Anthony's World

So apparently former 98 Degrees lead singer and solo artist, and former spouse and co-star on Newly Weds (with Jessica) -- Nick Lachey -- now owns the Tacoma Raniers, or at least part of it with two other dudes from Texas.

Very very weird.

Also weird, Warren Buffet, Nolan Ryan, and the Mandalay Bay hotel in Vegas own 3 other teams in the Pacific Coast League as well. Great, we have Vegas owning a baseball team... sound's fair to me.

Here's another blog with some pictures of the press conference from today.

http://www.exit133.com/1305

Pop star Nick Lachey becomes part owner of Tacoma Rainiers

By TIM BOOTH
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

TACOMA, Wash. -- Former "Newlywed" Nick Lachey announced a new union on Wednesday - and no, it has nothing to do with Jessica Simpson.

Lachey was introduced as a part-owner of the Tacoma Rainiers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. Before Wednesday, Lachey had no connection with the waterfront city 30 miles south of Seattle, other than occasional performances at the nearby Tacoma Dome.

Now, he's part of the Schlegel Sports Group based out of Dallas, and a one-third owner of the Rainiers.

"Sports for me, other than what I do for a living, is truly my passion, and baseball has always been something that is a part of my life," said Lachey, who grew up a Cincinnati Reds' fan. "Being able to do what I do for my career, thankfully I've been blessed enough to be able to do well in that, to have other opportunities and this is one of them."

Lachey's singing career is in the midst of an upswing since his divorce from Simpson, which was finalized on June 30. His new solo album, "What's Left of Me," debuted at No. 2 on Billboard's album chart in May and he just completed a 26-city tour.

Lachey sang openly about divorce-driven heartbreak and angst on the title track and in songs such as "I Can't Hate You Anymore." The former stars of the MTV reality show, "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica," filed for divorce last December after three years of marriage.

Lachey wasn't interested in talking about his ex-wife on Wednesday, instead focusing on his new venture. It's the second time Lachey has been involved with an ownership group. He was a small player in a group that attempted to buy his hometown Reds last year. That experience confirmed to Lachey he wanted a piece of a sports franchise.

"A couple of years ago when the Reds came up for sale my interest there was they're my hometown team and I want to be involved in the team and the city and obviously that didn't work out," Lachey said. "But it gave me the feeling that being involved in an ownership group was something I really wanted to do. When this opportunity came about it felt like the right one."

Lachey's involvement in the ownership group wasn't originally announced when word leaked of the Rainiers sale in July. That was by design, says Kirby Schlegel, hoping the public relations pop of announcing Lachey's involvement on Wednesday would boost interest in the Rainiers.

"The PR jolt he can give is huge," Schlegel said. "There's no better advertising than having a guy like Nick Lachey involved."

Schlegel and Lachey met through mutual friends in Los Angeles a few years ago, and the pair have been scouring the country for the right opportunity to enter business together. The new owners spoke extensively about providing an entertaining product to fans.

Tacoma has been home to a Pacific Coast League franchise since 1960. PCL President Branch Rickey pointed out other notable owners in the league - Warren Buffet (Omaha), Nolan Ryan (Round Rock), and the Mandalay Entertainment Group (Las Vegas).

Rickey also knew when he followed Lachey at the podium Wednesday morning, that only one segment of the audience was paying attention to him.

"I'm speaking to the men," Rickey joked. "The women can keep looking where they're looking."

Labels: news and politics

Here's a crazy article:

DENVER, Colorado (AP) -- A homeowners' association in southwestern Colorado has threatened to fine a resident $25 a day until she removes a Christmas wreath with a peace sign that some say is an anti-Iraq war protest or a symbol of Satan.

Some residents who have complained have children serving in Iraq, said Bob Kearns, president of the Loma Linda Homeowners Association in Pagosa Springs.

He said some residents believed the wreath was a symbol of Satan. Three or four residents complained, he said.

"Somebody could put up signs that say drop bombs on Iraq. If you let one go up you have to let them all go up," he said in a telephone interview Sunday.

Lisa Jensen said she wasn't thinking of the war when she hung the wreath. She said, "Peace is way bigger than not being at war. This is a spiritual thing."

Jensen, a past association president, calculates the fines will cost her about $1,000, and doubts they will be able to make her pay. But she said she's not going to take it down until after Christmas.

