The Greatest London Olympics Preview

This is not your typical Olympic preview debating whether Michael Phelps or Ryan Lochte will win more medals or dissecting the U.S. men’s basketball team. Instead, this preview highlights some of the more random parts of the Olympics and my friend Ric Blas competing in his second Olympic Games for Guam in Judo. I’m sure that you’re wondering how I know an Olympic athlete, particularly one from Guam. Did you know that I was fairly well known in the judo world for my prowess on the mat? You probably didn't know this since it isn't true. I did earn a white belt from doing one month of karate though!

Actually, I noticed Ric during the Beijing Games, since he was difficult to miss as Guam’s flag-bearer, and he later agreed to do an interview with me. While I’ve never personally met Ric, we’ve been Facebook friends for the past four years, and he’s a very cool guy. While NBC will focus on swimming, gymnastics and track and field, I highly encourage you to find Ric’s judo matches and support him. I’ll include some pictures of Ric from London throughout this piece and you should check out this recent interview of Ric by Guampdn.com (even though my interview was significantly better), but let the Olympic preview begin!

- The complete roster of the American Olympic team includes three people named Sean. Therefore, I would also like to invite Sean Furey, Javelin Throw; Sean Rooney, Volleyball Outside Hitter; and Sean Rosenthal, Beach Volleyball to share any thoughts on the Olympics since this blog is Sean's Ramblings! [ESPN]

- The best name in the Olympics is clearly Dong Dong of China. Dong Dong is the favorite to win gold in the Men's Trampoline after earning a bronze medal in Beijing and winning the 2012 London Test Event. Yes, I am 12 years old sometimes. [NBC Olympics]

- With Rafael Nadal withdrawing from the Olympics stating that he is "not in condition" to compete, I'd like to congratulate Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Roger Federer for winning the men's tennis Olympic medals! It's just a matter of who wins gold, silver and bronze.

- The first athlete kicked out of the Olympics for steroids is Voula Papachristou of Greece. Wait a minute, Papachristou was actually expelled for a racist joke on Twitter. [Yahoo]

- Meanwhile Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice is also on Twitter and posted this picture earlier this summer.

- Donald Sanford was born in Los Angeles and attended Arizona State University where he met his future wife. This doesn't sound at all unusual, right? Well, his wife is an Israeli who was studying abroad. Sanford is now an Israeli citizen running track for Israel. Despite being born in America and attending ASU, Sanford can now be deported any time he visits Arizona based on the state's laws. (That last line is not in the article.) [The Times of Israel]

- Archery will likely be more popular this year than ever before courtesy of The Hunger Games. I put the over/under of references to Katniss Everdeen and the movie/book during the Olympics at 72,591.

- This is a list of all Olympians that have ties to Western Pennsylvania. [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]

- Amazing story about Guor Marial, a runner that does not have a country. [ESPN]

- With Bravo airing some Olympic events, I'm looking forward to seeing The Real Housewives of London.

- The second greatest Olympic name is William Speed Lane Fox-Pitt. Yes, Speed Lane is really his middle name. It’s like Megan Fox and Brad Pitt had a son who became a British equestrian guy. [Facebook]

- Let me address Michael Phelps. First, does his mother still have a clothing line at Chico’s? Phelps is expected to break the record for most Olympic medals by surpassing Soviet Union gymnast Larisa Latynina who won 18 medals in the 1956-1964 games. While this is an amazing accomplishment, it’s not really fair. As a swimmer, Phelps competes in 7 or more medal events during the Olympics. Meanwhile, the greatest wrestler (for example) of all time can only win 1 medal during the games. There’s no team wrestling event or different styles of wrestling, such as arm wrestling or a steel cage version, like there is for swimming. I feel like Phelps should compete in one swimming event and then try to medal in shot put or something.

- Americans Gabby Douglas (gymnastics) and Ellis Coleman (Greco-Roman wrestler) are both nicknamed the Flying Squirrel. If either or both of them win a medal, Ithaca College will create a flying squirrel mascot. (No one who reads this blog will understand this reference.) [Rapid City Journal]

- Speaking of Ithaca College, good luck to Meghan Musnicki '05, a member of the US Olympic Rowing Team. [Ithaca College Athletics]

- A friend of mine knew track athlete Aires Merritt from the University of Tennessee. Unfortunately, he can't share any of the stories due to attorney-client privilege, a confidentiality agreement and the Hippocratic Oath.

- Daniel, a friend of Sean's Ramblings, created a Team Israel Olympics video page. Check it out throughout the Games. [Sass Video]

If you made it all the way to the end of this preview, thank you. I'll have much more about Ric throughout the Olympics and you can follow him on Twitter.

DC Area Casting Call

Have you always wanted a vacuum cleaner that you didn't buy from an infomercial? Have you ever wanted to use this vacuum as part of a web series?

If you are a neat-freak living in a world of clutter in the Washington DC area, you can get your house clean and receive a brand new Dyson vacuum! Here's the information:

A new web series for Discovery Channel is currently casting odd couples that love each other but just can’t stand living together due to the other’s standard for cleanliness (or lack thereof).

We’re looking for newly moved-in couples to participate in this wakeup call for their messy loved one. We’d love to hear from people who have just moved in within the last year.

But wait – there’s a catch! We’re keeping this top secret from your partner until the day our Clean-tervention arrives at your door ready to mop up. Part mock reality show, part practical joke don’t miss out on the opportunity to draw a line in the dirt and get your other half clean.

Participants will be rewarded for their time with a brand new Dyson vacuum cleaner as well as get their house sparkling clean!

In order to be considered:
- Please submit an email to Castingshp@gmail.com, with the subject line “No more mess!”

- Include: Pictures of yourself, your messy other-half and some of the worst examples of their mess.

- Also include a written bio about why you just cant stand the mess any longer.

- Any video you may have that shows off your personality.

If you enter and get selected, please let me know since I'd love to hear your behind-the-scenes stories.

Revisiting Cosi Prices

I regularly ate at Cosi during the early days of this blog thanks to $2 off coupons that appeared in The Washington Post’s Express every few weeks. There used to be days where I would pick up 5+ editions of the Express just for these coupons. The coupons stopped years ago, so I rarely eat at Cosi anymore since I generally pack my lunch or pick up food from other restaurants.

I visited Cosi recently to get a tuna sandwich which included tuna (obviously), romaine lettuce, tomatoes and the Cosi vinaigrette. The cost was $6.79 before tax. Unlike the old Tuna Cheddar sandwich that used to appear on the menu, I learned that getting cheese was an additional 75 cents for a total of $7.54. Meanwhile a Tuna Melt with the same ingredients (I think) cost $7.29 before tax. When I pointed this out to the cashier, she kindly charged me the tuna melt price.

I mention this since 5 years ago (this really must be one of the oldest continuous blogs), the tuna melt cost 40 cents more than the tuna cheddar sandwich. Why can’t Cosi charge the same thing for this sandwich regardless or whether or not it is toasted?

Trivia Tuesday

No time for an introduction today, except to write that I’ll announce the winner of the Orient Watch giveaway later today or tomorrow. Your challenge this week is to name the artist or band that is the subject of the music biographies listed below.

