Sep 29, 2011

Apropos of Nothing

NOTE: I don't have the words right now to express how I feel about what happened in baseball last night. Simply put, it was the...BEST. NIGHT. EVER. More to come soon. Much, much, much more. - Earl

I just dig the song, yo. And I never heard of Sean Hayes, the musician, before.  Score another win for finding cool shit on Pandora.  He's an interesting-looking fellow, isn't he?

source: Wikipedia
Here's the tune in question.  A jaunty little number (not) called "Fucked Me Right Up". Bonus points for having a potty mouth.



Fucked Me Right Up 
Sean Hayes

Don't know that she knows
what it is she doing
Don't know that she knows
how deep this will cut
Can't believe you really think
We'll make it through this
You fucked me right up
Just fucked me right up
 
All alone
in a house that we were living
All that love
just walked out the door
She's off running around
with a brand new man
You fucked me right up
Just fucked me right up
 
I've got a long way to travel
with a heaviness taking hold
It takes a long night
when you unravel
a home
 
Don't know that she knows
what it is she's doing
Don't know that she knows
We are throwing it all away
Now tell me how you think
we're gonna make it through this
You fucked me right up
Just fucked me right up
 
Don't know that she knows
or even if it matters
The cut's been made
The dice have been thrown
 
What was our love worth
if it's something we could gamble
You fucked me right up
Fucked me right up
 
I got a long way to travel
with a heaviness taking hold
It takes a long night
when you unravel
a home
 
Goodbye
You fucked me right up 

Sep 28, 2011

Winning

I've got a deeply hidden competitive streak that I'm not very proud of.

Nobody likes losing, but I really hate losing. With a capital HATE. And it doesn't have to be anything important either. Playing ping-pong or pool or darts against a friend. I want to win...badly. I'm a gracious loser, and I don't have a lot of skill at any of those things.  But I want to win...badly.

Back when I played a lot of golf, I would agonize for hours after a missed putt on the 18th hole that let a buddy of mine beat me in a round of golf. I had friends who could play the game and be happy with one great shot or one great round, but I usually was disappointed if I didn't come in with the low round of the group. I was disappointed a lot back in those days.

Back when I was in college a bunch of friends would play pick-up basketball games nearly every day. I hadn't played much basketball at home or at school before college, but I picked up the game pretty quickly.  I couldn't jump for shit, and I was usually the slowest guy on the court. But I had good hand-eye coordination which meant I could handle the ball and shoot fairly well.

One of my friends had been playing ball his whole life. He played on various teams through junior high and high school.  He was no star, but he could play. And whenever we got together, he always seemed to wind up on the other team. And when it came to matching up, he started nearly every game by guarding me. He was smaller than me, but he was strong and quick. I had a helluva time guarding him, and we battled.  More than once, one of us wound up on the gym floor after a hard non-called foul or a shove to the lower back while trying to rebound. And afterward, win or lose, I was always exhausted.

Pretty much the only fights I ever got into in my life happened on the basketball court. And pretty much the only real injuries I've had occurred there as well. I had my shoulder dislocated badly, my ankles are shot from countless sprains. And one time I caught an elbow above my left eye that split open my brow and required a bunch of stitches. An elbow that was thrown with intention, by the way. Not by this particular friend. Well, not that time at least.

Frustrated one day, I asked him why he usually matched up against me during these games, and he laughed.  He said it was because he knew that I was the only one on the court who wanted to win as badly as he did. And why bother playing if you weren't playing against someone who wanted to win as much as you?  I didn't realize until then that sometimes I let my hidden competitive streak show as often as I did.

I don't play a lot of sports nowadays, and this post isn't really about golf or basketball.

It's just something that's been on my mind today for a totally different reason.

Man, I hate losing.

Sep 27, 2011

So exciting!

So the Yankees lost to the Tampa Bay Rays last night.  Which would normally make me sad.  But the Red Sox also lost to Baltimore, which means that the Rays and the Sawx are now tied for the AL Wild Card spot with two days left in the season.

