Allegiance Comics Review and a couple of Magazine Reviews

 Ilya's art from the Manga Magazine 

I can give you a quick write-your-own review with this statement: I read these two comics, put them away, and forgot about them.  Since I get paid by the word here, I guess I’ll have to expand on that.  (I’m just kidding.  I don’t get paid for this.)  I grudgingly went to Wal-Mart last month to get my truck serviced.  I went over to the book area and amazingly found that the Allegiance Comics display had been refreshed with new issues.  Let me check something.  Yep, it was over six months ago when I wrote my initial review of the company’s comics (9-1-20).

 

I picked up the next issues of the two titles that I’d gotten last time, after a momentary painful twinge from the $5 cover price.  I looked at the other two titles, but still wasn’t interested and certainly not at that price.  The magazine rack had also been expanded somewhat.  I finally found a single dog-eared NASCAR season preview only a couple of months too late.  I wasn’t interested in that either.  I read the two comics shortly afterward.  I probably should have looked over the previous two issues beforehand, but instead dove right in.  After that, I put them away and forgot all about them.  Finishing the Imagine FX magazine later, I finally thought to write something.   

 

Red Rooster #3

This was the Allegiance comic I’d liked best in the first two issues.  This issue had the big fight scene payoff between the hero and villain groups.  It’s fairly epic given that it’s mostly costumed adventurers fighting, as opposed to superpowered combatants.  There’s a resolution at the end along with a dangling mystery.  I probably should have reread everything to get the full effect, but I doubt it’d matter.  The art, story, and comic book production values are good, but not worth the price or the wait.  This issue wasn’t even worth making a couple of scans of for the post.  The images are from their website.

 

The Futurists #3

The first two issues of this title were a bit incomprehensible, so I wasn’t too concerned with keeping up with the story.  I think all of the characters are at least in the same geographic area, but they haven’t gotten together.  I think.  What is this comic about?  1800’s British India.  Magic.  Treasure.  Something.  This story is truly suffering from being published in an inconsistent periodical.  This screams for a graphic novel treatment, especially with the excellent artwork, which unfortunately tends to make the story more confusing, but pretty to look at.  Again, not worth it at the price.  

 

Surprisingly and perhaps rather overly optimistically, both issues had promotions for a new title, The Saints.  It’s sort of a conspiracy-themed adventure. 

 

So the real question is whether or not I’m going to buy anymore of these on the assumption they get published in my lifetime.  I’m going to have to defer that answer until I actually see the next issues.  I’ll decide based on how they look.  Really, I should just ignore them based on what I have.  I don’t know what I’m hoping for.  Because of the price of these issues, I can’t even toss them in for trade at the bookstore.  I have to hold on to them.

  

Imagine FX Manga Artist Eighth Edition

During my fruitless search for a Baseball preview magazine (4-1-21), I bought this after essentially giving up.  I’d often seen these colorful oversized magazines on the racks.  I’d never thought to buy one, since they were expensive and didn’t really seem to have much to do with the sketching I do.  Like I mentioned, finding the Ilya Kuvshinov content was enough to push me into trying one.  The back page also promised additional online content with the purchase.

      

The main reason is got this was to have the pretty pictures to draw.  I haven’t actually used it much for that purpose yet, so I can’t entirely speak to the utility of the magazine.  Or should I say, “Bookazine?”  That’s what they officially call it to somehow justify the $20 cover price for a magazine proudly printed on cheap eco-friendly pulp.  (At least the Allegiance comics have excellent production values for the price.) 

Really, this magazine and its multitude of tips aren’t aimed at me.  The magazine assumes that you’re already a good artist and use a computer for your artwork.  This is more for a professional artist or an aspiring one.  It will show you how to polish your work and detail it.  There are spotlights on individual artists and art studios.  There’s quite of an array of working options profiled, such as online artists, commissions, computer games, animation, comics, and card art.  There’s lots of work out there for artists.

 

There are also lots of tutorials in the magazine.  Mostly, they’re focused on how to do things in Photoshop.  There is some general art advice, but it is of an advanced nature.  They almost assume you’ve been to art school.  (Though a couple of the artists interviewed thought art school wasn’t worth really worth it.  One even said, there’s enough free online content that it didn’t even make sense to pay for school.)  The online content included nice large clean copies of pictures of some of the art in the magazine.  There are videos showing the artists at work.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t audio commentary with them (probably because they are sped up a bit), but they are very detailed.  

         

I feel like this magazine was a compilation of articles out of the regular Imagine FX magazine, so you’re probably not going to want it if you buy the periodical.  For myself, this was a questionable purchase and yet still really useful.  Watching one of the Ilya videos immediately helped my artwork.  Just seeing him quickly rough out figure drawings freehand inspired me to try that, instead trying to measure things out.  It worked much better.  I was surprised to see him redrawing bad lines, just like I do.  I saw finished professional work and assumed all the lines were perfect in production.  I’ve now been given permission to make mistakes in layout.  I haven’t been putting all the color highlighting lessons to use yet, but hopefully I will.  I don’t have Photoshop or a stylus and pad, but I used a program I have to try to color one of my old sketches.  That didn’t work out well, but it’s something to work towards. 

