don't panic 4.30.05

hitchhiker's guide was very good. the don't panic was downplayed and some changes... but it was good. and as dorky as i wanted it to be. so they "make the blog," i'll let you know i shared twizzlers with jaime if you catch my meaning and rachel giggled to my left, i was in a jaime/ rachel sandwich. the rachel sister is a pistol even though she can't see over counters and nicky marie will soon be free of her fundraising shackles. they may take you life, but they'll never take--

kandle's party was very good too, even including the headbutts and getting home @ 6 am. niffer came through and we danced with the girls of bad touch to the late 80's house/ r&b. there was vodka, i grew paper tits, the amandas played ratt and journey in the other room, we all realized that we were old as we waxed nostalgic about the best rock bands, caroline and i sat in the corner and yapped about those same bands with rachelle. later i will have fully beaten my kidney into a drunken pulp with most of the same kids at zippy's crucial bbq. and sanded and painted gully's new number 1 spot.


*if i had music i would leave this post cueing up 50 cent's "this is 50."

postscript:

samuelito's drunken master/ night in the clink mix:

1. robert johnson # drunken hearted man
2. mighty mighty bosstones # i'll drink to that
3. project pat # crash da club
4. minus the bear # monkey!! knife!! fight!!
5. the alkaholiks # only when i'm drunk
6. bounty killa # warlord nuh business
7. (irish drinking song?) # fuck you i'm drunk
8. mystikal # ready to rumble
9. rolling stones # street fighting man
10. dj shadow + dan the automator # fists of curry
11. gangstarr # suckas need bodyguards
12. d12 # fight music
13. fugazi # waiting room
14. shyne w/ kurupt + nate dogg # behind the walls
15. plaid # last remembered thing
16. pinback # concrete seconds
17. burning airlines # sweet deals on surgery
18. prince paul # handle your time
19. da lench mob # lost in da system
20. tool # prison sex
21. james carter + the prisoners # po' lazarus

the unlinked post 4.25.05

i will get back to blogging again soon; though i don't know why i should. here is an inaptly-named trilogy of reasons not to blog:

1. everything i want to say is too personal. like how i hate people who cannot use proper grammar/ grammar rules at all. how i would like to go on and on about how it's very boring to read people's posts on what they ate for dinner. how i would like to give advice such as "west indian/ caribbean men, stop hitting on homely, funny-looking white women. yes, they will be flattered and yes, they may take you home to help them with their dancehall or hip hop riddims; but then they go and tell their friends and we all get objectified and pigeonholed." i am a culprit too. friends, help me stop. i'm not the hottest fella but really... help me stop.

2. i have a burr up my ass. so when i talk about how stupid my little brother is, i don't want to hear the advancement of that concept, or memories of other times when my brother is stupid. i will insult him myself. he's family, after all. i am protective. there is more but it would personally attack some readers, and since i have 5, i don't want to cut out 40% of my readership. suffice to say, i am sensitive and have a burr up my ass. constructive commentary and criticism is good, but a person should know when they have crossed constructive and are being a jackass. silver.

3. i ain't got no job.

4. it's time to start working on fiction, on the NEW AND IMPROVED short story club, and on the new sports blog, which will hopefully enlist the skills of m-jr and perhaps other people, and will have shorts posts such as this:

i am so happy for adrian macpherson - the seminole, the gambler, the arena football qb, and now the 5th round pick of the n'awlins saints. aaron brooks' 14-40 passing days are bad quarterbacking. the team doesn't win, the offensive system is "chuck it long and go get it;" one of these days, the new orleans football franchise should try having a couple of winning seasons in a row before they become an NFL europe outpost, or before the fans sober up and start throwing spiked beads at the players.

