Adios Bravos

Big news, the Braves are leaving Atlanta. Well, not really, but they are leaving that dump of a neighbourhood where they play now.  At first, I was a skeptical, but then a wise Dr. Noisewater pointed out that the new stadium is a fantastic venture.  And after thinking about it ... I couldn't agree more.  Some points on why I think it would be a good idea:

1. The current stadium is not a baseball stadium ... it's an Olympic facility turned into a stadium.
2. Traffic will suck ... traffic sucks everywhere in Atlanta. 
3. The new stadium will give the Braves the chance to create Bravesville or whatever.  In other words, a Wrigley / Fenway environment which is amazing. 
4. No MARTA = fine by me.  MARTA would be great if it went anywhere and didn't delivery cholera across the city.  I've lived all over the world and MARTA is by far the worst public transportation I've ever encountered. 
5. The deal is bad news for Kasim Reed. Just shows he hedged his bets on the Falcons in Atlanta, not the Braves.  I actually love the way the Braves negotiated the deal in secrecy and announced it a week after he was re-elected mayor.  
6. So the Braves won't be in Atlanta but adjacent to Atlanta.  Does it really matter? What matters is a ballpark that draws fans and that the Braves win.  That's what matters.  

So here's to 2017 and a new facility / area. From what I saw in Oregon, I hope they get Nike to create the Stadium and everything around it.  

The shutdown continues ...

Almost like the Wu Tang classic Triumph, The saga continues ... Yeah, a little Wu reference for your Tuesday evening entertainment.

Some of my quick observations on the shutdown and other things in life:

• End the shutdown ... the politicians are making us look foolish. The entire shutdown is ridiculous regardless what of what political party you support. 
• Obamacare started and the website can't handle the forms or support. I spoke to an IT guy and he made a lot of interesting remarks about how badly the government designed the software.  Basically, it has nothing to do with servers and the software is tragically flawed. How in the world can you design something so poorly and have so long to create it? 
• POTUS is grandstanding and its going to come back to hurt him. Not paying for dead solider benefits and arresting vets at monuments is embarrassing. Especially not paying for the transportation of families to see their sons and daughters last trip back to the United States.  Regardless of the stupidity around Obamacare ... pay for our soldiers.  Go look at history, countries that don't pay / support their militaries usually don't have their support when they need them.  
• I've seen a few new healthcare premiums and they are much much higher than what anyone said. Believe it or not, I'm for a national health care policy but I would love to have more of a say for what I'm paying.  Our country is a great place that offers the American dream and last I looked, I don't work 70 hours a week to provide handouts to those who are taking advantage of the system. 
• Oh and the Atlanta Braves are shutdown because they had poor leadership.  Horrible managing decisions led to their demise and failure. Funny ... they are a mini example of our government. Bad leadership leads to failure.  
• I saw about an hour of the Patrick Swayze cult classic, North & South, this weekend.  Wow ... it's remarkably amazing and bad.  I love that its on repeat on StarZ at all times.  
• Got the new iPhone 5S and it's kinda awesome. Love having new gadgets.

And some new categories I'm going to share: 

1. Things I'm reading 
1. The new Popular Science that offers tips on survival. Who knew to never swim near a dock b/c hundreds of people are year are electrocuted. 
2. Video games I'm playing (yeah, judge me ... I don't care) 
1. FIFA 2014
3. Amazing things I'm eating 
1. Juice -- my new favorite breakfast full of pears, apples, oranges, pineapple, sweet potatoes and carrots.  Everyone needs a juicer ... life changer. 

Nothing like getting to second base on national television

Looks like this guy had more on his mind than the Braves game last night.  I'm not sure, but his date doesn't seem too comfortable with the situation.  Damn the torpedoes, this guys' getting to second base no matter what!