I am writing this from Columbia, MO. This is the most west I've ever been in the central time zone (although I have been to Vancouver and Salt Lake City in the other time zones). I am attending the Missouri Illinois game tomorrow in St. Louis.
Heather, I will give my opinions about the VPs in detail next week, also the DNC and, at that time, the RNC. Quickly though:
Biden - not a great pick; he's a good guy, solid middle class guy with good Catholic values. Not going to really get anyone to vote for Obama but does shore up his foreign policy weakness.
Palin - really a great pick, except for her lack of experience. This is an interesting debate since it's a charge that McCain continuously throws at Obama. I think I'd rather have the inexperience steps away from the Oval Office instead of working in the same place. Plus, she's really attractive.
Overall, I'd say that my chances of voting for McCain went up. I'd say it used to be maybe 65-35 in favor of Obama. Now I'd say maybe 55-45 or even 50-50 but I'm definitely one of the undecided voters. If anyone is interested, I can get into the reasons why I like/don't like both candidates during September and October. Let me know if this would interest you.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Tuesday Morning Random Thoughts
I haven't been blogging as much as I wanted recently (i.e. internet was down at home last night for some reason) so I have a lot of thoughts and not a lot of time to expound on them. Without further ado:
- College football this weekend! I am very excited for college football this season. For once, I have high expectations for my favorite team (the Pitt Panthers). I have season tickets but only will be able to go to 3-4 of the games. Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing Shady, Romeus, Billy Stull, McKillop, and the rest of the boyz taking the Big East by storm!
- I am also traveling to St. Louis this weekend for the best matchup of Week 1 - Mizzou v. Illinois. Colin is a Mizzou grad, so I will be donning Tiger black and gold.
- The Olympics were awesome, but something needs to be kept in perspective about China's performance. Besides the fact that they were cheating, the home team always does well in events like this (look at soccer's World Cup for proof). China's swimmers, gymnasts, etc. will have a tougher go when they have to travel across 7 time zones in London for the 2012 games. They won't come near 51 golds again; that's a prediction you can take to the bank. Although they will still dominate diving.
- This is the first time since I was about 4 years old that I haven't been in school for the fall semester. Very weird feeling.
- I will have my fall TV preview at some point soon, but the CW gets things started early with fall premieres next week (starting Labor Day). Gossip Girl is one to watch, and I'm intrigued by the 90210 relaunch.
- Joe Biden? Good guy. Evangelicals will find his position on abortion pretty acceptable, for a Democrat. However, he's not the candidate to woo me over to the Obama camp. I am still an undecided voter for the fall election. Obama and McCain have strengths and weaknesses. McCain is hindered by the 2nd Bush term, which may go down as one of the worst presidential terms of all time (it was much worse than the first term). The Republicans don't deserve the White House, but the Democrats haven't proven that they do either.
- By the way, I am a 100% full supporter of the Electoral College. It gets a bad name in American politics, but is extremely necessary. If you wanna know why, we can discuss it.
- I have been listening to the Beatles a lot recently. I bought Sgt. Peppers back in March, and instantly loved it. It's a great album. I recently purchased both Rubber Soul and Abbey Road. Abbey Road is phenomenal; the first six songs are always stuck in my head (in order: Come Together, Something, Maxwell's Silver Hammer, Oh! Darling, Octopus' Garden, I Want You). Rubber Soul I don't like nearly as much. I like Drive My Car (probably because of the image of Danny Tanner leading the family in a rendition of it), In My Life is good, but I just don't think it compares to the others I've mentioned. Next on the list for purchase is either Revolver or The White Album. Any suggestions?
Thursday, August 21, 2008
The Event Weekend Hangover
I'm sure you know what I'm referencing in the post title. It's the feeling you have on Monday and Tuesday after just finishing a weekend that you've been looking forward to for weeks or months. In my case, I had a bachelor weekend with my Grove City friends, which started to be planned in April. It finished early on Sunday, with the last guys leaving by 2:30 pm. And the feeling of dread set in...
