Welcome

Mariners baseball, travel, and everything else in between.

Current Mariners' Playoff Drought: 19 Seasons

Status: Pain Duck

Pain Duck

2020

November

Top of Page

Thoughts on Tripadvisors Response

November 11, 2020

Credits to OneMileAtATime and Ben (Lucky) for the initial story.

If you look at the Tripadvisor site for Sea View Resort & Spa Koh Chang in Ko Chang, Thailand you see this message pinned at the top in a light orange box:

“This hotel or individuals associated with this hotel filed criminal charges against a Tripadvisor user in relation to the traveler writing and posting online reviews. The reviewer spent time in jail as a result. Tripadvisor serves its users best when travelers are free to share their opinions and experiences on our platform – both positive and negative. The hotel may have been exercising its legal rights under local law, however, it is our role to inform you so you may take this into consideration when researching your travel plans.”

Warning message Tripadvisor's Warning (Screenshot from OMAAT)

You can read the full context of this here: Link (From OMAAT)

The context for this message basically stems from defamation laws in Thailand being triggered over a negative review over a “disagreement over a corkage fee”. And the reviewer getting jailed for the review itself.

My thoughts? I see both sides here. On one hand, travelers should be familiar with local laws when traveling. As the freedom of speech enjoyed does not exist everywhere in the world. And this case is no different. On the other hand, jailing someone for a negative review seems like an overreach. Even with defamation laws in place, I think an initial warning should have been given or even a fine instead of going directly to jail à la landing on the jail space in Monopoly.

This is definitely not a good look on the hotel. But it likely hurts the relationship between Tripadvisor and the local hotels as well. Tripadvisor playing their cards here is a warning to hotels. Maybe Tripadvisor is using this as an negotiation tool for something else. While the message and news is entirely negative towards the hotel, maybe the hotel will end up getting more business now because of the free press. After all, some say that “any press is good press”.

Thanks for reading, and see you next time.

October

Top of Page

Happy Halloween 🎃!

October 31st, 2020

Hello from the last day of October! While I’m too old to go out trick or treating now and too young to have kids to take trick or treating, it’s still fun to see the cool decorations people put outside their homes. And they’ll soon transition to Christmas lights and other snowy decorations soon too. I saw some nice costumes while taking a walk outside, and I hope everyone stays safe while enjoying today.

On a related note, have you seen some of the new outfits in Azur Lane? I personally love how cute Erebus and Radford are.

erebus halloween Erebus' Wardrobe Witchery Outfit from Azur Lane (Photo from Koumakan wiki)
radford halloween Radford's Sweet Magic Outfit from Azur Lane (Photo from Koumakan wiki)

I am a tad late here but let me extend my congratulations to the Dodgers for winning the World Series. r/formerMs Chris Taylor has more rings than the entire Mariners’ franchise now. Feels bad man. Hopefully the Ms can match this in 2022 and beyond.

I also received my Pixel 5 on Thursday. Under closer inspection, I do notice a very small gap in the top-left corner of the phone. Similar to what many others are reporting over at the Google Support Forums.

Shoutout to my Animal Crossing villagers Angus, Bangle, and Pecan for giving me unlimited candy to feed the other villagers. Everyone else, I hate you all.

Thanks for reading, and see you next time. (By the time this has been posted it’s not October 31st for you anymore huh?)

Top of Page

Morton and Co. Slam Door Shut on Trashtros

October 20th, 2020

Goodbye Houston. You tried, but you gotta be quicker than that! I was hoping for a 4-0 Rays sweep, it almost happened, and then the Rays were almost on the short end of a reverse sweep. Did Pete Carroll take over the team or something? Cause these games aren’t good for me, yo.

Also congrats to the Dodgers and Dave Roberts for not choking game 7 to a city that has a history of choking. The 4th inning TOOTBLAN (Thrown Out On The Basepaths Like A Nincompoop) for the Braves sealed the deal in game 7 but failing to score with the bases loaded and 0 outs in game 6 is also a sinful crime (NOBLETIGER - No Outs Bases Loaded, Ending with Team Incapable of Getting Easy Run).

