Diary of a Sane Man

My weekend didn't start off too well.

Driving back from the library I saw a dog get hit by a car. The asshole who hit the dog stopped long enough to allow me and another man pull the dog to the side of the room before leaving.

The poor dog was running across the street with another dog. The one dog was unharmed and made it across the street. After getting the dog to the sidewalk, it took off and got hit by ANOTHER car.

So, we carried the dog to the sidewalk and it just laid there panting. It was so sad. After getting disconnected with the Humane Society, I had Joe call for me.

By this time, the man who helped me get the dog to safety took off. So it was just me and the panting dog. I didn't know if I should put him in my car and drive him to the shelter or not. I just pet him for a bit and told him he was going to be okay.

Unfortunately, the poor little doggy died within minutes. :-(

I just don't understand how somebody could take off without helping the poor little dog. People suck sometimes.

Friday night, Joe, Robert, Ryno and I saw Number 23 with Jim Carrey. It was a few numbers short of a good movie.

Saturday Joe and I were going to see a play with Buddy. But it was opening night and sold out, so we quickly invited people over to Joe's for an impromptu game night.

It was a blast!

Cranium is a fun group game to play. And it helps you get better acquainted with your friends. I learned:

Alfonzo has the uncanny ability to spell words backwards.
Despite trying, Chris can't hum American Woman.
Joe does a pretty good job of making a birdbath with a handful of modeling clay.
And Jack will blame his partner for losing even though his partner was the best on the team.

Sunday we headed to Squirtle's for a BBQ. After stuffing ourselves, we met Tim at Apollo's (a local gay bar) to see The Blonde One host the Oscar's. And no, I'm not referring to Ellen. My very funny friend, Barbra Sevillehosted a fun Oscar's party at Apollo's complete with prizes!

Joe won tickets to the Bodyworlds exhibit. I won a free car wash and oil change. And Tim won movie tickets!

Barbra, Tim and Joe were their normal funny selves. Plus, Neil Cohen (Echo's resident movie critic) sat at our table, and he's very funny too. So it was a good night.

The best part was when Tim turned to me and said, "I didn't know Helen Mirren was going to show up."

I turned to see a drag queen at the bar who looked just like Helen Mirren. The best part happened a half hour later.

The draq queen left the bar and five minutes later, Helen Mirren was on TV. The real Helen Mirren did her bit on TV, then five minutes later, the drag queen came back. It was uncanny!

I hadn't watched the telecast since I was in high school and I have to say I haven't missed much. Could someone tell me if there's ever been a year since the invention of talkies that Randy Newman wasn't nominated for Best Song?

HAPPY TUNESDAY!!

I was really upset when Jennifer Hudson got kicked off American Idol (the one and only season I've ever watched it -- NEVERMORE! All the good people get kicked off and losers like Fantasia and Tyler Hicks win). I was happy that she won an Oscar. I haven't seen Dreamgirls yet. But I did see the musical. Watch this clip from the Tony's. The video quality isn't great but the original Effie White, Jennifer Holliday, really belts out this song.

Funny Friday

2007-02-23T00:03:00.000-07:00

I didn't wear cleats when I played kickball on Sunday (I didn't want to seem pretentious). Unfortunately, I pitched (or more accurately, rolled the ball) so I was infield the whole time. And it was quite slippery.

Once I fell straight onto my left ass cheek. It kinda hurt (I don't have much padding). I also did the splits at one point (I'm not flexible, so it was sort of like a modified split where my legs were separated by only about four feet - but that's a lot for me!).

I've been kind of stiff all week. But today my left hamstring felt like it was shredded. So.... I'm doing the cold/hot thing. And I'll go to the voodoo doctor (more about him later) to help me get better.

Rugby is going really well. We have all new backs for the most part. They have no experience but they are improving so quickly. I'm really looking forward to the next couple of weeks. We play three games in three weeks. It'll boost their learning curve (and mine too) tremendously. We're going to be VERY strong by the time we hit Seattle!

FUNNY FRIDAY!
Saturday Night Live is hit or miss. It goes through droughts of unfunniness that seem to last forever. The past couple of years have just been awful! I can't handle more than five or ten minutes of it. It just sucks.

One of my favorite skits from the past is the Sweeney Sisters. They are a lounge act that's beyond cheesy. It's not necessarily what they say, but how they say it that cracks me up. Jan Hooks's facial expressions are off the hook!

There's a few seconds of commercials at the beginning but keep on watching. It's great stuff.

Canary in a Coal Mine

2007-02-19T22:53:00.000-07:00

This is my little girl Hera. Isn't she adorable? Hera's got great markings and her eyes look as if she wears mascara. She's a sweetheart.

I don't have much to say today. So I figured I'd post some pix of Hera and Boots before I posted another song from The Police. I'm really excited that they're going on a reunion tour. Joe and I talked about the tour (they're coming to Phoenix), but the ticket prices are terribly expensive. I'm sure we'll get the DVD.

;-)

This is Boots looking out the window in my bedroom

Hera posing some more

Boots mid-lick

They love my bed

HAPPY TUNESDAY!

Did you hear that The Police are reuniting for a tour this summer? ;-) Zenyatta Mondatta was an awesome record when I was a wee lad living in Syracuse, NY in 1980. My stepbrothers played it all the time and I really loved to sing along. This is probably my favorite track - Canadary in a Coalmine. Somebody created a video using the Digimon cartoon. It's kinda cute.

Lyrics

Easy Out!

2007-02-18T22:06:00.000-07:00

I had a fun weekend!

Friday night Joe, Jimmi, Kevin and I headed to the Mills to see Hannibal Rising. I didn't want to see this movie. I thought the whole Hannibal Lecter thing had been done to death. And the reviews weren't very good. But Jim gave it a good review and he and I are in sync when it comes to horror films and rock music, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Overall, it was a pretty good movie. It was interesting to see how Hannibal became the super smart, wickedly funny villain who loves to eat his victims. I really loved it because it took place in 1940s - 50s Soviet Union and France. I love pre-90s Soviet Union stuff. I don't know why, but I've always been drawn to it. I guess because deep down inside I'm a big pinko commie, comrades.

Saturday, after playing HOURS of Zelda, Joe and I watched a bit of Peter Jackson's version of King Kong. I only got to watch the first half hour, but it's recorded on his DVR so I'm sure I'll finish watching the final six hours later this week. When I was a wee lad, I was obsessed with King Kong. I had the poster of the 1976 remake hanging in my bedroom. I hope this version is decent - so far so good.

We rented the movie My Super Ex-Girlfriend. It has Uma Thurmon, who I absolutely LOVE. And one of the Wilson brothers (Luke). It was cute and had a great premise, but it wasn't as funny as it should have been.

We also watched Sarah Silverman's show Jesus is Magic. It's HORRIBLY offensive. Of course, I loved it. Joe and I were quoting it all night.

Sunday we got up at the crack of dawn to watch the Scottsdale Lady Blues rugby team take on some team from Long Beach, Ca. They kicked ass and I got buzzed drinking beer at 9 in the morning.

After the game we all headed to Denny's for some good eats. (If you're curious to know who the handsome men above are: l - r, Alfonzo, Robert, David, Anton, Matt, Shane, Joe).

Then some of us headed to the softball fields in Tempe. The Lady Blues were having a fundraiser - a kickball tournament. I haven't played kickball since the 6th grade. It was SO MUCH FUN! I wish all the guys had come to play, because those who came really had a good time.

