Trivia Tuesday

I mentioned last week that I'm now part of The Learned League, so for today's Trivia Tuesday, I thought I would share some questions from my first week plus in the league.

1. 2001 Odyssey, located at 802 64th Street in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, was the setting for pivotal scenes in what iconic film?

2. JSE Limited, a major stock exchange which is its country's (and its continent's) largest as measured by market capitalization, is located in what city?

3. What is the only national capital city in the world which borders two other sovereign nations? Its border with one of them, for ~46 years, also formed part of the Iron Curtain.

4. In 2007, the newly refurbished Iffley Road Track in Oxford, England, was renamed for what man, honoring an event 53 years prior?

5. The first human spaceflight program managed by NASA had what name? It ran from 1959 until 1963, with an express goal of sending a solo human into Earth orbit and returning him safely before the Soviet Union.

6. 72% of the liquid natural gas (LNG) imported into the U.S. comes from what Caribbean twin-island nation which, due largely to its petrochemical and industrial economy, is, by per capita GDP, the third-richest country in the Americas after the U.S. and Canada?

7. What was the name of the original British television series, running from 2001 to 2003, which was first adapted in Poland as Idol, and later in the U.S. as American Idol, in France as Nouvelle Star, in Australia as Australian Idol, and many others?

8. What is the traditional English translation of the name of the Tuscan port city of Livorno? The term is used for the breed of chicken which originated there and was introduced to North America in the early 19th c. (and, by extension, the name for a famous fictional fowl).

9. What is the essential ingredient in any dish described as florentine?

10. Among the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh is one which purports to be "the most comprehensive single-artist museum in the world." For what American artist is this museum exclusively dedicated?

Of these questions, I got 5 of 10 correct. Can you do better? Please leave your answers in the comments section below and don't use the internet for assistance. Good luck!

My Busy Life

This is a very busy time of year. There is much to do to prepare for the start of the school year with my family and deadlines at work. There are other things that rank just as high in importance though.

1. Preparing for Fantasy Football

I think I'm in 4 or 5 leagues again this year, but I don't even know. I do know that I can't find a draft time that works for everyone in the league where I'm the Commissioner. This is a problem. Oh, my current draft plan consists of getting Willie Parker as a sleeper pick.

2. The Ted Marshall Open Television Death Pool

I've had a really good run in this contest to select 10 TV shows that won't make it to the next TV season. I won in 2011 and 2013 and finished near the top in 2012 and 2014. This may be my calling. Unfortunately, I really don't have a feel yet for the new shows or what shows are ending after this season like Parks & Rec, Glee and Two and a Half Men last season. While I'll probably have another blog post about the 2015-2016 Ted Marshall Open, you can enter now until Labor Day.

3. The LearnedLeague

This is supposedly the trivia league of all trivia leagues. It's an invitation-only league that was even featured in The Washington Post. After seeing the difficulty of the sample questions, I predicted that I would finish last. I mean, there's lots of useless knowledge in my head, but less useless knowledge than the people I expect to be in this league.

After three days, my prediction isn't that far off as I'm in 28th place out of 30 teams in my rookie division. However, I rank first in Correct Answers Allowed, meaning the total number of questions answered correctly by opponents in all matches. Basically, I've played the hardest schedule of the 30 teams. I'm also tied for first in the Most Common Wrong Answers category, so although I'm answering a lot of questions incorrectly, I'm at least providing some very good educated guesses!

4. My DVR

We're probably switching our TV provider meaning that we're going to get a new DVR. Now, I have about two weeks to go through as much on my DVR as possible. I should be able to watch the entire first season of Fargo, but I don't think I'm going to get to Silver Linings Playbook, The LEGO Movie, Captain Phillips, 42 and so many other movies.

Yes, this entire post could be part of The Steel Trap's next First World Problems post.

Express Fail: Wheaties Edition

Leah Still, the inspirational four-year old cancer survivor and daughter of Devon Still of the Cincinnati Bengals, is getting her own Wheaties box. This is very cool.

So cool that the Washington Post Express included a note about this in Thursday's Blog Log.

One problem...Leah Still's name is Leah Still not Leah Strong. Her dad is Devon Still, not Devon Strong. Express noted that this was from a Mashable article though I checked and Mashable definitely referred to Leah and Devon with their correct last name. So close.

Click here for more Express Fail posts.

Dumb Post

Dale Lolley is the Pittsburgh Steelers beat reporter for the Observer-Reporter of Washington (PA) and has been in this role since 1993. According to his bio, Lolley previously worked at WJAC-TV and the Tribune-Democrat in Johnstown and The Derrick in Oil City. In addition, Lolley earned a degree in journalism from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. He also serves as the administrative adviser for Washington & Jefferson College's student newspaper. Based on his approximately 25-30 years of writing professionally, you would think that Lolley would have an amazing grasp of grammar. Or not.

Join @BenzTribLive970 and I on @970espn right now from 7-9 pm #Steelers

— Dale Lolley (@dlolleyor) August 18, 2015

Join Benz and I? Take out the Benz part and see how that sounds. Join I on 970ESPN right now from 7-9. Yeah, that doesn't quite work.

Now I realize that Twitter is not the place to go for proper English grammar, but this seems rather amateur for someone that writes for a living.

Summer of Sean: Paris Edition

After my summer program at Lancaster University ended, I had the opportunity to travel for another week before I returned home, so several friends and I decided to go to Paris. Sure I saw the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Versailles and the McDonalds around the corner from Versailles, but today, I'm writing about visiting (or not visiting) some of the greatest art museums in the world.

The Louvre

The Louvre is perhaps the best known museum in the world, built specifically for the movie The Da Vinci Code starring Tom Hanks. There was a huge line to enter, but of bigger concern for me was the giant backpack I was carrying. I couldn't enter The Louvre with it and there was no place in or around the museum to store it. So instead of going inside to see Mona Lisa, I found a park bench near the museum and read the recently released fourth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Musee d'Orsay

While probably not as well known as The Louvre, Musee d'Orsay may be the best art museum in the world featuring the Impressionists Gallery and much more. According to Trip Advisor, visiting this museum ranks #1 of 1,170 things to do in Paris. Unfortunately, I don't think Trip Advisor was around in 2000. Fun fact: Did you know that Musee d'Orsay is closed on Mondays? I didn't either when I tried to visit on a Monday and left Paris on Tuesday morning.

Musee Rodin (The Rodin Museum)

A museum that I actually entered! Go me! Plus, I'm the only person in history to "think" of taking a picture like this.

