Would?

Last night Jay-mon and I headed to the Marquee Theatre to see 90s grunge rockers Alice in Chains. As you know, lead singer Layne Staley became hopelessly addicted to heroin and went into hiding for about 6 years until his death in 2002 (overdose).

This year the boys in the band hired singer/guitarist William DuVall to sing Layne's parts. Despite AIC's reputation has a hard rock band, most of what they do is grounded in harmonies between Jerry Cantrell and Layne Staley. And Layne was such a beloved figure that it would be very difficult to fill his shoes.

Fortunately, DuVall did an AMAZING job. He doesn't have Layne's voice, but he's a great singer in his own right. And he's got a great presence on the stage. And it's nice to see an African-American singer for a rock group. They (and women) are way too underrepresented in that genre. I'd like to see (and hear) more minorities break into rock.

The crowd was just as fun as the stage. There was the drunk guy who kept falling into me and invading my personal space. The two guys in front of me who were singing, head banging and doing choreographed hand gestures to each other. I think they might have been brothers, cuz they looked alike. Then there was the white trash older woman (probably late 40s, early 50s) who started bitch slapping this 20-something girl next to me and shouting, "Stay away from my man!"

The show was exhausting. I was so tired after jumping up and down and singing and screaming for a couple of hours. But it was FUN! FUN! FUN!

PICTURE TIME!!!

Here are the pix from the car wash.







Brian thinks he's SO clever with the hose





Eric pretends I'm the paparazzi





Alfonzo took a break from rimming the tires




Joe's so cute




Karri's cute too!





I LOVE this picture. There were a lot of honking cars!





Happy Tunesday!

AIC finished the show with Would? Sadly, it was written by Layne Staley in memory of Andy Wood. Andy Wood was the lead singer of Mother Love Bone (the precursor to Pearl Jam) who died of an overdose. It's a great song.

Labradoodle?

Greetings from the Pineapple Ranch in North North Scottsdale. SJ and I are puppy sitting for John and Phill for the weekend.

J & P live close enough to Phoenix that it's only about a 30 minute drive downtown. But they live far enough away that you can see all of the stars at night. And during the day we've seen so much wildlife -- quail, bunnies, lizards, etc. We even saw some wolves coming home Friday night.

I love the desert. The saquaros, chollas, desert brush, etc. is incredibly beautiful. It's great to experience it in the wild up here. Although there is plenty of development, it's less so than in Phoenix or its suburbs.

The dogs are very interesting. The female (Maulie) is much more aggressive than the male (Ruck). If there's an animal in the backyard, she freaks out. She'll bark and try to get out. And when I open the door she RACES out - practically knocking me over. Ruck, kind of saunters out. He's not so concerned with trespasser. Maulie also has a tendency to hump Ruck. At least she did last night. I instinctively yelled out, "Ruck! Stop that." I was GREATLY surprised when I realized it was Maulie. I laughed my ass off.

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Saturday Robbie and SJ organized a car wash at Apollo's for the Storm. I'll post some pix later this week. Amazingly enough, we raised $650! It's a phenomenal amount of money. What's even better is that we raised almost triple what the softball league raised a few weeks prior. Kim was kind enough to send the notice over the guys at Camelback and they e-mailed it out to their club. I think that's REALLY cool and really typical of the rugger spirit.

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I'm loving the fact that Bill Clinton is doing what no other Democrat is doing. He's grown a pair of balls and giving it to the Republicans. He went on a FOX News interview. Instead of talking about Clinton's Global Initiative, FOX hammered him on his record against terrorism. Clinton fought back and put FOX in its place. I read the transcript of the interview Saturday, but it's much more entertaining to watch the video. Watch it here, courtesy of Think Progress.


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Finally, why is there a picture of a Labradoodle? Monopoly's new edition replaced the beloved Scott Terrier with a Labradoodle. I think Monopoly fans (and dogs everywhere) should be offended. Among the other new tokens is McDonald's French Fries, a Toyota Prius and a Motorola RAZR. Talk about a game that will be outdated before its first printing. A RAZR for crying out loud???

