Thursday, December 21, 2006

"I Found a Shortcut": A brief look at the Extensive Drinking Exploits of a 613 Legend

In honor of these last “five days” before Christmas, I’m counting down five nights of Drunk Limmer… think of this as an intoxicating online, advent calendar…

How could anyone even try to encapsulate Limmer's alcoholic escapades throughout the four years we spent in college? It's like trying to stuff fake snakes back into a can marked "peanuts" after you pulled a cliche prank on Dre (...because apparently, people who grew up on farms aren't familiar with the standard gag gifts sold at Spencer's: remember how excited he was when he learned about fish-flavored candy and fart-tasting gum). My point is, once you let those snakes loose there's no way you're fitting them back into some small container (...or maybe I just had trouble because I lack utilitarian skills). Well Limmer's exploits are gi-normous and their legend grows with each passing day. They require an encyclopedia volume all to themselves. Unfortunately, at this time, I can only offer them this post on 613 Hudson.blogspot. With that said, I would love to gather all the amateur photos, newspaper articles, term papers, police reports, and video production projects that centered around Limmer's love of the hoppy hooch. That's an award-winning documentary just waiting to be pieced together... (however, it’s more of a long-term project for way down the road). In this post, I simply aim to address what I believe were Limmer's TOP 5 Most Drunkest Nights in College. Obviously, my list isn't completely comprehensive (there was a 20-month stretch, from 2nd semester sophomore year until 1st semester senior year, in which Limmer and I attended classes 3000 miles apart from each other), and I'm sure that most of my choices are open to criticism (because I've only included nights when we were hanging out together... I wasn't even there for his 21st birthday… I guess it’s more like “Lim’s TOP 5” as witnessed by Rand). Also there were, most likely, several nights when he was off-his-ass wasted, but nothing truly significant occurred --- thus highlighting the central flaw in my argument... I focus on quality, not quantity. Alright, enough clarifications. In my humble opinion, these are the most memorable, least sober, absolutely hilarious, drunken nights of Limmer. Please feel free to refute my claims and compose your very own Top 5.

Let's start with the Close Calls:

"An Entire 30 Rack: All in a day's work" - Towards the end of first semester sophomore year, Limmer decided he would drink 30 beers in one day, all by himself. He stored them under his bed and the binge began in the late afternoon (he didn't even need to start in the early morning). Friends of his from home came to visit, but I can't quite remember any other details. I just know that by 12 o'clock that night, those beers were gone.

"24 Hours in Mexico" - We started drinking in the early evening. Here's what we each consumed before entering an all-you-can-drink club later on that night: Two margheritas, three beers, two mixed drinks, three more beers... and then the real imbibing began. Once the free drinks kicked in at the club, Limmer left me in the dust and Shotty did his best to keep up. By the time we left, I was black-out drunk, Shott was snapping photos left and right, and Limmer was skulking around looking for more alcohol. We climbed a 12-foot high fence (for some unknown reason... maybe we saw some poetic justice in Americans scaling a Mexican fence) and Limmer slit his jeans wide open while trying to flip himself over.

"Where the Hell are Bry and Rand" - During first semester sophomore year, the residents of Garden 27-3-7 attended a couple of parties up in the Circles. On one such occasion, I drove my car up and stored our beer in the trunk. At 2 am, Lim had reached about 20 deep, but still showed no signs of stopping. Since everyone else had finished drinking long before, I told him we were walking back. He wanted me to leave him with more beer and I said that we would save it for another night... this act of defiance awoke Angry Limmer and led to one of the only (verbal) fights I've ever had with Lim. On the walk home, Bry and I stayed 50 feet ahead of Limmer. He would run to catch up with us and we'd let him get close, but as soon as he reached us, we'd take off again. When Lim finally made it home, he threw open the door and barked, "Where the hell are Bry and Rand?"; to which I responded, "Right here motherf#cker"

And now... the TOP 5:

5. "Booooooooger!!" - Freshman year Cortaca Jug, was the first time that some of us saw Limmer really hammer beers. The weather was crappy on our drive up to Cortland and we got there a little later than expected. If we wanted to hit up the bars, we were going to have to take off shortly after our arrival. So, we began pounding beers and I remember being purely astonished by the rate at which Limmer could slam a can. The rest of us were averaging around one beer every 7-10 minutes. Lim spent no more than 3 minutes on each. When we got to the bar, which doubled as a dance club, we had a difficult time getting drinks, and we ended up pulling a “Mark and Shotty” (…drinking “wounded soldiers” left by strangers). After the bar, we returned to Bry’s sister’s friend’s house and downed beers until the early morning. Honestly, this wasn’t one of the drunkest I’ve ever seen Lim, but I included it because of the inside jokes it led to (“Tony Copilano,” “Booooooger,” and “…you stick around, we’ll get that number”). Also, it was the first time several of us were on-hand to observe the true drinking capabilities of Lim.

4. “Puking on a sports car” - Billy Edelin and Carmelo Anthony were supposed to stop by and visit us that night (or at least that's what we were promised by Poole's friend). We got decently drunk playing darts and Asshole up in Poole's Circle apartment, then decided to head down to a party at the VoiceStream house. Unbeknownst to just about everyone, Limmer had consumed an entire 20 oz. Coke bottle of straight Jack. I thought it was Coke, or at least some mixture of Jack and Coke... how foolish of me. Poole's friend drove us down to the party, and shortly after exiting her vehicle, Limmer turned to me (with his eyes rolled back) and asked, "Should I puke on this car?" It was some sort of an expensive sports car, I can't remember the make and model, but I told him to go for it… and Limmer let loose. I can only remember a handful of other times when Limmer threw up (Halloween sophomore year, Case Race sophomore year, and Saint Paddy's Day senior year... I'm positive there were many more, but those are the ones that stand out to me).

3. "I Found a Short Cut" - Freshman year, we were all sitting in Lim and Hoefl's room late at night, peacefully (if drunkenly) devouring our DP Dough. Some of us were watching the TV screen, and others were talking amongst themselves. Lim was quietly stationed in front of his old-school computer (this was pre-laptop days), mumbling in frustration. No one was paying much attention to him --- until he reared back and caught his computer with a knockout blow. We all stared at Lim in surprise. The monitor went black for a few seconds, while it took a deep breath and gathered its balance, and then reset itself. Lim laughed and reported to everyone, “Haha… I found a short cut.” Limmer, who had previously been described by every female we came in contact with as a “Big Teddy Bear”, now displayed shades of a “Hulk”-like darker side (…or ”Miz”-like, if you will).

2. “The Missing Table Leg” – It was a cold evening during the winter of our first year at college. We were in the middle of our kleptomaniac phase, and coincidentally, we had just begun hanging out with Mark. Our party pad of choice was the freshmen girl magnet known as: “The Den.” Limmer knew the upperclassmen that lived there because a certain “slutty” hometown friend attracted a good deal of attention from the den residents. Like always, Lim became fast friends with the party hosts. Before long, he could come, go, and drink (all their alcohol) as he pleased. Well on this certain night, I vividly recall Mark getting wrecked on Aftershock and Limmer chugging along like a marathon man. As the night rolled on, the party thinned out, and we decided we better head home. Lim told us that he just needed to use the bathroom for a second. He quickly snagged an unopened bottle of wine and shut the door. About a minute later, Lim exited the party, toting a broken table leg… leaving the empty wine bottle in his wake.

1. "It's Not as Bad as You'd Think"



Saint Paddy’s Day senior year had to be the drunkest I’ve ever seen Limmer. He and his friend Jon grabbed beers down in the Commons at the "break of dawn" (which is to say: a little before noon). When he finally returned to 613 in the mid-afternoon, Lim was definitely tipsy, but he proceeded to astonish us all with a moment that will live on in collegiate folklore forever (thanks to College Power Hour)... he took a quintiple shot of whiskey (that's nearly 8 ounces) and then chased that with a sip of vodka tonic. Before agreeing to take the monster shot, he made everyone promise to give him more whiskey later. When questioned as to how this big, gulping achievement left him feeling, Limmer responded: "It's not as bad as you'd think." He passed out around 5pm and few of us believed he'd even be able to walk again (for the rest of the night), but within two hours he was back at it: downing car bombs, slurping JELLO shots, and chugging whiskey 'til the early morning.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

New Year's

I sent this out in an email, too.

