Finger Guns, Shutouts, and Dogs And Cats Living Together

Today was a pretty good day, and my ramble reflects it…I think. I had a good time given the opportunity to read the first issue of a new series called Finger Guns. And maybe part of my enjoyment was that I read through the issue while enjoying the Angels pitchers performing above expectations and throwing a shutout. I also had the chance to finally get a look at the first division of the March Mammal Madness and skimmed through the Cats-ish vs. Dogs-ish bracket. I can’t wait to see how this year’s tournament goes.

Pew! Pew!

Imagine you could actually shoot with your fingers as you used to image as a child. One finger barrel or two, with your thumb up, sighting down at a can, or a bird, or whatever. What if that ‘gun’ could actually fire? And what if that ‘projectile’ changed people?

That is the idea behind Finger Guns #1 by Justin Richard and Val Halvorson.

I read through the first issue today and enjoyed the concept. A boy who uses a 2-finger gun and a girl who uses a 1-finger gun each target people and get a different result.

this looks like a fun set up for a cool story.

An Actual Shutout!

Hmm…I am surprised to see that the Angels pitching staff managed to put together a shutout this Spring and hope that this is indicative of the regular season. A 2-0 win is nice to see, though, as much as I am happy to see the good pitching, I would have liked to see some extra offense.

In any case, Dylan Bundy pitched 3 1/3 innings of 1-hit, 4-strike out ball, and is looking like the ace of the staff right now. He’s 3–0 and hasn’t given up a run this Spring. The other happy surprise is Jaime Barria, who threw 4 innings of shutout ball. He’s thrown 9 innings this Spring and has yet to give up a run. If both these guys can perform well this season, it will be a great indication of where the Angels end up in regards to the playoff race.

It’s early, but I’m hopeful.

March Mammal Madness

The first bracket to engage in the madness this year will be the Cats-ish vs. Dogs-ish bracket. The battles kick off on March 11th, but the Wild Card engagement actually begins the tournament on March 9th. And while this bracket is named after the Dogs and Cats that we all know, love, and share homes with, the combatants fall into a much larger grouping…Mammals that are kinda like dogs and kinda like cats.

With that general category, we find animals ranging from the Pygmy Spotted Skunk to the Fossa, from the Caspian Seal to the Sloth Bear. And actually, I don’t see a basic Canine or Feline in the bunch.

Regardless, the March Mammal Madness starts out with the Wild Card match between the Grandidier’s “Mongoose” and the Pygmy Spotted Skunk. Of these two, I have to favor the skink since I seem to recall that skunks tend to outperform their seeding in years past. I doubt the small guy will be able to get past the Sloth Bear who is the number one seed, but I can definitely see him getting through the Wild Card bout and joining the tournament proper.

Here’s the breakdown of the bracket.

I’ll be making my picks soon, and I’ll post them once I figure out who I think is gonna be my surprise stars of the madness.

It’s a Wrap

Wow…yesterday I was busy at work and was grumpy because I had been treated to some horribly frustrating gaming in League of Legends while today I was busy at work and enjoyed myself. Kinda interesting what a change of perspective can do, and with a good baseball game, a good comic, and a glance at an upcoming tournament, I actually enjoyed my workday while I was at least as busy as the day before.

Hopefully, the rest of the week will be as good, or at least I can try to make it as good with how I look at things.

Ramble 2020.01.14 | Finger Guns, Shutouts, and Dogs And Cats Living Together