Finishing May

On Monday I was able to meet with my friend for lunch at the Hobbit Cafe.  Good conversation as always.

Tuesday and Wednesday were my days to finish packing and start getting this moved to the new address.

Thursday I drove down to Brownsville, actually Lyford.  It was a long drive, but not too bad.  On the way I got a text about a tornado near my brother's house in Bryan.  Lots of flooding as well.  Please pray for all those affected by the storms in Texas.  I was able to stay at the house of a friend from seminary, right in the middle of farming country.  It was actually greener than I expected.  It was not too bad. 

On Friday we went to see X-Men: Apocalypse.  It was ok, with some good action scenes, but overall most of the characters were underused.  Perhaps I've been spoiled by Captain America: Civil War.  Then we headed down to McAllen for the ordination at the Basilica Shrine of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle.  The basilica itself was a bit too modern for me.  I was expected more of a Spanish mission feel.  The ordination was beautiful with lots of Spanish.  After the ordination myself and a few other seminarians met for a late dinner (dessert) at a local Italian restaurant.  We got back to the house late for some sleep before I had to drive back on Saturday.

I drove back early on Saturday because we were trying to get the family together one more time before the move.  Unfortunately because of the flooding one family could not make it, but we had a good time regardless.  Sunday was my day of rest.

I set out for Wisconsin on Monday.  The stop overnight was in Springfield, Missouri.  The drive was basically uneventful.  I spent the night at a Route 66 Best Western.  It was ok, though not as unique as the reviews made it sound.  The desk manager recommended I go to lunch at a diner next door, which gives a 10% discount.  The food was alright, and fairly cheap.

Tuesday started with a stop at a local parish for Mass on the feast of the Visitation.  After a quick breakfast, I was on the road to Wisconsin.  The scenery was much better this day heading through the hills of Missouri and the farms of Illinois and Wisconsin.  9 hours later, I arrived at St. Bernard's Catholic Church in Madison.  The pastor and religious education coordinator were kind enough to help me move stuff out of my car up to my room.  Then it was time for dinner.  After a check online, I headed over to a local sandwich joint (Crostini Sandwiches).  Fresh squeezed lemonade, California chicken panini, and a free chocolate chip cookie after I mentioned I just moved in.  It was all good, I will definitely be returning.  I spent the rest of the night moving in my stuff before I got too worn out and called it a night.  Apparently I slept through a strong thunderstorm.

Now, I'm sitting in my new room after the first Mass at the parish (with the windows open, something unthinkable in Houston).  I am looking forward to a good summer getting to know Madison.

A Very Busy Month

May has been and will continue to be quite the busy month for me.  Here is a little look at the place I've been and the things I've done.

Let's start at the very beginning.  (A very good place to start.)  Our last day of class was Thursday, May 5, which ended with a final Mass where the Schola sang the Franz Biebl Ave Maria which we had been preparing since at least Spring Break.  After Mass those of us who were completing Pre Theology were given a certificate of completion. 

Two guys I will miss the most, we survived two years together

The next day was cleaning and move out day.  Instead, I went to see Captain America: Civil War with my good friend from UNT.  My brief review: it's the best movie of the MCU.  That night I was given two tickets to the Mariners/Astros game.  I could not pass up free tickets, especially since they were in the Club Level and I had never been there before.  It was a pretty exciting experience.  Outside of a bases loaded triple in the seventh, Fister pitched well to even his record at 3-3.  Correa went 3-3 with a home run, and we got to see Marwin Gonzalez's first non-solo home run.

I was back at the stadium the next day.  I had planned for a while to bring my dad as his birthday present, plus I wanted to get the Dallas Keuchel bobblehead.  Keuchel actually pitched decently, though he gave up solo home runs in the first two innings to Robinson Cano and Kyle Seager (both lefties).  The Astros tied it when Valbuena (finally) hit his first home run of the year in the bottom of the ninth to send it to extra innings.  Cano ended it with his second home run of the game in the tenth.  It was another in a long line of losses the Astros should have won.

Pictured: losing pitcher

The next week was full of packing for the move.  I also got rid of a bunch of stuff, including all of my notes from graduate school and my dissertation.  It was surprising how easy that was.  I able to have dinner with some good friends Monday night.  Then on Friday I went down to Clear Lake to hang out with my friend again and go back to Space Center Houston one last time.  Of course it's different now, especially with that giant (fake) space shuttle on the 747.  It was a cool tour, and it's always great to be reminded of how large/small the shuttle was.  (Large overall, tiny in the living space.)

