Wednesday Night Blog #8
October 8, 2014
By
Tom DiCaprio
Today the Ebola victim from Dallas has passed away. Also a dog has been euthanized in Europe as a result of Enola as well. Right now my Wednesday night writer's club and I are discussing Ebola. It looks like the Pandemic of 2014 err one of the two Pandemics of 2014 could very well be under way. The other would be Enterovirus aka EV-D68. ISIS has come out said that they will infect someone with Ebola and would have them come here and infect Americans. If this isn't an obvious threat then I don't know what would be one...imagine if they come up with a plot to infect us with EV-D68...it looks like a future novel could discuss this...stay tuned. I hope that this doesn't materialize in real life. Now five US airports will be screening people for symptoms of Ebola. This could be a sign of what will come. With the second blood moon in the books, this concern could be elevated to a whole new level. The third blood moon will come Saturday April 4, 2015. According to historical tradition Saturday June 4, 33AD was the day after the Crucifixion of Jesus. Since the Jewish Sabbath falls from a Friday night at sunset to Saturday night at the same time, then with this alignment of events I have no question that things could get very dicey very quick. Another note about Friday April 3 through Sunday April 5 would be that just like 33 AD where the Crucifixion fell on April 3 and the Ressurection fell on Sunday April 5 well Good Friday will fall on Friday April 3, 2015 and I'm sure that everyone knows that two days later will be Easter. I hope that I don't have to give anyone a similar lecture like the one I gave a coworker yesterday when he said that he thought Thomas Jefferson invented the light bulb and that Thomas Edison and Benjamin Franklin were U.S. presidents. You don't want to be "that person" trust me. Anyways if this isn't a cause for potential
concern then I don't know what would be.
Last night I hung out with a friend of mine at a local bar where he was bartending. He was talking to another patron and they were discussing ISIS. I then discussed a previous post where I made concerning the fact that al-Qaeda, al-Shabbab and ISIS were actually one group and that this split up into three groups was a ruse in order to confuse us and our military. If that is so then we could be in some serious trouble in the near future. The patron then discussed how he fought in Desert Storm back in 1991. He fells that ISIS must be bombed off the map. Well it looks like I now have a new friend. We proceeded to have a very lively conversation where we agreed tha ISIS was like Nazi Germany in 1938. This is yet another great cause for concern. We all know what happened after 1938 and it has even evolved into this crisis. Well the end of World War I with The Treaty of Versailles was actually the opening shots of World War II. Therefore this trend continues on to this day just 100 years after WWI began.
Twenty four days until National Novel Writer's Month begins. Still amped up for it to begin. Research for Gladio is well underway. This could be quite an interesting November to remember. I'm still coming up with ideas for Gladio. I just won't be discussing them in this blog at this time for obvious reasons.
On to something different. The MLB playoffs have taken a very interesting turn. Looks like the Kansas City Royals are becoming the sleeper team this year. They've managed to knock off both the Oakland A's and the Los Angeles Angels. Now they are going to play the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Championship Series. They've knocked off two powerhouse teams why not go for the trifecta. I think they could pull it off. In the National League Chapionship Series, the San Francisco Giants will be playing the St. Louis Cardinals. Looks like a rematch of the 1985 World Series could soon be taking place, but yet the Giants could continue what has been a trend this decade of winning the World Series in the even numbered years in the 2010's decade.
The NFL well do I really need to discuss this...okay then I will. Looks like another weekend and another arrest in the NFL. Derrick Shelby of the Miami Dolphins was arrested for groping women at a club and refusing to drive out of the club afterwards. He proceeded to be charged with resisting arrest among things. The Chicago Bears are playing with no heart. Once again their defense stood around as opposing wide receivers caught balls for touchdowns. Considering that the Carolina Panthers failed to field an entire team and beat the Bears in the process well this doesn't bode well. However the Buffalo Bills switched starting quarterbacks and won while remaining in first place. Since my iPad has been freezing all night I'm afraid that I will be ending this blog for the week at this time.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Wednesday Night Blog #7
Wednesday Night Blog # 7
By
Tom DiCaprio
10/1/14
It's definitely good to be back blogging. I was house sitting for a friend in Pultneyville from September 9 to the 27. I definitely enjoyed the lakefront property for sure. However the back injury made me alter some plans. My friend has four beds in his home. The one that he wanted me to sleep in did not do wonders for my back for the first hour that I tried to sleep. After playing a round of musical beds, I slept in the master bedroom despite his wishes for me not to. It was the best available bed that was conducive for my back issues. It was awesome waking up every morning while I was in Pultneyville and looking out the window and seeing Lake Ontario. What a wonderful feeling that was. The nineteen days flew by very fast although the daily commutes from Pultneyville to Rochester and back seemed to drag on like the Kansas City Royals-Oakland A's game from last night. That said its good to be back in Rochester.
