Day 64

Thank you Ray Allen. Please help save the franchise.

Now I have tickets to the 8 pm and midnight showings of Transformers this upcoming Monday. Overkill? Perhaps. :)

My Dad turned 61. Right On.

My Mom told me to stop dieting. Silly gal always telling me I'm skinny. I'm trimming fat goof not trying to be a stick figure. If she knew how I eat on a weekly basis she would start coming over to cook me meals. :)

I need a new computer and a new car and a new house.

I look so much better with a shaved head. Thank god it's round.

Wal-Mart has great prices. Grape sodas for a quarter? NICE

I am feeling a big change this summer. One of those "this changed everything" moments is coming. I can sense it.

Why do I know a lot of jacked up chicks? And why do they dig me?

I get paid tomorrow. When I wake up I will do three things that will make me broke again.
Time for a new way.

Why did I have to find a musical artist that absolutely makes me think of her ever time I hear her or see her? And people wonder why I'm obsessed with a singer.

Listen to this song and you will get where my mind is at. Ne-Yo "Do You."

I watched 3 movies. Ghost Rider, Crossover, and Stomp the Yard. 2 of em are worth the trouble for me, but I want the people who made Crossover shot. That movie made me love basketball a lil less.

Maybe I should have stayed at Jesuit.

Least my car goes straight again.

Ok random thought Thursday is over. Rabble Rock!

Trivia Thursday #11

Hopefully I haven't asked these. I lose track...

1. What country boasts the world's oldest active brewery, dating back to 1040 A.D,.?

2. What nation will need an estimated 4,300 years to remove the 10 million land mines left there by the Soviet Army?

3. What U.S. state has the most unemployed dancers?

4. What country boasts the world's highest paid national legislators?

5. What Arab nation has the highest percentage of Christans?

6. Which city is farthest west - San Diego, Reno, or Los Angeles.

7. What country has the highest teen pregnancy rate of all the western industrial nations?

8. Who was the first solo female host of the Academy Awards ceremony?

9. What inscription on U.S. coins did Theodore Roosevelt try in vain to have removed?

10. Who was the first president to appear on a U.S. coin?

Day 65

So here is the story.

I have found complete self-awareness.

The trouble is doing something about it when it occurs. The other day I felt a slip back into the old me. The prior me. I have been slipping the past couple of days. My training has been off. I have slacked on my work and am paying the price. One day off sets back an entire week of work. And for what? Nothing. I can see now that when I was 18 I wasn't planning for 21. I am 28 and I am not planning for 30. Then the time comes around and it's just gone like that.

I know how and why I get depressed.

I know that I have a crack in my motivational methods cause a third of the way through it all I am slipping. I see improvement and a level of consistency and stop striving for more. It's why I started this countdown as a way to apply some accountability to myself through public forum.

I took a look around today and saw something I didn't like. I haven't earned anything I have. I am living off of a life of good faith in the ability to follow through on my word. Unfortunately, my basic statistical status in a bio format does not make me look attractive. Ya know what I think has come to bug me the most? I am completely doing this whole thing for myself by myself just for my own satisfaction of completing the journey. The worst part about that ya ask? Somehow that isn't a good enough reason to finish it all off.

And this is why I will fail.

"Nobody likes you. Everybody hates you. You're gonna lose. Smile you Fuck."

Someone should know that movie quote. :)

Wordless Wednesday #12

Day 66

For the first time in this countdown I am just not feeling it.
I will be back tomorrow to explain.
Rabble Rock!

Top Five Tuesday #13

The whole Benoit situation still has me in shock. Now the shock has changed from, "I can't believe he is dead," to "I can't believe he was a murderer." I thought about deleting the RIP post. I had my finger on the delete button. At the last minute, I decided not to. Although I will always remember him now as a murderer and not the great wrestler he was, I still have a hard time completely erasing his career from my memory. This got me thinking about how many wrestlers I used to watch are dead now. Here are my top 5 wrestlers who are deceased that I wish were still alive today, not necessarily wrestling, but just hanging around and at least making appearances.

#5 - Davey Boy Smith - One half of the great 80s tag team, The British Bulldogs. He was a great wrestler who wrestled almost to the end. He died in 2002 at the age of 39, in what authorities say was probably at least partially due to steroid abuse.






#4 - Curt Henning - Mr Perfect was one of the greatest technical wrestlers I had ever seen. He died in 2003 at the age of 44 from a cocaine overdose although his father blames steroids.









#3 - Owen Hart - Brother to the great Bret Hart. A superb wrestler who also appeared to be a great all around guy. He died in 1999 when a stunt went wrong at a match and he fell from the rafters of an arena to the ring while everyone was watching.












#2 - Eddie Guerrero - I already did a post on him when he died in 2005. I can't believe it has almost been 2 years now. He entertained me more than almost any wrestler I had ever seen and the skill and athleticism he had was unbelievable. He died of heart failure most likely due to past substance abuse problems, although he was known to be clean the few years before his death.






#1 - Andre the Giant - The Eighth Wonder of The World. He was awesome. He didn't do much, but what a character. Don't believe me, just watch his role of Fezzik in the Princess Bride. Unfortunately, his size is what ultimately killed him as he had an excessive growth hormone that led to his congestive heart failure. Andre you are still missed 14 years later...

Day 67

Tonight I am conflicted.

As I watch this tribute show to the man that was Chris Benoit I find myself not feeling sad. Initially I was, but due to early reports I am now incapable of feeling that kind of emotion for the situation. Death is never a good thing, but it is a part of life. Perhaps I am rushing to judgment, but this is my take tonight.

Chris Benoit was found dead in his home in Fayetteville, Georgia today. The bodies of his 7-year old son and his wife were also found lifeless. It is being reported as a double murder-suicide. Presumably, Chris Benoit killed his wife and his son over the weekend and then took his own life on Monday. Authorities, through a press conference given late Monday night, gave what little details they could give as to how the discovery was made. I will simply refer you to WWE.com for those details. The gist of it is that the local authorities have officially ruled this a double murder-suicide.

I have sat through and watched grown men and women cry over Chris Benoit. Granted, this was all before these findings were released to the public as well as to the WWE I presume. Something tells me that a few higher-ups in the WWE kept this on a need-to-know basis until the investigations were made official. I can understand the emotions these people have gone through having to lose yet another peer and friend. This is where I emotionally disconnect from it all.

There is no explanation that will ever justify what happened in that house this weekend. If the findings are true and we all have to accept them as fact, this man in his own home took the life of two people and then his own. Asking all the W's doesn't matter to me anymore. Why? What? All that jazz doesn't mean a damn thing to me. I know I spoke earlier these past few days of passing judgment. Perhaps I will have to look back on myself on this night and say I was wrong. Tonight though I say I can pass judgment as much as I want. I feel nothing for this man. I can respect the work and admit that he entertained me. I can understand the sentiments of those he left behind because tons of people believe in leaving out all the rest and just remembering the good in people. I won't. I don't. I can be honest and say one moment can define a person. I believe this is all I need to know about Chris Benoit. He was a murderer and a coward.

Sure this is brave talk in front of a computer screen. I am sure numerous large individuals would take pleasure in confronting me about speaking badly about the deceased. I tend to believe I could stand there and take my beating to make my point. 40 years of integrity and respect and morale's got Chris Benoit nothing. This headline will define his life. No matter the stories of how great he was with his family and his kids in front of all his peers at a wrestling venue this is what he will always be. The man capable of this act. Now let me do some further qualifying and explaining.

I believe we all are capable of doing exactly what Chris Benoit did this weekend. If we all are of the camp that human being are capable of such great things and able to do what we can if we put our minds to it in the positive sense, then logically speaking the opposite is very true as well. There is a difference between thought and action. What we are able to do and what we actually end up doing. Morbid perhaps. Insightful maybe. Original? Not at all. I just think we all are better off accepting the fact that we are in a world of black and white and grey. ANYTHING is possible.

I am not a religious man. I don't pray. I don't think God is looking out for me or responsible for my actions. Tonight, if God was anywhere it was with these two people. For the son and daughter left behind by the Benoit family I offer you my only prayer tonight. What will happen to them? I now ask what kind of man kills his wife and son and takes his own life? Answer me that someone. We all have been pushed to emotional brinks in our lives. At those moments we are defined by what we believe and how our values really stand out. It is then we find out if respect and integrity and common decency come to the forefront. It is then we find out if we can rise above the drama or let it overtake us. You ask yourself who am I to pass judgment? What have I been through to be able to say that it's so easy to make a choice no matter what the circumstances? You don't know me completely people. You don't know everything. And apparently a lot of people didn't really know Chris Benoit. Tomorrow I wake up and I move on. Cause this is the last time I will speak of this event. No cute statements to close.

RIP Chris Benoit

Last week Rich wrote of the tasteless storylines lately in WWE, including the fake death of Vince McMahon. Today we learn that one of my favorite wrestlers, Chris Benoit, was found dead at home this morning along with his wife and child. Nothing else has been reported. Tragic. I am speechless and depressed all at once.

