World Series Game 2 - Live Blogging the 9th

@7:51pm - Top of the 9th inning, Game 2 is tied with one out. Commercial for Tower Heist almost made me throw up the Fiber One cereal I've been eating without milk.

@7:57pm - Sac fly by Michael Young, Texas takes the lead. No matter how hard I try to pretend these Fiber One cereal pieces are still not Dorritos.

@7:59pm - Another commercial break. That Pepsi commercial montage of all the past music icons that have endorsed their fizz falls flat. Just show the Ray Charles ad in its entirety for the right one, baby.

@8:02pm - Texas, with a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 9th, gives up a lead off walk. That's the equivalent of Mario sales leading without a clipboard, Abel picking a dot-com order before checking RSS, David drawing the Joker in complete ink before using pencil, Daniel pouring a bowl of Frankenberry before checking to see if there's milk, or me buying a tie at Ross when the Wednesday shipment hasn't even arrived. There are some things you just don't do.

@8:11pm - Furcal popped out to right to end the inning, series tied at 1 game a piece.

Fox's coverage gets progressively worse each year. I'm tired of the fan close-ups. Stop interrupting the game with shots of moms biting the cuffs of their sweaters and old dudes with a gleam in their eye. Let the drama evolve organically and quit showing us how tight each fan is holding their ass in anticipation for the next pitch. Enough!

The Top 7 Things I've Learned About Apartment Life

We're back. Sort of. Maybe.

Look, we all know how this works. Going on extended hiatus is a tradition here at Infinite Et Cetera and it's one that we intend to continue throughout the years. Loyal IEC observer Mario inspired (threatened) me to update this place with some new content so for the next 500 words I'll offer the top 5 things I've learned about apartment life over the past two months.

1. People are Loud & Obnoxious: Open your windows and doors to let that summer breeze in and be treated to the sounds of a mother yelling at her children because she doesn't have the corn dogs they've been begging for. They eventually decided on pizza, but the worse part about living in an apartment complex is being so closely packed in with people who can't speak at a normal decibel level. Every cell phone conversation is held just outside of each tenant's door for that extra signal bar. God help you if there's a pool on the premises when school's not in session.
2. Avoiding Small Talk Is A Challenge: Coming face to face with the people mentioned above can be a tricky thing. You don't want to be a dick but most of these people use the complex as a public forum for their private life and frankly you've heard enough. In short: you need to keep your cell phone handy and hope you got mail. Nothing beats a fake cell phone conversation about a car repair or surprise BBQ for your cousin. Be careful though because you'll need to switch it up if people get wise to you. I've found that shuffling through the PennySaver as you walk towards your apartment gives the impression that you're occupied and can get by with a simple "Hey" or "How are you".
3. Everyone Has A Learner's Permit: There are two white lines that help guide you into each parking space. These lines do not represent a suggestion. They are painted evenly for each car and each car is meant to fit within each set of lines. When you sign the renter's agreement you are signing for parking space number 1, not number 1 and a half. Get your shit together.
4. Poorly Installed Car Alarms Are The Devil: If you drive down our street and go above 30mph, you will set off car alarms. If you sneeze without warning or drop a fork on the floor, you will set off car alarms. If a bird chirps, you inhale, or a strand of grass sprouts from the ground, you will set off car alarms on our block.
5. Carrying Groceries Up A Flight Of Stairs Hurts My Back: It really does.
6. Hazard Light Abuse: When we were moving in we tried our best to do it discreetly. At non-peek hours of a weekday we brought in a couch, bed, table, and some cabinets. Little by little, box by box, we brought in all our stuff without trying to inconvenience anyone for too long. Sure, we parked in front of the complex with our hazards on for up to maybe 10 or 15 minutes. But we were moving in. I understand that when you live on a street with multiple complexes that this may occur more often than usual but we need to draw the line some place. People moving in, you are allowed to hazard it up for a reasonable amount of time. People picking up your kids, bringing in groceries, chatting it up with your drug dealer, or waiting for a friend do not have my blessing.
7. Beware of Landlords: In our search for shelter we met some great characters along the way but none ended up being as scatterbrained as our current landlady, Sandra. Sandra seemed overly nice at first, comforting us with her promises of no bugs and not allowing loitering on the front lawn. While she means well most of the time she is incredibly inconsistent and forgetful. Someone spray painted the front of the complex and she removed it within hours, but when I reminded her that our sink was leaking and made an appointment for the repairmen to come over she spaced out and lied about not having her phone to receive my inquiries. She can be the cheerful grandmother or the meth addict waiting for her next fix, it really is a toss up.