Fun fact #2: I just bought this exact same orange shirt at Kohl's over the weekend.

Click here to see more Summer of Sean posts

Weekend Review

- Virginia had no sales tax on clothes this weekend, so I ventured to Kohl's with dozens, if not hundreds, of my closest friends. After trying on probably eight pairs of pants, I settled on exactly one pair along with a few shirts. Then, I ventured upstairs to buy some kids' clothing. I happily found 3 pair of size 4 boys pants. They seemed a little big, but I figured that my older son would grow into them. Apparently, the growing into them could take a long time. I needed to buy size 4T pants not size 4. Who knew there was a difference between the two? I later returned them to Kohl's but did not stay to search for 4T pants. I had my fill of shopping for the week month day.

- I own two suits but wear them only a few times per year. However, between a conference, a wedding and Rosh Hashanah, there's a period in September when I'll need to wear a coat and tie nearly every day for a week. I tried on both of my suit coats recently and noticed that they are huge. They were slightly big when I first purchased the suits, and then I lost about 30 pounds over the years. So I went to Men's Wearhouse over the weekend to see if they could help me. They refused. I had the same result at the place where I take my dry cleaning. In both cases, there would be too much to do, and the arms and shoulders would still look awkward. So now I'm stuck looking like this:

Of course, the Men's Wearhouse guy offered to sell me two suits for $500. I declined.

- Another weekend highlight was my driver's side car window going off track. I was able to close the window but now it won't open. You can hear the power window mechanism trying to work, but the window doesn't move. I called the dealership to get an estimate, and they believe that they need to replace the regulator. (Who knew there is a car part named after the legendary Warren G song?) The estimated repair cost is $491 or the cost of two suits. I guess I'll just open my car door if I go to a fast-food drive-thru or ATM or when exiting the Metro parking garage.

- My 4 year-old could be a photographer one day judging on how much he likes taking pictures with my phone. This picture of Ziggy came out rather well.

Of course, then there are dozens of pictures of the TV and floor like this one of the remote, so he still has some work to do before becoming the next Ansel Adams.

(Though perhaps there's some meaning behind this picture. Maybe it's a post-modern reflection of society's need to have the remote control and how lonely things can be with the remote on the floor. Or something.)

- If you're a fan of all Pittsburgh sports, I hope that you watched the Pirates regular season game on Sunday evening rather than the Steelers pre-season game. The Steelers didn't even play Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Le'Veon Bell, Maurkice Pouncey, James Harrison, and Martavis Bryant. Meanwhile, the Pirates scored 9 runs in the 7th inning to defeat the Dodgers 13-6. Naturally, I fell asleep with the Dodgers leading 5-1, so when I later woke up to see the Pirates leading 12-5, I was shocked. Let's Go Bucs!

That's Not My Seat

I attended The Pirates-Nationals game back in June where Max Scherzer threw a no-hitter. After the game, I received an e-mail from the Nationals offering a special commemorative ticket with a $5 donation to the Washington Nationals Dream Foundation. Since I did not have a formal ticket stub for this game, only a print out on an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper (I hate the trend of there being fewer and fewer actual tickets now), I bought two tickets to commemorate my son's first baseball game. Here's the ticket that I received on Wednesday:

Pretty cool. There's just one big problem. There is no section 31 at Nationals Park. There is no Row MS at Nationals Park either.

Plus, why are both of my tickets seat #1? We can't both be in the same seat. If we were, I'd hope the Nats would only charge me for the price of one ticket (especially since my 4 year-old sat on my lap for probably 7 of the 9 innings).

Trivia Tuesday (Yes, Really)

I'm sure that you're thinking, wait, am I in the right place? I used to visit Sean's Ramblings often, and I remember that he posted Trivia Tuesday posts regularly.

While I'm not promising that we'll see Trivia Tuesday as a weekly feature again, at least for today, Trivia Tuesday is back. Your challenge is to answer the ten questions based on the pictures (and questions) below.

For those of you new to Trivia Tuesday or even those that are not, please do not use the internet for assistance. Leave your answers in the comments section below. Good luck!

This quiz is courtesy of the fine folks at Pub Stumpers.

Hogan's Such A Yo-Yo

I watched a lot of wrestling when I was in middle school/junior high. Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, The Junkyard Dog, The Ultimate Warrior, The British Bulldogs, King Kong Bundy, Hacksaw Jim Duggan and so many others including Rowdy Roddy Piper who passed away on Friday at the age of 61. Despite attending several WWF matches at Pittsburgh's Civic Arena, watching some early Wrestlemanias via my friend's parents getting them on Pay Per View and even watching the Saturday morning WWF cartoon, for no apparent reason, the thing I remember most about Rowdy Roddy Piper is this one line (at around the :40 second mark below) from Land of 1000 Dances performed by WWF wrestlers.



I always thought this was a silly line. Is calling someone a yo-yo really an insult? I also had in my mind the perfect comeback for Hogan. He could have said that Piper's Such a Diaper. Of course, that makes just as much sense as calling someone a yo-yo.

RIP Rowdy Roddy Piper.

Am I An Angry Person?

During a recent conversation, I noticed that I vented about three different topics consecutively. In a moment of self-awareness, I think I apologized and jokingly said that I hoped I wasn't always like this. Fortunately, the response was understanding.

So this got me thinking. Am I always angry or ranting about something? Sure, I haven't been happy with Metro delays, and my kids have a wonderful habit of not listening. I also notice that I've been swearing a lot more to myself (either out loud when no one is around or in my head) lately. Granted, I think I have some good reasons to vent that of course I want to share.

1. We're currently looking into bundling cable, internet and the home phone together, so I decided to call Verizon to get pricing information (and after receiving dozens of offers in the mail from them over the years). After an awkward (and painful) beginning of the call, where the Verizon representative had significant difficulties spelling my name and address correctly, he finally gave me the basic information. However, when I asked about the equipment costs and installation fees, he informed me that I would need to give him my social security number to run a credit check to proceed. I refused. I wanted to know the complete costs to help me make an informed decision about whether or not I would choose Verizon. I called them, so it's obvious I'm serious about pursing a deal. Why do they need my social in order to tell me this? At a standstill, we agreed to end the call.

2. Our homeowners association cited us for damage outside our front window. We are trying to replace the entire area with a material that basically would not cause us to deal with this again. While the material comes in many different colors, it is not an exact match to the paint color we have, and we can't paint on this material. It's really close though. So now we're awaiting the board's ruling on whether or not we can proceed based entirely on the possible color difference. They may say that we're good but we would have to paint the rest of the house with the new color. That's not going to work. They may say we're not good which would bring us back to square one. Basically, we're now waiting for the board to give us a ruling as to how to spend out money on something I would never have considered spending money on until we got the notice.