Then, I remembered my Advil - my friend Sean would be coming into town for two nights. Sean works for BLESTO (Bears Lions Eagles Steelers Talent Organization). That's right, he works in the NFL! At BLESTO, they have teams who are their clients and contribute to this scouting organization; it adds another set of eyes to the evaluation process. Sean has been there for about a year, and he recently got a promotion to be an area scout in the Northeast. His territory is as far west as Pittsburgh, as far south as Virginia, and all the way north to Maine (although the furthest he has to go this year is the Boston area). Which means that he will be in Western PA a couple of times, the first of which was Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
Sean and I met as interns for the Buffalo Bills in July 2002. We became friends at this point; I remember one of the first discussions we had was about Brian Giles (the Pirate OF) and how underrated he was. After we left our internships, we remained friends (the only intern of the 6 I remained friends with). He has since lived in New York, London, and Jacksonville, and I've visited him in every one of those places. We also have a race going as to who can go to games at all 30 active baseball stadiums first; by active, I mean that, if they build a new stadium, the old one no longer counts. So we both will be losing the New Yorks (Yankee and Shea) after this season. I am ahead now (I've been to 13: PIT, PHI, BAL, WAS, CLE, CIN, NYM, NYY, DET, CHC, MIN, STL, ATL, soon to add SD and LAA).
Anyway, Sean came in on Tuesday night after driving from Charlottesville, VA - a grueling drive. I took him to one of the best places to eat in Pittsburgh - Fatheads. If you've never been there, there are probably 100 different sandwiches on the menu. He liked it so much that we went back there Wednesday for dinner. I had two great sandwiches, the Red Pepper Sirloin and the Bacon Jalapeno Steak. Wow, were they good. Sean tried the one that was voted #5 sandwich in the US by Maxim Magazine, the one with kielbasa and pierogies. He said it was awesome.
Anyway, that was a treat for Tuesday and Wednesday. Now, all of a sudden, it's almost the weekend, and next week I head to St. Louis for a 5 day Labor Day weekend extravaganza, and it's also the start of football season!
Then, I remembered my Advil - my friend Sean would be coming into town for two nights. Sean works for BLESTO (Bears Lions Eagles Steelers Talent Organization). That's right, he works in the NFL! At BLESTO, they have teams who are their clients and contribute to this scouting organization; it adds another set of eyes to the evaluation process. Sean has been there for about a year, and he recently got a promotion to be an area scout in the Northeast. His territory is as far west as Pittsburgh, as far south as Virginia, and all the way north to Maine (although the furthest he has to go this year is the Boston area). Which means that he will be in Western PA a couple of times, the first of which was Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
Sean and I met as interns for the Buffalo Bills in July 2002. We became friends at this point; I remember one of the first discussions we had was about Brian Giles (the Pirate OF) and how underrated he was. After we left our internships, we remained friends (the only intern of the 6 I remained friends with). He has since lived in New York, London, and Jacksonville, and I've visited him in every one of those places. We also have a race going as to who can go to games at all 30 active baseball stadiums first; by active, I mean that, if they build a new stadium, the old one no longer counts. So we both will be losing the New Yorks (Yankee and Shea) after this season. I am ahead now (I've been to 13: PIT, PHI, BAL, WAS, CLE, CIN, NYM, NYY, DET, CHC, MIN, STL, ATL, soon to add SD and LAA).
Anyway, Sean came in on Tuesday night after driving from Charlottesville, VA - a grueling drive. I took him to one of the best places to eat in Pittsburgh - Fatheads. If you've never been there, there are probably 100 different sandwiches on the menu. He liked it so much that we went back there Wednesday for dinner. I had two great sandwiches, the Red Pepper Sirloin and the Bacon Jalapeno Steak. Wow, were they good. Sean tried the one that was voted #5 sandwich in the US by Maxim Magazine, the one with kielbasa and pierogies. He said it was awesome.
