Casting Call for The $100,000 Pyramid

Is there anyone that has more high profile jobs than Michael Strahan? The retired football star serves as the co-host of the talk show Live! with Kelly and Michael. He also regularly (if not daily) appears on Good Morning America, and during the football season, Strahan is part of FOX NFL Sunday. Clearly Strahan doesn't have enough to do since he will host the ABC's "The $100,000 Pyramid" this summer.

For those of you who don't remember this show when it was hosted by Dick Clark (yes, it was hosted by others, but I associate the show with him), "Pyramid is a classic American television game show franchise that has aired several versions domestically and internationally. The game features two contestants, each paired with a celebrity. Players attempt to guess a series of words or phrases based on descriptions given to them by their teammates."

So now is your chance to be a contestant. To apply, go to http://www.castingpyramid.com/. You'll need to make a video, but I know you can do it!

If you have any questions or interest, you can also contact casting producer Sami Blumenthal at castingpyramid[at]gmail.com.

Good luck!

Oh, if you want to see Tony Randall saying a swear word on the $10,000 Pyramid, here you go:

Donald Trump Is Going To Be President

What a scary headline. The American political system has become extremely partisan with little getting done in Washington, so many voters are looking for a political outsider. Donald Trump with his celebrity status and his "I'm saying what I want to say" style is appealing to a lot of people. As I'm writing this on Tuesday evening, The Washington Post declared Trump the Republican winner in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Virginia. Sure Ted Cruz took Oklahoma and Texas, and Marco Rubio won Minnesota but the Senators from Texas and Florida, respectively, are well behind Trump in the overall delegate count. Mathematically, it seems unlikely that either candidate has any chance of catching Trump. Seriously, how many states is Trump going to lose? Maybe Rubio can take Florida and perhaps Governor Kasich can win his home state of Ohio, but Trump seems unstoppable in capturing the delegate count to receive the nomination.

I'm sure you're thinking, um Sean, doesn't Hillary Clinton have something to say in the general election? Well yes, but let's look at the map.

I really like this map even if it was used for an ad campaign. Anyway, let's look at the United States map.

Probably 40 states are already decided in November. The Democratic candidate will take California, Vermont, Massachusetts, etc. The Republican candidate will win Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, etc. Really, you're looking at around 10 states (the usual suspects of Florida, Ohio, etc.) to decide the election. I'm obviously not sharing anything new. What will be interesting is how the Republican establishment, which appears to despise Trump, responds. Unless they can create some type of coop and a brokered convention (now that would make some terrific television!), what are they going to do come November? How can they go against the will of the party voters? Plus, think about how many Congressional hearings there have been about Bengazi and Clinton's emails. You think that the Republican establishment is all of a sudden going to support Clinton over Trump? I think not. They also know that another conservative third party candidate would essentially give Clinton the White House. After all the time fighting Obama and Clinton and all of the hours of FOX News coverage against the former Senator and Secretary of State, they are reluctantly going to support Trump as the lesser of two evils in their minds.

So it's really going to come down to voter turnout. And that's where Trump has done extremely well. There was record turnout in Virginia on Tuesday as there was in Iowa and other states during this campaign season. People are voting that never have before. Will Clinton be able to inspire the Democratic base and get enough Independents in Virginia, Florida and North Carolina to win the election? As of today, my guess is no.

I'll close with sharing this amazing John Oliver video since it truly is "must watch." Please note that there is some NSFW language.

Friday Video

First, congratulations to me for posting blog posts over five consecutive days. Enjoy it since this probably won't happen again for a long time.

Today's video is from the band Cold War Kids.



Shouldn't they be Cold War Grandkids since the Cold War has been over for at least 20 years? Anyway, I really like this song, titled First. Not sure I understand the video, but I don't understand lots of things.

Have a great weekend!

TMI Thursday: 25 Random Things About Myself (Updated)

Facebook has this thing where they show you "Memories" of your stories from the same date of different years. Recently, Facebook showed me a post from 2009 where I shared 25 Random Things About Myself. I also shared this information (shockingly) in a blog post. Again, this blog is really old. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to revisit the 25 random things.

1. The first concert I ever attended was Neil Diamond. The most recent concert I saw was also Neil Diamond.

The last concert I attended was Billy Joel. I also saw Billy Joel several times in high school. Perhaps I'll see a performer that's not an AARP member this summer!

2. I spend a good five minutes each morning trying to find a pair of matching socks.

It now only takes me about two minutes each morning to find a matching pair of socks. Major improvement!

3. I enjoy being a soccer referee and know that I am a good ref; however, I don’t attempt to get to the next level because I don’t want to deal with even worse parents and players.