Random Shiznit

Before I write my post, I want to say this blog is sponsored by Phoenix Storm Rugby. Ok. That's a lie. But we're having a car wash this Saturday. Please read below:
Monsoon season may be over but the Storm is just brewing!

Ever thought of what it would be like to be an athletic supporter?

Well now you can!

The Phoenix Storm is holding a fundraising car wash this Saturday, September 23 at:
Apollo's Lounge (5749 N. 7th St.) from 10am-4pm.

Stop by, drop off your car, and have a few cocktails while the rugby boys get down and dirty...with your car!

Ever thought about being surrounded by dirty jocks...err, um, I mean of course by joining the team as a player or supporter. Come and have a beer with us.

The Phoenix Storm is a diverse rugby team open to men of any sexual orientation, race, age or experience level! It doesn't matter if you've never seen or played rugby before. You'll find the Phoenix Storm to be a supportive, fun, and yes, competitive bunch of men who enjoy every aspect of this great game.


BACK TO THE POST
I find it interesting that so many people call me Teddy. Growing up as a kid, I was always Teddy or Teddy John. In high school, the army, college and even today I introduce myself as Ted and within a week or two, I'm Teddy.

It's continuing today but at a slower pace. I think the idea struck me as funny a couple of weeks ago when Phill called me Teddy on the pitch.

I like it. I like to think of it as a form of endearment. Of course, it could mean that I act childish and the name fits, but I prefer to think the former. ;-)

Thinking this little topic might make for a post on the old blog, I searched "Teddy" in Google images. I didn't like anything that came up. So as a lark I searched my name. I found this picture.




That led me to this description:
Pvt. Ted J. Rybka, 35047338, Company E, 127th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division. Killed in Action on 4 January 1943 by gun shot wounds at Buna, New Guinea. Born on 26 September 1919, he entered the service from Lakewood, Ohio.

Pvt. Rybka with all three regiments from the division fought in the Battle of the Buna-Gona beachhead on 19 November 1942. After several other engagements, Pvt. Rybka took part in the Battle of Buna Mission between 24 December 1942 and 1 January 1943 and near the Government Plantation near Giropa Point on 2 January 1943. It was two days later that Pvt. Rybka was killed when he was struck by Japanese bullets.

He is buried at the Calvary Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio. He was 23 years old.

It's interesting to note because when my grandfather and his family emigrated from Ukraine to America, they went to Canada first. They walked from Canada to Baltimore and I believe went through Ohio. I wonder if this man was part of that crew. I wonder if his middle name was John too.

I also found this guy. What's freaky here is that his number is 22. Growing up my favorite number in baseball was 22 because that was Jim Palmer's number. Palmer was a left hander like me and pitched for the Orioles. He also did Jockey underwear commercials.

I know the coincidences are stretches, but it makes me think we're all linked in one way or another.

At Least One of Us Is Sleeping

I don't know what the dealio is, but for over a week I've had serious sleep issues. Actually, it goes back a couple of weeks.

I didn't sleep well when I was in Baltimore - averaging just a few hours a night. When I got back to Phoenix I felt like I couldn't sleep enough. I would sleep 9 hours and wake up exhausted.

This past week, I've repeatedly woken up in the middle of the night. Or I'll wake up hours before the alarm goes off. It happened again last night. I woke up at 5 am with a killer headache -- sinuses.

Maybe I'm just not sleeping because I'm stressing over who is going to win Project Runway. I have gotten suckered into watching that show and now I'm addicted. I was almost in tears last week as poor little Laura broke down. I mean, she's pregnant and she's working her ass off. I hope she makes it to the final three. I want her and Michael to be co-winners (they're both nice AND talented). But of course that will never happen.

Regardless of how little I sleep, Duke has had NO problems whatsoever. I snapped this one night with my cell phone's camera. He cracks me up. I wonder if he'll ever realize he's a cat.

I had a nice weekend.