We need to find a good bar with an open bar, food, and TVs for new years. We also need to know who's coming so we can buy tickets to this place.

Here's a bar I think we can all do. It's motto: Drink, Sport, Comraderie. Do any other three words better exemplify 613 Hudson? (Probably, and I'm sure most of them include fecal references. Replies are welcome.)

Here's the place: http://www.lansdowneroadnyc.com/index.html

Tell me what you think - dreschneider@gmail.com - who can confirm coming, and I'll call to see what kind of package we can get.

As of 4pm, we have Tony confirmed, Sam saying it looks great but he's not sure whether he can come, me confirmed, and, from earlier, Jared saying he'd be cool with it. So, 3 yes, 1 maybe.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

I miss 613!!!!!!!!


We all need to discuss new years plans so that we can have a glorious reunion this winter.

I really just wanted to post that I have started calling Dre "Suzy Kolberg" for his large monday night football jacket, and zeal for journalism.

I've been really impressed with the Jets the last few weeks and look forward to playing them in the playoffs.

College invasions #7 is excellent. If anyone wants to switch dvds for a while, I'd be more than happy to see some new footage.


Still no word on whether I have a job past new years.... its looking good, but its not certain.

i'm hoping to make more than a Kuma charmer thats for sure.

I am going to my first NHL game tomorrow night to see a bruins game with a post game concert by State Radio. Lukas will be there with his very hot girltoy who he may have lost the V-Card too. Her favorite book is the Great Gatsby (also my favorite book) and I'm thinking stealing her. "Oh you live in the dorms and cant legally buy alcohol, sorry Lukas.... I have a car and can get into bars"

Black and White formal is this weekend, marking the one year anniversary of the greatest speach in the history of Ithaca College.

Anyone see the Departed or the new Bond? I loved both of them.

Sorry to ramble but I just wanted a new post up there.


I love Tartar sauce!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, November 20, 2006

Home of the #1 Olive Garden in the country

I was at work shelving some stuff in the travel section when I started to flip through a guide to upstate NY, Off the Beaten Path: NewYork, and found this bit of trivia:

Horseheads got its name in 1798 when settlers coming into the valley came upon the bleached skulls of pack horses left behind by General John Sullivan after his battle against the Six Nation of the Iroquois.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Get the Star jimmy

COllege Humor I am just upset 613 didn't think of it first....

Also, apologies to anyone I talked with Friday night I remember nothing.

-Tony

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

New Years

hi everyone,
so isabel has suggested a new years eve activity for everyone and i think it sounds like a pretty good deal. she can get us vip passes to Club Deep in NYC through her old modeling agency. here are the details:
--our own vip section
--no admission fee or cover charge
--open bar until 11
--free hot and cold buffets all night
--free bottle of champagne at midnight
--tickets to the after party at Capitale (some fancy pants club with a free breakfast after 2am)
--we break up into groups of three or four and each group pays between $200 and $300 for a bottle of liquor. my guess is that it's so expsnsive because we wouldn't have to pay for anything else the rest of the night. so, depending on the size of the group, we would each be paying around $60 for all of this stuff. we also don't pay until we get to the bar. once we get to the bar we will split up into our groups and choose which bottle of liquor each group wants to pay for/spilt. we also get free mixers to mix our drinks with and a personal waitress in our vip room.

isabel needs a head count by November 30, so if you want to go, either post on the blog or send me an email so i can send her a list of who's coming. if your name is on that list after the 30th, you'll be counted as definitely coming. also please let me know if your gf/roommates/etc. will be attending. also, the party is supposed to be fancy, so you can't wear jeans but you def. don't have to wear a suit. sam, i think kilts are optional. onesies are not allowed.

here is a link to the club's website so you can check out pics of the place: http://deepnewyork.com/

let me know if you're interested!
love
zoe

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Food For Thought

Just a quick note. I've been catching up on pop-culture current affairs this morning and I read that Kirstie Alley appeared on Oprah in a bikini to show how much weight she's lost.

Let's forget about the fact that, before she shilled for Jenny Craig, Alley's message was "I'm fat and I'm happy with it" (she even starred in the aptly-named 'Fat Actress' on Showtime, and was quoted saying she'd rather be 'a fat-ass mom' than 'a Beverly Hills skinny ass bitch').

Let's forget that, it's not as important as her Oprah appearance -- available on YouTube -- or, rather, not as important as her theme song during her Oprah appearance.

It was "Brick House" by The Commodores. Could there be a funnier song to play for someone who's supposedly lost weight? Isn't that a bit like playing Queen's 'Champions' in a losing locker room?

Ah, Perverts

I was walking down by the aquarium just now. It's overcast here, and raining. But dogs still need to crap when it's raining, and I saw a girl with two puppies on leashes circling a tree looking to drop a doogan.

She looked like a normal college student. Red baseball hat, grey long sleeve T, jeans. I barely noticed her as I walked by. Then, this older guy in black t-shirt and ripped jeans with a slight bald spot and teeth that were slightly crooked and somehow looked too thick, crosses my path, turns to me, and says:

"She can put me on a leash if she wants, heheheh. I'll be her little pet, heheheh."


Then he put his cigarette back in his mouth, turned, and continued on in front of me.

In other news...

Check out this story: Naked Man Arrested for Carrying Concealed Weapon

(yep)

http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2006/11/04/naked_man_caught_with_weapon_police_say/?p1=MEWell_Pos1

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Can I get 5!

Hey All!

Just wanted to say how excited I am to see most of you this weekend! I don't know when everyone is getting to town or what their plans are, but I wanted to make it known that we are having our 4th Annual Mexican themed party Friday night. Sooooo, when you guys get here make sure to come with a sombrero, ready to funnel and with a hunger for con queso!

We are having a keg here for Mexican night and them some of the boys from the 14s who now live on Penn are doing the gauntlet the next morning before the game. This consists of an ice luging-kegstanding-funneling course. Then who knows!

I don't know if any of you got tickets to the game, but just incase you don't want to sit in the hotel room, we can leave our house open for you guys to watch there and finish off whatever nachos and cheese we have leftover. Of course, these are all just suggestions, do whatever makes you the happiest and gets you the drunkest.

OK - well, I hope you guys are getting ready. Just so you know, Courtney Clark has been doing the terminator like crazy and I have a feeling that at least one of the Palmers might show up... but no promises.


Until Friday! Adios!




PS

Once I got past Sam's dumb name/picture, I would just like to say how awesome PublicHouseEntertainment turned out. I had know idea it was going to cover so many topics, and I don't know who the puppy chow chick is - but I think she's awesome.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Sorry Bri...

Who should just change their Blogger name to their own name?
Selection
Votes
SammyC 20%3
El Guapo 60%9
Coco Crisp 7%1
fabhugalore 0%0
Gales, ya bitch! 0%0
Clyde S 13%2
15 votes total

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Otto

I was at my buddies place tonight and out of nowhere he comes up with the idea to do horse races. Let me tell you what Rand, everyone that was there has heard of the game before and they all were big fans. Even though the dealer wasn't as good as you Rand (he didn't even give each suit a horses name; I attempted to do an actual play by play but was awful and stopped) it was still highly enjoyable. It was played a little different from your rules, but obviously still the same concept. All in all it was great and I got so pumped to hear everyone talk so highly of the game.

Also I was drinking Bud Ice tonight and I tried to tell everyone what makes a beer Ice instead of Light or Regular, but I vaguely remembered the explanation you told me Sam and I know I've heard you tell this numerous times, but I just couldn't remember. My bad, my bad

Friday, October 27, 2006

"Are you a girl? Is it Halloween?"

One of the funniest things i've seen in a while. I can't get enough of this guy. (except for a few F-bomb's this is work safe... Happy Rand?)

