28 Weeks Later

Scary...as...hell.

Yeah, this one is up there with Exorcism of Emily Rose. Maybe it was just because I'm screening it inside a dark auditorium alone at 2:30 in the morning but 28 Weeks Later was that damn scary.
The cinematography had a lot to do with it, as the fact that when you jump, you really jump cause it's loud.

If you have seen 28 days later then you know what is coming. The story begins as United States armed forces have entered London, England 24 weeks after the initial outbreak and insanity. All the zombies eventually died of starvation and the U.S. has confirmed that all carriers of the virus are dead. Or so they thought.

4 weeks later they begin to rebuild the city with certain zones and areas for people to begin living in again. Including children. Main character is a husband who is reunited with his children and explains that their mom died tragically due to the zombies. But the kids go back to their original house to see for sure and amazingly the son finds his mother still alive. She is taken by Armed Forces to be studied and she is apparently immune to the virus but still a carrier. Her husband who has access to all parts of the building ends up finding his wife and is overjoyed. He goes to kiss her and she spreads the virus to him and then all hell breaks loose.
I haven't seen a movie where so many people die in a while, this movie is really good and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good scare. Flippin Nuts at times. So anyways go see it and I challenge you to disagree with me. Meh, not really...

9/10

Bowling Scores 5-8-07

209 (No Tap 300), 214, 225, 235 883 Series

I believe I broke my record tonight for most consecutive marks. I began the night with 25 straight marks. Flippin crazy. I wasn't really thinking about it that much which is probably why I made it as far as I did. I don't believe I deserved it though because there were about 4 shots that I should have left splits but got some good pin action and some 9 counts. Only rolling a 209 the first game and it being a NT300 tells you how many 9 counts I had in that game. I couldn't string a pair of XX's together until the 10th frame that game.

Second game was much of the same and I didn't really find the pocket until later in the night. I was getting some good breaks on Lane 11 (Ha) and not striking so much on lane 12. Still, I was converting my spares and remained consistent.

6th Frame of the third game I knew I was in trouble from the moment the ball left my hand. I turned my back on the lane immediately and grimaced as I turned around to a 6-7-10 split. So the run was over and nothing left to do but continue to bowl. I finished strong with XXXX in a row.

4th game was a complete bust.

Split- 72 72 XXXXXXX 8/X 235 game

I opened the 4th game with 2 splits in a row. I turned to my teammate ben and called 10 in a row. 7 in a row made it close but my first shot in the 10th frame didn't travel far enough outside the 10 board and the violent reactive black widow bit into the pocket way too high risking a split but thankfully leaving just a 4,7.
We only won 1 game, Game 4. But our opponents were bowling their ass off and came into the night with an unbeaten record of 18-0.
We ended the night 2-7 (remember 2 points for each game and 1 point for total pins)
Putting us at 16-19 on the season.

Top Averages after 3 weeks and going into the night:

1. Dean Evans Jr. 206.5
2. James Wikey- 202.5
3. Jeremy Jones- 201.0
4. Sean Olschowka- 197.8
Looks like I'll remain on top for at least one more week.
Note: Kalkowski- 184.0 (after 1 week)
Till next week-

Bowling Scores 5-1-07

149, 193, 174, 236 (no tap 300) 752 series

Average After 2 Weeks- 206.5

Talk about all over the place tonight. We bowled on the same lanes we rolled on last night 15 and 16. The lanes were significantly different with 15 being a lot drier than 16. I couldn't get my ball to do anything and actually began the night with 3 opens in a row and a 4th on in the 5th frame. "Am I in Reno?" I think I had 2 X's the first game.

The second game was much of the same, leaving splits ridiculous style. I actally converted a 6-7-10 split in the 4th frame of the second game and got props from everyone for that one. I lost count of how many splits I left tonight but it was upwards of 6 or 7 of them. My ball was biting really badly on 15 and that's where I left most of the splits. We lost the first 2 games. With my sweet handicap of 0.

Third game still struggling and I opened in the 8th frame with a 5- Count. Pissed but still I ended up nearly striking out and giving our team the win.

The fourth game I moved over to the right on my stance and stood at the 10 board and shot at the 10 board as well. Normally I stand on the 15 board (center) and shoot at or outside the 10 board. This worked. Really well actually. I ended up hitting the pocket flush on 11 of 12 shots to the pocket. XXXX 9/ XX 9/ 90 XXX and a No Tap 300. I was so pissed my only bad shot was the one in the 9th frame where I left a 7 pin and couldn't convert. The worst possible place to leave an open frame. Still salvaged a 236 which keeps my average above 200 until next week.

All other bowlers that had top averages totally stunk it up tonight and they're averages will drop as well. I'll still be in the top 4 averages, it will be interesting to see where I stand...

The Condemned

Starring Nathan Jones! and some guy called Steve Austin.