After the game we headed to Nu-Towne for a Phoenix Storm fundraiser. We sold some raffle tickets and distributed Storm cards to get people interested. It was nice. I hung out and talked a lot to Mike (our scrumhalf). I like hanging with him. We always have good talks.

It was also nice to see Jimmi and Kevin show up. Kevin had worked like 20 days straight or something insane. So, it was nice he came out and supported the team!

All in all, it was a great weekend! I hope everyone had as good a time as I did.
:-D

One more thing. I'm going to post a different song for Tunesday, but I'm really excited that The Police are going on tour. I didn't care too much for Synchronicity because it was a bit too pop-ish for me. But I love the song Synchronicity II. The lyrics are terribly depressing, but I love the sound of the music, the blended lyrics and the delivery.

Here's a video of it!

See This? This is Sand!

2007-02-15T23:36:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

I had a great Valentine's Day. I picked up Chinese food: chow fun for Joe, his favorite, and sweet and sour pork for me.

After we scarfed down the food, Joe put my feet in a hot bubbling massage bath. He bought some foot scrub stuff and rubbed it on my feet and legs. And then he tried to get the callouses off my feet and toes. But my feet are really beat up from running in cleats on the desert ground (it's like concrete), so he couldn't do it without getting a sandblaster.

Then we watched Pride and Prejudice. This is one of Joe's favorite plays. And he's often compared me to Mr. Darcy. Not that I'm anything like Mr. Darcy, but I'm like what Mr. Darcy represents to Keira Knightly (I can't remember her name, Elizabeth??). The movie was terribly confusing. EVERYONE looked alike. And it took me awhile to get used to the accents (it was kind of like listening to Dave, our Scottish player, talk for two hours), so I only understood every fifth word for a bit.

FUNNY FRIDAY!

For some reason Sam Kinison popped into my head the other day. If you don't remember, he was this big guy who screamed a lot. He made really offensive jokes but they were fucking funny, especially when he talked about women. This is a great standup routine from an awesome comedy special on HBO. It's from the 80s so it's a little dated (We Are the World and Betamax jokes). Also, this is anything but politically correct. So watch at your own risk!

sam kinison -- young comedians

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I'm Sirius About My Radio

2007-02-12T23:15:00.000-07:00

I received a Sirius radio for Christmas. I love it!

There are a boatload of radio stations of every possible genre. My favorite is Octane. It plays hard rock - Tool, Breaking Benjamin, System of a Down, etc. There are no commercials, only DJs.

The beauty of this station (and many others on Sirius) is that they don't play only the top 40 rock songs. They play popular rocks songs AND, they play B-sides too. So I've discovered a bunch of new songs and artists this way. It's great because it displays who the artist is and the song title.

Octane isn't the only rock station. There are NINETEEN stations dedicated to the rock genre. One of my favorites is Hair Nation. It plays all the great hair bands of the 80s - Poison, Skid Row, Bon Jovi, etc.

Sometimes for fun I listen to the all-70s station or the all-80s if I'm feeling nostalgic. And if I don't want to listen to music there are over a dozen news stations - I can listen to CNN, CNN Headline News television broadcasts on the radio!

What's even cooler is the Old Time Radio broadcasts. It's a station that plays all of the old Jack Benny, Twilight Zone, The Shadow, etc!

Plus, it has all of the NBA games!

The radio has a built in recorder. So if someone calls me on my cell in the middle of a favorite song, I can just play it again. Honestly, I've only used this once but it was cool nonetheless. It also let's me store up to 16 favorite artists or songs. If a specific artists/song plays on any of the gazillion stations, it beeps and lets me know who is playing. I can ignore it or press the button to hear a group.

Remember the first time you got cable and you kept changing the channel just because you could? That's how I was at first. But I've settled on a few favorites and am in absolute heaven! I don't know how you poor slobs handle regular radio with all of their crappy commercials and stale playlists!

I know this sounds like a stupid commercial for Sirius, but it's a great product and I've been wanting to write about it for some time.

HAPPY TUNESDAY
This past weekend Octane had a 90s weekend. It was AWESOME. I never wanted to leave my car. Of course, they played Plowed by Sponge. This was a great song and it's on the Empire Records soundtrack - a great 90s movie (despite having Renee Zellweger in it).

Messy Teddy

2007-02-11T22:17:00.000-07:00

Last month Joe and I went attended a holiday party thrown by a friend of his. The friend (and his partner) are both very wealthy and have a very nice apartment in an exclusive tower in the Biltmore.

I didn't really know anyone there, so I was very happy to find out Joe's boss Kevin and Kevin's partner Michael Porto (it has to be said in one breath - even Kevin calls him MichaelPorto). The four of us stood in the kitchen and talked about cats and grocery stores and other bizarre things.

Joe, Kevin and MichaelPorto adjourned to the other room to bring back snacks. I was standing at the bar/sink in the kitchen. My elbow was resting on a napkin. On top of the napkin was a glass of wine. I moved my elbow ever so slightly which caused the glass of wine to topple. Having cat-like reflexes I managed to grab the glass of wine before it spilled.

Unfortunately, by grabbing the glass I caused ALL of the wine to come flying out of the glass. There was a five foot radius of red wine all over the kitchen. I stood there for about ten seconds assessing the situation. "Maybe nobody noticed," I thought.

But then I saw the apartment owner and gracious host approach with a painted on smile saying, "That's okay. It'll clean up." As we were cleaning up the mess (it took forever), the host decided to explain how the marble finish was imported from Italy and was VERY porous.

So, Kevin, Joe, and MichaelPorto walked in as I'm on my hands and knees cleaning this stuff up. Kevin starts laughing and asks what the hell happened.

Fast forward to last night. Joe and I went to opening night at Arizona Theatre Company's production of Souvenir. He and I were standing in the lobby talking to his boss Kevin. I had a glass of red wine in my hand. Kevin leaves.

I decide to turn off my phone (unbeknownst to me, MichaelPorto is approaching from behind...). My phone slips from my hand. I try to grab the phone before it drops and end up spilling my wine all over the floor and onto Joe's shirt.

So, Joe says I have a secret crush on MichaelPorto which causes me to spill wine whenever I'm near him. Joe also dubbed him Michael PourO!

It was pretty funny. So once again, I had to clean up a mess. And my phone split on the side. I have to get some crazy glue or tape to hold it together.

Friday night we went to the library for Andy's (one of the straight guy's on my team) birthday. It was a lot of fun and he got REALLY drunk. I had an interesting conversation of gay vs. straight sex with Andy. And an even more interesting conversation with John (another straight guy on our team) about his sexual exploits as a teenager.

Sunday, Joe and I went to see The Messengers. It was pretty good - it had some really spooky parts! I like ghost stories like that. I'll blog later about why I only go to Harkins Theatres.

Funny Friday

2007-02-08T23:49:00.000-07:00

I love political cartoonists....

And I love Seinfeld. A lot of Seinfeld episodes aren't laugh out loud funny. But they're humorous and they get better with repeated viewings. One of my all time favorite episodes is the one with Donna Chang. I spliced together the Donna Chang storyline to share (ignore the big A in the upper right corner-I used a trial version of Premiere).

I love the looks Jerry, George and Elaine give each other. They're hysterical - especially the look Jerry gives Donna when he first meets her. And any episode with George's parents is a great one. They YELL out at each other - George's mom looks like she's going to explode when she screams, "I have no eye for fashion?"