I have worked higher level soccer games the past few years, and yes, the coaches and parents are definitely worse. I don't know what it is, but there is just so much complaining and arguing over any little call. It really has gotten worse.

4. I am addicted to fantasy leagues. Over the past year, I have participated in football leagues, 3 baseball leagues, 2 hockey leagues, a Rock of Love 3 league and several NCAA Tournament brackets. I joined a NASCAR league a few years ago, even though I know nothing about the "sport." Should I also mention that I’ll probably run an Oscar poll for this year’s Academy Awards?

I've cut back significantly. Now, I'm down to 4 fantasy football leagues and 2 baseball leagues. If there's a new season of Rock of Love, though, I'm all in!

5. By waiting in line for over five hours, I earned free burritos for a year from California Tortilla. Over the next 52 weeks, I saved $278.09 in burritos and quesadillas.

Ah, the good old days! Of course, I also earned free paninis for a year and burritos for a year again in 2014-2015. Between the two, I probably ate about $750 worth of free food.

6. Before meeting my wife, my longest relationship was 6 months.

This is still true.

7. The idea of buying and selling a home (the process is going to start soon) really, really scares me.

We sold our condo and bought a townhouse about 6 years ago. Yes, it was scary.

8. Due to a stupid car accident that occurred just before the end of my junior year, I was voted Worst Driver in high school. I also finished second in the class clown voting.

There is no truth to the rumor that there was a recount based on inaccurate balloting.

9. I cannot ride a bike; I am not going to elaborate on this.

I still can't ride a bike, and my older son will probably start learning to ride this spring. I'll teach him how to drive in 11 years, but I'm not going to be of any use teaching him how to ride a bike.

10. My blog is an extremely important part of my life. Although it may not look like it, I spend many hours each week writing posts.

With kids, I just don't have the time to write like I did 7 years ago. That's why you only see a few posts a week these days.

11. Many people work retail jobs in high school or college. I worked at Blockbuster and Kohl’s after earning my Masters degree.

I wore my Blockbuster shirt this past Halloween.

12. Assuming that the bus and Metro run on time and aren’t too crowded (huge assumptions here), I enjoy my 50+ minute commute each way as I have read more books for pleasure since I started my job 4 years ago than the rest of my life combined.

The bus has been fine, but Metro is hit or miss these days. Plus, I haven't read any books this month though I'm up on my Washington Post Magazine.

13. I was a Politics major in college and even interned with my Congressman. Although I still follow politics, especially during elections, I hate all of the partisanism (is that even a word?).

Things have certainly changed, haven't they? Everyone gets along now and both political parties work together effectively in the best interest of the American people.

14. I love my kitten and let him get away with just about everything. I hope that I’m not the same way when I have kids (the letting them get away with everything part).

I'm probably a little lenient with the kids, but as long as they aren't hurting themselves, hurting each other or damaging property, I'm generally fine with what they do.

15. Speaking of kids I don’t have, I’m convinced that my children will not be Pittsburgh Pirates fans. I can’t see them supporting such a horrible team especially when they will likely attend dozens of Nationals games. They are going to think that racing presidents are better than racing pierogies!

The Pirates have actually been good. My kids really might be Pirates fans!

16. When I lived in Columbus, I was a below-average beer-man for the Blue Jackets, Crew and Clippers.

Ah, the good old days of Columbus. Back when I was a full time grad student and worked three jobs. Good times! (I'm actually being serious. Good times!)

17. My driver’s license states that I am 5’ 7” and as a legal form of identification, it must be true.

Sadly, a late-30s growth spurt didn't happen.

18. I used to be involved in dozens of activities, clubs and sports in high school and college. I don’t do much of anything anymore.

Well, at least now I have the being a parent excuse. That eats up any free time.

19. The first concert I attended without my parents was Debbie Gibson. I was 24. (The age line was a joke; seeing Debbie Gibson was not.)

My Debbie Gibson knowledge remains strong and finally paid off. I had a top 10% finish in a Learned League Debbie Gibson quiz.

20. I want to write a book someday.

Did you see where I don't have time to blog? How I'm not involved in activities anymore? Sure, I have plenty of time to write a book.

21. I love traveling and always need to have a trip to look forward to.

Now this is sad. Besides going to Florida to visit the kids' grandparents and traveling for work once a year, I don't go anywhere. I want to go on a real vacation!

22. I performed in two award-winning musicals in high school. I made the cast through an awesome dance audition coupled with the fact that they needed more guys.

Nothing new to add here. I'll just reiterate that I was amazing in my dance audition.

23. When I took the Myers-Briggs test about 10 years ago, I was an extrovert. The older I get, the more introverted I become.