 

Just for the inspiration, I’ll call this a good purchase.  Annoyingly, being oversized, I can’t put it in a magazine bag to preserve it better.  Given the paper used, I wonder how long it will last.   

 

 

St. Jude Inspire Spring 2021

I’ve sent some donations to St. Jude over the years.  I think they send me at least two solicitation letters a month.  Finally, they sent me something interesting, this magazine.  I’ll say they sent this out because of a special event.  There’s going to be a manned SpaceX launch this year, which is going to be a fundraiser for St. Jude. 

 This is Hayley as a child patient.

One of the astronauts, Hayley Arceneaux, is a former child patient.  She’s grown up to be physician assistant at St. Jude.  Her bone cancer left her with a titanium prosthesis in her leg.  Were this a NASA mission, they wouldn’t have even taken her application.  A high school classmate of mine desperately wanted to be an astronaut, but couldn’t get in for an irregular heartbeat.  (It’s okay.  Ginger Kerrick ended up being a NASA Flight Director and had a street named after her in El Paso.)

For that matter, the mission commander, Jared Isaacman, wouldn’t qualify as an astronaut either.  He dropped out of high school and started a business from his parents’ basement and became a billionaire.  He’s not a military pilot, but somehow ended up founding a private air force and became a jet pilot.  He’s the one behind the fundraising for this mission and pledged $100M. 

I find myself not wanting to know anything about the astronauts until after they’re back safely.  Too late for that now.  I’ll be looking forward to this launch later this year.  

NM State Aggies vs UTRGV Vaqueros Baseball 5-2-21

This Sunday gameday started with a high-wind warning for the afternoon.  I’d made going to today’s game conditional on not having to sit out in bad wind.  As it was, Ron wasn’t able to go at all.  He had to take his dad to the emergency room.  He’d sort of been expecting this, so he wasn’t too alarmed.  After I finished watching The Jetsons, my last check of the weather was that it was beautiful out and there was no reason for me not to go.  Adam Young was back on the radio for the game.  I decided to sit up higher in the stands than usual to get under the canopy and avoid the sun.  There was a subdued, small crowd at the game, but not unattractive.  There was a gorgeous blonde to my left.  On the right were the two pretty Volleyball girls from yesterday.  Of course, Emerson the intern was the highlight of my unspoken desire.

 The Aggie scorecard was fine today.  The Vaqueros scorecard was a disaster for me.  (It’s been corrected here in the post.)  I have many excuses for this.  There was true weirdness in the first inning.  There was an unannounced sub early in the game that wasn’t mentioned on the radio at the time.  There was a player whose number didn't match the number on the program.  All the pretty girls were a constant distraction.  Seriously though, I got totally off track in the scoring halfway through the game.  Then I got back on track and couldn’t figure out where I’d gone wrong.  I was losing sleep over this until I could look at the official scoring.  I’d simply mislabeled the double play in the third inning.  I’d like to think I wouldn’t have had any trouble but for what happened in the first, which got me screwed up.

 

Britt Graham was back to catch his fourth game in three days.  From the broadcast, I learned that the team really didn’t have much of an option with Jason Bush injured.  Britt’s offense was not so great in this game or yesterday’s Game 2, probably from the fatigue.  The Aggie infield was also switched around from yesterday.  Ethan Mann and Kevin Jimenez were back at their more natural positions of third and second respectively.  Zach Smits was in at first. 

 

The position change brought immediate results in the first inning, as KJ made a great dive play on the second batter.  Cam Blazek, the Aggie starter, walked the third batter, Andy Atwood.  Atwood stole second while Angel De La Cruz was up.  Britt made a good throw, but Atwood just beat it.  Then there was confusion.  The home plate umpire called an out and the inning ended.  Even Adam on the radio was confused.  It was eventually determined that De La Cruz had interfered with Britt and that was the out.  I’d gotten confused forgetting that that meant the batter was out, not the runner.  (Also, that wiped off the stolen base.)

 

The bottom was a bit of a repeat of the top.  Elijah Alexander made a good running basket catch in the left.  Mann singled and tried to steal second, but he was thrown out.  There was only a single in the second for the Vaqueros.  The Aggies singled in the bottom, but fell victim to a double play.  In the third, the Aggies returned the favor with a slick DP of their own and messed up my scorecard.  It didn’t help that there was a guy with a family sitting in the next section also filling out a scorecard . . . in PEN! 

