Yes…it’s that time of the year again. This year, Redpac is bringing more people with him (bumblebootie and both my sisters, for example) so it’ll add a little more difficulty to his annual - “When will someone puke for the first time at Mardi Gras?” contest. Will it be the newbies? The hardened veterans?
This year’s prize pack seems pretty awesome, so get on over there and submit your time!
Every year, I try and get Cubs Convention tickets for Dave, since he’s such a huge Cubs fan, but every year I find out that it’s sold out. This year, Dave’s coworker was able to score some tickets and we were psyched! I gave Dave my quick tutorial on what to do at conventions (being a comic book convention vet myself) like wear comfortable shoes, bring something to read while you wait in line, bring things for them to sign, make sure you read up on who is going to be there and what sessions are available, bring food, etc.
It was a pretty cold day, but we had our Cubs gear on. Dave’s dad was wearing his Cubbie blue pullover, Dave was in his Prior jersey (which he will be removing the letters on before the next season starts), I had on Dave’s Zambrano jersey (because I don’t have my own :-() and Ben had on his warm Cubbie pajamas. He looked like a little Cub clown.
We got to the Hyatt downtown and it was PACKED with people in Cubs gear. Dave had dropped us off in the front of the hotel, so we waited in the lobby for him. While we were waiting, a man was walking through and people were asking him for autographs. He looked familiar to me, but I wasn’t sure who he was. Then I heard someone whisper to someone else, “It’s Jim Hendry!” (the general manager of the Cubs). He was actually standing right next to Dave’s dad signing autographs, and looked right at me, smiled and had a look of, “Anything you need signed?”. I must have looked like a deer in headlights. Since Dave had all the stuff to sign, all I had on me was my convention pass. I gathered up my wits, took off my pass and handed it to him, which he smiled and signed. Then he walked off or something like that because I really don’t remember.
As I said before, there were tons of people there. The two coat checks were full so I decided to take our coats and let Dave, his dad and Ben go off and start enjoying themselves. I went downstairs to check our coats and there was a long line for even the coat check. When I near the front of the line, I saw the sign that said, “$2 per coat”. Oh snap! I didn’t even think to bring any cash with me. So I started digging through my pockets, looking for cash. By the time I got to the front, I only had four dollars. “Um, I only have four dollars, so I can only check in two coats…” I said. Part of me was hoping the lady would take pity on my, wink, and say, “It’s alright hon, I’ll put two on a hanger…” But no….she said, “So which two is it gonna be?” I started lifting the coats to see which one wouldn’t be too much of a hassle to bring around, and I made one last effort, digging deep into my pockets. Then my Cubs miracle happened - two more dollars at the bottom of my pocket! Hallelujah! No coat left behind!
The convention was a ton of fun, though I have to admit, my comic conventions were a little better organized. Dave was hoping to get his bat signed by his childhood favorite, Bill Buckner, but the lines for him were crazy. He then decided to get into Ron Santos line, because the person right after Ron was Cubs hall of famer Billy Williams. So we decided to part ways while Dave waited in the HUGE line for an autograph.
Ben, Dave’s dad and I headed out to some of the sessions. The first one we went to was a session with Cubs manager Lou Piniella. He talked a little bit about last year’s team and the team to come. What I enjoyed the most was the Q & A session. There was an older woman who came up to the mic and said something like, “I’ve been a lifetime Cubs fan (all questions seemed to start like that) and I want to ask Lou one question - Why do you keep pitchers in even after they’ve sucked for a couple innings?” Everyone laughed and went, “Ohhhhhhhh!” Lou said that sometimes he had to keep them in because he had to give time to the bullpen. Then she said, “You know sometimes I just want to throw my chair at the television! You need to get them out!”, to which Lou replied, “Listen, I’ll give you my cell phone number, and when you start feeling like you’re going to through the chair at the TV, you give me a call and I’ll take out the pitcher!” Lou was very charismatic and very quick witted when replying to the questions, yet pretty honest. I didn’t take notes so I don’t remember anything else.