5. i was up at almost 1 am this morning; and not just because i dutch oven'd myself. hours before an AM meeting that should be disastrously funny, i was thinking about how i should get a date book. electronic ones are uninspiring; iCal and Palm's calendar's annoy me; a wall calendar is too large to take with me; and pocket planners tend to have lines when i want open space. maybe a long flat week-long top-flipping book. then i realized it's true what some friends have said-- i am finicky.

hitchhiker's guide comes out this weekend. i'll be going with m-jr, the wondertwin, the lovely jaime, rachel, and el-d the curly.

p.s. last week i was in the park with samuelito and lana-p and we saw this couple lovingly plucking each other's eyebrows. seriously. thanks for the pic, lana.


p.p.s. what's the bug in your saddle?

back to watch the OC 4.21.05

what's with the goofy mid-sentence cuts in this episode? was that FOX or was that a quirky directing move? and can some of these plotlines slow down enough for funny quips and snappy patter? we have returned to fistfights and the calling of other men "bitch" and i for one am overjoyed. i dig the little wisps of air brushing marisa's locks before the kiss.

and trey's just out of prison so he's allowed one obvious mistake. where were the little drug vixens when i was in high school? at stuyvesant? or at spence?

death cab was so much better at the black cat. they didn't start with lightness. they started with new year and moved into movie script ending and then company calls. then ended with transatlantacism. am i right, gully? i do hope this appearance on the OC makes them villa-in-france money; this and their major label debut.

>>you don't have to pay me to murder your husband<<

julie looks good in the american beauty red petal repose. "it looks like one of your movies" is a hot ass line, though. miss cooper's friend is...oops. that's a PI taking her p-i-c. and while caleb has a charming voice, this is the creepiest marriage i have seen since i last got divorced. man, was that something. something cold.

>>what's from the earth is of the greatest worth<<

summer is the hotness. zach is so up to something. it's all the look-backs. and body sprays? a comic book body spray? what geek would buy that? would it smell like fresh comic book? like norse sweat? like the air after cyclops' eyebeams? at least this is an interesting plotline. and here is another site about cyclops, 'cause he's my favorite, no matter how lame people think he was in the movie.

i know nothing about wine. luckily for me, silver is a classy classy guy. now, about everyone's favorite raw-foods dieter, kelly rowan-- i mean, kiki-- snnxxxx, snxxxx, sorry, fell asleep. started drooling.

p.s. while orlando bloom is a good looking fellow, i don't even think he could kick MY ass.

well, convict, time to open your present 4.14.05

>>an OC recap<<

i want to live in california. all i have to do is have a hot house with a pool and a winding walk down and people will just come to my house. yes this is the house. come inside the rager, dude!!! but who comes to a party with a four-foot bong in hand? and who brought the concert-style sound system? at least trey can act like a bouncer. and get a little tail-- hey, he's out of prison, he can call it a little tail. or okay, i can. and the teddy bear... that was a bit much.

where was trey in the threesome? and i really thought this would be the ep where trey and marissa get it on.

and... no, wait. addendum. i want to live in california and throw drug free parties.

now, how much coffee do these kids drink? it's like crack rock to them. marisa, summer, seth, zack, are never in the student lounge without coffee. aren't there coffee lines? don't people go coffee crazy? does somebody spill on the video games?

marguerite moreau is hot. that's why she's on television, i suppose. but what happened to the show life as we know it?

julie cooper threw a shirt at a ratt concert. my favorite bad band. i wonder if i look like that when i get drunk and the hard rock comes on? and daughters? julie cooper only has one daughter. and a creepy afterthought in boarding school.

Mondays are for studying 4.11.05

This weekend we celebrated Ray-Ray’s birthday. She has soft lips. Heh. Sister Sorky is a funny kid. And a blast from the past came through named Ellie, who lived in my old dorm room 107 back in the day. I couldn’t remember why I knew her and I think that was it. I walked into my old dorm as a junior to see what set of ass clowns had taken my old tripe and they weren’t ass clowns at all. Good kids.

In two days I will be free to write more interesting prose and posts. For now, here is a mix. Also, I think I will start a sports-only blog. I bet you would all be really into it.

a mix made because all of my mixes are for women. this one is made with silver in mind but he will never get it because unlike my hs classmate i do not believe in the social man date as discussed in the nytimes. no matter how many times it's just me and silver out, or having dinner, or cuddling with basketball. you didn't read that.

