The Post with Life's Foibles
As I promised here is my huge update full of life's little tricks.

I spoke in a previous post of my run of good luck, and my fear that the run of bad luck was coming. I should clarify before I start..I use the term bad luck incorrectly. What I mean to say is misfortune....Things get teased in front of me before they are cruelly pulled away.

So anyway back to my post--Saturday I went to a wedding and then a reception of a girl I've known for quite some time now. My original plan was to keep the drinking to a minimum because I had a hockey game Sunday morning at 11....So I get to the reception and I'm sitting with my family, a girl I graduated high school with Amy and here boyfriend, and then another family who had their oldest boy there I went to school with and his girlfriend. So I began drinking a little and then had some more. Then I saw another kid I graduated high school with (who is married to the bride's cousin) and we began drinking and thinking of the good times we had growing up..So of course more beer was consumed.

Now as anyone who knows me can attest I'm a goofy individual. I'm the guy in the room who will be acting crazy long before alcohol permeates my tissues and then when I begin drinking I get even more torqued up. So after putting down about 10--16 oz cups of beer in 3 hours (and continuing to look at the clock and exclaim "2 more hours of Drinking") I began to feel even more crazed. So I decided then to take to the dance floor--which to be honest I'd do regardless. I began showing some people my array of goofy 80's inspired dance moves, like "The Lawnmower" "The Shopping Cart" and "The Sprinkler" which no one had heard of--which is just scandalous.

So I head on back to my table and see my old buddy's girlfriend sitting by herself at the table looking for all the world like she wasn't having a good time. So I decided to be nice (which has gotten me in trouble many times) and asked where Guy was. She said, "I don't know. He got mad and left me here." Apparently they had been fighting and supposedly broken up at some point either before or during the reception. Now I'm of the belief everyone should have fun at all times--especially when you're at a wedding, and it really sucks when you are brought there by a significant other and don't know anyone there. So I says, "Come on Amber, let's go dance." So we begin to dance and she is obviously having fun although still tryign to figure out why I'm being so nice to her. Ask around--it's my nature.

We dance and goof around on the dance floor a few songs when I say--I need a drink so we head back to the table. She goes to get herself a drink and at the table There stands my buddy Guy and I'm expecting him to be mad but intead he offers to "Hook me up" with his girlfriend because they are now broken up. I laugh at the suggestion and brush it off, but he continues to be persistent. Again I laugh and say knock it off.

So end of the night comes and a bunch of us decide we should go sing Karaoke at a local club. I'm always up for rocking the mic so I agree to go, but I am in no condition to drive. Guy says Amber can drive us and then take me home afterward. So we go to sing Karaoke but that plan blows up and we decide to get food instead (well 6 of us do--My cousin, his girlfriend, and another buddy go unnamed in this story but they've been there the whole time). So when we are deciding to head home I offer the plan that Amber drop Guy off at his place, pick up her car, and then take me home on her way home. Before people think I was up to no good let me say, I live on the way to her house so she'd have had to drive 20 minute soout of her way to take me home first and then circle back past my place.

So we drop Guy off and then head to my place. It's here she begins to tell me stuff about her, and about their relationship. She basically said that night was their whole relationship in a nutshell and she didn't see herself with him in the future--Translation--He's not the guy. Well the more she talks about herself the more I notice her and I are very similar in what we do and what we like. Then we pull into my driveway and she proceeds to engage me in conversation for 45 minutes. So here I am lonely, single guy--talking to this wonderfully nice girl, who is very similar to my personality, has long light brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, is a little over 5 feet tall (perfect height), is well aware of the sparks that are there between us 9 she kept looking at me and doing that little nervous giggle thing), and is pouring her heart out to me and sharing details that I don't share with people I've been friends with for years and I have to sit there and pretend for all the world like I'm not interested in her. A lot of thoughts ran through my mind.

--If I do anything Guy will kick my ass..Not becasue he's bigger than me--because he's not. Not because he's probably stronger than me--even though he most likely is. But mroe because he served in the military for 4 years and is trained in combat..So even if I could give him a run he'd eventually apply some fucked up nerve hold or something and I'd be screwed.

