Here’s what I was looking for when I put my playlist together: Mostly 80s music, and all Rock & Roll.  I put iTunes on shuffle, so I didn’t really put any thought into track order.  Also, I guess I kind of honed in on only a few artists, but it pumped me up.

• Van Halen – Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love
• Thrice – All That’s Left
• Bon Jove – Livin’ On a Prayer
• Atreyu – The Crimson
• Simple Minds – Don’t You Forget About Me
• Guns & Roses – Don’t Cry
• Underoath – Reinventing Your Exit
• AC/DC – Hell’s Bells (Reminds me of Browns games)
• U2 – New Year’s Day
• Van Halen – Panama (Greatest Rock & Roll song of all time??)
• Ratt – Round and Round
• Guns & Roses – Welcome to the Jungle (still remember hearing this song at Bengals stadium when I was little and how awesome that was)
• Atreyu – Right Side of the Bed
• Bon Jovi – You Give Love a Bad Name
• U2 – Pride (In the Name of Love)
• Van Halen – Right Now
• Underoath – It’s Dangerous Business Just Walking Out Your Door.

Share your Fantasy Football Draft playlist in the comments!

These songs make me want to do one of three things: 1) Wear a flannel shirt and grow a beard  2) Wake up early on a frosty morning to drink hot cider  3) Jump in the car with no set destination–just to look at the changing leaves.

Sigur Ros – Hoppipolla
The New Amsterdams – Hanging on for Hope
Matt Pond PA – New Hampshire
Death Cab for Cutie – The Sound of Settling
Mogwai – Take Me Somewhere Nice
M83 – Kim & Jessie
Damien Rice – Cannonball
Youth Group – Forever Young
Minus The Bear – Pachuca Sunrise
Explosions in the Sky – Your Hand in Mine

Fall is my favorite season, but I also find it the saddest of the seasons.  Even though it’s the death of summer (or what little warmth we actually get up here in NE Ohio), I think that Autumn also represents hope and imagination.  It’s usually the time of the year that I feel the most self-reflective and the most creative.  I hope these song choices reflect that.

With that being said, I couldn’t think of a more perfect month than October for the release of the movie Where the Wild Things Are.

Week of March 22, 09

1. Dr. Pepper Cherry. My two favorite caffeinated beverages of all time: Cherry Coke and Dr. Pepper.  Imagine my surprise when I saw Cherry Dr. Pepper sitting on the shelf of my local grocery store.  Dr. Pepper’s website doesn’t have any information on it, but I can assure you that it does exist.  I bought a 2 liter bottle a week ago and it was smooth, delicious, and refreshing.  It was so enticing, sitting there calling out my name, that it caused me to fall off the wagon (I was 2 weeks into a campaign to give up caffeinated drinks). It was well worth it though – definitely give it a try if you can find it.
2. Zebra G-301 Gel pen.  I’m a huge pen guy – some might even call me a pen snob.  I try to only write with gel pens because I like to write neat and with a fine tipped pen.  If I can, I avoid ballpoint pens at all costs.  I first tried this pen at a restaurant when the waiter left it with the check.  I wanted to steal it so bad, but it was a classy restaurant, so my girlfriend went out and bought me some the next day (she’s cool like that).  I love the way it looks with the stainless steel.  It’s not too expensive, but looks like it should be.  The one downside is that it does run out of ink fairly quickly, but each pack comes with two pens and two refills, and the refills are pretty easy to find.
3. Getting a haircut at a real barber shop. I had gone to a variety of the budget hair salons for quite some time…the Best Cuts and Great Clips and always got annoyed when I got home and realized how bad of a haircut I got.  Going to a real barber shop let’s you talk about real things with real people, and there’s none of the uncomfortable small talk.  Unlike at a budget salon, I don’t get the same questions from my barber that I heard him asking the guy before me, like, “Just gettin’ off work?  Where do you work?  Doing anything fun this weekend?”  Also, the barber never complains about his life and tells stories about his irresponsible sister having another kid with no daddy.  I don’t know you, I don’t care!  A barber knows how to cut a guy’s hair, and when you develop a relationship with one, they learn what you want and don’t even have to ask.  And if you’re going to a real barber, you get the warm lather and straight razor shave.  There’s nothing better!
4. Having a job.  I just accepted a position as Webmaster/Internet Specialist with a specialty auto parts manufacturer for hot rods, muscle cars, classics, etc.  Very excited.  Everyone knows this is a tough economy, so I’m extremely grateful that I was able to find something so quickly.
5. McDonald’s Southern Style Chicken Sandwich.  I have no idea if this sandwich is healthy or not…the sodium numbers look pretty alarming, but damn is it tasty. I prefer this sandwich over their burgers, but try to keep my McD’s consumption to a minimum.  They should make some sort of Singing Chicken commercial to promote this sandwich.

