The Drive to Stay Alive - Ep 8 - Bringing Back Humbug

Tis the season to be jolly, right? Fuck that. Tis the season for all you jolly bastards to shut up and stop reminding me that you are happy and I'm not. I don't need Christmas cheer. I don't need chestnuts roasting on an open fire. I don't need Jack Frost nipping on my nose. I certainly don't need Yuletide carols being sung by a choir and heaven forbid if I come across some tiny tots with their eyes all aglow. You might have guessed it by now because I'm laying it on thicker than the frosting on a gingerbread house, but I hate Christmas. Once Thanksgiving passes I too start a countdown - a countdown until the "Most Wonderful Time of the Year" is over and I can go back to my depressing life without hearing Jingle Bell Rock oozing out of every speaker within hearing distance. Ever since I found out that Santa wasn't real that aspect of the Christmas spirit was lost for me. Then I focused on Jesus as the reason for the season but that only lasted until I reached college and had a falling out with organized religion  So what is left for me to love during this Christmas season? I'm not even sure anymore and talking it out during this Episode didn't really help me to figure it out. Join me in this adventure by clicking below to disagree with me in every single thing I have to say. That's because you love Christmas. Everyone does. But not me. I hate Christmas.

Right click and Save As to download a copy of The Drive to Stay Alive - Episode 8 - Bringing Back Humbug, so that you can listen to it whenever you feel like it: http://pookonco.ipower.com/music/dtsa%20-%20ep8.mp3

I want to bring back Humbug. Not enough people use this word and in fact I rarely hear it uttered except for when Ebeneezer Scrooge voices his displeasure. Humbug in the way that Scrooge uses it means nonsense or rubbish, which works during all times of the year and not just during the season of Christmas. With this in mind I'm going to incorporate it into my ever expanding vocabulary and once again popularize the phrase. We'll see where that goes but I can promise you that there is a better chance of me succeeding at that then there is a chance of me loving Christmas. Sorry man. Tis the season to be jolly and joyous but for me there is no fa la la. And forget about asking me to deck the halls with balls of holly. Ask me that and I'll deck you instead. After all there's only 5 more sleeps till Christmas. Makes me wish I could go into a coma for a week and wake up when all of this glad tidings to you wherever you are, we wish you a Merry Christmas bullshit was over. Christmas. Bah! Humbug,..

 - pookon - 

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email: pookondotcom@gmail.com
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The Drive to Stay Alive - Ep 7 - The Weary Traveler

Most of the time when I record these episodes I don't brainstorm any of my ideas. I just hit record and go with it. That's one of the fun things about being creative. But one idea that I wanted to talk about was if my friends and family would accept me if I suddenly had a disability. Of course if I was crippled in a car accident they would still love me, but what if I had a stroke and the only thing that changed was that I now spoke with a British accent? I know it sounds like a weird idea, but then again I'm a pretty weird person. I wanted to let you about this idea before you listen so you would understand why I am talking with an accent. I was down in South Carolina visiting my brother so the first half doesn't take place during a drive like you are used to hearing. And I also never really got to explore the idea because I was recording first outside of a bar and then outside an IHop at the wee hours of the morning and was interrupted each time by a member of my traveling party. I only got around 10 minutes of material but I thought I would include it here. Why not? It didn't really fit anywhere else and it was a topic I felt like addressing. I would revisit it someday and delve a little deeper into the idea of acceptance in the event of unexpected change. I will talk more about this topic someday. I promise you that. If only to once again speak with a British accent. I get great joy out of that. And isn't that what this is all about? Finding the joys in life? Why should I deny myself of that? 

Right click and Save As to download a copy of The Drive to Stay Alive - Episode 7 - The Weary Traveler, so that you can listen to it whenever you feel like it: http://pookonco.ipower.com/music/dtsa-ep7.mp3

The second half of the podcast was recorded on a Monday night when I was driving home from my Dad's house after he picked me up from the airport. In this sense it was more like the traditional Drive to Stay Alive recordings that I have been doing. In this one I do identify a couple of things that I love about myself and figure out that I am a unique person who has talents and certain quirks that sets me apart from the rest of the population. To sum it up I'm pretty damn random. That allows me to be flexible, find humor and entertainment in every situation and to constantly avoid boredom. It's a great quality to have and I count myself among the lucky who have figured out how to do that. Another thing that I figured out is how much I love my family (and most importantly my Sister) and how much they mean to me. If I need one reason to stay alive I've found one - to be there for my family when they need me. And I suppose to be there even when they don't need me. But my family is more important to me than anything else in this world, so I'm going to do my damnedest to stick around and watch over them. If that is my only reason to exist than it's the greatest reason ever. That very well may be my Drive to Stay Alive. Who knows man. I just hope that when all is said and done I will have served my purpose. That's all I can ask for.

