Best of the Year

On one of the blogs I read/browse almost daily, Pop Candy, USA Today's Whitney Matheson writes a post every Friday where she recaps her favorite items of popular culture from that particular week. Her favorite tv show, movie, book, song/album, etc. It's almost like a serious version of VH1's Best Week Ever (is that show still on the air?). I could probably pull off writing a similar post every Friday, but I don't think I'd be able to include the favorite book portion because sometimes it takes me over a month to read a book and sometimes I am not reading a book at all. Obviously she can, though, because it's her job. I get that.

On a related note, I don't know how many of you watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, but you should. Either way, he has 4 guests on his show each week (M-Th) and more often than not they are promoting a book. I don't know how, but I'm pretty sure that he reads all of them before the authors appear on his show. I'm half baffled half amazed at how he pulls this off. Back in my hey day (2nd grade) I could read faster than just about everyone in my grade, but now I'm starting to think that I'm a slow reader.

Well if I can't pull off this post on a weekly basis I sure as hell can make it work for the year. The only difference that I foresee in utilizing this concept for the year is that Whitney gets to comment on specific tv episodes whereas I think I have to consider entire series'.

And now without further ado...

Favorite movie that I saw- Inception



Now granted I have yet to see Black Swan, The King's Speech, and The Fighter, but Inception was one of the few, if not the only, "drop what you're doing right now and head to the closest movie theater" movies of the year. Director Christopher Nolan is quickly becoming a rockstar in the movie industry because of his ability to churn out action/adventure films that have ridiculous special effects as well as highly developed characters. Now as great as the special effects in Inception were, and they were great, it was the plot that really drove the movie. The story was constantly intriguing, even months after you left the theater (did the top stop spinning? was it all just a dream?), and the storyline (excuse the pun) had so many layers. The best part about this was that even if you were confused about how some of the things in the film transpired you could still follow the general story arc. In that aspect this film was truly remarkable. It was accessible and easy to understand while at the same time multi-dimensional and unclear.

I can't believe I've gone this far and haven't mentioned the amazing cast. You all know that I have a man crush on Leonardo DiCaprio (and really, who doesn't?), but this film also showcased two up and coming stars in the film industry. Both Josh Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page have really come into their own as actors that can handle mutliple roles and this film was further evidence of that. Last, and certainly not least, Inception lived up to the hype. I didn't see it until about a month and a half after it was released and in that time I heard nothing but rave reviews. My friends told me that it was a must see, that it was Oscar worthy, etc., etc. Needless to say by the time I entered the theater I had high hopes for this film. Normally when I have these sort of lofty expectations the film in question doesn't come close to meeting them, but Inception certainly did.

I also enjoyed- The Town, The Social Network, and Hot Tub Time Machine


Favorite song that I heard- As mentioned in my previous post, I've sort of fallen out of touch with the music industry. I rarely listen to the radio (outside of sports talk), haven't been to a concert in years, and only bought 2-3 CDs in the past calendar year. Due to my sudden lack of knowledge in this area, here are two different top 10 lists of the year that will serve as my guide as I make my decision.

Billboard Top 10 of 2010

1.) Ke$ha- Tik ToK
2.) Lady Antebellum- Need You Now
3.) Train- Hey, Soul Sister
4.) Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg- California Gurls
5.) Usher featuring will.i.am- OMG
6.) B.o.B. featuring Hayley Williams- Airplanes
7.) Eminem featuring Rihanna- Love The Way You Lie
8.) Lady Gaga- Bad Romance
9.) Taio Cruz- Dynamite
10.) Taio Cruz featuring Ludacris- Break Your Heart

I've actually heard all of these, which I guess means that I'm not totally out of touch. FYI- Bad Romance was released in 2009, but it remained on the Billboard charts well into 2010.

Rolling Stone's Top 10 Singles of the Year

1.) Kanye West featuring Pusha T- Runaway
2.) Cee Lo Green- Fuck You
3.) Sade- Soldier of Love
4.) Katy Perry- Teenage Dream
5.) Arcade Fire- We Used to Wait
6.) Mavis Staples- You Are Not Alone
7.) Vampire Weekend- White Sky
8.) Janelle Monae featuring Big Boi- Tightrope
9.) Broken Bells- The Ghost Inside
10.) Kanye West featuring Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, and Bon Iver- Monster

I've now heard all of these songs, but I had only heard four of them beforehand. This list is obviously much different than the Billboard list because the Billboard list was strictly based on popularity whereas this list had a multitude of factors.

For my song of the year I'm going to go with Arcade Fire's "We Used to Wait"
I also enjoyed- Eminem featuring Rihanna- Love The Way You Lie, Sugarland- Stuck Like Glue (my favorite country song of the year), Usher featuring Pitbull- DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love, Vampire Weekend- Giving Up The Gun, Selena Gomez and The Scene- Naturally, and not that I'm a huge fan, but I feel like it needs to be mentioned- Cali Swag District- Teach Me How to Dougie.


Favorite book that I read- The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin



I wrote about this book back in March and for the sake of being lazy and for not including a link that none of you will click on (I'm new to the smartphone game and I now totally understand why links don't get clicked on) I will just copy and paste my words right here.

From my March 29th post titled, "Enter Sandman":

"As I've mentioned time and time again on various platforms, it was the first time since August of 2000 that I had read a book written by a female author ("Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"). I'm a little disappointed that I didn't make it a full decade, but "The Happiness Project" was well worth the read. The novel falls into the recently dubbed genre of stunt non-fiction. Stunt non-fiction is when the author does something for an extended period of time (usually a year) with the intention of writing a book about the experience. In the case of "The Happiness Project", Rubin dedicated a year to becoming a happier person. She called it, "My year-long quest to be happier by changing my life-without changing my life."

In the book Rubin highlighted specific areas of her life that she wanted to improve. Each month she attempted a handful of stategies in the hopes of improving her happiness with regards to one of these areas (her energy, marriage, work, parenthood, friendships, etc.). Naturally some of these strategies worked and some of them completely backfired. For example, in her attempt to boost her energy she decided to go to sleep earlier, excercise better, remove the clutter from her life, write and complete an extensive to do list including all of the nagging tasks that people consistently put off, and simply to act more energetic. Overall the book provides the reader with ample suggestions on how to become a happier person even if they already consider themselves to be happy."

If you feel like you've fallen into a routine and you don't necessarily have any major problems with it, but you want to feel that renewed sense of life again, read this book.

I also enjoyed- Eating A Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman, How Soccer Explains the World by Franklin Foer, and A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity by Bill O'Reilly. Also, I feel like I need to mention The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini even though I read it in 2009 because I don't write about books too ofent. This is an amazing story about friendship, loyaltly, and redemption and just as a warning, it's a tear jerker.


My favorite tv show that I watched- I usually don't like going with the clear cut favorite, but how can I not pick Mad Men? When a show's dialogue prompts me to stop my DVR player to write down a handful of lines throughout the season you know the show is fantastic. Just like I've previously written about my favorite book I've also written about my favorite tv show.

From my October 21st post titled, "All Aboard":

"Let me be blunt. If you don't watch Mad Men, you're crazy. It's without a doubt the best drama on television (back to back Emmy wins). The Season 4 finale aired this past Sunday and although there was no "they tied up all the loose ends" closure-like feel or textbook cliffhanger going into next year's Season 5, I am more than satisfied. It was a very complete season. Perhaps the show's best since Season 1.

Here's a few reasons why you should Netflix (has Blockbuster gone bankrupt yet?) Seasons 1-3 and anxiously await Season 4's release.

1.) In case you're not aware (and it's almost impossible for you not to be), Mad Men is set in New York in the 1960's. The name of the show is a reference to the occupation of the characters. They work in the golden age of advertising on Madison avenue. Now this is all fine, but why should you care? Well, because the historical context of the show gives us twentysomethings a look at the world that our parents grew up in. The stories and situations offer a fleeting glance as to how they were raised, shaped, and molded. If you aren't at least mildly intrigued in discovering clues at to why your parents and grandparents are the way that they are then maybe Mad Men isn't for you.