Anyway, that was a treat for Tuesday and Wednesday. Now, all of a sudden, it's almost the weekend, and next week I head to St. Louis for a 5 day Labor Day weekend extravaganza, and it's also the start of football season!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Travel Note
So, I've changed my route to work somewhat. I've been taking the bus in the mornings (although it didn't show up yesterday) and walking to the Duquesne Incline at night. When I walk to the Incline, I walk down Penn Ave. to the Point. Then, I walk across the Fort Pitt Bridge, which leads right to the skyway to the Incline. It's about a 20 minute walk, and it's awesome walking across the Mon.
Yesterday, my back was hurting so I found a bus that was to drop me off at the Duquesne Incline. It was the 33X, which is the West Busway Flyer. It was packed to the point of the aisle being full of people standing. So, he stopped at my stop, right across the river, and a few people got off, and I had to get past all of the rest. So I did, people were shouting "make sure this guy gets off at this stop" to let the driver know...it was a big scene. So I get off the bus, and I notice that everybody else that had gotten off was getting back on. I was the only person on the bus that was getting off here and I caused about 8 people to vacate just so I could get my stop.
Very embarrassing.
Yesterday, my back was hurting so I found a bus that was to drop me off at the Duquesne Incline. It was the 33X, which is the West Busway Flyer. It was packed to the point of the aisle being full of people standing. So, he stopped at my stop, right across the river, and a few people got off, and I had to get past all of the rest. So I did, people were shouting "make sure this guy gets off at this stop" to let the driver know...it was a big scene. So I get off the bus, and I notice that everybody else that had gotten off was getting back on. I was the only person on the bus that was getting off here and I caused about 8 people to vacate just so I could get my stop.
Very embarrassing.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Jim Breuer - A Funny Man
So, Saturday night when my buddies were in town, we went to see Jim Breuer live at The Improv down on the Waterfront. You may remember Breuer from the movie Half Baked, a movie starring Dave Chappelle, or from his stint on Saturday Night Live, with his famous character "Goat Boy". One friend, Jarv, had seen him before at Slippery Rock University, and said he was hysterical...and he didn't disappoint on this night.
Maybe the most remarkable aspect of his show was that he cursed maybe four times; one time he said s--- in the context of a story where his daughter said the word, and he admonished her (in the story) by saying that the family doesn't talk like that. It was really refreshing.
There were many highlights, but I will point out a few. First, he told the story of the movie Half Baked, a "pot" movie. I remember seeing this movie in high school. One of the funniest parts of the movie, to me, is when they decide to go on a late night shopping spree after smoking some weed, and their grocery list is long. At the end of the list, Breuer, in his best stoner voice, adds: "...and Funions!" So, anytime anyone makes a list of anything, I add "funions" to the end of the list. Nobody ever gets it. Anyway...he's telling the story, and he continually pulls out his Chappelle impression, which is spot on, funny every time he does it. So he talks about how he was actually not high for every scene in the movie...minus one. In that scene, in which he "saved the movie" (literally...the bad guy was about to quit, so he filmed a scene after smoking weed so that production could continue) he delivers his famous line: "sucks to be you, man!" He set it up in the show, and delivered it. It killed.
Then, he started talking about success. As his measure of success, he said there were two things he wanted: leather pants and a kangaroo. He went on a riff about this that was priceless; my favorite moment of the show. He was hopping around stage like a kangaroo, then observing the reactions of people as they noticed his kangaroo: "man, is that guy successful". It was a very funny combination of visuals and dialogue. Funniest part of the show, to me.
Ultimately, he was the best comic I've seen live. I've seen a few, including Jerry Seinfeld (who took the Lord's name in vain way, waaaaaaaaaaaay too often) so I think that I can make a good comparison. But, it was a pleasant night out, and I'd recommend to everyone taking in comedy shows at the Improv.