 - pookon -

www.pookon.com
email: pookondotcom@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/MilwaukeeIceman
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The Drive to Stay Alive - Ep 6 - The Dream Miser

This episode is about something that I really don't like doing, which is sleeping and dreaming. I know right now you are probably thinking that I'm crazy for saying that but if that is what got you to the point of calling me crazy then I'm afraid that I've strung you along for far too long. Most people love sleep, actually look forward to it every night and loathe getting out of bed in the morning. If you haven't noticed by now then let me shock you by saying that I'm different than most people. I hate going to bed so much to the fact that I put it off as long as humanly possible. The body does need sleep and it does need to rest and recharge. So there is a certain point in the night when it starts to shut down. For most people that is usually around 11 or midnight. My body starts to shut down around 1 or 2am but I push through that and stay up until 3 or 4am. And then I wake up around 7:30 or 8am to get ready for work for the day. I usually average around 5 hours of sleep tonight and I am lucky when I get 6 hours. It's not that I can't physically sleep. I don't have a sleeping disorder like insomnia or sleep apnea. Nope. I just choose not to. While that may seem like a very foreign idea to most people, I have my reasons. You might not agree with them but they work for me. And this is why I choose to limit my amount of sleep.

I wish this was the girl of my dreams. She's quite the hottie. But the truth is that there is no girl of my dreams because I don't really dream. I don't allow myself to. I do my best to avoid sleeping because for some reason my peak level of creativity occurs between 10pm and 2am. Because I have so much work to do on this site and the other ones in the Pookon Empire so I need to take advantage of that free time. Work (8 hours a day plus commuting time) and other commitments keep me from doing what I am truly passionate about so I have to cram it all into a short time span in the late hours of the night. Something has to give and that is my sleeping time. I've been able to survive on little to no sleep for a couple of years now. And I don't see myself stopping any time soon. Not as long as I still have something to say. And then there are my dreams. Or the lack thereof. I don't dream much any more, and when I do they are usually sad ones. I wish I could have the dreams that I did as a child or even the ones that I had in college when my whole life was in front of me. Somewhere along the way I got broken and my dreams were cast aside for more realistic options. But I've said enough in text form today. Please take the time to listen to the podcast below. Help me in this journey to find a reason to stick around for a while and figure out a reason to dream again. I need a friend or a support system to find my purpose in life and if you are listening to this then you could be that person. Make my dreams come true. Validate all of the time I spend on these efforts. And make sure you dream big. Why not. We only have one life. Live it up.

Right click and Save As to download a copy of The Drive to Stay Alive - Episode 6 - The Dream Miser, so that you can listen to it whenever you feel like it: http://pookonco.ipower.com/music/dtsa-ep6new.mp3

So that's my take on sleep and dreams. I hope that helps to explain my process of thinking and also why I spend so much time working on shit like this. It helps to keep me balanced in a world where everything is so upside down. I'm not so big on dreams because when you wake up it's like you were existing inside of a lie for however long the adventure lasted and with a few exceptions, life is never as good as it seems while you are dreaming. If it were up to me I'd never dream again because I have a very low success rate with the stories playing in my head. Most of them are depressing as shit so I'd like to avoid them at all costs. So far it's been working out alright but every night when I close my eyes I face the possibility of waking up in tears or with a sense of failure. And that's what keeps me up until 3 or 4am every night. I'm afraid to dream because of the ideas that exist in my mind. And no matter what, my life will never be as great as the one that my mind conjures up. It's something that I will just have to live with. At least while I am awake.

 - pookon -

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email: pookondotcom@gmail.com
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Drunken Live Tweet - The Goonies - "Goonies Never Say Tweet"

There are certain movies that will always be iconic classics to you and you will never feel any differently about them, no matter what anyone says. For me The Goonies is right up there on top of the list. I know that a lot of people feel the same way because my generation holds this movie in such high regard. And rightfully so they should. It really is a perfect movie. It has action, drama, comedy, adventure and some pirates thrown in the mix as an added bonus. Most movies that you adored as a child end up not being so cool when you watch them as an adult, but The Goonies is not one of those. I know that I have watched it a couple hundred times and I am not exaggerating. There are so many lines and scenes that I could act out on my own if need be, so just quiz me the next time you see me. But make sure that you are ready to take on one of the roles and be a member of my gang of Goonies. I'm Chunk so you can't be him. Anyone else is fair game I guess instead of Mikey. Jenny is Mikey. Yes I know that she is a girl and that he is a dude, but we are talking works of fiction here. Didn't guys used to play girls in old Shakespearean plays back in the 1600's? Then why is it weird that in the 2000's that a chick plays a dude? Why don't you stop asking questions and instead watch the actor disappear inside the character. So come join along with me as I got drunk one night, put on The Goonies again and Live Tweeted my thoughts as they came pouring out of my head. This was my favorite Live Tweet session so I hope that you get as much enjoyment out of it as I did. If you've seen The Goonies then you should be able to follow along with what I wrote and picture the movie in your head. Or you could always put the movie on and read along with my Tweets. Either way you're in for some pretty good drunken randomness. Enjoy.

I'll admit it - I'm one of #TheGoonies. I've been one my entire life and I'm proud to admit it. I wouldn't have it any other way.

If I was one of them, I would have to be Chunk. I have a penchant for Hawaiian shirts, pizza and Baby Ruth. #TheGoonies

If I had to truffle shuffle to get into my friend's house I would never go there. That fucker isn't my friend. #TheGoonies

Mikey has a more complex gadget system on his front lawn than Pee Wee Herman's house or Doc Brown's lab. #TheGoonies

I don't blame Mouth for incorrectly translating to Rosalita. Fucking with foreign people is a hell of a good time. #TheGoonies

It's no fair that Mikey has all that cool historical shit in his attic. I never even had an attic. Or rich stuff. #TheGoonies

Chunk said all they had in his attic was old Hanukkah decorations. Funny, I didn't know his last name was Levistein. #TheGoonies

Astoria, Oregon is the coolest town ever. #TheGoonies lived there and John Kimble was the Kindergarten Cop. I'm moving there.