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1715915/

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Pearl Harbor sucked and I miss you

Ann's post was exactly what I needed to read when I logged into the blog looking for a little 613/IC love. I also think the blackout juice night was probably the most brokeback ideas I had every heard of and I'm sorry that me and the girls were ultimately unable to pull off a decent prank on you while you were all in there making your testimonials and (i'm guessing) rubbing eachother's nipples. I have been missing all of you over the last few days and that was only made worse after i got a call from dre last night when he was hanging out with Chris and Jared in NYC. I missed you so much after we hung up that I actually watched some of the college power hour before I went to sleep, sober and sad because I can't come to Cortaca. I can't wait for New Years--who's going to be in New York? Sam and I discussed this and we think we need to make a plan to go to a really good party and then make sure it actually happens so we're not all just wandering around the city, sober and freezing. Let's plan something awesome!

Monday, October 23, 2006

Reminiscing over black out juice

613! How I miss you all so much! I am sitting at my desk at E! right now hating Ryan Seacrest, the entire Carter family and life in general....how did my life arrive at this? Oh well, at least I still get to pretend that I am in college on the weekends.
Speaking of which this past weekend Rand and I and some others went to the Westin in Downtown LA where it is fun to ride the elevators when you are drunk because they are free and on the outside of the building and they go from 1 to 35...we did that about three times total. We also attempted to go to a swanky bar that also revolves and has the "best view of LA" but the drinks were 12 dollars so we left a couple at a time leaving Rand and Jamie to deal with our waiter. We then bolted to a brewery on the fourth floor. Dan Shott and I ordered the sampler which I quickly renamed my "pallette of adventure." Hey, we all know I am prone to saying odd things when partaking in certain beverages. So anyway while we looked over the alcohol content of each of our samples Rand whipped out the phrase "blackout juice" which sent me into hysterical laughter. You know, I think just the thought of you all getting black out drunk and taping what was the equivalent of a 7th grade slumber party on PCP was one of my fondest memories of college and I wasn't at the event and i didn't even see the tapes. What made it great is that 1. One of the most feared/straight-laced figures of the park school actually viewed some of your footage, 2. that person was female (let's hope she has no idea what munging a dead whore means) 3.Tony trying to lie about the whole situation to defend what?...the park card he no longer needed. Clearly this was one of the best ideas to come out of 613.
With that said, Rand displayed an interest in getting the tapes from Limmer because, in Rand's words: "Let's face it, Limmer's probably not going to do anything with them." and then we went into how Limmer would respond to that statement ........"Shut upppppp!" "Whatever" "Go 'Cuse yourself!" and so on.
We then called Limmer and I don't recall what was said.
I hope you all come to visit soon, my doors are always open, a pallette of adventure is only 6 bucks and the elevator rides are free :)

SPRING BREAK '98!

love,
Fortune

Singing Our Praises

Real quick:

I was clearing up some space on my hard drive and decided to pop on College Power Hour, just to check it out for a second... but the thing is, there's no way you can watch just one minute: the beautiful camera movements (courtesy of Ken Burns and his eponymous effect), the all-too-familiar tunes, and the glorious photos that captured our collegehood... it's amazing, I think I ended up watching for like 15 minutes. A couple of months ago, I turned it on before I was going to bed, just to relive some fantastic memories. I only planned to watch like 5 minutes, but I realized there was no way I could turn it off before Limmer did the quintiple shot of whiskey (somewhere in the 20s). I'm so glad that we were able to put that together over the last few weeks of school, it was truly a team effort and well worth the time spent. Over the holidays, I say we all meet up, get our hands on some Wildcat, and drink to a CPH that we won't soon forget (until the Wildcat takes effect, at which point we won't remember)

Friday, October 20, 2006

Piggy-Backing Dre.... thats right

This could have been a comment on Dre’s previous post but sometimes it is annoying with the comments are this long.

Does anyone know how much longer fox has the contract for baseball because it needs to be done with. It is annoying enough to have to watch clip after clip from the diamond cam that ads nothing to the game, but to be force to listen to Tim McCarver and Joe Buck talk about "eric" chavez, and "chris" floyd is just punishing. I mean these guys must have really don’t their homework, its not like they have 7 games to figure out who the players are. Throw Joe Morgan in their and you have an All-Star booth. I honestly believe if you where to look at all the statement those two make over the course of the game maybe 60% would be right. I loved hearing about how good John Maine's change up looked on one particular pitch…. Well Tim that’s because it was a 96 mph fastball. And I really don’t need to see the pitcher face that close up on every pitch.

The worst part about the whole ordeal was the way it happened, and I am not even talking about leaving bases load and the tying run on second. Carpenter and Pujols were total non-factors. One RBI for Albert (who turns out to be a huge bitch I guess) and the best Chris did was leave one of his games tied. Not only that but the Mets pitch wasn’t that bad, of course it could have been better but with the exception of Trach it wasn’t as bad as ever expecting coming into the series. And in all but one game the staff carried the non-existent offense. I know they say pitching and defense wins games but in the case it was lack of pitching and defense loses games.

I do believe the Mets will be back next year it is just a question of which front line starter they go after. I guess in every season fans need to go through some pain due to their teams trials and tribulations. It is just a shame that for Mets fans the first time we had a game to be worried about we were out of the playoffs. Mets still have not played meaningful ball in September, but maybe next year.

What a shame that the two teams that backed into the playoff are going to be in the World Series…..Fuck it, bring on the Hot Stove.

its been a while,

and this isn’t no crappy StainD song either! Boy o boy have I neglected this blog, while I do read it religiously, I have not posted in quite some time. The main impetus for this post was a crap. I was at work today at around 745 in the morning for a company meeting that started at 8 am. I had gotten their early because among other things apparently as audio visual coordinator my responsibilities include setting up projectors, laptops and power point presentations. (Oh yeah I am employed as an audio visual coordinator for a financial firm in Holbrook, ny for anyone who did not know which is why I haven’t really existed for going on 5 weeks now) So seeing that it only takes all of 90 seconds to set up a projector and laptop I had some time to drop the kids off at the pool. Sitting the very private lockable office bathroom I felt extremely comfortable, even more so do to the time of day and fact that I was the only person in the 5-story building at the time. I wondered as I sat their about many of life’s important questions but one really stuck out. "I wonder if Sam would ever try to take a shit at work without his pants." Now Sam has on occasion been know to use the bathroom of 613 pantless (both upstairs and downstairs) and I was curious as to whether or not he would contemplate how to pull this off at work. Honestly I have come around and must say that it makes perfect logical sense to use the bathroom pantless but who better then Sam to find a way to incorporate this into his workday. And since I know it will motivate him and that he cannot refuse a bet I offer a challenge of three natty lights for a successful attempt.
I hope everyone out there in 613 land is well, drunk and/or successful. I am also going to say that it is my intention to make it to Cortaca for Friday night. I have other obligations Saturday but for Friday (as long as I can find a place for my friend to sleep) its on.

P.S. stay up to dat on Tony and his LI crews eating habits on Tuesday Night Dinner

Best wishes happy mung and all that.
Rooting for a losing team is like being stuck in a bad relationship. You try to leave; I mean, you really try to leave, but as soon as the circumstances seem just right they surprise you by returning a fumble for a touchdown on the first play of the season. And just as you've leaped off the couch, as your entire body reaches blissful weightlessness, you realize that you'll never leave them. You can't.

You hate them, but they leave you wanting more. Like that one perfect golf shot among 54 piss poor ones, certain stats stick in the back of your mind. 'At least they owned the National League this year' ... 'Leading the league in grand slams is really promising.'

But they can never put it all together at just the right time to utter those three magic words you crave. 'Bases loaded single.' At points, they're simply incredible. Briefly, just for one play, they're the best outfielders in baseball playoff history. But then you come crashing down and realize that you're in for another 5 months of no communication, then a long brutal slog through the dog days.

That's why FOX's new Tommy Lasorda ad campaign is an insult to true fans. By trying to guilt us in to rooting for baseball, not for our teams, it completely ignores the true relationship between a fan and his chosen ballclub. Who in their right minds would go through a seven month, hellish relationship (only to be broken up with the day before the prom) and then drive to the goddam prom to vote for the King and Queen.

It's the most basic of principles. The last thing an unhappy couple want to see is, clearly, a happy one. Not only that, the ads target those people who are not only in mildly dysfunctional, but downright abusive ones. The Indians? The Cubs?! In sports terms (which in no way reflects the real-world accuracy of this analogy) that's like saying, Why don't you go get thrown down the stairs for seven months then come over to my house and watch me f*ck the prom queen.

