Kull's World

Blah, Blah, Blah...

• Blind Squirrel & The Nut Part II:  Not to take anything away from Miami's win over Clemson, but man my Canes really got lucky in that one.  Blow a ten point lead in the 4th quarter and get into OT only because the Clemson QB over throws a wide open receiver after the DB had fallen down?  Sweet jesus...but I'll take it.  Tough way to start the schedule for the Canes playing at the Doak and Death Valley, now they can finally enjoy some home cooking at the OB.
• I flat out cannot talk on the phone on my left ear.  I tried it last week at work and again on my cell phone later in the day.  I can hear perfectly fine out the ear, it just feels strange.
• It was funny walking on the plane with Benjamin and getting those "please don't sit behind me" looks from other passengers.  F them...he only cried once!
• For anyone curious, substantial completion on the Big Dig is set for Halloween 2005 and all the work will allegedly be completed by May 31, 2006.  What a joke, they were throwing around that "substantial completion" phrase when I was on the project 2 years ago.
• David Ortiz should win the MVP Award, and if he doesn't it will be a travesty.  He is clearly the "most valuable" to his team.  Arod is an outstanding player and if there was an award named for that, he should win it.  But take away Ortiz, the Sox are down where the Orioles are; take away Arod and I think the Yanks are still sporting the same record.  I don't think I am being a homer here, I think its the truth.  Vlad G clinched the award last year by carrying his team in September, that is what Papi is doing now.  Even last night in a 15-2 route, he started things off by saying "let's go fellas, we're fricken hitting tonight, follow my lead!"  Doesn't matter if he doesn't play the field, I know I'm not the first person to make this argument, but I just had to say it.
• Kull's World Music Recommendation:  War to be One by Audible Mainframe.  The front man for this group is a friend of Chris Garvey.  I met him at Garvey's wedding a few years back.  These guys are mad talented, and again I don't think I am being a "homer" here cuz the guy is a friend of a friend...they can bring it.  You can purchase their latest CD at CD Baby, which is an enjoyable customer service experience in itself.  Also, they are donating a portion of the proceeds to Hurricane Katrina Relief, pretty impressive for a small band that hasn't hit the big time yet.
• Last but certainly not least.  Kull's World welcomes Alaina Lynne Garcia into this crazy world.  The bouncing baby girl was delivered by my step-sis Lindsay on Monday morning at 10:20AM, tipping the scales at 5lbs 6oz and 18 inches long, a little peanut!  Kristin and I hope to visit the Burg this weekend to meet #11, two new nieces in a ten day span.  Crazy.

Interaction with "Celebrity"

So Kristin, Benjamin and I are walking through Dulles Airport yesterday morning about 7:30AM towards our connecting flight.  There's a guy walking towards us, as he gets closer the guy gives me the head nod, you know the one guys do to one another to recognize each other.  Its like a "whassup" in guy sign language.  So I give it back to him and then Kristin looks at me with a "who was that?" expression.  To which I reply "that was Syrus from the Real World." 

Maybe he was on his way to film another season of The Inferno or something, although he wasn't on Season 2.  Not sure exactly why he gave me the nod, might have been due to my Sox WS Champions Shirt I was sporting, he was on the Real World-Boston...maybe there was a connection?  Who knows, it was kind of funny though. 

And the first thing I thought of was how proud Moon would be of me that I knew who it was, even on 4 hours of sleep.

Ben poops on the Nittany Lion!!!

P9160015.JPG
Originally uploaded by JAKULL.

Ha ha...no just kidding. Ben would never do that to the famous shrine at his Mom's alma mater!

We trekked to State College, PA this weekend. Benzino had his first airplane ride, and was just fine. He was also one of 100K or so paying customers watching Penn State beat up on the Central Michigan football team in Happy Valley.

Oh, and I managed to survive the short flights from D.C. to State College on prop planes without any mood altering drugs, a very good sign!