Back to the title of this post, I realize that many of you don't know me and others probably haven't talked with me regularly for a long time. Based on these two examples though , am I unreasonably angry or are these rationale reasons to vent?

Pizza Security Fee

I'm back from Florida (more on that later) but wanted to share this receipt from the Sbarro at Jacksonville International Airport.

Yes, pizza at Sbarro costs more than the Monroeville Mall location when I was growing up though that's not the point. This post is about the $0.02 JAA Security Fee. Several questions:

1. What does the JAA in JAA Security Fee stand for? The Jacksonville airport code is JAX, so is JAA some sort of secret security alliance?

2. How is this fee used? Is this to ensure the safety of the cheese, sauce and dough?

3. Why $0.02? Does this cost differ based on how much I spend or is this a flat fee?

I'm really tempted to call the number on the receipt to find out these answers but what fun would that be when I can speculate in a blog post!

This Should Be A Tweet

I know that I haven't posted much here lately, so I thought I would share this:

How do we live in a world where MC Hammer's U Can't Touch This has over 161,000,000 views on YouTube while Arrested Development's Tennessee video has less than 2.5 million views?

I was (okay am) a big fan of the MC Hammer song and a bigger fan of the Myron Cope parody, but Tennessee is just as good a song if not better.

Found In My Basement: Steel City 2009

Years ago, Nicholas of PSAMP had a series about unlicensed Pittsburgh sports merchandise. While he no longer writes much on his blog (though he may be the most active person in the world on Twitter), this post would have fit perfectly in his series. Based on the Steelers and Penguins success at the end of the last decade, here is a shirt to honor these teams and two of its stars.

I'm pretty sure that this shirt was a gift from my parents. Amazingly, with the amount of turnover on sports teams, both Harrison and Fleury still play for the Steelers and Pens respectively.

Click here to see more in the Found in My Basement Series.

Friday Video: Uma Thurman

We've had some fun with Fall Out Boy over the years, but the band continues to produce hits and stay relevant. Their latest song is titled "Uma Thurman" and is quite catchy. I feel like much of this is due to the sample from The Munsters' theme song. Enjoy!

Summer of Sean: St. Andrews

The golf and sports world is focused on St. Andrews, Scotland today for The Open just like it was 15 years ago during the Summer of Sean (as I'm calling it now). In 2000, some friends and I spent the weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland, a very cool city that I may write about in a future post, but on Sunday morning, I left the group to visit St. Andrews on the North Sea. To describe St. Andrews as a small town is unfair to small towns. I'm not exactly sure what I mean by this, but for some perspective, St. Andrews' population of 16,680 (according to Wikipedia) is only a few hundred more than Indiana, Pennsylvania.

Anyway, while I'm not a huge golf fan, I understood that St. Andrews was the birthplace of golf and the home of arguably the most famous golf course in the world. Since I was only an hour and a half bus ride away, I figured that I should make the pilgrimage. With The Open taking place less than two weeks after my visit, the course was closed for play, but you could walk all around. This actually worked out fantastically.

My first reaction on seeing the course was that there were a ton of bunkers.

Very deep bunkers which would be difficult even for the best players to hit out cleanly. It was also windy with the course being right on the water. Amazingly, Tiger Woods managed to avoid the bunkers completely (I believe) during his 2000 title.

So to celebrate the Summer of Sean, here are some pictures from St. Andrews and the St. Andrews scorecard.

You know how I mentioned the deep bunkers? I'm 7 feet tall, and look how high that wall is!

Click here for all of you Summer of Sean posts.

Harper Lee's Go Set A Walkman: A Review

Before I begin, I want to assure you that there are no spoilers in this post. Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favorite books, and I find that I still re-read this classic every few years. So when I heard that Harper Lee was going to publish a new novel, I had mixed emotions. Could it possibly live up to the expectations? Is she going to tarnish the legacy of legendary figures like Atticus Fitch and Scout? Yet, most people wanted to know if Lee was more than a one-hit (though monster hit) wonder.

In full disclosure, I have not read Harper Lee's new book yet. That's why I can promise you that there are no spoilers. With that written, I'm intrigued by the subject. As a teenager, I spent many summer nights at an overnight camp trying to find out the final score of Pittsburgh Pirates games. There was no internet in those days (well, there was internet but there were no computers at camp), and we did not have access to a television. Therefore, before bed, I would use my Walkman to find Lanny Frattare on the radio dial. It was often difficult finding the exact spot on the dial to get the signal. I feel like weather was often a factor in getting the signal too. Harper Lee is a visionary in knowing that Walkmans and cassette tapes were the future. Have you ever had a cassette tape become unraveled in a Walkman and then have to wind the tape back in? Well, building a novel about an individual (Scout? Boo Radley?) who can set and possibly repair a Walkman is truly amazing. Now, I can't wait to read it.

Play A Doctor On The Internet

When I went to my doctor for a routine physical about a decade ago, my doctor noticed that I had high cholesterol. He suggested that I start taking fish pills twice a day. I have done so nearly everyday since, and my cholesterol levels have been down for years.

On Wednesday, The Washington Post published an article titled "Fish oil pills: A $1.2 billion industry built, so far, on empty promises" questioning the value of taking fish pills. The article focuses on fish pills and heart disease, though heart disease has never been a concern for me.

So this got me thinking. Should I continue taking the fish pills? It may not be helping me but I don't think they are hurting me. Is cutting back to just taking one per day an option?

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Ariana Grande's Redemption Tour

Perhaps you heard that singer Ariana Grande is in the news. From AFP via Yahoo news:

A video at a California doughnut shop showed Grande and one of her back-up dancers playfully licking the sugary pastries while they were still on the counter.

The gossip site TMZ released the video and outrage erupted on social media over the comments by Grande who, upon seeing a new tray of doughnuts, is heard saying a profanity and then, "I hate America."

First, mmmmm....donuts.

Naturally, people are upset by Grande's comments and actions. I heard one DC radio DJ question if Grande's career is over. Um, no. Chris Brown beat the crap out of Rihanna and still puts out albums. Plus, Justin Bieber keeps doing Justin Bieber things, and he still has a career.

So now Grande is apologizing by saying she is "EXTREMELY proud to be an American and I’ve always made it clear that I love my country." There's more about out of context, but I have yet to here her apologize for licking donuts.