I really think I would land on introvert if I took the Myers-Briggs test today. Meeting new people is hard for me these days, and I find that I need my own time at the end of the day to recharge.

24. Here are random thoughts I have: how many total miles have I driven; what song have I heard more than any other; what toilets have I used the most in my life (#1 and #2 are in my parents’ house; #3 is my current home; there are several possibilities for #4).

Recently, there was a major renovation of the office bathroom with brand new urinals and toilets. So do the new toilets restart the count or is the bathroom, and not the actual toilet, the key factor in the count? Um, so I guess I still have random thoughts.

25. I was a three-sport star in high school in soccer, tennis and swimming/diving. OK, star is a bit of a stretch. As you can probably tell, I also like self-deprecating humor.

Still got that wonderful sense of humor!

Well, that was fun. Maybe I'll revisit this again in 2023.

Duquesne's Exquisite Mustache

A few years ago, the winner of one of my fantasy football leagues asked that we donate to Duquesne University in Pittsburgh rather than to send him money. This was even tax-deductible! This donation also put me on Duquesne's mailing list, so I now receive the Duquesne University Magazine. I recently received the Winter 2016 edition which features a story about Ken Gormley, the School of Law Dean who will become the 13th President of Duquesne University in July.

I don't know anything about Gormley or his qualifications , and while we don't know much about anything here at Sean's Ramblings, we certainly know good mustaches. And Gormley has a solid 'stache.

While the magazine includes a section showing quotes from various figures such as U.S. Congressman Mike Doyle, U.S. Senator Mark Warner, Frank Coonelly, President of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, praising Gormley, none of these folks referenced Gormley's mustache or how his mustache is part of his leadership skills and abilities. I hope the Duquesne University Magazine has a separate feature once Gormley becomes President about his mustache.

Trivia Tuesday: Route 66 Edition

I've mentioned several times that I'm part of the Learned League trivia league. I'm clearly one of the worst players in the league, but I enjoy it. That's not what this post is about though. There was a recent One-Day quiz about Route 66. I borrowed several questions from this quiz for today's Trivia Tuesday. I expect Eric, a Route 66 enthusiast, to do well.

1. Which American author coined the term “The Mother Road” for Route 66, in his depiction of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s?

2. Beginning in Chicago, Illinois and ending in Santa Monica, California, Route 66’s 2,000+ miles go through how many states, inclusive of the two termini?

3. Sheryl Crow could “drive up to _________ for the night, find some crossroad trucker to demonstrate his might.” Glenn Frey was “standing on a corner in __________, Arizona, such a fine sight to see.” While neither song is about Route 66, they each contain the name of a town along it. Complete the lyrics by naming both Route 66 towns.

4. What movie, whose setting was inspired by the small towns that were bypassed when Route 66 was replaced by interstates, was the highest grossing film of Paul Newman’s career? It was also his last feature film credit as an actor.

5. When President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Interstate Highway Act in 1956, it was the beginning of the end for the “Main Street of America.” As the new system was built, no single interstate was designated to replace Route 66; instead, 5 different interstates now make up the route that most closely parallels it. Name any 3 of those 5 interstates.

6. “Get Your Kicks on Route 66” has been recorded by Bing Crosby, Chuck Berry, the Rolling Stones, Asleep at the Wheel, and Depeche Mode, among others. However, it was first recorded in 1946 by what crooner and jazz musician?

7. Route 66 was established in 1926 as one of the original highways in the U.S. Highway system. It was decertified and officially ceased to exist in what year? Other significant events to occur that year include Mikhail Gorbachev becoming leader of the Soviet Union, a Stanley Cup win for the Edmonton Oilers, and the release of New Coke.

8. In the summer of 1997, my Dad and I were stuck in this Arizona town on route 66 due to car problems. The part that we needed wasn't in this town and could not be delivered for several days due to a UPS strike. We ended up renting a car and visiting the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. We also ate at the same diner in this Arizona town, also home of Northern Arizona University, at least three times.

9. Although he may not have ever driven on any portion of Route 66, this #66, one of the greatest hockey players of all time, won his second Stanley Cup against Chicago.

As always leave your answers in the comments section below. In addition, don't use the internet for assistance. Good luck!

Sean Eats Incorrectly

A few months ago, I shared that I occasionally ate pizza bagels with ketchup instead of tomato sauce as a kid. This news nearly broke the internet with the outrage I received. So now I'm back with a new proclamation on how I eat incorrectly.

When I was in school, if you didn't get lunch from the cafeteria, you brought your meal from home and kept it in your locker. My two staples were either Hebrew National salami or cheese sandwiches. These sandwiches would sit in my room-temperature (if not warmer) locker for several hours before I ate them. I guess maybe some kids had ice packs or lunch bags that kept their meals cool, but I wasn't one of them.

