THE NERD REPORT

Nerds around town: Comicpalooza, Thrones, Rockets

Nerds around town: Comicpalooza, Thrones, Rockets
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 I don't know if you can tell but this is one of those times I am genuinely happy for the weekend because guys, this weekend is COMICPALOOZA!

GOOD DEED OF THE DAY

Today on reddit there was an Ask Me Anything from a 17 year old girl who has twice had to deal with the effects of fighting cancer. Stuff like this just breaks my heart and frustrates me to no end, kids with cancer? Like how does a family handle that? What wouldn't a parent do to save their kid, so now that you're thinking about that. Help Crits For Cancer help people in the battle against cancer. #NerdsUnite

COMICPALOOZA WEEK

There are so many great and fun things to do when you're at Comicpalooza one of the biggest things to partake in and enjoy is Artist Alley. Tons of great crafters and writers and artists set up shop in Artist Alley and are trying to make a living or supplement their living, selling art. Which honestly, is a pretty cool thing. You'll see all kinds of stuff there from all kinds of people, there are usually crafted goods like leather working and knitted things and there are self published books and indy comic books and music and small television shows and all kinds of assorted oddities to partake in. You can get commissions from artists, you can buy their prints, there are literally all kinds of things available and you won't find them anywhere else and that's the fun part. So seriously, go buy a weekend pass and check out Artist Alley.

GOING GREEN

Britain yesterday marked the first time since the industrial revolution that they had gone a week without using any coal to power their nation. That is an awesome and impressive step in the right direction and while it isn't perfect it absolutely should be celebrated. Last year renewable sources of energy were over 27% of how Britain got its power and natural gas was a little over 43% of how they got their power which is down 1% from the year before which also is a step in the right direction. They hope to be completely renewable powered by 2050 and honestly I hope it's sooner than that, I think if nations got serious about getting off of oil it would do several things. First of all it would take money and power out of the Middle East and OPEC, and if money and power drain from those areas than all of those people who are upset about "all these Muslim countries" well, most of those extremist religious regimes would go away because they are backed by oil. The thing that blows my mind, is even if you ignore the global warming component of all of this, people are getting mad and fighting against the concept of having an essentially free power grid. Let's say you hate everything "liberal" and are completely anti-"green" concepts, are you so against these things that you would rather pay a $200 monthly power bill every summer than just have free electricity or if not free then VERY cheap?

MAP OF THRONES

So I found something that's fun and worth a little bit of time to play with today if you have a few minutes to spare. It's an interactive map of the world of Game of Thrones and on it you can track the movement of your favorite characters by book or by episode. It's fascinating to see the distances some of these characters have traveled in this story, including Tyrion Lannister and Brianne of Tarth, if you think about it, Brianne has gone back and forth across the seven kingdoms like three times by this season. Have you ever done that? I know I haven't and to think she did it on horseback this whole time, not a plane or train in sight although she has seen a few dragons. It's really worth checking out and playing with for a few minutes, I recommend killing some time with it today.

NOT THAT YOU ASKED

The Rockets game last night was so frustrating. The Warriors lost Kevin Durant and we still couldn't pull ahead. We had a whole fourth quarter where we finally could control all the match ups and they still got ahead and stayed ahead. It was perhaps the most disappointing fourth quarter of the season, also why the heck aren't we fouling every possession with the last like 60 seconds to play down by four at one point? Foul, foul, foul and foul some more, put them right on the line and then get CP3 and Harden some shots behind the line or easy dunks to Capella. But you have to do something more than traps and lazy defense. That might have been the season right there and I am of the opinion that it is unlikely for the Warriors to get back to the finals, because it's just so impossible to go five straight seasons, remember no one has done that as a team, ever, but if we're going to quit like that then there chances increase significantly.

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 or support our Patreon Page. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.

Most Popular

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome

Listen Live

ESPN Houston 97.5 FM

Following Houston's 6-4 road trip, the Astros returned home to finish the first "half" of the season before the All Star break hosting Florida and Texas. Houston's road trip was filled with clutch performances in New York, dominance in taking 3 of 4 in Toronto, and a dose of close calls and tough realities with a short-handed team against Minnesota.

Now the Astros hope to take care of business against the lowly Marlins and division rival Rangers. The Texas series, in particular gives Houston the opportunity to reassert their hold on the #2 spot ahead of the Rangers who have won their last 5 games in a row (as of the time this was published). Both teams have won 7 of their last 10 games and hope to catch a free-falling Seattle team to overtake the division lead.

Dana Brown told the media last week he expects both Justin Verlander and Kyle Tucker to be reactivated following the All-Star break but Tucker's updates continue to be more promising than Verlander's and MUCH more promising than Lance McCullers. Astros manager informed the media this week that McCullers has been shut down from throwing after his arm did not respond well to his recent bullpen sessions and the team is formulating the plan for what's next for the embattled pitcher. McCullers hasn't pitched since the 2022 postseason and underwent season-ending flexor tendon surgery last June. McCullers is under contract with Houston until 2026.

An eventual return for Kyle Tucker would spur a juggling act from Joe Espada to find a proper balance of time for all his outfielders, none of which have separated themselves offensively. Chas McCormick had a great month of June recording an .804 OPS but that run looks more like an anomaly as his scuffles have continued over the past 2.5 weeks, recording just 4 hits over his last 32 plate appearances.

While Jake Meyers has wowed fans and teammates with his glove this season, his offense has hit a skid, hitting just .184 with a .565 OPS over the past month. After rookie Joey Loperfido's torrid debut, he too has struggled with the bat, hitting just .216 with .599 OPS over the same time period.

An unexpected bright spot has been the recent play of first baseman Jon Singleton. Over the last 4 weeks, "Big Jon" is batting .302 with an .802 OPS. It's worth mentioning that Singleton's season numbers are better than Florida's Josh Bell, who drew interest from Astros fans over the past several seasons as a potential answer at first base. Bell has 135 more ABs this season so its not quite an apples-to-apples comparison but there's no doubt Singleton's contributions were sorely needed following the release of Jose Abreu.

To watch part 1 of this week's episode of Stone Cold StrosStone Cold Stros, just click the video above or to listen to the entire episode on podcast, search "Stone Cold Stros" in your favorite podcast app or click one of the following links.

Amazon | Apple | iHeart | Spotify

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome