Remember when Trivia Tuesday was a weekly feature? No, me neither. Your challenge is to answer the 10 questions in the pictures below. Good luck!
While this is probably an April Fools' joke/promotion, I wish it was true. The incredibly gifted and talented people who make Cheetos (and who deserve a Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts) released a perfume on April 1st. This is the description of the product:
Cheeteau, the inaugural fragrance by famed Cheetos brand spokes-cheetah, Chester Cheetah, will be available to fans in Los Angeles and New York City for a limited time only. Inspired by the popular snack, the scent boasts buttery notes, accents of sharp cheddar and a touch of lemon for balance, perfect for evening or day wear.
And the ad:
They really did give samples in New York and LA, so this could still happen, right? Please? Mmmmm...Cheetos.
I wrote a brief post back in 2012 about Damon Thibodeaux, a man on Louisiana's Death Row who served 15 years before being exonerated by DNA evidence. Just this weekend, CBS' 48 Hours devoted an episode titled Last Chance to Thibodeaux and the case involving the death of Crystal Champagne. I've embedded the video below, but if that doesn't work, you can check out the episode on the CBS News website.
Today’s post comes from Tyler of YinZSTER, and is part of a special day of shenanigans from other Pittsburgh Bloggers. You can see my post over on Small-Town Dad, where I write about preparing to be a new father again.
Guest blogger in the house.
There are actually 29 guest bloggers in 29 different houses today, and even one in my house at YinZSTER (what has happened to the moral fabric of our e-society?). But of all the featured blogs, I would be willing to bet that my random insertion at Sean’s Ramblings is the toughest to detect because dude is all over the map and I love it! We’ve got sports, we’ve got anecdotes, we’ve got cats, we’ve got politics, we’ve got things out of the basement, we’ve got EVERYTHING in NO PARTICULAR ORDER at Sean’s Ramblings. My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I realized that this page has been producing more than one post a day for over the past nine years. That’s incredible, and very different from my approach at YinZSTER (because I’m very lazy), so I’m super excited to be featured on here. It’s a privilege.
But wtf am I supposed to write about, when I can clearly just write about whatever I want? That is, as they say, a lot of rope to hang yourself on. Should I write about how orcas are the scariest living thing on the planet? How I always perspire when I write posts (Sean, am I the only one who sweats while he writes? Or is this how you know you’re doing it wrong...)? Should I write about a cool new development in Pittsburgh, like rideshare services? Should I write about how I woke up this morning with all the lights on in my apartment, still wearing every garment of clothes from the night before while lying on top of the covers on my bed? No, right?
I fretted over this, but when it came down to it I wanted to represent for Sean, so I scoured his posts and found what I think I might be best capable of replicating with a little flair: interpretations of song lyrics. I chose three of the Top 10 songs from Billboard’s Mainstream Top 40, which is kind of fun because I don’t listen to much music that humans like. I’m just going straight lyrics here, people, as if these words were found within the pages of a poetry notebook (and, dear God, I’m glad they weren’t). I don’t recognize any of the three songs I chose, which kind of makes me question my lifestyle since these are three of the ten most popular songs in western civilization or whatever it is that Billboard represents. But oh well, that’s for another time and place.
I chose:
• “Happy” by Pharrell Williams. Last week, my good friend Emily scolded me when her coworkers at Branding Brand made a music video that mimicked the video for this song, because she could tell I had never heard the song, or of it, or seen the video. But I do know the guy has a weird hat.
• “Dark Horse” by Katy Perry. Katy Perry is pretty hot, and some of her older songs are guilty pleasures of mine. She has done a lot to surmount the obstacle of being one of those Katy’s who ends her name with a “y” instead of an “ie”.
• “Counting Stars” by One Republic. This is the only one that Sean didn’t touch in his recent post. I had a really great night in February that ended with One Republic songs being played on repeat at The Livermore in East Liberty (lovely place). I don’t know if this was one of them or not, but it doesn’t really matter though because I’m glad to be reminded of that night.