The early part of the next week included a fair amount of packing again.  Then, my first big adventure.  On Thursday, I headed up to Bryan/College Station to see my brother and family.  After lunch with him, I headed over to Texas A&M for one last look around.  Unforunately it was raining fairly hard, so I pretty much cut it down to the Memorial Student Center, the Academic Building, and Kyle Field.  I even snuck into the 12th Man Foundation part of the Zone of Kyle Field.  I walked around like I knew what was doing, and found a door open to a hallway that looked like it headed somewhere near the field but was too chicken to find out more.

That night, we were able to go to Blue Bell Park to see the #2 Aggies take on the #6 Rebels in the final homestand of the season.  It was my first trip to the recently renovated field, and we all had a good time.  The Ags scored in the bottom of the first and the Rebels tied it in the second, then it was solid pitching and a horrible strike zone by the ump.  But the Aggies prevailed, scoring 5 runs in the 6th inning.  There just might be some young Aggies here yet.

Friday I had a good day beginning with taking my niece and nephew to get donuts before school.  After a little down time with my brother, I drove up to Dallas where I was staying the night at Holy Trinity Seminary.  The power was out when I got there, but that allowed me to spend some time talking with a couple of seminarians from Galveston-Houston, reading, and a little nap.  I grabbed a quick dinner at Smashburger (my first time, it was ok), then back to the seminary to watch the Astros lose to the Rangers in their spacious TV lounge.  Saturday was the big day: going to the Fort Worth Priestly Ordination.  St. Patrick's Cathedral is quite beautiful.  While vesting in the sacristy, I was amazed to look up and see a stained glass window of my favorite saint Maximilian Kolbe.  What a treat!  The ordination was a moving experience (actually my first priest ordination).  I knew I was going to have to drive down to Houston after it, so I was hoping to see my friend and get his first blessing quickly at the reception.  I was worried by the number of people, but I realized they were all waiting in line for food, so I went right up to his table.  I was greatly blessed when he stopped everything to bless me first!  Again, it was a great experience.

I came back on Saturday so that I could go to the Astros game on Sunday with my sister and nephew, probably our last chance to do so together in Houston.  The final score was terrible (9-2 and another sweep), but we had a good time together, even if he got all jacked up on cotton candy.

Now I'm starting off another very busy week, with a trip to Brownsville in store before I move up to Madison for good.  I'll have to give an update as everything progresses.

Last Things

This week has been another round of "lasts."  Last class.  Last test.  Last Mass.  Last meal.  Last goodbye.  I've had quite a few of these in my life, so you'd think I'd be good at them, but alas.  Sometimes you don't know quite what to say or how to say it until it's too late.  And the looming problem is always: when will I see you again?

This goodbye has been especially bittersweet.  In my two years at St. Mary's, I have met a number of great people and had some very good times.  But I also am looking forward to what the future holds.  But I also will miss some good friends.  But I will make more.

As much as I complained, and we all do, St. Mary's was my home for two years.  For every thing that bugged me, there were many more that made up for them. 

There are always too many people to say goodbye to, so I always miss some.  There are always some things that I wanted to do, either for the first time or one more time, but I run out of time.

As I prepare to drive away from St. Mary's one last time, I cannot help but have these mixed feelings of missing but looking forward.  There is always that part that worries about the unknown future and wants to plant heels in the comfortable past.  But I trust in God, and I know whatever He has planned for me will be worth it.  I just have to put the effort forward to say my best goodbyes and hope I leave as much an impression on others as they do on me.

Thank you, St. Mary's.

Time to Panic?

This encapsulates the Astros season so far, where Jeff Luhnow (GM) is Buzz and I (and many others) are Woody.  Yes, it's early in the season.  The Astros are 5-11 (and losing 5-0 as I type).  It's only sixteen games in, out of 162.  That's only 1/10th of the season.  There's plenty of time to come back!

I mean, after all, Tyler White is looking good.  Jose Altuve is raking.  They won AL Player of the Week the first two weeks!  Colby Rasmus is crushing the ball and significantly more patient at the plate.  George Springer is getting hot.  Chris Devenski has been a revelation in the bullpen.

Yeah, but.  They have the worst team ERA in the American League.  They are tied for the worst record in the American League.  Ken Giles has already given up more home runs this season than all of last season.  The starting rotation, even Dallas Keuchel (save his home start against the Tigers) has been awful.  Speaking of awful, Jason Castro, Luis Valbuena, and Carlos Gomez cannot hit to save their lives, and the other options on the bench are not much better.  Oh, and then there's the complete and utter inability to hit with men in scoring position.  And should we mention how the two big trades, to the Brewers and the Phillies, are already looking terrible?  Domingo Santana is playing much better than Gomez.  Vincent Velasquez has a 0.93 ERA through three starts with 29 Ks in 19 innings.