Week of March 15, 2009

I’m going to try and do something that should help inspire me to a) write on this more often and b) try and give my blog a little bit more of an identity and hopefully give people a reason to come back and read it. Each week, I’m going to create a Top 5 list of things I found interesting or just thoroughly enjoyed. I realize this is hardly an original idea, but it seems kind of fun, so I’m going to give it a shot.

Since I just thought of this an hour ago, this week’s list will be a compilation of some of my favorite sites, and other random things.  I’ll work on compiling some ideas throughout the week for my next list.  Here it goes, in no particular order:

1. Esquire.com’s The 75 Skills Every Man Should Master:  This is one of my all-time favorite articles.  Every couple of months I go back and re-read this and try and focus on a couple of the items on the list.
2. Lakewood Dog Park:  I took my dog Casey here this afternoon and met up with my friend Eric and his dog Frank.  Check out pictures from our day at the park.
3. IZZE Sparkling Juice:  Made with 70% pure fruit juice, a splash of sparkling water, and contains no refined sugars, no caffeine, no preservatives, and no artificial flavors or colors…truly delicious and refreshing!  I’ve tried every flavor but Peach and Blueberry, but so far Grapefruit is my favorite.  I’ve found it at Target and CostCo, but you can go here to see a complete list of retailers that carry it.
4. WebMonkey.com:  One of my digital media professors turned me onto this site.  It’s An excellent resource for Web Developers, that has everything from tutorials on software and design fundamentals, to hexidecimal color charts, to a code library with fully-developed code you can add to your site.
5. Mustache Pizza:  A short video by an improv comedy group named Action Pals.  I may be alone on this, but I found this video absolutely hilarious.  It’s only 14 seconds long, and utterly ridiculous, but I LOL’d when I first saw it.  This video does contain some inappropriate language, so be careful where you watch it.

That’s all for now – check back next week!

Cavs' Owner Dan Gilbert

Dan Gilbert, Cleveland Cavaliers’ owner and Founder of Quicken Loans,  is one of the lead investors in a proposal to build a full-scale Casino in downtown Cleveland.  The proposal also has plans to bring similar casinos to Toledo, Columbus, and Cincinnati.

Gilbert issued a statement saying, “The timing of this effort could not be more appropriate or important, considering the current economic challenges are as difficult as Ohio has ever faced.”

Plans are in place to begin gathering signatures in an effort to get it placed on the November ballot.  If approved, construction could begin as early as next year.

From Cleveland.com:

Proponents promise to be generous with the $1.8 billion a year that the casinos are expected to haul in — a conservative estimate, they say — by sharing proceeds with state, county and local governments while also sending cash to public schools and the horse-racing industry, which figures to be left out of the plans for new types of gambling.

Former Cincinnati Mayor, Charlie Luken believes it would be beneficial for the state of Ohio. “I don’t know anyone that is offering to put up a billion dollars in capital investment, 20,000 jobs and $600 million in tax revenue to the state.”

Personally, I’ve never been in favor of outsiders trying to build casinos in Ohio, especially outside of the Cleveland area.  Not because I believe it will lead to the destruction of families and create gambling addictions,  but because I’ve never felt like the investors have Ohio’s or Cleveland’s best interests in mind.  I am intrigued by this proposal because Gilbert is one of the primary investors.  He’s already shown the people in Cleveland that he believes in the city by investing in, and dramatically revamping the Cavaliers, acquiring ownership of the Lake Erie Monsters and bringing minor-league hockey back to Cleveland, and also by opening a Quicken Loans operation in downtown Cleveland.

You can learn more about this story at Cleveland.com, WKYC.com, or WTAM.com.

Courtesy of ebaumsworld.com

Here’s a thing that’s been bothering me since last Friday.  The weather was beautiful outside – it topped out at 69 degrees, which is extremely rare for this time of year in Cleveland.  I decided to take my dog Casey for a walk so we could both get out and get some exercise and enjoy the weather.  I went to the city Rec Center which has some nice looping all-purpose trails – perfect for walking your dog or jogging on.

So I’ve been out on the trail for about 15-20 minutes already and I see a woman in…lets make this politically correct…”form-fitting” spandex, jump on the trail about 200-300 yards ahead of me.  Casey’s a year-and-a-half old so when we go on walks she likes to go at a pretty good pace, which is great, because it gets me some decent exercise too.  I soon realize that we’re quickly catching up to the woman who jumped on the trail ahead of us.  I didn’t want to overtake her, so I slow down a bit, to see if she was going to start jogging.  She didn’t.

