jcalvert

Running like a fool.

That would be. Now that I restarted my running program, I decide it was time to get some serious running shoes. Enter a pair of Mizuno Wave® Ronin™ 2 ordered from zappos.

Speaking of zappos; they have great customer service. They upgraded me to free next day shipping. After trying on the shoes, I thought the size 10.5 were too small, so I called in an exchange order. Those too were shipped next day. Zappos’ customer service is fast, friendly, and they know their products. Back to the shoes …

When I tried on these puppies, my wife started laughing at me. Not good. I figured she thought I looked positively ridiculous in these runners, but it turns out that she was laughing at the pretty shoes strings. I think she wants some of the shiny, reflective silver shoe laces. I may look ludicrous, but I bet I look serious as all get out blazing around the park. At least I think so in my mind. Did I just say that out loud?

I took the new Mizuno Wave® Ronin™ 2 for a spin today, and the first part of the run I thought I was running on clouds. The shoes are light at less than 8oz; springy and responsive. Last Sunday at the two mile checkpoint I clocked myself at 22:20. I know that sucks, but my excuse was that I was only on my 5th run in 8 days, plus there are several damn hill climbs along the way. Today I hit the two mile market at 19:46; pretty impressive time gain. At least I was impressed with myself.

Of course I was winded, so at the top of the next hill I did a four minute recovery walk, followed by another mile run. Still far short of my “running for 5” playlist goal, but I think I am well on my way.

The only bad news is that several toes on my left foot were blistered pretty good, but I think this may have more to do with my running than the shoes because I blistered a little last weekend.

At any rate, assuming that the new shoes don’t continue to blister my left foot, my wife will take notice of me when I slip into the new magic shoes. Well, she will notice my shoe laces at my expense. Verdict is still out on my $95 running shoes. Will update after my Saturday and Sunday runs.

Time to reward myself with a Miller Lite or three.

Closing out the holiday weekend.

A few completely random posts for your reading pleasure.

When game reviews mattered
Talking about a blast from the past. I do not remember exactly how I came across this site/post, but those were the days.

Wine of the month
Poured a bottle of Juan Gil 2005 (Spanish Jumilla red wine) last night with some delicious ribeye steaks that I had to cook on the Jenn-Air (thanks to the rainy weather). Steaks were delicious, and the Juan Gil was to die for. Is there a better bottle of moderately price wine under $15?

Georgia GMT info …
On a website I frequently visit, I noticed the time was an hour off, so I went to set my profile and noticed it was GMT-5. A lot of sites have profiles that account for Daylight Savings and Standard Time, but not this one. I did a quick google search to make sure my profile should be at GMT-4; it was obvious that it should be GMT-4, but call me Thomas. At any rate, I came across this site. Not sure why it amused me so much.

“Georgia was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution. Georgia was the last of the thirteen colonies to be established as a colony. It became the fourth state after ratifying the United States Constitution on January 2, 1788.”

Sexting 101
Not sure if this should be amusing, educational, or something else, but Fox 5 TV in ATL posted an article titled “Top 50 Text Acronyms Parents Should Know” – things go downhill from there.

Good NFL read
I came across this site a while back when I was researching the NFL Compensatory Pick process, and how picks were awarded. Specifically, if Atlanta was going to get a hill of beans for any of their departed free agents.

At any rate, when the site is updated, it is worth a read.

Be brave. Only four working days until the weekend!

Ultimate Guide to Squirrel Hunting – Mini Review

I promised an update a while back (see “Ultimate Guide to Squirrel Hunting?” but like a lot of other things, a review was put on the back burner. Is The Ultimate Guide to Squirrel Hunting by Bob Gooch worth a purchase? I think so, but it is certainly not must read material.

The book is comprised of 14 Chapters, and includes a decent index:

Chapter 1: Meet the Squirrels
Chapter 2: The Squirrel’s World
Chapter 3: Habitat
Chapter 4: Methods of Hunting
Chapter 5: Bushytails in Your Own Backyard
Chapter 6: The Rifleman’s Small Game
Chapter 7: Shotgunning for Squirrels
Chapter 8: Bows and Black Powder
Chapter 9: The Weather
Chapter 10: Management Practices
Chapter 11: Trappings
Chapter 12: Clothing and Equipment
Chapter 13: From the Woods to the Table
Chapter 14: A Bushytail Hunt

I purchased the book from the point of view of an airgun hobbyist, and was interested in what the author had to say about squirrels. As you should gather from the title, the book is focused on squirrel hunting, primarily via a .22 caliber; shotgun hunting is secondary. While the author does cover hunting squirrels with bows, hunting dogs, and muzzle loaders, the emphasis is clearly on a decent rifle, which seems to be the author’s preferred way to hunt squirrels due to the challenge.