Inside Job

2007-02-06T23:05:00.000-07:00

I am a flyhalf.

As recently as last week, if someone asked which position I played, my initial instinct would be to say, "I play flyhalf but I'm a winger."

Today, I can say with conviction that I truly am a flyhalf.

My rugby career started as full back. But I'm too scrawny for that position. Then I got switched over to wing. More specifically, I played weak-side wing. I loved it. I had my own turf. And I did a pretty good job of protecting that turf.

Weak-side wing was easy to master and it allowed me to see the game unfold. I did a lot of watching, but that was okay. I learned how the game was played and it allowed me to start being more vocal about what plays should be called. I was able to point out things the opposing team were doing and I felt confident enough to let my teammates know about it.

This year through attrition I quickly went from weak-side wing, to backup flyhalf to flyhalf. In fact, I only had one practice to prepare as flyhalf for the game against San Francisco in Dec. I know I wasn't the first choice to do the job. So, I felt bad doing such an important position on the team when there were probably others better suited for it.

As wing, all I had to do was catch the ball and run as fast as possible. As flyhalf, I have to assess the situation and call an appropriate play, get the ball from Mike (who takes it from the scrum or lineouts), try to avoid someone barreling down on me and pass it to the correct person. I also have to recognize where we are on the field and be able to kick us out of trouble.

It was really daunting because I'm not the best passer and my instinct is to run - not pass. But something has happened recently. I've been able to pass the ball well and with accuracy. And my kicking has improved. I can't boot it as deep as others, but I'm pretty accurate now. And I can catch most anything thrown in my direction. So if Mike doesn't throw a perfect pass, it won't screw up the rest of the offense.

I know now that every pass I throw won't be perfect. But that's okay. Because nobody on the field ever throws perfect passes each time.

This probably sounds like an "I'm great" post. It's not meant to be. I'm skilled in some areas and deficient in others. But I came to the realization today at practice that I'm a flyhalf. And that made me happy. :-)

I have 20 minutes to post my Tunesday song....

HAPPY TUNESDAY!
This song is all about believing in yourself. It's a simple but pretty Pearl Jam song called Inside Job. I love the lyrics at the end:
Let me run into the rain
To shine a human light today

Lyrics
Song

Let's Go Crazy

2007-02-05T10:09:00.000-07:00

Friday night, Joe and I watched The Devil Wears Prada. It was MUCH better than I anticipated. I LOVED Meryl Streep. No matter the role, Streep always does a great job. I know this movie has been out for awhile (I watched it on DVD for heaven's sake). But it's kind of fun discovering a movie or band or whatever after the fact.

Quick rundown: Streep is the editor for a fashion magazine. She could have played this over-the-top bitch. But everything was understated, which made it even funnier.

There are lots of great lines and scenes in it. The only downside to the movie was that the ending was a total sellout. I won't say why, in case you haven't seen it. But I wished the ending had stayed true to the rest of the film.

Saturday night we went to Ticoz for Jimmi's birthday. Dinner was good but the service was not. Our waiter looked like Davey Havok from AFI. He also forgot to take down the order of someone at our table. Just skipped on by. (This was after they messed up our reservation - we had a reservation for 7 at 7:30. They released our tables after we didn't show up at 7).

Sunday we went to Tim and Mel's for the Super Bowl. They had authentic Chicago deep dish pizza from Chicago. It was DELICIOUS! They also had Teddy Grahams (cuz they looked like bears) and other great food. MMM.

The game was competitive at first but the Bears just lost focus and let Indy run all over them. The ads were ok but nothing seemed to jump out. I thought the K-Fed commercial was cute. And the Snickers commercial was totally hot. j/k.

But what was Prince thinking? I couldn't tell if he was trying to look like Aunt Jemima

or Little Richard

Funny Friday

2007-02-01T23:26:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite correspondents of all time is CNN's Jeanne Moos. She does these two-minute "slice of life" pieces in New York. Sometimes they're laugh out loud funny. Other times, they're just amusing.

Joe sent me a link to one of her latest stories because my friend Stephen is in it! I'm so jealous. But Stephen is the perfect man for her stories. He's hysterically funny. Every time we talk, I just laugh and laugh. Joe thinks Stephen is like Jack McFarlane, but Stephen's funnier.

Anyway... Here's Stephen's debut on a Jeanne Moos story (he's the one that says, "How do you know when it's done?" and "they clean themselves!"). Here's a pic of him with Joe when we went to New York for Bingham Cup.

Kitty Bath - Jeanne Moos

Rearranged

2007-01-29T23:19:00.000-07:00

I typed in the word weekend in Google images and this was the first two pictures. So... say hello to Carmen Electra and her wonderfully huge breasts.

I had a nice weekend.

Friday, SJ came over to do his laundry. And we played a little bit of Wii. I LOVE my Wii. It's so much fun. Of course, whenever Kevin sees me playing Zelda he tells me I look like a spaz, throwing my arms around. It's probably true, but who cares. It's a blast!

Saturday night, Joe, Matt and I went to Burger Betty's to eat dinner. The place is notorious for its bad and slow service and mediocre food. But Buddy said that it's under new management and they've actually hired an executive chef.

So, we go there and receive really bad service. I never got my appetizer that I ordered and the waiter kept forgetting to bring us drinks or refill them.

The food was decent. It wasn't amazing but it wasn't bad.

Joe's friends Jimmi and Austin (his real name is Kevin but Joe mumbles so Matt and I understood it as Austin), joined us for drinks but missed out on the food. The five of us were sitting around, waiting for our check (apparently at Burger Betty's the check is only give after a minimum wait time of 30 minutes after your plates are cleared).

Before we knew it, some really drunk man scooched me over and sat down on my chair with me. He said he was one of the new owners and was telling us all about the horrors of upgrading everything. He was TRASHED. He kept rubbing Matt's leg and was sitting too close for comfort for me (obviously, since we were sharing a seat).

But that wasn't the most interesting part. Jimmy and Kevin were the most negative couple I've ever met. They fought the entire time. And they put everything and everyone down - including themselves.

Actually, that last paragraph was a complete lie. They were really nice but there's this inside joke that would take too long to explain.

After the drunk owner let us go, we paid out check we headed over to Roscoes. We played some darts and pool. Jimmi and I were teammates and beat Matt and Joe, two games to one. Jimmi is very funny and his boyfriend, Austin - I mean Kevin - is very sweet. I think we talked Kevin into showing up to practice on Tuesday!

Sunday Joe and I had dinner at John and Phill's with some other folks and then watched The Queen. Helen Mirren has been getting rave reviews for her portrayal. She was quite good but the movie was just average. I've seen Lifetime Movies that held my attention longer.

At the beginning of the movie there was a quotation from Shakespeare's Henry IV "Uneasy Lies the Head That Wears the Crown." I knew it was similar to a lyric from a song but I couldn't figure it out. I had to Google it later that night and found out it was from one of my favorite Limp Bizkit songs.

So HAPPY TUNESDAY!!

Here's the video for it. I used to love Limp Bizkit and Fred Durst. Too bad their 15 minutes of fame are over. I love the line - I'd love to be the one to disappoint you when I don't fall down.

Funny Friday

2007-01-26T09:59:00.000-07:00

I saw this on another blogger's site and laughed my ass off. It's 5 minutes of hilarity.

Does This Man Look 12?

2007-01-24T00:39:00.000-07:00

This week in Phoenix there have been two news stories. No, it's not the war in Iraq. Or, the president's 70% disapproval rating.

