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April 30, 2006

Crash Into Me

*sound of me blowing the dust off of my keyboard*

“No time to think, just time to do.” That’s been my motto lately – and I’ve been saying that motto (which means, “doing”) quite a bit. I haven’t been saying it as much on the home front as I have on the work front.

Yes, I’ve been busy. So busy, in fact, that I’ve completely neglected my blog! I know what you’re thinking and I agree – this won’t cut it.

What’s been going on? Let’s see...

Even though I haven’t been posting lately, I have had some time to decompress. Here’s what I’ve watched in the past two weeks, accompanied with a one sentence review of each.

And now that we’re 120 days into the year and officially entering the fifth month, where do I stand on my resolutions?

  1. Sell some items on eBay, the world’s largest online auction.
  2. Visit a financial advisor.
    I still haven’t done this one, yet.
  3. Establish, and abide by, a monthly budget.
    Also something else I haven’t done, yet.
  4. Pay off one of my credit cards.
    Almost there!
  5. Find a cheaper place to live.
  6. Learn how to consolidate line items.
  7. Limit my soda intake to one a month.
    I’ve had two sodas in all of 2006.
  8. Boycott shopping at Wal-Mart.
    So far, so good.
  9. Eat smaller portions.
    Not doing so well. One week on and one week off. Grrrrrrr.
  10. Exercise more, maybe even join a gym.
    There aren’t any workout facilities in the Crossroads. Grrrrrrr.
  11. Remove Google AdSense from my site.
  12. Win an award.

Here’s to hoping I can get back on track with posting.

Posted by Seth at 10:35 PM | Comments (1)

April 16, 2006

Bird Flu (Over the Cuckoo’s Nest)

A friend of mine at SHS is terrified of the avian influenza (more commonly known as “bird flu”). I understand why he’s so concerned, it could easily, and quickly, become a pandemic. Even though it’s possible an outbreak could occur, what is there that we, the common folk – the ones NOT doing any medicinal work – can do?

Yesterday, while running, I had to step over two dead birds on the sidewalk (it’s not at all uncommon to see dead birds while on one of my runs, for whatever reason). Then, today, while playing at Loose Park, I saw another dead bird. Aaron and I made jokes about “BF” (short for Bird Flu) not catching the Aerobie when it landed in his/her area.

But should we really be making jokes about it? How would my horrified co-worker feel about the fact that I’ve come in close contact with three dead birds over the past few days?

Part of me feels that this whole bird flu thing is a media ploy to keep our heads out of the real issues. But a larger part of me knows it’s real and probably a serious issue.

So what can we do? Well, for starters, don’t pick the bird up and lick it. Instead, call the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hotline at 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636).

Or don’t, and just hope the bird had its flu shots.

Posted by Seth at 08:07 PM | Comments (5)

April 15, 2006

Bunny on a Roller Coaster

It’s Easter eve in the new loft de Gunderson and I’ve been thinking (for whatever reason) about bunnies. Ever since I remember, I’ve loved bunnies. Though, I do find it pretty sick that they eat their own poop. Seriously, if the plants you’re eating is too hard to digest efficiently, then how about you eat different plants? Mark my words, it’ll be a cold day in hell before I eat my own poop just because that ceasar salad tasted great (but didn’t quite digest right). I mean, how does one ever think, “you know, I didn’t quite get all of the nutrients out of that meal... I better take a dump and then eat it.” No one does, except bunnies (and some other animals). That said, is it any wonder why bunnies don’t run the world?

Since bunnies were on the mind, it made me think of some of my more memorable bunny stories...

Okay, so there was only one story I wanted to tell. Sorry.

Have a great Easter everyone (if you celebrate it), or just a happy holiday weekend, in general.

Oh yeah... the above image is a crude rendering of a picture I drew in pre-school, aptly titled, “Bunny on a Roller Coaster,” My mom still has it somewhere. It’ll be worth millions someday.

Posted by Seth at 10:00 PM | Comments (1)

April 09, 2006

A Jealous Fever

Watching the trailers for this film last year, I wasn’t too optimistic. Even when my friend Stephen said he liked it, I was a bit surprised. I’m not sure how many times I’ve heard it, but during the past few months several people have mentioned how much they liked this movie. All of that combined, and the fact that it’s been playing on HBO recently, I finally gave in and watched “Fever Pitch.”

It couldn’t be that bad, right? Hell, even Rotten Tomatoes gave it a fresh rating.

I was pleasantly surprised with the movie. Not that I need to give you a review of the movie, because I’m not, but I think it’s worth two hours of your hectic lives.

