kendall vs buck.

i realized today (and twittered) the following today:

"jason kendall: batting .139 with 0 homeruns for KC in spring training. john buck: .304 and 2 homers for toronto. feel the sting."

and here we see the espn player card widgets for the evil jason kendall and the incredible (or should i say, mr. incredible) john buck.


these are last years' stats, but starting on monday, these stats will morph into the 2010 regular season statistics. as you can see (unless you access this page after april 5th, then it will be the new stats), in 2009, buck led in AVG (.247 vs .241), triples (4 vs 2), homers (8 vs 2), and almost matched kendall in doubles (12 vs 19) in well less than HALF the number of at bats (186 vs 452) and games played (59 vs 134), due to splitting time with miguel olivo.

if you project buck's totals to match kendall's 452 at bats, bucks numbers for 2009 are .247 avg, 112 hits, 29 doubles, 10 triples, 19 homers, 88 rbis. not too shabby. i'm still baffled that he split time with anyone at all. anyway, looking forward...

my predictions for 2010:

buck: .268 avg, .524 slg, 18 hr, 84 rbi
kendall: .249 avg, .450 slg, 9 hr, 66 rbi

i will be keeping a close eye on john's production in toronto this season, and i will likely be referencing this post numerous times this season.

go relish.

-apc.

k-state proud.

so proud of my cats. see you in the pre-season top 10 next year.

-apc.

kstate moving forward: butler, and...uni?

i'll be honest. the university of northern iowa scares me.

they beat ku, which i'm beginning to realize was no fluke, and they have the type of team that can beat ku - themselves. they've got a big man underneath to lay on people (just like aldrich) and hot shooters (just like collins and others). they may not be the most athletic team in the league, play as fast the most or rebound the best, but when it boils down to what type of team ku couldn't beat - UNI has that physical composition. we saw this last weekend.

and as has been demonstrated 3 times this year by ku, kstate doesn't match up against a physical ogre underneath and sharp shooters on the wing. and that is exactly what UNI has. so if kstate can pull off this run to the final four, beat butler tomorrow night and end up in indianapolis next weekend - i'm really scared of the potential matchup against UNI. if they can beat the jayhawks, they can probably beat anybody. and kstate just doesn't match up well.

that having been said, its not like ohio st is anything less scary. evan turner has the potential to rip a team apart any night (not unlike byu's fredette and xavier's crawford, so the cats have some experience here). and tennessee not only handed ku its first loss earlier this season, but also beat at the time No. 1 kentucky. the only team that doesn't make me flat out nervous is michigan state - but tom izzo is a final four machine and should never be counted out. even without Lucas, they're still an izzo team.

which brings me back to UNI.

if i'm scared of all 4 teams - why wouldn't i want to face UNI? kstate beats the team that ku couldn't to go to the championship game! we lose to kansas 3 times in the regular season, and due to an early ku exit we don't get our 4th shot - could a beating of UNI be the next best thing? possible.

but lets not overlook butler. the bulldogs' win over syracuse was not a fluke. although i'm thankful to be playing butler instead of syracuse - this team is hot hot hot and has its eyes on a trip HOME to indianapolis. they matchup pretty even up and down the board with the exception of rebounding and blocks. curtis kelly has been a monster underneath so far this tournament and (i think) was the real reason for the victory last night against xavier. if kelly and jamar samuels can be a presence underneath and keep butler out of the lane - i think kstate is moving on to the final four. pullen and clemente will do what they do, sutton can shut down their best guard on defense, and colon can lay on some people underneath.

kstate looks good. butler might even look better. but i think kstate has the edge moving forward, and i'm really hoping for a matchup against UNI in the final four.

here's to hoping. bring on the cats.

-apc.

hitler finds out ku lost to uni.

absolutely hilarious.

-ap.

star wars/harry potter synopsis.