They call their neighborhood the Boondocks, also known as "The Boonies." Um, next to he ocean is not the middle of nowhere. #TheGoonies

I totally am Chunk. My "go to" submission move as a child was to sit on people. That's all that I had. #TheGoonies

Brand did 376 lawnmower jobs just to get that shitty bike? He needs to renegotiate his wage. That's basically slave labor. #TheGoonies

Brand needs to take the training wheels off that bike. And take off his training bra too. He whines like a little girl. #TheGoonies

Chunk says when his stomach growls there is trouble. He has his own personal Spidey Sense! Chunk is my hero. #TheGoonies

I always wanted to go on an adventure with my friends. But surviving in my neighborhood was an adventure. I'm from the streets. #TheGoonies

Mama is one scary ass bitch. In this movie and as Danny DeVito's mom. I too would have thrown her from the train. #TheGoonies

Chunk wants to give up on the pursuit of One Eyed Willie's rich stuff because it's dinner time. Yep. It's official. I am Chunk. #TheGoonies

Of course the Asian figures out how to make counterfeit $50 dollar bills. Asians can figure out everything. #aLittleRacist #TheGoonies

Murderers are after him, a monster is chained up in a room, there's a dead body + all Chunk cares about is ice cream. My hero. #TheGoonies

They should have called the Mario Brothers to help with those pipes. They are plumbers you know. Amateurs. #TheGoonies

Chunk pushed his sister down the stairs + blamed it on the dog. Once I farted on the set of Blue Lagoon + blamed it on the dog. #TheGoonies

Chester is the greatest name ever. But Chester Kurutz is 2x the man Chester Copperpot ever was. #TheGoonies

I once saw #TheGoonies at a midnight screening in Minneapolis. I so wanted to drop fake vomit from the balcony. Just like Chunk.

Chunk wanted to play the violin. I wanted to play the piano, trumpet, saxophone, trombone, french horn and guitar. I did. #TheGoonies

If I had a chance to take back my wishes and dreams I would. Because none of them came true. Dreams are bullshit. #TheGoonies

Goonies never say die. Which is why I was so afraid to say it 7 months ago. But I'll never say it. He still lives in me. #TheGoonies

Sloth believes in the 5 second rule. He broke out of his fucking handcuffs to get that Baby Ruth off of the floor. #TheGoonies

Data is one crafty motherfucker. Pinchers of peril. Setting booty traps. Slick shoes. Bully blinders. #TheGoonies

I've got you now One Eyed Willie. Is that really something you want to say out loud kid? #aLittleGay #TheGoonies

If I was Mikey I would have slipped Andy the tongue. But I'm Chunk so I ate up all the snacks. #SexyTime #TheGoonies

I missed this. Bats come out and scare the shit out of them, but none of them have a lament or are counting? I call bullshit. #TheGoonies

Andy kind of looks like Hermione Granger. So my "magic wand" is going all wingardium leviosa right now. #TheGoonies

How ironic would it be if Mikey grew up + got caught in a "Booty Trap" for soliciting an undercover cop posing as a prostitute. #TheGoonies

Andy plays piano. Listen to the radio. Don't you remember if you get the wrong note, we'll all be flat. #MusicHumor #TheGoonies

I've been to Noah's Ark in the Dells a few times and I don't remember a water slide that ended with a pirate ship. #TheGoonies

So One-Eyed Willie only has one eye? That's like rain on your wedding day. Or a free ride when you've already paid? #ironic #TheGoonies

The one that they call Mouth is also the one who is able to fit it all in there. #aLittleGay #TheGoonies

If I am Chunk then I am still waiting for my Sloth to swing in and yell "Hey you Guys!" and save the day. It'll happen. #TheGoonies

Momma dropped the shit out of Sloth. That's why he ended up looking like that. Let that be a cautionary tale to future mothers. #TheGoonies

The kids meet up with their families and we get the old reunion bullshit. Where's the discipline? Where's the grounding? #TheGoonies

If I found some jewels in my bag then I would assume that I switched teams. One Eyed Willie got me. In my face. #TheGoonies

Ok. So they disobeyed their parents but in the end they saved the day. Do we punish or praise? #TheGoonies

That's why I kind of never want kids. You don't know what to do. Should I be proud or be upset? It's a challenge. #TheGoonies

I guess I want kids. I want them to go through the same shit i did. Have adventures. Fuck shit up. #TheGoonies

My life has been an adventure. Time to turn the page. To a new chapter. I need to live vicariously through my kids. #TheGoonies

The movie is just under 2 hours but the adventure lasts a lifetime. Goonies fo' life. That's what the kids be sayin'. #TheGoonies

If my kids are half as cool as me then I did a good job. Because they would have grown up with the classics. #TheGoonies

I could probably watch The Goonies again today and say some completely different things about the movie. That's the beauty of it. But on that night when I loaded up on the rum these are the words that flowed out of my brain and to the Twitter for the entire world to see. I'm not one of those people who keep their thoughts bottled up inside of their heads. Oh no, I will tell you all about them whether you like it or not. I love drunken Live Tweeting movies. It's a boatload of fun for me and I hope to do it again soon. I have a short list of 80's, 90's and 00's classics that I am prepared to send up in grand fashion on a rum-fueled night, so make sure you pay close attention to my Twitter account and this here blog for those episodes if you find this sort of thing amusing. And if you don't then you can't be in my rag-tag group of Goonies. It's your choice really. I suggest you think long and hard about which side you want to be on when the Revolution begins. If you aren't so sure about which side to choose remember this - Goonies never say die.

