Month: July 2005

Tomorrow Lil Nick will be 1 Month Old! Happy Birthday lil man!

Here is last weeks photo! The lil guy has got me busy 🙂

I am happy to anounce a new section on my website! It will actually be updated more then my Blog 😉 I went to the DV Expo at the Javitz Center today! More on that later, but you can see the pictues almost live from the show! After I take the pictures and send them, they go live on the Text AMerica Moblog site 2 mins later! Check it out!

RobFuz.com Text America MOBLOG

Its been a busy 2 weeks for our lil Nick Fuz! He has watched a handful of Mets games, a Home Run Derby, a Bon Jovi Concert and fireworks on the Fourth Of July! 🙂 And NO Daddy hasn’t burned the retina’s out of his eyes! hehe

Jos’s department had a huge press conference on Monday announcing the World Baseball Classic, a 18 day event during next season’s spring training! I saw the press conference on the internet and the hype has begun! This years All Star Game had many International themes to promote the event and I will be following it next year!
DETROIT — All the world is a stage. Next year, Major League Baseball will be at the center of it.

For the first time, Major League players will be eligible to compete in international play when the inaugural World Baseball Classic opens its 18-day run next March 3. Commissioner Bud Selig and Don Fehr, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, announced specifics of the tournament at a packed Monday morning media conference on the eve of Tuesday’s annual All-Star Game at Comerica Park.

The landmark field of countries invited includes Australia, Canada, China, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Taiwan, the United States and Venezuela.
Read More! – World Baseball Classic

Well another All Star Game has gone and went. Again I curse the damn National League and their lack of winning the past 9 years! Yeah there was some excitement, but it came way too late! Unfortunately, as soon as you forget about the loss, you are reminded with the slap in the face come World Series that your favorite League doesn’t have that all important home field advantage! What I did get out of it was the enjoyment of learning about Detroit. Yes, I will probably never go there for the rest of my life, but it is always fun seeing and discovering a new ballpark, especially a fairly brand new one like Comerica Park, home of the Tigers. Seeing the cool Tigers, waterfalls and carousels were pretty cool, even if it was on TV 🙂 I knew Miguel Tejada was going to be the MVP with his home run right off the bat! He seemed to be a really sincere guy and a great player. All in all it was great experiencing another All Star Game, even in the comfort of our home!

Detroit Tigers : The Official Site

Major League Baseball : Events : 2005 All-Star Game

THIS TIME IT COUNTS… AGAIN! Yeah baby! It’s that time again this year for the 2005 All Star Game! 1/2 way through the season this lil break is an awesome time to sit back and watch the All Stars go at it! Hopefully it will be a close game this year! Last year, at the game in Houston, it was very frustrating to see Clemons chock the way he did! Go National League! Check out mlb.com, the site during the All Star Game week is GREAT!

Major League Baseball : The Official Site

This years Home Run Derby was AWESOME! I really do love the event and theres nothing in the world like living it! It was almost as fun at home with Jos, Nicholas, Mamma and Frank seeing Bobby Abreu break the record for most home runs in a round first up was a great experience! It is also great to see the home town player, Pge Rodriguez kick ass and come in second!

Phillies All-Star Bobby Abreu smacked a record 41 taters to win the 2005 CENTURY 21 Home Run Derby on Monday night at Detroit’s Comerica Park. The Venezuelan had a first round for the ages, pounding 24 dingers — shattering the single-round record of 15 hit by defending champion Miguel Tejada in Houston last year.

Major League Baseball : Events : 2005 All-Star Game: Home Run Derby

Mommy and Nicholas are home and doing really well! They came home Saturday, just in time for the Fourth Of July Weekend! Being a dad is great! I look at my son and remind myself he is really our son! He has changed a lot in a week and he is a great boy!

Hulk Hogan came into my brother in-law Pino’s office at US Weekly to promote his new VH1 Series Hogan Knows Best that premieres this Sunday. The picture is awesome so I wanted to post it on my Blog 🙂 Pino said the show is really funny and I am looking forward to seeing the show!

VH1.com : Shows : Hogan Knows Best

For more than two years, one of Disneyland park’s most beloved and thrilling attractions has been under wraps. Hopeful space pilgrims would make the trek to Space Mountain, only to find the doors to Disneyland park’s space station closed to the public for renovation.

At long last, on July 15, 2005, Space Mountain will reopen to transport travelers to the outer reaches of the galaxy. Will it be worth the wait? The Insider sat down and got the scoop from Imagineer Chrissie Allen, who worked on the refurbish – and who has personally embarked on dozens of test flights… on the attraction. She let us in on everything that’s new, improved, and out of this world about Space Mountain.