I've been getting mentally ready for my National Novel Writers Month Project that begins a month from today. I'm going to pick up Gladio by Ganser Daniele and read it this month. It should give me quite a premise for my novel "Gladio" that will be written starting November 1. I'm so amped up for it and I have to wait another 31 days before I begin to write it. I'm working on an elevator pitch for it right now. John Grisham said that if you cannot explain your novel in one or two sentences then you shouldn't write it. Well here's my elevator pitch for Gladio which is a work in progress as I write this. "A CIA agent who is framed by a rogue agent must clear his name while confronting his past in order to prevent a terrorist attack."
Well it's been an interesting NFL season. Who would have thought that the cowboys would be 3-1 and the Bills would start the season 2-0. Even the NFC Central is still wide open. The MLB playoffs are underway. I can't think of a team to root against this year. I would prefer that the Angels or Royals win it all. I think it will be a combination of the Angels or Orioles playing the Dodgers or Nationals. Let Rocktoberfest commence.
On to the news front. Ebola has arrived in the USA. Texas has reported the first case. The sad part is that I'm not surprised about this. I'm just surprised that it took this long for it to occur. Looks like there will be a sudden demand for DVD copies of Pandora's Clock, Outbreak and Contagion. Definitely not a good sign for what could come. Imagine if this outbreak of Ebola was in fact an act of biological terrorism? I don't even want to picture how this would be handled.
The Secret Service has had one mishap after another recently. Now there is a rumor that a convicted felon carried a gun into the White House elevator and was standing next to President Obama. What are they trying to do? Deliberately screw up and allow an incident to take place that would be tragic. That would be inexcusable. The Secret Service who had been so vigilant to protect not only the president from assassination, but the nation from a race war in the process has now been lax in their duties. Do they know something that we don't? There are other ways to handle it. Allowing an assassination to occur is unacceptable.
I may have briefly mentioned a possibility of al-Qaeda, al-Shabbab and ISIS being one and the same group, but flying different flags in order to confuse the USA and our allies in the War on Terror. I still feel that it is a possibility that can never be ignored. If this strategy of spreading our military too thin and then engaging in an all out full scale strike against us occurs, then this nation as well as our allies may be in some very serious trouble. There has also been an en masse immigration of Moslems from the Middle East to European nations such as Great Britain, France and Germany as well as other western nations such as the United States and Canada. This was also a topic that was a storyline in my latest novel Deception.
Even the Rochester area is still having a rough run of controversial news stories. After the controversial parole of Thomas Johnson III which resulted in the killing of RPD Officer Daryl Pierson, the news of Monroe County has shifted west to Brockport which has experienced a couple of high profile incidents in the past ten days. First SUNY Brockport defeated St. John Fisher College in football. Then the Brockport students proceeded to party after the upset and a riot took place. I'm now picturing how many times DJ Snake and Lil John's hit song Turn Down For What was played during the partying that took place in the hours that preceded the riots. This week a SUNY Brockport soccer player was stabbed by an acquaintance who was stalking him. The acquaintance who was not a student at Brockport was able to enter the campus undetected and then stab the student who according to some was a love interest of his assailant. The victim did not feel the same way towards his future assailant. Looks like crashing into events and places has become a common theme. A local radio station sent someone to slip his way into a local high school and college undetected this morning.
Unfortunately this trick is not limited to spies and government agents. Also this is not only the unfortunate recoccuing common theme these days. The NFL has had the floodgates open when it comes to domestic violence. This has since extended into other sports. I think this was the first weekend where a NFL player has not been arrested. This is definitely a first in quite some time.
Well I have run our of things to write about this week. With that said I wish everyone a great week!
Tom
By
Tom DiCaprio
10/1/14
It's definitely good to be back blogging. I was house sitting for a friend in Pultneyville from September 9 to the 27. I definitely enjoyed the lakefront property for sure. However the back injury made me alter some plans. My friend has four beds in his home. The one that he wanted me to sleep in did not do wonders for my back for the first hour that I tried to sleep. After playing a round of musical beds, I slept in the master bedroom despite his wishes for me not to. It was the best available bed that was conducive for my back issues. It was awesome waking up every morning while I was in Pultneyville and looking out the window and seeing Lake Ontario. What a wonderful feeling that was. The nineteen days flew by very fast although the daily commutes from Pultneyville to Rochester and back seemed to drag on like the Kansas City Royals-Oakland A's game from last night. That said its good to be back in Rochester.
I've been getting mentally ready for my National Novel Writers Month Project that begins a month from today. I'm going to pick up Gladio by Ganser Daniele and read it this month. It should give me quite a premise for my novel "Gladio" that will be written starting November 1. I'm so amped up for it and I have to wait another 31 days before I begin to write it. I'm working on an elevator pitch for it right now. John Grisham said that if you cannot explain your novel in one or two sentences then you shouldn't write it. Well here's my elevator pitch for Gladio which is a work in progress as I write this. "A CIA agent who is framed by a rogue agent must clear his name while confronting his past in order to prevent a terrorist attack."
Well it's been an interesting NFL season. Who would have thought that the cowboys would be 3-1 and the Bills would start the season 2-0. Even the NFC Central is still wide open. The MLB playoffs are underway. I can't think of a team to root against this year. I would prefer that the Angels or Royals win it all. I think it will be a combination of the Angels or Orioles playing the Dodgers or Nationals. Let Rocktoberfest commence.