Bob Gooch’s writing style is very easy going, and offers a quick read. In fact, the last chapter was my favorite, and was pleasant enough (i.e. well written) that I may seek out another one of his books, even if hunting is not really my cup of tea.

The chapter on weather was very enjoyable and makes perfect sense. Gooch goes into detail on why a squirrel hunt is better in the wet, which also explains why I get decent varmint control opportunities on a dizzily day. I wish the chapter on cleaning and cooking (i.e. Chapter 13) was longer and offered more ideas (especially on cleaning). In this day and age of the internet, Chapter 5 was a complete waste of paper. It goes into detail on state by state hunting seasons, laws and regulations, and contact information. Of course this book was published in 2004, so it is no real fault of the author that this section is unnecessary in the eyes of this reviewer.

Bob Gooch clearly enjoys a good squirrel hunt, and this comes through in his writing style. After all, it has to be hard to come up with almost 200 pages of things to say about squirrels. While he is not a fan of trapping, he still offers his insight on the subject. Mr. Gooch clearly has something to say about all things squirrel related. Except for the topic of squirrels as varmints, which is not the topic of the book, but in my opinion would have been a welcome edition.

As I said in the opening, this book is worth a purchase, and while it includes no mention of airgun, it is a clean, solid, easy read. I have no regrets and will probably pull the book out from time to time just for grins and giggles. I would love to see a second edition with updates on management practices, an additional hunting story type chapter, the removal (or serious revision) of the laws and regulation section, and of course a chapter on squirrel pest control.

Who will Team USF1 race against?

OK, so now it is official. Next year there will be a US based F1 team.

Team principal Ken Anderson confirmed the plans when speaking to AUTOSPORT in the Monaco paddock. When asked if his team had lodged its entry, he said: “Yes we have. It’s Team US F1.”

The question that now begs to be answered – will Ferrari or any of the other mainstays continue in the circus? I have to think that all the bellyaching about the current regulations and a theoretical salary cap has to be just posturing by the top teams in order to gain more control from Max and Bernie.

Monday morning sports quickie.

I guess I spoke too soon about UGA having any chance to win one for two from LSU. The Tigers quickly dispatched the Baseball Dawgs 16-0 (yes, not a mistake), and 3-2. I was trying to think of a way to make this sound respectable. Getting destroyed by the #3 team in the country, and eventual SEC Champion (LSU beat Vanderbilt in Sunday’s final) does not really help.

Jenson Button (Brawn) won a somewhat interesting Monaco Grand Prix; he was really never seriously challenged from the get to. To be fair, there is never a lot of passing at Monaco, but Massa tried to do his part to make things interesting, to no avail. Thanks to Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari finally managed its first podium spot of the 2009 season. Not sure if Ferrari was embarrassed to admit elation over a three-four finish, but I am sure there was much relief.

I know the Indy 500 was all about three time winner Helio Castroneves, but I thought the post race interview with Danica Patrick was telling. I have always thought she was sort of spoiled; at least that is what I have gathered from various articles and interviews. You would think she would have been happy with her career best (at Indy) third place finish, but it took her at least a minute and a half into the interview to say she was happy with third. Good grief.

Coca-Cola 600 moved to noon today due to rain.

Because everyone loves a quickie. Happy Memorial Day Monday!

Greatest racing day of the year.

There are several events that I look forward to each year, and two of them happen to occur today: The Monaco Grand Prix, and the Indianapolis 500. If you throw in the Coca Cola 600, you have one hell of a day of racing. Something like 9 hours of back-to-back racing fun. Throw some good meat on the grill, pop open a can (or bottle) of two of some cold ones, and the makings are there for a wonderful racing day.

Beeman R1 .22 returns to action.

Yesterday I spent some time re-mounting my replacement Bushnell ELITE 3200 to my beloved .22 R1. The R1 had been out of action for a good 7-8 weeks while I waited for Bushnell to do the needful with their warranty repair. And the needful they did; as I wrote yesterday, I have a brand spanking new ELITE 3200 on the R1. Color my happy!

When I sent the ELITE 3200 in for repairs, I only removed the scope rings from the Beeman Sportsmatch 5039 adjustable high mount, leaving the base mount in place. I cleaned the R1 and put it away for future days. After inspecting the ELITE 3200, I setup the R1, and pulled out some Blue Loctite 242 and mounted the ELITE 3200 to the R1. The world was a better place; my R1 was almost ready to return to action.