Screw that and screw FOX for that campaign.

Here's to October 2007, when the Mets will await the winner of the Boston-Cleveland ALCS. Next year will be different, I swear. They're getting better, really, next year will be different.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

what is my life coming to?

I just had this exchange:

PR Flack: Ok, great Andreas, I'll have them send over a GoToMeeting tomorrow morning.

Me: Actually, we're both on Linux, which isn't supported by GoToMeeting. The only virtual meeting site that supports our operating systems is Macromedia Breeze. We've had briefings stall out before with GoToMeeting or WebEx.

PR Flack: ok, i'll just send them over to Macromedia.

Me: Thanks, talk to you tomorrow.


some days it hits me, what i actually do all day. you know, at 4:45 on a normal thursday in may i probably would have been eating chips on the couch watching an arsenal game debating with sam over whether he should just watch the end of it or watch the whole DVR'd thing later.

613 rocks.

CraigsList Scams

So we're selling our futon. Yes, Fortune's futon and yes, the same futon that our first (shortly owned) cat Sasha pulled a shit-piss double whammy on. It's been throroughly cleaned.

So we posted an ad on Craigslist and, almost immediately, received a reponse from Kelly Beck. (We would later learn that, as we suspected, no one name Kelly writes English like Borat.) Kelly was eager, though, and offered to pay us $100 right then and there and have her movers come pick it up.

Shortly after, we received another email from Kelly. It appeared that her secretary had mistakenly sent us a check for $3500 (the cost of the whole moving operation, of course) not the $100 for the couch. Poor Kelly. It was a special check and it couldn't be voided. It was simple, though, we could just cash the check when it got to us and wire the money back to Kelly.

We resisted, because that sounded weird and we had other offers. But then she offered us $200. We didn't say anything for awhile, but thought about doing it. When the check came, it wasn't from Kelly, which sounded Ok because her secretary had sent it. Problem was, it was from PTL Test Equipment and no one named Kelly Beck works there as far as we could tell. While the check's return address was a P.O. Box in Pennsylvania, the company's offices were in Jupiter Florida. We called the company's bank. The account on the check had been closed for months. So we called the company. Their sales manager Dave was now their chief anti-fraud consultant. 'Is this about the checks?' He knew right away.

Their business checks had been stolen and now Kelly -- who's apparently some guy with a cell phone from San Antonio who takes trips to the Bahamas (or so the FBI told Dave) -- was sending bogus checks to Craigslist saps. We were supposed to cash the check and send Kelly the money before the check cleared. When it never did, somebody would be stuck with a $3500 bounced check to pay for.

That's where it stands now, and Kelly has emailed Zoe a few more times asking if the check arrived alright. I still have it in my backpack. Fuck Kelly. Who's real identity is probably the owner of Benchwarmers.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

France Loves Prison Break

One of our favorite Fox serial shows has garnered a large audience in the French marketplace thanks, in no small part, to the new localized theme song (performed by French rapper Faf Larage).

How weird is it to see a guy who looks like he could be the love-child of Biz Markie and Suge Knight, spitting rhymes like he's a gansta... in French?

In regards to the actual show, voices are dubbed (they don't use subtitles)... I'm really curious to hear how T-Bag's creepy southern cooing translates into French.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Why Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is the show that I most look forward to Monday nights

Is Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip an accurate portrayal of behind the scenes of a late night sketch comedy show/television network? I don't know because I have never been behind the scenes of one. What I do know though is that it at least places a critical eye on the going ons behind the scenes. Again, how much of that is based in truth, I am not sure nor does it really matter. As a person on the outside of that world it at least provides an interesting and layered peephole. Is it likely that Amanda Peet's character could likely have the position she does on the show in real life? There are young execs that pop up every once in a while so who knows. But what does matter is that the character works in the confines of the show. Again, if her character is in an unrealistic position of power what us laymens think of an honest behind the scenes look is in turn compromised. I guess what I am getting at is that despite the holes that may be present in the "realness" of the world that show presents as being akin to real going ons, they pay off in entertainment value: the end justifies the means.

Granted, in last night's episode the device of the reporter probing into the characters' lives came off as a contrived means of giving the viewers character background, the show gives off a naturalistic ease. Things happen at a leisurely pace despite the fast paced world in which the characters live. And to Matthew Perry's credit, it was not his inability to play it straight that made serious Chandler so bad on Friends, but rather that character's awkwardness at playing it straight. In Studio 60 he pulls off the nuances of his talented, witty, and neurotic (in a non-Chandler Bing way) character to a T.

Anyway, I like the show. From the first episode I was hooked. I turned on the TV because of the hype yet the show itself is what brings me back week after week. Each episode provides myself along with the other viewers moments that are happening. Moments and events that are not leading to anything (they are leading to the furthing of theplot but there is a sense that each action is significant in its own right), not simply building blocks to some pay off but rather right there in the middle of the action. This point is important because as much as I do enjoy Studio 60, it is not the show that I wanted to want to look forward to on Monday nights. That show was/is Heroes.

With Heroes, I tuned in at first because regardless of the hype it was receiving, it was a show that I was really excited about. I wanted to love this show. Unfortunately, Heroes, however, unlike Studio 60, is a show that in and of itself does not bring me back week after week. The initial excitement I had for this show has all but been boiled off and it is simply the hype and promise of the show that brings me back every Monday.

I think that problem that I am having with the show is that it is too much structured like a comic book. Now while this format makes sense considering the show's subject matter, I think that it is better fit to a medium that costs $2.99 and maybe 10min to read versus a medium that requires and hour commitment. When I say that it is structured like a comic book I mean that contrary to Studio 60, an episode of Heroes feels like simply the "resolution" of the previous episode's cliff hanger and the build up to the current one's. I guess this sounds like a standard television format, resolution of one problem and then the introduction of another, but with the amount of characters Heroes is dealing with it leaves an episode feeling short and uneventful (it also does not help that of everything that happened last night was shown in commercials so the only new piece of plot that we were given is that the hooker with split personalities (this is a "power" by the way? isn't it technically a mental illness?) hooked up with the politician). I get that the dramatic cliff hangers at the end of each ep will unfortunately become a trademark, but when an ep serves the purpose of the one big payoff every time, the end overshadows the means and what I want from a tv show is 43 min of payoff versus the 5min Heroes is currently providing.

What really needs to happen, and what I am waiting for before I make any final decisions regarding this show, is for the characters to eventually all come together. This should give the episodes a more cohesive feel versus giving each of the 8 storylines a fraction of airtime. Lost got it right when they threw all their characters together right from the get go and explored each individually in later episodes (speaking of Lost, I am enjoying the new season, but that is another post all together). A recent review in the New York Daily News lauds Heroes as continuing to get better even inspiring the critic to award the show half a star more than when he originally reviewed it, but I don't want a show that will be good in a month, that will reach its potential after the first 8 episodes, I want to be hooked. Criticize me for wanting instant gratification but the main reason I have been a loyal viewer of shows like Alias, The Sopranos, 24, Lost, and now potentially Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, is that from that first episode, maybe even the first two, I was invested. Invested in both the characters and plot. The only aspects of Heroes that I am finding myself invested to are the premise and potential and those are not things that can keep me coming back week after week for long.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Quiz

Who doesn't remember the night I was berrated for my scoring criteria in the essay contest? Because of that debacle, when I received another red sox jacket, I desided to create a pop quiz rather than risk the subjective assesment of an essay contest. The quiz was for Red Sox fans only but I thought I would throw the quiz on the blog for your entertainment. There are four sections: Sports, Beer and Food, Arts and Entertainment and Sam


Who won Last Years Deutsche Bank Championship
Who led the red sox in wins this year
What Soccer club does Thierry Henry Play For
Who did the red sox trade to acquire Tek and Lowe
Name a player from the 86' Celtics Besides DA, KM, RP, LB

How many of Varieties of Sam Adams are There
What is the primary alcohol in a melon ball
What are the three items in the Chilis Triple Play
Name the one can of beer currently in my fridge right now
What beer do I hate the most

Who sings the song "when the levee breaks"
Who wrote Ball Four
Who is the author invisible monsters
Name one actor from Monty Python besides John Cleese
Name the main character from Arrested Development

Name one porn from my collection
Whats my favorite bottle of alcohol under $40 bucks
Whose Real liscense did I have for a fake ID
What dictator does wilson compare me to
How do I like my eggs

Byahhh

New and Notes from Beantown:

Work is not as exciting now that the season is over. I work for two people and do a lot of appointment making, letter sending, and other simple things that take little intelligence individually but collectively require a level of attention that I have not discovered yet.

