A band came to my attention in the late 1990's - they were called the New Radicals - you probably remember the song "You Get What You Give," the song that got quite a bit of airplay - it's a catchy song ... and if you were lucky enough to purchase the album, "Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too," it's one of those albums you can pretty much listen to all the way through (seems like less and less of those albums are being made nowadays, unfortunately). The album itself masterfully mixes some early sounding rock with catchy pop, often criticizing society (according to Wikipedia) whilst glorifying drugs and sex.

Unfortunately, the New Radicals came and went rather quickly, and can probably be defined as a "one-hit-wonder."

Personally, my favorite song on the album is the opener, "Mama, we Just Can't Get Enough," probably due to the fact that they lifted the rhythm sound from "Sympathy for the Devil." The song is chocked full of catchy choruses, as well as witty and deep lyrics, in addition to some pretty intense piano playing at certain points of the tune.

Here's some more information on the band in case you are interested.

Madden retires .... NO!!!!

John Madden retired, and the NFL will never be the same ... it was kind of sudden, wasn't it? I mean, isn't he supposed to give us a 1-year warning or something? Couldn't he just announce one last season before shoving off? Why?

Well, I do have a theory? I mean, Harry Kalas just passed away last week ... he was 73 - the same age as Madden. Coincidence? Probably not. My theory is that Madden was hit pretty hard by the death of Kalas, and realized that he had a bunch more living to do, and didn't want to end things in his "Madden Cruiser." Just a theory, folks.

More importantly, what's going to happen to the Madden video game "franchise?" I mean, there hasn't been a sports video game as popular as the Madden series ... the new release every year is almost like a holiday ... many people purchase the game at midnight, take the following day off, and play the game non-stop all day (or week). It's pretty crazy, if ya ask me. But, now what? Will EA Sports continue to promote John Madden, or will they promote somebody new? And if so, who? Are we looking at Collinsworth 2010? Will we have a Gumbel and Gumbel release? Is this Brian Baldinger's big shot? More likely, the Madden name will eventually fall off, and the game will just be called NFL 2010. Just a thought.

We'll miss you, John ... now you can join Pat Summerall ... and he ain't even dead. Oh, and yes, I owned that first Madden game ... for the Commodore 64.

That's "Tree"-mendous!

As some of you many remember, I used to comment about some "interesting" news stories on a semi-regular basis. I pretty much tired of doing this (oh, and nobody really read it), so I gave up on it. However, from time to time, I'll still post a story or two that really "amuses" me.

And coincidentally, I just came across a really unbelievable story ... a man went to the doctor's office, complaining of severe chest pains ... the doctor expected to find cancer, some benign tumor ... but he never expected to find a tree ... yeah, that's right ... an f'ing tree was GROWING in this guys lungs! How does this happen? Did this guy have "relations" with a Fir tree? Nobody's really sure. The good news is that the man has fully recovered, and was back at work a week later. Truly, "Tree"-mendous!

Here's the story, in case you don't believe me:

Song of the Week

George Thorogood is many things - a heckuva blues guitarist, a successful rocker, a guy from Delaware ... heck, he was almost a member of the Rolling Stones (a blog post for another time). The first time I noticed Thorogood was when I watched his "Bad to the Bone" video on MTV - it may be one of the coolest videos ever ... Thorogood playing pool with the legendary Willie Mosconi. (Here's the video in case you've never had the pleasure of seeing it)

Not only is the video cool - the song is a true rock song, complete with overwhelming riffs, classic saxaphone, and a primal beat. Thorogood's voice is perfect for this song - scratchy, loud, and mean. It's one of those songs that just makes you want to go out, have a drink, and start some trouble (not that I'm condoning any of this). There are a number of fantastic guitar solos in this gem, as well as some cool/funny lines - "When I walk the streets, Kings and Queens step aside ... every woman I meat, they all stay satisfied."

Here's more info on Thorogood, in case you're interested:

Fast Food Corner

Remember back in the day when Wendy's had a taco bar? How cool was that? I miss it ... I miss it a lot. I mean, why did they give up on this? I have a guess/theory. You see, most Wendy's restaurants are kind of small. They have small tables, and small food trays ... both of these bother me to no end (but, I like the food, so I always return ... and then end up complaining). Anyway - did they get rid of the taco bar because they wanted to add more small tables? Kind of makes you think, I guess.

Speaking of which, I also miss Roy Rogers' free fixin's bar ... how has nobody else run with this idea? Heck, wouldn't it be easier to hand somebody a burger and say, "You can stop bothering me and just add whatever toppings you want over there?" Why hasn't McDonalds or Burger King jumped on this? Are they too lazy? Does Roy Rogers have a copyright on this? I gotta know! I wanna build my own burger, darn it!

Any other past gimmicks that you guys miss?

Weekly Homework Assignment

It's time once again for Mama Kat's Weekly Homework Assignment. This one's a pretty easy one for Philly ... in fact, I blogged about it just a couple of days ago. Here's the question: 3.) Tell us about a local news story that's all the buzz right now in your neck of the woods.

If you're from Philly, this is an easy one ... sadly. It's the death of legendary Phillies announcer, Harry Kalas. I think David Montgomery (main mouthpiece of Phillies management) said it best when he said, "The Phillies have lost their voice." Kalas was loved by just about everybody in Philadelphia - in addition to having a golden voice, the man had a golden heart too. He probably never, ever turned down giving an autograph or having a picture taken with a fan. Heck, he even recorded voicemail messages and wedding entrances for total strangers!

All of these are reasons why Kalas was so beloved by Philadelphians. But, a friend at work and I were talking about other reasons why this has hit us so hard. Certainly, because Harry announced just about every Phillies game for the past 38+ years, we relate life events that occurred during Phillies games (at least we sports fans) to Harry and his voice ... if you're not a sports fan, this may sound stupid. But trust me, it's true - the Phillies always seemed to be on TV or on the radio in the summertime when I was growing up ... and I always remember that voice. When I imagine Phillies highlight reel plays it's Harry's voice describing them.

Plus, Kalas never retired. He died AT THE BALLPARK, JUST A FEW HOURS PRIOR TO ANNOUNCING A GAME!!! He died on the job ... but he died doing what he loved doing, and I'm guessing if he had any say in this, he wouldn't have written it any differently. But, had Kalas retired a few years ago, this loss, though still shocking and painful, probably wouldn't have been AS painful. Still, we lost our voice, and even though the game will go on, and I'm sure at some point, another announcer will develop a legendary career whilst announcing for the Phils ... it just won't be the same.

God bless you, Harry the K! In case you want to hear his voice one last time (or for the first time, click here.

Too Soon?

A friend of mine e-mailed me this picture/potential ad ... not sure if we are ready to make fun of this yet ... definitely not in good taste (no pun intended). I wonder how McDonald's feels about it?

Hard to Believe, Harry ...

The "phans" of Philadelphia lost one of their own earlier today. Harry Kalas, the voice of the Philadelphia Phillies, died suddently just prior the game against the Nationals earlier today. The news hit me hard ... I'm guessing it hit many of us in the area hard. Harry has announced Phillies games for more than 38 years ... that's longer than I've been alive.

The show must go on, but man, it's gonna be heard listening to the game, and not hearing that velvety voice of his, announcing the starting lineups, saying "Struck him out!," or using his trademark "Outta here, home run!" line. It seemed like in the summer-time, Harry was part of the family at times - his voice always on in the background, updating us from time to time on what the score was.

But Harry's voice will also be missed across the country, as Kalas was also the voice of the NFL - providing voiceover for numerous NFL shows, as well as games on the radio. The man was a legend - every bit as large as Vin Scully, Harry Cary, Mel Allen, and Jack Buck.

This season will not be the same for us, unfortunately. But, time heals all wounds ... I'm just guessing this one may take a little longer. We love you, Harry!

Trout Fishing Report

Ladies and Gentlemen - I went to my first trout fishing opening day in over a decade ... and I survived! I went with my good friends Rich and Mark - guys who have been carrying on the tradition for a number of years. It was a long day, but it was an excellent day.

After having assembled at my house at around 6:00 in the morning, we were able to find a Rite Aid that carried polarized sunglasses for Rich, and a Dunkin Donuts for Mark, and we made to our destination - Ridley Creek around 6:30 AM. We scouted our fishing hole and made it to our location at around 7:00. We had about an hour until first cast - more than enough time to prepare, tell stories, and most of all goof off.

We all did relatively well, considering the murky water, and gusting wind - I caught 4 trout, Mark caught 5, and Rich caught 3. We all missed a number of others, and sadly, I broke my new fishing pole. All in all, it was a great and wonderful day - and I can't wait to go out again ... once I get another fishing pole.

Song of the Week

There have been a couple of notable "theatrical" bands in the history of rock - Queen and The Talking Heads come to mind ... there's another more recent band that has taken the torch from these legendary art-rock bands - The Darkness.

