My Fantasy Football Team

Yesterday was the biggest day in the country for fantasy football drafts. I took part in one (here is my team).

For kicks I thought it would be fun to select my true "fantasy" team for football though, so each day I will be announcing my ultimate fantasy draft picks for my ultimate fantasy football team. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts.

To get things started here is my first pick.

RUNNING BACKBo Jackson (Tecmo Bowl)

An unstoppable force out of the backfield, Jackson can dodge tackles like no other player in the game. Having Jackson on my fantasy team should be enough to beat any team and win any league just by himself.

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Univest Grand Prix 2009

One of the things I like about Souderton is the annual bike race, the Univest Grand Prix. This year the event has snuck up on me and I have not really given it much thought until a couple days ago when a pack of cyclists were clogging the road on my way home. I imagine they were training for the upcoming race to be held on September 12, 2009.

Little did I know that I could have been following the event on Twitter as the race prepares to take center stage on downtown Main Street in Souderton.

If you are interested in the course, check out the widget below for the course layout.



I said it last year, but I am no exactly what you call a cycling enthusiast. I know the name of just one guy who rides on a competitive level, Lance Armstrong. He won't be in Souderton though.

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College Football is Back!

I overlooked this tidbit of information, but while I had focused solely on Penn State's season opener it never occurred to me that the PSAC and most of the D2 ranks kicked off their seasons yesterday.

Shippensburg opened up at Shepherd in the 12th Annual Great Valley Classic and it seems 2009 will be more of the same for the Raiders. Big plays would be their down fall once again as the Rams took the season opener 34-23. It appears the marching band was in town for the game. I love seeing those trombone slide covers getting some use, although I would prefer if the bell level was a little better.

For more on the game, including more photos and audio clips of post game interviews, check out the recap from the SU Athletic department.

On a side note, it is good to see college football back, no matter what level it is being played.

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Metroid Prime Trilogy

I have been playing Nintendo games since the days of the original Super Mario Brothers. I have played just about every major Mario game and all but one Zelda title. It shames me to say that, as a lifelong Nintendo geek, that I have never really found myself playing a Metroid game for longer than 20 minutes.

I am sure I am missing the boat on this highly regarded video game franchise. You can even rip my Nintendork status for not giving Metroid an opportunity to enter my gaming career.

I must admit that seeing Metroid Prime Trilogy Collector's Edition out now for the Nintendo Wii seems interesting to me.

Nintendo packaged the two previous Metroid Prime games that were available on the Gamecube and the third installment in the series on the Wii into one special disc. With the disc comes upgraded play control for the Wii, giving a new replay value to the Gamecube hits on the Wii. I imagine that the game has a new feel to it with the Wii's motion controls now implemented into the previous games.

At $49.99 it seems like a good deal, but I'll refrain from going out to the store and buying it just now. Perhaps I will rent it sometime.

You can visit the official site here, or go to Amazon
and purchase your copy today.

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XBox 360 and Playstation 3 Price Cuts

In case you missed it, Sony and Microsoft have taken the console wars to the next stage with a round of price cuts on each companies' high end gaming platforms.

The Xbox 360 Pro 60GB Console drops $50 to $$249.99. The Xbox 360 Elite with 120 Gb Hardrive drops to a MSRP of $449.99, although you get it for slightly cheaper on Amazon.

This news comes out about a week after Sony announced that the Playstation 3 would decrease in price as well. The PlayStation 3 80 GB is now $299.99, bringing it to within $50 of the market leading Nintendo Wii. Sony has also unveiled a new, slimmer model for the Playstation 3, which comes with 40 GB of extra space. The PlayStation 3 120 GB retails for $299.99, which is kind of odd to me.

There is no word that Nintendo will drop the price of the Wii, which currently sells at retail for $249.99.

The Wii figures to see sales slowing down at this point as they have lead the console battle for so long. With the price cuts narrowing the gap between Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft the sales numbers figure to move more towards Nintendo's console competition this holiday season.

I, however will not be picking up another gaming system any time soon. I'll stick with my Wii.