I visited the Field Hockey chicks last weekend (technically two weekends ago) and it was great as usual. I got black out wasted on very little beer. The night at 128 hudson and second floor was stellar, but how fun can a night be without peeing on phones, buying pizza with your last three dollars, watching tony run aimlessly back to 613, and stacking beer cans in the living room.

I really hope that Chris has booked a hotel for Cortaca. I haven't puked since I graduated (can't even remember the last time) and I think that morning might change things (although I have never puked on Cortaca.

I am feeling thirsty- Ithaca Nut brown or booze? Well the booze is here but I only have a plastic cup.

I have seen about five minutes of Entertainment Tonight two weeks straight, awaiting this years headcases "How I met your mother" Anyway, whats the deal with Anna Nicole getting so much attention on television? Hollywood is nuts...clean it up Geiger.

I really do like How I met your mother. It has a lot of great elements: an incredibly hot main chick, a good amount of inappropriate humor, and they mix up the way they tell the story each episode.

My buddy Will lives in chicago and does his laundry at a Laundromat that is also a bar. IT EXISTS!!!

Wearing the uniform on a Friday night when the terminator might stop by is something I enjoy. Wearing the uniform everyday to work because your offices have been tepmorarily moved to the warehouse at the back of the park is not something I enjoy. Because of construction in the park, we had to move offices to the back of fenway where they use to store chairs and other crap. They threw some cubicles and flat screen tvs in a room and called it our new offices. I have to use the stadium bathrooms during the day. Its my goal (and a very 613 goal) to use every urinal in the bathroom.

I love how 613 is now a noun, adjective and verb.

I definitely think every person who is at cortaca should go to 613 during the day and act like we live there.

I dont like how one person reads the name of their whole side on MNF. I haven't changed my fantasy football lineup for two weeks, mainly because bye weeks ruin the sport/online game. Fantasy baseball is infinitely better. One thing about watching football this season is that I suddenly really want to by a Samsung HDTV.

The British office is much better than the American one. Give it a chance when you can.

I started saying Byahhhhh a lot about four months ago and my friends at home hated it. I have tried to ween it away but it has some how stuck to my vocabulary. Check this link and tell me if its at all funny.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

well, uh....

Alex Rodriguez

as it said on ESPN.com, what better way to get over a big loss than with a little shopping? Now he's collected more shiny little bags than RBIs this October.

funny thing is, i bet that's not even his wife. i think he's standing on the street asking people "Hey, you think I'm hot right? ... Yeah you do, that's right, I'm fucking A-Rod..."

Saturday, October 07, 2006

It's Friday Night, and The Mood is Right...

Gonna have some fun, show you how it's done TGIF!

It's friday evening (on the West Coast) and we recently celebrated our movie's progress with a bottle of champagne, a couple of beers, and a game of power-ball (a combination of wall-ball and hand-ball, but contained within a small, enclosed office space... our director invented it four years ago), so right now I'm ready to spout out random thoughts in bullet-form...

At the risk of sounding like the loser right-fielder on an 8-year old little league team... Let's Get Some Chatter Going! How bout these recent fall premieres, huh? Personally, I thought South Park was amazing. I spent an entire semester playing one of those stupid-ass MMORPGs (for class, i swear) and they just nailed every aspect of it. Dare I say, it's one of only two comedies (currently running new episodes) that is always worth the watch and geniunely hysterical

I've really enjoyed "The Office". Over the summer I watched all of season 1 and 2, thanks to Dan's downloaded copies... I know, I know, my mom scolded me and in my defense i pointed out "everyone does it"... "yes" she said, "but this is what you do for a living"...

None of the new shows have enticed me at all, not even one iota. I hear "The Nine" is actually really good.

"Ugly Betty" is supposedly a crowd pleaser, although I can't get into it because it seems like it belongs on the Disney channel (with it's crazy sets, one-dimensional characters, and hokey music... plus it has that evil mastermind who sits in the dark, watching tv screens, and might as well be stroking a cat, just like Claw from Inspector Gadget. Another reason I can't watch that show is because i've seen the Colombian version and like every spanish-speaking tv program, it is ludicrous, over-the-top, and jam-packed with women I would marry (who can't act for sh!t)... Everyone's seen "Not Another Teen Movie" right? Remember when they're picking out the ugly girl that Jake is going to have to turn into the prom queen? They bypass the siamese twins and some hideous looking chick, but finally settle on Jeanie, because she's got braces ("eww!") and a pony tail ("gross!!)... well that's exactly what the Colombian version of "Ugly Betty" is like (an obviously gorgeous woman who is hardly hidden behind a few easy fix-ups). alright enough "Ugly Betty"...

How bout "Studio 60" losing so much of its audience (they started at 13 million and now they're down to 9 million). I heard that in this past week's episode, the characters were discussing how they would need to retain 90% of the first show's audience for their second show, otherwise "heads were going to roll", and so of course, they were able to retain 109% (they gained a bunch more viewers) - well in real life they only retained 80% of the first show's audience and dropped another 84% on their third episode...

Any thoughts on "Friday Night Lights"? Our roommate Dave is working for Imagine who produces it and so he was at a premiere party for it on Tuesday. I think most critics like it, but the ratings were only so-so. I just caught the last 20 minutes and I thought it was "okay." There are so few shows that can ever capture game-action accurately ("Hang Time" was probably the worst at this... their court was less than half the size of a normal court, Anthony Anderson was a starter?#$@, a 5'-7'' chubby, Italian kid who couldn't defend or even shoot was getting recruited by Duke, and they had a girl playing on the boy's varsity team (and hey, I'm not saying that girls aren't talented athletes... in several instances they've been able to compete at a level with (or above) boys, but this was Indiana - the heart of high school basketball - and they were supposed to be an elite program... if that's the case, no girl is making that team). While "Friday Night Lights" was better than "Hang Time", it was still severly lacking. Bill Simmons pointed out something that I was also confused by: How could they (the good guys) recover an onsides kick (at around midfield), gain 20 yards on a running play, and then have the QB drop back and hurl a 50-yard pass that gets caught at only the 30 yard-line??? How big is that field? Just ridiculous. Another play that struck me as inaccurate was their goal-line touchdown run: they were at the 1, faked a handoff to the left, then another to the right, and then finally gave the ball to a guy on the left... i mean "C'mon!!!" You had 3 guys lined up behind your quarterback in your backfield? What is this, the exlamation point formation? And you wasted that much freakin' time with fakes? Any decent defense would have gotten some penetration if you had waited that long to finally transition the handoff, and if in fact they couldn't push the O-line back at all, the fakes would have been completely unnecessary. The whole "first-string qb gets knocked out and the clueless second-stringer has to fill his shoes" was undoubtedly ripped from "Varsity Blues" (but "Varsity Blues" was funny, and a great movie). I see this show going til midway through the first season, although it does stand a chance of making it to the beginning of May (I don't see a second season in it's future... when was the last time NBC had a prime-time drama that won over a significant portion of the teen demographic? This is the network that caters to the white-collar, middle-aged, six-figure earning audience. Their hit dramas have been "West Wing", "ER", and "Law and Order"... they don't do "OC"s and "One Tree Hill"s. Their shows can sometimes get by with low ratings because of the "quality" (aka - spending power) of their demographic, but with this show, the target audience is obviously the younger (not-yet-professional) crowd.

I've lost any buzz I had been working up

Rogan's is gone? seriously? how did this happen? and on Tina's watch... mmm-ummm-hmmm... since Jamie Anderson used to work there, she has volunteered to make us Stingers with a bit of "Rogan's" authenticity whevener we want (I'm kind of putting words in her mouth, but that's the gist of what she said)

How is Sam Adams Octoberfest? Sam Adams Summer Ale is one of my favorite beers but I haven't been too pleased with some of their other varieties. I'm thinking about trying the Octoberfest though.