This band has been around for longer than most people realize - dating back to 1991 ... sure, the vast majority of people didn't hear about this band until probably 2003 with the release of the "Permission to Land" cd - one that enabled them to play huge rock shows throughout the world, even getting the opportunity to tour with the legendary Metallica.

Their first major hit, "I Believe in a Thing Called Love," is just a great sing-along song ... well at least part of the chorus is ... the lead singer sings about as fast as that guy who did the Micro Machines commercials talked (look it up). This song is filled with powerful guitar riffs, a candy-metal sound, and a lead singer loves to sing falsetto ... it's a song you probably won't want to openly admit to liking (kind of like that "Hey-Ya" Outkast song), but you probably secretly like.

You can find out more about The Darkness here:

Weekly Homework Assignment

It's that time of the week again - Mama Kat's Homework Assignment I chose the following prompt: What is an unpleasant experience you had eating? Write a poem, paragraph, or something else about the experience.

Reluctantly going to my aunt's ...
It was Easter, so I had to put on good pants.

I knew we were having ham for dinner.
In my mind this was not a winner.

I've hated ham ever since I was a kid.
I threw up on ham a number of times, yes I did.

I was hoping they'd have another dinner for me.
However, they did not ... no-sir-ee.

My mom told me to eat some of the dishes on the side.
But instead, I wanted to run and hide.

She asked if I wanted corn, broccoli, or apple sauce.
If I ate them, cookies I would toss.

Frustrated, my mom told me to eat a bowl of ketchup.
To which I happily replied, "Bottoms Up!"

I ate ketchup for as my meal.
To me it was no big deal.

No longer has ham been the only meat.
A side of turkey just can't be beat!

Fast Food Corner

A couple of us went to one of those Taco Bell/KFC "restaurants" this past weekend ... First, let me say that I absolutely LOVE these places! Think of the possibilities - I can order tacos AND pop-corn chicken without ever having to go to TWO restaurants! An awesome concept, to say the least. I'll even go a step further - I've seen a Taco Bell/KFC/Pizza Hut SUPER restaurant ... sure, it's hard to order a pizza from a place that serves tacos and chicken, BUT I find it much easier to order those delicious bread sticks from there ... but I digress.

This particular taco bell/KFC must've been the absolute worst fast food restaurant in Delaware County (and quite possibly, the world). Absolute chaos gripped this restaurant - no clear directions on where to stand to order food or receive food, listless workers doing the bare minimum to get paid, Van Morrison music on the radio (still can't get that annoying Domino song out of my head).

It wouldn't be so bad if the the bad times stopped there. No, the food itself was terrible - even for a fast food restaurant. These employees apparently decided it was ok to "improvise" with creating fast food - for instance, the Mexican Pizza, which is supposed to include flour tortillas, instead had corn tortillas ... oh, and it also was supposed to include beef and refried beans ... however, these employees decided it was ok to skip the beef entirely. Sometimes, innovation is welcome and encouraged ... sometimes. But, usually, these should be "piloted" on volunteers, as opposed to being served to paying customers ... ones who will probably never, ever come back again, based on the awful, awful experience.

But hey, at least there are other Taco Bells in the area, I guess...

Invention Needed

We humans have invented many fantastic and wondrous things - the wheel, the car, the computer, bacon ... I could go on and on ... anyway, there are some "uninvented" items that just make you scratch your head ... I mean, we can go to the moon, but we can't cure cancer? We can see galaxies millions of light years away, but we can't "cure" balding?

So, where am I going with this? Well, I had a meeting the other day, and during the meeting, I "noticed" that i had a "bat in the cave." Yep, that's right, somehow, my nasal cavity decided to produce a booger during this meeting. How embarrassing! This doesn't happen to me all the time, thankfully, but it only needs to happen once in a meeting, doesn't it? I mean, you start thinking differently about the person who has had that hanging booger, right? I've seen this happen to others - it's hard to look at them the same, isn't it? It's kind of like when someone comes out of the bathroom with a pee-stain.

Shouldn't there be some sort of "preventative" booger invention - something that you can insert to your nostrils prior to a meeting? Just a thought.

Ketchup Question

I'm a big fan of ketchup ... well, who isn't? I love heaps of ketchup on my fries, burgers, heck, even on hot dogs! I've never had a problem with ketchup - to me, there's really no way to improve it. However, some companies do not share my feelings.

In an effort to take ketchup to "infinity and beyond," ketchup companies have decided to make ketchup available in a variety of colors. For some reason, somebody in a board room with a tie came to the conclusion that red is not an ideal color for ketchup, and that other colors like blue, green, and yellow need to be added to the ketchup pallet. Did these people do customer research, and if so, did they really get feedback trends that were based on the actual color of ketchup? "Man, I love ketchup, but I really wish that it was blue." "You know what's missing with ketchup? Color variety, that's what!" This has to be the dumbest idea since the clear cola phase, right?

Not Sure About This...

A coworker/friend of mine and I were chatting the other day ... we have this game we do called "Dope or Nope" - basically we come up with a topic and decide whether we are cool with it (Dope), or are not cool with it (Nope). I wanted to get your help on this particular topic we discussed - women shaving their eyebrows and penciling eyebrows in?

Now, from my standpoint, I have wild-growing eyebrows, and constantly have to trim them, for fear of looking like John Madden or Andy Rooney. My eyebrow hairs sadly do not act as a team, and when they grow too long, they look like blonde crab-grass. So, I can certainly appreciate the desire to keep them short, trim, and well groomed ... but I think I'm not cool with with the shaving and penciling in of new eyebrows.

Here's the thing - it seems to me that you totally defeat the purpose - why get rid of eyebrows, just to add them again? Isn't that like 2 or three useless steps? Can't you just work with your current eyebrows? And, if you can't, please let me know why? Maybe I'm ill-informed on this topic.

Secondly, these penciled-in eyebrows always make the person look like they're shocked. Maybe I'm talking to you about the weather ... maybe I've asked you what you're eating for lunch ... maybe we're discussing some work-related issue ... either way, your eyebrows make it seem like I just flatulated on your face. It just doesn't look natural to me ... again, I'm willing to listen to counter-arguments or reasoning behind this - please, educate me.

Weekly Assignment

It's time for Mama Kat's weekly assignment again! This week, I chose the following prompt: What is a common misconception about you? Oh man, do I need to narrow it down? I mean, some people think I'm pompus, mentally challenged, genious, witty, non-caring, overcaring ... basically, it runs the gamet. I'm probably somewhere inbetween on all of these.

However, because I love to laugh, tell jokes, and goof off, there are many people who think that I can never be serious. Although, I'm not one who thrives when he's serious, there are times when I can be serious - especially when it comes friends, family and work. There have been many situations (too many, in fact, to even put on this blog) where I have been relied upon to be a good friend or family member - when a critical situation has occured, and "funny-Los" has to give way to "serious-Los." There have been plenty of times when we've hit crunch-time at work (again, probably too many to even list), and I've had to put on my "serious" hat. I am more than capable of doing this, and I've realized through the years that there is enough room in this world for both ... however, both need to be done in moderation.

Stoppage Time ...

Just some random thoughts creepin' and crawlin' inside my brain:

* I'm going trout fishing for the first time in years this Saturday ... does this mean I'm going up a notch on the "man-scale?"

* I'm watching Wrestlemania on Sunday ... does this mean I'm going down a notch on the "man scale?"

* It usually isn't a good idea to do a shot of Jamison's after 1:00 AM ... or ever.

* The college basketball tournament puts the NBA to shame ... with the exception of LeBron James.

* I'm reading a book called Shadow Divers ... fascinating story about a U-boat that was discovered off the coast of Cape May ... I highly recommend it (and yes, I know the book came out more than 3 years ago).

* I like the milk at the bottom of the cereal bowl ... is this OK?

* I want to play on a bar soft-ball team.

* Thank goodness baseball's back!!!! Go Phils!

* Weekends go by far too fast when you're having fun.

* What happened to Verne Lundquist's neck? Was it fired along with Billy Packer?

Interesting topic

Recently, whilst watching some college basketball at a local watering hole, my friend "Slant" and I got into a conversation about music, like we normally tend to do. During this talk, a Stones song came on the radio (as if it was fate). I believe the song was "Get Off of my Cloud," one of their classics. Of course, our conversation naturally gravitated to the Stones.

Slant mentioned he loves a lot of their older songs, but really didn't like Satisfaction. I found that a little odd, because Satisfaction is one of their most popular songs ... ever. But, hey, I won't hold that against him. Truth be told, it's not really one of my favorites either.

We discussed the song a little further (because I can't let stuff like that go), and I brought up the fact that the opening riff is great (I probably used obscenities and other words), to which he agreed. He took it a step further and said that the opening riff to Satisfaction probably defines rock and roll the best ... in other words, if you were thinking of a way to describe rock and roll, playing the opening riff to Satisfaction is all you'd really need to do.

