September, 2008
September 25th, 2008
Apartment Hunting Sucks
In August, I put out the call for help in finding a new apartment. You people failed me.
I hate looking for apartments. Apartment hunting is like shopping and I don’t like shopping. For anything. I have a lot of the same clothes I’ve had since college, not to mention the same sheets and towels. Hell, I lost my glasses in July and still haven’t replaced them (though if I don’t find them when I move, I will – I need to see clearly for the playoffs).
That said, I do not want to continue paying $1200 a month for rent to live in a neighborhood where I pay a premium because of its proximity to downtown when I don’t need to be near downtown. Also, my neighborhood is fairly boring, save for the occasional large outdoor gay festival.
So with the decision made to move, and you all having failed to find an apartment for me, and with October 1 approaching, I had to begin my apartment search. Two weeks ago, I went to an apartment in Lincoln Square. It was not in the best shape and there was no room at all for my grill (or the smoker I am soon to get), so I passed. That was a little disappointing because I was hoping to look at just one place. Then last week, I thought I found a perfect apartment in Ravenswood. It was huge, and it was a sublet, which was nice since I plan on owning a place within the next six months. The woman subletting told me that dogs were allowed. I called the building manager to sign a lease only to find out that Fred was not welcome, so that was that.
Over the past few days I have been looking on craigslist. I broke down and tried the Apartment Guys, one of the apartment finding services. As was my experience with The Apartment People a few years ago, these guys lie. They only get paid if you pick one of their apartments, so they claim they find places that meet your criteria, but when you get there, you see that they were full of crap. I’m not that picky, but I do need a place with a living room and a dining room, or else one large room that can serve as both. None of the places he showed me were close to meeting that requirement.
That was Tuesday. Yesterday, I went to see a place in Humboldt Park/Logan Square. The place was decent sized, but the building had clearly been neglected a bit. I don’t need that nice of a place, but it was pretty clear the owner has decided to sell the place and doesn’t much care about current tenants. So that one is no good.
That was five apartments viewed, four more than I wanted. Not good. I began to consider staying at my overpriced apartment.
Today, I had much better luck in Ravenswood. I looked at two reasonably priced apartments, both of which I think I can make even more reasonably priced when I remind the owners that October 1 is coming and the buildings both have two apartments that have already been vacant for a month. The slightly more expensive one is bigger, but a little less nice. I’m leaning towards that one despite the absence of a dishwasher.
Going to look at a couple more places this afternoon and should make my decision soon thereafter.
Those of you in Chicago – offers to help me move are greatly appreciated.
September 25th, 2008
Doggy Police State is Growing
Recently, I wrote about a dog DNA registration program in a town in Israel that would enable the government to go after anyone who did not clean up their dog’s poop.
Frankly, such fascism can’t really be that much of a shock coming from a country where the government routinely does things that would make most freedom-loving Americans cringe. There is a case to be made that much of the Israeli government’s draconian actions towards humans is justified given the climate in that part of the world, but that is a discussion for another day. The bottom line is that we cannot be shocked when a government used to the kind of authority the Israeli government has extends that power over doggies.
But now, this disease is spreading to countries that haven’t been fascist for at least fifty years. Vercelli, a town of about 45,000 near Turin, is following Petah Tikva’s lead and trying to set up a similar program. Local would-be Mussolini, Antonio Prencipe, the counsilor in charge of the environment says, “If signs and invitations aren’t enough, we’ll try genetics. I want a clean city.”
September 24th, 2008
I Cheered Against the Cubs Tonight But They Still Won
On Monday, the Cubs clinched home field advantage throughout the National League playoffs. All that is left to be determined is who they are going to beat in the first round.
At the time, the Mets were winning the Wild Card race over the Brewers by two games, and trailed the Phillies; the Dodgers are going to with the West. If the Mets win the Wild Card, the Cubs will play them in the first round and the winner of the Dodgers/Phillies series in the NLCS. If the Brewers were to pass the Mets, then the Cubs would play the Dodgers in the first round and the winner of the Brewers/Phillies in the second round.
Other than the Cubs winning, the most important thing about the playoffs is whether I am at the games. Due to my father’s foresight 28 years ago to buy season tickets to the Cubs, the home games are not an issue. On Saturday, I bought tickets to the NLCS games in Los Angeles, tickets that I only want if the Cubs are playing the Dodgers, which will only happen if the Mets win the Wild Card.
So once the Cubs clinched on Monday, I wanted the Mets to win the next three games. The Cubs obliged yesterday and were well on their way tonight, quickly going down 5-1. But the Mets bullpen is crap and the Cubs eventually took back the lead. The Irish wide receiver blew the lead in the 8th inning to give the Mets another chance, but the Cubs scored three runs in the 10th inning to win the game. The Brewers won, so now they are tied with the Mets.
The bad news is that the Mets have to play the Cubs again tomorrow and will likely lose. The good news is that the Cubs play the Brewers for three games after that – the last three games of the seaon. During that series, I will be able to return to cheering for the Cubs and order will be restored to the world.
September 20th, 2008
Cubs Magic Number: Fukudome is No Longer My Homay
“There is one word in America that says it all, and that one word is, ‘You never know.’” — Joaquin Andujar, Sports Illustrated, June 22, 1987
Before November 2007, most baseball fans in the U.S. had not heard of Kosuke Fukudome. But once word got out that the Japanese free agent was going to come to the Major Leagues, fans of every team that needed a right or center fielder began to learn a lot more about him. Clips of him on youtube were forwarded around and posted on blogs, including this gem by someone who thought no music goes better with videos of Fukudome than Lil Wayne:
Along with the clips, fans of the Cubs, White Sox, Mariners, Padres, Giants and every other team that was mentioned in the Fukudome sweepstakes learned all of the sexy facts: youngest baseball Olympian ever, 4 gold gloves, .351 batting average, 31 home runs and 104 RBI en route to the 2007 MVP.
The Cubs game him $48 million for four years, making it emphatically clear that the team was committed to winning. Cubs fans, myself included, were ecstatic. And after Opening Day, when he hit a double on the first pitch he saw and hit a three-run game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth, many of us were in love.
Fukudome played so well in April that Sports Illustrated put him on the cover and gave him substantial credit for the Cubs hot start:
But then in May, Fukudome started playing a little worse. And in June, he declined a little more. He was undeservedly picked to start the All Star Game thanks to Cubs fans like me who voted him in (as well as, presumably, the sizable Japanese vote). It was at the All Start Game that I began to sour on Fukudome. I was waving my homemade flag for him, drawing attention to my support of him, when he not only struck out, but did so while spinning around in a manner only previously seen in cartoons. It was embarrassing. I put the flag into temporary retirement that day, thinking I would take it out when he returned to form.
Today, two months later, the flag remains retired. Fukudome has gotten worse. He has declined every month this season and, despite his stellar defense, it looks like he will not be starting regularly in right field again this year. There are even some rumblings that he might be left off the playoff roster.
Regardless, there can be no question that Fukudome was, for a couple of months, an integral part of the Cubs success this year and I hold onto hope that next year, a rejuvenated Fukudome will be a good player for the Cubs.
In the meantime, the Magic Number is now down to one. The Cubs should clinch the division today. For the second year in a row, they will win their division. This is a franchise that has not been to the postseason in consecutive seasons since 1907-1908, which, incidentally is the last time they won the World Series.