Last post of 2007

No talk of resolutions. No year-end recap of the prior 12 months. Nothing but The West Wing.
I love/loved that show! It's funny because my two all-time favorite television shows have to be Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The West Wing. The funny part is that I largely ignored them both when they were first aired I became a fan of both shows in syndication.

Buffy became a part of my life after it was all said and done. The series had been cancelled and it was airing in syndication on the FX Network a couple of times a day. I happened upon an episode one day and got hooked. Then I found out that the entire 7 seasons were going to run in sequence starting that very week. At the time I was DVR-less, so I ran out to the store and bought a whole shitload of videotapes. I would spend a few minutes each week programming my VCR to tape the entire series in order for some reason or another. Still got those tapes too! Just ask Slyde. He borrowed my bag o' Buffy, as I like to call the shopping bag that I keep all the tapes in, a little over a year ago and he enjoyed some low-def hi-quality TV over the next few months.

It was a similar story with The West Wing. I didn't actually keep all the tapes, but I would record the 5 or 10 (I can't remember) episodes that Bravo would air during the week for pure weekend viewing pleasure. I got into this one during Season 5 of 7, so I wasn't able to watch the entire series as quickly as I did with Buffy, but it was close.

Honestly, I think I may have loved The West Wing even more than, gasp, Buffy. Sacrilege, I know. But I really got into the former in a weird way. I've watched episodes over and over in replays and I just love them each and every time. The writing is incredible, especially in the Aaron Sorkin years. And the story arch over the seven years was just fantastic. Made me want to work at the White House. Well, not the current White House.

Anyway, I bring this up because I was talking to Gia about this show just last week. She was interested in seeing it, so we rented the first season from NetFlix. Tonight we sat down and watched the entire first DVD which contains the first 8 episodes from the first season. ALL IN A ROW!

It was awesome! Gia is hooked. I can't wait for the next DVD to come in the mail. I'm becoming a fan all over again! Good times.

That being said, I want to wish all of you out there a Very Happy New Year! Enjoy!

Knocked Up (NSFW-ish)

No...not me or Gia.

Just watched the film, and it was hi-larious.

Actually, we just signed up for NetFlix and I plan on seeing lots and lots more films in the next few weeks. I've already rated over 1,500 films thus far in their catalogue and I am perusing all the goodies in their suggestion bin for our viewing pleasure.

Got some good stuff in our queue (one of my favorite words) as well. Well, I hope they are good. Half Nelson, Shortbus, This is England, Battle Royale, Severance, Stardust, Dead Man and a whole lot more.

A question for those of you who are NetFlix veterans. Is mucking about with the community features worthwhile at all? Just curious.


Note - I kinda disapprove of the above pic, but I have a strict rule about posting the first freaking pic that catches my eye when searching for shit to post on my blog. So there you go. Enjoy.

The Day After

Well, it still kind of the night of Christmas but it's after midnight, so let's just say the Holiday is over. And we will celebrate, bullet-style with some randomness about the past few days, shall we?

• New movie review goodness on MovieGrenade for those 2 or 3 of you who give a shit. You know who you are. Check back daily because I've seen a bunch of crap movies in the past week. Good times.
• Christmas Eve was loads of fun. I finished up my shopping in the morning, did a bunch of wrapping in the afternoon and then went to two dinner parties in the evening. Lots of seafood. Lots of booze. Once again...good times.
• I invented a new shot on Christmas Eve at the second dinner party. It had vanilla infused vodka, pomegranate liquor and a bit of lime juice. I'm thinking about naming it "Three great tastes that taste like shit together". Or something a little less cumbersome. Suggestions are welcome.
• Slept in on Christmas morning. No breakfast. No Mass. No opening of presents. We saved that all for later in the day. Felt really nice. Having kids must be a hassle!
  
