The RPR: Rants and Raves Edition

Every now and again, when collecting blog thoughts in my mind, I realize that I have enough rants and raves for a "Rants and Raves Edition". It doesn't mean that I'm in a crappy mood and it doesn't mean that I'm mad at the world. Just means that were just enough things out there today to get me all fired up.

- But first, I wanted to set the record straight from Brian's pictures. He wanted me to inform everyone that Buff is in fact a friend from Penn State, not a co-worker. Also, one of the pictures of debris is actually a casino barge that floated over a highway. He pardoned my mistakes and assured me that only 70% of what you read on the internet is true. Since I'm trying to hold the RPR to higher standards, I needed to keep a clean slate in order to surpass my quota.

- And secondly, the Jessica was upset that I didn't give any weekend recap. No worries, I have not forgotten. Checked out Mesa Grill on Friday night for Restaurant Week and definitely worth it. My entree was $27 on the normal menu, but with the pre-fixe menu, I got the entree plus appetizer and dessert for $35. Now that's a deal. Highly recommend the 16 Spice Chicken, and the BlackBean Risotto. Big ups to Bobby Flay for his restaurant, especially since my Mom and Grandmom are such big fans.

Another highlight of the weekend was plowing through the first 7 episodes of Entourage, Season Two. I was disappointed that the HBO On Demand didn't have the second set of 7 episodes, because the Jessica and I could have easily made it through them as well. We'll just have to wait until mid-February to finish off Season Two. First half was excellent though. Can't wait to see what happens with the whole "Aquaman" movie shoot. (Don't tell me!) Jeremy Piven and Kevin Dillon really make the show what it is...excellent acting and excellent writing.

Saw a ton of people this weekend: Alison & Reza on Friday night. (Congratulations to them for moving into their new house!) Eric & Abby on Saturday afternoon and evening. Karen & Alex on Saturday evening as well. (Shout-out to Karen for keeping up with my blog. She's busy with her Wall Street job, but has a few minutes to read the RPR. Now that touches my heart...really does.) Even saw Alexis and Amy on Sunday....holy crap! Leave it to Jessica to be the social butterfly and just bring me along for decoration.

Now on to the rants and raves:
- You know what pisses me off? FOXSports.com. Honestly, I don't know what kind of dog & pony show they are running there, but their stories are a load of garbage. I have MSN.com as my homepage for Internet Explorer, simply because it has quick access to my Hotmail account. Since they are affiliated with FOX Sports, they always show the 2 most prominent sports stories on the front page. It's come to the point where I have to double check any sports story they show-- with ESPN.com -- just to make sure it's real. I kid you not. The way I see it, if the Worldwide Leader in Sports doesn't have the story, then it's of zero significance to me. Case in point: This evening, I click on the homepage and a story shows up titled "Van Accident Shakes Up Seahawks". You'd think,"Oh my goodness...is it serious? Is this going to keep someone out of the game?" And then you read the story. They weren't broadsided, rear-ended, clipped, or jack-knifed. The van was hit by an automatic parking gate. And no one was hurt. Thank goodness for that, but is this really a top story? Although this was written by the Associated Press, FOX Sports needs to get their act together and publish some stories of higher quality that mean more to the sports fans' world. I'm boycotting the site.

- Hey, T.O. is back in the news! He decided to "sit down" and chat with Mike Shanahan of the Broncos. Apparently, the Broncos may be interested in acquiring T.O., but are probably not willing to give up anything in order to get him. It's pretty simple. Wait until March, right before the Eagles would have to pay $7.5 million in bonuses to T.O., at which point they'll cut him and some team can pick him up without having to give up anything. The Eagles ought to cut some deal where they could at least get a cheerleader, a few footballs, some beer cups, or maybe a parking lot attendant or two in return for Terrible Owens. If you read the article, it looks like deja vu all over again, as the Broncos are kidding themselves into believing that they can make T.O. conform to their rules and regulations. Gee, I've never heard that one before. See, you can't kid yourself. That is the Ross Rule of Life #2: Don't kid yourself. If Denver is kidding themselves, then history is doomed to repeat itself.

By the way, Drew Rosenhaus didn't have any comments.

- This James Frey story is all over the place -- and the bloggers love it. I think it's great when someone creates a blog (i.e. from the blog application like the one I use) and it's just for mocking a person or event in the news. Perfect example: James Frey Owes Me Money. These people are pretty angry and some are demanding a refund for their book purchase. I don't know what's funnier: the guy who created the site gave himself a nickname of "It's_Oprah's_Fault" or the post that is titled "Dear James, F*** You". And yet I remind everyone that even though Frey might be the most hated person in the literary world, he's still raking in the dough.

- File this under "Questionable Personal Space Ethics": So I'm on the train on Sunday afternoon and I was sitting on a three person bench, by the window. A lady walks by and asks if the seat is taken, and I say, "Nope. Go ahead." Meanwhile, she's carrying a duffel bag and a few shopping bags along with some other assorted junk. This lady then proceeds to sit in the middle seat and lay her bags down on the aisle seat. Not that I have any problem with people sitting directly next to me, but doesn't this defy some sort of social etiquette? On the three person seat, you occupy the window, then the aisle, and in the extreme case that the train is so crowded that you must use all three, then it's acceptable to sit side-by-side. I gave her the "Are you for real?" look for a short time and then lost interest and read my magazine. Very awkward situations that need to be addressed more in our everyday lives.

That's all I have for this evening. The rants and raves may not have been overly opinionated, but it does the job. I'll return in 23 hours and 59 minutes.