On to the news front. Ebola has arrived in the USA. Texas has reported the first case. The sad part is that I'm not surprised about this. I'm just surprised that it took this long for it to occur. Looks like there will be a sudden demand for DVD copies of Pandora's Clock, Outbreak and Contagion. Definitely not a good sign for what could come. Imagine if this outbreak of Ebola was in fact an act of biological terrorism? I don't even want to picture how this would be handled.
The Secret Service has had one mishap after another recently. Now there is a rumor that a convicted felon carried a gun into the White House elevator and was standing next to President Obama. What are they trying to do? Deliberately screw up and allow an incident to take place that would be tragic. That would be inexcusable. The Secret Service who had been so vigilant to protect not only the president from assassination, but the nation from a race war in the process has now been lax in their duties. Do they know something that we don't? There are other ways to handle it. Allowing an assassination to occur is unacceptable.
I may have briefly mentioned a possibility of al-Qaeda, al-Shabbab and ISIS being one and the same group, but flying different flags in order to confuse the USA and our allies in the War on Terror. I still feel that it is a possibility that can never be ignored. If this strategy of spreading our military too thin and then engaging in an all out full scale strike against us occurs, then this nation as well as our allies may be in some very serious trouble. There has also been an en masse immigration of Moslems from the Middle East to European nations such as Great Britain, France and Germany as well as other western nations such as the United States and Canada. This was also a topic that was a storyline in my latest novel Deception.
Even the Rochester area is still having a rough run of controversial news stories. After the controversial parole of Thomas Johnson III which resulted in the killing of RPD Officer Daryl Pierson, the news of Monroe County has shifted west to Brockport which has experienced a couple of high profile incidents in the past ten days. First SUNY Brockport defeated St. John Fisher College in football. Then the Brockport students proceeded to party after the upset and a riot took place. I'm now picturing how many times DJ Snake and Lil John's hit song Turn Down For What was played during the partying that took place in the hours that preceded the riots. This week a SUNY Brockport soccer player was stabbed by an acquaintance who was stalking him. The acquaintance who was not a student at Brockport was able to enter the campus undetected and then stab the student who according to some was a love interest of his assailant. The victim did not feel the same way towards his future assailant. Looks like crashing into events and places has become a common theme. A local radio station sent someone to slip his way into a local high school and college undetected this morning.
Unfortunately this trick is not limited to spies and government agents. Also this is not only the unfortunate recoccuing common theme these days. The NFL has had the floodgates open when it comes to domestic violence. This has since extended into other sports. I think this was the first weekend where a NFL player has not been arrested. This is definitely a first in quite some time.
Well I have run our of things to write about this week. With that said I wish everyone a great week!
Tom
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Wednesday Night Blog #6
Wednesday
Night Blog #6
September
10, 2014
By
Tom
DiCaprio
I am
going to begin this blog by getting the obvious out of the way. Tomorrow is the thirteenth anniversary of the
September 11, 2001 attacks. Yes, the
world changed forever as a result of the attacks that resulted in the War on
Terror. Until then such an attack would
only occur in a novel that authors such as Tom Clancy would write. He wrote about a hijacked plane that was used
as a missile that would crash into a building in his 1994 novel Debt of Honor. Since then countless authors, myself
included would write about the next catastrophic terrorist attack. Hopefully such an attack will never occur,
however with the rise of ISIS we cannot afford to put down our guard especially
now. That alone would be a grave
mistake. ISIS is the biggest threat
facing the United States along with al-Qaeda when it comes to terrorism. Despite this, Fareed Zakaria brought up
something the other day in which Osama bin Laden said before his death that he
ordered al-Qaeda members to create fake terror groups that were actually al-Qaeda
itself in order to throw off the United States and our allies. Oliver North mentioned in a Facebook post
that I read where he mentioned various terrorist groups and their leaders
fighting the U.S. and our allies whether it be together or separately. Well all I have to say is that we cannot rule
out the possibility that they are in fact working together as one al-Qaeda
unit, but are pretending to be separate terrorist groups in order to throw us
off and then they would come together and the War on Terror proceeds to take a
disasterous turn for the worse since they played us like a game of chess (yes a
Fugees lyric reworded and paraphrased in the process).
As for
9/11, it began the road that would result in my transition from an aspiring
mystery novelist who dreamed of writing a spy novel but didn’t think I could do
it to a three time published spy/political thriller novelist. After Wolf Blitzer discussed a scenario of a
dirty bomb attack at a presidential inaugural in January 2005, I began to believe
that I could actually write a Tom Clancy-esque spy novel after all. The rest is now history.