--The other prevalent thought was quit stalling and make a move, see what happens. And what prevents me from acting on that. My conscience. That little bastard that rests on your shoulder just in ear shot reminding you when faced with temptation that it would not be wise to act on it.

Times like this I wish I was a complete dirtbag so I would just say "Fuck you" brush the dude off and go after it. See because most guys would just say, fuck that guy for treating this girl like she's nothing, take her in their arms and let them feel--if only for a short amount of time-- like they are the special person that their current "other" made them feel like at the start. And the best part. Those guys would have absolutley no misgivings about it.

So when I realized how late it was getting--at this point it was about 3:40 am...I gave her my cell phone number--said, "If you ever want to talk about anything--give me a call...If I don't see you again, it was really nice to meet you." I then opened the door and started to get out but then turned to her and said, "You know I never understood when girls accept for themselves less than what they deserve." She just looked at me and smiled. I said, "Don't accept less for yourself." Take care"

In the door I went to my house and crashed for the night. I've replayed the entire event in my mind a couple times since then and other times I've had the chance to be scum--(Leslie the assistant when I interned at Fox Philadelphia--If you want I can spin that story for you one day.)

But what I keep coming back to is why does Fate or the Gods or whoever controls who we meet and eventually end up with continually show me these great girls that I would be intensely interested in when there is nothing I can do about it. I wish I'd have met her in a different time and under different circumstances, but alas things don't ever seem to work that way for me. Myabe I should act on the scum impulse at least once.


P.S. Then today I got rejected from the job at Wilson School District via letter in the mail....Let this week and string of bad luck end now.
- posted by Brian @ 6/29/2005 05:58:00 PM

 
The Post with last week's baseball fun
Last Monday night we had a baseball game. After the game (a tough loss for our team) one parent began freaking out.

"I'm gonna tell you coach," (points at the head coach)"and I'm gonna tell you Coach." (points at me)

"I'm tired of this bullshit having to pick up trqash after everyone leaves the field, and nobody collects the bases. You guys are letting the kids walk all over you."

He said all this while screaming with some of the kids from the team around, and some parents.

So I very calmly said, "Hey dude, lower your voice or I'm done talking to you."

"This is a bunch of crap."

"Ok I'm done listening." (I walk away.)

The head coach walks over and gets face to face with the guy while they begin yelling at each other about things. The gist was my buddy saying, "We're volunteers--we don't have kids on the team we're here becasue we want to be. We don't have to take that." The guy was contending, "About his volunteer work being made harder because we allow the kids to be unruly. I sighed to myself and continued packing up equipment.

See I don't mind confrontation. I don't like it, but it's a necessary evil sometimes. My thing is pick battles you can win. This wasn't a battle to pick--since there were kids there from the team and really I shouldn't be yelling in front of them. In times like this I let my cool demeanor kick in and walk away. Not everyone does--but honestly that isn't in some people's personalities. Anyways...

Then the mom jumps in to stop her husband,

"Let's just go. I want Blake to play." (Blake is our regular second baseman)

The dad refused to stop, "I'm gonna go mow the goddamned field."

I respond, "nice use of language in front of the kids pal..You look real cool." Finally I stepped in to tell my buddy to let it go and things dispersed.

By this time the mom has got tears in her eyes asking we don't take this out on her son. Lady just cause your husbands an asshole doesn't mean I'll punish the kid. Then she said, "I saw you pulled him out tonight. I know he made two bad plays, but..." voice trails off...

"Mrs. Bardman we pulled Blake from the game tonight because he said he didn't feel good."

"I didn't agree to be team mom for nothing." Double Sigh--I always hate when people get upset over stuff like this. There is more to get upset about and plus you say things in the heat of emotion that isn't really true...This is one of those times I overlook what someone said in an emotional state. I don't really think she took the team mom gig to make sure we played her son. We'd play him anyway.

During the week my buddy sent out a mass e-mail to the team promising he'd step down if people had a problem with our coaching style and alerting them to the situation as well as the people who run the league. I'm indifferent to this action for those wondering.

Thursday night we have another game. I was kind of hoping it would disappear--we could quick talk to the team and it would be done. Well the dad comes to both of us before the game and apologizes for his actions.

