mundsen611's Xanga

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:31:11 GMT

And it's been over a month... This site just isn't what it used to be. I can blame my absence on the holidays, right? Or how about the fact that I ussually write about the Twins and they have done pretty much nothing this off-season? I haven't booked my trip for Spring Training because I don't think I am going. Although I might look at a different warm weather vacation. This cold is driving me nuts!

The holiday's were good, relaxing, and pretty un-eventful. Just the way I like it.

Since then I have been spending too much time at work, going to Snap Fitness in spurts (I really need to get on a regular schedule), loving being back in the hornline at Brass, and teching at CPDL. It's been pretty busy.

Oh yeah the other thing I have probably spent too much time with... my new iPhone. Definitely my new favorite gadget. I almost went backwards on the phone evolution and went back to a basic talk/text only phone... but after playing with the iPhone just a little I knew what I should do. The big project I am working on is getting all of my contact info (name, phone, address, email) into the same spot. I've been wanting to do it for a while, this is just extra motivation.

This week is a crazy week... yesterday MLK day (which I had to work, boo!), today = Bush out, Obama in, tomorrow is the premier of LOST. I just might be coming down with something and not make it to MBI.

Promise I'll write more sooner than a month from now.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:50:34 GMT

Well the Twins finally made a move... Twins re-sign Punto to two-year, $8.5 million deal with option for 2011.

I feel like its not the best they could have done, but it is by no means as bad as Adam Everett turned out to be. Hopefully they get in gear and find a 3B and some bullpen help soon.

In other news... I need to figure out if I am going to Spring Training next year.

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I saw a site this afternoon that had the "World's Worst Interchanges". Below is the pic of one that made the list and it is in Minneapolis. I took one look and knew exactly where this is. Do you?

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:08:43 GMT

I've been craving some BW3 for a while. The problem is the locations all suck. Not the food or the sevice (in fact this summer I had really good service at the Rosedale one... ) but the actual location. As I sit here at work, or if I am at home, they all see so far away. Take a look at the map and tell me it doesn't look like there is a hole where one or two locations should be. I suggest Uptown and Richfield, near Best Buy HQ.

Tomorrow I am going out for lunch with Reed (who wants to go to the Crystal location) and Tito (who wants to go to Chanhassen). All I care about is that I get some tasty wings.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:46:31 GMT

Yesterday I went out and waited in line for the Cities 97 sampler. It was pretty much the same as I remembered. Cold, boring and cold. This year I brought my ipod so I wasn't as bored as last year. I showed up at 7 am for the 8 am release. This year I was much farther from the door, but still easily got my two copies. There were other little perks this year that made it well worth my time. Here are some pictures from the morning.

Longer line this year at 7am. Last year I was near the pine tree closest to the door.

Here's the line behind me at 745 am, wrapping around on the street. Last year it was only at the edge of the parking lot.

Caribou came around and gave out free coffee. Only difference was the mode of transportation... Last year Caribou Camper, this year pickup truck.

Being so cold, the coffee was exactly what I needed.

Caribou also gave out coupons and a granola bar. Then Edina Grill came around and gave out lil breakfast burritos with a $10 coupon. Sweet.

Here is how it all worked out... I paid $60 for the two copies. Two co-workers paid me $10 each to rip it into iTunes. I sold the extra copy on ebay for $60. So for standing in the cold for 1 hour I made $20, have the CD, plus the coupons, and I have another friend who wants a copy and is going to make me a batch of cookies. Score!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 20:13:38 GMT

The Twins ticket office is really pushing the new stadium. Of course they are going to, but its almost as if 2009 doesn't exist. It started when I got my TC 2010 hard hat with the 2008 season ticket renewal package. Then all of last year there was the countdown to the new stadium in the middle of the sixth inning. It seems most would do that the last season only, but the Twins pushed it to two seasons.

Last Thursday I got my 2009 season ticket renewal package. This is after I already got a 2010 ticket priority explanation package. Thats right, I got 2010 before 2009, by about a month. Both are great and have really cool renditions of Target Field. But its starting to feel a little much. Below are pictures of the package for 2009.

Large box giving no doubt who its from:

Opened the cover to see:

I should have guessed it contained this:

There are a bunch of other cool pictures but this is my favorite:

I still haven't decided what I am doing for 2009. I can have my same tickets and seats as last year (All Star Plan, Lower Reserved Section 133 row 17 seats 9-10) if I want it, but I don't think I am going to do that. If nothing else I might see if I can move closer to the field and the aisle. I have to make a deposit by 1/9/09, so I have some time. As I've mentioned before, I need to find a way to get to the Home Opener and Home Closer.