Dave came back a little frustrated, saying that he had waited so long in line for Billy Williams autograph, and about 30 people before him, Billy’s time slot was over and Steve Trout and Les Lancaster took over. They’re still great players and Dave had them sign a baseball, but he was really hoping to get that bat signed! I think that’s one complaint I have, though I know that there are space restrictions - Dave waited so long in line for a specific person, but he got someone else. That would just not fly at a comic book convention - If I was in line for Jim Lee and got Rob Liefeld instead, I’d be pissed! At the comicon, they have one line per artist, and the last person in line has a sign that says, “I’m the last person in line”…the artist signs for everyone in their line. Take note, Cubs convention organizers!
Since we had front row seats in the always-packed grand ballroom, we decided to just chill there for the rest of the day, listening in on whatever sessions were up. The next session we watched was definitely the most fun - Win Lose or Draw. It pitted some Cubs legends - Tim Stoddard, Bill Buckner, Doug Dascenzo and Bob Dernier - against the current players - Bob Howry, Ryan Dempster (who looks 10 years younger in normal clothing), Michael Weurtz and Scott Eyre. Two lucky fans were put on the teams, as well, who ended up being ringers because they were so awesome at the game. It was cool to see the players so relaxed and having fun with each other. When the current players came up to the lightning round, 2 points behind the legends, Dempster came up to draw, to which someone in the crowd yelled, “Don’t mess this one up!”. We laughed. Howry, Eyre and Weurtz laughed, and Dempster shook his head.
The cool thing is after Win Lose or Draw, several of the players stayed behind to sign autographs. There was a throng of people trying to get things signed, and the players (mainly Bob Howry and Michael Weurtz from my vantage point) patiently signed as many as they could.
Dave got lucky a couple times and got signature from several of the players. Having Ben is an advantage in times like this!
In between sessions, I walked around the convention looking to see if I could find Zambrano to sign my jersey, or at the very least, to take a picture of him. Unfortunately, the session he was in was closed because of the capacity limit so I didn’t get to see him. I did get to take some awesome pictures of other players, since I didn’t have to wait in line if I just wanted to take a picture. Look in the gallery link at the end of the post for some nice pictures of players. Unfortunately, the lighting wasn’t always great and the rooms were pretty big, so I had to convert some to black and white.
The next session up was all about 8-8-88 - the day the lights were turn on at Wrigley. I loved the way that the old players spoke about their time at Wrigley, and listening to their interactions with each other. Even after so much time apart, it’s obvious that they still enjoy each other’s company. I felt like an eavesdropper as they recounted stories from the times they were Cubs. Rick Sutcliffe was a great storyteller, complaining about how Ryne Sandburg always teased his toll booth skills. Andre Dawson recounted an at bat with Sutcliffe when he was with the Dodgers, and Sutcliffe almost ripping Dawson’s mustache off with a bad pitch. Ryne Sandburg talked about hearing the announcer say his name, then Wayne Messmer interrupted with, “Um, *I* was the announcer for that game” which became a little joke for the rest of the session since Ryne had forgotten that Wayne has been the announcer for the team.
The last session of the day had some legendary players, like Mr. Cub Ernie Banks and Ron Santo and some new players, like Scott Eyre and Mark DeRosa come and talk about the Cub mystique - what it’s like to be a Cub, and what it means to them. Ernie Banks made a very touching speech about the energy in the ballpark, the quality of the fans and how playing with the Cubs is an honor. He truly IS Mr. Cub…he had the whole room (which was more than filled to capacity - even the balcony was packed) clapping and cheering. DeRosa had some great stories about when he was still playing for the Atlanta Braves, and the Cubs would be in town. He would come out to play, and more than half of the stadium was in Cubbie blue - it was as if it were a Cubs home game. He thought to himself, “Man, I wish I was playing with the Cubs!” Scott Eyre had a similar story, going to Atlanta with Mark as part of the team. They had decided to play catch before the game, and went out onto the field. There were tons of Cubs fans there, super early, and there was a loud cheer that filed the air as the guys went out - just to play catch. Then the Braves players came out - the home team - and….nothing. Crickets! Mark talked about how during the division championships last year, how he could hardly hear himself think - that’s how loud Wrigley was, and how proud he was that he was the person up to bat, and he was so overwhelmed he even thought about taking a time out (which he thinks he should have) and how disappointed he was to hit into a double play.
