Why I'm Not Getting an iPhone : Gina Hughes : Yahoo! Tech

Good article to read before all you geeks start camping tonight out in front of the Apple Store.

One reason I wouldn't buy it: It's exclusively AT&T, which means I won't get reception in my apartment despite living 2 miles from the AT&T Wireless Worldwide Headquarters.

So when I was growing up, all we got on television was Blue Jays games (initially) because they were on channel 2. And they played the Red Sox a lot, who became my favorite team. My friend David liked Wade Boggs best (David played 3rd base in little league) and I like Mike Greenwell because my favorite color was green. Then we got a satellite dish, and got NESN (Channel: F3-13), and I got a lot more Red Sox games, so that was cool. So I've always been a Red Sox fan. I've probably had five or six Sox hats in my life, but none since about 1998 (I don't wear hats much anymore).

So when they won the world series, it was cool. Until all the bandwagon Douchebags came out of the woodwork, much like people did with the Green Bay Packers. You see all these fuckups with Red Sox hats now, different colors, all this shit. You get to see Curt Schilling, Captain Assclown, and his blog.

What I HATE is how the Sox fans are so anti-A-rod. This is a guy who was willing to take a massive pay cut to join the Sox (everyone forgets this, but the union nixed it).

To me, the Red Sox are the New New York Yankees, kind of like how Jefferson Kim was "
New Colby." I'm sick of them. This season, I root for A-rod. In part because he finally realized that he has over a 100 million in the bank, and probably 20% of the male population would think it was cool if he fucked their wife (Jon Lowe excluded), and decided to nail chicks outside of his marriage (for the record, I wouldn't do that, but it's an acceptable choice). But also because he got fucked by everyone once Scott Boras pulled more wool over Tom Hicks' eyes than Karl Rove did over the American populace. Too bad A-rod doesn't pull a Blair and say "Go fuck yourselves," and do whatever he wants, no matter how odd.

So here's my question (although other comments are more than welcome): This season in the AL East, are you rooting for the Yankees, Red Sox, or a two-team airplane crash somewhere over New England?

Sorry Cory Lidle fans.

At least he didn't play Hundred Club.

I think this picture sums up the love-fest the Mariners and their fans threw for Junior this weekend. After watching an interview before the game yesterday with Angie Mentink, an interview that Griffey ended with saying that he would like to finish his career with the Mariners (I need to find this clip to link it, but it was a 'Between the Seams' segment shown during the FSN post-game show today), I have no doubt that he will be back, and soon. I think Griffey is certainly a trade candidate and would no doubt waive his 'no-trade' clause to come back.

In all the interviews I have read, watched or listened to, I got the impression that he was moved and genuinely surprised by all the adulation by the fans, team, and media and feels that he wants to come back. In his press conference before the series he talked about how he and his family drove around all Thursday looking at the new buildings in downtown Bellevue, going to their favorite restaurant, looking at their old house in Issaquah, eating dinner at Jay Buhner's. With Dave Neihaus, in a radio interview, Griffey talked about how his kids and wife still consider Seattle as their home in many ways, how the best moments of his career were as a Mariner, and talked about a few "what ifs?" about the possibility of finishing his career here. In the Neihaus interview, he was very careful about the subject and went as far as saying that he would not talk about that. In the Mentink interview though, he flat-out said that he would like to finish his career as Mariner, if the Mariners would take him if he were ever available.

(I really need links to all of these interviews, if anyone runs across them please link them.)

It sounds like a lot of fun and would result in some big crowds if he were to come back, but is it a really good idea?

Cincinnati knows the Mariners want him. They are going nowhere with him and could get some decent prospects for him. They could ask for the moon too. They know the Mariners are in position where they can't refuse even some unreasonable offers. Who could the Reds get from the Mariners for Griffey? Morrow? Adam Jones? Betancourt or Lopez??

You think the fans wouldn't be pissed off at the team if the deal breaker was one of those guys? What would Griffey think if the team that just told him how much they loved him couldn't part with Morrow to get him?

So the polls are:

• when does he get here?
• what does it take?
• would it be worth it?
  

Ok. So my school is like 75% heterosexual, 25% Prewett. So I'm exposed to a lot of gayness, which is fine. You see gay clubs, couples, blah blah blah. But check out this new issue of the stranger.

It was at my school.



Pretty damn funny. Here's full article.