2.) Men and women alike can enjoy the show because they will no doubt be able to resonate with one of the characters.

For men- Don Draper, the show's protaganist, is an alpha male. Women want him and men want to be him. He drinks all day (literally), sleeps with whoever he wants, and still crushes it in the boardroom. He is a creative genius who understands people better than they understand themselves. For his many strong, useful attributes, he is also very flawed. The drinking is just the half of it. He also has a dark past that haunts him constantly.

For women- There is a strong female character in secretary turned copywriter Peggy Olsen. She is a young, motivated woman trying to make it in a man's world. Her struggle for acceptance in the world of advertising is symbolic of the women's rights movement. You know, Rosie the Riveter, Betty Friedan, and all that mumbo jumbo.

In fact, Don and Peggy have the best male/female (platonic) relationship on television. It's part father/daughter, part creative counsel, part genuine friends, part reflection of self, and part teacher/pupil.

3.) Granted I'm probably more of a deep thinker than most, but this is the only show that has made me actually pick up a pen and paper to write down some of the dialogue (this started during Season 4). Some lines are just that well put and thought provoking.

"Is that what you want? or is that what people expect of you?"

"Since when is forgiveness a better quality than loyalty?"

"People tell you who they are, but we ignore it because we want them to be who we want them to be."

"When a man walks into a room he brings his whole life with him."

"You always say, "If you don't like what they're saying about you change the conversation."

"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know. That's the best part, right? I've got the rest of my life ahead of me. And so do you."

"There is no fresh start. Lives carry on."

I also enjoyed: Modern Family, 30 Rock, The Bachelorette, The Bachelor Pad, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report, The Challenge: Cut Throat, and I'm currently loving Top Chef: All-Stars.

List-o-mania

This is one of my favorite times of the year for a multitude of reasons. One of which is the abundant amount of "Best of" lists that you start to see all over the internet. Last year afforded me the opportunity to provide you all with my own "Best of the decade" lists and this year I figured that I could use the same concept and come up with any number of the "Best movies/songs/etc. of 2010." Well in the past week I stumbled across a "Best 60 Songs of the Year" list and a "Best 75 Songs of the Year" list. I figured that these two lists would be a good starting point for my own personal "Best Songs of the Year" list, but I soon realized that I had never heard of most of the songs on these lists. Honestly, I had heard of maybe 4 or 5 songs tops on each list. Clearly I'm out of touch with the music world.

Although I was derailed from my (not so) original idea I decided to give many of these songs a listen and boy am I glad that I did. In case you aren't aware, the indie rock craze is currently off the charts (or maybe the two lists I scoured were from trendy websites/publications). Either way, I've been on an indie rock binge lately like you wouldn't believe. Don't be surprised if I look like one of these guys the next time you see me.



As I've grown to appreciate the indie rock movement in the past few weeks I've taken a particular liking to five bands. Of the five two are British, one is Canadian, one is French, and one boasts members that all hail from the land of the home and the free.

So consider this quick list of my top 5 indie rock bands the consolation for my inability to provide a top 10 songs of 2010.

(in no particular order)

1.) Manic Street Preachers- This British group is a bit on the older side. They formed in 1986 and have since released 10 albums. My favorite song of theirs is their most recent single "(It's Not War) Just the End of Love."




2.) Phoenix- I had actually heard of this French band before my binge began, but I'm not even sure if they qualify as an indie rock band. They won a Grammy earlier this year for Best Alternative Music Album for their most recent album, "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix", but indie rock is Alternative, right? Either way I know they've hit it big because not only have the played on all the late night talk shows, but they were even an answer/question on a recent episode of Jeopardy. My two favorite Phoenix jams are "1901" and "Lisztomania" (which has been used in countless movie trailers, tv shows, etc.).

You've probably heard "Lisztomania" already anyway and there's no way I'm going to embed a video of just the lyrics, so click the link if you want to hear the song.


3.) Vampire Weekend- You may have heard of them. They seem to be quite popular from what I can tell. My favorite part about this band of former Columbia students is that they've been named the "whitest band" going by the guy that created the website stuffwhitepeoplelike.com. Also, they've appeared on The Colbert Report so they're good in my book. My favorite Vampire Weekend songs include "Giving Up the Gun", "Holiday", "Cousins", and "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa".






4.) Mystery Jets- This five piece English band was formed by a father, son (who has a spinal condition that prevents him from really walking- he uses crutches), and the son's best friend. They have since added two members and have released a total of 4 albums. Their most recent, Serotonin (this is commonnly known as the "happiness" hormone), features two of my current go to tunes in Dreaming of Another World and Show Me the Light. I also particularly enjoy their song "Flash a Hungry Smile".






5.) Arcade Fire- If I had marginally heard of this Canadian band then you probably have too. They are led by a husband and wife duo, which is kind of cool, and have been nominated for a number of Grammys including 3 this year. My favorite Arcade Fire songs are "We Used to Wait" and "Intervention". Surprisingly I'm not a fan of their song "Wake Up" which has been used by the NFL in 2010 Super Bowl commercials and also by The Dan Patrick Show.

The Best _____ _______ of all time

The other day a buddy of mine mentioned (in an email chain) that the new Jake Gyllenhaal/Anne Hathaway movie Love and Other Drugs is "the best chick flick of all time," which of course got me thinking about what the best chick flicks of all time actually are. Now I have yet to see this film, although I will say that it is 1 of 4 movies that either have been recently released or will soon be released that I want to see (the others being How Do You Know (another chick flick), The Black Swan, and The King's Speech), so I can't include it on these rankings just yet, but I have a feeling it will compare very favorably to a few of the following.

As far as chick flicks go, the criteria to be considered one is pretty ambigious. I'll let Wikipedia explain, "Generally, a chick flick is a film designed to have an innate appeal to women, typically young women. Defining a film a chick flick is, as the New York Times has stated, more of a parlor game than a science. These films are generally held in popular culture as having formulaic, paint-by-numbers plot lines and characters. Some frequent elements of chick flicks include having a female protagonist, thematic use of the color pink (along with metaphorical allusions of the color), and romance and/or dating based storylines. Longtime producer Jerry Bruckheimer has remarked about the plots as "How do you cope with money and love?"

For our purposes I've decided to not include any movies that have garnered attention from the Academy Awards. Those movies (I'm looking at you Titanic) are dramas.

And now, without further ado, the top 10 chick flicks of all time that guys could easily put up with/might secretly enjoy.

1.) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)- An intriguing plot where a magazine columnist (Kate Hudson) dates a guy and does everything imaginable to get dumped in 10 days, but little does she know that the guy (Matthew McConaughey) made a bet that he could get her to fall in love with him in 10 days.

Also, not for nothing, Kate Hudson looks phenomenal in that yellow dress. As I've previously written, normally guys aren't overly impressed with a dress because if a girl is good looking she's going to look good in just about any dress, but this yellow dress was perfect for Kate Hudson.

2.) Definitely, Maybe (2008)- A soon to be divorced father (Ryan Reynolds) tells his daughter about three of his past relationships, including the one with her mother, and soon after the story is over the plot shifts to the present (a la Forrest Gump) as his unresolved feelings for a woman from his past come to the forefront.

I think what makes this chick flick so entertaining is that the protaganist is a male. The plot involves plenty of female emotions, but you see them from a male perspective.

3.) (500) Days of Summer (2009)- To be honest, I'm not even sure if this one counts. I've seen it referred to as a "male chick flick", so we'll go with that. Either way the plot centers around a male 20 something (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who tries to figure out where things went wrong with a girl (Zooey Deschanel) that he dated.

As I've repeatedly stated over the past few months, Zooey Deschanel is my current #1 celebrity crush and I can almost guarantee that she will be yours as well once you're done watching this movie (and Yes, Man).

4.) Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)- This is a bit of a throwback and it did garner an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, so I'm breaking my own rules, but I feel like it's a movie that not too many people have heard of. Maybe because it's British. Anyway, as the title indicates this movie tells the story of two people (Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell- a something about her/sneaky hot type of girl) that fall in love over the course of four weddings and a funeral.

