Iowa Cubs 2012 edition - Game 2

I made it to my second game of the year for the Iowa Cubs.  This saw the I-Cubs lose in ten innings and also saw 2B (and former Indians prospect) Luis Valbuena get ejected for arguing.  I am not sure if you get ejected from the game if you get to come back after the game and watch the Friday Night fireworks, but I am guessing not.

Frankie de la Cruz pitched for the Cubs (a former Brewers prospect and a possible future Cubs reliever) and did well- 2 runs on 4 hits in 6 2/3 innings of work.  He threw 92 and 94 mph and looked real good, although the people around me noticed he wasn't much of a fielder.

This edition of the I-Cubs are led by three prospects, and per the reviews I have seen, is pretty shallow after that.  Anthony Rizzo is having an amazing year, and there is a lot of buzz about him not being called up to Chicago.  there is a fear that the Chicago Cubs 2012 edition is so bad that the pressure on Rizzo to be a saviour for the team would ruin him.

Josh Vitters has been the top prospect in the Cubs minor league organization for the last two years.  He will make it to the bigs but as with all the 'can't miss' prospects I have seen in my time here, the expectations are probably just too high.  Brett Jackson is this year's version of Vitters.  He's the second most popular I-Cub after Rizzo, but again, fans are expecting a lot.

I did also see two Raygun shirts at the park (Raygun is the local hip t-shirt company).

Iowa- The California of the United States
Des Moines- French for "The Moines"

Iowa Barnstormers Football

We also made it to the Iowa barnstormers arena football team to watch them beat the Cleveland Gladiators 70-62.

The Barnstormers in 2012 are led by QB JJ Raterink (Wyoming) and WRS Colin Taylor (Indiana), Jesse Schmidt (Buena Vista U) and Marco Thomas (W. Illinois).

Like many sports teams, the barnstormers shoot t-shirts into the crowd.

The t-shirt gun is one of those things that drives us all crazy as we all chase down t-shirts that we probably wouldn't spend $5 for. There's also the Hot Dog Gun which shoots dogs into the air, and has a similar effect. I personally can't excited about projectile food, bvut I know I am in the minority. I find it a bit disturbing.

But the Barnstormers don't have a mere t-shirt gun, they have a T-shirt Gatling Gun.

Behold!

I Listen to Books

Issue: Sharing a 500-mile round trip journey with someone who's literary interests lean toward the Young Adult readers.  Solution:  Find audio discs of Young Adult books written by my favorite authors.

Coraline- by Neil Gaiman - I suspect a few of you are probably already familiar with Coraline, either the book or the movie.  I was doing a fairly good job of keeping up with Gaiman's literary works, but admit to having fallen behind, and have not read this or seen the film.

It's a creepy horror story without the horror (I would say ages 9-12, if I had to guess).  It's very similar in my mind to some stuff Gaiman has done before.  It does work well as an adult book, too - a bit of a Alice in Wonderland style tale.  The CD also gets points for including music (albeit really only a small snippet) by the Gothic Archies aka Stephin Merritt.

I thought this was good, but compared to Gaiman's other works, I didn't really feel it stood out.  If it was my first introduction to Gaiman or that genre, I likely would have loved it. If I was the intended age (teen or young teen) I also likely would have been charmed, I think.  Instead, I did really enjoy it, but would have liked something a bit more out of it, and felt it was a just a slight bit lacking.

Hoot - by Carl Hiaasen - Hoot apparently was also a movie (I don't remember this) that was a massive failure on a Gigli-scale.

I really enjoyed this book from the start to the finish.  It truly felt like a Hiaasen novel.  The characters are well-developed, incredibly memorable, and usually a little bit off.  The theme (perfect for kids) wasn't too much different than what you'd find in a regular book of his (The Florida wildlife vs evil, corporations who want to destroy it to make money).  This makes for a good lesson for kids, and their are also elements of learning responsibility and dealing with bullies.

This would probably be recommended for ages 9-12, only because of a few scenes and words that probably wouldn't be appropriate for the youngest readers.  The main plotline is obvious, but this is a page turner (or whatever the audio equivalent is) and the reader/listener  is caught in a spot where they wonder what is going to happen.

I think Hiaasen fans would be worthwhile in taking the time to read it, and for those who tend to have tastes towards Young Adult titles, I would certainly recommend it.  It is as good as tales can be.  Warning: May make you hungry for pancakes.