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Movie Review: District 9

Imagine the aliens come to Earth and are stuck here. Their ship has broken down and remains hovering above south Africa while the inhabitants of the ship are weak and in need of care. In steps an organization to provide shelter and protection for the alien life forms, referred to as prawns, but the new residents wear out their welcome and face discrimination from the humans.

District 9, though I expected good things, was better than I had anticipated. The plot of District 9 was unique and the movie did not count on stunning visual effects as I had feared initially. With director Neill Blomkamp recognized more for his visual effects work (Dark Angel, Stargate SG-1) you can probably see why I was concerned that District 9 would turn into the next Independence Day.

Not knowing much about the story line heading into seeing the movie I had a belief that District 9 would be almost like an adaptation of Independence Day. You can see why one might assume that just by looking at the screenshot up above. Look familiar?

But really even though the premise of aliens coming to Earth in order to fight for survival is a recurring theme in cinema, that is where the similarities between Independence Day and District 9 come to an abrupt end.

District 9 is a story of compassion and dealing with differences in a political world. The typical characteristic of aliens in movies has long been the desire to annihilate the human race and take control of the Earth whether for inhabiting for a new home or destroying it for other reasons. Not so in District 9. In this case the aliens are stuck here and require the humans to help them survive. Some humans are willing to help while other seek to take advantage of the stranded alien race.

The movie is shot in the form of a documentary, following the actions of Wikus van de Merwe, played by Sharlto Copley. Wikus is in charge of relocating the alien community to a new location that is isolated form the citizens of Johannesburg, South Africa, where they have lived since 1982. Along the way he crosses paths with Christopher Johnson, one of the more intelligent prawns living in the camp ground. Johnson has been working over the past 20 years to build a ship that could move him to the mother ship and return him to his home planet, along with his young son and fellow aliens. Johnson's plans get derailed after encountering Wikus, but I will leave the spoilers out from this point forward.

Movie Info
District 9 from TriStar Pictures
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Writer: Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
Genre: Dramatic sci-fi
Rated: R
Running time: 112 minutes

Score of 1 to 10: 8.8

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Black Gold defines rough necks

Has anyone come across this show yet? Black Gold, on truTV, was just brought to my attention and it peaked my interest slightly. But all I can think about while watching the above video is that there is no way I could fit in with a group like this.

For starters, I like being clean and I do not possess the mouth that spews the foul language these guys do.Gerald has been doing the job a lot longer than I could ever imagine. I also know for a fact that I would never want to upset Tank. You can spot these guys from a mile away.

These guys epitomize the term "rough neck." They are very vocal in their arguments and want to intimidate whoever crosses them, and are not afraid to threaten throwing a punch if called for. Me? I would find myself cowering in a corner if one these guys thought I was mad at them.

Black Gold is another in a collection of reality television shows that take the viewer behind the scenes of some under appreciated jobs. Much like Deadliest Catch takes you on fishing vessels in search of crabs or Whale Wars explores the perils of fighting off Japanese whalers in the Antarctic Ocean, Black Gold shows you what it is like to live life drilling for oil. Bruises all over are nothing new for these guys.

If you get a chance to check it out (Wednesdays at 10pm, truTV), let me know what you think truTV BLACK GOLD. I'm curious what people think about it, especially the truTV BLACK GOLD characters.

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Useless Football Fact: Michigan Stadium

In doing some research for my ongoing Penn State football preview on Examiner, I realized something that has no baring on anything but might be interesting to some of m readers and friends.

In the history of Michigan Stadium, home of the Michigan Wolverines, Penn State has won just two games. Shippensburg has won once.

Penn State joined the Big Ten and started playing Michigan in 1993. Shippensburg blew out Slippery Rock in Michigan Stadium for a band day event. I could go on and on about this, but I'll save it for another time. I have to find my old Shippensburg University band history files before I go into more detail about band day.

Love those old helmets by the way.

