welcome to the weekend...

 so, i did a little work on my football cards last night. i separated all the rookies from the other good cards. just NBA and NHL to go now...

Smackdown and 205 Live were both pretty good last night.

we did get all the Christmas decorations up last night. it's not nearly what we used to, but it's more than just nothing at least.

enjoy some music:

and now some of this and that:

on the DVR tonight will be Saturday Night Live and ROH.

Ohio State plays Northwestern today at noon for the Big Ten Championship. Ohio State will be missing some key players today, but hopefully, they get the victory.

the Dayton Flyers play today at home against Ole Miss. this will probably the last chance Dayton has to add a quality win over someone out of conference.

i'm sure i'll watch plenty of other college football games today as well.

there are also two NFL games on tonight that i'll probably watch some of. Buffalo plays at Denver and Carolina is at Green Bay.

i'm planning on being on here tomorrow in the morning before Manchester United plays.

i hope everyone has a great Saturday.

until tomorrow kids.

fight the power.

fuck racism.

fuck hatred.

fuck the police.

stay healthy.

wash your fucking hands.

wear your mask.

tantas mujeres hermosas, tan poco tiempo

be well. be creative. be cool. be quick to send me CASH, panties, hate mail, love letters. broken promises and dirty pennies from heaven.

peace and chicken grease...

music:

Run - DMC - Christmas In Hollis

Everlast - What It's Like

DJ Shadow - Midnight In A Perfect World

Vince Guaraldi - The Christmas Song

"Death is the beginning of something." - Edith Piaf

and your whatever the fuck i wanted you to see video of the day:

too good to be true

so the other day my artist friend from Sweden said that he missed my rants on Frontier Communications. i laughed and said they hadn't fucked up here lately but i was sure they would show their true colors around the holiday shopping season. funny, just 2 days later and the internet was out for almost 9 FUCKING hours today. it just came on a little but ago. i guess it was out all over the area as it was out in town as well. around 8 tonight i asked mom if she thought anyone actually told Frontier that it was out to begin with. she laughed and called just in case. thankfully it's back on tonight.

so, to waste time today i've had a couple glasses of wine, carried some shit in for my sister (she's down for the weekend), watched a little college hockey and listened to some music. right before the internet went down i posted some pictures i took today. 24 of them to be exact. my sister joked that i crashed the internet myself. who knows, she could be right. here are my favorites from today. the rest of them can be seen on my Google+ page or in the slideshow on the right hand side of this blog. enjoy.

The Big Bang Theory last night was fucking hilarious. i love the writing on that show.

my kicker paid off for me last night in fantasy football. i'm up by 12 points in both matches.

i also wrote a poem today that had been swimming in my head for almost a week. hopefully that opens the floodgates.

big sports weekend kicks off tomorrow. Manchester United in the morning. Ohio State in the afternoon, which i will miss most of because i will be at the Red and Blue game for the University of Dayton basketball program. i can't wait to see how the new players look.

not sure when i will actually blog tomorrow. i'm guessing in the evening. hopefully it will be after a few victory beers.

hope everyone has a great weekend. and hopefully your internet service provider is better than the piece of shit service provider i have.

music:

Stone Temple Pilots - Core
John Mayer Trio - Try! Live in Concert
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes
N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton
Natalie Merchant - Tigerlily

"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours." - Hunter S. Thompson

let the madness begin

another damp, dreary day here on the farm. had some freezing rain overnight. no down power lines or anything, but it certainly didn't do any favors for my back. i always love waking up stiff as a corpse.

found out last night the teams coming to Dayton for the NCAA tournament. i was half right in my guess. Indiana and Ohio State are the big teams. i suppose i could throw Notre Dame and NC St. in that mix as well. here are the 10 games i will be seeing in person this week:

Tuesday:
North Carolina A&T vs. Liberty
Middle Tennessee St. vs. St. Mary's

Wednesday:
LIU-Brooklyn vs. James Madison University
Boise St. vs. La Salle

Friday:
Indiana vs. LIU-Brooklyn/JMU winner
NC State vs. Temple
Ohio State vs. Iona
Notre Dame vs. Iowa State

Sunday:
Indiana (most likely) vs. NC St./Temple winner
Ohio St/Iona winner vs. ND/Iowa St. winner

the thought of Ohio State playing Notre Dame on Palm Sunday has me thinking of how much money the tickets could be scalped for. also, thought it was a little cruel for the outgoing Xavier AD to put 2 A10 schools here while the Dayton Flyers season is done. of course, Xavier isn't playing in the postseason either.

filled out a few brackets. a few less than last year. my main bracket has Louisville winning it all. i think i filled out about 15 or so brackets, plus a few round by round ones as well. my fingers are crossed. i'd really like to win something this year. anything would be nice.