NUMBER TEN

Amanda Grace Goodrich has arrived.  The tenth grandchild for my Dad & Pattie arrived last week, on September 9th (I think) just after midnight.  She is the daughter of my step-sister Brooke and brother in law Chris, and of course little sister of Adam.  She won't be the youngest of the grandkids for too long though, as #11 will be here before you know it.

NHL 94

Boston.com has been conducting a survey for the past several weeks polling readers to vote on their favorite sports video game of all time.  Not surprisingly, NHL 94 won the title!

I don't wanna even start to think about how many hours my friends and I spent playing this classic on Kirby Avenue (both #6 & #14).  Naked runs down the street were required if you got shut out by a certain score, anyone recall the specifics?  Much trash was spoken on the regular.  But the best part of this game was you could create your own player, some of my personal favorites of my own creation:

Iam Thewall #1- French Canadien Goalie that minded the net for my Detroit Red Wings, the I AM THE WALL look of his name is purely coincidental...but he was tough to score on.
Julio Rodriguez #6 - Possibly the first NHL 94 player out of Puerto Rico.

And of course, the legendary Brickey Brothers:
GIL BRICKEY #95 - Burly RW , not as talented as his brother, had a ton of heart and a legend in the game.
GENE BRICKEY #96 - LW , this kid had all the talent in the family, a scorer.
GUS BRICKEY #97 - C , the youngest of the brothers, drug problems really held him back, never reached his full potential...but could outskate anyone in the league.

I know there were plenty of other classic names created by Smitty, Rivers, Gilly, etc.  Please share them boys and give me a good chuckle...

Greatest Pitcher of All Time?

Roger Clemens or Nolan Ryan?  Or someone else?

I am in the midddle of a debate with a friend.  I say its Clemens.  Let me know who you think is the best...

Update:  Okay, let me just ask this way then.  Clemens or Ryan, who was better?  Just compare those two, they played in slightly different times, with a slight overlap.  I still think Clemens is better, even though Ryan had 7 no-no's.

Blind Squirrel finds a nut!

Okay, not to take anything away from Florida State's win over Miami , but what the F....I am sure Seminole fans will even say Miami lost it more than they won it.  That was one of the most frustrating sporting events to watch on television, ever!

Let me clear my throat:
- Devin Hester needs to stop reading all his Press Clippings and get his head in the freakin game.  Because  he seemed to have his head up his ass most of Monday night.  Or maybe Deion just paid him off to look like a complete jackass on punt returns all night.  I hope he was just trying a bit too hard to make a game changing play and snaps out of it next game.
- The Miami Offensive Line should be ashamed of themselves, and Art Kehoe (O-Line Coach) should be embarrassed to walk on campus this week.  Pathetic....9 sacks.  Although 2-3 of them should be put on the young QB's shoulders, as he should have thrown it away rather than take the sack.
- The long snapper...you know who does it on your team?  Its a very important job, Canes fans know that all too well by now.  The holder is kind of important too, looks like its time for some more reps in practice there boys!

Looking on the bright side:
- Kyle Wright showed poise and promise.  He is going to be a great Quarterback.  Unfortunately, as he showed lots of potential during that final drive.  He also showed he was very inexperienced, taking that costly sack on 2nd and Goal from the 1-2.  That hurt.  But he and Olsen could be the new Dorsey/Shockey Combo for the next couple years.
- The Defense is damn good again.  Although Jennings dropping that easy INT kind of stung!
- Tyrone Moss looks much faster this year, after losing a few LBS in the off season, thank god.

Gotta give FSU credit.  They took advantage of a costly UM turnover to score a TD early and got another field goal from good field position, and that would be all they would need.  And their constant blitzing obviously did enough to contain UM.  And hell...they scored more points than the Canes, bottom line.  Just like the Red Sox had to beat the Yankees eventually, the Noles had to beat the Canes, and they did....for the first time since 1999. (I didn't even know my wife when that happened!!!)