Penn State in Michigan Stadium
1994: W 31-24
1996: W 29-17
1998: L 0-27
2000: L 11-33
2002: L 24-27 (OT)
2005: L 25-27
2007: L 9-14

Shippensburg in Michigan Stadium
1979: W 45-14 (vs. Slippery Rock)

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Snow Leopard to be released this week

Since getting a Mac Book Pro I have become an Apple fan faster than I ever imagined. I have used Microsoft Windows for as long as I have used computers and I was hesitant to convert to a Mac. But work called for one so I was forced to take the plunge.

And I am glad I did.

I am not going to get into the whole Mac vs. PC debate for fear of starting a lame back and forth of why one is better than the other (but I will say I have seen the light). what I will do is let you know that the latest version of the Mac operating system will be available this Friday.

An upgrade to Snow Leopard is available for pre-sale on Amazon for as low as $29, depending on what version you desire. Compare this with the prices for Microsoft Windows 7 and it seems that Mac is clearly the way to go.

Use what you will!

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Video slideshow of Cooperstown

Yesterday I shared my video slide show of our pictures from Woodstock from last weekend. Today I promised you the video slide show for the Cooperstown pictures, so here you go!

Cooperstown from Kevin McGuire on Vimeo.

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Video slideshow of Woodstock

All week I have been sharing some select photos from last weekend's trip up north to visit the site of Woodstock and Cooperstown. Today I share a video slide show of our Woodstock pictures. Some of you may have already seen this in a sneak peak through Facebook or Twitter. I will post the Cooperstown video slide show tomorrow.

Woodstock from Kevin McGuire on Vimeo.

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Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

It's been a while since I posted anything Nintendo related (including a hiatus for Mario Monday) but I feel I need to share this with you. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games was a fun game for the Nintendo Wii that combined the cast of characters from the Mario and Sonic universes. They return with even more characters this October for the Winter Olympic Games.

Here is the trailer for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games.

Video Games | Mario & Sonic Olympic Winter Games | GC 09: Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

I will be sure to post my thoughts on this game as I learn more about it before the release date (October 13).

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Have you seen this bus?

This bus was seen last night in the parking lot in the shopping center on Forty Foot Road and Allentown Road. More details at Nittany White Out.

I need to find the owner of this mode of transportation!

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Photos: Camping, Woodstock, and Cooperstown - Woodstock Edition

No. Not that Woodstock!

Today's installment of selected photos from our weekend trip up state and to New York brings us to the site of Woodstock. The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts celebrated the 40th anniversary of the rock festival that would change the music world forever last weekend.

It really was a sight to see and to think back on the thousands and thousands of people who made the pilgrimage for the three day festival that finished on the fourth day. If you get the chance to make your way up there be sure to walk through the museum for a lot of interactive exhibits and displays and a wealth of Woodstock memorabilia and other items.

This "monument" is found at the bottom of the hill at the site of Woodstock.
As you can see, some people leave their own mementos to pay homage to Woodstock

This is the field where Woodstock took place
The area on the left not covered in grass is where the stage was set up.
Now picture thousands of people packing the hill side.

This is farm of Max Yasgur, the farmer who allowed

Woodstock to take place on his property

This bike was created by Orange County Choppers and
was on display in the John Lennon exhibit at the museum

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Photos: Camping, Woodstock, and Cooperstown - Phillies Edition

The past couple days I have shared with you a couple photos from our weekend trip upstate and to the site of Woodstock and Cooperstown. Today I share some pictures from the National Baseball Hall of Fame, in scenic Cooperstown, New York.

Barry Bond's "record breaking" 756th home run ball is
on display in the San Francisco Giants' locker display.
Notice that the asterisk is prominently displayed.

The 2008 World Series display brought back
many fond memories for me.

Just down the street form the National Baseball Hall of Fame
was a wax museum. Standing outside was none other than
George Costanza!

This case displayed a number of items from the
1980 World Series champions.

A Philadelphia Athletics road jersey.
I forget what year this was from.

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Brett Favre a Viking

It's official. At least I assume it is.

