So the regular season ended last Sunday and the Orioles and Yankees finished with identical records, and although said record was eight games to the positive side of .500 and a winning season is always preferable to the alternative, there would be no post-season for either Baltimore or New York this year. Not even a play-in tie-breaker to see which one would be the final AL Wild Card. We're now into the ALDS stage of the playoffs but obviously my interest is diminished (or non-existent). Time to pack away the "baseball" tag until next April! Or until the Yankees start making off-season moves and poaching young talent from the O's, at which point the recriminations from my better half that our final standings tie sidestepped with be reborn with a furious vengeance.
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FINAL(?) FOOTBALL UPDATE:
Well, I'll probably continue mentioning the Pick'em Pool when the results get interesting (or if I happen to win any money) but as for the fortunes of the professional teams near and dear to my heart or wife's? Who are as of today a combined 0-and-8? Yeeeeesh.
Although there is something tangentially related to the packaging and branding of NFL broadcasts that I want to dig into, but that's a post in and of itself so let me save that one until tomorrow.
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One more thing, speaking of my wife, going back to the TMNT toys as potential influencers of our son's behavior: she pointed out to me that while the assassin-implements of the radical reptiles were enough in and of themselves to give a conscientious parent pause, the even bigger considerations were the easily imitate martial arts moves. And once again I concede she makes an excellent point. The little guy is unlikely to get his hands on a pair of nunchuks while he lives under our roof, but there is very little stopping him from practicing flying kicks on his little siblings should he learn of their existence (and also how awesome they look).
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My birthday this past Monday, as always, coincided with the start of the federal government's fiscal year, only this time it also shared a day with the beginning of the government shutdown. We still had cake in the office at 9:30 a.m., of course. But it was a little awkward! About half my co-workers were heading home to face an unknown number of days of unpaid furlough once they had put in the final four hours allowed for by the budgeting office, so the mood was understandably muted. Contractors get to stay and keep things humming, though. Wheeeee.
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Oh, but hey! In all the flurry of getting back to regular blogging schedule this week I haven't even had time to mention that Theme Months are back, in the form of the one I've been observing the longest around these parts: SPOOKTOBERFEST! All month I will be reading horror comics, watching horror movies, and reading horror novels. I read a comic compilation on the 1st, and since then I've been working my way through The Devil in the White City (which of course everyone else read like ten years ago), and while it is non-fiction rather than a horror novel it concerns a notorious 19th century American serial killer, so it totally counts. (Also? Creepy as fuuuuuuuuuck.) Anyway, I will eventually get around to posting some actual reviews and reflections and various other Halloween-related braindumps, but for now, just wanted to acknowledge that the second-most magical time of the year is here!
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