Rays vs. Dodgers is gonna be a fun series. Dodgers are similar to the Astros with an amazing offense (and not to mention Mookie Betts defense) facing the Rays bullpen that has shown some weaknesses in the series against the Astros. But the Dodgers’ bullpen is no joke, either. Let’s see if Mike “FormerMs 🍍” Zunino and some mf named Randy can keep smashing dingers and carry the flappy bois to a trophy.

mlb playoff bracket MLB Playoff Bracket (Credits: MLB.com)

Expectations: 6 or 7 game series. Close games hopefully.

As always, thanks for reading.

Addition: I heard that Hisashi Iwakuma decided to retire. Thank you for the memories, Kuma bear, and I wish you the very best in retirement. While the Ms may not have gotten you a ring, you will be forever remembered in Baseball history with a no-hitter.

Video: Kuma no-hitter against Orioles.
Top of Page

Flappy Bois Bandwagon / RIP Slam Diego Padres

October 11, 2020

What a game 5. Fantastic pitching from both Cole and the Rays bullpen. In what almost feels like deja vu, Chapman ends up giving up the winning home run. Wait, haven’t we seen this before? Right, last year when the Astros walked off him in the 9th inning. But we all know how it turned out for the Astros. Lost in 7 versus the Nationals and soon exposed as cheaters. As a (lol)Mariners fan, it’s already pretty easy to hate on them, but now they will join Mike Trout in the hall of F*ck [insert player/team here]. No sympathy for cheaters, especially after the lackluster punishment handed down by Manfred and the lack of any real apology from the players.

Game 1 of the ALCS starts today. Although I want a 4-0 Rays sweep, it’ll most likely be a close series since both teams have their strengths and weaknesses. Astros have the edge in terms of offense, while the Rays have a near-shutdown bullpen and ace starting pitchers as well.

Unfortunately the Slam Diego Padres bandwagon wheels have fallen off. It has been a fun season watching them. Shame about the injuries to the starting pitching and Tatis/Machado disappearing though.

mlb playoff bracket MLB Playoff Bracket (Credits: MLB.com)

Looking forward to a great series on both the AL side and NL side. Rooting for the Flappy Bois (Rays) and Braves.

In non-baseball related events, I wanted to talk about the upcoming Pixel 5. Yeah, the phone announced by Google nearly 2 weeks ago? I don’t blame you if you already forgot about the event or the phone. As it feels like Google themselves either didn’t have confidence in the phone or aren’t interested in selling them, since it feels like they spent a total of 5 minutes talking about the phone itself (they spent 7 minutes and 34 seconds). I’m conflicted about the pricing though — as $699 is a reasonable price for something like the iPhone 11 which has the same SoC as the pro, 2 of the 3 cameras, and an LCD screen that is under 1080p. $699 for the Pixel 5 in the US compared to $599 elsewhere around the world just because of millimeter-wave 5G (mmWave) adding a $100 premium seems lousy, especially when the technology itself is very new and requires you to be almost next to the node itself to receive mmWave speeds (500 - 1,000+ Mbps).

See video: “A Day On A 5G Phone: Fast, But Finicky” by MrMobile (Michael Fisher).

The phone is being sold at $599 (approximately, after currency conversion) and European/UK buyers even get a free pair of Bose QC35II headphones, worth at least 200 Euros. Does Google not want US buyers to buy their phone this year? Should people wait another month for a potential Black Friday sale? Seems like a good idea to me, since the phones are not getting delivered until late October/early November if you preorder now.

I must admit the green “Sorta Sage” color does look nice.

Pixel 5 Pixel 5 (Sorta Sage) from Google

As always, thanks for reading.

Top of Page

Wake Me Up When September Ends

October 2, 2020

Hello October. And hello postseason baseball. Teams I’m rooting (bandwagoning) for: Tampa Bay Rays and Slam Diego Padres. Really good pitching from the aces for most teams. And an interesting divisional matchups for the ALDS and NLDS. AL East, AL West, NL East, and NL West teams facing each other. It will be interesting to see how teams adjust to the Bo5 series and which starting pitchers will be coming out of the bullpen in relief rather than just starting.

