Just a brief announcement.

My grandmother passed away this morning. My brother, father, I and my son will be leaving to Texas most likely this evening or tonight. Not quite sure. It'll take 22 hours to drive straight through though.

Earlier this morning Kurt our computer person and tech phoned us up to tell us that his friend and partner Charlie had a massive heart attack and died earlier today from what I understood when my father took the call at work today.

This news was rather sudden and very unexpected. Charlie was a wonderful person and acquaintance and was always a cheerful person to talk to. He had a great disposition and a pleasant sense of humor. He was very close to my cousin Tina and we're both amazed at his passing at the age of 51.

I don't know when funeral services are going to be scheduled for Charlie, but considering the current status of my grandmother I may not be able to attend his service.

Anyway, Charlie...God be with you and thank you for everything you've done for us. My thoughts will be with your family.

I know it has been quite some time since my last real post and that I've not made many recent journals for a while. Truth be told I've been pretty busy and when I haven't been I tended to just veg out online for distractions. Mostly I've been watching Dodgers baseball on the television or by driving to the stadium for the games. Anyway, here's a brief update of current events.

A month ago my mother and brother flew to Corpus Christi, TX to attend my grandmother's 90th birthday party (which was this past April) and to celebrate it along with a family reunion on the 6th of June. They planned her birthday party with the family reunion to precede the wedding of my cousin Aaron which was held on the 13th the following weekend.

Because my son was still in school he and I were not able to attend the birthday party and reunion, but we did fly down to Houston to go to my cousin's wedding. Unfortunately my mother wasn't able to stay for the wedding herself and had to fly back that evening of the wedding. My brother had already returned to California a few days beforehand.

Seth and myself were the only members of our family at the wedding and we were happy to have been there since we couldn't be at the party/reunion the weekend before. We got to see a lot of our Texas family and see one of our closest cousins get married.

After the wedding my son and I traveled to Arlington to catch our Dodgers play the Texas Rangers before returning home ourselves. I'll talk more about that excursion in another post.

Advancing to a week ago this past Saturday my mother received a call from her family back in Texas saying that her mother, my grandmother had a stroke either Friday night or early Saturday morning of the 27th. This of course was unsettling news and as much as we hoped that it wasn't too serious the prognosis wasn't very reassuring.

Today I dropped my mother off at the airport after encouraging her to fly out as soon as possible. Last Tuesday I convinced her to book her flight that night to fly out Thursday morning today. She won't arrive there until 6:30pm Central time. That will be 4 hours and 15 minutes from now. All I can hope is that she will be able to make it to the nursing home where her mother is before she closes her eyes for the last time.

My cousin Aaron has been keeping me posted with texts as to the condition of our grandmother and her breathing has been getting slower with each passing hour. She's down to 4 breaths a minute now when just this morning she had six. The normal rate should be 18 per minute just to give you an idea how shallow her breathing is.

About an hour ago I phoned up the nursing home and spoke to my Uncle Henry and Aunt Francis (my mother's brother & sister) and also spoke briefly to my grandmother and passed the phone to my brother so he could as well. She wasn't able to respond back, but she could hear our voices. We told her we're thinking of her and that we love her very much.

Right now everything seems to be happening at a very quick pace and I'm just praying that my mom makes it there in time so she can be there with her mother before she passes on to be with God. Meanwhile me and my father and brother await news of the inevitable and then we'll be driving out to Texas ourselves.

Anyway, that's what's currently happening right now.

I just don't know what to say...

Actor David Carradine Was Found Dead, Hanged in Closet of Bangkok Hotel Room

Yesterday was the Dodgers Opening Day vs. the San Francisco Giants. What an opening day it was too.

( Cut for length and to save your flist! )

Thank you Dodgers for a fantastic time at the ballpark. Thank you Chad for pitching a dominating game. Thank you Orlando for a memory that will be cherished for years to come! Thank you Ethier for adding to the excitement with your 2 dingers into the stands! Thank you Vin for being the voice of the Dodgers for 60 years and Torre for being a great manager!

