To All My Japanese Readers
Ki Wo Tsukete!! It's getting dangerous out there in Nihon. Hopefully, everyone is safe.

Congrats Red Sox... for sticking it to the Yankees.
I'm pretty speechless now. Red Sox beat the Yankees, badly, in New York to win Game 7 and take the pennant. Unbelievable. It seems so strange, like there's been a giant black hole, or a tear in the universe, and we're all in an alternate dimension. Red Sox winning... in Yankee Stadium?? Huh? Pedro coming in for relief, getting lit up, and somehow escaping the inning? Johnny "Double Play" Damon jacking homers left and right? The Yanks looking lost and confused, fans silenced, as they lose yet again?

Is The Curse Reversed???? Coming back from an 0-3 deficit might be enough to do it. Who knows. Either way, Games 6 and 7 may have been one of the greatest sporting events I've witnessed so far. And the way that they redeemed the game 7 loss of last year was just incredible. Instant classic.

Baseball- The Other Fall Sport
I was going to post about something else tonight, but damn if the Sox and Yankees aren't in another classic matcup. With the history between these two teams, it's only fitting that it's going to go seven games. Like I said in Game 1, the Red Sox will rally. Why? Because this is Sox-Yanks, that's why.

Tonight's Game 6 had all the makings of a classic- the controversial (but correctly) overturned calls, the bizarre riot police appearance, Schilling's performance on a bum ankle, and late inning full count heroics. I'm going to expect the same from tomorrow night's game as well. With the Yankees losing three straight and failing to close out the series, you know the pressure's on them and they have to be feeling nervous. But never count out New York at home. Either way, a great series and Game Seven is all that you can ask for.

Beastie Boys "Report"
Your Intrepid reporter, Frodaddy here with a dispatch about the Beastie Boys concert on Friday Oct. 15th in Duluth Georgia. First I want to say the Gwinnet Center, where the concert was held, is a great brand spanking arena, with free parking, and getting in and out of the arena was a cinch.

Anyway, we got there fairly early, and the opening act was, well, a dog show led by a guy named Bob. Actually, it was fairly entertaining, the dogs were pretty well trained I guess. The Beastie Boys can get away with this and make it seem cool, because, well, they're the Beastie Boys.

A quick word about the crowd- it seemed to be mostly folks in their late 20's or early 30's, and almost exclusively white, so I guess most of these people are ones who rocked out to "Check Your Head" and "Ill Communication" in college. The other opening act was Talib Kweli. He's a good act but you know he's got to be getting tired of opening for bigger acts by now. Anyways, after a slow start the crowd did start to get into it, after Talib reminded them several times that "this is a hip hop show". So after that, everybody, and I really mean just about everybody did a beer run.

Then it was time for the real show to begin. It hit me pretty much immediately that I should have gotr General Admission tix, our seats were good but all the real fun was down in front of the stage. Still, everybody was pretty amped, and after an awesome mix intro by Mix Master Mike the Boys hit the stage. The highlights were pretty much non-stop from there. The Beasties did a good job of mixing up the old and new, and even dropping new beats on classic favorites. After rapping for awhile, a quick wardrobe change, and it was time for some of the more laid back instrumental songs.

Then it was back to rapping, and the hits continued. They tried to have the crowd rap the whole song of Paul Revere, but they didn't quite make it. Finally, and kind of weakly, the show ended. Something didn't seem quite right about the way the show wrapped up, and then... down in the stands, all the way at the other end of the arena, the Beasties showed up, rapping their asses off, and the crowd went wild. Good thing there wasn't a riot. Once that was done, the Beasties showed up one more time and finished the show with some more rockin' instrumental songs, including Sabotage and What'cha want.

The Beasties looked like they were genuinely having fun, riffing off each other, and that translated into a good show for the fans. A theme of the tour is "pagentry", and anybody who dressed up as a classic BB video character (Cochise, Intergalactic suits) was sure to get a shout out. They put in some more nice touches, like moving TV screens, movable stages, and some Matrix-style camera shots, in addition to the awesome encore. Frodaddy's review? 4 outta 4 stars.

