Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in diskostu13's LiveJournal:

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Wednesday, September 14th, 2011
9:02 pm	He's no Muddy Waters "But we kick them to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger" - Ke$ha "I've got those moves like Jagger" - Maroon 5 Ummm, did I miss something. Mick Jagger is 68 years old!!!! The only moves he has are in his bowels and are caused by a high fiber diet and Metamucil. I get it, he's a Rolling Stone and he dances around the nursing home with the greatest of ease, but can't today's pop acts find a younger comparison. Did moves like Timberlake not fit with the rhyme scheme? Does Ke$ha and he crew really go looking for 68 year old dudes with wrinkled balls and big lips? And that's the problem with pop music today. (Comment on this)
Monday, September 5th, 2011
3:34 pm	Labor Day Musings So, I keep forgetting to update, and then, whoosh it's gone from March to September with no new writing. Well, let's put an end to that shall we? So, the day school ended I hopped in the car and drove up to camp. It was a Friday in June. The next 8 1/2 weeks I lived at camp (except for one night when I slept at home). Here are some of the highlights. The Proposal: First and most importantly I got engaged to the lovely and talented Sue Locascio. I popped the question the evening that camp ended (meaning no more campers). We traditionally have a BBQ that night and this year was no exception. I had looked around for rings a little bit but hadn't found one I liked, so I drove to Nashua as soon as camp ended and found a ring that suited my needs at Kay jewelers. I drove back to camp and joined in the festivities of a lazy saturday afternoon. As the sun was setting I asked Sue to take a canoe ride out on the lake. As we got into view of the sun setting over the mountain, I asked her to turn around in the canoe and then asked her to marry me. She said yes. I figured if I liked it then I outta put a ring on it. When we got back to shore, Mary Kate (my favorite three year old) was the first to get the news. I don't think she understood but seemed happy for us anyways. Then we told every one else and partied and celebrated the rest of the night. Planning for what is sure to be the social event of the season are in the works and we are shooting for next August. Penneypalooza: So, I decided to revive Penneypalooza. Only, at about 8 o'clock the night before I came down with a wicked stomach virus that lasted until Sunday morning. So, instead of cake and beer I enjoyed dry cheerios as a birthday feast and spent all day in bed. Pretty much the worst timing it could have had, but, oh well. Fournier's wedding: My good friend Mike Fournier got married in July. We drove down to Fordham, got lost a little bit and found the chapel. We opened the door only to find the bride and her father waiting to walk down the aisle. We were mortified we interrupted but they insisted it was ok and we went and sat down. During the service the second reader made a mistake and read the same reading as the first reader, both reading genesis. This may be partially my fault since the second reading was Corinthians and loyal readers of this blog will know my aversion for this reading. It was probably my bad karma that made her read something else. Anyways, the priest must not have paid attention because in his homily, he referenced the 2nd reading that we never heard. I thought it was funny. As everyone was filtering out of the church, I got a call from Jeff who arrived after the ceremony was already over. We drove to the reception and mainly hung out with Jeff, ate some really good food, danced to a really good band, and then drove back home. Also, there was a girl there in a way too tight hot pink dress who I correctly identified as a Hooters waitress. I know my girls. Sean's wedding: Earlier in the summer, I flew to LA for Sean White's wedding. On the way into the airport the Whitey Bulger story broke and he was caught a few blocks from where I'd be staying. I thought I was sitiing right behind Sean's family on the flight there and later on found out I was right. I got into town, and that night was the bachelor party. Due to guy laws, I am not at liberty to discuss any details. The next day, Sue came into town. We hung around all day and then went to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner where we sat with J-Rod and his girlfriend. I don't remember her name, Katie maybe? Anyways, it was at a Mexican restaurant and the food was really good being a lot closer to Mexico than say, Maragaritas in Keene is. The next day was the wedding which was the most unique I've been to. Some highlights: Sean held a boombox over his head as Kate came down the aisle, with "In Your Eyes" playing. A rendition of "This is how we do it" sung with reworked lyrics by the bride and groom. A lovely rendition of "Your the inspiration" played by Sean. One of the readings was "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis. They also had a nice choreographed dance medley, with Most Beautiful Girl in the Room being the central song. They also made a movie with them as old people recounting how they met which was really cute. I guess it's a lot easier to do that kind of thing when all your friends work in Hollywood. Oh, and all the groomsmen wore black converse all-stars. Anyways, it was a really good time, as was expected. Myself, James, Mike and Kristen represented the UMass crowd pretty well if I do say so myself and showed those west coasters how we do things. When we got back to the hotel, our room key didn't work and the manager had to break in through the second story window, which was amusing. Camp was pretty good. It was tough without Kevin, mainly because we had so many inside jokes and so I'd go to say something and remember he wasn't there. But, we still had a great summer, having more campers than perhaps ever, with 1299 scouts. I again DJed the week 7 dance, which was a lot of fun. The administration shotgun team went 7-0. We beat wa-klo twice in soccer and in volleyball. There were no swim meets due to some still being processed disputes about AACS scoring methods. I tried to go running a lot. Probably could've gone more, but, oh well. Anyways, those are the highlight of the summer. Also got to hang out with my cousins Kevin and Rich at a sox game. We got pretty hammered pre-game and that only continued during the game. There was a triple play but I only saw the end of it and didn't realize it was a triple play until Mattford told me it was. Also, Sue got yelled at for cursing by some father in front of us. They left soon after. I didn't even realize we were cursing. Oh well. Anyways, the sox lost but it was still a good time. School has started and I am pretty happy with my class sizes and schedule. Both my prep periods are back to back, which I don't really like, but, it could be worse. We had soccer tryouts and actually had to cut people this year, which was good. Not sure if we'll be as good as last year yet, our first game is thursday, which will be a good indicator of how we stand. But just to give you an idea, we did a two mile run the other day and I finished first. Probably shouldn't be the case with a varsity team. Hopefully they get better and faster. I'm going to do recaps of the AFI Top 100 movies in the blog since I finished the list, so you have that to look forward to. I'll also try to update more. Anyways, hope you are all well, Love, Mike (Comment on this)
Saturday, March 26th, 2011
3:24 pm	A Lyrical Analysis So, I know how to strike when the iron is hot. So, I will now do a lyrical analysis of the song of the moment, "Friday" by lyrical mastermind, Rebecca Black. Now, in all fairness, she's 13 years old. And at 13, I was not an internet sensation, hell, there wasn't much of an internet. But, since it appears she had quite the budget to produce this hit, I feel it's only fair to be able to critique it. So here we go. I will also make video commentary too. (Yeah, Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah-Ark) Oo-ooh-ooh, hoo yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah Yeah-ah-ah Yeah-ah-ah Yeah-ah-ah Yeah-ah-ah Yeah, yeah, yeah *First, the animation kicks in. I think the "Another Pleasant Valley Sunday" reference is fun. I like that song. "Tuesday's gone with the Wind" also shows at least some appreciation for the past of rock and roll. The yeah's and ah's I have no problem with. Sets the tone. Seven a.m., waking up in the morning Gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal Seein' everything, the time is goin' Tickin' on and on, everybody's rushin' Gotta get down to the bus stop Gotta catch my bus, I see my friends (My friends) *ok, first off, why are you waking up at 7? What time does school start? I have to be there at 7:15. And in high school I had to get up at 6. Also, it looks like a fair amount goes into your preparation. So, I'm guessing you need to get up a little earlier than 7 there sweetie. It also looks like you woke up fresh, so, maybe that's why you can get up so late, I stand corrected. I like how