Brett Favre brought the Road to Retirement to Minnesota yesterday where he signed a contract with the Vikings. He flew up to Minnesota, signed a contract, and suited up to take part in his first practice.

Can you imagine how difficult it was for me to write about Penn State football yesterday with Favre this and Favre that taking over my internet, Twitter, and television? It was difficult but I managed and even took some inspiration from Favre by coming up with my reader poll.

Dan Levy of the On the DL podcast asked at one point yesterday what fans were more upset with; Mike Vick being back in the NFL or Favre being back in the NFL?

Honestly I am not upset about either player being back. It is one thing to be annoyed with the coverage of certain players by national media outlets, but I find it difficult to be upset about a player wanting to play and taking advantage of an offer by a team willing to take a chance on them. There is no comparing the Vick and Favre situations though and allegations that Favre chose today to become a Viking because he was tired of Vick hogging all of the headlines is just non sense.

Mike Vick is an Eagle. Brett Favre is a Viking. Pedro Martinez is a Phillie. What a world.

My favorite part of the Favre news breaking is how it affected Twitter. Twitter keeps track f the trending topics and it was only a matter of time before Brett Favre became a top trending topic. Of course, trending topics can also show how many people still do not know how to spell his name...
WCCO-tv is the CBS affiliate in Minneapolis who was covering the breaking news of Favre to the Vikings. Vikes is an abbreviated nickname for the Minnesota Vikings. As for "Farve"? clearly people are spelling it the way most everybody pronounces it.

It is Brett "FAVRE". F-A-V-R-E.

And then there is the Photoshopped image at the top of this post. An image of Favre in a Vikings jersey was probably put together months ago, or a year ago, but NFL.com had the image ready t go when needed.

For those of you who bought your copy of Madden '10 last Friday, EA Sports will include Favre in a roster update tomorrow. Vick was supposed to be in an update today. Was it released or put on hold?

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DUH Ohio State University

"You know I went to Ohio State right? I don't know that much."

- Patricia Heaton

Before she was read her question on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? to earn $50,000 for charity, Patricia Heaton, who you probably know as Debra Barone from everybody Loves Raymond, told host Regis Philbin that people from the mid west are nicer and smarter than people on the west and east coast. She also throws out a blurb that she went to Ohio State, although she fessed up that she should have spent more time in the class room.

After watching this clip I believe her, but I am sure they do not teach simple math at Ohio State. Heaton struggled with her question in which she had to convert Euros to dollars and say how much the amount equaled in coin form. Just as Philbin starts asking the question Heaton goes through a panicky hissy fit I haven't seen since high school when a girl refused to even try answering the question, claiming they didn't know the answer. Much like the teacher who never gave in to this behavior, Philbin does his best to help Heaton take a moment to calm down and think through the question.

Heaton immediately went to a lifeline, her husband who is European so he must be helpful in this situation. Unfortunately for Heaton, her husband being European was no help in this situation.



As badly as not bothering to think about the question and instead acting like a drama queen irritates me, the fact that she did not know the rules to the most watched game show in my life time is inexcusable. To have Philbin have to walk Heaton through the math and have to remind her that the game does not end until you say "final answer" is shameful.

Heaton, I love you on Everybody Loves Raymond, but my respect for you just took a fall down twelve meters of stairs. How many inches is that?

Ridiculous.

For more on Millionaire, check out my friend Caitlin's view on the declining interest for television game shows.

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Photos: Camping, Woodstock, and Cooperstown - Arthropod Edition

Yesterday I showed off the sights of the Delaware River from upstate Pennsylvania. Today I want to share a couple photos that focus on some insects.

These pictures were also taken on the camp site of Soaring Eagle Campground. As you can imagine there were a good amount of insects flying and crawling around the camp. Below witness pictures of a bee, a spider, and a caterpillar.

I took a few bee shots on the flowers but this was
the best one that came out.

This little guy tickled my foot and snuck up on me.
Serves me right for wearing sandals.

This spider appears to be hovering over the petal!

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The Michael Vick Experience

Remember this commercial? You know it was pretty cool when it debuted.