So, what do I do?  Can I look on the bright side?  After all, Lance McCullers should be back in the next month.  Colin Moran, Danny Worth, and Alex Bregman are looking good early in the Minors (pay no attention to A.J. Reed's .208 batting average).  Plus, you can't really judge a team's season until Memorial Day.  And, as I long time fantasy baseball player, I know not to make any rash moves the first month of the season.  Just let things play out!

Ok, but what if the ship does not right itself?  What if McCullers has a sophomore slump?  What if they simply cannot handle the pressure?  What if they're so far out by Memorial Day the tombstone is in place?  What if they make another bad trade in an attempt to fix things?

Right now, I'm going to choose to panic.  I can't help it.  After all, I can't really turn to soccer in the meantime.  Everton is even worse.

French Revolution?

A little thought experiment I had in class the other day.  This is the problem with having a mind like mine that makes connections like this. 

The ultimate question became, did the French win the American Revolution?

In Modern Philosophy the professor was trying to pronounce Arnold Geulincx's name.  After being told he was wrong by a student who speaks French, he said "if it wasn't for us they'd be speaking German, so that gives me the right to say pronounce French however I want."  This was, of course, a joke, so don't get all upset about that.  But it lead me to think this: well if it wasn't for them we'd still be bowing to the Queen.  Which led me to this proposition: the French won the American Revolution.

But, my thought process went, French involvement, particularly monetarily, was a major impetus for King Louis XVI calling for more taxes.  (Pardon my quick and dirty history)  So he called for the Estates-General, which led to the French Revolution, which led to his departure, much death, Terror, the Republic, Napoleon, etc.  In many ways, France was worse off thanks to their Revolution.  So in that way, their involvement in the American Revolution led to their downfall.

I suppose it comes down to (at least) two questions.  Is a republic better than a monarchy?  Is secularism (a clear result of the French Revolution) better than Christianity?  Those are two big questions, of which I would answer "maybe" and "no way."  But depending on how you answer those two questions, you can answer my bigger question.  Did the French win the American Revolution?

Batman v Superman

I finally saw Batman v Superman.  I've been waiting a long time for this.  I almost went on opening day, but since it was Good Friday I thought that wasn't the most appropriate thing.  Since then I have been waiting for a chance, and finally got it.

I went into the movie with mixed feelings.  At first I was very excited at the chance to see the two biggest superheroes on screen together.  Add Wonder Woman and you've got a very compelling opportunity.  I was not the biggest fan of Man of Steel, and certainly not of the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight series, but I still had hope.  Then the reviews came out, and I got worried.  So I went with a mixture of high anticipation and weariness.

I am not an expert of the comics, but I am a big fan.  Batman has always been my favorite major character, and DC much more than Marvel.  I have read most of the major stories for both Batman and Superman, so I think I have a pretty good idea of what the characters should be.  In short: I love Batman: The Animated Series, really like Michael Keaton, think Val Kilmer was better than his movie, George Clooney was a joke, and Christian Bale was more Bruce Wayne than Batman (the complete opposite from the way it should be and a critical miss).

Let me start with the good, and there will be spoilers.

Ben Affleck was great.  I was not one of the those who feared his casting.  He has been great recently, and I liked the idea of an older Batman.  He was miles better than Christian Bale, though his Batman was pretty bad.  Of the live action versions, I'd say he fell just short of Michael Keaton, but better than the rest.  He was definitely more gritty, brutal, and was Batman more than Bruce Wayne, fixing the problem with the Dark Knight series.

Gal Gadot was very good.  I do not know Wonder Woman nearly as well as the other two, but it was very cool to finally see her on the big screen.  I very much look forward to seeing more of her in the future.

Overall the casting has been great.  Henry Cavill has a very good Superman in him, I just think the way he has been written has been a little off.  Jesse Eisenberg was fine for how they went with Lex Jr., but he was definitely the weakest link.

I am ashamed to admit it, but I never realized Martha was the name of both their moms.  That was an interesting bit, and was a smart way to turn Batman to realize Superman's humanity.  Great job there.

Now, some problems.

I thought the "can we trust Superman?" part of the story was great, which only left me wanting more.  I guess my biggest problem with the movie is they tried to bite off more than they could chew.  As someone else said, there were about five potentially great movies crammed into one.  If they would have focused on the big question about Superman, and the distrust between Batman and Superman, it probably would have been a better picture.  Keep in Lex pulling the strings, keep Wonder Woman doing her thing, all that is fine.

