Hungry Hungry Hunger Games

**Movie Review! Movie Review!** If you don't give a damn about my opinions regarding the film industry, this post might not be your cup of tea.

Over the weekend, the fiance and I went to see "The Hunger Games". Some men would suggest I was forcibly drug there.  Au contraire, mon frère . I was just as interested to see the film adaptation of this story as she was. (And if you're one of those tough guys who swore he'd never see it because he doesn't "follow trends" or "read books and see movies that interest teenage girls" well, then, your horizons aren't very broad. I'm sorry you're missing out.)

I read all three books about six months ago. I must say, it was a series I had trouble putting down. In general, I'm the kind of guy who reads things like 'Dracula', 'Lord of the Rings', Sherlock Holmes stories, and pretty much anything Stephen King writes. But I will also I read every 'Harry Potter' story with much vigor. It was easy to read but still had an engaging story-line.

If you're not aware of the plot, basically, it goes a little somethin' like this. Post-apocalyptic America has been ravaged by civil war. After the uprising, the country was left as 12 fenced-in districts, ruled over by the Capital. Each district is far away from one another, so they cannot work together to rise again. The districts each do a certain specialized job, such as farm, mine coal, or make clothes, and their products are sent to the Capital. In turn, the Capital provides a little of these products for the districts to keep them alive. The Capital lives a life of decadence, while the districts basically live- if they can at all- in poverty. As another way to keep the districts in check, the Capital instituted an annual event called the Hunger Games. During the Hunger Games, a girl and boy between the ages of 12 and 18 are chosen at random from each district to compete. At the prescribed time, the 24 competitors are trained, then put into a pre-created arena to battle to the death. 24 children enter, only one can leave alive.

Our story follows Katniss Everdeen, a 16 year-old girl from District 12. District 12 is the mining district, where Appalachia used to be. Her father died in a mine explosion. She has resigned herself to take care of her mother and little sister any way she can. Because of power outages, the fence surrounding District 12 is almost never electrically charged. She takes to the woods with her hunting partner, an older boy named Gale, where they are able to catch enough wild game and pick enough fresh fruit to live on or trade for the supplies they need.
At this year's Reaping, where they choose the competitors for the Hunger Games, Katniss's 12 year-old sister is chosen. Obviously, feeling her need to protect her sister, Katniss volunteers to take her place.
I think the film did a good job of setting all this up and not being overwhelming, while still closely following the storyline. I've read many books, then seen movie adaptations, and walked away from the film thinking "That's not how the book went at all". The settings were very well done. (I believe the movie was shot in North Carolina for the "District 12" portions of the movie). Unlike a fake set in Hollywood, I felt like we were really in a desolate Appalachian mining town.

The futuristic Capital was clearly a computer-generated location, but it wasn't overwhelmingly computery, like "Beowulf". I really enjoyed the way they costumed the characters in the Capital, who were described opulent and overly flashy. They looked how I assume it would look if you threw every Dr. Seuss character into real-life in one city.

The action sequences within the arena were well-done. I felt like they showed what needed to be shown to get the point across, without being overly graphic (remember the target audience is still a 15 year-old girl). But at the same time, they still had enough to keep a blood-thirsty 24 year-old man interested as well. I especially enjoyed a scene in which Katniss gets stung by Tracker-Jackers (genetically altered bees who's sting causes pain and halluncinations). We see an awkward sequence through Katniss's eyes where she stumbles through the woods, not sure what she is seeing, and what is in her mind. All the while, the camera is drifting in and out of focus, and we get a shuddering effect, as if the film is getting hung up on the reel. The whole scene is very jarring.

The character development followed pretty close to the book, which I was happy with. However, the noticeable difference is that the book is told from Katniss's point of view, so we often get her internal feelings, especially about her fears for her family and her ongoing struggle to decide her feelings about Gale and Peeta. We're able to see some of that in her acting and reacting with Peeta in the lead up to and in the arena. We only get a few glimpses of how she feels about Gale before she leaves. But I assume these issues will be more addressed the second and third movies. We are also shown more situations from the Capital, during the games, which Katniss would never have known about.