Now the question is what will the Michael Vick experience be like with the Philadelphia Eagles. I am on record as saying that I am ready to give him a shot at a second chance, so long as it helps my football team of rooting interest.

Vick will miss the next pre-season game but will be allowed to participate in the final two pre-season games. As of now he is suspended by the NFL for the first six games in the regular season, and I would doubt that commissioner Roger Goodell will let up on it.

Now that you have had time to digest this a bit, how are you feeling Eagles fans?

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Photos: Camping, Woodstock, and Cooperstown

Over the weekend Stef and I took a weekend trip upstate for some more camping. This time we stayed at Soaring Eagle Campground way up by Honesdale, Pennsylvania. the main purpose of the trip for us was to visit The Museum at Bethel Woods, on the site of Woodstock. On Saturday we took a spur of the moment trip to Cooperstown, New York, a mere 90 minutes from the camp site, and toured the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

This week I will post some select photos from the weekend for your enjoyment.


Here is a view of the upper portion of the Delaware River as seen form the camp ground. Those objects that look like elevated sewer pipes and manhole covers are fire pits. One of the activities you could do at this camp site was go tubing down the river. It was something that Stef and I had planned to do before we left, but the excursion to Cooperstown somehow scratched the original plans.

Here are a few more photos for you to gaze upon.

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Thoughts on the Eagles signing Michael Vick

Michael Vick, and the Eagles, ran away with the

headlines yesterday from the Phillies

Yesterday Cliff Lee went eight strong innings for the Phillies, striking out eight and allowing just one run against the Chicago Cubs. It was the third straight win for Lee since joining the Phillies and the in the process the Phillies completed their first sweep of the Cubs in Chicago since 1984. Coming off of a demoralizing sweep to the surging Florida Marlins at home the Phillies took a big stride yesterday to reassert themselves as the team to beat in the National League.

Not long ago Cliff Lee was the hottest name in Philly sports.
Not anymore!

But none of that will be discussed today because the Philadelphia Eagles stole the headlines all across the North American landscape by announcing that they had signed Michael Vick.

The same Vick that was sentenced to jail time for his part in operating a dog fighting ring on his property. The same Vick that many NFL teams had proclaimed that had no interest in. The same Vick that embarrassed the Atlanta Falcons organization. The same Vick that will be suspended by the NFL for his dog fighting actions before he is allowed to formally return to the NFL playing field.

One quick glance at my Facebook news feed and the people I follow on Twitter tells the story that the Philadelphia fan is not happy about this acquisition. While I understand where the anger and outrage comes from, I am not ready to say that this is a terrible move by the Eagles. Let's look at this from two sides of the coin.

The Public Relations DebacleThere is already an angry jury against Vick in Philadelphia

The major problem here is that the Eagles are seemingly going against what they have preached for the past decade under Andy Reid. The Eagles have boasted their pride in having a roster of good character people. Yes, they have had some incidents that would make people frown, but they have never had a convicted felon on their active roster, until now.

It is no secret that the public relations image of the Eagles is tarnished. Some fans refuse to let go of the infamous "Hoagiegate" or the "gold standard" comment. Recently the firing of a handicapped employee over his Facebook status, the parting ways with Brian Dawkins, and the Reid scolding of the media over leaked injury news have not been sitting well with the fans. What makes the actions of the Eagles look even worse is the tremendous success and terrific public relations approach by the team in red across the street (a championship helps too).

Now the Eagles are expecting their fans to be excited about adding Vick, one of the most hated athletes in sports right now, to their beloved football team. Somebody should tell the Eagles that it does not quite work that way.

I urged fans to hold off on their negative out lashes until they heard the Eagles side of the story. They must have done their homework on this and the fact that former NFL coach and all around top class guy Tony Dungy is backing Vick should speak volumes. Let us hear what they have to say before we cast this decision off as a terrible idea.

The Football Decision

From a football sense, adding Vick to the Eagles brings some
possible excitement and diversity to an already potent offense

If Donovan McNabb should miss a game, or two, or eight due to injury who would you rather see running the offense; Vick or Kevin Kolb?