Yo
I had a nasty little midterm to do, so bear with the lack of posts here at Squared Sevens Blogging Corp. It was from one of those teachers that doesn't teach you a whole lot in class, leaving you to fill in the blanks on (a lot of) your own time. Regardless, I studied for a good long time and probably did alright on the test itself. Then I had Homeland Security class, with one of those teachers that thinks you can copy an overhead in under 2 minutes flat. Both are fast talkers by the way, I'd hate to be an exchange student in one of their classes.

Tomorrow night, I've got big plans- the Beastie Boys in Atlanta. Needless to say these guys are about as close as it gets to musical legends for me, and seeing how they are pretty old I figured I should catch a show before they hang up the mics. I expect nothing less than the best from the Beasties, should be a classic.

I just heard that the Panthers signed Nick Maddox, A.L. Brown alum, to the practice squad. After his milquetoast college career at FSU, he did manage to latch on with the Cleveland Browns last year and even return some kicks. We'll see if this local product can get some playing time.

Speaking of Panthers, LOL @ these Eagles Fans. Sad, bitter, and pathetic.

Clicky

That's all for now. Later.

A Great Deal at a Low Price
Good news- it's Fall Break time at UNCC, I get Monday and Tuesday off, so it's like getting two weekends for the price of one! Excellent. I spent most of my time today sleeping and watching the Panthers lose again. The reason I'm so tired is, I've been canvassing for the Erskine Bowles campaign here in NC, and if you've never done it before, it's hard work. Go to an unfamiliar neighborhood, knock on people that you don't know's doors, and talk to them about politics- oh, this is gonna work out great! Actually, it's not that bad and it's interesting to meet some different people face to face. The toughest part is the walking, you're going to be walking for 5 hours straight at least, it gets tiring after awhile.

However, probably not as tiring as Julius Peppers returning an interception for 101 yards today in the Mile High air. The highlight of the game, after somehow catching up to Jake Plummer and saving a sure touchdown, he just about collapsed 5 yards short of the end zone. He didn't move for a couple of minutes either, we were thinking they might have to wheel out some oxygen to him before he could move.

About the rest of the game, only one thing can be said and it's the Panthers have got to stop the run. Bottom line. If they can't do that, the rest of the game falls apart. Droughns was spinning around all day on the Panthers, and they just weren't hitting him low or wrapping up, and dude just kept of spinning up the yards. Still, the D did hold Denver to just 20 points, which should give you a chance to win. The offense did just about as well as they could with the top 3 running backs out for the day. Colbert had another good day, and I think Delhomme was getting back in the rhythm of things. If we can get Davis back the offense should be in fairly good shape I believe.

Next week, of course is the Eagles in Philly. I'd like to still think that we've got the Philly's number, but with the addition of TO and being salty over yet ANOTHER conference title loss I think the Eagles and their fans will be out for blood. Thanks NFL Schedule makers! Good news is, we've got 4 games against New Orleans and Tampa Bay, and they are stinking it up as much as any team in the league right now.

Off to do some more weekend stuff. Later.

And Now, the Rest of the Weekend
I bet you're really wondering what else I got into this past weekend, so I'll let you in on a little secret- you can go to Panthers games. For free. They'll feed you too, and send you to the lower level near the 50-yard line. But here's the thing.

You gotta sell stuff- sodas and bottled water, overpriced too. Arrive about 3 hours before kickoff and get stuck in the traffic when you leave just like everyone else. You gotta walk up and down the steps all day, yelling "Get your Mountain Dew here!" like a fool, and a lot of times you'll miss out on the action. They don't pay you, but you can keep tips and money goes to your organization. Still sound like a good bargain?

As a Panthers fan, I think it's pretty decent, as long as you don't mind the work. I mean, on a nice Sunday afternoon, there's few better places to be than at an NFL game. So in that respect, it's pretty sweet. It's not a bad way to meet people either.

Anyways, about the game- Vick + commit too many turnovers= another loss at home. I can't say much more than that because I was busy most of the time. Left home about 11am, got back around 9ish- time for homework? What's that?? I was so hungry, I ate 4 burritos and a taco from Taco Bell. That was pretty nice actually. Maybe the highlight of my day.