Now that I'm an adult (by age though maybe not maturity level), I still regularly bring salami or cheese sandwiches from home for lunch. All these years later, I find that these sandwiches taste a little better if I don't refrigerate them. Essentially, my sandwiches sit in a Ziploc bag in my backpack for approximately five hours between the time I make them and eat them.

If this is supposed to make you sick, apparently, I've built up an immunity over the years. So am I alone on this one (again) or does anyone else eat sandwiches this way?

Hating Hillary Clinton

Eight year ago (8!?!?!), I wrote a post where I asked why people hate Hillary Clinton. Since the former Senator, Secretary of State and First Lady seems to be in the news quite a bit lately, many people seem to be asking the same question again. In just the first 45 days or so of 2016, here are keywords (generally through Google searches) of how people found Sean's Ramblings:

Is Hillary disliked by most American people

Specifically why do people hate Hillary Clinton

Why do people dislike Hillary

Why do people like Hilary Clinton

Why do people like Hillary Clinton

Why do people not like Hillary Clinton

Why do people not trust the Clintons?

Why do people think Hillary Clinton is evil?

Why do women hate Hillary Clinton

Why does everyone make fun of Hillary Clinton

Why does the younger generation not like Hillary

Why don't people like Hilary

Why dont people like Hillary Clinton

Why is Hillary Clinton disliked

Why is Hillary Clinton not liked

Why so many hate Hillary Clinton

Why to not like Hillary Clinton

young mail big nose actor


Hmmm...not sure how that last one got in here.

Stupid Henrik Lundqvist

During the Penguins-Rangers playoff series last April, my friend Nicholas, better known as PSAMP (and also known as Tecmo from back in the day) started a campaign to make Andrew W.K.'s Party Hard the Penguins' goal song. After months of tweets and correspondence by hundreds, if not thousands, of Pens fans with the organization, the team obliged. I suggest you check out The Point of Pittsburgh and The Hockey Writers for more on how this campaign succeeded.

Anyway, to celebrate the goal song, the Penguins invited Andrew W.K. and Nicholas to attend Wednesday night's game against the New York Rangers. It was going to be awesome seeing them and the arena celebrate when the Penguins scored. The Pens came in as one of the hottest teams in the league with Sidney Crosby scoring approximately 30 goals (plus or minus 20) the past 7 games. Despite getting more shots and more chances than the Rangers, the Penguins were held scoreless by arguably the best goalie on the planet, Henrik Lundqvist. Therefore, the goal song wasn't played. As I wrote in the post title, Stupid Henrik had to go and ruin this celebration.

Nevertheless, it looked like Nicholas (center) and Andrew W.K. (wearing sunglasses) had a fun time.

* Full disclosure: I never heard any of Andrew W.K.'s songs before this campaign started. I think I knew of him from being on MTV and VH1 shows.


Update: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has an article about this too.

Living In New Hampshire During An Election

You may have heard that there is an election in New Hampshire today. Even if for some reason you don't ever follow the news, I'm sure that you've seen this outstanding video from Saturday's Republican debate which I may have watched a dozen times.



I've always wondered what it's like to live in New Hampshire during the nation's first Presidential primary. Does every candidate personally call you or knock on your door? My friend Ellen, also the author of the terrific Bookspired blog, moved to New Hampshire a few years ago, so I asked her about life in the Granite State.

My perception is that New Hampshire, in terms of population, is rather small. With so many candidates spending so much time in New Hampshire over the past year, I feel like the odds of seeing or meeting a candidate are pretty high. So since you're a parent of young kids, what candidate has kissed or tried to kiss them?

You know, I thought we'd run into a candidate or two in recent weeks or months, but so far we haven't. They're around, of course ... Many of the major events happen at St. Anselm College, which is right in our town. Carly Fiorina did a town hall meeting at our kids' future school this Saturday. I'm glad no candidates have tried to kiss my babies!

(This may be the last picture you'll see of Fiorina as a Presidential candidate.)

Being serious (momentarily), what's it like being in New Hampshire days before an election where the whole country is watching (or at least will watch after the Super Bowl)?

It is kind of exciting that all eyes will be on New Hampshire. We've had a lot of knocks at our door from canvassers. I'd say tomorrow we'll get more. The weirdest one happened yesterday. My attending nurse for my second daughter's birth knocked on my door to ask for my vote for Hillary. Really tugging at heartstrings.

Just going to the grocery store or running errands, can you avoid the election or do people simply go about their business?

