My radio stations

I know, WHO listens to the radio anymore you ask? Well, me. I don't have satellite radio since baseball is on XM and football is on Sirius, it just doesn't make sense to get one until they decide to merge. And oh yeah, I don't have an iPod. Well, Sean lets me use his old nano, but I can't hook it up in my car. I refuse to get one of those tuner devices because the one sound I cannot stand is static. Even a little. Finally, I only have a single disc player in my car and often forget to bring a CD (yes, I also listen to CDs and still buy them) into the car, so unless I want to listen to Daughtry for the 5000th time, I usually end up listening to the radio.

I also listen to the radio at work. If I wasn't able to have music during the day, I think I would go crazy. This is why I love Pandora.com. Usually I listen to Pandora, but some days, I'll listen to the local alt. rock station, like this morning, until the play the lunch bunch during which the crappiest music from the 80s and 90s (Wall of Voodoo anyone?) is played and I have to turn it off.

Just now, I turned on my old radio station from the smallest state. I freaking love this station. They play the Doors, Metallica, Georgia Satellites and Led Zepplin. Where else can you get that kind of variety? I'm not saying it's good day after day, I'm just saying it's fun to listen to. Plus, I get to listen to the cheesiest commercials ever!

A good cause

Some of you may have heard about the Ortiz jersey that got buried at the new Yankee Stadium to try to place some sort of curse on the Yanks by a Bronx-living Red Sox fan. Well, eventually, the news leaked out that he had done this, so the jersey was jackhammered up out of the concrete and was auctioned off to raise money for the Jimmy Fund. Today the bidding closed and it raised over $175,000 for the Fund. As much as I would like the curse the new Yankee stadium, I think this is a greater cause.

Our weekend

Last weekend we traveled to the warmer nether regions of our country to be total tourists in DC. We had great weather on Saturday, saw lots of monuments and met up with a couple of old friends. It was really fun. Lots of walking, ice cream and water. Sean and I took the train down as the plane tickets were ridiculous. Plus, that way, he could get some work done. We took the train from home to Boston, then the Acela from Boston to Baltimore. It took 9.5 hours total - a little less than it would've taken to drive, but we didn't have to drive. It was actually pretty cool to watch the season change from just starting to be spring up here to spring in full bloom down there. We got to go through our hometown and the surrounding hometowns of our friends. We even saw people on the beach in some places! I only have a few suggestions for the Acela: get drink holders - those stupid trays suck. Get satellite radio - how hard can that be? Get better snacks.

It was beautiful when we arrived. We got picked up and headed to Annapolis where we hung out for a while, then had a very nice dinner in town (thanks to Reed) and headed back to get ready for Saturday.

Saturday we headed to the metro to get into DC. It was pretty straightforward to drive to the metro and get into the heart of the city. We walked around for a while and finally met up with one of my friends from college and her boyfriend at the WWII memorial and then we all walked around checking out the monuments. At one point we noticed lots and lots of riot police and people lined up along the street like it was going to be a parade or something. We soon found out it was an Aryan nation rally. As soon as we learned that, we took off, wanted to not be anywhere near such a disgusting cause, especially when the riot police put their face masks down, it was a clear sign to be to book the hell out of there.

At about 5, my friend had to take off so the rest of us headed into Georgetown to hang out and get some pre-dinner snacks. It was a busy place, but we found a cute little bar to get some apps and rest for a little while before heading to my other friend's show. At about 8 or so we got back on the metro to head into Arlington to get to the club. At this point we were all pretty tired from being out in the sun all day, but I was so excited to see my friend it didn't matter to me. We had some dinner at the club (not the greatest food, but it sufficed) and at about 10 or so I finally met up with my friend. I thought I had seen him earlier, but I think it was someone from another band who was playing that night. It was great to see him, but it was really loud so we couldn't really talk much. I got to meet his wife, who is really nice. So we hung out for a while and then his band, Honor By August, went on around 11:30 or so. We didn't stay very long as we didn't have any earplugs (I didn't notice how loud it was - I guess my hearing is already shot) and Sean was wicked tired. It was really fun to see my friend and his band. He just looked so happy playing, it made me really glad for him.

