Chew Toys

Virginia must stand up now!

2008-06-24T00:08:00.002-04:00

Our only choice!

http://www.markwarner2008.com/

A Year Ago

2008-04-16T02:20:00.002-04:00

Virginia Tech suffered the worst day of any college campus in the US. 32 students and faculty died in a murderous rampage by a seriously disturbed student. We remember the fallen and hope the students of Tech can move on. No one knows what it's like to be them, hopefully no one will ever have to know. I went to George Mason University but today We are Virginia Tech.

I love Zyrtec

2008-04-12T01:18:00.003-04:00

It's spring here in DC and the trees are flowering. It's actually a great spring this year. The Cherry trees are exploding, the redbuds are out, the bradford pears, the service berry, the crabapple, are all in bloom. It is beautiful here. Something else that's blooming are big f-ing houses. Yes the big house has reared it ugly head once again. I will be taking my camera out to show the latest outrage in gigantic housing. No. one on the list is a new project where huge houses are being built 15 feet away from a concrete wall that is out post office. At least it will be convenient for stamps. Pictures to follow.

It was a good season...

2008-03-22T10:45:00.003-04:00

Dear Old GMU made an early exit from the NCAA's this year, getting dumped by Notre Dame 68-50. In truth we were never in it, ND just took it to us from the get go. Will Thomas finished with 25 pts but no one else could get it going. Thank you Will Thomas, Folarin Campbell, and Jordan Carter for 4 great years, 2 trips to the NCAA's, a CAA championship, and of course, The Final Four. We will miss you. Best of luck in your future endeavors! You are Patriots forever.

Let's Go Mason!

2008-03-18T20:29:00.002-04:00

We've made the dance now let's see how far we can go. My friend Steve out in Denver was searching for tickets but he may have to settle for finding a Patriot friendly bar in LoDo.
If you're in Denver and want to cheer the boys on go here:
LoDo's Bar & Grill
1946 Market Street, Denver, CO 80202

Notre Dame better watch out, our defense is nasty!

A Sad Day in the Burgh

2008-02-28T02:02:00.003-05:00

Myron Cope, the voice of the Steelers, passed away today at the age of 79. He created "The Terrible Towel" and did the Steeler's color analysis for 35 years. He will be missed.

Sir Edmund Hillary

2008-01-11T00:29:00.000-05:00

Sir Edmund Hillary died today, he was 88. I was fortunate enough to see Sir Edmund receive an award from the Smithsonian for his humanitarian accomplishments, which were many. He helped build hospitals and schools in Nepal. He was a humble bee keeper from New Zealand but he and his Sherpa friend Tenzing Norgay scaled the world's most impenetrable peak Everest. It is the only time I felt like I was in the presence of a truly great man. It was an honor to see him speak. I will never forget it.

Arrgh!

2008-01-06T00:44:00.000-05:00

Can you say choke! The Steelers blow it at home, losing the lead with 2 minutes left. Oh the horror! At least we still have college basketball to lean on, go GMU!

FERNANDO TORRES!

2007-12-26T21:20:00.000-05:00

El Nino does it again, scoring against Derby Co. 15 goals in 22 games, Fernando has established himself as Liverpool's best player. As long as he's in the lineup the Lads have a chance. Go Reds!

LMAO!

2007-12-23T00:55:00.000-05:00

American beats Maryland 67-59 at the Comcast Center in College Park! That's just too friggin' funny. Couches are burning in the streets tonight! GMU used to consider AU's gym, Bender Arena, as their practice gym. We would generally have more fans there than AU would. That should put the Twerps about 10th (or worse) in the local schools poll behind UMBC, Navy, and maybe Div III Marymount. Next year Maryland will probably demand to play UMES or Longwood in the BB&T Classic (since they haven't won a game there in years). They can't take a chance on losing to UMBC. Did I mention that I hate Gary Williams and Maryland? Now I understand why they're afraid to come to Fairfax! Hee hee!