 

My scorecard inferiority complex aside, Emerson came out for the pocket contest before the bottom of the third.  Annoyingly, every inning also included a guy walking up and down the bottom of the grandstand with a “Please wear your face diaper” sign.  I’d noticed fans yesterday at the baseball park and at the softball field were pretty much going without once they were seated.  Later in the game, the intern was irritatingly doing it during the innings.  Ron had been upset yesterday about the whole non-constant mask wearing in public thing.  I don’t know why.  He’s had the killshot. Why would he care?  Shouldn’t he feel invincible and invulnerable now?  In any case, people not wearing the mask were ignoring the intrusive signage. 

 

The wind was picking up.  Adam was issuing ominous warnings.  The Vaqueros were in ominous trouble as the Aggies loaded the bases in the third.  Mann had an epic at bat and drew a walk to force in a run.  Cal Villareal squeaked a single that deflected off the shortstop to drive in two to make it 3-0 Aggies.  The Vaqueros struck back in the fourth.  Atwood crushed a giant homer to left center on the first pitch.  Two batters later, Alexander hit a line drive homer to center.  Needless to say, the wind was blowing out.  It was comfortable in the stands, but not if you were standing out on the mound.  3-2 Aggies.

 

Between innings, there was trivia.  “What player is nicknamed is Mr. Aggie?”  I had no idea.  Some frat guys below me knew.  A player I wasn’t familiar with was named.  The player in the dugout waved to his friends in the stands.  Anything you can do . . .  Brandon Dieter led off the bottom of the fourth with a home run to left center.  Emerson came out for the t-shirt toss and the hot blonde nearby got one.  After a couple of singles, KJ hit a double that was a foot fair down the right field line to score them.  6-2 Aggies.

 

I have several notes here bitching about my scorecard.  On field, Freddy Rojas Jr. homered to center for the Vaqueros in the fifth.  In the bottom, the PA dispensed with any contests and just said to make noise for a souvenir.  Emerson threw something my way.  I wasn’t making any noise, so I ducked.  She was probably aiming for someone behind me.  Nice arm.  In the bottom, the Vaqueros went through two new pitchers to get through the inning as the Aggies strung together four singles for three runs.  Tommy Tabak at the bottom of the order drove in two of them.  9-3 Aggies.

 

The Aggies had to use two new pitchers for the sixth.  Josh Laukkanen loaded the bases with two outs and then had to come out for a blister.  Jesse Fonteboa, the unannounced Vaquero sub, greeted Brendon Rodriguez with a bases clearing double.  It was a blooper that three fielders made a campfire around as it dropped in.  Further frustrating, Fonteboa took third as no one was covering the base.  9-6 Aggies.  Suddenly that big lead wasn’t so secure.    

 

A fan brought in a large shepherd dog.  Coincidently, Elvis’ Hound Dog played as the winner of the Pick the Song contest.  AD Mario Moccia had joined Adam for the inning.  Mario had some pointed comments for some of the NCAA’s recent decisions.  He also noted the new Vaquero pitcher, Ricky Gerik Jr.’s, long blonde hair.  “Its shampoo commercial worthy.”  After two quick outs, Coach Kirby chewed out Cal in front of the dugout before his at bat.  Adam wondered if it was some gamesmanship to give the Aggie pitcher a little more rest, but it worked as Cal hit a double.  The inning ended on a popup to first.  The wind made the play difficult. 

 

Rodriguez had a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh.  For the final out, Dieter made a great play deep in the hole as Smits stretched out for the throw.  Adam mentioned his producer was graduating and wished him well.  He mentioned the son of a co-worker of mine on the crew as well.  His mom told me later, he was going to be promoted next semester.  Emerson left the stadium and took my heart with her.  The Aggies did not go down in order, as Ronnie Allen Jr. singled.  However, he was thrown out trying to advance on a wild pitch. 

 

Oh come on!  The Vaqueros led off the eighth with two solo home runs.  They were making it look too easy.  The homers happened on the first and third pitches of the inning.  Rodriguez then gave up a single and advanced the runner with a bad throw to first.  With the score tightening, the crowd got behind him, and Rodriguez rallied for two strikeouts.  But after a walk, Lyle Hibbitts came in.  He hit his first batter to load the bases, but got the last out.  9-8 Aggies.

 

In the bottom of the eighth, Zerek Saenz grounded out to second again and looked frustrated.  I wonder if opposing pitchers have found something or if he’s just slumping?  KJ drew a walk with two outs.  Mann came up and the Vaquero infield put on a big shift for him.  I’m thinking he should try slapping one the other way.  Thankfully, he went with his own plan.  Mann crushed one to left center.  The ball disappeared over the scoreboard.  The crowd erupted for the bash.  11-8 Aggies.

 

On to the bottom of the ninth, Hibbitts gave up a single to start the inning.  Before you could even get uncomfortable, RJ Ochoa mashed a two-run homer.  We were back to only a one-run lead with nobody out.  The crowd really got into it and was clapping on every two-strike count.  Hibbitts got a strikeout, but then gave up a single.  A pinch runner came on, but surprisingly never tried to take second.  Why bother given how the ball was flying out?  Out #2 came on a foul popup to first.  Finally, Hibbitts got the last out with a strikeout looking.  11-10 Aggies final.  The crowd let out a cheer.