Sunday we had a Segway tour booked for 12:30 so we drove into the city this time, since it's really not that bad on a Sunday, checked in for the tour, got the little tutorial and practiced around in the little courtyard for a bit. Finally, we decided it was raining too much and the tour would suck so we canceled. So, then we headed to ESPN zone for some lunch and games, then headed to the International Spy Museum. It was pretty cool. We walked through the museum and then did an interactive exhibit. At that point it was about 6 or so, so we headed back, had some dinner, then went to the airport. Our flight was delayed about an hour because of the rain, but that wasn't too bad. It's a quick flight so we got home about 12 am I think. The only thing that sucked was that the cabby acted like he knew where he was going, but really didn't - seriously, if you don't know where you're going, just ask!

All in all, we had a great weekend. We had great company and lots of fun. We'll hit the museums next time, and maybe get a tour of the White House.

Aerosmith

Most of you know that Aerosmith is one of my favorite bands. Today I have been able to listen to them all day so far and not hear the same song twice. I have listened to Honkin on Bobo, the two new songs from Ultimate Hits Disc 2, Just Push Play and all 3 discs of Pandora's Box. Up next is Pump and after that Toys in the Attic ( my fav album). When I hit Toys, I will hear some songs that are on Pandora, but that's ok. I love not having an office mate.

New video

If ANYONE has any connections at VH1, MTV, Fuse, etc. SEND THEM THIS VIDEO!

"Into the Light" by Honor By August

The House that Ruth Built

Many of you know this is the final year of Yankee Stadium. The new stadium will still be in the Bronx, but bigger and better (and probably more expensive). I think they are going to do what they did in Foxborough and turn the old stadium into parking, but please correct me if I'm wrong - I don't really keep up on the day to day happenings of the Yanks. I read this article this morning. I didn't realize until I looked at my schedule that the author is right, we (the Sox) close out the regular season of baseball against the Yanks at home (Fenway). I could argue with a few of the author's points (the most famous facility in the history of American sports? I'm not sure about that!) But, it does seem a little wrong that we won't be giving Yankee Stadium a proper farewell - they have to do that against the Orioles. Because, you know, it would be nice to beat the Yanks one last time in their own home*. :)

* and yes, I say this after we got creamed last night

Life and death

Today I went to a funeral. Not the most uplifting event, but in a way, it kind of was. A funeral is really the celebration of a life. The life that was celebrated today was a great, old life. It was a life that cared for his family and made and impression on anyone that it touched. It was a caring life, a loving life, a happy life. A life that survived a few years of WWII in the Pacific, a life that met its life partner 59 years ago. A life that produced 3 successful sons, 3 successful grandchildren, and 3 successful businesses. I am glad that this life was able to be a part of my life, if only on the outskirts and through stories. Knowing how much this life meant to its family, is enough to know how important it was. The eulogies given were heartfelt and meaningful, the song that was performed was beyond compare and the day was beautiful. You could tell that this life was proud to be celebrated. Thank you Mr. A. for having a wonderful life.



sidenote - going to a funeral during Easter made me realize I really don't want to die during Lent - you can't say Alleluia.

Fenway Opening Day!

Yesterday we went to Fenway for Opening Day. It was AWESOME! It was a beautiful day, sunny with a little chill in the air. I got to the park about 11 to wait at a will call window to get my tickets reprinted. The window finally opened about 11:40 and they tried to print my tickets. Of course, there was some printer error which finally got straightened out and I got my tickets to this game and my game in July. YEAH!! While I was waiting there, I talked with a very nice couple from CA who had never been to Fenway before who got tickets from one of the husband's students. They were very excited to be at Fenway. Also, while I was waiting there, members of the Boston Symphony walked in to get ready for their performance later during the opening ceremonies (unfortunately there was no Keith Lockhart as the BSO had a performance that night so they were probably having rehearsal and Fenway got the second string, but they were still great).

