Still Stinktown (aka Still Tastes Like Burning)

Hugh

2011-09-25T23:28:00.001-04:00

Jesus, Hugh Jackman, maybe I shouldn't judge on a crappy commercial during Sunday Night Football alone, but what the hell was going through your head when you signed on to do Real Steel? Maybe it will prove me wrong and/or maybe it will make a ton of money but that shit looks beyond awful.

T Out

2011-07-26T23:15:00.001-04:00

Man, I haven't been on here forever. And when I say "forever" I mean over a year. Jesus. I keep thinking, "I should get back to blogging" but then never do.

Is blogging even a thing anymore anyway? I feel like everybody is all tweet or nothing. Nobody wants to read anything more than a line. I guess it doesn't really matter anyway. It's not like I have a million followers or really even do this for anybody's entertainment at this point.

So, that said ...

I moved fairly recently and in doing so made me realize that I really need to streamline my crap a bit. I have boxes of junk that I moved (some of which was moved at least once already) that I need to go through and more than likely purge. At least 80% of it can probably go. Really 100% can probably go but you know, some of it has emotional ties or sentimental value or maybe even real value (someday -- at least in my head) or whatever so I need to sift through before just throwing it all in a dumpster.

One thing I have a lot of is T-shirts. Too many. And T-shirts often have odd sentimental value to me. But they get thin and ill fitting and stained and stretched out. Despite all that I often want to keep them. But I'm telling myself to cut the ties and get rid of them. So some are going. A little at a time. Usually they get one last retirement tour -- a day on the town before they disappear to wherever T-shirts go when they die.

So here's the first of (hopefully many) to be sent off to T-shirt heaven (or hell):

$2,100 a month and all I got was this lousy T-shirt

When I signed my lease at Stuyvesant Town back in September of 2002 this was a welcome gift from the management company. A nice, new apartment, a new direction in life AND a new T-shirt. Excitement was high and I like to reminisce of that day and those times that followed. But it's time to go, PCV-ST T-shirt. It was fun while it lasted.

Humans Are Really Crapping Things Up

2010-04-16T00:52:00.002-04:00

Maybe I'm a bit early for Earth Day, but you know what pisses me off? That we have something called a "Trash Vortex": http://www.canada.com/technology/science/ocean+garbage+quite+literally/1194398/story.html?id=1194398

Seriously:

98 per cent of dead seabirds studied in northern Europe have plastic in their stomachs.

more than 260 animal species are known to eat or get entangled in plastic, including turtles, fish, marine mammals, even small creatures like mussels, barnacles and beach fleas.

10 per cent of all plastic debris eventually winds up in the sea.

This shit has to stop. Destroying everything ain't cool.

Peter Steele

2010-04-15T22:46:00.067-04:00

So I went to work today as usual and when we hit a slight lull I was perusing some news, including a dose of the metal world on Blabbermouth.net and saw a headline about Peter Steele that caught me off guard: TYPE O NEGATIVE's Label: The World Has Lost A Charismatic Frontman And A Very Talented Person

Lost?

I clicked and read and sure enough lost was right. Peter Steele was dead.

I can't say I was ever a huge Type O fan, but I certainly liked some of their stuff. They also crossed paths with my life.

First, when I had just met her, my ex-wife was really into Type O Negative. She had a shirt that she had received for her birthday right around the same time as I met her. I'll always remember its black and green. Type O Negative wasn't what I would consider her usual musical taste but she liked them. Liked Peter Steele.

So Type O Negative or not, we started hanging out and about six months later we wound up venturing down from Poughkeepsie to NYC to see Type O Negative at Roseland. It was around Halloween time and if memory serves me correctly Electric Hellfire Club opened and there was a brief, surprise appearance by the Misfits. Type O Negative blew up some pumpkins on stage and there was a toilet paper roll fight at one point as well. It was pretty fun.

Before that show, while sightseeing* I stopped at every record label I could find and dropped off resumes. There was a lot of walking but one label actually mentioned needing an intern. Unpaid, but good experience and travel expenses were paid for. That label was Roadrunner Records -- coincidentally (or not) Type O Negative's label.

So I quit my deli gig, moved from Latham to Poughkeepsie and started riding Metro North down to my internship at Roadrunner three days a week helping out in their publicity department. While there I met Peter briefly when he came in. He was one of the few musicians I met during that time that seemed like he was in a different league. Not "just a regular guy" as most were. He was certainly down to earth, nice (especially considering I was an intern) and clearly funny (naming an album The Origin of the Feces is nothing but funny), but he had that deep voice and was physically daunting. Really daunting. He was a presence whether on stage, sitting in a cubicle at an office or hanging out on the Frying Pan at a holiday party. He also was in Playgirl around that time so I saw a lot more Peter Steele than I ever really needed to.

Only 48 years old. Pretty sad. A sad event that hit home more than I would have anticipated.

A statement from Roadrunner and some videos too (including Halloween classic, Black #1 -- way better than Twilight or Vampire Diaries if you ask me): http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=138554

*why is it not siteseeing?

Another Lame Recap Post

2010-03-29T19:57:00.003-04:00

I know I've said it a million times already, but I really need to start blogging more. I have been doing things and then when I finally get around to writing (like now) it seems so long ago that I say "screw it" and don't bother with the details.

Notable occurrences (just for the record):

Went to see Jimmie's Chicken Shack and it was canceled. The venue wasn't even open. I still don't know if it was the band or the venue. Either way, it was pretty annoying. A total lack of communication other than a sign on the door. Then, with the following day off from work and already out I proceeded to go to a new wine/martini bar that opened near my house and got ripshit drunk. Partially because of me, but also due to the bartender throwing some free drinks/shots my way. Jesus, what a hangover.

More exciting than my drinking and my hangover, but also involving both of those things, I went to NYC. It was my first legitimate visit in quite awhile. I think only my third visit since I left (and one of those was for legal matters, so not really fun). It made me miss the old place, but I was also reminded that it's a island of insanity that I don't necessarily need. I was very back and forth on my feelings towards the big city the whole time I was there. That whole love/hate shit I have for pretty much everything. Highlights include: inquiring at one parking lot for pricing and finding out it was $54 a day (and not parking there), The Spotted Pig, a party at my friend Todd's, bagels (good ones), little sleep, drinks everywhere (until 4am), Holiday Cocktail Lounge, sharing a couch with a big dog at some clothing store in SoHo while other shopped, Tribeca Tavern, Peruvian food, pickles, doughnuts, bialys, the NYC half marathon and the good ol' Twilight Diner in Pennsylvania.

Upon my return I had a dentist appointment. That went well. No cavities. Oh, and a free toothbrush and whatnot. That's always good.

I also watched laser eye surgery. I started getting sweaty and sick feeling though so I stopped. Too much touching of the eye for my brain's liking I guess.

And that's all I've got at this point.

Dogs With Attitude

2010-03-26T15:10:00.005-04:00

Apparently these dogs in Tennessee have been listening to some N.W.A. as they are all about F**k Tha Police.

Or at least F**king Tha Police car's bumper.

Words of Wisdom

2010-03-09T23:15:00.000-05:00

The back page of Men's Journal is called "Survival Skills" which consists of about a dozen questions with some celebrity about life-assisting skills and advice and whatever. In March's issue the person is Anthony Hopkins. I read this over a month ago but I love his answer to the final question and keep thinking about it. And hope I always do. And hope I put it to use.

Q: What advice would you give the younger you?
A: Lighten the fuck up.

I've Got Title-Writer's Block

2010-03-05T00:02:00.001-05:00

I went to see Hamell On Trial tonight at Beachland Ballroom here in the Cleve. Good stuff as always.

Although I have to say it brings up a lot of NYC memories. The brain really gets a chance to get a bit bonkers when sitting there at the bar by myself listening to songs I knew years ago. Hamell was always a sure thing for an entertaining night out of the apartment and I went to see him a bunch when I was in NYC -- alone, with my wife, with friends. Anyway, I've moved and I still get a taste which is nice. Maybe not as frequently, but perhaps that makes it all the sweeter.

I also find my thinking a bit funny that on my way to the show I found me saying to myself, "What a pain in my ass to have to drive to see a show. It was so much easier in NYC when I'd just walk or subway to a show and then whip back home." Well on the way back from the show I actually took note of the clock in my car and it took me 12 minutes to get from the venue to my driveway. 12 minutes! That shit couldn't happen in NYC no matter how I opted to travel.

So all in all it was a good night. I just wish I didn't have so much past in my head. I feel old. And a little crazy.

Brite and Snowy

2010-02-27T15:01:00.000-05:00

Heading to the Brite Winter Festival in a little while. Conveniently Mother Nature is being wintery as fuck right now. 31 degrees and snowing like crazy. This should be fun. A little defience of winter is always good. Especially in Cleveland where the trend is to hibernate until May.

TechnoSkate

2010-02-17T11:24:00.004-05:00

I don't really skate enough to warrant anything like this, but these skates seem pretty damn cool: MLX Skates.

At least according to this release and the company web site (it must be true then!) the skates are better fitting, technologically advanced, modifiable and sleek looking. With parts that can be replaced and people behind the product that give a crap. Sounds worth a try for those who need it.

My skating a few times a year probably doesn't qualify me. Damnit!

The Illustration Says It All

2010-01-25T15:11:00.017-05:00

I was looking at the news section of Google today and among the headlines was this:

I had to do a second look to confirm that the illustration was for real. It certainly was. And it's great.

I am guessing Google just takes an arbitrary image from related stories without any real human interaction or concern. So although the top link is from USA Today, the illustration letting us know what this salami was going to result in came from dBTechno here: Salami Recalled Over Fear Of Salmonella Bacteria

I don't want to tell you how to run your life, salmonella head, but you might want to get that ass closer to the toilet.

Little NY1 Things

2010-01-15T14:21:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I really miss NYC. Funny, it's usually the little things rather than the being a part of it all sort of situation. I guess it's the little things that make the memories. In NYC, it seemed that no matter where I lived or who I was with or what I was doing, NY1 was a constant.

I was just reading a little Village Voice as I tend to do every week or so (at the very least Savage Love) and saw this interview with Pat Kiernan. NY1. That's one of the little things I miss.

Back in my early days in NYC when I lived in an apartment in Brooklyn where my room was downstairs with only a small window linking to the outside world I relied on NY1 to let me know the weather. Through that window it was hard to tell if it was raining or sunny. It was just gloomy light that would filter through no matter what. Before I lived there I'd watch TV and when the weather was on and they'd say, "Right now it's raining." I'd always think to myself, "You don't need to tell me that ... I can look myself" but in that apartment looking out a window for my own information wasn't really an option. So in that place especially, Pat Kiernan and the rest of the crew would let me know what's up. The ol' Weather on the 1s along with "In The Papers", Sports, Whipple's World, etc. made things a little easier and that crazy time. From there, NY1 and I were tight.

On top of our through-the-TV friendship, NY1 was located in the same building where I worked at that point too. I used to see Lewis Dodley out having a smoke between segments and would always keep (a sadly unsuccessful) eye out for Gigi Stone in hopes that maybe she'd like to have some sort of newsworthy rendezvous with me.

Year later when I lived in Stuytown, Amanda Farinacci lived on my floor.

I couldn't escape NY1 if I wanted to (not that I wanted to) ... and now that I have escaped it's a lonely and uninformed world.

Sandal, Scandal ... What's The Difference?

2009-12-15T07:30:00.001-05:00

I know Tiger is my favorite sports sandal out there. Stylish and comfortable. It's nice to see that the USA Today has finally taken note and is spreading the word:

I'm Branching Out

2009-12-03T14:52:00.005-05:00

If you recall, back in 2008 my friends and I did a little challenge that involved eating bacon. Well the upcoming year we're doing another one involving running. We've got a blog about it here. For some reason I seem to be blogging there more than here since the launch, so if that keeps up you might want to keep an eye out over there if you are really hurting for a taste of me (yeah right!).

