Last RPR Post from the Stamford Homestead

Alright folks, this is the last posting from the Stamford homestead, as I like to call it. The internet gets cut off on Saturday and I am moving on Monday to the big city.

Some statistics about the RPR since its inception in June 2005: 13 months of blogging has yielded 289 posts so far, so thats about 22 posts per month. I'd say that's some pretty decent numbers and would pleasantly surprise those naysayers who said I'd never stick with it when I started this thing up. Ok that's enough of tooting my own horn for today. As always, I appreciate all of the readers out there... you guys keep it real.

A few items from me this evening:

- So it turns out my good buddy, Eric Steinberg is nominated for Cosmo Media Man of the Year, and I'd encourage everyone to click on that link, find his picture (4th row down), and vote for him. If he wins, Cosmo will set him up with a free vacation to Desert Springs, California.

Side note to Eric: I fully expect Andy and Brandon to bust your balls about this one. Regardless, I hope you win. It might tough to catch up with the ex-frat guy who's currently in the lead with upwards of 10,000 votes.

- There are certain people in the celebrity/athlete world whom I always appreciate any news stories on. Charles Barkley is one of them. Sir Charles was my favorite athlete when I was growing up, and for years, he's been kicking around the idea of running for governor of Alabama. Apparently, this has resurfaced, and Barkley is eyeing the governor's seat for 2010. I mean come on, if Jesse Ventura can win, why couldn't The Round Mound of Rebound?

- In case you need something to read in order to kill a little time, ESPN.com Page 2 posted two old Bill Simmons articles about his Vegas trips in 2002 and 2004. Classic Simmons, classic stories. I really need to get to Vegas some day.

That's it for now. Due to the lack of internet and the moving events that will be taking place, the RPR will be on hiatus until I can get myself settled in the new apartment. Look for me to return sometime toward the end of next week. Until then, enjoy the weekend.

How do I come up with 500 words on The Hills?

- Owen inquired last week as to whether or not I was following The Hills, and if so, how come I hadn't commented on it recently. The answer in short is yes I've been watching, and I didn't really have a good answer why I hadn't posted any commentary on the RPR. Basically, the show is just beyond ridiculous. Each and every story is like fantasy world, and I just found myself staring at the television in disbelief after every episode.

I do have some comments after Wednesday night's episode though. The break-up between Heidi and Jordan was anything but surprising, especially after the show was edited to air clips of them fighting in 3 or 4 episodes prior to this one. Then, all we see is Heidi get pissed off because Jordan raised his voice to her and she goes crying to Audrina (side note: how many name combos can you come up with to create "Audrina"? Is this a record? I think it's a combo of Audrey, Adrian, Adriana, Christina and Katarina. Someone needs to keep track of things like this.)

Then, 5 minutes later, we see that she's packed up all of his stuff, and there were plenty of boxes in that apartment that she was giving back to him, and he comes over for the shocker. Can you imagine that -- you arrive at your significant other's apartment, and he/she already has your stuff packed up in boxes, and then says, "we're done". There wasn't even any debate. Seemed a little ridiculous to me. I got confused and thought Heidi herself was moving out. The only thing that would have been better if she threw all of Jordan's stuff out on to Hollywood Blvd and his Von Deutsch hat and old school Kobe Bryant jersey got run over by a souped up Honda Civic.

In the end, I wondered for a moment if Heidi and Jordan's relationship was as dysfunctional as Lauren and Jason's. Then, I realized that nothing can hold a candle to the absurdity of Lauren and Jason's relationship. When Jordan arrives back at his apartment, Jason and Brian try to "comfort" him, only as well as guys in California can do. "Dude... like... I'm sooo shocked right now.... dude" and "Dude, you guys were like Ken and Barbie. We based our relationship on yours.... dude". I was waiting for Jordan to start crying, because you know the other two guys would have given him a hard time for it, even though they would have cried too. Regardless, it ranked up there on the awkwardness scale. The only thing that would topped this is if Jason recommended that they go to the local plastic surgeon's office to pick up some chick who is all doped up on Vicodin after getting a boob job. Surely wouldn't have surprised me.