Well this is the end of having all the extra free time. Tomorrow is the Champlin Park Drumline info meeting and then rehearsals start later in the week. It's been really nice but I've been really lazy. I remember when I figured out I would have "all this time" and all the plans of what I was going to do, needless to say it didn't all happen. Then before I know it Brass will start up and I'll have both going for a few months.

I'm not surprised the Vikes managed to lose. I'm not a fan of Childress.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:25:00 GMT

DAMN! Surgery will force Twins' Neshek to miss '09

Well it's like whenever something bad happens, its better now when there is more time to recover. The thing is I was really looking forward to having Neshek back. When he was hurt he was starting to be one of my favorite relief pitchers. Looks like '09 will be another year of hoping the relief pitching doesn't F it up before Nathan gets in there to close it out.

Now that the post season is done there have been talks about free agent signings and how the Twins are going to fill the "hole" at Third. Personally I am not too concerned with any of our major league free agents. Here's why:

Dennys Reyes - Late in the season, Jose Mijares was used more than Reyes and was very effective.
Nick Punto - Maybe with Gardy's pet gone we'll finally get a real upgrade at SS.
Adam Everett - Why did we sign him and Mike Lamb in the first place? Just another washed up vet.
Eddie Guardado - I knew he would only be around short term. Mijares and Breslow will likely be our Lefties in the bullpen.

I am more concerned with the 13 minor league free agents.

RHP: Julio DePaula (AAA), Danny Graves (AAA), Tom Shearn (AAA)
LHP: Ricky Barrett (AAA), Carmen Cali (AAA), Mariano Gomez (AAA), Jason Miller (AA)
1B: Garrett Jones (AAA)
2B: Felix Molina (AA)
SS: Sergio Santos (AAA)
OF: Joe Gaetti (AA), Darnell McDonald (AAA), Tommy Watkins (AAA)

Note: Infielder Howie Clark (AAA) was left off this list, but he also is a minor-league free agent.

Most of these guys have spent some time up at the major league level helping out when the Twins go through a string of injuries. I really hope the Twins get most of these guys re-signed. Although I really don't know how many minor leaguers move around via free agency... Hopefully not many, and this is just a formality.

With the end of the post season it also means that it is the beginning of award season. I really think the only three guys that could be up for awards. Mauer, Morneau and Nathan. We know Joe Mauer is the batting champ, and now he is a Gold Glove too. His name might come up for MVP, but thats always talked about when Morneau is in the running. Its like Jordan and Pippen. Yes Jordan was god-like, but he was helped out by his supporting cast. Nathan was not the Ace he has been, but still solid enough to be brought to the table for discussion.

BTW - I guess the snow gets me thinking about how I want it to be Spring, which means Spring Training, which means 7-8 months of baseball can begin.

Oh yeah, I should mention that I have decided (and told Joel/K-hut) that I am not going to reprise my role as Vis Caption. Rather I am going to march again. Probably Euph, but you never know. It'll be interesting to see how everything shakes out. This will be the first year since '05 that I am going to march a full season. '06 "year off", '07 filled a Tuba hole in July, '08 Vis Staff. It'll be good to get back on the field. Hopefully my tune doesn't change too much over the next 10 months.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:39:38 GMT

Well it's been a month... And what a busy month its been! 3 weddings and a YIM, plus some sports and the crazy stock market, I don't know where the time has gone.

As many of you know I had WAY too many weddings over the past 8 months or so. I think the final tally is 12 weddings I was invited to and 9 or 10 that I went to. This past month had my cousin Kelly married on 10/27, friends Jess and Alex married on 10/4, and my sister Maria married on 10/18. They were all great days with wonderful friends and family. An added bonus has been that I am no longer one of the single guys that gets drunk and hits on the bridesmaids. In our short time (3+ months) together Cali has been awesome. She came to all 3 of these weddings (plus Plekky's back in August) and was able to make each day that much better.

Here's a family pic at cousin Kelly's Wedding

Cali got along with the Carp so well Ms. Kaiser jumped in the middle of this pic

Between the Ceremony at the Cathedral in St Paul and the reception we went and took pictures around Como, this is one of my favorite of Maria and John.