I found this fascinating ... far be it from me to ever disagree with someone making a bold yet positive Rolling Stones related statement. I wanted to see everyone else's thoughts on this (I'm not completely sold on the statement, but I'm close).

On a related note, I was wearing a Rolling Stones shirt to the bar (surprise-surprise), and a patron of the bar said something along the lines of "I'll forgive you for wearing that shirt - the Stones are an awful live band." Hey, to each his own, but the guy based it on one show he went to in the early 1970's. I mean, seriously? This band has been around for ever - they must be doing something right? Having a bad experience at one Stones show and generalizing that they suck as a live band would be akin to me eating a bad hamburger and claiming that all hamburgers are terrible. The man later followed that idiotic comment up with another doozy "That song B*tch is the only good song the Stones have ever made." I informed him that the jerk-store called and they were out of him.

Song of the Week

When people think of the Kinks, a few songs come to mind - "You Really Got Me," "Come Dancing," and "Lola" most likely. However, this band which was part of the British Invasion of the early 1960's has many, many great tunes. Sadly, the Kinks never really got the recognition they deserved - in my opinion, they're probably the most underrated and ignored band in all of rock and roll ... OK, I'll get off my soap box now.

One of my absolute Kinks favorites is a song titled Superman ... no, it's not that sappy song that came out a few years ago. Anyway, this is an early 1980's nugget has a classic "Four-on-the-Floor" beat, with a solid rhythmic baseline, accented by wavy keyboards and and some classic Kinks guitar riffs. The chorus "Superman, Superman ... wish I could fly like Superman!" well stick in your head kind of like how good pancakes stick to your ribs. The lyrics (and video) are, on the surface, tongue and cheek, but if you listen closely, the theme of the song is about a world that has many problems (woah, that's heavy Ogre!).

You can find out more about the Kinks here.

I found a video for this song that was a bit strange, so I'm not even sure it is the "official" video for this song - I figured I'd share it with you (at least you can hear the song).

Fast Food Corner

I'm a guy who LOVES mozzarella sticks and Jalepeno poppers. For a long time, one could really only get these at bars and chain restaurants ... I mean, I'm not complaining, but if you ever wanted these at a fast-food restaurant, you'd be SOL. However, a few years ago, Arby's made the "bold" decision of making and selling these finger-food icons ... probably the biggest trick was making these tasty, yet selling them at fast-food prices.

Arby's has done a pretty good job in their attempt. Are they as good as ones served in the traditional locations? Well, no, but they're not bad. Certainly, they're good enough to become a menu staple at Arby's. Frankly, I'm surprised that other fast food chains haven't followed suit with this initiative. Maybe someday, I guess. In the meantime, Arby's can continue to exploit this niche market (man, could you imagine how many of these "appetizers" they'd sell if they were allowed to sell beer with them?

Random Thought

A friend of mine and I were talking the other day about some silly basketball team names. Names like the Syracuse "Orange." Or maybe like the St. John's Red Storm. These are awful college basketball team names. This prompted a discussion on names that would be awful for college teams. I figured I'd share some team names with you ... please share some with me:

The Capris
The Butterfly Kisses
The Mud Puddles
The Aggravagted Duckhunters
The Celloists
The Doll Houses
The Puffy Clouds
The Horse Carriages
The Cuticles
The Sugar Free Chewing Gums
The Procrastinators
The Accountants
The Buttercups
The Weeping Willows
The Moist Towelettes
The Q-tips

Weekly Assignment

I usually take a Mama Kat assignment that is in my wheel-house ... this week, I decided to stray a little and do a more difficult assignment: Your friend tells you he can pick up any girl at the bar, no matter what he says. You bet him $100 he can't. Create the world's worst pick up line and send your friend off into the crowd. What happens?

Here goes nothing:

Bernie and I were hanging at the local watering hole, as was tradition for a Friday night. This Friday was different - apparently, lots of attractive women decided to "invade" our bar ... which was OK by us. After a few glasses of liquid courage, my slightly inebriated friend proclaimed to me that he could pick up any girl at this bar, no matter what he says. I laughed him off, sensing the beer was talking to him ... Apparently, he noticed the doubt I possessed, and immediately pulled out a $100 bill, and bet me that he could.

Being a good friend, I decided not to take him up on the be.... screw it! I figured this would be a great way to make a quick "Benjamin." Before he went off on his conquest, I reminded him that I would be giving him the pick-up line. I whispered the line in his ear, and he almost unswallowed his beer. Even in his pompous, overconfident mind, there was no way a girl would ever fall for the line I presented him. The line? A simple, classic one - "Hey, do you have any German in you? Would you like to?" Not that funny, except for the fact that my friend Bernie was Jewish.

I couldn't stop giggling as he left for his "death walk." How could he possibly succeed. I'm still asking myself this 3 years after the wedding ... (by the way, this is all fiction).

Song of the Week

Urge Overkill is a group that burned very brightly for a short period of time, and is one of those bands you wish would've figured out a way to stay together and continue creating great music. They soared in the early to mid 1990's, but by 1997 were broken up (and sadly, irrelevant).

Their Saturation album from 1993 was the one that landed them on the national spotlight. Sure, they had a few other releases prior to this, but truthfully, there wasn't much good on those releases. The first song on Saturation is Sister Havanna - it comes in quietly with some discernable noise which continues to grow until an amazing guitar riff breaks through. It is a straight-ahead rocker full of great riffs, good solos, and powerful drums. It's a song that you just can't turn off, and is a great introduction to the rest of the album which weaves between rock, psychedelics, and even some heart-felt slow songs. Just a great album all around.

Urge Overkilly released another great album called Exit the Dragon in 1995, but sadly it never caught on like Saturation did. They did get together a few years ago and did a tour ... sadly, I knew nothing about it until it was over ... sigh.

Schue and I went to Rehoboth with my brother and his wife this past weekend - our bedroom had no tv, which of course meant I had to once again tell Schue funny stories until she fell asleep (Schue loves to have the TV on when she's trying to sleep). Initially, I was stumped - I didn't really have any inspiration, at least not from my own past stories.

However, since I was a big wrestling fan (and still tend to watch it to this day a little), I figured I could give her some funny stories about really bad wrestling gimmicks from the past. Here are just a few that had Schue giggling:


The Gobbledy Gooker - This was the brain-child of Vince McMahon, owner of the WWE. Since it was getting close to Thanksgiving, why not introduce a wrestler in a turkey costume. For some reason, this gimmick failed - the fans thought this was a "bird-brained" idea.




Bastion Booger - This was another ingenious Vince McMahon idea. This wrestler was originally "Friar Fergusan" a wrestling monk - however, the fans quickly poo-pooed this idea. Then, the wrestler was repackaged as a guy who never washed, had soiled wrestling gear, and used his armpits and butt to try and win matches ... Oh yeah, his entrance song was a toilet flushing ... seriously.




The Red Rooster - Poor Terry Taylor. He was a pretty accomplished wrestler in other organizations before he came to the WWE. McMahon felt he could best promote this talent by asking him to strut like a chicken in the ring, and die a red stripe down the center of his hair. Somehow, this didn't catch on.




Duke "The Dumpster" Drose - McMahon felt he needed to have a garbage-man gimmick, and he found someone willing to through his pride and ego out the window. This guy would come to the ring with trash-man gloves and a trash can, and his entrance theme was just a beeping sound that big trucks make when they go in reverse. A can't miss idea that missed.




In the mid-to-late 1980's, the NWA had a jobber tag-team called the Mulkey's. They consisted of two pasty white guys who looked to be twins, weighing in at about 150 pounds a piece. These two wrestlers basically were rag-dolls for the top tag team talent in the organization, and routinely got the living crap beat out of them. They never, ever won ... except one time on national television, they "accidentally" won the match when one of the opponents tripped over a Mulkey whilst trying to slam the other Mulkey. The announcer was so excited, he kept yelling "Mulkey-mania is running wild!" as kind of a play on the Hulk Hogan catch phrase.




Yep, I'm a loser.

Fast Food Corner

Living in (or near) Philadelphia is a good thing, especially if you like hoagies (subs, heroes, etc.). Philly has some of the greatest hoagie shops in the world, and that's really why some of these chaings like Subway and Quiznos have a tough time penetrating this market. However, there are a few that have popped up, and even though I generally focus on supporting the local mom and pop stores, I have gone to both Subway and Quizons from time-to-time. No, they are nowhere near as good as Philly's home-grown delis, but both have a few decent "inventions."

Quiznos started the toasting of the subs idea (at least from a chain perspective), and it was a huge success - toasted rolls just seem to taste better for some reason. Subway followed, but their toasting process, which really just looks like some kind of heavy-duty microwave, isn't nearly as good. And Quiznos does seem to pile on more meat on the sandwiches than Subway does.