1. mirah, million miles
2. the go! team, huddle formation
3. jhae f. bumba, lindsay lohan freestyle (big ass titties)
4. thingy, mayday
5. ac newman, most of us prizefighters
6. d'angelo, alright
7. the delays, wanderlust
8. sufjan stevens, for the widows in paradise, for the fatherless in ypsilanti
9. death from above 1979, romantic rights
10. fall out boy, where is your boy tonight?
11. pinback, concrete seconds
12. iron and wine, grey stables
13. little brother, the yo-yo
14. lyrics born, callin' out
15. tahiti 80, heartbeat
16. mclusky, friends stoning friends
17. the legends, breaking time, breaking lines
18. the earlies, bring it back again
19. thingy, my room has a TV
20. nappy roots, slums
21. stars, the big fight

dine in brooklyn. 4.6.05

i hate dinner, as you all know. but dine in brooklyn? sounds like the move. next week, april 11-20th. it's on like kublai khan. check the link for restaurants in your hood.

(thanks to gothamist)

the day of the year where there is hope in cincinnati and pittsburgh 4.4.05
and not just because it's nathan's birthday.

my pregame comment is for new mets manager willie randolph. willie. never ever use the word "battled." it was art howe's catch phrase last year and watching the mets battle was like watching a quadriplegic in quicksand reaching for the rope. you can do your subway commercials with joe torre, but don't use the b-word.

5 strikeouts from this year's fantasy hero, jeremy bonderman. and it's only the second inning! 11 strikeouts from martinez and only one ugly home run! a homer and double from beltran. mmm, beltran. 2 double plays from david wright. hm, david wright. you still my boy, blue.

UPDATE: sweet jeebus, man. thank you, closer braden looper, for allowing a hit and then back to back home runs, giving the reds the win. it's because you're a christian conservative, right? and you don't want new york to win? that was super, looper. at least you battled. arrrrrgh.

it's baseball day.

also, the anniversary of the assassination of the reverend dr. martin luther king.

and to switch gears, more cheesecake! emmanuelle chriqui is distilled hotness, pictures show her 'nuff respeck.

the new single is duck + cover 4.4.05
with b-side: swing + miss

aw, damn, i missed joel.

ACE

my wu-tang style is avoidance. i can define a problem in simple words, come up with solutions, and find ways not to complete the tasks. though not such a big fan of people, i know the best way to avoid the mundane is to immerse in conversation, slipping from group to group to place to place, deft in ducking and shirking--

for example, this weekend. i missed out on classmate ana's downtown party and studied a little. that is the rare case of unavoidance, bucking the trend... for about 40 minutes.

the next morning when i should have been searching for work i was packaging my old mp3 player for sale, telling lana-p about the violence of sin city, and still made myself late. the rice-a-homie was angry to have missed the previews. i'd seen them already, it seems, and they were not that interesting. in fact, they were long, especially the movie about the dogtown skateboarders. sin city was bomb ass.

i dipped uptown, stopped by the post office that saturday afternoon, with the wind bowing my umbrella out and bending a line of the frame 70 degrees. midtown was filled with siren sounds, and people leaving ringling brothers circus. they left slowly and they leapt in my way.

then over to the east side for 20 minutes of basketball with mjunior and nicky brooklyn and their friend kurt/ martha/ [i forget] in a dark bar, waitress hovering over us like she had OCD.

7.15: i faced the height of avoidance. a few days previously i promised to attend an engagement dinner/ celebration for a high school mate named jen. i should have been home working. or going to events held by starla or schnapp or classmate nenee or simply watching basketball. and i thought about not going, getting back to what's important for me, versus what might annoy others--

all of that warbling is to say i had a great time. and i will hire zoco as my personal cook if that whole pharma marketing thing doesn't work out.

though she is already married to her army man, the engaged jen has not had the ceremony. so our mutual friend zoco decided to toss a surprise dinner/ reunion. myself, elle-marie, two mothers, and jen r who has blossomed into a very hot swan. not that she was a duckling but she looks all adult. still makes bad star trek jokes, though, still sweet and goofy.

but the avoidance--

DEUCE

i met up with mjunior downtown, and sat in odessa with him/ countess ruby/ and nicky brooklyn. they were in a strange mood. but i remembered why i like them. the sharp towel whip-snap of the countess, the hard-to-read laughter of nicky b.

