Moonlit Jazz

First off, it was DAMN HOT at the Concourse Exhibition Center. No freakin’ airconditioning. Of course, it was San Francisco. Why would you need airconditioning there? 😛 All the other times we’ve gone it’s been a little cold or just right. Today it was very warm. And it was almost unbearable upstairs in the autograph area. BAH!

Eric Chavez, my photo op tickets, outside the exhibition center, Bobby Crosby…

The A’s on hand were Eric Chavez, Bobby Crosby, Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Rich Harden, as well as Dave Stewert and Dennis Eckersley. We didn’t see Stew or Eck, alas. And I only caught a quick glimpse of Rich Harden.

My chosen ones for the photo op were Mark Mulder (OF COURSE!) and Eric Chavez (because besides Harden, I haven’t gotten a picture with him).

Chavez was up first. I don’t have any pictures on my camera of the two of us, so we’ll all have to wait together to see how that one turned out. 😉 But I did manage a couple of pictures of him later on.

Crosby and Hudson arrived soon after. I stood to the side because I was waiting for Mulder. I got some pictures of Hudson and the husband got a couple of Crosby. And then it was time to wait.

I waited a long time for Mulder. And it was HOT. The vain part of me was thinking, “Hell, I’m going to look all sweaty when we take our picture!” The other part of me was bemoaning the rising heat. And then yet another part of me was singing the song “To Make You Feel My Love.” Over and over and over the song sang in my head. Ye gods!

FINALLY, the gal called for Mark Mulder photos. I stepped up, handed her my ticket, and stood where she told me to stand. A couple of minutes later I saw Mulder walking up the stairs.

Twas different, standing there waiting for him instead of him standing there waiting for me. He took his place beside me and I think I stepped on his toe. OOOPS! (And oh dear, he was wearing flip flops, so I really did step on his toe.) The photographer took our picture, then I asked Mulder to look towards my camera for another. Click of my camera and I said thank you and the next person was up.

And that was my annual moment with Mulder.

Chavez at the autograph table, with Hudson, with Crosby, with Mulder

Unlike the freakazoids who work at the sci-fi conventions, the folks working the Tristar show actually let you take pictures with the guests if they’re not servicing paying customers. So when I saw that Hudson was taking pictures with people, I asked the staff person if I could take a picture with Huddy. “If you ask nicely,” he said with a smile. So I asked Hudson for a picture with him and he obliged. I bent down on one knee and we smiled for my camera.

The husband said he was finished being my photographer and I was quite happy with my pictures. Then I realized that Crosby was also doing photos, so my most wonderful hubby had to play photographer once more. The fan was blowing beside me, which is why my hair looks a bit blown. I think I like the picture with Bobby best. Look at the cleavage! LOL!!!

So I must say thanks to the fellas for being such great sports. I hope they didn’t suffer too much in the sweltering heat of the upstairs. And the biggest thanks to my husband. He drove us all the way to San Francisco and took pictures of me with the guys. I’m a lucky chick to have such a wonderful husband…

Oakland 5, Toronto 13 at SkyDome

Winning Pitcher – Ryan Glynn (1-0)
Losing Pitcher – Rich Harden (9-6)

OAK Runs: 5, Hits: 10, Errors: 5
TOR Runs: 13, Hits: 10, Errors: 0

HR: OAK: B. Crosby (18), N. Swisher (1). TOR: C. Delgado (26).
Oakland Record: (81-55)

Harden, Swisher, Crosby and Melhuse and unknowns in the dugout, Chavez

A disappointing way to end the road trip. Alas! The A’s made FIVE errors. Oh the horrors!

BUZZNET

Yesterday I showed a couple of people the wonders of Buzznet. And now? Buzznet is “down for maintenance.” Bastards! I wanted to show off some of my pictures from yesterday. Blah! Hopefully it comes up again soon. I don’t want to have to start using Textamerica. 😛 Not that it’s bad or anything. I just happen to like Buzznet better. When it’s working…

I’m such a consumer…

Toys of my boys! Vaako (Karl Urban) from The Chronicles of Riddick, Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Eomer (Karl Urban again) both from LOTR, Mark Mulder in motion, wobblers Tim Hudson and Barry Zito (I couldn’t fit Mulder in the picture)…

Like my toys? Vaako from The Chronicles of Riddick is my latest find. When I saw it, I had to have it. I must get as many Karl Urban action figures as I can! I think it would ROCK if they had made figures of him as either Cupid or Caesar. My oh my. LOL!

My new Altec speakers…

Have I mentioned how much I adore my iPod? Well, I do! And today I got some speakers for it. I’ve been eyeing the Altecs for many months and now I have them. And they sound GREAT!

I took a Coupling quiz. I’m actually a little bit surprised by the result. But pleased. 😉

SUSAN WALKER.Highly attractive and sensible, you
draw all kinds of men to you – which may or may
not be a good thing. A past relationship with
someone as self-absorbed and sex-crazed as
Patrick prepares you for almost anything.
However, you tend to get a little freaked out
when something goes wrong. Your only confidants
are your image-obsessed best friend and your
current boyfriend’s ex, which doesn’t make for
a comfortable conversation when discussing
relationship problems. You also seem to be the
only ‘grounded’ or intelligent one in the
group.