5.) Love Actually (2003)- This is almost like the British version of Crash (2004), but it's set around Christmas time. There are 5 or 6 storylines that seem to weave together. It's basically like a bazooka to the face of Christmas spirit. Incredibly heartfelt and hard not to like. I know at least 3 girls who say that this is their favorite movie of all time.

6.) When Harry Met Sally (1989)- It's been called the ultimate date movie and I threw it on here mainly because of that. Not to mention that there aren't too many chick flicks that I've seen and enjoyed (surprising, I know). The movie is about a guy and a girl (Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan) who drive to New York together from Chicago and seemingly can't stand each other, but they become friends as they keep running into each other over the years in NYC and eventually fall in love.

7.) Raising Helen (2004)- A young, career-first socialite (Kate Hudson) is tasked with raising her sister's 3 kids (the oldest played by a young Hayden Panittiere) after she and her husband die in a car accident. As the title infers, Kate Hudson's character Helen matures through this experience of raising her sister's children.

I know it sounds like a brutally painful movie to watch, but it's actually heartwarming and borderline enjoyable.

8.) The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)- I thought this movie was semi-worthwhile mainly because I didn't fully grasp the rules to this time travel. Basically Eric Bana jumps through time and pops up at different stages of his life. Whenever he goes to another point in time he always shows up without any clothes. If you think that's bizarre, it's get crazier. He starts showing up at different points of this girl's childhood (Rachel McAdams) and eventually they "fall in love" and get married (as if she had a choice- this guy kept showing up and practically told her that they were destined to get married), but he keeps disappearing for stretches and she is forced to deal with the reality that her husband will never fully be there for her.

Maybe I enjoyed this film (sort of) because I'm a big Rachel McAdams guy, but I will say that girls ate this movie/book up big time.

9.) Serendipity (2001)- Hopefully you know what you're getting into when you see Cusack and Kate Beckinsale on the cover. This film reinforces the largely female notions of "everything happens for a reason" and "if it's meant to be, it's meant to be."

10.) The Proposal (2009)- The plot is a bit ridiculous, but the movie isn't horrible. A female CEO type (Sandra Bullock) is getting deported (she's Canadian), so she forces her male assistant (Ryan Reynolds) to marry her so that she can stay in the country. They go away to his hometown for a long weekend and, you guessed it, fall in love.

Wordsmith in Training

Along with being awkward, adept at social situations, and an awesome blogger I'm also kind of a nerd. For example, I record Jeopardy every night and have an excel document where I input the number of questions/answers that I get right. Along the same lines, the book I'm currently reading is titled, "The Big Book of Words You Should Know." It basically reads like a dictionary, so it's taken me a while to trudge through it, but it's been incredibly insightful. I'm not even half way through it and I can already tell that my vocabulary is improving. Here a few examples of what I've learned.

You know the phrase, "wet your appetite"? Well, it's actually whet your appetite.

whet (v.)- to stimulate; also to sharpen a knife of similar object by honing on a stone.

I always thought that people with hidden reasons for things had "alterior" motives, but low and behold the actual word is ulterior.

Similarly I always thought the word was "anti-climatic", but it's actually anti-climactic. That extra "c" will get you.

anti-climactic (adj.)- a disappointing decline in contrast to a previous rise; an average ending to a series of important events.

When learning how to play defense in basketball and lacrosse I was always taught to "sluff off" when playing in a zone. Well guess what? The actual word is slough.

slough (v.)- to become shed or cast off, like the slough- or outer skin layer- of a snake.

I always thought that Bob Barker's sign off phrase was "spade and neutered", but I guess I had just never seen it spelled out. The proper spelling is spayed.

spay (v.)- to render an animal infertile by removing the ovaries.

Another word that I had never seen written was brouhaha. Honestly I was surprised to see that it was actually a word.

brouhaha (n.)- an event that involves or invokes excitement, turmoil, or conflict.

Speaking of which, fracas is also a word.

Another word that I had heard of, but wasn't entirely sure that it was an actual word was snafu.

snafu (n.)- an eggregious, but common error.

Much like Sarah Palin I've always thought that "gambit" meant the same thing as gamut (FYI- Palin thought "refudiate" meant the same as "repudiate"; however "refudiate" isn't a word....until now).

Now, of course, my confusion was related to the X-Men character named Gambit (who I just learned was played by Tim Riggins/Taylor Kitsch in X-Men Origins: Wolverine), but I digress.



gamut (n.)- the full range or extent.

As many of you know there are sophisticated terms for some wild things. For example, the proper terms for oral sex are fellatio and cunnilingus. Also, the proper term for a wet dream is nocturnal emission. I bring this up because in reading this book I came across the proper term for a burp, belch, etc.

eructation (n.)- a fancy word word for belch.

Now that's an easy transition to the first of two words that I've always spelled improperly.

flaccid (adj.)- lacking firmness, stiffness, vigor.

I never knew there was a second "c".

gist (n.)- the main point; the essential meaning, the core or heart of the message.

I always thought it was "jist".

The word I think I was happiest to stumble across was crag.

crag (n.)- a steep rock formation rising higher than its surrounding rocks.

Obviously this tidbit of info was music to my ears because I now know half of the derivation of "The Aggro Crag" from Nickelodeon's Global Guts.



You know the "dobber" that your grandmother uses while playing BINGO? Well it's actually daubber and comes from the word daub.

daub (v.)- to smear with a sticky substance; to paint a surface in a hurried fashion.

I've always equated the term "double entendre" with sexual innuendo and I've now learned that I was only partially correct.

double entendre (n.)- a statement in which one or many of the words may be interprated in several ways, resulting in ambiguity; an expression that can be taken two ways, one of which often has sexual or threatening undertones.

While we're at it? What's the difference between overtones and undertones?

Well, I just looked up their definitions and I'm pretty sure that they're interchangeable.

This book of mine also has a cool section on popular foreign idioms. Now I'll assume that most of you know what these ones mean- a cappella, ad lib, ad nauseum, au contraire, au revoir, carpe diem, deja vu, faux pas, quid pro quo, status quo- but here are 10 more that you should familiarize yourself with.

1.) ad hoc (adj.)- for a specific purpose or end; formed for immediate or present need. The Latin phrase literally translates to "for this purpose".

ex: an ad hoc committee

2.) avant-garde (adj.)- relating to the latest trends, especially in the world of art; of a new or experimental nature. The term is French for "fore guard", or furthest from the line of battle.

3.) bon mot (n.)- a clever or witty comment.

4.) carte blanche (n.)- unrestricted power, access, or privilege; permission to act entirely as one wishes. Carte blance is French for "blank document".

ex: having little to no regard for consequences is to act in a carte blanche manner.

5.) coup de grace (n.)- a decisive act or event that brings a situation to a close; the finishing blow.

6.) fait accompli (n.)- something undertaken and already concluded. Fait compli is French for "accomplished fact".

ex: a done deal

7.) je ne sais quoi (n.)- a special, intangible quality. The term is French for "I don't know what.

ex: When someone has a je ne sais quoi about them they have what we Americans like to call the "it" factor.

8.) mea culpa (n.)- an acknowledgement, usually in public, of a blunder or mistake. The term is Latin for "I am to blame."

ex: Tiger Woods' February press conference, the one where he fielded no questions, was a mea culpa.

9.) non sequitur (n. adj.)- something that does not follow logically. A statement that has no basis in what has gone before.

ex: The term is usually used to refer to comedic one liners that are seemingly absurd.

10.) tete-a-tete (n.)- a meeting in which two people meet face to face. The term is French for "head to head".

Proper Protocal

Although I recently referred to myself as the most awkward human being on the planet, I'm also quite adept when it comes to common social situations in which the proper protocal is unclear. My friend "Downtown" Jeff Brown and I routinely seek each other's counsel when in situations where the most appropriate etiquite escapes us, or just to affirm our instincts when we encounter someone that may have corrupted the social order. If you are ever in a situation and you aren't sure how to act accordingly feel free to consult with me if you have the time to do so, or confer with me afterwards to see if you handled the situation properly. If you aren't sure what kind of situations I'm referring to, here are a few examples.

