Hmm...

Off to soccer and then field hockey practice.  Summer?!?

Power back!!!

Came on this morning at exactly 6:19 AM.  We promptly emptied out the entire refrigerator (and freezer) because, as luck would have it, today is trash day.  Went to school to set up our room and then emptied our wallet replenishing the fridge. 

Dear National Grid: Eff you!!!

Still no power. National Grid sucks. They are destined to burn in hell.

Best we can do...

Wanted to post before we lose power.  Classic everyone now thinks the Detroit Lions are all that.  And Blogger seems to be having problems.  In the past 24 hours, the complete page to this blog has had trouble loading (specifically the sidebar -- where the Real Time and Twitter updates are).  Hopefully they will get it fixed soon.  Stay safe.

Three & out...

1. We're taking a fantasy flyer on Mike Sims-Walker!  Two years ago we got him on waivers and he came up HUGE.  Predictably, last season some schmo in our league drafted him way too high and he was a BUST.  Now playing with Sam Bradford, we will pull the trigger on him in the middle rounds.

2. Um, there are better (much better) ways to get revenge!  NBA scrub Javaris Crittenton has been charged with the murder of a 22-year old woman.  Newspaper reports state that police feel the intended target was another person who was walking next to the deceased.  Police also feel the motive was retaliation for an April robbery in which Crittenton was the victim.  Memo to Javaris: There are countless other ways to revenge on a person.  Take a baseball bat and smash the windows of their car.  Better yet, dump buckets of paint on their car or house.  Paint in GIANT letters "YOU EFFING SUCK" on their garage door.  And here's a really good one.  Go tell the police the identity of the thief.  Crittenton, infamous for his lockerrom gun fight with Gilbert Arenas, is a clear L-O-S-E-R.  And he just threw away his NBA career.

3. Di$count at Macy'$!  Lest we think the college football scandals are exclusive to the Big Time Schools, Tulsa (Tulsa!) receiver/kick returner Damaris Johnson (the NCAA's all purpose yardage record holder) got suspended yesterday.  His alleged crime?!?  His is accused of getting nearly $3,000 worth of merchandise from Macy's for ... wait for it ... $13.34.  How did that work?!?  His girlfriend worked at the cash register at Macy's.  Now that's frigging classic.

Back (as in EVACUATED) from the basement...

Yes, they evacuated the island.  We were on the road this morning by 4:45 and home by 10:30.

Hurricane Irene

With Irene roughly 2 1/2 days away, the surf today was the roughest it's been in our 13 days down here.  We spent 45 minutes in the water this morning and landed on the sand completely exhausted.  The waves were fast and furious.  Best day yet for boogie boarding and body surfing. 

That's it for now.  Back tomorrow.  Stay healthy.  Be safe.

Best we can do -- Basement style...

Great beach day. Sunny. Cool air. Warm water.

That's it for now.  Back tomorrow.  Stay healthy.  Be safe.

Sunrise in The Basement...

That's it for now.  Back tomorrow.  Stay healthy.  Be safe.

Classic...

Found this card while shopping on 96th Street today.  Pretty good, right?!?

That's it for now.  Back tomorrow.  Stay healthy.  Be safe.

Four from down the shore...

1. Best time yet! This morning we shaved 21 seconds off our best running time (and a 1:27 of our initial time last Sunday).

2. Phillie Phanatic in The Basement!  Drove down to 79th Street and took the kids to see the Phillie Phanatic this afternoon.  He was great with The Playmaker and The Playmaker's Sister.  Took tons of pictures.

3. Awesome dinner last night!  Went to Avalon Deli.  Chicken cheesesteak was fantastic.  And gladly polished off the end of The Wife's cheesesteak.

4. Unplugged!  Nine days into the vacation, other than Phillies games, we have watched no television shows at all.  For real.  And other than our daily blog, we have spent ZERO MINUTES on the computer.

That's it for now.  Back tomorrow.  Stay healthy.  Be safe.

This morning...

That's it for now.  Back tomorrow.  Stay healthy.  Be safe.

Yesterday...

Got to The Link yesterday around 4 PM.  The Playmaker got a Namdi Asomugha jersey and an Eagles ping pong paddle.  Then we walked across the street to The Bank.  Grabbed cheesesteaks at Tony Luke's in Ashburn Alley, along with a pork sandwich.  Went over to Bull's BBQ and talked to The Bull, Greg Luzinski, and snapped some pictures.  Got to our Hall of Fame Club seats and watched three innings (dinger for John Mayberry) before the lightning drove everyone inside.  (In there, Phillies first round pick Larry Greene, Jr. walked right by us.)  Watched the Eagles and defensive coordinator baboon Juan Castillo get their ass kicked by the Steelers for 30 minutes before calling it a night and heading back to the shore.  Turned out to be a wise move, as the rain delay ended up lasting nearly three hours.