**NERD ALERT** If you've hung with me so far, bare with me a little longer. I went to school for movie-making. So I always watch a movie a little different than the average person. I really enjoyed the way they lit the movie. Lots of imitated natural light. Especially moonlight. No reason to over-blow anything. I also thought the music choices were very well done. Everything seemed to marry the action very well. I always think the best lighting and music are the ones that make sense in the moment, but that you don't really notice if you're not looking for them.

Overall, whether you've read the books or not, I feel like anyone young or old, man or woman, can find some way to enjoy this movie. Obviously there will always be some people that don't like it, but I think a majority of people who like a good movie with a deep story, a little action, a little romance, and that "underdog against the world" feeling can dig on this movie.

In Memorium

Sorry I've been absent a few days. I knew that things were going to get hectic this week. I moved into a new apartment with my fiance, and we've been trying to get our stuff and new furniture in there to get set up. But on Tuesday, I got some terrible news while we were at IKEA.

I found out that a very old friend by the name of Tommy Grady had passed away that afternoon. He had been involved in an accident while riding his motorcycle. We kept in touch from time to time, and I had actually just seen him two weeks ago where he told me about his new purchase; that very same motorcycle.

Tommy and I had been friends for nearly 20 years now. Along with Craig Buschle and Kurt Olding, the four of us were put on the same baseball team in first grade. We all quickly became friends, and by extension, so did our families. It always seemed like all four of our dads were involved with coaching our teams, so when it came to picking teams each year, we all seemed to end up on the same team. Our families became so close that it became a monthly tradition that we go to one of the four of our houses. The adults would play party games or watch movies and yammer, while the kids would go and play. There were always video games, board games, Legos, and of course, sports.

We loved to run. We loved to play. Each person's house offered different opportunities to explore. Kurt's house had woods behind it. Tommy had a cul-de-sac for stick-ball. Craig had lots of kids in the neighborhood to play team games with. And none of my neighbors have fences, so we had plenty of room for hide and go seek. Plus, we were always playing make-believe. We couldn't help but let our minds imagine pretend adventures we could go on. Craig was always the leader. Kurt had the muscle. I was the problem-solver. And Tommy was, unsurprisingly, the daredevil. There was nothing Tommy wouldn't climb, run into, or jump off of.

We were always so different, but at the same time, always drawn together. I think from the ages of 5 to 12, there was nothing we looked forward to more than those Saturday nights once a month where we were all together. It was a simpler time. Unfortunately, in 6th grade, things got a little less tight. Tommy was by no means an unintelligent person. He just had a different way of learning than most, and the teachers at our grade school didn't have the right tools to help him. They recommended that Tommy repeat 6th grade. So instead of doing it all over again, his parents decided it was time to move him to public school, where he remained a grade behind us for the rest of our school career.

When we hit high school, it seemed the get-togethers were less frequent. We began to find that the things that used to bind us together were no longer there. We had different friends. We had different interests. Our lives were headed in different ways. So slowly, but amicably, we seemed to part ways. Our parents are all still friends. We get regular updates on what the others are doing. But with our busy lives, we've had difficulty staying in touch ourselves.

I had to hear of Tommy's passing from my mother. I had heard on the radio that there was a wreck on Glenway that afternoon, but could never have fathomed that anyone had died, or that the person that was gone was a long-time friend.

It's never fair when a person dies before they have a chance to experience all the best parts of life. It's worse when it's someone you know personally. Tommy always lived his life full-go. He never had any quit in him, and if you needed help, he'd be there for you, giving it all he had. It's going to be tough for a while to think about the fact that I'll never run into him at the gas station again or that any reunion we have will never be quite whole.

But I plan to live my life a little fuller from now on. Tommy would have wanted that. He always thought I was a little bit of a wet blanket, but I guess I had to do it to keep him in check. And he got me to do things I would have never done on my own. The four of us used to rub off on each other that way. We will miss Tommy and his gung-ho, give-it-everything-you-have style, but we will never, ever forget him.

Where Did Winter Go?

I decided about halfway through "winter" to start checking out the highs and lows each day. If you live in the Cincinnati-ish area and nearby, you've probably noticed its been a little warm. And we haven't seen much of that white stuff. No, Lindsay Lohan, the frozen white stuff. Someone with more eco-knowledge or meteorological savvy might know what to do with this data and find some sort of correlation to... you know, melting polar ice caps or tsunamis or some interesting stuff like that. I just have a thing for statistics and trends. So here are the highs and lows for each day since winter began on December 21st.