Here is a picture of him and Eddie Guerrero just a couple of years ago. This was the Wrestlemania where they both won world titles. Even though it was fake, you could see the genuine happiness for each other that night. The honor of being named champion. Now these two favorite wrestlers of mine are dead. So sad...

Day 68

I apologize to "The Associates."

I will take you back again. It was around 1997-98. In between high school and my short college career. I was beginning to see a side of my high school friends that I really didn't want to see. They were participating in activities that I deemed questionable and a waste of time. I instantly judged these people and their actions. I joined up with a close friends of mine in taking to calling them "associates" cause they were no longer friends. My friends wouldn't do those kinds of things and I was now only associated with these guys through circumstance. Looking back, I was being a stuck-up prick really. Who was I to know that what roads these friends of mine were taking was soo wrong? I made my choice and decided to not partake in the things they were, but did that really make me better?

I think if you asked me back then I would say yes to that last question. I would walk around talking down on these guys and blowing myself up as a bastion of good will. I was just as lost as these guys. Searching for fun and a way to get a hold of something in life. I was so in the mindset of doing the right thing that I never stopped to think that it might not be my thing. Not that I needed to go out and get drunk and high and maybe get a police record. I think I should have done those things back then. Not that it would have been excused cause I knew better back then, but at least I would try something. I spent soo much time just not trying anything that I became quite the shut-in. I am paying the price for that now.

This past Saturday I sat at a table and remembered this time in my life as I looked at these friends of mine. People I had secretly insulted because I thought I was such an angel. Turns out that the friend I use to do all this insulting with is now my "associate." Meanwhile I would rather play some poker with the old "associates" than get in some basketball with my new "associate."
The past is the past and it should be left there. I just felt the need to say that I was wrong. I am more like these guys than I thought I ever was. And that is actually a good thing.

Rabble Rock!

Day 69

So I suck at poker.

I'm slacking on my training.

And a married gal walked in on me in the bathroom and said, "Sorry I didn't see anything."

Now that my manhood is completely wiped from me I come to you in peace. I come to you with a message. I have enjoyed the feeling of having others concerned about me and my lil thoughts and actions. It's time though to put something to rest. I see no need for it to carry on just because I enjoy a level of humor from the situation. Honestly, I can not really fathom how it got to this point. I was just being a goof.

Cassie. I will make this promise to you. I mean no harm in anything I do or say. The last thing a woman needs leading up to or on her wedding day is any stress added on to the already stressful day. I understand that I have been apart of discussions as far as the whole wedding goes cause of jokes I may have made in the past. I want to set the family at ease with this. I will behave. I will not stand up during the ceremony and protest. I won't make it at all about me. The best thing I can do is go unnoticed. I am just happy to be a witness. Thank you for inviting me to join in the celebration. Please know I was just being a goof off, but I don't want to have any one get it at all twisted. I look forward to the day cause it's my vacation for the year, so I'm all about enjoying myself. I just wanted to make this statement as clear as possible. I had my fun. Now everybody can move on to worrying about something or someone else. Thank you all.

Rabble Rock!

Day 70

Having nothing to say and saying it anyways.

It hit me at the end of my route when a security guard ended our meeting with, "Don't work too hard."

Really? Is that what you want me to do? Perhaps I have a frustrated lil comedian in me who is very cynical and sarcastic, but my head can run through so many things once something like that is said to me. I understand there are a certain amount of standard lines people use when going through the everyday chatter and small talk with people. I get it. They may not really mean it so seriously, but come on. Don't work too hard? Why not? I like work. Sometimes. What if I have been working hard all day long and need to work just that lil bit harder to get through that day. Suddenly Tony Robbins is there to give me that last non-motivational push with a "Don't work too hard." Maybe you definition of working too hard differs from mine. And what if I did work too hard? What's the worst that could come from that? I get tired earlier in the day. I make others around me feel inadequate? What if I have been following this advice all day long before I came across this lovely security guard? How is he to know I haven't gone about my day in a lazy laid-back manner that permeates not working too hard? No matter to this presumptuous ass who has decided that I need to hear some fortune cookie advice on my way out of his facility. Well Knute Rocke, Save your speech and your pep talk. I got it all under control. I will also be staying out of the sun as much as possible cause another person decided it's too hot to be outside and I should try and find the shade as much as possible. I will attempt to have a good weekend and stay out of trouble for the sake of your good conscience receptionist lady. Call me a bitter old man, but geez I just don't find myself saying something just to say it. If I wish someone a good afternoon I freaking mean it. I want you to have a good day and enjoy your weekend. I will tell the people I actually want this for. Not ever freaking person who I come across. And while I'm near the subject does it really hurt you to say thank you when I hold the door for you ladies? I know you are busy and an important person, but look up and make eye contact and say thank you for me when a gentleman holds your door open for you. That's all I ask. I'm not asking for sexual favors in return. Just act like another human being did something right by you, okay?

That's enough for now. Rabble Rock!

And we're off.....

Indy IV started filming on Monday. Here is the man on the set taken this week. Screw those people who say he is too old to be doing this!!!

Frightful Delimma Friday #3

A question and then a story...

Would you rather...

Have a severe farting problem that caused you to fart every three minutes for the rest of your life (you can still sleep)

or

Never be allowed to cut/bite/chew/file/etc. your nails for the rest of your life?


Hmmm....

So, I just called an insurance company to check on a claim for a patient. I called the number on the form she sent me. I dialed and got this...

"You need it bad and we got good!. Dial XXX-XXX-XXXX to talk with Foxy ladies who will meet all your horny needs..." I hung up. Oops. Checked the number. Called again. Same thing.

Called my partner for a check on the number. It turns out, I mistook an 8 for a 6. Damn blurry faxes....

Day 71

The 12 minute poem.
by
Wes Slater

In the heat of the moment you can say anything.
In the flash of a screen I can feel it skip a beat.
I can see the waves and the sand and somehow it's all about me.
Just my latest obsession no way to lie about it.
It's my team now and I ain't giving it up.
I didn't know how little I could care until these two gave me the chance.
Damn this desktop I really need to modify this screen.
I need more of it and fast.
No better yet I need to hold onto it and make it last.
My 12 minutes is up.
I gotta see some friends.
Too bad I'm mental, cause it's just not going away.

Rabble Rock!

A Worthy Cause

I haven’t posted in a while so I thought I’d write to tell you about a worthy organization. The Animal Rescue Site gives you lots of different opportunities to fund different aspects of running an animal rescue organization/shelter. Of course they have a store where you can buy shirts and hats and pins and a bunch of other cute stuff, but what’s really cool is that they have things that are free to you, but money and food still get donated to the shelters!

They have a purple Fund Food For Animals button. If you click it, 0.6 bowls of food get donated to help feed shelter animals. You can sign up for a daily e-mail to remind you to click it. They also have e-cards you can send to your friends and families with pictures of cute dogs and cats. I’m not sure how much food gets donated for each card you send, but it costs you nothing and you’re helping a worthy cause.

Visit the website and check it out for yourself – they do a very good job of explaining the organization, letting you know that 100% goes to the animals and that they don’t sell your personal information. Here is the link to the site: http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/tpc/ERA_061907_ARS

Let me tell you why I think this organization is worthy.

We adopted Leia from the Sacramento SPCA 12/14/02. She is a beautiful dog. She is a very smart dog with a vocabulary of about 40 words and she does some fun tricks. She is a great friend, always happy to see you, always entertaining, always willing to give (and receive) love. It breaks my heart to think that if we hadn’t adopted her she might have been put to sleep. That would have been a waste of a wonderful pet. I love her and cannot imagine my life without her in it.

Please please please, animal lover or not, visit The Animal Rescue Site. They have so many different online activities that cost you nothing but a few seconds of your time and benefit animals waiting in rescues centers/shelters to be adopted by a loving family.

Day 72

Tonight I write for a memory. Tonight I write for the basketball jersey that hangs in my closet. This one is for you Len.

I am sad as the night creeps into our world. I could go on about the phone call I didn't take today, but that's just not important. I may or may not have talked about this before, but I come to you with my own viewpoint about a man who was named Len Bias. I was only 7 years old when he died from cocaine intoxication. I don't remember that time at all. I can only look back on the past through television and what was written about the man I never knew. I must present some details of the tragedy for those who do not know.

Len Bias was a basketball player. He was a star collegiate athlete for the University of Maryland men's basketball team. In 1986, he was drafted by the recently crowned NBA champion Boston Celtics with the number 2 pick of the NBA draft. A couple nights after the draft, Len Bias partied the night up with his college friends in a dorm room at the University of Maryland. They had cocaine in the room and Len partook in the drugs. Hours later he was shaking and then laying still on his bedroom floor and pronounced dead at a nearby hospital in the early morning. The ripple effect of this death has been felt throughout many organizations. I mourn his death as a fan of basketball and the Boston Celtics. It may sound cold-hearted, but I didn't know the man and therefore feel no grief for the loss of the human being that was Len Bias. However high-profile he may have been in this regard he was like any other person that died in 1986. I simply don't care. I can't grieve over what I never felt for. I am still saddened by the loss because of what he could have been. He, in some ways, is what I wished I was in my life. Here is where I change it up.

