Tough Break

Another Flyers season has come and gone and once again has left us fans with more questions than answers.  After reaching down and pulling together with grit and determination to come back and beat the Buffalo Sabres in Games 6 and 7 to take the first round series, the Flyers basically phoned in the effort the rest of the way.  Aside from Game 2 against the Bruins, they were never really in it.  Mike Richards, as team captain, did not step up and give the guys any sort of jump start as he has been known to do.  There were times when it looked like he had somewhere else that he'd rather be.  As a fan it was tough to watch, mainly because there were such high hopes for the team since even before the season started.  The obvious question though was going to surround the goaltending and whether or not it would be strong enough to endure a deep Stanley Cup run.  Then, seemingly out of nowhere, they stumbled upon a rookie, Sergei Bobrovsky, who looked as though he was going to be the savior for Flyers hockey and the years of goaltending worries.  He had a brilliant first half of the season, where at times he looked like a 10 year veteran that could strap the team on his shoulders and carry them to Stanley Cup glory.  Down the stretch though, it looked as though he was starting to show his inexperience and the Flyers started to fall with him.  That inconsistency plagued both the goaltending and the Flyers as a team and as a result they found themselves ousted from the playoffs, leaving us with our 5 favorite words as Philadelphians... "Well, there's always next year."

There were some bright spots amidst all of that though.  In his sophomore year with the Flyers, James van Riemsdyk showed that he does have the ability to become what the Flyers scouting team saw when they drafted him 4 years ago.  He showed an ability to use his strength and speed to go to the outside on a defender and then use his size to make his way back to the front of the net.  For the first time in these playoffs, I finally thought that maybe, just maybe, JVR wouldn't turn out to be a bust.  Another bright spot was the play of Claude Giroux.  Now, this isn't that surprising because we all know how talented he is.  There was only one thing that essentially stopped Giroux from becoming a playoff legend in Philadelphia, and that was the Bruins goalie, Tim Thomas.  In each game against Boston, Giroux made something out of nothing time and time again, creating scoring chances on ridiculous 1 on 3 efforts and making precision passes to guys that half of the fans in attendance didn't even see.  What will keep us and the national media from remembering his effort is the lack of finish on those plays.  Thanks to brilliant saves by Thomas, Giroux's wizardry with the puck will go largely unnoticed.  The good news is that he will be with this team for years to come and I am looking forward to that.  And then there is Sergei Bobrovsky.  Remember, this was his first year in the NHL so there is definitely something to build on there.  He has the talent, the quickness and the athleticism to become a top goalie in this league.  He wore down a bit at the end, but that was also the most minutes he has played in a single season ever.  While playing in Russia, his previous high for minutes played was 1,964.  In his first season with the Flyers he played 3,017 minutes.  That's a significant increase for someone who wasn't used to getting that kind of playing time.  Hopefully, Bob will learn from this season, work on his fundamentals and his conditioning and come back strong next year.

Thanks Flyers for another year of playoff hockey.  Let's do it again next year.

So, with the end of the Flyers hockey season, that leaves Phillies baseball as the main focus.  The Phils look strong again this year and hopefully when Chase Utley comes back, he will return to his All-Star form and really put this team in a position to win another championship.

But, that'll be a topic for another day...



Song on iTunes:
Incubus | Adolescents

More Photoshoppy Goodness

Well, after producing those remakes of classic movie posters, I decided to take a shot at the next photoplasty subject on Cracked.  This being: Classic movie scenes that were ruined by product placement.  I immediately thought up a couple of ideas that really didn't take all that long to produce.  So here goes:

.Indiana Jones.

Indiana Jones and his encounter with Adolf Hitler in The Last Crusade was the first idea that I came up with and essentially only took 3 minutes to do.

I still chuckle to myself when I look at it... is that wrong?

.Speed.

The bus jumping over the 50 foot gap in the road in the movie Speed came to mind a little while later and I knew that there had to be something that I could put on the side of the bus that would make it somewhat amusing.  The words "Wanna Get Away?" popped into my head and there you go.  Enjoy as always.

Song on iTunes:

Foo Fighters | Rope

Photoshop Fun

It's been a while since I've posted so I figured that I'd check in and share a few things that I have been working on and whatnot.  As part of my daily ritual, I like to peruse through articles on Cracked.com  If you've never seen this website, I highly recommend you check it out.  In any event, every week the website hosts an open forum to all members to submit Photoshop projects that fit a given topic.  Usually the site will present 3 topics to choose from and you can submit as many times as you like.  This was the first week that I had actually taken some time to submit a couple of pieces.  The topic of choice was as follows:  If Classic Movies Were Remade by Michael Bay.  Bay of course is the pyrotechnic enthusiast who directed such films as Transformers 1 & 2, The Rock, Pearl Harbor, Bad Boys, and of course Armageddon.  If you give Bay a subject matter he'll find a way to blow it up.  With this in mind I selected two movie posters to remake, Michael Bay style.  My goal is to at least crack the top 10 with one of these submissions when they finally post the article.  Personally, I think Old Yeller is my favorite.  Enjoy.