you point out the need for a bowl because as we know, no one likes eating cereal out of your hands. Crucial point that most people would've missed but you my friend, are all about the details. Also, I like how you point out that everyone is always rushin. They don't take time to appreciate the little things. Like bowls, and cereal. I'm also glad your bus stop is clearly marked with a sign, so there's no confusion. But wait, you don't need the bus, you're friends are here! Yay!!! Kickin' in the front seat Sittin' in the back seat Gotta make my mind up Which seat can I take? *Isn't this the age old dilemma. There's room in the front seat, BUT, there's also room in the back seat. Hmmm, well, seeing how there doesn't seem to be any seat belt laws in this state, it looks like the back seat is more fun, sitting on the edge of the car. It's Friday, Friday Gotta get down on Friday Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend Friday, Friday Gettin' down on Friday Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend *Maybe it's just the cynic in me, but wouldn't Friday afternoon have been a better setting? I mean, you still have to go to school all day and Friday's do make up 20% of your academic year. I know in my own class room there are usually quizzes on Friday to make sure there was comprehension of the material for the week. I mean, would it have been that hard to change the words from Friday Friday to Friday, Afternoon. It's only an extra syllable and she isn't exactly flowing in iambic pentameter here is she? Also, why didn't the dude in the back sit in between the two girls? Just seems like if you were a 13 year old boy, that would've been a better seat. Partyin', partyin' (Yeah) Partyin', partyin' (Yeah) Fun, fun, fun, fun Lookin' forward to the weekend *partyin' is fun. 7:45, we're drivin' on the highway Cruisin' so fast, I want time to fly Fun, fun, think about fun You know what it is I got this, you got this My friend is by my right, ay I got this, you got this Now you know it *ok, so here's where we start to derail. Ok, first off, sitting in a car like that is not safe and you're only setting a bad example to the 54,000,000 people who have seen your video. Also, it's finally the weekend, why do you want time to fly? Wouldn't you want to savor your precious few hours of no school and partyin'? I think you are a little mixed in your messages. It is fun to think about fun, but, I am still unclear about what it is? What is fun, oh wait, I know, partyin'. That's fun. You're right, I do know what it is. Also, What about the girl on your left? Is she not your friend? Seems quite bitchy to say, my friend is by my right outloud when another girl in on your left. Rudeness. And yes, I got this. Kickin' in the front seat Sittin' in the back seat Gotta make my mind up Which seat can I take? *a little late for this decision as you are clearly already sitting in the back. It's Friday, Friday Gotta get down on Friday Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend Friday, Friday Gettin' down on Friday Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend *stop looking forward to it, it's here! enjoy it! savor it! Partyin', partyin' (Yeah) Partyin', partyin' (Yeah) Fun, fun, fun, fun Lookin' forward to the weekend *so, apparently all partyin' consists of is showing up in someone's driveway and standing around. I am unclear about the benefits of partyin' Oh well, break it down, animation style. Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday Today i-is Friday, Friday We-we-we so excited We so excited We gonna have a ball today *this is very helpful, because when it is Friday, and I'm busy partyin' I often forget what the previous day was, was it Tuesday? No, that's not right, Wednesday? HMMM, oh, right, yesterday was Thursday, Thursday. But, don't we know what day today is? Isn't it implied by all the partyin' we're doing? I mean, clearly we so excited because it's Friday, do we have to point it out? But what about future planning? Tomorrow is Saturday And Sunday comes after ... wards I don't want this weekend to end *Right, Friday, then Saturday, then Sunday. Ok, we're clear on that. If you don't want it to end then why did you want time to fly earlier. Rebecca, you are a barrel of contradictions and are an enigma to me. R-B, Rebecca Black So chillin' in the front seat (In the front seat) In the back seat (In the back seat) I'm drivin', cruisin' (Yeah, yeah) Fast lanes, switchin' lanes Wit' a car up on my side (Woo!) (C'mon) Passin' by is a school bus in front of me Makes tick tock, tick tock, wanna scream Check my time, it's Friday, it's a weekend We gonna have fun, c'mon, c'mon, y'all *Who is this guy? Is it weird to have a 30 year old black dude singing about a 13 year old white girl? What state do they live in? Isn't this a crime? How much did they pay this dude? Also, why are there school buses on the road at night? And is it really safe to just switch lanes, you're already in the fast lane. Call me old fashioned I just have a problem when inexplicably some "rapper" just shows about and raps about driving incoherently with no real continuity to the plot of the video. But I guess I'm just crazy that way. It's Friday, Friday Gotta get down on Friday Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend Friday, Friday Gettin' down on Friday Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend *kill em with the chorus. Oh yeah, and apparently now you're performing on a stage while partyin' That was not in the plan, all I heard about was partyin' Partyin', partyin' (Yeah) Partyin', partyin' (Yeah) Fun, fun, fun, fun Lookin' forward to the weekend *I didn't really believe she was having fun until the 4th fun. That's how you know it's legit. It's Friday, Friday Gotta get down on Friday Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend Friday, Friday Gettin' down on Friday Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend *what about people who work weekends? Partyin', partyin' (Yeah) Partyin', partyin' (Yeah) Fun, fun, fun, fun Lookin' forward to the weekend *I'm really glad they have the cut back shot to the black dude in the car so we didn't forget he's part of the story. Also, the lyrics were pretty deep so, the extra chorus was nice so I could soak it all in. Ok, I'm done, Love, Mike (Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
8:39 pm	pete and repeat Pete and repeat are on a boat, pete falls off, who's left? Pete and repeat are on a boat, pete falls off, who's left? Pete and...ok, just kidding. How come repeats are so good? I've probably seen every episode of the Cosby Show, the Office, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, the Sopranos, Mad Men, the Wire, Deadwood, Friday Night Lights, the list goes on. Yet, if any of those shows are on tv, mostly the comedies, I will watch them, usually over new television that's on. I know all the jokes, punchlines, plots, and yet, I still love it. Why? Also, I have the DVD's for a lot of those shows, but I'll watch the Office on TBS with commercials instead of popping in the DVD. Also a mystery of life. We are funny beings us humans. Just ponder that for awhile. Feel free to comment. Love, Mike (Comment on this)
Sunday, February 27th, 2011
12:07 pm	Viva Las Vegas Hey all So, Monday Night Sue and I flew to Vegas. Here's the recap. Monday So, we flew Jet Blue out to Vegas. We had a 7:45 flight out of Logan. The flight was good but had 2 annoying features. 1) The woman in the row across from us had like 14 children and so they were spread out on the plane (ok, it was like 5 children, but seemed like 14). So, she was really loud and kept basically yelling to her kids who were in the row behind us. Even with my headphones on she was still very loud and annoying and got up out of her seat about 1,000 times to talk, get stuff out of the overhead bins and basically just be obnoxious. (also, some of the times she got up were clearly when the fasten seat belt sign was on, no respect for sky law). 