For those of you who are not aware, tonight is the first of three scheduled Presidential Debates between George W. Bush and John Kerry. Things kick off at 9 tonight, live from the University of Miami (of Florida) and it is pretty much guaranteed that it will be on every channel.

In order to get the festivities kicked off in high fashion I recommend a philosophy that my good friend Frank swears by: TAILGATE for Life.

That's right! You heard me. Tailgate for the Debates. It's not as far fetched as it sounds. During the 2000 Campaign Jason, Matt, Takanori and myself would gather round the TV, Wing-It and brews in hand and proceed to watch the deliberations. If you want to take things to the next level, you can make things more interesting by taking a drink whenever a candidate refers to himself in the third person.

Let's go Senators!

ESPN.com - MLB - At long last, D.C. lands Expos

There can be only one...

Had a chance occurrence yesterday with a Mr. Rich Kwan. He seemed to be a decent fellow. Not extremely outrageous, loud, angry or bitter. Nothing on the surface that would make me dislike him. In fact, we were able to carry on a civil, if not overly insightful conversation (which at the time escapes me, which may say something about him or me) He was a friend of my friend John (one of the original Three Pillars of Coolness) so by all accounts I should have no problems with Rich. But that's where you are wrong. John knew what was coming, he expected it even:

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE! The "K" kwans must be eliminated!

More important things to think about

This is for my buddy Matt who I know is pulling out his hair while his beloved Dodgers are in the process of blowing a 8.5 game lead over the Giants in the N.L. West.

DodgerBlues is proof that L.A. can be the same morass of negativity as Boston.

The Dodgers' season is on the line and they put up three f'ing hits. Unbelievable. At this point they've lost all confidence in themselves, and you can't blame them. The Giants are playing incredible ball, and the Dodgers are more of a mess than Kevin Kennedy's face. Meanwhile, Shawn Green is still debating whether or not he'll miss two games this weekend because of Yom Kippur. At this point it looks like it won't even matter, but we've got a solution: send Hee-Seop Choi to temple to fill in for Green. It would be Choi's greatest contribution to the team, plus he'd get to repent for his sins ('sins' being another way of saying 'every at-bat he's had since he's been a Dodger'). Good times.

Let's go Blue! Don't let the Giants win.

I'm so over it

One of my lifelong aspirations was to be on MTV’s Real World. I have been an avid fan since its conception, faithfully watching it from the get go: the original New York season. Those long middle school weekends spent watching daylong Real World marathons... good times. I even remember Puck stealing Pedro's peanut butter, the utter peak of unintentional comedy. Perhaps only surpassed by David, from New Orleans, serenading us with "Come on be my baby tonight..."

Which lead us of course to the down time for the series, New Orleans and Miami were particularly boring, yet somehow still they satisfied a certain craving. What can I say about Las Vegas? I guess that's when things changed. I didn't really watch this season, but I knew it brought resurgence back to the Real World, in the "14 year old girls wearing thongs to class, Olsen Twins countdown to 18 kind of way. San Diego piqued my interest again and watching Big Rand, Free Brad, Jaquise and Robin's Twins was entertaining, but not was more spectacle than anything else. I guess I'm older now. Times are different now. I think that this really sums things up.

Boston.com `Real World' gets hot and bothersome

I'm at work. You too may be at work. Or even in class. This may provide a few cheap thrills. (office safe)

Moving Day

The Hive is a moving.... albeit 200 yards away, but still.

The new office space is cool! So spacious. We have an ice machine too!

The army has nothing on me. I've been stuck in traffic longer today than everyone else I know.

I hate gridlock. I hate clusterfucks. I hate having to drive 85 mph when I'm on a straightaway to make up for all the time I'm crawling along at 25 mph. I hate back to school season. I hate Jersey girls driving BMWs that cut me off. I hate how I have to start my day so much earlier because I can't afford to pay for parking. I really hate when I am polite and let someone in front of me and I don't even get a courtesy wave. I hate a 86 minute commute.

season of change

I never want to get up in the morning, but that's usually because I'm simply too tired and my bed is just too comfy. Today was different though. I wasn't really sleepy, but it was just too cold outside the comforts underneath my blankets. Fall is officially upon us. I know no one wants to admit it, but summer is over for all intents and purposes.

Bring on the apple cider, fall foliage, sweaters and Sundays watching football. I'm going to the Sox game tonight, but it feels like I should be on my way to Foxboro. Pedro is on the mound. It'll be just like October baseball.

So I think my blog is broken. I can't upload content.


FIXED AS OF NOW. Enjoy my humble readers.

Weekend Recap

I have been in the Washington DC/Virginia area for the past few days spending some quality time with my family and Jason. Usually when I go I attempt the 8-hour/ 500-mile drive down, but not this time. Thanks to making the big bucks (hardly) I flew down. I’d say the 75-minute flight down was worth the $160.