                 High       Low

12/21         60           48 

12/22         48           40

12/23         40           34

12/24         41           26

12/25         52           29

12/26         45           24

12/27         40           35

12/28         38           28

12/29         52           31

12/30         55           44

12/31         46           37  

1/1             55           32  

1/2             33           19  

1/3             27           15  

1/4             40           17  

1/5             50           23  

1/6             59           40  

1/7             52           37  

1/8             45           29  

1/9             51           33  

1/10           54           28  

1/11           49           37 

1/12           45           16 

1/13           20           15 

1/14           29           18  

1/15           32           11 

1/16           55           25  

1/17           58           31 

1/18           32           22

1/19           37           22  

1/20           29           16 

1/21           30           24  

1/22           53           26 

1/23           58           39  

1/24           39           29  

1/25           38           28 

1/26           51           35 

1/27           41           34 

1/28           41           30 

1/29           46           24  

1/30           57           20  

1/31           60           47  

2/1             62           46

2/2             54           35

2/3             55           33

2/4             47           39

2/5             48           32

2/6             50           23

2/7             39           28

2/8             36           31

2/9             36           28

2/10           33           27

2/11           32           14

2/12           35           13

2/13           35           16

2/14           37           31

2/15           48           33

2/16           49           38

2/17           51           27

2/18           51           28

2/19           39           27

2/20           45           19

2/21           50           32

2/22           57           36

2/23           56           33

2/24           51           32

2/25           37           22

2/26           51           21

2/27           60           31

2/28           59           28

2/29           67           49

3/1             55           37

3/2             62           39

3/3             45           33

3/4             40           27

3/5             38           25

3/6             63           24

3/7             69           42

3/8             61           36

3/9             47           32

3/10           54           27

3/11           68           36

3/12           64           52

3/13           74           56

3/14           78           47

3/15           76           57

3/16           67           54

3/17           76           53

3/18           79           57

3/19           81           58

Anything below freezing in the 30's is highlighted in yellow, below freezing in the 20s is green, below freezing in the teens is blue. And as you'll notice, we didn't have a low in the single digits all winter. At least not according to The National Weather Service, where I got all my information. I hope it's right. It sounds right. It felt like the temperatures those days. You'll also notice we had a mere 8 days where the high was below freezing.

Any temperatures we had above 60 I highlighted in orange, and any in the 70s were highlighted in red. Like I said, these numbers might be a little inaccurate by a few degrees, but I'd be willing to bet they're pretty darn close. And again, this isn't some sort of eco-attack or anything. Simply an interesting observation of the warming trend and lack of frozen precipitation we saw all season. I wonder how this will affect the rest of the year. Could this be a year we set all kinds of high temperature records? I hope not, cause I just leased an apartment with a window unit air-conditioner in it, and I can't afford a high electric bill.

Today's Twitter bio goes to: @DopplerTim @JohnGumm @Bouts12 and @ScottDimmich

I planned on getting to the Local 12 Weather team at some point. This seemed like a good time to do it. All four members of this team do a great job getting the best, fastest, and most accurate weather information to the viewers. They're constantly and tirelessly working to be better than they already are. (Trust me, they're always asking for new equipment). But to their credit, they don't let any of their skills or equipment go to waste.

The day we had the huge, massive crazy weather day (which happened to be my birthday) They worked round the clock to get the most important and up-to-date information to those most affected. They were also able to use some of their most state-of-the art gadgets, like the app from the iPad, to help better inform viewers.

If you need weather information, which will be gained most quickly from Twitter, look no farther than the Weather Authority Four. I can nearly guarantee that should you need to know about a big weather event in the area, at any time of the day, at least one of them has tweeted about it in the past hour or two. Also follow the @Local12Alerts page for even more up-to-date weather alerts. There's a reason they're the Weather Authority. They're very good at what they do.

Tourney Time:Weekend Recap

What a whirlwind of opening round action in the Big Dance. Who could have predicted before the tournament started we'd have the 16 teams left that we do now. Right now, I'm going to break down the number of teams left by state.