 - pookon -

www.pookon.com
email: pookondotcom@gmail.com

http://www.facebook.com/MilwaukeeIceman

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The Drive to Stay Alive - Ep 5 - A Walk in the Jurassic Park

I love the movie Jurassic Park. To this day it is still one of my most memorable theater going experiences. When it came out in the Summer of 1993 I was 12 years old. Shit, was I really 12 years old when that movie came out? Damn now I feel old. The reason why it was so memorable was because this movie scared the shit out of me while at the same time making my childhood and current dreams (because I was still technically a child) come true because I was obsessed with dinosaurs. When all of the other kids wanted to be firefighters, doctors and astronauts, I wanted to be a paleontologist. Dinosaurs fascinated me because they were so gigantic and they represented a world unlike the one that we were a part of. What would have happened if the meteor didn't crash into Earth 65 million years ago and the dinosaurs survived? Would humans have even been able to evolve into the dominant species on this planet or would dinosaurs have reigned supreme? It's a tough question and one that we fortunately don't have to answer. But the night before I recorded this episode I watched the Jurassic Park Trilogy (yes, even the 3rd one which many people consider to be an abomination) so one could say that I had dinosaurs on the brain during this drive to and from work. But that's a good thing because it is a break from the norm where I have been talking about real life shit. Every now and then you have to break up the serious with a little silly talk like dinosaurs. So listen below if you want to hear what I have to say about these terrible lizards.

Right click and Save As to download a copy of The Drive to Stay Alive - Episode 5 - A Walk in the Jurassic Park, so that you can listen to it whenever you feel like it: http://pookonco.ipower.com/music/dtsa-ep5.mp3

I'm a really big fan of this movie series and especially The Lost World. There's something about the Ian Malcolm character so expertly portrayed by Jeff Goldblum that I just love. The biggest mistake that the series made is suffering the fate of so many trilogies and ending on an incredibly weak note. Jurassic Park III was doomed to fail as soon as the script was not based on a Michael Crichton novel and Steven Spielberg decided not to return to the director's chair. When you are missing those 2 elements (excellent source material and one of the greatest director's of this current film generation) you might as well just abandon the project. But the Jurassic Park series, like life, finds a way to carry on. And although this episode doesn't really follow any of the themes that I have laid down over the first few episodes it was what was on my mind that morning and evening as I was driving to and from work. I do want to use this podcast as a way to talk out my thoughts and feelings and hopefully correct my life, but that fact of the matter is that my life is so screwed up that talking about dinosaurs kind of makes sense. I don't really know how to explain it and at this time I am unable to provide a plausible connection between the Jurassic Park movies and where I went wrong in life nor am I able to make a connection with how these films will help me to set my life back on the path towards success. Look, I have no idea what I am doing here, but isn't that what life is all about? Show me someone who has it all figured out and I will show you someone who is living a lie. Nothing makes sense in life and we're all just wandering around trying to figure this shit out. And that my friends, is chaos.

 - pookon -

www.pookon.com
email: pookondotcom@gmail.com
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The Drive to Stay Alive - Ep 4 - Nana Nana, Nana Nana, Hey Hey, Goodbye

My Nana (grandmother), Marilyn Kurutz died on November 9th 2012. That's a rather blunt way to say it but I didn't want to bury the lead. A better way to say it would have been called back to God's Kingdom because she was a devote Christian and prayed every single day of her life. She was such an amazing person and I owe so much of my life to her because whether or not she knew it, she had a huge influence on my upbringing. I can't even begin to explain how my character, morals, values in life and general behaviors have been shaped by the lessons she explicitly and implicitly taught me throughout life. Nana was the glue that held this family together and ever since she had surgery to remove a brain tumor she was never the same. When she came out of surgery she was no longer the woman I grew up loving because she had changed. It was a real hard concept to deal with at the time but the one thing that it did give me was time to deal with her death. She had been slowly dying for the last 3 years. While it is really sad to see her go I know that she was a prisoner in her own body because she was unable to speak, smile or care for others like she had done for all of my life. Now that she is free of her mortal body that trapped her recently she is free to care for everyone both in Heaven and on Earth. She used to tell me that she prayed for me every day. While I'm sure that I did enough wrong to warrant those prayers I always felt a sense of calm because I had an "in" with Jesus when it was my time to answer to the Lord. But now that she is up there cooking up Nana Meals for Timmy and everyone else I know that she will welcome me with a big Nana hug when it is my time to move on to the next world. Listen by clicking below as I try to sort out my feelings surrounding the death of one of the most special people that I have had the honor of knowing.