• I made a delicious shrimp chowder for the Holiday. It had bacon, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, hash browns and lots of other good stuff as well. Sure to cause a heart attack in those with weak constitutions. Not me. I thrive on that shit.
• Gia and I got each other some wonderful gifts. A highlight for me was a NY Yankee six-pack of games of my choice. A highlight for her was a brand spanking new iPhone. We rock and roll!
• Played some Wii games with my nephew at his house on Christmas Day. Boxing was fun, but I played the first round with the controllers held backwards...I'm not a strong swimmer. Tennis was fun too, although sometimes it ignored my overhead smashes in favor of a topspin volley. The real fun was Wii golf. I kicked much ass on that one. And I didn't break a sweat. Unlike boxing. That's a stupid game!

And that's all I got. Hope your Holidays were a whole shitload of fun! That's what the Jesus would have wanted.

Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to wish y'all the merriest of merries. Ho, ho, ho and all that jazz!

(I couldn't leave up a post about douchebags during the holiday, now could I?)

Makes me sad

A baseball post again, if anyone cares.

And no, I'm not talking about the Mitchell Report and all the wackiness that ensued after it was released. My opinion: They are all cheaters. Institute some decent testing and move the fuck on!

No, what makes me sad is the voting process for the Hall of Fame and the idiots who participate in the vote. I was reading an old article on Deadspin about ESPN's Woody Paige and his, um, requirements for voting for a player for the most hallowed of Halls. To paraphrase the article, he's a douchebag. Anyone who watches ESPN knows that (yet I root for him on "Around the Horn" for some reason), but this article confirms it.

Voting for or against a player based upon your personal contact and like or dislike of that player is ridiculous. I'm almost in favor of granting players a spot in the Hall based on some crazy mathematical formula of Win Shares or something rather than give these idiots the power to elect.

I know a guy who also has a vote for the Hall of Fame. He's a former baseball writer for a major newspaper and he lives in my town. He's also an old, bitter drunk who thinks way too highly of himself for anyone's liking. Like Woody Paige, this guy takes personal contact with the player into account when voting for the hall. Here is a small sample of conversations we have had regarding the Hall to illustrate:

On Reggie Jackson
Me: So you covered the Yankees back in the 70's, right? Tell me about Reggie.
Him: Reggie was the biggest asshole I ever met. He really thought his shit didn't stink. He would barely look at the reporters much less take them out for a drink.
Me: Really? That sucks...great player though.
Him: I didn't vote for him for the Hall of Fame.
Me: Really? Why not?
Him: Because he was an asshole to me. Fuck him!

On Kirby Puckett
Me: You know what kills me about Kirby getting into the Hall? His stats are virtually identical to Don Mattingly's, they both ended their careers early because of injuries. Yet Puckett is a 1st ballot Hall of Famer while Donnie Baseball will never get in. (Note: just for clarification, I don't believe either player deserved to get in. I was just making an argument)
Him: I voted for Puckett.
Me: Do you really think he had the stats for Cooperstown?
Him: Well, probably not. But he was always real nice to me. Always remembered my name. Nice guy.

On Mike Piazza
Him: I can't stand Mike Piazza. Guy can't catch a game for the life of him.
Me: Yeah, but some hitter for a catcher, huh? I mean he's got to be a 1st ballot guy for his hitting alone, right?
Him: Not for me. I won't vote for him the first time around.
Me: But you would vote for him after a few years.
Him: Oh yeah. He's definitely got the stats for Cooperstown. Just not the first year.
Me: I don't get it. If he deserves to get in at some point, why not vote for him right away?
Him: Because that is part of the power that we sportswriters have. We can comment on a great player's career and what he lacked, like defense in Piazza's case, by leaving them off the ballot for at least one year. Let's 'em know that we matter more than they thought we did while they played. Puts them in their place.

On Bert Blyleven
Me: Don't you think that Blyleven has the stats for decent consideration to the Hall?
Him: I don't know. I really don't consider stats when voting for the Hall.

Makes me want to fucking bash my head against a fucking wall. And he said that a lot of his peers vote the same way he does. Bunch of self-serving, bitter wanna-bes if you ask me. I think throwing darts against the wall might be a better process than the current one. Aaarrgghh!!!

Happenings

Been quite a few days since I posted, so I figure I would catch up...bullet-stlye! Whoo-hooo!

• The hangover from our first Christmas Party of the year lasted pretty much all day on Tuesday. Not really hurting, just tired. Guess it comes with age. But so does prostate cancer and old-man butt. So I say a hale and hearty "fuck you" to old age. There. I did it.


• The only thing that I really accomplished on Tuesday was watching Superbad and it was super good! The entire "McLovin" subplot with the geek and the cops was my favorite part of the film. "Officer Slater: Yeah, people have weird names nowadays. Once I pulled arrested this man-lady, and his legal first name was "Fuck". Officer Michaels: He was Vietnamese, so it was spelled "Ph," but still that's pretty jarring to see on a drivers license."


• Participated in our annual "12 Bars of Christmas" party on Friday night with the entire gang. I'm pretty sure that I've posted about this before, maybe on Slyde's site. Here is the deal. We go from bar to bar in my town and spend a half-hour at each joint. One drink, minimum, is consumed by all and we enter and leave with a chorus of the "12 Days of Christmas", gradually increasing until we have hit the 12th bar. It's a lot less gay than it sounds. We made a change this year as many of our crowd falls into the over 40 group. We only did 6 bars, but we finished the night at a friend's house for more merriment. I was starting to feel a bit under the weather, so I decided to go with just a couple of Irish Whiskeys (that makes sense, right?). Felt pretty good too! Never got really drunk, and I remember everything from the party this year! Good times. Wound up back at a friend's house without my car at 2AM, sober and tired, so I stayed over. That's when my cold really started to kick my ass. I slept maybe 2 hours that night, but I more than made up for it on the weekend. Good times again!


• Oh yeah, I've got a cold. Not nearly as bad as the last one that I had last April that knocked me silly for the better part of the month, but not fun either. Spent all day Saturday and Sunday in bed. Missed another Christmas party at a friend's house on Saturday night. Had a lot of soup.


• Feeling better today. And just in time, too! Tomorrow night is another Christmas party with another group of friends. This one could be trouble. As the kitty in my sidebar says "I'm scared".


• Haven't done any Christmas shopping yet. That's right, I'm living on the edge. Actually I have an exact list of everything I need to get, I just need to go and get it. It's a throwback to the days when I used to do all my shopping on Christmas Eve. Ah...memories.


• Brian Westbrook may be my favorite pro football player, evah! Instead of running the ball into the end zone with 2:10 left against the Cowboys for an easy touchdown, he took a knee at the one-yard line. Why? Because Dallas had no more timeouts, and after the 2-minute warning all the Eagles had to do was take a few knees and run out the clock without ever giving the ball back to the 'Boys. That's wicked smart! And extremely un-selfish. Although there are probably a lot of fantasy owners going nuts over this, I thought it was a breath of fresh air. Especially in a game featuring Terrell Owens.

That's about all I have for now. See, the Mitchell Report came out last week and I didn't even mention it...until right there.

Christmas Party foolishness

It happens every year.

Someone throws a Holiday party. Work. Friends. Loved ones. It really doesn't matter. Someone throws a Holiday party. Add booze, food, music and wackiness ensues. Like last night.

Gia works as manager at an British-style pub. Decent food, great beer selection. The owner usually throws his annual Christmas party at a restaurant or hall in town, but this year he decided to have it on-site at the pub. This is also the first one I was invited to as a "significant other". Very nice.

Gia arranged for a DJ with karaoke capabilities. It looked at the beginning as if it was gonna be kind of a bomb. Gia and the other manager were the only one's getting up there to belt out a song. And there were lots of folks there. Maybe 50 or so. The DJ would play dance songs in between karaoke tunes, but once again it was mostly Gia, me and a few others dancing. I was going back and forth from behind the bar serving drinks to in front of the bar downing drinks. That's how I roll.

Then it happened. The DJ put on "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" by Meat Loaf...the karaoke version. Gia needed someone, preferably male, to sing the duet with her. Maybe it was the booze talking, but I decided that someone should be me.

We rocked the house!

Now Gia has a great voice, and she did Karla DeVita (or Ellen Foley) proud. I started off a little slow, but didn't do a bad job myself. But the singing was only the half of it. It was truly a performance art piece. Not quite X-rated, although there was some fondling and brief nudity, but a solid PG-13...maybe R.

After that all bets were off. Other party guests started singing, dancing and generally having a good time. All because of us and our slightly off-color version of a perennial favorite.

God, I hope no one was recording us.

Jumpers (see below) - a musical meme

Before I get to the heart of the post, we (finally) have a new movie review on MovieGrenade. This time complete with boobs! Go check it out.

So I got tagged again, this time by Paige. Another one of them Canadian ladies. See...they are everywhere! It goes a little something like this:

1. Put your iTunes/ music player on Shuffle (use a stereo or a list of your favorite songs if you don’t have an iPod)
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER WHAT(this is in capital letters, so it is very serious. No hiding your show tunes, folks!)

After you’ve answered all of the questions, tag 5 other people and then let them know they’ve been tagged to do the meme themselves!

(OK...I have to make one thing clear. I omitted all Jimmy Buffett from my answers unless it wound up being from Havana Daydreamin' - my favorite of his albums. So I did forward past some Buffett, because if I didn't then about half the answers would have been his songs. Everything else is honest. And there was one really weird moment in here. Incredibly weird, ridiculously weird, almost "he had to fake that shit" weird. You will see. - Earl)

IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
"Tiny Dancer" - Elton John. Actually, I say "Tony Danza". It's very confusing.

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
"Words and Guitars" - Sleater-Kinney. I don't play guitar, but ok.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
"Me-Jane" - PJ Harvey. Me-Tarzan. Hmm? A little role-play would be kinda nice.

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
"Awfully Quiet" - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. There are times I do, but today wasn't one of them. Too bad. The title really fit the question. First one. Yay!

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
"The Dirty Jobs" - The Who. I'm a cleaner for the Mob. Well, not really...no. This one makes no sense.

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
"Willin' " - Little Feat. Not really a motto, per se. More of a mission statement.

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
"100%" - Sonic Youth. That's right, mother-fuckers! I'm 100%, er, um, me!

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
"My Life" - Mary J. Blige. Um, I think this is one of Gia's songs. Really.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
"Havana Daydreamin' " - Jimmy Buffett. Hey...he showed up. And it kinda fits. I'm a big day-dreamer. Usually has to do with boobs not Cuba, but whatever.

WHAT IS 2+2?
"Left of Center" - Suzanne Vega. I actually laughed when this one showed up. Funny answer even though I forward past it every time it pops up on my iPod. Been meaning to delete it forever.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
"Is This Love" - Whitesnake. Another one of Gia's songs. Really.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Rub 'til it Bleeds" - PJ Harvey. It hardly ever gets that far. Well sometimes. OK, she likes it rough. Too much info?

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
"The Metro" - Berlin. Can't even think of anything funny to say here.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
"Helpless Dancer" - The Who. I never wanted to be helpless or a dancer, but weird that the answers keep fitting the questions.

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Ooo Child" - Five Starships. Great song, but I certainly don't think of it when I see Gia.

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
"Oh, Lonesome Me" - Neil Young. Hope not.

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
"Romeo and Juliet" - Dire Straits. OK...this is the weird one. I saw the question and thought to myself "Wouldn't it be weird if Romeo and Juliet came up?" Gia and I, from our first date, said that if and when we ever got married that "Romeo and Juliet" by Dire Straits would be one of our wedding songs. I know, lyrically it's not really a "wedding" type o' song. It's more about regret and love lost and maybe getting back together, but its still a beautiful song and one of my favorites. One of Gia's too! With that I mind, I hit the "next" button and BAM...it happened! I'm not shitting you! Something truly cosmic going on here.
Sidenote: I actually think that I am a bit psychic or something, but only in one or two situations. I often call home runs while watching Yankee games right before they happen. I don't do it often, but when I do a home run always follows. The other situation is that I can often predict the next song to play on the radio, or in this case, my iPod on shuffle. I do it all the time. Wish it pertained to the lottery.