What I want to talk about is this horrid feeling I got while watching the film (don’t worry, it’s not gallbladder-less related). There were many scenes during the movie where Fallon and Barrymore are either at a Red Sox game, going to a Red Sox game or leaving a Red Sox game. All I can say is that I was jealous.

Yes, jealous. Jealous of the stadium and it’s location. Jealous of the culture. Jealous of the product. Jealous.

I’ve been here in Kansas City for the past six years now and our Major League Baseball experience is nothing compared to the Red Sox. Or the Yankees. Or the Cubs. I’m not talking about the small market vs big market crap, because KC will never be in a position to challenge the budgets of those big market teams. What I’m talking about is how we’ve taken baseball, the great american past time, and shoved it into a midwest shoe.

I’ve been to several games in Chicago and it’s by far the coolest baseball experience I’ve ever had. You can take the L down to Wrigleyville and when you get off of the train, you’re literally two blocks away from Wrigley Field. There are tons of restaurants and bars around the stadium, and the field itself, it feels like you’re walking into history when you enter it. Leaving the game is just as cool, you can hop back on the L if you’d like, or visit any of the nearby bars.

In Kansas City, you drive for at least 10 minutes (that’s just from downtown) to pay $9 to park in the stadium parking lot. Then, if you planned ahead, you sit in the parking lot and drink beers (or soda) and maybe eat food... we call it tailgating. Walking into Kauffman Stadium is stunning, once you get past the 19,000+ capacity parking lot and the giant concrete donuts. After the game, what do you do? Well, you get back in your car and drive whatever distance it is to your house (which is at least 10 minutes away, that’s WITHOUT traffic) or to a bar, because there’s zero things to do near the stadium.

It’s no wonder the stadium votes passed and essentially killed the idea of building a stadium downtown, we’re in the damn midwest, where we like to drive cars everywhere and eat food. Why would anyone want to walk to a baseball game on a nice day? Why would anyone want to have dinner and/or a drink after the game at a local bar? And most importantly, why would we want to create a unique culture to experience baseball in?

Oh wait, we have. Looks fun, doesn’t it?

Posted by Seth at 10:27 PM | Comments (6)

April 05, 2006

Shoosh! We Saved The Owners!!!

Well good golly, the stadium vote passed. Even though I wasn’t for it, I figured it would pass. The ironic thing is even though Question One passed (to renovate the stadiums), Question Two (to build a rolling roof and to secure a Super Bowl) didn’t. I’m a bit baffled on that one. But now we don’t have to worry about the “assumed” threats that the owners would leave.

So out of this deal we get an All-Star game and 25 more years of driving to the Truman Sports Complex and then driving back downtown to do something after the game.

What about the roof?
According to the Star (which was so overly pro questions one and two, that it was sickening – why were they so against Bi-State II?), the roof still isn’t out of the question. Wow, didn’t see that one coming (served with a huge slice of sarcasm). My bet is that since Lamar Hunt so desperately wants a Super Bowl (and all the money that comes with it), then he’ll somehow “find” the money to get the roof built.

It’s all a bit bogus to me. In St. Louis, the owners funded $90.1M in the new $345M Busch Stadium (that’s over 25%). Yet, on the other side of the state, our owners can only muster up almost $100M of the $575M tab to renovate the stadiums (that’s a little over 17%). The guys over at 810 Sports say that David Glass (owner of the Royals) and Hunt will make their contributed money back within the first year after renovations are complete. Awesome. Thanks for helping out, boys. Now let’s do what Jason Whitlock says and give the fans something to root for.

Here’s my take on the whole situation:

UPDATE: This editorial from the KC Business Journal sums up exactly how I feel. It's not that it passed, it's that the whole pro campaign was seedy and bs.

Posted by Seth at 11:33 AM | Comments (1)

April 02, 2006

California Stop?

Now officially into my second full week at the new place, it’s safe to say that I’ve uncovered one of Kansas City’s more dangerous intersections... or at least the past two days have made it seem that way.

Just yesterday, I was sorting through things here and I heard some screeching and then a collision. It turned out to be a pretty bad wreck at the corner of 16th and Walnut. I didn’t think much of it, both parties seemed to be okay, just a bad mash up. Then, today, as some co-workers and I were doing some work, we hear another set of screeches and then a collision. Today’s wasn’t scary, just hilarious. The LAST person you want to run into after failing to stop at a stop sign is a cop. Oops.

Posted by Seth at 10:25 PM | Comments (3)