2) Sue's TV (one of the perks of flying Jet Blue) flickered on and off a lot. It basically was dependent on the woman in the seat in front of her having her head back (must have been a loose connection or something) so basically every time the woman moved her head her TV would go out. Luckily it stayed on for most of the flight but the beginning and end were a little dicey. Dazed and Confused was on VH1 Classic so that took up a good two hours of the flight. (and VH1 classic set a record with 6,570 commercials during a 2 hour span). The rest was taken up by Seinfeld, Curb, and Family Guy reruns. The 5 1/2 hour flight went by pretty quick. Anyways, so then we landed and took a cab to the Hotel. Pretty sure the cab took the long way as the fare was double what it was on the way back and you can pretty much see the airport from out hotel. Stupid cabs. Anyways, we got dropped off at our hotel, the fabulous Ali Baba Hotel and casino, oh, wait, no, it was Hooters Hotel and casino. We were pretty tired from the flight so we didn't really do much upon arrival. Tuesday We got up pretty early and worked out at the fitness center. My foot is still kind of injured so I used the elliptical while Sue ran on the treadmill. We then headed to the half price ticket booth and got tickets to the Price is Right show at Bally's (basically like the tv show but not taped). The people at half price tickets recommended going early to sign up to get a better shot at getting picked. We walked to Bally's just to find the place we had to go to and then decided we were hungry. We walked down the strip a while and decided on chipotle for breakfast/lunch. I had a great steak burrito. We then went back to get in line to register to get picked for the show. We were quite early (an hour and a half) but there was still a bit of a line forming so we got in line. We registered and got our picture taken and then went and played some games while waiting for the show. When we went into the theater they were still registering people to get picked so not sure there was much of a benefit to getting there so early. The host for the show was Joey Fatone (I guess they have a rotating cast of b-list celebs who host) and the announcer was Dave Ruprecht (the host of Supermarket Sweep). Dave was much funnier than Joey. We saw some people win some prizes of varying amounts, I think the most was 300. The woman who won the showcase won a cruise. She was 90 off from winning a car. They offered getting your picture taken with Joey for $20 but we passed. We then went back to the hotel for a nap. Then we went for a soak in the hot tub. It was too cold for the pool but the hot tub was nice. Then it was time for an elegant dinner at Hooters. We rated all the waitresses in the place and tried to decide which ones would be strippers soon. It's a fun game to play. We then just hopped from casino to casino (the Tropicana, the Flamingo, Harrah's, O'Sheas, I played some Blackjack, Let it Ride and Sue mostly played slots. I went up and down and finished the night pretty close to even I think. No, I finished down because the last blackjack table I sat at had a dealer who had a fantastic fake rack (even Sue agreed on this one) and it basically worked like a tractor beam. I couldn't leave even though I was losing. Oh well. We stopped at this stand that sells junk food. I got some deep fried peanut butter cups and Sue got a deep fried Snickers. They were awesome. Then we walked back to the hotel. Wednesday We again got up early and worked out and then hit the hot tub. Because I don't usually use an elliptical I was pretty sore. Sean White (of G5 All-Stars and BMB fame) came out to meet us. He was interested in seeing the Hoover Dam, so we drove out there during the morning. We opted not to do the tour as it seemed pretty expensive (30 for a dam tour?) and so we just walked around on our own and went to the bridge that overlooks it from way high up. We got into a debate about whether one could survive sliding down the dam. I contend it would be instant death and Sean and Sue argued that one could survive the slide down. Feel free to weigh in. After wandering around for a while and taking pictures (in both Nevada and Arizona) we left. We got back to the hotel and took a nap. We then went to dinner (at Hooters of course) and my cousin Kevin met us. We then basically did the same thing as the night before, casino hopped around the Flamingo, O'Shea's and Harrah's. Kevin and I played blackjack a lot. Sue and Sean played slots and then Sue entered the world of Let it Ride. I had some swings up and down and think I finished the night down. Sean and I did karaoke at the Flamingo. Sean sang "You outta know" and really wowed the crowd. I sang Glory Days and mildly amused the crowd. I should have known better than to follow Sean. Oh well. We also drank a lot all night. We headed back to Hooters and played some there and then Kevin disappeared. We kept playing and drinking a little and then went to bed. Pretty sure I finished down. Thursday We got up early and met Sean for breakfast. We had some coupons for a free breakfast which was quite large for free so that was pretty awesome. Sean then departed. We decided to walk the entire strip. We stopped off at O'Sheas to play this Amazing Race slot machine which I did pretty well on the night before. I won 400 bucks on it. Then we kept walking. The strip gets a lot sketchier after you pass circus circus and I was glad it was day time out. We went to the top of the Statosphere. After enjoying the view for awhile we walked back. Now, we walked about 4 miles one way and so we were ready for break (we couldn't walk anymore) by the time we got to Margaritaville. So we ate there and then went back to O'Shea's to play the Amazing Race and went back to Hooters and took a nap. At night we went back to O'Shea's and played some Phil (what I will abbreviate the Amazing Race machines as from now on) and then Let it Ride. I did really well at Let it Ride, up 400 I think. Don't worry, it would all be gone soon. Friday We again got up early and worked out followed by another free breakfast. We headed back to O'Shea's. I'm not usually a slot person but Phil took us for a ride on Friday. The machine was really loose in previous playing and was tighter than a nun. Also, it has this progressive bonus game that we frequently got to hit before (a lot of times). It didn't hit once on Friday and I kept expecting it to. So, basically I poured any winnings I had and a lot more back into the machine. I had to make my first trip to the ATM. (which, by all accounts wasn't bad because I had expected to have to go a lot earlier in the week than this) and lot more on Phil and Let it Ride. Eventually we left for dinner. We wanted to go to In N Out burger. We walked and basically discovered you have to go through a little bit of ghetto to get there. We decided we couldn't walk back the way we came. The burgers were awesome. We then walked back a different way which was not through the ghetto. We then went back to Hooters and chilled there. We got a call that out flight was delayed from 10 to midnight. So we played more Phil (Hooters had a machine too) and lost more money. We then went to Hooters to kill time. Our waitress didn't understand this and came back every three minutes to see what we wanted. So we finally gave in and ordered. I then played a little more and lost a little more money on blackjack and let it ride and we then went to the airport. I can't sleep on planes so basically I just sat with my eyes closed on the flight and saw the sun come up and then landed. I slept til 5 when I got home. So, there's the recap. I'm going to offer the following space in the column for Sue to add any observations, thoughts and opinions on the trip to basically offer up a second point of view. So I will leave here and give up the forum. Love, Mike Sue's Take I'm not sure that I have much to add here. Mike got all of the big events right. I feel like I need to explain my point of view on the dam. You see, if I had never been to the dam and only saw pictures I would agree with Mike. Pictures make it look like you would fly down the dam and die a horrible messy death on impact. However, upon closer inspection (one you could only get by visiting the dam and thoroughly contemplating body positioning, clothing choice, slope of the dam...) I feel that one could slide down the dam without death on impact. Do I think you'd get severely injured? Sure. But death, not necessarily. As Sean said, Mike was all about destroying dreams on this one. One more thing I'd like to say is Vegas really seems like a man's city. You walk down the street and there are about 873 illegals slapping brochures for various naked lady services. My personal favorite being HotAssEscorts.com or something very similar. There are fake boobs out and about everywhere. Most dealers are attractive women or unattractive, unthreatening men. I'm not saying I didn't have a great time, I found Vegas a lot of fun. What I am saying is if I were interested in seeing naked ladies, or found large fake breasts attractive, I probably would have found it a lot more fun. Where are my greased up, topless, fake tanned men at? I think I need to write to the Las Vegas Tourist Bureau and get them started on that before my next trip out there. And that's all I have to say about that. (Comment on this)
Sunday, February 13th, 2011
