Following last night's defeat, the second in a row, against the lowly Royals, drastic measures have been taken to ensure an A's fan's sanity.

Disclaimer: These are intended for fun only. Any harm, injury, or threats thereof are not sanctioned by Athletics Nation, the ANtics, or any similar governing body. Any desire for additional "headshots" can be taken by e-mail.

(Neighbors, girlfriends, and others unaffiliated with the A's organization and its related entities do not qualify)

To Download: PC and Mac: Right Click and select "Save Image As", "Save As", or "Save Image to Desktop", browser depending. For single-button Macs, click the image and drag to desktop. Happy throwing!

More here: Athletics Nation: Bullseye: Get Out Your Aggression - A's Style

Listening to ''Teen Angst'', by M83 (Play Count: 9)

Google started out life as a simple search engine. With an uncluttered interface, users had access to what soon became the most thorough database on the Web, and from there, the company grew - adding paid ads alongside search results, and then an avalanche of applications, as the company's next moves and areas to add ad revenue seem limitless, from GMail to Google-branded classified ads, Google Desktop and more. But all through the process, the company's promised to not do evil, in direct contrast with Microsoft, who is widely respected for its own pact with Satan himself.

Now, as Google is seen as the 800 pound gorilla, those who follow the company's every step and speculate to their next move are growing increasingly wary, suggesting the company's honeymoon is over - that like Microsoft, IBM and basically any large company before it, Google is not to be trusted, and that a lack of information about their current and future business is hiding something - and that something is likely sinister. Media coverage, technology fans and business experts alike have changed their tone when discussing Google, no longer seeing it as a plucky upstart, but instead as a force to be reckoned with in every market. (See Google makes some missteps as it finds its way in corridors of power and Why Google makes everyone else nervous)

In fact, some are saying that as Google has grown and taken on new projects, they have lost their way, with nobody being held accountable for market share, growth, and the inevitable quest for profit. While the company continues to impress with the search market and advertising growth, some have said that Google's comparable market share in e-mail, news, financial information and mapping software are surprisingly low for what should be a market leader, and are calling for change - in the form of layoffs, starting with the CEO and working downward. Google and layoffs have scarcely been mentioned in the same breath before, and the company continues its massive expansion. Hardly a day goes by where one prominent geek hasn't announced on their personal blog that they've been hired by the search giant. But the tone has changed, and if Google's not careful, they'll find that consumers and media are very fickle, and what used to be open-ended good-will can play very much the opposite way.

Listening to ''Eclipse'', by Timo Maas (Play Count: 4)

This being the Memorial Day holiday, the Oakland A's did what was right and proper - holding an evening game at the Coliseum, with proper respect paid to the armed services, and finishing with a full fireworks display to honor the holiday. This being the second ballpark fireworks show for me in four days, I was pretty comfortable with what I could expect post-game, but the team manages to make each game just a little unexpected, and of late, those surprises haven't been positive. Today was no different, as the team managed to fall 6-4 against the lowly Royals, the ball club's 9th loss in its last 10 contests, pushing their record five games below the .500 mark, the lowest point they have been all year. It is May after all. (See Blez's column on the toughest job in sports for fans - being an A's supporter in April or May)

Tonight was one of those nights where, on paper, it seemed the A's were destined to win. The Kansas City Royals have been perennial doormats in the American League Central, and had won only three games on the road all year. Going to the mound was A's reject pitcher Seth Etherton, who couldn't find a spot on the A's starting rotation in 2005. Yet somehow the team never led in the game, falling behind 2-0 early, and not getting much closer, as the Royals tacked on runs later in the game to pull away, rendering a ninth-inning home run by Nick Swisher meaningless. Insult to injury was made complete when supposed team leader Eric Chavez grounded into a double play to end the game, instead of blasting a tying home run in the seats, as I'm sure his contract stipulates.

Unlike others, we're not in full panic mode, ready to call for Ken Macha's head on a stick, or demand wild-eyed trades, demotions and benchings. The A's struggles on a general level still track back to the fact that many key players, especially in their pitching rotation have spent more time on the trainer's table than they have on the field in recent weeks, and the team has had to compete with players who expected to be spending more time in Sacramento in AAA than in the big time. We have to remain optimistic that if the club ever has its full squad in gear, that they can execute solidly on their potential and take charge in an otherwise lukewarm American League West division, which has the Rangers in sole possession of first place, four games up. Then, we can see real fireworks on the field.

Listening to ''Chapel Of Rest'', by Last Prayer (Play Count: 6)

I ran across an interesting tool yesterday afternoon, which will take any Web site and display it in a graph form, similar to a molecular structure, based on the site's links, graphics and typography.

Below is a screenshot of the graph for louisgray.com/live


Click for full image

For other popular graphs, start here: http://www.aharef.info/static/htmlgraph/

Examples: Apple.com | Google.com | ESPN.com | Yahoo.com

Listening to ''Assorted Trance Volume 10'', by DJ Irish (Play Count: 5)