spent a little time today thinking of names for the new cats. got a few good ones in mind. the key will be what ones i can remember. plus, so many of these little fuckers look alike, it probably doesn't matter what i name them. i'll probably call them the wrong name anyway.

i am going to try to weave some poetry submissions around the basketball games this week. not sure how i'm going to do that, seeing that a few have to be sent via the post office. but, i enjoy the chaos of running around at times. it would help if the sun or some heat would make a surprise appearance this week. neither are expected for some time.

the New York Rangers play tonight. hopefully, i won't have many reasons to stop watching them tonight. at least until Monday Night Raw starts. if their past few games are any indication, i'll be grumpy sometime way before 8 pm.

music today:

Jamey Johnson - Living for a Song (A Tribute to Hank Cochran)
Mazzy Star - So Tonight That I Might See
Trampled by Turtles - Stars and Satellites

"A man is given the choice between loving women and understanding them." - Ninon de L'Enclos

what a weekend

went to see the Dayton Flyers play their first exhibition of the college basketball season. a nice win by 19 points. better than i expected, especially given all the recent distractions. one name to remember, Jalen Robinson. kid has all the making of the real deal.

got home from there in time to watch Ohio State play football at Penn State. a total shit show in the first half that filled me with dread. then, they finally let Braxton Miller take over and just like that, a relatively easy victory going away. never gets old seeing 100,000 assholes dressed in white sit quietly on the verge of tears. makes the victory beer that much sweeter.

started off Sunday filling out my fantasy football rosters, thinking i had a good chance on 2 of 3 of them. sure enough, looks like i will win 2 of the 3 regardless of what happens tonight. that out of the way, i could devote all my attention to Manchester United at Chelsea. when Man U went up 2-0 early, i was gleeful but nervous. early in the second half when Chelsea tied it up, i was near panic. but a good panic as this team usually loves drama much more than i care for. thanks to a deserved red card and then a gift red card, enter Chicharito and a lovely, albeit offside goal for the winner. do i really give a shit that Man U got nearly every call in the game? NO. do i care that it was the first Premier League win there in a decade? FUCK YES. the defense is total shit and has to improve. but, thank god for RvP. i get the feeling as long as he stays healthy he will be bailing this team out again and again. worth every fucking penny.

another night ahead with the need for the Elvis wall of televisions. The Voice, Monday Night Raw (i'm very interested in seeing where the CM Punk story line goes from here), Monday Night Football, and endless storm coverage. all if the power doesn't go out as we are getting a pretty consistent wind from the farthest reaches of hurricane Sandy. nothing like a day without any sun and a wind that makes it feel like it's 20 degrees outside. fun, so much fucking fun.

thoughts and prayers or whatever helps and works to all my friends on the east coast.

music today:

Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
Matthew Mayfield - A Banquet for Ghosts
Cowboy Junkies - Studio: Selected Studio Recordings 1986-1995

"The sincere friends of this world are as ship lights in the stormiest of nights." - Giotto di Bondone

white people dancing

this blog post is brought to you by episode #28 of The Sam Roberts Show Online. you can find the show by going to ITunes, Stitcher or notsam.com.

had a really good time at the Downtown Dayton Revival the past 2 days. saw a ton of great music and below are some musings.

Day 1 (my sister's birthday by the way. she's now 35. i reminded her it's really all downhill the rest of the way. enjoy it.) showed up fashionably late with my mother and sister. caught the end of Bronze Radio Return (pretty good). then, headed over to the Monster Stage and saw The Right Now (great sounding band i had never heard of). next, down a few blocks to see Kristy Lee (an incredible voice, a new favorite). hung around there and caught The Werks (really needed a joint at this point). we then headed back to the main stage and caught a good portion of Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk (really great band). next, a little high energy from Cowboy Mouth. then headed back to the Monster Stage to catch Jordan Hull (remember his name. for his age, this kid is scary fucking good). then, we caught one of the three most influential bands in my life, Guided By Voices. one of the best sets I've ever seen them play. and thankfully, i hung around for the six song encore. most people, my mother and sister included, went off to go see John Legend. i wasn't in that big of a hurry to do that. by the time i got to the main stage to catch John Legend, quite the mind fuck as he was doing a cover of The Beatles at the time. he's a great performer, totally enjoyed his show. all told, about 10 hours or so of music, food and white people dancing. 2 out of 3 weren't bad. I'm sure you know what I'm putting in the bad column.