To clear her name and to get back into people's good graces, I suggest this two-step plan. First, Grande should get in touch with the Dunkin' Donuts or Krispy Kreme people and appear, for free, in one of their ads. I'm sure some creative advertising people can come up with material that would be self-deprecating and show her love of donuts.

The second step is to have Grande appear at this weekend's Anthrocon convention in Pittsburgh. She already does the cat ear thing, so this seems like a natural step.

She could be queen of the Furries! Meow. And just like that, Grande will be fine. And hopefully she'll thank me for these suggestions.

Summer of Sean: Wimbledon

Yes, it's the Summer of Sean. Oh, I don't mean the summer of 2015. This summer has consisted of my 4 year old getting his tonsils out and my one year old crawling everywhere and wanting to roam free even though he can't walk yet meaning that we can't let him crawl through the grocery store. Oh, I also have to work during this summer. No, the Summer of Sean occurred in 2000.



Fifteen years ago this summer, I served essentially as a chaperone on a trip to Israel (free trip!). Then, I spent six weeks in a study abroad program in Lancaster, England (relatively inexpensive trip!) with weekend trips to London, Dublin, Edinburgh, Paris and more. When I returned to the U.S., I visited Vegas, Charlotte, Montreal and Rhode Island. Yes, it truly was the summer of Sean.

I believe that I wrote a journal during part of the trip, so I hope to share some stories and pictures from my adventures over the next few weeks. Of course, I actually need to find this supposed journal. Wait, why are you questioning that this is summer filler? Trust me that this is more exciting than anything currently happening in my life especially now that my year of free paninis is over. I mean, do you really want to hear how terrible my Metro commute was yesterday?

For my first time trip down memory lane, I'm taking you to Wimbledon. A friend and I waited (queued) in line for more than two hours to purchase general admission into The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club. The cost of admission into the grounds with the exception of the two main courts: 4 pounds or $6. What a cool event with live matches taking place on multiple courts. We decided to go to Court 3 since Venus & Serena Williams were scheduled to play a doubles match later in the day. Instead, Swedes Thomas Johansson and Magnus Gustafsson played a long 5-set match forcing the Williams match to relocate to another court. I saw Martina Hingis play doubles, and the ultimate highlight was getting into Centre Court to see Martina Navratilova. Since it seems like I already wrote about most of this story a few years ago, here are some pictures from Wimbledon 2000.

Frustrated Martina Hingis:

Martina Navratilova serving:

Martina Navratilova with Leander Paes:

Thomas Johansson and Magnus Gustafsson shake hands:

Food tent:

Some guy:

I Don't Understand How Shipping Works (Part II)

Meow Mix isn't saying anything, but I can see what's happening. They are discontinuing the wet cat food that Ziggy eats. I used to purchase Ziggy's wet food at Target, but they stopped carrying his specific food a few months ago. While I typically dread going there, I started going to Wal-Mart to buy his food since the price was similar to what Target charged. Now, Wal-Mart is not stocking this brand. Wegmans still carries the Meow mix but at 50 cents more per pack than Wal-Mart. Safeway and Harris Teeter change more than $2 more than Wal-Mart, so I don't even look there. The last thing I want to do is change the cat food since who knows what will happen if I change Ziggy's diet. Therefore, to keep giving Ziggy the food he has known nearly his entire life, I recently ordered Ziggy's food online. And to get free shipping, I bought 9 (yes 9!) boxes of Meow Mix.

A few years ago, I wrote a post about how I don't understand the shipping process. In that case, something I ordered went from Maryland to Oregon and then back to me in Virginia. Maryland and Virginia border each other; Oregon does not. Anyway, for the cat food purchase, apparently, the shipment is being divided up where 4 boxes are being shipped from one location and 5 boxes from a completely different area.

Order #1 - Shipment information sent to FedEx on Sunday, 6/28/2015 at 9:44 am.

Monday, 6/29/2015

5:17 pm - Picked up from Saline, Michigan
8:37 pm Left FedEx origin facility

Tuesday, 6/30/2015

4:51 am Arrived at FedEx location - Perrysburg, Ohio
7:19 am Departed FedEx location
4:02 pm Arrived at FedEx location - Hagerstown, Maryland
7:05 pm Departed FedEx location
9:19 pm Arrived at FedEx location - Martinsburg, West Virginia

Wednesday, 7/1/2015

1:41 am Departed FedEx location
2:00 am Shipment information sent to U.S. Postal Service

Estimated delivery - Monday, 7/6/2015


Order #2 - Shipment information sent to FedEx - Saturday, 6/27/2015 at 2:34 pm

Monday, 6/29/2015

5:15 pm Arrived at FedEx location - Rensselaer, New York
12:00 am Picked up

Tuesday, 6/30/2015

6:58 am Left FedEx facility
3:36 pm Arrived at FedEx location - Lewisberry, Pennsylvania

Wednesday, 7/1/2015
8:55 am Departed FedEx location

Estimated delivery - Tuesday, 7/7/2015

So why does the same exact cat food need to be sent from Saline, Michigan and also from Rensselaer, New York? Why couldn't all 9 boxes been sent together? This makes no sense to me.

Penguins Got Back (Pittsburgh Penguins Draft Recap)

It seems like less than three weeks ago when I did a recap of the Pittsburgh Pirates draft, but I'm back with thoughts about this weekend's Pittsburgh Penguins draft...inspired by Sir Mix-A-Lot's classic song, Baby Got Back. Enjoy!

Name: Daniel Sprong
Selection: 2nd round (46th overall)
Position: RW
Height: 6-0
Weight: 180
Amateur Team: Charlottetown (QMJHL)

The Penguins went right with the opening few lines with this selection:

I like big butts and I can not lie
You other brothers can't deny
That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist
And a round thing in your face
You get "Sprong"

Name: Dominik Simon
Selection: 5th round (137th overall)
Position: C
Height: 5-11
Weight: 176
Amateur Team: Plzen (Czech Republic League)

Yes, you guessed it. Simon is white so...

Then turn around, stick it out
Even white boys got to shout

Name: Frederik Tiffels
Selection: 6th round (167th overall)
Position: LW
Height: 6-0
Weight: 192
Amateur Team: Western Michigan (NCHC)

Tiffels was born in Cologne, Germany. You know what else is German? Mercedes-Benz

Ooh, Rump-o'-smooth-skin
You say you want to get in my Benz?

Name: Nikita Pavlychev
Selection: 7th round (197th overall)
Position: C
Height: 6-7
Weight: 200
Amateur Team: Des Moines (USHL)

From Yaroslavl, Russia, did you know that Nikita has a rigorous workout routine?

