Random Ramblings: August 2026

I'm really enjoying The Pitt. It's non-stop action, and I'm amazed how well the actors just spout off medical terminology. I guess that's why they are really talented actors. Sure, maybe they don't need to show all of the blood and gore, but I sense that this is a fairly realistic look at a busy emergency room. Completely related, I plan on donating blood again soon. 

The other day, I went on Facebook using my Sean's Ramblings profile. I follow/like dozens of people, companies, etc. In scrolling through my feed, the first 63 entries were either sponsored posts (meaning ads) or something that "matches my interests." 63! How about showing me posts for something that I follow?!?!

I saw Styx and Chicago play recently. Definitely worth the $20 Groupon tickets. The only negative was there were no Terrible Towels or Steelers celebrities for Renegade. 

Did you know that geese hiss? I've mentioned numerous times that one of my favorite summer activities is taking walks on our neighborhood golf course after the golfers finish for the evening. I regularly see deer and foxes and geese on these walks. Recently, while walking on the cart path, I said "hey guys" to a group of geese who were eating and walking on the grass next to the path. My thought was that I wanted to announce myself and not startle them. In response, one goose lifted its head from the grass, looked directly at me, and hissed. I walked right by and didn't look back until I was a safe distance away!

Sheffield Wednesday plays its first match of the season in the first round of the EFL Cup on Saturday. There's some optimism for the season under new ownership since anything has to be better than last season when the team only won league matches. Still, I'm not ready for the season to begin or seeing Wednesday play League One matches against teams like Leyton Orient, Burton Albion, and Doncaster. Feel like it's going to take a few years for Wednesday to get close to getting back to the Championship League. And I'm not sure if they'll ever get to the Premier League.

My dentist asked me to see a periodontist for receding gums, and I put it off for years. I finally went, and the periodontist says that I need to have tissue graft surgery. I'm not going to get into details, but this all seems ridiculous to me. I feel like receding gums and graft surgery is something for people who are AARP members. Uh oh.

Finally, the best way to end any blog post is with Cookie Monster.

A Message To The Pittsburgh Pirates & Hal Sparks

Dear Pittsburgh Pirates – Call Hal Sparks, invite him to a game and have him address the crowd.

Dear Hal Sparks – Accept the invitation and become a Pittsburgh celebrity.

With a 2-0 victory over the Houston Astros last night, the Pittsburgh Pirates are 10 games over .500 for the first time since 1992. Now, just past the half-way point of the baseball season, the Pirates are in first place in the National League Central division and have the second best record in the National League. So what’s the secret of the Pirates success? The MVP performance of Andrew McCutchen? The outstanding performance of the pitching staff including All-Star Joel Hanrahan and should be All-Stars James McDonald and A.J. Burnett? The hot bat of Pedro Alvarez? The answer is Zoltan and the “Z” from the legendary, Oscar-Award winning 2000 movie Dude, Where’s My Car?



As the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article (and video) explains,

"It all started in Atlanta when we were watching [television] in the clubhouse, and there was nothing we wanted to watch," said second baseman Neil Walker, recalling the last weekend in April. "We saw 'Dude, Where's My Car?' And guys were like 'Oh, we haven't seen this in a while.' So we watched it.

"It was just so terrible and stupid. We just pulled that from it. It's just kind of our team way of bonding, I guess."

As the Pirates have continued to win, Zoltan fever has continued to spread across Pittsburgh. Therefore, I recommend that the Pirates reach out to Hal Sparks, the actor who portrayed Zoltan, and ask him to give the Zoltan speech followed by a “Let’s Go Bucs” prior to an August or September home game. The crowd will go crazy! Don’t believe me? Several years ago, the Steelers started playing the song Renegade to pump up the crowd. Today, the city goes nuts whenever Styx comes to town to perform this song.

I bet you’re also wondering why such a big star like Hal Sparks would ever consider this opportunity. He’s probably extremely busy preparing for the next season of Disney’s TV show Lab Rats or the next VH1 I Love the 80s, 90s, 2000s, or 2010s show. However, this type of publicity is just the spark that Sparks needs to, um, spark his career!

Of course, Sparks is from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, so if he’s a Reds fan and doesn’t want to support the Pirates, I understand. Then again, being a celebrity is nice.

Let’s Go Bucs! Zoltan!