Welcome back!

Well, as you can see by this entry's title, Team USA lost (1-2) vs Ghana. We made a spectacular goal at the end of the first half only to be "equalized" by a phantom (as called by US announcers) penalty/free kick against the US.

It was fun while it lasted - now, it's time to point fingers, blame the officials and move ahead to 2010 World Cup play.

While the 2006 FIFA World Cup chances are over for Team USA, Tony Island Blog is here to stay!

Leave some thoughts about our 2006 World Cup play by clicking the comment link below!

Thanks for reading my blog!

Tags: fifa, world cup, usa, ghana, 2006, 2010

Posted by atd1999 at 12:17 PM EDT

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Welcome back!

Well, we're at half time in the USA vs Ghana 2006 FIFA World Cup game. Ghana scored first when our captain went down trying to defend the ball. With less than one minute left in regulation play, the USA scored its first goal of the 2006 FIFA (the goal scored in the vs. Italy game was an "own goal" scored by an Italian player).

Now into stoppage time, the referree calls a foul against the USA giving Ghana a penalty shot. This is an unobstructed shot by one player against our goal and goalkeeper from 12 yards! Of course, the Ghana player makes the goal and the score finishes at 2-1 going into half-time.

It was a fairly good half, but the USA wasn't making the moves it needed to make until the very end (and it was a spectacular goal!). They need to turn up the pressure in the second half - they have nothing to lose. If I were the head coach, I'd pour it all on - getting fouled left and right. The hell with it all - we NEED to win!

BTW, Italy is ahead in their game (which is important to the USA if we are to advance).

Thanks for reading my blog!

Tags: fifa, world cup, soccer, usa, ghana, italy

Posted by atd1999 at 10:53 AM EDT

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Welcome back!

Well, it's the BIG DAY for the United States team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup - they either win and move on to the next round of competition or they lose and go home.

I'm not a huge fan of soccer, but enjoy the game to an extent (I follow the New England Revolution here at home). I will be watching today though to see if the US can advance to the "Round of 16".

I can't figure out why Americans (and, I guess, to an extent, our neighbors to the north, Canadians) don't like soccer on the scale that it's enjoyed in the rest of the world. We tend to think of soccer as a school age game for the most part (and, if I'm not mistaken, Europeans view baseball in the same way). There is Major League Soccer in the United States that has been going strong for 10 years, but it just doesn't seem to have gotten the toehold that baseball and football have. Why is that? The game is fairly interesting, but there doesn't seem to be much happening - it's sort of like hockey on grass - a lot of running around for little result. I'm particularly impressed by the endurance of the athletes though. There are no breaks in soccer, unlike football, so they must run around for 90 minutes. There are susbtitutions, but once you are out you don't go back in.

OK - the game is just about to begin! The anthems have been played, the coin tossed and we're off!

GO U.S.A.!!!

Tags: soccer, football, FIFA, World Cup, United States

Posted by atd1999 at 9:44 AM EDT

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Welcome back!

No, no I haven't disappeared (though I'm sure some of you wish I would!)

I've still been watching DVDs and stuff, but didn't want to continually post DVD reviews -- but then, I didn't know what else to post! I mean, I do have some nutty things rattling around in my mind, but I wasn't sure anyone wanted to read about them! :-)

I still have my Wizard of OZ trading card box to crack open along with some other boxes -- but of course I have yet to do it! I will soon though.

Oh! I know what I had to ask - does anyone out there use a standalone "blog editor" to create blog posts off line? I am currently using Qumana's Editor/blog manager (beta 3). It's fairly decent, but I was hoping there'd be one out there with some more polish and power. I don't need a ton of power, but something with a little more oomph would help. Post your suggestions using the comment link!

Thanks for reading my blog!

Tags: qumana, blog editor

Posted by atd1999 at 11:18 PM EDT

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Welcome back!

