An Introduction

Hello kiddies, this is the notorious Strunk making his first posting on this glorious blog. I will be here to further the efforts of the NJP Production group into the mainstream and the homes of hundreds of millions of unsuspecting families. I need to thank this glorious invention(that Albert Gore invented) known as; The Internet , for such a wonderful forum to express my views.

Again thank you to everyone and when I have more time I will post much more information and let you in on some of my views of the world around us.

Thank You

ShrekZilla, OUT!!!

.500

The very warm streak continues for the NJP this week, as we take 3 to improve our record to 24-24. We all bowled good with Strunk nailing a crucial split that sealed the first game for us. The bigger news is that I finally hit the 600 mark this season. I did this with games of 174, 268, and 191 for a 633 series. There were no high game awards(I don't play) or 50/50 wins to speak of.

The best news out of all this is that for the last month we are 11-5 with no real signs of slowing down. PeelBerry is bowling as solid as ever, Strunk finally has a good thumb in the ball grip, and my average just keeps going up. Hopefully this will all lead to a resurgence of the NJP bowling standards we are all used to.

Why not four?

Another week gone by and still the NJP cannot win four points. We actually did very well this week. In the second game we had one of the highest combined scratch games of the year with a 657. In the last game we bowled very respectably, but our opponents squeaked it out. When it was all said and done we took three and improved our record to 21-23. We still have plenty of time to make moves.

This week Strunk was the high man with a 618 series. He also won high game for game two with a 249 or so for $22. Also of note Peelberry won a 50/50 drawing for a little extra cheese of his own. It was a good week all around for the NJP.

RIP Latino Heat

Yesterday I checked the wrestling news sites to see how the TNA PPV was going only to shocked by some of the saddest news I have heard in a long time. Eddie Guerrero is gone. Even after some time for it to set in it still doesn't seem true. As a wrestling fan I loved this guy. I have ever since I was first exposed to him in WCW. He put on classic matches with the likes of Dean Malenko, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit and Rey Mysterio. His LWO gimmick was a classic. Eventually he made his way to WWE where he ascended all the way to WWE Champion and shared an emotional moment with his good friend Benoit at Wrestlemania 20 as both stood in the ring the champions conventional wisdom said they would never be. He was a consumate performer who never let his fans down and he will be missed dearly.

My favorite Eddie moment was when my wife and I went to a Raw show in Grand Rapids, MI a few years ago. The Rock was champion and Eddie came out and cut one of his classic "Crazy Eddie" promos talking about how he ripped his daughter's Rock poster off the wall and lamented on how his daughter liked the Rock more than him. He then went on say a line I still use to this day..."You know, and all these gavachos know. That I'm the better wrestler holmes!". Eddie and The Rock went on to give us a classic main event. Now that I think about it, classic is about the best word I can use for Eddie. He may have had his demons, but he had beat them and for him to go so soon is a travesty.

We will miss you...

117

Substandard is probably the best term to describe my bowling last night. I started strong with a 210, just to see my scores plummet to a season low 117 for game three. As a team we did alright the first to games, but fell into the toilet for the third. PeelBerry once again had high series, but I don't think you will see him bragging about it anytime soon. Strunk started salty, but returned to form for games two and three, coming in about 30 pins per game over average combined in those games.

As for how we did points wise we just don't know. The other team wasn't there. They bowled today at 9AM(screw that). I will let everyone know how we did if I find out before next week, but since I don't get the updated scores anymore I probably will not know until I step into the smokey M-66 Bowl. By then the razor sharp focus of the NJP will have shifted to our next victims.

Is it really growing up?

With the release of the XBOX 360 looming right on the horizon, the question I think is on the minds of all the NJP wives is, "When will it be enough?". The enough, of course, is enough of videogames. On one level they tell us that they understand. I believe them, but I also know that if they had the chance they would throw every single game and system right out the window. I know for a fact that my mother-in-law thinks it is silly that we still play games like we do. The thing about it is that for us to give up videogames would be like giving up a part of who we are.

Maybe it started out as a childhood pastime, but video games have grown with us. I was just about to type how we still don't play the games of our youth, but that isn't true. I personally collect old games and systems. When you do this you start to see that a great game in 1985 is still a good game in 2005. Great games are like great movies. They age with you. They mean different things to you as adults. The appeal sticks with you because it more ingrained into what you are than your teddy bears or Transformer toys ever were. They immerse you into a world where you control the outcome. They did that from the day Pong hit the shelves and do it even more today with the movie-esque presentation of this generations games.

The subject matter has grown with us as well. I have joked with my friends that someday there will be shuffleboard simulators and old folks home themed role playing games. With the original Nintendo and even before we took control of the content matter. The proof is games like Halo, Resident Evil and Grand Theft Auto. They would have never made these games 20 years ago because the market was kids. Those kids have grown up and so have the games. Of course you still have your Shrek and Spongebob games because you have to recruit some new blood to the mix.

All I ask of the wives and mother-in-laws out there is to understand that to take these games away from us would be taking a piece of who we are. If that sentimental argument doesn't sway then I leave you with this... Video games are just fun.

Like the title of this entry says, is it really growing up to give up these games? I think not. Also you can check out the website below for further proof that we haven't even gotten started yet.


Click here for some stats that give us poor grown up kids some hope that we will never have to give up games.

We actually took 3!!

After last week thrashing it was nice to be able to walk out of the bowling alley with our heads held high. We all bowled pretty good with PeelBerry getting the high series. I believe we have a record now of 16-20 or so. Either way our team is sucking up the lanes this year.

The one shining light here is that at least Strunk and I have averages that we can work to our advantage as long as we can just start bowling like regular human beings. Hell, we may even be able to recreate the 34-2 run we had a few years back. We just have to remember that this is America and anything is possible...


MARK IT ZERO!!!

Neverending Job Pileup by NJPMAN

As well as being a avid member of the NJP, I am also a stay at home father of 5. The number jumps to six if you count the little one we have been watching for over four years now. Obviously this leads to a plethora of things to do, all day/every day. Just this morning I have done dishes, 3 loads of laundry, fed and changed the baby, broke up 5-6 juvenile disputes(can't tell anymore).

Still to come I have to put on my chauffeur hat and drive kids to schools all over town, clean a few rooms, feed birds, feed fish, feed kids, try to feed myself, try to clean myself, regulate a small army of children while they attempt to play outside in peace, and deal with whatever other mysterious messes might happen to appear. Just yesterday it was a two year old's best Pablo Picasso impression on the hallway wall.

Even though it sounds like I am complaining, I wouldn't give it up for the world. And anyway, all this action has helped me to grow a very dignified head of hair.

-NJPMAN

NJP BLOG by NJPMAN

How about that? The NJP has a blog. Who knows what will come of it, but I hope to soon have the entire NJP posting here just ranting about whatever they like. It might always be nice, but it will be fun. Enjoy this!