Song of the month: Wake Me Up When September Ends
Pretty obvious choice huh? Another month gone by and the end of 2020 is just ahead. I personally feel like this year has gone by just as quickly as last, but I am sure that many will disagree considering how long we have been stuck in state where we can’t fully reopen but can’t do a full lockdown either.

There are some exciting distractions not too far into the future for people who play video games. Cyberpunk 2077 is finally coming out in a month (Nov 19) after a few delays. You won’t hear any complains from me though. I will happily take a delayed game in exchange for a well-optimized game that has gone through rigorous QA testing to quash as any bugs as possible. *Insert Miyamoto quote about delayed games here*

Delayed Game > Bad Game Disclaimer: Not Always True

In other game-related updates, we are now two months away from the “biggest ever update for GTA Online”. I won’t speculate too much, but heists “in an entirely new location” is something that everyone is talking about. Maybe a return a Liberty City? A new island off the coast of Los Santos? Only R* knows at this point. Looking forward to seeing more Newswire posts related to the update soon from Rockstar. Personally I look forward to the patch list of bugs that have been quashed…only for many more to be introduced. Unfortunately with how R* handles glitches and bugs, we’ll have to wait for major updates for a large patch. Not going to talk about the wasteland that is known as PC Online as cheaters roam free and have been for a long while.

As always, thanks for reading.

September

Top of Page

The End of a Season, But a Bright One Ahead

September 28, 2020

Mariners show up for last game of the regular season, and still lose 2 - 6. Season over. Final record: 27 - 33 and securing the 12th pick in the 2021 MLB Draft (according to www.tankathon.com/mlb). Ok, not exactly enough for FUBAR For Kumar, and just barely missing out on the 2nd place playoff spot in the AL West. Insert pain duck below.

Pain Duck Mariners Ver. Pain Duck Mariners Version

On the bright side of things (both weather and Mariners), KLew4ROY is most likely gonna happen (.262/.364/.801 AVG/OBP/OPS) and next year will follow with Kelenic4ROY and MVP just like Ichiro did when he arrived in 2001. Taking the league by storm, ending the 19-year drought for postseason baseball in Seattle, and making it past the ALCS and ending more droughts. Coming soon to a TV close to you.

Can you believe it’s almost October? Another year is almost gone, but this time, I think that everyone will be celebrating when we say sayonara to 2020 and good morning to 2021. The coronavirus won’t disappear instantly, although it would be nice if it would just magically go poof as the clock hits midnight and the day turn to January 1st, 2021 around the world. Here’s some positive news: we will return to normal again. It will be safe again to travel the world, eat in restaurants with other people, and be able to attend events with people. Life is starting to return to many places in the world, and more will continue as countries gain a grasp on the coronavirus and the arrival of a safe and proven vaccine.

Top of Page

The P*stseason?

September 16, 2020

With a sprinkle of luck and good baseball, the city of Seattle may be celebrating more than just the return of the Seahawks. That, and the eventual dispersal of the wildfire smoke that has been choking the city for the past few days now. So bad that the series against the Giants has been moved to SF, although the Ms will play as the home team.

AL West Standings 2 games (so far) behind Houston for the 2nd spot in the AL West and a guaranteed postseason appearance. From mlb.com/standings.

If anything, 2020 hasn’t exactly been the smoothest year in the world of baseball. Let’s recap some of the changes:

- National League implements the DH

- Positive coronavirus tests resulting in delayed games and doubleheaders.

- Doubleheaders played in 7 innings

- The home team playing in the away team’s stadium as the home team.

- Shorter season and expanded playoffs system.

So yeah, things are different from normal. But that’s been the tagline for 2020 as a whole. Here’s the new normal, get used to it. But humans have survived much worse in the past. And we will continue to adapt and survive.

Next series: 2 vs. SF Giants in San Francisco as the home team. Crucial 3 game series against Houston next week.

Yes, "postseason" is censored. Don't wanna jinx it, just like no-hitters.