OK - have you ever watched a film, read a book, watched a TV series and thought "WOW! I loved that! Can't wait to see it again!"...then, when you finally do see it again, you think "What the hell is this crap?? What was I thinking?!?" But, thru some odd coincidence, you happen to catch a snippet of the movie/tv series, etc. sometime later and think "Wow...this is pretty good! I do like it!"??

This has happened to me several times over the years - for example, I have a love/hate relationship with Logan's Run. Saw it as a kid, remembered liking it...caught it a few years back as an adult and thought it was total dreck! Caught a snippet on TV and ended up watching the film thru to the end -- and thought "This wasn't so bad!" I even bought the film when I joined the Columbia House DVD club! Of course, I haven't watched my DVD - so maybe I'll hate it again! Who knows? I will let you know my latest opinion when I do watch it though!

Another obscure love/hate relationship film for me is Capricorn One starring OJ Simpson, of all people! (And for those who don't know, OJ is not related to Jessica Simpson! :-). For those unfamiliar with Capricorn One, it's about the first manned landing on Mars. The mission goes awry -- and has to be "faked" by NASA (on a soundstage!). Of course, the astronauts can't be allowed to live lest they give away the secret to the world. So, NASA has the reentry vehicle crash with no survivors. Of course, since there was no real re-entry vehicle, the astronauts need to be killed...

Again, I liked it when I first saw it in the theater (as a kid!), hated it the next time around, liked it the next time...and, of course, I just had to have it when I joined the Columbia House DVD club!

This phenomena isn't limited just to movies for me - some of my favorite tv series are affected, too! From Seinfeld to Mary Tyler Moore to Space:1999, there are episodes that I see-saw on. I like it, I hate it, I like it. Or the vice-versa - hating then loving it (or at least not hating it!). I think with some series, such as Seinfeld, the expectation each week was so high, that any misfire resulted in a "hated it" (at the time). This was especially true after outstanding episodes like "The Contest" or "Soup Nazi" -- usually the next ones didn't appeal to me as much. Sometimes the phenomena strikes as a series gets older - I find that some of the latter seasons episodes are not up to par to the earlier. I found this especially true with Cheers - didn't care as much for the Kirstie Alley seasons when I first saw them. Years later, they're not too bad in TV Land re-runs - but the whole pregnancy arc is still stupid!!

Apparently , there are a lot of conflicts running in my head! :-)

Do you have love/hate relationships with inanimate objects such as TV shows, movies or books? If so, let the world know by leaving a comment below!

Thanks for reading my blog!

Tags: love, hate, seinfeld, mary tyler moore, capricorn one, logan's run, oj simpson

Posted by atd1999 at 10:42 PM EDT

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Welcome back!

As I sit here typing this post, the 2004 World Champion Boston Red Sox are taking a pounding from the Evil Empire New York Yankees (3-13 bottom of the 5th). The Yankees made mincemeat of Boston Red Sox star pitcher Josh Beckett (he won the his first outing against the Yankees this season, but went seriously wrong in this outing. He also won against the Yankees during the 2003 World Series). They then took Boston Red Sox pitcher Van Buren to the woodshed, adding another 5 runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning. So far, the Yankee bats have been cooled down (as have the Red Sox bats unfortunately) in the 5th inning.

THIS JUST IN - Boston Red Sox score 2 runs in the 6th inning! Woo hoo!

Well, it's too early in the season (still!) to call it quits, but it doesn't seem to bode well for the Sox if they can't muster a few more wins against the Yankees this season. We still have another 3 games to play this week against the Yankees, so maybe things will turn around. They certainly did during the exciting ALCS games in 2004! My concern is if we can't beat the stronger teams in our division (the New York Yankees and surprisingly, the Toronto Blue Jays), we may have troubles getting into the post-season. Oh well, time will tell. Until this game is over tonight, Boston is still in first place in the American League East (by a .5 game!).