1. Catch a Fire

2. Hammer of the Gods

3. The Long Hard Road Out of Hell

4. No One Here Gets Out Alive

5. Walk This Way

6. Last Train to Memphis

7. Old Gods Almost Dead

8. Just Kids

9. The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band

10. Out of Sync


I may provide clues or multiple options later, but let’s see how you do first.

As always please leave your answers in the comments section below, and do not use the internet for assistance. Good luck!

This quiz is courtesy of the fine folks at Stump Trivia.

Found In My Basement: Bought From An Infomercial

I was recently in a room where a significant event occurred. It was not at the Supreme Court for their ruling on Obamacare or at PNC Park where the Pirates swept the Marlins to go to 14 games over .500. This was much bigger. My friends watched an infomercial and proceeded to buy a vacuum cleaner by calling the number on the television screen. Plus, simply for purchasing the vacuum that day, the company also threw in a steam mop. The same vacuum was being sold on Amazon for about the same price and had excellent reviews, so I feel that due diligence was done before making this big decision. In addition, the infomercial deal included a 10-year warranty (and the steam mop) which Amazon did not.

I was impressed by my friends in purchasing something from an Infomercial since I didn’t think I knew anyone that did this. It turns out that I knew someone very well that bought something from an Infomercial…me. Sometime during or after college, I bought the two cassette tapes of Totally ‘80s and found tape #1 in the basement. (I have no idea where tape #2 is).

In case you’re wondering, here are the songs on Totally ‘80s Tape #1:

Side A
Take On Me – a-ha
Hot Hot Hot – Buster Poindexter
Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run) – Billy Ocean
Walk Like An Egyptian – The Bangles
Who Can It Be Now? – Men At Work
Addicted To Love – Robert Palmer
Karma Chameleon – Culture Club
Jump (For My Love) – The Pointer Sisters
Wild Thing – Tone Loc
Everybody Have Fun Tonight – Wang Chung

Side B
Walking On Sunshine – Katrina and The Waves
Jessie’s Girl – Rick Springfield
The Heat Is On – Glenn Frey
Wild, Wild West – The Escape Club
Heaven Is A Place On Earth – Belinda Carlisle
She Works Hard For The Money – Donna Summer
(There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me – Naked Eyes
Too Shy – Kajagoogoo
Missing You – John Waite
Sexual Healing – Marvin Gaye

It seems odd seeing Donna Summer and Marvin Gaye songs on an ‘80s tape.

Anyway, have you ever purchased anything from an Infomercial?


In addition, please feel free to click here for more in the Found In My Basement series.

Orient Watch USA Giveaway

The amazing folks at Orient Watch USA are giving away this incredible watch valued at $225 to one of my readers.

(I highly encourage you to click on the link simply so you can see the video of the watch features that includes amazing footage of a hand model that rivals George Costanza.)

To enter the contest, please leave a note in the comments section below with your brief thoughts on the Pittsburgh Pirates and whether you feel they will make the playoffs. Even if you have no opinion of the Pittsburgh Pirates, share something about pirates in general.

One comment/entry per person. Please enter by 8:00 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, July 23rd, and I will use Random.org to choose a winner. This contest is open to folks living in the U.S. only. (Update: While I probably know most of you that enter, please make sure there is a way for me to reach you if you win.)

This is probably the best giveaway I've ever offered had on this blog (or off of this blog), so I'm very grateful to Orient Watch USA for this wonderful opportunity.

In addition, while you are all winners, only one of you will win the watch. For everyone else, type blogger30 as a coupon code so that you get 30% off any Orient Watch.


Update: Congratulations to tecmo for winning the watch. Tecmo entered the fourth comment.

I'll be in touch. Thanks again to everyone for entering!

Trivia Tuesday

Happy Tuesday! Like the Trivia Tuesday a few weeks ago, your challenge this week is to identify the phrase based on the pictures below.

As always, please do not use the Internet for assistance and leave you answers in the comments section below. Good luck!

Greatest Stroller Ever

Folding strollers can be difficult, so what if a stroller folded itself. This is the Origami stroller by 4moms*



This amazing stroller automtically folds and unfolds, has daytime running lights and an LCD dashboard, and can charge your cell phone. So how much would you pay for this innovative stroller? $5000? $10,000?

I saw this stroller at a store for the low price of only $850. What a deal! Think about how many hours minutes seconds you can save by having a stroller that folds itself. Personally, if I'm going to spend that much on a stroller, I want the stroller to change diapers too and maybe ever write a few blog posts!

While I planned to show how silly it is to pay $850 for a stroller, I'm really impressed by the video. Plus, it looks like the American headquarters of 4moms is located in Pittsburgh, so I always want to support Pittsburgh companies. Therefore, I hope that you'll support 4moms too. I'm sure that they have products that don't automatically fold that cost less than $850!


* Apparently, the names Five Guys and Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place were taken.

Friday Links & Videos

I haven't shared links or videos for some time, so I hope that you enjoy these even if some links aren't very current.

- The A-Z guide of jumping on the Pittsburgh Pirates bandwagon. [ESPN.com]

- Zoltan bonding brings Pirates fans together [Pirates Prospects]

- Mr. Brame took his son to his first professional baseball game. I'm looking forward to doing the same thing with my son in a few years. [Mr. Brame's Blog]

- This is a little dated, but Vice President Joe Biden danced the Hora. Sadly (or we're very grateful), there does not appear to be a video of this. [DCist]

- Video #1: I saw the musical 1776 a few months ago. If you've ever wanted to see the song "Lees of Old Virginia" from this show performed by My Little Pony, here's your chance:



h/t A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

- Pitt Script, the runner-up in this year's Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament is no longer. Fortunately, the guys at Pitt Script aren't going away completely as they're joining another fine Pitt blog, Cardiac Hill. [Pitt Script]

- One of my favorite writers, Drew Magary, interviewed Justin Bieber. [GQ] & [Deadspin for the outtakes]

- Finally, if I ever create a bucket list, attending a live Australian Rules football game would be near the top. I just hope that the game I see has this much excitement.



h/t [Deadspin]

New Steelers Chris Rainey, Sean Spence & Alameda Ta ‘Amu Better Than Jan Stenerud

The Collectors’ Showcase of America is hosting a Show at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly this Friday through Sunday featuring over 50 current and former professional athletes including Hank Aaron and Pittsburgh Steeler legends Jack Butler, Dermonti Dawson, Jack Lambert, Greg Lloyd and Andy Russell. The top five Steeler picks from the 2012 draft, David DeCastro, Mike Adams, Chris Rainey, Sean Spence and Alameda Ta ‘Amu will also be in attendance. Actually, by my unofficial count, there will be more current or former Pittsburgh Steelers at the Chantilly show than current or former Washington Redskins players which seems odd considering Chantilly is located in the DC metropolitan area.

Anyway, the players make some good money during this show through signing footballs, pictures and any other memorabilia you can find. For example, it costs you $110 for NFL Hall of Famer John Riggins to sign your football and $25 each for each of the aforementioned Steelers draft picks. Meanwhile, it only costs you $20 to get an autographed football from Jan Stenerud. Although Stenerud is a kicker, he is a four-time Pro Bowler and was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1991.

