what a glutton

I like to think that I never write till I have something complete and pure to write about, but based on most of my posts, it's obviously not the case. Sure, it would be nice if that was true so all 3 of my loyal fans could defend me by saying "well he may not put out that much material, but at least he doesn't pump out trash like your favorite blogger". That would make me feel special. Like one of those mercurial olympic champions that shows up outta no-where and destroys the world and then go back into relative hiding. Or like one of those writers or musicians who shows up every 4 years to drop off some masterpeice leaving fans to ponder the fantastic depth he or she must be in the darkest sections of the mind during all that time away. That's how you become a legend in the artistic field; 1 part talent, 2 parts shrewd image managment.

So what have I been doing the past 3 weeks? Being the opposite of deep and just skimming the cream of the internet crop. Wasting all my time reading others hard work, managing my 3 fantasy baseball teams, reading celebrity trash sites, watching instant movies on netflix, making cool music mixes, 2008 olympic rowing online videos, and writing recruiting letters to high school kids. Obviously, this is very consuming for me mentally, as I have the multi-tasking skills and intellegence of a lowly soldier ant.

I did notice one thing in all my time spent on my own enjoyment and that is how much I stalk blogs, and how my stalking is actually very very weak compared to other bloggers. I read my feed religiously and heres the funny thing. Half of them, I have given up interest on. Weird huh? Its like some kind of compulsion to continue to hope that something good will be there. Why? I guess it's because the internet is so inconsistent between "blah" and "awesome" that "guess and check" is the only reliable way to get a bunch of awesome in. Check as much as your patience can take and soak in as much awesome as you can.

This is why my RSS feed is loaded up with bloggers that I actually realize I don't care about anymore. I can't put my finger on it, but they lost me somewhere. They fail to bring up anything I care about or can relate to. Sometimes this is my fault for failing to recognize the bloggers main interests in life, and sometimes it is their fault for a variety of reason. Usually it entails getting too much into their day to day minutae without bringing up something of importance to the audience. Every story should have a point beyond "that annoys me" or "that makes me happy". They fail to answer the 5 W's and an H (who, what, where, why, when and how for the high school drop out readers of mine) with any skill or skip out on enough of them to make the story confusing or un-interesting to an outside reader.

I guess they win though, cause they fail at writing, and yet here I am still reading. So who is the bigger failure? As usual, it's S to the V.......

P.S: To confirm my suspicion that I am sadder than the bloggers I disapprove of; my main motivation for coming out of this temporary vacation was to post my new favorite song by "Kings of Leon" on SVTV. But seriously, how awesome are these guys live? Read my review of their last album here, but I am stoked for the next one.....

His mom must be so proud

cigarettes, matches, condoms and a week's worth of work for no pay......But it is awesome



Newer posts to come later in the week.

The Darkest Knight

I'm excited, you're excited, he's excited, she's excited, and they're excited. It opens today and we all love those summer blockbusters. When it comes to a movie I really want to see no matter what, I tend to avoid reviews, previews and advertisements. It's so much more exciting that wayI like to go into these types of movies completely fresh and untainted by the over-indulgence and crushing weight of media marketing even though this movie would make 100 million with no advertising at all. They should save the money.
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I always identified with the Joker. Jack Nicholson did a fantastic one in the 1989 original Batman. He was always over the top and who doesn't like a super villian that attempts to amuse and repulse at the same time? I am sure Heath Ledger will play a good one and I like the much more realistic look of a man who was disfigured by acid while commiting a burglary. There is also something much more disturbing and calculated about meeting anger with a smile then with a scowl. I have always adopted that priniciple myself.
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Why is it that every town thinks that they are the ones with the craziest weather and that all their citizens are tough as nails for living there? I hate that tacky crap.
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"well you know what they say, if you don't like the weather, just wait 15 minutes"
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I have heard that phrase used in connection with every city in the United States. People need to get out more and realize how lame and unoriginal they are.

specializing in the impossible

My grandfather wants me stop all the junk faxes that come into the office. Okay, I'll get on that right after I stop those pesky telemarketers and spam.

You know what else ticks me off? People who think that the attitude of those around them matters. Hey, it's MY attitude and I will have whichever kind I want at any time that I want. That's why it's mine and not yours. I don't mean to sound like a tacky bumper sticker or gas-station t-shirt, but seriously, as long as I get the job done it shouldn't matter how I feel about the job right? If I want to put on a sour face while I work, its my right. If you don't like the attitude of people who do your stuff for you, then do it yourself. Otherwise, back up and let me get started on YOUR task. Don't tell me why I should enjoy it or why it matters, I just want to get YOUR task over with so I can get back to MINE. I'm not into delusion or fake-ness, I'm dead set on keepin' it real.