Which ‘Coupling’ character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Oakland 9, Toronto 5 at SkyDome

Winning Pitcher – Chris Hammond (4-1)
Losing Pitcher – Jason Frasor (4-5)

OAK Runs: 9, Hits: 10, Errors: 0
TOR Runs: 5, Hits: 11, Errors: 0

HR: TOR: K. Cash (4).
Oakland Record: (81-54)

Mulder, the dugout, Byrnes, Mulder…

Even though the game didn’t look too, I never thought that my boys were going to lose. Isn’t that weird? I was a little bummed that Mulder couldn’t hang out for the win. Alas for him! And yes, even though I wasn’t at my house, I still managed to take some screenshots. I’m such a sucker!

We spent the day in Livermore just hanging out. It was nice! The weather was a bit warm, but lovely nonetheless.

Food on the grill, some cranberry lemonade, deviled eggs, cigar in hand (like my blue nail polish?)…

I showed my friend and my sister-in-law how to send their phone camera pictures to one of the groovy photolog sites. It’s always great showing folks the wonders of technology. 😉 Of course, I’m a little jealous that they have camera phones. I wouldn’t mind having one, but I don’t want to have to trade in my nifty Nextel Blackberry phone. Maybe one day Blackberry will have a camera phone? So unlikely…

Oakland 7, Toronto 4 at SkyDome

Winning Pitcher – Tim Hudson (11-4)
Losing Pitcher – Ted Lilly (9-10)
SV – Octavio Dotel(32)

OAK Runs: 7, Hits: 13, Errors: 1
TOR Runs: 4, Hits: 9, Errors: 3

HR: OAK: B. Kielty (7). TOR: C. Delgado (25).
Oakland Record: (80-54)

A win for the A’s is always a good thing. 😀

I had a short day at work, which was very nice indeed. The drive home was mostly the same, but brighter. Sometimes it’s strange driving during different times of the day. If that makes sense. 😉

We watched Starsky and Hutch this evening. I thought it was hilarious! I especially enjoyed the “Don’t Give Up On Us” part. I started busting up! I think it shows I’m getting old. 😛

Oakland 4, Chi White Sox 2 at U.S. Cellular Field

Winning Pitcher – Mark Redman (10-10)
Losing Pitcher – Jose Contreras (12-7)
SV – Octavio Dotel (31)

OAK Runs: 4, Hits: 7, Errors: 0
CWS Runs: 2, Hits: 5, Errors: 0

HR: OAK: B. McMillon (3).
Oakland Record: (79-54)

Byrnes getting hit by a pitch… alas!

I was at work while my boys played. Blah! I “watched” a little bit of it while I was at work, then we went to lunch and I didn’t see the end. I remembered after we came back and was happy to see the score. 😀

My work computer DIED. I was doing the CRT ALT DEL to lock it and it just froze. So I turned off the computer and turned it on again. It stopped at some weird screen and wouldn’t go further. Shoot, I was glad it wasn’t my “real” computer! The company bought me a new computer. Yah!

Football woes

The 49ers and the Raiders are playing right now. But not each other. The freakin’ Raiders are tearing up my BASEBALL FIELD! The 49ers are on the sucking badly trip. I think I won’t watch football too much this season. But we’ll see. I must watch the Niners. Through thick and thin, eh? 😉

One more day of work! And will it be a half day? We’ll see…

“Fly with Me” by 98 Degrees
Oakland 4, Chi White Sox 5 at U.S. Cellular Field

Winning Pitcher – Shingo Takatsu (6-3)
Losing Pitcher – Justin Duchscherer (5-5)

OAK Runs: 4, Hits: 11, Errors: 0
CWS Runs: 5, Hits: 11, Errors: 0

Oakland Record: (78-54)

Byrnes, Hatteberg, Chavez, Crosby… oh, and the final score…

So yes, they lost. A little bit of a bummer. I really wanted Zito to get the win. And according to the radio dudes, Barry had it going on. I felt bad for Duchscherer. He got the loss. Alas!

I’m waiting for my postgame alert! Where is my postgame alert?! (Of course, if you’re reading this, the score stuff is already up there. I had to do it myself. Oh, the horror. LOL!)

Anyhoo, Friday might be a short day for me. Woohoo! I know I will definitely want to go home early that day. Shoot, I don’t think I even want to go to work! But isn’t that always the way? 😉

Time for bed!

“How Deep is Your Love” by Take That
Oakland 7, Chi White Sox 2 at U.S. Cellular Field

Winning Pitcher – Rich Harden (9-5)
Losing Pitcher – Felix Diaz (1-4)

OAK Runs: 7, Hits: 10, Errors: 0
CWS Runs: 2, Hits: 6, Errors: 0

HR: OAK: A. Melhuse (9). CWS: C. Lee (25).
Oakland Record: (78-53)

Got home in time to watch the end of this game. 😉 Saw Mr. Melhuse hit his homer. Love the long ones!

Melhuse taking a deep breath during his homerun at-bat, Crosby in the dugout with Mulder approaching, Fellas on the bench, Chavez at the plate…

I took my camera with me today because the moon was bright and full. I wish I had a camera that takes awesome moon shots. Someday!

The moon above, the fields speeding by, a plane doing loops in the sky, the moon over Mt. Diablo…

I was also hoping to catch a glimpse of The Teal Avenger. What luck for us! We were about ten or so cars behind the oblivious lady. When we landed in Clayton, I had my chance to forever immortalize our commute nemesis.

If you can, pass this car at the first opportunity!!!

For lunch we ate at Buffet City, which just opened up last Wednesday. Can I just say that it’s a fine example of wasted potential? Maybe I had much too high hopes from a restaurant boasting Chinese, Japanese, Italian, and BBQ food. Think? Oh well, we had to try it out. 😉 At least it was fast…