The first bit of big news reported for days was the fact that it snowed in Phoenix. That's pretty damned big news. It doesn't happen often.

The other story in Phoenix is over this man - Neil Havens Rodreick II. He conned some creepy old men in Chino Valley. The creepy old men allowed him to move in with them because he said he was a 12 year old. Oh, and they all had sex.

To continue his charade, the guy shaved all his body hair and wore makeup. Now the creepy old men must have the worst eye sight in the world, because I don't care how much makeup you put on this guy - he looks older than a 12 year old. Look at the bags under his eyes! And the lines around his mouth!

Not only did he fool the creepy old men. He fooled kids, parents and teachers at Imagine Charter Elementary School..... for FOUR MONTHS!

Everyone is just outraged because the guy is a convicted sex offender. Thankfully, there have been no reports that Rodreick did anything bad to the students he went to school with.

I'm not outraged. I think it's hysterical that some dirty old men got conned by another dirty old man. I mean, these guys thought they were messing around with some kid. But they weren't. He was someone almost as old as me! Maybe my sensitivity levels are all wrong, but I find the situation ironically funny.

Time to Make the Doughnuts

2007-01-20T15:31:00.000-07:00

I'm going to start blogging again. My sisters have no idea what's going on in my life if I don't blog. To kick things off, I received one of those e-mail chain things from Jay. Here are the instructions with my responses.

Welcome to the new edition of getting to know your friends. Okay here's what you do, and try not to be lame and spoil the fun! Just copy this entire e-mail and paste into a new e-mail that you can send. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you. Some of you may get this several times that means you have lots of friends.

1. What is your occupation? Editor
2. What color are your socks right now? Flesh (I’m not wearing any)
3. What are you listening to right now? Nothing. I’m bored to tears watching this crappy movie called Napolean Dynamite
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Ham and cheese sandwich
5 Can you drive a stick shift? Yes
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Aquamarine
7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My mom
8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? I love me some Jay
9. How old are you today? 35
10. Favorite drink? Chocolate milk shake
11. What is your favorite sport to watch? Tennis1
2. Have you ever dyed your hair? Yes, and if I get any more gray, I’ll be dying it a lot more often.
13. Pets? Assorted fish and two cats
14. Favorite food? Breakfast
15. What was the last movie you watched? In the middle of Napolean Dynamite but saw Notes on a Scandal last night
16. What was the last book you read? Don’t remember
17. What do you do to vent anger? Bitch
18. What was your favorite toy as a child? My Atari 2600
19. What is your favorite fall or spring? Spring
20. Hugs or kisses? Both
21. Cherries or blueberries or Strawberries? Blueberries
22. Do you want your friends to email you back? They can post on their blog
23. Who is most likely to respond? N/A. Not sending out as e-mail
24. Who is least likely to respond? N/A. Not sending out as e-mail
25. Living arrangements? Roommate
26. When was the last time you cried? In about ten seconds if this movie doesn’t end.
27. What is on the floor of your closet? A fan that makes too much noise when plugged in.
28. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this? N/A
29. What did you do last night? Saw Notes on a Scandal with Joe.
30. Favorite smells? Fabric Softener
31. What inspires you? Animals
32. What are you afraid of? Being late
33. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Cheese
34. Favorite dog breed? Boxer
35. Number of keys on your key ring? 8, plus assorted Petco, Fry’s, Hollywood Video and other key fob crap
36. How many years at your current job? 3 months
37. Favorite day of the week? Saturday
38. How many states have you lived in? 6, plus a foreign country
39. Favorite holidays? Christmas and Halloween
40. Ever driven a motorcycle or heavy machinery? 5-ton truck in the army

I Will Survive

2006-11-24T22:53:00.000-07:00

Editorial note: I copied and pasted this from my phone with some minor editing.

It's 530 a.m. and I'm standing behind about two hundred people to get into a Target. I'm typing this into my phone. I've had no time to blog lately and figured that this was as good a time as any.

Why am I doing this? I've never done this before-participate in one of those door busters sales the day after Thanksgiving.

But I talked to my sister Lorraine yesterday. She's stressing because she wants to get my niece and nephew a Nintendo Wii for Christmas. And supply is limited. I told her I wanted one too and I'd be on the lookout for her. So that's why I'm here.

I think I should get some extra points for my gay card. I hate shopping. But surely standing in line at five thirty in the morning is worth some points! It's now 5:45 and there are about one hundred people behind me. These people are crazy. I want to reiterate that I'm here in the hopes of attaining a hard to get item. Not because I want to buy Ernest Saves Christmas for the low price of $4.95 (from 6-9 am only).

I looked at the ads yesterday. There was nothing great about them. My goal is to run into the store and see if they have the Wii. If they don't I'm going down the shopping complex to gamestop. There were only ten people in line there when I pulled in this morning and they don't open til seven.

I have a feeling that I'll end up standing around for two hours for nothing. Hopefully that's not the case. 8 more minutes til showtime. I'm putting my phone away. I'm going to need both hands to push everyone out of my way.

I hope It's something like in the 80s when cabbage patch dolls were scarce and parents fought tooth and nail for those ugly dolls. That's the true spirit of Christmas. Right?

OK. Target was a bust. That place was absolutely crazy. Everyone was packed in the technology section. You couldn't move between the shopping carts. The people behind the camera desk were overwhelmed. It was surreal. Honestly there weren't amazing deals. Sadly, they only had 24 Wiis. Those were gone before I crossed the shoe department...

I love video games but i can't stand the freaks that work and shop at game stores. This guy behind me (I'm now at gamestop) is calling everyone "guy." And when someone asked if he was standing in line for a Wii he got all offended like his manhood was questioned. Then he made a big show of saying that he would never want a Wii. And that he wasn't here to buy anything but to exchange a game.

Who the fuck gets in line an hour before a store opens to exchange a game? I hate him. The two ladies behind me are talking to him. His voice is grating. I hope the game he's exchanging isn't in. He wears his wedding ring around his neck. First, he mentioned his wife. I quickly turned around when he said that because I couldn't believe he would be married. Then I noticed he wears his wedding ring around his neck. For the love of God, WHY? Because the extra weight will slow him down a tenth of a second while playing Halo 2?

It's five minutes til opening and the store manager is getting out of his car. How do I know this? The annoying man just announced it to the whole crowd. The manager said they only have six Wiis and no PS3s. The first couple of people cheer and everyone else groans. Oh well. I'll try again next week.

Editorial note: Joe tried going to WalMart to get a $50 portable DVD player for his nephew. The scene looked like this.

Vote Bitches!

2006-11-02T23:47:00.000-07:00

Doublespeak and doublethink

2006-11-01T12:57:00.000-07:00

I find it interesting that the mainstream media does not question George Bush on his doublespeak. I always thought doublespeak was an Orwellian phrase used in 1984. It turns out it isn’t.

According to Wikipedia: Doublespeak may be considered, in Orwell's lexicography, as the B vocabulary of Newspeak, words "deliberately constructed for political purposes: words, that is to say, which not only had in every case a political implication, but were intended to impose a desirable mental attitude upon the person using them."

The phrase Bush and many others use that drives me to distraction is “activist judges.” He uttered this phrase the other day when describing the New Jersey Supreme Court’s decision that the marriage laws were unfair. He and many right wingers believe that marriage is under assault from the gays.