Instead, she starts flailing her arms up over her head, looking like she’s trying to create enough downforce to lift herself off of the ground…all while moving about 3 mph.  So, I make the decision that Casey and I are going to pass her, because I no longer want to be at that awkward distance where it feels like I’m following too close…tailgating if you will…and as the saying goes, “If you ain’t the lead dog, the scenery never changes…”  and I was getting tired of looking at the neon spandex “scene” ahead of me.  I see daylight ahead, so Casey and I kick it into 4th gear and make our move.  We’re about 5-7 yards away, when she hears Casey’s tags rattling against her collar and turns around.  At this point, I thought she was going to realize we were going to overtake her, and either step aside, or slow down a bit to let us pass so we can be on our way.  She didn’t.

She starts running.  I’m thinking to myself, “Here we go, she’s going to start jogging and Casey and I can continue at our own pace.”  So the lady runs for about 10 seconds and then stops, turns back to see how far ahead she got, and then continues her wing flapping and turtle crawl.  About 30 seconds later, Casey and I are up on her again.  Again, we try to make the pass, she hears us behind her and begins her 30 yard jog and returns to walking.  THIS HAPPENED THREE MORE TIMES!

I wanted to yell at her to just let us pass, but I bit my tongue.  We eventually got to a point where the Rec Center trails meet up with a neighborhood sidewalk and I ducked into the neighborhood and we walked around a cul-de-sac, just to get some breathing room between us and the spandex queen. Then, we returned to the trail and finished our walk with no problems.

I have no idea what this lady thought she was accomplishing by not letting us pass.  It was obvious she was in no shape to be jogging, and it would have benefited everyone to just let us pass…

Let’s make this clear…I have no problem with people out exercising. I respect anyone who has the courage to go out there and do whatever it takes to try and keep their body healthy.  What I do have a problem with is not knowing your fitness level, or trying to work outside of your level and not respecting others around you.  There’s no shame in letting someone pass you on a walking track.  Everyone has their own comfort level and pace and there’s nothing to be ashamed of if you get passed.  Everyone out there respects each other, because they understand how hard it is to drag yourself off the couch and get some real exercise.

All I ask is that if you see me and this dog tearing up the track behind you, GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY and let us through! Thanks.

If you can't get credit in his store, you can't get credit anywhere. His name is Marc..and you can count on it!

If you live in Northeast Ohio, you’ve seen one of those creepy, late night, low-budget (no-budget?) TV ads for Norton Furniture. I did a little research on the guy (Marc Brown), and apparently Marc “Don’t Call Me Arthur” Brown is more savvy than most would think.

Even though we Clevelanders consider him our own, his reach has extended pretty far outside of Ohio.  He’s got his own YouTube Channel, a Norton Furniture Wikipedia page, a possible MySpace profile (hard to tell if it’s really him), a profile on Funny or Die, Esquire.com included him in their “Five Most Terrifying Local TV Christmas Commercials” piece, and even comedian Patton Oswalt incorporated him into one of his sets.

Plus, the dude’s got style…Rockin’ Sean John and Timberland. Those commercials must be paying off for him somehow because he’s certainly not doing much E-Commerce business.

I’d love to stop by his store one day just to talk with him.  See if Mayor Frank Jackson has given him the key to the city yet, ask if he’s ever been invited to a party at the Playboy Mansion, or see if Dane Cook has approached him about doing some collaborative work.

For those of you in the know, you’re probably like me and just about died when you heard Jimmy Eat World was going out on tour, playing their landmark album Clarity from start to finish to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of its release. Then, like me, you probably sunk deep into your chair and let out a moan when you saw they weren’t coming to your town. With only ten shows/cities on the list, the chances of seeing them was pretty slim if you didn’t live in New York, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, LA, San Diego or Tempe.

For those of us not fortunate enough to get tickets to this tour, Jimmy Eat World just announced that on April 7th, they’ll be releasing Clarity Live – a digital-only document of the 2009 tour through www.jimmyeatworld.com. It will have DRM-free MP3 and lossless format options, as well as a digital booklet featuring photos from the tour.

Check out their official Clarity Tour website to learn more about the tour, and get updates on this release. Or you can follow them on Twitter: @jimmyeatworld

Mickey Rourke as Randy 'The Ram' Robinson

I haven’t seen Milk, so I can’t comment on Sean Penn’s performance as Harvey Milk—California’s first, openly-gay elected official—but from what I’ve heard he was brilliant. It’s on my list, as is Slumdog Millionaire, but I’ll wait until they’re available on DVD.