-ap.

lcd soundsystem, broken bells.

i've been listening to LCD Soundsystem for the last week or so. i hadn't really heard anything of the decade ended. PMA was blogging the best songs of the decade. as the end of december wound down, i kept seeing all the potential #1 candidates slowly dwindle, and before #1 was revealed, i was at a loss for what it might be.

turns out i'd never heard the number one song according to my favorite music blog. in the words of hermione granger..."what. an. idiot."

the top song: "All My Friends" is great. i listened to it like 4 times in a row right then and there - which doesn't sound like many times, but it's a 7:17 track. so 4 times that is a while. 29 minutes and 8 seconds, actually. so i vowed to check them out. and when i received an itunes gift card in the mail from my mother on valentines day, i decided that this was my moment to investigate it.

so far here's what i've gathered: they're awesome, energetic, funky, and very diverse. and their first track on their first LP is called "Daft Punk is Playing at My House". that's step 1 in a recipe for success.

i'm definitely fan overall. not every song hits the jackpot, but with such an eclectic selection of sounds you can't expect every track to be your groove. check em out on theirspace.

also, i just got an email telling me that the Broken Bells album i pre-ordered about 2 months ago was shipped today. broken bells is a new collaboration between danger mouse (producer of the grey album, half of gnarls barkley) and james mercer (singer/songwriter of the shins). check out their first single "The High Road" here. you'll like it. if you don't like it then i'll treat you like ku fans treat others.

-apc.

minimalist star wars posters.

i'm obsessed with these minimalist star wars planet posters.



i will be decorating my new house with these eventually. too bad the size i want are $37.78 a print. but my birthday is next weekend, so if anyone is looking for a good idea...just saying.

-apc.

the time we almost killed dick van dyke.

dick van dyke is lucky to be alive.

maybe he's just not used to vehicles driving around his gated malibu community. maybe he thinks himself invincible cause he can step in time.* perhaps he's hoping for a "bit 'o magic". or maybe he thinks he's lance livestrong.

whatever the reason, the man needs to learn to look both ways before blitzing out of his garage and down the street. because lack of precation almost killed dick van dyke when he was almost struck by our vehicle.

yes. OUR vehicle.

on sunday morning, nate brooke and i had some time to kill before getting to the airport. so we decided to drive north to Malibu and check out this amazing Franciscan monastery that hosts pastoral retreats. this monastery is within this gated neighborhood. so we're weaving through the neighborhood and nate is pointing out different celebrities homes - specifically mel gibson's house - and he mentions that dick van dyke lives in the community too.

he hardly finishes his sentence and suddenly an older gentleman with a white mustache comes flying around a blind corner on a bicycle.

both vehicles screech to a stop. we end up about 5 feet away from impact. our mouths gaping open like a codfish. we make eye contact. he's wearing a silly looking face shield just in case he happens upon the hood of a car with his face mashed against the windshield. he's fortunate to have avoided such a scenario.

in the intensity of the situation, no one could be for sure that we had almost run over DVD himself. we just thought it was some mere human. just some random fella on a bike. maybe it was cause of his silly face shield that we didn't recognize him. who knows. but we drove away and it slowly settled in that we had come within a second of being front page news. we almost plowed over dick van dyke on a bike.

can you imagine?! what if we'd hit him?! what if we'd run him over?! what if he had died?! gosh. what a miserable situation. i'd cry all through Mary Poppins for the rest of my life. i would be hated by millions. heck, i'd hate myself! what a relief.

as he awkwardly maneuvered around our rental car, he could very clearly be seen muttering something under his silly face shield. it was one of those slow-motion-coach's-reaction situations - you know, the ones where you can absolutely read their lips? the ones where little bits of spittle fly out of their mouths after they unleash that voiceless labiodental fricative "F" motion? the situation where everyone goes "ooooo wonder what he just said?"

it was like that. obviously i can't repeat it here. but DVD really let 'er fly. had he not needed both hands to steer around us, i'm sure it would've been accompanied by a very distinctive hand motion.

so lets just be thankful that the situation didn't escalate. i'm not sure we could find a lawyer that could match his. i'm not sure i'd even want to. no matter what he said, no matter whose fault it really was - i'd just nod my head and respond, "whatever you say, dick van dyke."

but i will say this: he's lucky. of course, that is to be expected - a sweep is a lucky as lucky can be.

-apc.

* - flap like a birdie!

EDIT: man. so weird. dick van dyke looks like my dad. also Guy Smiley.

my trip to LA has been interesting.

i had two goals going into this weekend:

1. start and finish rob bell's jesus wants to save christians: a manifesto for a church in exile. i read the first part when it first came out, but put it down and feel i need to start it over. i made it 2/3 of the way through on the plane ride into LAX* - i would've finished it if the view of the grand canyon hadn't been so amazing from my window seat.