This has been called a tragedy in many circles. Len Bias has been railed on for his poor choice that night, but I propose that he did what every single person has done in their life. No qualification of that statement is necessary. He did what we all have done in our lives. He took a risk. He tried to alter his state. I bet any person reading this commentary can point to the one night they did something they had never done before. The time they risked life itself just cause they could. In the case of Len Bias, he paid what many would consider to be the ultimate price for taking such a chance. His risk was rewarded with death. I may have gotten in a car while drunk and risked my car, life and the lives of others. Did I find death at the end? No. I get to sit here writing away about an event that happened 21 years ago. Does that seem fair to you? Don't I deserve some kind of punishment for my risky choice? NO. Cause you will do the same thing tomorrow. We can try to be subjective about finding a way to qualify what we do as people, but we all lead similar lives in many facets. I bet you that the night after this upcoming NBA Draft in the year 2007 a very low percentage of the potential draftees can tell you anything about Len Bias or his story. I bet one of the guys drafted does exactly what Len Bias did 21 years ago. I bet no one will find out they did it cause they will live through the night and we will all be none the wiser of the situation.

Right or Wrong? Good or Bad? I guess I live in a lot of grey area nowadays. I can find a way to say I admire Len Bias. He didn't know when his clock was going to hit all zero's. He just did what he did and lived as he saw fit. Is his a blueprint to follow? Maybe not for everyone. I just pose to you the reader that don't we all in our own way take our lives in our own hands and roll the dice down the craps table and hope we don't come up snake eyes? No doubt, Len's choice was a poor decision percentage wise. Not much good comes from cocaine to the nose folks. But, aren't we all just like him in some way? I use to just hear his story and get mad at how stupid I thought he was for throwing his life away. My perspective isn't as judgmental now. I just wish he wasn't a jersey hanging in my closet. I wish I got to see him play. From all I have seen and heard Len Bias would have been to Reebok what Michale Jordan was to Nike. By the way, Len Bias was a better player in college than Jordan. Hope I didn't do ya dirty this time Len. Just telling a story. Rabble Rock!

Wordless Wednesday #11

I know it is wordless, but I need to explain first. This is a German workplace safety video. Unless you know German, you won't understand what they are saying, but it is great. It starts off slow, but be patient and you will appreciate the last few minutes of mayhem.

Day 73

The Paper Football Championships 1991-1992.
St. Lawrence Division.
8th Grade.

It had gotten to the point in our classroom that we could pretty much do whatever we wanted in our class. Our teacher had come up with us from 7th grade, which was rare. By this time she had been with us for over a year and a half. I think she just gave up trying with us. The group dynamic was such that there was too much going on individually with certain kids that it made it seem as if the entire group was this way. Let's just put it this way. We made her cry. During a school day our class was completely shut down as the students vented to the teacher and vice versa. We started handing out tissues to the kids and the teacher who was crying. I remember looking around at my classmates wondering, "Is this really happening?" It did.

With this came a compromise. We ran her into the ground and so began the start of professional goofing off. This culminated in the start up of a league. We were rogue at first, taking pick-up games and the such, but eventually we got organized. It came about because of the design of the ultimate fiddling toy. The paper football.

Our desk were the perfect surface for such a sport. Once two desks faced each other and were pushed together we had our field. Surfaces collided perfectly to make the 50 yard line and it was a smooth enough connection that it made the game more than playable. We all made our own footballs. I just made one myself just right now as I write this posting. So easy to do. And with the right amount of scotch tape we were off. I am going to say it was a 8-10 man league with a regular season and playoffs. Everyone played each other once. Games were first to score 100. Touchdowns worth 6 points. Extra points worth 1. Field Goals worth 3. Oh the drama that ensued.

If you have ever played with a paper football you know that it is a game of touch and consistency. Once you lose the flow you are more than capable of missing 4-5 extra points in a row. Many a game was lost due to the lack of a good kicking game for some of my fellow students. I was not one of those people my friends. I had talent. I had skill. I could flick my middle finger with the best of them my friend. I could take an eye out. I in fact did damage to a few faces with my lethal kicks.

Over the course of the regular season I believe I only lost once which made me a top seed going into the playoffs. It was crunch time. Oh by the way. No girls were allowed to play. Check that. No girls wanted to play cause why would they? They were girls and had better things to do than mess with a paper football for God's sake. We were insane.

End of the school year coming up. We were losing opportunities to get in our games during school sessions. This is were I made my only mistake of the year. If I recall The four of us in the semi-finals of the Paper Football playoffs were my friends, Ryan, Matt, myself and Charlie. I was matched up against Charlie. Odds on had Ryan and myself going on to meet in the championship. The games were played simultaneously. I could hear the roar of the fellow league members that were no longer alive in the postseason as they screamed over at Ryan and Matt's table. Charlie and I were left to our own devices. Then it happened.

We went to lunch and we had our footballs with us of course. Charlie asked me if I wanted to continue the match at the lunch table. I had built a nice lead up in the classroom and felt confident. We got approval from the league office and we had our sanctioned playoff game on a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SURFACE.

I kept taking hit after hit after hit. I couldn't recover as Charlie regained the lead and piled it on in the lunch room. My kickoffs went out of bounds. I couldn't make a field goal to save my life. Once we made it back to the friendly confines of my home field desk I could not make the comeback. Charlie had taken out the top seed. he later lost in the Championship to Ryan as expected. I was defeated. I spent the next few days filing an appeal. The match was not legit. We played on a bad surface. No one else had played on the lunch room tables all year. Why was I being punished? I could feel the title within my grasps and just like that gone in an instant.

I once cleared the entire length of the classroom with a field goal. My friend who was being the goal posts at the time couldn't believe what he had just seen. The talent was there, but my mind wasn't right. I had relied too much on pure skill and not enough on mental toughness. I still want that moment back. I want to say to 13 year old me. Don't play the game in the lunchroom. It's not regulation length and it's too much for your overwhelming strength.

I will have my revenge one day.

Rabble Rock!

P.S. This is all true according to my memory. May have mixed up some of the players, but if you were with me back in those days holla at your boy. :)

Top Five Tuesday #12

Had a hard time deciding what topic to use as I had a couple in mind, but I think I like my choice.

My top 5 sports memories (that didn't directly include me):

#5 - 1999 Women's World Cup Final - US vs China on our home soil. After a scoreless game, it goes to overtime. US wins on Chastain's kick! Yeah, it would be much more epic if the men were to ever win the Cup, but this was not lacking in excitement.

#4 - 2001 Playoffs, game 4, Lakers vs Kings - No, this wasn't the epic series which will be discussed later, this was the year before. Why was this game so special? I was there. The Lakers/Kings rivalry was in full swing and with the Kings facing elimination, they put on a spirited performance at home. It was beyond exciting. Heck, I think we might have stood the whole game. And the noise! There were many times where the crowd was so loud, we couldn't even hear the announcer over the loud speaker.

#3 - The heartbreaking buzzer beaters - I was a big Charles Barkley fan when he played, especially once he moved to the Suns in the 92-93 season. Over the next few years, he played on some really good teams that could have won a championship. He just happened to be the victim of some buzzer beaters that destroyed his dreams starting with that 93 Suns team. The Suns were in the finals only to have John Paxon of the Bulls hit a last second(well, 4 seconds left) shot to win the championship. The next year, the Suns were in the Western Conference Finals, but lost game 7 to a buzzer beater by Mario Elie of the Rockets. A couple of years later, Barkley moved to the Rockets and was on another good team, only to lose from a last second shot from John Stockton of the Utah Jazz. 3 good teams - 3 teams that lost at the very end. These still haunt me.

#2 - 2002 NBA Western Conference Finals - The series that could have taken the Kings to the championship round (and most likely a title) if they could have beaten the rival Lakers. What a series it was! I still seem replays of these games on NBA tv now and then. From Horry's buzzer beater in game 4, to Bibby's game winner in game 5, to Bibby's forehead fouling Kobe's elbow in game 6, to the game 7 overtime choke by the kings, it was an epic series. All that was missing for Kings fans like me was the game 7 win. Heartbreaking, but one to remember.

#1 - Easy. In 1994, the World Cup, the greatest spectacle in sports, came to the United States. I was lucky enough to attend one of the games in Palo Alto. This was an amazing experience. The gathering of people from around the world, all gathered in one place cheering on the teams was something to behold. Cheers, chants, and dress in so many nationalities was simply something I will never forget.

So what sports memories do you have? I know you have to have some Rich...

Day 74

I am German, Irish and Filipino

At least that's what I have been told. Truth be told I could be anything my parents made me up to believe and I would believe it. Narrowed down I am a nice mix of white guy and brown guy, I don't really identify with any of my nationality on the whole. I pass for both depending on who is looking at me at the time. I don't have stand-out features that make you say oh he is obviously Filipino. Same hand no one is asking me about my white heritage at the same time. I don't know anything bout my mix of 3 nationalities. I know lots of people like to be able to show their pride in who they are or where they came from. Really, I am just an American. I think that's better. I don't cling to any one thing as if I was joining a club in high school.