"Now that it has come to this I feel I can't get bullied," she said. "What if they don't like my Santa Claus?"

The association in this 200-home subdivision 270 miles southwest of Denver has sent a letter to her saying that residents were offended by the sign and the board "will not allow signs, flags etc. that can be considered divisive."

The subdivision's rules say no signs, billboards or advertising are permitted without the consent of the architectural control committee.

Kearns ordered the committee to require Jensen to remove the wreath, but members refused after concluding that it was merely a seasonal symbol that didn't say anything.

Kearns fired all five committee members.

This is one of the things I am most afraid of when buying a home or condo these days... Homeowners Associations. They suck! What do you benefit from them? You have to pay dues, and then you are scrutinized to hell with what you do, and are restricted from doing anything that makes your house look different than anyone elses? Why? Why does everyone want to assimilate? Is there a point? Where's the freedom of speech? This lady puts up a PEACE wreath and people complain that its a sign against supporting the troops? What the hell? I thought, completely hypothetical, that the troops in Iraq were there to help promote democracy and peace in the middle east? (of course, I think the Iraq thing.... well I won't say more than that) Anyway, I love it how the Homeowner president fires the 5 people who go against him. Sounds like democracy rules this association. Mmm hmm.

My cousin, who lives in a suburb of Phoenix, AZ also is in a homeowners association, not by choice I'd assume. But when I went down to visit him while on a business trip earlier this year, I remember he bought some garden rocks to place for decoration. They don't have grass down there nor bark so they use red rocks.... or something like that. But he picked a slightly darker shade of red than the standard -- you can hardly tell either... and the homeowners came screaming at his doorstep and demanded he return those and get the proper color. I thought it was ludicrous.

My other cousin, his brother actually, couldn't use his condo deck to put a BBQ on it!! A BBQ?? What's the point in having the deck then?? He also couldn't have a bike on it either... blasphemy.

Anyway, homeowners associations... are you suppose to enjoy being in one?

Labels: news and politics

Seahawks just lost to the Niners. What a crappy way to end a perfectly fine weekend. Seneca Wallace still does not seem very comfortable in tight situations, as shown by his complete lack of judgement on that last interception with the game on the line. On a miracle 2nd opportunity to go downfield for a victory, Seneca threw the ball over to the right side of the field to absolutely nobody; nobody in seahawk blue that is. There were 2 or 3 San Francisco defensive backs there and no Hawk in sight. I don't know who he was going to but that gave the Niners an interception to basically seal the deal.

Tragic.

The rest of the week played out well though as Scott!!! came back from Japan on Wednesday and Melissa is back again as of yesterday. Neil comes back in 2 weeks too! So yippee! I saw two great shows this past week - The Album Leaf and The Decemberists on Thursday and Friday, respectively. I also just got to chill out and relax with my best friend. I'm happy he's back, if only for a few days. I also ran into JR last night at Ozzies who is in town for a few days too before he heads to Japan as well, and then moving to Tahoe.

Besides that, the misery of the Seahawks lost is settling in. Sigh. At least the Huskies took a Bowl opportunity away from the Cougs by stealing the Apple Cup back to Seattle. Woohoo!

Labels: news and politics, sports

Random tidbits from an already crazy week:

1. The Seahawks-Raiders game was the least-watched in the history of "Monday Night Football." The game was viewed by 7.587 million households, according to Nielsen Media Research. The previous low was 8.427 million households for the Rams' 28-21 victory over Tampa Bay in 2004. - Seattle PI

2. Donald Rumsfeld has resigned from his position of Secretary of Defense under the Bush administration! Finally! Gee, you wonder if you should be in office still when the people you give orders to all want you out, and they also happen to control all of the countries weapons. heh heh. Good job on Iraq. Sure has helped us plenty.... By the way, I don't agree with the Iraq war/invasion. I do support the troops, but not the cause.

3. The Democratic party just destroyed the GOP over the past 36 hours. 29 seats in the House have changed from GOP(1 independent) to Democrat (10 undecided), and 5 senate positions changed to Democrat so far with 1 undecided and likely to be Blue. What a crazy shift in power. So now the Democrats run the House and the Senate...

4. What does this all say about the current administration?

5. Arizona - what the hell is going on with their measures?

$1 million voter reward?? WTF is this? I'm glad it got rejected. Why would anyone need an incentive to vote besides the incentive that they have an opinion? The idea was to have a $1million reward to help boost voting numbers... yea, so now you'll have a bunch of fools who wouldn't have voted but now will just check random boxes so that they can win some cash. Great.