Right click and Save As to download a copy of The Drive to Stay Alive - Episode 4 - Nana Nana, Nana Nana, Hey Hey, Goodbye so that you can listen to it whenever you feel like it: http://pookonco.ipower.com/music/dtsaep4.mp3

There's not a whole lot I can say that I haven't already said in this episode. I don't like to complain much because I realize that I have it better than so many other people in this world. I have 2 parents who love me, a family filled with the most amazing people in the world, an older brother who I've always looked up to and wanted nothing more than to be just like, a sister that is my best friend and the most hilarious person ever and a little brother who had so much talent whose attitude and smile was infectious. On top of that I have 2 jobs, a place of my own, a working car, a wonderful although mischievous cat Korben Dallas and so more friends than I can keep track of. That having been said over the last year and a half I have had to deal with the death of my Brother, my Grandpa (my Dad's Father) and now my Nana (my Mom's Mother). It's been a really rough time because every funeral reminds me of the one that hurt the most (Timmy). But death is a part of life so remind yourself every day that the clock is ticking. We only have a finite amount of time on this planet so do yourself a favor and make the most out of it. Life isn't about things. It's about people. I choose to spend my time with the people that I care about the most. I miss the people who are no longer here like Timmy, Grandpa and Nana but I know that I made the most of the time that I spent with them while they were here. At least I can live without those regrets. But it's really hard to live without those people. But I'm doing it. With every single day I exist to create new memories and hopefully pass on the lessons that those people taught me. Maybe that's my reason to keep on living.

 - pookon -

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"25 Brewers in 25 Days" - 2012 Recap - Overall

The 2012 Milwaukee Brewers Season can't really be summed up in a few words or quick sentences but I'll try. As far as words go these ones seem to fit: inconstant, pitching, scuffle, tease, struggle, maddening, disappointing, encouraging, hopeful, mind-numbing and frustrating. Here's a couple of phrases that I have picked out: what could have been, too little too late, fatal flaw and positive outlook for the future. I'm not going to go into detail as to why I picked those words or phrases out but if you watched the Brewers this year then you know exactly they describe the season. If you weren't a faithful viewer or you checked out at some point I'll try to drop some hints along the way as to why those words or phrases mean something. I'll get more into depth in the next month or so when I feature the offense and pitching in separate articles where I can break it down by player and compare my 2012 predictions to their 2012 final statistics. All in due time but let's address a couple of things right off the bat here.

Here's what worked. I said that the offense wasn't going to be a problem in 2012 and when all was said and done it wasn't. The Brewers led the NL with 202 Homeruns but also proved that they could play some small ball by leading the NL with 158 Stolen Bases. They were 5th in the NL in On Base Percentage and 1st in Hit by Pitches, which led to them leading the NL in RBIs with 741. That's a lot of offense man. Sure they got off to a very slow start and it hurt that Aramis Ramirez didn't heat up until June and Corey Hart didn't find his stride until a permanent switch to 1st base was made, but even in the early months of the season the offense wasn't really losing them games. The Starting pitching   for the most part kept them in games long enough to win. They were 9th in the NL in ERA and were 2nd in the NL with 875 strikeouts (the pitching staff as a whole would lead the NL with 1402 strikeouts). They suffered through injuries (Chris Narveson), winless starts (Marco Estrada) and trades (Zack Greinke) but newcomers like Mike Fiers, Mark Rodgers and Wily Peralta really stepped up and gave us hope for the future. I'll get more in depth on that as well as a couple of other surprises like Carlos Gomez putting together a quality season, the shortstop of the future Jean Segura and the best catching duo in Jonathon Lucroy and Martin Maldonado that I've ever seen. So stay tuned to the blog for those articles.

Here's what didn't work. This was probably the worst Brewers bullpen I have ever seen, and I have sat through some really rough years. It's hard to imagine that the entire bullpen would all have a bad year but that's what happened in 2012. You can't put all of the blame on Axford although it's easy to do because blown saves in the 9th tend to sting a little harder. But KRod, Manny Parra, Kameron Loe and Jose Veras all blew their fair amount of games outside of the 9th inning. There wasn't even one reliable arm in the bullpen that Manager Ron Roenicke could trust at any given moment so he was left with very few options. And yes, one of those options was the legendary Tim Dillard who was able to further his legend with every pitching appearance. Rickie Weeks and Nyjer Morgan, the primary set-up men for Braun and Ramierz, were just awful in 2012. There's this saying that the Brewers offense goes as Rickie Weeks goes and in the first half of the season Weeks wasn't going anywhere. His batting average dropped as low as .152 and when he rebounded in the 2nd half the offense rebounded with him. That's weird how it works. Nyjer Morgan and Tony Plush must have gone away on holiday because they weren't around in 2012. They lost playing time to Carlos Gomez and Norichika Aoki and served mainly as a pinch hitter in the 2nd half of the season. Morgan as you know was one of the biggest reasons why the Brewers were so successful in 2011 both on and off the field as his antics kept the club loose and helped them to have fun. Without Tony Tombstone and Tony Clutch, the offense struggled at times. Injuries. You can't predict injuries happening but you can have depth at the Major and Minor league to not allow it to affect your team. With a payroll around $100 million and a minor league system empty at the AAA level, they weren't equipped to deal with the losses of Chris Narveson, Alex Gonzalez and Mat Gamel. By the time the starting rotation stabilized with Mike Fiers, Wily Peralta and Mark Rodgers, Jean Segura settled into shortstop following the Greinke trade and Corey Hart was moved permanently to 1st, it was too little too late. These moves should have been made a lot sooner and I was calling for all of them (with the exception of Segura was was not on the team yet) the second the injuries occurred.

