dude-pad from Ohio, the only thing left to do was, well, watch the White Sox win the American League Championship Series, in another fabulous game where Ozzie Guillen let another one of his pitchers throw nine innings, something totally unheard in today's baseball.  Tomorrow's challenge - scoring World Series' tickets.  My dream World Series has lately been an Indians/Cubs series, but I have to admit that I have loved watching the version of baseball the White Sox have played this year.  It's been exciting, it's been suspenseful, but mostly it's just been fun.  The problem now is if it's a White Sox/Astros' World Series, it's going to be a fight for pride between myself and my sister's family.  I have no concerns, I have the utmost faith in my White Sox, they've always been my team, sort of ;-)

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:43 PM | Comments (6)

October 9, 2005

I've Finally Switched Sides - Chicago is My Kinda Town.

By: The Dude on the Right
I was going to see the movie "Waiting" today, at least to add another movie review for the weekend, but alas, the football game between the Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns started, and since I did see "Two For the Money" on Saturday, I didn't feel that guilty.  But as I camped out on my couch, listening to the radio feed from WBBM and watching the TV feed on FOX (the FOX announcers were, well, not that great, and the Chicago radio crew is great), it is now official:  I've lived in Chicago long enough to switch my allegiance from my old home teams, those being based in Cleveland, to my new home teams, those being based in Chicago, although there is a slight baseball wrinkle, and that came up during the end of the baseball season when the Tribe was playing the White Sox.  There I was, on my couch, cheering on the Bears and pissed that the Browns trounced all over them.  So, and I somewhat apologize to anyone I know back in Ohio (sorry Mom), but, for football, I'm a Bears fan first and a Browns fan second.  I'll cheer on the Browns with all of my heart, unless they are playing the Bears, and I found that out today.

Now, here comes the baseball wrinkle. I've turned into a Cubs fan, which in inherently wrong, since I "grew up" in Chicago on the south side, across an expressway from the old Comiskey Park.  But, the first game I remember going to in Chicago was a Cubs game, during Rush Week at Theta Xi.  I guess that is where I started my liking the Cubs, but in those early years, I'm pretty sure I caught more beer-an-inning White Sox games than Cubs games.  And things were pretty simple, for the most part, because in my dreams, I would be a Cubs fan and an Indians fan, and only have to worry about things if they both ended up in the World Series.  Then this year came, the Cubs were sucking as usual, the Indians weren't doing much at first, and the White Sox were just unbelievable.  I found it odd, but I started cheering on the White Sox, and not caring about the Cubs and Indians.   Then the end of the season came, the Indians were unbelievable, the White Sox were average, and I have to say, I was cheering on the Indians.  It is here that I decided my baseball allegiance now goes something like this:  Chicago Cubs first; Cleveland Indians second; and Chicago White Sox third.  I suppose this allegiance will never be tested because during the regular season, if the Cubs play the Indians, I'll cheer them both on, but if, by some twist of impossible fate, the Cubs and Indians end up in the World Series, I'll finally have to make a choice.

I know what you are saying, "What about basketball?"  That, again, won't be answered until a playoff series because, well, I've grown to like the Bulls, especially during the Michael Jordan era  (although I was cheering on the Cavs until Jordan would, inevitably, crush their hopes like a bug).  And last year, I was really pulling for the Bulls, but I've also become a fan of LeBron, so that is at least keeping my interest in the Cavs on a higher level (they better never trade him, or it's over for me).

I have to say, it was almost weird cheering on the Bears, hoping somehow that Kyle Orton would pull out some dream ending to the game, but I've been living in the Chicago area some 19 years now, more years than I can remember living in the Lorain, Ohio area, so I guess it shouldn't be that weird.  I just so much wish that the Bears could have won.  Maybe next time.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 6:51 PM | Comments (0)

October 6, 2005

Farts are funny.

By: The Dude on the Right
A while ago, at an office I do consulting for, I simply made the statement to the secretary dudette, Blondie, and my accountant buddy, Fruitcake, he of the firm Dewey, Cheatum, & Howe, that "farts are funny."  I had Howard Stern on my radio, he had one of his farter dudes on, and I was cracking up.  They inquired as to what I was laughing at, and I simply blurted out "Because farts are funny."  So I turned the radio up a bit so they could here, and sure enough, they both found it funny, although the secretary dudette said she also found it kinda gross, but laughed none-the-less.  So, today, Stern once again showed that something as simple as a fart can be very funny, especially when added with a little text on your radio screen.