Day 2 after showering and scrambling to get my fantasy football lineups in order, we were off to the show. got there a little earlier because i wanted to see Heartless Bastards. holy shit, they didn't disappoint. first time I've seen them live. count me as a fan. next, we went down to see Red Wanting Blue. they sound even better live than they sound on CD. what a great band. next, at the recommendation of Heartless Bastards we went to see Buffalo Killers. before they came on we got some food, my sister was stalked by a family that swore she was an exact double of their sister off in Japan and i was asked to take a picture with a gnome as i was wearing my Big Lebowski "ABIDE" shirt. i was kind of shocked i didn't get called Dude more actually. just your average festival day 2 shit. as for the band, i had never heard of Buffalo Killers. holy shit, what a great sounding band. i will definitely do some digging on them here soon. then, we headed over to see Rusted Root. a great mind fuck for my sister as she hasn't listened to them since college. they sounded really good. sadly, no pot in the air. kind of disappointed. we left that stage a little early as we all wanted to get good spots to see The Ohio Players. they went on 20 minutes late but it was totally worth it. still sound as great as ever. all the big hits, some stories about growing up in Dayton, still funky as fuck. my mother went to go see Tony Lucca afterwards as my sister and i hung around to see Robert Randolph & The Family Band. first time i had ever seen them play after years of hearing only good things. they totally blew me away with their sound and energy. i will definitely try to see them anytime they are in the area from now on. all 3 of us were spent by the end of that show (mom showed up maybe halfway in) and decided to skip out on Train. none of us were interested and the Steelers were playing at the time (my sister is a huge fan). so, out of there, hit a pizza joint and back to the house to catch the 4th quarter on TV. let's just say my sister didn't go to bed happy about the outcome.

all told, incredible festival for the first time. no crazy shit went down other than some travel delays for artists on day 2. the layout was really easy to navigate. the bands were great. the porta potties were aplenty and clean (SHOCKER). hopefully, next year will be even better.

and all of this coming from a guy who hates crowds and being out in public in general. let alone being subjected to seeing white people dance. but, my love of music outweighs all of them. hopefully, that never stops.

rest in peace

"Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can't try to do things. You simply must do things." - Ray Bradbury

i saw this great man speak at the University of Dayton in the late 90's. gave the best advice i ever heard, STOP WATCHING YOUR LOCAL NEWS, IT'S ALL BULLSHIT.

you will be missed.

the aftermath and then some random bullshit

so after a night of shit sleep if you can call it sleep at all (more like what if Cally wouldn't of hit the post, what if Fatso wouldn't have stopped Richards, what if we had a power play that could score, etc, etc.) and then some bizarre dream of me in high school but being cool and confident, there really was only one thing to listen to this morning.

John Lee Hooker - The Best of Friends
Son House - The Original Delta Blues

the playoff beard is now some funky goatee. my hair is back to permanent bed head. somehow the sun did come up. and man, it's fucking hot. if anyone has any rain to send my way, please do so. crops were planted 2 weeks ago or more and it hasn't rained a drop. if this keeps up... well, you can imagine the bitching and whining coming.

is it a coincidence that i took all my Yankees out of my fantasy baseball lineups and they now have won 4 games in a row. i think not. they won't be coming back on my teams anytime soon.

congrats to the University of Dayton baseball team on their first A10 championship and their first trip to the NCAA tournament.

nice win by team USA tonight over Scotland. didn't know the team had 5 goals in them. very nice.

looking forward to watching Kevin Steen and Davey Richards tonight on ROH. oh yes, i've been a fan of pro wrestling for over 30 years. so don't be shocked when i write about it. i've earned the sophisticated white trash label, it's not a gimmick for me.

so, i guess, all in all, while the loss still burns me and makes me feel numb and wish to die, it's not the end of the world. there's always next year, as i've said each year since 1994. one day, hopefully.

and to end this post out, a quote from one of my favorites

"After the first blush of sin comes its indifference." - Henry David Thoreau

sports for 5/23/12

just in case any of you new to me don't understand my passion for sports i'll offer the following. i've been a fanatic since i've been 6 years old. sports are life and death to me. i'm higher than high when my teams win and have no use for the world when they lose.

my teams are the New York Rangers, the New York Yankees, Manchester United, Dayton Flyers (College Basketball) and Ohio State (College Football). my nba fandom is normally with Sacramento but i'm not sure about that any longer. nfl is mostly depending on who is on my fantasy teams. oh yes, i will bore you to death with fantasy sports talk as well. how i manage to be an internationally published poet and still follow all these teams is as amazing as it is sad. of course, live at home with your mother and don't have a paying job outside of the house and i suppose it's clearly possible.

anywho, i'm rocking my playoff beard hoping for the rangers to revert to games 1 and 3 tonight and beat the devils. i'll worry about baseball once hockey is over with. not a day sooner. even though i know the yankees stink at the moment, it's still early.

as for Man U, please get some players that are younger and not injury prone. does Alex really think Giggs and Scholes are going to play forever. it's hard to imagine the team w/o them, but harder watching manchester city win.

enough of the rambling. the games shall be on soon.