I told him, "I don't know if you had a legitimate gripe, but even if you did--I didn't appreciate the forum you took or the language you used." Let's be honest he wouldn't have yelled like that at any other parent in the same situation. Then he proceded to criticize our coaching style and say the kids are not growing as players. ok so now we've drifted from apology land into critique land. Triple sigh.

Finally we pulled away from the guy--addressed the team and began playing. The kid whose dad was involved hit a two-run homer in the second inning. Then when it looked like our team was about to blow the game again we challenged them to not let this game get away--and they didn't as Casey on our team stepped up and said let's score some runs guys.

So the point of this story is-- The parent tried to make it about him, and it isn't. His kid is out their doing the best he can--his kid isn't going to be a superstar but you should've seen the big smile on his face as he rounded the bases on his home run--he nearly took my damn hand off with the hi-five. Then at the end the kids responded to being challenged. They didn't worry about what happened after the previous game or even care much for that matter. They shook it off once they got on that field. It isn't about the parents, it isn't about the coaches--baseball at its heart is about growing (both on and off the field), and the kids we have are growing every game.
- posted by Brian @ 6/20/2005 07:35:00 PM

 
The Post with some Anxious Moments
Tomorrow is a huge day for me. The first job interview at what really seems like a solid lead and it is in what I studied. My only problem is this past week has been really good to me. Last Saturday I met Shooter Jennings and got his autograph--shook hands with him and everything. Seemed like a really cool guy in the little time I talked to him.

Sunday we had a hockey game we won 1-0 where I--yes me--scored the game-winning goal..Shocking I know.

Some other little good things happened. SO this worries me because I usually have runs of good luck followed by equal length of time runs of bad luck. Some people say it happens because I look for it. Well I feel good for them goofy bad luck things don't happen to them. But don't tell me that its my fault.

So anyway tomorrow is hopefully either a good luck day yet or a holding pattern before the bad luck. We'll see.
- posted by Brian @ 6/12/2005 03:08:00 PM

 
The Post with another Movie Update
1. Crash-- This is the movie of the year. By far, it's not even close. Seven or so interlocking stories of racism connect together to reveal some hidden truths and character faults about people and their beliefs about racism. All groups of people are discriminated against from Persians to Asians to Black People to even White People. Find it right now before it goes out of theaters and watch it. Well worth it.

2. Cinderella Man-- Just a really good movie but slightly below Crash for me. Being a big boxing fan I was disappointed with how they protrayed Max Baer in the film, but in their defense it helped make Braddock's story much more dramatic. Russell Crowe is amazing proving what Chris Rock said at the Oscar's to be true--there are few great actors in Hollywood--Crowe is one of them.

3. The Longest Yard-- Surprisingly a really good movie. Maybe because I wasn't expecting much but it was really good and well done. There were some bizarre scenes but for the most part there were some good performances from Chris Rock, and wrestler Kevin Nash and Pride star Bob Sapp. Burt Reynolds was good in his role and there were some definite laugh out loud parts.

4. High Tension--Gory, Violent, and Suspenseful. The lead character female is really good and the killer dude is cool too in his approach. There are some slight missteps and the fact it is a French film overdubbed into English might bother some people. However after about the 30 minute mark there is little to no talking so it gets easier to watch. Less you kow about it before seeing it the better

5. Kicking & Screaming--Will Ferrell continues his roll of strong performances and gets some great help from the legendary Robert Duvall. The kids are hilarious, the relationships between the parents and Will is funny and his geeky interaction with the kids is gold.

6. House of Wax--The first 40 minutes is boring, and just generally crappy. It is mind numbing and they make way to many references to Paris Hilton's sex video. Then Elisha Cuthbert and her boyfriend enter the House of Wax and that's where the movie picks up. It becomes a gory, intense thriller from that point on and the ending sequence is amazing in its spectre. But the first 40 minutes really drag it down and prevent it from being a great horror film.


Special Mention

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith-- Pretty much what you expected from this film. You knew what would happen and this movie delivered on the action. Lucas still can't write dialogue but man the 2 hours and 20 minutes in the theater blew right by and I had fun despite a couple cheesy parts (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!)
- posted by Brian @ 6/12/2005 02:33:00 PM

 
The Post with hatred towards PETA
So over the weekend I bought the second season of Penn & Teller: Bullshit on DVD. What they do is take a scathing look at things and ideas they believe to be dishonest or scams. So they take on PETA in an episode and boy did I think I hated them before.