In other words, he’s pretty good and has much better credentials than the five new Steelers who haven’t even attended their first training camp yet. While I hope all five turn into NFL Hall of Fame players for their careers on the Steelers, that seems unlikely. Therefore, why does it cost more for an Alameda Ta ‘Amu autograph than one from Jan Stenerud? (This must be the first sentence in history to include Alameda Ta ‘Amu and Jan Stenerud together!)

Pablo Sandoval Traded To Cardinals (Express Fail)

Tuesday's edition of the Washington Post Express showed the starting line-up for last night's baseball All-Star Game. Despite being a pretty big baseball fan, I somehow missed the fact that the San Francisco Giants traded their All-Star third baseman Pablo Sandoval to the St. Louis Cardinals.

This is a shocking trade since Sandoval is an excellent hitter batting .307 with 8 home runs and 30 RBIs despite only playing in 53 games and with the Giants only .5 games out of the NL West and Wild Card. In addition, it's surprising that the Cardinals would aquire a third baseman since David Freese is also an All-Star and coming off a season where he was the World Series MVP.

What makes things even more interesting is that I haven't seen any other reports of a Giants-Cardinals trade and Sandoval wore his Giants gear during last night's game. Joe Buck didn't even say anything about him becoming a Cardinal. Perhaps Express knows something that we don't. Of course, perhaps not.

Please click here to see past editions of Express Fail.

Update: For the first time since I started writing Express Fail posts, Express issued a correction in today's paper stating that Sandoval plays for the Giants. My apologies to Express.

Trivia Tuesday: Director Edition

This week’s edition is pretty straight forward. Name the directors based on the films listed below.

1. Clerks, Dogma, Chasing Amy

2. Goodfellas, Gangs of New York, The Departed

3. Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club

4. The Rookie, True Crime, Space Cowboys

5. North by Northwest, Strangers on a Train, The Man Who Knew Too Much

6. Jumpin’ Jack Flash, A League of Their Own, Riding in Cars with Boys

7. Annie Hall, Small Time Crooks, Sleeper

8. The Shining, Spartacus, Eyes Wide Open

9. The Ten Commandments, Brewster's Millions, Dynamite

10. Apocalypse Now, The Outsiders, The Godfather


As always please leave your answers in the comments section below, and do not use the internet for assistance. Good luck!

This quiz is courtesy of the fine folks at Stump Trivia.

Revisiting My 1997 Road Trip: Chicago (Part 2)

Welcome to the second edition of my reliving the 15-year anniversary of my cross-country road trip through sharing stories from the journal I kept during the trip. Today’s entry takes a look at the second half of the Chicago portion of the adventure. The first part of this blog post where I look at my life as a 22 year-old through the lens of Kevin Arnold and The Wonder Years could be either the best or worst text I ever wrote. I’m leaning towards the latter, but I’ll let you decide.

Wednesday, July 18, 1997

Our first major stop was at the National Broadcast Museum. I more-or-less followed my brother here because this was not on my places to go list. However, my brother encouraged me to go plus it was free. The museum itself was very interactive with classic radio shows for the most part. I liked going through Jack Benny’s vault and hearing a George Burns-Gracie Allen bit. However, I was mostly unfamiliar with many of the classic names and shows (like the Goldbergs). Upstairs, we went into the TV archives just to see what they had. I thought they would have a lot more but it was mostly a few sitcom episodes and Chicago programs. I decided that I wanted to watch the final episode of The Wonder Years. My brother thought I was being silly but this was one of my favorite shows and I didn’t remember seeing the last episode. Watching The Wonder Years final show really made me think about my past and future. (Sean's note: Am I getting deep here?)

I have graduated from college and I’m 22. At this point in my life, I am an adult. My childhood is over and I’m not sure if I like that. I have always seen Kevin Arnold as me during his junior high and high school years. (Really?) But in that last episode, at the very end, (Spoiler alert if you don’t want to know how the final episode of a show that’s been off the air for 20 years ends) he starts describing the lives of his family and friends. Winnie goes away to Paris for 8 years, his father dies 2 years later, and Kevin is married with a son. Don’t get me wrong. I’m really looking forward to San Diego and the rest of my life because I feel the best is ahead. (Cliché alert.) But leaving childhood and my dependency on my parents is tough. I guess in some sense, this road trip marks the end of one stage of my life and the beginning of the next stage. I’m trying to make the most of this trip because I’m not sure if I’ll have this chance again. Hopefully, I will with my wife and kids but that is not in the foreseeable future. Going back to The Wonder Years, Kevin realized that this was his last summer with his family and close friends. I knew a part of Kevin is in me for the trip (again, really?), and the youthfulness will stay with me forever.

What the heck was this last paragraph? (Unless some website that gives away best blog awards thinks this is awesome.) Let’s move ahead to other aspects of Chicago.

Anyway, I’m not even close to Wednesday evening. During the afternoon, we wondered around Chicago (seeing Bulls championship memorabilia everywhere) and went to the Sears Tower. Unfortunately, it was a little foggy about 5-10 miles outside the city, so we couldn’t see much past the city and some of Lake Michigan.

We ate dinner at a 50s style restaurant called Ed Debevics. The waiters and waitresses are purposely mean to you and the atmosphere really resembles an old soda shop. Our waitress was named Jewels because she wore a lot of jewelry around her neck. She was also cute and gave us hugs goodbye. I forgot to mention that when we were walking around downtown, we found a Celebration on State Street. It reminded me of the Three Rivers Arts Festival with the art and food stands.

One note about this was my brother said to me, “I could use a drink.” (My handwriting looks like I wrote Danish, but drink probably makes a lot more sense.) He was thirsty because we were walking a lot. A guy in front of us told him that there was a great deal for a 22 oz. beer just down the block. In addition, he was drunk (probably by having several of the 22 oz. beers) and told my brother that he reminded him of his 16 year-old son. (For some reason, this was very funny at the time. Doesn’t seem as funny now.)


My journal then goes into a description of seeing Shear Madness which was very cool at the time. Now that Shear Madness plays several hundred shows a year at DC’s Kennedy Center since at least 2001, it’s not as cool. Next stop: St. Louis!

Plus, you can click here for more on the 1997 Road Trip.

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!

Chasing Pirates

Norah Jones is prophetic. (Has anyone ever written this phrase before?*) Just like Prince predicted that people would party like it was 1999, Norah Jones accurately predicted that the entire National League Central division and all NL teams fighting for a Wild Card position would chase the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Well done, Ms. Jones, well done.


* According to Google, No results found for "Norah Jones is prophetic". That probably changes now.

Trivia Tuesday

This week's Trivia Tuesday is a bit different as this is a word game. I'm not sure how to describe this, so do your best to identify the phrase based on the pictures.

As always, please do not use the Internet for assistance and leave you answers in the comments section below. Good luck!

Found In My Basement: Doyle Defeats Santorum

During the summer between my Junior and Senior years of college, I worked as an intern for Congressman Mike Doyle at one of his Western Pennsylvania offices. As a Politics major, this was a great opportunity for hands-on experience helping people at a Congressional office. Despite receiving exactly zero dollars for two months of work and dealing with several rather crazy constituents, I really enjoyed the experience. While there clearly seems to be no cooperation between the Republicans and Democrats in our Legislature today, I never got that sense at the District office. The people in Congressman Doyle’s office, and Congressman Doyle himself, truly were there to help people. I guess the politics were left to the DC staff.