Plum Clips

2009-12-03T10:04:00.004-05:00

Can you believe this dummy was one of the people who managed to slick their way by the United States Secret Service and into a White House function?

Seems Light

2009-11-19T00:46:00.003-05:00

So you can run a person over with a bus and only have to serve 6 months in jail?: Jury Comes Back With Verdict In Fatal RTA Bus Driver Accident

And that's the max? 6 months?

I saw the video of this accident and it was just super shitty, super negligent driving by the driver. It wasn't someone coming out of nowhere or a lot of traffic or anything beyond driving too fast and concentrating on her phone instead of her job. Oh, and I believe if memory serves me right, this was the second time this particular driver hit someone (the first time didn't result in death).

Something doesn't seem right about 6 months for extinguishing a life.

Join The Fight

2009-11-17T20:17:00.003-05:00

Let's face it, this site isn't exactly full of science-based information, but it really is something that should be addressed: Take Back The Horns

Seriously.

It's The Final ...

2009-11-10T18:56:00.004-05:00

You know what's awesome? Europe. No, not the continent (although some of it is OK), the band! Clearly I'm not the only one who feels this way: http://popwatch.ew.com/2009/11/10/final-countdown/

The American Way

2009-11-03T22:20:00.004-05:00

I usually get a quick dose of what's going on in the world of Cleveland on Cleveland.com in the morning and sometimes a peak or two during the day. Most of the comments on the stories are in typical Cleveland fashion, complaining about Cleveland. While it seems like most people here will defend Cleveland to the bitter end, they also love to complain in a this-place-is-broken-and-I-have-a-bunch-of-genius-ideas-of-how-to-fix-it-but-instead-of-doing-something-I'll-just-bitch-on-Cleveland.com-and-leave-it-up-to-everyone-else-while-I-sit-around-and-get-fat(er) sort of way. People mock and complain about the politicians, murders, college students, construction, etc. I even saw complaining about how dumb the Cleveland marathon is. Really? People exercising and bringing money into the town is bad? Idiots.

Anyway, today I'm on Cleveland.com for voting information. Reading about the candidates and issues so I can at least vote with a purpose. There were the neutral (generally) sort of stories as well as editorials. And there were some sensible comments from the peanut gallery too.

Now, I know Americans aren't real big on voting, but I personally find it difficult to complain about how things are going if I didn't vote. Don't like the mayor? Tough shit, but really tough shit if you didn't vote. That said, I would think with all of the complaining and local political insight that everyone has in the comment sections all year, they'd be all over the political/voting info articles on election day. An election day with big issues like casinos and new local government structures and tax shifts. Not to mention a nasty rapist/murder situation. But come on, that's back burner stuff. Sports are where it's at, no?

Good work, Cleveland.

Sports are the important thing, you're right! I bet if the Browns won the Super Bowl unemployment would be a thing of the past.

Priorities, Cleveland. Priorities.

Left: the current list of stories on Cleveland.com with the most comments -- all Browns related (click for larger view).

It's Instant

2009-11-02T23:33:00.001-05:00

I was sitting around my apartment tonight doing laundry (a shitload of it) and watching some season 3 of 30 Rock when I got the urge for a snack. I don't really have much snacky stuff around but I did find a box of pudding so I decided to make some chocolate pudding. You can't go wrong with pudding.

It's funny how the brain works. Or at least my brain. I haven't had pudding in a long time but when I made it all I could think about was my (now ex) wife. We'd make pudding sometimes. Just make up a box in one container, let it set, sort of draw a line down the middle of the container and each scoop at our side while we watched TV or a movie or whatever. Sometimes we'd finish off the whole box in one sitting. That's supposed to be 4 servings but what the hell do those serving size deciders know?

Anyway, it just isn't as fun eating pudding alone. Stupid pudding makes me miss her, my old apartment, NYC, my friends, even my shitty futon that was our couch for a long time. I guess that's not totally unusual, but it's annoying when I go without thinking about anything specific about her for awhile and then something as simple as skim milk, some chocolate flavored powder and a whisk gets the brain whirring away again.

On a positive note, the box says "Calci-YUM! A Good Source of Calcium as Prepared" so at least my bones will be in good shape.

Prepare to be Boarded

2009-10-27T16:55:00.003-04:00

Pirates on Lake Erie!: http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=124268

Awesome.

Cashin' In

2009-10-22T22:23:00.001-04:00

I spent a good chunk of this evening doing money stuff. Paying bills mostly. I also shuffled around my 401k and rolled some coins. Yes, rolled coins. Everyone is always busting my balls about doing that when there are things out there like Coinstar* but I actually find it sort of relaxing. Maybe even therapeutic. I wound up with $43.50. Not bad for a bunch of lazy pieces of metal.

I also find an odd enjoyment in the paying of bills. While I'd obviously rather have that money in my pocket and it's obviously stressful at times (depending on my current financial status) I always have a nice feeling of accomplishment and being organized when done. Sure it only lasts for like 36 minutes, but I'll take what I can get.

*Coinstar is publicly traded? I never would have guessed

Strokes In Beantown

2009-10-22T00:25:00.009-04:00

This past weekend I did something new and (I think) cool ... I went to Boston for the Head Of The Charles but this time instead of just being drunk and/or hungover and watching from the shore, I actually participated. I rowed. All 3 miles of winding, chaos. It was pretty great.

My club got the entry via lottery and the lineup wasn't decided upon until pretty late so we only had about 3 weeks together to get ready. We were in the Club 4+ and it was competitive. Competitive as in powerhouse college crews, former national team members, teams from "across the pond", etc. Anyway, we came in 40th out of 55. Not great numbers but we were happy with our performance considering the minimal prep time, the level of competition and our rookie nerves. We beat 15 boats. At an international competition. That's nothing to cry about. If we do it again, we'll know what to expect and I imagine we'll pick up the training a bit. A good starting point was established and much fun was had.

And Saturday night involved quite a bit of drinking. Something we are well trained in. There was even some karaoke. Embarrassing.

So there you go. Head Of The Charles. See you next year, Boston. Hopefully on the water rather than shore.

Oh, and I saw two things that I liked:

First, this awesome billboard ... when do you ever see anything defending animal testing? Never. Plus leprosy is always funny:

Next, an apartment building I someday wish to reside in. So delicious!:

Mmmmmm, chambers ...

It's Always Something in The D

2009-10-19T07:32:00.004-04:00

It's amazing how Detroit can just never catch a break. Sad really. Somehow the gods manage to tarnish the city's already tarnished name and image. Even in an event as common as a half-marathon/marathon: Three Runners Die Competing in Detroit Marathon

For Me?

2009-10-10T12:16:00.005-04:00

I've been sitting around, doing a little laundry and other fun household activities when I hear a little chime noise which means I not only received a message on my phone, but a photo message ... fancy! And exciting!

I look and it's from a number I don't know and this is the photo:

I have no idea who they are. But thanks anyway I guess.

Propositioned

2009-10-06T23:41:00.004-04:00

So tonight I went out after work for some eats and drinks and then decided to walk home. Just leave my car at work and walk it. Get a little exercise, see the town and clear my head a bit. This walk is about 3.5 miles. One of those ideas that seems good at the start and then gets old but you can't just quit ... it's a battle between legs and brain. Brain rarely wins even though brain is pretty persuasive.

Anyway, along the way it started raining a little bit. Sort of a misty rain, no big deal.

At one point along Detroit Ave. I pass a car parked along the curb. A guy yells over to me, "Hey, man. Need a ride?" I did not (take that brain) so I said politely, "No thanks" while thinking "that certainly is friendly offering someone a ride that is clearly getting sort of wet thanks to Mother Nature."

I walk another half a block or so and the same guy comes rolling by slowly and yells across to me, "I'm looking to have some fun. You interested?" Fun, eh? I'm guessing his idea of fun and mine aren't really the same so I shot him down again and kept walking.

It's nice to know that I can look like a guy who is into having fun with strange guys just by walking along in my jeans, fleece and backpack. Sex symbol! Why don't the ladies give me offers like this? I might take a chance with some sexy co-ed or cougar or MILF if they were looking to have some fun. Even if it was being offered from a crappy car along Detroit Ave.

Anyway, I'm thinking of giving my notice tomorrow when I get to work and making a little career change to prostitute. Seems I've already got at least once potential client. And in 2014 the Gay Games will be here in the Cleve so the money will be flowing. With some hard work during the game I might be able to retire by 2015.

It's good to have career goals.

As The Pedals Spin

2009-09-17T23:55:00.001-04:00

I ride my bike to work a lot. As often as I can I'd say. It's a little under 4 miles and pretty light on traffic. The only thing that really stops me from riding is if I have somewhere to be right after work that requires a car or if the weather really sucks. Some people think it's because I'm all Earth loving or anti-car or something. That's not really the case. I just happen to like pedaling to and from work. It sort of wakes me up on the way in (and I get to avoid traffic and the stupid parking garage at work) and lets me unwind on the way home. I see things drivers don't get to see, I get to think, I get a little exercise and I suppose I am being sort of helpful to good ol' Earth.

But this being "green" aspect is what I've been questioning a bit. I don't really doubt that my lack of car exhaust and my lack of fossil fuel burning helps the air but there are some things that make me wonder how environmental this bike riding is.

How so? Well I get to work I head to the bathroom to get myself into more of a presentable state for work. So, first I wet my head to get rid of helmet head. That's a little water used. Then some paper towels to dry the dripping away. Paper used. Then I change from my (sometimes) sweaty T-shirt into whatever slightly more fancy shirt I'm going to wear at work. No big deal there, but it does double the number of shirts I am using in a week. So instead of 5 shirts in a work week, I'm making it 10. Those have to be washed. More water and electricity and probably phosphates or some shit I don't really know about.

So I don't know. Fossil fuel/exhaust vs. water/paper/electricity ... who wins that brawl?

This really isn't much to worry about. I certainly prefer the riding and can only imagine that one less car has got to be good for numerous reasons but nevertheless it makes me wonder. But only a little.

Green, Crabby and Delish

2009-09-14T22:46:00.005-04:00

Not to get all food-based here, but you should check out, and perhaps make (if the ingredients are agreeable to you) this recipe for Chilled Avocado Bisque With Curried Crab Salad. I made it this weekend and it turned out mighty tasty. Making it even better, the prep time was pretty much non existent. Plus, who doesn't love a good excuse to use the blender?

This bisque, or soup for you common folk, is served cold, so it's probably more ideal for warm weather than for cold, but I don't think my mouth or stomach would have a problem with this at any time of the year.

What are you waiting for? Get to it.

Pork Football

2009-09-09T23:17:00.004-04:00

After having a pretty good run with the blogging I slacked a bit but I'm here again. I can't say that I have much to share though.

One thing worth mentioning is I took a few days off from work and roadtripped to NYS for my annual weekend of friends, parents, eating, drinking, boating, fire, fishing, boating, game playing, etc. This was the 12th year I gathered up myself and my friends and did this weekend and it was one of the best. After a couple years of sort of sluggish fun this year got things back on the level.

One of the highlights was culinary in nature. We made the Bacon Explosion (thank you BBQ Addicts and S.M. for steering me to said site). That's ours in the photo. Hot off the grill. It was technically supposed to be smoked but we did some indirect heat grilling since we didn't have a smoker handy and that seemed to work just fine.

The Explosion was a delicious example of a heart attack to come. But possibly worth it. Get back to me after my inevitable bypass and I'll let you know.