After giving the Loctite some time to take, I decided it was time to take this favorite dog for a hunt, and hunt some beer cans she did. I grabbed the nearest tin of Napier Power Hunter pellets, and started out shooting at about 20 yards. It only took me about three shots to realize that I was missing everything in sight, and had no idea what sort of adjustments were called for to correct my zero. I had to get out some cardboard and place it in my shooting area in order to get a better fix on my zero. Turns out that I was off my crosshair to the left by a good six inches. It took a little fiddling around with the windage adjustment, but I finally started shooting the shit out of some beer cans. The good life! Talking about stress relief. Plinking is a great hobby. As I was packing up for the night, I smiled, and thought to myself that I really missed this R1.

Today is kind of a nasty, dreary, overcast sort of a day, which is not really good for a fun time outside. I plinked a little this morning, and will probably plink some more after this is posted. During my morning session, I did not go after any varmints; spared a starling, chipper, juvenile tree rat, and even had some possibilities with a crow. The tree rat should have been removed because it was rummaging around on the garage apartment, but about the time I was ready to squeeze the trigger, my two-year-old son spooked the varmint by yelling for his daddy to “Shoot that nasty rat!” Of well; the bastage will surely be back.

I did not have a good line of sight on the starling, so I decided to leave well enough along, and I really want to make sure I am confident in my zero before going after smallish critters like chippers. Those varmints have to go; digging all around the foundation of the garage apartment. Destructive son of a guns.

It was optimistic to think I could have shot the crow. There has been some crow activity of late in the neighborhood, and I kind of look out for them while running. One was being chased by a mockingbird, and landed on the utility pole by the garage apartment. I was just a casual observer, and watched the crow for about 30 seconds before he took off, with the mockingbird in hot pursuit. I don’t think I would have shot; they really need to repopulate the area before I go after such a noble trophy.

After spending the last few weeks shooting the R7 and .20 R1 Carbine, both with inferior glass, I really appreciated the ELITE 3200. Very crisp crosshairs, picks up a good deal of light, and everything is clear and vibrant. If they were not so gosh darn expensive, I would get another ELITE for the Carbine. It deserves as much.

Happy Saturday!

Dawgs barking back – SEC Tournament Update

#6 (SEC Tournament Seed) Georgia takes on #1 (SEC Tournament Seed) LSU today, and has two chances to advance to tomorrow’ final. At one point Georgia was #1 in the land, but fell into a long bout of mediocrity, before finally limping into the SEC Tournament as the six seed.

All hope was not lost as Georgia quickly dispatched #3 Ole Miss 6-3, and then #7 Arkansas 2-1. If Georgia can pull off the upset today, they will advance to take on #7 Arkansas or #8 Vanderbilt.

Let’s hope the bark is back.

Bushnell ELITE 3200 Returns.

Well, it took about seven weeks, but I finally have an update on my scope issues. Today a brand spanking new Bushnell ELITE 3200 arrived courtesy of Brown.

When I sent in the scope I was not sure what to expect. Would Bushnell honor the warranty? When they say that the dots on the glass was the result of user error? Would they actually repair the scope, or would they send me a refurbished unit?

Honestly, I did not expect to receive a brand new replacement scope, complete with all original package materials in an unopened box. This is a nice bonus because I messed up the matting on the sunshade. Not enough clearance for cocking an R1. Oops.

The other nice thing about the new replacement is that I now have all the original package materials in case I decide to sell the scope at a later date.

I have been very pleased with the scope, and now I am extremely happy with Bushnell’s customer service. No questions asked replacement in the first year is superb customer service.

Now for a decision. Do I put the ELITE 3200 on my R1 .22 and get it back in action, or do I give it a go on the Carbine? Decisions, decisions, decisions.

See Bushnell ELITE 3200 goes under the knife for reference material.

Why pay today when you can charge tomorrow?

Representative Lynn Westmoreland (Georgia 3rd Congressional District) recently published a well thought out, and humorous op-ed.

“Also, we no longer Super Size at fast food restaurants.” [Daddy Smith]

“And Super Sizing at hamburger joints gives the family more value for its dollar. We get lots more food and drink for only pennies more. It’s wasteful not to Super Size. Any idiot can see this cut is irresponsible and poorly thought out.” [Rebukes daughter Nancy Smith]

Westmoreland usually gets this sort of thing right, and the op-ed, poking fun at the Obama administration’s $17 billion in cuts from the $3.4 trillion budget hits the nail on the head.