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
"Simple Man" - Lynyrd Skynyrd. Makes a little sense. Always considered myself to be a fairly simple guy in a complicated world. And Gia joined a local band for one song down in Key West to sing it to me once. Nice!

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
"So What'cha Want?" - The Beastie Boys. Huh?

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
"Italian Leather Sofa" - Cake. That's right fuckers! Italian Leather Sofa. Try and figure that shit out!

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
"Beercan" - Beck. Another answer that made me laugh out loud. Now I'm not saying my friends drink a lot. Ok, I'll say it...they drink a lot. Funny.

WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS?
"Jumpers" - Sleater-Kinney. I don't get it, but rules are rules. I'll put this in the post title.

I think I will only tag Slyde, because he is soooo into music. Ha!

PS - Oooh, you have to go check out Spinning Girl on this topic. This is what the internet was created for folks. Holy Kellie Pickler!

Newman!!!

This is going to be a bit old for some of you. I've already told this story on both ajooja's and Liz's comment pages. Just yesterday on Liz's site, in fact. I may have even blogged about it in the past, I dunno. Too lazy to look back at my previous posts. It has to do with my disgust with just about anything that is or can be mistaken for a rodent. In this case, prairie dogs. Blech!

I have this one friend from High School that I still keep in touch with. He and his wife life fairly close to where we grew up in a nice neighborhood. My friend always liked animals, but he was allergic to both cats and dogs so they never got a pet. He did, however, maintain a weird relationship with a squirrel that lived in his backyard.

This "thing" would hop onto his porch and knock on the sliding glass door to be fed. My friend would grab a handful of seeds or peanuts or whatever and head to the back door to feed the animal. Out of his hand! WHILE PETTING IT!

I never saw anything so disgusting in my life. Squirrels are vile, loathsome creatures that are only made "cute" because of their bush tails. A friend of mine had one that lived in her backyard that either A) was diseased or B) got into a squirrel fight because it had lost all the fur off it's tail. It looked like a yard rat. Seriously. Back to our story.

Eventually the squirrel moved on to greener pastures after a year or so. My friend was a bit devastated. I think he really missed his Dr. Doolittle moments with the little varmint.

Fast forward a few months later when I am over for a visit. We are hanging out in the kitchen (always the best hangout room) when I spied an empty cage sitting open in the corner of the room. Looked too small to be for a dog. Maybe a cat. Who the hell keeps a cat in a cage? And what, if not a cat, lived in there and why was it not locked up? I had to ask.

"So, what lives in that cage over there?" I questioned?
"You've never met Newman? That's right, you haven't been over for a few months" my friend replied?
"What's a Newman?" seemed like the logical thing to ask.
"Newman is our pet prairie dog." he responded. "Come on, you have to meet him. He's in the living room." Seems his wife, sensing he missed his squirrel, bought him this beast as a gift a month or so beforehand.

I have to admit I was a bit terrified. What the hell were they doing with a rat-thing running loose in their house? We walk into the living room and there it is. Sitting on the couch looking out the window. When it noticed us it, well, er, how do I describe its' movements, hopped/shambled/ran over to greet me. My terror increased exponentially.

Despite all talk of how loving, gentle and social these creatures were, it still looked like it had a rat-face to me. I made them, and don't hate me, cage that fucker for the rest of my visit. It gave me the hee-bees. I felt the need to shower immediately upon leaving them.

They look upon my disdain for their "pet" with alot of humor. I admit that my disgust at their living companion is a bit harsh and illogical, but fer crissakes...it's a glorified fucking rat! So, naturally, they take every opportunity to increase my pain. Like sending me a Christmas card every year with his photo.

This year's version came in the mail yesterday. Here is the little fucker.



I don't have enough words to describe how much this sickens me. Especially in this pose. He is looking way too much like Willard for my liking.

Let it blow, let it blow, let it blow

In a bit of a funk this Holiday season and I'm not sure why. So I'm going to share with y'all some Holiday cheer in the form of a checklist/Holiday card.

I think what I really need are some sycophants, acolytes or coven members. That would be nice.