Omaha's starter, regrettably, was something of a belly itcher.

I've got a lot of free time today. My team is out of the office for a "team building day of fun." Which begs the question, why isn't my particpation in the "team building day of fun" mandatory? Well, I'm still technically a temp, so even though I do the same work, and am part of the team, I can't go. I'm very okay with this fact. I'm not really into ropes courses or trust falls or whatever the hell else goes on during these events. Actually, I think they're having a scavenger hunt. As long as none of the clues involve slashing my tires or delaying my paycheck, I'm completely content.

Last night I went to a Round Rock Express game with a friend, care of HOT 93's (blazin' hip hop and R&B!) corporate tickets. The Round Rock Express are the triple-A affiliate for the Astros. Round Rock is a suburb of Austin. "The Express" has something to do with a train. Everybody all caught up? Great. Anyway, last night was Thirsty Thursday at the ballpark (far more desirable than Syphillis Saturday, a promotion the marketing folks really should reconsider), which meant $3 beers and $1 cokes. This is unheard of at a baseball stadium, is it not? I once went to a Yankee game, and right as I was about to start bitching to a friend about the $8 beers, he pulled a bottle of whiskey out of his sock. I thought this was brilliant. So I hid a bottle of whiskey in my sock for this game. The awkwardness of the bottle made me walk funny as we were entering the park (the contents of the bottle made me walk in several directions at once while exiting the park). I assumed they were going to pat me down, but they didn't. So if you plan on going to a Round Rock Express game anytime soon, bring whiskey. Hell, bring a bong. You'll make it inside. The game itself was fun (the game is always secondary, isn't it? I love going to games, but I rarely pay any attention to what's happening on the field). The Express won 9-2 against an overmatched Omaha Royals team. Come on Omaha Royals. Where's your sense of adventure? Just because you're the Major League Royals triple-A affiliate (I assume), it doesn't mean you can't come up with an original name. Apparently the city was built by its railroad and meatpacking industries. We've already taken the train nickname (sorry), but why not the Omaha Meatpackers? Omaha...Beef Boxers? Uh, Chicken Stuffers? Maybe not. Bright Eyes is from Omaha. How about the Omaha Fighting Obersts? Clearly the whiskey is still coarsing through my veins. (side note: The Express play at the Dell Diamond, named for the computer company, which is headquartered in Round Rock. This has to be one of the nicest triple-A parks in the country. Granted, I haven't been to a minor league baseball game since I was cheering on the Beaumont Golden Gators in 1986, but I've got to think that this one of the better parks in triple-A?. Check it out online if you have a chance)

Well, the countdown to race day has officially begun. We're staying at the Hilton in lovely downtown Funky Town Worth. This excites me. I can now use the line, "baby, you don't need to sleep in that trailer tonight. Why don't you join me at the Hilton?" Again, this excites me. From everything I've heard about Ft. Worth, I'm beginning to wonder if it's poised for some kind of breakthrough, in terms of mainstream public consciousness. It's clean, the old(ish) buildings from the 60s/70s/80s are being levelled to make room for slick new replacements, the really old buildings are being cleaned and preserved, there's a burgeoning alt-country movement (or so I've heard), the city is nothing like Dallas (trust me, this is a huge plus), there's a touristy part of town and an authentic part of town, they have cattle drives through the middle of the street. This sounds like a recipe for success. Of course, I've never actually been to Funky Town Worth, so this is pure, unadulterated speculation. Just wanted to put it out there.

I've got two movies sitting on my desk that I'm itching to get to. First, I need to finish American Movie, which is a documentary about a hapless (yet good-hearted) movie junkie who has wasted the prime of his life trying to finance, write, direct and ultimately finish his own horror movie. The guy is amazing. His passion and his optimism are really admirable and his blind ambition is remarkable (considering the state of utter destitution he lives in). And he says some really poignant things. I only watch maybe six movies a year (so take this with a grain of salt), but I would definitely recommend this one. If for no other reason than to listen to him admit that he'd gotten drunk the night before on peppermint schnapps and tried to call Morocco at 2 in the morning. The other movie waiting for me is Howard the Duck. I watched the beginning of this movie the other day and spent the entire ten minutes with my mouth open, shaking my head. How did this movie get made? The "duck" wordplay in the opening sequence was almost too much for me (Playduck! Marshington DC! Har!). Now, I realize every movie made before 1990 had to feature at least one pair of boobs, but really. Was the female duck in the bathtub scene really necessary? I'm all for gratuitous nudity, but gratuitous duck nudity? Someone had to sew nipples onto a duck puppet? Amazing.