 

Let’s give out those gameballs.  Cal Villareal went 3 for 5 with 3 RBI’s.  Ethan Mann went 2 for 4 with 3 RBI’s and his eighth inning homer was the difference.  Lyle Hibbitts got the four-out save in a nail biter.  He got too amped up by the crowd on a couple of pitches, but pulled it out.  We hit six home runs!  How did we not win?  UTRGV was a bit of a hard luck loser today.  RJ Ochoa went 3 for 4 with 3 RBI’s and two home runs.  Jesse Fonteboa had 1 hit, but three RBI’s from it.  These two had a couple of clutch hits.            

  

Afterward, I went for ice cream at PQ Treats, but discovered Elvis had left the building.  They were no longer offering the Elvis Frozen Tornado.  No problem.  I went with the Banana Cheesecake for the second day in a row.  At home, I called Ron to give him a game update and to see about his dad, who was okay.  He’d heard some of it on the radio.  It was such a great game, and the weather was not only not a problem, it made the game more interesting.  I was sorry he didn’t see it. 

 

Ron then mentioned the Volleyball girls that were behind us the day before.  He said they were the girls he’d seen making out on Friday.  I’m going to have to step in to defend the girls’ honor here.  I saw and heard nothing untoward from them.  Players from different sports do support each other, but generally hot chicks at the ballpark are all either player girlfriends and looking to become one.  Of course, I could be totally wrong and it’s none of my business.  (You know, if you’re a hot volleyball player and wanted to get the attention of the guys in the dugout, you could bring a hot teammate and make out with her.)  I’m still thinking Ron has an overactive imagination.

 

That was a great game to potentially end my Aggie Sports going on.  I heard something at today’s game that makes me think I’m maybe never coming back.  We’ll hope it doesn’t happen, since there’s still one more home series left.  I’ll comment on it later one way or the other.   

NM State Aggies vs UTRGV Vaqueros Baseball Game 2 5-1-21

 

After watching an Aggie Softball win and listening to Aggie Baseball take Game 1 of their double header with UTRGV, Ron and I drove over to next door Presley Askew Field.  We ate the Subway sandwiches we’d had the foresight to purchase before going to softball in Ron’s car.  Unfortunately, I did not have the foresight to bring some chips and a soda.  I only ate half of mine because of that.  Ron had no trouble devouring all of his.  Across the street in the park, someone was trying to get a big parasail up in the air.  There wasn’t enough wind though.  There must have been a pretty long break between games, since we had time to watch the softball senior ceremony and eat before Game 2 started.

 

We had to buy another set of tickets, so they weren’t honoring softball tickets for the baseball double header.  (They have done it the other way around.)  My favorite Sport Marketing intern, Emerson, was there.  Of course, she was fuming about me and Basia Query, my favorite opposing softball player.  Her coming back into town with Utah Valley reopened all the old wounds over my previous betrayal (4-7-19).  Emerson wouldn’t speak to me at all. 

 

I’m just kidding.  It’s just a joke.  Let’s get to the game.

 

There was a light crowd for Game 2.  We had our unknown announcer on the radio for the game.  I wish I could credit his name, since he did a good job.  The Vaqueros led off with a double by Coleman Grubbs.  From there, they small balled into generating a run.  Kevin Jimenez, playing at third, juggled a grounder, but managed to catch it in midair and still throw out the runner at first.  Britt Graham was catching the back end of the double header.  Pitching, Sammy Natera grunted as he threw a 95 mph fastball to end the inning with a strikeout.  1-0 Vaqueros. 

 

Some pretty girls in shorts came in down in front.  One of them put her legs up in the air to show them off for some reason.  I’m not complaining.  I recognized a couple of new Volleyball players who sat behind us, but wasn’t exactly sure who they were, since I hadn’t seen them play.  They were giggling and chatting for most of the game.  More on this in the Sunday game recap.  The opposing pitcher, J.C. Ariza, was serenaded with My Heart Will Go On before he pitched the bottom of the first.  Zerek Saenz, with his .400 average, led off with a walk.  KJ came up next and hammered a shot to center just to side of the batter’s eye.  Emerson came out to toss out a couple of t-shirts, while furiously snubbing me.  2-1 Aggies.

The top of the second started off with three Vaqueros named Jacob.  The radio announcer was sure this was going to cause him problems.  “I could call them all ‘Jacob’ and cover my bases.”  Groan.  Some hot girls wearing UTRGV gear came in together.  The team brought their girlfriends.  Sammy worked into some trouble with a walk and a hit batter.  A high bouncer went over KJ’s head at third that drove in a run.  The Vaqueros then tried a squeeze play.  It surprisingly worked.  Britt almost got the final out at third on the play, but no one was covering the base.  The bases were loaded with a walk, but a flyout ended the inning.  3-2 Vaqueros.