One thing I noticed, and ended up being very predictable was the use of The Fray's "How to Save a Life" toward the end to communicate the feeling of sadness. This song is the hot "sad song" for TV shows recently. It's taking the place of Coldplay's "Fix You", and before that, Five for Fighting's "100 Years". Surely, the networks will find a way to work James Blunt into the mix sometime soon as well.

Sadly, the season finale is next week, and the cliffhanger is that Lauren gets an offer to go to Paris for work, but she could possibly be living with Jason for the summer and this may jeopardize their relationship. What, oh what, in the world will happen?

- On a side note, Andy though it'd be appropriate if I mentioned the recent news about Lance Bass announcing that he's gay. I don't really see this as being a huge news story, and as I read on some website today, this is about as surprising as Michael Jackson announcing that he's a pedophile. Of course, a more interesting story would be if the other members of N'Sync all came out of the closet as well. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

- Programming note: Check the RPR on Friday morning for the last post from the Stamford Homestead. Not that the post will really have anything to do with Stamford, per se, but it's worth mentioning.

Andy: The RPR's Pittsburgh Correspondent

This week, Andy has a theory about the superhuman characteristics of Ben Roethlisberger:

As I sit here watching the Pirates get freaking destroyed by the Milwaukee Brewers, I am reminded that football season is fast approaching. Training camps open up this weekend, and my life can once again be filled with happiness. For me, there is no greater time in the world than waking up early Saturday morning to watch College Gameday, followed by a full day of football games, which is followed by another day of doing the exact same thing.

Enough about me, let's talk sports. My brother and I were talking about the Steelers the other week, and we were talking about all the holes they needed to fill, and all the question marks surrounding this upcoming season. The biggest question is the health of Ben Roethlisberger. Many analysts shy away from trying to predict the success of the Steelers because of Ben's motorcycle incident, but my brother and I have a theory. We think that Ben is a Mutant. We don't think that he has huge, metal claws or super-strength or anything like that. But Wolverine of the X-men has the ability to self-heal really quick from any injury, and this is what we think that Ben has.

Last season, he hurt his knee, his thumb and other various minor injuries, but he only missed a couple games because of them. Knee injuries like his can knock athletes out for the season. With these new injuries...the broken jaw, lost teeth, and things of that nature...doctors are now saying that he has healed faster than humanly possible, and will most likely be 100% by the start of the season, if not preseason games. This is ridiculous. If I were to eat the windshield of a car, I probably wouldn't be able to function for the rest of my life. This guy has to wait a few weeks and he can jump right back into regular, full contact games. I don't know....it's just a thought.

Next week: Complete Clearfield County Fair wrap-up...complete with stories about meeting all the members of Poison, and now possibly Billy F-in Idol. Peace out!!!!!!

Odds and Ends from the End of the Weekend

- On the way back from New York today, the train got stuck for about 30 minutes. The conductors shut down the power, so we sat there without any electricity or air conditioning until we were back up and running. Not very comfortable. The conductors were communicating with each other via the PA system, and kept alluding to the "rear car being on the 3rd rail". From reading about all of the subway issues that occur on a weekly basis, I believe the 3rd rail is the high voltage rail, so this couldn't be good. Regardless, everything was fine, and we kept going, albeit 30 minutes late. Point of the story is that I could have had some good stories if they made us get off the train in between stops or something crazy like that, but thank goodness it was nothing more than some 'simple mechanical issues'. In the end, it's better that I don't have a story about being stuck on the train. We'll leave it at that.

- I saw this clip a few weeks back and forgot to link it: VH1's Best Week Ever did a parody of those Mac vs. PC commercials. Pretty funny stuff. I've decided that one of my goals in life is to offer commentary on some newsworthy pop culture item for Best Week Ever.