Texas-1
Kansas-1
Michigan-1
Indiana-1
New York-1
Florida-1
Wisconsin-2
Kentucky-2
North Carolina-2
OHIO-4

A quarter of the Sweet 16 from the Buckeye state is just unbelievable. The next four days will be nothing but battle talk between Cincinnati and Columbus, with the UC-OSU match-up. It's going to be explosive. And to have both Cincinnati teams still in the tournament is great. I hope that this helps repair the image of the figurative (and in Kenny Frease's case, literal) black eye the city has gotten since the Crosstown Shootout. Of course, Shootout II is still a possibility, however slight.

Other marquee match-ups (they're all marquee at this point, idiot) include UK taking on the only team to beat them in the regular season, the plucky team from Bloomington Indiana. OU gets the distinction of now being the lowest-seeded team left in the tournament. But they have a tough test in big, bad North Carolina this week.

Bonus Breakdown, teams by conference:
Big East- 4
Big 10- 4
Big 12- 2
SEC- 2
ACC- 2
Atlantic 10- 1
MAC- 1

My bracket isn't as torn up as I thought. I'm at 45 of 68 possible points. I've got 7 of 8 Elite 8 left and 3 of my Final Four, and my finals and winner are still intact. But I'm not gonna lie, I wouldn't be upset if I lost 3 bucks and the locals kept going. What a cool ride that would be.

Excuse me sir, can I offer you some....ratings?

This is the line I used as I passed the News Director's office on the way in to work today. CBS has gotten the UC-OSU game on Thursday and both Xavier and UK's games on Friday. I posed the thought that we could do Bengals-like numbers. He hoped the same. Tune in folks, its gonna a wild ride to New Orleans. Hopefully some local teams can make it there too.

Today's Twitter profile: @Dan_Hoard

Dan is the play-by-play man for the University of Cincinnati's basketball and football teams. He also recently started calling the Cincinnati Bengals games on the radio. Dan is always excited when he calls a game. Regardless of who the opponent is, he always seems to feel as if the 'Cats and Bengals can win. Listening to some announcers can lull a person to sleep. **Take two Jim Nantz and call me after the Masters.**

But if you're looking for an upper, don't reach for a Red Bull. Just flip on a game Dan's calling. I was able to catch the last 10 minutes of UC's game last night on the way home from work. Every shot the Bearcats made was poetry. Hearing Dan call it made me feel like I was there. I didn't even go to UC, and I found myself punching the air every time Sean Kilpatrick hit a 3, and got goosebumps when Hoard called Dion Dixon's steal and dunk. Dan's got a verbiage only rivaled by Marty Breannaman and my pal Brad Johansen.

And Dan tweets how he calls a game. Always excited. Dan is full-throttle UC and Bengals. He really loves what he does and it shows. He also tweeted me back last night after I tweeted about my goosebumps. It's a little thing to do, but when you only have 140 followers, its neat when someone with nearly 6,000 gets back to you. Check him out for all your Bearcat and Bengal needs.

Tourney Time Day 4

I did surprisingly well yesterday. I got Kentucky, Indiana, Baylor, Louisville, Marquette, Syracuse, Wisconsin and Ohio State right. But those were the teams everyone expected to win. Although, I will admit, since my bracket is so messed up, I did find myself rooting for the underdogs a lot. But like my friend Chris said on Twitter the other day, "You gotta have some expected teams win. No one wants to see two Cinderella teams play each other. Nobody cared when David beat up his little brother."

Today's slate is less certain. This is round number two for the "Crazy Upset Teams". Xavier is somehow the higher seeded team. We'll see if they can steal Lehigh's Cinderella mojo tonight at 8. I think if they play with the same fire they had against Notre Dame, they might have a good shot. And since I had Duke in that part of the bracket, I won't mind if Xavier gets to go to Atlanta next week with Kentucky, Indiana and Baylor. Tu Holloway is again going to have to be big. The difference is, if they move forward, they're gonna need more scoring out of Lyons, and more rebounding out of Frease. But who knows where this team could go if they're feeling good.

Cincinnati is in a bit of a different situation this time around. They're going up against the only team this year to beat both Duke and North Carolina. And not only did they beat both teams, but they beat both teams TWICE. That's a stiff challenge. But the 'Cats weren't exactly slouches this year. I like the way they match-up here, and I think if their 3-point shooting is on and Gates and Mbodj can stay out of foul trouble, I'd like to hope this will remain a tight game. I postured a match-up with Ohio State in Boston before the start of the Big Dance. It now seems possible. And, dare I say it, should they both run the table...the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout Part Deux?? Only time will tell.