October baseball is exciting, I got to admit it. I don't think I watched one regular season contest outside of 613 Hudson (aside from the Rockies game my sister and I went to in Colorado)... it's only enjoyable when you're around people who are invested and excited (and it helps if there's High Life, Shark and Petri, a conspicious arrival by Drunk Tony, Dre knocks a bowl of pasta out of your hands, Sam takes 20-1 odds on the pitcher throwing a no-hitter, you can hear Limmer (without a shirt and with a toothbrush jammed in his mouth) muttering something like "Fuck Dude" from his bedroom off the kitchen, and it's always great when there's a relief effort by Jeff Weaver (hilariously pitiful) or Duaner Sanchez (awe-inspiring... espescially when he wears those Dwayne Wayne glasses - from a "Different World"... you know who I'm talking about, he was also in "Renaissance Man"... okay now, you probably don't know who I'm talking about). My point is: October baseball is fun and I'll watch, but 613 would make it even better.

Who is actually still reading this post? There's no way Mark or Shott is. I'm probably going to delete it (or at least edit it down) in a couple of days.

I can't wait to see and hear what the Eagles fans do this week at the game...

CORTACA party at our place, if you just so happen to find yourself on the West Coast on the morning of Novermber 11th.

That's it. It's all over. "Call of Duty!!!" (Jim's new Pam is hotter than Scranton Pam... agree? disagree?)

Friday, October 06, 2006

Limmer check out these jobs

My boss use to work at IMG and might know someone. Let me know if you are interested.

Post Production Coordinator / IMG Media (New York City)We are seeking a Post Production Coordinator with 1 -2 years experience.Responsibilities include:Organize & Maintain Avid Project Folders & Media FilesAct as liaison between Producers, Editors & Operations to organize and maintain workflow of Unity SystemWork with Production staff to determine content retention times. Be responsible for insuring that legal obligations are met concerning content retentionWork with PM to Staff and Schedule Avid Editors Schedule delivery of shows to encode and output to mSpotMaintain Digital, Video Tape, DVD and Media archives Responsible for ordering raw tape stock (D-Beta, DV, Mini DV etc)Responsible for tracking Avid support/maintenance hours used and act as liaison between editors and MPE support Coordinate mSpot schedule and act as liaison between production and mSpotIMG offers excellent benefits, including 401(k). Interested candidates should submit a cover letter, salary requirements and resume to lmcguire@imgworld.com. No phone calls please. EOE. Use job code: PPC-NM

Production Coordinator / IMG Media (New York City)We are seeking a Production Coordinator with 1 -2 years experience.Responsibilities include:Assist Production Manager as necessary with the staffing & scheduling of crew for studio productions and remote eng shootsAct as contact for talent and their agents Coordinate all travel arrangements for talent and staffTrack and coordinate car service, FedEx and office supply expenses Organize conference calls, staff meetings and meeting minutesCoordinate with production to track usage of photos and video content for invoicingWork with production to coordinate rights and clearance materials and release forms Assist Production Manager with production booksIMG offers excellent benefits, including 401(k). Interested candidates should submit a cover letter, salary requirements and resume to lmcguire@imgworld.com. No phone calls please. EOE. Use job code: PC-NM

Sunday, October 01, 2006

The Betting Man's Best Friend

I know by the title it makes it sound like this was an easy victory and I was not worried at. This was not the case. On the march afternoon when Sam and I made the bet that Tom GlavinE would win 15games in the coming season I was fairly confident because since the All-Star break of the previous season he has won over 10 game.

Through the first half of the season Glavine accumulated 11 wins and was the first in the majors to 8, 9, and 10. However Glavine started going down hill the day he got his 11th win. He pitched on three days rest and gave up 7 runs but still managed the win. Between July and Aug he got two more wins raising his total to 13. By this point mark and I were already in Rochester. This is where Mark informed me of the news that blood clots were found in Glavine’s pitching shoulder and it could be career ending. Needless to say this did not bode well for the bet. When all of a sudden I received a ray of light in the form of a text message. It was Sam’s order, a large cheese pie. The over confidence was a great sign because these premature declarations of victory often do not end well for the over zealous party. Glavine ended up missing 15 days.

Tom was reinserted in a six-man rotation, decreasing the total number of starts he had remaining. I was constantly going back to the schedule to recalculate how many chances he would have. The 14th win came in dramatic fashion. Glavine pitched 8 strong innings but was on the short end of the stick. In the bottom of the 8th Glavine was pulled from the game. It seemed like another wasted change but Michael Tucker single in the wining run. Tom pitched like shit his next start so it was down to his final start and the second to last game of the season.

Glavine got his 15th win with the backing of 13 runs to his 6 scoreless innings. It was all to appropriate that Julio Franco had 5 of the first 6 RBI (including and 3 run homer in the first) because for the last two weeks whenever Franco would come to bat Mark and I would start with our “why are you putting him in, all he does in ground out,” “why is this guy even still on the team, send Woody up there,” and so on.

I know Lim will want to comment about Pedro being out till the next All-Star break. However even if he never pitches another game as a Met he will be worth every penny. Without Pedro, Beltran and Wagner would have never signed. But more importantly he brought the winning attitude and clubhouse charisma they have today.

So while some of you might make fun of Sam and his Natty bets for anything, I salute him. It truly was a great battle…Almost like facing a ninja. Yes, Ninja Sam....



Friday, September 29, 2006

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Good Morning

By noon, there was tire-width slick on the street outside my window. It was a thick, deep red (much like the love tunnels at kuma's mark and i just discussed) and comprised of bone bits, feathers and, presumably, a beak.

The bird had been there since the morning, but nobody touched it right after it was hit. Just a note, the 'there'? In the street, directly in front of a parking lot. Three hours of getting run over and dragged, slowly, down the street had flattened the bird and painted a new line in the middle of the southbound lane of Broad Street.

That's when the afternoon parking lot attendant decided to move what remained of the creature. I took an old pizza box (not only uselful to protect darts from the wall) and a stick, and scraped the larger bits of bird into it, carried it to the trash can and ceremoniously dumped it in with some of the other trash generated in the financial district today.

In other news...

me and zoe's wedding is only about 10 months away. We're thinking about music. Right now we're considering a Beatles cover band, but also might tend toward a big-band jazzy/50s type ensemble. We see the fun and benefits in both. Any (civil) feedback is appreciated. Eh, who am i kidding, any uncivil feedback will also be greatly appreciated.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Some news on INCUBUS

So my friend who works down in Miami for Latin Sony just gave me a call saying she got an e-mail with some information regarding Incubus' new album entitled Light Grenades.

-They are shooting the video for the first single Animale this coming week
-The release date for the single on the radio is Oct 16
-The band will tour the US in early 2007 making their way to Europe by the summer
-and while the posted release date is November, the album will be released specifically Nov 28

She also told me that in the next week her office should be receiving a water marked copy of the album so hopefully I'll have some updates on the actual content soon.

For more information here is their website if you don't already have it INCUBUS

Saturday, September 23, 2006

The Thrill of Victory... and The Agony of Being an Eagles Fan

Earlier in the week, I sent this post to friends from home (all fellow Eagles fans), but for the most part I figured it relates to fans of just about any team and so I decided to post it on our blog.

Out here in LaLa Land, sports fans are juiced up. They’re scrambling to Tivo every Sportscenter, Cold Pizza, and Baseball Tonight episode that features their Dodgers’ historic win the other night. The way that game played out was unbelievable, and the fact that it occurred in September, with huge playoff implications, means that Disney has probably already ordered some screenwriters to pen their summer of 2009, sports comeback movie blockbuster – based on a true story.



You're down 9-5 in the bottom of the ninth and your guys jack four back-to-back homers to tie the game? Only to give up a run in the top of the tenth? But then you have the perpetually injured Nomar smack a two-run walkoff? I heard that while hosting "Loveline" on KROQ, Dr. Drew was simultaneously watching the game. So in the middle of consoling a sexually confused caller ("I have heard of that happening before, you shouldn't be too worried---"), he would spontaneously break out a gleefully unrepressed ---"OH MY GOD!!!"