Anyway, I want to stay away from the political side of the internship and focus on what may have been the most important aspect of the summer: softball and alcohol. The members of Congressman Doyle’s staff, including me, played in three softball games culminating in a battle against Senator Rick Santorum’s staff. We played the Turtle Creek Fire Department twice as practice and went out with them for food and drinks following each game. One of my athletic highlights came during these games, as I managed to get on base during nearly every plate appearance. I was (and still am) a rather small guy compared to the firemen, so they got a little frustrated always seeing me on base. I was David Eckstein before David Eckstein! Finally, we faced Senator Santorum’s staff and you can see the result here:

Yes, the picture is extremely fuzzy (this is a copy of a copy of a 15+ year-old article), but I like the caption below the picture. How did “ringer-filled” make the publication? In case you’re wondering, Senator Santorum did not participate in the game itself, so the game was simply between the two staffs. After the game, I visited Chiodo’s for my first and only time. (And it seems like I wrote about much of this several years ago.)

Please click here for more in the Found In My Basement series.

Sean On Fashion: You Decide

While I've shared my opinions on fashion multiple times over the years, I haven't actually written about what I wear. Since it's supposed to be around 100 degrees in the DC area today, I plan on wearing shorts. My shorts closet* contains your standard selection of khaki, navy, green and blue solid colored shorts. To shake things up a little, I purchased the shorts pictured below. While they fit fine, I'm not sure if I like the look, or equally important, what I would wear with them.

So what do you think of the shorts? Should they stay or go back to the store?

In addition, please click here for more Sean On Fashion posts.


* You don't think I have a closet just for shorts?

Revisiting My 1997 Road Trip: Chicago (Part I)

I mentioned last week that to celebrate the 15-year anniversary of my 1997 cross-country road trip, I wanted to share stories from the journal I kept during the trip. After a lengthy search, I found the journal! As a surprise to probably no one that reads this blog, my journal entries appear to be much longer than needed (you know, like most of my blog posts). Therefore, instead of sharing entire journal entries, I’m going to use some excerpts and provide a few comments from today. I’m also not including specific names except when I do!

6/17/97 (Journal entry date)

After an exciting time packing and loading the car, my brother and I left Pittsburgh in route to Chicago. We drove through miles of Ohio and Indiana farmland and arrived at Northwestern after 9 hours.

Besides that and some dinner at the St. Louis Bread Company, I was so tired that I was asleep by 11.

Sean's Note: 15 years later, I regularly fall asleep before 11 even on weekends. I also fall asleep on the couch watching TV at least 2-3 times per week.

6/18/97

Following the party, a group of seven crammed into a car and headed down to the Northwestern Senior Week site. However, when we drove by the place, it was packed and there was a long line outside. Therefore, we went down to Wrigleyville. After finding two bars almost completely empty (what did we expect with the Cubs not playing at home and it being a Monday night). (Sean’s note: This is not a sentence!) Finally, we went to a bar and Laurie was able my brother in.

I have no idea who Laurie is. It has to be a friend of a friend.

She told the drunk bouncer Billy that my brother was the designated driver. Drunk Billy started praising my brother for being such a great guy to take responsibility of the group. My brother was encouraged to have free pop and coffee and anything else non-alcoholic. Billy told my brother that it was very admirable to be the DD, but if he drank anything, he would literally kick him out the door. My brother complied. My highlight of the evening was seeing the outside of Wrigley Field and getting a cup from the bar (although the cup says The Cubby Bear, which is another bar down the street).

My brother was 19 during the trip. As someone who rarely goes to bars anymore, I mention this since Billy the Bouncer let him into the bar despite being underage. Would this happen at most bars? Does the fact that he served as the designated driver make a difference?


6/20/97 (Writing about Tuesday, June 17)

My brother, my friend and I got lunch at a really good Chicago pizza place. Their deep dish pizza is incredible and very filing. Somehow my brother and I were able to finish our portions.

I added this just to prove that I ate Chicago pizza during the trip.

The only unfortunate part of the conversation with [a different friend] was that we left for the Cubs-White Sox game later than we wanted. We left Northwestern at around 5:15 and didn’t park the car until almost 8. The traffic was ridiculous and circling Comiskey Park was also dreadful. Finally, we paid $15 (about the same as the tickets) to park in a big driveway a few blocks from the stadium.

1997 was the first year of interleague baseball, and this was the second game of the Cubs-White Sox series. This was obviously a huge deal in Chicago. Regardless of the importance of the game, I hate being late to a sporting event, especially at a stadium I never visited previously. I really enjoy checking out stadiums and arenas and seeing what makes them unique from other ballparks. Finally, since we had limited funds for the road trip, spending $15 for parking didn’t make me happy. This was by far the most I had ever paid to park, and I still pay less than $15 when I attend Pirates games in Pittsburgh.

When we finally got to our upper-level 2rd base seats, it was the top of the 4th inning. The Sox were already up 2-0 and the fans were really into the game. The great thing about this game was that Cubs and Sox fans were in the same section, cheering for their teams, but most importantly, having a great time. A huge peanut fight broke out in front of us (I guess this was a food fight?) and two guys were battling with inflatable Cubs and Sox bats. A few sections over, a Cubs fan with red and blue body paint and a Go Cubs sign was parading up and down the aisle mooning and the Sox fans and having a great time. He was quickly ejected. The Sox ended up winning 5-3 but all the fans (at least that we were with) really enjoyed the game.

Even 15 years later, I’m amazed by how well the fans behaved. There were probably equal numbers of Cubs and Sox fans and there is (and was) a rivalry between the two franchises and fan bases. I think the uniqueness of the teams facing each other made it a game people wanted to see. Of course, at that point, both teams also went 80+ years without a World Series title.

Just for fun, I found the box score from the game. I have no recollection of Doug Drabek pitching for the White Sox that day or one of my favorite Pirates, Dave Clark, serving as the Designated Hitter for the Cubs.

More from Chicago and St. Louis during my next update of the 1997 Road Trip.

Question for Cat Owners

I had a recent conversation with a friend who has two cats. I’m not sure how the topic came up, but she shared that she cleans out the cats’ litter box every day. Apparently, she used to clean out the litter box multiple times per day, but decided to cut back. As someone who cleans out Ziggy’s litter box twice a week, I think the daily cleaning, even though it’s for multiple cats, is crazy. Personally, I think she should have a one litter box for each cat, but that’s beside the point of this blog post.

My question is how often should you clean out a cat’s litter box? Is twice a week sufficient or am I crazy in not cleaning it out daily like my friend?

Trivia Tuesday: Celebrity Edition

Based on the pictures below, your challenge is to name the celebrity dressed in drag. Amazingly, Tyler Perry was not included in any of these pictures.



As always please leave your answers in the comments section below, and do not use the internet for assistance. Good luck!

This quiz is courtesy of the fine folks at Stump Trivia.

Random Ramblings

- Ziggy has clearly been the breakout star of Sean’s Ramblings. I try not to overexpose him, but folks have been clamoring for Ziggy news. Here’s a brief story that I hope appeases his fan club. The other night, Ziggy and I saw a bug fly into our home. While I went to grab a paper towel to take care of the situation, Ziggy had other ideas and ate the bug. I was and am both mortified and proud.

