Football
MN United
Video Games
Prayer Request
Humor
I'd like to start this post with a couple of prayer requests. The first one is very insignificant in the greater scheme of things, but nonetheless I made a very stupid, idiotic, yet honest mistake yesterday, and I'm quite embarrassed and frustrated by it. I don't want to go into details about it, but all the same, if you all could say a quick prayer for me to forgive myself in the aftermath, and to feel God's mercy on me, it would be very much appreciated.
This second prayer request is much more serious-- in fact I just prayed a rosary for it, and if any of you have time to do the same, that would be amazing: the father of one of my very best friends at church is having an emergency cancer-related surgery today. I know what it's like to have a father who is in a life-threatening medical situation, and it is not fun. Please pray for my friend and her parents, and for her father's healing and full recovery.
One last Faith-related note for now: for those wondering, I submitted all of the final paperwork for my diaconate application first thing this morning! I don't know if I'll get accepted or even move on to the next phase-- but it's all in the Lord's hands, He will put me where He wants me, whatever form that takes.
A Number Ten
This news is beyond insignificant compared to the second prayer request above, but still I know some of you do enjoy football, so I may as well add this commentary to lighten things a bit. As unbelievably exciting and dominant as Joaquín Pereyra has been this season for Minnesota United, it's pretty obvious that he's a deep-lying playmaker, not someone who can play on or near the forward line. Really, he's a mezzala-- just a very technically gifted one who can play key passes.
When the team's Catenaccio "Plan A" is working, a Lod-Pereyra-Trapp-Hlongwane work-a-day midfield is perfect. But with more and more opponents setting up a sort of "mid-block" and deeper line to prevent counter-attacking-- or when United is straight-up chasing a goal-- it becomes immediately obvious that they need some kind of advanced, creative player to link the attack and play final balls.
They just went out and bought exactly that player: Dominik Fitz. 26 years old, valued at 3.5 million EUR, and having played a major role in a European top flight since a teenager, he seems like exactly the kind of profile to complement Pereyra. In fact, Fitz might be able to transform United from a playoff team to a championship-caliber team, if he can settle in. And remember, this from a side which is bottom five within MLS, in transfer fees and payroll.
Commodore Revival
Outside of using one in kindergarten and first grade way back in the mid-80s, I don't have any particular nostalgia for Commodore or the C64. But I still ordered one of these as soon as they went live, and it was really fun watching the meeting room footage as he signed all of the documents. For those who don't have time for the video, Tom's Hardware has a nice write-up here.
Battle for Dream Island
My kids got me watching an old-yet-still-ongoing web series called "Battle for Dream Island". You can watch the first season, from 2010, right here on YouTube. Even for someone in his 40s like me, if you like absurdist and non-sequitur humor, the show is well worth a watch, with extremely memorable characters and plenty of high grade writing in several of the episodes in particular.
The show has become so popular that the creators have spun off a series of official plushies. Spacemario just bought the "Fanny" one, like all of the character designs it's quite hilarious:
This second prayer request is much more serious-- in fact I just prayed a rosary for it, and if any of you have time to do the same, that would be amazing: the father of one of my very best friends at church is having an emergency cancer-related surgery today. I know what it's like to have a father who is in a life-threatening medical situation, and it is not fun. Please pray for my friend and her parents, and for her father's healing and full recovery.
One last Faith-related note for now: for those wondering, I submitted all of the final paperwork for my diaconate application first thing this morning! I don't know if I'll get accepted or even move on to the next phase-- but it's all in the Lord's hands, He will put me where He wants me, whatever form that takes.
A Number Ten
This news is beyond insignificant compared to the second prayer request above, but still I know some of you do enjoy football, so I may as well add this commentary to lighten things a bit. As unbelievably exciting and dominant as Joaquín Pereyra has been this season for Minnesota United, it's pretty obvious that he's a deep-lying playmaker, not someone who can play on or near the forward line. Really, he's a mezzala-- just a very technically gifted one who can play key passes.
When the team's Catenaccio "Plan A" is working, a Lod-Pereyra-Trapp-Hlongwane work-a-day midfield is perfect. But with more and more opponents setting up a sort of "mid-block" and deeper line to prevent counter-attacking-- or when United is straight-up chasing a goal-- it becomes immediately obvious that they need some kind of advanced, creative player to link the attack and play final balls.
They just went out and bought exactly that player: Dominik Fitz. 26 years old, valued at 3.5 million EUR, and having played a major role in a European top flight since a teenager, he seems like exactly the kind of profile to complement Pereyra. In fact, Fitz might be able to transform United from a playoff team to a championship-caliber team, if he can settle in. And remember, this from a side which is bottom five within MLS, in transfer fees and payroll.
Commodore Revival
Outside of using one in kindergarten and first grade way back in the mid-80s, I don't have any particular nostalgia for Commodore or the C64. But I still ordered one of these as soon as they went live, and it was really fun watching the meeting room footage as he signed all of the documents. For those who don't have time for the video, Tom's Hardware has a nice write-up here.
Battle for Dream Island
My kids got me watching an old-yet-still-ongoing web series called "Battle for Dream Island". You can watch the first season, from 2010, right here on YouTube. Even for someone in his 40s like me, if you like absurdist and non-sequitur humor, the show is well worth a watch, with extremely memorable characters and plenty of high grade writing in several of the episodes in particular.
The show has become so popular that the creators have spun off a series of official plushies. Spacemario just bought the "Fanny" one, like all of the character designs it's quite hilarious:
