Bits & Pieces

In a discussion with my daughter-in-law during lunch at a Mexican restaurant the other day I mentioned that after writing my blog series about our Chicago vacation, I am a bit at a loss for subject matter.  

A lot of things going on in my life are "in progress" and I don't like to write about things until they are finished.  

I guess the main reason for this is because as a "storyteller" I need a beginning, middle, and an end. 

I don't like the "to be continued" tag as a rule; unless it's a multiple part story that just takes a while to write. 

So I have a couple of "complete stories" from the first half of the month of September that, although not worthy of their own posts, can be included in a post I'm calling "Bits and Pieces." 

Hot Rods Happenings 

September started off with a sports fantasy come true. On Saturday night, September 1, I had the privilege to go into the booth during the broadcast of the Bowling Green Hot Rods baseball game. The station that broadcasts every game of the Class A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, is WBGN. 

I was chosen to be the fan in the booth thanks to a "contest" on Facebook. 

At the bottom of the 2nd inning I was led by a ballpark usher to the press box. There I met Hank Furst, the play by play guy. He normally does the broadcasts all alone but my job was to help him by doing some color commentary on the game. I was to be on the air for 1 inning.  

In the top of the 3rd inning Hank introduced me and we talked about my history as a baseball fan. In the inning, the Fort Wayne Tin Caps scored 2 runs. There was so much going on in the inning that I didn't get to do much talking. Hank kept me in the booth for the 4th. The Tin Caps score their 3rd run in the top half of that inning. Those three runs were all that they scored in the game. 

The Hot Rods would end up winning the game 5-3 thanks to a bottom of the 8th grand slam by Hot Rods first baseman, Jeff Malm. 

I was so excited because it was the first time I'd seen a grand slam at the Bowling Green Ballpark. I cheered so loud and so much I was hoarse the next day. 

A week later I would return to the ballpark to see the Hot Rods lose the 2nd game of a "best of 3" playoff series; ending their 2012 season. 

I was very disappointed. I thought for sure they would get to the championship series this year. But maybe next year. Nevertheless it was a great season for the Hot Rods. They had most wins than in any other of their 4 seasons so far. They were a fun team to watch. Can't wait for opening day 2013.

A Not So Glowing Experience

On the Friday night before my birthday, Paula and I went with our friends, Mark and Patty to the Balloons Tunes and Barbecue. It's 3 day festival featuring hot air balloons that's a fund raiser for the local United Way fund. 

It is held ever year but we had never been their. Without going into detail the overall experience was not all that great. 

Parking was free and there was no admission charge. But as Mark kept reminding us, you usually get what you pay for.

There were not very many food vendors and the barbecue they offered was not that great. However the Chaney's Dairy Barn ice cream was delicious. The carnival rides and games were geared mostly toward kids. 

The "Tunes" part of the festival included a large stage set up at the far end of the grounds. It was an impressive set up. But the cover band that was playing while we were there was not very good. The singer couldn't even stay on key while singing the well known  Beatles song "Get Back". 

The weather that night was warm and humid making it uncomfortable to walk around. The only thing we really enjoyed about being there something called the "balloon glow". 

At twilight all the balloons at the festival fired up their burners creating a beautiful picturesque glow. Here's what it looked like. 

Although they did the "glow" several times it only took about 10 minutes and then they were done. 

The only other thing that intrigued me was the chance to take a tethered ride in a balloon. But the line was too long so I didn't even consider it. With nothing left to do after enjoying our ice cream we called it a night. 

Now I am fascinated by the idea of riding in a hot air balloon. It is on my "bucket list".  But based on this experience my first visit to Balloons, Tunes and Barbecue will most likely be my last.  

New Benchmark For Goals

If you look back at my 500th post from January 9, 2012 you'll see my goals for this year. So far I've only achieved a couple of them and that's probably all I will complete. 

But as disappointed as I am about that fact I've decided that setting goals at the start of the calendar year isn't personal enough. I mean everyone makes New Year's resolutions and most break them. This makes following the same pattern acceptable.

I mean if "everybody" does it you can't be held accountable as an individual. That make failure an option. It shouldn't be. 

So with the passing of another birthday and the start of another year of my life I've decided to make my "resolution" starting point more personal. From now on I am going to set and work toward my goals based on my birthday. I will now work on them from September to September. 

I've already set new goals for this new starting point. I'm not going to make them public yet. But as I accomplish them I will make sure I post about them. 

Finding Nemo In 3D

The 3D craze at the movie theater has been going strong for quite a while now. The Disney company doesn't see any end to it any time soon. 

Their most recent animated feature to be rereleased in a 3D version is the Pixar classic, Finding Nemo. At the conversion cost of $5 million the 3D version made over 3 times that much in it's opening weekend alone.  

Paula and I went to see it the day it was back in the theaters. The 3D is not an "over the top" type of effect. It's not the "calling card" of this rerelease. In fact it does an amazingly subtle way of enhancing the already amazingly beautiful and amazing animation. 

If you've ever read anything I've written about "Finding Nemo" in the past you know I've mentioned many times that Ellen Degeneres' voice performance as Dory is the best supporting role in an animated feature ever. 

I've also mentioned that the movie is one of my top 5 favorite Pixar films. Well after sitting in the theater and watching the 3D version I've changed my mind. 

"Finding Nemo" is now my #1 favorite Pixar movie of all time. It replaces "A Bug's Life" on the "Pixar Only" list. "The Lion King" remains at the top of my all time Disney list (this includes both Disney and Pixar animated films) but "Nemo" is a close second. 

If you are a fan of Finding Nemo I highly recommend going to see it in 3D. You'll come out of the theater humming "Beyond The Sea" and loving this Pixar classic even more. 

Building A Tower

While visiting the Sky Deck on the 103 floor of the Willis Tower in Chicago I resisted buying any of the several souvenir models available at the gift shop.

The reason being, I knew that when I got home I could get a really cool model that was less expensive. 

Last week I went to our local Barnes and Noble bookstore and picked up the Lego version of the Willis Tower. The price was about $10 less in Chicago. 

Up until last night I didn't have time to put it together. But I wanted to have it on my bookshelf so I decided that it was time. 

With all 69 pieces spread out on a snack table I started assembling the model; following the instructions. 

I built the foundation...

Added the first couple of floors...

 Capped off the lower columns... 

built up the taller ones.

And with the addition of the antennae...

...it was finished. TaDa! I have my own Willis Tower in my living room. 

So there you have the "bits and pieces" of what's been going on with me. I have a few more irons in the fire but their stories are or will be played out over the next few weeks or months. 

These stories include: being a volunteer teacher for Junior Achievement, my continuing search for a job; integrating social media into my ventriloquist career and several more. 

Looking forward writing about them soon.