Losing Stinks; Music Maker; Movie; ETA

Long drives suck. Long drives after blowing a 3-run lead in the eighth inning to lose a series are worse.  That's what happened and can you guess the culprit?

Walks. Nine to be exact. Cost us a game we had no right losing. It sucks beyond sucking. I thought we'd come out and challenge hitters. Not the case - not yet anyway. Some freshman were thrown right into the fire. I think they learned a little about college baseball.

You gotta act like you're the man. Act as if. As with anything in life, if you're confident and can convince yourself you belong, you'll have success. Lessons hopefully learned.  We played well, walks undid us. Move on.

Got my Dre Beats on, rocking out. I'm trying to tune out the fact that losing can so easily be forgotten. I used to be pissed for a few hours at least before I cracked a joke or smile. It stung. It bothered me. Oh well, music is my outlet. Every Time I Die, Muse, Green Day, NIN, My Chemical Romance, Brad Paisley, Kid Cudi, Lil Wayne, and Eminem - they probably hate failure as much as I do.

Popped in a movie - Law Abiding Citizen - great flic. I'm keeping with the music, however, because I've seen it a few times. Besides, I don't feel like paying attention to anything.

As far as our ETA back in the Bronx - that's a mystery. We're supposed to be in Hagerstown, Maryland around 2:52am to change drivers. However far that is from NYC is anyones guess.  We might hit the morning rush hour over the George Washington Bridge. That would be a real kick in the pants.

I'm gonna go tune out to some music. One love bloggies.

Awesome Awesomeness

Today was a strictly cardio day for me in the gym.  I was feeling crazy, so I started off on the rowing machine.  Pretty intense.  We have a club crew team, so they have some pretty nice stuff they have stashed in the fitness center.

I started off with the "Fish Game", couldn't get the hang of it, so I put the squash on that.  Opted instead for a 2,000m row.  Don't ask what distance that is or what it even means (I assume 2,000 meters?) but it took me just over eight minutes and was very intense.  It was a solid cardio and back workout.

From there I headed to the stationary bike.  Rode around for a while on "Pike's Peak" and listened to some music. 

As per yesterday, here's a look into the music that started my day:

1. Every Time I Die - "Organ Grinder" - just a barrel of awesomeness to start off
2. I Am The Avalanche - "Always" - melodic yet hard enough to pump me up
3. The Gaslight Anthem - "American Slang" - NJ band with a sound eerily similar to that of Bruce Springsteen
4. Every Time I Die - "For The Record" - "I've had a good run but can't run anymore" - PLAY IT LOUD!
5. Kid Cudi - "Dat New 'New'" - if you don't know this guy (and are under 32), WAKE UP!!
6. Brad Paisley - "Water" - just a song I enjoy singing along to

7. Nine Inch Nails - "Where Is Everybody" - a going-away pump up song to cool down to

And you should definitely listen to these songs.  Because they're awesome.  And so are you!

Hello, Newman.

Sorry for the lack of material this weekend - it's been pretty hectic - Saturday I was recruiting all day, Sunday was spent traveling.  Now it's Monday and I'm raring to go.  Got a lot of material to cover so let's hope you're ready to listen.

Saturday started with an 8:13am alarm clock, NIN's "Discipline" was the song of choice, as it is most days.  Some days, it's The Gaslight Anthem's "Boomboxes and Dictionaries", both solid choices to ease me into my day.

Let's start with the backbone of this blog - sports.

1.  Strasburg was dominant again, although he did walk as many guys (5) as he had in his previous 5 starts (1 MLB, 4 AAA).  He improved to 2-0 (Pirates and Indians) but let up his 2nd HR in as many starts, both to lefties, and both on a change up.  Either way, he's got 22 K in 12.1 IP.  The Nationals may make some noise after all.

2.  The Yankees completed a sweep of the Astros and in the process, moved into a tie atop the AL Beast with the Rays.  There's a World Series rematch series, beginning tonight in the Bronx, as CC Sabathia takes on Roy Halladay.  The Phillies are looking to regain their mo-jo (4-6 in their last 10 games) and crawl back into the NL Least race (3.5 behind 1st place Atlanta) while the Yanks look to distance themselves from the rest of baseball.  I hope I get a good pitching match up Thursday when I go with Lindsay and our fathers - I think it's looking like Moyer vs. Pettitte.