People seem to go about their business. I thought I might have an exciting sighting at Market Basket, but nothing yet. So far, no one has approached me while I've been in public. They just come right to my house. The political signs are everywhere, though, similar to the situation in Northern Virginia.

I decided to look up famous people from New Hampshire. I figure (my perception again) that they are all traveling the state with the candidates they support. So who did Mandy Moore, born in Nashua (though she moved to Florida at two months) endorse? What about current Pittsburgh Penguin Ben Lovejoy? Basically, have you had any celebrity sightings either from people endorsing the candidates or even media members?

I didn't even think of the possibility of meeting real celebrities! That would be truly exciting. Mostly I've been thinking up choice words for Donald Trump, if he should cross my path.

What do you expect when you go to the polls on Tuesday? Big crowds? Offers for a free California Tortilla taco if you wear your "I Voted" sticker?

Hmm well they are pretty organized here in my town, and it's not that big, so I expect an efficient voting experience. I would love the bribe of free tacos, but it'd have to be Chipotle ... No California Tortilla in these parts!
(Sean's note: Chipotle offered free burritos Monday, but that had nothing to do with any elections.)

What do you expect New Hampshire to look like on Thursday?

I expect there will be no candidates left in the Granite state ... they'll be heading to Nevada and South Carolina, I guess? Or maybe making their rounds in the other states in preparation for Super Tuesday? It'll be interesting to see how long the signs hang around. Jeb seems to have the most signs in our area ... maybe because of the proximity to the family residence in Kennebunkport. I think NH will be back to business as usual pretty quickly.

Thanks again to Ellen for answering my questions. Tuesday should be fun in New Hampshire. Please make sure to check out Ellen's blog, Bookspired.

A Reason To Root Against Peyton Manning

During last year's football season, we established that Peyton Manning dresses terribly. He is probably the only person to tuck a football jersey into his jeans. Now, Manning is at it again. Hanging out at the gym with J.J. Watt and Papa John, Manning tucks his T-shirt into his gym shorts.



Again, is Manning the only person to tuck in his shirt at the gym? I can't tell what he's doing with his football jersey at the end of the video either. It may not be tucked in, but it doesn't look right.

Anyway, if you're not sure who to support in Sunday's big game, I doubt you'll see any member of the Carolina Panthers tucking their football jerseys into jeans or T-shirt into shorts at the gym.

Randomness & Monday Links

Wegmans celebrated its 100th birthday this weekend by giving away lots of samples, grocery bags and birthday cake. (My 1.5 year old - Pedro Tulo - loved the sheet cake.) While I really enjoy shopping at Wegmans and definitely appreciated the free swag, I feel partially responsible for keeping the grocery store in business. Wegmans opened in Virginia in 2004, so I have shopped at either the Dulles or Fairfax locations for 11-12 years now. I also shopped at Wegmans when I was in college for 4 years in Ithaca. Conservatively, I've probably easily spent $50,000 at Wegmans. You're welcome, Wegmans!

This is a recent discussion between me and my 4 year old (The Moose)

The Moose: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Me: Retired.

The Moose: (Excitedly) A Tiger!

Although The Moose doesn't read yet, he is now a subscriber to Entertainment Weekly. He had some airline miles that were about to expire, so "he" redeemed them for a year subscription. I'm sure he's going to be excited to read articles about The Walking Dead.

A few articles to start your week:

PGH Sports Daily had an exclusive interview with Steelers and Pitt sportscaster Bill Hillgrove

This is a fascinating article by John Scott, the NHL enforcer/All-Star/now minor leaguer who also happens to have an engineering degree. [Players Tribune]

The Steel Trap published its latest, always entertaining First World Problems post.

Craig Adams Retires

Former Pittsburgh Penguin Craig Adams retired on Tuesday after playing 14 seasons in the NHL. I actually thought he retired when the Penguins didn't sign him to a new contract at the end of the 2014-2015 season. Adams is (I believe) the only NHL player born in Brunei and also attended a small Boston-area school called Harvard. Adams frustrated many Penguins fans at the end of his tenure for his lack of offensive, and even defensive, production. He also made the dumb decision to fight his own teammate, superstar Evgeni Malkin, in practice. Someone that went to Harvard should know better. With all of this written, I still have a bit of a soft spot for Adams.

Adams was claimed off waivers in March 2009, but his Stanley Cup experience and excellent work on the penalty kill helped lead the Penguins to their own Stanley Cup three months later. There was also a bit of a running joke that whenever Adams scored, which was infrequent (though he did score three goals during the 2009 Cup run), the Penguins won. However, my favorite Adams moment came off the ice during HBO's 24/7.