I am what I am. Nothing. I am just a person. I don't know the background of my co-workers Lo, Chris, Marlon or Shannon. I just know them as my friends. That's all. That's as far as I will ever take it with them. To the point tonight. Rabble Rock!

The Kelly Situation

Been meaning to write this post for quite a while, but just had other things to write about or not enough time. A few years back I discovered this weird coincidence. Hopefully this doesn't embaress a fellow reader...

In my childhood days, I had some clearly subconscious obesession with the name Kelly. I really don't remember it, but my family says one of the first people I ever liked or was my 1st grade girlfriend or something alog those lines was a girl in 1st grade named Kelly R. (later Kelly H.) I don't really remember that, but I iwll take their word for it. I don't really remember much in the way of crushes in the years after that, but I do remember having a crush on a girl named Kelly P. in 5th grade. Unfortunately, she moved away.

There were a few crushes in 6th and 7th grade, but nothing worth writing about. Then in 8th and 9th grade, I had my first real girlfriend, a girl named Kelly B. who I dated a couple of times in those 2 years (yu know how things are at that age!). In fact, had she not moved aay after 9th grade, I would be willing to bet money that we would have dated a couple more times.

It was about this time that Kelly P. moved back and we quickly became really good friends. In fact, she was probably my best friend in high school, or at least my best female friend. Well, when you hang out with and talk that much with a person, I guess it was hard not to have a big crish on the person. This crush/friendship lasted a couple of years and it wasn't until I started dating a girl named Nicole that the crush was completely gone. So finally, I like a girl and her name ISN'T Kelly! So, a couple of days into dating her, I find out her middle name and you guessed it, it was Kelly. How weird is that? That relationship didn't last long and it is probably for the better because she freaked MrVideoGuy out once. Totally different story though.

Finally, in the middle of my senior year, I started dating Jessica, my future wife. We had known each other since 6th grade, but this was the first time we went the dating route. Well, let's see. Her first name was't Kelly, her last name was't Kelly, but wouldn't you know it, her last name was.....Kelley. Of course at the time, I didn't even realize the phenomenon with the word. It wasn't until college when I looked back that I discovered this freaky coincidence. Anyone else ever like 2 or more people with the same name growing up? How about 5 people?

Bonus points to whoever can tell me what movie inspired the title for this post. Jess you can't play as I KNOW you know it...

Day 75

"I'm not saying you took advantage of me, but I was vulnerable."

I have a tendency to be open on this here forum of ours. Here I go again. I have a lil bit of experience with womanspeak. I realize the majority of this current audience is female, so you will grant me to ability to excuse myself for a minute or two while I sound off as to my so-called expertise.

I understand the emotional outburst. Saying things you don't mean when you are mad. Having to repeat yourself repeatedly in order to get a point across. What I can not stand is revisionist history. What I do know from the quote above is that the truth is exactly the opposite of what is stated. Somewhere buried inside all this time those real feelings were there. I may have morphed over time into something else completely, but at the heart of it all that is where it started. In your mind I took advantage of a person in a weakened state. Someone who was lonely perhaps. FINE. I won't go into detail about all the reasons why this doesn't hold water. I will say that this is the lame reason why I can finally let go of a 4 year obsession. Cause if it's true or not is not the issue. If it even is slightly possible that this is how you see it, then I have a grand misconception of the whole relationship.

I know now you didn't want change. You wanted what you already had to be different. You just didn't want the main characters in your play to change. We lead seperate lives according to you. Probably right on that one. I was just the mirage over the sand dune. I gave you the illusion of what you wanted. And that is what you loved.

I, on the other hand, loved the person. Past tense on that one. I can move on to something else with you, but I see the forrest for the trees. I think that's how that saying goes. I'm dumb.

It was the tone in which you said it and at the time that you said it that made it seem odd. Not very neccessary to the subject at hand. A random throw away line. Makes me believe I finally know when you are lieing to me. I've seen you do it soo many times before to others. I really didn't want to acquire this talent.

Funny thing is I won't ever bring this up to you. Irrelevant words. Just don't ask me the one question you don't want answered.

Rabble Rock!

Cryptic ain't I? :)

Day 76

Just because you _________
Doesn't make you a _______

Time to play a game kids. Just a silly thing I was thinking of today. Or yesterday. Or something like that.

Just because you open the door for her
Doesn't make you a gentleman.

Just because you love you Mom and Dad
Doesn't make you a nice guy.

Just because you write a blog
Doesn't make you a writer.

Just because you can
Doesn't mean you should.

Just because it's on sale
Doesn't make it a bargain.

Just because you are alive
Doesn't mean you are actually living.

Just because you smile
Doesn't make you happy.

Just because she said it
Doesn't make it true.

Just because you are there
Doesn't mean you have arrived.

Just because you read this
Doesn't make you a believer.

Just because I say hi
Doesn't make you my friend.

Try it out yourselves people. Rabble Rock!

Day 77

Today I am ashamed to call myself a WWE fan.

Vince McMahon is dead. Or presumed dead. On the latest episode of Monday Night Raw this past Monday, The show ended with Vince McMahon getting into his limo and leaving the building. Unfortunately for Vince it was his last limo ride. The Limo blew up. Yes that's right. He opened the door and got in closed the door behind him and BOOM.

I go to my past for some perspective. I watched the live PPV where pro wrestler Owen Hart fell from the rafters of the arena and into the ring to his death. I saw the grief as Eddie Guerrero was found dead in his hotel room and then honored by the WWE the next night. I have lived and been a fan during REAL moments. Now I understand the concept of suspending disbelief. You have to in order to be a WWE fan in the first place. It is a choreographed athletic opera of sorts. I, however, find this latest attempt by Vince to garner attention for his business on the edge of extremely stupid. This is the same man behind the XFL (Xtreme Football League) and the WBF( World Bodybuilding Federation). Taste not withstanding. I am not offended by his actions. He has every right to do as he wishes. To me it is just another in a long line of mistakes he has made in the past 5 years to drive the company out of it's golden ages. Perhaps he is still selling out buildings and selling merchandise. I myself made a purchase from his website not long ago. Those T-shirts rule. It does not mean his product is the same. Granted he does not have control over his talent moving on for better or for worse. But Vince's will always be the final word in the WWE. All ideas go through him and he says yes or no. I ask this question.

Who was in this meeting where Vince said Okay to this? His death? This is not Dallas and we don't care who shot J.R. NO ONE cared who blew Vince up. We only laugh and point and say wow. Isn't this a shame? This isn't the reincarnation of an Andy Kaufman bit. I find it hard to believe that anyone would believe that Vince McMahon is actually dead. Watch the videos posted on the site. Read the articles posted on the site. All on WWE.com by the way. Not CNN.com. The only people who care about this death are Vince and the people who followed him down this road. It's not like he is the Undertaker for Pete's sake. He is not a character following a storyline that fits within the way he was portrayed in the past. He is portrayed as a real person on the show. Maybe an over the top egotistical owner, but still a real human being. Now he is dead. Why? To get ratings. To get attention. To get people like me to write about it.

I had become a fringe WWE fan a while ago. It stopped being about the talent and the wrestlers a while ago. They had over saturated the market with programming and never pulled back when the market seems to not need as much of it all in a one week span. My favorite wrestlers were leaving the show. Fringe assholes were being allowed to do as they pleased and I had to watch as some of the reasons I watched to begin with had gone out the window. Slap the right label on a piece of shit and it's still a piece of shit folks. This may put me out of the pro wrestling fan category for good.

It always has to be about Vince. Granted he is a capable performer. Been the man behind several great ideas and entertaining shows. I ask though why he had to go out like this? With such a BANG? He could have faded into obscurity and made it about the wrestlers once again. Instead his entire company is carrying on this whole story and it is being carried on the shoulders of one man. Vince McMahon. I hate that he is making me walk away from the WWE. They will not feel the loss of one fan. I watched to see such wrestlers as Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Shawn Michaels, Rob Van Dam, Kurt Angle, Lance Storm, Bret Hart, Brock Lesnar and on and on. I did not watch to see an attention whore of an owner dominate the TV screen and make me sit through such crap as Vince getting his ass kissed or Vince pulling fake hands out of a man's ass in a parody segment. I love pro wrestling. I had wished I had became a pro wrestler for the longest. I will always love wrestling. I can't stand dramatic over acting and a bad TV show. The reason I subscribe to WWE on demand through my cable system is so I can watch the good old days. When it was just about the wrestlers. Not about Vince. Godspeed Mr. McMahon. Please don't come back anytime soon. I don't care if you are alive or dead. It won't effect my life. cause this will be the last time I write about you in any fashion.

Money is Power. Rabble Rock!

Frightful Dilemma Friday #2

With the prices of gas so high right now, I thought this one would be appropriate:

Would you rather...