This kind of rhetoric is irritating. First, divorce is the biggest threat to marriage. Second, most American families aren’t married anymore. According to the U.S. Census, a greater number of couples are living together and not marrying. Third, the court didn’t say same-sex marriage had to become legal. It did state that the legislature had to create something that gives all of the rights, privileges and burdens of marriage. This means it could be called domestic partnerships, civil unions, etc. It doesn’t matter. But loving same-sex partners deserve equality.

“Activist judges” are crucial to American equality. If the majority ruled and got its way all of the time, then we’d still have slavery, interracial marriages would be illegal and segregation would be ok.

Thank God for court decisions like Brown v Board of Education and Loving v. Virginia. Those aren’t cases where judges are activists. Those are cases where the judges righted some serious wrongs.

Also, Georgie Porgie must have a terrible memory. Two years ago he endorsed this kind of thing. He said same that gays should be allowed to have the same rights as marriage, “if the state chooses to do so.”

The Catholic Church loves to do a different kind of doublespeak with the gays. Actually, it's more like talking out of its ass. While in the same breath it calls gays “intrinsically disordered,” the Church says that gays shouldn’t be discriminated against. Read this first paragraph from an AP story:

The nation's Roman Catholic bishops said Wednesday they are developing new guidelines for ministry to gays, reaffirming church opposition to same-sex marriage and adoption by gays, while condemning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

OK. Do they not understand that by opposing same-sex marriage and adoption by gays they ARE discriminating. I mean, this is logic 101.

And for being a “loving” religion it’s an awful and evil institution. It closes an adoption agency because it doesn’t want the horrible gays to become parents. It encourages parishioners to vote for state amendments that ban same-sex marriage. It actually sides with anti-gay groups like this right-wing Christian conservative group just to denigrate and push down gays.

Yet I don’t hear any voices other than my own and other liberal bloggers calling out these discrepancies. Where is the mainstream media? Shouldn’t they be pointing these things out? Where are the straight allies saying enough is enough? Where are our families? Our brothers and our sisters? Shouldn’t they be marching to Washington and to the Vatican to defend us?

If not, we’re going to have to rely on “activist judges” to give us (the minority) the same rights and privileges as other human beings.

The Velvet Ribbon

2006-10-30T22:29:00.000-07:00

I had another great weekend. Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love the lights, Christmas carols, the cool temperatures (well, 60-degree weather in Phx), and PRESENTS!!!!

But eeking in a close second is Halloween. I like being scared, sort of. And most of the cable stations air horror films. For the past two weeks I've been watching some really good and some really bad horror films.

In addition to horror films on 24/7, it was the International Horror & Sci-Fi Festival in Tempe this past weekend. Saturday night they showed the original Nightmare on Elm Street. AND they had a Q&A after with Heather Langenkamp (I don't know who she's with here) who played Nancy in the first, third and seventh films!

So I asked Joe if we could go there instead of going to a haunted house. He kindly said yes and got the tickets.

The film festival had a couple of tents and vans hawking stuff like comic books. And some of the people in line were dressed up in costume. But overall I would have to say there were only geeks in line. Which, of course, made Joe and I geeks too.

Some kid came up and stood behind us in line. He was probably in his late teens. He asked if we'd seen any of the other films and asked about the free comic book I had in my hand. I was nice to him and tried to converse with him. Joe was his normal smart-assed self which totally confounded the poor kid. I mean, he's probably not used to Joe's special brand of humor. So when he left the line to get a free comic book I told Joe he had to be nice (right after Joe called him a virgin--not to his face)....

It was the first time I'd ever seen the first one on the big screen. It's kind of dated, especially the clothes and some of the lines. But for the most part it stands up well. And it's fun to see Johnny Depp in his first film. Ronee Blakely, who plays the mother, did the worst acting job ever. It turns out she used to be a good actress and was celebrated for her role in Nashville. But here she just sounds ridiculous saying lines like, "Freddy can't hurt you because mommy killed him." Plus her hair often matched the color of her skin, she looked really freaky.

Heather L. sat just a few seats back from Joe and I. Honestly, if it had been Johnny Depp or Robert Englund I wouldn't have been so excited. But it was Heather! I thought she was really cool in the movies and it turns out she's really cool in real life.

She told some great stories and answered even the dumbest questions from the audience.

We went back again on Sunday (as did Tod, Dave and Gilbert) and saw an independent sci-fi flick called Firefly. I thought it was pretty good and I loved the ending.

Saturday's a rugby day!

The Phoenix Storm played the Cave Creek Critters on Saturday. I did not get to play because I was still a little banged up from Flagstaff. I begged Phill to let me play but he wouldn't - something about having my best interest in mind. I guess it's just as well, but it sucked not being able to play.

Especially since the Storm kicked MAJOR ASS. We had possession of the ball probably 60 - 70% of the time. The problem was their backs were better than ours. They were able to juke our guys and score. Open field tackling is REALLY difficult, so it's not something that we're going to be good at immediately. It'll take time.

But the intensity on the field was the best I've ever seen. Our guys hit harder, scrummed better and rucked like never before. It was so great to see. And when we finally scored a try (our first against a straight team), it was really exciting. I almost pulled a Phill and cried. I definitely choked up for a second.

I'm really proud of how well everyone is trying. And I think it's a testament to Phill and Aimee that they've gotten us to quickly forget the debacle of Thunderbird and move us forward.

SPOOKY TUNESDAY!

When I was a kid we had this record of scary poems and stories. Some of the poems were really cheesy and short, like this one. But there was one story that we used to listen to over and over again. It's called The Velvet Ribbon. I hope you like it (it's only 2 minutes so give it a listen). I told you you'd be SORRYYYYYYYYYY. ;-)

A Thank You From My Sister Lorraine

2006-10-29T23:06:00.000-07:00

My sister Lorraine sent me a letter (see below) and I was supposed to post it last week. I'm always a day late and a dollar short.

I want to thank everyone for helping Lorraine raise money for the MS Walk. She walked the 30+ miles for my sister Michele who has been battling the disease. Your thoughts, prayers and money were greatly appreciated!!!

From Lorraine:

It is hard to believe that a month has passed since I walked 31 miles in this year’s MS Challenge Walk. We started at the 50 yard line of the U.S. Navy Stadium and walked for 2 days ending at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Once again, we were blessed with perfect weather and great volunteers supporting the walkers every step of the way.

I cannot thank you enough for supporting the MS Society, myself, and my sister Michele who I walk for. This year Michele did not participate because she married her best friend Elman Lobos! What a joy to see my sister so happy!

Life for Michele has changed by her disease, but the dedication of the MS Society to finding a cure, and family and friends raising money, has made great strides in fighting the disease. Michele is managing her MS through medication and we are thankful. Other folk’s struggles are more severe, because MS varies in symptoms and affliction no two cases are the same. Hope is the only thing that keeps some people going at times. Thank you for giving all those touched by this disease Hope!

This year we raised $2,115! In our 3 years of participating we have raised $8,328.14 toward fighting MS by finding a cure! What an awesome contribution – Thank You!

I am blessed with good health and great family and friends, I plan to walk every year that I can, to do my part in fighting the devastation that MS brings unwelcoming into people’s lives. I hope that you too will continue to support the efforts of the MS Society and those living with MS by staying on our team next year!

I have enclosed a picture of Michele and I with the quilt I made for her 40^th birthday from the tee-shirts she and I had worn (they were washed first) during the last 3 walks.

Thank you again for your love and support, I hope that you have a wonderful holiday season filled with God’s Blessings!