So exciting!

I was taking to a Boston fan the other day, and he mocked my joy over Boston's epic free-fall in the standings this month of September. He said that if I were honest with myself, the only reason I am happy is that I'm scared for my Yankees to face his Red Sox in the post-season.

Bullshit!

If there is any team in baseball I would want the Yankees to face in the postseason, it's the team that has shitting the bed in every possible situation when it counted most. And the Rays, with their awesome young starting pitching and the most creative manager in baseball?  Nah...I wouldn't wish facing them in the playoffs on my worst enemy.

The only reason I am so happy watching the Red Sox flail about so pathetically is that I hate the Red Sox. That's it. Simple. And to see this team that was built to steamroll the rest of the league struggle is something that is putting a huge smile on my face.

Hey, they still might make the playoffs. I actually think that they will do just that.  But this September has to be a horrorshow for the team and their fans.  And call me evil...but I dig that.

PS - A similar collapse by the Atlanta Braves is happening right now as well. They lost to Philadelphia on Monday night, and St. Louis is tied with Houston right now as I type this. So there could well be a tie for the NL Wild Card with two games to go as well. This is nut!  And so much fun!  Un-fun update: Houston wound up beating the Cards in extra innings. So the Cards are still a game back from the Braves with two games to go.

Sep 26, 2011

Weekend Recap

Here's a brief rundown of what I did over the weekend.

Friday night:

  • Took a hilarious picture of Bootsy sleeping with a big smile on his face. And we watched all the television shows that we had recorded from Thursday evening. Then Gia went to bed and I watched Fringe.

Saturday:
  • Went to the local Pickle Festival with our besties. You read that right. A pickle festival.  And it was...glorious. Had a pickle on a stick and bought two bagfuls worth of pickles and related pickled...stuff.  I wrote about it once before on this here blog. Way back here.  Check it.
  • Then we all headed over to our new favorite local restaurant for a late lunch/early dinner. I reviewed the joint over at our food blog here. I knew what I was having before I even walked into the joint. A big burger smashed between two grilled cheese sandwiches.  The server called it "the heart attack". But then the manager grinned and said, "If you want to do it up right, then add a fried egg and some bacon." Which sounded too good to pass up.  Which I didn't. Neither did my buddy. It was absurdly delicious, and exactly what the doctor ordered. Well, not an MD, but you know... Here's what it looked like:

  • After spending about 4 hours at the restaurant (seriously), we headed back to the house for a mini-ramble and a sudden surprisingly awesome sunset. So sudden and surprising that I didn't get to take a picture of it. But it was really cool. Trust me.
Sunday:
  • Spent most of the day napping in bed. I had been fighting off a bit of a stomach issue for several days, and the excesses of Saturday certainly didn't help.
So was your weekend filled with as much whimsy as mine?  More? You kids are awesome!

Sep 23, 2011

5+ Years Ago: The Verdant Dude Archives

This weekend would have been my father's birthday had he not passed away back in 2003 from heart failure.  I miss you, Dad. 

Here's a post from the summer of 2006 back when I was still guest-posting on Slyde's blog. Have a good weekend everyone. - Earl
__________________________________________________________

Wish You Were Here 
Jun 21, 2006
by B.E. Earl

Hey kiddies! Earl again with some mindless musings, musical mayhem, misty memories and magical mushrooms. Ok, no mind-altering substances here, but I was on an alliteration roll. Thought I’d contribute a little some-some for my buddy’s blog here on the first day of summer.

It couldn’t be a more glorious day here on Long Island. I finished up some work around 3ish in the afternoon and took a walk down to the beach where my sister had taken my nephew, Cavan. Not the most normal of names, huh? But it’s actually the county in Ireland where my mother’s side of the family came from, and my sister was kinda sold on it. My father’s side of the family came from County Cork, and I’m glad she didn’t go for that. Corky would almost be too much for me to bear as an uncle. I mean I’m rapidly approaching 40, but that doesn’t mean that I’m too old to laugh at a kid named Corky. Funny is funny.