English as Official Language? I thought... we were in America... and we have a thing called American English. Sounds really lame for a title, but I guess if you read deeper into it, it also says stuff that reduces the amount of languages for government fliers, brochures, etc. (aka, no more spanish translations). But again, to go along with the brainless fools who only vote for money -- they read the title, and well, of course you'd check YES. Then again, if English isn't already the official language of Arizona, what was?

6. Other ballot measures.

Funds for Alternative Energy (California) - a bit surprised this actually lost. Don't know too much more than the brief summary -- I guess California did already drive a lot of money into the Hydrogen Fuel cell research center already so maybe that's why this lost handedly.

Colorado does not want Same-Sex anything. No to both Domestic Partnership rights and marriage, but not as badly as some other states... mainly all the south and midwest states where there seems to be no reason why it was even on the ballot. I hope Washington reviews this sometime in the future again... It got pretty close earlier this year in court.

Colorado and Nevada wanted to legalize Marijuana? Sounds neat. Hah. Actually, I'd say NO to this too, though it's really not that terrible of a drug by any means. But then, Medical Marijuana (South Dakota) got turned down too, and I believe this is something that could be welcoming. Washington already has this ability.

Finally, Allow Slot Machines. haha. Ohio... you crazies. Good thing you voted no on this. Of course the reservations will tell you this is quite a profitable market, but Ohio doesn't have enough asian (especially vietnamese) people in it to really drive it. :) :) :) jk.

7. Locally, it sounds like the Sonics are really leaving now -- it sounds like its nearly impossible to get a new contract/remodel of Key Arena and the ownership is going to have to look at Bellevue or Renton or somewhere else again. Everett? heh. Move to Oklahoma City. Paul Allen can then buy out his Rose Garden/City contract, sell off the Rose Garden, move the Trail Blazers to Seattle, and bring Martel Webster, Brandon Roy, Dan Dickau, and Nate McMillan back home to Seattle.

8. I have alot of really good friends in one location right now. Japan. Jake is over there working at Mitsubishi. Dean is next door working at Kawasaki. And they're both going to hook up with my best friend Scott in Tokyo. Geez. Oh yea, Roldan is over there on vacation too. Argh!

9. Transformers: The Movie - 20th Anniversary DVD has been released! It's digitally remastered, and available in widescreen finally!! I got it yesterday! exciting!

And...

10. Go Seahawks.

Labels: news and politics, sports

Fall is definitely back. Its pouring down rain and the leaves are scattered in their autumn colors all over the ground. It's a change of pace and its nice in a way. Sure traffic stinks, but change just might be what the doctor ordered.

I've had a pretty good week of smiles and laughter, which is something that I am glad to have back. I saw the NBA back in effect and what might amount to the final season for my beloved Seattle Super Sonics. It's a shame if they leave, because they do mean alot to me and this city, but if they do, I would not mind a fresh start with a new franchise if the powers that be allow that to happen.

I also got to hang out with some friends and see Iceland's own Amiina play at Chop Suey on Thursday evening with some local talented bands, Sleepy Eyes of Death and Trespasser William. It was a good show.

And then there was the Friday marathon of goodness. I had some food and drinks with some wonderful people at Gordon Bierch downtown, followed by seeing the Bodies exhibit and then more food and drinks at Palomino and concluding with watching Borat movie. It was a great, and tiring, night out in downtown with some wonderful people (Adria, Griffin, Prashant, Dan, Jeannette, Jessica, Susan, and Joe).

And Saturday was an adventure in the pouring down rain in Fremont, a place that is all too familiar yet had not been explored on a weekend evening in a very long time with my cousins. It was interesting, controversial, and just a much needed time with family.

Then there was today where I got to see my good friend Melissa once again, as she arrived back from Chicago, as well as Katie, Jennifer, Patricia and her friends. Some pho action, as usual, another film (Saw III) and then Peso's in the evening to cap it off. I also got to watch a very exciting, albeit sloppy, Sunday night football game between the Pats and Colts.

Tommorow, or later today... I guess, is Monday Night Football with the Seahawks!! Woopeee!

And Tuesday... well that's the release of the 20th Anniversary Transformers: The Movie remastered DVD! Can't wait to get it!

Labels: life