We did lose Murray State from our 3-state, 9-team collective. But with Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio State and Louisville moving on, we'll have plenty of representation in the Sweet 16...but should Cincinnati, Xavier, Purdue and Ohio do their jobs, we can own half the 16 team field. Who would have called that before the tourney started?

It's gonna be difficult for a lot of people to keep an eye on these games though, as the finale of 'The Walking Dead" is on tonight. I won't have that problem, because I'll be at work til 11:45, so I'll miss it all. But don't ruin "The Walking Dead" for me. Or I'll make you one of them.

On a side, personal note, I got the keys to my apartment today. The bed is being delivered Tuesday. And I got some stuff to sort out with Cincinnati Bell and Duke on my FiOptics bill. And I haven't even gotten to enjoy it yet. "Welcome to the real world. It sucks. You're gonna love it." -Monica Gellar, 'Friends'

Twitter bio profile of the day: @yourvinylsiding

This is the twitter account of my good friend, Ryan. If you're wondering about his Twitter handle...well, so is everyone else. But that's Ryan's personality. He's an eccentric guy. But it's never a dull moment. He also throws down his own blog, where he plans to review over 2000 musical albums. If that's you're thing.

Ryan also has many opinions on sports, politics, and other such popular culture matters. And if you really want a laugh, ask him about the Harrison Open Invitational.

Tourney Time: Day 3

One word. Busted. As in, most of the brackets in the entire country are...busted. But I will trade my 3 dollars in the office pool for the games we saw yesterday every year. That was a magnificent day of college basketball. Not only were Cincinnati and Xavier able to pull of pretty good wins, we saw 2 #15-seeds upset 2 #2-seeds in the same day. It had only happened 6 times since 2001 before that. We also still have 2 number 12s (South Florida and VCU) and a 13 (Ohio U) still alive in the tourney.

As people, I think we all root for the underdog because it makes us feel like we could have a chance to make it ourselves, in whatever it is we're trying to do. Sadly though, the tourney, much like life, often reminds us as well, that the big guys still hold the keys to the castle. So if they underdogs want a chance at the throne, they have to sneak in and steal them. And at the point, my bracket is so screwed, I don't care. Go underdogs!

Also, can we address something else? Is it just me or is the Cincinnati area the Mecca of basketball this year? Check out the 2 maps I made last night of the teams knocked out of the tournament (This one with red markers) and the teams still left playing for the championship (Markers in blue). Remember, when you have the map zoomed out, there are 2 teams in Cincinnati still left. There are 8 teams in about 150 mile radius or so from Cincinnati. Someone said yesterday that the states of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana were 10-2 in the tournament. The only reason there were 2 losses was because Xavier (OH) played Notre Dame (IN) and Kentucky played Western Kentucky.

Now I know they didn't have a lot of games out west this year, and that could have contributed to this oddity, but then again, there weren't that many teams in the tournament from out west. It's like when they set up the sites months ago, they knew it would be mostly east coast and Ohio River Valley teams playing in the later rounds. Obviously this is strange oddity that really has nothing to do with how things will from now, but its a neat tidbit that we can take local pride in here in Cincinnati. The more teams you have left, the better chance that someone in your area can bring home the trophy.

Yesterday I went a stellar 7-9. Which brings my overall total, counting the play-in games, to 21 of 36 correct picks. Not bad considering what happened yesterday, but Missouri was in my Final Four. Youch.
Today, we'll have Ohio State and Kentucky on CBS. However, UC and XU tomorrow got bumped to TruTV and TNT. For now, back to the games. Back to the Madness!

Today's Twitter bio profile is: @Bob_Herzog

If you already know who Bob is, chances are you wake up earlier than me. Bob and I work at the station together. You may know him from his morning traffic reports, Saturday morning hosting spot on the morning news, or perhaps a little-known segment he does on Fridays...something about flailing around like a maniac. Insane Dude...no. Wild and Crazy...that's not it. Oh yeah, Dance Party Friday! Not to mention a host of other things he does that you don't know about.