Ahem
“Happy”
Since today is opening day for most of Major League Baseball, I thought now would be the perfect time to share this 1988 Pittsburgh Pirates Official Magazine and Scorecard from the Pirates home opener against the Philadelphia Phillies that I attended on April 11, 1988.
There's a radio station in DC with the tag line, Today's best hits, without the rap. My question is, in 2014, what is the problem with playing rap on the radio? Look, no one expects this station to abandon its current play list of Katy Perry, Maroon 5, OneRepublic, Bruno Mars and Lorde and start playing Wu-Tang Clan and Odd Future. (You didn't expect an Odd Future reference from me, did you?) However, would the audience revolt and the universe explode if the station included the Juicy J portion of Katy Perry's Dark Horse? Are they worried about losing sponsors if they played Same Love by Macklemore?
Meanwhile, one of this station's competitors (who plays virtually the exact same songs) recently changed its tag line to All the Hits and are slowly figuring out this rap thing. Although they also seem to be against Juicy J too, this station is okay playing the T.I. portion of Blurred Lines and Ludacris' rap in an Enrique Iglesias song. They also play Drake's Hold On We're Going Home since Drake sings rather than raps on this song, so I guess that makes it okay.
Any thoughts on this or am I simply listening to the radio too much during the day?
My son turns three this week, so I thought I would write him a message in case he reads this blog when he gets older and wants to know what he was like as a toddler.
Happy 3rd Birthday, (name redacted)! It's been quite an exciting three years! It seems like only yesterday when you were 2 and 364 days. Now you are 3.
You are loving, give great hugs and have an amazing smile.
You are Daddy's little boy and share many of my mannerisms and demeanor.
You are quiet, shy and very cautious in large groups or when you are around unfamiliar people. That's not a bad thing. However, when you are home or at school, you are generally happy, social, and talkative, even if I don't understand half of what you say.
You like your new big boy bed though you have not entirely grasped sleeping under the covers and prefer to lay on top of the covers. You also haven't mastered sleeping through the night or sleeping in to a reasonable time in the morning like you did in the crib.
Back in the early days of Sean's Ramblings, I wrote several posts complaining about good television shows or sporting events featuring Pittsburgh teams airing at the same time. Each time I wrote one of these posts, I received comments that I should get a DVR. They were right. Besides electricity, the DVR may be the greatest invention of all time. These days, with the exception of sports, it's rare that I ever watch live television. Unfortunately, I'm way behind in my DVR-viewing, and it shows that the DVR is only 14% free. I need to remedy this quickly, although the pending arrival of a new child will make this difficult. Challenge accepted! Let's take a look at what's filling up my DVR.
- Season 2 (12 episodes) of Homeland
I recorded this during a free preview of Showtime. I haven't seen season 1 yet, so these episodes just sit on the DVR until I get Netflix or hope that there's another Showtime preview that airs the entire first season of Homeland.
- 24 episodes of The Middle
I saved all these episodes since this is a show that my wife and I used to watch together. She is no longer interested in watching this show. I'm so far behind, that a recent episode I watched showed commercials for future ABC shows Zero Hour and How to Live With Your Parents for the Rest of Your Life. Both of these shows have been cancelled for nearly a year!
- 8 episodes of Modern Family
- 5 episodes of Archer
- Season 1 of Game of Thrones
I had a recent conversation with a friend where he said that he watched the first season thanks to a free preview of HBO. I replied that I missed out on recording the shows. Guess what? I didn't miss out. I just completely forgot they were there.
Did you hear about the recent altercation that occurred outside of a Wichita Walmart?
Wichita police say a 36-year-old man became frustrated with the self checkout and began cussing at the machine.
It angered another man inside, and it turned into a verbal argument.
The fight spilled out into the parking lot where another man joined and some derogatory names were used.
“When they left the store, the upset individual struck the cussing individual in the face,” said Capt. Doug Nolte, Wichita Police Department.
The 36-year-old man suffered a broken tooth.
Police are still looking for the two suspects who left the scene.
You may find this outrageous, but there's something about checkout lines, particularly self checkouts, that stir people's emotions.
