Happy New Year

People hate buying gifts for me because I always tell them the same thing. Amazon gift cards!!

I have had the Directv HD package for a while now but no way to stream the content off my PC to my big screen. Most of the devices I have seen have looked kinda cheap and not ready for prime time. Thankfully I found the Neodigits Helios X5000. This device is really cool. It has both wired and wireless options to hook into your network and it supports tons of different formats and has a DVD player built into it as well. There is a link to the features below but for the money this is one of the best network media players out there.

http://www.helios-labs.com/us/products/X5000/x5000_tech_specs.shtml

Why Do I have to "act my age"?

My wife was talking to her mother last night and she is coming to stay with us next week and for the record I have great in-laws and love them very much. While they were talking my wife explained that I was going to see Marilyn Manson that weekend and started taking jabs at me because I was going to the show.

I'm 36 years old and going to a show like this is not an irregular occurrence for me. About once a quarter I go to a metal show and I LOVE it. Its usually at a smaller venue and I am prone to get into the pit as well so this is actually a little more tame than usual for me since its at an outdoor venue. I think the deal here is that its Manson (Slayer is actually the headliner BTW) which proves to me the other thing she was talking about. Manson is a rock star.

While I was traveling I picked up Spin magazine and on the cover was Manson with the caption "The last rock star" which my wife and I also got into a discussion about. The point of the article was that there are very few rock stars the likes that we saw in the 80's like Tommy Lee, Axl Rose, Diamond Dave and so on with their legendary stories of debauchery. He is a polarizing figure whether you like his music or not. He is a rock star and great at self promotion and if you are an adult you see this guy is not taking himself to serious and is very much a show unto himself. I have a 4 year old and I don't know how I would handle it if she told me she was going to see Manson but that's another post for another day.

Anyway, the wife was going on about the kids making fun of me for being the old guy at the show. I don't care. I'm not some fat wrinkly biker looking dude with a beard trying to be cool. I have very few things I'm passionate about but metal is one of them so I am there for the music and the spectacle. It is one of those things that moves my soul and I guess it always will no matter how old I get. So I wonder for the other 30 somethings (or older) do they still have those guilty pleasures they had when they were younger and will they ever go away and do you care.

Peace.

The Rabid Wolverine

Ok time for me to come clean. I have been watching wrestling since I was about 8 years old. My best friend growing up got me into it and I always thought it was a little hokey but its like a trainwreck that you have to watch sometimes.

I haven't watched regularly in several years but living in Atlanta you couldn't get away from Ted Turners WCW and its battle against the WWF back in the day. That is when I actually became a fan of Chris Benoit more than 20 years ago.

I don't know if I just try to think people are inherently good or if I'm just stupid, but part of the reason I was attracted to the sport was because of the athleticism of the guys involved and the "hard work" they had to give in order to stay in that kind of shape. I never really considered the fact that most of these guys are on juice.

Benoit was always ripped and was actually a great technical wrestler but the more facts that come out in this brutal murder/suicide the more you have to wonder if the government should pay Mr. McMahon a visit and ask him who is conducting his drug tests.

I'm not taking any responsibility away from Benoit. He is a scumbag who deserves to burn in hell for what he did, but I also wonder what level of brain damage will come out of the toxicology report due to the drug abuse.

How many wrestlers have died of heart attacks by the age of 40? Do a Google on this and you will be surprised.

I have heard horrible reports of life in this sport and it reminds me of the old time circus freaks and McMahon with his whip in hand. Granted these guys are making money (not sure how much at this point) but there is no real consideration for the well being of the athletes and no insurance in place to help them with injuries or life after their career is over.

I feel bad for everyone involved in this tragedy and I hope this provokes some sweeping changes in the WWE. I will no longer watch this sport. It is still the highest rated show on cable so I will probably not make much difference but I would urge others to do the same.

Super Bowl Memories with your 4 year old

This evening was interesting. I was sitting at the dinner table with my daughter today and my mother had given me a poster with all the Super Bowl tickets on it. She picked it up and the questions flowed. "Daddy did you and mommy watch this one?" I answered and then she went down the list and wanted details on each game. Of course some of these I had no memories of some of these Im just 36. Some however I had totally forgotten about. The game for me as well as millions of others is an "event" and the memories go beyond the game.

As a kid the first one that sticks out is XV when I saw the Raiders at there finest and Jim Plunkett killed Jaworskis eagles (I still cant stand that guy on ESPN).