8:59 am	Back to the Zoo So, on a whim, Sue and I journeyed to Amherst because Rob and Jackie and their kid Matthew were in town for some meeting Jackie had to go to (she's a big wig with the alumni association). So, we met them at the campus center hotel. Also present were Jackie's parents, sister, cousin, cousin's boyfriend, uncle, uncle's girlfriend and another cousin. But really, we pretty much just talked to Jackie and Rob the whole time, ignoring her family. They were set up in the cafe of the hotel lobby were we spent most of the night. I must say, what an ugly building. Whoever thought massive amounts of concrete would make a good decor was crazy. Also, pretty sure it was the first time I'd ever been in the hotel. So, cross that off the bucket list. They had ordered Wings from the Hanger so, that was pretty awesome (Honey BBQ, Honey Mustard and Buffalo for those keeping score at home). Rob and I discussed the best Amherst area food and so we tried to determine what were our Top 5 places. Mine were 1) The Hanger (for Wings) 2) Antonios (for Pizza) 3) Bueno (for burritos) 4) Goten (for a nice sit down hibachi meal) 5) I got stuck on number five because there are a lot of places but none stood out to me, I toyed with the ABC, but I guess I'll just opt for generic delivery pizza and subs, so I'll go with the SUB, edging out Brunos. DP Dough, which was Sue's favorite at UConn wasn't in the running, as I wasn't a big fan. Also, can someone confirm or deny that there was a delivery place called Roadrunner, or Roadrunners? I remembered it, but no one else did. Dominos did not make the cut, even though myself, Blade, Nick and Rob had eaten there about 30 times one semester because they bought some silly coupons that made it a very very cheap option. We also determined the Amherst area lacks a really good burger joint (unless you count Pete's Drive in, but that place is always crowded with flies), and decided to invest in a Five Guys franchise and put in Amherst. Only problem is, I'm a teacher and don't have investment capital. So if you're interested in investing, call the Penney Industries and Venture Capitalism firm and we'll bring good burgers to the Happy Valley. Matthew was a very cute kid, and was well behaved except for a little fussiness now and then, but he's a baby and that's what they do. It was good to meet him. While holding him I moved his legs a lot to make it look like he was doing a dance. I don't think he was amused, but I was. He also was fixated with the Florida/Tennessee game that was on and stopped crying when Florida took the lead. So, I like his sports choices so far. Go Gators. After a long time of just conversing about the issues of the day, myself, Sue, Rob and Alicia decided to go out for a brew. Jackie was tired and went to bed. I made the executive decision to go to the Harp and avoid the uptown bars. They have a great draft selection (I had the Allagash White) and we could sit down at a table instead of being crowded in standing with the college herds of the uptown bars. Plus, we could just park in front avoiding walking outside in the freezing cold if we went uptown. I don't know why I'm working so hard to defend my decision. Get off my BACK! Anyways, I was glad to see the guy who looks like Robert Shaw in Jaws, I think his name is Terry, still there. He's the owner and used to host trivia when we went there back in the day. He gave Alicia the business when she couldn't determine which bathroom was the women's room because it was written in Gaelic. I think his quote was, "You see the picture with all the guys on the door?" He's still got it. Anyways, we had a couple beers and departed. We dropped Alicia off at the Holiday Inn. Then we dropped Rob off at the Campus Center. Sue also told us if we flashed our high beams at a traffic light it would turn quicker. And, it worked twice, but I think only by coincidence. We also drove by the new fitness center which looks pretty amazing. Rob made the solid point that if it existed when we were students we probably still would've just been in our dorm playing Family Feud online rather than working out. I agreed. Rob then did the Rob laugh when we talked about skipping class to play Family Feud. Not sure what triggered it, but, I would've been disappointed if the Rob laugh didn't make an appearance at least once. After we dropped them off, we went downtown and parked and went to Antonios. I got one slice for now and two more for the road (which are currently in the fridge and will be eaten as soon as I'm done writing this). I got a chicken blue cheese, a Mexicana (with beans and rice and sour cream and stuff) and a pesto tortellini. Sue got a white pizza and something else, I forget. I regretted not getting a potato bacon, she did too. Damn it. Maybe next time. Then we drove back (via Route 9, as it's the fastest way to Amherst from Shrewsbury now). Overall I would say much is the same in Amherst. There's some new buildings on campus, some new businesses on Route 9 (a Home Depot?) and some old friends have closed down, most notably, Pizza Hut. I guess they just didn't have enough staff. And now, if I could take a minute, I need to address a serious issue. Robert James Carlson....boy this is tough.......Robert James Carlson.......has not finished watching the Wire yet and isn't excited to do so. He referred to Season 2 as boring, and like a job "Gotta watch the Wire again, sigh". What is wrong with him?????? I think we need to plan an intervention. This is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, show of all time. And he's in no rush to finish it and find out what happens. He also said he checked out on Treme after 2 episodes. So, I concluded he doesn't like shows with good acting and good writing. Oh, and get this! He is holding off the Wire because he has to finish the TUDORS! This is outrageous. So, I'm starting the "Get Rob to come to his senses and finish the Wire and appreciate it as the best show ever" campaign. Please contribute, together, we can make this happen. Each day that goes by without Rob watching it is like a slap in the face to good television. Thank you for your time. Love, Mike P.S. Rob, I did a little research and I was right, Worcester does edge out Providence as the 2nd largest city in New England (but that's based on a sporcle quiz, so, not sure how accurate that is). (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, February 6th, 2011
10:08 pm	Super Bowl Running Diary Spectacular (with all apologies to the Sports Guy) Ok, so, I need an epic update here. So, I'm going to do a running diary of the Super Bowl. 5:25 Just saw a promo for a Nic Cage movie. Just STOP! Stop letting this guy make movies!!!!!! (see facebook for an expanded commentary on that one) 5:30PM Frank Caliendo isn't funny. He just isn't. 5:34 PM 4 out of 5 Fox "analysts" picked the Packers. Seems like the sexy pick. I'm going to pick the Steelers. Or the Packers. It could go either way. On the one hand the Packers have a good offense, but so do the Steelers. Geesh, this is tough. I'm going to go with.......the Steelers, even though I want Green Bay to win, being a Pats fan I can't in good conscience root for the Steelers, but, the Packers did beat the Bledsoe Pats in the Super Bowl so shouldn't I root against them? But, that was Favre and I'd love to see Rodgers get a Super Bowl and have as many titles as the dick pic texter. Decisions are hard. Ok, Steelers are the pick, let's move on with life. 5:54 I understand why they read the Declaration of Independence before the Super Bowl. Wait, no I don't. But, always good to see Jerry Rice! Also, I'm pretty sure they didn't read the whole thing. I could be wrong though. 6:02 Oh Good. Joe Buck. Hit mute button......now. 6:03 Visa really screwed the pooch and jinxed that guy of the "never miss a super bowl club" huh? First off, how do they afford it? Are they rich or did they win some contest in the 60's? If they are rich, I don't care as much. If they had to shuck and jive and deal with scalpers to get into games and had some kind of wacky scheme to get past a security guard at some point, then I'm more excited. 6:06 I really like the All State commercials with the guy from Rescue Me. They amuse me. What doesn't amuse me are the 8,967 American Idol and Glee promos I'll have to endure tonight. 6:07 Sue thinks it's time for FOX to retire the robot. I agree, how many times do we have to watch it jump and do squats and run in place? I suggest watching Frank Caliendo getting hit in the nuts with various objects. That's more fun than a robot that exercises. 6:09 Oh hey Sam Elliot, good to see you. 6:11 Remember when they used to introduce players individually? Until the Pats ended that tradition by coming out as a team and beat the Rams. Good Times. 6:13 Still using the jock jams CD in pro sports. Way to keep it current guys. 6:14 I think Adam Sandler puts out 12 movies a year and I only see one of them. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing for either of us (me or Adam Sandler) 6:17 We have to have a multi-million dollar campaign by the NFL to get kids to play outside? Something seriously wrong with that one. Shouldn't kids just do that on their own? No? Ok. Nevermind. 6:18 Walter Payton award.....bathroom break #1 (of many. I pee like an 85 year old man, all the time and not very accurate). 6:20 We need to sing "America the Beautiful" before the National Anthem? USA! USA! USA! (watch Glee, that's the girl from Glee singing, you love Glee.) A huge reaction from the crowd when George W. Bush is shown on the screen. Apparently they don't recall Iraq, Afghanistan or the financial crisis in Texas. 6:22 Xtina. Solid choice. Great voice, has worked with Redman, what else could you ask for? They still have the sign language interpreter? Don't you just have closed captioning nowadays if you're deaf? Her "brave" was over 6 seconds. Knew I should have bet that one. 6:28 Clearly the Super Bowl is of the same historical importance as the Great Depression, D-Day, the Civil Rights movement and 9/11. Thanks Michael Douglas for making me remember that. 6:30 Coin toss........and the winner is.........the Packers!!!!! What a night!!! Oh.....right....the game..... 6:34 Kick off......