Bob's multi-talented. At one time, I know he was a lawyer and a teacher and probably some other stuff I don't know about. But he gave it all up for the glitz. You may remember his from his work as the guy who did all the commercials between movies on Saturdays with Jen Dalton on Star-64, then later the CW. I personally got to work with Bob on a shoot for a Cincinnati Library promo in the middle of May. And the air-conditioning at that particular branch was broken. We all thought we were gonna pass out. But Bob remained a pro the whole time. Oh, and did I mention he's a riot? Give him a follow for all your traffic needs, and a good laugh. Just try not to hold the fact that he's a UK fan against him.

Tourney Time: Day 2

Man, Charles Barkley doesn't know which way is up. He says he went 10-2 yesterday. The fellas remind Charles that there were 16 games yesterday. That's Auburn math folks. Get after it. I personally did decent yesterday. I went a respectable 12-4, missing Iowa State against UConn, VCU beating Witchita State, Gonzaga beating West Virginia, and my "Harvard upsets Vandy" pick didn't pan out. Luckily none of the teams that lost I had going any farther, so I'm still looking ok.

It's a big day in Cincinnati. Today is tip day for both UC and Xavier. One would hope that blue and red would be set aside for today and that Cincinnati will unite as one to root for both teams. I like the way UC has gelled since the Brawl. Those jersey accents are abusive to look at, but nothing like Baylor's highlighter yellow. My bracket has UC beating Texas, Florida State, before being beat by in-state rival Ohio State in the Sweet 16. I think they've got the ability to match-up with these teams and play good, exciting games. This should be a good weekend for Cincinnati.

Unfortunately for Xavier, they got a tough draw in Notre Dame. I think they'll hang in there for a while, but unfortunately, I just couldn't pick them to get past the Irish. Had they gotten someone else like Virginia, perhaps they could have made it to the next round.

However, I would sacrifice my bracket to root for the local guys to go far. It would be really enjoyable to see them make it far, and dare I say it, see an all Cincinnati Final? (Very highly unlikely, but a guy can hope.) Unfortunately, for Xavier to make it there, they'd have to get through locals like Kentucky or Indiana and UC would have to take down Big Brother Upstate, Ohio State, and possibly have a rematch with big, (not so bad without Melo) Syracuse.

We'll hope for the best. Go Cats. Go Muskies. Hopefully the whole city is dressed in red and blue today.

Today's Twitter bio profile is: @ConnorBarwin98

Connor is a former Bearcat football star and now a member of the Houston Texans. But as you may also remember, Barwin was a member of the UC basketball team. It's rare these days to see a guy do two sports, let alone do two sports well. Connor is a stellar athlete and seems like a genuinely good guy.

On Twitter, Connor is one of the most entertaining people I follow. He loves Houston, but always remembers how he got there. Barwin is always mindful of what the 'Cats are up to. He's always showing up to random sporting events when he can to root for the guys. And when he's not playing or supporting his teams, he's just an overall funny guy. Love seeing what he has to say.

Tourney Time: Day 1

I'm 2 for 4 on Play-In games. (I have no idea what the First Four are.) I'll give you my picks, then update how well I'm doing tomorrow and so on. I'll also keep tabs on how well I'm doing in the office pool. I could sure use that extra moolah.

Like I said, I only did one Master Bracket. So my picks for the first round are:

Kentucky, Uconn, Witchita St., Indiana, Colorado, Baylor, Notre Dame, Duke, Michigan St., Memphis, New Mexico, Louisville, Murray St., Marquette, Florida, Missouri, Syracuse (I refused to change it, despite Melo issues), Kansas St., Harvard, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Florida St., West Virginia, Ohio St., North Carolina, Creighton, Temple, Michigan, San Diego St., Belmont, Saint Mary's, Kansas

My Sweet 16 has:
Kentucky, Indiana, Baylor, Duke, Michigan St., Louisville, Marquette, Missouri, Syracuse, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Ohio St., North Carolina, Temple, San Diego St., Kansas.

My Elite 8 are:
Kentucky, Baylor, Michigan St., Missouri, Syracuse, Ohio St., North Carolina, Kansas.

Final Four comes down to:
Kentucky, Missouri,, Ohio St. and North Carolina

and the Finals:
The Rematch: Kentucky vs. North Carolina. And I had the same result...Kentucky wins.

I didn't necessarily want it that way, because I'm not a huge Kentucky fan. But I just think they can do it this year. Of course, this is the tournament. Anything can happen. My bracket could be screwed by tomorrow.