Peace,

Lorraine

Hello

2006-10-26T16:02:00.000-07:00

I'm still bitter over the Project Runway thing so I had to take a break from blogging.

OK. That's only half true. I've actually been so flipping busy that I haven't had too much time to do it. I've been having a lot of fun though.

First, look at this picture. I had to order eye ointment for Duke. The cheapest place to purchase it was ironically from www.dog.com.

I paid extra shipping for overnight delivery. It came in this HUGE ASS box! Look how small the little tube of ointment is.

Last Friday was my friend Neil's 50th Birthday. He had a nice small dinner (only 30 people - which is actually small for Neil) at Pasta Brioni. He then had a big bash at one of the local bars here. I had a great time!

Saturday was Rickie's 24th birthday. It was a radically different scene. It was a combo birthday/fashion show. I had a blast. I loved hanging out with the rugby guys in a different setting. I laughed so hard because we are all so radically different. But everyone is nice and sweet so that's our common thread.

Last night some of us ruggers and my friend Ryan went to the Arizona State Fair. It was hysterical watching John A. buy anything and everything that was friend and on a stick. The pickle was REALLY tart! I tried a snickers and it was good but too sweet. I could only eat a quarter of it. I gave the rest away.

We got on some absolutely insane rides. The problem is, my fear of heights has gotten MUCH worse. I was so afraid I was going to fall off the stupid Skyline Ride (you know the hanging bench that goes from one side of the fair to the other). We got on one ride that had us hanging upside down 73 feet in the air. The only thing holding holding us in the seat was a little shoulder bar. I held on SOOO tight. I just felt that at any second the shoulder bar would fly up and I would fall out. According to its Web site, the open seating is supposed to give riders "an extra thrill."

I did get on the Zipper though, which is my absolute favorite ride ever!

My sister Lorraine has a message for all of you peeps. I'll post it tomorrow.
:-)

Wat de Fuch?

2006-10-18T23:27:00.000-07:00

Ok. I'm never going to watch that piece of shit television show ever again. It's inconceivable to me how the man who created the crappiest, shittiest clothes wins the whole fucking show.

I can't believe Jeffrey won.

What's even more amazing is that Michael Knight sucked too. I was embarrassed for him. What the hell is this? And could someone please give that girl a sandwich?

Uli should have won. She had the best collection of clothes. And the judges were correct. Every woman in the world would want to wear them. I really loved the bathing suit.

Laura - my personal fave. Created a very nice elegant collection. True. It's nothing that makes you go WOW! But the clothes she makes are timeless and I think are exquisitely made.

So that's it. I boycotted American Idol after LaToya London got voted off before Jasmine Trias. I mean Jasmine SUCKED MAJOR and LaToya was the best singer out there. I never watched AI again. And I'm not going to watch PR again either.

Goodbye to You

2006-10-15T21:57:00.000-07:00

This week, two of my favorite shows will be off the air. Two-A-Days is actually over now. I watched the final show this morning. And then I watched the "extra" episode online tonight.

Wednesday is the end of Project Runway. I hope Laura wins (but she won't). I hope Jeffrey is exposed for cheating (but he won't be).

It's interesting how I watch television on anything but a TV.

I don't own a DVR. I have Qwest cable because it has the Tennis Channel. Qwest doesn't rent out DVRs for an extra $10 per month or however much it costs. I don't want to buy a TiVo because I know I'll be with a different cable company in a year or so. And it doesn't make sense to buy one, because my new cable company will probably have a rentable DVR. Or, I'll end up getting an HDTV in a couple of years and would need a different TiVo model.

I watch most of my TV online or on my phone.

I always forget to set the VCR (or I set it to the wrong channel). So I end up watching Lost, Jericho and Grey's Anatomy online. I love ABC and CBS for doing this. It makes it SUPER convenient for me. And I'm so grateful that I even watch the stupid commercials (there's only three or four for the entire broadcast). I feel like I owe it to them, so I'll watch the Nasonex bee buzz around for 30 seconds every ten minutes.

I've downloaded the entire first season of Supernatual to my computer. Then I transfer a couple of episodes to my phone. At night I watch 10 - 20 minutes of it before turning out the light. It's great because I don't have a TV in my bedroom. And it's a show that I never get a chance to watch (I don't even know what night it shows on "real" TV).

I think I might get a Creative Zen or perhaps the Microsoft Zune when it comes out. That way I can watch videos on a larger screen. They're WAY better than iPods.

That's the future of television folks. I'm hoping the cable companies (and networks) get smart and just do things on demand. It makes more sense. I'm also hoping we'll have to stop spending XX amount of dollars on stupid channels like CSPAN, Outdoor or Wealth TV.

One final thing... A family of shrooms sprouted up outside of Joe's apartment. I took a picture with my phone but it was really bright outside so the wide shot didn't look too good. So I got on my hands and knees and took a closer pic and captured the neatest little animal.

Deep Purple

2006-10-09T22:32:00.000-07:00

I'm addicted to AOL Radio. It's free. It's commercial free. And it's genre specific.

It also lets me program 5 stations like a real radio. So I've programmed the All Pearl Jam station (PJ 24/7!!!!), classic rock, 90s alternative rock, 1-Hit Wonders and 70s.

I'm really digging (pun intended) the 70s channel. It makes me feel happy and safe. I know that's funny to say, but it's true. It really takes me back to when I was a wee lad.

Most of the songs are typical songs -- hits from Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond, etc. But sometimes they throw in a zinger, like Playground in My Mind. We used to sing that song all the time when we were kids.

The 00s are very much like the 70s in some aspects. We have a crooked president. We have an unpopular war. We just need disco, bell bottoms, Tab and psychedelia to make a comeback and it'll be just like living in the past.

Oh, that reminds me. I saw a commercial for Weebles. They're making a comeback.

I LOVED our Weebles. We had the haunted house and the tree house.

HAPPY TUNESDAY!!!

One of the songs the 70s station played that I hadn't heard in a long time was Deep Purple by Donny & Marie. I can't believe there is a video of it on YouTube. When I wasn't being blinded by Marie's DAZZLING earrings, I noticed that Donny looks a lot like Steve May. How funny!

What a Difference a Week Makes

2006-10-08T21:53:00.000-07:00

Saturday we played in a tens tournament in Flagstaff, AZ. Tens is like regular rugby except there are only 10 players. This is supposed to open the field up a lot. But the fields were really narrow and short, so it didn't.

But let me back up a little. Friday everybody drove up to Flag. It's about a 2 hour drive. It took Joe and I about 3 hours because we got caught in traffic.

Once we got up there, we had a couple of beers with everyone and headed to bed. I had my normal sleep drama (meaning I got none). I fell asleep for an hour and then was wide awake.

Since we were sharing a room with Robbie and Steven I couldn't turn on the TV. So, I sat on the couch (it was a suite), surfed the Net and played Tennis and Jeopardy on my phone. I finally fell back to sleep around 4. But our wakeup was at 6:45. That means I got a whopping 4 hours of interrupted sleep. :-(

Fortunately, I didn't feel sleepy all day.

We played three games on Saturday. Instead of 40 minute halves, we played 15 minutes halves (thank God!). The team that took the field on Saturday was RADICALLY different than the week before. Everyone played with incredible intensity.

We hit harder. We dove for balls. We ran our asses off. And we competed against more experienced players.

I won't go through play-by-play of each game but I wanted to relate a happy story.