While I usually shop at Wegmans, I occasionally go to a grocery store that rhymes with Mafepay to pick up a few sale items. Despite going to this store on Friday evening or Saturday morning, times when there are plenty of customers, Safeway Mafepay usually only has two checkout lanes open. It seems that the store really wants people to use one of the 6 self checkout lanes. This is a problem. There always seems to be at least one broken scanner. Plus, there is rarely a consensus about whether there is one line for all self checkout lanes or three separate lines for the three separate rows. There's usually someone buying alcohol or medicine, so you have to wait for the one employee to check IDs.
Once you get to the register, an item won't always scan. You might stand there attempting to scan an item three or four times. Then, the machine wants you to place the item in the "baggage area." No, I don't want to put the 20-pound container of cat litter in the miniature baggage area.
Of course, the worst people in the world are those that have 15 items for the 7 items or less aisles. I don't think I've ever shared this story before, but on the night that I proposed, I went to Target to pick up a few items including votive candles. My plan was to light candles around the apartment and place rose petals on the floor. Maybe I was inspired by Coming To America.
Since I refuse to write about snow, I thought I would share some thoughts about current songs. Enjoy!
Aloe Blacc - The Man
You can tell everybody
Yeah you can tell everybody
Go ahead and tell everybody
I'm the man, I'm the man, I'm the man
That's a little arrogant, now isn't it, Aloe? And what makes you think people want to go around telling people you're the man? What would happen if Aloe approached you about this at a party?
Aloe: Hey Sean.
Sean: Hello.
Aloe: Go ahead and tell everybody I'm the man.
Sean: Um, yeah, I'll get right on that.
Katy Perry - Roar
I've got the eye of the tiger.
Katy Perry - Dark Horse
Cause I'm coming at you like a dark horse.
Someone visited the farm and zoo while writing their latest album. Either that or read a lot of kids books.
The Juicy J portion of Dark Horse
She's a beast.
I call her Karma.
She eats your heart out
Like Jeffrey Dahmer.
I'll take 20 year-old references that most fans of this song won't understand for $400, Alex.
Pharrell Williams - Happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof.
This is a good thing? Won't you get wet when it rains and cold when it snows?
That concludes the latest edition of Sean analyzing song lyrics.
It is a sad day here at Ramblings headquarters. After five years, Ziggy is taking his talents to North Florida. We had really high hopes for Ziggy as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, but unfortunately, he didn't live up to expectations. Despite signing a 4-year contract in Jacksonville, it looks like I'm not going to get a cent (just like when he was first drafted). Oh well.
At least this Ziggy is taking everything is stride.
Living in the Washington DC area, it's always enjoyable when the Pittsburgh Penguins defeat the Washington Capitals. I've written about this several times over the years, but I've had great experiences going to Pens-Caps games at the Verizon Center where the crowd has been evenly split between fans of both teams. As the Caps became a regular playoff team over the past 6-7 years, tickets to these games became more expensive and difficult to get. Even though I personally haven't been to one of these games recently, plenty of Penguins fans still go. Here's a video from Monday night in what has become a really cool tradition, Penguins fans storming the stairs of the Smithsonian American Art Museum after a victory.
Now, check out the guy in the Pens' Fleury jersey around the :25 second mark. Why does he remove the jersey to reveal a Capitals sweatshirt? Did he lose a bet? Who is he? What's his story?
Here are some recaps of the back-to-back Penguins wins over the Caps.
h/t The Pensblog
Edgar Snyder is arguably the best known lawyer in Pittsburgh. I remember seeing his commercials constantly growing up (391-2101. 391-2101!), and when I visited Pittsburgh last summer, I saw his billboards everywhere. Daniel Muessig seems like he wants to be the next Edgar Snyder. Although Muessing is a criminal defense attorney while Snyder focuses on personal injuries, they both know the power of media. Check out Muessig's video:
He actually reminds me of Breaking Bad's Saul Goodman. Not sure he really needed the Jewish thing at the end, but I guess some people really want to have a Jewish lawyer.