After I got my tickets I went across the street into the sun to wait for Sean to arrive (he had to go run an errand). While I was waiting I talked with another nice gentleman who was there waiting for his son. He told me all about Gloucester and New Bedford and said I should make sure to check out Antonio's restaurant the next time I'm in New Bedford. Apparently, they have a rowdy crowd but it's a fun atmosphere and great Portuguese food.

Finally Sean arrived and we went to find our seats. After hitting the bathroom, and getting some food we got to our seats and luckily no one was in them (this was my biggest fear after my tickets never arrived). We had nice neighbors, great seats right in the sun and a perfect view of the field (except for the deepest part of center field). We had to turn around to see the jumbo screen, but that was ok. Around 12:45 they started showing highlights of 2005's Opening Day ceremony and then the post season games from last year. This was great, as it got the crowd all hyped up and ready for the day's ceremonies.

First, they had members of Red Sox Nation carry out flags from lots of different countries representing Red Sox Nation. They marched out the green monster where most of the people entered from. The BSO started playing and the World Series banners were revealed: 1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918, 2004 and finally 2007. When they unveiled the 2007 banner (which is as big as the Green Monster) it flew up in the wind and took a little while to come down so the people on the ground could hold it straight. It was pretty funny. The BSO played the soundtrack to Jurassic Park by John Williams as this was happening. It's kind of weird when you think of it as the soundtrack to a dinosaur movie, but it really is inspiring music on its own. After the banners were unveiled, members of championship Bruins (including Bobby Orr), Celtics (including Bill Russell) and Patriots (including Tedy Bruschi) teams paraded out onto the field, carrying their respective trophies. Finally, this led to the members of last year's roster to receiving their rings. The rings are awesome. They have the Red Sox as the dominant logo and each ring has the player's name and number on the side. Also, for the players who were on the winning roster in 2004, their rings have 2 trophies on them. They are beautiful.

As the rings were distributed, Dice-K completed his warm-up routine out in right field and the bullpen, so we got a good view of that. After the Sox received their rings, they all marched out to center field to raise the 2007 championship flag on the flagpole in center field. Ortiz was going to do it, but he brought Johnny Pesky out to do it - it was so cute, since Papi is about twice the size of Pesky, but you could tell that Pesky was just to proud to be doing it. Once the flag was up, the rosters were announced. The BSO then played the National anthem and 4 F16 fighter jets flew overhead. Finally, it came time for the first pitch, and who better than Bill Buckner to toss it? And he wasn't even booed. Sean thought it was still too soon, but clapped anyway, and most fans were in enough of a forgiving mood to cheer for him. He tossed a good pitch to Dwight Evans and then finally, Johnny Pesky got to say, "Play Ball!"

All throughout the Opening ceremony, a red-tailed hawk kept flying over the field. Some of you will remember the last post about the kid who got nailed by a hawk. There was some debate as to whether it was the same hawk or not, but once the F16s flew over, the hawk made it out of there, but reappeared about an hour later. Apparently, at one point it had a huge rat in its talons.

The game was great. Steven Tyler sang God Bless America during the 7th inning stretch. Neil Diamond sang from the Jumbotron Sweet Caroline and will be giving a concert in August at Fenway. The Sox won 5-0, Manny scored a run on a triple and an error, Dice-K pitched extremely well and even Delcarmen redeemed himself by not allowing any runs! Sean and I had a great day at the park and can't wait to go back in July. I don't know if my sign made it on TV so here it is:

Some game day stats:

Food consumed: 3 ice creams, 1 hot dog, 1 pizza slice, 2 sodas, 1 cracker jacks, 2 pretzels, 2 waters (no Sports bars available yet)

Sunburns: 1

Pictures taken: 25

Happy red sox fans: 36, 567

Go Sox!