On a side note, my lunch got splattered all over the sidewalk on the way into work. So yeah....have a nice day and all that shit.

S.Vincent; with his clipped moustache, his whiskey-coated growl and steely self-assurance, is an aristocrat of sleaze.

I know, I know. You hate it. Been there and heard that.

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But I am afraid it must continue, it's to be a summer tradition. "The return of the S.Vincent moustache".

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A brief history is intimately tied to Jason Giambi. Last summer, not this summer, Jason Giambi grew a terrible mustache to honor current hitting coach Don Mattingly. Loving the Yankees, the work ethic of Don Mattingly, the scoundral that is Jason Giambi, and general summer boredom; I grew one too. A fabulously terrible moustache which disappeared at the start of the fall crew season with a new job title and implied responsibility. Jason removed his after 2 weeks but mine stayed for 3-1/2 months.
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Jason Giambi has again grown a moustache, to much more acclaim this time around, and is having a great season so far. Wish I could say the same for the Yankees, but never the less, both of our moustaches have returned for another summer.
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Why, you ask? I don't know why, but leave me alone. This is all I have during the summer. I live alone in a basement with no friends, no workout partners, no rowers to coach, and nowhere to be. So if I want to have something to do, albeit growing ugly facial hair, then I should be allowed to. SO BACK OFF!

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My dad and grandpa both have moustaches, so I would be dishonoring the family if I didn't at least try to make this work. (I can hear you scoffing) Plus, there is something fun about growing a moustache. It's more unique then a beard and requires more upkeep. Yet, must be left alone at times. Much like a nice lawn or an exotic plant, ignore it and it will look terrible. Over-water and over-clip and it dies. But somewhere in the middle of that lies a perfect balance of wildness and regulation.
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Will mine look good? Probably not, but gosh darn it, I gotta try....at least until September.

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A few pics of some famous mustaches. Which seem to be back in faux-style. In fact, if you could combine all these people into one, I would like to be that person.

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what's an 8 letter word for "kicks ass and takes names"?

yeah, I do my crossword puzzles in pen, and I don't make mistakes either. Take that tentative sissy puzzle gamers. I laugh at your mind games. I find them unintimidating and thus attack them without regard for anyones welfare. I scoff at your indecisiveness and your amateur-esque approach to all things uncertain.

Anne Hathway is on the free agent list. I am kicking myself for not clearing enough cap space in the 2004-2007 seasons. Now I can't afford her and she'll probably go to a big market franchise like Shia LeBeouf or Ryan Gossling. Looks like I'll have to continue to scour the Triple A farm system.

be honest

I was doing a bit of working out this morning when wait a second......(looks left, looks right)......I think I just.........yeah.....I just had an idea.

I just had an unintended departure from my cell phone, and although I got new one with the same number, I have none of the numbers that used to be in my contact list. Common problem amoungst 20th century humans. Thus, there are a ton of facebook groups for people who have encountered the "lost cell phone, need your number" debacle. Somehow, people join these in an attempt to regain what was lost, but as we all know, you are doomed no matter what facebook group you join because a) you're lame for joining a group for that purpose and b) your friends are selfish and really do not care or read what facebook groups you join. 5 seconds to call and send you their number is 4 seconds too much.

However, my attempt to remedy this problem is to potentially make it more humerous and create a face book group called "HELP! I got really drunk and I gave my cell phone # to a fat/crazy/ugly person and I had to destroy my phone......now I need your number" I would like to see what kind of people join that group.

That scenario has to happen to a lot of people right? Anway, that's what I do on my saturday mornings; laugh to myself about inane ideas in the middle of a giant river. They are so much funnier out there, I swear......shut up, you're so jealous.

Doing what I can

It's not often that I mention rowing on the ol blog. I try to keep it seperate because I don't want it to be exclusively any one thing. In this case however, I feel like I have to do what I can for 2 friends of mine that achieved major lifelong accomplishments this past week, and will likely get no recognition outside of their family and friends. Rowing never gets enough press and I can't tell you how many times I have done or been a part of something newsworthy in rowing and no one hears of it. So, given that I have a blog in which 10 people read, I figured I would do what I can to get the news out there, and try to right this wrong as best I can.

Micah Boyd and Rebecca Smith both made the national team. Micah will be going to Beijing for the Olympics in the US Mens 8+ and Rebecca will be going to the World Championships in Austria in the LwtW4x. Each of them has spent over 10 years training 2x a day 6 days a week in order to reach their goal and it finally came for them. They are an inspiration as amateur athletes, rowers, and American citizens. I truly hope they get to hear the national anthem on the medal stand. GO USA!!!

Here's some pics of them in action!

Rebecca in 2 seat

Micah in stroke of the white 2- in the PACRA blue and yellow uni.

