Holy Frack! It's August?

WHAT I'M LISTENING TO: Got a couple mix-CD's of songs I've burned from two years ago. Good tunes. Jammin' on "Breathe" by Telepopmusik and "Afternoon Delight" by whomever sings it.

WHAT I'M READING: "The Brethren", Bob Woodward's 1979 opus on the Supreme Court. On a big Woodward kick, having read his Bush trilogy plus the two books on Nixon (All the President's Men and The Final Days) already this summer. Checked out four more, including The Brethren, from the library. After Woodward, I'm thinking of going back and reading the entire Dune Opus by Frank Herbert and his son. There's like 14 books total, so that should take the rest of the year.

WHAT I'M WATCHING: Getting movies out of the way for my "coveted" Jeff Awards (a cheap Oscar rip off by me). See, I make a list of 100 films from the year (2006 in this case). Than I watch them. After watching all 100, I work out a list of nominees. Than I pick winners. Y'see, I am totally a geek. Recent films include "Infamous" (good), "The Fountain" (a must-see), "The Good German" (okay at best), and "The Good Shepherd" (very good, but not quite great).

Outside of that, I just started "The X-Files: Season Two". And, of course, there is the Major League Soccer season in full swing. Sounds like a lot. I watch TV at night, after tucking in my family.


AND NOW TO THE BLOG....
Can't believe it's already August. This year is flying by. Summer is going way too fast. It's been very good so far.

Number One Son Jude had his third birthday on Monday. My boy is getting bigger. He's working on the potty training. He has mastered peeing in the potty, but needs to work on the pooing. For his birthday, we got him a way-cool bunk bed. He loves it. Took to the big boy bed a lot faster than I figured. Since night one, he has gotten in, stayed in, and slept all night long. We also got him a way-cool fireman's outfit that he loves (coat, hat, hose, axe, walkie-talkie, and fire extinguisher) to wear around the house, putting out fires. Finally, we got him Bob the Builder jammies.

On Saturday, we had his birthday party at Chuck E. Cheeses' Fine Eating Establishment. I've never been there before, so it was fun. Jude loved playing the games, eating the pizza, eating his ice cream cake, and opening his gifts. A good time was had by all.

WORK STILL SUCKS...But I can live with it. I had a new job lined up, but completely forgot about the insurance issue. See, with the beautiful Queen of the Dung Heap being due to have a child on November 1st, we need to have insurance for the birth. And taking that new job wouldn't help, as pregnancy is a pre-existing condition. So I had to pass. Still looking into getting a second job, as my current job doesn't guarantee me 40 a week (sometimes 40, sometimes 36). Besides, saving a bit of money would be good for a second child.

OF COURSE, THERE WILL BE SOCCER...My fave sport. The MLS season is in full swing, with my beloved DC United starting to show that they will not be championship contenders. The Superliga kicked off last week, a nice little cup competition betwixt Major League Soccer and Mexican First Division clubs. So far, MLS is doing pretty good. Los Angeles have advanced to the semi-final, and DC looks on course to join them there. New England and Houston are hot right now, with Kansas City, Columbus, and FC Dallas right behind them. Slumping sides include New York Red Bulls and Real Salt Lake, with DC United being inconsistent.

Freddy Adu, the fourteen-year old wunderkind when he debuted with MLS in 2004, is now 18. He's also heading over to Portugal to play for Benfica. A good move for all. Adu should definitely grow under the pressure of European football, and I don't think we ever saw the real Adu talent in MLS.

Becks is here. What more could possibly be said. Yes, it's good for MLS and soccer in America. But no need to add to all the hype. His MLS debut could be this Sunday, against Toronto FC at BMO Field, the best stadium atmosphere in the league.

Speaking of overseas, the Euro leagues will be starting soon. The English Premier League kicks off on August 11th, and the Italian Serie A starts up a week later. German Bundesliga is also getting underway soon, and Spain's La Liga will start up again in September.

So it's a great time to be a fan. MLS is hitting a mid-season stride, and the European leagues are just getting started. In just a few weeks, I'll be ass deep in football around the globe.

Which means it's almost time to call up DirecTV and order the sports pack, so I can get Fox Soccer Channel (EPL, Serie A, MLS, Euro Cup, and many qualifiers) and GolTV (La Liga, Bundesliga, and South American action) again. The DVR is gonna get a work out!

THE SCREENPLAY...final draft is still being written. Taking a bit of time, but I want this one to be as good as possible. This will be the draft I submit out West, and also the final draft of a screenplay that I first started back in high school in the Spring of 1992.

Already mulling over ideas for my next writing projects. Hope to have at least two scripts ready for submission before the year is over.



DIRECT KICK CHALLENGE!
As of August 1, 2007
ABC-1
ESPN2-15
FSC-11
Direct Kick-42

So that is 42 games watched thus far, for a Direct Kick cost of $79 for the entire season. That comes to $1.88 per game.

And there's still four months of season left! Greatest bargain in sports!

Be Seeing You.