Most of us who had ridden it thought Space Mountain was pretty cool to begin with, so why improve on a good thing? According to Chrissie, it was time for a facelift for the attraction, which was nearly 25 years old (Space Mountain first opened at Disneyland park in 1977).

The improvements at Space Mountain have gone far beyond sprucing it up. Chrissie tells us, “There are all kinds of changes, from the front door to the exit.” When Guests arrive for their journey into space, they’re now greeted by a brand-new mezzanine with new plantings and a landing strip. The changes aren’t just pretty; they help the attraction tell a new and exciting story, she explains. “We’re calling it Space Station ’77, in homage to the opening year. At the front door, there’s a graphic that shows what Space Station ’77 looks like from outer space, and it’s really a cool image. The corridors have been completely redone. We’re trying to say that you’re entering the space station, and when you get on the ride you’ll know when you’re in the launch sequence, you’ll know when you’re in space, and you’ll know when you return.”

Blast off on the newly refurbished Space Mountain! Because the story is such an important part of the experience, in the new Space Mountain (unlike the old experience) FASTPASS and stand-by Guests use the same entrance, so they can be immersed in the same atmosphere from the very beginning.

That atmosphere continues inside. “All of the corridors are brand new. There’s new art, new graphics, a new safety video, and then you enter the spaceport. We’ve done some pretty cool stuff there. We took the old CMB300 space probe, and it looks like a new ship has returned in its place,” Chrissie reveals. “The main room still has a kind of ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ look, but the space probe has undergone a great transformation. And the status board where they used to keep track of the launches has now become a beautiful window into outer space. It shows some footage of what looks like the planet Mars, and when you look up to this window, you get the feeling the station is rotating around this planet, and you see nebulae and meteorites and stuff going around. If you kind of lock in on it, it makes you feel like maybe the space station is rotating. It’s kind of a neat feature.”

One change to Space Mountain was actually part of the original plans for the attraction, but simply couldn’t be implemented with the resources available in 1977. “In the final launch tunnel, they wanted that tunnel to mechanically rotate. It’s very hard to do, because it’s about 90 feet of mechanical tunnel, rotating with a live ride track in the center,” Chrissie explains. “Now the designers at Walt Disney’s Imagineering unique Research and Development group have created a rotating tunnel using special effects. And everyone who’s been on it so far – some people think the tunnel IS mechanically rotating, but it’s all done with what we call ‘illusioneering’ – it’s a special effect that just makes it appear the tunnel is rotating.”

The attraction vehicles are also all new, and include state-of-the-art onboard audio systems – each vehicle holds a whopping 42 speakers! This ensures that the new soundtrack to your interstellar adventure (composed by Michael Giacchino, who scored “The Incredibles”) is heard to its best advantage. Chrissie tells us that the music has been carefully orchestrated to heighten the emotions Guests feel on their “joy ride through space” – including nervousness as they ascend through the final launch tunnel before rocketing off into the dark.

And that dark has never been darker. Although it’s not as high tech as the “window” into outer space or the revamped attraction vehicles, one of the most impressive changes at Space Mountain is the way the Imagineers send travelers hurtling through total darkness. “When you’re flying through the star field and the nebulas, you really can’t see what’s coming. The track and everything has disappeared,” says Chrissie proudly. How did they do this? “It’s magic!” she laughs. “We made dark, darker. We did it with black and black interior finishes. We closed up all the light leaks – doors and frames that let light in from the outside. I ride it a couple of times a day and I’m always amazed at how dark it is.”

Come July 15, we’ll all get the chance to share that experience, including some surprises Chrissie refused to ruin. Nerves of steel are optional, but the spirit of adventure is strictly required!

MLB ALL-STAR GAME 2005 – THIS ONE COUNTS – July 12, 8PM ET FOX

AMERICAN LEAGUE STARTERS

C Jason Varitek, BOS
1B Mark Teixeira, TEX
2B Brian Roberts, BAL
3B Alex Rodriguez, NYY
SS Miguel Tejada, BAL
OF Manny Ramirez, BOS
OF Vladimir Guerrero, LAA
OF Johnny Damon, BOS
DH David Ortiz, BOS

NATIONAL LEAGUE STARTERS

C Mike Piazza, NYM
1B Derrek Lee, CHC
2B Jeff Kent, LAD
3B Scott Rolen, STL
SS David Eckstein, STL
OF Bobby Abreu, PHI
OF Carlos Beltran, NYM
OF Jim Edmonds, STL