1.) At the Movies- I assume everyone knows this one, but I'll explain it anyway. If two guys go to a movie they must leave a seat inbetween them unless the theater is filled to capacity. Only when the number of guys reaches 5 is it acceptable to sit in consecutive seats.

2.) All that and a bag of chips (true or false Stephen Colbert tried to trademark this phrase last week?)- A few years back Browny called me after he had the following encounter. He was on the couch eating a large bag of chips while watching a movie with 1-2 other people. He said that asked the others if they wanted any chips and they both said no. After he polished off the chips (I assume the bag was already opened before he began eating them because Browny is a skinny guy), he commented on how good the chips were as he threw out the bag. At this point, one of the other people watching the movie said something to the effect of, "Yeah, thanks for offering," in a very sarcastic tone. Now after this episode Browny was shocked at this vitriolic response and wanted to know if he had done his due diligence, so he consulted me. Quite frankly, I told him that although this person's reaction was a bit extreme, he was in fact at fault. When it comes to being offered food, most polite people initially decline even if they really want to accept. After the second offer their true intentions normally reveal themselves.

3.) Door Holders-



Browny once told me that he followed some poor girl all the way across campus one day and she held 6 different doors open for him during the trek. He told me that he said "thank you" everytime, but wanted to know what the proper protocal was. At first I told him that the obvious answer is that the first and last door necessitates a "thank you." He quickly retorted in saying that he never knew what door was going to be the last one so he just kept saying "thank you" everytime. Our final verdict was that if you say "thank you" after the first door a simple nod of the head will suffice for each corresponding door. Although, if it becomes clear that a door will be the last in a series of doors a verbal "thank you again" is not necessary, but strongly recommended.

4.) The Soda Fountain-



a.) During one of our many Spicy Chicken Wednesday meals at Wendy's I had finished my Dr. Pepper, but I was still thirsty. Normally I would have just gotten up and refilled my drink, but the soda fountain in the restaurant was behind the counter. Browny enlightened me and told me that it's more than acceptable to walk up to the counter (and cut the line even) to ask for a refill.

b.) Last week, while at the soda fountain the person behind Browny in line abruptly placed their cup directly next to his and began filling up the soda of their choice. Browny texted me shortly after to confirm what the proper procedure in an instance like this is. Of course, his instincts were correct. According to the unwritten code of social behavior this sort of behavior is generally frowned upon. Proper protocal is to wait for the person in front of you to finish filling up their cup and walk away before you approach the fountain. When time is an issue it is acceptable to simultaneously fill up your cup only if your soda of choice is on the opposite side of the ice feeder.

Now there are countless other examples (and when I say countless I mean 3-4) where Browny and I have discussed proper etiquette in everyday social situations, but my memory isn't what it once was. Bottom line, I fancy myself a highly qualified arbiter in instances such as these, so feel free to check with me if you are ever in such a situation.

Keeping Tabs

Believe or not, I'm not much of a gambler. Even when comes to sports, I rarely roll the dice.

The same can not be said for many of my friends. A handful of which (from both highschool and college) are full fledged sports gambling afficionados. They spend countless hours looking at point spreads and evaluating over/unders. In fact, one of my friends runs a sports gambling website in his spare time that I occasionally contribute to. Gambling (sports related or not) is such a part of his life that he can't go more than 10 minutes without making a bet of some sort. For example, in late August a bunch of us were in Atlantic City for a little guys weekend (golf, fantasy football draft, and a friend's birthday) and he must have made upwards of 30 bets in the course of 2 days. It got to the point where he wanted to bet someone on the amount of happy birthday Facebook wall posts our friend had received from midnight to the time of the proposed bet (3:30 am- give or take an hour).

Now I am no stranger to the world of sports betting. I briefly dabbled back in my college days. I figured that my knowledge of sports would serve me well and for a while it did. True to my nature I was a very conservative gambler. I usually only bet on 1-2 games a week and about $20 per contest. This all changed, however, when the opportunity to score big presented itself.

The day was Monday, November 28th, 2005. The Fairfield University basketball had started the year 0-2 and were poised for a miserable season. In town that night to take on the Stags were the 2-0 Providence Friars. Providence, led by Kennedy Catholic great Donnie "Be cool. You know me" McGrath, were by no means a powerhouse in the Big East, but they were much more talented than the bottom feeders of the MAAC.

My cousin who will not be named received a call from his dad in the early afternoon hours and he mentioned how Providence was only favored by 5 points. We were stunned by this information. We both agreed that Providence was more likely to win by 55 than Fairfield was to keep the score within 5. Although I had never bet on a college basketball game and I'd be breaking my own rule #1 of gambling (never bet against your own team) I was all set to place a hefty wager on the game. Minutes later that hefty wager soon turned into an all out splurge.

My cousin had played on the Fairfield basketball the year before and was still close with many of the players. He told me that one of Fairfield's star players was walking around on crutches after suffering an injury in practice the night before. I was convinced that the spreadmakers in Vegas had no knowledge of this injury; therefore this bet was truly a sure thing. So much so that I called a few of my friends from highschool and told them to bet the farm on Providence.

To say that Providence's 35-34 halftime lead made me feel uneasy would be an understatement. Not only were my armpits in full on fire hydrant mode, but a cold sweat slowly dripped down by back as I tried to reassure myself and my friends from home (the game obviously wasn't televised) that Providence would pull away in the second half.

Providence maintained a slim lead late into the second half and although they were clearly the inferior team Fairfield just would not quit. Finally Providence extended their lead to 9 with about 3 minutes to play and I quickly updated my friends from home.

As the final minutes counted down the Stags were in desperation mode. They were running a full court press, sending Providence to the free throw line when they didn't get a steal, and jacking up 3's on offense....and for some God forsaken reason they were making them. I've never seen Fairfield get so hot from behind the 3-point line. It was ridiculous.

With 10 seconds to play Providence had pushed their lead back to 5 at 80-75 and Fairfield was down to their final gasp. All I needed to win the bet was for Fairfield to miss a three and to have the Providence rebounder make 1 free throw on the other end. In a cruel twist of fate Alvin Carter, known for his rebounding and defense (aka he wasn't an offensive threat) banked in a three-pointer to cut the Providence lead to 2. Fairfield fouled immediately. The Providence player made 1-2 from the line and Fairfield heaved up a half court shot as time expired. Final score- Providence 81, Fairfield 78.

Rule #1- Never bet against your own team.

Not that I'm still bitter about that game or anything (I am), but I'm pretty sure that Alvin Carter had never even taken a three-pointer in practice, let alone in a game. Also, to illustrate how much better of a team Providence was. They shot 64% from the floor that night whereas Fairfield shot just 43%. For those of you that also bet on the game (I'm looking at you Kyle Korver), here is the boxscore.

After the game I vowed to never gamble on sports (through a bookie, website) etc. again.

I've held true to that vow, but I haven't completely eradicated gambling from my life because 1.) it makes things a lot more exciting and 2.) it's fun to make a little wager with a friend every once in a while.

To the best of my knowledge in the past year I have made six such bets.

1.) In May I bet my cousin who will not be named $50 that Syracuse guard Andy Rautins would be drafted in the NBA draft in late June. Rautins was selected in the 2nd round (38th overall) by the New York Knicks. My cousin claims that this was the luckiest bet of my life and that the bet was only $20 (which I have yet to collect on).



I want to say that there was also a bet as to whether or not he'd be on a team's opening day roster, which he was, but I can't remember all the details.

2.) In June I bet my buddy Mark on the Celtics/Lakers NBA Finals. He, from Boston, had the Celtics and I had the Lake Show. The winner of the bet (me) won free drinks for a night (which I have yet to collect on).



That's 5 for Kobe in case you aren't keeping track at home.

3.) In July I bet my friend Jaclyn on who Ali would pick in The Bachelorette Finale. She thought that Ali would pick Chris and I thought Ali would pick Roberto. The winner of the bet (me) won a few drinks (which I have yet to collect on).



