If you haven't made plans for the NFL Draft Party, you need to do it now!!!  All of the local 1530Homer staff will be at the Original Montgomery Inn this Saturday from 1:00pm until around 5:30.  There will be Wi-fi if you want to bring your laptop and keep up with what is going on online.  There will be a special Draft Day Menu from Montgomery Inn.  There will be lots of contests and prizes.  You will have the chance to win Carson Palmer and Chad Johnson FATHEADS, Montgomery Inn gift certificates, bobbleheads and more!  We'll have a trivia contest where the Grand Prize Winner will take home a "Get Ready for Mom's Day" Prize Package Valued at $900.  Let's just say Fred at FK Diamonds made something special.  Make sure you check out what Destiny will be modeling during the trivia contest!  So be ready with your trivia knowledge and play for Mom!  One lucky Son or Husband is sure to impress with this gift package!  Stay tuned for more information over the next couple of days.  See you Saturday!

Happy Earth Day!  The Reds and Great American Ballpark were honored at this Morning's "Earth Day, Go Green Challenge" breakfast hosted by Hamilton County at Paul Brown Stadium. 

Make sure you check out Nick Brunker's daily podcast on his blog.  You will be sure to learn something!

This past weekend I sat in the Bleacher section for the first time.  I actually like the point of view.  And the possibility of a Home Run makes it more exciting.  One thing i noticed posted on the wall next to the concession stand are the Reds Code of Conduct:

• Guests will enjoy the baseball experience free from foul or abusive language or obscene gestures.
• Intervention with an unruly, impaired or intoxicated Guest will be handled in a prompt and safe manner.
• In accordance with Ohio Revised Code, 3794, Great American Ball Park is a completely non-smoking facility.
• Obscene or indecent clothing will not detract from the Guest experience.
• The progress of the game will not be disrupted by Guests' actions or unauthorized persons on the  playing field.
• Guests will refrain from displays of affection not appropriate in a public, family setting.
• Guests will show their tickets when requested and sit only in their ticketed seats.
• Aisle ways should remain clear during play & Guests shall refrain from actions that impede their fellow Guests view of the game.                                                   

 Judging from sitting in my section, I would like to add a couple of items to the code:

• When playing "Toss the peanut into the empty beer cup" should the peanut go into your neighbor's beer, you should buy your neighbor another beer.
• If you are going to talk loudly and share stories to the whole section, at least talk about the game in front of you.
• You section doesn't really care about the time you met Adam Dunn.
• Let the person who caught the homerun ball, even if it's from our opposing team, keep the ball.  We're not Chicago.
• Please remember...and this IS in the above rules, there ARE children sitting in the section.  Foul language gets really old.
• If your friend is very, very drunk, you may want to help them leave...immediately.  If the person is passed out and you leave them unaccompianied, this makes it quite uncomfortable for the folks around them.  If your friend is stumbling drunk, this is even worse than the passed out guy.
• Standing on the back of the person sitting in front of you seat is strickly prohibited.  We don't want to use your foot as a pillow.  (Besides you have stinky feet!)

Now, I'm all for getting a little crazy and having lots of fun.  But there is a limit.  Please be aware when you are just making you fellow REDS FANS miserable.

Do you have any suggestions for the Reds on the Code of Conduct?  Maybe we can put together an official list and send it to the Reds.

It was a busy weekend, what with the Reds back in town, lots of Fun to be had...but....the fun was taken out of the weekend with the two loses to the Brew Crew.  The pictures above I took Friday Night of Nick, The Sports Kitten, Destiny, and our Sports Cub, Tim.  Although there was a loss on Friday night, we had a good time.  One problem, I have an issue with "Bleacher Etiquette."  More to come on that later.

Check out the first picture!  This chick was AWESOME!  Not only was she double fisting it, she had the biggest hand EVER, even with a REDS logo on it.  She never had to worry about dropping her drink...or anyone running in to her and getting a drink spilled!

Last night I was in a predicament on what movie screening to attend.  I had to chose between Jackie Chan in THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM and Al Pacino in 88MINUTES.  I chose Al Pacino.

In 88 MINUTES, Al Pacino stars as Dr. Jack Gramm, a college professor who moonlights as a forensic psychiatrist for the FBI. When Gramm receives a death threat claiming he has only 88 minutes to live, he must use all his skills and training to narrow down the possible suspects, who include a disgruntled student, a jilted former lover, and a serial killer who is already on death row, before his time runs out.

 In these days of CSI, CSI Miami, CSI New York, NCIS, Law and Order, Law and Order Criminal Intent, Law and Order Special Victims Unit, Criminal Minds...well, you get the picture....a movie telling a story a forensic psychiatrist better be good and compelling with "who dunnit," "how dunnit," and "why dunnit."  All we have to do is turn our TV on and get great stories of Forensic Intelligence.  Sometimes it's almost overwhelming... and worrisome that real criminals might be watching and taking notes. 

 After getting past the opening scenes of the creepy crime, there was a big lull on when the actual "88Minutes" was actually going to start.  With the cast surrounding Al Pacino, one would have thought the acting around him would have been better.  There are many questions as to why Dr. Jack Gramm does what he does when he has such a short time to live.  One glaring one is why he and his teaching assistant got into HIS car after someone vandalized it when it was obvious someone was trying to kill him.   Why didn't get in to his teaching assistant's car?  I mean his windows knocked out and there was a nice message on the back.  (Answer: They had to set up the scene...which was very confusing by the way....to blow up his car.  This is not a surprise, if you've seen the trailers and previews, the blowing up of the car is in it.)

But I must give Al Pacino his props!  He is arguably one of the greatest actors of his generation.  Someone lesser than him would make this a horrible movie.  He does the best he can with what he has to deal with.  The reason for the 88 MINUTES is very compelling, although I'm not so sure I would have had him deliver the speech in a car.  Sitting down, standing up, Pacino is still mesmerizing sometimes.  He is the one who carries the tension until the end scene.  But I had a lot of trouble with what was supposed to be sexual tension between him and two much, much, much...did I say much? ...much younger actresses.  I get having a crush on your teacher, but really....

I still love Al Pacino.  I think I always will.  I'm looking forward to the release of RIGHTEOUS KILL also starring Robert DeNiro coming out sometime soon.  I haven't seen a release date yet.  Let's just hope the Director of 88MINUTES does a better job when Al Pacino is on the screen with another legend in Robert DeNiro.

 So my suggestion to you about 88MINUTES is wait for the DVD.

thelotd.com/sherry

I hope you enjoy Nick's Birthday Lunch as much as we did!  Good times were had by all.  Happy Birthday, Nick!