Get free gas for 5 years

or

Be excempt from any speeding tickets for the rest of your life?

Explain.



In other news, I got my tickets to Transformers on opening night. Well, technically it is the night before on the special preview night. They did this with Pirates. Is this going to becoem a trend. I know they have midnight openings a lot, but an 8PM opening? I almots NEVER go see a movie at night because I hate to pay the prices, but this movie is the exception.

Day 78

More flashbacks.

I walked through the commissary of what used to be McClellan Air Force Base with my Dad the other day. It just made me think of the good old days. I use to be the family grocery getter. Hand me a check and a list and come back with change. This was about 10 years ago or so. I can remember those long lines. Getting the same exact items ever trip and throwing in at least one item that I took as my tip. Back when my military ID still was active I would use it practically every day. Free use of a gym and it's very empty basketball court. Movie theatre down the street. The BX and food court right next to the commissary. And ultra low gas prices. Ya I miss it.

Walking up and down the aisles of the commissary I realized how much food I haven't eaten in the longest time. The staples of my youth and teens. I know I can't really eat in that fashion ever again, but one day I am going back to get some items I just have to eat once again. Here is a small list.

1. Spam and white rice. The Spam has to be slightly dark. Burnt really. Crispy. It's gotta crunch in your mouth and the rice. Sticky. My rice has to be sticky. Gotta have my Mom make that for me. She has years of skill with that combo.

2. Chili and bread. White bread. Wonderbread preferred. Big Loaf. 5-6 slices. A can of Hormel Chili. Even mix of beans and meat. Sometimes throw in some shredded cheddar cheese and melt it into the chili mix. Now combine the two in any fashion. Dip your bread slices. Scoop some chili out and make a bread wrap of chili. Love it.

3. Steakums. Pure salty oily meaty goodness. Sandwich meat that came in a box frozen stiff. Had to let em thaw on the grill and get ready to be splattered a lil bit. Once again Wonderbread has to be around to soak up all the juices as you get ready to start your heart attack.

4. Cinnamon Tortillas. Simple enough. get a tortilla and place it in a pan. Heat it and slightly brown it and crisp it and then add. Butter. Cinnamon. Sugar. Let that combine and melt and mix into the tortilla. Crispy crunchy sugary loveliness.

5. Shells and cheese and hot dogs. Simple. Kraft mac shells and cheese. With the soft cheese packet, not the powder. Boil or microwave you hot dogs. Slice em up and add em into the pasta mix. Serve room temperature with some flavored sunkist soda. Grape or Strawberry preferred.

That's it. This is why I was nicknamed "Twinkie" on my soccer team back when I was 12.
The good old days. Money is Power. Rabble Rock!

Trivia Thursday #11

Mixing things up a little again for your trivia. We're going to play a little game called the Kevin Bacon game. It started out a long time ago with the notion that you could connect any actor to Kevin Bacon in 6 steps or less. For example, connect Kevin Bacon to Nicole Kidman in as few steps as possible:

Well, Kevin Bacon starred with Elizabeth Shue in Hollow Man
Elizabeth Shue starred with Tom Cruise in Cocktail
and Tom Cruise starred with Nicole Kidman in Days of Thunder(and a few others).

Done in 3 steps. It is a pretty simple game, but can be very addicting when you can't quite come up with the solution. I'll give you three this time to warm you up...

Link George Clooney to Johnny Depp
Link Colin Farrell to Robert DeNiro
Link Reese Witherspoon to Samuel L Jackson

Day 79

I really wanna re post an email right now, but that would be very rude of me. I would find it funny though. :) Might get in trouble though and can't be blowing up people's spots just cause I wanna make fun of a friend who may or may not live with me.

I have this feeling that what I am actually doing is going to work. I'm finding a focus in this little self-imposed journey. I guess I really needed to hear what it is I really did to people at certain times in their lives. It helped me let go of a lot of old feelings. I apologize to people out there, but for me as a guy I gotta get angry or be mad about something in order to find a reason to let go or back off. It's not a resentment type of thing. I am not trying to gain any revenge or anything. I just won't walk away quietly.

My boys are back. Celebrate people. Opie and Anthony are coming back to me on Friday and I can once again listen to this great radio show.

Ya know what I've come to conclude? being mad that others don't do what I think they should do is pointless. Especially if I can just stand and say I will do it. Cause it's just MINE.

Going to see the second Fantastic Four movie tomorrow. OH and I already got my ticket for Transformers. I love Fandango.

Did it really hit 100 degrees here today? Love Sacramento.

As I have said before your 20's are for marriages. I have gone through a dry spell, but thanks to upcoming celebrations and a couple probably happening next year in the Midwest I will finish my 20's with a bang. Good thing I won't be participating in any way shape or form. Girls suck. :)

Time to fold my laundry. My checklist isn't going quite as planned over these 72 hours of freedom. Damn this ability to sleep. :)

Money is Power. Rabble Rock!

Wordless Wednesday #10

Day 80

Time for something different. Oh by the way, did Mom just admit that she has never seen porno? I don't know if that qualifies as too much information for my fragile little mind or if it's just interesting factoid I did not know material. :)

"I"

by

Wes Slater

I inspected inside the insanely incredulous inner thoughts of I.

I inspired instant innovative intrigue intertwined by images or insurmountable insurgents.

Indeed I invoked illegitimate interviews of intrusive intimacy.

I'll inhale inert ineptitude immitating illusionist inventions.

Inane?

I interrupt incorrectly in ioata's of illiterecy.

Intense is internally iodized itself illuminous.

I intimidated and Impressed.

You can simply call me I.

Rabble Rock!

Day 81

It's the weekend which makes me think of something that comes up every now and then for me.

Why do I work on the weekends?

Well I know I am simply making a choice to stay in a settled lifestyle. I could use more money. I could use more of a challenge. I have only one responsibility in my life and that's taking care of my dog. I'm not even responsible for myself. Here is the positive side to my current job and why having the next three days off works for me.

Here is a list of what I will do the next three days

Go to the gym and workout and play basketball.
Watch 3 rented movies (Transformers and the first 2 Pirates of the Caribbean)
Go to the movies to watch Knocked UP and Mr. Brooks
Go to lunch with my Dad
Watch 2 NBA Finals games
Play a soccer game maybe(under slight protest)
Write more blogs.
Read a couple of books
Write my last 3 writing assignments.
Get my tires rotated.
Sleep in for 3 days.
Clean my house.
Do some laundry.

In between all this madness I will find the time to kill the rest of my days off with useless nonsense. This is why I am a weekend worker. Money is still Power! Rabble Rock!

The 5 Things That Pissed Me Off Last Week #11

Been a few weeks since I have done this topic due to a variety of factors, mainly a lack of pissiness. But I was plenty pissed last week.

#5 - This would be much worse if it didn't get rectified at the end. We finally got our new sofas that we special ordered 3 months ago. But when they unwrapped them, they were different colors! I was pissed because they said it was a bad mistake and their fault, but it would take another 3 months to get the new one! Oh hell no!!! Luckily, they called me later in the day and told me they mistagged one of them and had ours in the warehouse. They brought it later in the day. They are lucky!

#4 - I went to a retirement party for my old boss on Friday and it was great to see everyone. Unfortunately, all my old coworkers told me a position had opened and they begged me to come back. I hate that I actually considered it for a while. I mean, it is too late now for me to do anything with my new job in full swing, but the temptation was there. Jessica reminded me that I left for a reason.

#3 - As many of you long time readers and family members know, Jessica and I have been trying to have a baby for about 3 years now with no success. We know now that she has problems with making a variety of hormones and so we started her on the hormone pills this month. How much did we have to pay for a one month supply of progesterone after the 50% payment by insurance? $170!!! Ouch! It better not take long!

#2 - I messed up on one of my new client's work. It was totally my fault. I was just so overwhelmed with work last week that I dropped the ball and completely forgot to do something. I called and apologized and got it pretty much straightened out, but it was very embarrasing.

#1 - I am in a major poker slump right now. For the last month and a half, I have gone totally card dead. I just sit there, watching the action, while I get horrible card after horrible card and get blinded down to zero. I try to mix it up and play a couple of at least semi decent hands, but nothing works out. I haven't had a slump like this in over a year. Winning 20 bucks in 2 months is not acceptable.

Day 82

I went to the store today. I bought myself a peach as as I was bringing it up to the checkout stand I had this thought.

1996.

The Presidents of the United States of America.

"Moving to the country, I'm gonna eat a lot of peaches."