Saturday Events
It's no secret that Saturday is the best day of the week. This knowledge is about as common as old guys cracking Caddyshack jokes or suburban kids listening to Hardcore Ultra Gangster Rap. Today I decided to take advantage of this great day by waking up a 7am and taking in an old tradition of mine, the fall trip to Webb Rd. Flea Market. As a kid, my parents would drag me there for endless hours on end, but once I grew up and discovered the miracles of used video games I started going there myself. Basically, if you're lucky you can get some insane deals, and at least you should see something interesting. It had been over a year since I went there so I figured it was time to give it a shot.

I got there, and it was so early I beat out the sellers. Man, that was weird, but I was still excited for what should have been a good day. First thing I noticed was a guy who was selling some late 80s Topps baseball cards, which is basically the golden era of cards for me personally, before you'd get 5 cards a pack for the great price of $2.99. Anyway, "Bob" seemed like a nice guy although he kept trying to convince me that these 1987 Fleer cards were really going to turn out to make me rich. I picked up some stuff from him anyway, I can't say no to nostalgia.

Then, the bad news began. Most of the regular sellers had left, except for the one lady who is pretty serious and has been there for seriously six or seven years. So, you don't get too many great bargains from her. I went, and seriously it seemed like she just had the same games as a year ago, and even less obscure stuff like Sega CD which is still fun to collect. So I picked up a couple of games, but absolutely nothing exciting or really new at all.

B.O.B. SNES Boxed $3 (it was cheap)
Clu Clu Land NES loose (working on completing my NES "Black Box" collection)
NES Fester's Quest Boxed $7 (fun game)
Steel Empire GEN Boxed (looked interesting)

Frankly, it wasn't a lot of fun today, and if it's not fun, I'm going to stop because this is a fun hobby for me first and foremost. I saw some other douchebags who looked like they were trying to be collectors too, anyways you can figure competition at the same source= bad.

Outside, where the single day sellers were, I did manage to scoop one find. A guy was selling his PSOne with adaptor and 2 controllers for $10, it looked solid so I picked it up. Worth it just for the controllers alone, and now maybe I can work on modding my other PSX.

That's it for now, I'll post more later. And if you have any old games you want to get rid of, please, let me know.

Presidential Debate Part I
I thought Kerry did real well in the debate last night, confident and articulate, but his necktie looked pretty French to me, so I guess that I'll just have to vote Bush.

Everyday Life Post
Since most people just like to talk about themselves on blogs, I figured that it was time for a self-centered post myself. Hey, every once in a while you gotta take a break from five consecutive Panthers posts, or insane Ebay bidders, or other equally insane topics. Besides, I'm worth it.

Basically my life goes like this. Everyday I wake up and try to eat breakfast and perform "hygiene" so people will like me. Then it's off to class, and no matter what the class, teacher, or topic, an epic struggle to stay awake ensues. It didn't always used to be this way, yes, I once was able to stay awake and listen to whatever was deemed important. But not now...nodding off is my new favorite hobby. Maybe there's something to this "caffeine" thing after all.

One thing that I am sure to notice in class is, assignments. I'm taking 17 credit hours right now, plus Model UN and probably Pre-Law Society. More work? Sure! Why the ---- not. I'm up for it! The problem is, this work cuts into my one true addiction, Final Fantasy Tactics. Been playing a lot recently. The depth of the battle system is so addictive... must not play. Must not play.

I actually talked to some Japanese people out of the blue the other day. It's worth it to see the looks on their face when they realize you can speak some Japanese. Plus, the people I've talked to seem to be pretty cool too. And, it's good practice. Besides, maybe they can help your Japanese, and you can correct their english, and maybe make a friend too.

Speaking of which. I miss my g/f dearly. Maybe I should have thought out this whole "living in different continents thing" out a little bit more earlier. Anyway, I was supposed to call her today, but like a common thug, I forgot. Sorry Ayana.

Some of you may know, I like the fantasy football. I'm just a big stats nerd, what can I say. I still haven't won a league in about 3 years of competition, but I think that this is the year I finally pull it off. Well, I got 3 teams, so I should have a chance at least. Last week was brutal though... My QB's and RB's underperformed badly. When that happens, it's like suing Microsoft or famous basketball athletes. You're not going to win.

So that's it. School, falling asleep, work, and Tactics. It's a pretty full life, I guess you could say. But I'll still find time to update this blog for all my fans out there though.