 

Left field for the Vaqueros misjudged a Tommy Tabak hit in the bottom of the second.  Tabak hustled it into a triple.  It was scored an error all the way though.  A wild pitch scored Tabak to tie the game.  Zerek and KJ walked.  Cal Villareal cashed them in with a single and then advanced to second on another error.  The announcer did say that UTRGV was one of the poorest fielding teams in the country.  Ronnie Allen Jr. tripled Cal in.  A new pitcher entered the game, Zach Tjelmeland, which is not pronounced any way that it looks.  He gave up a single to Brandon Dieter that scored Cal before closing out the inning.  7-3 Aggies.

 

Fired up by the offense, Sammy fired peas and struck out the side in the third.  Tristan Stacy led off the bottom with a triple, which Tabak cashed in with a single.  “This reliever is more of an arsonist than a fireman,” quipped the announcer.  I feel like somehow that statement somehow got right back to Zach on the mound.  He struck out Zerek, gave up a walk, but then got a double play on a soft liner.  8-3 Aggies. 

 

Emerson came out for the top of the fourth for the trivia contest.  The questions were about star alumni, Nick Gonzales.  A bunch of people enthusiastically knew the answers.  Sammy had another 1-2-3 inning, but with a highlight reel play in the middle.  Stacy made the play of the year at second.  He ran and dove after a line drive to his right and caught it.  From the crack of the bat, there was no way anybody should have gotten that ball.  Thankfully, there was official video coverage, if only a single camera from a distance, and it was posted on the team Twitter.  The applause afterward was massive, probably even from the UTRGV fans there.  In spite of the two good innings, Sammy seemed to have words for the umpire while coming off the field.  Nobody was happy with the strikezone today.

 

Ron had left to walk around before the inning.  He’d missed seeing the play, but had collected two foul balls.  That wasn’t a good trade.  He got a hat and two masks for returning them.  The Aggies went down in order in the bottom of the fourth.  Cal’s walkup was Return of the Mac, which I approve of.  I noticed the players are all using multiple songs during the game. 

 

Sammy gave up a leadoff single to start the fifth.  He may have gotten a bit rattled or tired.  Natera advanced the runner with a wild pitch, gave up a walk, and then Graham had a passed ball that put both runners in scoring position.  The next batter hit a grounder on the infield.  The runner at third tried to come home, but had to run back.  There should have been an out there, but KJ dropped the ball at third.  Everyone was safe with the bases loaded and no one out.  Sammy knuckled down.  He struck out the next batter, gave up a sac fly for a run, and finished off the inning with another strikeout.  Nice comeback.  8-4 Aggies.  In the bottom, the Aggies threatened with a couple of runners, but didn’t get anyone across.

 

Natera was done with 100+ pitches.  Ian Mejia came in to pitch to start the sixth.  Tabak was driven to the centerfield wall on the first batter by a flyball caught in the wind.  He stayed with it and pulled it down.  After two outs, Ian hit the next batter.  Another high bouncer went over KJ’s head at third for a double.  He’s not short; the artificial infield is just pretty bouncy.  Ian got an infield grounder to end the inning and strand the runners.  Cal got a single and a stolen base in the bottom, but was left there.  The momentary highlight of the inning was some of the Utah Valley Softball girls coming in.  No Basia though.  Drats!  I am wondering why they came and how they got there, since I’d seen the team leave on a bus.  I assume they didn’t pay admission.  I wasn’t able to talk to any of them to ask.  I hope they enjoyed the game.

 

Ian cruised through the seventh.  In the bottom, Landon Staats came in for the Vaqueros in his season debut.  It did not go well for him.  Staats issued three walks, one of which forced in a run.  The big blow was from Cal hitting the right field wall for a three-run double.  12-4 Aggies.  Ian had a shaky eighth, as he hit a batter and issued two walks.  No runs scored, mostly because a hard take out slide at second was ruled interference, which became a double play.  That is a rules change from the way it was back in the day.  In the bottom, Andy Atwood moved from second to pitch.  The announcer was a bit confused, since this maybe meant the Vaqueros lost their DH spot, which didn’t happen.  I’m not sure who subbed for Atwood in the infield.  In any case, he got three quick outs.

 

Then things almost came apart in the ninth.  Joey Arellano came into pitch.  He got the first out.  Stacy juggled a grounder and took an error as the runner reached.  He still has the defensive play of the year that doesn’t change.  The second out came on a liner.  However, Jesse Fonteboa came up and got his first hit of the year: a two-run homer.  Two singles and a double scored two more runs before Joey got a strikeout and a flyout to end the game.  12-8 Aggies final.  Whew!