At some point, the Nation is going to have to grow a pair, and start making some difficult decisions.

Is the Falcons defense too young?

I really enjoy Pat Yasinskas’ ESPN NFC South Blog. He just wrote an article offering up his thoughts on Atlanta’s rebuilt defense.

“Sure, Atlanta’s defense played well enough to help the Falcons win 11 games, but it was done with smoke, mirrors, John Abraham and a whole lot of luck.”

So let the rebuilding begin by releasing a handful of aging veterans and drafting some key talent at critical positions. Peria Jerry at DT, and underrated (and undervalued) S William Moore. There is no doubt that Moore could be the steal of the draft. I absolutely think his stock dropped due to an injury plagued senior season, which in effect gave the Falcons two late First Round draft picks.

“Linebacker Keith Brooking, defensive tackle Grady Jackson, cornerback Domonique Foxworth and linebacker Michael Boley were allowed to walk in free agency and safety Lawyer Milloy was released.

The truth is Foxworth was the only one of the bunch the Falcons wanted to keep, but only if they could do it at a reasonable price and that didn’t happen. Brooking, Jackson and Milloy were great players — a few years ago. But last season, they were old guys and liabilities.”

I am as big a homer as the rest, and Brooking contributed mightily to the Falcons defense over the years, by oh my gosh did he loose a step or three last year. How could anyone forget the dumb zone read against the Cardinals in playoffs? I still think his play against the Rams in the last home game of the year was far worse. At times he looked completely befuddled, dazed, and confused.

Of everything the Falcons have done with their defense, not being able to keep Foxworth stings the most. Not that he is an elite player, but he was clearly the cream of the crop of the Falcons secondary.

I hope before it is all said and done the Falcons somehow are able to bring in a decent cover cornerback. Chris Houston and the rest just do not do it for me, but hopefully Smith and Dimitroff know best.

Now drinking …

It has been a while [been saying that a lot in the last couple of posts] so let’s get straight to it before our time comes to an end.

First – Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Classic stuff; a beautiful full flavored ale. I am not sure how else to describe it except to call it a superior quality brew.

Next up – Sam Adams just released their Summer Ale; at least it just showed up in the local Publix. This one is a very nice ale, with a little fruity flavor, which is perfect for those occasions when I do not want the more robust, and dare I say more complex flavor of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Finally Sam

Adams always brews some good bottles, and is probably my favorite brew right now. Their version of a light beer is probably my favorite when I want some of the fizzy stuff (that would be a lager to you).

Now for something a little different … some recent iTunes purchases.

The new Green Day is out tomorrow, but I plan to pick that one up on CD (with extra CD of unreleased songs) for my wife’s new Sienna XLS. Also an excuse to teach her how to rip a CD and load to her iTunes. Hey, someone has to suffer.

Soon to be the weekend!

There and Back Again.

Yes, you may have guessed it; I just finished up the Hobbit. It has been a while since I last read that lovely adventure, but a few days ago, after coming off The Malloreon, I decided it was time. Sometimes I also like bubblegum music. Sue me.

Over the last few months I have put aside video games and have taken up reading. Seems like a less stressful way to pass the night. As mentioned a few days back, I would have jumped back into PS3’ing [did I just call it that?], but the PS3 is currently somewhat jacked up.

The Belgariad, and The Essential Conan in reverse order are the most recent conquests. All of which are good, solid classic fantasy inspirations. Of course I am about to tackle The Lord of the Rings. It has been a while [x2 – seems to be the theme of this post], so it was time to dust off this one and try to time it with another viewing of the Extended Edition DVDs. Yes, I am sick that way.

So I have been there and am going back again.

A home team of our own?

I thought this ajc.com article was interesting, but I do not think it is a new phenomenon.

“We’re fair-weather fans here in Atlanta,” Champs store manager Terry Presley said. Though Hawks jerseys are selling more briskly following the organization’s first playoff series win since 1999, other teams’ stars still rule our decidedly non-partisan corner of the NBA universe.

It’s a local phenomenon not restricted to basketball. Cowboys and Steelers fans typically show up in large numbers whenever Dallas and Pittsburgh come to Atlanta. The same applies at Turner Field when the Red Sox and Cubs visit.

“There’s a bandwagon element to Atlanta fans that doesn’t just apply to Atlanta teams,” said John Kincaid, co-host of “Buck and Kincaid” on 680 The Fan.