BTW, I got a chance to view another DVD - The Brothers Grimm (Matt Damon) -- and I won't even bother reviewing it here. I have no clue what it was about. Truthfully, I didn't want to rent this DVD - I had no interest in at all - but I had a free Blockbuster rental coupon and slim pickings (I've seen most everything I want to from my local Blockbuster!), so I chose Brothers Grimm. Anyway, it's not really my type of film, so I can't say if it's good or not. I won't rate it - just thought I'd rant some more! :-)

Well, back to the ball game -- maybe we'll pull something out of our hats and ....win??

Are you watching the Red Sox vs. the Yankees? What are your thoughts? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Tags: boston red sox, red sox, new york yankees, yankees, world champions, toronto blue jays

Posted by atd1999 at 9:29 PM EDT

Updated: Monday, June 5, 2006 10:15 PM EDT

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Welcome back!

OK, for those of you who are thinking this post is about ocean wave surfing, sorry to disappoint! I'm talking about Internet surfing or more properly Web surfing.....

I've been online for over 15 years - from local BBS accounts to AOL to the Internet, I've seen it all - well, almost all. It's fun for a time, but then it gets to be a drag, but luckily something new comes along to re-spark the fires. Now, of course, there's not too much new with the Web. Sure, there's a lot of flashy graphics and new fangled things like blogs and RSS (have you subscribed to the Tony Island Blog feed? ;-) But, other than that, there really isn't much - most of the newer stuff is a continued evolution of the older stuff.

When all is said and done, you get a bit of surfing fatigue - the lack of desire to turn on your PC and surf the Web (or post to your blog!). So, that's where I've been the past few days - just taking a break. Refueling the enthusiam tank and getting ready to surf the Web (and post post post) like crazy over the next few days!

Have you suffered surfing fatigue? What did you do to snap out of it? Share your ups and downs by leaving a comment below!

Thanks for reading my blog!

Tags: internet, surfing

Posted by atd1999 at 10:52 PM EDT

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Welcome back!

I have yet to watch a minute of the ABC hit series LOST, but I own the entire first season on DVD and am looking ahead to purchasing season 2! Is that crazy or what? The first season got such good overall reviews that I took the plunge and purchased the DVD set when it was on sale. I just read a strong positive review of last night's season 2 finale -- so, I'm thinking of picking up season 2 without having seen season 1! It's crazy, I tell ya!

You know what else is crazy? I have the first season of Desperate Housewives on DVD and, you guessed it, haven't seen a minute of it either! I did read that season 2 wasn't as strong, so now I'm in one of those conundrums - do I take it on faith that I will like Season 1 (when I finally view it) and thus take the plunge on season 2 while it's on sale? Or do I eBay season 1 and rent the whole damn thing instead?!? Life poses such hard choices!

Oddly, none of the above indecisions apply to Will & Grace, which had its series finale last Thursday night (with a repeat tonight). Am I the only one that found this final episode stupid? OK, I will admit, I have not sat thru the entire episode from start to finish -- only caught occasional scenes between innings of a baseball game. But, still, it was enough to turn me off to the whole thing. I will probably sit and (try to) watch it thru at some point - but I'm in no rush.

I had high hopes for Will & Grace when it debuted - I thought this would be a quality ensemble comedy (think Frasier) with a twist (main character is gay). Yet -- it sort of spun off into drivel. It was fairly funny, but not consistently. They brought characters (mainly extended guest star stints) in and out - for no good reason. Why did Jack have a 13 year old son in one season and not a mention of him since including the finale? What was up with that? Was Jack retarded (never could hold a job, etc) or just a comic foil without a brain? Yes, Jack is hilarious, but it all seemed to be a string of on-the-spot gags instead of anything consistent that came from within the character. For example, Lucy Ricardo was wacky, but in a way very smart. You could believe anything she tried to pull off since it came from within her character. Whereas with Jack we just got (seemingly) impromptu outbursts that were strung together for a laugh. The same can be said of Karen. Again, very funny - but mostly done for the gags. Her character was fairly well defined - rich, drunk/drugged non-worker. Funny stuff - but will it hold up in 10 years? And if it does, will it be a "classic" comedy, defining the 90s/00s? Or will it just be a long running comedy?