 

Let’s hand out a couple of gameballs.  Cal Villareal went 4 for 5 with 5 RBI’s.  Kevin Jimenez drove in three runs, including a two-run homer.  Shockingly, Zerek Saenz went hitless for the game.  For the Vaqueros, Coleman Grubbs went 4 for 4 with an RBI, and let’s hear it for Jesse Fonteboa with his maiden hit of the year for a home run and three RBI’s.  Zach Tjelmeland also did well in relief going over 4 innings and only giving up 1 run of his own. 

 

After the game, I saw injured catcher, Jason Bush, on field on crutches.  I hope he can make it back in to save Britt Graham’s knees.  A fan walked by carrying a gigantic pizza box.  Where did that come from?  Boy, does it suddenly suck that we already ate.  We can’t even have ice cream with the win, since we’d had that before softball.  While waiting for Ron by the bathrooms, Sammy Natera came out to see his family and girlfriend.  He was all smiles after getting his first win of the season.  I felt good for him, but wasn’t feeling friendly with the mask on.  That’s a wrap for today.  Ron and I were both a bit tired, lightly burned, and slimy with sunblock.  More tomorrow.               

 

NM State Aggies vs Utah State Wolverines Softball 5-1-21

Basia Query

 

It’s not my best work.  On the other hand, I would probably do worse with successive attempts.  I’ve also been inking and coloring my sketches for some time (which I’ll post somewhere in the future), but I’d probably ruin this one doing that.  At least, it’s an earnest effort.  I’ll try sketching Basia again someday, but for now and needing a timely sketch, we’ll go with this.

 

Oh yeah, this is supposed to be an Aggie blog and here I am idolizing an opposing player.  I’d link to previous posts, but after a quick search, I see that there have done too many to bother doing so.  Suffice it to say, I am a fan of Utah Valley’s catcher, Basia Query.  I was real sure I’d never see her again, but I guess she took the eligibility exemption to play another year.  Our own catcher, Nikki Butler, did the same even though her other senior teammates left.  These girls are gamers.

 

After the last home baseball and softball series, Ron and I were inclined to go to see softball this weekend.  The baseball team didn’t look real good, while softball seemed to be clicking.  Also, this Saturday was going to be Senior Day and they said even the departed seniors from last year would be attending.  When I noticed the opponent was Utah Valley and took a look at their roster, we were going to see softball definitively. 

 

To bring things up to date, on Friday, Aggie Baseball lost to UTRGV, while Aggie Softball took a double header from Utah Valley.  Game 2 was especially notable as the Aggies came back from a 9-0 deficit to win on a walk-off home run by Maya Martinez.  Unfortunately for Ron, he went to the baseball game that day.  They’d moved up the game time by three hours, so there wasn’t much of a crowd with him.  He said that he saw a guy get a free hat for returning a foul ball, so now he was inspired to give his fouls back.  He also said there were a couple of hot lesbians making out in front of him at the game.  Maybe he was okay with watching the loss then.  There’s more to this story later.  

 

(Also Friday, I got to watch some of the Roman Reigns/Daniel Bryan championship match on WWE Smackdown.  There were stakes for this match.  Roman had put up his belt if he lost.  Bryant would leave the show if he lost.  The shocking thing about the match was that there were no shenanigans or outsider interference.  The guys just went at it for about a half hour.  Of course after the match, all that stuff happened, but I was impressed with the contest integrity.)

 

Ron picked me up and we went to Subway to get sandwiches.  We were still hoping to catch Game 2 of the baseball double header after softball.  I can’t say how much I love patronizing Subway with their mostly subpar food and their new spokes-bitch, Megan Rapinoe.  They’re so proud of their affiliation with her, they don’t even name her in their commercials hoping nobody who would be offended will recognize her.  All I can say is that Subway is convenient to our destination.  Ron impulsively went over to PQ Treats and ordered a shake.  This, of course, was a total breech of game etiquette.  Ice cream is for winners.  We haven’t even played the game yet.  We may be jinxing the team!  Of course I still ordered a Banana Cheesecake Frozen Tornado anyway. 

 

At the Softball Complex, there she was right away.  Basia had her long stylish hair tied up with a pretty pink ribbon and was warming up.  At the ticket window, her parents, my future in-laws, came up right behind me.  Basia actually came over and waved to them as we went into the grandstand.  Part of me really does want to ask my new mom and dad if they named their daughter after the jazz/pop singer from the 90’s.  I listened to Basia’s Time and Tide album all the time back then.  During team introductions, I noticed Utah Valley had nearly brought an entire second team with them.  They were also bigger, taller, more athletic-looking, and prettier than the Aggies.  I nearly change sides altogether, but Ron restrained me from going over to asking my new family for a Wolverines t-shirt.         