That's it for now.  Back tomorrow.  Stay healthy.  Be safe.

Going to The Bank...

Getting ready to head to The Bank to watch the Phillies tonight.  (We'll stop at the Eagles Pro Shop at The Link first.)  The Playmaker is wearing his new Hunter Pence jersey. 

That's it for now.  Back tomorrow.  Stay healthy.  Be safe.

B - I - G day today!!!

We shaved a minute and six seconds off our morning run.  Woo!  Woo!


But the BIG news is that The Wife is coming down today.  (Should be here by noon.)  And not to sound all sappy, by we are totally psyched!


So don't text, e-mail or call tonight, 'cause we'll be busy.


(The Phillies are on TV and Cliff Lee is pitching.)


That's it for now.  Back tomorrow.  Stay healthy.  Be safe.

Sunny skies, calm waters = dolphins (tons of 'em) ...

Calm waters and sunny skies today.  Around 11:30 this morning a whole slew of dolphins swam by heading north.

That's it for now.  Back tomorrow.  Stay healthy.  Be safe.

Four from down the shore...

1. Crazy weather!  Finished our morning run as it started to rain around 6:30 this morning.  Looked like a beach wash-out, so we did some shopping.  Around 10:30 the sun broke through.  We went to the beach from 11:30 until 2:00.  It was beautiful.  Water and waves perfect.  Sun warm, not hot.

2. The aforementioned run!  We did not improve our time today.  In fact, we tacked on an extra 52 seconds.  Oops.  Then again, who cares?!?  It's vacation!

3. That's right, it's V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!  And that means you can do whatever you want.  And so we found ourselves driving back from shopping this morning and passed a hot dog/BBQ truck on the side of the road.  It was 10:30, so that meant ... wait for it ... time for a grilled hot dog!  Delicious.  Trust us.  That won't be the last time we visit the truck.  (Next time: Cuban sandwich, baby!)

4. Meanwhile, back on the mainland!  Got an e-mail late this afternoon inviting The Playmaker to play on a fall baseball travelling all-star team.  With flag football and travel soccer, we probably can't do it.  Still, a nice honor.

That's it for now.  Back tomorrow.  Stay healthy.  Be safe.

Totally stiff...

In the olden days there were many a summer when we went out every morning on the island and ran 6 miles.  Now, we settle for doing just 4.  Fifty weeks out of the year we hump the elliptical.  The 2 weeks down here are the only times we actually go running.  So today was our first run in 12 months.  Started off slowly, easing our way into it.  The right knee started aching almost right away.  That's the knee with no cartilage, it's Kobe-Bone-On-Bone.  Somewhere after the first mile (61st Street), the pain went away, but was quickly replaced with a burning sensation in both quads.  Around mile 3, we got pretty loose and huffed and puffed our way to the 4 mile finish.  (It's actually 4.25 miles.)  Drenched in sweat, we couldn't wait to hit the shower.  On our way to sacred Wawa, we completely stiffened up and ached all over.  Most of the day felt that way.  We are pretty sure that every morning from here on out the run will be easier.  And we are guessing (hoping?!?) we'll shave several seconds off our time.

Good morning on the beach.  The surf was rough, in preparation for the afternoon thunderstorm (Phillies got rained out.)  We watched the golf in the afternoon, then fell asleep reading before watching the sudden death.  Now ready to settle in and read our John Sandford novel, Buried Prey.

That's it for now.  Back tomorrow.  Stay healthy.  Be safe.

Basement, 1.0 -- Hotspot all set up ...

Spent $29 last week so our EVO 4G phone could act as a "hotspot" while in The Basement.  That way we can use our EVO for wifi and blog from our laptop at lightning fast speed.  First day in the books.  As we Tweeted, the majority of the day was spent cleaning and making the house spotless.  Took the kids to the beach at 5:30 and we stayed an hour.  Two things: You can't watch Shark Week and then go in the ocean and not think about sharks at least a little bit.  And it's amazing how the minute you hit the water, all the crap (a relative term, of course) in your life just seems to vanish.

That's it for now.  Back tomorrow.  Stay healthy.  Be safe.

The day has come...

Don't be alarmed, people.  Fear not what you see in today's post.  It's something that's never graced this space before.  A podcast.  Made by US.  Yes, us.  It's a little technologically crude.  Sounds kind of like Larry the Loser podcasting out of his parents' basement.  Definitely not using a high quality microphone.  And perhaps we spoke a bit too closely into the thing.  Ultimately, in the words of The Tuna: It is what it is.  But it will definitely (and hopefully infinitely) get better.  For now, give it a try.

Late night bonus

Classic Charlie Brown extra point attempt by the Patriots tonight!

