The more exciting my life is, the less I post to my blog. This weekend, I’ll try to post a good write-up on my move to College Station. For now, all you need to know is that I have my Sports Pass.

Last weekend, I flew into Philly to attend DP’s bachelor party festivities since I am unable to make the wedding. I arrived on Friday night, and BJ kindly picked me up at the airport. He was surprised to see that my luggage consisted of no trashbags. We stopped at Jasmine to eat with Keith and Karen on the way home. Most impressively, BJ not only ate at an Asian-themed restaurant, but also ordered seafood (with no special requests). Ok, it was a crabcake, not squid or eel, but it’s still technically seafood. We’ll need to rework the list of items that BJ refuses to eat which previously consisted of everything but chicken, bacon and cheese.

On Saturday, we went to the Phillies vs. Braves game and then to Atlantic City. On the way to the game, we stopped at Two Fat Guys to pick up some goods for the tailgate, then we left to wait in the expansive Kreston parking lot while BJ fried out. While we waited, DP and Frank dropped the ball on sunscreen, so I’m sporting a lobsterneck this week. Eventually, we left Wilmington Trust Country and arrived at the tailgate lot. After making 6 laps around the parking area, BJ found our place away from the attractive women and next to the Royal Flush portable toilet.

The all-star cast that participated in the tailgate and AC trip is almost too impressive to believe. Here’s a brief rundown of happenings:

BJ - During a 2-hour window between the 4th and 8th innings of the ballgame, BJ injured his wrist due to a misjudged tackle on Chuck, demanded water ice, hit every car in the parking lot with a stolen frisbee, and insulted the PPD while laying on the sidewalk. BJ has no recollection of these events. BJ was also the winner of the Big Man race between me, him and Frank. It takes me 9 steps to equal one of BJ’s strides, and that is my excuse for getting left in the dust.

DP - The man of the hour who’s marrying Marrisha, a superstar in her own right, on 8/8. Frank, BJ and I accompanied DP to the Pai Gow table late in the evening. By the time I sat down, DP was already fighting with the dealer as I heard her ask, “Why you have such bad attitude?” In a matter of 10 minutes, we were visited by 2 floor managers and a pit boss. The true blowup came from Frank, after DP requested dealer assistance with his hand (which is allowed), and she told him the wrong way to play. Then she showed how she would have played it… uhh, which she did differently 20 seconds earlier. Everyone was scared of the sweaty New Yorker who was standing up and yelling at this point, so we promptly exited the table. As a side note, I hate Pai Gow, which I’d never played, because I forfeited a winning hand after playing it incorrectly.

Frank - The guy who brings a Mets cap to a Phillies vs. Braves game. He’s the one wearing a Mr. T starter kit with his chest hair on full display. Frank was the last-place finisher in the footrace after he pulled up lame at the midway point. His hamstring is still nagging him, I’m sure.

John - You’ll recognize John as the only person at a casual event with his shirt tucked in, looking like he showed up for a photo shoot with Golf Digest.

Dave - We had to take an extra car to Atlantic City because Dave needed a seat for his blazer. Once we got to AC, Dave and his boy Jerrold hit the clubs and were not seen again (after a quick stop to iron their duds).

Gray Holiday - Always harassed by police but never at fault, Jay somehow avoided major confrontation at the game.

BB - Legendary gambler who’s quick to fry out on a dealer or the guy in seat 6.

C. McDaniel - BB’s new sidekick who apparently shares similar mannerisms with me. I lost 2 prop bets to this kid during the game, and was called an asshole by a stranger as a result. I was just cheering for Mike Hampton, the Braves pitcher, who I bet would hit a homerun at 5:1. I know it was a terrible bet. He did sponsor most of my breakfast after some guy tried to tell me how to count to 22.

Chuck - Will buy anything on his credit card in exchange for cash.

This is really just a sampling of the heroes who were at the event. Some other weekend highlights included getting mauled by BJ’s dog, meeting BJ’s fiance, winning the home poker game at Frank’s on Sunday, and speculating about how someone got fired. I think a marionette was involved.

My Rating: 9/10

Batman still needs a Ricola and this movie seemed really long. Otherwise, The Dark Knight is a great action flick, especially when held to the forever-disappointing comic book genre. Back in the day, I gave Batman Begins 7 stars which seems pretty generous in retrospect. So I’ve bumped my initial 8-star review of The Dark Knight to 9 because these movies are more than a star apart.

The Heath Ledger hype bothered me as I wondered how much of a posthumous boost he was getting. In fairness, his performance isn’t going to earn any Oscars but he was excellent as the Joker. Everyone in this movie was pretty good, but Maggie Gyllenhaal’s face bothers me. I guess they tried to find a Katie Holmes look-a-like, and did that successfully.

The Dark Knight joins Return of the King in the category of movies that I really enjoyed while worrying that they were never going to end.

My personal trainer Xand and I went to a park near his house to shoot hoops today. We joined four non-English speaking Mexicans to play 3-on-3. Xand and I ended up picking teams somehow, and I took the kid in the A&M hat first. We busted up Xand’s team 21-10 playing by ones. I scored 16 of my team’s points, making me MBP or Most Beastly Player. I even managed to hit 2 2-pointers, or what is normally a college 3-pointer.