For the next decade, if the Dodgers are ever within four runs come the bottom of the ninth, do you think any one of their fans will head for the exit or turn off their TVs? Will any Dodger fan say "it's impossible"... will any fan even think it?

This paragraph has been tailored to reflect a 613 moment (which actually took place in Garden 27-3-7)
Okay, let me put it to you in terms we can all relate to... Say you're playing beirut against some very formidable opponents. You've got five cups left to hit and they just sunk their final shot. So now you and your partner need to rally. It's a long way back, but you can do it togethe--- your partner misses on his first shot. You need to sink all five cups in a row. It's a daunting task and you wonder how many people have ever done this before. Let's say you do the improbable: you claw your way back and coolly sink shot after shot. In the future, would you ever doubt yourself in that situation? Down 5, by yourself, no room for a mistake, no second chances… No problem! You’ve done it before, and you know that it’s possible.

Of course there is a flipside to all the joy, confidence, and optimism that sport breeds in its players, and in its fans. As Philly fans, we know there is also despair, hesitation, and skepticism. There is a nauseating feeling that creeps down your throat and into your lungs when you see your team aimlessly stumbling along; no longer looking to add to its score or even apply any sort of defensive pressure… content to wait out the clock and then mosey on over to the locker-room. It’s as if your team were the big-breasted blond in an 80s horror film who just had sex with her boyfriend and is now heading to the bathroom to freshen up, but of course the killer is waiting for her behind the shower curtain. You see her heading towards that door and you know exactly what comes next…

The last Eagles game I attended at the Vet ended in a 25-24 defeat at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals. What’s even more embarrassing is the fact that Jake the Snake Plummer led the charge. We were up 21-0 at the end of the first quarter. We were up 24-6 at halftime. We were up two scores with little time left. We lost!

This was early on in the ’99 season (the opening game in fact). It was McNabb’s first year starting and Reid’s second year at the helm. Even now, 7 years later, while sitting on a lonely bar stool in a packed Eagles bar down on Venice Beach, thoughts of that dismal day floated around in my brain. I knew that the improbable (blowing that big of a lead in the 4th quarter to a divisional rival) wasn’t impossible. Just like how Dodgers fans will think that a 9-5 game in the ninth inning is still within reach, I knew that a 24-7 game going into the 4th quarter was certainly not a done deal. I’d seen it happen before. I knew it was possible.

Without delving into the excruciating details of the game, I will tell you that the worst part of the entire experience for me was hearing our section of the bar (the best, most raucous spot in the whole place) slowly deflate and become eerily silent. As our collective crests were falling, a 4 foot 8 inch toothless Hispanic man wearing a white t-shirt and a Dodgers hat took the opportunity to grow louder and louder. He could be heard cheering on the Giants in broken English; not specific players, just the team itself. It’s doubtful whether or not he even knew any of their names. At one point (during an officials’ review) he did call out “Give it up Reid!” (which was weird because it was an OFFICIALS’ review), so I suppose he might have known a name or two. But my point is that, this guy obviously had no emotional stake in the game. He wasn't a Giants fan. Who knows if he was even a football fan. Here we were, 30-40 transplanted Philadelphians living on the West Coast, donning our jerseys and our Eagle green, cheering with everything we have after every play… and along comes this schmuck with the plain white-t, over-sized baseball cap, and toothless grin. As soon as we got quiet, he got vocal, and I got worried. Because these are exactly the kind of guys who wait around your table in Vegas for 20-30 minutes, never playing a hand or a roll. While your grinding it out at the roulette table, struggling to stay afloat, they finally pick one spin to lay down $100, and they always win. You feel like these guys have an extra sense that aids them in all their wagers, they definitely know something we don’t… and so when one of them makes a bet against you, you know that you’re in trouble. And last Sunday, we were in big trouble. I blame the Hispanic midget with the Dodgers hat who ruined my viewing experience with his monetarily-motivated cheers and his poor hygiene… and for that matter, I blame Dodgers fans. They get to be happy and optimistic. We have to wallow and wait for disaster.

On that note, I’ll be heading up to San Fran this Sunday morning to watch the Birds topple the Niners. I know the tone of this e-mail sounded bleak, but the season is still young and I will always remain naive to the despair that awaits me as a Philly fan, even when I can clearly see it coming. LET'S GO EAGLES!

Thursday, September 21, 2006

One Brutal Hour on the Lucky Star Bus (in two parts)

I'd only taken my shirt off on a Lucky Star bus once. And that was 25 minutes ago. Now, for the second time in an hour, I was sitting in a 3 foot x 4 foot cubicle resting atop the bus' engine as we barreled down I-95 toward Boston.

But Boston was the last thing on my mind. Before I could even think about walking across the Public Garden, I had to finish wrangling the toughest, hardest, slimiest doogan I've ever encountered in my life.

This story of how my shirt ended up on the dirt floor of a bus' bathroom on Sunday night started on Friday at lunch. I had sushi. At that point, I didn't think anything of the slightly slimy tuna. That the shrimp tasted a bit shrimpier? Fuck it, add some more wasabi. That night I was in Harlemville celebrating my friend Sam's birthday with fresh lobster drenched in melted butter. I went to bed late, woke up early and downed two cups of coffee, a Dunkin Donuts egg and chees bagel and headed out to play volleyball. The rest of the day consisted of me jumping, diving and in any number of ways mashing my three previous meals into a soon-to-be brick of fecal matter lodged securely in my lower intestine and, soon, upper colon. To celebrate my volleyball partner's birthday, the same day as Sam's, we had Indian food. And the stage was set.

So here I am. Sweaty, topless and perched tenuously on top of a plastic porto-potty-on-wheels. The Indian food has cruised through my digestive system. The sushi-lobster-bagel has set up camp in my colon. Something's got to give. And it does--every few minutes as a fresh New Delhi cluster bomb sneaks past my brick and squelches into the slowly filling chromium bowl beneath me. After 40 minutes (70 minutes total after my first trip) of sporadic splatter I looked at the toilet paper. Empty. Of course. Of fucking course. In my back pocket--my e-ticket on printer paper. I ripped off a corner, folded, cringed and wiped; scraped, actually. A sheet of paper later and I stood up. Sweaty, topless, and sore.

What I left behind was truly disgusting. The first shit sortie had congealed, stuck to wall of the pot and refused the stream of blue sterility that rushed across it when I, as per instructions, PUSHED and HELD the grimy red flush button. Early on in the battle another passenger had rattled the door. Now, I was slightly afraid to be seen with what I left behind. Just as I was standing in the tiny cubicle contemplating what to do, the bus ground to a halt in front of a Chinese restaurant. Everyone got off. I snuck out-trying not to think of the now-rock-hard trail of formerly watery fesces I'd just unleashed.

I walked into the restaurant, took a deep breath and thought--just thought--about eating some fruit salad. The brick still inside me noticed and settled a bit, as if to say, 'I'm still here' hahaha.

It wasn't until three days later when another Lucky Star--and its glorious C18--descended upon the camped out seafood and broke its horrible grip. As for the Lucky Star bus and its tiny bathroom, well, it's what I left behind.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

A Funny email

After witnessing the Mets, with a roster including no starters @ their normal positions besides Glavin, win from the thrid row behind their dugout last night I figured I'd post this e-mail I received from my father this afternoon:

The Boston Globe
August 21, 2006

Roxbury, MA (AP):

A seven-year-old boy was at the center of a Boston courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by his Parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and regulations requiring that family unity be maintained to the degree possible.

The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her. When the judge then suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried out that they also beat him. After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him.

After two recesses to check legal references and confer with child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the Boston Red Sox, whom the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating anyone.

Gambling on a Lefty

The title of this piece is not a terrible pun referring to an angered Detroit Tiger’s starter, but a reference to my gambling problem and New York Mets starter Tommy Glavine: a crafty lefty from Massachusetts who has made millions of dollars in his hall-of-fame career, painting the outside corner with his ageless changeup. On a cold afternoon in March, I was convinced that the end of that age was upon the New York Mets this season. I bet Bryan Birbiglia that despite having the best run support in the National League, Glavine would fail to win 15 games this season. Today, less than a week removed from losing three Natty lights to Tony on an Over/Under bet on a field hockey game, I stand to lose a large cheese pizza to a fellow 613er.