Suggestions?

As many of you know, I am going to Opening Day at Fenway this year. I will witness the ring ceremony, the banner unveiling and the World Champs take the field. I always bring a sign to the game so this year I am soliciting suggestions as to what the sign should say so I get on TV. Something with NESN on it is usually a sure bet. Any unwelcome suggestions from Yankees fans will be deleted. Thanks!

Priceless

BOSTON (AP) — A 13-year-old girl touring Fenway Park on a school trip was attacked by a resident red-tailed hawk that drew blood from her scalp.

She wasn’t seriously hurt, but some observers saw an omen for a certain New York Yankees slugger in the attack Thursday at the home of the Boston Red Sox. The girl’s name is Alexa Rodriguez.

Vince Jennetta, a teacher who chaperoned her class trip from Memorial Boulevard Middle School in Bristol, Conn., told The Boston Globe that Alexa is “a little shaken, but OK.”

The hawk perched on a railing in the upper deck behind home plate as the group toured the stadium. The hawk took flight and swooped at the girl with its talons extended, scratching the her scalp.

A single egg lay in the hawk’s nearby nest in an overhang near the stadium’s press booth.

The nest and egg were removed at the direction of state wildlife officials.


While I think this story is hilarious, I am glad the kid is ok.

For Bon Jovi fans

One of the great songs done very well by Bon Jovi......

Banana rant

This morning I didn't feel like making my own breakfast so I decided to go to a local coffee shop to get a bagel, coffee and juice. I picked out a juice that had Vanilla and Almond in the the name so I thought it sounded good. To my disappointment, the first sip tasted like banana. "What the hell?" I thought. So I looked at the ingredients, and there is was, 5th or 6th, banana puree. Now, I like bananas as much as the next person, in fact, my grandfather swears it's not an apple a day, but a banana a day that keeps the doctor away. My beef with bananas is that they infiltrate everything they are associated with. For example, the juice this morning - if I had wanted a banana drink, I would have gotten a drink with banana in the name. Also, whenever you bring a banana in your lunch and forget to take it out of your lunch box (that's right - I have a lunch box - with my initials on it!), it makes everything else in your lunch box taste like bananas. Now, who really wants banana-flavored brownies?? Not me! I wonder if we can get the FDA to start making manufacturers place a banana warning label on items containing bananas?

Words words words

Does this ever happen to you? You're editing or proofing something that has the same word repeated over and over and after a while the word looks like it is spelled completely incorrectly to you? This happened to me today with the word length. 4 consonants in a row just isn't normal.

Red Sox Win!

Today was MLB season opener. In Japan. At 6 am EDT. It was the Oakland A's vs. my beloved Red Sox. The Sox won in 10 innings. Dice-K started and had a rocky few innings but then settled down. Manny had 4 RBIs. Brandon Moss who got the start due to a late scratch of JD drew, had a great home run. Ellsbury had a fantastic catch in center field. Way to start the season boys! Sweet Caroline!

Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a happy Easter. We had a great time visiting with friends and family. We had ham, it was sunny, church was good. It was nice to be home. Some of our friends and family were away so we hope to catch up with them sometime soon....

It was a nice sunny day, but still so cold since it's still March. I can't wait until it's at least 40 when I wake up.

Another week of work. Woo hoo.

Godly Friday

If you don't care about religion, feel free to skip this entry.