I was really looking forward to Mickey Rourke’s acceptance speech for Best Actor for his role as Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson’ in The Wrestler. For one thing, I wanted to see what he was wearing, because you just knew he wasn’t going to follow standard procedure and give us a clean pressed tux, and neatly styled hair. Second, I wanted to see what he had to say. I think his acceptance speech would’ve been highly entertaining—It’s clear he’s not entirely with it anymore due to years of drugs, alcohol, and punches to the head—but I also wanted ABC to get good use of their 7 second tape delay as he gratefully spewed profanities into the homes of millions of viewers. I think he would’ve brought down the house if he had won—everyone loves an underdog and he’s become the toast of the town since he’s resurrected his life and his career. He’s even rumored to have a lead role in Iron Man 2!

Mickey Rourke is a feel-good story for ’08/’09. With all of the horrible news we’re bombarded with everyday, it’s refreshing to see someone who’s life had fallen apart, come back out on top. He’s always seemed to put so much of himself into his characters onscreen, and that’s what makes The Wrestler so refreshing—it’s almost as if the movie is an autobiography and every body slam, punch, and drop of blood was right out of the script of Mickey’s life.

I’ve always looked at him as an enigmatic guy. He had his demons, but it’s hard to understand how or why he would throw away such a promising acting career, and turn to professional boxing. I think I find myself drawn to him because as a young actor, he was the epitome of ‘cool.’ He was charming and sensitive, but at the same time you knew he was dangerous. Mickey would’ve been the guy that brought a knife to a gun fight and would’ve been the last one standing when all was said and done.

Here’s a take from ESPN.com’s Bill Simmons on the casting of Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler:

The movie is highlighted by a Mickey Rourke performance that can only be described as incredible. We see superb acting all the time, but only occasionally does someone enter the “I have no idea who else could have pulled that character off” zone…A washed-up, down-on-his-luck movie star from the ’80s portraying a washed-up, down-on-his-luck wrestling star from the ’80s? Perfect. You’d want to find someone like Mickey Rourke to play Randy “The Ram” Robinson, right? Well, how about Mickey Rourke?

I liked Sean Penn’s acceptance speech. Not just because I LOL’d when he addressed the audience and the Academy as “You Commie Homo-Loving Sons of Guns!” but also because of his special recognition of Mickey’s resurgence and groundbreaking performance: “I’m very, very proud to live in a country…who for all its toughness, creates courageous artists…and this is in great due respect to all of the nominees…but creates courageous artists, despite a sensitivity that sometimes has brought enormous challenge. Mickey Rourke rises again and he is my brother!”

Controversial New York Post Cartoon - 2/18/2009

This cartoon by Sean Delona was published in Wednesday’s edition of the New York Post.  It’s caused quite a controversy because of it’s apparent tie-in to President Barack Obama and a chimpanzee―a common racist and stereotypical portrayal of African-Americans as primates. The cartoon shows two police officers standing over the body of a chimpanzee that they have just shot dead. The primate reference is newsworthy because of the horrific attack that occurred earlier this week in Connecticut, when a pet Chimpanzee got loose and mauled a woman―severely disfiguring her face and arms―and was later shot dead by police officers responding to the scene.

The real controversy is in the caption that makes reference to the economic stimulus bill, and in turn, President Obama. The bill has clear ties to Obama, because he made it very clear that it would be his number one priority when he was the President-elect and has acted on that promise since taking office.

Personally, I don’t think the cartoon has any racist undertones―it may have been a knock on Obama, or the Democratic Congress as a whole―but I think mostly it was a poor attempt to try and tie in two unrelated, but newsworthy stories from earlier in the week. The media is sure having a field day with it, and naturally, Reverend Al has come out of the wood-work to get his two cents in on the issue.

What are your thoughts on this cartoon? Do you believe Delona tried to slip one past the editors and meant for this to be a racist portrayal of Obama as a chimpanzee? Or, do you think it was an unfortunate circumstance of the country’s heightened sensitivity to racism, as it adjusts to its first African-American President?

What's that noise Mr. Selig? Is that the sound of your legacy being flushed down the toilet?

And Bud Selig, the Commissioner of Major League Baseball since 1992, now comes out and makes a mockery of the entire situation by publicly condemning A-Rod for his use of performance enhancing drugs. This is taken from an article on ESPN.com :

Unable to punish Alex Rodriguez for flunking a drug test that was supposed to be anonymous, Bud Selig could only chastise him.