This was the theme song for my senior year of High School. For some reason there was a group of us that gathered in one car for the ride to school. I believe it was Jeremiah's G-ride. he and his brother Duncan would take off and stop and pick up Phil and myself and then I think we would stop and get Manuel as well. Then this song would play. Everyday. Along with "Lump". I can't say that I was on board with the musical tastes of the group for the most part. Every now and then Phil would slip in some D.R.S. for some "Gangsta Lean". That would even out the rides as far as I was concerned cause I could not wrap my mind around such lyrics as those contained within that classic "Peaches". Thanks to all those many rides I was able to flashback 11 years and instantly start singing once I took my first bite of my peach today. Classic material. I might have to visit Itunes and get it just to be nostalgic tomorrow. Nothing beat those late trips to school and walking down to first period. Chemistry I think. Mr. Youroshek. My spelling may be off, but that was just classic times. The first 15 minutes of everyday was spent seeing who brought the cookies and how much every one around me didn't get done as far as HW went the night before. I was far from the brightest guy in the class, but I always seemed to be the one maintaining a level head as J-Rider and PO started barking about LLC activities and the such. I was not a member. I was an Independent. You had to be there for any of this to make sense. Just had to continue my daily flashbacks. It's late I have to work. I have to drag my dog inside the house and put him to sleep. Long live "Peaches."

Money is Power. Rabble Rock!

Some More Movie Reviews

Saw three more movies since my last movie review post so here we go...

The Illusionist - Another magician movie that came out recently. By the way, what is it with Hollywood releasing two movies of the same nature at almost the same time? Examples of this include - Dante's Peak/Volcano, Armageddon/Deep Impact, and now, The Prestige/The Illusionist. Anyways..

I don't know, this was an ok film. This story focused on one magician, the always great Ed Norton, and centered around a love story/murder mystery. It has some interesting parts and had the Keyser Soze ending which is always fun, but I didn't feel there was anything special about the film. It even had the hottest girl in Hollywood, Jessica Biel, and it still wasn't enough to get me excited about it. Maybe this is because I had just seen the Prestige the week before and that was clearly a superior film in its acting, storyline, and directing. It is good for one viewing, but that is about it. 6 out of 10.









The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning - This is a prequal to a remake. Doesn't sound good already huh? Yeah, it really wasn't that great. Jessica and I love horror movies, and rent almost every one that comes out on Netflix. This had some interesting parts that explain how the family began their killing ways. Other than that though, it was all pretty standard horror stuff. 5 out of 10.






















Ocean's 13 - Brilliant. I loved Ocean's 11 and was so excited for

Ocean's 12, only to be disappointed as it was a complete style change. In fact, my review of Ocean's 12 was one of the first posts on this blog. I went into Ocean's 13 with careful optimism. The movie rocks! It goes back to its Vegas roots and kicks ass. All the cast is back sans the ladies and they all do a great job. The heist is a little over the top, but who cares! They all have such great chemistry together and just look so natural. It is just a fun movie and if you loved 11, but were a little let down by 12, give 13 a chance as you won't be disappointed. 9 out of 10.

Day 83

Just did my first Ebay listing. It probably won't sell since I have no seller feedback ratings, but what the hell gotta empty my closet. So I can get newer shoes. :)

Mrs. Walker.

I think she started out as Miss Walker, but eventually became the married version of Mrs.

The 8th grade teacher at St. Lawrence elementary school back in 1991.

She was my one and only teacher crush/lusting. I put it that way cause I really didn't know what was going with me back in those days anyways, so it's not like I was in love with her or something. I just knew that I dug females and she certainly had many fine female qualities. I was 12 years old at the time. I did not talk to girls much at all. Only when the situation forced it. Such as when my friends showed up with their gf in tow or what not. Cause I certainly had no gf's back in those days. Not much has changed since then, but that's another story. Let's see if I can paint this properly.

Mrs. Walker (I never did learn her first name ever) was maybe 5'6" or 5'7". Well built. Not skinny and not fat. Short dark hair, but she pulled off the look cause she had an adorable lil face. Nice Smile. And of course the main reason I, as a 12 year old, took notice. Disproportionate size in her chest region. Don't get me wrong, she didn't walk around in V-neck outfits or anything showing cleavage off to all the young boys and girls. She just couldn't help but stand out no matter what outfit she had on. Plus she had that kinda bossy attitude to her. As a teacher it was more than understandable, but it came out with a kinda high pitched young teen gal voice. So even her yelling or ranting was a turn-on. Looking back now I say turn-on. Back then it was more intimidating. I never got to have her as a full time teacher. She got pregnant and eventually I only had her as a English teacher for my 8th grade year . Now I was dutiful enough to get my work done still cause the Lord was watching and I was a good Christian Citizen of the Month (I have the document still). Plus I couldn't even talk to the tomboy sitting next to me in class. NO way I was going out of my way to give her an apple or something. I just had a flashback today and had to tell all. That was the one and only teacher I had growing up that I looked at in any way besides just being a teacher. I wonder what ever happened to her?

Money is Power! Rabble Rock!

Day 84

Well I am trying to figure out how to sell items on ebay.
I am trying to get over it all.

Story time.

The first time I went to a strip club. If I recall I had just turned 18 which means I had also just graduated from High School. I had no job. I went from being bound for Hawaii to being bound for around the corner school. I had no girlfriend. I just got my job at Baskin Robbins. I had never done a drug or had a drink. The only naked female I had ever seen was on a TV screen. I hadn't even kissed a girl at this point for Pete's sake. How did I end up at an adult entertainment facility? My friends didn't tell me where we were going.

I am trying to remember the details. I want to say my friends Jason, Brandon, Corey, PJ, Phil and Duncan were in attendance. I am not sure if it was just an effort to get me to a strip club in particular or if it was just a nice excuse for these guys to hit the place up. We just got in a car they said we are getting something eat or going to watch a movie or something lame. I fell for it. City Limits off Auburn Vlvd. I do remember them buying me a lap dance though, so I tend to think it was a goof gift factor there. Get the virgin a lap dance. Her name was Ryan. She smelled delightful. I didn't move an inch. I was sure I wasn't suppose to do anything outwardly aggressive towards the exotic dancers, so I just kinda put my hands by my side and let her do her thang. It was the only dance I got that night. I was still broke after all and strip clubs suck when you have no money. I was entertained though by the fact that I ran into two old friends at the place as well. At the time they were accomplished high school football players in the Sacramento area. Winston and Avery. Those two were acting a fool. And I also remember that PJ decided to get a lap dance without any money in his pocket. I believe Phil had to ante up on that one after his error in judgement. That made Phil slightly upset. :) Other than that it was a short night. We weren't drinking up a storm. I had some soda. And for some reason all this time has gone by and I remember her name. My first lap dance. Ryan.

The reason for this post? Anyone else have something they remember that really has no place being in their memory? It wasn't exactly a memory burn or anything, but I suppose it had a few reasons to stick out in my mind. Just had to share a fun fact from back in the day. Don't think Mr. Manuel made this trip out. Not sure if he was 18 at the time. Plus my memory is bad causing me to guess at the members of our party. Money is Power. Rabble Rock!

Frightful Dilemma Friday #1

WHAT?!?!? What happened to Fat Free Friday? Well, I decided to stop doing it. Truthfully, it wasn't as fun a post as I had envisioned. What I had in my mind as a group participation type activity never really surfaced. But, I'm ok with that. I think by stopping it, I will get out of the mentality that once I weigh in on Friday, I can eat as much junk as I want for the next few days. This might work out for the better.

With that, I wanted a new Friday feature. I am actually bringing back something my wife used to do on occassion - the "would you rather" questions. These are questions where both are horrible choices, but you HAVE to choose one. And you can't try to change the rules on it to make it better. Just pick one and if so inclined, tell me why you chose that one over the other. With that...

Would you rather...

1. Drink a glass of used bong water?

or

2. Drink a bottle of unidentifiable liquid that was found in the park from the night before?

Have a good weekend everyone. I know I have been bad with responding to your comments this week so I will make sure they are all responded to including the answers from yesterday by the end of the weekend.

Day 85

So my worst night mare is beginning. Maybe it's a small thing. Maybe it's an overreaction on my part. She is happy. And I had nothing to do with it.

She is suppose to need me.

I'm suppose to be the savior.

But he is finally acting like the man he vowed to be in the first place.

I am actually upset about her happiness.

I finally feel like the sidekick. The best friend.

And I have to somehow just deal with it.

I help people fix their lives and find a better way.

Then they leave.

Have a good weekend people. Money is power. Rabble Rock!

Trivia Thursday #10

Been a couple of weeks since you got some trivia so have fun. Take guesses...

1. What do you call a substance containing only one kind of atom??

2. What was the first war in which one jet plane shot down another?

3. What California town was named after a major movie studio?

4. What portable device did James Spengler invent in 1907, using a soap box, pillow case, a fan and tape?

5. What kitchen invention took the top prize at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair?

6. What was the most widely prescribe antideppressant in the U.S. in the 1990s?

7. What U.S. state has only 113 divorces for every 1,000 marriages?

8. What city has the most unlisted phone numbers per capita in the U.S.?

9. What is the lifespan of a dragonfly?

10. What zip code was mentioned 301 times in the first five years of Entertainment Weekly?

Day 86

It is amazing. It's going by very quickly. I started at 98 and I am already at 86. This more than proves the point to myself as to why I started doing this in the first place. That is for a later date though.