Today is Good Friday, aka Holy Friday, aka Godly Friday, aka the day Jesus died. I went to a 12 noon service since I will be in a car at 7 tonight when the other service happens. I think the only other time I've been to church during the day is on Ash Wednesday. It actually wasn't too bad. We still sang some hymns, but there were no Tones or Anthems sung. I go to the Cathedral in the city I live in since it has a great choir and one of the main reasons I go to church is for the music. The noon service today was in the chapel of the Cathedral since only about 30-50 people were there. The chapel is a little weird in that it's a circle and the lectern is directly across from the alter. Fr. Ben gave a good homily. It was vaguely familiar as the lesson of Good Friday is pretty straight forward, but he put a neat spin on it talking about how God gave us Jesus to die for our sins, and as a father, he couldn't really understand that, but if you think about it a little more, in that God and Jesus are one and the same, it was really God giving up himself for us, which he could understand. He also threw in some symbolism in that the horizontal slat of the cross represents the human form of Jesus and the vertical slat of the cross represents the divine Christ. Fr. Ben gives good sermons. They usually make you think. The entire passion was read and we sang an African-American spiritual hymn (yeah - it's in the regular hymnal - 172 or something like that - "Were you there..") which the organist really likes since I remembered it from last year too.

I like Good Friday, even though it's not really good. But it's not really bad, either. And it reminds you why Easter is so great.

5th Anniversary

Today is the 5th anniversary of the beginning of the war in Iraq. Can you believe it has been 5 years? It has been such a waste of everything. Some quick stats (as of March 9, 2008, from the Brookings Institution's Iraq Index)

3,979 US Soldiers Killed

29,320 Seriously Wounded

Troops in Iraq - Total 164,895, including 155,000 from the US, 4,500 from the UK, 2,000 from Georgia, 900 from Poland, 650 from South Korea and 1,845 from all other nations

US Troop Casualities - 3,979 US troops (more than the number of civilians-2,974-killed on 9/11/01); 98% male. 90% non-officers; 80% active duty, 12% National Guard; 74% Caucasian, 10% African-American, 11% Latino. 18% killed by non-hostile causes. 51% of US casualties were under 25 years old. 70% were from the US Army

Non-US Troop Casualties - Total 308, with 175 from the UK

US Troops Wounded - 29,320, 20% of which are serious brain or spinal injuries (total excludes psychological injuries)

US Troops with Serious Mental Health Problems - 30% of US troops develop serious mental health problems within 3 to 4 months of returning home

US Military Helicopters Downed in Iraq - 68 total, at least 36 by enemy fire

Spent & Approved War-Spending - About $600 billion of US taxpayers' funds. President Bush has requested another $200 billion for 2008, which would bring the cumulative total to close to $800 billion.

U.S. Monthly Spending in Iraq - $12 billion in 2008

Cost of deploying one U.S. soldier for one year in Iraq - $390,000 (Congressional Research Service)

Lost & Unaccounted for in Iraq - $9 billion of US taxpayers' money and $549.7 million in spare parts shipped in 2004 to US contractors. Also, per ABC News, 190,000 guns, including 110,000 AK-47 rifles.

Missing - $1 billion in tractor trailers, tank recovery vehicles, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and other equipment and services provided to the Iraqi security forces. (Per CBS News on Dec 6, 2007.)

Mismanaged & Wasted in Iraq - $10 billion, per Feb 2007 Congressional hearings

Halliburton Overcharges Classified by the Pentagon as Unreasonable and Unsupported - $1.4 billion

Amount paid to KBR, a former Halliburton division, to supply U.S. military in Iraq with food, fuel, housing and other items - $20 billion

Portion of the $20 billion paid to KBR that Pentagon auditors deem "questionable or supportable" - $3.2 billion

Private Contractors in Iraq, Working in Support of US Army Troops - More than 180,000 in August 2007, per The Nation/LA Times.

Journalists killed - 127 - 84 by murder and 43 by acts of war

Journalists killed by US Forces - 14

Iraqi Police and Soldiers Killed - 7,951

Iraqi Civilians Killed, Estimated - A UN issued report dated Sept 20, 2006 stating that Iraqi civilian casualties have been significantly under-reported. Casualties are reported at 50,000 to over 100,000, but may be much higher. Some informed estimates place Iraqi civilian casualties at over 600,000.