Adding to my biggest problem was the ending.  The fight between Batman and Superman was fantastic.  You could really feel the two titans beating each other up.  Either one could win.  It was balanced very well.  Then, they added one of the greatest Superman villains, and it all seemed rushed.  They fell prey to the problems of Venom in Spider-Man 3 and Two-Face in The Dark Knight.  Throw in one of the great villains at the end and use him up.  That should have been a movie all on its own.  Then they could have properly introduced the entire Justice League to band together to take him down (which I suppose they are waiting to do for Darkseid).

Speaking of the Justice League, what about those non-cameos.  You hype the heroes, especially Aquaman, and then show them for about thirty seconds total?  It's like a worse version of Luke in The Force Awakens.  That was disappointing.

The death of Superman.  Look, I get it, Doomsday means Superman has to die.  I just thought it was a little weak, which comes out of the rushed feeling of that final fight.  Again, it should have been a movie unto itself.  And please do not get me started on the completely cliched bagpipes for the funeral.  I literally rolled my eyes when they started up.

The score.  I have learned to temper my expectations any time I see Hans Zimmer's name attached to a superhero movie.  Clearly the best parts of the Dark Knight series came from James Newton Howard.  He completely botched Man of Steel.  The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was a travesty.  Here, we get more of the same.  It's basically just noise.  There's a reason Danny Elfman's Batman and John Williams' Superman remain the best superhero scores.  They were epic, with instantly recognizable themes.  The Superman theme, like the Batman theme before it, is minimalist and underused.  I will admit I liked what I'm guessing is the Wonder Woman theme that kicked in when she showed up, though again it pretty much devolved into electric guitar noise.  I could not be more happy with his announcement that he is "quitting superhero films."  Someday I will rank the superhero scores just to show how bad his have been.

End rant.

All that being said, I liked the movie.  Similar to The Force Awakens, it made me excited to see more from the universe.  I cannot wait to see more Batman and Wonder Woman in particular.  If they want to, the DCU can be immensely better than Marvel.  I just hope they can tighten the stories a little more.

7.5/10

2016 Baseball Season Preview

BASEBALL SEASON IS UPON US!!!!

As you can tell, I am very excited about tomorrow being the best day of the year: Opening Day! (never mind the games played today)  So, I wanted to present my predictions for the year. 

AL East

Toronto - building on last year

Baltimore - I liked their additions

Boston - Price was a good pickup, but too high a price (HA!)

New York - old men get older

Tampa Bay - still a year or two away

AL Central

Kansas City - love this team makeup

Cleveland (Wild Card) - a solid young team

Detroit - do they have enough?

Chicago - good pieces don't add up

Minnesota - not enough

AL West

Houston - too much talent not to

Texas (Wild Card) - a healthy year for a strong team

Los Angeles - somewhat of a mess

Oakland - always in the chase

Seattle - King Felix no more

NL East

Washington - only Matt Williams could fail with this much talent

New York (Wild Card) - fantastic starting rotation and just enough offense

Miami - if Giancarlo can stay healthy

Philadelphia - rebuilding mode

Atlanta - blowup mode preparing for new stadium

NL Central

Chicago - drinking the Cool-Aid

Pittsburgh - a tough division means they just miss Wild Card for first time in four years

St. Louis - because they can't keep winning

Milwaukee - trying to copy the Astros

Cincinnati - Votto is gone by the All Star Break

NL West

Los Angeles - they eventually have to live up to the hype

San Francisco (Wild Card) - because it's an even year

Arizona - Pollock injury crushes them

San Diego - not much to see here

Colorado - even less here once CarGo leaves

ALCS - Houston over Toronto

NLCS - Washington over Chicago

World Series - Houston over Washington (complete homer pick, I hope it is not a jinx)

And now a few points on the Astros:

They already have the best double play combo in the game, by the end of the season they will have the best young infield in the game as Tyler White secures 3B and A.J. Reed secures 1B.

They best outfield defense in the game is a little too crowded.  I would say Marisnick gets traded, but that would leave two lefties in left field (Rasmus and Tucker).  This means either Tucker or Gattis may be used to upgrade catcher (Lucroy from Milwaukee?)  I would prefer Rasmus was gone, but they spent too much to keep him.

Lance McCullers will return from injury and become an ace, even with Dallas Keuchel having a solid year following his Cy Young.  Mike Fiers will hold down the fourth spot in the rotation and Doug Fister the fifth.  They will try to trade Scott Feldman, but no one wants his contract.

Ken Giles will be good, but perhaps not as dominant as last year.  Nevertheless he will anchor the best bullpen not in Royal blue.

The Astros will miss 100 wins largely because of the strength of the division.  My prediction is 95, good for second or third best in all of baseball.  Carlos Correa wins MVP, Tyler White wins Rookie of the Year.