Top of Page

Vedder Cup Progress, Series Split, Trader Jerry, Coronavirus Postponement

September 3, 2020

In an almost unbelievable game, the bullpen manages to give up 7 runs in one inning and blowing the game completely to the Padres in game 1 of a doubleheader. Somehow I shouldn’t be surprised but I still am disappointed. However the team won the first game in the series and continued to win game 2 of the doubleheader, this time smacking a grand slam in the first inning en route to an 8 - 3 victory. Vedder Cup progress.

The series with the Angels started off rough. Losing a 1-run game in game one and two touchdowns in game two. However, the team recovered behind great starting pitching and a complete game to win games three and four by the score of 2 - 1 in both games. Starting pitching remaining sustainable will be key for the rest of the season. Along with clutch hitting with RISP the future is looking bright.

Trader Jerry (Dipoto) made the trade deadline interesting, involving the team in a seven player deal. It’s awesome to see the team gain great prospects for a future push for glory. And I’m excited to see how these players will fit in with the team.

In the non-baseball related world, update 20.0 has released for Bloons TD 6. I have been playing with the new hero, Etienne, for a little bit now. I think the initial reaction describing him as someone that controls 0-0-0 dart monkeys until his global camo detection at level 8 kicks in and permanent UCAV at level 20 is pretty accurate. Better off as a support monkey rather than a full offensive one.

Etienne Etienne from the Bloons TD 6 20.0 update

Next series after coronavirus postponement, Texas Rangers (13-22).

August

Top of Page

A Clean Sweep

August 24, 2020

After losing 3 out of 4 to the Dodgers, the M’s complete a 3 game sweep of the Rangers. The word on the street? Kyle Lewis (and the name Kyle). But also how about that starting pitching and bullpen? The bullpen only gave up 1 (!!) run in the 3 game series. We’ll have to see if this remains sustainable, but from the 3 games things are looking good, at least for the future. Indeed, the future looks exciting, even if the team misses out on Kumar Rocker.

Ideally, this season would be a major success if our youth could rake/pitch well AND we lose enough to draft Rocker. Blowpen time baby.

Next opponent: San (Slam) Diego for the Vedder Cup.

Another week of being at home. Been checking out the new update released recently in GTA Online.

Superyacht Life A Superyacht Life from "The Los Santos Summer Special Update".

Yacht missions are fun enough, and the captain outfit (was bugged for me and had to contact Rockstar Support to get it) is nice. Cars are cool but as usual, are very overpriced. Not a bad filler update with QOL (quality of life) updates. The real hype train is heading towards the “biggest update ever” in December.

Also playing Bloons TD 6. Apparently I got into the top 25% in the recent race. Quite proud of that considering I’m not the best at the game and play casually.

Top of Page

Bullpen Blows It

August 13, 2020

Starter pitches 6 innings of 1 R/0 ER baseball. Offense scores 4. Bullpen comes in and gives up 6 runs.

Again, the team seems to be confused on whether they should be FUBAR for Kumar or chasing one of those expanded postseason slots. Record: 7-13 and currently the 3rd worst team in the league by win percentage. Another week, starting pitching looking good, offense shifting between scoring runs and getting shutout, and bullpen being the blowpen.

Next opponent: Houston. Last series: 1-3.

Another week of being at home.

Song currently playing: The Strokes - Machu Picchu. Definitely on my plan to visit list. Whenever the world returns to normal once again.

Top of Page

Hello World!

August 4, 2020

Stuck at home with no clear date when everything will return to normal again. That's been the story for the past few months as time continues its march towards the end of 2020. I miss my favorite Japanese restaurant and their bento boxes for $13.25.

It's going to be a while before I start traveling again. With how many countries are banning US passport holders it'll probably be until a working vaccine is out.

Paris Photo Looking forward to traveling the world again.

Looking on the somewhat bright side, Mariners baseball has returned. 12 games through, a 4-8 record and a team that doesn't know whether it wants to end the 18-year postseason drought or FUBAR for Kumar. Starting rotation looking good, everything else, not so good.

Today's thought: To the M’s starters, welcome to getting “Felix’d”. Enjoy getting zero run support while pitching decent or getting your win taken away by the bullpen if the offense does score a run or two.

Song currently playing: Green Day - Wake Me Up When September Ends.

It's only the beginning of August, but from the looks of it, waking up when September ends might be too early.