(was that Van Halen's Right now playing before the kick? I think it was....who is more stuck in the 90's, stadium DJ's, or strip club DJ's? I vote stadium) 6:35 Dinner break for Tacos....... Fumble!!! (I was in the kitchen assembling my tacos. They were delicious.) 6:44 Kenny G. Ok, moving on...... Sorry, I had seconds on tacos....now I'm back full time.... 6:50 I hate when announcers say, "we had a chance to talk to_______ last night". Yeah, it's because they have to talk to you, not because you're some insider who they will divulge secrets to. Jackass. Also, I think the days of a really "important" or "groundbreaking" super bowl commercial are done. Because if its that good you'll see it on the internet tomorrow. Back in the day, if you missed it you had no idea what people were talking about the next day. And phone calls cost a nickel. Ok, the Bud Light product placement commercial was pretty good. The Rock joins the Fast and Furious franchise? BOO-YAH. Also, I think I missed the 2nd and 3rd movie in the franchise. Did I miss anything important or crucial to the plot? Just let me know if I did. 6:58 John Madden texting? Why is that so unfathomable Joe Buck? Huh? Why? The man used a telestrator for like 50 years and won a Super Bowl, I think he can handle a cell phone. Also, Cameron Diaz, you can do better. Much Better. 7:00 Jordy Nelson!! Well, I'm not sure many people took the "White WR will score first TD of Super Bowl" bet in Vegas, but I'm sure they got good odds. 7-0 Packers. 7:02 Apparently Pepsi Max's ad campaign is, people getting hit by cans. Can Frank Caliendo be in the next one? 7:05 Ok Cowboys Vs. Aliens, I'll bite. You win. Any time James Bond and Indiana Jones team up as cowboys to fight aliens, well, that's a no-brainer right? 7:07 PICK that turns into a TAINT! (touchdown after interception). Good job woman raper, I mean Ben. 14-0 Packers. 7:15 Big Ben runs like he's trying to escape prosecution! 1st down. End of 1st Quarter. Score Me 5 Tacos 0 7:18 Byron Leftwich is your backup? Good lord. 7:21 "He sets a pretty high bar for coming back from injury" -Troy Aikman referring to Ben. "Or suspension" - Me 7:23 14-3 Packers. 7:24 Ok, the Tiny Dancer commercial was funny. It wasn't at first, but then it was. 7:25 John Travolta and Ron Howard in the house. Maybe they'll talk and we can finally get a sequel to Michael. (I know, ron howard didn't direct Michael, but just play along) 7:31 Ok nice furry guys in the coke commercial, you made the dragon spit fireworks.......but your woods are still on fire! 7:41 Ben throws his 2nd INT. I guess sexually assaulting women isn't good for Super Bowl karma. Except for, you know, the 2 he already won. 7:45 TD Greg Jennings! Great catch. 21-3 Packers. 7:48 Facebook status updates....that's a reason to buy a new car. I weep for the future. 7:56 Touchdown Hines Ward! 21-10 Packers. Maybe this will be a game after all. But probably not. 7:58 Yes Troy, they are having a defensive team meeting in the GB locker room. Brilliant use of wit. And that's the half. 21-10 Packers. They played really well, but I don't like how Big Ben creeps back into games. I wouldn't sleep on him, or with him in the second half. 8:01 I officially never want to hear katy perry's "firework" again. I just realized today is the 7th anniversary of me having this journal. I feel like it's a good thing I'm posting a huge entry to commemorate it. Next I'm going to make a set of commemorative plates with my best posts on them, only 29.99 each. 8:09 Black Eyed Peas halftime show stream of consciousness. First off, who would've guessed they'd start with "I gotta Feelin"? They are going to some deep cuts tonight. All rarities and B-Sides. Vocals Loud, music not. Good mix (not really, levels seem pretty off). Nice green light suits......I guess. I don't think they are as good when their vocals aren't all autotuned and computerized. Slash. Wow. Eppy is creaming his jeans. Everyone else is just confused. Always funny to me when they do Let's get it started. What, the world is too PC to have them sing the word retarded on National TV? Oh hey Usher. Giving the peas a much needed rest after 3 minutes straight of performing. Almost expected JT. No JT (price is right you didn't win horn). The dirty dancing song. Maybe we'll see Patrick Swa.....oh, right. My bad. And it's over. Well, at least they were more energetic than the Who were. Ok, back to the game. 8:24 Time to pee again. 8:27 Sorry House, "Do it or your fired" is no "His father is the district attorney!" 8:29 and cue ghost of Vince Lombardi 8:38 I thought Sean Connery was pretty straight forward in laying down "the Chicago Code" in the Untouchables. Well, I guess the world does need more lawyer shows. 8:42 Mendenhall! (who contrary to popular belief isn't Jewish) And it's a game again.....21-17 Packers. 8:43 Right, we needed another Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Absolutely. Can't get enough of that Jack Sparrow. I hate Hollywood. 8:48 and we have a full blown momentum shift (wouldn't want to be a real Packers fan right now) 8:59 The Packers don't have a sack yet tonight......(Ben sacked). Are they psychic or something? 9:00 Widely missed FG by the Steelers....file that under missed opportunity 9:01 Second Eminem appearance of the night. This time the real him, not the claymation version. He's really Mr. corporate now. My favorite line from that one was, "A city that's been to hell and back". Really, Detroit came back from hell? When did that happen? 9:03 Donald Driver already in a foot boot. And we have critics of Obamacare? That was pretty fast service if you ask me. 9:15 A challenge over a catch. And the refs got it right. Kudos. 9:22 I'm a sucker for any commercial with classic TV show characters. End of 3rd Quarter 21-17 Packers 9:24 Steelers Fumble! Fumbleaya! Fumblerooski! Man I love the movie Necessary Roughness. 9:29 Big play by Jordy Nelson, atoning for his previous drop. Which sets up....... 9:30 Greg Jennings! Touchdown. 28-17 Packers. Momentum fully back with Cheddar Nation. 9:34 Pee break #3 9:42 Mike Wallace! Steelers back in it....again. Going for two.....good. 28-25 Packers. 9:45 I don't ever hear the words Go Daddy and Dot Com uttered together the other 364 days of the year. Why is that? 9:55 FG by Mason Crosby (you don't see many Mason's around. Shame.) 31-25 Packers. 9:59 Time for the ol' 2 minute drill. Let's see what ben can do. You know, besides sexauly assault women. 10:02 In signaling the play Ben put horns on his head, made him look like the devil. Fitting. 10:04 Big 4th down here. Here's the game..........Incomplete. 10:05 Your 2010 Season Champions are the Green Bay Packers. Good for them. Good team, overcame injuries. Battled as a wild card. Feel good story. Well, that's that. I hope you enjoyed the running diary, drive home safely and remember to tip your bartender. Love, Mike P.S. Despite the 564 promos, I'm not watching Glee, American Idol, the Chicago Code or House. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 1st, 2011
6:28 pm	About a month late So, when I was shoveling today....which is my new career.....I had, "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas" stuck in my head. Explain that. So, finally Treme is on demand, so I watched episode 1. Looking forward to the rest. Good to see Bunk and Lester again, even if they're musicians and not detectives. Also, we watched the first 2 seasons of weeds in a week. It's pretty good, but my favorite part is the theme song. It's awesome. Also, I'm only 18 movies away from finishing the AFI Top 100 movies. So when I finish I'm going to do a big update with my thoughts on all 100 movies, probably in groups of 10. So you have that to look forward to. Tomorrow I'm going to watch Groundhog Day. Thought you should know. Also, I won't be working because I don't work anymore. Seriously. Out of a possible 22 school days (including tomorrow) since New Years I have only worked 15 of those. That's right, 7 snow days. And winter isn't over yet. We could still get more in February or March. Craziness. Now, since I work at a charter school, we go ten extra days and traditionally haven't made up snow days. They can change that at any time, but here's hoping they don't. Anyways, 2 1/2 weeks til Vegas. Woo. Love, Mike (Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 25th, 2011