So your girlfriend rolls a Honda, playin' workout tapes by Fonda
But Fonda ain't got a motor in the back of her Honda

Let's hope that these future Penguins players have hockey careers as successful as Baby Got Back!


This is either brilliant, or more likely, one of my worst blog posts.

Sean's Mailbag

Bill Simmons, formerly of ESPN and Grantland, used to run entertaining mailbag columns. Since Simmons is no longer at ESPN, I thought I would try to fill the void based on questions I received on Twitter and in my email inbox.

Brad (laclips) - Are you going to answer questions on here?

By here, Brad meant Twitter. No, my replies cannot be limited to just 140 characters! (/Checks and sees that I still would have had 55 characters left if I did answer on Twitter)

Restore Lost Hair - Try This to Restore Your Hair Loss

Not a question, but it's like Restore Lost Hair really knows me! With that written, I'm fine with my current balding state. I think I would shave my head except that would take a lot of work to maintain no hair compared to limited hair. I already dislike shaving my face nearly everyday, so why would I want to shave my head too?

Jason the Sports 'Ace' - Hi there,

Bookies laugh when bettors win big time.. because they know that more and more people will play and eventually lose...

...BUT...

When they meet a guy who has a proven formula to win 9 out of 10 times...with close to zero risks...THEY PANIC...because 1000 people like this "expert" could take them out of business.

Again, I don't see a question here, but based on your email, it seems like bookies have a wide range of emotions. Who knew?

Trainers Quotes - How would YOU like to direct line through to the UK’s TOP Trainers – EVERY time they have a horse running…?

Every time might be a bit much. Maybe just occasionally.

How would YOU like to be a fly-on-the-wall at the UK’s TOP yards…?

There are about 7,000 other places where I would rather be a fly-on-the-wall than at the UK's top yards. The Oval Office would probably be at the top of this list. The office of Neal Huntington, the Pirates GM, would be up there too.

Alex - When my two year old points to his you-know-what and asks "what's that?", what should I say?

As a father of two young boys, I just go with penis. That sounds much better than saying pee-pee. Please note that I would have no idea how to answer this question if I had a daughter.

PGA Digital Golf Academy - Want even more golf instruction?

By more, you're assuming that I am currently receiving golf instruction. That would be false. But sure, golf instruction would be nice. My 25 year-old John Daly golf clubs would probably like to get out of the house.

PremierCareinBathing Promotion - Is a Walk-in Bathtub Right for You?

I'll go with no. I don't understand how the water will stay in the bathtub if you can walk right into it. Is there a door for the bathtub?

scclko2000 - Your wife will love your Big Unit

To Alex's question, I would not call your son's you-know-what a unit.

And yes, these are my readers.

Seeing A No-Hitter With My Son

One of my dreams/bucket list items is to attend a no-hitter in person. In July 2001, I saw Todd Ritchie (yes, Todd Ritchie) go 8 1/3 innings before giving up a single. After seeing probably over 100 baseball games in my lifetime, that was the closest I've come to seeing a no-hitter. Meanwhile, I took my son (The Moose, age 4) to his first baseball game on Saturday night. He has now attended one single baseball game and has witnessed a no-hitter (and almost the 22nd perfect major league game since 1900). He has no idea that this is a big deal. On to my notes and thoughts on the game and taking The Moose to his first game.

- Breaking news: Max Scherzer is really, really good. Maybe that's why the Nationals paid him over $200 million. I'm a Pirates fan and definitely wanted the Bucs to win, but I can appreciate an amazing pitching performance and found myself rooting for a perfect game in the top of the 9th.

- After the first inning, The Moose told me that he wanted to go home. That's when I went into food mode. I offered him a fruit bar that I had in my bag and then we quickly went to the concession stand to get french fries and a Sprite. He loved the Sprite and made it through the rest of the game (sitting on my lap for nearly all of it) without any complaints.

- In either the 7th inning or top of the 8th inning, I looked at the scoreboard and mentioned to my friend that we were watching a perfect game. We knew it was a no-hitter but had no idea we were watching a potential perfect game until then.

- I did a terrible job of taking pictures during the game. Really, I just wanted to make sure my kid was happy and that I didn't lose him in the crowd of over 40,000. I did take this picture of several members of the Pirates walking to the bullpen before the game. Plus, both Bryce Harper and Andrew McCutchen sat in my section!

- I also should have taken a picture of someone wearing a Pirates' Garrett Jones jersey.

- Unwritten rules in baseball are stupid. In the 8th inning, the Nats shifted against Pedro Alvarez. Pedro could have bunted towards the deserted third base line to reach on a single, but that's not permitted in baseball. Well, if it was a 1-0 game, maybe that would have been a little acceptable, but baseball folks would have gone insane if Pedro did this on Saturday. If you think the reaction to Jose Tabata reaching on a hit-by-pitch was crazy, Pedro would have been vilified even more.

- The Nationals had a promotion on Saturday where after the game, Seniors could stroll the bases. During the game, I talked with my friend about the fact I tweaked my knee (for the second time in a month) earlier in the day working as a soccer referee), probably will need bifocals soon and that I recently went to the dentist and learned that I have receding gums. Basically, I could have been eligible to run the bases!

- When we got home, all The Moose talked about to my wife was chocolate syrup. Naturally, she had not idea what he was talking about. I mean why would there be chocolate syrup at a baseball game? Here's the answer:



MASN's Dan Kolko did not look happy about Jayson Werth dumping chocolate syrup on him. I'd bet $10 that Werth doesn't pay the dry-cleaning bill.

- The Moose wasn't very impressed by the Presidents/Pierogi race. I think he found the characters a little scary.

- I'd like to give the Nationals credit for posting the artist and song title for each hitter's walk-up music on the scoreboard. That was a nice touch particularly since I didn't know many songs.

- Quick rant: I love keeping ticket stubs of sporting events/concerts I attend. However, there are less and less ticket stubs these days and you generally print off your tickets now. Even Nats season ticket holders get a card that they swipe or scan at the gate instead of receiving individual tickets. Here is part of my ticket from Saturday's game that is now folded up on a regular 8.5 x 11 piece of paper.

- I don't ever want to drive through a hurricane, but I feel like I got a taste of what it's like to do so going home after the game. There were massive thunderstorms on Saturday evening with extremely heavy rain and lightning everywhere. I'm glad that the game was at 4:05 since a 7:05 game would have been postponed.