of course i ended up in queens, playing mvp baseball. because i am addicted. stayed to watch the baseball game. yes, that was sunday night and i arrived saturday. as long as no one smells me, i'm straight.

one issue to bring up-- mjunior and the wondertwin love a place on queens blvd called eats. solid food, little cafe/ restaurant that has a mix of families and made-up queens women, gold's gym enthusiasts, and young folks who have discovered the secret sunnyside of queens. solid little place. except for the coffee.

i am not always the most perceptive person. so it took until the second or third cup of coffee at eats to realize that i was drinking perhaps the worst coffee i have ever had. a little burnt, and just... not good. not a single taste, but lightly bitter. milk didn't help and sugar made it taste worse. now i am aching a little, the feeling i remember from drinking starbucks' coffee, but then i wanted to drink it all, take my refills, and keep talking about the wondertwin's brilliant television idea. which will involve your favorite ex-television and movie stars. some of them even getting shot.

not for real, you sick bastards.

quit volunteering to pull the trigger.

what?

you can't do that, that's illegal--

just read on--

TREY

there is a dark wood-paneled bar on the upper east side, where even new york's rich and famous, cultural and athletic elite, can find a place to stay under the radar, and get their drink on. some afternoons, after isiah thomas stops taking shots of cognac, stumbles off the chair, and starts calling rival basketball General Managers with ridiculous trades, george steinbrenner walks in.

and the a rotund bald man shuffles in, shades drawn in case the ny post reporters or the guy who beat his ass in the upper east side diner should recognize him. some money exchanges hands for a job well-- or poorly done-- by a man named wells.

think about it. wells got slapped around last night like he was auditioning for pimps up, ho's down. the balk? way to gift wrap one, pal. and why else would he hit giambi twice? who would want to hit giambi but the yankees, the team angry and trying to find a way to cut giambi, for the steroids as he was suspected to have done.

just a thought. the boys building mate sara was very sweet too.


p.s. next week, ray-ray will be in town to do up her birthday in the style that only syracuse and high-end hookers know well.

opening day 4.2.05

i think david wells is on the yankee payroll. evidence comes later.

friday 4.1.05

i recognize those bears and that brick wall. that walk by the tennis courts-- watching last night's college basketball 3-point shooting + slam-dunk contest, i quickly recognized the WUniversity! WU in the house! since the final four is held in st louis-- a city without a pro basketball team and a college basketball team that is hit and miss at best at SLU, and no great facilities to speak of-- well, it was good to see the old fieldhouse. i don't think i saw any of my classmates there, ever, though. where is your school spirit?!

here is an interesting article tying the final four to the resurgence of st louis. yes, we have heard that one before from the lou. rings in a little bit like the claims that the olympics will jumpstart the NYC economy. kudos to columnist burwell for mentioning how the st louis streets were used to film escape from new york. a couple of nights in brick alleyways converted to dance club parking lots and you'll think you were in the movie too.

back to last night's exhibition- steve lavin taught me well during the 3-point contest-- fingertips in the seams; low center of gravity; drop the ass low; widen the feet/ base; flick with the middle three fingers. i also learned marshall faulk is coming off the bench, and that the dunk contest can be won by a lithuanian who went to eastern utah and then to the university of tennessee - chattanooga, the school with the dumbest mascot.

****

sin city is out! here is a negative review, and here is a positive review. battery park city at 3 pm, be there. arroz the rice-a-homie will be. i might make it too. buy tickets!

****

marshall faulk is coming off the bench?

****

i miss the mets already. opening day is monday and i am going to have to find a bar.

****

this has to be an april fool's joke:

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. -- Seton Hall guard J.R. Morris has declared for the NBA draft, the school announced Wednesday.

Morris, a junior shooting guard, averaged eight points and 3.5 rebounds in 79 career games with the Pirates. He was averaging 10.1 points and 5.8 rebounds through 21 games in the 2004-05 season before coach Louis Orr suspended him for academic reasons.