Worth reading. Although unfortunately for Dave, there is nothing in there about being homosexual only while drunk.

That joke never gets old.

As Colby would say, "Okay, okay, What the fuck is this?"

What the hell happened to our starting pitchers in the last six games?

• We can barely trust them to get out of the third inning.
  
• We can't get them to leave with fewer than three earned runs.
• None of them can get an easy out.
• They can't pitch a strike anymore.
• They bitch (sulk, in Felix's case) at the umps and can't get a call because of it.
• Gutless, over-matched, tired.

Cha Seung Baek--who I have not given up on--needs to take a step back. He's losing confidence and energy and could use a call back/rotation skip/a stint in long relief. He will be back in the rotation, but right now, he really shouldn't be.

The problem is, who? Too bad our "untradeables" can't help us out.


We really didn't want an upgrade over Al Martin playing left in 2001 with all that potential for the future in the minors, did we? Not me.

Miguel Batista took over Jarrod Washburn's spot as the most reliable starter. Fuck me.

See the problem is, Washburn has sucked balls in his last three starts and Batista is who we thought he'd be: a #5 starter.

Losing Rafael Soriano for 'that guy' we got him for may turn out to be the last dumb thing Bavasi will do for the Mariners. Nevermind, it wasn't. And far from his worst.

Nothing new can be said about how much Jeff Weaver stinks. We're not the first to hate him, probably not the last.

Oh yeah, Felix Hernandez has been a bitch. I have had serious doubts that the whole injury thing needed to be treated so cautiously. I've been suspicious of the severity his injury in the first place (I think his wrist started to hurt coincidently when the Twins came in and rocked him right after the Fenway game) and he is way past due to show us a flash of something. I want him to be great, but I fear that as cursed Mariner fans we hoped too much. Our cursed wishes poisoned him and turned him into his childhood hero: Freddie Garcia!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not really, knock on wood. But I do think we babied him a little too much and set him back. Most pitchers pitch with some pain all the time. He has been treated like such a valuable and finely tuned machine, that they believe it would be too costly to let him run too long and too hard--there is a lot of perceived throttling back He needs to learn to pitch when he doesn't have his best stuff or he's feeling a little tight. Basically, stop being a pussy, learn to pitch through it.

It's a good thing that our bullpen is holding up.........

Crap, they're not! They are thinner than Colby's hairline! Stretched out tighter than Ashbach's pencil dick! They can't get a night off and they're starting to show bigger cracks than Phipps' ass!
J.J. Putz is cool, but I think that 'Everyday' Eddie got an unfair shake from Hargrove. He was a veteran that was playing well! He'll be in town this week (if Cincinnati call him up from AAA) to prove to Hargrove and everyone else that we have made a terrible mistake. Then he'll shaving-cream pie the bullpen catcher and light the batboy's shoelaces on fire! Be on the ALERT M's fans! Mr. Prankster is coming back to town!! (maybe)

I was going to let Colby's post ruminate and gain traction, but you know what already has traction and ruminates? My stinking blue cast is what.


I am not supposed to get it off for another 25 days (not that I'm counting) and in the meantime I am not allowed to walk on it, get it wet, get it dirty, or have any fun.

No big deal? Yes, big deal. I have to work and play and I can't let this thing get in the way of either. So in the 2+ weeks I have worn it I have walked on it, gotten it wet, gotten it dirty, and have had some fun. The problem is it smells terrible and has fallen apart everywhere. The worst part is sleeping, it really is like wearing an old, tattered, tennis shoe to bed every night. I have blue pieces of fiberglass stuck in my brand new sheets.



Trying to keep it clean was ruined the very first day I had it when Hallock spilled beer on it on his birthday. It's still sticky inside and I can't wiggle my heel enough to detach a piece of gauze stuck to my achilles since day two. It's not that big a deal anymore since the areas that aren't stuck to my skin are sharing space with rolled up balls of dead skin that eventually pool up in the arch of my foot.

Sitting and watching Oceans 13 on Friday night was awful. I could not get in a comfortable position no matter what I did. Two hours was my maximum threshold of sitting without stretching out.

Walking with crutches has torn out all of my already thin armpit hair. It's kind of a rug-burn feeling.

The good part is I have been able to kick back and watch a lot of Mariner games and I think I've done about 45 sudoku puzzles, so that's fun for me. As far as missing out on part of my summer, I think the rain and a broken boat is taking away whatever I would have missed anyway. I can't complain too much.