Here's more about the game:

The Washington Post (here and here

People were mad at Tabata (also The Washington Post)

Dejan Kovacevich wrote a really good piece in support of Tabata. [DK on Pittsburgh Sports]

Clinton Yates agreed with DK. [Washington Post again]

Josh Yohe of DK on Pittsburgh Sports
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
ESPN

Video of the top of the 9th [MLB]

Peyton Manning's New Job

Peyton Manning, quarterback for the Denver Broncos, turned 39 in March and is likely close to retirement. It's quite possible that this will be his final season in the NFL. While Manning can certainly fall back on appearing in television commercials (even if he dresses terribly in them), I found the perfect job for him if he's willing to start now.

Yes, Manning would need to move to Northern Virginia for this job, but I think he can do it.

Pirates Fan Doesn't Score

On Friday evening, the United States faced Sweden in the Women's World Cup in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. During the second half, Fox Sports showed this guy wearing a Pirates hat drinking a beer. (I guess Captain America, since he is wearing a Captain's hat, was in the picture too.)

The Sweden-US game finished in a 0-0 tie. I figure that after the World Cup match, the Pirates fan got some food and went back to his hotel room to see the result of the Pittsburgh-Philadelphia Phillies game. Due to a rain delay, Pirates fan was amazed that the game was still on. In extra innings. And scoreless. The Pirates finally scored a run in the bottom of the 13th at approximately 1:05 AM Eastern time to win 1-0.

Basically, the guy in the Pirates hat could have watched about 2 hours of soccer and 6 hours of baseball without seeing one goal or one run. Um, Woooo for a guy wearing a Pirates hat at an international event!

2015 Pittsburgh Pirates Draft Wrap-Up

Welcome to my 4th annual (if you ignore the fact that I didn't do one of these last year) recap of the Pittsburgh Pirates draft. Please note that if you're looking for detailed analysis of the players' baseball skills, you've come to the wrong place. (I suggest going to Bucs Dugout or Pirates Prospects for that.) This is insight of the Pirates' draft that you won't see anywhere else.

Kevin Newman (1st round draft pick), SS, Arizona
Kevin Kramer (2nd), SS, UCLA

A lot of people made Seinfeld references based on these picks, but that's taking the easy road. Instead, I think the Pirates wanted to go back to the 90s and start a new Kevin club in the tradition of former players Kevin Young, Kevin Polcovich and Kevin Elster (yes, he was briefly a member of the Pirates). Naturally, the President of the Kevin club should be Kevin Arnold.

Logan Sendelbach, RHP, Tiffin University (10th)
Logan Ratledge, SS, NC State (13th)
Logan Hill, RF, Troy (25th)

Forget the Kevin club, there's now a Logan club!

Tanner Anderson, RHP, Harvard (20th) - This is the requisite mention that Anderson must be smart since he attended Harvard.

Nicholas Economos, RHP, Mercer County CC (21st) - Economos is the person to talk to about supply and demand. I'd be interested in hearing a conversation between Economos and Harvard's Tanner Anderson about the pros and cons of Adam Smith. (Does MLB.com or Baseball America have any Adam Smith references? I don't think so!)

Brandon Waddell, LHP, Virginia (5th) - Waddell wobbles but he doesn't fall down.



Bret Helton, RHP, Utah (9th) - Please be related to Colorado Rockies great Todd Helton. Please be related to Todd Helton. (Checks..."Father Barry Helton was an All-American football player at Colorado and spent four years in the NFL, winning two Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers." Well, that's something.)

Scooter Hightower, RHP, Columbia State CC (15th) - Finally, we see what happens when we combine a Muppet and a Police Academy character.

Stephan Meyer, RHP, Bellevue (18th) - After writing the Twilight series of books, Meyer looks to make the jump to major league baseball.

Jonathan Brubaker, RHP, Akron (6th) - May I introduce you to J.T. Tall!

Not a ton online about Jonathan Brubaker, who seems to go by J.T. Tall, already throws fairly hard, probably projectable.

— Bucs Dugout (@BucsDugout) June 9, 2015

Apparently, Bucs Dugout meant for "Tall" to be the start of a new sentence, but I read this (as did others) as J.T. Tall. Let the nickname stick!

Mitchell Tolman, 3B, Oregon (7th) - I guess he can go by M.T. Tol?

Ike Schlabach, LHP, Timber Creek HS, Keller, Texas (19th) - Schlabach could be the greatest Ike in Pirates history since Ike Davis.

Mike Wallace, RHP, Fairfield (30th) - I always thought Wallace could be a two-sport star. He's no Antonio Brown though.

Sean Keselica, LHP, Virginia Tech (33rd) - Sean is welcome to provide a guest post on Sean's Ramblings anytime. Current Pirate Sean Rodriguez is too.

Conor Costello, RHP, Oklahoma St. (38th round)

His "Who's On First" routine with former pitcher Jim Abbott is a classic.



To see my previous draft recaps, please click here.

2015 Celebrate Fairfax Notes

After working or volunteering at Celebrate Fairfax for nearly the entire festival for more than a decade, it seems odd only being there for a small part of the event. I helped with setup on Friday and things seemed to go more smoothly this year than during any other set-up I remember. Here are some other thoughts of this year's festival.

I took my four year old (The Moose) to see the fireworks on Saturday night. I believe that this was the first time he has ever seen them live. There's nothing like seeing the amazement in my son's eyes as he watched the fireworks. Very cool moment as a parent.

I heard an unconfirmed rumor that this was the last year there will be fireworks at Celebrate Fairfax. Groundbreaking has already started on the new Residences at Government Center and by next year, there will likely be people living there. According to what I heard, the Fire Marshall won't allow fireworks to be set off so close to residential property.

Probably The Moose's favorite activity was the DockDogs Championship. Here's the description of DockDogs: The world’s premier canine aquatics competition, DockDogs, is a national dog jumping competition that will feature four-legged athletes from around the region. It was really cool. Here's a picture that I actually took myself. Maybe I could be a photographer!

Glory Days/Fanfare always has a booth at Celebrate Fairfax, and the staff from the restaurant group are incredibly nice and friendly. I really need to go there to eat more often.

Brad Matchett is a comedy hypnotist who performs regularly at Celebrate Fairfax. While I didn't see any of his hypnotist acts, I caught some of his comedy show at the Children's Avenue stage. He is really, really good and captures everyone's full attention which is incredible given the attention span of some kids (and adults) I know. This is his Facebook page.