5:19 pm	Ray Bolger....is looking out for Ray Bolger! Hi, So, here's the skinny. Saturday we went to the Cincotti's. We watched Kyla dance, which was awesome. She even sings along with some the songs, most notable the OOOOOOOOOOHs, in Bad Romance by Lady Gaga. It's hilarious and kid's got some dance moves. Then we played some A to Z and then some other game that started with a B. It was kinda like tetris, but a board game. Also we played Uno, but the one with the machine, so instead of drawing you press a button and it spits out a random number of cards. It is very easy to have a good time playing it because it's like the machine is ejaculating cards. It's fun to make jokes. Anyways, then we have had school and are finally finishing mid-terms. They should have been done last week but snow snow snow pushed it back back back. So, brief update, but hopefully more will happen soon. Oh, my back hurts. A lot. Don't know whether it was shoveling or I tweaked it lifting something or what, but it hurts. That's all. I'll leave you with this..... http://download.lardlad.com/sounds/season10/dish12.mp3 If you go to that link you'll hear one of my favorite Homer Simpson lines. Also, I found a prop bet I made for Jets to win the Super Bowl. So, from last year's crop, I think I went 0 for 5 on bets. Maybe this time I'll do better. I'll give my Super Bowl prediction later since it's like, 8 weeks until the actual game. Love, Mike (Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 18th, 2011
2:44 pm	Where's This Global Warming Everyone Keeps Talking About? Howdy Campers, So, Out of the past 7 days I have worked exactly one of them. 3 Snow Days, a remembrance of Dr. King and a regular weekend. Yup 1 day. I kind of feel like the guy from Office Space except, I'm not really supposed to be working and going in right now. However, I do enjoy the days off. I am one of those people who is like the guy in Office Space because I can do absolutely nothing and it can be everything I thought it would be. So what have I been doing? Oh, why let me fill you in. So last Wed and Thurs were snow days. The snow was pretty God Damn heavy and it hurt to shovel. Thurs night we went to Trivia (we usually go Monday nights) and won. It was fun to beat the Thursday regulars at their own game. I even came up with the winning answer (Uncle Sam). Then Friday I worked but it was a very weird day for the kids and students with 2 days off behind and 3 days off ahead of them. Over the weekend, we laid low. On Sunday I went down to Matt Wiffens for the Pats game. He has a new dog named Logan that was a really good dog. I liked him. Some girl came over with her little yippie dog and I didn't like him. He kept crawling on me and those dogs remind me of rats. Anyways, as for the game, I think I'm at the age where sports losses aren't as devastating as they once were. Sure it would have been great if they won. But did my life end or I go into severe depression because they lost? No. Also, they weren't supposed to do anything this season anyways so going 14-2 was a bonus. They are young and will be even better next year. And for years to come. Anything can happen any given Sunday, and you have to live with that. If the favorites always won no one would watch. Still, I wish it weren't the god damned Jets we lost to. I hate the Jets. Also, we watched the Golden Globes. I thought Ricky Gervais was very funny (as I always do) and didn't find his gay Tom Cruise joke that offensive. Kudos David Brent. Yesterday we went to the movies. We narrowed it down to the King's Speech or Black Swan to honor the holiday. Get it? Ok, anyways, Black Swan won out. Man, Mila Kunis is hot. I'm not a big Natalie Portman fan, I can take or leave her, but Mila, Good Lord. Anyways, I didn't think it was as "intense" as everyone made it out to be and had a hard time taking the director seriously because he was the bad guy in Ocean's Twelve. Overall I thought it was very good, but, wouldn't say it's the best movie I've seen all year. So, I had a snow day today and Sue didn't. i don't think she was a happy camper this morning and it took her over 2 hours to get to work. That sucks. I'll have to do something nice. Anyways, today I shoveled which was 93% easier than last time. Except, I'm running out of places to put the snow. Hopefully some of it melts before the next storm. Tomorrow I start another grad class (even though I have my master's, the only way to move over columns on the pay scale is to take more classes) called "Teaching History with Film". I've had this professor before and he is super smart but does require a lot of work. Oh well, I guess interesting with a lot of work outweighs boring with little work. Anyways, if I pile up some credits I may just roll it into a second masters. We'll see. I'm not doing a PhD though. That sounds just awful. Ok, enjoy your day whether they were snowy or not. Love, Mike (Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 12th, 2011
4:08 pm	Anything Can Happen on a Snow Day So, snow days are awesome....and I'm not complaining because pretty much all I've done today is play video games, run on the treadmill and watch tv.....but.....shoveling sucks. Especially with just a shovel. I never thought I'd miss the crappy snow blower from West Boylston, but I do. At least it worked 50% of the time. Even with a small driveway, over a foot was pretty damn heavy. Also, I don't know what was worse....shoveling or the fact that I had "Whip my hair back and forth" stuck in my head while doing it. Love, Mike (Comment on this)
Monday, January 10th, 2011
9:19 pm	Time to Shed a Few So, they started a biggest loser thing at school. The official weigh in was this morning. I weighed in at 207 (though, to be fair, I had a big mac and a big bowl of ice cream to try and bump it up a little before the weigh in). I've been pretty consistent with exercise, well, almost consistent. But, this time I'm going to try and change what I eat too. We'll see what happens and I'll keep you posted. Love, Mike (Comment on this)
Thursday, January 6th, 2011
6:42 pm	Whoa......Ummm......Sorry about that....(Rob) So, time flies when you're not updating your livejournal eh? You have to skip through an ad now? That's new. Anyways, I've only updated once since last April? Geesh. It's not like nothing has happened in that time either....Ok...well, let's take it from last April then shall we and we'll try to catch up.... Ok, first, I find on the Mac that I make more spelling errors. So if you find any, blame it on the ma ma ma ma ma ma ma mac (read that again but to the tune of, blame it on the alcohol.....there, funnier right?) Ok, so, last spring I finished my masters. It was a huge douche. My advisor sucked and led me in several wrong directions, but, I finished and he signed it and that's all I have to say about that. I also won an award for having the highest GPA of people graduating with a masters in secondary education. Relax, I beat out like 3 other people. But I did get a medal. Sometimes I wear it around the house.......ummm.....pretend you didn't read that. Then summer came....I worked at camp. It was a lot like the movie meatballs because my girlfriend....we'll call her....Sue....worked at the girls camp across the lake. That's how we met, you should know these things. Anyways, there was a lot of sneaking over....or just going over with permission. There have been five weddings since my last update....here's the rundown.... So, my friend from work Grace got married. It rained, which sucked because it moved the ceremony from outside to inside, but, que cera cera. The DJ was really amusing. He was an Italian guy who played the saxophone along with songs. I made him play Born to Run and did an epic air guitar solo and danced with aunt ruthie (a feisty 90 year old who is a fantastic dancer. I also pretty much owned the dance floor, and if you don't believe me there's video to prove it. Next up was my friend chris from split rock days. He got married at sturbridge village. I didn't know many people but it was still sort of cool. Our table did a lip sync and choreographed dance for the bride and groom, only they chose paradise by the dashboard light, which, isn't a great metaphor for a newly married couple. Then Tammy and Dennis, two camp people got married. It was a fun time, and was at the girls camp. I got really drunk and stumbled back to my cabin after far too many beers. I also owned the dance floor at this wedding. Then came Curtis and Nancy (another camp alum, curtis, not nancy). It was in virginia and I drove down. I did not know one person there except the bride and groom. I still had fun. I danced but didn't own it because I didn't know anyone. Also, I stopped in Baltimore and saw Angie. That was fun. We watched some episodes of the Wire and I helped her translate and keep the characters straight. Curtis had the Ace of Cakes guy make him an Ark of the Covenant. He's a big Indiana Jones Fan. They also walked out of the ceremony to the Raider's March. Fun wedding, long drive home. Then to cap off the wedding season was Eric's wedding. That was fun because I knew people at the wedding. They had a band which were pretty good. It was a lot of fun and was probably the longest wedding from start of ceremony until end of reception I've been too. Plus, I was a groomsman and stood next to Frank, and he is a CHARACTER! Ok, so that's it for weddings....next summer Mike's and Sean's......Booyah. Ok, also last summer I went to Myrtle Beach with the family. Highlights of that include me getting kicked off the stage at a club (apparently you have to be female to be on stage). Me wowing the crowd with my stand by karaoke hit "Sweet Caroline". It was probably the