Friday:

• My first full day started by overeating at a dim sum buffet. I wish I realized the amount of food and drink that I was to consume on this trip, but even if I did I don’t think I would have changed a thing.
• Later on that evening Jon, Chris, Michelle, her boyfriend and myself went to see the Redskins play the Falcons and partake in a bit of tailgating. I’d like to say that I was able to see Mike Vick run around and be the video game that he is, but sadly we were stuck in traffic until the 2nd quarter. Granted I have seen live action NFL caliber football before, but this was the first time I actually got to be spectator and enjoy myself at the game. Sadly FedEx Field did not play a part in the enjoyment of the game. Granted it was a nice, clean relatively new football only stadium (soccer doesn’t count) but it’s no Gillette.

Saturday:

• Did the touristy thing with Jason today: Monuments, memorials and museums. The one thing that differentiated our day was seeing all 50 Miss America contestants at the WWII Memorial. Odd sight at first, but when you get down to it they are just like everyone else, albeit with better posture and teeth.
• Had a lot of fun in Georgetown and Dupont Circle. Had some damn good tamales, in fact some would say that they were incredible, but then I am reminded that this is the east coast any/and all Mexican food is only good if it comes within sight of the Pacific Ocean. Played wingman with Jason tonight. Meeting and chatting up cute girls is fun. Paying $23 for two drinks, not so much.

This chick's rocking your bro on the dance floor...But she's towin' an anchor,
A junior investment banker
Who's talkin' about herself and not much more. So buy her a beer,
It's the reason your here
Mighty Wingman You're takin' one for the team
So your buddy can live the dream
Wingmaaaaaaan!

Sunday:

• Woke up with a sore back from sleeping on the floor. I have prided myself on always managing to either sleep in my own bed, snag a couch or worm my way into someone’s else’s bed since high school, but sadly the streak has come to an end.
• While the DC Metro may be clean and vagrant free it still has its foils. Namely that all the trains run on the same track and I ended up at Ronald Reagan International Airport and an hour away from where I was supposed to be. In Boston the red train is the Red Line, the green train is the Green Line, and so forth. Whereas in DC all the trains are orange colored and it seems that none are part of the Orange Line. I hate you Metro, viva la MBTA!
• Had my fantasy football draft. I had the number two pick and got LT. Everything was coming together. Peyton was actually going to fall to me. Giddiness. 18 picks into the draft and he was still there. My boy Peyton. The golden goose. But then Scott snagged him right in front of me. I ended up with Kevin Barlow who will be a solid back but isn’t going to be a cornerstone QB and left me scrambling to pick Trent Green in the 4th round. That’s OK I still like my team. And the blunder of the draft belongs to my good friend Matt: He of David Robinson fame. Picking the Bus in the 4th round is akin to choosing mushroom ravioli over prime rib when your girlfriend’s parents are taking you out. Last night before my world wind mini vacation ends.
  
• Jon takes me to a Mr. Smith’s where they’re offering $1 drinks, even better he decides to pay for my night’s imbruement.

Overall a great weekend that I really needed. Thanks Jon.

I was reminded recently of how much I love Topanga.



She's dreamy.

I need more nights like this

Had a rollicking good time with Frank and Toof at the game last night. SOX WIN! SOX WIN! 10-7 over the Anaheim Angels. And with the Yankees getting utterly destroyed by the Tribe 22-0 the Sox are a mere 3 1/2 games back of the AL East. The unimaginable is almost upon us.

It was a good night. A guy’s night if you will. Frank and Toof: common denominator me. Home friend and work friend, talk about worlds colliding. But it was indeed a fun time. Post work drinks with Frank at Boston Billiards where they have the absurd special of $1 Miller Lites on game days. Frank lived up to his billing as Frank the Tank and had already downed 4 cups or so by the time I met up with him. After a few rounds we moved on to Fenway, but before game time we stopped off at RemDawgs and had the largest hotdog known to man. It was at least 3/4 pounder, maybe more. But even at $6.75 it was worth it.

Since I provided the tickets Toof and Frank were buying me beers and peanuts throughout the night. We even managed to squeeze a little game of mound ball in. For those of you who don't know what this is. It is the poor man's version of being Pete Rose. You essentially throw a dollar into a pool and bet on whether the ball lands on the pitching mound dirt or grass. Had great seats too. Right up along the first baseline with great sightlines. In fact, the best sight of the night was this mad hot girl by the name of Andrea. She was a beacon of utter majesty that stood out from the riff raff that surrounded her. Which makes you wonder why such a beautiful girl would be friends with some less than desirable gals. It has always been my understanding and experience that hot girls hang around with other hot girls. Oh well.

The wait at Kenmore after a game is simply unbearable so we decided to walk down to the dreaded Orange Line. Once inside the sight of approximately 20 girls, who were apparently having a night on the town to celebrate their friend’s birthday, pleasantly surprised us.

And the line of the night:
"How old are you girls?"
"Too young for you guys..." deadpan. That was great.