Lastly, Gary Danielson is god awful, and Musburger doesn't exactly make him sound any better.  At one point when Tyrone Moss was clearly having trouble with his hamstring, and being stretched by the trainer, Danielson wondered "I'm not sure if its a problem with the ankle or the hamstring"  Wow...cutting edge color commentating there Gary.  And don't even get me started on Jack Arute on the sidelines.  Okay...that's enough.

Thank god for the Sox, and BIG PAPI!  And, this just in THE YANKEES LOSE, THE YANKEES LOSE.....THEEEEEE YANKEES LOSE!!!!

Kanye Drops Knowledge...

Kanye West spoke his mind last night during the live, or "several second delayed" broadcast of a Hurricane Relief Concert on NBC.  Some highlights:

"George Bush doesn't care about black people."

"They’re saying black families are looting and white families are just looking for food…they’re giving the (Army) permission to shoot us"

This page links to the video (although I couldn't get it to play on my Mac).  It was funny, shocking, awkward yet powerful at the same time.  Kanye was just speaking from his heart, not off some silly teleprompter.

Friday Filler

Thoughts that crossed my mind this morning while trying hard not to think about the devastation in the Gulf Coast:
- College football kicked off last night and gets into full swing this weekend.  Giddyup!  I purchased my ESPN Gameplan last week and am looking forward to some exciting matchups all season long.  Miami really has a shot at the National TItle this year, but lots of hope is riding on a very inexperienced Quarterback...if he is all that he is hyped up to be, the Canes could be playing those USC Trojans in the Rose Bowl come January...but it will be a tough ride, starting Monday night vs. FSU.
- I made the mistake yesterday of weaving through the streets of Allston/Brighton after chowing on an Anna's burritto for lunch, normally it would be okay but not on the day thousands of Boston college students are moving back into their dorms/apartments.  Feels like just yesterday we saw that brainiac Harvard student moving his stuff out of his dorm in plastic bags and a shopping cart (Blaugra...you remember that right?)
- At the gym last night while climbing flights of stairs on the stairmaster I could hardly keep a straight face watching some sort of Dance Aerobic Class going on behind the glass next to me.  I was honestly looking for a table assignment and trying to recall if I requested the prime rib or stuffed chicken.  They should call the class "Wedding Dance Floor Disco Aerobics" or something.  This was freakin hilarious, I am quite sure the instructor worked as a DJ on the weekends leading the Macarena or Electric Slide, I wish I had my video camera.  Words probably aren't doing this justice....'um yeah Kull sounds pretty funny.'
- Looking forward to a very relaxing extended long weekend in Stamford.  One party to go to, and Mark & Heather coming down to meet Benjamin for the first time.  Don't even mind the $3.50 a gallon we'll be paying in gas to get there, its all good.
- SOX, SOX, SOX! I love when they win and the Yankees lose.  Always a good day.  Watching John Olerud swing the bat is a thing of beauty.  But I find it funny how he is constantly referred to as a "professional hitter"....aren't they all?  Isn't Kevin Millar a professional hitter too?!?!?!
- One rant...I hate when guys don't take off their hats during the national anthem at sporting events.
- I really hope THE WAVE is obsolete by the time Ben is of an age to enjoy it.  I will have a hard time pretending to enjoy it with him.  Because I am sure he'll like it as most kids do.

That's all for now.  Be heading south soon to Connecticut, hope the Pike's not a Pahking Lot!

4 Months

4 Months
Originally uploaded by JAKULL.

I am a little late on my 4 month photo post....but here goes.

Stats from 4 month checkup:
25 inches long or "two foot one"
14lbs 3.7 oz
Maintaining the 50th percentile rate and the numerous "oh he's going to be a big guy just like his Daddy" comments.

The changes in Benjamin the past month have been amazing. He now giggles uncontrollably at times, he has a kung fu grip like no other - which is particularly effective at pulling out his Dad's chest hair, he continues to "talk it up", sticks out his tongue, he rolls over, etc, etc.

Every day, I come home from work and get Ben from our downstairs neighbors that watch him (until he starts at daycare place). I walk in the door and say HI to him, and usually within a second or two I get a big smile from him as he realizes its me. That feeling is indescribable.