2. get to know students as well as develop a better understanding of the los angeles youth culture through conversations with the them here at covenant camp at the alpine retreat center. this goal hasn't gone as well. after waking up in kansas city at 4AM pacific time and going to sleep at 3AM pacific time yesterday - i wasn't the greatest conversationalist. and then we had an issue at the camp - 4 middle schoolers decided to ransack all the cabins during chapel. they stole around $10,000 worth of phones, ipods and cash from leaders and students. that sorta stunted my opportunities to chat.

the theme this weekend here is "that's so messed up." it's about pain and difficulty in life - all about how we live in a fallen world. that this isn't the world God had in mind in creating it, but that through Jesus, he's leading us all toward the way the world someday will be. flipping the world right side up and redeeming the messed up world we currently are a part of.

and what a great example in these dudes who got caught swiping everyone's stuff. they're spending the evening in juvenile detention. we're encouraging the students to be praying for them and to help them in this messed up world that they've gotten tripped up on.

anyway. that's what i've been doing in LA this weekend. also it's snowing like crazy here in the california mountains and it's freezing cold and i want to go back to kansas city. i'll be back here in 2 weeks though. wonder if it'll be equally interesting next time.

-apc.

* - btw. after watching the season 6 premiere of LOST, entitled "LA X" i couldn't stop thinking about everything lost throughout my flight and landing. at baggage claim i definitely said, "LOOK! that's where kate hijacks claire's taxi at gunpoint!" also, i'm in a blizzard in LA while it's sunny in KC. definitely the work of an ALT TIMELINE.

AVATAR: 3D IMAX.

so i finally saw avatar. imax. in all three dimens.....

...oh what's that? excuse me? ohhhh...yes. i'm perfectly aware that it's been out for eight thousand days and that i'm a massive loser for not seeing it until now.* but lets go ahead and save all that unproductive banter for another time and cut to the chase:

avatar just changed my life.

okay not MY life specifically - although mine will be greatly affected - it just basically changed everybody's perspective on how movies are viewed. a quick list of examples:

1. when i watch LOST tomorrow night, i will be thinking, "gee, sure would be cool if i could see the smoke monster roller coaster itself through the jungle in more than boring ole 2D. and the next time they show a clip on an airplane, i'll be thinking, "hey, is it just me, or is the back of the plane a lot smaller than the front of the plane?" it'll seem like that creepy hallway in the gene wilder version of willy wonka right before they go into the totally edible "world of pure imagination."...i'd continue. but hello, spoiler alert.

okay so only one example. but it's a good one.

the animation is the most absurd thing i've ever seen. just ridiculous. and by ridiculous i don't mean like this ridiculous...i mean like vince carter ridiculous. at one point there's a animated character, fighting a human who is in a robotic body suit. and i thought nothing of it because they all looked like they went together. i was blown away over and over again by how insane the cinematography was.

sure, the storyline was a futuristic retelling of pocahontas: a group of people invade another world in search of something valuable and have to wipe out the hippie indigenous people in order to get it. but then one of them gets too close to the indigenous people and joins their side and falls in love. war ensues. etc.

only difference is that, historically, the whites pretty much wiped out the native americans. avatar has a much happier ending...of course, disney managed to end pocahontas on a positive note too. must've forgotten about the whole small pox thing. convenient.

michelle rodriguez is in it. so that's sorta a bummer. you'll never guess what role she plays. oh nevermind, you got it. the super butch female soldier role. shocker.

also chad, who falls down in "that thing you do!" is in it. almost evens out the Tragedy of Ana Lucia...at least it wasn't shannon. ugh.

also, sigourney weaver is in another movie about aliens.

anyway. it's late and i can't be typing about this all night like i did with LG. but here is my review in bullet point fashion:

- animation/cinematography: 12 out of 10
- acting: 5 out of 10
- storyline: 7 out of 10 - second coming of Poco? sure. but it's still a powerful story. political even.

- but the real selling point: this movie is ground-breaking. NEVER has a movie been this...way. it's the first of it's kind and it is unbelievable. EVERYONE has to see this movie, and i am embarrassed that it took me this long to see it. wow.

- also the 3D is simply mesmerizing. i mean, way more mesmerizing than even antiques roadshow.

- conclusion: james cameron is a wizard...maybe they'll let him do the final harry potter movie...

-apc.

* -of course, i'm also the guy who just saw jurassic park for the first time last year. and still hasn't seen the godfather OR scarface. also this was my first ever IMAX movie. so it probably shouldn't be a shock that it took so long to see this one too. major flop. sigh. a tiger don't change his stripes, i suppose.