"This is something I have been preparing for my whole life," Morris said. "I sat down with coach Orr and told him that I felt I was ready to take my game to the next level. I feel I am ready to take this step."

good luck, son.

thursday 3.31.05

joel is in town.

the mcdonald's all american game was last night. duke has some players coming in. the theme of the night was white guys dunking. they didn't read the white men can't jump memo... that josh mcroberts is a player. rebounds, has good baby hops, can throw a reverse dunk, will be a duke freshman... and his mother is a MILF.

eben forwarded me an article from ESPN, what if no player went pro early. besides the whole "denying a person the ability to earn a livelihood" argument which was the original rationale, there are reasons for players to go pro early that benefit both the players, the NBA, and the college game. if, of course, they really are going to be picked high in the draft, preferably in the lottery.

- if and when they go back to school, they won't be wasting their time sleeping in and getting tutors to do their work.

- the coaching is probably more developmental in college; but players are undervalued when they come out, costing them a whole lot of money while said players are wiping double cheeseburger grease off their lips, getting sycophants to bring them women and homework, and playing low-level teammate competition who ask for autographs after getting dunked on.

- the college game, especially the march tournament, is better for not having lebron and carmelo, et cetera-- we would expect the same teams to win. and those teams would win more easily-- the way north carolina has been dominant all year. who did they lose to? santa clara with their point guard out, duke who just out-coached them. if no one went pro early, UNC would likely find themselves with even more top-line players; and would likely have a team so dominant they would challenge UCLA's string of 88 straight wins. college basketball is tougher and more unpredictable.

****

a take on bill james' words of wisdom from soxaholix.

****

also, take a quiz. which yankee are you?

i'm mariano rivera. so... i'm old?

You scored as Mariano Rivera. You are MARIANO RIVERA! You're the one that people look to end things, save the day, etc. You're also probably the best at what you do... but in small doses of course. You're only human and can only do so much, but regardless you're awesome and OVERALL can perform well under pressure. Derek Jeter 67% Mariano Rivera 67% Tino Martinez 63% Bernie Williams 54% Jorge Posada 50% Alex Rodriguez 33% Which NY Yankee are you? created with QuizFarm.

for your reading pleasure 3.30.05

mcsweeney's baseball preview for american and national leagues.

and from the new yorker, set lists about exes.

revisionist 3.28.05

recovered from a weekend spent with mia and not much sleep. also shooting thing in grand theft auto: vice city. thanks, rice-a-homie! now, back to work.

perhaps it was me... but the michigan state/ kentucky game was some bad basketball. not a thrilling, steal-at-the end classic, but a dumpy, "should we, like, play defense?" debacle.

when you are reading today's nytimes article about the university of north carolina, talent doesn't equal trouble, remember that the university fired matt doherty because of player/ parent unrest and booster unhappiness/ impatience with a freshman-laden team. these are not warm cuddly tarheels.

*since registration is required, here is the article from tom sorenson, linked above, dated 3.29.03:

 
UNC standing on shaky moral ground

School would be wrong to fire Doherty, who has a chance to be successful

TOM SORENSEN

ANAHEIM, Calif. - To find out what the North Carolina men's basketball team thinks of coach Matt Doherty, athletics director Dick Baddour met with players first as a group and the next day individually, although some brought parents.

What's next? Monday: Meet with players and their uncles. Tuesday: Meet with players and their best friends from high school who think they should go for 30 a game. Wednesday: Meet with players and Shirley, their favorite Waffle House waitress.

These meetings are stacked. When people get the opportunity to talk privately about their boss, criticism invariably ensues. If the relationship between management and labor were working, there would be no meeting.

Got a problem with the coach? How about the time he yanked you from the game and said you couldn't return unless you played defense? Here's an adult who cares what you think. Pay Doherty back.

Few of us know what goes on at practice or in the locker room. If Baddour learns Doherty slammed a player into a wall or engaged in the systematic humiliation that could cling to a kid for life -- and I'm not talking about yelling -- then fire him.

But education isn't what these sessions are about. If the school has decided to dump Doherty, who has three seasons left on his contract, North Carolina will want to collect evidence to support its decision.

North Carolina has never been a school that cavalierly ends the career of its coaches. Chapel Hill is more than the name of a town; it's the moral high ground from which the athletic department operates.