4.) During guys weekend in Atlantic City I bet my friend Alex, who runs the sports gambling site, $50 on the win total of the Tampa Bay Bucs. The line was set at 5 1/2 and I took the under. The Bucs are currently 5-2 (3-0 on the road) and would have to lose their last 9 games for me to win the bet.



5.) In an effort to make watching TV more enjoyable, Alex encouraged our friend RJ and me to partake in a fantasy draft of competitors on The Real World/Road Rules Challenge. We each put $20 down and drafted 3 guys, 3 girls, and a team (the draft was done via email). The rules stipulate that whoever has the most players left at the time of the final challenge wins. In the event of a tie, the team that we drafted serves as the tiebreaker. We weren't really sure how the show worked, but it makes sense. RJ's team is still completely intact and Alex and I have each lost a player.



By the way, this is the perfect example of how gambling makes everything more exciting. There is no chance that I would ever have wasted my time watching this show, but now that I'm invested in it I can't get enough.

6.) With the NBA season starting my excitement for the new look New York Knicks has gone through the roof (maybe that's what cause debris to fall from the Garden). After noticing that I was watching a Knicks game instead of a World Series game that I was working on, my boss and I got to talking and eventually a bet was made. For some reason (I'm mildly delusional when it comes to the Knicks) I claimed that the Knicks would finish ahead of the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference. Things are looking good so far as the Knicks are off to a hot 1-2 start and the Hawks have stumbled out of the gate, going 5-0.



Thankfully there is nothing riding on this bet other than my credibility as an NBA fan around the office.

Flip Flopper

Well, I held off as long as I could, but the evil empire that is Twitter finally sucked me in. As you may recall I have been staunchly anti-twitter since it's inception (not to name the best movie of the summer or anything). My take was simple. 1.) Who cares what you're doing right now? 2.) I'm not really that interested in the lives of celebrities. And 3.) Isn't this the same thing as a Facebook status update?

Now I held steadfast to this dissenting opinion until I slightly began to waver in late August. My fall from grace (sorry to steal your phrase Tiger) was the result of a two-pronged attack. First and foremost, was the persuasive efforts of the powers that be at the fine company where I am employed. In a departmental meeting in late August we were all strongly encouraged to join Twitter-mania. Management essentially told us that if we weren't on Twitter we were missing out. Once the initial shock of realizing that I would have to reconsider my position on the social media website wore off a few producers chimed in and mentioned that they get information for their shows on Twitter long before it shows up on our internal news wire. It was at this point that I knew deep down that this siege would be one that I could not endure much longer.

Secondly was the persistent peer pressure (what up alliteration) from some of my closest friends. All throughout the summer they told me that I had to join Twitter. It's awesome. I'm missing out. They would text me funny tweets by professional athletes, etc. etc. I brushed all of this aside for as long as I could, but whether you know it or not, your friends can convince you to do just about anything.

I held out from joining the site for another month purely based on principle (I said I was anti-Twitter, I can't change my mind now), but earlier this month I registered an account (@DanStanczyk if you want to follow me). Within an hour I received a text from my buddy Frank over at ThePopCultureIniative that said, "I knew you'd cave. Welcome to Twitter. It's a Brave New World."

Of course I realize that in the grand scheme of things I'm way late to the party. In fact, as far as fads go I'm almost certainly a laggard, but I'm ok with it.



Obviously I'm still new to the site and I'm still getting by bearings, but in the short time that I've been tweeting (some people just follow, but I'm way to expressive for that) I've come to notice some positives and negatives. FYI- of my roughly 60 tweets the majority have been sports related (surprise, surprise). Despite what my friends told me, Twitter, while definitely a useful tool, isn't the greatest thing in the world. So here is a quick pro's and con's list, if you will.

Pro's

- Twitter makes browsing the internet 10 times easier. Instead of wasting your time aimlessly searching for news and articles that you might find interesting Twitter puts those articles at your fingertips. Deciding who to follow is key in achieving this bonus. If you follow your favorite writers, reporters, magazines, etc. they will often include links in their tweets to articles that you will enjoy. In this respect, Twitter consolidates your web browsing and brings it right to you.

- Twitter rewards timing and ingenuity. Demonstrating creativity and humor in your musings will get the attention of your friends and others that share your interests. The key though is timing. Twitter time is very accelerated. For instance, if you're watching a sporting event and tweeting about what you see, the window for you to make an insightful tweet is very limited. In a few minutes everyone else watching that game will have moved on to the next play, the next quarter, etc.

- As shallow as it may seem, Twitter gives you a glimpse inside the mind of the very celebrities that our culture glorifies. This kind of access to our stars and starlettes is unprecedented. We get their thoughts, their opinions, and things that they find interesting instantaneously. At the very least this is both mildly intriguing and entertaining.

- This one might only apply for egomaniacs like me, but Twitter gives you a platform. Everyone wants their voice to be heard somehow and someway and Twitter allows for this to happen. Sure it's not a huge platform, but it's a start. It's a way to share your ideas and connect with others you may not otherwise have connected with.

Con's

- The immediacy of Twitter is crazy. To borrow the famous line from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." That pretty much sums up Twitter right there. It's hard to keep up with the tweets of everyone that you follow and it's hard to find the window to tweet effectively.

- Along the same lines, Twitter forces you to try to be creative. You feel the pressure to conjure up a witty statement about whatever is happening at that moment. Thinking is hard and nobody likes doing it and the timing issue only exacerbates the problem.

- Once you first tweet there's no going back. Almost immediately you feel as if you have to keep up with everybody else. It's such a high paced environment that right after you tweet something you are almost already thinking about what you'll tweet next. My unnamed cousin, who is not on Twitter, recently told me that he has a pet aquarium...on his iPhone. He said he routinely has to feed his virtual fish and clean his virtual aquarium. Of course I told him that that is the dumbest thing of all time, but Twitter is almost the same way. You just feel like you have to feed your fish and tweet your little heart away and that you have to clean the tank and read everyone else's tweets.

- That all said, as pathetic as it is, Twitter also reminds you how inconsequential you really are. I'm wasting all this time thinking of creative ways to express my thoughts on trivial matters and no one really cares what I have to say. Until you become famous enough that your twitter account has to be verified (my friend Frank's goal) your tweets don't really matter all that much.

All Aboard

Let me be blunt. If you don't watch Mad Men, you're crazy. It's without a doubt the best drama on television (back to back Emmy wins). The Season 4 finale aired this past Sunday and although there was no "they tied up all the loose ends" closure-like feel or textbook cliffhanger going into next year's Season 5, I am more than satisfied. It was a very complete season. Perhaps the show's best since Season 1.

For fans of the show, here is an introspective interview about Season 4 with the show's creator Matthew Weiner.

Again, for those of you that haven't had hopped on board the Mad Men Express, you're crazy.

Here's a few reasons why you should Netflix (has Blockbuster gone bankrupt yet?) Seasons 1-3 and anxiously await Season 4's release.

1.) In case you're not aware (and it's almost impossible for you not to be), Mad Men is set in New York in the 1960's. The name of the show is a reference to the occupation of the characters. They work in the golden age of advertising on Madison avenue. Now this is all fine, but why should you care? Well, because the historical context of the show gives us twentysomethings a look at the world that our parents grew up in. The stories and situations offer a fleeting glance as to how they were raised, shaped, and molded. If you aren't at least mildly intrigued in discovering clues at to why your parents and grandparents are the way that they are then maybe Mad Men isn't for you.

2.) Men and women alike can enjoy the show because they will no doubt be able to resonate with one of the characters.

For men- Don Draper, the show's protaganist, is an alpha male. Women want him and men want to be him. He drinks all day (literally), sleeps with whoever he wants, and still crushes it in the boardroom. He is a creative genius who understands people better than they understand themselves. For his many strong, useful attributes, he is also very flawed. The drinking is just the half of it. He also has a dark past that haunts him constantly.

For women- There is a strong female character in secretary turned copywriter Peggy Olsen. She is a young, motivated woman trying to make it in a man's world. Her struggle for acceptance in the world of advertising is symbolic of the women's rights movement. You know, Rosie the Riveter, Betty Friedan, and all that mumbo jumbo.