It was heartwarming to hear these guys talk about their team, what the Cubs mean to them, and to talk with the fans about their experiences. They appreciate the support we give them, not just at Wrigley, but the Cubs fans that are scattered all over the country, filling up seats in empty parks and cheering on their team. It was a nice way to end the day!
Want more pictures? Click here
Just kidding…my dad has better fashion sense and is a better singer, although I thought that guy had a pretty good voice!
Anyway, I have an American Idol play by play, but it was written on a napkin since I was at the in-laws watching yesterday. I’ll post up my recap tonight!
For now….work work work!
At home watching American Idol with the in-laws. Dave is holed up somewhere watching the Bulls
7:08 - I knew that “I lost 205 pounds” guy was going to have a sweet voice. All big, huggable guys do. He’s just skinnier now.
7:14 - Oh come on! This guy can’t be for real. He’s totally stealing Borat’s schtick. “Sexy Face”? “Hair to nipple”? Whatever…come on, give America some credit. “Yooooooooou’ll never get dis!”
7:19 - Taylor Hick’s backup singer was just OK. Wasn’t really too impressed with her.
7:21 - The “Let my people go” tour guide was funny…he reminded me of Andre the Giant from “The Princess Bride”
7:29 - Temptress Brown doesn’t look 16! But I gotta give the girl props for being a football player! Girls play sports!
7:31 - Ouch…I was hoping that Temptress would be awesome. But no.
7:40 - Come on now, who sings “White Christmas” for a singing audition?!?
8:05 - I was happy that the young mother whose daughter has Rett’s did well. Simon liked her immediately!
8:18 - The 20 seconds that the “No Sex Allowed” song lasted are 20 seconds I will never ever get back
8:23 - The Helen of Troy horse riding look-alike was the best one yet. I told Dave - “She’s pretty, and she has a great voice, unlike Haley Scranato”, to which he replied - “But the question is….does she have better legs?”
8:29 - My eyes! My eyes! Princess Leia and Chewbacca have a love child!
8:40 - They should at least let the Princess Leia guy sing! He went through so much to make them.
8:41 - Ohh, the dreadlocked Pharrell Williams looks yummy, sings well, too!
8:50 - Poor little Star Wars Leia, I thought she was pretty decent, but not awesome
8:54 - Ohh, I like this almost-albino’s voice. She also seems very sweet. America will love her if she makes it out of the preliminary rounds in Hollywood1
8:59 - All right, at first I really felt for Leia wannabe, but her ranting and raving, although somewhat true, makes me a little embarrassed to be a geek
All in all, an ok episode. Did any of you watch?
Last Friday we had our company holiday dinner. Which is more like, “People who used to work for X-Systems who invite other people in the new company who live in Chicago to a holiday dinner but end up being the only ones who want to meet up”. There were only about 13 of us there, counting significant others, and it was a nice small group. We had it at our favorite place to spend company money - Bob Chinn’s. I love Bob Chinn’s for many reasons - the food is excellent, I adore the garlic rolls (yes, I know it’s the same point as the first), the Mai Tai’s are awesome, and the biggest reason - it was my mom’s favorite place to eat. We would always go there on special occasions, and the garlic rolls were so good, she would bring a large purse and take a couple home.
It was a nice dinner…nice to see people I work with now and then. We started off with Mai Tai’s, and let me tell you, they were STRONG. I know I haven’t drank in a long time, but I only had about a quarter of my Mai Tai and I was already starting to feel it. Dave decided that he’d be the designated driver, but I was already getting so tipsy that I decided to slow it down. We started out with some great appetizers - calamari, crab cake nuggets, oysters rockafeller and blue crab claws. The great thing about having a big group of people? Getting a lot of appetizers and being able to sample each one. Dan was ordering shots - some thing called the “Duck Fart” which is a drink that the crab-men love when they’re on the boats. I don’t know how manly these men are, but the duck fart consists of Kahlua, Bailey’s and Crown Royal, which to me tastes like chocolate milk. It was delicious!