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Sorry, I wanted better pics from Row2k, but Ed sucks about that. So I had to go to the personal stalker files.

Tuck tail and run

Listen, if you make a big stinky mess in a bathroom. Don't close the door and run........just run. I understand the need to rid yourself of the responsibility of your EPA violating rear end; but closing and running doesn't make the problem go away. It just nails the next person to go in there, i.e. S.Vincent, since I pee like 50 times a day. You have a much better chance of escaping un-marked if you do so because you better believe the whole time I am trapped in there, I am turning my gears trying to think of who it was that went to the bathroom last. And I am VERY observant!

You'll be just as safe in your anonymity, trust me. Flush, run, and leave the door open as you go.

I've been lazy the past 5 months, I just didn't know it

I've heard of seasonal depression, but I never really believed in it. The low light of winter sapping the happiness out of people and the lack of the sunlight making them depressed. I'm not admitting depression, and nor should I have to, cause I wasn't. But I do think that the coldness and the earlier arrival of darkness and later arrival of light had something to do with my productivity over the winter. I wasn't sad, I just felt like not doing anything that I didn't have to. This lack of motivation probably does cause some depression in the more affluent and Type A personailties in this country. I am immune to such feelings because I never have a problem with being selfish and lazy. So, Ha Ha to you implied exestential stress. However, I think that trudging through the winter like a brave little Po-Vegas soldier has trained me in an un-intentional way to be more productive in the longer days of summer. The little things friends, the little things. That extra load of laundry, showering, throwing the garbage out when the bag is full, washing the car, an extra cardio session, that trip to the dry-cleaners or the mall, and cleaning that space on the floor between the stove and the counter. In the winter, they would have been put off til the weekend so I could get another much needed hour of sleep or to jam in a missed workout.

So today, I will write a blog post AND make a playlist with some relaxing outdoor summer songs (which will probably be listened to inside, 90% of the times it is played)

Unfourtunatly, with all this productivity, I am missing out on retaining information to blog about here. Too many thoughts, too much focus on singular tasks. With a larger readership then I anticipated, I have to be a little more guarded than I ever planned on being. I can't just flail away at whatever is on my mind when I sit down.

That would be easier, a better-written blog and probably more fun, but inherintly would include more problems. I wish I could be brave and shirk the expectations and the reputations I have worked very hard to fool everyone with. But I am lazy, and this blog is certainly not an eternal masterpeice with which I can show to my grandkids nor did I ever want it to be. It's my entertaining past-time to keep me awake so I don't take another nap or watch the same Family Guy episode for the 10,000th time. I can't be over-worked and lose sleep over my leisure time.

And that's the problem with undertaking any activity in this day and age. Every once and while you can feel pressured to make it perfect or that if you spent more time, it could be better. With so many things to take care of these days, its impossible to give everything the time it requires. But nothing outside your main focus in life has to be perfect. Nor do you have to strive to make something better than what it is. I find that sometimes its much better to let extra curricular activities be what they naturally are and leave it alone. There is a cliche phrase that I like to use which says "too many chefs spoil the soup" and another phrase which says "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". So when I feel the pressure coming down on me when I am supposed to be having fun, I have to step back and say "If it ain't broke, don't let 6 chefs come in and make you soup"..... or something like that.

Summertime also means lots of movies. I LOVE movies. But this summer is more than just the theatre and me scowling at people who show up 20 mins late and stand near me assesing the scene for the absolute best seat available for 5 minutes instead of sitting their tardy distracting unseated ass down pronto!(BASTARDS) Like it matters how much they visually enjoy the movie when they have no idea what is going on cause they missed 1/4 of it. That and restraining my temper at people who smack, chomp, and crackle the wrappers of their theatre food like they are at a raucus ball game instead of when a serial killer is stalking ever so quietly and terrorizingly down a dimly lit hallway towards his un-suspecting prey. Last week, I was ever so close to jumping out of my seat at that girl and giving her something to really be scared of.

Anywhosal, like I was saying, this is the summer of Netflix and me catching up on all those movies that I want to see, but miss out on the chance to. I have some serious movie watching to do now. I have already seen a lot of movies, but now I am going to be a regular ol' expert with this new and highly enjoyable service.

And with that, like whoever the celebrity is that is going to promote the will rogers institute this year in all the previews, "we'll see you....AT THE MOVIES"

SV-TV Programming Note: This is one of my new favorite bands, but being hopelessly indie, they have no money and can't afford any cool videos. As much as I hate making a joke of their musical style, the guys in this video make videos like I would make videos if I made videos. Extremely funny with a touch of homo-eroticism and slow motion running. Too funny not to post, hang in there, song is longggggg.