Dean Smith, who for 36 seasons coached the basketball team, remembers the names of his stars and subs and student managers, and their children and grandchildren. Smith is the patriarch and the players are his family. And while they might criticize each other internally, they rise up as one when an outsider does.

Doherty was part of the family, a starter on Smith's 1982 national championship team. Now he is close to being cast out, and the school really ought to explain why.

Is it because he did not make the NCAA tournament this season or failed to recruit a dominant big man?

Is it because of the anger he brings to the job, anger that has strained relationships with some players and ruined relationships with others, anger Doherty has worked to check?

Is it because he did not hire family members as assistant coaches? Is it because he cut back the number of tickets Smith had allotted to friends of the family?

Is it because, even though the Tar Heels appear to be on the way back, they might never come all the way back?

Or is it because once Doherty is run off, North Carolina can make a run at Roy Williams, the superb Kansas coach, family member and Carolina guy?

And if a school does this, if it undercuts a man who might have succeeded had it given more time to him, and less to his disgruntled players and their moms and dads, is it any more moral than anybody else?

notes 3.25.05

go louisville!

i was hoping that by now cablevision and time warner would stop their pissing contest and get the mets and knicks back on my television. i miss the knicks. i hear they even beat the spurs and the celtics. and jamal crawford finally saw shots he passed up. i love watching jamal. i want to see him play like a not-knucklehead.

additionally, i want to punch salim stoudamire. i think it was the interview with him and lute about how much of a perfectionist salim is, and how tempermental he is. i can just hear him telling all who will listen "i deserve..." like so many other basketball players.

on the flip side, have you seen a game with as little smooth athletic talent as texas tech/ w. virginia? it was like a tough rec league game out there. ronald ross had to reach for his dunk.

as i told silver, i would love to see john lucas on an NBA team. he's john stockton dirty and quick. not good, but quick. he's a charlie ward/ chris duhon type. and he's got that raspy voice.

last night's OC was a little sleep-inducing. faorite line: people never leave and come back. but the episode was lacking in lines. marisa is kind of adorable sometimes, and you have to love the return of the fistfight. tre (tray?) and his swarthy, rugged good looks are a little tired. he must have been quite popular in prison. and caleb... caleb is newport's last don! he's got henchmen! i love henchmen. what's he playing at?

*******

in non-sports related news:

Canada has denied refugee status to a US paratrooper who deserted from the 82nd Airborne Division to dodge combat in Iraq.

-and-

KMart has eaten Sears. It's a mega company, under the name Sears Holding Corporation, but the KMart and Sears names will survive. Read more about the two veteran retailers trying to get into a retail donnybrook with WalMart.

sweet sixteen 3.24.05

tonight i am watching the arizona/ oklahoma state game, in part because salim stoudamire just done shot off his mouth:

"Some reporter just told me the white guy (6-6 Daniel Bobik) is going to guard me," he said. "I don't know his name.

"I don't think anybody can guard me.

"I'm the only one who can stop me."

ohhhkay, salim. though your cousin is damon, and though you shoot 58% on your three-pointers... well, salim might get his shots off but i think channing "charmin" frye and crew won't go home happy.

backroom 3.23.05

somewhere between innovative and dorky lies this

after a fantasy baseball draft, i look over my squad. besides having a lot of red sox, i really don't have pitching. but i have david ortiz and albert pujols. i don't need 2 second basemen.

i contact mjunior. he is up for the umass basketball job but takes some time to think about the trade. he calls me while being chauffeured home.

let's meet up, he says. you don't have anything that i want but movie-fixer chris (the red sox of LA) wants ortiz, and david wells.

mjunior brings his laptop down and we set up in the town tavern, across from the west 4th street basketball cage. the fat black pussycat has a wireless network for free, apparently, and we pilfer their access. nuge. the bar is busy and cheap, geaorgetown is playing basketball in their ancient, high-school sized on-campus arena which seats about 20.

from there we work out the trade. i end up with pitching. and a first baseman i need to flip for someone else. mjunior gets adrian beltre to shore up his 3B position. chris gets ortiz and some pitching. once it is approved...

this is what the negotiations looked like.


and because this blog needs more cheesecake, here is maria grazia cucinotta, of il postino and the world is not enough. she was a ten minute bond girl. you may remember the opening chase scene in venice with her trying to escape in a hot-air balloon.

interloper 3.21.05

sweet jesus i have a lot of homework. and spring break shark attack was awful. featuring the oc's shannon lucio's breasts. now that she's famous, will she ever come back to the oc?