3.  Ted Lilly had a no-hit bid into the 9th against the White Sox, but settled for a 1-hitter and a 1-0 Cubs win.  We were in a bar here in Dallas, and there were a few Chicago fans - one guy, who everyone else refused to give pounds to regardless of how many times he tried - was the epitome of what a White Sox fan is (as told to me by another patron from Chicago).  Obnoxious.  A total jackass.  He was whining when they pinch-hit Juan Pierre to lead off the ninth, then after he broke up the no-no, he said he knew he was going to get a hit - douche.  This guy was shouting all night, almost fell off his stool several times, and was almost forcing his girlfriend (so it seemed) into making out with him - sloppy.

On Saturday, I was up at Blind Brook HS for a game after a showcase at Pace.  BBHS has quite possibly the nicest facilities for a high school I've ever seen.  Field turf abounds - football field, baseball field, soccer field, softball field - they might even have field turf in the hallways.  Almost like VCP.  Anyway, the thing that stuck out was a parent who was chirping the whole game.  Similar to a major league game, every pop up was a HR (or so he reacted), every ground ball was "just missed", and every strikeout looking was outside.  Anyway, same game, same guy - the 7 hitter snuck a dribbler between the first- and second-baseman, to which Super-Dad blurted out, "He squecked that one through there!"  Now, I'm no English major, but "squeaked" is a word.  Squecked, not a word.  #1 Dad.

Sunday was filled with air travel and ground transportation.  LaGuardia to Charlotte, Charlotte to Dallas-Ft. Worth.  The tail end of the trip was turbulent, to put it lightly.  I started getting sick from bouncing around in my seat.  Once we got below the clouds (all 3 minutes of it) and landed, it was great.  The landing was the smoothest part of the flights.  Got off the plane, went to find some "Shared Transportation" and got in.  There were 5 others in there, all going to right near where we were going.  The van was full, but the driver was convinced he may be able to pick up another passenger, so he drove around the airport (to every terminal) trying to find someone else to cram in.  Once he realized he had wasted over 25 minutes worth of gas, he decided to take to the roads, and eventually dropped us off at the hotel.  It was like riding on a wooden roller coaster with no seat belt - pretty scary.  Not quite sure if he was legal.

We strolled around Downtown Dallas a little, I of course snapped some photos, and then we went into CVS - the biggest CVS I have ever seen (I guess everything really is bigger in Texas).  While meandering through the aisles, Lindsay saw a guy and said "He looks like the guy from Jurassic Park" so I looked.  Wasn't sure who she meant, I mean it has been over ten years since I've seen the movie.  We were looking through the "Trial Size" stuff, and I saw the man again - NEWMAN!!  I wanted to be sure, so creepily stared at him for a few seconds.  Then I went up and asked if he was Wayne Knight, and that I was a huge fan (which is an exaggeration) but he is freakin' NEWMAN.  If you've never seen Seinfeld and are reading this, welcome to Earth.  Turns out he's in town shooting a show for FOX, The Good Guys.  I got him to take a picture with me - CVS was empty, so I didn't care.  Had it been full of patrons, I probably would have just taken a sneaky photo of him.  I will publish the photo when I get back to the BX.  How cool is that?

FACT:  Dallas's Downtown shuts down on Sunday.  We found a neat little Mexican restaurant for lunch - Sol Irlandes - we didn't stay for the karaoke at night though.

Passed out several times after getting back from lunch, but managed to stay awake long enough to grab a bite at Press Box Grill.  That's where we were blessed with the Chicago fans.  Ate, had a drink, left as soon as Lilly let up the lone hit in the game, and came back to the hotel to pass out.

Today I will venture out and try to find a place to eat some breakfast.  Lindsay is at the conference so I will explore, maybe I'll bump into another celeb.  Probably not, but I can care less.  NEWMAN!

Hello Big D!

Misc.

Home of the 2010 MAAC Baseball Championships.  #1 Canisius, #2 Marist, #3 Rider, #4 Manhattan.  Same field as last year, different seeding, hoping for different results.

Coaches get their own rooms.  To quote the "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, "Woooooooo!!"  Just got up from a little siesta and buzzed the facial growth.  Couldn't really be good or bad luck, we won two and lost one since the last time I buzzed it.  Gonna wait to get ready for the dinner at 7:30pm because I sweat like an animal, even in the hotel air conditioning.