The Condemned begins with 10 criminals on Death Row that are dropped on a remote island and told they have 33 hours to kill or die. One of them will survive and be set free.
This "game" so to speak is a creation of this guy who has set up hundreds of cameras on the island and is going to broadcast it over the internet hoping to hit SuperBowl like numbers at 40 million viewers.
Steve Austin has a showdown with Nathan Jones that puts any wrestling fans hopes of an Austin/Jones fantasy wrestling matchup to bed.
There's some good fight scenes in this movie but some stuff is seriously violent and hard to watch for the squeemish viewer. Steve Austin isn't the worst wrestler turned actor so it kept me interested.
If your a fan of action, violence and explosions then this movie will keep you entertained. I'll rate it slightly above average at 6/10.

As John Cena's Marine (PG-13) is for the 14 year old girls...

Steve Austin's The Condemned (R) is for the more mature adult audience.

3:16
What?

Bowling Scores 4-24-07

214, 221, 248, 217 900 Series

Welcome Back.

PBA Tour Oiled Lane Average in Reno- 172.88

AMF House Oiled Lane Average- 225.0

Hmmm... So much for having a handicap after one Week in summer league. I believe we rolled on lanes 15 and 16 tonight and wow what a difference. I could get my ball to do pretty much whatever I wanted it to do. The first game I had to adjust anc actually start throwing the ball hard outside the 10 board and the lanes were dry and my ball was moving really nicely into the pocket. I only missed one 10 pin and it came on my final shot after a X in the 10th frame so no big loss.

This league is a bust cause it's 2 man teams again and 4 games.
Alsco Irrigation makes up for almost half the league as all 4 of us are bowling summer league. Probably not a good idea to bust out my first week and start with a 225 average but I don't care cause I'm there to bowl my best not to sandbag and establish a respectable average with handicap.
Who knows where it will go from here (probably down a bit no?)
I XXX'd out in the 4th game to shoot a 900 even. What a bust.
one of my teammates actually beat me in series with a 906 series. His high game was a 255.
I think it's gonna be a good summer...

USBC Open Championships Reno, NV Day 2

 

USBC Open Championships Reno, NV Day 2

So we got totally screwed for a timeslot and didn't end up bowling Tuesday night until about 11:30 pm which is so damn late if there were black lights and fog machine I would have thought we were at Rock n Bowl.
Me and Kalkowski had 3 doubles games to kick off the night and It was my best series of the 3 which still wasn't much.
188, 201, 167 556 Series.
At least I can say I rolled a 200 game in Reno. The lanes ended up being a bit less oily than the night before because
1. They re-oil the lanes daily
and
2. They don't oil the lanes again between groups of bowlers and we were the last group of the night.
Still tough as hell though. The oil would move around on the lane so even if you hit your mark consistently, the other bowlers that may have a mark one board left or one board right, may move the oil onto your mark and change your ball movement.
I got this USBC program book that explains the different oil patterns and ours seemed to be the scorpion pattern.
Scorpion- A scorpion is dangerous and unpredictible, like this pattern. If you can't find the right groove on the lanes, you'll be stung!
Cheezy as it sounds it was exactly what was happening as well as the shark pattern:
Shark- This pattern forces bowlers to play deep inside the center of the lanes, like sharks that troll the depths of the ocean.
Meaning inside the 10 board so to speak.
Anyways I actually bowled better than Kalkowski in Doubles which meant our team really didn't have a shot at placing that high on the leaderboard.
Following that we moved 2 lanes to the left and got no practice shots as we headed into Singles play.
159, 180, 141 480 Series
I was dead by the last game and towards the end I won't say I gave up but I definately wasn't concentrating as hard. I opened in the 10th with a 6- count and missing the head pin consecutively.
All in all though it was a good experience and it will be a relief to get back to the oil conditions here in Chico which are so much more basic and easy to adjust to. USBC Championships return to Reno in 3 years so I'll probably be back....
Tuesday Night Men's League starts this week and the Summer League Blogs Begin...

USBC Open Championships Reno, NV Day 1

The most difficult lane conditions I have ever bowled on. Let me start with that. Monday night as I prepared for the 5 man team event, balls were weighed in as this was some serious and professional stuff. You only got a couple of practice shots before we start and I kick off my first game with a 5 count. Yes!

153, 172, 195 (all mark game) 520 Series

The first game was to shake off the jitters so to speak. Let me tell you though these were the most oily lanes I have ever bowled on. Anyone that threw anything outside the 10 board wasn't hitting the head pin. I saw so many 1-2-4 leaves I can't count how many. Second game in it was all about slowing it down and I mean slooowing it down. Still struggling through the night and averaged about 2 strikes per game on the night. Bad. As the third game started I knew it was all about "Playing for Par" or "Keeping it Clean." Meaning no open frames and convert on all spares. Something I miraculously did in the third game and shot an all mark game. Still though with only 2 strikes I couldn't bust 200.
The first night was awesome though aside from the frustration and the difference between PBA Tour Oil Conditions and the Oil Conditions at AMF Orchard Lanes is gargantuously different. Tuesday League starts up next week and I will never complain about the house conditions again. It will be nice to get back to the basics.
Of all the Chico teams there we had the highest scratch total so at least we wound up being the best of Chico. Everyone struggled let me tell you.
Day 2 Blog coming soon......