I think I should go to more Angels games this season. After I missed Tuesday night's game, I went both Wednesday and Thursday and the Angels won both nights. They do have an amazing team which should be winning every game. Their pitching has been top-notch, but right now, they're in a hitting slump. Over the three games with Oakland, their starting pitching had a 0.36 ERA. That's simply amazing. Last night, Ervin Santana pitched 8 1/3 innings of shut-out baseball. Wednesday night, Lackey pitched 7 innings of shut-out baseball. And Tuesday night, Bartolo Colon pitched 9 1/3 innings of 1 run baseball - that's right - he pitched into the 10th inning.

The amazing starting pitching unfortunately only got the Angels two wins after the bats continued their slump. Through the three games, the Angels only scored 6 runs - including just 3 in the first two games. Vladimir Guerrero has been sitting on 299 home runs for a couple weeks now. And Steve Finley has finally been benched after batting sub-.220 for the season.

Last night, the Angels hitters showed some signs of breaking out of the slump, despite only putting up three runs. Chone Figgins was 3 for 3 with a walk and Vladimir, Garret and Bengie all hit the ball well. Robb Quinlan even added a home run. But to make last night's game even better, I got my first (and probably only) visit to the dugout seats. If you follow the first base foul line straight back through home plate, that's where I was sitting. I was literally five feet away from all the batters as they warmed up in the on-deck circle and, for a change, they could hear what I was yelling at them. While the seats are a neat novelty, I couldn't sit in those for too many games. They're below field level, so to actually see any of the bases, you have to stand up - same thing if you want to see any of the balls hit to the outfield. It's cool to sit low like that though and just watch the pitchers and their different pitches. From that vantage point, it doesn't seem like the ball is going all that fast (which it wasn't when Kennedy was pitching for the A's), but it does give you a bit more respect for these batters. Balls break out of nowhere and the varying speeds could mix anyone up. I guess you've just got to guess right and connect to hit the homerun.

It really was a great game last night and the dugout suite also has other perks - including a private bathroom and all the good food you can eat - of which I ate just a little too much. But boy was that caramel apple good!

Los Angeles Angels Clubhouse

Since I had a few big work units turned in today while Folding and I have set a new PPD average high, I figured I'd hash out some stats real quick for the hell of it. As of 8:10am this morning, I have completed 97 work units for 19,453 points. So close to 20,000 and so close to the top 1,200 of the [H]orde (the team I fold for). Moving up in the [H]orde is getting harder and harder, but it's still being done.

Here is how long it took me to move through each 100 participants at the [H]orde:

Day 1: 5,464
Day 2: 4,704 (+760 spots)
Day 3: 3,641 (+1063)
Day 5: 3,289 (+352)
Day 6: 2,960 (+329)

And so on until Day 17 when I finally broke the top 2,000. From there, moving up became even harder.

To break the top 1,900, it took 1 day.

1,800: 4 days
1,700: 2 days
1,600: 1 day
1,500: 3 days
1,400: 3 days
1,300: 5 days
1,200: 3 days

So depending on my production, which can fluctuate on a daily basis, it was taking 3-5 days to move up 100 spots in the [H]orde. As I near the top 1,000, it'll be even harder. But the top 1,000 is my current goal and if I ever get that power supply I ordered two weeks ago, it should be a lot easier once Epimetheus comes back online.

URL: Folding@Home Distributed Computing

Today at work, a few co-workers were talking about how sorry they felt for everyone in New Orleans and throughout hurricane Katrina's wake. And while I certainly feel for these people, you really should know that you're living in a hurricane zone and you're most likely going to get hit once or twice a year. And it's not like they weren't given warnings. There's been people who died because they stayed behind even though mandatory evacuations were in place for days before the storm hit.

Of course, it's hard to imagine your pumps failing, but the fact that you even need pumps to keep the city above ground in the first place tells you you probably shouldn't be living there. If you live somewhere that should be underwater if not for pumps constantly pumping out water, then you should be prepared for the consequences when the pumps fail, which, they eventually will. And if you also must stay above ground by not only utilizing pumps, but also dams and levees, both of which are likely to fail at one time or another, you really shouldn't be upset when your house goes floating down the river with you in it.

Like I said, I truly do feel for these people that have lost their homes. But they knew the risks involved in living there. It's the same thing as living in tornado-alley in a mobile home. Sooner or later, a tornado will pick up your house and toss it around. I live in Southern California. Sooner or later, we're going to have a massive earthquake which will cause death and destruction. It's a fact of life. And while, for the time being, I don't have any say in where I live, I wholeheartedly accept the fact that at any time the ground could open up and swallow our home.