I know that Vick is not a fantastic quarterback (I was always on record as saying Matt Schaub was better, naturally) but he does bring more to the table than Kolb. Vick brings more diversity to the offensive game plan. Last season saw the emergence of the "wildcat formation", which fueled the success with the upstart Miami Dolphins. Many speculated that Vick would be the perfect fit for that type of scheme, and the Eagles experimented with the formation last year with DeSean Jackson.

If Reid has wildcat type plays in store for 2009 it is his responsibility to have the players that will best be suited for his game plan. Vick may be another piece of the puzzle to plugging in the right players in the right situations. Plus can you imagine a formation with McNabb, Wstbrook, Jackson and Vick all lining up at the line of scrimmage? Nobody will know who to cover. Which brings me to my next point.

For years defensive coordinators have had to budget their time wisely in preparing for the Eagles offense. McNabb and Westbrook have been the main focus for the past few seasons and Jackson and Kevin Curtis are becoming more problems for defensive game plans. Now add a versatile Vick to the mix and defensive coordinators will have to work 70 hours a week to get a good game plan for all of the weapons the Eagles will challenge them with.

The Bottom Line

Donovan McNabb is backing Michael Vick as he joins the Eagles

Vick has served his time according to the judicial system. He did not get off easy. He paid the maximum amount of time for his crimes by law. He deserves a second chance like anyone coming out of jail. You can say that he shouldn't be allowed in the NFL but that is just silly. If a team feels that Vick brings a better chance of winning they owe it to their fans to go out and get him.

Players get second chances and succeed. Irving Fryar turned his life around. Ray Lewis may have turned his around. Josh Hamilton was last year's success story, although he may be having some problems lately. While these players did not do the things that Vick did, why does Vick not deserve the same second chance?

What Vick did was wrong. But two years later he deserves a chance to redeem himself in any way possible. Wouldn't you want the same opportunity for you, a loved one, family member or close friend?

All I am saying is give Vick a chance. Are you with me?

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HEY HEY HEY HEY! What is going on here?

Since I started working the mornings at home I have become accustomed to having on Saved by the Bell reruns on in the background. I used to watch the show all the time and get some kind of nostalgic feeling when I see the show in reruns for two hours every weekday morning on TBS.

It was not until recently though that I realized that Mr. Belding had a catch phrase. Whether it was designed to be a "catch phrase" or if it was just lazy writing is beyond me, but it must have been his signature.

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Tonight's starting pitcher for the Cubs?

None other than former Notre Dame wide receiver Jeff Samardzija. This is Samardzija's first major league start and as the photo above may allude too, I am hoping my Phillies can wake up their bats and get cracking tonight in the first few innings.

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Movie Review: Funny People

What do you do when you are a box office superstar comedian but now find it difficult not having a sense of humor any more? And what if you are a struggling stand up comic and given a terrific opportunity to assist a star but must keep one very important secret out of the public?

This is essentially the plot for Funny People, starring Adam Sandler and Seth Rogan. If you are looking for a movie with a ton of non-stop comedy, this may, ironically, not be what you are looking for. Sure, the story focuses on a couple of comedians and their struggles, but this is more than a comedy. It is very much a drama.

Written and directed by Judd Apatow the audience is introduced to comedian George Simmons, played by Sandler. Simmons is told by a doctor that he has a life threatening disease and only had a certain amount of time to live. Simmons instantly goes from the easy going people person never afraid to greet his fans to a stoic melancholy man who does not know what to do with himself.

Through his career Simmons had achieved greatness as a comedian, but his personal life was not as glorious. Simmons finds himself trying to make amends with old friends, family, and an old flame as he tries to make things right before his untimely demise. Along the way Simmons makes a surprise appearance at a stand up comedy club, where he crosses paths with unknown comedian Ira Wright, played by Rogan. After their chance encounter at the club Simmons asks Wright to help him write some jokes and act as his assistant, possibly a ploy to find some companionship.