A week
ago tonight I read a Facebook post by a friend of mine which said that a Rochester,
NY police officer was shot. Little did I
know how monumental the story would become in the Rochester, New York area
where I live. The next morning I was
listening to the radio when it was announced that the officer who was shot was
the first Rochester Police Department officer to be killed while on duty since
1959 and that the suspect who killed the officer was shot as well as an
innocent bystander. That alone is very
sad, but it was what happened next that would give this an even greater
meaning. The officer had left behind a
wife and two children. The suspect in
the shooting had been recently paroled and for the second time in as many weeks
that a slip up in the parole check in system resulted in a very violent
crime. The first crime as a result in
the incompetence of the parole system was the rape of a teenage girl. If the Rochester community was already
outraged as it was, then more communities especially nearby East Rochester, New
York (where I live) became further outraged when the name of the officer was
released. A friend of mine mentioned on
Facebook that her cousin was the officer who was killed without releasing his
name. The moment I read on Facebook that
the officer who was killed was Daryl Pierson, it hit home for me. I knew Daryl and his family. His mom and my mom were very close friends
when they were co-workers at Wegmans Food Markets. I had been among a group of friends who attended
a gathering at Daryl’s home a couple of years earlier. He was working that evening. Why do these kind of tragedies happen to good
people. Daryl had returned to work a day
earlier after being on medical leave for eight months and his son’s first day of
kindergarten took place on the day that he was killed. Thousands of people attended the wake as well
as the funeral. I had never been to a
police or military wake and I hope that such a tragedy never grips Rochester,
New York or its surrounding communities.
I gained a greater appreciation of law enforcement and what they have to
endure on a daily basis. I was even more
amazed by how the Rochester area came together.
This gives community a whole new meaning.
With that
I will be closing this blog until next week.
Until then take care.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Wednesday Night Blog #5 September 3, 2014
Well everyone Summer 2014 is now in the books. What a summer it was. Between the ball games and crash I was in not to mention getting my third novel "Deception" published it was a memorable one to put it mildly. Did I mention the writing hiatus that I am taking until November 1? *laughs* well it led me to writing "The Wednesday Night Blogs" that you will be reading right here. This the fifth "Wednesday Night Blog" although it would have been the sixth if the accident didn't take place three weeks ago today. With that here's the latest:
I've been questioning whether the hiatus from novel writing that began on July 25 was such a great idea or not. Since last Wednesday I have been thinking about ending the hiatus/sabbatical and resume writing novels once more. At the same time thoughts about my National Novel Writers Month project Gladio has been on my mind a lot. After some thought, I will be beginning to conduct research for Gladio while continuing on with my hiatus/sabbatical. With NaNoWriMo being 59 days away and I've survived the first 40 days without writing a novel, it looks like I will be at the half way point by next Saturday there is hope for me! A fun part of NaNoWriMo will be the kickoff party that begins at 11pm Halloween evening and ends six hours later a local all night diner. I feel that this will be an amazing experience for sure. I cannot think of a better way to resume writing novels.
Enough on the discussion about my writing. It's time for the fun stuff. I am on the minor league baseball withdrawal patch *laughs again* due to the season being completed for both the Rochester Red Wings and the Batavia Muckdogs. I managed to get 144 autographs this season which is a personal best! The interesting part was that I got 100 of the autographs since August 11. I plan on shattering my personal best next year! In fact I'm beginning to get ready to shatter the record by scoring out some of my baseball cards of minor leaguers who will be passing through both Rochester and Batavia next year. The scenery that I checked out during my three trips to Batavia last month was breathtaking. The open country with farm houses had a classic American heartland feel to it. I felt relaxed each time that I saw the views. I think it would be cool to make a fall drive to Batavia and see how the area would look in autumn. I have no question that it would look even more breathtaking than it is right now.
While I am on the subject of fall, it is an awesome time of the year. Although I could never put a finger on exactly why I feel this way it is the aura of fall that is special in itself. As I am sitting here typing tonight's blog I'm enjoying my first pumpkin spice latte of the season. Hopefully there will be many more in the next few months. Football begins tomorrow night and I consider it to be more than a sport. To me it has become a national holiday that begins on the first Thursday in September and ends on the first Sunday in February. Last night was the first of two fantasy football drafts for me. The next one is tonight at 8pm which means that I will be wrapping this blog up. Be safe everyone and enjoy the football games if you are a football fan. I will be checking out a First Friday Gallery night in a couple of days and the last art festival of 2014 on Saturday aka Chlothesline Festival at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, NY. Ah yes I forgot to Rochester Antiquarian Book Fair which is near the Memorial Art Gallery on Saturday too. All this will be in between the football and baseball games that I will be watching. With that take care everyone.
Tom
I've been questioning whether the hiatus from novel writing that began on July 25 was such a great idea or not. Since last Wednesday I have been thinking about ending the hiatus/sabbatical and resume writing novels once more. At the same time thoughts about my National Novel Writers Month project Gladio has been on my mind a lot. After some thought, I will be beginning to conduct research for Gladio while continuing on with my hiatus/sabbatical. With NaNoWriMo being 59 days away and I've survived the first 40 days without writing a novel, it looks like I will be at the half way point by next Saturday there is hope for me! A fun part of NaNoWriMo will be the kickoff party that begins at 11pm Halloween evening and ends six hours later a local all night diner. I feel that this will be an amazing experience for sure. I cannot think of a better way to resume writing novels.