Other than that, it's been work, rowing, Netflixing, Xboxing and chillin' on the weekend. Weeeeee!

Many Leagues Under

2009-08-23T17:29:00.005-04:00

I was just walking a few doors down from my apartment and saw this sticker on a traffic light control box.

It made me laugh.

Then I looked it up on the internets and come to discover that it's a band. 100,000 Leagues Under My Nutsack. That is a good one. That goes on my list of favorite band names for sure.

Perhaps now I will need to look into witnessing them live. If nothing else, perhaps they have some great T-shirts.

NJ and PA and Me

2009-08-19T11:12:00.005-04:00

As you may have pieced together from my porta-potty photo in the previous post, I was in New Jersey this past weekend. I was down at the south end, by Philadelphia, in Cherry Hill/Camden to be exact, for the USRowing Masters National Championships.

As it turns out, I'm not a champion, but in one race I was in my boat did come in third. So I'm a second runner up champion I guess. Or something like that.

Unexpectedly I saw a celebrity while there. A celebrity at a rowing event? And in NJ? That's like a doubly impossible act. Despite the odds, it was Jane Lynch. Apparently a fan of rowing. Or at least a fan of one particular rower. This sighting adds to my list of Arrested Development cast members that I have seen at random. They're just regular people! Just like me. The list is now Jane Lynch (Cindi Lightballoon), Tony Hale (Buster) who I saw in LA, David Cross (Tobias) who I saw in a bar in NYC and Judy Greer (Kitty) who I saw in a Starbucks in NYC. I don't know what this has to do with anything really. I'm not really even that into TV or celebrities, but I guess it's difficult to not be somewhat intrigued.

Also on my day off from rowing (Saturday) I ventured into Philadelphia for a whirlwind tourist venture. I hit up the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Boathouse Row, ran the "Rocky Steps" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and finished it all off with a stop at Geno's for a cheesesteak (which, for the record, led to some intestinal issues later). It was all very American to say the least. U-S-A! U-S-A!

Twice

2009-08-17T14:37:00.007-04:00

On the wall of a porta-potty in Camden, NJ:

Made me think of this:

Danny Vermin: "You shouldn't hang me on a hook, Johnny. My father hung me on a hook once. Once!"

PS Who hangs out in a porta-potty long enough to draw/write on the walls?

I'll Just Dail One Up

2009-08-08T12:28:00.001-04:00

Not to get all editorializing on everybody, but I was reading good ol' Savage Love on the Village Voice's site and one of the ads in the left column caught my eye and I couldn't not comment. The icon says dailadancer.com [you probably don't want to visit that while at work] and I thought, "Dail? Is this some new action I could do but don't know about?" but sure enough the link brings you to dialadancer.com:
(click photo for larger size)

Ah ha! Dial. Not Dail. Nice one.

And nobody has noticed/fixed this? Nobody at Dial A Dancer or at the Village Voice? Maybe it's just that nobody needs dancers like I do.

I Gets Tired

2009-08-07T00:06:00.001-04:00

So I've been rowing again this summer. Last year it was just a once a week thing with the occasional workout on the side. Although our boat was sort of competitive it was more of a social thing than anything else. I met some cool people and got in better shape and I guess sort of rekindled my love/hate relationship with the sport after a 13 absence.

So this year I upped the love/hate and joined a competitive group. Same boathouse, just different coaching and attitudes. It's been three days a week this year, with expectations of additional workouts the rest of the week. We have a big race coming up next weekend so this week the intensity has picked up. Here's how my week has gone:

Monday: hit the ergs for an indoor workout after work
Tuesday: evening practice at 6:15pm
Wednesday: morning practice at 5:30am and then soccer game at 10pm (I know that's not rowing, but it adds to the exhaustion)
Thursday (today): evening practice at 6:15pm
then
Friday: off
Saturday: morning practice at 8:15am

Also, I should note that on top of the above I've also ridden my bike to work/practice every day. So it's been a lot of working out, but it's also been more difficult workouts. Plus work has been busy and I have a lot of shit on my mind so I'm pretty beat. Physically and mentally. Here comes Mr. Crazy!

I don't really know where I was going with all of that, other than to complain that I am tired. Oh, take a look at my hand:
The photo doesn't really do it total justice. It's pretty gross. Blisters and torn blisters and calluses. The base of each finger and then one or two spots on each finger. That's what happens when wood and skin and moisture clash. Skin seems to lose.

Sexy!

And I sign up for and pay for this. As I said, Love/Hate.

Round II

2009-08-06T22:51:00.002-04:00

I'm back. Back in all of my minimal writing glory.

So the "stalker" issue was cleared up (see previous post). My paranoia is at an alarming level. As is my trust I guess considering all it takes is an anonymous someone to post a comment to make me feel comfortable about the situation. Anyway, I guess if this is going to be a functioning blog it shouldn't matter who reads it. Nobody, everybody, enemies, stalkers, whatever!

Another issue cleared up is my non-working modem. Piece of shit modem I should say. I bought it from AT&T when I signed up for their DSL service. Made by 2Wire. And it died. It's covered by some sort of warranty for 12 months but of course it decided to go all lights out on me at 15 months. How convenient. Anyway, I've got myself a new modem from Netgear and all the lights are flickering away. Hopefully they will stay like that for longer than 15 months. Bastards!

So now I guess we wait and see if the writing bug comes back at all.

Frontier Stalking (?)

2009-07-20T22:48:00.008-04:00

Anybody want to take credit for visiting this site from a provider called Frontier Communications?

You've been visiting pretty much once a day (on weekdays at least). Straight here, not via another blog. And since nobody comes here it's pretty hard for me to miss and sort of stalkerish.

Anybody?

If you would like to let me know what's up perhaps you could e-mail me (see right column of blog) or comment so I can stop feeling like I don't want to post anything.

Domain Name: frontiernet.net
IP Address: 74.33.212.# (Frontier Communications)
ISP: Frontier Communications
Location
Continent: North America
Country: United States
State: New York
City: Caroga Lake [this changes between a couple of wayupstateNY towns -- this part may or may not be accurate]

Anybody?

Just Snow On My Tube

2009-06-17T12:21:00.004-04:00

It should be noted that I now officially have no TV. I have a television set, but just no signal. My television sucks to begin with as it's old and small, but now it's even worse as nothing comes through it.

I've had no cable since I moved to Cleveland which many think is insane to begin with. I really haven't cared other than the occasional sports event that I can't watch without going to a friend's or a bar. But now that things have officially switched over to digital mode and since I didn’t bother getting one of those corny converter boxes I don’t have squat. No Seinfeld reruns, no crappy, local news, no SNL, nothin'. Actually that’s not entirely true as I have a Spanish channel coming through. Bueno!

We'll see if I cave.

The Desert and Beach

2009-06-17T00:12:00.009-04:00

Just got back from some vacay in a little place they call Mexico. It was pretty sweet and I am totally not excited about being back home. Or going back to work. Especially going back to work.

I started off in The Cleve and flew to Phoenix, AZ. From there a complete stranger that I met via the interweb picked me and my lady friend up and we drove to Puerto Peñasco, Mexico (aka Rocky Point). There we hung out, drank beers and margaritas and ate tacos. But really the reason we went was to see Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers. They do an annual show there called Circus Mexicus. A little play on words there if you missed it. It was pretty great. Totally chill with hours of music (and I mean hours), drinking, fireworks, flip flops on my feet and sand under them. The next day was a little hangover brunch/gathering with some other bands providing the tunes, the guys from RCPM hanging out with their fans, some breakfast burritos and some beers to make things right again. Really fun. I think I might be doing it again next year so if you want to get on board, start thinking about it. Really. Do it.

After the Mañanathon it was time to hit the road back to Phoenix. And let me tell you, that desert? Nothing to fuck with. It is hot. Jesus. I’ve never exposed myself to that section of the world. My eyes were all dry and my lips were all dry and funky feeling. I don’t know if I could live in that. I did see a roadrunner which was cool. Speedy little fuckers. And there’s about a million miles to bury a dead body. That’s all I kept thinking about.

And let’s briefly speak about the border. On the way into Mexico there was nothing. There were like three speedbumps and four border guys + one dog just sitting at a table. No glances our way, no asking for a passport, no “where are you coming from”, no nothing. And then you get into Mexico and a few miles down the road it’s a “No Hassle Zone” which pretty much translates into “the cops aren’t going to do anything about anything.” So it becomes a racetrack. That’s fun. If only I had a gun. I could have fired it in the sky all wild, wild west style.

Of course, on the way back into the U.S. it’s all a different story. Border guards, passport swiping, quizzing, general attitude and staredowns are all part of the routine.

Anyway, back to Phoenix we went. There we parted ways with our nice car share amigo and spent the night in a motel by the airport. The next morning it was onto a flight to Cancun. Then a bus to Tulum where the rest of our time was spent.

Tulum was a cool little town. We stayed at a place right on the beach. It was a bit “rustic” as there was no electricity but who needs that crap? Actually, it was pretty warm. I wouldn’t have minded a ceiling fan. But whatever! The beach overshadows and cures the warmness. Mostly at least.

Although neither myself of my traveling companion opted to not opt that way, the place we stayed was “clothing optional” meaning I saw more penises than my previous vacations. Probably more than all of my previous vacations combined and definitely more than I needed. I also saw a good number of boobs that I didn’t really want to see. The general rule seemed to be: whoever I would have liked to see naked = not naked. The people I definitely did not want to see naked = very naked.

So beyond the nudity there was swimming, eating, drinking, some site seeing, some SCUBA diving, some meeting new people, some shopping, some napping, more drinking, etc. It was quite nice.

Then from there it was back to Cleveland via Charlotte, NC. Now it’s back to the grind and back to not blogging worth a poo.

Non-Human Sights

2009-05-28T22:53:00.005-04:00

This is going to seem like it's from out of nowhere as I haven't posted anything in so long, but sometimes I enjoy Cleveland for its nature. Nature? Well, there isn't a ton right where I live, but it's certainly way more than when I lived in Manhattan. Or Brooklyn.

Tonight I was rowing (I've been rowing again) on the Cuyahoga and in the two hours I was out there I saw two rabbits, seagulls, one great blue heron, one woodchuck, sparrows, and a couple of fish (alive even). I'm sure all of those are around NYC, but I never saw them. Well maybe the sparrows and seagulls, but whatever. Don't rain on my parade. Anyway, the point is I like seeing non-human life. Especially along a river that has been written off as a burning joke for so long.

Keep making your come back, Crooked River.

I Do Stuff and Don't Write Ever

2009-04-02T22:14:00.003-04:00

Hmmmm, maybe I should post something. God, this blog really is lame. Honestly it's sort of a sham even trying to call it a blog.

The sad thing is, I've actually done some stuff. I mean nothing making for a great story, but at least something to document for my own enjoyment. Anyway, what to report ...

I went to see Kottonmouth Kings at House of Blues. Nothing great, but it was enjoyable enough. Worth the cost of admission I'd say. KMKs obsession with weed sometimes gets a little tired, but that's their thing so I roll with it. And the kids seem to love it. The crowd was a pretty awful collection of trash. But entertaining, stoned as fuck trash so who am I to complain? Also cool was one of the openers, La Coka Nostra. Pretty much House of Pain with two extras doing all gangsta-themed tunes. Sometimes a bit corny with the toughguy act, but still so much better than all to so-called rap/hip-hop that is out today. As a nostalgia bonus, they even did three House of Pain songs. Dare I say timeless?

Also I went down to Pittsburgh to see the Penguins vs. Rangers. Pretty sweet. Good seats, a close game, some fights, some laughs. I like that Pittsburgh. It's a fun little city. Sort of what Cleveland should be but isn't. Damn this Cleveland.