I normally would not expose something I did for someone in such a manner, but it will provide a way to exemplify something I have come to learn. More to the point it is something I was taught very recently. I guess I considered it a small thing, but as a result of my actions got to realize it was bigger than that. For this I say thank you Mami and good luck Marlon.

Last Friday I presented a co-worker a gift. He is probably going to be out of work for some time as he is about to have a back surgery. I have been working with him for over three years now. That said I don't really see him often as he works on-site and I leave the branch on the daily. In my time of getting to talk with him and hang with him I just have picked up a few things from him. He brings a lil something to work that other people don't. He seems to have an attitude of no matter where I am at or what I am doing I am going to enjoy it somehow. I am going to laugh. I am going to talk. And people will know I was in the room. He is a true O.G. and a pimp for sure. Older gentleman, but you wouldn't believe it from seeing him or hanging round him for more than ten minutes. All in all I guess if I can just take a lil something away from him every day I think I will always be the better for it. I may never hang out with Marlon outside of work and depending on how things turn out I may never work with him again. I just had to do one thing for him just to say thanks.

I got him a T-shirt. Not much, but it just screamed him in a nutshell. It was a black shirt and had the words "Serious Pimp" across the front. I just wanted to say good luck and hope to see ya back round these parts soon. His reaction was priceless. He hugged me. Don't get too many hugs from people. He started showing the shirt off to other co-workers around. I was hoping to get him the gift and just kinda bolt out the door without making a big deal out of it, but it was too late. My man Marlon was already actin a fool like he does. I could see that he was genuinely touched by the gesture. And that's when I heard her voice in my head.

"It is always better to give than to receive."

Sure it had been said before, but it never really sunk in like it did that day and with her in my mind I know that's really why I did it in the first place. Cause now I was just like my mentor. I had fun. I smiled. I made myself memorable. And sometimes it's nice to have a human moment or connection with the others folks roaming round this big Earth. I may not do it as often as I should, but when I do I mean it.

In the end I just have to say thanks for the moment. I know I had nothing to do with it, cause I would have never really come up with it on my own without my positive influences. That's all for the day folks. Tired of my daily rants yet? Rabble Rock!

Day 87

17 minutes to write something down. Okay here it goes.

I am the adapter. I think part of figuring myself out lately is that I am something different to everyone. I seem to provide a service for all my friends and family. I am not going to say that I like this multifaceted role all the time. I kinda fell into it in cases. I kinda just made it what I was cause of my ability to listen and not say anything.

I can be on the phone for an hour and half and say 10 minutes worth of words and still get my point across. I am a good listener I guess. Otherwise I wouldn't be getting talked to this much. This is one I don't mind. If she talked for 3 hours I would listen. She is why I have 1000 whenever minutes on my cell phone plan. Thank you T-Mobile.

I am the caretaker. I am figuring something out about living with people. If you do something once, it becomes your job. I dislike the attitude that even if I don't do it someone else will get to it. What a lazy attitude! I can't stand it. Life isn't about how easy you can make it on yourself. It's about how easy you can make it for someone else. I guess I am just wanting someone to help me.

I am the friend. I can look into my future and if I go away on my own and make my own life I might be very alone at home. I am reaching that age where my Dad was at when he had me. Unless I impregnate a whore sometime soon, it probably won't be happening at the same time line. I don't want to be my Dad. But if I was like him as he is now, I think I would love it. For some reason I don't think he likes it very much. That said I am now his son and his friend. Weird and new.

I am the contributor. I have this feeling that a while back I only wrote to see how many people commented. It fed my ego. Now I write cause at the end of the day I can sum it all up. I write cause it is making me happy. I write cause. Just Cause.

I am the mentor. I have friends that I have known now for years from online adventures. They have grown up and are going through things in their life that I have yet to partake. As it turns out all my life's lessons and teachings may have been better suited for me. I should have been listening to my poor friends cause I thought they were not looking at life logically. I went at it the other way. While my friends were emotional and then found logic and sense to balance themselves out I went vice versa. Too much logic. No emotion. I know why I am the kid now in need of a mentor.

So who do you think you are to others? Rabble Rock!

Top Five Tuesday #11

Hard at work, but I guess I can take a quick break to post. I debated posting only because it puts newer posts down farther and then they don't get read. This happened yesterday to MrVideoGuy's post on places he would like to visit. Normally, I would have figured you readers would be all over a post like that because it is easy to ready, and even easier to comment on as I am sure there are places you would all like to visit. I posted a bunch of new pictures last night, but by posting this, it pushes it 2 posts down. Be sure to check them out. Off the soapbox...

As I am working in the quiet right now, it got me thinking of what songs would wake me up. What songs either make you want headbang/sing/dance/etc. What songs get your juices flowing? You don't even have to be a rocker. What song comes on and you instantly HAVE to sing? Here are my top 5 songs at the moment that get me going...

#5 - Shinedown - Simpleman - This is a remake of the Skynard classic. Usually I don't like remakes, but the singer puts so much emotion into this song it gives you chills. You have to sing along.



#4 - Marilyn Manson :Angel with the scabbed wings. One of Manson's best songs. No video was ever made of this so here is a live performance of it. He puts ou so much enegy.



#3 - Static X: Destroyer. This is a fairly new song, but once I heard it once, I was hooked. The screaming, the beat, the sudden stops! All of those make me lOVE this song.



#2 - Mudvayne:Dig The angriest song I have ever heard! The double bass at the beginning is kick ass! So angry!!!



#1 - Self explanatory. Just watch...

Day 88

My attitude problem.

I have discussed it before on this blog. I address it tonight cause of something I watched a while back. I have a video tape. It is from 2002 or 2003. It was given to me by a friend who had another friend record a basketball game we played. It was the championship game of a Roseville rec league we had joined. To jump right to the suspenseful part, I only got a copy of the tape because of what I did at the end of the game. 12 second left in the game and my team is down by a margin of three points. The opposition made the back end of a double bonus trip to the free throw line and we were out of timeouts. We inbounded the ball and one of my teammates dribbled across half court. He got the the three point line and got trapped. I was trailing the play and saw my teammate on the left wing pass the ball to one of our post men at the top of the key. He, in turn, quickly gave a touch pass backwards to me and from about 25 feet (I have the tape it's not an exaggeration) I shot and made the game-tying three pointer with about 4 seconds left on the clock. We went on to win the game in overtime and thus we captured what was at the time our second such rec championship. Proud moment, right?

Time to go inside the mind of someone who was mentally checked out before he even laced up his basketball shoes. This is where the attitude comes in. Forget the final 13 seconds of regulation of the game. I am going to focus on everything that happened prior to that shot. As I watched the entire game I could remember exactly where my head was at as I was out there. I especially could remember what I felt right after we won and everyone congratulated me for making that shot. I was cynically relieved. I finally did something to help the team cause I spent the majority of the game hurting the squad. Even through this crap quality tape you could read my body language and know there was something wrong with the idiot with bright yellow shoes on. Nike Hyperflights by the way. Think Jason Williams bright purple shoes back when he played with the Sacramento Kings. Back to the point. I was not having fun. I didn't really enjoy the shot or the victory. I was just an asshole. I was lazy on the court as if I didn't even want to be out there. I was in bad shape, so I picked my spots for when I would attempt something requiring athletic effort. To make things worse I was the point guard for the team. I was suppose to be leading the team. I was suppose to be in charge or myself and the other 4 people out there. Instead I played like half a man and easily kept the other team in the game with my poor decision making, bad shot selection and lackluster defense. This is what it looked like to play with an "I'm better than you" attitude and not prepare to back any of that up.

I am actually getting mad about it as I write this. I had fooled myself into believing I had accomplished something that night. I kept the lie up to myself for awhile after cause I could just play the last minute of the game and show that one moment of luck. I call it luck nowadays. My shot form was horrible. My head wasn't in the shot. I just put it up and it happened to go in. I now know I deserve no accolades for that moment in time. Cause I took too long to learn the real lesson from that game. Have fun. That's what I did this past Sunday. No matter the outcome and the many things that went wrong with that day, once the final buzzer blows it's over. You gave what you had for those 40 minutes and could walk away. I immediately could point to things I could do better after this past Sunday's game. One thing I don't have to worry about as much is my attitude. I am not entitled to a damn thing. I am not mentally frail. I am not an afterthought. I am not a back-up. Just be happy. Knock the chip off your shoulder and get on with life.

By the way Cassie, Happy Birthday. Your gift is once again in the mail. Hold your breathe till it arrives. :) Rabble Rock!

Birthday time

On Sunday we celebrated my sister's 21st birthday. I was excited because it meant I was going to have plenty of opportunities to take pictures. Here are some of my favorite ones. Be sure to click them to make them bigger.

One of my dad's MANY flowers in the front and back yard.





Another flower. I LOVE this picture...





Their dog Duquesa playing with Cassie.






Another picture of Duquesa and Cassie playing. Npanth, what do I have to adjust to make the dog lighter? I am on the ground pointing upwards.






Their other dog Logan. He's a cute boy.