Enough on the discussion about my writing. It's time for the fun stuff. I am on the minor league baseball withdrawal patch *laughs again* due to the season being completed for both the Rochester Red Wings and the Batavia Muckdogs. I managed to get 144 autographs this season which is a personal best! The interesting part was that I got 100 of the autographs since August 11. I plan on shattering my personal best next year! In fact I'm beginning to get ready to shatter the record by scoring out some of my baseball cards of minor leaguers who will be passing through both Rochester and Batavia next year. The scenery that I checked out during my three trips to Batavia last month was breathtaking. The open country with farm houses had a classic American heartland feel to it. I felt relaxed each time that I saw the views. I think it would be cool to make a fall drive to Batavia and see how the area would look in autumn. I have no question that it would look even more breathtaking than it is right now.
While I am on the subject of fall, it is an awesome time of the year. Although I could never put a finger on exactly why I feel this way it is the aura of fall that is special in itself. As I am sitting here typing tonight's blog I'm enjoying my first pumpkin spice latte of the season. Hopefully there will be many more in the next few months. Football begins tomorrow night and I consider it to be more than a sport. To me it has become a national holiday that begins on the first Thursday in September and ends on the first Sunday in February. Last night was the first of two fantasy football drafts for me. The next one is tonight at 8pm which means that I will be wrapping this blog up. Be safe everyone and enjoy the football games if you are a football fan. I will be checking out a First Friday Gallery night in a couple of days and the last art festival of 2014 on Saturday aka Chlothesline Festival at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, NY. Ah yes I forgot to Rochester Antiquarian Book Fair which is near the Memorial Art Gallery on Saturday too. All this will be in between the football and baseball games that I will be watching. With that take care everyone.
Tom
Wednesday Night Blog #4
Wednesday
Night Blog #4
August
27, 2014
By
Tom
DiCaprio
Note: This
blog although written on August 27 was not published until tonight due to a
series of events that sidetracked me.
Here it is.
The
other day, I was on Facebook and I saw a post from a friend of mine which I
immediately decided to share. In a lot
of ways it hit home with me because I went through or am still going through
some of the rules that it mentioned.
With that I will now be sharing the post here too.
7
Rules of Life
1.
Make
peace with your past so it won’t screw up your present.
2.
What
others think of you is none of your business.
3.
Time
heals almost everything, give it time.
4.
Don’t
compare your life to others and don’t judge them. You have no idea what their journey is all
about.
5.
Stop
thinking too much, it’s alright not to know the answers. They will come to you when you least expect
it.
6.
No
one is in charge of your happiness, except you.
7.
Smile. You don’t own all the problems in the world.
Whisper of the Heart
I
decided to open this week’s Wednesday Night Blog with “7 Rules of Life” because
it has applied not only to my life’s journey especially the past twenty years
which has culiminated in the past two weeks, but also since it will be a theme
in my National Novel Writer’s Month project Gladio
that will be started on November 1 as well as most of all I feel that everyone
can benefit and learn from the “7 Rules of Life.” Twenty years ago, I was a college student who
had transferred to a college that I have always dreamed of attending. In the Fall of 1994, everything seemed to be
going right in my life. Then I was
involved in a crash in which I had to more or less put everything on hold for a
few months. The “dream” then became a
nightmare. I then endured a series of
personal problems among which was regret.
There was also anger along the way.
I felt why did my life come to a standstill? Why does everything become a disaster every
time that things are going perfect for me.
This was not the first time that I felt this way. Things were going perfect on three other occasions
when it came completely undone. Death
(the loss of my father, grandmother and fiancée) were the first three times
that this has occurred. Over the next few months I made the decision that if I
had a chance to do something that I would just do it. At times those decisions were not the best,
but I wasn’t feeling regret for the most part.
Yet I was battling my past where I knew that it could all come undone
yet again.
Then slowly things began to change. I was yet living that “perfect” life working
at a job which I was completely happy with when I lost my Mom. However this time although things were coming
undone, my friends were there for me and it made a difference. They did not come completely undone. In fact things gradually began to come
together for me. I realized that I have
a lot of friends who are family to me. I
began to reconcile with my past while exploring my dream of writing in
earnest. I have since self published
three novels. Then came the crash two
weeks ago where my car was damaged and I injured my back. I was really beginning to live that “perfect”
life again when there seemed to be yet another setback. Everything seemed to playing out like the
events of the months leading up to and including the crash. Well this time it did not come undone. I decided to atone for the past and redeem
myself for it. This time it is working
out well. I’m doing the things that I
enjoy doing although I had to modify it somewhat, but I’m happy because of it. I feel that I have become stronger because of
everything.
1.
I’m
not allowing the past to keep me down while I have made peace with it.
2.
I
no longer pay attention to what others think of me.
3.
Time
is now healing wounds. I chose to give
it time unlike the past.
4.
I’m
no longer comparing my life to others.
5.
I’m
now allowing the answers to come to me.
6.
I’m
learned to be in charge of my own happiness and I’m happy because of it.