However, Subway has the better rolls. Not sure if Quizons makes their own fresh rolls, but Subway kills them with this ... it is important to note that in making a good hoagie, you CANNOT NEGLECT THE ROLL. The roll is the foundation of the sandwich. It should have a crispy feel on the outside and a nice fluffy feel on the inside. Tangeant - This is why most areas around the U.S. fail when they try to make a "Philly Cheese-steak," they neglect getting good rolls (or don't have access to them).

Also, Subway has the Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki hoagie ... this hoagie alone beats any hoagie that Quiznos can offer - just the right blend of sweetness and bitterness. So, for those non-Philadelphians who have to choose between chains, (New Yorkers have great delis too, by the way), let me suggest Subway.

Stoppage Time ...

Just a few random thoughts that have been creepin' and crawlin' in my head the past few days:

* I wonder what Billy Ocean is doing these days ...
* Went to Dogfish Head brewery this weekend - greatbeer, and a great story.
* Went to Rehoboth this weekend - the place doesn't have any access to wifi or cable tv (just one tv station) ... it was actually kind of refreshing.
* Balderdash is just a phenomenal board game.
* For some reason, I haven't been as excited about the NCAA tournament this year ... oh yeah, it's because I'm not involved in any money pools.
* Blur - a very underrated band.
* Weekends go by much faster when you have fun (which kind of sucks in a way).
* It really did feel like spring today.
* Instant Kharma's gonna get ya ... right Bobby Bowden?
* Would bacon-flavored beer be a good thing?

Weekly Assignment

It's time once again for Mama Kat's weekly assignment! I decided to choose the prompt: I want to become friends with ... However, I decided to change it a little, and do a top 10 list of people I'd like to become friends with, because ... well, I enjoy lists. So, here goes nothing (in no particular order):

10. Keith Richards - The guy is a rock legend, and quite a party guy. However, he'd probably be the end of me.
9. Brian Regan - I love his stand-up work, and he just seems like a funny guy to hang with.
8. Paul Ruud - I love the characters he plays in the Judd Appetow movies, and I love the one-liners ...
7. Ric Flair - Mr. Stylin' and Profilin'. Again, quite a party animal, but I'd love to hang out and listen to the wrestling stories he has.
6. Mick Jagger - Of course, the front man of my favorite rock and roll band ever. He probably has a ton of cool friends, and I'd love to hear more about the history of the Stones.
5. Keith Jones - The guy is a hockey-head, and just seems like a really funny guy to boot. I loved his book, and I'd love to hear more hockey stories.
4. Don Rickles - The king of the put-downs and one-liners. He'd fit in great with my friends.
3. Guy Fieri - He is the host of Diners and Drive-Ins - basically, he is a chef who makes food a simpleton like me would like. I need a chef like this as a friend.
2. Tom Brokaw - The man is pretty well-read when it comes to history. I'd love to chat with him about his experiences as a news reporter.
1. Bill Simmons - The guy LOVES sports, and is a great sports-writer (see ESPN page 2). I'd love to hang out and debate sports, movies, tv shows, and music with him over beers.

Fast Food Corner

I am a big fan of fast food that can be eaten whilst driving. It is fast food in its purest definition (in my opinion, of course). For instance, a Big Mac is a bad choice - sure, it tastes good, but it is far too messy to eat when one drives. A more sensible choice would be the Quarter Pounder.

French fries are pretty easy to eat while driving, they are the right size, and come in an easy-to-grab container. The geniouses at Burger King have taken this to a whole new level with their chicken fries. The name describes these morsels perfectly. Really, they are little strips of fried chicken in the shape of french fries. OK, I'm not sure how much chicken, if any, is in each of these fries, but that's ok. The more "fried" taste, the better.

And, best of all, they are easy to eat whilst driving. In fact, you can mix these in with regular fries in the convenient stand-up container that BK has designed. All-in-all, a great idea.

Song of the Week

Keith Richards is probably best known as the heart and soul of the Rolling Stones (sorry, Mick). But, Keith has also had a decent solo career. He was spurred on into doing a solo album when Mick spurned the Stones in favor of doing solo work in the mid 1980's. Keith really was hesitant to take this on at first - he felt the Stones were his only band.

But, his hatred towards Jagger fueled him to write some really scathing, and quite wonderful songs on his first solo effort - Talk is Cheap. This album sported a couple of minor hits, including "Take it so Hard," and "Struggle." But, the song I really, really enjoy is the underrated "You Just Don't Move Me."

As evidenced by the lyrics, this song was a direct shot at Mick Jagger, highlighting how Mick ignored the band in favor of stardom, and how Mick became a very shallow person. The beat is very much a rhythmic reggae concoction, with some hard-hitting guitar riffs, and background vocals similar to Sympathy for the Devil. Just a great effort - it's amazing the creativity that can be displayed through struggles and fights.

Pet Shop Boy

As some of you know, I used to work at a local pet shop - I worked there for more than 5 years on-and-off through high school and college. Since I like animals (not in that way, you sicko), it was a cool gig. Plus, taking puppies out of cages always attracted females ... but, I digress.

One of my more embarrassing moments happened one Sunday morning. Given the day, I was probably hung over, but I'm not making any excuses, darn it! After cleaning the kennels and feeding the animals, I was ready to open the gate. We had this gate in the front of the store that required a crank to crank the gate up.

Near the gate, we had a large parakeet cage. It was strategically place by the gate to attract customers (for some reason, people loved parakeets in the late 80's and early 90's). So, why am I mentioning this cage? You'll see.

As I was cranking the gate open, I noticed it was much more difficult to crank than normal. Still, like a true employee, always going above and beyond, I kept cranking and cranking. Finally, at one point, I couldn't crank anymore ... but the gate wasn't all the way up. I took a step back to get a full view and figure out the reason. Yep, apparently the parakeet cage got pushed up against the gate, probably whilst somebody was sweeping the floor.

Unfortunately, now, the cage was no longer on the floor, and was dangling about 5 feet above the ground ... at one with the gate. Just as I saw this, the cage fell off the gate, and before I knew it, the mall was now infested by parakeets. I spent the entire day with a ladder and a net, trying to capture the loose parakeets ... talk about a hit one's pride.

You-Tube Corner

I'm pretty sure everybody loves bloopers (if you don't, you probably have something wrong with you). I particularly love gameshow bloopers, and as luck would have it, You-Tube sports many, many of these bloopers. Family Feud is a show ripe with bloopers - mainly, because of some of the ridiculous answers given by contestants.

One specific blooper that stands above others (in my opinion). It happened during the championship round, and as luck would have it, Richard Dawson was the host (and, of course, he was the best Family Feud host ever). The question was this - "During what month of pregnancy does a woman begin to show." The answer the lady gave caught Dawson off guard ... in fact, he had A LOT of trouble finishing the segment.

Have a look!

Weekly Assignment

Yep - time once again for Mama Kat's weekly assignment. I chose the following prompt: Write about the event that was the end of your childhood.

Wow - tough call. I guess I could probably talk about middle school, or high school - those are obvious "end-points." However, the first time I "realized" that I wouldn't have the endless hours to enjoy being a kid was when I got my first real job. In prior years, when summer came, my friends and I would spend almost every hour of every day at the local swim club - playing drain tag, basketball, or just chatting with the girls. Ah, those days felt like they'd last forever. At night time, we'd hang out at somebody's house and watch movies whilst eating bottomless bowls of pop-corn. It was truly heaven.

Then, I got a job ... and things changed. I remember it well. My dad had a friend at a local waterbed manufacturing factory, and the friend agreed to hire me (an unproven talent). My job would consist of working from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM, putting together and boxing waterbed mattresses ... in a factory in which temperatures were always above 100 degrees. It was probably the least amount of fun I had my entire life. While most of my friends were still going down to the pool, I was laboring intensively, sweating like OJ in a courtroom. At night, I was too tired to hang out for very long. Plus, my friends mostly told stories that started with "You missed it, dude!"

As luck would have it, I only worked there for about 1 1/2 months, because my high school soccer team started full day practices in the beginning of August. That summer came and went, and was probably the worst summer of my life. What a rude awakening that was.

I have one of these at home ...

So, apparently, there's a new restaurant "fad" that's taking hold in Taiwan and China ... and if it's coming from this part of the world, it HAS to be interesting and weird.

Yep, Taiwan has introduced Toilet Restaurants ... I sh*t you not (no pun intended). These are restaurants where people eat out of toilets. Napkins and other items on the table look like turds. Talk about ambience! And, the weird part is that these restaurants are incredibly successful. How does this happen. Seriously, I want to know!

I have a toilet in my house ... two of them, actually. I never, ever even think about making a meal and eating it from these bowls. I'm not remotely interested in eating at one of these places ... but for some reason, I want to see videos of people who actually do eat there.

So, what kind of music do they play here? What's the right lighting for a toilet restaurant? When will San Francisco open it's first toilet restaurant? How often can I say toilet restaurnat in a blog post? Don't believe me? Click here.