PETA seems like this nice organization that have the best of intentions and fundamentally I don't disagree with them. But they take their beliefs to extremes. PETA in its mission statement--issued by their president in a speech--is the "complete liberation of animals." That means zoos should be abolished, people should not be allowed to own pets of any kind--and anything that requires pets not allowed in their natural habitat. They say that by following this it would ensure the safety of animals everywhere. Really? You think turning animals that are domesticated into the wild will ensure their safety.

PETA is especially against testing medical cures for diesase on animals despite the list of things cured and contained becasue of products tested on animals is staggering. Say you have Type 2 diabetes--which a high-ranking member of the PETA organization does, you can use an insulin to control it. An insulin that was first tested on animals. This high-ranking official said it is okay for them to use the insulin because their life is needed to further save animals. Oh so as long as it benefits you to test on animals--it's ok, anyone else is fucked.

Then I heard interesting fact #1. PETA is a non-profit organization so their tax returns are public record. In 1994 they gave 50,000 dollars to this guy (whose name I can't recall so I'll call him Bob) and later gave a loan to his dad for $25,000. The dad when asked said, "That was no loan. We never paid it back." Now this guy Bob was captured and convicted of setting fire and destorying various medical testing facilities throughout the country. He aligns himself with the ALF (Animal Liberation Force) a group which goes around setting animals out of cages in these facilities and sets fire to them after spraypainting something like, "Vegan Power" on the walls. So PETA supplied Bob 75,000 dollars in 1994 a year that he was convicted of one of the biggest fires set in history at one of those facilities. And when asked PETA supporters describe Bob as a, "good and moral young man." Are you fucking serious?"

Then interesting fact #2. On another tax return (possibly from 94) PETA has an expenditure purchase of a 10 X 15 foot walk-in freezer. So the question is--Why would you need one of these? An expert said--you'd either need it for meat, or for cadevers. PETA brought in over 2000 animals last year because they act as a housing shelter for pets or a halfway house of sorts. PETA killed over 1300 animals at their facility--actually saving about 778 animals. So PETA finds it morally responsible to lambaste people for testing medical products on animals but it's okay with them to kill animals--where they're supposed to be sheltered and saved. I can't be the only one who sees the hypocrisy in that.

Fuck you PETA!!!
- posted by Brian @ 6/01/2005 05:27:00 PM

 
The Post with my updated movie listing
1. Crash-- This is the movie of the year. By far, it's not even close. Seven or so interlocking stories of racism connect together to reveal some hidden truths and character faults about people and their beliefs about racism. All groups of people are discriminated against from Persians to Asians to Black People to even White People. Find it right now before it goes out of theaters and watch it. Well worth it.

2. The Longest Yard-- Surprisingly a really good movie. Maybe because I wasn't expecting much but it was really good and well done. There were some bizarre scenes but for the most part there were some good performances from Chris Rock, and wrestler Kevin Nash and Pride star Bob Sapp. Burt Reynolds was good in his role and there were some definite laugh out loud parts.

3. Kicking & Screaming--Will Ferrell continues his roll of strong performances and gets some great help from the legendary Robert Duvall. The kids are hilarious, the relationships between the parents and Will is funny and his geeky interaction with the kids is gold.

4. House of Wax--The first 40 minutes is boring, and just generally crappy. It is mind numbing and they make way to many references to Paris Hilton's sex video. Then Elisha Cuthbert and her boyfriend enter the House of Wax and that's where the movie picks up. It becomes a gory, intense thriller from that point on and the ending sequence is amazing in its spectre. But the first 40 minutes really drag it down and prevent it from being a great horror film.


Special Mention

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith-- Pretty much what you expected from this film. You knew what would happen and this movie delivered on the action. Lucas still can't write dialogue but man the 2 hours and 20 minutes in the theater blew right by and I had fun despite a couple cheesy parts (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!)
- posted by Brian @ 6/01/2005 05:13:00 PM