- In other Ziggy-related news, I went to a local grocery store not named Wegmans (it’s rare but this does happen occasionally) since they had a buy one, get one free deal on cat litter. Unfortunately, they were out so I went home with only Klondike bars that were also on sale. When asked if I got a rain check from the customer service desk, I didn’t have an answer. I figure that if a store is out of a product, they are out. Do you get rain checks? This didn’t occur to me probably since I never feel like standing in a customer service (or any other type of) line.

- This is not Ziggy, but perhaps I could teach him to hug.



- When the Pirates first faced Justin Verlander this season, the Tigers pitcher threw a no-hitter through 8+ innings and finished giving up just one hit in a shutout victory. Yesterday, the Pirates scored two runs on five hits against last year’s American League MVP and Cy Young Award winner. I look forward to the next time the Pirates face Verlander where I expect the Bucs to score 4 runs on 9 hits!

- When a child turns 15 months, is appropriate to say that he or she is 1 & 1/4 or just better to go with 15 months?

- I’m convinced that Stephen Baldwin was the top Baldwin brother after the release of Usual Suspects. Of course, now, Alec is clearly the top Baldwin. Has Stephen do anything worthwhile as an actor over the past 15 years (besides guest-starring on his brother’s show 30 Rock earlier this season)?

- You may have noticed that I finally updated the “What I’m Reading” portion of my blog’s sidebar. Unfortunately, it’s already out of date as I completed Taft 2012: A Novel and started reading The Art of Racing in the Rain. I have a feeling that there will be a few moments of the latter book where it gets a little dusty in the room.

- How often do you think people approach actor Eriq La Salle and ask him about or make a reference to Soul Glo?

Trivia Tuesday tomorrow!

Found In My Basement: Bobby Bonilla

This might be my favorite title of any posts over the 7+ years of this blog's existence. In case you're wondering, however, former Pittsburgh Pirate Bobby Bonilla is not in my basement.

As I mentioned yesterday, I’m trying to find a journal containing my deepest thoughts and feelings from the road trip I took 15 years ago. Sure, deepest thoughts and feeling might be a stretch, but at least I can see how I felt about the song The Freshmen by Verve Pipe in 1997. While the search for the journal continues, I found this autographed picture of Bobby Bonilla from 1987.



I have no idea when or if I met Bobby Bonilla or if my Dad got this autograph for me from a Bonilla appearance at somewhere like Giant Eagle. In case you can’t read Bobby Bo’s message, he wrote “Sean, Keep hitting those homers.” While that was a very kind message from the 6-time All-Star, I never hit a home run in my baseball career which ended after Little League where I probably led the league in walks and strikeouts. (I had a good eye including watching pitches get called for strikes; for the record, the pitches were always low.)

If you’re wondering where Bonilla is these days, I have no idea. You’ll be happy to know that he’s doing just fine though as the Mets are paying Bonilla $1,193,248.20 every July 1 from 2011 to 2035! In addition, his son Brandon Bonilla, a left-handed pitcher, just finished his first year at Arizona State and has a Twitter account!

Please click here for more in the Found In My Basement series.

1997 Road Trip

Fifteen years ago this summer, after I graduated from college and prior to moving to San Diego for a new job, my brother and I embarked on a 5-6 week, 4000+ mile road trip across part of the United States. The journey started in Pittsburgh taking us to Chicago, St. Louis, Houston, New Orleans, Atlanta, North Carolina, Washington, Philadelphia and eastern Pennsylvania. We didn’t have much money, so we managed to stay with family or friends for all but four nights when we stayed in youth hostels in St. Louis and New Orleans. We saw several baseball games, including the Pirates at the Astrodome, discovered Waffle House, and heard Hanson’s MMMBop on the radio a few too many times.

The trip took place in the days before cell phones and internet maps, so we relied on our AAA maps and called people from the road for directions and updates. During the trip, which did not include posting Facebook or Twitter updates (I don’t think I even checked the internet once during the trip since my college deleted my e-mail account about two days after graduation), I kept a journal of the adventure. This was essentially Sean’s Ramblings before Sean’s Ramblings.

Anyway, my plan is to share some of the journal entries with you to celebrate the 15-year anniversary of the road trip. I’m also curious to see what my writing looked like 15 years ago. There’s just one minor problem with this plan...I can’t find the journal. While I found the AAA TripTik showing us the route across America, I can’t find the journal. My goal for the next few days is to find the journal, but I’ve been unsuccessful thus far. On the positive side, I should be able to restart the Found In My Basement series!

To be continued (hopefully).

My First Twitter Battle

Meet Cory Bolt, or @corybolt, courtesy of his Twitter description:

I love sports for starters, I'm an eagle scout and I love Life. I always look on the bright side and I have the best gf in the world!

Cory contacted me on Twitter during last week's Pirates-Orioles since I mentioned the Orioles. Enjoy a hearty discussion.

@seansramblings facebook.com/groups/2929793… like this page if you really truely like the orioles! RT This for me to spread the MAGIC!

— Cory Bolt (@CoryBolt) June 15, 2012

@seansramblings We did right the National Anthem so....We can add our own little touch!

— Cory Bolt (@CoryBolt) June 15, 2012

@seansramblings @CoryBolt I highly doubt Francis Scott Key gave the okey-doke to scream "O!!" at a sporting event. #disrespectful

— Gary Cave (@gonastynats) June 15, 2012

I hope you're joking. If not, MD has terrible schools. RT @CoryBolt no Jackass! It was written in MD under the Francis Scott Key bridge!

— Sean's Ramblings (@seansramblings) June 15, 2012

@CoryBolt And please stop bothering random people asking them to check out your Facebook page.

— Sean's Ramblings (@seansramblings) June 15, 2012

@CoryBolt You really think the national anthem was written under the Francis Scott Key bridge? Key wrote it under his own bridge?

— Sean's Ramblings (@seansramblings) June 15, 2012

@CoryBolt 1. It is you're not your. 2. I doubt the bridge was called the Francis Scott Key bridge in 1812. 3. I live in VA not DC.

— Sean's Ramblings (@seansramblings) June 16, 2012

@CoryBolt why do find the need to insult me? Disagree all you want, but you're just showing that you need to improve your grammar & history.

— Sean's Ramblings (@seansramblings) June 17, 2012

Clearly, Cory always looks on the bright side! Of course, I learned, once again, not to argue with a teenager.


In case you're wondering, here is the history of how and where Key wrote the national anthem.

The Star-Spangled Banner, was written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key. Key was sent to the British fleet in Chesapeake Bay during the War of 1812 to secure the release of Dr. William Beanes on September 13, 1814. Beanes was captured by the British during their raid on Washington D.C. Beanes, a local official in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, had arrested two drunken British soldiers. When one escaped, a small force came to release the second, and arrested Beanes. Key was enlisted by the residents of Upper Marlboro to retrieve Beanes, who, as a non-combatant, had no reason for military arrest.

Key was able to retrieve Beanes, but because the British were preparing to bombard Baltimore's Fort McHenry, his ship was detained. The commander of Fort McHenry, Major George Armistead, knew his fort would be a big and welcoming target for the British warships. He had a special, oversized flag made for the fort (which at the time had fifteen stars and fifteen stripes), and it flew for over a year before the night of the bombardment that inspired Key.