Back to the beach in our story. Our local beach is right down the block from my mother’s house in Blue Point, NY. It’s affectionately known as Mommy Beach by the locals because of the preponderance of moms and their kids. There must have been a sign posted today, however, because Mommy Beach turned into Hot Mommy Beach! When I was growing up, I can’t recall actually thinking that any of my friend’s moms were attractive at all. These women today…whoa! Way to go, ladies!

I mentioned that my mother lives in Blue Point. This is also where I grew up, although I’ve been on the north shore of Long Island for about 8 years now. For those wondering why the name sounds familiar, it may be because of its relation to Blue Point Oysters. Back in the early part of the previous century, Blue Point Oysters were the best oysters in the world and they were harvested from the waters surrounding our little town on the bay. Sometime in the 1920’s or 30’s, however, salinity levels in the Great South Bay rose to a level that became toxic to our poor oyster population. Some say that this was caused by a hurricane that swept over our barrier beach (Fire Island), flooding the bay and neighboring beaches. Any time you see Blue Point Oysters on a menu today they are most likely from the north shore out of the Long Island Sound.

Now all that lives in our bay are clams, and the harvesting of those are strictly regulated due to over-harvesting and pollution. When I was growing up, it seemed like everyone had a relative who was a clammer. My brother and my brother-in-law each made some money by clamming. I heard that last year only five or six clamming licenses were even applied for on the Great South Bay. Its amazing how quickly man’s influences on our surroundings can get out of hand. It’s too late for our oyster population, but maybe one day we can see a resurgence of the clam population in the Bay.

As for the musical mayhem portion of our program, I heard a couple of songs on the radio today that I hadn’t heard in a million years. OK…at least since I was in college. "Echo Beach" by Martha and the Muffins, and "Summer’s Cauldron" by XTC. It’s absolutely amazing to me that good, rare music like this is still played on the radio someplace. The station that was playing them was WFUV 90.7 here in New York which is a member-supported public radio station, of course. I guess that non-commercial radio is the only way we are going to hear these gems outside of our iPods.

Finally, this past weekend was Father’s Day here in the US. I qualified that because I’m not sure if it is on the same date in other countries. I know from a friend of mine that Mother’s Day is located elsewhere on the calendar in the UK, so maybe it’s the same with Dad’s Day.

It was a bit of a somber day for me as in two weeks it will be three years since my father passed away from a long battle with heart disease. The last time that I saw him before his final heart attack (and subsequent hospital stay) was when I took him out for dinner the Wednesday after Father’s Day three years ago. He was watching what he ate because of his condition, but boy did he enjoy himself. He always said that his favorite times in his life were having a meal with his family. He always began each meal with smile and a soft-spoken “good to be together” when his children were around. We still do that on the occasions that the whole family gets together for a nice meal like we do on Thanksgiving Day or other holidays.

Three days later I got a call at home from my sister telling me that Dad was in the hospital again, and it really didn’t look good this time. He hung on for a few weeks, but it was still a shock when he passed. It’s still hard for me to believe that it has been three years.

At his gravesite on Sunday, I found myself wishing that our first 26 years together were a lot more like our last 10. We were always close, but we really became friends in that last decade, and I find myself missing my friend more and more as the years pass on. I think about the trip when took him on down to the Florida Keys, and I wish that we had done that more often. He said it was the best vacation he ever had been on. To quote Morgan Freeman from The Shawshank Redemption “I guess, I just miss my friend.”

With that in mind, I would like to wish a belated Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads and Grandpas out there, as well as to everyone else who has or had a father who was an important part of their lives like my father was.

Cheers!