Fast Food Corner

With the struggling econonmy many fast food restaurants have been promoting dollar menu items recently. There are many contenders, but there can only be one "best" dollar-menu.

5. Burger King really needs to step it up with their dollar menu. I'm not even sure what they have on it.
4. Taco Bell has gone a step further and offer different specials in their "89 cent, 99 cent, and 1.09" value menus. The thing is, their tacos aren't really that filling.
3.KFC has some small chicken sandwiches, and that's about it. Still, their chicken is really good.
2. McDonalds has really "beefed up" their dollar menu in recent months. You can get a McDouble, and even a chicken sandwich. But for the most part, this dollar menu isn't really that big, and the McDoubles look like regular cheeseburgers that have been carelessly smushed together. Still, the small fries are the redeemeing grace.
1. Wendy's was one of the first to promote the dollar menu. And, in my opinion, they are still the best. You can get a double cheeseburger, bacon cheesburger, and even chicken nuggets, just to name a few. I absolutely LOVE this menu, and usually bypass there value meals so I can "construct" the perfect meal at a great price.

Song of the Week

I probably should've done this about a year ago - I think that's when Robert Hazard died ... Mr. Hazard really wasn't much of an influence to music outside of the early 1980's, but his sound seems to be coming back in a lot of the newer 80's influenced groups of this era.

Specifically, his song "Escalator of Life" has that classic 80's sound to it. But man, does it still rock. It sports a great beat, fantastic baseline, and a chorus that is infectious.

Just a little bit more information on Mr. Hazard courtesy of Wikipedia:
* He was born in Philly (can't go wrong with that).
* The song "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" was written by him ... seriously.
* He died August 5, 2008.

You can find out more about him here.

Guess Who's Making a Comeback.

So, Michael Jackson is going to be performing a few more times in London, England, in what he is saying is a "curtain call." We could only be so lucky. Look, the guy had a great career, both with the Jackson 5 as well as when he went solo ... then, the 1990's hit.

He is addicted to plastic surgery, as evidenced by his face which even the Elephant Man thinks looks weird. Unfortunately, he's also addicted to young boys ... that's probably why McCauley Culkin and Corey Feldman are no longer popular. He looks as if a stiff wind would turn him to dust at this point.

Does anybody really think this guy is even going to show up at these "performances?" Anyway, if interested in find out more, check out this link ... at the very least, it should give you some laughs.

Cornhole?

This past weekend, we had a little get-together, and decided to hold a Cornhole tournament. You're probably wondering what the hell Cornhole is? Is it some sort of side dish? Nah. Does it involve some form of sex? No way, dude.

Cornhole is a game involving bean bags and boxes. Here is the definition, courtesy of Wikipedia: Cornhole is a lawn game in which players take turns pitching cornhole bags—cotton duck bags filled with feed corn—at a raised platform with a hole in the far end. These platforms are usually made with plywood or occasionally plastic, and are often decorated. A corn bag in the hole scores 3 points, while one on the platform scores 1 point. Play continues until a player reaches the score of 21.

The twist - we played this on the Nintendo Wii ... and folks, it was a blast. It's pretty easy for anyone to learn, and all the family can play. Beer and alcohol makes it better (as it does with just about anything). Of course, even though I hosted the tournament, I finished a disappointing third. Oh well, maybe next year if this becomes some kind of tradition.

By the way, why Cornhole? Was the name "Scrotum Toss" already taken?

You-Tube Must See

I told my wife recently about a funny video clip from You-Tube. The funny thing about this clip is that I remember watching it when it aired on TV. This actually has to do with wrestling ... wait, don't leave! It's actually really funny - let me give you some background on it.

In the early 1990's, WCW was promoting some pay-per-view wrestling event (it may have been Bash at the Beach, but that's not really important). At the time, the two big good guys (faces) were Sting and The British Bulldog, and they were having a feud with Sid Vicious and the tag team of Harlem Heat. For about a month, Sting and the Bulldog had been boasting about their new partner, but they weren't telling anybody who it was.

Finally, during an interview segment, Harlem Heat and Sid confronted Sting and the Bulldog. This was a perfect opportunity to introduce their new partner. Now, the character WCW created was called "The Shockmaster." As if that wasn't bad enough, the Shockmaster wore some sort of glitter mask, and some kind of fur vest. And, if THAT wasn't bad enough, his entrance was priceless.

Sting announces the Shockmaster's name, and the Shockmaster breaks through a wall ... unfortunately, he tripped and fell to the ground, losing his helmet. What's funny is that the other wrestlers and the announcers tried to save the situation by overlooking the classic tumble. Funny thing is that this storyline mysteriously disappeared as if it never happened.

You can see the segment here.

Weekly Assignment

Mama Kat had a prompt that interested me ... actually, she usually has a prompt that piques my interest, but that's besides the point. Anyway, one of her prompt is "Normal is ..."

I have never considered myself normal, but I come from a middle class working family, you know - the kind with 3 kids, lives in a nice suburban neighborhood. So, this got me to thinking - what exactly is normal? It took me a while to think about it, and I still haven't come up with an answer.

For something to be considered normal, it sounds to me like it is the "average" of other things. For instance, "normal" body temperature is 98.6 degrees, but I'm guessing there are many "normal" people out there who don't have a 98.6 degree body temperature.

How about this - a normal family consists of a mother and father, and 2.5 kids. With that definition, is anybody at all normal? If you have two mothers, does that make you abnormal? How about if you live in a 1 parent household?

The more I got to thinking about "normal," the more I realized normalcy is an unattainable thing ... yet, we're still judged by how close to normal we are. Wow ... did I just get philosophic? Sorry about that.

More Random Thoughts ...

* I just saw that AIG lost 99 billion in the past year or so ... really? I mean, were they just throwing it out of their windows by the end?

* I miss the absolute rush of listening to the local radio news station on the morning of a snow-storm as a child, and hearing those magic numbers that meant my school was closed for the day ... it felt like the possibilities were endless.

* Don't get me wrong, I prefer the simplicity (and customizability) of buying individual MP3's over CDs. However, there was some sort of exhuberance in buying a cd, tearing off the plastic coating, looking at the artwork of the album, and holding the cd in your hands ... it actually felt like you really PURCHASED something.

* Boxing and Tennis are missing heroes and villians ... really, that's the main reason nobody's watching anymore.

* This season of Lost has been absolutely awesome! 24 has been really good too.

Song of the Week

I heard this song a couple of years ago, liked it, but didn't really think much about it ... until I recently started hearing it on mainstream radio. MGMT is an interesting band - it's really a two-person outfit, and instead of genuine instruments, they choose to go the route of the computer ... and usually, synthesized music is a no-no with me - but somehow, these guys make it work, especially, with the song "Kids."

This is probably their most popular song, although MGMT fans will tell you there are plenty of better songs - guys, I'll get to listening to those songs at some point ... eventually.

"Kids" has an infectious hook that is strung throughout the entire song, just to make sure it stays in your head long after the song ends. It also has a great chorus section that, once you learn it, begs you to stand up and shout it. The lyrics are dark, but intriguing. And hey, guess what - they're American! How 'bout that!

You can find out more about MGMT here:

Fast Food Corner

This chain of restaurants, which has overtaken the Philadelphia area in recent years, isn't exactly "fast-food," but in my opinion is close enough. Five Guys Burgers and Fries" came up with a unique concept - selling just burgers ... and fries. The idea has worked tremendously.

Not only that, but they use really fresh and top quality ingredients ... and more importantly, they cook it AFTER you order it. The burgers are huge (and messy - which is fine by me, by the way). The fries are tasty - and the amount of fries given is more than generous - they put an extra scoop in each bag.

Sure, the price is a little higher than other fast-food chains, but good quality and taste more than justify the price. If you get a chance, take a trip to Five Guys.

An End of an Era

We thought this was going to be taken care of. We figured, it was only a matter of time. There's no way number 20 will be playing for any team but Philadelphia, we thought. He's a guy who will end his career in Philly - we felt this was a given. Sadly, reality set in, when Brian Dawkins signed a contract to play football for the Denver Broncos.

The fans are ready to revolt - you can hear it on TV, radio, newspapers, the internet - the heart and soul of the team should've been an untouchable. How can that be replaced in the locker room? Can one even put a price on that?

I've been tossing and turning thinking about how I feel about this situation. On the one hand, Dawkins is in his late 30's, and isn't the player he was 5 years ago. On the other hand, players like Dawkins and Ray Lewis play with such an infectious tenacity, they make other players better (and, more importantly, they hold those accountable).

Brian Dawkins was a rookie in 1996, ironically the same year I interned for the Birds. He was very quiet that year, but you could see his passion. He eagerly listened to the leaders of that defense - Troy Vincent, Willie T, Michael Zordich ... he soaked up their knowledge like a sponge. It was only a matter of time before he would take the batton from them.