Day 89

Got tomorrow off. Thank god I can stay up and write this loveliness. By the way screw the Roseville rec basketball league referees. They are soo F'n clueless.

So an idea struck me today and I thought I would make a list.

Places to go before I am 50. Or maybe when I hit 50. Not sure yet on that part of it.

1. Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash and Quick Stop Groceries.
I am a huge Kevin Smith fan. I love all the movies he has made and even watched movies he has only acted in. The first place is a comic book store with a east coast and a west coast location. I guess I would prefer to hit up the original one in New Jersey cause while I was there I could head over and check out the Quick Stop. It is famous for being the location of Kevin Smith's break out movie titled "Clerks." I'd just love to see where that kinda movie magic took place. Then I would apply for a job and immediately become Dante.

2. Madison Square Garden.
The most famous theatre in the world. I would prefer to see a concert of some sort there. Perhaps a Christina Aguilera concert? I have only been to one concert ever and I would love to be able to say I saw her perform live once in my life. I have been to New York before, but I hit up the baseball stadiums. Shea and Yankee stadium in one week. Great times. Gotta hit the Garden once. I would have preferred to hit up the Boston Garden, but it is no longer with us and the mystique apparently went with it. Damn Celtics.

3. Wembley stadium or perhaps the new football stadium being built for Liverpool FC in England.
I have to watch in person just one English Premier league match. I am a soccer fan and as such like to watch the top of the world play. The number one club league going in the world is located in England. Liverpool is the team I support. I have to be around that atmosphere just once. Soccer is passion and nothing excites me more than a passionate gathering of people all there to watch and enjoy the same thing you are there to see.

4. The MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.
Front row or as close to the cage as possible. UFC PPV. It is becoming my favorite spectator sport and somehow being up close and personal once seems like a fun time. Watching the fighters come to the octagon and battle it out. I love watching on TV and seeing every bit of the action, but somehow it would all be that much more intense being right there. Plus Vegas baby. can't go wrong with things to do before and after the fight.

5. Mitchell and Ness store in Philadelphia
They are the finest producers of throwback jerseys in the world. I happen to own a jersey or two produced by this company and I just love wearing them. I love representing a player from the past that I was a fan of and showing it off proudly by wearing his jersey. I would love to walk in there with a ton of money and a need to fill a closet. About $5,000 later and a few carry-out bags later I would be one happy SOB. Speaking of which, does anyone have $375 I can keep forever? Wayne Gretzky jerseys are on sale and those are just the best looking jerseys and I NEED THEM! NOW!

6. Flight Club New York
What kinda store is this you ask? You guess it. A shoe store. I have a shoe problem. I must have my head checked soon. Along the same lines as my Mitchell and Ness stop I want to walk into this store and leave with at least 10 shoe boxes in my possession. It have rare collectible shoes and hard to find retro Jordans. I will be making a purchase from them soon and even though they have a store in LA as well, I would prefer the original instead.

7. Location TBD at least one Wrestlemania.
I am not as big a follower as I was back in 1998, but it will always hold a place in my heart and no matter what I will always line up and watch at least one WWE PPV a year. Wrestlemania. It was a staple for me growing up. I lost my way and found myself in love with pro wrestling once again at the age of 20. It is once again just a place to say I went to one of those one time and you can just have that story with you.

That's all for now. maybe my list will change. hopefully I get to 50 years old. Hopefully I still have this list. Hopefully I complete it. Time to go rob a bank kids. Rabble Rock!

The 500th post spectacular

Well, after two and a half years of blogging, I have reached 500 posts on my blog. When I started writing this blog, I really didn't know what to expect. Well, actually, what I thought was all I had to do was start writing and people would flock to my blog. I mean, that is how the internet works right? Well, I was wrong. For really the first year and a half, nobody but a couple of family members read my blog. I even tired commenting on some other people's blogs to try to get some people to visit, but nothing. Eventually things turned around and I have the readership I have now. Sure, I have nowhere near the amount of comments that a lot of other people I read have, but I have what I consider a good amount of readers.

Branching out has also allowed me to read some great blogs and even greater bloggers. You all keep me very interested and I look forward to all of your posts. I try to comment on almost every post you all do just to show that I appreciate what you do. An extra special thanks has to go out to Val as she was the very first fellow blogger to take an interest in my blog and become a consistant reader. Now, there are so many of you and I could say something good about each and ever one of you.

Another thanks has to go out to my wife and MrVideoGuy for being guest contributors. The have kept the blog going in the times when I didn't feel much like writing. My wife with her great work stories and MrVideoGuy with his almost always deep views on life have given this blog a change of pace that is sometimes needed.

So what do I have in store for the blog now? Probably not too many changes right now. I like the direction the blog is going. The daily themes have inspired me keep writing as I never feel like I am lacking in what to write. I am not much for daily updates on my life as I usually find that kind of stuff boring. Even in "real life", if someone asks what I did for the day, I reply, "not much." I'm not much for details. That is probably why my posts are generally shorter than most of yours.

So, I guess that's it. Post #500 is over and it is now time to start thinking of the next 500. Keep coming by, tell your friends, pull up a chair, and stay a while. Drinks are on me.....

Day 90

The story continues.....

Have you had the pleasure of walking around a Blockbuster video recently? I had to kill some time during my work day and decided to window shop the Natomas location. I started at the tail end of the new releases section and worked my way around the entire store. As I eyed the eclectic selection of movies it struck me. How did these movies even get made? Later it turned into this single thought.

How do you spot a good "BAD" movie?

Blockbuster does feature the normal selection of mainstream blockbusters. They are excluded from this list because they tend to not exhibit the symptoms of the typical good-bad movie. That's my new phrase. I just created it. Steal it. Use it. Credit me. Good-bad.
I am talking about the movies that never made it as a theatrical release. The ones that feature actors you know, but not from that particular movie. Which leads me to symptom one of the good-bad movie.

1. Actors you know from that other movie.

Nothing says credibility like advertising on the front cover of your movie that it features the actress from V for Vendetta when the movie in question is not V for Vendetta. Even if you liked Natalie Portman and/or her performance in V for Vendetta, why would you get this other movie based on that? Wouldn't you just go get V for Vendetta? No, I obviously would rather get this movie that has told me nothing about itself. I only know that it was fortunate enough to cast a good actress in a bad movie. And how bout a movie that tells you about an actress and then pimps her work from 10 years ago? Telling me your movie stars Baywatch babe Nicole Eggert does not make me want to watch it. It just makes me want to go back to 1992 or whatever it was when she was doing her thang in a swimsuit. Which brings me to.......symptom number 2

2. The back cover revealing the entire story.

I understand the need to inform, but is this really how it should be done....
JFK High School had no problem welcoming Chelsey Barber in with open arms. They let her in the chess club. She was a star on the basketball team. She had all the boys at her feet. Little did they know that Chelsey wasn't just from out of town. She was out of this world. Lauren London stars as the High Schooler from another galaxy. Taryn Hiles stars as Heather Starksy, Chelsey's goofy sidekick who discovers her secret 10 minutes into the movie and then goes about protecting it for the better part of the movie till she is found out and is forced to reveal her alien side to all her new human friends and as it turns out everyone accepts her even if she has three nipples and webbed feet. Guess I really want to watch this movie now that I know what is going to happen, right? Now for a doozy........symptom number 3

3. The copycat.

I actually saw the cover for this movie. Ready for it? Snakes on a Train. I am not making this up. Snakes on a Train. Now, Snakes on a Plane wasn't exactly a $200 million dollar blockbuster, but it had a nice run. I saw it. It was pretty good. These movie producing geniuses didn't wait a few years to re-do it or spoof it. They looked to capitalize on the popularity of the original by making a movie based on the same idea. Insert animal in form of transportation. GOLD! I think I have to watch this movie now just to see how goofy dumb it is. I will probably be the first person to rent it. They got me. Snakes on a mother F'n Train. They didn't even change the animal. Do Possums in a bank. Otters in a canoe. Tarantulas on an escalator. Credit to Opie and Anthony. I stole those last few bits from them. Classic funny. I might also check out The Quick and the Undead. This leads to this............. symptom 4

4. The sequel that is done way after with nothing to do with the original.

I walked by Road House 2. It's actually out there people. Made maybe a year or so ago and in the new release section featuring no one from the original Patrick Swayze classic. WHY!? I think the only thing that can save this sequel is if the lead male character rips someones throat out Ala The Swayzeee. Another in this mold was The Cutting Edge 2 15 years later not featuring Moira Kelly or D.B. Sweeney. Just two actors playing them 15 years older and with a kid. Genius once again. I, of course, watched the Cutting Edge 2 cause the original was one of my favorite movies and the first real romantic comedy that I dug. Number 2? Good-bad.

That about does it really. If you need a good laugh go get one of these movies exhibiting one of these symptoms. You will just shake your head at it's ridiculousness. You might stop watching half way through. Don't stick it out. I for sure want to be able to credit myself with saying I saw Snakes on a Train. It has to be done. Monday for sure. Rabble Rock!