Now that I'm a father of a preschooler, I appreciate this video even more. My 4 year-old loves to rattle off names of his classmates or tell us who has what job (line-leader, calendar person, etc.). Maybe The Moose (my son) could have been an HBO star!

Winter Storm Jonas

If your city is going to be paralyzed by a blizzard, it might as well be an historic one. Winter Storm Jonas arrived in the DC area on Friday afternoon and finally finished its work sometime late Saturday night / early Sunday morning. While you can see the snow totals for the DC area here (my estimate is that we received about 27 inches at my home), I decided to give a thumbs up/thumbs down on the snowstorm.

Thumbs Up: Jonas. Look, I don't understand why every storm needs a name, but Jonas is fine particularly since the Jonas Brothers are probably thrilled by the extra exposure. Meanwhile, I hope that Hanson is plotting somewhere to have their own blizzard.

Thumbs Down: Snowzilla. Is this name really necessary? Why did this name make it in news stories?

Thumbs Up: My son (The Moose) helping shovel.

Thumbs Down: My street. The snow plow got stuck on Sunday morning, and I don't think it's been back since. My side of the street isn't bad but the other half is still a mess.

Thumbs Up: I found a bag of Stacy's Pita Chips. Sure the expiration date was last month, but they still taste good to me.

Thumbs Down: Sweets. I don't seem to have any here. I should have bought a bag of Hershey's kisses before the snow hit.

Thumbs Up: Me. I did an awesome job shoveling. Here are before and after pictures from Saturday morning.

Of course, we received another foot of snow after I finished, so there was much more shoveling. However, after I finished I felt like quoting Lords of the Underground. They don't understand, I'm the motherf'n man. (Some of the words in the video are NSFW.)



Thumbs Down: My car. I don't think it's ever getting out of this parking spot. My car is in the middle.

Thumbs Up: Pittsburgh Sports. Pitt won an exciting basketball game on Saturday afternoon while the Penguins defeated the Vancouver Canucks.

Thumbs Down: This was supposed to be the annual hockey road trip weekend. It didn't happen. Of course, the New York Islanders actually cancelled the game in Brooklyn, so maybe it will happen in February instead.

Thumbs Up: The Washington Post. The Capital Weather Gang provided great information over the past few days.

Thumbs Down: The Washington Post. I'm a Sunday subscriber, and while I didn't expect to receive the Sunday paper, I liked getting the circular on Friday. Unfortunately, instead of including the Comics, Travel and Arts sections, all I got was the weekly ads. Heaven forbid we don't know the sale prices at Kohl's and Target!

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

There seems to be a lot of hype about the upcoming Batman v Superman film. Personally, based on the picture below, I don't get it.

Of course, maybe the special effects will be unbelievable. I will give director Zack Snyder and the make-up people a lot of credit though. The Batman pictured doesn't look anything like Ben Affleck.

The Perfect Crime

I'm not a thief, but I'm going to play one today on the Internet. Recently, a man dressed in a Walmart uniform to steal from the store. Here's the story:

Authorities are searching for a man who may be stealing from Walmart stores by wearing an employee vest and who, on one recent occasion, used a ruse to get a cashier to walk away from their logged-in register, Fairfax County police said Thursday.

Police said the unidentified man walked up to a cashier at the Fair Lakes Shopping Center store around 4 p.m. on Dec. 15. He told the cashier that he was needed in the office and, after the cashier left without logging out of the register, proceeded to check out a customer before taking an undisclosed amount of cash.

This (and thinking about watching Ocean's Eleven) has inspired me to pull off my own heist. Look out, world. Prepare for the Blockbuster Bandit!

11th Annual State Of The Ramblings

President Obama may have had his final State of the Union on Tuesday, but the State of the Ramblings continues! 11 years is a long time to write a blog. When I mentioned on Twitter that January 8th marked this anniversary, Kip replied that I was "blogging when 95% of people didn't even know what a Blog was!" Now, I'm writing as people prefer to read everything in 140 characters or less. (Although, if Twitter starts allowing for 10K characters, blogs could be back, baby!)

Long-time readers probably noticed that I don't write nearly as often as I used to. The number of blog posts has decreased annually. Honestly, I just don't have the time to write as I once did. My prime writing time is after the kids go to sleep, but even then, there are things to do around the house, or I just want to sit on the couch and watch TV. Actually, I partially blame TV for my lack of productivity. You just can't concentrate on writing when incredible shows like Fargo, Game of Thrones, or Better Call Saul are on television. I'll blame the Pittsburgh Pirates too. They've been really good the past three seasons, so I find myself trying to follow them as much as possible during the baseball season. (It seems like every Pirates game last summer was a 1-run game!) Of course, I still manage to fall asleep watching television several times a week, so writing while napping isn't possible (at least, not yet!).