Sep 22, 2011

Not Now

Here is a brief list of movies that I want to see RIGHT NOW that aren't available on Netflix Instant, or should I just say Netflix.  They are all films that I have looked for just in the past 24 hours.
  • No Country For Old Men
  • Mother
  • Or really any Albert Brooks movie besides Dr. Doolittle
  • Badlands
  • Eastern Promises
  • A History of Violence
  • Burn After Reading
  • Paths of Glory
  • The Natural
  • Sideways
I've seen them all before.  Except for Dr. Doolittle.  But, for some reason, I had a hankerin' to watch all of them again.  And I can't.  I mean, without paying Amazon or my local cable provider.  Or sailing the seven seas.  Sucks.

I can't remember the last time I checked to see if a movie was available on Netflix and it actually was available.  Good thing they have a bunch of TV shows that we are in the middle of watching right now.  Otherwise this 24 hours of searching fruitlessly might have been the end of our relationship.

I'm talking about Netflix and I.

You kids aren't going anywhere.  Don't you go changing. Wink.

Sep 21, 2011

Small stuff

They say you shouldn't sweat the small stuff. Or is that smell the ball stuff? I can never figure that one out.  Yet here we are, dealing with the small stuff.  In other words.....BULLETS!!!
  • I really don't get politicians. I mean, you might like Michelle Bachmann or you might...not like her.  But for a person to have gotten as far as she has in politics, well...you have to respect her...savvy.  You can see how difficult this is for me. What I don't understand is why she just won't apologize for the HPV vaccine/mental retardation comment. All she had to have said is that it was irresponsible for her to repeat an undocumented claim, and we all could have moved on.  It's now going on a week and people are still talking about it. And she still hasn't said she was wrong.  The fucking ego on these people.  And by "these people", I mean all politicians.  I'd have far more respect for any of them if they just admitted to fucking up every once in a while.
  • I see those photos of that teenager who caught an 800-lb alligator with a fishing rod and some kind of stick with a bullet on the end of it.  And I can't help thinking that the wrong species won out in that fight. 
  • Was it me, or were there a lot of gay soldiers running around on the Internet yesterday?  Not that there is anything wrong with that.
  • Watched Bridesmaids last night with Gia. I thought it was funny, and a pretty good movie with some excellent performances.  It just wasn't the "howl out loud laughing" flick I thought it was gonna be. Maybe I've just got the wrong plumbing downstairs.
  • The Fall Television season has started.  I'm gonna try to be good and not add a bunch of new shows onto my DVR list.  But Up All Night with Christina Applegate and Will Arnett is one that we are going to give a chance.  Both of them are really funny people, and I hope it works out.
  • Speaking of funny television, the season premiere of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia aired last week.  And it was an awesome one! Alanna Ubach's crazy crack whore character stole every scene she was in.  Amazing!
Is six enough for a bullet post? It'll have to be. I'm tired.

Sep 20, 2011

Guac and Roll

I don't do fast food very often. We are trying to eat better, and the nutrition (or lack thereof) you get from your average fast food joint doesn't jibe with that.

But when I do, I generally prefer the burgers from Burger King over those from McDonalds. So maybe once a month or so, I get the hankerin' for a Whopper.

I'm also a guy who has claimed many times in the past that advertising really doesn't work for me.  I don't really see something in an ad and immediately want that.

All that being said, the new commercials for the California Whopper at Burger King have been impossibly irresistible for me.  Guacamole, swiss cheese and bacon. These are a few of my favorite things. I had to have me one.  The only question would be when, not if.

When was yesterday for lunch.


How was it?  Well, the guacamole was plentiful, but it was a bit bland and mild. The bacon was neither crisp nor tasty, but it did impart the necessary "bacon" flavor. The swiss was a nice touch, but it kinda got drowned out with the guacamole and bacon, even if they were both on the tasteless side.  And the normal smoky flavor of the Whopper was drowned out as well.

Overall? It was pretty much what I expected.  A sloppy, guacy mess.  Which is fine. It was almost exactly what I wanted, sad to say.  With fast food, you hope for the best and accept mediocrity.  That's exactly what the California Whopper is...mediocre.  Which, like I said, is fine.