7.
I’m
now smiling while accepting the fact that I don’t own all of the world’s
problems.
I know
that it took quite a while for me to accept it all, now I want to share this
with everyone knowing that if I can help out even one person with this then
I’ve done my duty.
With
that the fun part of the blog now commences.
I did some more autographing at the ballparks this week. Between the trips to Frontier Field in
Rochester, NY and Dwyer Park in Batavia, NY in the past ten days, I now have
set a personal best with 122 autographed baseball cards in a year. There’s still some more baseball to go so the
number will likely climb. The Rochester
Red Wings are in the thick of the International League Wild Card Race. We are a game and a half out of the wildcard
and I like our chances of clinching it.
I feel that I’m more into baseball than I have been in recent years
(Which is saying a lot). I feel that
I’ve been 67% into it since 2010 until now which would be the equivalent to a
lot of people being 110% into baseball.
The MLB Waiver Trade Deadline is Sunday.
Which MLB team would like Bartolo Colon?
Mets could use a solid prospect or two.
Just saying. Well it is now September 3, 2014 and Colon is still
a Met. Anyways as for those series of
events that sidetracked me, well they were unexpected but nothing major. Next blog will be published within the next
few hours.
Take
care.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Wednesday Night Blog #3 August 20, 2014
Everyone it's good to be back blogging this week. I apologize for not posting a blog a week ago. I was in a vehicle crash where I suffered a back injury and $6200 worth of damages to my car. My back is still hurting since I have a lumbar strain and a fractured disk/vertebrae (I was not a good science student so my terminology is not at its best) as well as arthritis in my lower back. After a weeks worth of exercises, doctor's appointments and PT, I'm beginning to get used to what is now the new normal for the time being. I definitely miss running with Fleet Feet Sports Rochester. They have become like a sort of family to me. The people at Fleet Feet as well as my running crew have been very encouraging. This was definitely a pick me up for sure. My buddy Ray who is also my boss at work has been very encouraging as well while giving me timely advice regarding back injuries since he had a back issue a year ago. The injury couple with the writing sabbatical that I'm going to be on until November has turned into a "Wake up and smell the roses moment" for me. It seems that I haven't been enjoying life like I should and am now starting to do so once again.
Well I'm following baseball in full throttle mode while picking up some autos in stadium and in person and making trades/purchases of sports cards on line and in person. I'm now working on 2014 Allen & Ginter Baseball, 2014 Upper Deck Goodwin Champs and 2014 Panini Golden Age sets. They have an awesome historical feel to them. I'm also in the process of trying to complete insert sets for Topps Series I & II baseball. The inserts are limited print cards that are issued in Topps packs. Also the 2014 Bowman Baseball both base and prospects as well as 2014 Topps Pro Debut are on my list of sets that I am trying to complete. I have a couple of baseball card shows in my area to check out this weekend as long as my back is able to hold up. They will be the first ones since June. I even made a killer find at a flea market Sunday. I picked up four small boxes of cards and a bag of 100 nine pocket sleeves. Needless to say that a Ken Griffey Bowman rookie from 1989 and a racing autograph were my top finds. Today I bought a few packs of 2014 Topps Football. I'm going to collect only the rookies and trade the rest of the cards. Well once again card collecting has helped me keep my head on straight during trying times. It is a therapeutic activity for me along the lines of FDR and his stamp collecting that helped him forestall a nervous breakdown.
As for my writing, I have seventy three days left on my writing sabbatical. When it ends on November 1 at 12:00 am, I will immediately begin to write Gladio for my National Novel Writer's Month project. As NaNoWriMo approaches I will discuss Gladio more. It has been nine days since Deception has been published and Trafford Publishing has approached me about doing a book to screen event in Los Angeles at the end of September. They would like me to go there and pitch both Black Friday and Deception to Hollywood producers. I tried that route with Black Friday last year and although I had a great time in New York, the attempt to turn Black Friday into a movie was a failed one. The prices for Pitch Fest as it is properly called are outrageous and I refuse to do it again at this time. Some of the story lines for Deception are actually being played out in the news these days. Between the mass immigration of Mexicans (Arabs in Deception), rioting (See Ferguson, MO) and the Caliphate (ISIS) it's hard to ignore what has been transpiring in the news as of late.
With the mass immigration of Mexicans, it's hard not to ignore the fact that there is a possibility that al-Qaeda or some other terrorist group had its members enter the United States through the Mexican border while blending in with the immigrants or even Mexican citizens converting to Islam and then crossing the border into the USA. That's one diabolical way of carrying out a terror plot.
The events in Ferguson, MO are disturbing to put it mildly. With the different accounts of what occurred, if Michael Brown was in fact rushing for the officer's gun, the officer should have fired bullets into Michael Brown's leg or arm or even both. With the two bullet wounds in his head and four in his arm, it was a Marine style shooting according to a friend of mine who served in the Marines. One shot to the head and then two to the body. The fact that the Ferguson Police Department has been very slow in releasing the details and key information regarding the investigation and what occurred that day makes me question what really happened to Michael Brown. Although there was audio/video about the shooting, if it was audio I would question it and if it was video I would accept it. It's frightening that the protests and rioting could spread nationally. I'm convinced that we need to brace ourselves for the possibility.