With all of that written, I still managed to write 123 posts in 2015. That's a post every three days. Not too shabby if you look at it that way. I had several big ideas for blog posts last year, but many of these fell through for various reasons. One that succeeded was my fascinating interview with Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog. It's very long (part 1 & part 2) but much deeper than what is usually on Sean's Ramblings.

I also wrote a piece where I blasted VH1's decision not to renew Jim Shearer's contract. This turned out to be my most read and most-commented on post in 2015. Oh, check out Jim's latest project Stillers Cabin (a new version of the fantastic Yinz Luv Da Stillers)



I could write more about my kids, but I'm not sure how interesting that is to anyone outside my immediate family. Here are two recent stories:

1. The preschool teacher for my four year old (The Moose) read a story about a child with an imaginary friend. At the end of the story, she asked the class if any of the kids have an imaginary friend. The Moose was the only one to raise his hand. When the teacher asked the name of The Moose's imaginary friend, he gave the name of his brother, my 1.5 year old child (Pedro Tulo). My younger son is quite real and certainly not imaginary.

2. Pedro Tulo had a bad case of diaper rash not too long ago. Our doctor recommended a homemade recipe of mixing equal parts Desitin, Vaseline, and corn starch. It worked, but this is definitely not Kosher for Passover.

So is this stuff worthy of its own blog post? I don't know.

For 2016, I still have a few big ideas. I want to apply for media credentials for the 2017 Academy Awards. (I need more likes on my Facebook page for this to happen.) I also really, really, really need a fashion makeover. My pants, jeans, and some of my shirts are too big, and even the clothes that fit aren't all that stylish. Basically, unlike Taylor Swift, I do go out of style. Anyway, my dream is for a fashion blogger and/or clothing store to help me while I document the experience. Ideally, the store with donate these clothes to me (or reduce the prices significantly) for the exposure. I'm basically a pro-bono case for them!

So thanks to all of you for reading over the past 11 years. Cheers!

Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting (Steelers-Bengals Recap)

What a strange Saturday night! No one won the Powerball, and we learned that Sean Penn met with El Chapo as the Mexican drug lord was a fugitive. Sean Penn is welcome to further explain his actions right here on Sean's Ramblings. You know since his name is Sean? Oh, there was a playoff football game between the Steelers and Bengals too.

I have so many thoughts about this game, but that could take a while, so let's start with this non-comprehensive list of things to happen in Steelers/Bengals by Patrick Daugherty, a NFL writer for Rotoworld/NBC Sports:

A few items not mentioned above.

- Domata Peko's unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was actually amusing, especially if you imagine Michael Keaton or Christian Bale in the "cape" instead of Peko.



- Early in the game, Phil Simms said that Antonio Brown is a "tremendous catcher of the football." Is Brown just an adequate catcher of a baseball and basketball? Maybe he is a lousy catcher of the frisbee. Perhaps he is a catcher in the rye.

- There has been no discussion about the size of Steelers RB Fitzgerald Toussaint's forehead. I really want to find clips from I Married an Axe Murderer here, but we'll settle for the picture.

- I'd love to know what Joey Porter said to Pacman Jones to cause Jones to go nuts. Maybe he said Ms. Pacman is a better game (which is completely accurate) and Pacman disagreed.

- For Bengals fans upset about Porter even being on the field while the Steelers medical staff were treating Brown, let's check out this video from near the end of the third quarter.



Giovani Bernard was just leveled by Ryan Shazier. (I'm not going to debate whether or not there should have been a flag.) The call on the field was a catch, so the Bengals offense and the Steelers defense were on the field as the Bengals' medical staff was attending to Bernard. This was before Mike Tomlin challenged the play. So look who was out in the middle of the field? Bengals defensive player Vontaze Burfict. There were other Bengals folks there too who had just as much reason to be on the field as Porter did in the fourth quarter. Pause the video at the 10 second mark. Who is the person dressed in all black (clearly not an active player) at the top left that puts his hands on Bud Dupree? While Porter is going to get fined by the NFL, he shouldn't be alone in sending money to the league.

- Mike Munchak got a 15 yard penalty & Joey Porter helped draw one. These are both Steelers assistant coaches. So where was the leadership of defensive coordinator Keith Butler and offensive coordinator Todd Haley for not getting involved themselves? Or was this brilliant leadership by having their subordinates get involved?

This isn't from Ted Cruz, but someone should probably let the Cruz campaign know that telling a football team's fans that they do not deserve a team is not going to help to win the Ohio vote.