Muessig appears to be a young, rather new lawyer and is trying to make a splash. However, Edgar Snyder is a friend of mine,* but Dan Muessig, you are no Edgar Snyder.
* This is not true although I once held a contest run by Edgar Snyder, and I know that he has visited my blog.
h/t Deadspin
Although there's plenty of snow on the ground, summer will be here in no time. While many people consider Memorial Day weekend as the unofficial start of summer, since I moved to Northern Virginia, my summer truly begins with Celebrate Fairfax. Northern Virginia's largest festival released its headlines for 2014, and I'm happy to share the line-up here.
Friday, June 6: The All-American Rejects (8:00 PM)
Saturday, June 7: Cheap Trick (8:00 PM)
Sunday, June 8: The Hunts (4:30 PM)
I recently heard an All-American Rejects song on the radio and thought that they would be a great fit for Celebrate Fairfax. Apparently, the festival staff read my mind! The band had a string of hits in the mid-2000s, but they are young enough that new songs could still be relevant today. Here are my favorite All-American Rejects songs:
I saw Cheap Trick open for Poison and Def Leppard about five years ago and was surprised that they were an opening act. When I wrote that The All-American Rejects had a string of hits, Cheap Trick has some MONSTER hits. Plus, the band was referenced in a couple episodes of The Simpsons back when folks actually watched The Simpsons. (There's a line where Homer says that "I'd rather listen to Cheap Trick," but I couldn't find the video online.)
Finally, I know nothing about The Hunts except that their ketchup is inferior to Heinz. Maybe that's because they focus on music rather than ketchup. At least according to the YouTube comments, this song is used in a Milk Bone commercial.
Super Early Bird tickets for Celebrate Fairfax go on sale on April 1 (the early bird period is April 1-10), with adult tickets for only $7 (vs. $15 at the gate). Please let me know where you can see The All-American Rejects or Cheap Trick for only $7. The Combo Tickets (including rides) are only $25 for adults and $22 for kids during the Super Early Bird as well.
For tickets or more information about the festival, check out the Celebrate Fairfax website.
As I'm typing this on Sunday evening, the Federal Government and every school in the DC area announced that they are closed on Monday even though it is calm outside right now. With the pending ice and snowstorm, Sunday was its usual pre-panic day around here. Although we were already stocked up toilet paper, milk and BBQ Fritos, I decided that I needed to run a few errands. Therefore, I took my son for a trip around Northern Virginia.
Stop 1: My office. Figuring that the office would be closed Monday, I needed to pick up some work to do from home. A successful trip except that right as I was leaving, I thought that maybe I should check on my son's diaper before we went back into the car.
Me: Do you have a poop?
Him: Yes
The answer to this question is generally no even when he has a dirty diaper. Sure enough, I needed to change the diaper, and of course, there are no changing tables in the building's restrooms. Not a big deal, but I hope that someone empties the trash in the men's restroom before Tuesday morning.
Stop 2: The bank. Sure, the bank is closed on Sundays, but the ATM was open. I needed to deposit some checks and wanted to make sure that the checks cleared ASAP. Naturally, the ATM rejected one of the checks twice before it finally worked.
Stop 3: The gas station. Disaster. I've seen news footage of gas shortages from the late 1970s. I waited in a line for way too long only to get to a pump that moved slower than Casey Hampton in a 5K race.
Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for everyone else, it was just my pump (Station? Bay? I don't know the proper term for this) that moved slowly. Three cars filled up and left before I finally gave up after reaching 9 gallons.
So now, I'll wait for the snow and get ready to start shoveling.
- My child waking up at 5:30, or about an hour earlier than normal, is not the ideal way to start the day. Of course, Ziggy had already started his morning "time to wake up, Sean" routine just a few minutes earlier, so maybe he was warning us.
- I have read exactly one book so far this year. Granted, I really enjoyed the book I read (The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared), but one book in two months is unacceptable. Therefore, does anyone have any suggestions on books to read?
- I've discovered that getting a massive headache combined with being nauseous resulting in only eating a piece of toast and a banana is a great way to lose a little weight in one day.