 

It was a perfect sunny day with a light breeze in the high 70’s.  I can’t believe my Frozen Tornado lasted 15 minutes until I was able to sit down and start eating it.  I can’t believe my willpower lasted that long with ice cream waiting to be consumed.  It was still frozen and stayed that way until I finished it.  A good, but late-arriving crowd showed up for the game.  There was increased capacity here and at the baseball stadium for this weekend.  Some good-looking young women came in and sat around us.  I invited a co-worker to come to the game.  He should have as he would have had plenty of girls to choose from.  This guy juggles hot Instagram girls.  He wouldn’t have had any trouble getting a date, unless he talked to Basia, then he would have had trouble from me.  

Aggie Baseball would be playing Game 1 of their double dip at the same time.  Ron and I both brought radios to listen to the game coverage, though we could see some of the game through the tree screen.  Adam Young was doing TV coverage for the softball game, so there was another announcer for the radio.  I never caught his name, but he was doing a good job.  I’ll mention more of his coverage during Game 2.                        

I didn’t have any trouble with the scorecards this time, so that must mean I got something wrong, but I’m not double checking it with the official scoring.  Souvenirs were tossed to the crowd before the game.  I piped up when I saw they were tossing out Aggie socks again and caught a pair.  These would be a gift.  My dad didn’t want them, but I gave them to a co-worker, who liked my pair and often wears novelty socks herself.  The game itself started off well.  Gabby Aragon made a diving catch on a liner.  The Utah Valley coach went out and argued that the ball was trapped.  The umps conferenced and let the play stand.  I cheered Basia’s first at bat.  I showed Ron my scorecard with the hearts on it by her name.  The Wolverines were not to be outdone in defense.  Emery Nielson at short made great snowcone catch on a Hailey Tanori liner.  The Aggies threatened in the inning, but didn’t score.  The dugout was good and loud in singing.

 

We saw a group of hot chicks tailgating in the parking lot when we came in.  They made an entrance in the second and went to the other side of the stands.  They looked familiar seeing them both times, but I couldn’t put my finger on who they were.  Also coming in was a family with a cute little boy and girl in cowboy hats.  It was too darling.  On the radio, Aggie Baseball scored in their game against UTGRV.  In the top of the second, Gabby made another great play in left.  She flagged down a foul ball after a long run fearlessly nearly going into the fence.

 The section of hot chicks yelled for t-shirts during a giveaway.  This would be funnier when I finally recognized them.  Gabby singled to start the bottom of the second.  Maya followed that with a double.  Then we have the inevitable weirdness.  Kendra Levesque grounded out to second.  Gabby was not going to try to take home on that, but Maya started from second anyway and kind of forced it.  The Wolverines may have been a little shocked for a second.  Gabby managed to slide in under the tag.  Block that plate, Basia!  It was too late.  Bad baserunning didn’t cost the Aggies at this point.  Hope Banales singled in another run.  The inning ended on Siena Sandoval catching a screaming line drive at third.  Sometimes softball pitchers wear wire facemasks, but softball third basemen need one as well.  2-0 Aggies.

 

Aggie pitcher, Matalasi Faapito, got two quick outs to start the third.  Jade Miller came up and hit a ground rule double that bounded over the centerfield wall.  It looked like one of fielders might have helped it over, but the umps didn’t think so.  After another hit, Linnah Rebolledo slammed a big three-run homer to left center.  Basia followed with a single.  Yay!  She nearly got picked off as she slipped making the turn around first.  Oops.  Mata finished the inning with a strikeout.  3-2 Utah Valley.  On the baseball field, the Aggies scored a couple of runs as a fielder fell as he lost the ball in the sun.  “Does the sun get the RBI?” said the announcer.  I noticed the Wolverine pitcher, Katie Zuniga, was working with her sleeves rolled up.  She rotated both her arms pretty hard in her delivery.  Kaya Bowen hustled a long single into a double, but Aggie Softball didn’t score in the bottom.

 

In the top of the fourth, Chloe Rivas came in to pitch. She gave up two singles, but didn’t allow a run.  At Aggie Baseball, the Vaqueros homered to make it 3-1 Aggies.  Zerek Saenz then drove in two runs to make it 5-1.  There was an announcement recognizing Aggie Softball’s community service last year.  The award was given to the hot chicks in the stands.  Ah, now I recognize them.  I’d like to think that revelation would have come quicker if they’d worn their uniforms, but maybe not.  I finally clearly saw the diminutive and iconic Brandy Hernandez.  When she took off her sunglasses, I had to catch my breath seeing the stunning Jeanelle Medina. 

 

More souvenirs are tossed to the crowd.  Brandy called for a giveaway and got what looked like a fanny pack.  Do the players not get any swag while they’re playing?  The little boy with the cowboy hat ran down a foul ball and got an Aggie hat.  In the bottom of the fourth, Hope got a hustle double as her popup fell in between three fielders, but that was the only noise the Aggies made that inning.  For the final out, Peyton Prigge on first, fell down to field the ball and crawled to tag the base. 