largest karaoke bar I've been to. We went parasailing. That was fun. This fall I started coaching (well, asst. coaching) girls soccer. That was a lot of fun and our team made the district tournament for the first time in school history. We finished 8-7.8-8?..or something like that. My job was to go on long runs with them and get them in shape. I shouldn't be able to beat 3/4 of the team in a 3 mile run, but nevertheless I did. Sue and I hosted Thanksgiving for the first time. That was fun. We are good hosts. Christmas was a good time. My sister and Mattford got engaged. That was the big news. For newyears we went to their (matt and melissa) condo and had a good time. For my birthday Sue took me skydiving. That was a lot of fun. It kinda hurt because I'm not flexible and got sore especially in the hips. But it was amazing, especially in free fall. Concerts I saw this year: Dave Matthews- solid show...good to see them before they take a year off......some girl passed out next to us and started throwing up and was pretty much dead for the entire show and her friends ignored her......awesome. Mighty Mighty Bosstones- awesome show, had never seen them before....not great seats...well, no seats at all, but bad standing room spot and three annoying women next to us.....but the music was fantastic. I really do apologize for not updating, but in all reality, you knew most of this stuff through facebook either via pictures or updates. But, maybe I'll try to update more frequently. We'll see. Going to Vegas in 6 weeks so something crazy should happen then. Love, Mike (Comment on this)
Thursday, September 23rd, 2010
7:47 pm	Way up in the sky So Saturday I jumped out of a plane at 14,000 feet strapped to a guy named Chad........best birthday present ever. (Comment on this)
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
10:47 pm	Viva LA Vegas (not a typo) The LA being Los Angeles (one of my most frequently misspelled words by the way) and the Vegas being.....well, Las Vegas. So, here's the recap kids...... Friday after school, Grace was kind enough to give me a ride to the old airport. I was flying American Airlines, and I must say, the food options at the AA terminal were much better than what I usually see when I have flown other airports out of logan. I feasted on a rice bowl with chicken and some spicy thai sauce. It was really very tasty. Anyways, then I got on a plane. I flew to LAX. The flight felt pretty long. The in flight movie was "Did you hear about the morgans?" I did not want to hear about the Morgans, so, I didn't watch it and so I finished my book (What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell, one of my three favorite writers. It was very good and I know it was all previously published stuff, but I hadn't read most of them and it was very good, I highly recommend it). I then listened to three real time with Bill Maher. Anyways, it was depressing when the woman sitting next to me looked at her watch and said, oh, two hours left. Crushing when I thought it had already been a very long time. Sean picked me up at the airport. We drove to his apartment which is pretty cool. It's an old Hollywood hotel that they converted to apartments. The elevator is really old and pretty creepy and the whole place looked very creepily like the Tower of Terror ride at Disney World. The first night I was tired after a Full day of school so, we didn't really do much. I also met Kate, Sean's girlfriend. She was very nice. I approve. The next day we hung out, played some video games, watched the Celtics game and then went to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. I had the Chicken and Waffles. Both were delicious. Later in the day we went to see an improv show at the UCB theater. It wasn't very good. One guy just looked funny, which amused me. Then we went to one of those karaoke places where you rent a room. There were about 10 of us. Not everyone sang. We sang a lot. My best was probably Frank Sinatra's "My Way" a standard for me and my karaoke career. It was a pretty fun night. Sunday Kate had to leave town for a while, so it was just the two bulls. First off we went to this diner and got chili friends and a chili burger. They were good. Really good. And the diner was right next to the bull riding place from the last visit. Then we went to Santa Monica (I did sing the everclear song as we drove there Eppy, don't you worry) and met up with one of Seans former coworkers. He has a group that plays volleyball on Sundays at the beach which was very cool. We played a little and then went to a bar for some burgers. The bar was a Yankee bar, which sucked, but, we ate on the patio, so I wasn't in the bar, so I think that's OK. The burger was fantastic. Then we all went to the movies and saw Kick Ass. It kicked ass. Very good. Go see it. Monday Sean brought me to Avis rental car and I got my rental car. A nissan something. I drove the 300 miles to Las Vegas. It was very strange. The scenery was cool. Much more hilly and mountainous than I expected. But, it was also depressing seeing all the abandoned trailer parks, scrap metal, etc. Also it was weird how far apart civilization was. 100 miles....gas station and fast food.....nothing.....nothing.....gas station....100 miles....rest stop....etc. very creepy at times. Anyways, I brought my car to the rental place, took a cab to the hotel and began my three day gambling odyssey. I stayed at the fabulous and luxurious Hooters Hotel and Casino. Right off the strip next to MGM grand. I stayed there because it was very cheap. The room was a little dingy, and the shower didn't drain very well, but, the price was right at 30 a night. My cousin Kevin joined me (he lives there but took a little vacation in his city). He had to work the first night, so I just ate some wings and played some blackjack and actually did very well the first night. That trend wouldn't continue. Tuesday morning I got up, went to the gym and ran. I then walked the strip a little, grabbed some breakfast and then met Kevin who had gotten off of work. We spent the day lounging by the pool and playing blackjack. The one downside to this part is that I needed sunscreen. It was $15 in the store at the hotel. Now, I understand supply and demand and that people will pay high prices if there's no competition, but, a bottle of sunscreen should not cost half the price of a hotel room. That's how they get ya. Anyways, the day was a lot of black jack, which I did Ok on. Later, Kevin needed to crash so I walked the strip and played some let it ride at O'Shays and rode my winnings into the ground. It hurt. But, oh well. Wednesday was much of the same except it was cold and windy so there wasn't much pool time, and there was more blackjack time. I did ok. Basically, finished down for the trip but whatever. The last session was pretty good, we had a very good dealer. Kevin did really well and it was because I had given him the sunscreen to keep (since I was pretty sure I couldn't bring the spray can on the plane) and we attributed his run to that good luck charm. So, he said the can is staying in his pocket until it proves unsuccessful. So, I guess it was worth the price in the end. Just as a good luck charm and not a bottle of sunscreen. This morning I had to get up early and catch a flight home. It went much quicker than the flight out. All in all a great trip. A lot of fun. Love, Mike (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
8:16 pm	Hi I'm a Mac So, this is my first entry from my new computer. I decided to switch worlds and get a Mac. I didn't really have a good reason. In fact, I don't really know why I did it. I do like the battery, friggen lasts forever on a charge. And, I guess I just liked what I heard from people who have them. My Dell shit the bed after a solid four years of service. Coincidentally, it died the morning after I finished the first draft of my thesis. Luckily, I knew my computer was old and took no chances. I saved it to my external hard drive and e-mailed it to two different accounts. Be prepared. And I had most of what I needed on my external hard drive. I don't remember if there was anything crucial just on the computer. Oh well. Too late now. So this has been a really busy fall. I did my portfolio, wrote my thesis (turned in my second draft the other day, should be published and done soon) and have been teaching five different classes (which can be complicated when planning). So, if all goes well I'll be done grad school in a few weeks. Thank God. It sucks having to take classes and work. I will be glad to be done. So, Thanksgiving came and went. I had a really good Thanksgiving. Went down to CT to Sue's. Wednesday night and we went out with her sister and friend to a bar and saw a really lousy cover band. Thursday, we watched the Macy's parade, and Home Alone, then had dinner with Sue and her two sisters. It was a very quaint but great Turkey Day. I contributed by bringing some fine Wachusett Ales, my world famous homemade Chex Mix, and an Oreo Pie. Booyah. Friday, we had Senior staff interviews, followed by lunch at the Olive Garden (when you're there, you are family). In the beginning, we couldn't get any breadsticks. In the end, they bombarded us with them. But we were full by then. Damn the man. Then I went back to CT. Saturday we went into the big apple and saw Avenue Q, which was really funny. We went and saw some art by some obscure artists at the MET then had a lovely dinner at the Heartland Steakhouse. Really good steak. However, I have eaten in some really fancy and nice and expensive steak houses. But for my money, Texas Roadhouse has THE best steaks I have ever had. Anyways, at the Met we saw works by some guy named Van Gogh, Manet, Monet, Degas, Renoir. Hacks really. I could do better. Anyways, I have kinda realized with Facebook, all my small thoughts become status updates, and my time and desire to keep updating this aren't what they used to be. But, I'll keep sporadically updating. Gotta keep it going for the masses. Love, Mike (Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