- Amy alluded in the prior comments about this new ad campaign that is in the major cities around the country. Premise is that a woman named Emily is publicly bashing her cheating husband, Steven, in billboards across the US. Additionally, there's a blog where Emily tells her stories in detail: That Girl Emily. News articles recently caught on to this ad campaign, which Alexis tells me is possibly related to an upcoming show on Court TV. Here's a link to the
ABC News article that Amy mentioned. I'd say it's a rather creative strategy, since I always appreciate creativity in the marketing and advertising world. It'll be interesting to see what actually comes out of this whole effort.

- This will be the last full week of blogging from the Stamford homestead. Back tomorrow.

Links for your Entertainment

A few links for right now, as I scour the "World Wide Web" as it's known...

- Interesting blog about a guy who got a job at Jewish magazine, yet he's not Jewish. Extra creativity points for the blog title: Not Chosen, Just Posin'.

- The long time readers may know that I am fascinated by the inner workings of Starbucks. The company defines corporate America and I'm constantly amazed by their operations and ventures. This guy isn't kidding: there really are 3 stores within 1 block. In fact, I found out that there are 127 locations within 2 miles of Rockefeller Center. I don't even want to know how many there are in downtown Seattle.

- Just in case you want to see a list of the Top 10 Unintentionally Worst Company URL's.

- I agree with this guy completely: Diving makes soccer a great sport. If these guys weren't diving all over the place, it's just be a bunch of running around and kicking a ball.

RPR Music Update

Mr. BBC requested a music column, and I think that's a fine idea since I haven't touched on any new music in a while. It's kinda funny that the idea was brought up since one of my old co-workers, Jason, just emailed me a couple days ago and asked for some suggestions on the music front. He's currently living in France, so I'd imagine they're out of touch with the music scene. In fact, I'm not sure if any music from this decade is popular over there. But I hear that N'Sync is starting to get some solid airplay in Paris....

Anyway, here's what I've been listening to lately...

- I've mentioned these guys a while back, but it's worth reiterating: Band of Horses. Check out their record, Everything All the Time. The music is some great, straight-on rock n' roll, and the guys voice sounds hauntingly like the lead singer of My Morning Jacket. I saw Band of Horses in mid-June at Bowery Ballroom (which is one of my new all-time favorite venues) and it was fantastic. Not to mention they did a cover of Hall and Oates "You Make My Dreams", which was unexpected yet enjoyable.

- You may have heard of Gnarls Barkley, since they're rather popular this summer with their hit, "Crazy". Take a listen to their record, St. Elsewhere, and you'll be pleasantly surprised by the wide variety of sounds that the duo embarks upon. Gnarls is made up of Cee-Lo from Goodie Mob, and Danger Mouse, who made a name for himself a few years back with one of the first "mash-ups" when he created The Grey Album, which mixed The Beatles' White Album with Jay-Z's The Black Album. Gnarls hits it on all cylinders: hip-hop, funk, soul, and some pretty decent electronics. I'm usually not a big fan of this music, but I really enjoy the record. Other than "Crazy", be sure to listen to "Smiley Faces" and their cover of the Violent Femme's "Gone Daddy Gone".

- If you like the old sound of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, and also enjoy the newer sound of Jet and The Darkness, then you may take a liking to Wolfmother. These Aussies have been gaining some popularity in the US, and their self-titled record rocks out like no one else's business. Their lyrics are slightly off the wall, but in my world, that is completely overshadowed by the intensity of the instrumentals -- heavy riffs, pounding drums, and thick bass lines. Definitely worth checking out Wolfmother if you need to expand your heavy rock repertoire. Take a listen to "Woman" and "Colossal".

