a little of this, a little more of that...

first off, let me share something with you...

my friend Natascha Hoover has put out her first art photography book, Pressure Washers For Jesus. you can find a preview and more info on the book here:
http://www.blurb.com/b/4967743-pressure-washers-for-jesus

the New York Rangers played decently last night, but decent doesn't get you wins in this league. a 3-2 loss on a goal that the goalie has to make a save on. of course, when the coach can't decide who is the #1 goalie and who is the backup, this kind of shit happens. they play again on Sunday down in Tampa.

after doing the dishes and going through a few hours of email i had to catch up on, i did manage to get a few hours of sleep last night. not much as i was dreaming about the Dateline episode from last night on NBC. as much as i complain about being alone, i do understand it's much better than being with the wrong person.

got up this morning and watched team USA beat Slovakia 6-3 in the World Juniors. i was happy generally with how they played. they do need to clean up all the penalties they take and they must figure out why they always play shitty in the 2nd period. tomorrow morning should be interesting as it is their first back to back days playing. thankfully, they're only playing Germany. that has a chance to get ugly quickly.

that game ended with plenty of time for me to get some breakfast and watch Manchester United play. it wouldn't be a United game this year if there wasn't some injury concern seemingly out of nowhere. Wayne Rooney didn't make the trip to Norwich, resting a sore groin. i'm hoping it's because of the bigger game coming up on Jan. 1st. United looked dreadful in the first half. bring on Danny Welbeck and it all changes. United wins 1-0 with a dramatically better effort in the second half. a much needed 3 points going into the game at home against Spurs.

so i now have the rest of this sunny Saturday to enjoy a couple of victory beers. i imagine i will be watching some college football and taking a long nap for most of today. i do want to watch the WWE Tribute to the Troops this evening. other than that and some ROH, this might end up being a Saturday of doing little shit around the house.

hope this finds everyone well. hope the weather is decent in your neck of the woods. of course, they are saying it's going to rain tomorrow, which will turn into snow. i figured this would happen as i have a ton of trash to take down the lane tomorrow. as long as it isn't too windy. i'm not a big fan of picking the trash up again. now if i could just get the fuckers across the road to understand this concept.

be well. peace and chicken grease.

music:

The Lemonheads - The Best of The Lemonheads: The Atlantic Years
Guided By Voices - Isolation Drills

"Software is like sex: it's better when it's free." - Linus Torvalds

a rainy day of what could have been

so i got up this morning in a pretty good mood. rare, as it was raining and cold. after eating a little breakfast and feeding the cats, i settled in for the Manchester United match. RvP scores in the first half. a couple of bad breaks but a way too flat second half leads to once again my biggest gripe with Moyes. their is no killer instinct, hence, no one is afraid to play at Old Trafford anymore. a 1-1 draw that is beyond unacceptable. not the start of the day i was hoping for.

so, after a quick shower, it was a stop at a friend's baby shower. saw some of my sister's friends and some people i grew up next to. wasn't too bad as i was only in there for 20 minutes at most. then, off to the Red and Blue Game at the University of Dayton arena. anyone that knows me knows that i love basketball. played it for years. had arguably one of the best shots of anyone in the area i grew up in. i have rooted for Dayton in college basketball since 1983 or so. the women's team is going to be really good once again. they are deep and very talented. the men's team is deeper this year but have a few holes to fill to reach their potential. Scoochie came as advertised from NYC. i love guards from there. i have no doubt that kid will be starting sometime this season and will be a star. Dyshawn Pierre looks stronger and should be in line for a monster season. if this team can shake off the rust from the players that sat out last year and if the newbies can contribute when needed, this team could be sniffing the tournament. but that will mostly depend on who becomes the reliable scorer in crunch time. can't wait for the season to start.

so after that got over, my mom and i went to our favorite sports bar and caught a quarter or so of the Ohio State game. looked like the usual take my opponent lightly game that became a tussle. i watched the end of the game back at home. Ohio State pulled out the game in the 4th quarter. 19th straight win. and sadly, my only victory beer of the day.

the New York Rangers laid a fucking egg this evening against one of its biggest rivals and the only team in the NHL without a victory. i felt like such a fool to actually believe that the Washington game was the real team. no Nash, no Cally, no fucking goals. a 4-0 drubbing at New Jersey. thankfully, i didn't bother to watch after the first period.

so the rest of this evening will be some more college football, some music on PBS, and hopefully i will still be awake for ROH.

tomorrow will be a day of fantasy football and the usual Sunday night shows. i will probably blog again after all that. in the middle of the night here most likely.

hopefully everyone is enjoying the new photos. i really think they are some of the better ones i have done.

hope this finds everyone well. a big thank you to Natascha Hoover for the kind words over on LinkedIn. i really appreciate it.

music:

The Dirty Guv'nahs - Somewhere Beneath These Southern Skies
Red Wanting Blue - Live at City Winery

"You don't know a ladder has splinters until you slide down it." - Bum Phillips (Sept. 29, 1923 - Oct. 18, 2013) (my favorite football coach of all-time)

a cool and cloudy friday

it felt so good to be able to open up the house today and let a cool breeze air it out. i know in a few weeks i won't be able to do that with the upcoming harvest. unless of course, i don't mind a ton of dust and dirt and god knows what else coming in.

the Yankees managed to hold on last night, sort of, and win 6-5. i was flipping between that and the NFL game. i left the Yankee game with 2 outs in the 8th and the Yankees up by 3. i turn back and the score is tied and the bullpen is up warming. needless to say, i was not happy. but to see the winning score come in on a wild pitch was pretty damn funny. sadly, Boston lost last night so the Yankees are still 1 game back in the wildcard. 3 huge games up in Boston this weekend. they MUST find a way to win 2 out of 3 at the very least. if last weekend was any indication, time for an act of god again.

the NFL game last night was bowling shoe ugly. nothing to really write about.

Big Brother went as i feared. i know who won the first part of the final HOH. i'm not rooting for any of them now, so i really don't give a shit who wins it.

the plan is to get to bed at a decent hour tonight as Manchester United plays in the morning. hopefully they can get their shit together and win comfortably.

i got 4 more illustrations in the email today from my favorite artist in Sweden. i hope to find some time to write the poems for those this weekend. i have a nice lull between ManU and when Ohio State plays in the evening. hopefully i'll be writing with a victory beer.

a special thank you to Natascha Hoover for all the positive vibes she's been sending today. hope you have a wonderful weekend my friend.

looks like all my fantasy football shit is in order for the weekend. hopefully i have no injuries pop up out of nowhere. nothing derails the best laid plans like a damn injury.

now it's time for me to go back to YouTube and start finding more obscure shit. i hope everyone has a great weekend. may all your sports teams win, unless you live in Boston and Tampa. may the beverages be cold and refreshing and may the music be something that blows you the fuck away.

music:

Black Sabbath - 13
Shrug - Everything's Blowing Up Roses
Nirvana - Incesticide

"Nothing that you do will ever feel good if you let people convince you that you have no choice." - Fiona Apple