Now, 13 years later, his run is finally over. He was such a great leader, and the hope is that another young lion with the same passion and pride spent the last few years soaking up Dawkins' knowledge like a sponge, and is ready to accept that batton. But who is that lion?

As for Dawkins' departure, nobody can determine who will benefit from this move. Will the Eagles' focus on youth pay off? Does Dawkins still have anything in the tank (by the way, B-Dawk will be visiting Philly this season with the Broncos)?

Here is one way the Eagles can spin the bad PR they are receiving - build this team up right. We need a tight-end who can block and catch. Let's bring in a capable fullback. A good receiver wouldn't hurt. And let's make sure the O-line is taken care of (one way or the other). Oh, and let's not trade out of the first round again - the move blew up in your face last season.

This and that ...

Just a few more random thoughts creeping and crawling inside my head.

* The Jonas Brothers? Seriously?
* Where about 2 months from the NFL draft ... why is there so much news about it now?
* Can someone please give me some good news about the economy? Go ahead and lie to me if you have to.
* I updated my quote list - check it out here: http://losrulz.tripod.com/quotes_10.htm
* After seeing highlights of the NBA all-star game, I realized that I was not part of the target audience.
* I went to Mardi Gras in New Orleans 11 years ago ... someday, I'll return.
* I'm thinking about getting my freshwater fishing license and going trout fishing this year ... it's been too long.
* For those of you who think all Germans are evil, check out the show on "Valkerie" The Plot to Kill Hitler" on the History Channel, and then get back to me.
* I think if Liverwurst had a better name, more people would like it ... same goes for blood sausage.

Weekly Assignment

Lots of tempting assignment prompts from Mama Kat. I chose a tricky one - What made your childhood bearable? Write about it.

I guess it's tough to write about one thing that made my childhood bearable - in retrospect, I had a very good childhood. I was lucky enough to grow up with good friends and cousins - many, many memorable times. I probably could've posted a hundred blogs about the good times we had. But, truthfully, I can credit another "source" for making my childhood bearable.

My parents always gave me opportunities to have fun and grow as a person. In the summertime, my mom took me to the public pool we were members of almost every day. I learned to be a very good swimmer at an early age. I also made friends with lots of people because of the pool. So many great memories - playing underwater tag, drain tag, basketball, wiffleball ... pre-teen and teen splash parties. My summers were never boring.

My parents always made time for me with sports - My father often took me outside and had a catch with me, even after a long day of work. It was important to him to spend quality time with me, and it meant a lot to me. My parents spent much of their free time taking me to my boys club soccer, baseball, and basketball games. I never realized the investment they made at the time, but I am so grateful for these sacrifices.

Also, my parents made sure I was immersed in the German culture - taking me often to German clubs, teaching me German as a little tyke, and taking me on multiple trips to Germany throughout my childhood. Sure, at times, I would've rather have hung out with my friends, or watched tv, but I'm so glad they made me learn about my heritage.

I've never thanked my parents enough for all they've done for me as a child, and all they continue to do for me to this day. I love them so much, and they have been a huge influence in who I am today.

Vielen Dank, Mama und Papa! Ich liebe dich, beide!

Song of the Week

If you like the band Scissors for Lefty, you can probably be my friend. Most knowlegable people have probably heard their hit (in the UK) Ghetto Ways, which is chocked full of cool hooks, and catchy choruses. And don't get me wrong - I love that song. But a song I found more intriguing is their lesser-known song, "Lay Down Your Weapons." As a fan on amazon.com stated - the band has a great balance between a "cool retro sound and a modern, up-to-date style."

It has some interesting kazoo-sounding instrument that weaves artfully throughout the song ... my guess is that it is supposed to symbolize a police car. Just a fun band that doesn't seem to take itself so seriously, and is more concerned the audience is having fun. Refreshing.

You can find out more about them here.

Fast Food Corner

The Slider craze is here, folks. You see sliders on the menu everywhere from Chili's to Appleby's, to even Burger King ... and I can't deny it - I LOVE me some sliders. For those not in the know, sliders are really only tiny burgers ... sure, there are some "gourmet" sliders around, with toppings like anchovies or even salsa ... but really, their just dressing up the mini burger.

Here's my question - shouldn't White Castle be pissed about this? Didn't they come up with the slider idea first? I mean, this is all they really had on the menu ... and man, do I love White Castles! We had a White Castle about 10 minutes from my house for a few years ... and I visited the restaurant several times. In fact, one time, a group of us tried to eat 100 of the White Castle burgers - I think it was 7 of us. Sadly, we failed.

Before White Castle restaurants opened in and around Philly, a friend of mine and his parents would travel to New York just to get White Castles ... either that's dedication, or sheer lunacy (or more likely, a little of both).

Unfortunately, the White Castles in the Philly area have all disappeared. The only way we can now "enjoy" White Castles is to get them in the supermarkets ... but something just isn't the same about it ... is it the taste? Maybe. Could it be the "experience" of going to White Castle to get these mini burgers from heaven? Probably. I miss you, White Castle!

Beatles - Stones comparisons

You've probably heard some comparisons of musical groups to the Stones and Beatles. For instance, how about this one - "Nirvana is the Beatles to Pearl Jam's Stones." Basically, it defines musical groups who were the biggest (and most influential) in their eras. For instance, you could probably draw the reference that "The Killers are the Beatles to The Bravery's Stones." Usually, the "bigger" or more popular band gets the "Beatles" reference, while arguably the more talented band (my opinion, of course) gets the "Stones" comparison.

I'm wondering if we could do these comparisons with other areas. I came up with a few, just to test this:

* Ketchup is the Beatles to Mustard's Stones.
* Emeril is the Beatles to Rachel Ray's Stones.
* Hulk Hogan is the Beatles to Ric Flair's Stones.
* Hamburgers are the Beatles to Hot Dogs Stones.
* The Three Stooges are the Beatles to The Marx Brothers Stones.
* The Cubs are the Beatles to the White Sox Stones.
* The Yankees are the Beatles to the Red Sox Stones.
* Howard Stern is the Beatles to Man Cow's Stones.
* Judas Priest are the Beatles to Iron Maiden's Stones.
* The Big Mac is the Beatles to the Whopper's Stones.

You guys and gals have any comparisons like this?

Movie Reivew - The Wrestler

The wife and I were finally able to see The Wrestler last weekend - I've been looking forward to seeing this flick for months now because (a) I heard Mickey Rourke's performance was excellent, and (b) I still like professional wrestling (for some reason). I figured I'd give a quick review without giving too much away.

First, Mickey Rourke was awesome - he really worked on the part of this broken-down wrestler, and his performance made me really "believe" he was a wrestler. It seemed like he took a bunch of real bumps for the flick - which really added to the authenticity of the movie. The co-stars were excellent - Marissa Tomei was great as a stripper (plus, you got to see her boobies almost the entire movie). Evan Rachel Wood played the scorned daughter perfectly. Plus, the supporting cast was very believable.

My wife almost walked out of the theater during the one wrestling match - it was reminiscent of the classic ECW hard-core matches, complete with a power stapler ... I'll leave it at that.

But, the one thing I didn't like about the movie was the lack of closure at the end. Additionally, the movie pulled a Sopranos on us by fading to black abruptly, leaving the rest of the "experience" to the audience's imagination. Look, I'm a simpleton. I don't go to a movie to "imagine" what would happen next. I want to KNOW what happened - I want to see it with my own eyes. Indie flicks always seem to pull this crap, just to be "different," and to get people talking. Sorry guys - I'm not talking about what I think happened - instead I'm talking about how lame you are for pulling that crap.

All in all, a good movie - may not be worth the trip to the theater, though.

Ahhh ... memories

Mama Kat's recent post about playing basketball as a child reminded me of my own trials and tribulations in my early years of sports. I figured I'd share some of these with you.

The first "team" sport I played for the local youth club (at the time, it was called boy's club), was tee ball. I remember it well - my team was sponsored by Reeser's Auto Body - a local establishment. The team color was yellow, and our team started off absolutely terrible. I remember our first game - it was a 12-6 loss, and probably could've been worse. I could barely hit the ball past the pitcher's mound. And, worst of all, I remember being so upset when we lost, that I cried. You see, my parents really never introduced me to losing - in the back yard practicing with my dad, I thought I was the next coming of Babe Ruth. This, unfortunately, didn't translate to the tee ball field.

In the fall, I played soccer. Again, I was fantastic in the back yard - scoring goals against my dad like I was Pele. Again, this didn't transfer to the pitch - I couldn't crack the starting lineup - mainly because I was more concerned about stepping on bees. Our team didn't win a single game that year.

In the winter time, I played intramural basketball - I was the only kid on the team that didn't score a single point. I was so close that last game - I had a layup that went off the rim, and I had a wide-open shot that hit the backboard and then the rim before falling to the ground.

No, it didn't seem like I would excel at sports at all. Thankfully, as time went on, I got better, and became semi-decent in most games.