- From the "group you've never heard of" category, I give to you Oh No! Oh My!, who are originally from Austin, but now residing in Nashville. On their site, (and yes it's a MySpace site, but that's okay for music) they liken themselves to Belle and Sebastian, The Magnetic Fields, and Sufjan Stevens. I think they had some tendencies similar to The Shins as well. Very catchy tunes, mostly acoustic based music, with some harmonization in their vocals. They seem to be very up-and-coming, as their first record isn't even available until August 1st. In the meantime, check 'em out and tell your friends.

- Back to the "music you've definitely heard of" category: Surprisingly, I still need to get my hands on the new Red Hot Chili Peppers record (heard good things about it). That is something I will do in the next few weeks. I did purchase the new record by Keane, Under the Iron Sea. It's not bad through the first few listen-throughs, but I'd like it to grow on me a little more.

I also purchased the new Guster record, Ganging Up on the Sun, and as the BBC mentioned in yesterday's comments, I too am somewhat disappointed with this effort. They strayed away from their core sound, which I'm usually ok with... unless the resulting product is junk compared to the old sound. Bands can branch out, since it isn't fun for them to record and play the same set of songs over and over and then just tweak the sound a little bit for subsequent recordings. But in the case of Guster, this new record just isn't doing anything for me. I'd even venture to say that it's boring. I go way back with these guys, having first seen them live in October 1998 at the TLA in Philadelphia. Had several great concert-going experiences with Guster: December 1999 in a ballroom at Villanova where my friends and I convinced the ticket sellers that we were students. Y100 Feztival in June 2000 where I met the band and the drummer, Brian Rosenworcel, when I told him that I thought we looked alike, told me that my eyebrows were thicker than his. Alas, when I hear the Ganging Up on the Sun record, I just hope it gains traction after multiple listenings.

- Last minute music thoughts: my jury is still out on the Thom Yorke solo record, The Eraser. I'm still not sure if The Fray are for real or if we'll be saying "Remember the Fray? They had those 2 songs back in summer 2006?" in a few years. Check out the old records of the New Pornographers: Mass Romantic and Electric Version. Keep an eye and an ear out for Beirut. No, not the city, the band. His record, Gulag Orkestar, is all over the blog world. This guy (real name: Zach Condon from New Mexico) is playing all sorts of crazy instruments: ukelele, various horns, strings, and even an accordion.

That oughta last you for at a little while. Hope you were taking notes. Be sure to let me know of anything else I should be listening to.

Andy's Nuggets of Wisdom: Live from the Home Run Derby

Andy is back with his commentary based on his trip to last week's Major League Baseball All-Star festivities:

Here's my nugget. My brother, his friend, my cousin, and I went to the Home Run Derby in Pittsburgh last week and I thought I would give you a few of our observations.

1) Despite having the team with the worst record in baseball, the fans really did support the All-Star weekend in the 'Burgh. I thought it was a very nice showcase for the city of Pittsburgh.

2) I want to kick the shit out of Dave Littlefield (the Pirates GM) for not trading Kip Wells to the Phillies for Ryan Howard. That dude can freakin hit. (Ross, you can thank me later for my team saving your GM from what could have been the worst trade of all time).

3) I just want to reiterate my point about girls in jean skirts. There is just something about them. Most girls that put on a jean skirt will move up on the "Hot Chart".

4) On that note, I would like the thank the city of Pittsburgh for providing the eye candy for the Home Run Derby. The drunk girl down my row that wanted to flash everyone, but there were too many kids around, so she provided much entertainment to us by flaunting her hottness all over.

5) Ben Roethlisberger was a hot topic all over the city. Anytime a speeding motorcycle would drive by, it was guaranteed that some idiot would yell, "Hey, there's Ben!!!" SHUT UP DUDE...that joke was old about a month ago.

That's it for now, but I will be back next Monday with a tidbit on Ben Roethlisberger.

Calling All RPR'ers !