(By the way, check back tomorrow morning for a special surprise.)

Good stuff...

If this doesn't give you wood, you're not living.

W-O-W...

Hit the market this afternoon to pick up fresh pork chops and husked corn for dinner.  We had a few minutes to waste while we waited to go pick up The Playmaker from a birthday party.  We sat in the parking lot and checked Twitter and found out Vance Worley had given up a 5 spot to the Dodgers in the first inning.  Oops.  No biggie, however, as with an almost-guaranteed-loss, the Phillies would end their west coast trip a sparkling 8-2.

When we got home from the party (not before eschewing the host's offer of a cold brew in favor of a social bottle of water) we flipped on the game (in part because we had laundry to fold).  It was 6-0 in the fourth.

By the end of the inning it was 6-3.

Ultimately, behind Ryan Howard's two run dinger (off a lefty, no less) and nifty relief work from Antonio Bastardo, the Phillies came back to win, 9-8.

Great to hear Dodger announcing legend Vin Scully call the game.  (And we had no clue that he's a one man announcing crew -- no color commentator for Vin.)  Vin Scully calling an August afternoon baseball win for the Phillies.

Good stuff.

Something new...

Made meatballs tonight -- first time ever.  Went old school and mixed ground beef with pork and veal.  Wow.  Tasted fantastic.  (We just followed the recipe.)  Even the kids said they were "better than Mimi's."  (Yikes...)

Anyway, they will be great on a chilly autumn NFL Sunday afternoon.

Wise guy speaks...

Other than perhaps Jayson Stark, Bill Conlin knows more about the Philadelphia Phillies than ANYONE.  So when he talks, errrr, writes about 'em -- we are captivated.  Click here.

It's true. It's true.

*Photo from pabaseball.blogspot.com/

The SF Giants are WHITE TRASH...

We said it last fall.  We'll say it again.  The Giants are White Trash.  A bunch of pu$$ies who have no class.  Getting their ass kicked for the second night in a row by the Phillies, they resorted to what they always do.  Classless baseball.  Having watched Shane Victorino club a home run earlier in the game, and already losing 8-2, White Trashers pitcher Ramon Ramirez aimed a fastball right at Victorino's ribs.  He connected, Victorino dropped his bat and yelled, "What the f---?!?" Ramirez motioned him to come, and Victorino did, along with both benches and bullpens.  Fat Ass Pablo Sandival, clearly incensed by the fact that after losing 40 pounds in the off-season 55 have returned, cheap shotted Carlos Ruiz.  Seeing that, Victorino quickly hopped on top of Fat Ass.  White Trasher catcher Eli Whiteside then attempted to put Placido Polanco in a choke hold.  That lasted about one second, upon which Polanco quickly gained the upper hand.  Ever the loser who is trapped in the past, Whiteside announced after the game that he was a high school football player.  Um, OK.

Anyway.  The bottom line is we won the fight.  Even better, we have outscored the White Trashers 12-3 in the first two games of the series.  Cole Hamels takes the mound today, which means there will be no retaliation.  If Buster Blanton or Jose Conteras were healthy and pitching, it would be a given that Fat Ass Sandival would be drilled in the head.  Cliff Lee and maverick rookie Vance Worley would also glady bean Fat Ass.  As it is, the best hope for retaliation is getting a big lead and having Brad Lidge come in.  In that situation, he will joyfully hit someone. 

Help...

The Playmaker's Sister has two friends sleeping over tonight. 

Ugh.

Fore!!!!!

Bill Simmons Moment: Took Our Dad and The Playmaker to the driving range today.  The Playmaker hit several 3 woods 100 plus yards, including two that went 150 on the roll.  Of course, he also hit some grounders into the drink.  After that, we went to the putting green for some friendly competition.  (Do you really need to ask who won?!?)

Tons of fun on a cool and breezy August morning.

This post has NOTHING to do with Alex Morgan*

But we come here to celebrate Brad Lidge's 100th career save with the Phillies. We were shocked Uncle Charlie took out Doc Halladay after 7 innings. We were NOT shocked to watch Todd Helton hit a home run in the 8th. (That guy destroys the Phillies.)  And we freely admit that we have little confidence in Lidge these days.  His fastball tops out at just 89 on the gun.  Thankfully, his slider looks almost as good as it did in 2008, when he had the single greatest season of any reliever in the history of the game.

Phillies 8 Rockies 6.  Save: Brad Lidge

*The last time we had Alex Morgan in our title, we had over 80 unique visitors to the blog.

The weight is over, errr, off...

Weighed in this morning. Dropped 3 pounds since last Tuesday.  With next Friday being the day we head into The Basement, today was our final weigh-in for the summer.  We lost a total of 21.5 pounds.

Best we can do...