With ISIS, they desire to convert the USA to Islam and put a black flag on the White House while establishing a Caliphate. The methods that are being employed by ISIS have outraged a lot of people. One Syrian Christian was kidnapped and tortured to the point that he rejected Christianity and converted to Islam. After he said an Islamic prayer, he was beheaded! What a humiliation to be stripped of your faith, your salvation and then get beheaded! That was ISIS' plan with him all along. They have also kidnapped Christian women and are using them as sex slaves. If this is the future of Islamic terrorism, then we need to go all out and fight ISIS until they are no more. I think that they are the grave threat these days.
Enough on this blood boiling issue. These issues have been swept aside by the deaths of both Robin Williams and Lauren Bacall as well as he ALS ice bucket challenge. We have lost two movie icons a week ago. They were tremendous talents who have left an unforgettable impression on us. The ALS ice bucket challenge has swept the nation by storm. With my back injury, I know that I would make one awkward movement and make the injury worse. That is why I will donate from my heart and not be told how much to donate. I videotaped my neighbor doing the ice bucket challenge last week. I think that it's very admirable, the tactics could use a little fine tuning. How about donating what one can afford. I think that would put more people at ease about the whole thing. Enough said about that.
It's hard to believe that another summer is about come to an end. Time flies these days especially as everyone gets older. I have no question that we all must take advantage of what the waning days of summer has to offer. That is what we must do especially in the next week. With that it is time for me to close this blog for the week and take advantage of what summer has left to offer!
Take Care,
Tom
Well I'm following baseball in full throttle mode while picking up some autos in stadium and in person and making trades/purchases of sports cards on line and in person. I'm now working on 2014 Allen & Ginter Baseball, 2014 Upper Deck Goodwin Champs and 2014 Panini Golden Age sets. They have an awesome historical feel to them. I'm also in the process of trying to complete insert sets for Topps Series I & II baseball. The inserts are limited print cards that are issued in Topps packs. Also the 2014 Bowman Baseball both base and prospects as well as 2014 Topps Pro Debut are on my list of sets that I am trying to complete. I have a couple of baseball card shows in my area to check out this weekend as long as my back is able to hold up. They will be the first ones since June. I even made a killer find at a flea market Sunday. I picked up four small boxes of cards and a bag of 100 nine pocket sleeves. Needless to say that a Ken Griffey Bowman rookie from 1989 and a racing autograph were my top finds. Today I bought a few packs of 2014 Topps Football. I'm going to collect only the rookies and trade the rest of the cards. Well once again card collecting has helped me keep my head on straight during trying times. It is a therapeutic activity for me along the lines of FDR and his stamp collecting that helped him forestall a nervous breakdown.
As for my writing, I have seventy three days left on my writing sabbatical. When it ends on November 1 at 12:00 am, I will immediately begin to write Gladio for my National Novel Writer's Month project. As NaNoWriMo approaches I will discuss Gladio more. It has been nine days since Deception has been published and Trafford Publishing has approached me about doing a book to screen event in Los Angeles at the end of September. They would like me to go there and pitch both Black Friday and Deception to Hollywood producers. I tried that route with Black Friday last year and although I had a great time in New York, the attempt to turn Black Friday into a movie was a failed one. The prices for Pitch Fest as it is properly called are outrageous and I refuse to do it again at this time. Some of the story lines for Deception are actually being played out in the news these days. Between the mass immigration of Mexicans (Arabs in Deception), rioting (See Ferguson, MO) and the Caliphate (ISIS) it's hard to ignore what has been transpiring in the news as of late.
With the mass immigration of Mexicans, it's hard not to ignore the fact that there is a possibility that al-Qaeda or some other terrorist group had its members enter the United States through the Mexican border while blending in with the immigrants or even Mexican citizens converting to Islam and then crossing the border into the USA. That's one diabolical way of carrying out a terror plot.
The events in Ferguson, MO are disturbing to put it mildly. With the different accounts of what occurred, if Michael Brown was in fact rushing for the officer's gun, the officer should have fired bullets into Michael Brown's leg or arm or even both. With the two bullet wounds in his head and four in his arm, it was a Marine style shooting according to a friend of mine who served in the Marines. One shot to the head and then two to the body. The fact that the Ferguson Police Department has been very slow in releasing the details and key information regarding the investigation and what occurred that day makes me question what really happened to Michael Brown. Although there was audio/video about the shooting, if it was audio I would question it and if it was video I would accept it. It's frightening that the protests and rioting could spread nationally. I'm convinced that we need to brace ourselves for the possibility.
With ISIS, they desire to convert the USA to Islam and put a black flag on the White House while establishing a Caliphate. The methods that are being employed by ISIS have outraged a lot of people. One Syrian Christian was kidnapped and tortured to the point that he rejected Christianity and converted to Islam. After he said an Islamic prayer, he was beheaded! What a humiliation to be stripped of your faith, your salvation and then get beheaded! That was ISIS' plan with him all along. They have also kidnapped Christian women and are using them as sex slaves. If this is the future of Islamic terrorism, then we need to go all out and fight ISIS until they are no more. I think that they are the grave threat these days.