In the famous words of Pink Floyd... "Hello... hello... hello.... is anybody out there?" Haven't received any feedback on the RPR in a while, and based on my loose calculations, it looks like readership is declining. Not good for business. So I ask the loyal fanbase, what is going on? I know that I'm running about one post a week less than normal, but that's because work is busy and I'm getting ready to move. Not making excuses, just stating the facts. But still, just wanted to see if the readers are still alive and well.

Stop by and say hi sometime. Thanks. Have a good week.

Haircut Chronicles: The Final Adventure

For as long as I've been writing on the RPR, one of the characters that has become a fan favorite is Yolanda, the lady who cuts my hair on and off for the past 2 years, and possibly the most intimidating hair stylist that anyone's ever come across. You've heard all of the stories: the times that she cut my hair, the times that I used someone else, and most recently, when I ran into her in Target. She's been the subject of one good story every 6 to 7 weeks and I appreciate her for that.

Unfortunately, Tuesday evening was my last visit to this establishment in Stamford. As you may or may not know, I am moving to New York City at the end of the month, with the Jessica! Going back to junior year of college, this will be the fourth summer in a row that I've had to move. But unlike last year when I had to leave the old apartment in Stamford because the management company decided to sell the units as condos, this time, I'm moving on my own accord, and I'm moving to the Big Apple.

Many people have said to me, you must be nuts -- New York City is so expensive, why would you want to move there? You know what: why wouldn't I want to move there? When you are in your mid-20's and have the opportunity to live in the coolest city in this country, you go for it. Yes, it will be expensive. Yes, my commute to work will be a little longer. Honestly, who cares? I'm biting the ass off the bear on this one. My feeling is that I'll be one of those old guys one day who tells all his friends, kids, and grandkids, "Back in the day, when I lived in Manhattan...." and there'll be a ton of stories that start off that way. Long story short, I'm very much looking forward to it and it could add a whole new dynamic of stories and inspiration for the RPR (assuming I still have time to keep up with this rag!) But I completely digress, and I'll talk more about this later.

I went to get a haircut on Tuesday night and when I arrived, Yolanda and one other woman were still there. They close at 8:30pm on Tuesdays, but I showed up at around 7:40pm, so the timing wasn't an issue. I had an encounter with Disgruntled Australian Receptionist and she crisply told me to "please have a seat". I waited for a good 20 minutes, which is record length for the establishment that usually has me in a chair before I can say 'Hi, how are ya?'. Meanwhile, I had no doubt in my mind that Yolanda would cut my hair. There just wasn't any way that she wouldn't. It would only be fitting -- we'd call it the Stamford Haircut Swan Song --Yolanda and I would finally have our Kill Bill 2 showdown like Bill and Kiddo had, with samurai swords and all. Except maybe she'd have some sort of hair iron and I'd use a pair of scissors as my weapon. In my mind, this would be a bigger battle than Muhammed Ali and Joe Frazier in the Thriller in Manila.

Finally, she appeared from behind the wall, finishing up a female customer. Then she looks at me. It wasn't just a look, it was a solid stare.

"You're next. Let's go." Yes, indeed. I was next. And it's on, bitch.

She leads me over to her chair. "Take a seat." My approach, as always is to kill her with kindness. I give a big smile and ask her how she's doing and how her 4th of July was. She doesn't seem to thrilled and gives me, "Eh, alright. Holiday wasn't that great. Had to work."

"Don't worry, I felt the same way since I had to work some over the holiday as well," I tell her. She doesn't seem impressed. Maybe she'd remind me that she'd have to be on her feet the whole time, and at least I get to sit down. Yeah, but sitting down, staring at a computer screen. Would you rather have your feet go numb or your ass go numb? Pick your poison.