Anchored eight miles from the Fort, Key waited for the British to wage and finish their attack on the Fort. The ships used long-range, high-trajectory guns to fire at the fort. Though it tried to return fire, the Fort's cannon were too small to reach the attackers. The attack proceeded through the night and the Americans waited on the detained ship to see if the fort had been captured. As dawn broke, Key watched the fort through a telescope. There he saw the large flag Armistead had had made, flying in the breeze. Key jotted some notes on the back of a letter he had in his pocket, and later in his hotel room in Baltimore, completed a poem, an ode to the sights he'd seen.

Am I wrong on this one? According to the article, Key wrote the National Anthem on a ship (though the article doesn't state specifically where) and completed at a hotel.

Falling Asleep on the Couch

Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative, or NOVEC, "is a locally based and locally owned electric distribution system headquartered in Manassas, Virginia" according to its website. NOVEC also aired the following commercial that I saw recently:



While most people probably find this commercial cute, I'm offended. The commercial begins by the woman stating, "I think you can do a little more to save energy and money." The guy replies by showing all that he did during the day to save energy. Based on all of this work, he's tired and falls asleep on the couch. For this, the woman criticizes him. Maybe this guy also worked hard at his job all day. He spent time with his child or children and then just wanted to watch television and relax. Maybe he also needed some time to write a new blog post. I'm not sure why the guy needs popcorn to feed an entire movie theatre, but I guess he deserves a break.

Meanwhile, I'm going to continue falling asleep on the couch in front of the TV at least 2-3 nights per week regardless of what the NOVEC woman says. To all of the people like me that regularly fall asleep in front of the TV, let's join together. People who fall asleep on the couch, unite! Don't feel bad. Do not feel ashamed for falling asleep in front of the TV. It's okay. Know that you're not alone!

Trivia Tuesday

It's time to visit our friends at Sporcle for this week's trivia. We have three quizzes today in television, sports and geography.

1. Name the TV shows pictured here that debuted in 2003? (4 minutes)

I scored a 15 out of 20.

2. Name the geographic names that appear in the full names of the teams in the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA? (8 minutes)

I got 57 of 61 on this one.

3. Name the countries beginning with S? (5 minutes)

An embarrassing 12 of 27.

As always, please do not use the internet for assistance though the judges will allow you to use Google to double-check the spelling of your answers. In addition, please leave your results in the comment section below. Good luck!

Quick Celebrate Fairfax 2012 Recap

Welcome to your brief recap of the 31st annual Celebrate Fairfax even though Flavor Flav constantly referred to this being the 19th annual Celebrate Fairfax. Flavor Flav also decided to narrate Friday night's fireworks.



The 41 seconds of Flav describing the fireworks was entertaining. Of course, there's another video on YouTube appropriately titled (even if the name is incorrect) "Flava Flav narrates fireworks, and then it gets weird." It's a 17 minute video with a few swear words in the 11-12 minute mark or so, meaning that you probably don't want to play this at work. Regardless, I doubt that you'll make it that long.

Meanwhile, I was extremely excited to share an exclusive picture of Young MC wearing a Bryce Harper jersey until Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Bog scooped me. Oh well. This is a better picture of Young MC than anything on The Post’s website, though the comments there are much better.



Otherwise, Pat Benatar and The Legwarmers were both great; I think that carnival workers keep the cigarette companies in business; I did not have funnel cake, but the gyros were terrific; and I think a passionate (and/or slightly crazy) woman hit on me. Just your typical weekend!

Photo via @bkhuna16

FLAVOR FLAV (2012 Celebrate Fairfax Begins Today)

The following text is from one of my first posts when I started this blog:

I recently watched the first episode of Strange Love featuring Brigitte Nielsen and Flavor Flav on VH1. Flavor Flav is just fun to watch. He traveled to Milan to visit Brigitte, and the reactions of the people of Italy to Flavor Flav with his Viking hat and giant watch around his neck is priceless.

I hope that you didn’t click on the link above since my writing during the early days of this blog was terrible. Anyway, 7+ years after I wrote that post, I will see Flavor Flav live in person as he serves as the host of Legends of Hip Hop tonight. While I’m excited to see Digital Underground, Rob Base, DJ Kool and Young MC, I’m equally excited to see Flavor Flav. As VH1’s Jim Shearer wrote during my interview with him a few years back, “I remember him as an all-time great hypeman in hip-hop, but his series of reality shows has opened him up to a whole other audience.”



Now that I’m done linking to old blog posts, let’s get to Celebrate Fairfax. Everything you need to know is on the festival website. The website has the ticket information, entertainment line-up, directions and more for the 31st annual event running today through Sunday.

Want more? Patch.com has a great preview. Northern Virginia Magazine has a write-up and a chance to win 4 tickets (you must enter by noon today).

Finally, check out my thoughts about this year's headliners (including Pat Benatar & The Legwarmers) and my pitch on why you should attend Celebrate Fairfax if you live in the DC area. And yes, now I really am done with linking to old blog posts.

(Not Your Typical) Pittsburgh Pirates Draft Recap

Welcome to my second annual (possibly) recap of the Pittsburgh Pirates draft. We’ll start at the beginning where the Pirates selected pitcher Mark Appel from Stanford University in the first round. The Pirates management was clearly inspired by Steve Jobs and the two pending movies about his life. Why else would the team select a guy named Appel from Silicon Valley? Let’s take a look at some of the other picks:

Supplemental round: Barrett Barnes (OF, Texas Tech University) - I can’t wait to see the Pirates put Barnes next to Clint Barmes in the batting order. The Barmes-Barnes combo will be bigger than the Killer B’s in the early 1990s.

2nd round - Wyatt Mathisen (C, Calallen High School in Texas) - The Pirates management team are big fans of Kevin Costner. Want proof? The History Channel recently aired the extremely successful Hatfields & McCoys starring Kevin Costner. Of course, Costner also starred as Wyatt Earp in the 1994 film, Wyatt Earp. See where I’m going here? I don’t think Wyatt Mathisen would be a Pittsburgh Pirate draftee if not for the success of the Hatfields & McCoys and Kevin Costner.



3rd round: Jonathan Sandfort (P, Winter Springs High School in Florida) – Sand fort! What a great name for a pitcher. Plus think of all of the possible promotional tie-ins with Pittsburgh’s Sand Castle!

10th round: Pat Ludwig (P, Yale University) – Ludwig was the Pirates’ second favorite Harry Potter owl.

12th round: Dalton Friend (P, Jefferson College in Missouri) – The Pirates desperately hope that he’s somehow related to legendary Pirates’ pitcher Bob Friend. If he doesn’t work out though, you can expect many people singing Biz Markie’s song about Dalton.

21st round: Jordan Steranka (INF, Penn State & Mt. Lebanon High School) & 26th round: Jimmy Rider (INF, Kent State University and Peters Township HS) – They are exactly like Neil Walker except that they both went to college and were drafted in 21st and 26th rounds instead of the first and will receive a significantly lower signing bonus. Otherwise, exactly the same.

23rd round: Lance Breedlove (P, Purdue University) – It’s no Sandfort, but Breedlove isn’t bad.