In fact, Don and Peggy have the best male/female (platonic) relationship on television. It's part father/daughter, part creative counsel, part genuine friends, part reflection of self, and part teacher/pupil.

3.) Granted I'm probably more of a deep thinker than most, but this is the only show that has made me actually pick up a pen and paper to write down some of the dialogue (this started during Season 4). Some lines are just that well put and thought provoking.

For instance, perhaps the most seminal line from the show occured in the Season 3 finale (Spoiler alert) in an exchange between Don and Peggy.

(Peggy's apartment)

Don: I've taken you for granted and I've been hard on you, but only because I see you as an extension of myself. And you're not.

Peggy: Well thank you for stopping by.

Don: Do you know why I don't want to work for McCann?

Peggy: Because you can't work for anyone else.

Don: No. Because there are people out there who buy things, people like you and me. And something happened. Something terrible. And the way that they saw themselves is gone. And nobody understands that. But you do. And that's very valuable.

Peggy: Is it?

Don: With you or without you, I'm moving on. And I don't know if I can do it alone. Will you help me?

Peggy: What if I say no? You'll never speak to me again.

Don: No, I will spend the rest of my life trying to hire you.


Lines from Season 4 that I wrote down:
"Is that what you want? or is that what people expect of you?"

"Since when is forgiveness a better quality than loyalty?"

"People tell you who they are, but we ignore it because we want them to be who we want them to be."

"When a man walks into a room he brings his whole life with him."

"You always say, "If you don't like what they're saying about you change the conversation."

"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know. That's the best part, right? I've got the rest of my life ahead of me. And so do you."

"There is no fresh start. Lives carry on."

I'm in Awkwardville and I'm the Mayor

For being someone that excels in most areas of communication and generally has a way with words, whether they be spoken or written, I'm actually an incredibly awkward person. I'm a world class blogger (clearly), I have a degree in Communications, and I work in radio. Communicating effectively as a speaker, writer, and listener is my livelihood. So when it comes to writing an email, telling a story, or selling an idea I'm usually lights out, but for whatever reason there are simple, everyday episodes in which I consistently struggle.

Outside of talking to girls sober here are 6 situations (and there are no doubt plenty others) where much like the most interesting man in the world I'm the most awkward man in the world:

1.) The hug/handshake/kiss hello- I think many guys and girls my age struggle with this one, especially when it comes to meeting a friend's mom/dad. Much like Ben Stiller in Meet The Parents I never know what the appropriate move is. A handshake is always the safe bet, but if I throw my hand out there and my friend's mom extends her arms for a hug we are headed straight for awkward city. I'm even awkward in these situations with my aunts and friend's moms that I know well. Whenever the kiss on the cheek enters the game I'm, to borrow a soccer term, all 6's and 7's. I imagine that this is also a tough spot for a girl meeting a (boy)friend's dad. Is a hug the proper etiquette? Is a kiss on the cheek the way to go? Probably due to my long standing awkwardness in these situations I've long said that the adult should dictate the proper level of formality. They should make the first move.

Well it's not only with adults where I'm akward in hug/handshake/kiss hello situations. When it comes to girls I know from highschool and college I usually just play it safe and go for the hug, but sometimes problems arise. For example, I still don't know when the kiss on the cheek is the right move, so I generally avoid it, but when a female goes for it I feel compelled to do the same and it almost never goes down smoothly. Furthermore, let's say that I see a group of 6 girls from highschool or college that I haven't seen in a while. Obviously I'm closer with some of them than I am with others. I've probably even spoken to a few of them recently. But there's always one or two girls that I never really knew well, haven't kept in touch with, never really liked, etc. So after hugging 4 or 5 girls, do I hug the 1-2 that I don't know as well? I think so, but when I do I feel like I'm overstepping my bounds of familiarity.

2.) Ending phone call conversations- Don't ask me why, but I have trouble getting off the phone with people. My phone conversations seem to drag on like you wouldn't believe. I wouldn't say that it feels like a forced conversation because this usually happens with people I know quite well, but I noticed this a few years back. At first I thought it was the 1-2 people that it happened with, but eventually I came to realize that the problem was most likely on my end. This realization has made me even more awkward when trying to end phone conversations because now I'm thinking about it the whole time I'm on the phone. After a certain point, I start planning an exit strategy just to avoid the extra long conversation and I end up awkwardly trying to end the conversation and then continuing to talk for an additional 5-10 minutes.

3.) Walking towards someone in a narrow hallway/aisle- This is the worst for me. I'm so bad at these situations that it's painful. No joke 9 out of 10 times I'm in a situation like this I take a step in the same direction that the person walking towards me does. I then make the most awkward sound of all time before cutting back in the other direction to avoid unnecessary physical contact. That awkward sound is, "oop." Like the singular version of the word "oops." The sound must come out of my voicebox instinctively because I'm ashamed everytime I say it and have been unsuccessfully trying to eradicate it from my life. This happens to me in hallways, pathways outside, supermarket aisles, etc. FYI- my go to move in these situations is to go to the right (because here in America we drive on the right side of the road), but clearly that's not working.

4.) Getting to an all way stop at the same time as another car- I used to thrive in these situations back when I was a daring 18-year-old. As a sports fan I assumed that the tie went to the runner (me) and I would just go for it. I don't know what's happened to me in the past 4-6 years, but apparently I've become a little soft behind the wheel. Now I only get aggressive and assume the tie goes to me when I'm in a rush. Othertimes I play it passively and just wait for the other car to go. Unfortunately more often than not they are doing the same thing and waiting for me to go. After a certain amount of time I get the picture and figure out that they are waiting for me, so I start to go, but the other car usually has figured out that I was waiting for them, so they start to go as well. Then we have a bad dance routine of starting and stopping, until one of us just goes.

Also, just to clarify, I've never done this, but flashing the high beams at someone is like saying, "You go ahead," correct?

5.) Giving dap- Along with being one of the most awkward kids alive, I'm also probably one of the whitest kids you know. They sort of go hand in hand really. When it comes to giving dap (I fear attempting to explain this because it will probably be an awkward explanation), or when two guys take (some version of) a handshake and turn it into a quick embrace, my whiteness shines through. In fact, one time I met 3 Boston College basketball players (all black) and they literally had to give me lessons.

6.) My posture- If you've spent a considerable amount of time with me you probably know that I have awkward posture. First of all, I'm a big time sloucher, which isn't really awkward, but it's something I'm trying to work on, so writing this is a nice reminder for me. I'm an awkward sitter/stander, or so I've been told. I often sit (comfortably) with my knees touching (I think). I have bony elbows that have caused a friend to go out of his way to avoid sitting on the right of me. Also, when standing I never know what to do with my hands/arms. Crossed? In my pockets? At my side? Nothing feels right.

Batter Up

There are obviously a lot of things that I like about sports. I mean, it's hard not to like the drama, the competition, and the performance. Professional athletes are just on a whole nother level both physically (I can't dunk or hit a curveball) and mentally (no chance I'd make a free throw in a packed arena). That said, they are also human beings just like you and me (do I have to credit US Weekly?). It's not often that we get to see the human side of athletes, so when we do I relish the opportunity.

This is one of the many reasons that I love entrance songs. Entrance songs give athletes a chance to show a little bit of their personality. Baseball players (hitters and closers) either pick a song that they enjoy or one that pumps them up. This selection either tells you a little bit about each player or makes you wonder about them. Does he like rap? Oh, a country song. Is he from the South? Can't say I'm surprised that the player from the Domincan Republic went with the Salsa beat. Every so often an athlete and their entrance song sort of become one. What I mean by that is that when I hear the song I think of the athlete. For example, when I hear "Numb/Encore" I think of A-Rod. Also, when I hear "Enter Sandman" I look around to see if Mariano Rivera is going to come running out of nowhere.

This glimpse into the mind of a professional athlete is fascinating to me. In fact, back when I was the host of my own low/no budget college radio show I used to ask callers what song they would pick to walk up to the plate to.