Sep 19, 2011

Bad As Me



Tomskat has a new album coming out on 10/24.  "Bad As Me".  I literally can't wait.  Check out the title track down below here if the widget thing works.  Dig.


Tom Waits - Bad As Me by antirecords

And for a little Waitsian perspective on new music releases in the Internet Age, check out his Private Listening Party/teaser for the new album. Dig times two.

Sep 16, 2011

5 Years Ago Today: The Verdant Dude Archives

A buddy of mine who smells like a wet dog recently asked me to re-post some of my older stuff from this here old blog of mine.  Back from when it was known as the Bug-Eyed Blog. And I thought it was a great idea. Mostly because I'm lazy, and this is easy blog fodder.  So let's start a new semi-regular post here on the Verdant Dude.  X Years Ago Today. With X being equal to whatever I happen to feel like at the time. And by semi-regular, I mean whenever the fuck I feel like it.

Here's one from 5 years ago, with added commentary in blue italics. Enjoy!
___________________________________________________

Cat Power
One of the reasons I went to NYC earlier this week was to see the talented Chan (pronounced "Shawn", I believe) Marshall aka Cat Power play an early show at Irving Plaza.

Recent convert to the church of Cat Power, but damn is this one fine performer. Trying to describe her is like trying to describe your favorite bourbon. Husky, wood-smoked voice with trailer-trash beginnings aged into smooth honey-coated lyrics. She is an angel in blue jeans with a cigarette smoke halo. (I must have copied that from someone else. There is no way I really wrote that last line.)

Wow! New lady love (shiny!)* might have to watch her back! Not like me to wax poetic like that.

*For a while back there in 2007, I always referred to Gia as my shiny new lady love. Awww.

One complaint that I have is the crowd at the show. Besides scattered pockets of fun people, everyone else seemed to be watching as if zombie-fied. I know her music is a bit somber and smart, but she was having fun on stage. Smoking cigs and dancing around...having fun! The rest of the crowd treated each song as a dirge and acted accordingly. Not us! We danced and drank Rolling Rock out of cans! Yezzir!

Anyway, here is one of my favorite songs she performed the other night. If you ever get a chance to hear it, enjoy the tempo change towards the end of the song.


Lived in Bars
by Cat Power

We've lived in bars
And danced on tables
Hotel trains and ships that sail
We swim with sharks
And fly with aeroplanes in the air

Send in the trumpets
The marching wheelchairs
Open the blankets and give them some air
Swords and arches bones and cement
The light and the dark of the innocent of men

We know your house so very well
And we will wake you once we've walked up
All your stairs

There's nothing like living in a bottle
And nothing like ending it all for the world
We're so glad you will come back
Every living lion will lay in your lap
The kid has a homecoming the champion the horse
Who's going to play drums, guitar or organ with chorus
As far as we've walked from both of ends of the sand
Never have we caught a glimpse of this man

We know your house so very well
And we will bust down your door if you're not there

We've lived in bars
And danced on tables
Hotel trains and ships that sail
We swim with sharks
And fly with aeroplanes out of here


Bonus: Apparently I didn't know how to embed videos back then. Here ya go:

Sep 14, 2011

Two quick reminders

Besides this here joint, I've got two other places you can sometimes find me on the internets.  Well, three if you count Twitter...but I don't really use that all that much other than to bother people.

1. Just Talking to the Cornfield - The Colonel and I are still doing our mostly-weekly show.  We've strayed from our regular Sunday night time-slot at 9PM EST here and there, and it looks like it's going to be on more of a mid-week schedule going forward.  So if you can't find us live, you can always listen to the replay on Talkshoe or iTunes.  Just try not to fall in love with me when you finally hear my dulcet tones.  I don't even know what that means.