Wounds Bleeding Blue

Despite what The Pride of Inglewood claims on his Twitter feed I am not to blame for the Dodgers current woes. Sure, I was responsible for a loss that one night at Maggie's where I gave everyone no-hitter updates every third of an inning. I'll even take the fall for ending Chad Billingsley's bid for a no-hitter due to one innocent tweet (see below) but there is no way this three games to one madness is my fault.

I havn't watched any game in its entirety since the playoffs started let alone attend either of the two games here in Los Angeles. There have been no tweets, no blogs, no comments what so ever that would in any way jinx the playoff run.

Infinite Et Cetera's unofficial correspondent Mario does have a more interesting theory regarding the current state of Dodger nation that is centered around the removal of King Taco from the upper deck concourse at Dodger Stadium years ago. Because I was threatened with legal recourse I'm not allowed to copy and paste his journal entry from Myspace onto my blog, but I will post the link to it here. Now that I've absolved myself of any wrong doing here's that five minute clip from The Natural that will make us all feel a little better:

Dodgers 2009 Opening Day: O-Dog, Oh Yes!

Before the commentary/recap, have a look at future IEC contributor Mario [right circle] as he watches Orlando Hudson's third inning home run ball fly over his head [left circle]. As always, click to enlarge photo.

Outstanding effort, M-Rod!

Statistics say hitting for the cycle is less likely than throwing a no hitter. In my lifetime I didn't think I'd get to witness either of them live. Thanks to Orlando Hudson [MVP of my fantasy league team Serenity Now] I was a part of Opening Day history and most importantly Dodger history. In chronological order, here are some non-game highlights from our journey today:

• 7:00am: You're The Best by Joe Esposito starts off the Baseball Songs Mix CD made the night before. All passengers are excited and sing along.
  
• 8:24: Dorritos and Blue Moon Beer for breakfast.
  
• 8:45: Rival Banda orchestras set up shop at Elysian Park. No sombreros were harmed. No white people allowed.
  
• 10:40: Gates open. Honking of horns fills the morning air.
  
• 12:45pm: Doves released during pre-game ceremonies flying away in fear of Randy Johnson and his fast ball.
• 12:47: One lone dove gets caught on the left field big screen but is freed before Randy can jump up there and murder it.
  
• 1:10-4:17pm: Game time. Read all about it.
• 4:20: Parking lot madness. My horn was used without permission.
  
• 4:36: Daniel falls asleep in car, his snorring upsets Gabriel.
• 4:51: Hooligans holding up traffic are running around with vodka bottles asking random sluts in cars to take shots. I'm not player enough to participate.
  
• 5:22: Abel and myself argue Journey's Don't Stop Believin' vs. Green Day's Brain Stew and which one has been overplayed more. Abel loses argument.
  
• 5:40?: Arrived at Jack in the Box to receive our free Sirloin Burgers courtesy of the Dodgers winning by at least three runs. Jack in the Box Sirloin Burgers suck balls.
• 6:30: Back at home to finish the Padres/Mets game.
  

Go blue!

IEC Returning This Week

We're back.



A cool $10 was spent getting Centerfold played at the piano bar inside New York, New York in Las Vegas. It was actually $30, but the other $20 came from a Kings of Leon fan. It's a long story. The fact that most people throw down $20, $50, or even $100 to get their crappy (Pearl Jam) songs played made it a surreal moment. Those guys are incredibly talented.

Other than that brief victory, Vegas kept the majority of my money. The rest went to an anonymous asshole (Mario) who called my great hand of 2 pairs, queens and nines, and beat them with a straight.

Anyways, IEC is back. And yes, I'm going all in.