Besides the Weddings Cali and I have been to Vikings and Wild games. So in just over three months she's been to 3 of the 4 major sports in MN. Too bad she's a Packer fan and didn't appreciate the Vikes, and isn't a big NHL fan so might not have had the best time at the Wild. None-the-less she did enjoy the time with me doing what I love, cheering on the home team.

After the Twins were eliminated I didn't care a ton about the MLB post season. Sure I'd catch a game here and there but I didn't watch any series from start to finish. I did watch a majority of the World Series for two reasons.

1) If the Phillies won, the "Minnesota market" has the longest championship drought of any market with all 4 professional sports.
2) If the Rays won, WOW! where did they come from?!?

Needless to say I can't believe it made history with Game 5 being suspended, and then in my opinion was a big let down last night with the Phillies winning. It was a pretty boring 2 innings unless you're a Phillies fan. A few pics worth posting...

Game 5 is suspended... I have to wonder how many parks this will happen in. 2010 or after Target Field?

2008 WS Champ: Ryan Howard, I always forget about players in the NL. I bet he would be a bigger star in the AL.

Of course this means that 2008 MLB season is officially complete. We still need to find out about awards and soon the winter meetings will happen and the trading will start. This off season should be much calmer for the Twins than last year. I still need to figure out what I want to do for tickets next year. I know I want to go to the Home Opener and Closer. The Dome is gonna be rockin! This time next year I'll be talking about how the next game I go to will be in Target Field... Woo!

I have become obsessed with the Webcam. I change my desktop background every few days to have a "live" view of the progress. Recently they started putting up the shell of the canopy. It's gonna be sweet! (click on the pic for a larger view)

hm... what else was I going to write about???

Oh yeah the last of the major 4 MN Sports... the NBA... MN Timberwolves are tied for 1st! Of course they have only played one game. I saw some highlights on ESPN and was surprised to see the Target Center has a new floor. I like it! Here's the only pic I could find. You can see they have changed the center logo to just the Wolves head, instead of the full logo. They have changed the floor to have the two tone inside/outside the 3 point line. And best of all they did away with the pine trees on the sideline and dark blue with white TIMBERWOLVES from the baseline. Oh yeah, and they have new unis. Now lets see if they can play ball?

Ok, I think this is going on long enough... I'll try to remember to update more regularly going forward.

c-ya

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:04:37 GMT

OH BOY! I can't believe it comes down to this! I think the following quote I read on the Strib sums it up the best:

"like a seventh game without the six appetizers"

I can't contain how frickin' excited I am... I just hope they Twinkies bring the A game.

Go Twins!

Friday, September 26, 2008

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:31:15 GMT

WHAT A GAME! I'm ready for some playoff baseball! Bring it on!

I thought the crash between Span and Gomez looked kinda bad, even though one of them almost caught the ball. this picture is worth a million words. Where does one begin and the other end? It almost looks like one guy is wearing two gloves and the other is wearing none.

I saw Slowey's error in the 4th coming from a mile away. (since I was sitting about a mile away) When he picked up the ball and looked to MVPorneau. I was thinking 'go home with it, go home with it' but it didn't work and they got an extra two runs.

The good news is Punto can be our starting SS next year because his late season defense and hustle has made most everyone forget how bad he was at the beginning of the season. I mean look at this guy...

Twinkie Town has advice on how to properly celebrate. It's pretty awesome.

Go Twins!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 20:13:26 GMT

The plan was to use the 20 game plan as a way to better spread out my Twins game experiences vs. how my Flex 40 ticket usage always was consolidated to the beginning and end of the season. Then I found out I had to change a few games because of conflicts, MikeR won tickets with my help, the Carp went to a game because Brent moved downtown, and Tito wants to do a double date thing. It's quite possible I will be at 5 of the last 6 games. And loving every minute.

I heard there was a guy with a sign at Tuesday's game that read: "I have a fever... and the only prescription is more Kubel!"

Last night I wasn't going to go with the Carp to the game because it was the MBI annual meeting. Then I found out they weren't going to have the game on. Matt K and I were on our phones hitting refresh every 30 seconds to stay up to date. Then as soon as the meeting was adjourned he said "Let's go to the game." It doesn't take much to convince me. Gomez's catch in the ninth was simply amazing. Hunter does not make that catch.

Today I gave in and bought ALDS tickets. I've known of about 20-30 people that went to Tuesday's or Wednesday's game, so I decided to buy as many as I could. 8. Now I'm just hoping I didn't jinx it.

Go Twins!