Personally I felt the movie went a little longer than it needed to but I do not want to seem like I am complaining. I found myself to enjoy the movie's lengthy plot with the help of numerous guest appearances. Look for guest spots from a number of famous comedians, including Ray Romano, Andy Dick, Paul Reiser, and Norm MacDonald. The guest list does not end there, with musicians James Taylor and Eminem making memorable appearances.

The movie may be titled Funny People but again, there is much more to it than jokes. You are not getting a Sandler from a movie like The Waterboy or Happy Gilmore. The truth is Sandler has matured over the years and this may be one of his better movies as far as acting goes.


Movie Info
Funny People from Universal Pictures
Director: Judd Apatow
Writer: Judd Apatow
Genre: Dramatic comedy
Rated: R
Running time: 146 minutes

Score of 1 to 10: 7.4

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Did you survive the Twitter down time today?

Earlier today the popular micro-blogging service that is Twitter was maliciously attacked, causing an almost two hour hiatus of people being able to see what other people were tweeting.

As you may imagine an outage of this magnitude would be frustrating for many office workers across the United States as Twitter is often snuck into the office computers via discreet Twitter programs like Spreadtweet, which disguises Twitter streams as a good old fashioned Excel spreadsheet.

For future reference, if you are having trouble logging into and using the Twitter service and want to ensure that the problem is not on your end, be sure to stop by the official Twitter Blog. Outage updates of any severe nature will surely be posted there.

Or you can stop by IsTwitterDown.com, which will inform you quite simply as to whether Twitter is up and running or not. For more information on what happens or what to do when Twitter is down, visit WhenTwitterIsDown.com.

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Penn State Football Examiner

Just a quick post this morning to update you on a couple things.

As you may or may not know by now I am covering Penn State football for Examiner.com. To access my articles just click on the button on the left side of this site, or click here. To help self-promote my posts I also set up a Facebook page where you can become a fan. Click here for the Facebook page.

Yesterday I ranked third among Philadelphia Examiners, behind the Philadelphia Romance Examiner and the Monroe County Top News Examiner. That means that I was the top sports Examiner, on a day when there was some big news in Philadelphia Eagles land and the Phillies were on an off day.

As I am starting to dig deep for Examiner you may notice that production here may slow down a bit, as evidenced by the lack of Mario Monday yesterday. Give me some time though to get adjusted to the new routine and I am sure things will pick up here once again. Perhaps next week will be better. I have a movie I want to review and I have some stuff in my head for those who are getting organized for back to school and such as well as touch on the Phillies here.

Thanks to all who have offered their support so far!

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Camping in Delaware

Last week I took my first camping trip, not counting summer camp, with Stef and her parents. We camped at Delaware Seashore State Park, within walking distance of the Atlantic Ocean and the beach.

What sounds like it would be terrific scenery was quickly proven otherwise as a bridge was under construction during the day right next to the park, and standing between the camp site and the beach. The sound of the pile driving started at 7:30am most days and was off and on through out the day until about 6pm.

Still have the rhythm of the pile driving in my head

There was also some weather that left a lot to be desired. I expected heat so I will not complain about that, but there was actually a bunch of strong wind activity and cloud cover that made the days at times feel a lot more like late September or early October than the middle of July.

One of the many ominous skies witnessed over the week

Aside from what felt like a typhoon blowing our camper back and forth Sunday night to the point where we were all fearing the worst case scenario and having images of The Wizard of Oz going through our minds, there were some nice photo opportunities to be had. Below are a couple more choice pictures taken by either me or Stef.

A flock of seagulls, not the band

Sunset on the inlet

Current wallpaper on my computer

Look closely. This is actually a DOUBLE rainbow!

Fishing on the inlet. I caught one fish,
and had a second one escape at the last second.

As always, you can view the entire Picasa photo album by clicking here.

While I can not give you a recommendation for the camp site, you can check out the Delaware Seashore State Park for yourself. Below is a Google Map to help you plan your trip there as well.


View Delaware Seashore State Park in a larger map

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