Will & Grace were fairly well defined - but the writers never did much with them to make them grow over the series run. They were basically the same characters we saw in season 1. Grace gets married and divorced for no reason. Will sorta gets a love interest but it doesn't go anywhere for the most part. After sitting thru several seasons of non-starts, I tuned out more or less a season or two ago.

Anyway, I won't be buying any Will & Grace DVD sets anytime soon (disclaimer, I do own the first season, but it's still sealed :).

OK, I've ranted and raved long enough - now, it's your turn! Leave your own rant by using the coment links below!

Thanks for checking my blog!

Tags: lost, desperate housewives, will & grace, lucy ricardo

Posted by atd1999 at 11:26 PM EDT

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Welcome back!

Well, we have less than a week to go before Memorial Day, which is the traditional start of summer here in the United States. And, as always, Hollywood is ready to roll out its so called blockbusters -- are you interested in any of them?

Some early releases include the remake of Irwin Allen's The Poseidon Adventure, now known simply as Poseidon and this weekend's The DaVinci Code.

Memorial Day weekend will see the opening of the third (and probably last) X-Men sequel - X-MEN: The Last Stand.

The following weekend (June 2) sees Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn in The Break-Up. June 6th sees yet another remake release - The Omen. June 9th sees Disney's latest animated feature Cars.

June 16th sees the latest in the Fast and Furious series with The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift; the Lake House (which actually has an interesting premise) also releases that day.

At the end of June, we'll see the latest in the Superman saga with Superman Returns.

Whew - a busy first month of summer and I only touched a fraction of the films releasing in June! Personally, I'm looking forward to Superman Returns and the X-Men.

Are you looking forward to any of this summer's blockbusters? If so, which ones? How about all the remakes being released this year - are you for or against it? Let us know - leave a comment before you surf off!

Thanks for checking out my blog!

Tags: blockbusters, superman returns, x-men, memorial day

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Posted by atd1999 at 10:48 PM EDT

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Welcome back!

As you can tell from my entry title, I've hit a bit of a roadblock -- where do I go from here? Should I post yet another DVD review? Discuss some thoughts I've had about changing America for the better? Discuss Willie Harris' game ending "caught stealing" second base out? How about some football tidbits? I haven't posted anything about the New England Patriots - even after the NFL draft a few weekends ago. From everything I've read, they made some decent picks. I think the RB and WR they chose in the first two rounds look impressive. Now let's hope their college skills can be used professionally.

Do you think NFL football is America's version of ancient Rome's gladiator games? They don't have the deaths, though they do have the injuries. Your thoughts?

Do I keep posting even if I get no feedback? Do I ever stop complaining? Find out next time....on Tony Island blog!

Feel free to post some ideas for future blog entries -- tell me which current entries you like best and which I can do without.

See you soon!

Tags: red sox, writer's block, new england patriots, better America, DVD reviews

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Posted by atd1999 at 11:33 PM EDT

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Mood:  blue

Welcome back!

OK - so this is a sign of desperation...but I really want to know if anyone is reading my blog! So, to promote my blog, I'm going to give away $1.00 to the FIRST (and only the first!) blog reader to leave a COMMENT! That's right, follow the simple rules below and earn $1.00!

1) Leave a coherent comment - full sentences, punctuation, etc - to any PREVIOUS entry (NOT THIS ONE!)
2) NO SPAM!
3) Have a PAYPAL account that accepts US dollars!
4) Leave a valid email address so I can contact you.

That's it! I'll contact the first person to leave a comment to any previous entry in my blog (as of today, there have been no comments at all!)

And get this -- you could earn another $1.00 by finding my OTHER Tony Island blog!! That's right - I have two Tony Island blogs on two different hosts - find the other one and earn another $1.00!

Tags: paypal, 1.00

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Posted by atd1999 at 11:57 PM EDT

Updated: Thursday, May 11, 2006 12:10 AM EDT

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Welcome back!