Steroids and Baseball

I'm sure most of you are just as tired of hearing about A-Rod and steroids at this point. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a television set with an A-Rod story. Everybody has his/her own opinion about baseball and steroids - should asterisks be put next to the "records?" Should these players be suspended for life? Should we not even care at this point?

I've heard quite a few players in the media say things like, "Well, just because this and that guy did steroids, doesn't mean everyone did steroids," or "I'm so upset with these players who admit to using steroids, because now everybody thinks I did steroids too."

Here's how I react to this - if those players who haven't been "cheating" have a problem with this, why not step up to the plate (no pun intended)? Seriously, stand up to the union that allowed this to happen, and have protected these players for years, even though they knew for a while about it. This union is for all players, right? It's not just for juicers, is it?

Better yet, why not put together a group of non-cheaters who voluntarily take blood tests to prove they are clean? This way, you guarantee to everyone that you haven't taken steroids of human growth hormones, right? Seriously, why isn't this happening? If indeed the majority of players are not "cheating," then why aren't they banding together to make sure nobody else cheats? Something isn't right.

Weekly Homework Assignment

I had a tough time choosing an assignment from Mama Kat this week. Everybody knows I hate American Idol. I'm too lazy to take a picture of myself. It would be too easy to write about my negative feelings about the NBA allstar game. I have way too many pet peeves to figure out my number 1. And since I'm a great brother, I never di anything bad to a sibling (cough-cough).

I decided to take on the American Idol prompt - what song would I sing if I were on American Idol. Let's see, I don't have a great range with my vocals ... and I love the Rolling Stones ... the choice of band was easy, but what song? There are so many to choose from, and I love just about all of them.

Should I go with an old classic like Honky Tonk Woman? It's a toe tapper, sure. But, it's a bit short, and the vocals aren't that tricky.

What about a newer song, like Mixed Emotions? Probably not popular enough.

Maybe a "war horse," like Start Me Up? Don't get me wrong, I love that song ... but I think it may have been a tad overplayed.

No, I think I'd choose a classic with some bite to it - Sympathy for the Devil. First, it's kind of edgy, even to this day. Second, amazingly it does allow Mick to stretch his vocal chops a little. Third, the ending of the song really gets the crowd going. Yes, I think this would be the song I'd choose ... although if you asked me next week, I'd probably choose a different Stones song.

Story-time

My wife and I went to my friend Ray-Ray's this past Saturday for a "Mexican and Bowling" themed Valentine's Day get-together. Of course, we had a great time ... I mean, how couldn't you ... beer, margaritas, tacos, enchiladas, and bowling ... it's really a no-brainer, right?

So, because we had so much fun, Schue and I did the right thing ... we decided to stay over Ray-Ray's. Now, here's the problem - Schue loves having the tv on at night, but Ray-Ray doesn't have a tv in his guest room (why would he - he's never in there). So, I usually have to tell Schue funny (boring?) stories to get her to sleep in those occurrences.

The story I told her Saturday night almost made her puke ... not because it's disgusting, but she just couldn't stop laughing. I'll give you the shortened version of it. My mom used to cut my hair ... hey, it saved money, right? Here's the thing, though ... she used to cut my hair in the kitchen ... with the door open ... and I had to (get ready for it) .... sit on my younger brother's high chair ... I was in 6th grade, mind you! Hey - I heard ya snort!

I believe I let my mom cut my hair until I was in about 9th grade ... I started going to a "professional" barber for many reasons ... the one down the street had Playboy magazines; I couldn't fit in the high chair anymore; and my mom did an absolutely terrible job that last time - I looked like a monk.

Song of the Week

I've been following this band called "The Automatic" (or The Automatic, Automatic in some circles) for about 3 years now. They have a distinctive sound, some cool guitar riffs, interesting lyrics, a talented singer, and some sort of screaming rapper in the background (not nearly as annoying as the overdone voices from some of the newer emo bands).

Anyway, their album "Not Accepted Anywhere" will probably make you want to get up and dance, and play a lick or two of air guitar. The song that I've been focusing on most has been "Monster." The lyrics are a little weird, but the tun itself is just way too addicting. You'll probably wake up in the middle of the night with this one in your head and won't know what to do to get it out of your head.

You can find more information on the band here.

Fast Food Corner - KFC Popcorn Chicken Review.

If you love fried batter with just a touch of chicken, then KFC Popcorn Chicken is a perfect match for you. I am that person. I love popcorn chicken. In fact, I'd probably be ok if KFC did away with the chicken, and just served fried batter balls (FBBs).

The colonel certainly caught lightning in a bottle when he came up with his secret recipe for fried chicken. And whoever came up with the popcorn chicken idea probably should win the Nobel prize, a pulitzer, probably a grammy, and just about any other award out there.

Sadly, I'm pretty sure this fried batter (probably inspired by angels in heaven) is not very good for you. If someone could come up with a way to make it good for you, that person would probably be deified.

This and That ...

Here comes another round of random thoughts that I have creeping and crawling in my head:

* Where did Mr. Rogers go at the end of every show? He would just change his shoes and sweater, and leave. I mean, seriously, wasn't that his house? He would show up, hang out for an hour, and then leave ... like we were his bitch or something like that.

* Who is faster, Speedy Gonzalez or the Road Runner?

* Brett Favre probably wishes he would've just retired before last season ... The Jets probably wish the same thing.

* A-Rod did steroids? I wouldn't be more surprised if I woke up with my face stapled to the carpet. At this point, I get the feeling everybody was (is) doing steroids in baseball.

* I really, really hate the new Amtrak radio ad ... the "choo-choo" one. It annoys me about as much as that new Geico commercial.

* Thank goodness that baseball season is here again ... go Phils!

Really?

So, a story was released by Sports Illustrated on a supposed anonymous drug test that was conducted by Major League Baseball in 2003, in which more than 100 players tested positive for steroid use. Apparently, the federal government (having solved all the other problems of the world) had seized the results of the drug test for use in upcoming cases against Major League players who lied under oath.

First, let me say that at this point, I'm not shocked by anybody on the list. In fact, NOBODY'S name on this list would surprise me. Baseball encouraged the use of steroids (even if they don't admit it) to increase the popularity of the sport in the 1990's after the lockout. Everybody's guilty in my opinion - the players, the owners, the union, the agents - all of them.

The sad part is that part of the charm of baseball was always the stats ... moreso than in any other sport. Even a casual fan knows the main numbers - 714, 755, 61, 56 ... it was always fun seeing players get close to these "unachievable" records, only to fall short (the fun was in the chase). Then, steroids ruined it all - first McGuire shattering the season home-run record ... then Bonds breaking the all-time home-run record ... all thanks to juicing up. Those numbers and stats mean nothing anymore.

But, the popularity of the sport has never been bigger ... apparently, most fans could care less, as long as they see action. And action equals home runs and lots of scoring ... it's kind of like Arena football ... but in a good way (I guess).

A-Roid's admission that he took steroids in a 3-year span should surprise nobody. Not sure how his image will be affected by this ... he'll probably be better off than Clemens and Bonds because at least he admitted it, while the other two knuckleheads vehemently denied juicing, despite mounting evidence. What will this do to the relevance of the stats, or even more importantly - the Hall of Fame? Will they have a wing dedicated to the juicers? Who knows.

Roller Derby!

A coworker of mine and I were briefly conversing about our weekend, and he mentioned he went to a roller-skating rink with his daughter (I think). Anyway, this spurred on a discussion ... actually, probably more like a walk down memory lane. Do you remember when roller rinks were all the rage? I do.

There was this rink near my house called "Skate Oddyssey," and I went there many times as a youngster ... usually for either birthday parties or school functions. No, I wasn't a very good roller skater, but it didn't matter. I remember vividly (for some reason) skating around the rink in a pair of rented roller skates (I think they were blue with red stripes), my blue corderouys (from the Gap), and a blue and red striped shirt (no, I wasn't retarded), skating to "We've Got the Beat" by the Go-Go's (ok, maybe I was a little retarded).

The funny thing about this roller rink was that it had a "beginners" area set aside from the actual rink ... this beginner's area actually had columns sprinkled throughout the middle of it ... kind of an odd place for columns ... I saw many a kid uncontrollably crash into these columns ... and I probably did so as well on a few occasions.

Also, this roller rink had a fantastic arcade that featured Pac Man, Donkey Kong, and Defender ... I was not good at any of these games sadly, so I stuck with Space Invaders. The cool older kids hogged up Defender and must've had 8-10 quarters on the top of the machine (these signifed "next game").

I also remember the "slow skates." The DJ (located in the center of the rink) would play slow songs, like "Faithfully," and "All Out of Love" and the couples would go out and skate around the rink holding hands ... I was always nervous/anxious about this for some reason ... would a girl ask me to slow skate (probably a long shot, considering that I didn't skate well, and the clothes I was wearing)? Should I ask a girl to skate? Should I stand on the side and tell fart jokes? The possibilities were endless ... ah, to be young again!

