I watched Derailed the other night, and though the story was ok, it was far too predictable. (For those who have seen it, I figured it out during the first hotel scene.) The rest of the movie was a “yup, I was right” evening.

The story is about this guy who sees Jennifer Aniston on a train and ends up attempting a one-night fling with her. Things don’t go quite like he planned, and he totally loses control of his life. It sounds ok, right? Not really.

Now, there’s not a heterosexual male in all of these great United States that minds seeing Jennifer Aniston on screen for a couple of hours. She’s gorgeous. And I think I can even say that knowing my wife might read this. The problem with Jennifer is that she is, was, and forever will be Rachel Green. And though she put forth a good effort in Derailed, she’s just not believable as a woman who would cheat on her husband with a guy she met on a train.

Jennifer should be credited for stretching what she can do as an actress (or at least trying), and attempting to get out of the “Rachel Green” mold, but it’s going to take a lot of time and a lot of different roles for her to succeed outside of the “Friends” group.

Phylicia Rashad will always be Claire Huxstable; Jason Alexander will always be George Costanza; and Jennifer Aniston, unless she gets lucky with several good movies and good performances, will always be Rachel Green. And Rachel Green just wasn’t that good in “Derailed.”

In short: Predictable story + mediocre acting = don’t bother.

I love my son. The life he brings to the house is more than I could have possibly imagined. And though he’s a smart boy, sometimes he acts like his father.

We’re working on the potty training, so Tuesday afternoon when he told my wife he had to go to the potty, she told him to go in there and she would be right behind him. About a minute later, there was chaos.

Brett had taken one of his small rubber baseballs that he plays with in the tub, and he dropped it in the toilet. Then, for reasons only known to a 2 year old boy, he flushed it. Several times he flushed it. His sister was screaming because it was the green ball; he was screaming because water is going everywhere. Toilet water is not supposed to go everywhere. Even a 2 year old knows that. So there he stood with one wet arm (because he had to reach to try to get it back) in a bathroom that had been completely fine 30 seconds earlier. They dried up the water and waited for me to get home.

With help from a wire hanger, I was able to determine that the rubber ball was still in the toilet, and not in the pipes as I had feared. I emptied the tank and bowl, and then pulled the toilet off of the floor for closer inspection.

The ball was stuck. I couldn’t see it. I fiddled around with my coat hanger for a while, then a screwdriver, then a fish tape. Nothing seemed to work. I flipped it upside down in the bath tub, and poured a half bottle of dish soap down the back side of the toilet to lubricate the pipes.

Then I flipped it back over (still in the tub), filled the bowl, and started plunging. What seemed like hours later (but was only probably 15-20 minutes), I was finally able to see the ball in the back of the toilet.

Since I couldn’t grab the ball (big hands, small hole), I used a box cutter to cut a slit in the ball large enough to put my finger in. From there I was able to work the ball out of the toilet. And there was much rejoicing in the land.

I put the bathroom back together, took a long shower, and thought about how much like me that little monster is. My mom tells me I never flushed anything like that, but I’m not so sure she’s right. She probably just didn’t catch me. I’m sure this isn’t the worst thing the boy will ever do. And if you keep reading this blog long enough, I’m sure you’ll get to hear about many, many more adventures from the land of Ron.

I was “wowed” this morning (again) by Pierce Pettis’ “State of Grace” project.  Some time ago, I attended my first Pierce concert down in Atlanta.  Team Redd suggested “State of Grace” since it’s all about Alabama, and they’re from Alabama.  What a winner that choice was!

So now I was thinking on the way to work today that it’s time for another addition to my Pettis library.  Any suggestions of what should come next?

(from home)

This post is about a week delayed because things got really busy here once I got home.

Monday it was 88 degrees in Lakeland, where we saw the Yankees and the Tigers play. It was a literal zoo. Sometimes in spring training, the visiting team only brings part of its starting lineup because they’re watching the prospects in game situations. That wasn’t the case this time. Most of the starting Yankees were in Lakeland for the game.

During the regular season, when the Yankees go to a city, tickets are hard to find. Even when they play the Devil Rays, ticket sales go up. We ordered our seats in January, so we were really close to the action (8 rows back, between home plate and the Yankee dugout).

That little stadium in Lakeland was packed. It was a standing room only crowd of about 6,500 people who crammed in to see the 2006 AL East Champions. (yeah, that’s right…I made that prediction.)

The Tigers beat the socks off of the Yankees, but it was fun being in such a small crowd to see the game. Mussina got beat up pretty badly, but we saw some decent defense. Fortunately spring training games don’t matter.

After the game we headed back to South Carolina. I slept in a little Tuesday morning and drove back home before it was time to eat supper.

So the trip is over now. I’ve got pictures, autographs, and memories from the trip. It seems like every year it’s a new experience. This did seem like the first year that we didn’t get lost (”geographically confused”) on the way to a game. I’m officially ready for the season to begin now. The annual spring trip is a nice way to end the long, cold winter of no baseball and welcome the new season.

If you’re one of those “one day I’ll go down there” people, don’t delay. Start planning early. The spring schedule will be out around Thanksgiving. Tickets go on sale the first week of January. So you’ll have 6 weeks or so to plan the trip and decide which games you’ll get to see. I’m already excited about going next year.

(From Tampa, FL)

What a day!

After a big breakfast at Perkins (a different one than before), we went up the road to Legends Field to see the Yankees play.