.Casablanca.

.Old Yeller.

Both classic movies and I'm pretty sure that Mr. Bay would enjoy exacting Yeller's revenge on an unsuspecting suburban town while simultaneously demolishing most of Morocco.



Song on iPod:
Puscifer | Potions

Softball Sunday = Sore on Monday

It was a nice day on Sunday.  In the neighborhood of 60 degrees or so, with the sun shining.  The outdoors were calling me and as luck would have it, some people from work were having a day of softball at a local field so I went ahead and played along.  I did a little prep work, some loosening up stretches, a little long toss with a couple of the guys and even a few practice swings of the bat.  Keeping in mind that it was just a friendly game with 5 players on each team, I was ready to go.  For those of you scratching your head as to how we could field teams with just 5 players, it's easy.  The right side of the diamond was foul territory and force outs were thrown to the pitcher on the mound, not all the way to first base.  Problem solved.  Now back to the game...

We were up to bat first and wasted little time getting on the score board.  A few base hits ahead of me gave me a runner in scoring position and a carefully placed ground ball through the infield from myself plated the first run of the game.  1-0 after 1 inning.  After that, there wasn't much action going.  A few no nonsense innings in the books and then a few misplays in the field and we found ourselves trailing in the game 2-1.  After failing to mount a comeback in the final innings, we were forced to admit defeat.  However, a nice day and a great group of people made the day worth while and fun was had by all.  There was even a point in the middle innings where I found myself sliding into second base to try to beat a throw.  As it turned out, the throw never actually came to second and I was left with a pretty nice scrape/welt on my right leg.  I had originally thought to myself that if it came down to it, I wasn't going to slide, seeing as it was a friendly game and all... but somewhere along the way from first to second, my old baseball instincts took over and as it looked as though there might be a play at the base, I dropped into a standard popup slide like I had been doing it for years.  Oh well, it's just a flesh wound.

Anyway, it was good to be outside and getting some exercise on a really nice day.  I must admit though, today I'm paying for it.  Aside from the bruise on the leg that is still sore, my hips and back are really suffering.  You tend to forget all about the muscles you use while swinging the bat until after it's all over.  I'm pretty sure that if I were to drop something on the floor, it would just stay there for right now, because picking it up may be dangerous.

I hope that there are a few more organized events like this at work, because it seems like there are a good group of people that would come out and could be a lot of fun.  I was trying to lobby for a pick-up roller hockey game, but I'm not sure I could make it happen... we'll see.

Time for more Motrin.


Current Song on Pandora:
Puscifer | Revelation 22:20

Ready for Spring

This flip-flopping weather is really driving me nuts.  Yesterday morning I was on my way to work and it felt like it was muggy and warm to the point where I didn't even need a jacket.  I was comfortable in just a t-shirt.  When I left work at 7, it was like the arctic winds had finally made it to Philadelphia and were waiting for me on the otherside of the Boulevard.  It was friggin cold.  I am definitely ready for some consistently warm weather.  And it doesn't even have to be 80s warm, but 70 degrees with some sun and a very light breeze would be super.  Time for breakfast.  Enjoy hump day everyone.



Song on iPod:
Silverchair | Mind Reader

Play Ball!

Today is my third day of training at the new jobby job and so far things are going pretty well.  It seems like it's going to be a really awesome place to work and I'm getting along with the rest of the pharmacy team as well.  I am a little disappointed about the rain though...kinda puts a dash of misery on the day. Boooo!

On an unrelated matter, it's Opening Day for Major League Baseball today!  This could be the best time of the year to be a Philadelphia sports fan.  On one hand you've got the Flyers, who are favorites to head back to the Stanley Cup Finals, with just 6 games to go before the playoffs get under way.  And on the other, you've got the Phillies who, on paper, have what could be the greatest pitching lineup that has ever been assembled.  Now, the Phillies don't actual play their first game until tomorrow afternoon, but it still gives me the chills thinking about the season to come.  It should be exciting to watch.

Play ball!



Song on iPod:
Incubus | Echo

Done. Done. And I'm on to the next one.

.reminder.

The days go by fast.  The only thing we know for sure is that tomorrow will be not be today.

Song on iPod:

Nine Inch Nails | The Collector