- Not counting walking up the Metro escalators, I don't remember the last time I did any type of formal exercising. Here we go, warm weather, here we go!
- Since March is only a couple of days away, I need to start my fantasy baseball preparation. For my auction league, how much should I bid on Brian Giles?
- I received an e-mail from the NFL with the subject "Steelers St. Patrick's Day Gear!" I wrote this last year, and I'm going to get on my soapbox about this again: Steelers fans wear black and gold, not green. Leave the green to the folks in Eastern Pennsylvania.
I took my son to the library this weekend for story hour twenty minutes. After the program concluded, we ventured to the kids' section to check out some books. My son is currently obsessed with Thomas & Friends* (the trains, the TV show, a Thomas app, etc.), so we searched for some Thomas books. While there were no Thomas books on the shelves, the librarian found two books for us behind the check out counter, the only two books in the library.
- Despite living about 250 miles away from my hometown, I have run into someone I graduated from high school with twice at the local Wegmans grocery store in the past few months. If she talks to any of our classmates, she would likely say that I have a lot less hair than I did in high school and that I looked disheveled since in both cases, I was unshaven, wearing glasses (as opposed to contacts) and not dressed very well. I have good reasons for looking this way (picking up a prescription for a sick child & going shopping after shoveling snow), but I don't think that makes a difference.
- I saw that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants to bet President Obama a case of Canadian beer per Olympic hockey game this week. Want a really fun bet? If both the US men's and women's hockey teams defeat Canada, the US should get Victoria/Vancouver Island. If both Canadian teams win, Canada gets Maine.
- The big entertainment story this week is Jimmy Fallon's new role as host of The Tonight Show. I don't think I've seen five minutes of either of his NBC shows (with the exception of Saturday Night Live).
- Dallas Buyers Club is up for multiple Oscars including best actor and supporting actor for Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto. While I haven't seen the movie, it sounds like both actors did an amazing job portraying Mark Cuban & Jerry Jones respectively, owners of two prominent Dallas sports franchises that are known for spending a lot of money
Pittsburgh has a storied sports tradition. Perhaps because of this tradition, Pittsburgh's athletic venues have been subject to more sinister plots than anywhere else. The first occurrence took place at the Civic Arena during the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals. Fortunately, Jean-Claude Van Damme saved the day.
Then in 2011, Taylor Lautner ran around PNC Park. I don't know what was going on, but I feel like people in addition to Lautner were in trouble.
Sadly, Heinz Field was decimated by Bane and company in 2012. This was not unexpected after seeing now former mayor Luke Ravenstahl as the kicker and Hines Ward returning the kickoff.
Since the city (or was it some villain?) demolished Three Rivers Stadium in 2000, the home of the Pittsburgh Penguins since 2010 is the only current professional venue where nothing out of the ordinary happened. I hope that security remains vigilant (or that a new movie utilizes the arena for some cool scenes)!
With a second child on the way, it's time to move my son from the crib to a big boy bed. Sure, we've sold him on the new bed by telling him that he's growing up and such a big boy, but the reality is that we're going to need the crib for the new addition in a few months. So on Friday (Valentine's Day), we moved our son to his bed and new room. Since I'm now writing a blog post about this, you can probably guess that the transition has not gone swimmingly.
Friday, February 14th
Our son usually goes to sleep around 8:30. With the transition to the new bed and room and the fact that it was Friday night, we didn't really start putting him to bed until closer to 9:00. He didn't want to go to sleep. I laid in bed with him and dozed off several times, but he never went to sleep. After hyping the fact that moving to a big boy bed meant that maybe Ziggy would sleep in his bed, Ziggy actually joined us in bed. My son didn't seem to have a reaction to this. After moving from the bed to sitting on the floor, I finally left the room with my son still awake. It was then that I realized it was 10:30. 10:30! I left to load the dishwasher and let my wife take over. After unsuccessfully trying to get him to go to sleep for over 90 minutes, she got him to go to sleep in less than 10 minutes. The secret was singing to him and rubbing his face. She was basically Mariano Rivera!
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