Legends Field is a nice place, but it’s not the most fan-friendly park you’ll ever visit. The autographs were decent; before the gates opened, Farnsworth, Leiter, and Veras signed. Once we were inside, I spotted David Justice in a broadcast booth and was able to get to speak with him for a minute. I told him I watched him play Single-A ball in my hometown, and we had a good laugh at the overall pathetic size of Sumter, SC.

We left Tampa for Clearwater for the Wade Boggs Legends Game at the Phillies’ stadium.

The game and home run derby are all for a children’s hospital in the area. Lots of HOFers, lots of non-HOFers, and some actors come out to help raise money for the children’s hospital. There were some good autographs there, but the best for me was one Mr. Brooks Robinson. See the old guy in the orange shirt in this picture? That’s him.

Tomorrow morning we head up to Lakeland to see our beloved Yankees one more time before heading back to Carolina. We’ve got awesome seats for tomorrow’s game, so I’m really looking forward to that. I’ll post about that tomorrow night from the road if my cell signal is good enough.

(from Tampa, FL)

This morning we drove the 2 hours from Ft. Pierce to Lakeland to see the Tigers. Tigertown is an old facility that was given a facelift by the city of Lakeland a few years ago. The Tigers have been there for many, many years, and their fan base here is really loyal. Going into Tigertown is like going to a really hot Michigan. People were talking about Michigan sports teams, in that semi-whiny, almost Chicagoland accent they have.

After the game, we checked into the hotel here in Tampa, and then found our way over to a sports bar that has awesome pizza. A guy I work with recommended this restaurant to us a couple years ago, and it’s become a highlight of the trip for us. Yeah, it’s that good.

Last year on the way back to Tampa from the same restaurant, there was a motorcycle accident on the Hwy 60 causeway between Tampa and Clearwater that held up traffic for more than 2 hours. Tonight, like last year, there was a motorcycle (we think) accident on the causeway. We got delayed about an hour and had to get routed through St. Petersburg to get back to Tampa, but we made it.

Tomorrow we see the Yankees here in Tampa, and then we see an old timers’ game over in Clearwater. Good times, indeed.

(From Ft. Pierce, FL)

We woke up this morning at this Motel 6 in Jacksonville. We hit the road again after about 6 hours of sleep.

We had to guess at a few variables: travel time to get out of Jacksonville, time to Orlando, time required to eat. We made it to Orlando in pretty good time, so we stopped at a Perkins to grab some breakfast.

Several hundred calories later, we left for the Braves spring training field at the Disney complex. We made it to the stadium about 10 minutes after we had hoped we would. We weren’t too upset over that though, because 10 minues in Orlando traffic isn’t really all that bad.

We watched the Braves and the Astros this afternoon and then headed to Vero Beach to Dodgertown.

Within 5 minutes of being at Dodgertown, we ran into (almost literally) Eric Gagne’ and several other Dodgers as well. We decided that Dodgertown might just be the most fan-friendly place in the Florida spring training sites. Players are really easy to get to there, and the Dodgers were really good about signing autographs for us.

During batting practice, one of the Mets’ balls came our way. I grabbed it, and found that it was a little different than most batting practice balls. It was from the 2005 All Star game. It’s pretty beat up, but it’s a cool souvenir. Check it out…

Then we watched the Dodgers and Mets. It was an exciting game, as the 2 lineups were pretty evenly matched. I really love this stadium. Here’s a shot of the field.

The last time I was at Vero Beach was 1993. I told Dad that it’s kind of funny…the last time I came here, I absolutely hated all things Dodger. Now, 13 years later, I’ve got a son named after one of them. Go figure.

Tonight we’re in Ft. Pierce, FL - just south of Vero Beach. We get up early tomorrow to go to Lakeland to see the Dodgers and Tigers at Tigertown. I’ll post again from Tampa tomorrow night.

(From Jacksonville, FL)

Day one of the annual spring training trip was full of miles and not a lot of baseball.  There was no baseball, actually.  I got to my parents’ house about 6:30 (in record time, btw), and we were on the road for Florida about an hour later.  About 30 minutes after midnight, we checked into the motel here in Jacksonville.  We get up about 7:00 tomorrow to get on the road bound for Orlando so we can see the Braves and Astros.

One good piece of news from the baseball world is that the USA lost in the stupid World Baseball Classic, so maybe the Yankees will get ARod, Jeter, and Damon back before we see them on Sunday.

A guy I work with just sent me this link. I almost cried.

If you know me at all, you know I don’t care much for Barry Bonds. That’s quite the understatement. I hate Barry. He’s an insult to the human race. And while I wouldn’t go out of my way to run him down with my Ron Mobile, I can’t say I’d hit the brakes too hard if he stepped out in my path. I know that’s mean, but it’s honest.

Baseball commish Bug Selig is finally going to launch an investigation. I think we all know what it’ll find. The real question I guess is whether or not they’ll make it public. MLB already had their scapegoat last year with Palmiero, so part of me wonders if maybe Selig is just doing this to keep Congress happy. Either way, I’m ok with it. Any bad press for Bonds makes me smile. Part of me doesn’t even care what the outcome says…as long as Barry looks bad during the process.

What do you think/hope will come of the Bonds investigation?

On recommendation from a friend, I picked up “Design For Community” by Derek Powazek the other day. It’s a book that talks about building online community. I read two chapters in it last night. The thought is that the ideas in the book will work well with some things I’ve been involved with lately.

I’m a slow reader. And that’s no exaggeration. I bought this book hoping to be done with it by December. Aim high, I know. But I flew through 2 chapters pretty fast last night, so maybe there’s hope for me yet.

What are you reading?