2. Simmer, Sip, Share - The collaborative food/booze/whatever blog I set up several months ago hasn't quite taken off like I hoped.  I'm hoping this post will nudge those who agreed to participate into, ya know, participating.  While we wait for that, ahem, check out my latest post for a vegetarian treat with a Mediterranean twist.  A recipe I kinda followed from a wonderful site called Smitten Kitchen.  Turned out great, I understand.  I wouldn't know about that since I had a burger instead. :)

Don't leave me out there in the cold, kids!  It's brutal out there.

Sep 13, 2011

Didn't I, my dear?

Mumford & Sons. Dig. This is what I'm listening tonight.


Banjo happens!

Little Lion Man 
Mumford & Sons

Weep for yourself, my man 
You'll never be what is in your heart 
Weep little lion man 
You're not as brave as you were at the start 
Rate yourself and rape yourself 
Take all the courage you have left 
Wasted on fixing all the problems 
That you made in your own head 

But it was not your fault but mine 
And it was your heart on the line 
I really fucked it up this time 
Didn't I, my dear? 

Tremble for yourself, my man 
You know that you have seen this all before 
Tremble little lion man 
You'll never settle any of your score 
Your grace is wasted in your face 
Your boldness stands alone among the wreck 
Learn from your mother 
Or else spend your days biting your own neck 

But it was not your fault but mine 
And it was your heart on the line 
I really fucked it up this time 
Didn't I, my dear?

Sep 12, 2011

Overheard

In Queens on Sunday morning yesterday.


A friend and I were walking back from the bagel shop when we passed an old woman napping on a lawn chair outside of a retirement home. She looked ancient. At least 90.  And she certainly looked like she was fast asleep, but she lifted her head when she heard us walking by.  Maybe we were talking, I don't know.

She looks at us and yells out at us in this magnificent old-school NY accent.

"Ya watchin' da Twin Towers on da TV?" she asked with a big smile on her face.

Surprised, we looked at her and replied that we had been, and that it was still on.

"It's hysterical!!!" she cackled loudly as we kept walking on by.

It was such a weird and wonderful reaction from an old-timer on that weird and sad morning.  We really didn't know what to make of it besides laughing along with her.

New Yorkers.  Ya never know.

Sep 10, 2011

She's gonna kill me

Because we took a bunch of pics this particular day in Charleston.  And this isn't the one she wanted me to share. But fuck it...I'm doing it anyway.  Because this one makes me smile soooo much. Wearing my hat and shit. 

Tada!

my love

Sep 8, 2011

Small Change

Image source: Wikipedia
One of the more interesting thing I used to love about music and albums, in particular, was the album cover itself. Take the above image for Tom Waits' album "Small Change".  I think it says just as much about the man and the music as the stuff that plays on the record. And how cool is it that the nearly naked woman posing as the bored dancer in the background is most likely Cassandra Peterson.  She of Elvira fame, of course.  She's not credited on the album, nor has she ever fully verified it. But she admits that it sure does look like her, and that was a time and place in her life when she doesn't really, ahem, remember exactly everything that went down.  Cool, huh?

In honor of the lovely and talented Mistress of the Dark, here's a little Tom Scat for ya.


Pasties and a G String
by Tom Waits

Smelling like a brewery,
looking like a tramp
I ain't got a quarter
got a postage stamp
Been five o'clock shadow boxing
all around the town
Talking with the old men
sleeping on the ground
Bazanti bootin
al zootin al hoot
and Al Cohn
sharin this apartment
with a telephone pole
and it's a fish-net stockings
spike-heel shoes
Strip tease, prick tease
car kease blues
and the porno floor show
live nude girls
dreamy and creamy
and the brunette curls
Chesty Morgan and a
Watermelon Rose
raise my rent and take off
all your clothes
with the trench coats
magazines bottle full of rum
she's so good, it make
a dead man cum, with
pasties and a g-string
beer and a shot
Portland through a shot glass
and a Buffalo squeeze
wrinkles and cherry
and twinky and pinky
and FeFe live from Gay Paree
fanfares rim shots
back stage who cares
all this hot burlesque for me