I'm not trying to be callous or mean and I hope life can get back to normal as soon as possible, but why can't we just leave New Orleans the way it should be - under water? Why can't we just let nature take back the land that lies below sea level? Must we always try and outdo mother nature? As the hurricane dies out further north, it'll still be dumping water which will flow down the Mississippi and further drown New Orleans. Instead of pumping it out for weeks (some say up to 2 months of pumping), let it stay. Relocate these people to Nebraska or some other god-awful place. They can take their chances with tornadoes and let the water level rise to where it should be.

URL: CNN.com

The movie game slowly continued along with the watching of "The Saint" via Val Kilmer from "Top Gun." Next up: Gladiator. Then probably Guns of Navarone, though we might take a Harry Potter sidetrip first.

The Saint (Val Kilmer and T.B.D.)
Top Gun (Michael Ironside and Val Kilmer) [70]
Starship Troopers (Neil Patrick Harris and Michael Ironside)
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (John Cho and Neil Patrick Harris)
American Pie 2 (Casey Affleck and John Cho)
American Pie (Jason Biggs and Casey Affleck)
Jersey Girl (Jennifer Schwalbach Smith and Jason Biggs)
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (Kevin Smith and Jennifer Schwalbach Smith)
Dogma (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith)
Chasing Amy (Brian O'Halloran and Jason Mewes)
Mallrats (Jason Lee and Brian O'Halloran)
Enemy of the State (Alexandra Balahoutis and Jason Lee) [60]
National Treasure (Don McManus and Alexandra Balahoutis)
Hannibal (Frankie Faison and Don McManus)
Silence of the Lambs (Anthony Heald and Frankie Faison)
Red Dragon (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Anthony Heald)
Almost Famous (Rainn Wilson and Philip Seymour Hoffman)
Galaxy Quest (Jeremy Howard and Rainn Wilson)
Men in Black II (Brad Abrell and Jeremy Howard)
Men in Black (Will Smith and Brad Abrell)
I, Robot (Simon Baker and Will Smith)
Shanghai Noon (Lucy Liu and Simon Baker) [50]
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (Chia Hui Liu and Lucy Liu)
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (Michael Bowen and Chia Hui Liu)
Jackie Brown (Laura Lovelace and Michael Bowen)
Pulp Fiction (Linda Kaye and Laura Lovelace)
Reservoir Dogs (Steve Buscemi and Linda Kaye)
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (Keith David and Steve Buscemi)
The Replacements (Faizon Love and Keith David)
Blue Crush (Michelle Rodriguez and Faizon Love)
S.W.A.T. (Benjamin King and Michelle Rodriguez)
Lethal Weapon 4 (John Harms and Benjamin King) [40]
Lethal Weapon 3 (Marian Collier and John Harms)
Lethal Weapon 2 (Patrick Cameron and Marian Collier)
Lethal Weapon (Paul Tuerpe and Patrick Cameron)
Maverick (Stephen Liska and Paul Tuerpe)
Conspiracy Theory (Christo Morse and Stephen Liska)
Hackers (Wendell Pierce and Christo Morse)
Ray (Rick Gomez and Wendell Pierce)
Three to Tango (John C. McGinley and Rick Gomez)
Se7en (Lennie Loftin and John C. McGinley)
The Sum of All Fears (Stefan Kalipha and Lennie Loftin) [30]
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Pat Roach and Stefan Kalipha)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Frank Marshall and Pat Roach)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (Alfred Molina and Frank Marshall)
Ladyhawke (Ken Hutchison and Alfred Molina)
Straw Dogs (Dustin Hoffman and Ken Hutchison)
Rain Man (Ray Baker and Dustin Hoffman)
Without a Paddle (Bruce Phillips and Ray Baker)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Stephen Ure and Bruce Phillips)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Katie Jackson and Stephen Ure)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Viggo Mortensen and Katie Jackson) [20]
Crimson Tide (Gene Hackman and Viggo Mortensen)
Superman IV (Christopher Reeve and Gene Hackman)
Superman III (Jackie Cooper and Christopher Reeve)
Superman II (Ned Beatty and Jackie Cooper)
Superman (Robert O'Neill and Ned Beatty)
Twelve Monkeys (Bruce Willis and Robert O'Neill)
Mercury Rising (Chi McBride and Bruce Willis)
The Terminal (John Williams and Chi McBride)
Star Wars: Episode VI (Anthony Daniels and John Williams))
Star Wars: Episode V (Peter Mayhew and Anthony Daniels) [10]
Star Wars: Episode IV (James Earl Jones and Peter Mayhew)
The Hunt For Red October (Stellan Skarsgård and James Earl Jones)
Ronin (Jean Reno and Stellan Skarsgård)
Godzilla (1998) (Ben Bode and Jean Reno)
Empire Records (Liv Tyler and Ben Bode)
Armageddon (Owen Wilson and Liv Tyler)
Permanent Midnight (Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson)
Keeping the Faith (Edward Norton and Ben Stiller)
Rounders (Edward Norton - Starting Film)

URL: The Saint (1997)