During the first game we were just a few meters from the try zone. Rickie threw the ball to me and I dove onto the ground behind what I thought was the try zone. It wasn't (trust me, the fields were marked oddly and it was difficult to determine the various lines on the field).

I heard people screaming, "Release the ball."

In my head I was thinking, "Why? I just scored."

But then I felt two guys trying to get over me and get to the ball. Joe came up, grabbed the ball and ran it in for a try! It's his first ever. So, it was pretty exciting for me. He didn't think it was a big deal.

Tens is a different animal than fifteens and I felt like I was out of position a lot. I also seemed to do way more tackling than I'm used to and my body is REALLY sore. I have brusies on my back, sides, arms and I think my entire left leg.

I weigh about 50 - 80 pounds less than everyone I was tackling (the smaller guys played on every team we DIDN'T play). So sometimes I couldn't bring the guy down. I could only contain them until help arrived. That's kind of frustrating.

The rest of the day was great. Everyone played so well. I could name each person on the field and write a whole post on how well they did, but I'm tired. Just know that everyone who walked onto the field played with a purpose and it showed. Many people throughout the tournament came up to us and complimented on how well we've improved since last year. That means a lot!

.... Today was the second day of the Rainbows Festival. It was nice, but I was tired. The highlight of the day was when John and Jacque brought Lilly -- our rugger baby. She's so cute!

Decisions...Decisions...

2006-10-05T23:57:00.000-07:00

Poor Meredith Grey. She was courted by McSteamy last year. Now she has to figure out if she wants McVet or McDreamy.

When I saw the Batman & Robin movie, I gasped out loud in the movie theater when it panned up to Chris O'Donnell's face. I thought it was so cute.

And then last Thursday night I gasped again at McSteamy's exit from the bathroom (see video below).

So now Meredith is having McVet and McDreamy compete for her affections. Honestly, I don't know what they see in her. She's decent looking. But SO self absorbed.

So my question to you dear readers is, which one would you choose? McVet, McDreamy or McSteamy?

Silent Lucidity

2006-10-05T07:59:00.000-07:00

Monday evening, I dragged SJ to see QUEENSRŸCHE. Or as Joe called them Drama Queensryche. I'll explain in a second.

In the late 1980s, Queensryche was known as the "thinking man's heavy metal band." Instead of writing songs about booze, women and sex, they wrote about social injustice, introspective pieces on how the mind works and esoteric subjects.

In 1988 they released a concept album called Operation: Mindcrime. It's way too complex to give a description but let me steal a sentence from Wikipedia: It is about a man becoming disillusioned with American society, and joining in a conspiratorial plot to assassinate its corrupt leaders, with spoken dialogue between songs that advances the story and ties the songs together. (Click here for a paragraph on the storyline--it's actually quite interesting).

When I was sent to Kuwait, I listened to this record almost every day. It saved me from the intense boredom of being stuck in the desert for months. I dissected all of the words and tried to piece parts of the story together.

The words are dark and angry and fitting. For example, here's a sample from Speak:
Seven years of power
The corporation claw
The rich control the government, the media the law
To make some kind of difference
Then everyone must know
Eradicate the fascists, revolution will grow

The system we learn says we're equal under law
But the streets are reality, the weak and poor will fall
Let's tip the power balance and tear down their crown
Educate the masses, We'll burn the White House down

Fast forward 18 years. Queensryche wrote the sequel to the first album. It's even more angry at the political situation than the first one. Ironically, the first was written when Bush was in office. The second one was written when his son was in office. Bush sucks!

This past Monday, Queensryche performed both records in their entirety back to back (with an intermission) at the Dodge Theater. Instead of the normal concert routine though, they had a set, actors, and extensive video and lighting. It was pretty damned cool.

Of course, it was a little difficult to follow for Joe. At one point, Geoff Tate (and the crowd) was singing Revolution Calling. Joe didn't know what the "C" word was. He thought it was coolie.

In other news... we're going to Flagstaff tomorrow to play rugby in a tens tournament. This is a little different way of playing rugby. There's a lot more running in the open field. I'm really looking forward to it. I didn't get to go last year because of a wedding.

I missed Tunesday. So here's a video from the Ryche. This is from their album Empire. Silent Lucidity was their biggest song from the biggest record.

This Will Only Hurt a Little

2006-10-01T21:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday we played Thunderbird. We came to play rugby. But actually what happened was the Phoenix Storm watched Thunderbird play rugby. We (the Phoenix Storm) just kind of stood there (in the 100 degree heat) the whole time and watched as Thunderbird scored again, again and again. Oh and again and again...

It was the worst game we've ever played. And it was terribly frustrating. And I'm still pissed.

Before the game, Phill gave us backs a little slip of paper. On it were things we needed to remember during the game. For me, he wrote to be a more (vocal) leader on the pitch, to take some risks (although it wasn't stated, I inferred he meant defensively) and to follow through when I threw the ball.

I was much more vocal on the pitch than I've been in the past. I don't know if it did any good. But I was yelling and talking a lot. I never got a chance to take any risks (offensively or defensively). It was more important to try to slow the train wreck. I only got to touch the ball once or twice offensively. But I didn't throw the ball away when I did get it, so that's good.

I don't know what the hell happened. All last year, our forwards (the big guys) were so strong. They really managed to hold their own in scrums, rucks and defensively. But Saturday, they just kind of stood there and watched the ball roll on the ground in front of them. When a T-bird had the ball, the wouldn't run up to the guy and tackle him. Instead, they waited until the guy with the ball approached them. That does no good. There was no aggression.

I found myself having to tackle (or attempt to tackle) too many forwards. Although I don't mind, I shouldn't have to continually tackle guys 100 pounds heavier than me. Don't get me wrong. I could have played better too. I needed to tackle lower. And there were a couple of times I probably could have been more aggressive.

I managed to burst a blood vessel around my eye. After I tackled (or tried to tackle -- honestly, sometimes I was just hanging on the person until someone helped bring the guy down) someone my right eye was blurry. I thought my contact was messed up. But after the game everybody made fun of "my mascara running." I also managed to jam my thumb. I heard a crack or a pop. It's still swollen at the joint and I can't bend it very well. And I have the obligatory scabby knees (it wouldn't be a rugby match without them).

There were some success stories to Saturday. John A. -- the oldest guy on the pitch at 51 -- played the hardest. I've told him before that he's an inspiration for me. Once again, he was. He was honored with forward of the match. And Padlock Tony deservingly won back of the match.

After the game, Phill told us all to think of why we're there. Were we there to play rugby or for social reasons? I'm afraid of how people will answer...

I was bitching to Kevin about the game today. He said, "When I watched you guys play it was obvious that you, Joe, that tall guy (Dave) and maybe one or two others played like you cared. The rest are in it for social reasons and that's it."

Grr...

So, I was up late Saturday night thinking about the game. While Joe was sleeping I caught a couple of episodes of this show called Two-A-Days on MTV. It's about a high school football team. The team is #2 in the nation and undefeated after 27 games. It was interesting to watch them finally lose a game (I think #28) and how they responded. I hope we bounce back. I hope we play with purpose.

In other news... Joe and I watch Underworld: Evolution. It was ok but a little confusing since I didn't see the first one. We also watched the remake of Poseidon. It sucked compared to the original, The Poseidon Adventure. The first one is bad. But it's campy bad. The remake was just crappy.

That's all for now.

Would?

2006-09-26T23:18:00.000-07:00

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?

2006-09-24T18:52:00.000-07:00

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.