Also, I had two high school friends visit. Both for one day only and separately. One on Thursday and then another on Monday. One was passing through town and then the other was in town for work. We did some site seeing (such as it is in the Cleve), eating, drinking and had some good laughs. Visitors are always fun.

This weekend Cleveland should be pretty active for once. It's the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction. I'm not going because I am an idiot (or maybe smart, I'm not sure) but good for Cleveland. And for Metallica and Run DMC and the rest of the inductees.

That's it. I have to go shower, pay some bills and make some lunch for tomorrow. See you again ~~soon~~ at some point.

Boozing and Bearding

2009-03-09T19:49:00.001-04:00

So, as previously mentioned, Saturday was the Y.O.T.B.F.B.! It was quite a success on the charity level and also on the fun level. (read more about the details here) A good time was had by all. Too good a time for yours truly it seems. It's now approximately 42 hours since I last had any booze go into my system and I still feel crappy. This is definitely in the top 5 of my worst hangovers ever. My yesterday (Sunday) went like this:

4am (thanks to the EST to EDT change) - Arrived home from bar
noonish - woke up, decided some breakfast might be good. Went to breakfast joint. Ordered breakfast. Ate one bite of egg, one bite of potatoes, one bite of biscuit/gravy, and one piece of bacon then called it quits in fear of vomitus.
1pm - returned to couch
Napped, watched bad Sunday TV, napped some more, drank some lemonade
4pm - cut off beard with clippers
Returned to couch for more napping
6pm - ordered Chinese food
Attempted to eat a little soup. Pretty much had two spoonfuls of the broth. Went back to the couch
8pm - Simpsons begin. Fall asleep.
9:15pm - wake up, eat a small plate of rice and noodles from Chinese food
10pm - in bed

So as you can see, a pretty wholesome day. It's always bad when I don't/can't eat. That's never a good sign whether it's hangover, germ or mental related.

Today I woke up, still feeling not so great. I ate today, but my stomach is still less than happy with me. I'm sure there are other organs equally as mad too. They're just waiting to let me know at a later date I'm guessing. Probably with some sort of failure or cancer or something.

Anyway, I may need some time off before doing that sort of thing again. Yikes. But there were some laughs and some ridiculous photos and then additional laughs so maybe it was all worth it.

Saturday Night Game Plan

2009-03-07T14:36:00.004-05:00

Of course I was going to mention this earlier, but I didn't so now we're down to crunch time ... this is what I'll be doing tonight: Y.O.T.B.F.B.!

I've got a beard and everything! The beard will probably be gone tomorrow, but I'm pretty confident that a hangover will be taking its place. All in the name of charity. And foolishness.

R.I.P. Macho B

2009-03-05T06:50:00.000-05:00

Sadly, the Jaguar in the article I mentioned a couple of posts ago is no more: Rare Arizona Jaguar Euthanized

Stupid kidneys.

A Bunch of Stuff

2009-03-03T23:10:00.004-05:00

Not surprisingly I have been absent from my blogging for longer than intended. Again. Oddly, I have actually had things to write about, but just haven't sat down to do it. Why? Who could say? I know I have a list of potential reasons, but none are really valid so F it. I won't even try.

Let's see, maybe a little recap of things that have happened that could have been cool stories, but since I am packing them into one post it will be perhaps slightly abbreviated ...

Number 1, football. I play in a league with some work folk. It's co-ed and two-hand touch. This sounds like a good combination for perverts such as myself, but two things hinder the perversion. One, it's winter and everybody wears lots of clothes, including gloves and two, most of the girls are scary and not really the sorts that I want to touch. And I'm guessing for the most part they aren't into the gents anyway. That's purely speculation, but I'll stick with my gut on this one.

Every week football is a mess. There are (again) two factors that influence this. One, we are pretty awful and two, Mother Nature. Every week the weather and the field conditions are different. Muddy, snowy, frozen, rain, slush, wind, you name it.

Three memorable football events over the last few weeks: One week it was sort of warm. I even wore shorts. BUT, there was leftover snow on the ground. This snow was melting, but not entirely, so we were playing in slushy water the whole game. Water over the tops of my feet. Ice water essentially. Our feet were so numb by the end that it was scary. I was seriously wondering if I had done permanent damage. As it turns out, I'm a overreacting pussy and we were fine. But Jesus that was uncomfortable. Also a highlight of that game, and memorable moment number two, is a girl from the other team gave a guy on my team the hardest slap I've ever seen administered. It was awesome. And really over nothing. His face was red until halftime and she got kicked out. The last memorable moment that I will mention is the game following the slush and the slap. My friend Mike and I were playing defense and guarding our guys, when they crossed each other we managed to run into each other full steam. We both got knocked pretty good, but Mike went down. When I got to him his mouth was a bloody mess and he was looking dazed. He eventually got up and made his way to the sidelines before eventually going home. His teeth were all intact as was his nose. After he had left, another guy on my team asked, "What part of you ran into him?" I said, "I think it was my shoulder but I'm not sure. But my shoulder sort of hurts so I'm guessing that was it." He said, "Oh yeah, it was your shoulder." I look and there is blood spatter and a piece of lip on the shoulder of the fleece I was wearing. Update: Photo now available here. I'm a murderer.

Number 2, I went to a pretty sweet birthday party at a place just east of downtown CL. The bar was great. 100 years old, cool owners/bartenders, good jukebox, snacks, beers I never see anymore (Stroh's?) a dog, a cat and fun times all around. Read these little blurbs about this place here and you'll get the idea: Playboy | Esquire

Number 3, I attended a show at Beachland Ballroom. It was Tim Fite as the headliner with Benjy Ferree and Elephant Bones opening. I had listened to Benjy Ferree online and was sort of looking forward to it live but was slightly let down. I like the more "old timey" sounding stuff (e.g. "Fear" on the MySpace page) but there wasn't all that much of that. They were fine. I guess I was just expecting something a bit different. Thumbs up to local guys, Elephant Bones. A good sound. Solid, gimmick-free rock (other than the singer's hat I suppose.) Fite was odd but good. Certainly entertaining. It's cool to see someone just doing their thing. I'm sure he's not making much (if any) money, but he keeps making weird, non-radio friendly music (art?) because that's what he wants to do. Amen to that.

Number 4, I had shingles. Not the flat, tar/stone sheets that go on your roof. This sort of shingles. My waist along my left side felt weird for like a week, almost like I had dry skin or like my pants had rubbed there or something, but I couldn't see anything. Then one day I woke up and the whole area (especially heading down towards my crotch) was tender and it hurt to sit. When odd feelings start progressing towards my "junk" I get nervous, so I went to the doctor. He knew right away what I had. I got some medicine to decrease the discomfort, I rested up a bit and now I'm pretty much back to 100%. I'm a medical misfit!

Alright, I'm going to go finish a movie I started yesterday and get to bed. I'll try to come back and give you a little update on this coming weekend as well as an update on some communications.

Jags in MX and AZ

2009-02-23T07:08:00.001-05:00

I went to Belize a few years back. One of the things I did there was a night hike (with guide) in a preserve where Jaguars lived and had been spotted. I had a pretty big hard on with the hopes of seeing one ... hopefully not clawing out my guts, but seeing one walking or hunting or whatever. No dice (although I did see some other cool stuff).

Well, it looks like perhaps my hard on will return if the Jaguar's comeback continues like this: Rare Jaguars Spotted in Arizona and Mexico

Big cats in the U.S.! I like it.

No Stearing Required

2009-02-03T23:02:00.003-05:00

So last night after work I decided to splurge $5 and get my car washed automatic style. After weeks of shitty, messy, cold, the weather here in Cleveland got its ass over freezing for a minute so I figured that even though more cold and more precipitation (and hence more salt on the road) is on the way it would be nice of me to get rid of the already existing filth funking up my ride.

I go to the car wash, get in line, pay and roll into the bay. There is a girl in front of me whose car is already riding along the track, on its way into cleaner pastures. I get lined up, drive in, put it in neutral and off I go. The soap is happening, the cloth whappers are beating against my car, the car wash magic is happening. Then there is a bit of a jolt and a thud. I figure it's just a joint in the track or something. Then it happens again. I put on my wipers to see if I can see anything and that works. The thud is actually me hitting the girl in front of me. Not hard, but hitting nevertheless. My car hits then backs off, then the next roller catches my tire and pushes for another hit. There's not a lot I can do. Brakes aren't going to help, I can't back up because there is another car there, I can't get out unless I want a soapy soaking and even then my car will keep doing what it's doing ... trapped!

After a couple more bumps, the guy running the place realizes that there is a bit of an automotive log jam happening and stops the wash. He comes walking through and notices that the girl ahead of me is sort of off the track. I think she must have been steering instead of just letting the car wash take care of everything. So she's sort of perched on the edge of the guide track. The attendant tells her that she's going to have to put her car in gear and try to slowly drive out. She puts it in gear, rolls a bit and comes off of the edge of the track. That's all good, but when her car hits the floor she hit some sort of drain which became dislodged and in went her front tire. She was stuck. She was crying.

She was there to stay until someone figured out how to lift the car a bit. There was talk of a tow truck, but none of that was my concern. I had been entertained enough. The cars behind me backed out and then I did too. I got the guy working there to rinse off the soap on my car and also got a coupon for a free wash for use some other day. So pretty much two washes for free. I guess that some low speed impacts were worth it.

Not a Washout

2009-02-02T22:58:00.000-05:00

So the leaking water issue subsided with a non-disaster status. No collapsed ceiling, no lost sentimental goods and only slight irritation.

Basically, I took a long lunch break during work, some roofing guys came over, shoveled snow off the roof and chopped ice out of the gutters and through some salt up there to get things melting and flowing off the roof rather than melting, getting stuck behind the ice and flowing back under the shingles and into my living room as it had been doing.

Despite being fairly hillbillyish, these roof guys did an alright job. No more water in my living room so crisis averted I suppose. Now I just have to move my stuff back where it belongs and life in my little apartment will go back to normal. Messy, but dry normalcy.

Leaks Ruin My Mexican Buzz

2009-01-29T22:09:00.002-05:00

So I went out for some tasty Mexican food this evening with some work chums. That's right, I said "chums." When I came home, I walk in the door and happen to look over and notice that a box and some other crap I had over by the front of my living room is wet. I look around and eventually up and there is dripping going on. A leak in the ceiling thanks to, I'm presuming, all of this lovely Cleveland snow sitting up on the roof.

It's dripping down through a crack in the ceiling and also down through the ceiling fan/light. None of this is looking very good. I have two buckets, a pan and a big flower pot catching water right now.

I have renter's insurance so all of my useless shit is covered (I guess). I moved the stuff I think I might give a shit about (photos, CDs, stereo, DVDs, Xbox, books) but some of it I just can't be bothered. I intentionally left the TV (my soon to be ex-wife's) as I want a new one and this might be my chance. I know I should bother with this stuff now because it will be way less of a bother now than it will be after it gets wet, but I'm lazy. And I'm trying to be optimistic. So drip, drip, drip.

Hopefully my landlord will come do something about it tomorrow but I'm not really sure what can be done with layers of ice and snow on the roof. We'll see. At this point I won't be surprised if the roof caves in while I'm sleeping. It doesn't look that bad yet, but these things generally progress quickly.
The drippy wall

Ceiling crackage

The Year In Tunes - 2008

2009-01-27T23:57:00.001-05:00

I almost forgot about doing my (semi-)annual list of my favorite albums of the year. I feel like I'm one of the only humans still buying albums, but that's neither here nor there. Whatever the fuck that means. Anyway, here goes.