The only significant story worth sharing from set-up involved a frog. Apparently, a frog got injured, possibly partially run over by a vehicle. Personally, I had no idea there were any frogs on the Government Center grounds. Anyway, someone setting up a booth noticed the frog (which I will not call Kermit) and moved him/her away from the cement and on to a grassy area. There was actually a veterinary practice there, but they completed set up and were not there when I tried to find them to help. I checked on the frog a few times, and he wasn't there the last time I looked. I guess (hope) that he/she was good enough to head out and eat some flies. Maybe this really wasn't worth sharing.

My one year old (Pedro Tulo) loves to move around, so while I think he enjoyed seeing Celebrate Fairfax from the stroller, his favorite part of the fair was the festival office. We let him out, and he loved being able to crawl everywhere. On his behalf, I apologize to the person who called asking about festival hours. Pedro Tulo said the event ended at 6:00 on Sunday when it really was 7:00. (He really didn't say this. Or answer the phone.)

That's a wrap on Celebrate Fairfax 2015. Save the date, June 10-12, 2016, for next year's festival.

Found In My Basement: Rusted Root T-Shirt

I did a little spring cleaning recently and managed to compile a complete bag full of clothes to donate. I also found dozens of clothes, particularly T-shirts, that I'm not willing to give up. Occasionally throughout the summer, I plan on sharing pictures of some of these clothes. (I'm sure that you can't wait for this!)

First up is this Rusted Root T-shirt from a concert I saw on some mountain or ski slope around State College, PA in the fall of 1995. I don't remember much (if anything) about the concert except that everyone sat on the grass/blankets on a fairly steep hill.

For those of you not familiar with Rusted Root, well, shame on you. They were by far the biggest band in Western Pennsylvania in the mid-1990s. They were huge among the high school and college scene, and at least to me, were right there with the Dave Matthews Band. Although the band sold over 3 million records (albums? cassettes?), they never seemed to hit the mainstream unless you count Send Me On My Way being played in Enterprise car rental commercials.



Rusted Root still tours and were actually at Washington DC's 9:30 Club on Wednesday night. My guess is that they're not selling this T-shirt at the show.


Bonus Fun Fact #1: Despite growing up in Pittsburgh during the height of Rusted Root, I never actually saw them perform in Pittsburgh. I saw them at State College, Ithaca & at the Celebrate Fairfax festival in 2010.

Bonus Fun fact #2: The father of one of the band members officiated my wedding.


Click here to see more in the Found in My Basement Series.

Trivia Tuesday

There hasn't been a Trivia Tuesday here in a while, and this one is unique. Your challenge is to answer these very random questions.

1. There's a singer-songwriter named George Ezra who has a hit song out now titled Budapest. This leads to an important question: Is Better Than Ezra better than George Ezra?

2. Not counting Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar (since it's their song), how many people can you identify in the Bad Blood video? I got two.



3. For (fantasy) baseball fans, who got the better of this deal? Owner A traded Mike Trout, Colin McHugh & Phil Hughes to Owner B for Clayton Kershaw, Starling Marte, Joakim Soria & James Shields.

4. Sporcle quiz time - Part I: Can you pick the 10 most populous US states in order from most populous to least? (I got an 8 out of 10.)

5. Sporcle quiz time - Part II: Can you name the Pittsburgh Pirates innings pitched leaders from 1985-2014? (I got a 17 out of 30).

6. Finally, what would be the perfect caption to this Getty picture of Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli? (via DK on Pittsburgh Sports)

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

Friday Links

The Celebrate Fairfax festival is only a week away. How the heck did that happen? I've written about Northern Virginia's largest festival dozens of times over the years, so I'll just simply write that if you live in the DC area, you should go. Early bird ticket sales end tomorrow (Saturday, May 30th) so purchase your tickets now. [Celebrate Fairfax]

Andrew McCutchen's pay stub is fascinating. It's interesting that he doesn't have any money taken out for flexible spending. [Deadspin]

Congrats to HG Balas, a terrific writer, who is now going to write for the Pittsburgh Downtown Community Development Corporation's e-newsletter, The Downtowner. [The Steel Trap]

In the year I was born, Sean was the 39th most popular boy's name. If I was born today, my name would be Hunter.
My 2000s name: Patrick.
90s name: Jared.
80s name: Erik.
60s & 70s name: Gerald (though since I was born in the 70s, wouldn't I just be Sean?)
What would your name be? [Time magazine]

My friend Christine encourages you to help military families oversees. [The Adventures of ChrisMichRob in Korea]

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Curiously Not Funny

My 4 year old wants me to read the same books to him night after night. He becomes obsessed with these books for weeks until he rediscovers other books. Lately, he has been all about Curious George.

Most of the Curious George books start the same way:

This is George.
He was a good little monkey and always very curious.

I'm not sure why the tense changes from present to past so quickly, but what do I know. Maybe he was a good little monkey but isn't anymore.

Anyway, I'll change the words around sometimes to keep myself entertained and to see if my son is paying attention. The other night I started the book like this:

This is Fred.
He was a good little elephant and always very happy.

Very clever, right? My son didn't think so and simply replied, "No be funny, daddy."

No be funny indeed. He clearly takes his Curious George seriously.

Segue Needed

I'm not a television news producer nor do I play one on the internet (as you can tell by the poor quality video below). However, while watching Baltimore's WJZ noon news broadcast on Monday, I had to question why these stories appear back-to-back.



If you couldn't hear it (or don't feel like watching this), the first story is about ISIS/ISIL in Iraq. This is followed directly by a story about Vic Kleman, the 82 year-old who rode Kennywood's Jack Rabbit 95 times on Sunday to reach 5,000 rides on this roller coaster during his lifetime. I have no idea how Kleman figured this out. My guess is that I've been on the Jack Rabbit about 100 times, and that is a complete guess.

You can read more about Kleman and his Jack Rabbit adventures in this Post-Gazette article. You can also help me understand why these two stories aired consecutively since I have no idea.

So Long Costco

We've been members of Costco for several years now, but with our membership about to expire, I don't think we will renew. Yes. I'm writing a blog post about this. The annual Costco membership fee is now $55, either $10 or &15 more than when we first joined. However, despite having two kids and thinking that we'll need more bulk items than before, I've found that we go to Costco less and less. Let's do some math.

The primary pro for renewing the Costco membership is the gasoline prices. Costco's gas is generally about 10 cents a gallon less than any other gas station in the area. If we get gas 40 times a year (I rarely get gas for my car since I rely on public transportation and only drive locally), that's probably a savings of about $40. Yes, a $40 savings is less than the $55 membership fee. Plus, the problem with getting gas at Costco is that you have to arrive either early in the morning or late at night. If you arrive when the store is open, the line is generally at least 4 cars deep despite there being 75 pumps (slight exaggeration). I probably waste as much gas waiting in line than the savings I get.