It's been a month and a few days since my last post. I've been a bit slack on posting and apologize for the extended silence. Let me recap a few things and then move on to current events in later posts.

First, my trip with my son to Dodgers Camelback Ranch in Glendale, AZ was a great trip! I love the facility and intend to make it a new tradition for me and my son to make an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for years to come. The place is beautiful and well worth the trip. Perhaps next time I'll fly their and rent a car, but all in all I'm quite impressed with the facility.

While we were there at the stadium we walked around and watched as some of the White Sox players were taking batting practice in one of the nearby fields close to the entrance from the parking lot. The Sox are in a partnership with the Dodgers and share the training camp with them.

We continued along the path and took in the pools of water and mini waterfalls where they have koi stocked in them. We didn't see any fish though, but it was something pleasant to look upon. We meandered over to the Dodgers minors fields and watched them take batting practice and on a nearbyy field watched a bit of a simulated game. Meanwhile minor league pitchers warmed up throwing pitches on a nearby grassy area.

We entered the stadium and were blown away by the intimacy set in noticing that there's not a single bad seat in the place. We had out seats very close to home plate, 1st base side and had a great view of the action. Before the game we staked out the 3rd base side to watch the players file in and do their warm up stretches. We got to see some of our favorite players up close and managed to get the autographs to rookie minor leaguer Jamie Hoffman and new hitting coach and former Dodger pinch hitter Mark Sweeney. Sweeney was just announced as a new assistant hitting coach just the day before so it was quite the surprise when we saw him walking down the field to the dugout.

The weather was perfect and despite losing the game in the later innings it was quite a treat to be there and enjoy a game in the early spring. Soon after that my son and I took off to downtown Phoenix to look up Alice Cooper'sTown. That place is great. Typical of a sports bar with a rock 'n' roll, sports theme. Imagine a a mixture of Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock Cafe and ESPN zone all in one. We ordered some wings and fries and drinks. Myself having a Cooper'sTown Poison Pale Ale. Before leaving I couldn't help but snag some swag from the gift counter which consisted of T-shirts, guitar picks, shot glasses and hot sauce & BBQ sauce.

One of the really awesome things about Cooper'sTown is its location which is just a block and a half from the main entrance to Chase Field where the Diamondbacks play. One of these weekends when it can be planned I intend to make a trip to watch my Dodgers play the D'Backs. Book a hotel downtown within walking distance and revisit Cooper'sTown!

If you are a Dodgers (or even a White Sox) fan I highly recommend making the trip to visit Glendale's Spring Training facility and take the time to visit Cooper'sTown if you're a fan of the rocker and the restaurant's offered menu food and draft beer offerings in addition to their margarita menu, specialty drinks and specialty martinis.

Tomorrow I'm heading out to Glendale, Arizona with my 12 year old son to visit Camelback Ranch! I'm looking forward to seeing a Dodger Spring Training game against the Seattle Mariners in the Dodgers/White Sox brand new facility. It's too bad that Manny Ramirez won't be in camp when we go, nor Russel Martin or Jonathan Broxton as both will be playing with their teams in the World Baseball Classic. Still, this will be a very exciting trip and our very first real Spring Training game to watch!

Manny Ramirez returns in blue with a contract for 2 years worth $45mil! Of course it comes with an opt out after the first year if Manny so chooses. The good news is that the Dodgers were able to sign with the $45mil deferred over 5 years without interest as they had strongly stood behind from the very start 4 months ago.

I'm VERY excited to see Manny Ramirez back in Los Angeles!!!

GO DODGERS!!!!

Editorials: Manny Happy Returns - Dodgers, Manny agree to two-year deal - Manny deal a good one for both sides Happy Manny re-dons Dodger Blue

Last night my cousin Melinda who lives in Corpus Cristi, TX died in her sleep and is now with the Lord in Heaven. We got the call at a quarter to 1 this morning with the news. She was in the hospital recooperating from surgey for a hysterectomy. She was 40 years old. She leaves behind her husband of about 2-3 years and her 2 month old daughter.