After sitting the chair for about 2 minutes as she got started with the haircut, I had a moment of clarity. I finally realized what made her so intimidating. It's the fact that she is a very low talker. If it was remotely loud in the room, I wouldn't hear a word she was saying. And when she speaks, it's often with minimal excitement, and if there's any emotion in her conversation, it tended to lean toward mild animosity. She never really laughed, rarely cracked a smile. Basically, I could picture her sitting in a room with a group of 45 year old women talking about how they hated their husbands/ex-husbands, and if given the opportunity, they would add a little cyanide to their morning cup of Maxwell House, and would be happy enough walking away with the house, the Ford Explorer and a life insurance settlement.

I always thought that she was pissed when I chose (or was placed with) other stylists. I still think she knew it was me in the Target a couple weeks ago. I feel like she held a grudge the whole time, especially since we go back to the old location in the mall, back when she gave me her card, telling me to set up appointments with her. What the hell do I need appointments for when I don't know which night I'm going to show up? And let's be serious, I'm looking to get in and out as quick as possible. If the 4'10" Mexican lady is free, I'll go with her. If the Pregnant Irish lady is free, she can cut my hair too. Whatever works.

For her, it's not business; it's personal.

She kept on going with the haircut, continually asking in a monotone voice, "Ok, how's this look? You want it shorter?" At this point, I felt like she knew me well enough to figure it out. The whole time, I took the 'speak when spoken to' attitude and just dazed off in the interim. There's certain people that you don't have trouble BS'ing with. Then there are people like Yolanda where you're never quite sure how to initiate the BS'ing because it's unknown when you'll hit a sore subject. Then I'd be in a world of hurt. And this lady already has access to sharp objects and razor blades, so I avoided taking the chance.

By the time it was said and done, and I made sure my sideburns were even, it was time to head out. Less eventful than I had anticipated, but I try to keep it low-key with her. After I paid the Disgruntled Australian Receptionist, I returned to Yolanda with her tip. I thanked her again and told her to take care. Little did she realize that our paths may never cross again.

As I walked out of the building, through the parking lot, and to my car, I felt like I had just rode off into the sunset. I thought to myself, "Man, the RPR readers are going to be really upset by this. No mo' Yo' I could call the story. Then I laughed to myself and realized how cheesy that would be.

There were no samurai fights. She didn't end up beating me up at any point in time, no matter how thick the intimidation factor was. Instead, all I got was a haircut that will last me 6-7 weeks and plenty of stories for this blog. I thank Yolanda for that. She set the bar high for all future haircuts that I will receive.

This is just too funny...

From the Bill Simmons Chat Transcript:

Jim (NY): How long until Heidi from The Hills hits Cinemax? Three years is the Vegas over/under.

Bill Simmons: Three years? I give it 9 months. The only question is whether she'll play the young sexy widow who may or may not have killed her husband, or the young sexy detective who just broke up with her partner and now is going undercover in the world of high-class hookers.

and separately...

John (Fort Lauderdale): Is it OK to physically assault someone who hits on 13 against a 6 and ends up taking the dealer's bust card?

Bill Simmons: As far as I'm concerned, absolutely ... I think that blackjack should be like driving, you should be required to get a license to be allowed to play.

Blogger Magically Turns Red Paper Clip into House

Thank you to Julie for sending me this article from CNN.com about a guy who started out with one red paper clip and bartered his way to a house. Pretty impressive what this guy did, and definitely worth the quick read.

Julie comments that this is "something to shoot for, as a blogger, haha". I'd like to start with one red paper clip and barter my way to becoming independently wealthy. Is that possible?

Sports Update: Baseball, Soccer, and Football !

- First off, how about the irony of the Philadelphia Phillies making it two in a row as having the representatives of the Home Run Derby champion? Ryan Howard put on a decent show and is living up to the hype that I read about for many years while he was stuck on the Double A Reading Phillies. I'm glad the team is good for something... now go out and win some ballgames -- you have 12 games to make up on the Mets. Side note: every Pirates fan that has an association with Penn State is cursing out all of his/her friends that are Phillies fan. Let's hear it for Pennsylvania!

