TV, Sports, Summatime

<>

DISCLAIMER: this blog is mine & mine alone. It bears no reflection on my friends, family, or place of employment.

Part I
I was totally stoked to see Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip return to the NBC lineup in the past two weeks. My fiancee hates it, but I've enjoyed the show since it debuted last fall. If you've never watched it 1) check out the new episodes on Thursday night 2) hook up w/NBC.com & view old episodes online.

Part II
On the subject of sports, there's good, and there's bad. The good is/was Lebron James' 48 point Game 5 performance vs. the Pistons. He scored the final 25 CLE points to single-handedly win the game. That performance puts him in the pantheon of great playoff performers w/Jordan, Magic, Big O, etc. I wasn't overwhelmed early on about LBJ & was not a big "fan", but I'm becoming more convinced that he is one of The Greats. Won't become a bandwagon Cavs fan over this, but I am happy for the fans & those that live in Cleveland, and will watch him w/interest.

The bad: Michael Vick. Even though the prosecutors are moving very slowly, very cautiously, it appears more & more likely that a strong case can & will be made against Vick for his involvement in dog fighting. Being the animal lover I am, those that neglect or abuse animals rank right at the top of my personal shit list. And trailertrash thug punk assholes that are involved in dog fighting - they're the worst of the lot. It sounds like active, reputable informants can place Vick at the scene of dogfights, can attest to the large amounts of money he bets, and the fact that Vick brings dogs for fighting. I hope the prosecutors put together an air-tight case, indict, and nail Vick's ass. I hope the NFL suspends him for at least the season, if not for life, and that he does time. Vick is one of the few pro athletes to be named "by name" (Qyntel Woods of the NBA is another) for involvement in dogfighting, but I hope that any/all people involved in this heinous, abhorrent, inhuman spectacle get what's coming to 'em.

Part III
Summertime is most def. upon us. The Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial kickoff of Summer has come & gone, and now we begin in earnest. College seniors are graduating, public schools are winding down, "senior classes" (8th graders in jr. high, seniors in HS) are enjoying end-o-the-year activities, the weather's turning hot & humid. Yeah, summertime is here - my favorite season of the year. Our move to FLA happens at the end of the month. And some might question the sanity of that decision. If you've ever been in FL - or probably anywhere along the Gulf Coast in the summer - you'll get a feel for the heat & humidity. It's like nothing else, but in a twisted way I kinda enjoy it, and am totally looking forward to moving back to Tampa Bay. Thankfully we're missing the first tropical storm of the year (Barry) dropping in on the Sunshine State, and hopefully the 2K6 hurricane season won't be as active nor as intense as the 'experts' say.

Part IV
Job hunts suck! It's been two months, and though I've gotten some nibbles on my resume, nothing concrete has been aligned prior to our move. Actually, I have had some action, but recruiters seem to ignore the part of my profile that says "relocating to Tampa/St. Pete/Clearwater". I have inquiries to gauge interest in jobs in Simi Valley, OC, Dallas, Boston area, DC area, etc. but nothing yet in Tampa. Recruiters must think I put down my target location as a joke, just for shits & grins, cuz they certainly pay no heed to it. As I'm pretty specialized in IT (not an Oracle DBA, Java Developer, or true Sys Admin ((Windows Servers, Unix, etc.)) the jobs that I'm looking for are few & far between. One upside is that when they're open there ain't much competition, and the compensation is pretty good. No worries though, just like when we moved to VA from Charlotte, the right fit will come up when the time is right.

Closing
Well, time to sign off, get out & mow the lawn (read: sweat my ass off!). This'll be a busy month, but a good month filled w/lots of big things. I think that can be said for the Summer, and probably the rest of the year too. As for my interest in politics I'll be interested to see how things progress in Iraq, and if Bush really vetoes an anti price-gouging bill for gasoline, if it comes from Congress. The NBA season wraps up, baseball will take focus, and the NFL activity starts to pick up momentum. Stay cool, stay save, and get out there & Live Life, enjoy whatcha got while you got it! Namaste.