Maybe the most remarkable aspect of his show was that he cursed maybe four times; one time he said s--- in the context of a story where his daughter said the word, and he admonished her (in the story) by saying that the family doesn't talk like that. It was really refreshing.
There were many highlights, but I will point out a few. First, he told the story of the movie Half Baked, a "pot" movie. I remember seeing this movie in high school. One of the funniest parts of the movie, to me, is when they decide to go on a late night shopping spree after smoking some weed, and their grocery list is long. At the end of the list, Breuer, in his best stoner voice, adds: "...and Funions!" So, anytime anyone makes a list of anything, I add "funions" to the end of the list. Nobody ever gets it. Anyway...he's telling the story, and he continually pulls out his Chappelle impression, which is spot on, funny every time he does it. So he talks about how he was actually not high for every scene in the movie...minus one. In that scene, in which he "saved the movie" (literally...the bad guy was about to quit, so he filmed a scene after smoking weed so that production could continue) he delivers his famous line: "sucks to be you, man!" He set it up in the show, and delivered it. It killed.
Then, he started talking about success. As his measure of success, he said there were two things he wanted: leather pants and a kangaroo. He went on a riff about this that was priceless; my favorite moment of the show. He was hopping around stage like a kangaroo, then observing the reactions of people as they noticed his kangaroo: "man, is that guy successful". It was a very funny combination of visuals and dialogue. Funniest part of the show, to me.
Ultimately, he was the best comic I've seen live. I've seen a few, including Jerry Seinfeld (who took the Lord's name in vain way, waaaaaaaaaaaay too often) so I think that I can make a good comparison. But, it was a pleasant night out, and I'd recommend to everyone taking in comedy shows at the Improv.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Lots to catch up on!
Well, I don't have time to post everything I need to post. I had 9 friends from college in town this weekend to celebrate my buddy Jimmy's pending nuptials, and there is a lot to discuss. I need to talk about West Side Story which my mom and I saw Wednesday night, plus talk about the Jim Breuer comedy show we saw Saturday at the Waterfront (he was hysterical!).
But the most important news needs to be relayed: I met Olivia Wilde! You probably don't know who she is. She played "Alex" on The OC; the girl who dated Seth, and then Marissa (yes, she was into dudes and chicks). We were at The Shiloh Room on Mt. Washington, sitting on the deck, enjoying the night, when my friend Strong started freaking out. He claimed that Olivia Wilde and Nick Stahl (from Terminator 3, among other things) had just walked in. I went inside to scope it out (since I'm the world's foremost OC fan). I told a disappointed crowd that it wasn't her. He said he was sure it was, so I checked it out again, and sure enough, I was wrong. So Jimmy and I went in and sat at the next table, pondering whether we should talk to them.
I talked to Nick first. There were five people at their table (3 producers were the other three), so he was kind of just sitting there, and I said hey, are you Nick Stahl? He was very friendly. I asked what they were doing in Pittsburgh, and he told me of a movie they were filming up on Mt. Washington called In Northwood (it's on IMDB so it has to be true!). So we talked a bit more; he liked Pittsburgh, went to the Steelers-Eagles preseason game, is a Cowboys fan. I told him that Dallas would be playing in Pittsburgh this season; he immediately told the producer he wanted to go, and the producer said he'd get tickets. So, if at the Cowboys-Steelers game you see a shot of Hollywood star Nick Stahl, you can know I had something to do with it.
Then, I interrupted the conversation that Olivia was having with another producer (I apologized to both of them profusely, but they had been talking for 15 minutes with no pause for me to interrupt, so I figured what the heck). I told her that I was a big fan of hers, especially on the OC, and she laughed and said thanks (seriously, I love The OC; I almost started quoting her lines from the show, like this one: "Yes, I've been kicked out of Corona, Mater Dei, and even Newport Union"--only Jer probably remembers that). We talked some more, I asked if she liked Pittsburgh and she said they had only stayed in Green Tree so she hadn't seen much of the city. Finally, I asked if I could take a picture of her. Her response? "With me!" So, Jimmy took a pic of me and Olivia. I told them that I really hoped they enjoyed our wonderful city and that I would look for the movie in about a year.