Today's Twitter bio profile of the day: @InTheGap_

As I mentioned yesterday, these folks make some sweet shirts. But they also do it for a good cause. They donate a portion of their profits four times a year to charity. They don't donate to anyone specifically, but rather spread the wealth around. As the name suggests, their products are based around baseball. They also have some neat designs for In The Gap itself. If you have a chance, check out their on-line store.

In addition to following @InTheGap_ itself (they often do cool giveaways and such), you'll also want to follow the personal accounts of the creators @BgRedRedemption @KMartindale72 and @ValentineSmiles. They're just 3 quality individuals who want to do something good for the world, and get you some quality threads while doing it.

Video Game Memories

Today, I went on a little excursion. I actually got some productive things done. I paid for my new bed which will be delivered to my new apartment on Tuesday. I set up the meeting with apartment manager for me to do an inspection and get the keys on Sunday. I applied for a Target credit card.

Then I got off track. I went hunting for something. Something very special. All along we've been saying we want our wedding cake topper to be something cool and different. And I thought I had found what we needed. Star Wars action figures. Han Solo and Princess Leia to be exact. The problem is, I haven't been able to find Leia anywhere. Apparently, a female action figure is not that popular, especially one that hasn't appeared in a movie in nearly 40 years. So, I scoured nearby toy stores to no avail. But I had a second revelation. Who else would have action figures from a beloved sci-fi classic? Comic Book Nerds. So began my search.

The first shop yielded decent results. I found a Han and a Leia, but not from the same series, and they were different sizes. The next store I checked was fiercely pro-DC Comics and everything else was of lesser importance. I found no Star Wars characters of any kind there, though I did find the comic book version of "The Walking Dead".

SIDEBAR: This got me to wondering how different the comic book is to the TV series. Unlike "300" and "The Watchmen", "Walking Dead" is a series, which may have many plot twists. If purchasing comic books wasn't so expensive, I may consider it. But it's an addicting habit that I cannot currently afford. Anyone out there know if the comics and the show are in any way similar? END SIDEBAR

My trek then led me to the Northgate Mall, where I know of a sci-fi shop. The clerk there told me they didn't carry them and he didn't know any shops that did. (I chose not to argue the point with him. It seems guys who work at comic book stores are awful pretentious. NOTE TO SELF: One day help the comic book store owners of the world with people skills.) He then suggested I check the internet. So as soon as my newly applied for credit card arrives, I'll do so.  Then I'll pay my whole bill on time, like a responsible person.

BRIAN!!! THE TITLE OF THE ARTICLE IS ABOUT VIDEO GAMES!!!

I'm getting there. So, I'm at the mall. And if there are 3 things I must do at every mall, its 1. Get an Auntie Anne's pretzel; 2. Stop in at the local Lids location to see if there are any hats that interest me; 3. Check out the movie/video game store for some cheap deals. And my friends, I found the best game I ever played in my life.

I personally never owned it; a friend did. So we played it whenever we were at his house. But now, I own a copy. ToeJam & Earl, for the Sega Genesis. Yes, I dust off the old directional pad with the A,B,C buttons from time to time. I also grabbed 2 South Park N64 games. One is a racing game, and the other is an adventure game.

But back to ToeJam and Earl. If you're not familiar with the game, the guys are aliens. ToeJam is long and tubular, has 3 legs and a gold medallion. Earl is a rather portly fellow who wears a backward baseball hat and sunglasses. They crash-landed their space ship here. Your mission is to help them find the missing pieces and get home. The pieces are on various free-form exploratory levels--although you are in a third-person view, so its easier to see-- which seems to be a floating island. If you were to fall off the edge of say level 7, you'd end up on level 6 and have to make your way through again. The game board map is shrouded however, until you visit that area. Once you've seen that part of the level, you can see it on the map. There are many obstacles to avoid, including bees, men with lawnmowers, hula women who entrance you, and a man in a carrot suit. You may even see the boogeyman. Once each piece is found (there isn't always a piece on each level, but the tell you when there is), you then have to find the elevator to the next level. There are also may power-ups along the way. Hot fudge sundaes, decoys, money and rocket skates are just some of thing mystery presents you'll find.

It's possibly one of the most entertaining games I've played. And it was made for Sega Genesis. They got it right early.

So what are some other great video games from the past? I'd love to have some comments and feedback.