 

To start the fifth, it was announced that it was 77 degrees and sunny here and in Orem, Utah, where Utah Valley is.  Aggie Baseball loaded the bases and scored more to make it 10-1.  Ron is starting to get irritated with me for insisting on going to softball.  Chloe deflected a grounder on the first batter that resulted in an infield hit.  Chloe came back to make a good play on the next batter, as she got the grounder and threw out the lead runner.  Basia grounded out again in the inning.  Darn it!

 

The Aggies rallied in the bottom of the fifth.  Ramsay Lopez drew a walk.  Nikki singled.  Antuanett Dean came in to pinch run for her.  Kayla grounded to short, but the ball went right through the wickets.  Ramsay scored just under Basia’s tag.  I can imagine Basia being a bit frustrated by this point, but she’d get her redemption on the next batter.  Gabby grounded to second and Kyla Hardy threw home to get Dean.  From here, the Aggies’ questionable baserunning got worse.  Gabby went to second and beat the throw back into the infield.  Kayla then tried to score and was thrown out at the plate.  There’s your standard double play.  I was cheering for Basia.  Ron was ready to throttle me.  Co-Coach Cat Heifner charged out to argue the third out.  I’m not sure what the basis of it was.  Obstruction?  The umps conferenced and let the play stand.  3-3.

 

I took no notes on the top of the sixth for some reason.  Jade Miller drove in Laynee Betancur to make it 4-3 Utah Valley.  At least I was still keeping the scorecard.  The Wolverines brought in a new pitcher for the sixth.  Maya greeted her with a home run on the first pitch.  Hope then split the outfielders on a single.  Hailey doubled and Hope turned on the jets to score and give the Aggies the lead.  An overthrow into the field moved Hailey to third.  (I called it an error, but there wasn’t one announced.)  Utah Valley’s coach argued the call, but there was no umpire committee meeting this time.  A wild pitch scored Hailey right after.  (I don’t think it was a passed ball.  My feelings for Basia had no effect on my ruling.)  Again, no notes for the seventh, but Chloe closed it out.  Aggies win 6-4!  On the baseball field at about the same time, the Aggies won 12-1.  Chris Jefferson pitched a 7-inning complete game. 

 

We’ll hand out gameballs.  Maya Martinez did it again to the Wolverines with a home run.  Hope Banales went 3 for 3 and really has a set of wheels.  Chloe Rivas got the win as she went four innings and only gave up a run.  For the Wolverines, Linnah Rebolledo gets the nod for her 3-run homer.  And of course, Basia Query wins my heart.

 

The Senior Ceremony felt a little rushed, which was sort of okay, since me and Ron wanted to get over to the baseball field.  The Wolverines’ seniors were recognized first, starting with Basia.  She was all smiles collecting a rose from an Aggie player.  The Aggie seniors from last year were then introduced.  I think Victoria Castro and Amy Bergeson, previous graduates, were in the crowd for them.  I heard AD Mario Moccia say the next day that he didn’t think these girls still all lived in town, so they were just here for the ceremony.  

We’ll miss Brandy Hernandez’s cannon arm.  We’ll miss Caity Szczesny’s name.  She’s a good player, but I think some unspecified illness or injury cut her playing time short.  We’ll miss Shelby Shultes’s extraordinary ability to pinch hit home runs.  The kids in the cowboy hats were her relatives.  We’re missing Jeanelle Medina’s good looks more than ever.  She’s let her hair glamorously grow out.  Jeanelle’s best known for her sure hands playing the infield.  That being the case, it was pretty funny when she fumbled her bouquet.  Nikki Butler, our only still-playing senior, came out with a dog and her family and a long list of playing accomplishments.  The PA played Don’t You Forget About Me after the ceremony.

This time for sure, this is my last softball game of the season.  I’ve enjoyed the games I’ve seen and the team is leading the conference.  Though pleasant out, Ron and I were both a bit baked and slimy with sunblock.  We went out to get to baseball.  The Wolverines were already loaded on to their bus, so there were no tearful goodbyes between me and Basia.  That might be for the best.  I might have been compelled to say something if I’d run into her.  I have to suspect I’m not the only non-Utah Valley fan of hers, not to mention all the fans of the team.  There she goes breaking hearts across the WAC.  I admit I’ve had some fun with this bit.  In any case, good luck to Basia in her future endeavors.  

                

The Elvis Collection: 70's Scrapbook 18

 Readers were not happy with the newspaper's scandalous Elvis articles.

The small article on the page is a somewhat caustic psychoanalysis of Elvis.

Here's a unflattering review of Elvis' show in Springfield, Missouri.  

More psychoanalyzing, this time an article goes over the women in Elvis' life.

Elvis' step-brother came to speak at a church in Berryville, Arkansas.

Here's an in-depth article on Elvis' final days at Graceland.  Interesting, kind of gross, and lots of cheap shots.