34th round: Ryan Rand (OF, Langham Creek HS in TX) – Sadly, the Pirates didn’t realize until after this pick that there was no player named McNally available in the draft.



35th round: Jackson McClelland (P, Redlands E. Valley HS in California) & 36th round: Brody Russell (INF, Centennial HS in CA) – It’s time to draft players with names similar to recent Pirates managers. (McClelland and McClendon are close enough.)

37th round: Jacob Waguespack (P, Dutchtown High School in Louisiana) – Waguespack is right there with Sandfort and Breedlove.

38th round: Matthew Pope (P, Science Hill HS in TN) – If the Pirates want to reach .500 for the first time in 20 years, it probably doesn’t hurt to draft a Pope. (Meanwhile, does Matthew Pope attending Science Hill High School help bridge the gap between religion and science?)

40th round: Zarley Zalewski (INF, Valley High School in PA) – This pick was made in the tradition of Pittsburgh Penguin, Zarley Zalapski. Your move, Steelers!

For more serious information about the Pirates’ draft, visit the Pittsburgh Pirates website and the terrific Pirates Prospects blog. You can also view my recap of last year’s draft here.

Finally, relatives (generally children) of former major league players such as Cal Ripken Jr., Jose Oquendo, Gregg Jefferies, Jose Mesa, and Lee Mazzilli were selected in the draft. According to this article from MLB.com, the Pirates didn't select any of these relatives.

Trivia Tuesday

I think it’s fun when I create my own trivia questions, so I hope that you enjoy this week’s Trivia Tuesday.

1. Besides Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster, name another actor in the 1976 film, Taxi Driver.

2. Name the best song by the band Cake.

3. Who won the 2012 Australian Open women’s title?

4. The MTV movie awards declared Project X as a cult classic. Did you see this movie? (Please note that this is not the Matthew Broderick movie.)

5. How did the late Richard Dawson meet his second wife?

6. In what year did current Queen Elizabeth become queen?

7. What rap star filmed part of his new video at my high school? (The video also includes a cameo of NFL wide receiver Steve Breaston.)

8. Name one of the hosts on the ABC talk show, The Revolution.

9. There is a hip hop artist named Flo Rida. What is the best potential name of a future hip hop artist based on the name of a state? (My suggestions are Virg Inya or I Daho.)

10. In what state is the Patuxent River located?

As always, please leave your answers in the comments section below and do not use the internet for assistance. Good luck!

What Would Bruce Springsteen Do?

We recently visited New Jersey for the Memorial Day weekend and had a great time. That’s not of the point of this post, though. New Jersey is one of the last places (along with Oregon, I believe) that requires full service when you get gasoline. Besides New Jersey, I actually don’t even remember the last time I had the option of getting full service when filling up the car.



Anyway, my question regards the protocol of tipping the gas station attendant. I didn’t tip the guy since all he did was take my credit card, swipe it in the machine, fill up my car (while walking away to do the same to another car) and hand me back the card. I didn’t even need to sign a credit card receipt. Back in the Stone Age, the gas station attendant minimally washed off your car windows and often checked your fluids. If that occurred in New Jersey last weekend, I definitely would have tipped the attendant a dollar or two.

When I mentioned my New Jersey experience to a friend, she said that I should have tipped the attendant. Since I disagree, I pose this question to you. Should you tip the gas station attendant when full service is required?

The First Haircut

The first time your child rolls over, eats “solid” food and crawls are all significant milestones. Does a child’s first haircut also count as a significant milestone? I’m not sure of the answer, but I’m sharing my 14-month old son’s first haircut experience with you (and possibly with him to see when he’s older). So where does someone find a barber/stylist that specializes in kids’ haircuts? Let’s go to the mall!



We chose Cartoon Cuts, a chain with locations throughout the DC area that specializes in children’s haircuts, primarily since the salon is located fairly close to home. Plus, the salon employs some of the most patient people you’ll ever meet. I have no idea how they provide haircuts day after day to kids, many that I’m sure don’t want to be there and share their displeasure. One such kid was my son. I’ve mentioned before that he’s generally a happy child except when I scared him during the Steelers playoff game and when he gets his diaper changed. I have no idea why he hates the diaper-changing experience.

Anyway, as soon as he sat in the barber chair, he freaked out. Maybe he didn’t like the idea of being strapped into the chair, so we quickly went to Plan B meaning that he would sit on Daddy’s lap. That didn’t help. Lots of crying and tears when the apron went on and the scissors came out. Since he enjoys seeing his reflection, I tried to point out the numerous mirrors he could see. That didn’t help. I showed him the television located directly in front of him. Even though he is usually fascinated by the TV, that didn’t help. The stylist gave him a game to play with, and while that grabbed his attention for about 8 seconds, overall, that didn’t help. More crying. More tears.

After what was probably about 5 minutes but seemed like 55, my son’s first haircut was complete. He looked so handsome and mature. He also looked so grown-up. He could have gone straight from the mall to his Bar Mitzvah! As soon as he was out of the chair and back to being held by Daddy, he was fine. No crying and no more tears. He was his usual happy self walking through the mall and at dinner.

Overall, the haircut cost $15 after using a $2 off coupon and not including tip. Cartoon Cuts also offers a first haircut certificate, but they were out so I need to go back to get one. To answer your questions, yes, we took some of his hair and placed it in a Ziploc bag to commemorate the event. Plus, we’ll use the bag of hair for a Harry Potter spell at a later date to be determined.

In addition, yes, we took pictures to chronicle this potentially significant milestone. He looks miserable in every picture which should make for some fun and entertaining (and embarrassing) stories when he’s a teenager!

The Sunday Ticket Debate

Last year, DirecTV had an amazing offer that new customers received the NFL’s Sunday Ticket for free. (I think they still have this offer for new customers this year too.) Although I worried about the possibility of a lockout causing the cancellation of the 2011 season, DirecTV guaranteed free Sunday Ticket for 2012 if this occurred. Fortunately, with the exception of the Steelers-Broncos playoff game where I scared my child, the season took place.

With the 2012 NFL season not too far away, I need to decide my future with Sunday Ticket. The cost of Sunday Ticket this season is $200 which is a significant difference from the $0 I paid last year (like a $200 difference). Since I’m debating whether or not to continue with Sunday Ticket, I thought I would put both the pros and cons of keeping or dropping Sunday Ticket on paper (well, computer screen).

Pros:
- With Sunday Ticket, I can watch every Pittsburgh Steelers and NFL game.
- I don’t need to leave the house.
- I can DVR/pause the game in case of diaper emergency.
- I can watch the game with my son and teach him to wave the Terrible Towel.
- Without Sunday Ticket, if I’m watching football from home, I’m stuck with the local games. This means lots of Washington Redskins games. That can be torturous.

Cons:
- $200

I admit that these are weak lists, but the determining factor truly is money. Looking at the NFL TV schedule, between Thursday, Sunday and Monday night games, the NFL scheduled the Steelers for five national games. The Steelers also face Washington and the Steelers-Ravens game not on national TV should air in DC. Plus, there tends to be at least one or two other games available in DC as part of regional coverage. All of this means that at least 7 Steelers games will be available on local TV. Therefore, the question is if I want to pay $200 for about 9 Steelers games.