cleavage, cleavage thighs and hips
from the nape of her neck
to the lip stick lips
chopped and channeled
and lowered and louvered
and a cheater slicks
and baby moons
she's hot and ready
and creamy and sugared
and the band is awful
and so are the tunes

crawlin on her belly shakin like jelly
and I'm getting harder than
Chinese algebraziers and cheers
from the compendium here
hey sweet heart they're yellin for more
squashing out your cigarette butts
on the floor
and I like Shelly
you like Jane
what was the girl with the snake skins name
it's an early bird matinee
come back any day
getcha little sompin
that cha can't get at home
getcha little sompin
that cha can't get at home
pasties and a g-string
beer and a shot
Portland through a shot glass
and a Buffalo squeeze
popcorn, front row
higher than a kite
and I'll be back tomorrow night
and I'll be back tomorrow night

Sep 7, 2011

No Fun League

The NFL season starts this weekend, and I'm not sure I could care less. Or is it couldn't care less? I can never get that one right.

I used to dig the NFL. Did weekly office pools at work.  Participated in Fantasy Football leagues. Spent every Sunday afternoon at the local sports pub watching all the games.  And I mean ALL the games.  I even had Jets season tickets for about 5 years with a bunch of other guys.  Those Sundays were madness.  A chunk of Saturday was spent shopping and prepping for the game on Sunday.  Then it was meeting up by 7AM, getting to NJ, cooking breakfast, cooking lunch, the game, cooking dinner and sometimes getting home by 11PM or so.  The entire weekend was shot.

I'm getting too old for that shit.  Well, I got too old for it a long time ago.  Gave up those season tickets probably 11 years ago.  But you know what I mean.

Now? I just don't care about the NFL.  It wasn't even really the latest labor dispute.  Professional sports are  always gonna have those every few years.  And it's not even really about Michael Vick.  That dog murderer is now a  superstar again for my favorite team, the Philadelphia Eagles.  Not that I watch any of their games anymore.  Not with that asshole leading the way.

Nah...I started losing interest in the NFL a few years before that happened.  And I can't really pinpoint the reason.  I just stopped enjoying it, I guess.  I still enjoy College Football.  More than enjoy, I LOVE College Football.  But the NFL game just doesn't do it for me anymore.  Same thing happened with the NBA a long time ago.  I used to love it, then I just stopped.  Weird.

Man...I hope that never happens with MLB for me. I can't imagine that it would.

Sep 6, 2011

Starfucker

A friend of mine follows a handful of sports celebrities on Twitter, and spends a lot of time actively trying to interact with them.

I laugh and call him a starfucker.

But I also follow a handful of celebs.  Felicia Day and Pauley Perrette, mostly because I have innocent crushes on them. Albert Brooks because he is one of the goddamn funniest people ever to walk the planet. Rainn Wilson and Megan Amram, because they have famously funny Twitter feeds. Same with Mindy Kaling and Michael Schur (Ken Tremendous).  Simon Helberg and his wife Jocelyn Towne, because they hooked me up big-time last Christmas. And then there is Violet Blue, a sex-columnist whom I consider to be a celebrity*.

The rest of the "celebrities" I follow, however, are sports journalists and/or players.

Most of the time, I barely bother with either replying to a celebrity's tweet or try to contact them.  Most of them have so many followers that I can't even believe they do anything with Twitter other than posting what they want to post. 140 characters at a time.  But sometimes I do it out of habit.  Like commenting on a blog.

The other day, I replied to Joe Posnanski (my favorite writer...sports or otherwise) about a trivia question I thought he might have had wrong.  Turns out he just neglected to be as specific as he thought he was being, and he sent out some clarifying tweets. Mentioning me as being the one who first brought it up.

I'm starting to figure out this whole Twitter thing. Not bad. And call me a starfucker, but it's nice when someone you hold in high regard acknowledges that you exist.  Both sad and wonderful at the same time.