9:10 pm	A Boat Load of an Update So, I neglected to update all summer. Or for the three weeks I have been back since returning from the shores of the Thorndike. So, I have a lot to say (hopefully). And since my fans (aka, Rob and Jackie) have been clamoring for an update, here we go...... CAMP: So, this summer was my 15th summer working at camp. It was a great summer. I really didn't have to work that hard, since two other guys who worked in the office, Luke and George, pretty much were machines. They would just churn work out. I owe them a lot. But don't tell them that, they might get cocky. So, some fun things from the summer..... I founded the TPDA which, if you are a member, you know what it stands for, and if you don't, ask me in person. But it was a very exclusive and a lot of fun. We made shirts. On the 4th of July I sang Patriotic songs at a bar for a good hour and a half. Another fun thing we did is make fake Facebook status updates. This is because we have no internet at camp, and so, we'd just use a Word document as out blog and people could read them on the wireless network, which was only useful for file sharing and printing......here are some of the better ones...... -Tony R. removed hiking from his interests (he was a scoutmaster who tried to climb the mountain but was vastly out of shape and had to come down after only getting half way up) -Mike Penney created the Group TPDA -John Mayo is listed as “It’s complicated” -5 people left the group STEEL PLATE CHALLENGE -Matt Ford left the group PEOPLE WHO STAY UP PAST 8:30 -Mark Kuhlwein created the group MARINE PATROL APPRECIATION SOCIETY -Mike Penney created the group I DON’T CARE IF SHE ISN’T HOT, IT’S WEEK 6 -Ethan Leighton removed BEING IN NATURE from his interests (he left a lot) -Mike Penney removed HAVING HAIR from his interests (after a bad haircut) -The USPS removed DELIVERING PACKAGES from their interests (after a package was never delivered that my friend sent to me) -Dan Megan is RECORD TIME ON ROUTE 3! -Mike Penney removed BICYCLING from his interests (after riding one after a 5 year hiatus) -Luke Steere created the group CLIVI or CLUVUSES? -Mike Penney added A MILLION LITTLE PIECES to his recently read books -Nina Page changed her location to WASHINGTON D.C. That's a sampling, most you have to know people or things at camp to get. You probably do to get those ones too, oh well. So, yeah, camp was fun. I swam, kayaked, shot shotguns, DJed a dance, etc. All the things that make it worth going back. After camp I went to Eppys wedding. It was a really fun time. My GPS was stupid and I actually drove past the place it was at, then it found it. Anyways, it was hot as balls out, but luckily it was a very short ceremony. With no Corinthians!!! For my thoughts on that, look at older wedding posts. I also lost a bet because I said there would be Corinthians, but, I was happy to lose that one. Also, Eppy wore converse all-stars, which is what he always wears, so, that was pretty awesome. I also bet Mike that there would not be Bruschetta or Shrimp (I think those were the two bets)served as appetizers and I think I won one and lost one. I should never bet at weddings, I usually lose. Anyways, the wedding was fun. I won the centerpiece. I danced with a crazy aunt, and when I say danced, I mean, had an epic dance where it was just us and was kind of awkward but definitely funny to watch. I danced with someone else. I danced with everyone. We did our rocking rendition of Livin' on a Prayer, complete with G5 choreography. Anyways, it was a fun time.....congrats Libby and Eppy. The next day I went to Myrtle Beach with my Mom. We met my cousins Rich, Kevin, Kelly, Sally, my sister, my aunt, my uncle and all their respective spouses and kids. Adam (my cousin rich's kid) decided I was rooming with him. Which was fine except for the night an alarm on his ipod kept going off, but it was a really creepy noise. That was freaky. It was a lot of beach, pools, drinking, going out, drinking, beaches, sun, drinking, and drinking. It was a good time. My family can throw down when we need to. We went to a dance club one night which was a lot of fun. I am fascinated by club culture. I wish I was an anthropologist. One note from the trip. We flew direct air there. And the good part was, it was right out of worcester (i know, who knew?). The bad part was, we were forced to check out bags (25 bucks a piece) even though people got on with bags bigger than ours who had gotten to the airport later. AND they were wicked late taking off (something like 2 hours). Boooo to direct air. When I got back from Myrtle Beach, school started pretty much. This year I am teaching five different subjects (U.S. 1, U.S. 2, Global Events, Psych and IB history). 5 different classes to come up with stuff for will be and already is a challenge. But, oh well. I'll get through it and will be smarter for it. Right after coming back and the night before school started, I went with Mike, Mike's sister, and Mike's dad to see Bruce Springsteen. It was probably the best seats I've ever had for a show. Really close. And the set list was pretty amazing. And, he played "I'm Going Down". The G5 anthem of sorts. So, that was a 19,867 on a scale of 1 to 10. Anyways, great great show. This weekend was fun. Sue came up and we went to Boston and met up with Jackie, Rob, Rob's brother Dave, one of Jackie's coworkers Nichole? and some other people. We found a spot on the street and avoided the garages. We met them for dinner at Cheers. Nicole? asked the waiter if she could steal a glass. He said, sure. We debated whether it's stealing if you have permission. Then we went to the Bell and Hand. There was a band playing. Their name was Over 6. It made it good to make jokes about. They played a lot of wuss rock (matchbox twenty, goo goo dolls, all those crappy one hit wonders that were from wussy rock bands). But, the name made it fun, so, we'd say things like, How many crappy songs will they play? Over 6!. How many STD's do the girls in front of the stage have? Over 6!. Etc. Etc. Etc. It took us a good while to find the car, but we did find it. That was after walking by a girl sitting on the sidewalk peeing. I didn't notice she was peeing at the time, Sue pointed it out to me later. Gross. I wish I saw, I would've called her out and chastised her for this behavior. If there's one thing I don't do it's pee in public (unless it's at Williams college. I peed all OVER that place.). So, anyways, I think that catches us up. Love, Mike (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, June 22nd, 2009
5:02 pm	My Yearly Hiatus So, once again I am off to camp for another summer. feel free to write to me Mike Penney - Staff Camp Wanocksett 642 Upper Jaffrey Rd Dublin NH, 03444 I'll be there for the next 8 weeks. Then I'll be back and won't have an excuse for not updating my journal, but probably won't update it often anyways, Love, Mike (Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
5:18 pm	Into Each Life a Little Rain Must Fall I think sometimes your IPod just knows how you feel and plays along. Today it dealt me what I needed and helped a little. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, May 25th, 2009
7:12 pm	Really? Really? So, today I'm running and all is going well. I'm almost done my loop around the reservoir and I get to a part where the road forks. I am going on the right side of the fork meaning I have to cross over the lane that forks to the left (if that makes sense) and out of nowhere this insane person honks at me! So, I turn around and there's this big suburban waiting for me to clear the lane. Now first off, if I'm ahead of you and you come up behind me, pretty sure I have the right of way. Second, this person was yaking on a cell phone. Let's recap 1) I have the right of way 2) she's on a cell phone oh and 3) after they passed a guy on a picnic table gave the "wow, I can't believe that just happened, that person was crazy" acknowledgment as well as the head shake, like, what was her problem? Some people are just impatient I guess, I mean, I know I'm no Usain Bolt but I probably held them up all of 3 seconds while crossing the lane. Geesh Love, Mike (Comment on this)