New Music

Shamless plug for a friend whos cousin is in the band O.A.R. Check out the new album online (CD comes out OCT 6th).

Distressing

I used to enjoy reading the email dialogues between Bill Simmons and Chuck Klosterman. Obviously, Im an avid Sports Guy reader and for a while it entertaining to see two writers and pop-culture nuts go back and forth about everything from 90210 to Pearl Jam.

However, after reading these last two exchanges, I cant help but think that Klosterman is a far superior writer and thinker. Which wouldnt be such a problem if Simmons didnt seem so linear by comparison. Example:

Simmons: Which brings me to my next question: We had Generation X, and then the Internet generation how do you think the next generation will be defined, and how do you think your writing will change (if at all) to reflect that evolution? Along those same lines, where do you see your focus shifting over the next few years? Do you think youll ever shift to scripted stuff, or do you like writing conventional stuff too much?

Klosterman: I am not sure if I necessarily agree with the scope of your generational analysis. What will be interesting about the coming generation of people (at least if youre a writer) is that they will have a twisted concept of what the word media is supposed to mean. A term you hear people use a lot these days is New Media, which really just means, Electronic Media, Minus the Actual Reporting. This is what the Internet is, mostly. I constantly see all these media blogs that just link to conventional Old Media articles and pretend to comment upon them, but they add no information and no ideas. They just write, Oh, look at this terribly archaic New York Times story. Isnt it pathetic? But that sentiment is being expressed by someone whos never done an interview and has no tangible relationship to journalism. It all seems kind of uncreative.

Besides throwing around the word stuff a few times, Simmons ends up coming off like a bad celebrity interviewer in these pieces. What were your greatest influences? If you could go back and change something, what would it be? Etc, etc.

God, I hate myself for pointing this out. I love reading Simmons. Hopefully after a couple of Mailbags Ill forget all about this. In the meanwhile I think Im going to buy one of Klostermans books.

Saving Lives

Dawn’s account of my final conscious moments last Saturday night:

We climbed into the shuttle and waited for the other Bash goers to fill it up.
Pauly came out holding keys in his had.
Carter, who was in the shotgun seat, had a very after school special moment.

“NO MAN! I can t let you drive like this.”

Pauly either didn t hear him, or ignored him.

Next came Jason and Mrs. Spaceman.
They started to walk toward Pauly.
Again, Carter tried to stop them.

“Come on. Get in the shuttle. They are going to die in that car. They are all gonna die.”

Mrs. Spaceman climbed in, but her husband went toward the death car.
She got out and followed him.
Carter, defeated, merely muttered to himself.

“I tried to save their lives man, I tried.”

When we got back to the room, Carter followed F-train and I in, I asked no questions and went swiftly to my room.
They will both likely be dead from alcohol poisoning in the morning, I thought as I brushed my teeth and climbed into bed.

Pho

I can’t believe I haven’t written about my love affair with Pho yet. For those of you who don’t know, Pho is a Vietnamese beef soup. I was introduced to Pho about 2 1/2 years ago by my boss Mike H. It’s significance was not apparent to me the first few times I had it, but it slowly grew on me.

During a subsequent 7 month stint down in Richmond, I came to frequent a local Vietnamese restaurant a few times a week for their delicious Pho. It was during this time that I truly came to appreciate Asian ketchup (aka Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce).

Finally, back in DC, my good friend Stephanie H. told me about a great Pho place right down the street from where she lives. It was a revelation. You’ll find me there (Pho 75 on Wilson Blvd) about twice a week. I’d go there more often if it was more convenient, to be honest. It’s delicious, healthy, and can cure even the most vicious hangover.

More about Pho: the origins of pho, the pho blog, photos on Flickr tagged with “pho”.

Morning After the Bash

Response to FTrains post since he doesnt allow non-Bloggers to comment:

Her name was Dawn? Jesus Christ, I thought it was Stephanie. And I had no idea you were in the next room. I thought it might have been Pauly or Bobby. I was so confused.

You should have seen me that morning, walking down the road with all of my beads back to the Boathouse (where my car was). I stopped at Wawa to get some coffee and a plastic bag to put my beads in. The 16 year-old kid working the morning shift was very impressed by all of my jewelry.

I lucked out as I continued my walk to the Boathouse. Jason was in front of his hotel loading up the car for the 17-hour drive back down to Nashville. He was kind enough to give me a lift the rest of the way to the Boathouse, where I said my goodbyes, hopped in my car, and headed down to Baltimore.

Sidenote: Wawa rocks. If youre from New England, you know what Im talking about. Wawa is making inroads in other parts of the country, which is a good thing. Its like 7-11, but 100x better.

Sunday in Charm City

I drove down from Philly Sunday morning fairly hungover, but with coffee and a bagel from Wawa to replenish my strength. I arrived in Baltimore around 11am, parked, and waited for my dad and Roseanne to get to Camden Yards for the Os vs. Red Sox game.

We had pretty decent seat, only 7 or 8 rows back from the outfield. I swear, there were more Red Sox fans than Os fans that day, and women were shrieking at Manny and Damon all afternoon.

The Sox clobbered the Os (yes!) but the Yankees ended up beating the Blue Jays (no!), so things remain tied in the AL East.

Afterwards, I hopped over to a music festival in Federal Hill to meet up with Jenica and Danielle and meet the new puppy (Hunter) in the family.

Easy Eddie Back in Town

It was great seeing Eddie and the rest of the Arlington Drunks. Hege’s been MIA ever since he started courting his future wife, so it was pretty sweet to see him three sheets to the wind so early in the night.

If my hangover the next day (which extended into Saturday night before being subdued by Advil and alcohol) is any indication, it was a pretty awesome night.

Bash at the Boathouse

I cant describe how much fun the Bash was this past Saturday. Luckily for me, a picture is worth a thousand words. So, a hundred pictures (give or take) is downright biblical.

It was great to see everyone, including Al, Eva, Otis, Pauly, Derek, Helixx, BadBlood, FTrain, Daddy, Joaquin and Bobby Bracelet. Sorry if Im missing anyone. I had forgotten how much fun these guys are, and Im my head is already buzzing at the prospect of heading out to Vegas in December for the next blogger throw-down. Yesssssss.

Back to My Roots

Well, not quite, but I will be traveling to Costa Rica in December will Bob, Louie and the gang. I wish I had the time to hop over to Nicaragua (my birthplace), but I just dont have the time. Hopefully nine days running around in Costa Rica will be enough. Im fantastically excited about this. Expect about 300 pictures taken.

Sports Guy Coming to DC

Must control myself

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