I also need to factor in probably being away or unavailable for a few games, including the possibility of attending a game at Heinz Field. Now we’re looking at $200 for 7 Steelers games.

If I don’t get Sunday Ticket, I usually watch the Steelers at a local sports bar. Between food and drinks, this generally costs about $20-$25 per week. Additionally, instead of watching the Steelers games from 1:00 to 4:00 at home, going out means leaving the house around noon and not returning until 5:00. That’s a long time away from the family on a weekend day. Therefore, maybe I should ask do I want to pay $140-$175 to watch 7 Steelers games out and deal with any possible consequences of being out so much. (For example, it will be unlikely that I will referee any weekend soccer games being away from home for so many Sunday afternoons.)

So do any of you find yourself in the same scenario? What are your thoughts about the Sunday Ticket dilemma?

Trivia Tuesday: Chevy Chase Edition

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope that you had a nice Memorial Day weekend. We're back with a picture edition of Trivia Tuesday. Recently, your challenge was to name the movie or television show featuring Steve Buscemi. Today, your challenge is to name the movie or TV show featuring Mr. Chevy Chase.

As always please leave your answers in the comments section below, and do not use the internet for assistance. Good luck!

This quiz is courtesy of the fine folks at Stump Trivia.

Why Did Buffalo WR David Clowney Get An HIV Test In Pittsburgh?

One of the big stories on the internet yesterday was Buffalo Bills wide receiver David Clowney tweeting the results of his HIV and Hepatitis tests. He's clean. Before we answer my question in the title, let's look at Mr. Clowney. According to Wikipedia, Clowney was born in Amityville, New York though ESPN lists him as born in Queens. After attending high school in Delray Beach, Florida and going to college at Virginia Tech, the Green Bay Packers drafted Clowney in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL draft. It appears that the Packers cut Clowney at some point since he signed with the New York Jets part-way through the 2007 season. Clowney played in 18 games for the Jets over the 2008-2010 seasons before being released by the team and signing with the Carolina Panthers where he played 10 games in 2010. It doesn't appear that Clowney played in 2011. Overall, Clowney has 22 career catches for 341 yards and 1 touchdown. That's basically 2-3 games for Mike Wallace.

I bring up Clowney's background since there doesn't appear to be any Pittsburgh connection. Why does this matter? Take a look at the medical results.

The testing was performed by Quest Diagnostics located at 875 Greentree Road (Parkway Center) in Pittsburgh. Did Clowney drive all the way to Greentree to take the blood test and then drive through the Fort Pitt tunnels? Clowney probably had the test done in Buffalo, but why was the testing performed in Pittsburgh? They don't have any Quest Diagnostics or anywhere else to test blood results in Western New York?

I Cheated

If I was Catholic, I would go to confession. I assume that I would start by saying to the priest, "Forgive me Father, for I have sinned." (People really say this, right, or is this just what I've learned from television and movies?) When I moved to the DC area in 2001, I immediately entered into a relationship. Despite moving to different areas of Northern Virginia, the relationship continued, and I've been faithful throughout the past 11 years. Obviously, there have been ups and downs in the relationship. There were times that I was neglectful and not always around. Conversely, there were times when perhaps I was needy and overstayed my welcome. Nevertheless, the relationship was always there, and I was never swayed to cheat...until yesterday.

I'm embarrassed to write this, but I feel that I need to come clean. Although I've been loyal to the Fairfax County Public Library system and got a library card almost immediately after moving to Northern Virginia, I now have a library card through the Arlington County Public Library. I just finished a book and have several that I'd like to read including Don't Put Me In, Coach: My Incredible NCAA Journey from the End of the Bench to the End of the Bench by Mark Titus; Taft 2012: A Novel by Jason Heller; and Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden--from 9/11 to Abbottabad by Peter Bergen. Yes, this is an eclectic group of books. Anyway, FCPL doesn't have the first two books in their catalog while they only have 4 copies of the Peter Bergen book. I'm currently #144 on the hold list. Meanwhile, Arlington County Public Library has all three books in the catalog. The Jason Heller book is available immediately, the Mark Titus book should be available soon and there are 12 copies of the Peter Bergen book where I'm #40 on the hold list. I should mention that the Fairfax County Public Library system is much bigger and serves a much larger population. Therefore, I don't know why they appear to be lagging significantly behind the Arlington County Public Library system.

In case you're wondering, I'm not leaving the Fairfax County Public Library system. I support the library through my taxes and have attended several books sales over the years. I also look forward to taking my child to programs there this summer. However, I'm no longer in an exclusive relationship. To FCPL, I'd say that it's not you, it's me, but in this case, it truly is you.

Most Popular Baby Names

Last week, the Social Security Administration released the most popular baby names of 2011. Jacob, Mason, William, Jayden & Noah earned the top five spots for most popular boys names while Sophia, Isabella, Emma, Olivia and Ava were the top five female names. Basically, every girl in kindergarten in five years will have a first name that ends in “A.”

You can easily spend hours searching for names on the Social Security website. While I will neither confirm nor deny that I spent hours searching names on the Social Security website, I will share some observations for you.

- Mitt and Barack are not in the top 1000 names for any year of birth in 2011 or in the last 12 years.

- While Khloe was the 49th most popular girls name, Lamar was only the 721st most popular boys name. Apparently, the E! Network made the right decision in not naming the show Lamar & Khloe.

- Shockingly, Timothy and Tebow did not fall into the top 100 most popular male or female names in 2011 in Colorado.

- While Brooklyn finished #21 for girls, Staten Island was not in the top 1000 male or female names.

- In 2006, Sean finished as the 68th most popular boys name. This went to #76 in 2007; #83 in 2008; #97 in 2009; #102 in 2010; and #125 in 2011. I wonder if this blog is related to the downward trend of Sean across the country.

- Hines was not in the top 1000 names in 2011. I guess winning Dancing with the Stars means nothing in terms of name popularity.

- Troy finished as the 244th most popular boys name in 2011. I feel like this number is much higher in Western Pennsylvania.

- All you need in Wyoming to reach the top 100 names in 2011 is five girls with the same name. Congrats to the five Wyoming girls named Kinley, Payton, Reagan, Emery & Brylee.

If you’re looking for an activity to start your week, I highly recommend checking out the Social Security website.

Where Would You Time Travel?

Let’s have some fun. In today's scenario, you have access to a time machine where you can travel to one place anywhere in the past. Let’s pretend that this is like Back to the Future where Marty McFly goes to the past for a short period of time, but you’re unable to impact the future. Therefore, you can’t prevent 9-11 or the Kennedy assassination, although if can somehow find a future Sports Almanac, use it wisely. For this example, let's say that you go back in time at your current age. You can't go back to high school and all of a sudden you're 17 again. If you go back to the time of your high school years, you are still 35 (assuming that you are 35 today). So where and when would you go?

Without putting as much thought into this as I would have liked, I would pick either Pittsburgh during the 1960 World Series or Berlin when the Wall came down in 1989. Both joyous events that took place in the not too distant past. I probably wouldn't do very well going back too far like during the end of the Revolutionary War since there was no television, air conditioning or fast food restaurants. It would be tough enough traveling back to 1960 and 1989 without the internet!