It was just so weird because you never see anyone in Pittsburgh (besides the occasional minor Pittsburgh celebrity--I saw Ken Rice on the street the other day, but I didn't care enough to bother him...I mean, it's Ken Rice...). So, it was really neat, and they were really down to earth and eager to talk to us. Definitely a highlight of a fantastic weekend.
But the most important news needs to be relayed: I met Olivia Wilde! You probably don't know who she is. She played "Alex" on The OC; the girl who dated Seth, and then Marissa (yes, she was into dudes and chicks). We were at The Shiloh Room on Mt. Washington, sitting on the deck, enjoying the night, when my friend Strong started freaking out. He claimed that Olivia Wilde and Nick Stahl (from Terminator 3, among other things) had just walked in. I went inside to scope it out (since I'm the world's foremost OC fan). I told a disappointed crowd that it wasn't her. He said he was sure it was, so I checked it out again, and sure enough, I was wrong. So Jimmy and I went in and sat at the next table, pondering whether we should talk to them.
I talked to Nick first. There were five people at their table (3 producers were the other three), so he was kind of just sitting there, and I said hey, are you Nick Stahl? He was very friendly. I asked what they were doing in Pittsburgh, and he told me of a movie they were filming up on Mt. Washington called In Northwood (it's on IMDB so it has to be true!). So we talked a bit more; he liked Pittsburgh, went to the Steelers-Eagles preseason game, is a Cowboys fan. I told him that Dallas would be playing in Pittsburgh this season; he immediately told the producer he wanted to go, and the producer said he'd get tickets. So, if at the Cowboys-Steelers game you see a shot of Hollywood star Nick Stahl, you can know I had something to do with it.
Then, I interrupted the conversation that Olivia was having with another producer (I apologized to both of them profusely, but they had been talking for 15 minutes with no pause for me to interrupt, so I figured what the heck). I told her that I was a big fan of hers, especially on the OC, and she laughed and said thanks (seriously, I love The OC; I almost started quoting her lines from the show, like this one: "Yes, I've been kicked out of Corona, Mater Dei, and even Newport Union"--only Jer probably remembers that). We talked some more, I asked if she liked Pittsburgh and she said they had only stayed in Green Tree so she hadn't seen much of the city. Finally, I asked if I could take a picture of her. Her response? "With me!" So, Jimmy took a pic of me and Olivia. I told them that I really hoped they enjoyed our wonderful city and that I would look for the movie in about a year.
It was just so weird because you never see anyone in Pittsburgh (besides the occasional minor Pittsburgh celebrity--I saw Ken Rice on the street the other day, but I didn't care enough to bother him...I mean, it's Ken Rice...). So, it was really neat, and they were really down to earth and eager to talk to us. Definitely a highlight of a fantastic weekend.
Monday, August 11, 2008
My Peach Problem
I am taking an aside from Olympic blogging to complain about this. I can't pick out peaches to save my life. I love peaches; love them. They are a top 3 fruit for me (with watermelon and pineapple). However, picking peaches is hit or miss for me. Too often I get the mealy, dry peaches that you just can't eat.
This is a serious problem for me. Serious enough that one of the qualifications for my future wife will be for her to have this hidden talent. So, those of you that are trying to fix me up on blind dates (and let's be honest, I'm always down for that), ask her about her peach-picking technique. It's on my top 100 qualities my future wife must have. In fact, this sounds like the start of a new list. I will tentatively place this ability at #47.
This is a serious problem for me. Serious enough that one of the qualifications for my future wife will be for her to have this hidden talent. So, those of you that are trying to fix me up on blind dates (and let's be honest, I'm always down for that), ask her about her peach-picking technique. It's on my top 100 qualities my future wife must have. In fact, this sounds like the start of a new list. I will tentatively place this ability at #47.
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