Friday night I slept at Joe's, which for some reason doubled as Fisherman's Wharf - don't ask. Oh, and he gave me a big ass hickey. So I looked like white trash all weekend. I have been able to mask it by wearing collared shirts. Surprisingly, collared shirts and shorts don't look too bad. Unfortunately, I look a bit uptight since I have to button the top button, but that's okay....

Saturday morning we had rugby practice. After practice a bunch of us were going to get some sandwiches and drive out to West Phoenix to watch Thunderbird and Camelback play rugby. We play Thunderbird in two weeks, so it was going to be a good opportunity to see them in action.

The game was supposed to be at 1. Practice ended at 11:30. This gave us plenty of time to get some food and head over. We arrive around 1, 1:10 and I noticed the players on the grass in a circle. I thought they were having a pep talk before they started the game. It turns out that match started at 11 and we missed the whole damned thing!

So, we sat and ate our lunches in the grass and hung out for a bit. Then I headed home, showered and crashed for TWO HOURS! I never nap that long. I ended up staying in the rest of the evening.

Sunday I played doubles with Jay, Todd and Steve. It was really nice. The weather here is finally starting to turn and it's not so miserable. There's a huge difference between 110 and 98. Sunday evening, SJ and I headed up to John and Phill's for a great dinner and great conversation.

They live in North, North, North Scottsdale - it's actually a suburb of Flagstaff. So the air is even cooler up there. We just hung out on the porch and drank mojitos and wine, laughed at funny stories and had an outstanding time.

:-)

Happy Tunesday!!!

I'm really digging Steady as She Goes by the Raconteurs. It's Jack White's (of The White Stripes fame) side project.

Hello

Hi all,

I've been on a bit of a blogging sabbatical.

Rugby started back up! YAY!

My sister Michele got married for the first time at the tender age of 39 11/12. DOUBLE YAY!

Things have been going well.

I wanted to say a few words about my friend Dan McNeal. He died in one of the WTC during 9/11. He was an amazing man, even when he was a kid.

The school we attended, Loyola - Blakefield, instructed us to be A Man for Others. It's something I've always ascribed to. But Dan lived and breathed it MUCH MORE than any of us ever could.

He did everything at school. He was involved in every fundraising project there could be. We all swore he was going to have a heart attack at age 18. He never let up and his enthusiasm was infectious.

He was THE ONLY PERSON to congratulate me for deciding to go into the army. He thought it was such a great thing to serve our country. And when I saw him after I got out he practically crushed my ribs -- giving me a big hug and thanking me for my service.

Some of my fellow classmates have set up a memorial fund and annual golf outing. There are some great stories about him here. I've tried reading them, but I stop. They make me cry.

Dan has been on my mind a lot the past week. Not just because of 9/11 but because I've had some stuff to deal with on the rugby board. Dan was such a leader. I wonder what he would do in my situation. I hope I'm doing what he would do - because he almost always did the right thing.

OK... on to happier things.

I wanted to post some pictures of my sister's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and Michele looked stunning. Her husband is this sweet sweet man with a cute little accent (he's from El Salvador). It was a special day for me too. I unexpectedly had to stand in as the best man for the wedding. I was really proud to do so.


Joe and I helped Elman figure out how to dress in a tux.


The end of the ceremony.


Although their heads are cut off, I really like this picture.


You know how people tap their glasses with a spoon to make the bride and groom kiss? They did that when Michele and I were dancing. This is our reaction.

The next shots are me having fun. I took all of these pictures myself by pointing that camera at me and whoever I was with. It was fun. :-)


My sister Sue


My nephew Thomas (Sue's son) who is about ten feet tall now.


Mom


My sister Michele


My nephew Matthew (Cathy's son) who refuses to smile.


Dad


My sister Lorraine


Michele butting her head in Joe's and my picture.


My niece Kristen (Cathy's daughter) and her boyfriend James.


My nephew Evan and niece Ashlyn (Lorraine's kids). No they were NOT drinking.


My sister Cathy