@dtsjr @NFL Really? Poor sportsmanship and stupidity lost that game. And the classless fans show they do not deserve a team.

— Ted Cruz 4 President (@Virginians4Cruz) January 10, 2016

So now the Steelers will travel to Denver to face the Broncos with a questionable Brown, DeAngelo Williams, and Ben Roethlisberger. However, if you want to read even more about this game, I recommend the following:

DK Pittsburgh Sports
PGH Sports Daily Bulletin
Behind The Steel Curtain
USA Today's Steelers Wire
Steelers Depot

Oh, let's end with Nick Lachey's thoughts on the game. (h/t Rob)

Friday Videos

Today marks the 11th anniversary of Sean's Ramblings. I'll celebrate this milestone and write my annual State of the Ramblings next week, but in the meantime, here are two videos to end the first full week of 2016.

The first video is Cake By the Ocean by a band called DNCE. Apparently, the band is too cool for an A. Anyway, I heard this song for the first time on New Year's Eve Day on the radio. Then, I saw DNCE perform this song on ABC's New Year's Rockin' Eve. It's a really, really, catchy song. Oh, the band is fronted by one of the Jonas brothers, and there are some NSFW words in the song/video. I didn't realize any of the Jonas brothers were allowed to swear. Back to the song, I can't get it out of my head, and that's a good thing.



As a bonus, artist/musician Ali Spagnola performs all 46 Top Ten hits from 2015 into one 4:30 video. Plus, I believe that Ali is originally from Pittsburgh. Enjoy!



Have a great weekend!

2015 Sean's Ramblings Visitors

Ryan Seacrest, Carson Daly and Pitbull all counted down to start 2016 on national television, but I know that the new year can't truly begin for all us until we know the top visitors to Sean's Ramblings in 2015. Like past years, this information is courtesy of Google Analytics.

Top 10 Number Of Visitors To Sean's Ramblings By City

1. New York

2. Chantilly, VA

3. Pittsburgh

4. Arlington, VA

5. Washington

6. Deerfield Beach, FL

7. Chicago

8. Los Angeles

9. Houston

10. Towson, MD

This is the third straight year New York finished in the top spot.

For many years, some variation of Pittsburgh, New York, and Washington always finished in the top 3. Washington has slipped the last two years, and my guess is that's because the popular blog, DC Blogs has gone dormant as has the DC blogger community. (There's a DC Bloggers MeetUp group that just started, but where the DC blogging community seemed dynamic about 6-7 years ago, it's no comparison to the current vibrant Pittsburgh blogging community.) The fact that I seem to write less and less about Pittsburgh sports is probably the reason my hometown finished 3rd.

As a reminder, if your city is not in the top 10, visit my blog from multiple computers or mobile devices in 2016 early and often and encourage your friends and family to do so too.

Top 10 Visitors by Country

1. United States

2. Canada

3. United Kingdom

4. Australia

5. Germany

6. France

7. Russia

8. Philippines

9. South Korea

10. India

Where did you go Brazil visitors? I guess you'll be back in 2016 since you won't find any better coverage of the Summer Olympics than here!

Finally, in the past, I shared the top 10 keywords used to find Sean's Ramblings. However, I'm not sure about how reliable this is anymore particularly since there are separate entries for Sean's Ramblings, Seans Ramblings, Sean Ramblings, etc. Therefore, here are the Top 10 Visited Posts In 2015 (even if they were published prior to 2015).

1. The Last VJ

VH1's decision not to renew the outstanding Jim Shearer's contract to host the Top 20 countdown.

2. Maroon 5's Sugar Sounds Like Michael Jackson's Beat It

3. 2011 Year-End Credit Card Spending Summary

People still find my blog for this post simply because folks freak out when they see Sun Refining & Marketing on their credit card bills. This company is also known as Sunoco.

4. Why Do People Hate Hillary Clinton?

This blog post is now 8 years old...and will probably be the #1 most visited post in 2016.

5. Hyomin Throws Out First Pitch At Pittsburgh Pirates Game

Korean pop superstar Hyomin threw out the first pitch at a Pirates game. I'm still convinced that the Pirates would have won the Wild Card game if she threw out the pitch at that game too.

6. Do Pretzels Go Bad

I still think I need a good answer to this.

7. Sally Wiggin

A 2013 post about a legendary Pittsburgh broadcaster

8. Songs With Alcohol in the Title

This post is from 2007! 2007!

9. Chris Coghlan Hates Asians

I may have been a little upset that the Cubs outfielder injured Jung Ho Kang.

10. Hanson Brother Runs NHL All-Star 5K

A fun post about my friend who dressed like this to run a 5K.

See you in 2016!