My favorite albums of 2008 (in no particular order):

Local H - 12 Angry Months -- an album done after a miserable break-up (go figure). 12 months. 12 songs. Get it? That considered or not, it's a good album. And even if the album sucked, how can you go wrong with a song title like track 8: "Jesus Christ! Did You See the Size of That Sperm Whale?" Really.

Gym Class Heroes - The Quilt -- this one is questionable to be quite honest. As an album, it's definitely not as good as their previous ones, but it has enough good, catchy shit on it that I still find myself listening to it in the car quite often.

Jimmie's Chicken Shack - Fail On Cue -- JCS came out back in like 1994 and you'd think they'd quit or disappear or start to suck, but they keep grinding it out. They've gotten a bit more mellow I suppose, but haven't we all? Oh, and there's a good cover of "Waiting Room" by Fugazi. I likes.

mc chris - mc chris is dead -- Funny, catchy, funny and good. Some can't get past his voice, but I think it adds to the whole aura. And some legit rappers think mc has skills. (Or is that skillz?) so it's gotta be true then, right?. This album has it all ... including songs about Reese's Pieces, ninjas and feeling old, not to mention a guest appearance by Andrew W.K. What more do you need? Well, there's plenty more too. Get on it.

Mindless Self Indulgence - If -- Offensive to some, funny to me. Original, spazzy electro/punk rock.

Trivium - Shogun -- I don't think I like this one as much as their last two, but it's still some quality metal (even though I don't really buy their toughguy image) and it seems to be growing on me more and more.

Rise Against - Appeal To Reason -- Sometimes they get a bit much with their PETA love and their political stances, but maybe we all need some of that once in awhile. Afterall I don't necessarily have to buy into all of it to like their music. And I like the music so I'll tolerate some attempts at making me eat vegetables. Only vegetables.

Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers - Turbo Ocho -- Eight songs in eight days, plus a bonus three that grew from those eight days. As a indicator of difficulty, I haven't written one legitimate song in 35+ years. Along with that feat, it's actually a really good album. And let's not forget that RCPM are great live. As a matter of fact I just bought myself a Lonely Planet Mexico because I am plotting to go to Mexico to see them in June. Join if you'd like!

Reggie & The Full Effect - Last Stop: Crappy Town -- Is it pop? Is it metal? Is it alternative? I have no fucking idea. I guess it's all of the above plus some piano just to add to the fun. All the songs are named after stops on the NYC subway which is cool (right?). Also, I like how this listens like an album. It's laid out well from song to song to song. Sort of like albums used to be before the advent of "shuffle" and "random" and the ifuckingPod.

Slipknot - All Hope Is Gone -- This really is some brutal stuff. I know some people think the masks are corny and the whole "scene" around them might be a bit much for some, but close your eyes you'd never know about that. This has some thrash, some old school metal riffs and some aggression that is hard to come by these days ... with a random, dare I say "ballad"(?) too.

Two that I wish I had listened to enough to judge:
Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy
Metallica - Death Magnetic

Those Cows Are Tasty

2009-01-04T11:28:00.003-05:00

Last night I, along with two of my co-workers (and former NYCers) took our boss out for a late Christmas present of Morton's Steakhouse. That is some tasty (and pricey) Christmasing.

I had some awesome bread, Jumbo Lump Crab Cake, Cajun Ribeye Steak and Hot Upside-Down Apple Pie. And of course, some cocktails. All tasty as hell and a great waiter and staff in general.

We followed that up with some beers at Harry Buffalo, where we experienced the worst waitstaff on the planet. I've never had a problem there before, so I don't want to say to avoid the place or anything but last night was pretty awful. The bartender was fine -- quick and friendly -- but the guy that should have been serving our table, didn't. He asked if we'd be eating when we first got there and that was it. His only return visit was to remove our forks/knives and to take the napkin/condiment organizer back to the kitchen. He was useless. Not that we really cared. We are fully capable of walking to the bar and ordering for ourselves, but it just seemed beyond unhelpful to his wallet and the wallets of the bar owners. End rant.

So today I'm going to go try to run off some of that eating, then watch some playoff football ... and pray for some Ravens choking.

Enter '09

2009-01-03T17:38:00.001-05:00

So it's a new year, still the same lacking blog.

Hmmmm, well it's now 2009. Maybe some things will change on the blogging front? One never knows. New Year's was pretty chill. Just a few friends, some board gaming and some drinks/eats. I woke up hangover-free. That's three years running for no hangover January 1st. Amazing.

As for 2008, I guess it went pretty well. I ate a lot of bacon and accomplished my anti-resolution. I made some new friends, kept some old ones and continue to overthink everything. I went to some concerts (Local H, Jimmie's Chicken Shack, mc chris, Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers, Everlast, Hammel On Trial, Rise Against) traveled some (St. Kitts, Seattle, NYC, Cedar Point) watched some some sporting events (Browns vs. Giants, CSU vs. Marist), ran some, rowed some, ate some, drank some, cursed a lot, etc.

Due to various lawyer and other side slowness I continue to be married to someone I have now not laid eyes on and only spoken to on the phone once over the last 19 months. That's not all that awesome for my head or the heads of the people around me. Pain in my ass.

I've now officially been in Cleveland for one year. My original plan was a year and out, but I don't have a plan for the out part yet so here I remain. I'm already four days off schedule for leaving. Late as usual. If it's any consolation, I do plan on getting my resume in order this month and see what happens, but between this crappy economy, my lack of direction and my on again/off again fear of moving somewhere new, my confidence in a change of venue isn't too high. Damn me!

Anyway, hopefully this blogging will get off the ground a bit this year. Maybe.

A Hunger For Human Flesh

2008-11-11T20:48:00.003-05:00

Call me what you will, but as it turns out, I like zombie boobs: World Zombie Day in NYC

It's All About The Bulk

2008-11-08T17:29:00.003-05:00

I can't say I'm a huge purchaser of things in bulk although I do like the idea. Sam's Club, BJ's, all those places are fun to walk around and buy stuff but I don't exactly need giant quantities of anything nor do I really have the storage space so I just don't bother.

I do however get things in quantity sometimes. Soap, cereal, beer, rice ... things I use a lot. One example of bulk genius is a box of powdered Tide laundry detergent I bought. It was huge. I bought it back when I first moved to Brooklyn in July of 2007. I went down to the crappy Key Food supermarket down the street to buy a few things and saw this box of Tide for what seemed to be an overly economical price (I wish I could remember what it was) so I grabbed it. This box was so big people stopped me on my way home to ask where I had bought it. Anywho, this box from Brooklyn lasted the summer so it moved out here to Ohio with me and then lasted some more. Until? Today. I just ran out of it today. Ridiculous. That's 16 months of laundry doin' all in one box!
Me and my Tide
I know you are probably thinking that maybe I never clean my clothes, but it's not true. I wash clothes and towels and sheets, I swear. I even have some in the machine right now.

So the end of an era is through. Sad. I couldn't find another freakbox so I'm back to standard issue liquid Tide. We'll see how long this thing lasts.

In other bulk news, check out this bulk I put in my gut last night: Fatty Melt

Another Chunk of Not Blogging

2008-10-07T23:24:00.006-04:00

Oh, blog ... how long it's been. I'm just not so good at this anymore. Am I busy? Not really. Lacking in things to say? Never. Lazy? Not really even that. I just haven't felt like sitting down and typing. Oddly, every time I do sit down and type I enjoy it, yet I don't seem to remember that's the case for more than 30 seconds afterwards though. So anyway, it's been awhile.

What's been happening?

Well I have been working a lot. I guess not necessarily more than usual, but work has been more of a shitshow than usual. I'm starting to hate it some. Busy, new routine, confusion ... it all leads to exhaustion and irritation. Neither of which are my friend.

I also had a little time off from the place of employment. A few weeks back I went to my parent's summer place in New York State. It was my annual venture there. Usually I gather up a posse of some sort but this year the turnout was a bit sparse due to shitty planning on my part and shitty weather on Mother Nature's part. It was still fun though. Hanging out, drinking, grilling, making fires, sleeping, etc.

The following week, I went out to Seattle for a friend's wedding. It was pretty damn good. Rainy, but good. I really like that town and the people who live there. A good overall vibe I think. I always say that yet never pack up my shit and move there. Dumb. One thing worth mentioning is these guys: Skillet Street Food. They were the peeps hired to do the food at the wedding and holy shit was it good. Tasty burgers w/fries, salmon over risotto, killer pulled pork, clam chowder ... my mouth waters just thinking about it. Honestly. It was great. Best wedding food I have ever had. I also saw some cool shit at the Seattle Aquarium and in the Underground Tour. It also should be noted that one day I went out to a happy hour, drank a bunch and proceeded to stay long enough that I was still there (and participated in) happy hour number two at the same bar. I didn't feel very awesome the next day, this much is for certain.

Since my return to The Cleve, I went on a bit of a concert binge. I saw three shows in nine days. Maybe that's not really a binge, but it was certainly ample. I saw Everlast, Rise Against and (hold on to your fucking head) Hanson. Yes, that Hanson. Oh, boy I have gotten a little odd in my old age.

Everlast was OK, but nothing great. Definitely a good entertainer. I just wasn't into his set.

Rise Against was good. More screaming/punkish than on their albums but that's certainly not a complaint as I like me some screaming. My only issue with that show was that it was overpriced as hell. I blame Live Nation, not Rise Against.

And Hanson. Honestly, Hanson was (were?) pretty impressive. If you could eliminate all of the screaming females it would be much more easily accepted by me and probably many others. But that screaming isn't going to go away. That's just part of the package I'm afraid. But despite that screaming they put on a good show, sound good and obviously have talent.

Not to be all abrupt or anything but I'm wrapping this up. I'm off to bed. Another fun-filled day of bullshit awaits tomorrow I'm sure. Perhaps I'll make this blog happen yet. Don't hold your breath, but keep the occasional eye out.

FAIRly Tasty (and totally unhealthy)

2008-08-29T11:12:00.006-04:00

Last night, after work I went to the fair. It was the usual county fair fun -- animals, rednecks, mud, tractors, smells, rednecks, demolition derby action, rides, games, food, etc.

Let's talk about the food and my overindulging. My intake between the hours of 7pm and 11pm (in chronological order): French fries, BBQ elk sandwich, sausage w/peppers & onions, Dr Pepper, half a fried Oreo, elephant ear, lemonade.

I'm gross.

I dig this guy's shirt. Honestly.

At first I was thinking, "Not the crap I've been eating" but even crappy fair food comes from farmers. Potatoes, elk, onions, peppers, wheat, lemons, etc. Farmers!

Drag Style

2008-08-23T16:45:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, despite the near ninety degree heat I hit up for some rides, rides and more rides at Cedar Point. I love me some roller coasters. A couple pissed off my stomach a bit, all of them made my head spin and I think it's safe to say that I probably came close to a hear attack a couple of times. Without a doubt, my favorite is Top Thrill Dragster, which I like to call Rocket Coaster. It's so fucking fast. 120MPH in 3.8ish seconds. I don't even know how to describe the fastness. It literally sucks the breath out of you and plasters you back against your seat. I pretty much find myself waiting to explode or implode or vaporize or something and then just as quickly as it started, it's over. And you're alive.

Awesome.

As you wait in line you see people at the end of the ride and more often than not they look at each other as the adrenaline fades, with a look of disbelief on their face. The disbelief that they are still alive I think. Then quickly they usually laugh of scream or high-five or whatever because they've fooled the grim reaper and are also slightly embarrassed at the idea that they briefly thought they were going to be dead.

Anyway, if you like going really fast and/or having the shit scared out of you hit yourself up some Rocket Coaster. I already want more.