Iraqi Insurgents Killed, Roughly Estimated - 55,000

Non-Iraqi Contractors and Civilian Workers Killed - 548

Non-Iraqi Kidnapped - 305, including 54 killed, 147 released, 4 escaped, 6 rescued and 94 status unknown.

Daily Insurgent Attacks, Feb 2004 - 14

Daily Insurgent Attacks, July 2005 - 70

Daily Insurgent Attacks, May 2007 - 163

Estimated Insurgency Strength, Nov 2003 - 15,000

Estimated Insurgency Strength, Oct 2006 - 20,000 - 30,000

Estimated Insurgency Strength, June 2007 - 70,000

To all of our loved ones who were there, are there, and are about to go there: thank you for doing your part and thank you for coming home safe. I support you with my whole heart even if I do not support this stupid war.

Still here

Just a quick note to say I am still here. Not much happening. We went on vacation which was nice. Did some snowshoeing, watched movies, read books, ate too much. Then I came back to work. OK. That was really boring, so let me try to think of something in my life that is interesting.

Hmmm.

OK - You know those tickets I ordered? Yeah, they still haven't come yet. If they don't come I am blaming all of you who said you hated me because I got the tickets!!

Sorry, that was kind of mean (does that show the kind of day I am having?) Sorry.


Ooh, I know! I went to a really great concert a few weeks ago that was the Music of English Cathedrals performed by the Chorus of Westerly. It was awesome. Mostly because I knew almost every piece performed by heart and we got to sing along. To go along with this show, the people who were in the Chorus in 1995 and went to England finally got our tour books. They are awesome. It's fun to look at it and remember all the things we saw and did there. I celebrated my 18th birthday in the Roman Baths, man that was a long time ago (but I'm still not as old as Scott). :) Joe Banana's anyone? Do the Randy!

Love letters in the sand....

There is a show on TV called October Road. Honestly, it's not the greatest show, but I like it. It's about a group of friends in a small New England town and their relationships with each other, their lovers, parents, and enemies. All in all, it's not very well written, but the most recent episode was an exception. It included flashbacks of the main characters (5 guys) when they were all 10, when the boys were friends with a girl who was the coolest. She played in the woods with them, liked the same music as them and chased away the bullies. Later in the episode, they go to visit the girl for her birthday (as she had moved a few towns away) and while they were on the bus they sing along to "Coming Home" by Cinderella. To top it all off, they collectively get her a necklace that has the words, "I remember you" engraved on it, as earlier, she had said that"I Remember You" by Skid Row was the greatest song in the history of songs.

I think I liked this particular episode so much because I could relate to it. Besides the fact that I too, when I was 10, thought that "I Remember You" was the greatest song in the history of songs, when I was growing up, around 2nd-5th grade, most of my friends were boys. We used to race during recess (I always won), listen to the same music, pass notes, and generally have fun. There was no who-liked-who or she said WHAT about me? to deal with. I was never a girly girl and this was probably the reason most of the girlfriends I had didn't go to my school, they were in my choir and chorus. Boys were easier and nicer to have as friends. But alas, we grow up. I'll never forget when it all changed, I could no longer beat my friend, David, running, and I started to like one of the boys more than a friend. Later, that same boy would tell me we couldn't be friend anymore because he liked another girl in my class who didn't like me. It broke my heart, but I told him it was ok.

Luckily, we grow up more and girls and boys can become friends again. I thank all of my boy friends and girl friends for everything, I am truly grateful to have you all in my life.

Favre retires

Last night, Brett Favre decided to retire from the NFL. I don't know Favre, but I enjoyed watching him play in the scrambliness that he always used and the heart and gut that always drove his performances. Plus, he was in There's Something About Mary. I hope he has the courage to stick to his guns so he will be able to enjoy watching football and his boys grow up.