Listening to a wide array of music on this laptops version of iTunes, my home laptop has more, since this one was wiped clean.  It's pretty much as loud as it goes, which may ultimately end the life of this here laptop.  This thing is at least 8 years old, running on it's last legs.  Want to get inside my head, see what kind of music I'm listening to?  Here's a list of the past 8 songs I've listened to: "Shoot Frank" by Cage ft. Daryl Palumbo;  "We'rewolf" by Every Time I Die; "Supermassive Black Hole" by MUSE; "The Leaving Song Pt. 2" by AFI; "1,000,000" by Nine Inch Nails; "Mother Lover" by The Lonely Island; "Pledge Allegiance to the Hag" by Eric Church; "1901" by Phoenix.  Got some indie/punk/rap, some metal/hardcore, some country, some industrial rock, some rock, some funny spoof rap, and whatever the hell Phoenix is considered, alternative rock maybe?  I actually dislike this song, but for some reason I can't turn it off. 

It's 6:09pm, still got some time before I dress up for this dinner - it's a banquet at the Holiday Inn, "Pleasing people the world over". (Tagline Guru)  Pretty cool site, who knew someone would dedicate an entire website to taglines.  I guess the same can be said for me, how the hell do I have the attention span to continue blogging.  Here's some cool ones, in my opinion, and you're reading my blog, so tough crap if you don't want my opinion:  "When it rains, it pours" is Morton Salt (my father loves salt, on everything, and I guess so do I - salt on a cucumber, try it); "Wake up and drive" is Mitsubishi's, which is pretty important advice - it's tough to drive when you're not awake; "The best kept automotive secret in America" is Peugeot - they really are a secret, I've never even heard of them/that - it's  probably something above my social/economic class - just looked it up, about $35,000 USD, or £24,500; one more, lets see here; here's a jingle, "I'm a pepper, he's a pepper, she's a pepper, we're a pepper, wouldn't ya like to be a pepper too, I'm a pepper, he's a pepper, she's a pepper, if you drink Dr. Pepper you're a pepper too" is a Dr. Pepper jingle from the 1970's.  Kinda catchy.  Just watched the YouTube video of it.

 Birthday shout-outs real quick - none of my Facebook friends birthday today.

Mike Myers, the voice of Shrek turns 47 today.  He also starred in Wayne's World, the Austin Powers movies, and a recent favorite movie of mine, Inglorious Basterds.  Oh, behave!

 
Stacy London, star of one of Lindsay's favorite shows, What Not to Wear, on TLC, turns 41 today.  Good thing Lindsay hasn't nominated me for that show, I pretty much wear mesh shorts and t-shirts to work every day.  I have clothes that are nice, but really only wear them when we go out to dinner or out with  Paul and Jenny. 





Oh, and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson would have turned 208 today.  Why they put that on the website is beyond me.  (All birthday's I post about I get from www.myfamousbirthdays.com).

OK, time to freshen up and dress it up.  Suit is hanging up, just gotta tie this tie - that'll take 20 minutes.

I hope the food's good, that root beer float from A&W was good this afternoon, but the burger didn't really fill me up.

Trent Reznor

Happy 45th Birthday to Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor! 

NIN happens to be one of my favorite bands of all time.  Although people's view of the band is often times distorted, they are in all reality, a great band - well, technically they really aren't a band at all, as Trent Reznor is the only actual member of NIN.  He simply assembles a live band to perform with him every album, and when he tours, the members come and go.  NIN has been nominated for 12 Grammy Awards, only winning two:  "Wish" (1992) and "Happiness in Slavery" (1995).  Two of my favorite songs are "Discipline" from The Slip (which is available free online HERE) and "Burn" off 1994's Natural Born Killers soundtrack and also as a Bonus Track on the tenth anniversary Deluxe Edition of The Downward Spiral. 

They began in 1988, and have been going strong since - putting out eight major label releases since 1989.  The longest gap between albums was from 2002's double-CD The Fragile to 2005's With Teeth.  Here's a list of their studio albums:  Pretty Hate Machine, Broken, The Downward Spiral, The Fragile, With Teeth, Year Zero, Ghosts I-IV, and The Slip.  All these albums have a similar electronic feel to them, and they are all great in their own way.

An often misunderstood fact about NIN - "Hurt" was recorded for Nine Inch Nails The Downward Spiral in 1994.  In 2002, the legendary Johnny Cash covered this song for his 2002 release, American IV:  The Man Comes Around.  Many people think that NIN covered the song - not the case!  Here are the links to both videos of "Hurt":  NIN's "Hurt" (live)  --  Johnny Cash's "Hurt".

Seen them several times, every time is great.  The last time was actually with Paul and Jenny and Jess.  Lots of lights, lots of noise, lots of people - some guy actually rung his shirt out to get rid of the sweat that was soaked in it, and some other guy tripped over the ATM machine (which was 4' tall).

Overall, NIN is great - take it or leave it.  And Happy Birthday Trent Reznor!!