“What Alex did was wrong and he will have to live with the damage he has done to his name and reputation,” the commissioner said Thursday, three days after the Yankees star admitted using banned substances from 2001-2003 while playing for the Texas Rangers.

“While Alex deserves credit for publicly confronting the issue, there is no valid excuse for using such substances, and those who use them have shamed the game,” Selig said.

Really Bud? Only those that used shamed the game of baseball? How about all of the owners, general managers, coaches, and athletic trainers that were employed by Major League Baseball and allowed this to happen while they were under your watch as Commissioner? And please, enough with everyone from the owners to the players saying that they didn’t know that it was going on. They had complete access to the Clubhouse, the training facilities, full access to players’ medical records, and in most cases spent 8 months out of the year with these ‘roid heads. I also understand that people kept quiet because they had a good job and didn’t want to risk losing it, and as a player, they didn’t want to get black-balled by the Union…but really, it took a guy like Jose Freakin’ Canseco to expose the Steroids Era and knock MLB on its ass?

Rangers’ Owner Tom Hicks should be nominated for an Academy Award for his “Gee Whiz, I can’t believe it!” act. It reminds me of being in college and having the “cool” R.A. in your dorm that pretended like he couldn’t hear you crushing empty beer cans against your forehead in your room, or looking the other way when someone came stumbling down the hall with a PBR box on their head.

Mr. Selig claims that in 1997, he crafted a memo that made teams and players aware that steroids were a banned substance and it was illegal to possess them without a prescription. Now he’s considering suspending Alex Rodriguez based on that fact. Way to go Bud, way to be reactive and not proactive. I say too little, too late. It’s clear that you’re shifting the blame away from yourself, the Commissioner of Steroids, and trying your best to hang on to what little credibility is still attached to your legacy. Shame on you, Mr. Selig…Shame on you.

While I’m on the topic of Facebook, Here are some other curiosities I have about the rules/etiquette.  I would love to hear your thoughts and comments on these!

• Do you add everyone that requests to be your friend?  What is your criteria for confirming/ignoring friend requests?
• When someone sends you a message or writes on your wall, do you always respond?
• Do you consider it rude if someone does not respond to a message or wall posting that you sent to them?
• What do you consider an appropriate time frame to respond to a message you received from a friend?
• Have you ever used the “More” or “Less” settings to control the amount of information you see about one of your friends on your News Feed?
• What do you consider to be an excessive number of status updates or postings in a single day?
• Do you have a Twitter account?  Do you link your Tweets to your Facebook status?

Here’s what you do:

1. Put your MP3 player/iPod on Shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. Write that song down underneath the question, no matter how silly it sounds.

IF SOMEONE ASKS “ARE YOU OKAY?” YOU SAY?
Everlong – Foo Fighters

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
Too Much – Dave Matthews Band

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Disengage – The Honorary Title

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Mannequin Republic – At The Drive-In

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
Phoebe Cates – Fenix TX

WHAT’S YOUR MOTTO?
Phone Call From Poland – Bayside

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Georgia Boy – Pete Yorn

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Second Best – Home Grown

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Backyard – Guster

WHAT IS 2 + 2?
Drive – Incubus

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Mysterious Ways – U2

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
One Million Miles an Hour, Fast Asleep – RX Bandits

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Chain – The Fire Theft

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Africa – Straight No Chaser

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
The Union – Taking Back Sunday

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Through Being Cool – Saves the Day

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Ten – Jimmy Eat World

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
Death and All His Friends – Coldplay

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
When Finally Set Free – Copeland

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?
Drugs or Me – Jimmy Eat World

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS
Ecstasy – Rusted Root

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?

Checkmarks – The Academy Is

Here are two of my favorites:

Today, I spent almost my entire English class turned on thinking that the hot girl next to me was playing footsie with me. That is until she stood up and I realized I had been rubbing my foot on her backpack. FML

Today, my phone rang for the first time in four days. It was my mom. She dialed the wrong number. FML

Did anyone see Journey’s pre-Super Bowl performance of ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ on NBC?  I must’ve been watching the Puppy Bowl when they performed with their new singer, Filipino-born Arnel Pineda, but just caught the performance on YouTube.  It’s hard to believe that anyone could replicate Steve Perry’s famous pipes (especially Don’t Stop Believing where the vocals are really the driver of the song) but Arnel pulls it off pretty flawlessly.

Apparently, the members of Journey found him online by watching some videos of him singing their songs with a cover band he used to run with.  You can see him perform other songs with Journey, as well as some other covers like Roxanne at his website.

Also, ESPN’s Rick Reilly has a pretty amusing take on what it was like to be one of the thousands of fans down on the field during Bruce Springsteen’s halftime show.