For those of you who don't know, and maybe you don't care, but I do, Howard Stern is leaving the normal FM airwaves to go to Sirius Satellite Radio next year.  I've been a fan of Howard for quite awhile now, and not just for some laughs because of farts, but because he is one of the best at interviewing people and somehow getting them to spill stuff no one can get out of them.  In any case, the other day the satellite radio folks updated the channels on the radio in my dude-mobile, and low and behold, there were Howard's channels, 100 and 101, but sadly, with nothing but dead air.  No promos, no static, just nothing.  Listening to Howard after that, all he lamented about was that it was driving him crazy that there was nothing on the channels.  Then, by certain genius, a listener told Howard he should just have farts going on.  Then the wheels of the other genius, namely Howard, started rolling, and even as the other folks on the show, Fred, Artie, and Robin, started suggesting things like fart competitions and wind chimes, Howard stuck to the simple - just have his farter folks, well, just fart (or queef as I believe it was during the midday shift, which, sadly, I missed).  The only added bonus, some updating text on the Sirius radio display commenting on the farts.  In my land of being easily amused, and with the utter belief that farts are funny, it was some of the most funniest low-tech/high-tech radio I have heard in a long time.

Yes, there I was, off this morning to an appointment, cruising in the dude-mobile, flipping between listening to Howard and listening to a dude fart.  Sorry Howard, I probably spent more time listening to Junior the Farter rather than you, but in all honesty, I was mesmerized.  Silence, then a blast.  Suddenly the screen on my radio would change giving Junior a 3.5 for that fart.  More silence, then a super-long blast, and then my radio would tell me that Junior's last far was 17 seconds.  And it just continued, and I couldn't stop listening, and I couldn't stop laughing.

This isn't rocket science, which I could help you with since I do have an Aerospace Engineering degree, but I will go to my grave saying that "Farts are funny."  Today, Howard just helped me prove that I'm right, especially later in the day, when I was heading back to the dude-pad, heard Will the Farter, and still just couldn't help but laugh, and whoever was typing in the text going into my radio display, you're pretty funny too.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:28 PM | Comments (0)

October 2, 2005

Website Issues, "A History of Violence," and The Indians Lost, At Least TV Gets Back to Normal.

By: The Dude on the Right
So last I left with how God might have messed up with Hurricane Katrina and how I was pissed at my cable company for messing up with the Indians/White Sox broadcast, but I suppose I should just let that all go since the hurricane stuff was mostly based on wacky religious postings and Hurricane Rita didn't hit Houston like it was supposed to, and then, of course, the Cleveland Indians, coming on strong, really choked, as apposed to the White Sox who found themselves winning games like they were at the beginning of the season.  At least I don't really have to worry that much about watching the baseball championships on TV, I've got too many other shows to watch anyway, although I'm still pissed about The W.B. moving "Smallville" against "Survivor."

I'm finally catching up on things after a couple of weeks of tweaking some website design issues that were bugging me, most of which none of you will notice, but I just wanted to tidy up the place a bit, thus delaying a lot of postings and podcastings.  So, posted now are reviews of "A History of Violence," "Flightplan," and "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" DVD, the last, which, sadly, didn't have that much cool on this release but the movie was okay viewing the second time around.

This week I'm working on a podcast review of the movies I've seen, a podcast and website review of the new Bon Jovi and Crazy Frog CD's, getting back on the concert trail, as well as still trying to catch that damn penguin movie everyone seems to like.  September just ended, kinda like the Green Day song, and there are only three months left in 2005.  For me, 2005 has really been a hell of a year so far, a lot good, a lot bad, and maybe it's been the same for some of you out there, but the Holidays are coming, as well as Howard Stern going to Sirius (farting is supposed to start this Thursday, and farts are always funny, and in all fairness and disclosure, I do own some of their stock), Paris broke up with Paris, Renee is back on the market, so is Jennifer, and I've got two months to lose some weight and beat my sister in our second bet.  It's looking to be a busy three months for the rest of 2005.  Good luck, we're all going to need it, I think.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:11 PM | Comments (0)