Now naturally I've also long contemplated what song I would choose if I was walking up to the plate or coming in to close a game and on last night's episode of Eastbound and Down Kenny Powers stole the song that was the leader in the clubhouse for me....



I don't know if it's my love for America, my admiration for Hulk Hogan, or what, but that song has a weird power over me. I turn into an animal whenever I hear it. It's hard to explain, but I've done some crazy things while that song has been playing.

While that song would no doubt be my pick if I was a professional baseball player (although after last night I'd have to reconsider because some of the luster is definitely gone), I did have the opportunity to pick an entrance song back in college. No, I wasn't on the baseball team, although I did successfully convince at least a dozen people that I was. My intramural softball team (The Sal Ciaccio Memorial All-Stars) had walk up songs (as well as music to play inbetween innings). As the manager of the team, I asked each player to pick a walk up song of their choosing (some changed for each game) and then I arranged the songs according to the batting order on a CD to make it easy on the girls who sat in the stands and played them for us.


Yes, those are champagne bottles

Obviously it's key to select a song that has a cool opening. I mean, I cued up the chorus for some people's selections, but I think it's best to stick with the actual beginning of the song. That said, after dabbling with a few songs I went with this '80's classic.


(:16 to :28)

Other songs I considered:

Nirvana- Come As You Are- Not only do I like the beginning of the song, but I also love how the title and lyrics seem appropriate for the situation. In essence the batter is saying that they are coming to the plate as they are. This is also why I lovvved when Manny Ramirez came to the plate to Ready or Not by The Fugees.

Aerosmith- Sweet Emotion - Just a cool beginning.

Guns 'N Roses- Sweet Child O' Mine- I probably would have went this song if our meathead cleanup hitter (love ya Hoff) didn't already choose it.

Other songs that my Sal C's teammates went with:

Ram Jam- Black Betty

Dr. Dre- Bang Bang

Kanye West- Homecoming

Billy Squier- The Stroke

Cam'ron- Suck It or Not (1:52- 2:03)

Wisin y Yandel- Rakata (:24-:38)


So now I ask you. If you were a professional baseball player (or intramural/company softball player) what song would you walk up to the plate to?

Fear the Deer

As promised, here is my poem about my four years at Fairfield University.


I am from right field at the Stagdome
A teamless John Stockton jersey and myTunes Redux
I am from $4 pitchers at Clubhouse and Max’s jungle juice
Al’s Place makeouts and saki bombs in Trumbull
I am from Thirsty Thursdays with Robby and Dan
Beer pong in basements and the hookah on the deck

I am from Sunday brunch at Barone
Vodka 180’s and the Country Cow
“Closing Time” at the Arena and the long walk to Kostka
I am from J2 and Room B
The Pink Box and the 313

I am from the Canisius computer lab
Turf in the basement and the chuggler
One of The Sledge Hemmers and The Shampoo Effect
From “Ballin. Count it. College.”
To “I just want to let you know that I’m cool with it.”

I am from the pages of the freshman facebook
Stuffed backpacks and chalked IDs
I am from Doc O’s enthusiasm
Fran’s guidance and Canuel’s tests
Gudelunas’ papers and all the rest

I am the He Said, The Man in The Mirror
From exit 22 and the Metro North
One of Sal C’s All-Stars and We Make It Rain
From “’CUSE!” and “Great time, good party”
To “I have two test tomorrow!” and “Opportunity, opportunity, opportunity.”

I am from Saturdays at the point
$2 Tuesdays and The Sports Edge
Softball at Barlow and the reverse limbo
I am from late night bonfires and Lockhart’s pictures
From lifelong friendships and lasting memories
I am from the Class of 2008
For all of time


Things I wanted to include, but couldn’t make fit:

The foosball table, The 80’s party, Kess’ mono, Kessler Whiskey, Guitar Hero, South Padre, the numbers game (siete), watching 24 DVDs, the outdoor courts, Murph’s cargo shorts, sledding in recycling bins, the futon, bullpen sessions, and many, many others.

Poetry In Motion

A few "weekends" ago (Tuesday-Wednesday for those keeping track at home) I made my way back to the city of hopes and dreams. As always, my time there went by too quick, but it was very comforting. I don't get to spend enough time in the city where I grew up, but I know that my experiences there are always with me. That might seem a little too sappy for the first paragraph, but bear with me. In fact, I partially stole that line from a recent Mad Men episode. If you don't watch the show, you should start, because you get lines like, "When a man walks into a room he brings his whole life with him," on a regular basis.

Anyway, whenever I'm home I find myself reading a poem that my sister Maura wrote because it's posted on a cabinet in the kitchen. I'm not sure if she wrote it as part of a class or just of her own volition or if she followed some sort of structure or just wrote free verse, but it speaks to me everytime I read it.

I am from the side hall bench
Pass down cleats two sizes too big
I am from three stolen bikes and sidewalk chalk
Pine cone wars and the three-legged dog that could run faster than my brothers
I am from cops and robbers with the neighborhood kids
Salem Hyde Park and Sedgwick Farm

I am from watermelon and magic markers
From GI Joes and hairless Barbies
I am from Clifton Place and Brattle Road
I call On The Rocks my home too
Cook Ave block parties is where I grew

I am from lost glasses and blame it on Kackie
One of the three dudettes and young Uncle Tim
Marie and Irene and all in-between
From, “Stop it Danny!” to “Say CHEESE!”
To “That’s a dollar” and “Find me my keys!”

I am from the love of high school sweethearts
And four big brothers who give me pillars of support
From the girl that looks exactly like me
To the immeasurable connection
That makes me complete

I am from the dome
Sunnycrest and hot cocoa
From high school parking lots and football fields
Blue minivans and snow mounds
I am forever Syracuse bound

I am from Autumn stew and pigs in the blanket
Pudding snacks and freeze pops
Memories filled in a turtle sandbox
Ticket stubs and old mixed tapes
I am from photographs and newspaper scraps
Family videos capturing the “good old times”
For all of time.


In case you didn't pick up on it, the poem is essentially about how she was shaped by her childhood experiences. Also, in case you didn't know she has an identical twin and the two of them used to play in a sandbox that was a large plastic turtle. Obviously this poem speaks to me because I shared many of her experiences, but that aside I like her use of personification and love the lines "I am forever Syracuse bound" and "For all of time."

Now I haven't written a poem since my senior year of highschool. FYI- I was big into rhyming couplets. In fact, about 80% of the speeches I gave in my CAPS (Current Affairs/Public Speaking) class rhymed. So as I read Maura's poem this time around I thought about the things, places, etc. that I would include in a poem about my childhood. So a few days ago I began jotting down a few of those images, phrases, places, etc. and shortly thereafter I realized that I could probably also write a poem about my time in college. I planned on putting both poems together tonight, but I got an idea for a third such poem earlier today (I'll put the other two together in the near future).

I was at work, talking to my cousin who will not be named on gchat and he asked me when I'll be going back home next because he claims that he wants to come with, saying, "I need some dome (that's what she said) and Suds in my life." As he mentioned the dome, all sorts of thoughts and images rushed back to me. Syracuse University athletics have played an important role in my life. How important? Well, you decide...

I am from The Loud House
A Real Men Wear Orange t-shirt that’s ripped and faded
I am from storming the court 3 times against Pitt
6 OT’s against UCONN and Big Sh#@!
I am from standing and clapping until the first made field goal
Thirddddd down and “it’s good if it goes!”

I am from dome dogs and SUper 44oz soft drinks
Varsity Pizza and pitchers at Chuck’s
I am from 311 Heaven and the 2-3 zone
From “The ‘Cuse is in the house. Oh my God! Oh my God!”
To “We wouldn’t have won 10 fucking games!”