Then I had my mandatory cup of clam chowder - Bob Chinn’s is my favorite. Nice and thick with just the right amount of potato and clam. I knew that it was going to get me pretty full, but I ordered it anyway.
Then came my entree - the Ex-Crab-Aganza! Claudine accused me of ordering it just to say the name. She’s partly right! A plate full of crab - four different kinds. In a word - HAPPINESS! I love crab. I kept on smacking my lips and saying “Mmmmmm!”, moving my head from side to side, just like Benjamin does when he’s eating something he likes. It made me and Dave laugh, because, of course, we always have to talk about our son when he’s not with us. We’re THOSE people. We can’t help it!
Two garlic rolls, one cup of clam chowder, one ex-crab-aganza, three duck farts and at least one Mai Tai later (not sure how many mai tais, since they kept on refilling my glass) we had dessert, and even though all of us had kept on insisting that we were stuffed. We had a wonderfuling sampling of their best deserts - one coconut yam pie, one luau cake and on choconut pie. So our supposedly full bellies were able to finish most of the desserts because they tasted so good!
Considering how much I drank, I didn’t feel drunk or even buzzed at all. All I felt was full. Full and content. It was as if the food I had eaten had absorbed all of the alcohol leaving me with a belly full of satisfaction.
Muhahaha! It was my plan all along to bring you lurkers out of hiding! Fools!!! 
Seriously, though, I had no idea I had so many readers. I was thinking that since I had started neglecting this blog last year that my readers had left, sighing to themselves, “Damn, that used to be a really good blog. Now it’s crap!” I was thinking that I just had my 4 or 5 regular readers left - not counting 3D friends and family spying on what I’m doing. But lo and behold, there is life out there! The numbers in my web stats aren’t just guys looking for p*rn and hot asian lovin’.
I want to thank you all for reading, and for all your kind words in the previous post. Last year was a real challenge for me (as I will get into more in an upcoming post - don’t worry, that password will be coming soon!) and although this blog had always been a refuge for me, it had been something I just didn’t have time for and felt guilty for neglecting. This year I’ve felt a new surge of inspiration, life is now a breath of fresh air, a new start. There’s a lot of changes I want to make here, starting with posting more and using this blog as a way to once again sort out the thoughts that rattle around in my head.
Next time I need a blog-ego boost, I’ll threaten to hide posts from you all!
Thanks again for reading, everyone, I really appreciate it and am humbled that you find me interesting.
Decided to get rid of the “Quickies” post…I feel like it was like cheating to get posts in my wasteland of a blog. Some of you couldn’t see them anyway! (Sorry N1N0!) You can still see them on the sidebar, or follow me on Twitter
I’ve also decided to turn on Password protection, at least on some of my posts. I’ve always hated the idea of password protecting my blog, because why put it up on the internet if it’s not something you want everyone to see? In the past, my thoughts had never been something I needed to protect. But hearing stories of people getting in trouble for their posts, personally and professionally, I’ve decided that, at least for a small number of “I really need to get this off my chest” posts, that I would put a password on. Hell, most of you regular readers can read between the lines anyway and know what I’m going to post about, but I just need to rant a little bit, and who better to complain to than my beloved readers.
So……if you’d like to be sent the password to any upcoming posts, just post a comment here. I don’t know how many of you are left since I had abandoned regularly updating my blog a year ago. I’ll also send the password to my “regulars”, once I compile all the names.
For those of you that don’t get the password, no worries, I’ll still be posting and posting up trouble-free versions of my protected posts…
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If you haven’t seen it on the news yet, Bill Gates had a pretty funny skit that was shown at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas. He’s retiring this year to concentrate more on his charitable foundation. Say what you will about Bill and how much MS products can suck, I really admire his work outside of the software industry. This video shows that he’s not afraid to poke fun at himself…enjoy all the geek-a-licious fun!
