Angels Almost Blue
Daily Ramble 222: Angels Almost Blue
It was nice to see the Angels grab a win at home – I hope to see more of that as they continue at home against Baltimore. Sure, it’s not the Yankees or Boston, but a home win is a win in any case. I also had the opportunity to read another X-Men comic, this time X-Men Blue and it was a fun read. I also started up a Warden in Lord of the Rings Online to get going with GP the MMO Book Club.
A New Warden Appears on the Scene
With the MMO Book Club journeying to Middle Earth in May on a server I’ve never played on before, I had to start up a new character. Looking at the other servers I’ve played on, I’ve got about 10 characters scattered around but none of them above level 20.
As with many MMOs – I’ve tried them but haven’t leveled very far. Max level right now in LOTRO is something like 110 so even if I played my level 20 Lore Master, it’d take me a while to get up to end game. So I decided a fresh start was called for and not just any fresh start, I wanted to try out a new class.
I’ve played Lore Masters and Rune Keepers, and the last time I started a new character, I tried out a Minstrel. I’ve enjoyed them all but none have stuck with me enough that I got above that level 20. From what I understand, level 20 isn’t even high enough to get a full feel for a class.
Regardless, I’m gonna try something different and from what I can tell, Warden with their gambits, tanking ability and melee focus might be what I’m looking for. Sure, they have some ranged abilities with the javelin, but I’m liking the survivability I’ve seen in the videos and the ability to take on multiple bad guys at once.
So Catathein is gonna be my Warden and I’m looking forward to a long journey with her through Middle Earth…maybe all the way to Mordor if I stick with her long enough. I’m at least gonna roll with her throughout May with the club and we’ll see how things play out.
First Look at X-Men Blue #1
Strangest, Part 1 by Cullen Bunn, Jorge Molina, and Matteo Buufagni. Published by Marvel Comics, 2017.
Things weren’t very good for the X-Men in 2017, at least they seemed to have a lot of troubles staying healthy and from what I can gather, the Inhumans didn’t really like them that much. As we saw with X-Men Gold, the team reformed with new members to show the world that mutants could still help humans. In X-Men Blue, we get a slightly different take on things. It seems Beast has done some space-time mojo and brought younger versions of the original X-Men into the present to see what kind of heroes they can be in the 21st century.
With that setup, young versions of Jean Grey, Cyclops, Beast, Angel, and Iceman have been given a mission by Cerebro to track down and capture Black Tom Cassidy who’s using his thermokinetic tricks to steal from people vacationing off the coast of Italy. And they seem to handle things pretty well until Tom calls upon his partner in crime…Juggernaut. He’s trouble on solid ground but fighting him on a boat in the middle of the Mediterranean poses some serious issues. At least until Beast does some kind of magic to send him away.
So the X-Men win the day and head back to report their success to…Magneto. Things are definitely different with this team.
The story definitely drew me in and the realization that these X-Men are working for Magneto makes me even more intrigued. Coupled with beautiful art and twists on their powers, I think I can really get into this series.
I’ll rate this issue a B-.
They Really Tried to Lose
Nick Tropeano pitched really well for 6 1/3 innings, shutting down the Orioles like I know all the Angels pitchers can do, but he didn’t factor into the decision. Instead, while the team was ahead 2–0 in the 9th, Cam Bedrosian, who was closing since Middleton went to the DL with a sore elbow, decided to give up 3 hits and 2 runs. He almost let Baltimore take the lead but actually, he ended up with the win as Chris Young scored in the bottom of the 9th on a Justin Upton single.
The last inning was really frustrating as it looked like the curse of Anaheim Stadium was gonna keep the Angels down again. Fortunately the curse fell.
It took a home run by Valbuena and a crazy trip around the bases by Simmons that started as a double but ended with a 2 base error, but the Angels notched their first win at home in what seems like forever. Pujols didn’t get closer to 3000 and Trout was walked 4 times, but the team pulled together to win.
My Player of the Game award is a tough one since I really saw 3 candidates…Tropeano because of his good start, Maldonado because of his 3 for 4 night, and Upton for his walk off single. And because it was crucial to the win, I’ve gotta give the award to Upton.