Other than gas, there really isn't much major savings. The bulk items we buy at Costco (ex. paper towels, toilet paper) are approximately the same cost as the bulk items at Wegmans. While formula was slightly cheaper at Costco, we usually used a rebate check/coupon that Costco would not accept. That coupon made it cheaper ton buy formula elsewhere. Man, I hate that Costco doesn't take coupons. Now, we don't need to buy formula anymore. WOOO! The Target diapers work just fine too. The one plus on Costco's side is that we prefer the Kirkland wipes to others. And yes I just bought 4 boxes of them anticipating that we wouldn't renew.

So I'm sure you're asking, but Sean, what about the free samples and the $1.50 hot dog and Coke? Well, if I feel the need for this, I still have my Costco card. I can still flash it at the front door and get a free sample of some frozen appetizer. I just wouldn't be able to check out with a 24-pack of GoGo Squeeze applesauce (which is about the same price per sauce as the 16-pack at Wegmans). And if I truly need a 20-pack of soap, I can probably find a friend with a Costco membership and borrow their card.

Adam Levine Wearing Steelers Gear

Adam Levine is arguably one of the biggest stars and among the most recognizable people in the United States. He was People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive in 2013 and serves as one of the judges on NBC's The Voice. Oh, he also has a gig as the lead singer of a little band called Maroon 5. So why am I writing about Levine today? Here's your answer:

This is Levine with his friend Gene Hong, a graduate of North Allegheny High School. Hong is a co-producer on Bones and Community, but you're not really interested in this are you? (You can see Hong's IMDB page if you want to learn more about him.)

The story here is Adam Levine wearing a Steelers shirt. Woo!

Now let's see if Levine will watch a Steelers game with Pittsburgh native and People Magazine's 2014 Hottest Bachelor, Joe Manganiello.

h/t USA Today's Steelers Wire

This Is 40

When I turned 13, I had a Bar Mitzvah and became a man. (In actuality, turning 13 is the age for fulfillment of the Commandments. In related news, I'm still waiting to receive a fountain pen.)

When I turned 16, I got my driver's permit and later my license. What a sense of freedom to be able to go to the store to buy milk or to pick up your brother from soccer practice.

When I turned 18, I could legally buy lottery tickets (check) and cigarettes (pass).

At 21, I could (and did) legally drink. I also learned that drinking a Long Island Iced Tea and other alcohol and finishing the night with Ben & Jerry's ice cream is a terrible idea.

I could rent a car at 25. (Not very exciting.)

At 35, I was eligible to serve as President. To celebrate, I wrote a blog post about it. I presented my platform a few years later.

Through all of this, it took until now, today, at the age of 40 to be a man.

Take it away Oklahoma State University football coach Mike Gundy. (Go to the 2:20 mark for this entire blog post to make sense.)

What's Happening Here?

While riding the Metro this morning (hooray for no major delays!), I'm sure that I received some curious glances since, like the woman on the left, I couldn't stop smiling from looking at this picture from Express.

Seriously, what is going on here? Are these some new Lamaze techniques? Practice for, um, going #2?

My Bucket List

There was a movie a few years ago starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman called The Bucket List. In a bit of false advertising, this movie was not about the various types of buckets or even about Buckethead from the later edition of Guns 'N Roses. Instead, this was a comedy (I think; I didn't actually see the entire film) following the two Oscar-winning actors completing a wish list of to-dos before they die. Seeing that a major milestone for me is quickly approaching (more about this in a few days), I thought I would share my bucket list.

- Travel, travel and more travel. I want to visit all 50 states (I'm only 9 short) and 6 continents. (I have no interest in visiting Antarctica.) My international travel has been limited to Canada, a few trips to Israel and a summer in Lancaster, England (with stops in London, Edinburgh, Paris and Dublin). I want to visit Italy, Australia, Japan and so many other places including Guam so that I can hang out with Ric Blas.

- See the Pittsburgh Pirates win a World Series. The Pirates last won the World Series in 1979. I was 4 and don't remember anything about it. I've been fortunate to witness the Penguins win Stanley Cups and the Steelers win Super Bowls, but the Pirates may be the team I care about the most.

- Attend National Hockey League games in every NHL arena. At our current pace of visiting a city or two every year, I think we're going to accomplish this goal in 2021. At some point I need to actually write about the last trip to Florida (besides the actual flight to Florida and the obnoxious person on the plane).

- Get 100 likes on the Sean's Ramblings Facebook page. Seriously, I've been stuck at 25 for months.

- Write a book.

- Get invited to the White House. I'm not talking about getting to attend the Christmas Tree lighting or Easter Egg Roll but an actual White House invitation. Maybe I'll get to attend when the Pirates visit the White House after winning the World Series!

- I'd like to attend the Bar/Bat Mitzvahs of multiple grandchildren. My oldest child is 4. Let's say that he has his first kid at 32. That's 28 years from now. Then, add another 13 years until the Bar or Bat Mitzvah. At that point, I'd be over 80. Okay, this one is a little deep. Let's lighten things up a bit.

- What I'd really like to accomplish is to watch everything on my DVR before I die. This is probably the most unrealistic item on my bucket list.

- Throw out the first pitch before a baseball game. While ideally this would be at a MLB game, I'm fine if this occurs at a minor league game...or Little League game.

- Win my fantasy baseball league. Achievement unlocked!

I'm sure that I'm missing some things, but I think this is a good start.

Happy Mother's Day

Yes, it's the extremely rare Sunday blog post. I just wanted to wish a Happy Mother's Day to all those are celebrating. To the moms out there, keep on rolling!



This video, a combined performance by REO Speedwagon and Imagine Dragons, has absolutely nothing to do with Mother's Day. I just think it's cool and wanted to share this.

By the way, I'm glad they performed a REO Speedwagon song. That turned out much better than if they performed Radioactive.

Friday Video: Banks

Once again, I thought I discovered an artist/song well before most other people. Then, I learned that the video has over 6.5 million views on YouTube. Oh well. Today's video is Beggin for Thread by Banks. Not Elizabeth Banks, Carl Banks, Tyra Banks or Lloyd Banks, just Banks. Apparently, she doesn't want you to see her right eye. Maybe she had pink eye in the right eye during the shooting of the video. If that's the case, she's putting all of those dancers and possibly even the horse at risk of contracting pick eye too. Of course, maybe she just had problems with her right contact during the video shoot.