My Head Is Spinning

Hi.

Excited that I've returned?

I highly doubt it.

Nevertheless, I'm here to inform and disturb.

Let's start with football shall we?

EA Sports NCAA 2007 is out. I suspect that this will be consuming most of my personal time until I command and conquer all of college football. The 2007 game engine is very similar to last year but with a few added perks depending on the game mode of your choice. I dabble mostly with the legend mode myself. I can later import my roster or superstar player to the Madden rosters assuming the 2007 version still has the capability. It rocks and will consume many, many hours and months of your life....or at least thru say Feb. 2007.

College football or I should say Illinois football kicks off in t-minus 38 days. The home opener is against the mighty Panthers of Eastern on Sept. 2. Not the highest caliber opponent, but this is Illinois football we're talking about. Haven't seen the official preseason rankings, but the game has Illinois slotted as #80. However, watch out for the rest of the Big Ten (minus Indiana & Northwestern). Expect the usual powerhouse Big 10 teams to reign and move to bowl status early in the season. Illinois will host Iowa, Indiana, Ohio State, and Purdue this year. Unfortunately or perhaps fortunately, Illinois will not face Michigan in the 2006 season due to the schedule rotation. 'Twill be yet another exciting season of college football.

Time to sign up for another round of NFL Fantasy Football compliments of NFL.com. Leagues are filling up so grab a seat, and set your picks up. The majority of drafts kick off mid-August, which gives you plenty of time to do your homework. My teams are set up and ready to command & conquer. Fear the Roald Dahl inspired teams, my friends......fear them. If you've been interested but never tried it, give it a woo. It's free and will help expand your knowledge about football and the NFL. It also makes the NFL season more interesting.....and tolerable.

Here's the latest (as in today) news that's tripped my wire. My beloved (pet shop)boys (see previous post here) are coming here for a show whilst on tour in North America. St. flippin' Louis?!?! Do they realize where St. Louis is? I've been around for 30 years now and have spent 22 of those years following these guys. First off, they don't tour that often. Secondly, they've never played a venue within a 4-5 hour radius of the St. Louis area. So it's oh so exciting with a touch of what the f_ck? So here's the hizzy on the fizzy.... the show goes down 8pm Oct. 24 at the Pageant. Presale kicks off tomorrow at 11am, and general public sales starts at 5pm on Friday. The bad thing about the venue is that capacity is limited and over 50% of that capacity is general admission seating. If you want a seat, I suggest getting tickets early. I will certainly feel better once I have secured mine.

I have a handful of storm photos to share....eventually. Most are compliments of all of us who...well, basically stood outside on our porches gawking and snapping photos whilst withstanding the wrath of nature in full force. You know I'm relatively certain that we were instructed to take cover during severe weather and specifically tornadoes. However, everyone does a mad 10 yard dash to the front porch as soon as that siren sounds. It's a relatively amusing site during a nerve racking event. One week and one day later, and folks are still struggling thru the heat with no power. What happens when the next 'big' storm comes along? It was a state of panic for 2-3 days (or better depending on where you live). This is not good when living in a fairly large metropolitan area. There were times when I wondered if I would be the first to witness people gnawing on each other fighting for gas and ice. Mass carnage due to a widespread but 'mild' power outage. I say mild because the outage lasted anywhere between one to eight days. There are still areas of New Orleans with no power, and that 'little' debacle occurred just under a year ago. What the crap happens when we mix a little heavy destruction, flooding, and a handful of dead and wounded? Martial law in full effect.

Here's an amusing article posted in the local paper (Post Dispatch). This was written by Todd C. Frankel.

Things you learn when the power goes out
Candlelight is surprisingly strong. Reading by candlelight, although it seems like a good idea, is exhausting. Scented candles are not the ideal emergency light source, something you discover when you get nauseous from several hours of burning vanilla and chocolate coffeecake candles.

On the first day, this seems kind of fun - like a tropical camping trip.

"Have power?" replaces "How are you doing?" as a greeting.

Lean Cuisines and microwaveable dishes such as popcorn and frozen dim sum are not always quick, convenient options.

When the air conditioning dies, you think about turning on a fan.

You still flick on the bathroom light switch.

Taking five showers a day seems reasonable.

You rediscover your porch - or your plans to build one.

You realize you watch too much TV.

The Internet is a bigger part of your life than you knew.

By the second day, you resent anyone who has power. You split off into camps of "haves" and "have-nots."On the third day, you imagine elaborate scenarios for when the power should return. When that fails, you consider moving to Canada, where even if the power did go out, you could just slip into a parka and build a fire.

Facing a weekend without electricity, you start pricing solar panels and wind turbines. Your hardscrabble ancestors probably would be horrified, but you love air conditioning. You miss it and want it back. Now.

That's all folks....