- So I watched the World Cup Final yesterday, and although I was rather indifferent on who won, I did realize after the fact that I'm much more content with Italy winning than the stupid French. I think we should all be pissed at France because they really aren't much help to the US, plus I can't find a decent French restaurant anywhere that serves reasonably-priced frogs legs. Come on now!

Any case, so I also decided that I enjoyed the World Cup but soccer overall still doesn't do it for me. I liked watching the best of the best and it was also nice to know that a game was on every day. It gave me the opportunity to watch a match in Rio de Janeiro with the Brazilian fans, who are as passionate about soccer as we are about American football. The following week, when Brazil played Ghana, some of the Brazilian co-workers had to take 2 hours out of their morning to watch the game in the cafeteria. The whole team felt the need to join them as well. We had to show our support. During the Argentina/Germany quarterfinal game, I even managed to watch the end of regulation, all of overtime, and the penalty kicks during an extended lunch hour. I'd say it was a good time all around.

What's amazing to me is all of the Italian pride that I saw after the win on Sunday. I was driving around Stamford and saw several cars with people hanging out of them, in blue jerseys, honking the horn, yelling, screaming, and waving the red, white, and green flag. I'm not sure if these people are from Italy or their ancestory traces back there, but these people were pretty pumped. My family's ancestory traces back to Eastern Europe and if any of those countries won the World Cup, I don't think I'd be driving around a town in Connecticut yelling and screaming like a wild banshee. But that's just me. In honor of the win, I cooked myself some rigatoni with marinara sauce for dinner.

- Get excited: NFL Training Camps open within the next 2 weeks! It's always fun to see a bunch of guys who are 6'7" and 350 lbs bringing a few duffel bags and a boombox in their Range Rovers as they "move into" a college dorm for 3 weeks.

That's it for now...

Andy's Nuggets of Wisdom: Take a Hike if You Go on Strike

Andy checks in this week with some thoughts on work stoppages and strikes. Editor's Note: Andy sent me a separate nugget on Wednesday night, and I deemed it too graphic for the RPR. Hey, I'm not here to censor anyone's thoughts, but we have to keep things semi-clean on this blog. Believe me, Andy provided some humorous comments, but a little too risque for this forum. We'll keep it at that.
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Since my first nugget I sent yesterday got denied by the ratings board, I'm gonna take another stab at it. Tonight's topic: Strikes. While strikes have been a common device used by unions for many years, I have to argue that they are ineffective. First off...yes, they do work in getting the attention of the owners/bosses, which will lead to new contracts or whatever they are striking for. In light of the recent strikes by the NHL players, the metro workers in NYC, and now the government workers in New Jersey, it doesn't seem like any of these groups are learning from the previous goups' debacled strikes.

Let's look at the NHL. This strike was about as useful as a poopy flavored lollipop. It made the players all look like greedy bastards, and ruined some of the aging players' careers by having a whole year off from competitive hockey. In the end, the players received less than they would have if they would have agreed to the deal the owners presented. Because the strike was damaging to the reputation of the players and the league, the players and owners compromised significantly on issues, whereby the players accepted less money, a lower salary cap, and allowed the owners to make out like bandits.

As far as the transit workers, that was just stupid. Pretty much the same thing happened with the NHL. The workers went on strike, then were turned into Public Enemy #1 in the city. This was just genius. Think about it. Would you want to piss off millions of New Yorkers who are freaking crazy, and won't think twice about kicking the crap out of you? How about thinking about your kids too? Sure, we all want more money for your kids, but money isn't gonna mean much to your kids when their friends' parents won't allow them to be invited to their kid's birthday parties. Talk about scarring your kids for life. So the workers went back to work without a contract and allowed time to pass with negotiations and they got one done.