Who is your favorite celebrity to follow on Twitter, and why?  Anybody really cool ever interact with you?  Give it up, peeps.


*Kudos to Avitable, by the way.  He showed up on Violet Blue's Twitter feed AND on her blog the other day with his OK Cupid issues.  Any press is...well, you know the drill.

Sep 3, 2011

JTTTC - New Episode tonight at 9PM EST

Hurricane Irene postponed us last week. Then this week has been a comedy of errors about scheduling it. The Colonel has a Fantasy Football draft on Sunday, so we moved it to Friday night. Then I, conveniently, forgot about it and started drinking and barbecuing with some friends.  So we had to re-schedule again...and the time is NOW!  Or, 9PM EST on Saturday. 

So pop a cocktail and join us live.  Or listen in to the podcast after.  But that's not nearly as fun. Right?  Here's the Colonel's weekly email teaser.
__________________________________________________________


Wow, now I'm nervous.   A Saturday Night in the Cornfield.    This could get silly.   I do plan on tasting many many sweet Apple Pie Moonshines and Catdaddy Cocktails for the show.   
 
Just what I need to discuss all the disappointing players during this joyous Major League season!!
 
So you think being without power is a bummer??   Imagine being on the hook for $25 million,  $50 million or even $100 million for a guy hitting under .200, or a pitcher with a 5-8 record and an ERA over 5 !!??
 
Join Earl and the Colonel for a special Friday edition of Just Talking To The Cornfield as we discuss the most 'disappointing' players of 2011.    And because both of us lost power last weekend we had plenty of time to sit up and night and think of weird and or hateful things to spew out.   Him more than me.  
 
Sit down, grab a stalk and hope to see you tomorrow night at 9.
 
 
Earl and the Colonel
 
 
 
 
 
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http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.wittygraphy.com/picture/view/1012793.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.wittygraphy.com/picture/show/1012793/the-colonel-from-boogie-nights&usg=__FR6kYgIP75mM0E_we-cM7knlDV8=&h=648&w=501&sz=39&hl=en&start=6&zoom=1&tbnid=EaLVju_ZqRKD5M:&tbnh=137&tbnw=106&ei=1dd8TfzNHMiNrgHf0qyTBg&prev=/images?q=colonel+boogie+nights&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&tbs=isch:1&um=1&itbs=1

Sep 2, 2011

Love/Hate

It was a great Yankees/Red Sox series this week.  Great for me and the Yankees, because they took 2 out of 3. Even with the Overlord Saltalamacchia holding court for two of those games. He struck out against Mo in the 9th inning in Game 3 as the potential tying run, by the way.  Just wanted to mention that.

But the game led to an interesting conversation between Gia and I.  She, rightfully so, hates just about everyone on the Red Sox squad.  I feel pretty much the same way, but my hatred is a bit different. I hate them because they play for the Sox.  She hates them because of who they are.  I think.

You see, I think I would LOVE almost all the players on the Red Sox if they were in pinstripes.  Dustin Pedroia? The guy always has the most dirt on his uniform at the end of the game and he swings harder than anyone a foot taller than him.  That translates into one of my favorite players of all-time. Jacoby Ellsbury?  All the guy does is hit, hit with power, steal bases and plays stellar defense. Duh. Adrian Gonzalez? Sweetest left-handed swing since Kid Griffey, and a great defender.  Kevin Youkilis? Sure, he's a hard-ass.  But so is Jorge Posada.  Love that shit.

The only guy on the team I don't love as a player is Josh Beckett. Hate the way that fucker pitches.  Takes soooooo long between pitches.  And he's a douche to boot, or at least he seems that way.  I hated him in Florida, I hate him in Boston.  Fuck Josh Beckett.

Jonathon Papelbon too, for that matter.

But the rest of the guys...we'll I'd be honored to have them on my team.

So hate and love?  It's all kinda subjective.