I'm still living in the past - 1995 to be exact

If you are a M's fan, like I am, the thought of the '95 season still gives you chills. I know that a lot of things have been said about that season, but I don't really care. Living that season was truly magical for many reasons (including giving me a reason to talk to that girl I had a crush on in 9th grade). Seriously though, the memory of that season is so intensely engraved in my memory that names like Luis Sojo, Chris Bosio (raise your hand if you can remember his no-no) and Bobby Ayala bring back great memories. Well, the memory of Bobby Ayala brings back a lot of frustrated memories too, but I'm trying to forget those for the time being.

Well, anyway, here are a few of my favorite memories growing up as a M's fan, told in pictures that I stole from other people.

Wow! Griffey climbs the wall! And breaks his wrist!
Probably my favorite Mariner ever. And yes, that is a mustache. And yes, I do remember when he had it. And yes, I do remember when he wasn't the DH.


This isn't a particularly impressive moment in M's history (at least I don't think it is), but just a good memory. Edgar hitting a HR.

Probably the highlight of my M's memory. That's right, it's the hit that saved baseball in Seattle, the Double. I don't really know how to describe this the right way, but I'm going to try. The M's are tied 2-2 with the Yankees in a best of 5 ALDS series at home. It's the bottom of the 11th, Yankees are up 5-4. Joey Cora bunts and barely makes first base. Griffey singles, Cora makes it to third. Edgar Martinez takes the plate. Bam! Frozen rope to left field. Cora scores, the game is tied. But wait! Theres more! In a display of speed that I sometimes still don't believe, Griffey manages to slide into home and score.
What a great photo. Even with A-Rod in there. Here's a little challenge: can anyone name the guy on top of A-Rod? I know that's an inadequate description of the events, so here's the play-by-play. It still gives me tingles. Well, I know this has been a little bit boring for some, but thanks for humoring me. See you on Saturday.

Elegy for a Stereo

When I was 14, I took my first "job" and babysat my newborn nephew every day for half a day in order to do one thing - buy a stereo. It was my first big purchase of anything, and as the time came to buy one, I convinced my mom to drive me from one store to the next while I conducted my research, a trait that continues to this day (my mom is getting really sick of driving me around). I finally settled on the AIWA NSX-V50, which I've had ever since. I think it cost me about $270. As you can see below, I brought it with me to NYC
Well, 12 years later, the CD player doesn't work, and the speakers have been put through their paces, and with part of my tax refund burning a hole in my pocket, I decided to replace my old trusty aiwa with a shiny new Denon, which sounds fantastic and looks great


I should be pretty happy, right? Well, I have to admit that I'm pretty sad to have lost my old stereo. I know, it sounds pretty lame, but last night I went to bed pretty bummed.

One last thought, here's a picture of my new remote (which, in my opinion isn't as cool as my old remote).

Notice anything strange? Yeah, at the top there is an "on" button and an "off" button. Can anyone tell me why this is a good thing?

A Night at the Explosion

So, last night Daniel Parker and I (not to mention the others) took a trip out to the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theater to check out the Dave Hill Explosion. Overall, a pretty good time. I didn't have the presence of mind to bring my camera, which is unfortunate since there were all kinds of celebrities there (truly, all kinds). So, instead of actual pictures, I've got ones from the internet, and if you can imagine them in a basement theater, well, you're pretty much there. First off, this is Dave Hill, the evening's host:
After astounding us with tales of wild chimpanzees and escaping from a cardboard box, he brought out this guy, Dick Cavett, but I'm sure you are all too young to remember him. I am.
He went on (and on (and on)) about the time he spent as a talk show host. After about an hour (no kidding), Rufus Wainwright appeared

(Taa-daa!)

He sang a few songs, which got pretty surreal, once all the colored lights started flashing. He's a lot younger than I thought he was.

So, that was pretty much the night. It was pretty fun, and probably the best $5 have spent in awhile. Did I mention that PC (a.k.a. John Hodgman ) was there to (but just to enjoy the show)?

Depression

Emboldened by my recent post declaring that I am thinking about purchasing an electric guitar, I finally screwed up the courage to actually go and play one. You see, the music store is probably the largest public forum that I have ever played guitar in, and even though I've been playing since high school, it can still be a bit nerve racking. Well, my problems aside, I asked the salesperson to get a few guitars down off the wall, I found a nice bench and an amp, and plugged in. That's when I realized that I had completely forgotten everything I ever knew about guitars. Wow, how embarrassing. After a bit of noodling (I don't have the heart to call it playing), I left the guitar there along with a big chunk of my confidence.

That was Monday, and I'm beginning to get over it. Perhaps enough to make another trip to the guitar store - but not without hours of serious practice.

What have I been doing?

Wow. It's been a month. What in the world have I been doing? Well, I'm going to try to sum all of that up here in this post.

First of all, I went here:


Don't know where this is? Maybe this will help:




That's right. Philadelphia. Here's the Washington I saw there:


Since I was in Philly, I decided to see this:


and this:


I thought this was the Quaker Oats guy, but it was Ben Franklin. Makes more sense.


I also enjoyed this:


After seeing all that stuff, I got hungry and decided to eat this. Man, I wish I had another one.


After all that, I won my NCAA bracket. Boo yes! To celebrate I went here:


OK, so it really was for school. But I took some time to see more of this interesting place:




I had the strangest feeling while I was there and decided to meditate on that feeling here:



But, my life hasn't been all peace and serenity. There have been stressful moments such as these:


And of course I've been doing some of this:


You might notice that there is no PS2 in the picture. That's because Mike is playing FIFA. This made me think, perhaps I should get a real one. So, I'm thinking about getting one of these:




I think I like the middle one the most. When I'm not rocking, I've been enjoying this excellent new series:


I highly recommend it.

To show you that I also have been exploring my more refined side, here are a few books that I have been reading:



Shocking!


This one has made me emit several chortles, and more than a dozen guffaws.


Phew! That was a lot. I guess I had better try smaller posts, more often.