Mmmmmm, Olympians

2008-08-19T22:03:00.008-04:00

Let's talk about the Olympics for a moment. Not so much the Olympics in general as the hotness that can be involved.

Everyone is always oooohing and ahhhhing about Amanda Beard. Really? Why? She has a great swimmer's body, but so do most swimmers. Natalie Coughlin, for example. Beard's face is weird and she tries too hard. Makeup while swimming? Not that I would kick her out of bed, but come on. The hottest athlete? Get over it.

Anyway, I just had to get that out. Now, I'm sure I'm missing plenty of others who could make this list, but in passing (and that means not scouring the web or team rosters) the ladies I've seen this Olympics who I dig -- in no particular order, and for no legitimate reason:

Leryn Franco (Paraguay - track & field) - Jesus Christmas!

Hope Solo (USA - soccer) - She's a goalie. Hot and nuts. I like it.

Stephanie Rice (Australia - swimming) - You can't go wrong with Australian ladies. At least as far as I know. Again, I'm missing the big deal with Amanda Beard.

Jennie Finch (USA - softball) - I hate to be all hop on the bandwagon, but honestly, she is beautiful. And pitches like nobody's business too.

Allyson Felix - (USA - track & field) - Speedy and cute.

Natalie Coughlin - (USA - swimming) - see above rant about Beard.

Lolo Jones (USA - track & field) - She hit a hurdle and lost out on a gold, but medal or no, you can't beat that abs and smile combo.

These Germans (Germany - field hockey, kayak, sailing) - Winners!! Medals? I don't know. Maybe. I'm not sure I care.

Honorable mention is this gal who's not an Olympic athlete at all, but certainly makes the Olympics more enjoyable for all.

Phew. And that's the end of my being a pervert for the next few minutes.

Street View Sleeper

2008-08-12T23:44:00.003-04:00

I don't know if this is true (who can ever tell with the Brits/Aussies?) but either way I love it: Mapped

Ageless Horns

2008-08-07T08:09:00.006-04:00

Between beer, castles, Octoberfest, hot females and this photo I'm starting to think I belong in Germany: "... you can live the dream ..."

You never get old in Germany. Or at least you don't let getting old get in the way of rockin' out.

State of the Blah

2008-08-06T22:07:00.003-04:00

My posting is really, really not happening. Some of it is being busy or tired or lazy, but I think a big part of it is in the back of my mind I am thinking "Who the fuck cares about your boring shit? You're in Cleveland with little drama or excitement or even odd interactions with strangers."

But today I was thinking about it, and honestly my NYC shit wasn't that interesting either. And I didn't give a fuck. I'd write about it anyway. Idiots, news, observations, etc. Just fucking type it up.

So, perhaps I'll just throw down my boring shit and see how this goes* for me and this lame blog.

*Purely theoretical. No promises that I'll actually do any of this.

Motley Love

2008-07-21T12:26:00.008-04:00

Please add "with money" to the end of this headline:

MÖTLEY CRÜE Guitarist's 24-Year-Old Girlfriend: 'I Am Totally In Love'

Mick Mars

Maybe it really is love. Maybe I'm just a skeptical prick, but it just sounds a bit suspicious to me.

Here She Is

2008-07-13T11:32:00.006-04:00

I know I mentioned awhile back that I would include some photos of the new ride. Here you go (finally):

Slightly cooler than walking or riding my bike I guess.

Endorsed By Aquaman

2008-07-11T10:58:00.005-04:00

Like most people I'm totally down with preventing babies and STDs. And I think it's safe to say that I'd like an excuse to make my penis the center of attention. I suppose I'd even be down with buying something that makes my penis look a bit more "artsy" but I'm really not sure how I feel about making it look like a dolphin: Intellx Dolphin
Dolphin(TM) Condom from Intellx

Other wacky shapes also available!

A Whole Lotta 4th

2008-07-10T12:30:00.001-04:00

As always, it's been awhile.

Let's see, what have I been doing since last post? Well, it was the 4th of July. I worked during the day and then caught fireworks at night. My first fireworks viewing the The Cleve. Not bad. Certainly it was no New York, but really fireworks on any level do me good.

Saturday I went on a tour of one of the bridges here in Cleveland. Sounds boring or corny, but it was actually pretty cool. The bridge has a rather unknown second level that supported trolleys back in the day. Now that level is just a rarely opened museum. I want the trolleys back!

After that it was a quick stop at the market so I could have some of my peeps over for some grilling and whatnot. We played some cornhole, ate some burgers, dogs, brats, chips, etc. I got pretty drunk. But not as drunk as possible, so I then ventured on to another party where I reclaimed my beer pong crown from a couple of co-workers. That felt good. What did not was the awful hangover I had the next day. It seems that 12+ hours of drinking doesn't equate into a productive next day.

Unproductive really doesn't even describe it correctly. I was useless. I felt awful. I didn't get out of bed until close to noon and then when I did get up I went to the beach and just laid around sweating and fighting of vomit.

Good times.

You're treading on me ... And you're not supposed to

2008-07-04T08:31:00.004-04:00

Happy 4th.

Keep the treading to a minimum or I will totally go America all over your asses.

Pimp My Bus Ride

2008-06-18T19:23:00.002-04:00

Towards the tail end of my shift I got an e-mail from co-worker and former blogger Toole who had already left work (sooo fancy with his Blackberry):

There is a bus outside of work that says "metalocalypse". I think it is here to pick you up.

That's a commute that I could learn to love with the quickness.

Rock Out With Your Wang Out

2008-06-18T07:08:00.003-04:00

Yesterday CBSSports.com had this going on on the front page (click on image for larger): "Wang out until September" ... well, if you insist. I just hope I don't get sunburn. Wangs out everybody!

Oh, juvenile humor, where would I be without you?

Some Stuff

2008-06-17T00:16:00.001-04:00

So I should be in bed or at least getting ready for bed, but I'm not. I have a chronic issue with appropriate sleep patterns unless I am around someone who entices me to get in bed. And even then it's difficult to get there without at least some odd contempt and sense that I'm missing something ... even though I know that's not the case.

Anyway, I'm up and listening to some rather high strung music so I figured I should type something.

My trip to Columbus was a success. I made it there and back alive (despite my driver rockin' some triple digit MPHs on the speedometer) and while in the C-Bus I managed to win two medals in the regatta I was in. One gold in the 8 I was in and a silver in the 4. It was a fairly sloppy performance overall (especially in the 8) but certainly a good starting point for my Midwest rowing career. I also had some pretty good bonding moments with some of my rowing posse so that's also promising. Friends are always good.

Since then I have been doing the usual. Work, sleep, eats and a little driving in the new car. My shifting has gotten better and hence I'm liking it a bit better. I even got myself an official Ohio license. So, no more New York State. I'm officially Ohio. Jesus.

And just to keep you in the loop, I'm off on a little vacation this Thursday to St. Kitts. I'll be gone for a week. If I actually blogged on occasion this would make a difference but honestly if I didn't make this announcement would you have even known I was missing? Hells no. But take note ... I'll be missing. And getting tan (probably burnt), drinking too much and probably making or breaking my present relationship. Yes, I'm going to with a lady friend who earned this trip through work and invited me as her guest. I'm sure it will be fun, but we're definitely on two different wave lengths as far as what vacation is all about and how to approach it. But it's her thing so I'm going along with whatever. I just hope I don't go too bonkers with the other co-workers and the resort-y stylings. I like basic accommodations, experiencing the locals, exploring and not dealing with anybody on the beach, etc. This is not going to be like that. But vacation is vacation. Especially free vacation with someone who is excited and fun and deserving some time away and most importantly (and shockingly) wanting to be with me. I think it will be fun, but I'm still a little nervous about the whole thing.

And now I'm off to bed. Morning is technically here already, and I need some sleep or I'm going to be in a heap of doo doo. I'll post again before I leave. Maybe.

C-Town to C-Bus

2008-06-06T09:10:00.002-04:00

Tonight after work I am heading to Columbus, OH. My first trip to anywhere more than 30 minutes outside of Cleveland. Exciting! Stay tuned for some sort of follow-up. Maybe.

It's Fun To Punch Guys Named Coco

2008-06-06T08:59:00.004-04:00

This really should get some sort of "photo of the year" award or something like that.
Tampa Bay Rays pitcher James Shields, right, takes a swing at Boston Red Sox's Coco Crisp after Crisp was hit by a pitch and charged the mound in the second inning of a baseball game, Thursday, June 5, 2008, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
From: http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//080605/483/0b6192aaf2f641ea8be0cd20ee0879ca/

WRX-n-Effect*

2008-06-05T06:51:00.001-04:00

So after work today I am picking up a car. My car. The significance of that italicized "My"? Well I haven't had a car to call my own since I got rid of my 1992 Geo Prism back in 1996. The only cars I have driven sine then have been random rentals (I'd say two or three a year) and my parents' when visiting. But now I'm an owner of a new car. New to me anyway. It's a 2003 Subaru Impreza WRX. It's an obnoxious yellow so it will be like driving a school bus. But smaller. And with turbo.

I'll post some photos at some point (if I don't wrap myself around a telephone pole first).

*Yes, that is a reference to Rump Shaker. What of it?

Saturday Check-In

2008-05-31T15:05:00.001-04:00

Again with the posting slackeritis. I'm horrible at this. Whatever I guess. Not much to report. Life isn't all that exciting these days.

I guess there were a few activities of note in the last week or so to mention. Those would be an outing to see Local H at Roc Bar, me running a 10K (this is me), a wedding and a Ribfest.

Local H is getting older (like me) but still bring the rock pretty damn hard. You can't beat the amount of noise they generate, especially being just two guys. It's impressive. I bought their newest album at the show and the guy selling the merchandise was none other than Scott, the singer. His music straight to my ears and my money straight into his pocket. No middlemen necessary!

The 10K was pretty OK. I mean, running isn't really that fun, but as far as running a 10K goes I guess it went well. It was lightly raining but other than that no complaints. I finished right around my goal, beat one of my co-workers and I didn't even feel too shitty the days following.

The wedding was a co-worker's in Pennsylvania. Sort of last second style, definitely D list, but food and drink and people making asses of themselves on the dance floor is always OK no matter what list you're on. I have to say the wedding scene is a little strange for me as mine didn't really work out so well. This whole separation has made me more cynical than ever. And that sort of makes me nuts inside.

The Ribfest is an annual thing in The Cleve. And I know why. Those ribs are tasty as hell. It's not the cheapest way to stuff your face on a sunny Sunday, but sometimes spending money is worth it. Especially when ribs and rubs and sauces spend some time in the smoker and/or over coals. Delicious.

That's all for now. I'm going to go browse some cars in a used car lot up the road to see if they've got anything for me or if it will least strike up some inspiration for something motorized.

Here's A Kick In The Nuts To Go Along With Your Inevitable Delay

2008-05-21T15:46:00.002-04:00

$15 for a checked bag? Are you kidding me?: American To Charge For 1st Checked Bag

See Dees

2008-05-21T10:07:00.005-04:00

Since a question was asked in the comments of my last post and since I like to be "interactive" here at Stinktown I guess I should answer. The CDs I ordered from the wacky CD Baby are:

CD #1: Jimmie's Chicken Shack - Fail On Cue

CD #2: Suicide City - Not My Year

Also, it should be mentioned that I acquired two others this past week that were not ordered from CD Baby:

CD #3: mc chris - mc chris is dead (purchased direct from mcchris.com)

CD#4: Vietnam Werewolf - Ohio's City (purchased at a live show)

Yeah, it's all over the place, but it should at least keep my ears busy for awhile.

Shipping The Way It Was Meant To Be

2008-05-20T22:38:00.000-04:00

I ordered a couple of CDs online yesterday. The confirmation e-mail that my CDs had been shipped was way better than what most companies send:

Your CDs have been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow.

