NERDS AROUND TOWN

Nerd Around Town: John Wick 3, $16 pretzels and mental breaks

Nerd Around Town: John Wick 3, $16 pretzels and mental breaks
ART BY JESUS RODRIGUEZ

Born with a comic book in one hand and a remote control in the other, Cory DLG is the talent of Conroe's very own Nerd Thug Radio, Sports and Wrestling. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!

Hey Nerds!

It's Thursday and we're almost to the weekend, so cheer up warriors, you've almost made it.

GOOD DEED OF THE DAY

Zoey's Angels is an amazing organization with a great mission. They help families who suffer the loss of a newborn after an extended medical fight. Some people might point out that that's a rather exclusive group but honestly, they're a group who need your help perhaps more than anyone. The unexpected and high costs of medical care and the nature of the trauma make it a particularly painful thing for people to go through and then on top of that they get hit with bills that need paying. It's insanity. Zoey's Angels on Sunday are having their 8th annual fundraising walk, join in and help out. #NerdsUnite

NBA FINALS

I've been saying this whole playoffs that the difficulty of winning four out of five championships and just being in five finals in a row takes a toll on any team, especially a team under constant scrutiny and speculation like The Warriors have been, but when The Raptors made it from the East, it's just hard to believe in them. The injuries are starting to sink the ship for The Warriors and now giving back home court advantage tilts a lot of "gamesmanship" back in the favor of The Raptors. This is going to be an interesting series and I'm curious to see how it all plays out, but now my prediction of a Gentleman's sweep Warriors over Raptors is out.

JOHN WICK 3

Just watched John Wick 3 and honestly, it's awesome. These movies have found a way to up the intensity and action in each one, although there were a few scenes of violence that I honestly could have done without, there's a particularly brutal slow stab to an eyeball that just hurt to watch. These movies are a road map for fast paced action and violence and I love nearly EVERY second of them, they do a great job creating a fast paced story and I love the idea of them being some sort of serial concept where every few years the next chapter of John Wick comes out. It's weird to think in terms of the first and second movies that in the span of a few weeks John Wick had destroyed the Russian mob in New York and then killed a member of the "High Table", he's a busy guy. These movies though are awesome and people need to be watching them and telling their friends and telling their friends' friends.

HOW MUCH?

Part of the experience of seeing John Wick 3 though was going to the movies. AMC just tried to charge me $15.99 for a pretzel. A Pretzel?! They said it's a pound and a half and my reaction was still almost knocking the cash register off the counter. Like how did we get to this point? $16 American dollars for a pretzel, I don't think there's anything they could do to that pretzel that would make me feel like $16 is a good price for it. I mean maybe there's something I'm not seeing, maybe there's a brilliant sauce or something they put on it and I'm just not there yet, but seriously $16. I mean a GIANT tub of popcorn was $9 and I was unhappy about that in spite of it coming with a free refill, so unless that Pretzel is actually two pretzels that are somehow both two times better than a tub of popcorn, it isn't even worth the money. This is just crazy math, who is in charge of prices at the movie concession counters these days?

NOT THAT YOU ASKED

Man, I love rainy, lazy days. I shouldn't have taken one, I have a ton of work to do that all requires me to kick my ass and work really hard, but man was yesterday a nice day for lying around and relaxing. Every once in a while we have to figure a way to carve some time for us to just kick back and not think for a bit, if you can't then you need to find a way to. Just little pockets of time here and there, find out how to carve them up and try and relax. It's a crucial part of mental health, which science and biology are telling us more and more every day are relevant.

I'm going to jump out and wish you guys a great Thursday and remind everyone to be kind to each other and try a little harder to have a great day! I'm coming back Friday and we'll be bringing more good times your way. Feel free to check out my digital short story The Wilson House or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help fight cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.

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The Astros are back in action Friday night against Seattle. Composite Getty Image.

The Astros were a season low 12 games under .500 (12-24) on May 8th but were able to turn things around and entered the All-Star break with a respectable 50-46 record.

The turnaround can be attributed to better performances on the field by a multitude of players, but there are still things that could be improved to ensure a successful second half of the season.

As it currently stands, Houston is only one game behind the Seattle Mariners in the American League West division race, and the Astros should have key players returning from injury to further bolster their playoff ambitions.

The return of the King

Kyle Tucker has been on the injured list with a shin contusion for six weeks now, and looks to return in the near future.

The Astros have done surprisingly well without their three-time All-Star outfielder thanks to contributions from guys like Joey Loperfido, Jake Meyers and Marcio Dubon in the outfield. Plus, Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman, Yanier Diaz and Jeremy Pena carrying the offense while King Tuck is away.

Before getting hurt, the 27-year-old was hitting .266/.395/.584 through 60 games. Houston already has one of the best offenses in baseball, and adding Tucker back would give the Astros another high-quality bat to further bolster their lineup.

The latest update is Tucker has been playing catch and could start a rehab assignment soon if all goes well.

Fix the rotation

Starting pitching has been a major issue this season due to a multitude of injuries.

Cristian Javier, Jose Urquidy and J.P. France have all been lost for the year with various surgeries and guys like Justin Verlander and Luis Garcia are trying to work their way back from their injured list stints.

Garcia was recently pulled from his rehab assignment and won’t pitch again until he is ready. Meanwhile, Verlander could be closer to his return and is throwing bullpen sessions as of July 14. Getting both of these pitchers back at some point this season will be a huge boost to this roster.

The current Astros’ rotation consists of Framber Valdez, Ronel Blanco, Hunter Brown, Spencer Arrighetti and Jake Bloss. Although not a bad rotation by any means, the starting pitching depth is getting pretty thin and Houston can ill afford another injury to their staff.

Astros general manager Dana Brown has been vocal about his desire to add starting pitching, and could have some options heading into the trade deadline. Players like Jack Flaherty, Garrett Crochet or Yusei Kikuchi, just to name a few, could be low risk high reward pitchers the Astros could acquire to add depth to their rotation.

Another option would be to call up A.J. Blubaugh from Sugar Land. The 24-year-old has a 6-2 record with a 3.46 ERA in 71.1 innings pitched this season for the Space Cowboys and could be a necessary depth piece to add to the rotation.

Play Astros baseball

The Astros have been playing better baseball as of late and have won 18 of their last 23 games. With players like Kyle Tucker and Justin Verlander potentially returning soon, there is reason to believe Houston can make the playoffs for the 8th consecutive season.

The 'Stros will try to take sole possession of first place in their division from the Mariners when the two teams meet for three games at T-Mobile Park starting on Friday night.

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