*****

i always believe that the difference between the republican and democratic philosophies is that the democrats want to use government to improve the lot of the people and republicans want to allow the market and individuals to make their own decisions.

yet we have a president who flies back on a sunday to sign a bill to restrict a man from pulling the plug on his wife who has been functionally dead for 15 years. this should be a question of who gets to execute her will in absentia, right? actually, come to think about it, i don't know what the precedent has been-- does a husband/ wife get to decide for their significant other?

i need to find new news to read. you can read some pertinent legal documents here. and here is the oc's shannon lucio. in a bikini.

*****

i have been distracted by this year's ncaa tournament. which has been crazy. west virginia? nc state playing like i always thought they would? oklahoma state in trouble in every game? nuts!

best of all is that i finally got to cap off a weekend of watching basketball with eben and silver. they and i had lunch with megan and matt c and mjunior filled with wings, brews, ballin', and those wisconsin men and women next to us. i did think that one was cute. nice kids. eben, thanks for the gifts-- a basketball net and finger sleeves they wear in basketball.

best of all was the guy a table away from them. he was cheering hard for bucknell, like he reps the bisons. like he should have worn an orange jersey and stuck his thumbs in the armpits to better show the cameras that he went to bucknell. anyway, this mop haired fella sat across from two more socially adjusted friends, howling whenever bucknell did anything positive. we're pretty sure he had a bet of some sort on bucknell to cover the spread; this jackass was yelling at free throw shooters after the game was decided, and stood up to see if the last minute heave went in. we and the wisconsin fans clapped and stomped for wisconsin just to spite this tool.

he reminded me of the guy in vegas who asked me to watch his drink while he went to place a bet. "i'm gonna put some money on west virginia," he said, "so i have a reason to watch."

when that comes out of my mouth, slap the black off of me.

props to vermont and also to the senator and taso who drove down from boston, and to matt k who is whooping my ass like i stole something in every fantasy sport. also props to him and the bird-- your boys can swim! your boys can swim! you are a real man!

what i meant to say in the late saturday post 3.21.05

golly, what a keen birfday! gosh, even though i telephoned my pals a bit late, many of them came out! 23 skidoo! but they bought me alcohol, the devil's blood. icky! cripes, was i wobbly!

for reals, it was hot times. even though pixel and starla and haylz were not there. even though i didn't get lit and pop a cabbie in the nose. boy sammy, your joint takes the cake. you will have a prison bound mix made for you once i am done getting my ass kicked by my current assignments. marge, make fun of the guy.

i forgot to mention matt c was there. craig aka c-lo and tevika. elana showed up all curls and a smiles. the bar was ass-to-ass people and i went to the b-side bar down the block to relieve myself, where i ran into elana again. a-alike took lots of pictures, look at her site for a visual recap.

arroz drove me home and we had mcdonald's in his car. i ate like a drunken cro-mag. and it was strange to flip on elimidate and see this kid who is v. familiar then i remembered-- she was the wild kid danielle crawling on the floor. but she was eliminated in the first round. she was much better looking than the rest and looks good on television.

my throat hurts hard. here is myself, tevika, lana.

me hammered. watching elimidate and this kid danielle-- i met her at paradise hotel dave's party. she's fucking crazy and these kids don't even know! wow. creepy to see someone you remotely know on elimidate. ok, props to lori and thorne and arroz and silver and lana-p and gurney and eben and nascar and cappy and a-alike and ray ray and ray ray's hot sister sorky. and veronica and kate from the lou and she's proud. and also and most of all mia. me go sleep now.

bill self is the new roy williams.

the vermont game might be the best of the tournament. i knew mcnamara was off this year. he's playing himself right out of the NBA, like chris thomas of notre dame did.