The Mexicans were about as tall as Xand and me, so they were probably around 15 years old. One of the opponents had on a t-sip hat, and I had a block and steal against him. Yes, I blocked a shot. Despite my slowness, I’m improving.

There was a sideshow to our basketball game in the adjacent field. There were about 40 people LARPing. LARP stands for live-action role-playing and rivals furries for being made fun of online. These guys had pvc and foam weapons, and threw flags at each other while yelling spells. They called each other names like Odin, and some wore kilts. Others dressed as pirates or knights. Impressively there were 4 women present. Some had $40 knee pads made for catchers in baseball. Others has repair kits consisting of duct tape and twine. It was not something I expected to see in Lufkin, and was my second experience with LARPers in my life. The other time was, strangely enough, while I was playing basketball in Delaware. Anyway, it was nice to not be in the top 10 for fattest dudes at the park today. Thanks LARPers.

Mundis reminded me of this classic LARP video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=j_ekugPKqFw

I had to take a photo recently for a graduate school student information packet. Here is a comparison of that picture to a picture from my brother’s wedding a few years ago. I weigh less than I did in 8th grade now, and would like to lose 60-70 more lbs.

Three weeks ago I decided to start playing basketball for exercise. My first morning on the court, I failed to hit the rim with the ball. It’s not that I was terrible, which I am, but my shoulder was so tight that I couldn’t throw the ball high enough. I continued going back every day, making small advancements, and now I can shoot from just about anywhere. My 3-pointer accuracy is pretty horrid though.

I gathered some trainers from the gym to play on weekends, and we’re meeting up again on Sunday. These guys were all big-time athletes, but in sports other than basketball. I thought I was in for a schooling, but I am undefeated in all events we’ve played so far, including 21, Horse, and 2-on-2. Beast. This weekend we’re trying to get 3-on-3 or 4-on-4, and one of the trainers who used to be able to dunk is coming. He was drafted for baseball by the Blue Jays before he tore his labrum. That’s the same injury I had.

Speaking of injuries, when we were playing 2-on-2 my feet got tangled with an opponent when we were scrambling for a rebound and I hit the ground hard. I had a nice knot on my forehead (which is getting better), a huge thigh bruise, a very sore left hand, and the wind was knocked out of me. Most importantly, I made the play by throwing the ball out off of the other guy on my way to the concrete. Once I caught my breath, we reeled off 5 straight points (by ones).

It’s nice to be active in something I used to enjoy as a kid, and to not be embarrassed by my level of play. I am short and slow, but I can hang. With these guys at least.

I got Wii Fit when it was released, and I’m on my 23rd day of training. I’ve lost roughly 10 pounds since Day 1, so Wii Fit has not accelerated my weight loss. I was already losing at a good clip. My dedication to Wii Fit has waned, and I’m doing less strength and aerobic exercises than I did in the first two weeks. This is partly due to my taking on an additional day of personal training at the gym and my new interest in shooting baskets. I also have doubts about the effectiveness of some Wii Fit activities. I still use the yoga exercises to stretch before my gym outings, and I play the balance games because they’re fun.

Many of the Wii Fit activities are excessively easy for me, and I’m not in great shape. So I imagine that they would be particularly useless to someone whose body is in good condition. The strength exercises don’t do a lot for me, especially compared to my strength training at the gym. The aerobic exercises are very light as well. I have trouble breaking a sweat on Wii Fit these days.

I think the idea behind Wii Fit is admirable, and the quality of the balance board is impressive. I always check in daily for my weight and balance tests. There is a lot of potential for using the balance board with other games. If you’re not overweight, I recommend waiting until there are some good balance board games to justify a Wii Fit purchase.

There can be only one Iron Deejay! I’m throwing down with the other DJ’s at Radio Gen1us in this battle to see whose mix reigns supreme. Check out my mix dedicated to Lost’s John Locke, and be sure to cast your votes on the righthand side of the screen. The “secret ingredients” in the contest were ELO’s I’m Alive for the opening song and Queen’s All Dead, All Dead for the closing.

My folks and I went to Houston for Kaylyn’s birthday party on Saturday, then headed to College Station to watch A&M play the sips. Aggie Baseball ended up losing their last 6 games (5 in conference) after their incredible 16-game conference run. Getting swept by the sips is a miserable experience. The team’s once-potent offense now looks stagnant heading into the conference tournament. Hopefully they can pull it together when it counts.

On the bright side, Oklahoma State dropped their Sunday game to OU, leaving A&M as the outright Big XII regular season champs! They didn’t finish well, but they still posted more wins than any other squad. A&M also won the Lonestar Showdown with Texas, a point system spanning all major sports, for the first time in its four-year existence. This is quite a feat for Bill Byrne, the athletic director, because we weren’t even competitive with the sips in many of the sports we’re now winning. The softball team is also looking stellar heading into the super regional. Megan Gibson tossed another no-hitter on Sunday to wrap up the regional.

I’m not at my “after” yet, but here’s a quick photo comparison of last year versus today.