Twitter Bio profile of the day: @MrLeCure

That's Reds pitcher Sam LeCure. Now I'm not sure if this post relates to him cause I'm not sure if he's big on video games or comic books or Star Wars, but he just seems like an all-around cool guy. So he seems like he wouldn't mind.

Sam's twitter is always awesome. A mix of baseball-related things, inspirational things (without being overbearing about it), and just normal person things like hanging with his family. I'm sure a lot of the people that follow me also follow him, but tell some friends who don't. He really is great, and seems like he'd take the time to talk to anyone at any time. Also, the fellas at In The Gap Shirts have done several shirts for him, which he's helped with. I'll get to the ITG guys in later posts more related to baseball. But for now, as Sam would say, be easy everybody.

My Love/Hate (Bracket) Relationship

March Madness always stirs up in me mixed feelings. So, today I will list the things that I simultaneously love and loathe about this time of year.

LOVE
Teams I rarely get to see during the regular season, getting a shot at the Big Kids


LOATHE
The fact that if one of these teams wins, it's somehow a miracle. These guys know how to play ball just like the guys on the other side. They may not have as many scholarships, but on any given day, unless you have some freak of nature on your team, I think any team could have a shot to beat any other.

LOVE
Seeing the local teams make the Big Dance. I feel like it reflects well on the area. And we sure could use some good PR after what the boys in Clifton and the boys on Victory Parkway did to each other earlier this season.

LOATHE
Having to pick against said local teams when it comes to my bracket. When I fill out my bracket, I always want them to win it all. But then I have to let my head take over and be realistic.

LOVE
The idea of giving more teams a shot to make the tournament with the First Four games.

LOATHE
That all four games aren't games to make it in at 16. So USF and Cal are both considered to be a 12, yet one of them will not get to play in the tournament? One of them could have been a 13.

BONUS LOATHE
That they're called the First Four. Call them what they are. Play-in games. 


LOVE
How quickly people get behind their team. The tournament gives people from non-front-running schools a reason to dig their gear out.

LOATHE
How so few tickets are actually available to students and alumni for these games. Aren't they playing in college arenas? UC had 50 student tickets available for the game. Of course, all the big money donors were taken care of first. (Rant for a different day)

LOVE
Buzzer-beaters. Is there anything more exciting in sports than a 10-seed being down 1 or 2 against a 2-seed with 10 seconds left and seeing them run the perfect play to drain the winning shot? Or even better, see them drain the most imperfect, improbable shot ever to win the game.

LOATHE
Bad officiating at the end of a game that directly affects the outcome. Now, I know, someone's bad officiating is someone else's good officiating. And if there wasn't bad officiating earlier in the game, then we wouldn't be in this situation. But people remember the end of the game. And if officiating at the end affected the game-play, people go crazy. I just hope its mostly clean this year.

LOVE
That for the next few weeks, my job will be to watch these games. While other companies (according to the studies) are losing time, productivity, and money, I'm actually doing my job while watching them.

LOATHE
Having to get pulled away to do actual work while the games are on. **Fist shakes** Not really, cause there's pretty much a TV in every room at the station. So I'll hardly ever miss any action.


Today's Twitter bio profile is: @theworldofdale

Dale was on my list of people to meet at the ballpark a few days ago. So, as you may guess, we've never met. But that's the beauty of Twitter. We live in the same city and have never met, yet converse often. She runs a blog on the Enquirer's website with two other ladies called Dames on Games. She controls that twitter handle as well. It's @damesongames. As you might assume, this blog is dedicated to the female view of sports.

Dale is an interesting follow. Sometimes she's very insightful. Sometimes she's off-the-wall. And sometimes...well sometimes she gets into fights with Alec Baldwin. Dale is not originally from Cincinnati, but we don't fault her for that because she has embraced Cincinnati sports. However, she does still have an allegiance to the Tigers and Knicks. (She really liked my idea that the next Lin/Tebow player would come from the Tigers, owing to their uniform colors). So if you think you'd like to follow a woman who can talk whether not to continue the Crosstown Shootout after this year's ugliness and how she thinks Mat Latos will pitch in GABP, but also thinks the dark circles under Devin Mesoraco's eyes are cute, this might be a good follow for you. Also, she'll make an occasional poop joke or try to get Arian Foster to say something to her.