My grandmother who has been in town with my family since this past November will be returning home along with my parents to TX this Sunday to attend the services and burial. I would love to go myself, but won't be able to at this time. It's been relatively 5-6 years since I last had seen my family in Texas and my cousin Melinda. My heart goes out to her husband, daughter and the rest of the family. A sad time indeed.

I was browesing through my FA journals and someone brought up silly, terrible and amusing commercials from the local area where one lives. I went and looked up some and then thought of another that brought back all kinds of memories of what used to be sold in old electronics stores during that decade.

Here for your enjoyment I give you Fred Rated from the timeless and comical Federated Group commercials!

Because puperaver posted this one and I was bored at work.

1. Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
2. Turn to page 56.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post that sentence along with these instructions in your LiveJournal.
5. Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

"Judging by the ease with which couples neck openly, wink seductively at strangers, and spontaneously slip into bed, the dictatorship of the proletariat that transformed Eastern Europe into a perpetual Sunday school has made little headway in Cuba."

I seriously need a book reading avatar/icon.

Finally and as last minute as it could get, The Dodgers and Andre Ethier settled on a 1 year contract for $3.1 million with $100k in performance bonuses.

I'm thankful that they at long last re-signed Ethier and met in the middle in regards to his salary. The way he's performed the past three seasons and especially in 2008 I felt he served a payday of at least $3 million upwards to as far as $4.5 million.

Dre is still one of my favorites of the young ones on the team and I love what he brings to the ballpark. He has a great arm, excellent fielding skills and a nice approach at the plate.

All that remains is for Scott Boras to get off his ridiculous contract demands for Manny Ramirez and square up with McCourt and Colletti to settle on a realistic deal that benefits both the Dodgers and Manny and not just Boras' fat earnings.

Details

This made me lol!

Randy Wolf signed a 1 year $5 million dollar contract with an additional $3 million in incentives this last Friday.

Full Story

I'm very surprised by this announcement.

According to an article on SI.com, Alex Rodriguez had reportedly tested positive for two anabolic steroids during his MVP season with the Texas Rangers in which he also won the AL home run title.

Gives the term "A-fraud" a new meaning...damn shame.

Venezuela went all the way for a perfect 5-0 record after defeating Mexico.
They win with a score of 5-3.

=(

Mexico defeated Puerto Rico 5-1 in 12 innings!!!
Huge 4-run inning for Mexico!
That brings their record to 3-1. PR drops to o-4.
Venezuela plays Mexico tomorrow and they are a perfect 4-0.
I hope Mexico takes them down as that would create a tie between Venezuela and Mexico.

Go Mexico!!!

Wow...Game #3 for Mexico. Adrian Gonzalez hits his 3rd homerun of the game against the Dominican Republic in the top of 9th inning. Awesome! Go Mexico!!!

Mexico wins 12 to 9 vs. the Dominican Republic. Mexico now has a record of 2-1 and Dominicana falls 1-2.

200th LJ Entry!

I watched Elmer Gantry over the weekend on TCM and loved the performance put on by Burt Lancaster. From the book, Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis.



Lulu Baines, "Oh, he gave me special instructions back of the pulpit Christmas Eve. He got to howlin' "Repent! Repent!" and I got to moanin' "Save me! Save me!" and the first thing I know he rammed the fear of God into me so fast I never heard my old man's footsteps!"

Okay, okay! I get it now. I have another police helicopter flying around overhead here at work!

So like I'm listening to this helicopter and begin to think that it's flying awfully low. So of course I check it out after yesterday's incident. Low and behold it's a police chopper. While I'm out taking a look-see a K-9 unit pulls into our driveway, but not inside the property and takes his dog out. A second sheriff arrives at the curb and then some bystander across the street says to the officers they saw their subject runnning along the fence and into either our property or the neighboring one next to us.

The officers ran down the street, after their quarry I imagine.


Hmm, I don't hear the chopper anymore...

*EDIT* They caught whomever it was. Whacky two days this has been. =P