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!

Sean's Ramblings 2015 Year In Review (Sort Of)

Welcome to my 11th annual year in review, where I take the first few lines of the first entry of each month in order to produce a random and (hopefully) interesting summary of 2015.

January: Happy 2015! Now that 2014 is complete, it's time for my annual post where I share data about Sean's Ramblings visitors and how people find this blog.

February: Happy Tuesday everyone! Let's get right to the trivia today. Your challenge is to answer the questions based on the pictures below.

March: I don't understand Maroon 5. I mean, I understand that they have a string of catchy pop hits, but they're as big as they are solely because of Adam Levine.

April: Today’s post comes from Stephen of the Crank Crank Revolution, and is part of a special day of shenanigans from other Pittsburgh Bloggers. You can see my post over on Jelly Jars where I share a never-written about story about trying to impress my wife by biking on our honeymoon.

May: I received a message in my Spam folder recently from someone named BadGirl28. Yes, it really was a Spam folder. Anyway, I was curious about why BadGirl28 went by BadGirl28.

June: 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.

July: 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.

August: 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.

September: We went to a birthday party at a park on Sunday, and as we were leaving, I noticed that a youth group that I was involved in during high school was setting up in a nearby pavilion. I approached one of the girls, who was probably about 16, and had the following conversation.

October: One of my favorite events of the year, the Fall for Fairfax KidsFest, takes place this weekend (Saturday, 10/3 & Sunday, 10/4) at the Fairfax County Government Center. This free event is a huge hit for my kids.

November: Many years ago, I was somewhat of a political junkie. I majored in politics, organized a successful voter registration drive in college and had internships with my Congressman and a State Senator. Like many people, though, I got tired of all of the partisan fighting.

December: I received a coupon pamphlet in the mail recently featuring ads and deals for local businesses. While there didn't seem to be anything worthwhile, I couldn't help but notice this ad on the cover.

While this was a "summary" of my blog in 2015, I encourage you to check out my Best and Worst of 2015 post.

Have a very Happy New Year!

Sean's Best & Worst of 2015

Many television shows, magazines, websites and newspapers have best and worst of 2015 lists. Well, I do too, and while mine is probably not nearly as good as their lists, I think that my list is more entertaining.

Best TV Show of 2015: Fargo

Game of Thrones is always amazing, and while I don't see every episode, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is both educational and extremely entertaining. I also always enjoy Brooklyn Nine-Nine. However, my favorite show this past year was Fargo. Although season one was in 2014, I didn't actually watch it until late 2015. And I couldn't stop watching it. Billy Bob Thornton was incredible in such a fascinating character, and the rest of the cast was amazing. I've recorded all of season two and am finally going to start watching it any day now.

Worst TV Show of 2015: The Mysteries of Laura

I've never actually seen this show, but the fact that it wasn't cancelled cost me The Ted Marshall Open TV Death Pool championship for the 2014-2015 season. I seriously have no idea how this show got renewed and is still on the air.

Best Song of 2015...

My rule is that the best song must be from a video that I posted on my blog in 2015. Your nominees are:

Renegades by X Ambassadors
Ex's and Oh's by Elle King
Uma Thurman by Fall Out Boy
Beggin for Thread by Banks
Kathleen by Catfish and the Bottlemen

And the winner is: Kathleen!



Worst Song of 2015: Dooo It! by Miley Cyrus

The Video is NSFW due to language...and for it being a terrible song and terrible video.



Best Movie I Saw In The Theater: Trainwreck

I saw two whole movies in the theater in 2015. That's double what I saw in 2014! Trainwreck was much funnier than I expected. Surprisingly enjoyable appearances by John Cena and LeBron James. Oh, you may have heard that Amy Schumer was in it too.

Worst Movie I Saw in The Theater: The Martian

Okay, so The Martian was better than Trainwreck, but it was a weird experience for me. I finished the book only a few days before I saw the film, so I compared the two constantly. While I won't give away much, there was a part in the movie where Matt Damon drives thousands of miles across Mars. In the book, this was quite an eventful trip. In the movie, driving across Mars was as difficult as driving from New York to Chicago on the interstate in perfect weather. I was also frustrated by the ending. It's really my fault though. I should have known better than to finish the book and see the movie so close together.

Best Book I Read in 2015: My Sunshine Away: a novel by M.O. Walsh

Here's the description: A man reflects on the summer of his fourteenth year, where in Baton Rouge he fell in love with a golden-haired girl across the street before an unspeakable crime shattered illusions in his seemingly idyllic neighborhood.

My Sunshine Away is a coming of age book, but quite dark because of the crime that I guess I can't speak about. The book was very well written and the neighborhood certainly had some fascinating characters. I highly recommend it.

Honorable mentions: Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng and The Martian: a novel by Andy Weir.

Worst Book I Read in 2015: Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee.

To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favorite books all of time, so I felt like I had to read this book. It actually felt like a homework assignment reading the "new" Harper Lee book at times. There were parts that were really good. Lee also gave what appeared to be an accurate description of what it was like to live in the South during a specific time period. However, Atticus Finch, though fictional, is supposed to be perfect (at least in my mind) and some of his views in Go Set a Watchman don't mesh with how most people in the real world view him.

Best Sports Moment: Max Scherzer's No Hitter

I didn't like the fact that this occurred against the Pirates, but seeing a no-hitter live and at my son's first baseball game was priceless.

Worst Sports Moment of 2015: The Pirates Losing the Wild Card Game

The Pirates had the second best record in all of baseball and were rewarded by getting to host the NL Cy Young Award Winner. Naturally, Arrieta dominated. Here's what ESPN's Jayson Stark wrote about Arrieta:

1) Over his last 18 starts of the season, the Cubs went 17-1 -- and in the only loss, they got no-hit (of course they did) by Cole Hamels. (2) Over his last 20 starts, he hit as many homers as he allowed (two). And (3) if you'd started your clicker on Aug. 1, you'd have counted 269 pitchers who allowed at least four earned runs in an inning. And while all that was going on, Arrieta was also allowing four earned runs -- in two months.

Stupid Cubs. Stupid Arrieta.

Best Blog Post: (Tie) My Summer of Sean series & a special TMI Thursday

The Summer of Sean series chronicled part of my incredible summer of 2000. Unfortunately, I only wrote a few posts. When I have free time, maybe I'll continue this series. I also shared what really happens in my bedroom on nearly a nightly basis.

Worst Blog Post: My Interview With Dr. Christopher Geary About Big Ben's Injury

Based on his position as an Orthopedic Surgeon and Chief of Sports Medicine at Tufts University Medical Center, you would think that Dr. Geary would be better than sharing wild Tweets. He also didn't give much in my interview with him or come close to apologizing for declaring that Big Ben was out for the season.

I hope that you had a great 2015 and a better 2016!