Glavine won his 14th game last night, lasting eight innings for the first time since April 19 and winning just his third game since the all-star game. The Mets ace allowed two runs in the start, ensuring that the final two series against the Washington Nationals will have an iota of significance.

On September 25th at 7:10 PM, Glavine will take the mound against the National’s farmhand Beltran Perez. Perez, who made five appearances in relief before winning his first game as a starter last night, will take on the division winning New York Mets in a relatively meaningless September baseball game.

What will happen in the game is unpredictable. Glavine will likely be working to sharpen his repertoire for the playoffs and the young Perez will try to impress the front office, hoping to make the starting rotation next season. Although the game will likely get less than a minutes mention on Sportscenter, you can be sure Bryan will be dreaming of pizza, and I will try to determine if I qualify as a gambling addict.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

What I Miss About 613

Living in Los Angeles, you can't help but notice the multitude of billboards for TV shows and movies. They're everywhere. They're pasted on storefronts, strewn across the sides of buses, and stationed 25 feet in the air for all to see. Like the one with Rachael Ray riding a motorcycle above the slogan: "Everyone needs a little R & R." Or the huge billboard near the Fox Lot, with the stars of "Standoff" (Ron Livingston and some Nina Myers look-a-like) seperated by the catchy tagline: "Partners by day. They're still trying to figure out the nights."

Driving down I-95 on my way into Philly, all I saw were ads for beer and injury lawyers (which begs the age-old question: Which came first, the beer or the injury?) But this is Hollywood, the entertainment capital of the world. You've got to expect to be inundated with whatever product the showbiz industry might be pumping out at that moment. If you're looking to overpublicize any and every TV show, album, and film, this is the city you do it in.

That being said, I recently saw a billboard for the new ABC show called "The Nine." Now I haven't seen the pilot (it premieres in October) but the show's marketing campaign has already won me over. It's pure, unadulterated gold... which isn't to say that the show will be any good at all... but the marketing department and the billboardmaker guys, they really understand the essence of 613 Hudson. The entire show is defined by a single question: "What happened in there?" That's it. Sure, there's some ludricous plot about a bank robbery - the whole premise off which the story is based - but this ad campaign doesn't delve into those details at all. What do I see while driving north on La Cienega Boulevard?... a huge billboard with a close-up of Kim Raver (Audrey from "24") and a look on her face that tells me Jack Bauer must have brought his knapsack full of weapons and goodies into the bedroom, locked the door behind him, and experimented with her like she was Sayad Ali from Season 2... And it's not just Raver who appears to have been probed by Reebers (from "Firefly"). Vogler from "House", Tim Daly from "Wings", Scott Wolf from "Everwood" (I'm told)... they are all featured on different bilboards, looking shell-shocked, violated, and united by the completely ambivalent tagline: "What Happened in There?"

Can you even begin to imagine how much fun we would have had with this? Good lord I get giddy just thinking about it. The jokes would have lasted for weeks. I picture us putting on faux-Neil Diamond voices and saying things like - "I can't tell you what happened in there but I'll give you a clue... it involves semen... animal semen." One of us would start whimpering, "What happened in there? They put a bag over my head (sniffle), and then (exhale), they cut a hole in the bag where my mouth was, oh my god ahhhhhhhahhhhhahhhh, I can't shop for groceries anymore." Of course we'd default to the Nick voice and pretend we were leaving a message on one of the character's answering machines - "What happened in there? Eeez Nick. There's a cat poop everywhere. Eeez yur lanlor Nick!" I'm guessing Chris would actually become a fan of the show and try to convince us to curtail our "nine"-related jokes while he was attempting to watch each week's episode, but to no avail. "Guys seriously, it's a good show and you'd know that if you just watched it." One of us would call out from the peanut gallery, in our very best terrorist-sounding voice, “You want to know what happened in there? Check Chris’ anus. All the answers lie in there.” Hopefully, Chris would play along and deliver one of his famous deadpanned “No, don’t let them check my anus” lines. I’m not sure if that’s how it would go down, but here’s to hoping.

613 – Home of the long-running, played out, mildly offensive, sometimes over-the-top gross-out, voice impersonations included, brought on by the smallest thing, and wholly inexplicable, but always hilarious to us… joke.

Movie recommendation

My father and brothers had gone to see the movie Lucky Number Sleven in the movie theatre when it was out and decided to rent it the other night.

Now my father's taste in movies varies but the fact that Rob saw it once and was eager to see it again sparked my interest so I settled in to watch it.

I was pleasantly surprised. And without going into too much detail explaining why I liked it for fear of ruining a portion of it I will just say that the film was an entertaining piece with enjoyable banterish dialogue with an intriguing plot to watch unfold.

If we were still up at 613 I would say Lucky Number Sleven would be a great movie to watch on a Saturday afternoon in the living room amidst the strewn about beer cans and empty styrofoam Wingz containers from the night before that we were just going to let pile up along with that night's beer cans and shot glasses only to possibly be cleaned upon return from Moonies Happy Hour or dinner at Sammy's that following Friday night in preparation for that night's event.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

As I turned left onto Buffalo street, the building rose majestically through the skyline. Her neon sign glowed and welcomed all who wanted their hearts warmed and their stomachs filled. I walked inside to familiar classic rock and that midget guy whose always drinking at the bar. A flutter of panic overtook me as I walked towards the bar, god I hope they are still as good as I remember I thought to myself. I ordered the standard 6 medium, 6 jack and 6 golden and retreated to the back room to await my bounty. The minutes passed slow-agonizingly slow and slightly hollow. There was no banter, none of Rands laughter or Sams lists. Just as the hollowness seemed to consume the room, our beloved and often feared bartender tossed down a plate and said "enjoy." Instantly any and all emptiness was replaced with a blissful and all encompassing joy. The medium was the first to my lips and it was followed in succession by the jack and golden. A extra treat was realized when I noticed an extra wing on my plate. Truly this was an amazing meal. After I engulfed the wings I washed my hands and left with a content smile. I even walked over to the gas station and bought a twelve of natty light just for old times.

Enough with narrative, here is a roadtrip update. I am currently in day five, the first three of which were spent in Rochester. I arrived there Friday night and Mark, Bry and I went to a party at RIT that my friend Liz's boyfriend was throwing. It was a good time and included Mark wanting to bait and chase a RIT officer, Mark talking to the cab driver too long and several Key Ice shotguns. Saturday we did not leave the house until dinner at 6 pm and we all got buffalo chicken sandwiches at the distillery. Later we went o the bar and now hold the photo hunt record at what ever bar we were at. Mark and Bry swept two games of pool as the bar closed. Mark thought it would be a good idea to take a full but discarded corona and pound it in the parking lot and we did just that. Sunday's highlights include not seeing the outside until 730pm, CBS not allowing me to watch the end of the Jets game and Bry and Mark's reaction to the officiating during the Manning bowl.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Jack Bauer Celebrates Fathers' Day

So I guess this means he wasn't conceived of a virgin birth??? I find that very hard to believe...

For Day/Season 6 of "24", the producers are incorporating Jack's estranged father into the storyline (played by James Cromwell). Also, Milo's coming back!

Read up on the details.

I can't wait to see Jack break out of a Chinese prison camp. I hope that's the entire season.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Everyone's Favorite Derrick Has A Little Secret

Since I am working crappy ass hours at work this week and didn't want to stay up tonight to watch The Fresh Meat reunion special on tv I went to MTV.com and watched it there.

Now I know that a lot of you out there did not feel strongly about the most recent real world/road rules challenge. With that in mind I realized that some of you, in turn, may not tune into the reunion show that airs tonight.

The show was divided into 5 different clips on the web site and this clip in particular that I am providing the link for explores your favorite Derreck's "relationship" on this current challenge. This section is towards the end but the clip itself is only 8min so you dont have to wait too long. What is interesting, and hints at more then is being divulged, is not only his reaction, but Diem's and the other cast members'.

Interesting

And the next challenge "The Duel" starts in October, hopefully it is back to form