There's so much more to get into and I will expand on those ideas later but I'm going to save that for the Offense and Pitching articles. Referencing back to my 2012 Overall Predictions article that I posted on March 22, here are some of the predictions that I made:

• The Brewers will finish with a 90-72 record, once again winning the NL Central and returning to the Playoffs for the 2nd year in a row. The Brewers finished with a 83-79 record (3rd place in the NL Central) and missed the playoffs, missing the 2nd NL Wildcard by 5 Games.
• Cincinnati Reds will finish 2nd, St. Louis Cardinals 3rd, Chicago Cubs 4th, Pittsburgh Pirates 5th and in their last year in the NL Central the Houston Astros will once again finish dead last. The Cincinnati Reds finished 1st (97-65), St. Louis Cardinals were 2nd (88-74), Pittsburgh Pirates were 4th (79-83), Chicago Cubs were 5th (61-101) and as expected the Houston Astros were the worst team in baseball and in 6th place (55-107).
• The Brewers will once again easily draw over 3 million fans and flirt with the all-time attendance record. Despite a rough start the Brewers drew 2,831,385 fans which was good for 11th in MLB and beating out cities with better teams (record-wise) like Cincinnati, Washington and Atlanta.
• The Brewers will send 3 players to the All-Star game in Kansas City - Ryan Braun, Zack Greinke and either Corey Hart or John Axford. Ryan Braun was the only Brewers player in the All Star Game but one could argue that Zack Greinke (9-3 record, 3.32 ERA) was snubbed. Corey Hart wasn't anything special and as we all know, John Axford was God awful.
• Brewers fans will have completely forgotten about Prince Fielder because they will finally come to the realization that pitching and defense win games (not Bill Hall). They will also become more educated on the small ball aspects of the game such as bunting runners over and using the hit and run due to the lack of spectacle of the long ball. The Brewers offense was outstanding and they led the league in homeruns, so fans still dug the long ball. But under manager Ron Roenicke they also led the league in stolen bases and utilized the suicide and safety squeeze bunts more than I've ever seen.

A lot of credit has to go to Ron Roenicke and Doug Melvin for the work they did this season. Replacing Prince Fielder's production seemed to be nearly impossible, but Melvin signed Aramis Ramirez in the offseason and the 1-2 punch between him and Braun was as good if not better than the Braun/Fielder combo. Signing Norichika Aoki gave us the leadoff hitter we have been searching for and allowed Weeks to drop down in the order where he belongs. The Greinke trade brought us our shortstop for the future along with 2 pitchers that might be a part of the team in a few years. And several pitchers that he drafted finally made it to the majors and performed well, which should quiet the whole "Doug Melvin cannot produce young pitching" talk. I've got no issues with him whatsoever as a General Manager and I hope that he sticks around for some time because in my opinion he is one of the best in the game.

Another move that Melvin made prior to the 2011 season was hiring Ron Roenicke. In 2011 he led the team to 96 wins but that wasn't enough to impress a lot of critics of this first time manager. Most people would say that with the offense, pitching and shut-down bullpen that the Brewers had, he could have fallen asleep Ken Macha style and managed on autopilot. When the team struggled in 2012 the doubters pointed their fingers at Roenicke and said that he was the wrong man for the job. Those people are wrong once again. It is often in a time of great struggle that you are able to see a person's true character and this season we saw Roenicke as the kind of Manager who could rally his players to a 36-23 record over the final 2 months of the season to lead his club to a winning record. For those of you who don't think that was a big deal consider that they were 12 games under .500 as late as August 19. To even be in the playoff conversation until the final week of the season is nothing short of amazing. The Brewers could have totally mailed it in and faded away quietly into the night, but they instead turned it into a playoff chase. That kind of mentality starts at the top with Roenicke and trickles on down to the other coaches and the players. He sets the pace for everyone and I am more than excited that Melvin extended his contract through the 2015 season if they pick up the option on the last year. At this point I would expect to have him around beyond that because I for one believe that he has proven himself worthy to lead this team. And he also seems like a perfect fit for not only these current players but also the ones that will move from the minors to the majors in the next few years.

I know that I wrote a whole lot of things here so I apologize if your 4th Grade Reading Level doesn't allow your small brain to process all of this information. If that is the case I bid you adieu and I thank you for giving my site another 'hit' and my ego another boost. If you possess the intelligence to follow along with these words that are cleverly strung together to form complex sentences, then make sure you come back for more over the coming weeks because we are just getting started man. Within the next few weeks we are going to be breaking down the players on both sides of the ball and comparing my preseason predictions to their actual final stats. For me this is one of the most fun things that I do in a given baseball season because it allows me to test my knowledge as a Brewers fan. I'm not going to lie - it is going to get weird and I may take my pants off. If that sort of thing gets you all hot and bothered like Rock reminiscing about catching Juan Nieves' no-hitter then make sure you come back for some more. I might even throw in Robin Yount's UD (unnecessary dive) for good measure to close it out and preserve that shit longer than a jar of strawberry jam.