Some of you may have seen some of these already, but I had to post something with Ichiro's little gem in Larry Stone's piece in the Seattle Times:

On facing Matsuzaka for the first time:

"I hope he arouses the fire that's dormant in the innermost recesses of my soul," he says. "I plan to face him with the zeal of a challenger."

Just today, on the lovely city of Cleveland:

“To tell the truth, I’m not excited to go to Cleveland, but we have to. If I ever saw myself saying I’m excited going to Cleveland, I’d punch myself in the face, because I’m lying.”

On a team-wide slump...or gardening (maybe botany?), I can't tell which:

"If there is a problem, we need to notice what creates the problem. The problem usually isn't just on the cover. You need to look much deeper. For example, if we're talking about a tree and the tree has a problem, you need to look at the root. But you cannot see the root. The mistake is to keep watering the fruit. That's not going to solve anything."

And finally, on the mid-summer heat in Kansas City:

"Kansas City in August is hotter than two rats fucking in a wool sock."

Oh that Ichiro - such a philosopher... And one hell of a baseball player!

It is time to bring back an old tradition and make it new again. Since the 4th of July is 7/4/07 this year, I think it would only be appropriate that we crack one open at 7am that day. I want to get the word out early so that we are all on board. I don't think I will broadcast this event on any other medium (phone calls, emails, passing on the word), so if you don't read or haven't read the blog in a while, you are going to be shit out of luck.

I think I will leave the venue up to you, loyal readers. A meeting place should be set up for all those interested that will be in the Seattle area at the time. All of you that won't be in town should upload pictures of yourselves to prove that you are die-hard Bendermenz.

For those of you who do not know, 747 (see traditions) goes a little something like this:

1. The day before the event, you purchase one or more of these little beauties:
There are many to choose from, the key is to get something malted and in a 40 oz. glass container (no substitutes in size).

2. Bring it home and put it in the fridge.

3. Wake up at 7am on the day of the event.

4. Drink beverage immediately.

I think due to our age/relationships/employment status, I won't participate or advise any of us to go out and harass co-eds afterwards; however, if you do decide to go it alone, please document it with videotape and put it on this page.

Thanks for your participation.

From the Tabblo.com homepage (it's HP's photo hosting website):


Go to her Tabblo page and take a look.

Not me anymore.

Did I give up on the Mariner game tonight when I turned it on and saw the Padres' were up 5-1 in the 6th? No I did not. Why? Because this Mariner team has shown me that they have it in them to fight to win and you can never count them out, this season. Despite questionable off-season acquisitions and terrible managing, I know this team is a winner. How did they respond to my faith in them tonight?: 3 runs in the 7th, a solo HR by Sexson in the 8th to tie it up, and an RBI single by Lopez to drive in Willie B in the 9th. 6-5 M's, bring in J.J., game over. M's win!

I called it. It happened.

If thing is going to work, I will have to commit. I will not allow this blog to die. This is my blog and I want it to work out for me regardless of the current lack of interest. If some of you want to jump off the bandwagon because it's not entertaining enough for you or it's not fun like it used to be, that's fine, I will not hold any ill will. However, me and this blog are winners and we should never be counted out and if you believe in me and the blog, we will make a comeback.

We will scrap and fight, we will steal Bendermenz from the brink of death, we will eventually get ahead, and we will bring in J.J in the 9th to slam the door shut.

And all you guys that jumped off the bandwagon will be welcomed back, but in the meantime you will have missed out on the best part of any win--the comeback.

One of the inherent problems about Bendermenz was the fact that there were too many voices offering too many opinions about too many topics. To state it simply - Bendermenz was, and without sweeping changes will always be in a state of chaos.

Look at the successful blogs out there - Daily Kos, Deadspin, 38 Pitches, Kissing Suzy Kolber, Analog Giant - they all have a central theme. Bendermenz has no central theme - maybe the fact that Bendermenz has no central theme is the central theme. Whatever.

One of the most entertaining and insightful things about a blog is to get differing opinions about different topics from a wide variety of people. Obviously, due to the lack of posting and comments offered up, that's not happening, and that's frustrating to the people who put the time and the effort in to putting together a coherent piece of copy.

Bendermenz was a good start into blogging. It was a good ride, and it's too bad it's come to an end.