Now it is a little bit different situation in New Jersey. The government told the workers to stay home because the governor and the legislature could not agree on a budget. This is a little different from the other ones, but it still makes no sense. Why in the world wouldn't the government just tell the people to keep working at the current conditions. I highly doubt that there are going to be slashes in the government worker area of the budget, so why are you pissing off the people that put you in office? A good way to ruin your political career is to make unpopular decisions. This is just another example. Someone please tell me how any of this makes sense.

Mid-week Commentary

- I was running some errands in the Target the other day and ran into Yolanda. I can't stay away from this lady. I begin to walk down one aisle and there she is. She gave me that "I think I know this guy" look, but I had my glasses on and hadn't shaved in 3 days. As soon as I made eye contact, I thought to myself "oh crap" and then kept on walking like I was deeply focused on finding some product on the shelf. I think I got away without feeling her wrath. Meanwhile, I am due for a haircut in the near future, so I'm sure her and I will be meeting again shortly.

- Atlantic City casinos shut down today for an indefinite period of time. David Longo is sitting somwhere in New Jersey cursing out Governor Jon Corzine because he's unable to make his weekly trip to Harrah's this weekend.

- The Sports Guy loves the World Cup and I agree with many of the reasons he gives. I mean, let's be serious, I've had many people say to me over the last 3 weeks, "I didn't know you followed soccer this much". The truth is that I don't follow it at all. But the World Cup is extremely exciting, involves international competition which is always a good time, and gives you something to follow every day for 1 month. After this weekend, I'll won't care about soccer until 2010.

- Did anyone watch RockStar: Supernova this evening? It's like American Idol gone crazy. The contestants are all a bunch of karaoke singers who love their 90's tunes and, as you would guess, want to be rockstars. The best is watching Dave Navarro, Tommy Lee, and Jason Newsted as they take in the performances. You would never believe that the guitarist from Jane's Addiction/Red Hot Chili Peppers, the drummer from Motley Crue, and the former bassist from Metallica would be on a show like this, rocking out to a 22 year old female from Georgia's rendition of Melissa Etheridge's "I'm the Only One". Jury's still out on this show. Ah, let's be serious, I'll probably watch it next week too.

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Some Thoughts for the Holiday Weekend

Checking in over the Fourth of July Weekend....

- Such is the life of Jared:

Jared:Excitement of my weekend ... doing work yesterday ..no one is there ... and all of a sudden Lance Armstrong strolls in...
Ross: Awesome... did he recognize you?
Jared: Yeah..havent seen him in a few months ... maybe april.... my cubicle is outside his office

I mean, because, my office is right around the corner from one of America's top athletes of the last 10 years as well too. Right...

- Since we all love the state of New Jersey, and if you haven't been following the the news over the weekend, NJ is amidst quite a big problem: they might shut down the casinos! Don't get ahead of yourself though... it's a state-wide problem because the state government surpassed it's June 30th deadline for setting a new budget, and so Governor Corzine has mandated that
all non-essential government operations be shut down as soon as possible. No budget in place means no operations. Road construction and lottery ticket sales were put on hold, and state parks, beaches, horse racing tracks, and the casinos (!) could be shut down as soon as Wednesday. Even though I don't have any plans to make it down to AC in the near future, let's hope for the sake of all gambling fans that the NJ government can get their act together and keep our favorite establishments open for business!

- Something the Jessica and I wonder about: we walk around New York City and we notice that people love dogs. Pretty obvious point; everyone loves dogs, and lots of people in New York have them. But we see a lot of people with very big dogs in the city, and it makes you wonder: do these dogs have their own room in these people's apartment? We're talking about German Shepherds, Rottweilers, and Pitbulls. We've seen Great Danes and Boxers too. Some of these dogs are massive and I just can't understand how they'd fit comfortably in someone's one or two bedroom apartment. Must make for some tight quarters, but hey, if a man's best friend happens to be a little bigger of a breed, then the man will do what it takes to put a roof over his friend's head.

That's all for now... Happy 4th!