 - pookon -

www.pookon.com
email: pookondotcom@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/MilwaukeeIceman
https://twitter.com/pookondotcom

The Drive to Stay Alive - Ep 3 - Out of Time, Out of Love

So far this thing has been emotional and gotten me a little fired up at times, but this next episode is like you have never heard me before. I don't really want to get into it too much (because I'd much rather you listen instead of me giving away all the meaty bits) but I do breakdown a little bit and lose control of my emotions. If you are one of those sons a bitches who like to laugh at train wrecks well then you've come to the right place. You'll be excited to hear that I lose all control at one point and I needed to collect myself before moving on. Hope you get a good belly chuckle out of that one you heartless bastard. But if you are one of those people who actually have a heart then you will probably be surprised at how emotional that I get and you'll probably want to reach through the computer screen and give me a hug. Or not. Look, I have no idea how you are going to react to this or even if you are listening to this shit at all. Because I spend most of my life sequestered away from the general population I don't get any feedback from people regarding my multiple ventures. But I do know that this so called attempt at personal therapy does have some kind of purpose, but I'll let you be the judge by listening to this week's episode below.

Right click and Save As to download a copy of The Drive to Stay Alive - Episode 3 - Out of Time, Out of Love so that you can listen to it whenever you feel like it: http://pookonco.ipower.com/music/dtsa-ep3n.mp3

There's a lot going on in my life right now and obviously there is a lot on my mind. If there wasn't then I wouldn't have anything to talk about. If that happens then I no longer have a podcast. Where would we be without that? This thing is helping me to work out some issues both at the time I record it and a few weeks later when I listen back and reflect upon what I said and reassess my current situation. I'm hoping to grow and change with every week that I'm doing this but there is no way to judge it until I'm 2 months in or something. So until we reach that point I'm going to keep cranking these things out every week. Make sure you keep checking back here if this sort of thing tickles your fancy. And if it doesn't then why are you still here? Leave me! I don't need you! I'll get myself a new best friend! So go ahead! Go back to your fancy cars! And your big bank accounts! And your celebrity friends! And your beautiful women. And Victoria Silvstedt, Playmate of the Year... Fuck!!

 - pookon - 

www.pookon.com
email: pookondotcom@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/MilwaukeeIceman
https://twitter.com/pookondotcom

The Drive to Stay Alive - Ep 2 - Nuclear War / Acts of God

I introduced you to my solo podcast "The Drive to Stay Alive" during Day #4 of Go Bananas but in case you didn't catch that let me give you a little recap on what I'm trying to do here. My drive to and from work is the worst part of my day Monday-Friday. On the drive there it sucks because I know that I'm going to be spending the next 8 hours doing something that doesn't help me in any way except for a steady paycheck. And the drive home is agonizing in a different way because I can't wait to just get there so that I can satisfy my need to be creative and have an output for all of the ideas that are swirling around in my head. I take those ideas and develop content for pookon.com, this blog, The Daily Burner, TimReck.com and any other project that I am currently working on. That does solve a rather large need in my life to create but there are a lot of other thoughts, feelings and emotions that I just don't know what to do with. That's where this podcast comes into play. 

I don't normally talk about real life. I prefer to be more entertaining with silly stories and goofy things that I think about when I'm drunk. But my ability to come up with some really creative positive things also allows me to come up with some dangerously terrible things and sometimes puts me in a dark place. I'm hoping to use this as a therapist of sorts and talk out a lot of my worries and issues. But why record it and share it with you? I don't know really. I guess exposing myself to an audience makes it real and holds me accountable for my actions. So if you feel like hearing my opinion on things like trying to find a reason to live and figuring out my purpose in life, go ahead and take a listen below. Hopefully I manage to entertain as well as give you something to think about as you come along for this journey. It's going to be one hell of ride as I search for a reason to keep living.

In Episode 1 I kind of provided an overview and hit on a variety of topics as I introduced the reason why I am doing this. Today's Episode allows me to focus on another topic altogether and I bring up the question if I really even want to stay alive. Is life worth living? Sure, I bet I'll find a good reason somewhere along the way which brings me joy and happiness. But life is also shrouded in darkness as I address things like terrorism and acts of God which make the future look bleaker by the day. Nuclear war is a threat that we may have to face in our lifetimes and I hope I never have to deal with the eradication of millions of human beings in a careless act of war. But later I decide that an act of God like the recent Hurricane/Super Storm Sandy is more likely to happen as God tries to punish us for our wrongdoings. Look, I'm not doing it justice right now so just do yourself a favor and listen below.

Right click and Save As to download a copy of The Drive to Stay Alive - Episode 2, so that you can listen to it whenever you feel like it: http://pookonco.ipower.com/music/dtsa2.mp3

I've got a million things to say and as life keeps throwing more curveballs and me I'll have to figure out a way to lay off of them and wait for that fastball down the middle so I can drive it out of the park. Sorry, that's just the baseball geek in me coming off of the bench for a few innings. But that's my way of saying that there will be plenty of more topics for me to address in the future so keep checking back every week for a new podcast and all of the other content that I post on this blog. I'm nothing without the love and support of you, my family and friends, because you provide me the adventures in life that give me something to talk about. So in a way you are keeping me alive by providing me with some answers to some of my questions. But there will always be more questions so stick around for a little while, ok? 

 - pookon -

www.pookon.com
email: pookondotcom@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/MilwaukeeIceman
https://twitter.com/pookondotcom

"7 in 7" - Go Bananas - Day 5

For serious I think I'm going to end this. I'm done going bananas. I didn't get my desired results but I did get something completely unexpected. But the whole reason I started doing this is because I thought it was funny and it would be a good joke for and on the Twitter. Go Bananas he says! Wahoooooooo! Look at that guy! He's freaking nuts! But it's not that funny anymore because I am the joke. It started with them laughing with me and turned into them laughing at me. I'm pretty much a failure in life and I need to rectify that if I ever want to amount to anything. But here's the thing. I still got time to change things and I have the tools to do it. So in that regard this experiment is a success. I can't promise to follow through with this because you know me. I pretty much stay the same and I don't welcome change. So we'll see what happens when this little adventure comes to an end. 