-------

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

2006-09-20T22:43:00.000-07:00

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

2006-09-18T22:28:00.000-07:00

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

2006-09-13T08:10:00.000-07:00

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

Dwarf Planet?

2006-08-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

I think these are the signs of Armageddon. First, politics are so corrupt that even the Democrats are fixing election results. Second, Republicans didn't learn that fabricating intelligence data to invade Iraq leads to civil unrest. Third, Jon Benet Ramsey's killer has finally confessed and it wasn't the Ramseys. But now the killer may not be the killer.

And finally... Pluto is no longer a planet.

This is outrageous. Especially since only a handful of astronomers voted on the decision (about 300). They're calling it a dwarf planet -- one of the three dwarves (Ceres and Xena are the others). I think the astronomers are getting their fairy tales mixed up.

OK. I'm being dramatic. But it's kind of sad to think the little space object on the fringes of our solar system no longer gets to be part of our little family. I'm kind of excited about the space mission to Pluto. A spacecraft should reach it in 2015. I've always been fascinated with space. planets, stars and our solar system. Pluto has been so intriguing to me, since so little is known. I wonder what we'll find out about it.

The Good, the Bad and the So Awful It's Good

2006-08-21T00:16:00.000-07:00

Friday night was a bowl-a-thon for the 1 Voice Community Center. The rugby team entered and had a great time. The lanes were filled with SCREAMING queens -- some in sequinned outfits. It was so flipping funny. We all had a great time and the event raised over $16,000!

Saturday night Joe and I rented Scary Movie 4 and V for Vendetta.

Scary Movie 4 was really bad. I love the Scary Movie series but 4 was pretty lame. There were a few funny moments but nothing like the previous movies.

I loved the 8 Mile scene in Scary Movie 3 when the guy raps, "I'm a white boy, but my neck is red / I put Miracle Whip on my Wonder Bread." CLASSIC!

I love the characters Cyndy and Brenda in the previous movies.
Cindy Campbell:
Brenda! The monster is gonna kill us!

Brenda Meeks:
IT WOULD HAVE JUST BEEN YOU IF YOU HAD JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!

Sadly, Scary Movie 4 was a dud.

But then we watched V for Vendetta. What a GREAT movie! I wanted to see it when it was in the theaters and I never got a chance. It was nothing like I anticipated. Basically, the story took place in the near future. The USA was practically non-existant and England was ruled by a totalitarian chancellor. He used fear as a way to rule. He would constantly frighten the citizens in order to stay in power. And he uses the media to promote his message--something they willingly do.

So this one guy decided that chaos was in order to restore order and freedom. He murders evil high-powered citizens -- a Limbaugh/O'Reilly type of newscaster, a doctor, heads of state. And he blows up government buildings.

He does this because he was sent to a prison nobody knows about (Gitmo anyone?). There he encountered dissidents and homosexuals. And they all ended up dead. He managed to escape so he enacts revenge.

There are some memorable lines. One of my favorite is:
V:
People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.

After he blows up one government building, he hijacks the television system and gives a great speech. It's excerpted here:
V:
Good evening, London. Allow me first to apologize for this interruption. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of every day routine- the security, the familiar, the tranquility, repetition. I enjoy them as much as any bloke....

There are of course those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and men with guns will soon be on their way.

Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the annunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there?

Cruelty and injustice, intolerance, and depression. And where once you had the freedom to object, think, and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillence coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission.

How did this happen? Who's to blame?

Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror.

I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War, terror, disease. There were a myraid of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to the now high chancellor, Adam Sutler. He promised you order, he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent. Last night I sought to end that silence.

Anyway -- the movie hit close to home with me. In many ways. It's sad but I felt like it was a movie about modern America. Go rent it and watch it.

As for the "so awful, it's good" movie. While I was writing my freelance stuff, I had on Girls Just Want to Have Fun in the background. This gem from the 80s starred a very young Sarah Jessica Parker, Helen Hunt and an even younger Shannon Doherty. It's so bad that it's good. :-)

Comment vs. No Comment

2006-08-18T16:06:00.000-07:00

I love typing a keyword into Yahoo's or Google's image search and seeing random stuff pop up. I typed in the words "no comment" and this was on the first page. I had to use it.

Anyway.... Joe forwarded me an audioblog. The lady was talking about blogger etiquette and whether or not people should reply when a comment is left on their blog. For example, Ian always replies to comments left on his blog. It's always fun to read the exchange.

I almost never reply to comments on my blog.

But the lady thought it was only polite to say thank you for stopping by, fuck you or whatever -- even if you comment to a group of people at once.

So, I'm going to start doing that.

Any comments?
:-P

Mr. Cranky Pants

2006-08-17T12:16:00.000-07:00

I don't know what the deal is but lately everything is irritating the shit out of me. I've decided to make a short list of things that bother me.

The crisis in Lebanon
The actual conflict doesn't bother me -- it's been going on since the dawn of man, so I'm used to it. What drives me nuts is there's no consensus on how to spell Hezbollah. As long as I can remember, it's always been spelled H-E-Z-B-O-L-L-A-H. But recently I noticed some news organizations who spell it H-I-Z-B-U-L-L-A-H.

There should be some sort of unified spelling code for this organization. The Council on Foreign Relations goes with the former, but the latter and even Hizbu'llah are acceptable variants.

CNN has NO consistency. On Aug. 14 at 1:40 a.m. it posted a story spelling it Hezbollah. At 11:36 a.m. that same day it decided to go with Hizbollah. A day later it was back with the "e."
No wonder the Israeli army can't find root them all out. They keep changing the spelling of their name!

It reminds me of the sudden change in pronunciation of harassment. Pre-Tailhook scandal (early 90s?), it was always pronounced Ha-RASS-ment. As soon as the Tailhook story hit, it was pronounced HAIR-is-ment. I don't know why. I guess the network news was afraid to say ASS when describing a sexual harassment case.

Carry On Luggage
The non-liquid thing is just ridiculous. First, TSA says that any liquids except for baby formula are not allowed on-board. I guess they figure that terrorists will kill anyone including themselves, but not little babies.

Then Phoenix announces it's going to give away all unopened liquids (water bottles, shampoo, cologne, etc.) to the homeless in Phoenix. How do they know the homeless people won't get blown up? Is that their answer to the homeless problem? Give them all bombs so they explode and die.

And if they aren't afraid of the big mess it could create on the Phoenix's streets, then why don't they just let the damn passengers take their Frescas and Drakkar Noir onboard?

And why CAN I take on board pointed scissors, a wrench, screwdriver or any other tool under 7 inches, but I CAN'T take on board a Capri Sun? And why is lipstick ok, but lip gloss is not?

Jeanne Moos does a GREAT bit on this. Watch it here.

The Republican Spin and Mainstream Media
CNN, AP, Time, and your local newspapers are just lapdogs to the current administration. It's really disgusting. Anything that comes from the White House is presented as fact. They never bother to put it into context.

For example, when Ned Lamont beat Joe Lieberman the Vice President said everyone who voted for Lamont was voting for Al Qaeda. The Mainstream Media never bothered to counter Cheney at the time. Nor did they point out how sick and wrong that statement was. They just printed it.

Fortunately we have The Daily Show.

Props to Americablog for pointing out this hysterical quote, "Al Qaeda was in tatters on the verge of surrender until news of millionaire Ned Lamont's 52%-48% primary victory reached them and rallied their spirits."

So am I being overly sensitive or is anyone else irritated by all this crap?