I am from Warrick’s block and the Brominski catch
Pace’s floater and Freeney’s sacks
From Coach P and Jimmy B
To Melo’s headband and Moten’s socks
Jonny’s smile and Spotwood’s returns

I am the dome ranger
Mr. Excitement and Otto the Orange
The Pride of Scranton and 6 first half three’s
From “Wal-ter Rey-es!” and “WE ARE S U!”
To Kevin Abrams picks and Donovan Darius hits

I am from G-Mac’s run in the Big East Tourney
Our One Shining Moment and big men coached by Bernie
From beating Georgia in ’96 on John Wallace’s three
And going deep to Johnnie Morant and David Tyree
I am from retired jerseys and championship banners
Along with 34,616 (or 49,249) of my closest friends
For all of time

Double Take

I realize that it is officially football season and trust me I'm about as gun ho about it as anyone that you know, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention the extraordinary year that Jose Bautista is having for my beloved Toronto Blue Jays.

Entering tonight's game against the Baltimore Orioles Bautista is batting .262 with a major league leading 46 homeruns and he's also second in the American League with 110 runs batted in. The 29-yea-old's career year has seemingly come out of nowhere as his previous season high for home runs was 16.

After the Pittsburgh Pirates sent him down to their AAA team in August of 2008 he was traded to the Blue Jays for a player to be named later. In case the enormity of that statement passed you by, let me place the appropriate amount of emphasis on it. The worst team in Major League Baseball, the Pirates, decided that this guy wasn't good enough to be on their major league roster, so they sent him to the minors. Perhaps the the brass of the Toronto Blue Jays saw something that no one else did because when he was acquired I thought he was nothing more than a utility player. With his versatility (he can play third base and the outfield) I figured that he would just spell Scott Rolen, Alex Rios, etc. Well sure enough the 2009 season didn't go according to plan for the Blue Jays and Rolen was dealt at the deadline and Rios was claimed off of waivers by the White Sox. This opened the door for Bautista to play everyday in September and boy did he make the most of it. He hit 10 home runs in the month and built some serious momentum going into this season.

Now part of the reason why Bautista is quickly becoming my favorite player is because he looks exactly like my former housemate Pete.



The similarities don't stop there. Believe it or not Pete was a standout baseball player back in college. In fact, much like Bautista, he had a breakout year that seemingly came out of nowhere. In his sophomore season (2006) Pete hit just .238 and led the team in strikeouts. The kid couldn't lay off those sliders in the dirt. The following year he was an entirely different player. Now I can't find the final boxscore for the Stags 2007 campaign anywhere online, but as of this article written about him (by yours truly) on April 30th of 2007 he was leading the team with a .377 batting average, 16 doubles, and 5 home runs.

Pete's 2007 season earned him all sorts of accolades. He was named First Team All-MAAC, played in an All-Star Game in Fenway Park, and was named to the 2008 Brooks Wallace Watch List.

So naturally I pointed out this striking similarity to Pete back when the Blue Jays first acquired Bautista. At first I'm not sure that Pete had ever heard of Bautista, but he's an avid baseball fan so he eventually saw him play the Yankees, his favorite team, and he saw the resemblance. I have a lot of friends that like sports, but at that point in time no one else that I knew (and who knew Pete) would have known who Jose Bautista was, so I don't think I mentioned this doppelganger situation to anyone else.

So throughout the course of this season whenever I'd be at work watching a Blue Jay game and Bautista would homer I would text Pete and let him know what a great job he was doing, or that his twin brother hit another homerun, etc. Now that Bautista leads the bigs in home runs he's become something of a household name (at least to those of us who play fantasy baseball), so more and more people that know Pete have noticed the resemblance.



Another similarity between Pete and Bautista is that they are both masters of "the pimp job". I'm not sure what, if anything, the term has to do with actual pimps, but what it refers to is the arrogant extended stare after hitting a homerun, or the cocky bat flip afterwards. Jose has obviously hit and pimped a lot more homeruns than Pete, but Pete pimped lazy flyballs like there was no tomorrow.

Man v. Food

On last night's episode of Man v. Food Adam Richman invaded the city of hopes and dreams in search of some good eats. Now I normally don't watch the show (despite my dream to one day be a competitive eater), but you better believe that I tuned in last night.

If you aren't familiar with the show, this guy goes from city to city and eats at three local hotspots. At the first two he just houses the signature dish and at the third he partakes in some sort of eating challenge. On last night's episode he dined at Dinosaur Barbecue, Heid's, and ate a six pound frittata at Mother's Cupboard.

In terms of picking the local hotspots from the city of hopes and dreams he did okay in my opinion. Dinosaur Barbecue probably has the most cachet out of any other Syracuse restaurant, Heid's is a very popular spot (although I'm a little surprised that it was chosen), and I don't know of too many eating challenges in the Syracuse area, so I guess he found a pretty good one at Mother's Cupboard (a tiny place that I've driven by thousands of times and have never been to).

If it were up to me I would have sent Adam to the two places that I miss the most when I think about Syracuse food: Tully's and Brooklyn Pickle. I would have loved to have seen Adam down some Tully's Tenders while enjoying a tall boy and then demolish a corned beef sandwich with loads of Russian at Brooklyn Pickle, but that doesn't mean that the episode didn't have highlights.

Case in point, look who showed up.


Not only that, but one of my brother Pat's best friends was one of the guys talking to Adam at Heid's.

Also, even though it didn't really fit in at all, Adam threw on some Syracuse lacrosse gear (including a #22 jersey....of course) and tossed the ball around with some laxers for a bit.

Now that Man v. Food has been to Syracuse (and Hartford), all I'm waiting to see is when he makes his way to Fairfield, CT.

Believe it or not, there's been talk among my college friends for a food related reunion of sorts in the town of Fairfield. The way it would go down would be very similar to a bar crawl, but instead of getting loaded at a bunch of different bars we would eat at all of our favorite establishments. This event would not be for the weak of heart. I'm talking at least six places over the course of one day.

The food crawl would start where we started many a morning during our college days; The Country Cow Deli. While there you would be required to eat a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich of some kind (with ketchup for me) as well as drink an Arizona Iced Tea or and an Arnold Palmer.

Breakfast would then continue at the sloppiest diner in America; The S&S Dugout, where this man would slop about a pound of butter onto whatever you ordered.


The S&S man

Actually I think his only responsibility nowadays is the toast. FYI- I'd order two eggs over easy with white toast, french toast, and corned beef hash.

Lunch would then commence at Archie Moore's right by the Fairfield train station. While there you'd start things off with an appetizer that many a man has turned into a meal. Just be sure not to spill the barbecue sauce.



After devouring some delicious wings, you'd be off to 1 of 2 Italian Deli's: A&S or Pranzo. A general consensus could never be reached as to which place was better (so maybe we'd have to do both?). Either way, if A&S was the choice I'd order a meatball parm with fresh mozzarella and get a death stare from the Italian guy with the mustache. If Pranzo was the pick, I'd no doubt go with The Trooper.

Post Italian deli, it'd be time for some Mexican. Where better to get authentic Mexican cuisine than Senor Salsa (La Salsa back in my college days)? At Senor Salsa I'd go with any of the following three options: the Quesadilla Grande without any black beans (trust me, I have enough gas), the Grande Burrito, or El Champion. If Adam Richman from Man v. Food chose Senor Salsa (and if he ever goes to Fairfield he should), he'd be required to get El Champion.

Next on the crawl would be Rawley's to get a delicious burger. Rawley's actually reminds me a lot of Heid's in Syracuse. I've even heard some people say that they've had "the best time ever" there.



Last, but certainly not least on the Fairfield food crawl would be the Ash Creek Saloon. They are known for their ribs, but I'd go with either the wings or the guacamole burger.

In the event that two people are still standing at the end of this all day eating affair, the score could certainly be settled with some dessert at Sunny Daes or with a trip to Duchess.

Now what I just ran through would be the varsity team's slate for the Fairfield food crawl. In order to increase attendance (because that's a daunting challenge), a JV schedule would also need to be created. Without going into too much detail, here is what that would look like.

Breakfast- Village Bagel AND Circle Diner
Lunch- Firehouse Deli (chicks got off to this place) AND Senor Salsa (it's a must)
Dinner- Joe's American Bar & Grill

My apologies for not mentioning the San Diego Chicken challenge at What's Cookin', but I've heard that it's out of business.