When I was growing up, there were always kids that were Cubs and Yankees fans. Of course cable and the Super Station helped spread the Braves, but not everyone followed the local teams. Same for football – Cowboys and Steelers dominated, but that was typical for the time.

Growing up in SEC country, it was fairly predictable that everyone followed Georgia, Alabama (Bear was akin to God), and Auburn, with a smattering of a few others. Of course there were always your random Irish fans, and the yearly fluctuations of new teams depending on who was at the top of the polls. For example, the rise of The U saw influx of obvious bandwagon jumpers. And so it went.

When I moved to Atlanta was the first time I realized that no one living in Atlanta was actually from Atlanta. Still, you would expect transients to eventually pull for their new hometown team. Not so much.

It always sucks going to Falcons games and seeing so many opposing fans; kind of kills the home dome advantage. Then again, it was joy watching all ‘Da Bears fans hang their heads after Atlanta kicked them in their collective nuts last year.

And with that … I’m out. Happy Saturday!

Eye Candy Retro Style

I have a huge catalog of Original PlayStation (PSX) and PlayStation 2 (PS2) games just sitting around in my entertainment center, various bookshelves, boxes and bins. I know; this sort of sucks as a waste of perfectly good (and not so good) games. I have written before that at one point in time I was pretty much addicted to videogames – buying the game, holding it, owning it, preordering it, playing it for a few minutes. Getting a new game was akin to crack.

Over the years I have broken this habit; sort of. The addiction is partly what drove me from reviewing games, and not getting new material every week also contributes to not having anything new to say, but I digress. Writing about the latest, greatest videogame releases became more of a core than a welcome distraction.

At any rate, I do a much better job of selling some games if I figure I just do not enjoy them or will never get around to completing the game. I try to time selling sports games on eBay so I can get $25-30 in preparations for the next release. At other times, I have a hard time letting go. Seeing the Gran Turismo 4 (GT4) game case, knowing that the disc is destroyed (see previous blog entry – “Life without a PS3?”), I think about tracking down a replacement copy. I know that I will never finish it; the only GT series game that I have completed 100% is the first release for the PSX. Still, to me, GT4 is the best release in the series, even if the graphics do not compare to the PlayStation 3 (PS3) eye candy in Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, which finally brings me to the point of this column.

I was poking around looking for some information on older PSX games; need to make some decisions on which games to sell and which ones to keep a while longer. I came across this article about upcoming PSOne (I still like PSX) games for the PlayStation Store.

Medal of Honor
Spyro: Year of the Dragon
Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage!
Street Fighter Alpha 2
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Wipeout XL

I still have Wipeout XL (and the original Wipeout). Fun games that I never really got into, but never sold because I know they are “classics” that I will eventually came back to one of these days. I never got into the Spyro games; I am sure I purchased them, but that is a different story. I own Medal of Honor, but never got around to playing it. Several times I thought about selling it, but I always thought I should hang onto it for a while longer. I use to play the heck out of the Street Fighter Alpha series, but was never very good. I think I still own one of these games, but will have to look to see. I do still have the Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter game, which I have held onto just because. Seriously, no real reason other than the Marvel characters in the Street Fighter engine was pretty cool.

The only problem with these older games, that I may or may not get around to playing one day, is that the graphics really do suck on my HDTV. Funny; I have become a graphics whore. Every time I attempt to cull my collection, I think about which games were fun (at the time of the PSX) and which ones have gameplay that would hold up well today. This pretty much rules out sports games, but you cannot get more than fifty cents for many of the older games, unless they have some collectable value (i.e. Tecmo Super Bowl). I would actually play some of these games if I could get my PS3 and PSP to do a decent job with Remote Play. Maybe one day.

I have been having a good time with my two oldest sons playing Midway Arcade Treasures 3; mainly Rush 2049 and Hydro Thunder. Back in the day this collection averaged a metacritic score of 67.

It goes without saying that the graphics are certainly better than any of the PSX offerings, but nowhere near the level of PS3 arcade racers. In this case, it all comes down to gameplay and that all important fun factor quality. It is fun “re-discovering” some of these older titles with my boys. They could care less about the graphics (they are use to the Wii and their Nintendo DS); I think they are actually OK with enjoying a game for the pure pleasure of playing something new.

So maybe there is still some life in that old collection of mine, and along the way maybe I can educate my kids in the finer arts of PlayStation and arcade style gaming classics. If my kids learn to value fun factor and gameplay over eye candy, I win.