My Mom and Dad had gotton divorced soon before SB XXV and I was single as well so we watched it at her apartment just the 2 of us and ate shrimp cocktail and just chilled.

The first bowl I can remember watching with my wife was SP XXX when Neil O'Donnell threw 2 pics to Larry Brown and got him a fat contract with the Raiders after the Cowboys won the game.

Of course, being from Atlanta nothing tops the insanity of the Falcons going to the bowl in '99.
I had never lived anywhere else until '98 when I moved to Dallas Texas.

That year the Falcons beat the Vikings who were the heavy favorite in the NFC championship. I was on the phone with my cousin in the ATL when Anderson kicked the game winning field goal.

Then Eugene Robinson (The NFL man of the year that year) decides he needs a hooker that week and gets busted for solicitation. The Falcons got killed of course in a very boring bowl.

The worst one ever was the one I thought would be the best one ever. I was in Vegas for the AFC/NFC championship weekend in 2002. I thought I had died and gone to heaven.
The Raiders were playing the Pats in the AFC game.

This was the infamous "tuck rule" game in a blinding snow storm in New England. I was watching the game at the Mandalay Bay on a screen about as big as the first floor of my house. The Raiders lost on a questionable call and I thought I was going to be physically sick. This was the beginning of the Tom Brady era as the Pats went on to win the Bowl over the Rams.

I hope those of you who love the game as much as me will go back through your mental roll-a-dex and relive some of your favorite Super Bowl memories.

-Peace-

Worst to first

I am a HUGE NFL fan! I have watched a lot of the draft this weekend and I am also a Raider fan. I just heard that Randy Moss was traded to the New England Patriots for a 4th round draft pick. So Moss, who in my opinion is still a great player but he has a MAJOR attitude problem. He was great in Minnesota and I was excited when he joined the silver and black but he has done nothing but bitch and moan since going to oakland. Granted the Raiders have been horrible since he has been there but get over it dude, youre getting millions to play a game. Now he gets to go to the Pats and will probably get a ring in the process since Tom Brady is the best quartback of this generation and all he does is win. Its not fair, I hate my job right now, but if I bitch and moan about it the only thing it will get me is my wife telling me to cheer up if I'm lucky. I love sports but I hate the guys that dont have the stones to earn the millions they are being paid. I think the Pats have a great organization and if Randy shows up there and starts complaining he will not be there very long which speaks volumes for the state of the Raider franchise as well.

-Peace-

How far do you push your kids?

Friday was a dad daughter day, thankfully I work for a family friendly group of folks.
I was team leader of 5-4 year olds and we did things like sack races, bean bag toss, balloon pop etc.

My girl was in my group and she totally bailed on the sack race. She made it down on side but got tangled up and declared it too hard to carry on.

I must confess to the dismay of most that love me that I am an avid Howard Stern listener. Since Thursday was "take your kids to work day" it came up on the show that Howards producers kid (bahbah-booey) was on the fence about playing football and the producer asked outloud where do you draw the line of making them see through a commitment vs. letting them say "its too hard" and letting them quit. This wasnt a question to Howard directly but to the staff and any caller who cared to comment.

My kid is also playing Soccer this year and I am a rookie coach as a result. She has showed good effort and seems to enjoy playing and I love coaching. I dont have to worry about this issue for a couple more years but I know I went through it with my folks when I was in high school. So the question for the group is when and how far do you push your kids when it comes to them wanting to quit on something?

-Peace-

Saturday Morning Cartoons

Last night my wife and I were having some hang out time and were watching some random TV and we came across the Superfriends about 12 AM on boomerang. I got to thinking about the demise of the Saturday morning cartoon as the institution I remember it as a kid. The Superfriends and the Bugs Bunny show were by far the best cartoons on TV when I was a kid. I remember in the fall on ABC they would do this special on the Friday night before the new cartoon season and would hype up all the new shows. I was so jacked up to watch the new shows I would be up crazy early and watch all that I could. Whatever happened to the Saturday morning cartoon. I guess cable replaced all that. I still watch Bugs Bunny with my daughter but its just not the event it used to be. Bugs Bunny was 90 minutes back in the day!!

Now back to the Superfriends for a moment, does anyone remember that Casey Kasem did the voice of Robin? When my wife and I were talking about that I remembered that Kasem was a really big radio star when this show was on.

Could you imagine if Ryan Seacrest were doing that voice now? I think I would vomit.