I'm sitting here scratching at my eyes - they're itchy due to all the pollen in the air. We've had some rain here today and I had hoped that would help reduce the pollen floating around. It did during the day - I wasn't scratching my eyes and my nose wasn't as stuffy...but tonight is slightly different. While the nose is fairly dry, the eyes are making up for it! Yikes! It seems that the night is almost as bad as the day - I wonder if pollen is being sprayed at night? I dunno.

According to Pollen.com and weather.com, the alergy alert for my immediate area is HIGH. Great! Itchy eyes galore. Pollen.com does say that Thursday - Saturday should be medium - whew!

Speaking of Pollen.com, I was going to direct you to my home page and let you check the alergy alert for your area - but they declined my request to add their Alergy Alert script to my Web site. Why, you ask? Well, it's quite simple - they claim I don't have a Web site....hmmmmm...click the link above and tell me if I have a Web site or not! :)

Of course, it is possible that there was a glitch when they went to verify my Web site's existence, but...I DO have a Web site (and a blog, too!).

I'm trying not to take any OTC medications right now - it's mostly at the "feels like a cold" stage - if the allergice reactions get any worse as the spring wears on, I'll check into something at my local CVS.

Do you have allergies? Are they servere or mild? Seasonal or other? Are you on prescription or over the counter medicine? Share your thoughts with us before you surf away!

Tags: pollen, itchy eyes, runny nose

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Posted by atd1999 at 11:34 PM EDT

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Welcome back!

As I mentioned in my last post, I picked up a copy of Blogging for Dummies -- and am still slogging thru it. It's a really good read and most likely I'll read the whole thing cover-to-cover!

Not to sound like a shill for the "Dummies" publisher, but I do enjoy their books - mind you, I haven't read a lot of them, but they are useful to get a good, quick grounding on a particular subject. I remember buying the HTML for Dummies book a few years ago - it was a good breezy read and got me up and running in no time. I do like the light hearted manner in which they are written - the interesting thing being that they are mostly written by different authors, so I assume maintaining that light-hearted approach takes some effort on the editor's part.

The only problem I find with them is that they don't make great reference books after you have the material down pat (ie, when you're ready for the next level). But for going from novice to beginner, they're good.

I'm thinking of checking the ones for baseball and football to increase my knowledge of those games (though you really get a good education watching over 100+ baseball games and 30+ football games per season!) And even though I'm Catholic, I am thinking of checking the one on Catholicism - never can know enough about your own religion (of course, if I find blogging is a sin, I may have to stop :).

OK - well, I'll continue to read - will report back soon. I have some other stuff to share, too!

Have you used the "Dummies" series or the competition's "Idiots" series? If so, which ones? Were they helpful? Would you consider using either series again for another learning session? Leave some comments - share your thoughts - we can all learn from each other!

Tags: blogging for dummies, football, baseball, catholicism

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Posted by atd1999 at 11:29 PM EDT

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Welcome back!

I'm back, too! Took a small breather from posting - a chance to recompose myself (no pun intended!) and figure out where Tony Island Blog is headed. I also picked up a copy of Blogging for Dummies (really, I did!) - so hopefully that will give me a better handle on this blogging thing!

I wasn't sitting around either - I watched a few DVDs, some of which I'll mention in more detail next time.

And....I indulged in my guilty pleasure by watching CBS' "Dynasty Reunion: Catfights & Caviar" on Tuesday night! Did you see it? If so, post your comments!

OK - this was just a quick post to let you know I'm alive.

Thanks again for stopping by - don't forget to leave a comment before you surf away - and add our RSS feed to your RSS reader!

Tags: Dynasty, Joan Collins, Linda Evans, John Forsythe

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Posted by atd1999 at 12:06 AM EDT

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Welcome back!

I'm going to take a small break from my semi-regular posting - I should be back on Wed May 3 -- can you believe it's May already?!?!

Take a look at some older posts - post some comments - let me know you're out there!

See you soon!

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Posted by atd1999 at 9:33 PM EDT

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