Amazon Mix-Up

We've all bought stuff online, and there's a certain element of surprise as to what exactly you're going to get. You cant physically see the item you're purchasing, and if you're buying clothes and shoes, it can be a crapshoot to see if they will actually fit. This story, however, is a little different. 

Bravo to the guy for wanting to set up his pregnant wife with a new TV. I can only imagine what went through Seth's mind when he saw the boxes being delivered, and the fact that they did not resemble the shape of a TV had to be alarming. To open the box and find "a Sig Sauer SIG716, a high-caliber, semi-automatic assault weapon capable of mowing down, well, just about anything" had to be terrifying.

And as of this morning, Amazon had "declined to say what the company is doing to remedy the situation."

What can you do? We'll send you the new TV, keep the death machine at no cost?

PANDA WATCH: Washington D.C.

  Panda Watch is in full effect in Washington DC, as the local zoo is anticipating the birth of some new pandas. Mei Xiang is ready to pop out some baby pandas, and it could be one of the last pregnancies in the United States due to the apparent incompetence of the male panda, Tian Tian. The quote about the male panda, in a respected publication like the Washington Post, is absolutely hilarious.

"For his part, Tian Tian, who turns 15 next Monday, has proved to be a clueless breeder with flawed technique. In addition, his genes are not that valuable because his father has sired dozens of offspring in the captive population."

Talk about a slap in the face to old Tian Tian. Not only is his breeding style "clueless" and "flawed" but apparently even if he does manage to get the female pregnancies, his genes aren't even wanted.


Talk about a sad panda.

Loggers

This La Crosse Loggers team is really something special. I've been able to watch the team probably about 10 times this season, and have followed them closely the rest of the time. The line-up that Andy McKay can run out there any given night is just remarkable. Up and down the line-up, different guys can produce any give night. And if you look where GM Chris Goodell is getting this players from, it's not surprising. College baseball powerhouses like UCLA, Cal State Fullerton, Memphis, Arkansas, San Diego State and Princeton are all sending players to La Crosse, Wisconsin, and those guys just won their 50th game of the summer last night. In my opinion, the team has two sure fire future MLB players in Richard Prigatano and Matt Champman, with a handful of other players having the chance to work their way in. I watched online as this resilient group collected hit after hit in the 9th inning last night to come back, take the lead, and put the game away all within the same half inning. Here's hoping the Loggers can take the South Division championship tonight and head to the NWL championship series at the end of this week.

Enemy Colors

Saturday night, I attended a Minnesota Twins game at Target Field. They played the Tampa Bay Rays, and as a fan on neither team, I was conflicted with what to wear. My friends were not keen on the idea of me wearing Milwaukee Brewers gear, so we settled on a compromise of wearing a Packers t-shirt. That was possibly the best idea ever. I got into at least a dozen different conversations throughout the night, with fellow Packers fans wanting to know if I was from Wisconsin, to a intoxicated bride-to-be who couldn't believe that I would wear that shirt into "her" bar. Football season isn't quite fully underway yet, so there wasn't the total amount of hostility that there could have been, but I very much enjoyed my decision to wear the Green Bay shirt. It was absolutely a conversation starter, and got me into a few arguments, but boy, was it entertaining. (And side note on the picture, the only reason I'm wearing a Minnesota Twins helmet is because earlier in the night, it was full of nachos.)

Beer!

One of the many things great about Wisconsin is the vast number of breweries and beers that this fine state produces. I'm a person that prefers to drink local if possible, even if it means buying a case of Old Milwaukee diesel for the weekend. I could easily run down a list of my top five favorite Wisconsin beers, without even really having to think about it. You know what? I'm going to do that right now. So in no particular order, here's my list.

Photo courtesy of WXOW.com

1. Pearl Street Brewery El Hefe
2. New Glarus Spotted Cow
3. Horny Goat Brewery Horny Blonde
4. Central Waters Honey Blonde
5. Great Dane Crop Circle Wheat

As you can tell, I'm a much bigger fan of lagers and lighter beers than a dark porter or stout. That's one of the reasons I am stoked to try the new Rubber Mills Pils that Pearl Street Brewery is rolling out. PSB, like so many other local breweries, know what they're doing when it comes to beer.

FOOTBALL!

With the Brewers out of contention for all intents and purposes, it's time to turn attention to football. Tomorrow is the annual Shareholder's meeting at Lambeau Field, a meeting I am allowed to attend, but unfortunately will not be able to. It is nice to know that my "investment" in the Packers allows me to   do something like that, and I fully intend to take advantage of that in upcoming years.

Thursday marks the start of training camp, which is crazy to think is happening already but the regular season opener against the San Francisco 49ers is just 47 days away. That's basically a month and a half. Get ready.

Spoiler-free Dark Knight Rises thoughts

I went and saw The Dark Knight Rises at midnight. The movie let out at 3:05, and I was at work by 5:30. Do the math. But, it was 100% totally worth it. The movie is fantastic. Here are a few of my thoughts on the flick, with no spoilers. I promise.

1) Anne Hathaway can rock a leather Catwoman suit. Not that that's surprising.

2) Tom Hardy is jacked, and plays Bane different than any villain I've ever seen in a movie. When he talks in the movie, pay attention. It's not the easiest to hear, but it's important to the plotline.

3) Christopher Nolan is a genius. Unlike some directors, it's not all about explosions and special effects. Each scene is planned out brilliantly.

4) Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman are the best. Absolute class.

5) Joseph-Gordon Leavitt is going to be a star.

6) I'd stack this Batman trilogy against any trilogy in cinematic history. Godfather, Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, Spiderman, all six Rocky movies, Terminator, and all the other ones I can't think of. It's far and away my favorite.

7) See the first two movies before seeing Dark Knight Rises. It helps understand who Batman is, and adds to the story line of a number of other characters as well.

8) I wonder how this plot line would have differed had Heath Ledger not died.

9) I want a Batmobile.

10) Did I mention Anne Hathaway is kind of attractive?