Weekly Assignment

Mama Kat's weekly assignment is here! This week, I chose the following prompt: What was the first CD (or record or cassette) you ever purchased? Write about the way that particular album made you feel then. Write about how it makes you feel now?

I grew up in a time when albums were still the most popular music "medium" around. Cassettes were out, and they were just supplanting the 8-track as the second-most popular music "medium." My parents had bought me quite a few albums, but the first one I really remember is a Sesame Street album. Sadly, I don't remember the title anymore, but I do remember the album art consisted of all of the Sesame Street humans (you know, Luis, Mr. Hooper, Linda, Maria, Gordon, Bob) in the playground area of the street. I listened to this album (along with other Sesame Street albums) a lot ... until I got my first cassette player ... I think I was around 5.

I remember going to the Mac Dade Mall with my mom all the time, and asking her to go to Radio Shack. I REALLY wanted a cassette player, but my mom was convinced that I was too young to have one. I took her to the store to show her that I indeed knew how to use this player ... I knew the play button, stop button, eject button ... heck, even rewind and fast forward. I guess after a bunch of times, my mom finally believed me and agreed to purchase said cassette player. She even got me "The Muppet Show" on cassette. I swore that this was the funniest cassette ever. I couldn't get enough of it, and practically knew every bit on the tape by heart (along with the Chipmunks Christmas tape ... which I played even when it wasn't Christmas).

I guess these early experiences played a large part to my love of music ... sometimes, I think about those cassettes and records, and wish I could have them again ... just to listen to one more time.

Baltimore Blast

The title of this post is actually the former team name of an MISL (indoor soccer) team in Baltimore ... but the title seems fitting. Slant and I visited our college roommate Mung in Baltimore this past Saturday. Slant usually gets very excited by these trips, because he enjoys the constant banter between Mung and me ... we usually have some sort of arguments regarding music or women, and these arguments become louder and less coherent as the night goes on.

Even though this weekend was no exception, deep down, Mung and I really enjoy each other's presence (in small doses). Mung drove us down to the Harbor, and we ended up touring many old haunts (eating something in just about every one of these places), admiring the changes done to the city's infrastructure, and reminiscing about funny stories from our past.

We basically closed down the bars ... something I don't do very often anymore, and on the cab ride home, Mung threw beer on me (for old-time sake, I guess). Thanks for the great time, guys.

Fast Food Corner

We're getting close to St. Patrick's Day, which means we'll be overloaded with McDonalds commercials promoting the Shamrock Shake ... I'll be honest, I've probably never had a Shamrock Shake before ... which means I'm probably breaking some sort of moral ethics code or something.

Since I've never had the Shamrock Shake, let me go into other McDonalds shakes ... I personally love the Vanilla shake ... but one thing I can't stand is how unbelievably thick the shake is ... almost impossible to suck out with a straw without damaging one's brain. Still, this helps to lengthen the experience, which I'm very much in favor of. You see, if this was easier to eat/drink with a straw, I'd be done it in 30 seconds, and probably have a massive brain-freeze experience.

Wendy's now has some sort of signature shakes ... I'm thinking about giving those a try. Has anybody had these?

Song of the Week

I've never really gotten into Bloc Party all that much ... I bought the first cd, and it was ok, but it never got me excited enough to buy anything else from them. However, one song that I absolutely can't get out of my head (or MP3 player) is Banquet - arguably their most popular song.

It starts off with a swooshing sound, kind of like a helicopter ... followed by toe-tapping drumming prior to actually jumping into the song. To me, the song sounds like a blending of The Police, Joe Jackson (think Steppin' Out), and Men at Work. The band is often compared to the Cure and the Strokes.

Here's some more information on the band from Wikipedia, in case you are interested:

Bloc Party are a British indie rock band, composed of Kele Okereke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Russell Lissack (lead guitar), Gordon Moakes (bass guitar, synths, backing vocals) and Matt Tong (drums, backing vocals). Their brand of indie rock has been compared to bands such as The Cure, Gang of Four and The Strokes.[1]

The band was formed at the 1999 Reading Festival by Okereke and Lissack. They went through a variety of names before settling on Bloc Party in 2003. Moakes joined the band after answering an advert in NME magazine, while Tong was picked via an audition. Bloc Party got their break by giving BBC Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq and Franz Ferdinand's lead singer Alex Kapranos a copy of their demo, "She's Hearing Voices", which was later released as a single.

In February 2005, the band released their debut album Silent Alarm. It was critically acclaimed and made NME's Album of the Year list.[2] The album was certified platinum in the UK a year later. The band built on this success with the release of their second studio album, A Weekend in the City, in 2007. The album reached a peak of number two in the UK and number twelve in the Billboard 200. In August 2008, the band released their third album, Intimacy.

Game Night

My brother and his wife invited us over for game night this past Saturday. Usually, we skip game night, because we either have other plans or we make other plans - game night sometimes doesn't sound that fun. Saturday night will make us reconsider that thought. We had an absolute blast sitting around the table, playing a variety of board and card games, and just conversing, joking, and making fun of each other.

The first game we played was Turbo Uno ... for the most part, this game is the same as Uno, but there is some sort of "mechanical" card dealer that you must hit when you need to take a card ... the twist is that this dealer can give you anywhere from 0 cards to 8 cards (I think). It adds a fun, and sometimes frustrating twist to an already fun game. One game took us about an hour to play ... so, we only played one game.

The second game we played was Apples to Apples ... I've heard a ton about this game, but never actually played it. I now know why so many people love this game. Basically, each person gets 7 red cards - these cards are nouns. A green card is drawn, and it's an adjective. Each person has to use one of his/her cards that "works the best" with the green card. One person chooses the best match. The first person with 5 green cards wins. We played a few rounds of this, and laughed the entire time.

We finished the night playing some good old fashioned drinking games - games like Circle of Death, and Up the River, Down the River. In my opinion, this is a perfect way to end a game night.

Next time, we'll probably try some games like Quip It, or maybe Cranium, or Balderdash ... I just love those games.

Weekly Homework Assignment

It's time for Mama Kat's weekly assignment - please stop by her site sometime.
I decided to do the following assignment: Write a list of ten things on your mind this week.

10. What if the Iggles played the Stillers in the Super Bowl?
9. I really hate tax season.
8. I can't wait for the Baltimore trip this weekend.
7. When will the economy finally make that turn-around?
6. I'm still wondering what the Angry Whopper tastes like.
5. Seriously, these "little" snow storms are just plain annoying ... when will I be able to wash my car again?
4. I wonder if anybody commented on my Facebook message.
3. After we're done with the basement, the wife wants to redo the upstairs bathroom ... is this all just a vicious circle?
2. I wonder why The Wrestler isn't playing anywhere near me.
1. Let's Go Flyers .... please?

Song of the week ...

I know the Killers are probably way too mainstream at this point and time ... that doesn't mean that I can't like their music, right? Sam's Town was their second album, and overall it was pretty good - probably not as complete as Hot Fuss was, but still. (And I haven't heard much from the newest album yet).

However, there is a hidden gem on Sam's Town that many people seem to overlook (or worse, ignore). My favorite song is not the main release, "When You Were Young." Don't get me wrong, it's a great song, but I tend to find deeper cuts to like on albums (that's just me, I guess).

The song "Bones" is the one I tend to gravitate to most. Maybe it's the way the horns are mixed into the main chorus ... or maybe it's the words themselves (obviously, talking about hot passionate "kanoodling"), or maybe it's the infectious hooks ... probably it's a combination of all of these. If you've skipped over this song, maybe you should give it another try. I think you'll see what I mean.

Fast Food Corner

Do any of you remember Burger King's "Yumbo" sandwich from the 1980's? It was basically a hot ham and cheese on a sesame seed burger bun. I hear the cheese was really kind of like the hot cheese you put on nachos. Now, since I can't stand the taste of ham, I never touched this sandwich - so I can't really review it. I wanted to see if (a) any of you ever tried it, and (b) why Burger King chose the name "Yumbo." Isn't there a better name they could've used?

Stoppage Time ...

Here are some more random thoughts ...

* I'm trying to get into eating turkey bacon ... it's just not the same, though.
* I'm finding it hard to get excited about the Super Bowl.
* Great ... the NASCAR season starts again ... ugh.
* Will it be a trend for presidential candidates to create an entire marketing plan complete with fancy logos?
* Merril Hoge really gets on my nerves ... in a similar way that Michael Irvin used to.
* I used to like watching tennis, back when McEnroe, Connors, and Borg played ... I don't think I can name more than 2 players now.
* Both Lost and 24 have been excellent so far.
* Wait, Barry Bonds was lying? Really?
* Sports Soup is pretty funny ... not anywhere near as funny as The Soup, but still pretty good.
* The NHL all-star game was awful ... the skills competition was cool, though.