Enough on this blood boiling issue. These issues have been swept aside by the deaths of both Robin Williams and Lauren Bacall as well as he ALS ice bucket challenge. We have lost two movie icons a week ago. They were tremendous talents who have left an unforgettable impression on us. The ALS ice bucket challenge has swept the nation by storm. With my back injury, I know that I would make one awkward movement and make the injury worse. That is why I will donate from my heart and not be told how much to donate. I videotaped my neighbor doing the ice bucket challenge last week. I think that it's very admirable, the tactics could use a little fine tuning. How about donating what one can afford. I think that would put more people at ease about the whole thing. Enough said about that.
It's hard to believe that another summer is about come to an end. Time flies these days especially as everyone gets older. I have no question that we all must take advantage of what the waning days of summer has to offer. That is what we must do especially in the next week. With that it is time for me to close this blog for the week and take advantage of what summer has left to offer!
Take Care,
Tom
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Wednesday Night Blog #2
Wednesday
Night Blog #2
August
6, 2014
By
Tom
DiCaprio
Everyone,
since the first blog worked out well; I thought that I would do this again
tonight. Deception has been published as of yesterday. Deception
is about a Saudi plot to take over the United States and Western Europe and
convert them into Islamic nations.
Mohammad abd Ibrahim grew up resenting the Western nations splitting up
the Ottoman Empire while making false promises to the Arabs. Ibrahim was further incensed over the setting
up of a Jewish State in Palestine. After
the Islamic Revolution in Iran in which it became in Shi’a Islamic State, Saudi
Arabia was now feeling threatened over the possibility of the fact that the Islamic
Revolution will spread there as well.
Mohammad abd Ibrahim then began a chain of events that would lead to disenfranchised
citizens of five different nations who would be on the brink of becoming their
leaders while the reestablishing of a Caliphate in Saudi Arabia would
occur. Ibrahim would pay for the college
educations of the disenfranchised citizens while choosing five of the students
whose college educations that he paid for and groom them to become leaders in
the process. A condition for accepting
the scholarship was that the person who accepted must convert to Islam.
One
candidate is Darryl Jeremiah Gant who was repeatedly denied a scholarship to
pay for his college education. Gant who
resented the Caucasian race for their racism towards minorities was befriended
by Ibrahim who paid for his scholarship and is now being groomed to someday
become President of the United States.
Gant meanwhile continued on with his resentment of the Caucasian race
which results in a series of violent encounters through the years.
CIA Agent
J.T. Vincent proceeds to discover bits and pieces of Ibrahim’s plot in the
weeks leading up to the 9/11 attacks while investigating another crime involving
a bodyguard for now-Congressman Gant.
When Gant and his bodyguard Quinn Sanders are questioned, the Attorney
General’s office proceeds to stop it and Agent Vincent is transferred to
Washington, D.C. where his superiors would keep a close eye on him.
Years
later, Congressman Gant becomes the Vice President while Agent Vincent
continued on with his investigation of Gant and his ties to radical Islam. Mohammad abd Ibrahim gives the approval for
the final stages of his plan to be carried out.
Can Agent Vincent stop it in time?
Read Deception to find out. Deception
is told in the tradition of both The
Manchurian Candidate and The Da Vinci
Code. You can purchase it at www.trafford.com.
Week two
of my novel writing hiatus is going well.
I am actually learning that there is more to life these days than
writing novels. For example last night I
went out on a group run, but I tweaked my knee to the extent where I had to end
my run. The knee is feeling better today
but still a tad sore. I may try again
this weekend should it improve even more.
I saw Edge of Tomorrow Monday
night and the movie played out like a video game that would be very
addicting. I highly recommend it, just
put your preconceived notions about Tom Cruise aside before you enter the
theater. This was one of his better
performances as an actor.
Insomnia
has become a key part of my life once again.
It came back Saturday night and is now an every other night thing. We shall see tonight if the trend continues or
not.
The MLB
Trade Deadline may have ushered in a new trend.
It looks like the trade deadline has went from trading fading star
players to trading free agents to be while a team can get something in return
for them to now trading players for established MLB players in the hopes of
jump starting their team in the near future.
You can thank the Boston Red Sox for this new tradition. I personally think that it’s a good idea
since most of the players that Boston received are solid MLB players. The Red Sox will likely make a splash in the
free agent market this winter and it looks like they will be a 2015 playoff
team. One of the players who Boston
traded Jon Lester has bolstered a solid Oakland rotation and they will likely face
Detroit in the American League Championship Series. The Detroit Tigers counted and were the
UNLIKELY winners of the David Price sweepstakes. It looks like the Price was right for the
Tigers to make the trade.
Well
this is going to be a short blog this week.
Everyone have an awesome week and remember to purchase your copy of Deception.
Tom
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