A team of 50 employees inspected your CDs and polished them to make sure they were in the best possible condition before mailing.

Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CDs into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy.

We all had a wonderful celebration afterwards and the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved "Bon Voyage!" to your package, on its way to you, in our private CD Baby jet on this day, Monday, May 19th.

I hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby. We sure did. Your picture is on our wall as "Customer of the Year." We're all exhausted but can't wait for you to come back to CDBABY.COM!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Sigh...

--
Derek Sivers, president, CD Baby
the little store with the best new independent music
http://cdbaby.com cdbaby@cdbaby.com (503)595-3000

Get Those Legs Working

2008-05-15T16:59:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow is Bike-To-Work Day so get your fat ass out of your car habit and plop that ass on a bike seat and pedal. It's fun. And it's good for you. And you won't be bitching about gas being $4 a gallon.

More info here.

Seriously, do it.

License To Boast

2008-05-09T13:47:00.003-04:00

Saw this plate on a car outside of a Mexican restaurant I went to the other day:

Surprisingly there wasn't one sexy person eating, let alone two of them.

Sunday Brunch. Now With Feathers!

2008-05-07T11:03:00.008-04:00

Here's a gross story for you.

I wound up working this past Sunday. Not my usual, but I'm a nice guy and I agreed to fill in for someone. Anyway, I ride my bike in and pull up to our quiet building. I roll up to the bike rack and look over to see a seagull looking at me. You know how they are. Always giving the evil eye. Head tilted, beak at the ready ... it makes me nervous.

I go about the business of locking up my bike and look up to see the seagull has something in it's mouth. I can't figure it out at first but then I see. It's a dead bird. There's this one in the seagull's mouth and two more on the ground. Apparently a bunch of little birds from the neighborhood had a run-into-the-building-windows party. It surprisingly resulted in a bunch of broken necks. Idiots. Anyway, this seagull had a sparrow in its mouth. Then the seagull tilts its head back and swallows the thing down. Pretty much one big gulp and it was gone. It may as well have been a piece of bread or a crab or a french fry. But it was a bird. A small bird, but a bird nonetheless. Pretty much cannibalism. Nasty!

The seagull gives me another stare and hops to another dead bird, scoops him up and gulps him down. At this point I decided enough was enough and I walked over that way and the seagull flew off with his two bird lunch. I'm sure it came back for the last bird but at least I didn't have to see it.

Upon looking through photos on Google, I see that it could have been worse. Still, something about that gulping those little birds down whole is creepy to me.

It's All About Form

2008-05-06T22:49:00.004-04:00

Speaking of rowing ... I hate rowing machines aka ergs. Always have. BUT if I could be on one next to this I might feel more tolerant and motivated.

photo from CrossFit

Sunday Boozy Sunday

2008-05-04T18:34:00.003-04:00

Last night I went to a party with my fellow rowers at the house of one of the coaches. It was actually pretty cool. Good food, decent music, air hockey, pool and of course much of the drinky drink. I got pretty banged up. Then I walked home via the train tracks. It's really quite perfect. Plenty of places to pee, no drunk drivers or drunk walkers, and plenty of rocks to throw and/or trip over. Plus who doesn't like the thrill of possibly having a train rocket by you at 2am.

I woke up early because these same rowers were having a workout session in the park by my apartment at 9:15am. Always the early morning shit with this sport. So annoying. Anyway, I walk over and there is only one person from my boat there. She's curled up in a ball on the grass, all pale as hell and praying for death. First class hangover. Four others showed up too, all feeling rather crappy. We worked out, but it was pretty half-assed. We then went to breakfast. This seemed to go better than the exercise part.

We're going to be a dream team for sure.

Track Baby

2008-05-04T17:00:00.000-04:00

I love this photo:

Watch out, Big Brown! Baby on the track!!

You'd think it was some wacky news parody site or something, but no. It's from 1010WINS. This photo that was whipped up to go along with this story: http://www.1010wins.com/ABANDONED-FOR-THE-DERBY/2122386 and quite honestly I think it's the best use of a Photoshopped baby I have ever seen.

Another Week Gone By

2008-05-03T17:54:00.003-04:00

Again with the lack of consistent updates. I know, I know.

Anyway, this past week was pretty fun. Monday I went to see my boys from my old stomping ground, the New York Yankees play my new stomping ground's Cleveland Indians. Tickets were a birthday present making it even better. Despite it was pretty chilly out and there was some sloppy playing by both sides, the Yankees pulled out a win which was pretty sweet. Making all this even sweeter was the fact that some random guy comes up to me at the bar before the game and asked if I wanted to upgrade my ticket. I, of course, am suspicious of anything that seems too good to be true. I told the guy that the tickets I had were pretty good (not a lie) but he said, "Look, these are right behind homeplate. Here, take 'em." So I did. And he wasn't lying. Five rows back, right behind the plate. Pretty sick. I bought the guy a beer, but other than that it really was a totally free upgrade. WTF? That kind of thing never happens to me. So, thanks for the tickets mystery guy. It was appreciated.

The day after the game I went to see spaz rockers (did I just make up a new genre?), Mindless Self Indulgence at The Agora. Pretty cool venue. Sold out too, so it was full to the brim with the odd mix of punks, goths, rockers and ravers that MSI seems to attract. A good time was had by all. I even picked myself up a poster that I plan on getting framed (someday).

Last night I went to a dos de mayo party at a co-workers apartment. Also pretty fun. Drinks, snacks, drinking games, music, stories about whitewater rafting and high school football douchebags, etc.

Tonight I have another cinco de mayoish party with my newly established rowing peeps. I'm bringing some mac and cheese and people better fucking like it because it's the shit.

At Least Someone Is Using Their Brain

2008-05-03T16:52:00.003-04:00

Mike Bloomberg is slightly nuts, but I really like his long-term thinking (a thing that most people just don't seem to have). Fuck that patching up problems and then have them come back to haunt us all worse than ever a few years down the road. Fix shit now, bitches.

Granted having assloads of money makes his style of thought a bit easier than for the average Joe, but maybe we need to start solving problems ourselves instead of depending on the douches running for President (who you know aren't going to get jackshit done). Kudos, Mike.

From 1010WINS:

Bloomberg praised Sen. Barack Obama for opposing the plan floated by Republican John McCain and supported by Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton to suspend the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.2 cent diesel tax during the peak driving months of the summer.

"It's about the dumbest thing I've heard in an awful long time, from an economic point of view," Bloomberg told reporters at City Hall. "We're trying to discourage people from driving and we're trying to end our energy dependence ... and we're trying to have more money to build infrastructure."

Full story here: http://www.1010wins.com/Bloomberg--Gas-Tax-Holiday-an--Idiotic--Idea/2108707

Saving Mankind One Uncola At A Time

2008-04-25T19:13:00.007-04:00

7UP was the reason I wound up moving to NYC way back in 1996. I was one of a handful of fools selected to do a summer internship through their web site. Oddly the internships were entertainment related and really had nothing to do with 7UP, but it involved a paycheck, a place to live and even 5 meals a week. It lasted for 7 weeks (get it?). I accepted, and quite honestly it was a huge turning point in my life. I have no idea how different my life would have been if not for that little spot, his tasty, clear beverage and that internship. Anywho, those 7 weeks are a story for another time I guess. All I was getting at is I have a special place in my heart for 7UP to begin with and now they are saving us from the threat of alien ingestion. Sprite has never given me an internship or saved me from aliens. 7UP does both!

7UP Aims to Save Earthlings From Alien Invaders*
Offers to send a mass shipment of naturally delicious 7UP to potential space alien landing sites outside Phoenix and Orlando to prevent -- or at least make more pleasant -- the widespread eating of humans
PLANO, Texas, April 25 /PRNewswire/ -- 7UP took note of the appearance of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) over Phoenix, Arizona and Orlando, Florida earlier this week, and has taken immediate steps to counteract the potential threat of alien invasion.

"We read Drudge Report like everyone else," said Matt Smith, director of brand marketing for 7UP. "And when we saw the reports that UFOs had been spotted in the skies over two major American cities, we knew what people were thinking: they're here to eat us."

Although the intentions of the aliens have yet to be established, 7UP is not prepared to take any chances with the lives of billions of humans who inhabit the planet Earth.

"Any aliens with the technology to cross the vast gulf of space and enter Earth's atmosphere unchallenged are clearly far more advanced than we are, so any attempt to fight them would be futile," said Smith. "The best thing to do is to appease these creatures with a large supply of refreshing 7UP. I, for one, welcome our new alien overlords and, quite frankly, the worst case is that they'll have something naturally delicious to wash us down with."

7UP will be delivering a shipment of the soft drink to potential landing sites around Phoenix and Orlando. Any 7UP beverages unclaimed by the alien invaders will be free for any lucky uneaten humans to take for themselves.

For more information about 7UP's plans to save mankind from the alien menace, please visit http://www.7up.com.

*Or, at the very least, give the aliens a naturally delicious chaser after they have consumed the human race.

About Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages
7UP is a leading brand in the beverage portfolio of Plano, Texas-based Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages (CSAB), a subsidiary division of Cadbury Schweppes plc (NYSE: CSG). CSAB is one of the largest producers of soft drinks and premium beverages in the Americas. CSAB's brand portfolio includes Dr Pepper, 7 UP, Snapple, Mott's, RC Cola, A&W Root Beer, Sunkist Soda, Canada Dry, Hawaiian Punch, Schweppes, Diet Rite, Clamato, Mr & Mrs T Mixers, Holland House Mixers, Rose's, Mistic, Yoo-hoo, Orangina, IBC, Stewart's, Nantucket Nectars, and other well-known consumer brands. For additional information on Cadbury Schweppes and its products, visit http://www.brandspeoplelove.com.

SOURCE Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages

Marketing wit in press release form made even better by the Matt Smith quotes. "... they're here to eat us." Classic.

Playing Catch Up aka Recaping The Week

2008-04-24T22:48:00.001-04:00

I can see this blogging isn't quite flowing like it used to. Well, I warned you.

So let's see ... what's been going on?

Friday was pretty non-eventful. Some Chinese food, some TV and early bed.

Saturday was a full day. I got up in the morning and jumped on my bike and carted my ass down to the mighty Cuyahoga where I did an introductory class for the rowing league that I signed up for. 7:30am to 2:30pm. It's a lot of introductory action going on. Anyway, the class was mostly people who have never rowed before. I have already been trained and beaten by the sport back in my college years so I know what I'm doing although am out of practice and about 25 or 30 pounds heavier than I was back then. Obviously there is always more to learn (especially when it comes to me) but around people who have never had their ass in a shell or touched an oar, I look pretty awesome. So the day went well. Some introductions to the club, some safety stuff, a tour of the boathouse, some overviews of rowing, some time on the ergs and then some time on the water. At the end of it all, one of the coxswains and one of the more experienced rowers that was helping out with the day asked if I'd like to be in a more competitive boat rather than flailing around with novices. I reluctantly said "yes." I figure if I'm going to do this I should get more than a tour of the riverbanks, right? Hopefully I won't regret this move. There is already talk of workouts and training and sweating. Part of me thinks this sounds good but the other part of me thinks this is exactly what I happily said goodbye to back in May of 1995. It's that love/hate routine that I have with rowing ... with all things really. Anyway, it should make for some entertainment and/or torture so I'm giving it a go.

Oh, and my shoulder wasn't actually bothered much by the rowing. Odd. My shoulder still hurts from my little fall, but only seems to bother me when I sleep on it or pick up things with my arm at an odd angle. Rowing, biking, running and most other things are OK. I'm thinking that is a good sign. Maybe I'll heal without having to go to some wacky Cleveland witch doctor.