I really don't know what to do with this space right now. I can't really explain my future actions to you because I don't really understand what is happening to me and how I go about turning this idea into something plausible. That's weird for me not to pour out my thoughts and feelings on here because I 'm usually pretty candid and overtly truthful on this blog where I can do it semi-anonymously. I say it that way because you know who I am even though I try to hide behind a child-hood moniker. And you may someday call me out on things that I put on here. And then I'm held liable for them. But the reason that I can mostly hide is because the majority of people don't take the time to come on here and read what I have to say. And the people who do make it probably don't have the attention spans to bury themselves in these words. There is a whole lot of them and for the most part it's all nonsense. So I don't expect you to get to this part with your sanity in tact.

So I guess this is where I leave you for now. I'm sorry that I don't have some kind of epic conclusion for you or a grand finale. That's because this is just the end of this chapter. But don't worry, in this live action version of choose your own adventure I get to decide what happens next. And I'm sure that I will make a whole lot of interesting choices in this adventure before the story comes to a close. So that's it. This may be one of the lamest things I've ever written because it doesn't make sense and it isn't interesting at all. This is why I only write when I feel inspired instead of trying to meet a deadline or a quota. I promised some daily interaction here on the site and I feel like I must come on here and give you an update as to where I am in this little departure from my usual life. Sometimes I feel like I will just be able to crank out some text when the time is right and for the most part I am able to do it. But then there comes times like right now and I am basically typing out what I am thinking so that I do have something to share with you right now. I would want to have it any other way but I can't always be on top of my game man. After all, I have been eating nothing but bananas for the past 5 days so I probably don't the energy to fuel my brain power right now. So you just have to come back here when I eat a couple of pounds of Smarties and explode on a sugar high. Or until I have a couple of pulls from the whiskey bottle. That's sure to be exciting.

Bananas Consumed: 12

 - pookon -

www.pookon.com

email: pookondotcom@gmail.com

http://www.facebook.com/MilwaukeeIceman

https://twitter.com/pookondotcom

"7 in 7" - Go Bananas - Day 4 / Drive to Stay Alive - Episode 1

I really don't have anything of value to say today man. It was a very boring and average day in the life of one Mr. Scott A. Reck, Esquire. I had several cahnces to do something with my life today but I chose not to. I have no idea why because I was actually in a fairly good mood today as I went about my business. That's rather odd for a Monday as I'm used to feeling pretty down that my freedom has been stolen away from me by my white-collar job. But I was told never to bite the hand that feeds me so I'm not going to turn this into a job bashing session. You're welcome. You probably have your own shitty job to complain about and don't need to hear about mine. I'm still going strong with this banana thing and I found out today that it is an actual diet. I rarely reveal stuff about my personal life at work because it's none of their business but I let it slip that I was going bananas. My coworker then told me that she knew about this kind of thing and had tried something similar in her youth. I then had to tell her that this wasn't about losing weight (although I could stand to drop a couple hundred pounds) and that I was just going bananas. Of course she didn't understand. Very few people do. That's why I seclude myself within the confines of my home so I don't bother anyone. Leave them alone and hopefully they leave me alone. I am saddled with a lifetime of solitude thanks to my actions and behaviors. Or it could be by personal choice. Who knows man.

But even though I don't have a lot to say in text form I did have a lot to say in my new personal podcast which I'm going to title "The Drive to Stay Alive." It will be recorded in my car whenever I feel like doing it and it will basically be me trying to find myself or figure some shit out on my way to and from work. I call it that because I'm trying to find a reason to stay alive. A reason to live. Before you get concerned let me make this clear - I don't want to die and I would never do anything intentionally harm myself. I just don't have a purpose in life and I think it is in my best interest to find one. It will all make sense if you listen below or save a copy to listen to at a later date.

Right click and save as to download Drive to Stay Alive - Episode 1: http://pookonco.ipower.com/music/dtsa1.mp3

I've said all that I could for today. Sorry if you came here expecting the crazy that I promised on Day 1, but as I explain in the podcast I haven't felt crazy so I can't act like I am. This experiment is a whole lot different than I expected it to be and I'm hoping that tomorrow I will be able to provide some more uplifting content. But I can't promise anything man. I don't even know what kind of surprises that life will present me tomorrow so I can't prepare for what may happen. Instead I'm just gonna roll with the changes and stay flexible man. Have to be ready to take on any challenges or situations that life throws at me. Because we all know that life has an assortment of pitches but always throws the one low and outside that you can't handle. But will I swing and fail trying to be the hero or will I take the walk and get on base allowing the next guy to drive me in? And why does everything have to revolve around baseball? Why can't I focus on something else that I have more control over? Or even a sport that I actually play and not just sit around and watch as an overly critical analyzer. I'm lost now man, so I'm gonna go out and find myself even if I have to search for the next few years.  But with no map, no sense of direction and only a compass, how am I ever going to find anything? You just put Jack in the Shack, right? 

Bananas Consumed: 10

 - pookon -

www.pookon.com
email: pookondotcom@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/MilwaukeeIceman
https://twitter.com/pookondotcom