Saturday night was out for a birthday celebration. For me. Sunday I turned the big 3-5. Ouch. Anyway, a whole bunch of my co-workers went to a bar and did what we always do at bars. Drink. There was some pool and darts too, but mostly everybody stuck with what they do best which is drinking. Nothing too crazy, but it was fun. Much better than last year, that's for sure. Now I'm old enough to run for President so get your petitions ready and I'll get practicing my handshaking and my laying down bullshit 24/7.

This week has been pretty average, but I did go see a jazz show at Brothers Lounge on Wednesday and out for some eats, drinks and Cavs watching tonight.

Nothing major planned for the weekend at this point, but Monday I'm going to see my Yankees play the Tribe and Tuesday it's Mindless Self Indulgence (I've got an extra ticket to MSI if you want to go).

That's all for now. I'll try to update a little more frequently, but no promises.

I Like That Wagon You're Draggin'

2008-04-23T16:58:00.011-04:00

National Butt Month!

I ran across this bit of awesomeness during my online travels yesterday. Why I am only finding out that it's National Butt Month now, with only 7 days left in the month is beyond me, but I guess it's better late than never.

Anywho, you can send in photos of your butt or perhaps your special friend's butt and you can win some loot. Note, that you can win with an appealing butt as is the case with every contest, however it seems you can win votes for having an an "interesting" butt too so if you don't think your butt is gold medal material, you don't have to consider yourself out of the running.

Oh, and if you don't want to put yourself in the running for the loot and/or you don't make the cutoff for submissions (April 30), you can always e-mail photos of your butt to me. I don't mind.
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Tired of the Primaries? Make Your Vote Count in Contest for 'America's Favorite Butt'
Entries to Stockroom.com's National Butt Month Competition are Posted on SandM.com

LOS ANGELES, April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- If you like the idea of voting, but the endless political primary season has become too much for you, the folks at Stockroom. com now offer you the opportunity to vote for America's Favorite Butts.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080422/NYTU111LOGO )

When http://www.stockroom.com designated April as National Butt Month recently, the site invited people to send in photos of first class rear ends. The response has exceeded expectations, with submissions pouring in from the owners of prize male and female butts.

Stockroom.com has now posted a screened selection of the butts on its http://www.sandm.com website and invited visitors to vote on their favorites.

"We are very impressed by the enthusiasm and the quality of the responses," says Ann-Marie Holman, spokesperson for Stockroom.com. "Since this is an election year and people are in the voting mood, we're giving people the chance to select the winners. Some of us here already have our favorites, but we want to honor the democratic process so we are opening the voting to everyone."

New photos of appealing and "interesting" butts are still being received daily, Ms. Holman says, and submissions will be accepted through April 30th at fanniefocus@gmail.com. Winners will be announced on Thursday, May 8th. First prize winners for male and female will each receive $100 gift certificates, second prize winners will get $50 certificates and third prizes get certificates valued at $25 each.

About Stockroom.com: Online since 1989, Stockroom.com is the internet's original and leading source of high quality toys, fetish gear and fashion for sexually adventurous adults. The website features over 3,000 adult products.

SOURCE Stockroom.com

Here's Your Letters and Your Baby

2008-04-22T19:01:00.003-04:00

This story can lead to the presentation of two awards for the price of one: Best Postal Worker / Worst Mother

No Work Today

2008-04-17T10:54:00.000-04:00

I have today off from work. That's fun. It's my first legitimate day off since moving to Cleveland. I was out a couple of days about a month ago, but I was sick so that doesn't really count.

Anyway, today I got to sleep a little late, am doing some laundry and have a run planned. All leisurely and work free. Tonight I will be going to see my first baseball game of the year. The Tigers are in town to see if they can stop sucking long enough to beat the Indians. I can't really predict the outcome of the game itself, but I can predict that I will have at least one hot dog and two beers. At least. Take that to the bank.

In other news, I can barely move my right arm. I'm really trying to not be a pansy about this, but it's pretty banged up. Why? Well because I took a tumble off my skateboard. Yes, I'm riding around on a skateboard at age 34. And no, I'm not very good, so it's not like I'm all Tony Hawk or something. Anyway, I was cruising along and took a turn to get into a friend's driveway and there's a bit of a lip. I thought I could roll over it with the right amount of speed and the proper weight distribution. No luck. I hit the lip, the board stopped and I went down. Hands hit pavement a bit, but the bulk of my weight went on my right shoulder. I rolled with the fall, but apparently not quick enough. The shoulder and arm look fine. No bruising or scrapes, but it does not feel fine at all. I can't lift anything. Even putting on my shirt and pants this morning was a chore. I can't pick up this keyboard I am typing on even. As a matter of fact, it hurts to type unless my forearm is leaning on something. My shoulder can't support the weight of my own arm. I'm no doctor, but this doesn't seem good. We'll see how the rest of the day/early tomorrow goes. If no improvement, I may have to suck it up and hit the doctor.

The best part is that I have signed up for a summer rowing league and I'm supposed to be rowing on Saturday morning. That's probably not going to go so well unless Mr. Miayagi comes over and does that hand rubbing, fixit thing to me.

Waking Up A Loser

2008-04-12T11:30:00.004-04:00

Last night I went to a party. Really the first time I have gotten good and drunk since arriving in Cleveland. Well I guess that's not entirely true, but it was one of a few times. I've been pretty light on the boozing. Shocker, I know.

It's always a telltale sign of boozin' a bit heavy when I wake up naked (alone, don't get excited) and unsure of the return home. Then it all comes back. Slowly. Now that I have been awake for a little bit and reviewed my actions and interactions it seems I have nothing to question, apologize for or regret so that's nice.

The bulk of the night was spent playing beer pong. My teammate, A.A., and I did well, but will clearly be facing ridicule come Monday morning as we lost in a three game series to two fellow co-workers. It was totally East Coast vs. Midwest and we blew it. Sorry, East Coast. We let you down. We did end with an overall record of four wins, two losses, but the one that really counted we stunk it up pretty bad. Damn it!

Now I have to try to go running. This should be fun. My head hurts just sitting here typing. I'm sure pounding on the pavement will feel glorious.

Sorry I Stole Your Stuff (Including This Awesome Shirt)

2008-04-11T12:23:00.000-04:00

I'm not in NYC anymore, but I still love reading the retarded shit that goes on there. This blurb from the New York Post's NYPD Daily Blotter is pretty classic:

Cops say Isaac Kumar is a penitent burglar.

Kumar, 36, allegedly broke into an apartment on 21st Street near Sixth Avenue while the occupant was out of town early last month and swiped about $8,000 worth of camera equipment and a shirt.

Days later, the victim returned home, discovered the break-in and spotted Kumar wearing his shirt, according to a court complaint. Later, Kumar allegedly returned the equipment to the victim's doorman with a note saying he was sorry.

On April 3, Kumar surrendered to police and made a full confession, cops said. A DA spokeswoman said Kumar was charged with burglary.

The Year In Tunes - 2007

2008-04-09T19:38:00.004-04:00

I know this is late as hell but I wasn't blogging when the year ended and I had made up this list at one point and figure it's better late than never. The list is short, but so is my penis so it's only fair.

Yes, these are my favorite albums of 2007. I said my favorite. That doesn't mean your favorite or the best:

Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers - No More Beautiful World
Hellyeah - Hellyeah
Kid Rock - Rock N Roll Jesus
Operator - Soulcrusher
Machine Head - The Blackening
Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Kottonmouth Kings - Cloud Nine

Something Else I'm Doing

2008-04-05T19:06:00.002-04:00

Oh, I think I failed to mention that at the start of this year, along with moving to Cleveland, I also started eating bacon, and lots of it. Check it out here.

The Year That Was

2008-04-05T17:26:00.002-04:00

So I used to have a blog here, but I packed that up for various reasons. Really because I had other things to worry about/focus on. Now I'm back to give this another try.

Perhaps I'll give a little update on the last year of my life so maybe more of this will make sense (or not) ...

2007 was sort of a mixed bag of experiences, activities and life in general. Highs, lows, unexpected realizations, stress, cursing and pretty much a total change in what my life was.

Looking back over the year, I managed to do a lot of crap -- concerts (mc chris, Slayer, Unearth, Peeping Tom, Frontline Assembly, Incubus, Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers, Kid Rock), baseball games (at Fenway Park, Shea Stadium, Yankee Stadium & Jacobs Field), a bunch of running (over 400 miles worth), trips (Cleveland, Pennsylvania, Western New York State, Cedar Point, Seattle, Vancouver/Whistler, B.C.), drinking, eating, PR classes, etc. However, the thing that made this all less than my norm was the fact that my traditionally stable employment situation as well as my traditionally stable home situation both became exactly the opposite.

My job was supposed to end at the end of March. There was a consolidation at the company I had been at for nine plus years and I had the choice of moving to Cleveland, OH or Albuquerque, NM or being unemployed. I had opted to be unemployed. But right before the end I was asked to stay on for a little while longer. The revised end date was the end of May. As that approached I had another opportunity to stay, this time filling in a spot in a different department, temporarily vacated by someone out on maternity leave. That kept me employed at least until after Thanksgiving.

While all this unemployed/employed again business was going on I also got separated from my wife. I won't go into all the details, but it wasn't all that fun. We had been together almost 12 years and married for the last three plus. That resulted in me feeling rather confused, guilty, angry, lonely, embarrassed, and on and on. Not so great, really. Actually it was and still is full-on sucky.

So with that I found myself packing my stuff and moving. I moved out of my nice "luxury" place in Manhattan and moved to a place in Crown Heights, Brooklyn (far from "luxury"). The apartment and the guy I lived with, I found on craigslist. It was going to be me, him and his girlfriend, but his girlfriend was off in Europe for school until February. The neighborhood was less than awesome, but sometimes I like less than awesome so that wasn't that much of a concern. My roommate was a cool guy. He worked a lot, never stole any of my shit, shared whatever he had in the fridge and never cared about who I had over or what I was doing. Oddly, about a month after moving in with him, I come to find out that this same roommate who seemed so cool and mellow was a former gang member. He used to be in the Latin Kings. He had once shot someone even. My street cred was on the rise. This didn't really bother me as he was very honest about the whole thing and seemed to really be out and out for good. He did however have a love for smoking pot, occasional coke use and not much issue with calling escorts over for an evening of coked up, naked fun. Even that didn't really concern me as he kept the bulk of that activity confined to his room, however it was certainly not the life I was used to.

After the bulk of the year had gone with no sign of my separation getting back to unseparated and after it became clear that work was really going to end (finally) I made a decision to move yet again. I opted to move to Cleveland, OH.

Yes, Cleveland.

So, the very end of December I packed up my possessions, put my goldfish in a Gatorade bottle, got everything in a big truck, yelled "So long, Stinktown" out the window and drove out to The Cleve.

So here I sit. In Cleveland.

We'll have to see what happens next.

I am guessing my blog will be even less awesome out here (not that it was awesome to begin with) as the interactions and the sights aren't really as newsworthy (aka retarded) as they were in NYC, but I guess if I am going to blog, technically there's no rule about excitement or newsworthiness, so I'm not going to sweat it.

So that's it I guess. That was my year. And this is my new place (at least for now) to complain and comment and document whatever else comes to mind. In the words of Dr. Tobias Funke, "Let the great experiment begin!” Or something like that.

"Oh yeah ...

2008-04-04T10:07:00.002-04:00

... So long, Stinktown!"

Well, maybe this isn't entirely accurate.

It is certainly is "So long, Stinktown" but yet here I am in another Stinktown. New town. New blog. Same old stink.

Details to follow. Along with more uselessness.