Tomorrow I Go Shopping..

2007-12-21T19:28:00.001-05:00

.. but for now I'm playing this baby, a 50th Anniversary Fender Strat. It is a beauty and my bandmate Roger has graciously lent it to me (he is way more trusting than I). I'm loving the look, the feel, and the sound of this guitar. Tobacco sunburst American Deluxe model, that's what I'm after. Just need to find out if the maple or rosewood neck is right for me. I'll probably will have to order one so I won't have it in my hands for a while. Happy birthday to me!

Toughest sport in the world?

2007-12-19T19:59:00.000-05:00

I was watching Monday Night Football (or was it Sunday Night Football) and they called American football the toughest sport in the world. Who are they kidding? Have they watched sports in other parts of the world? Rugby, no pads, kill the guy with the ball, now that's tough, but hands down the toughest sport in the world is Hurling, an Irish sport, played by 15 guys aside, with clubs. 30 guys on a field with weapons is pretty brutal. A guy gets his head caved in, off to the side to get bandaged up, and he's back out there. Now that's tough. These guys probably make less than a tenth of what football players make. They play for the glory, not the money.

Footy - The Lads aren't looking so good right now. They just lost to ManU at Anfield, that's a draw (Cherlsea) and a loss (ManU) at home against 2 of the top 3 teams. Arsenal looks loaded and have survived the injury bug. Chelsea looks vulnerable, ManU looks like a dynamo about to explode. Man City may knock Liverpool out of the Champions League for next year. Portsmouth and Everton are looking tough too. The good thing is that the EPL is up for grabs this year. Last year is was ManU and Chelsea and everybody else was playing for 3rd. This year who knows? Maybe the top teams will knock each other off. We can only hope!

Bear with me

2007-12-13T19:51:00.000-05:00

New parent syndrome is in full effect!

The couch potatoes in action.

Ouzo has a little sister!

2007-12-09T19:59:00.000-05:00

Welcome Mackenzie. She's a lab-pointer mix (among other things), 1 year old, about 33 pounds. Welcome to the family little one. I hope you'll be happy.

Mason and the Lads

2007-11-26T23:12:00.001-05:00

Dear Old GMU finishes the Old Spice Classic in 3rd after beating Kansas St., losing to Villanova, and beating South Carolina. A great start for the season! Go Patriots! Liverpool seems to have brushed off a lull in the EPL and a bad start in the Champions League and have been rolling the last few weeks. Go Reds! Now if only the Steelers would get it in gear.

More Basketball and Such

2007-11-25T09:08:00.000-05:00

Dear Old GMU defeats Kansas State 87-77 in the first round of the Old Spice Classic in Orlando but drops the semi-final game to Villanova 84-76. We play South Carolina today for 3rd place. Both K. St. and 'Nova are ranked in the top 20 so not to bad. CAA brother Old Dominion had a much rougher road in the Las Vegas Invitational going up against #1 North Carolina and #6 Louisville, losing both but playing tough before going down. They were in both games until about 5 minutes left when the wheels fell off. The CAA is looking pretty tough this year.

Why is everything "Extreme", "Ultra", or "Max" these days? These words have pretty much lost all meaning. The butchers of the English language will have to come up with some other descriptor to offend us with. Maybe "hummer", that would certainly offend. "Try Schick Hummer-Dry deodorant. It's so dry it's obscene!"

Is it just me or do the people droning on about car features in the Cadillac ads sound bored when they say "when you turn your car on does it return the favor." Not a good selling point.

And last - I got my last rabies shot on Thursday so I should be good to go. I can now deal with feral animals with impunity for a few years (with the exception of possibly being clawed to death). I didn't get a rabies tag though, bummer.

God, I Love College Basketball!

2007-11-19T00:05:00.000-05:00

Winthrop beats Georgia Tech 79-73. New Orleans beats NC State 65-63 at State! Power conferences indeed. The Atlantic Sun conference has 2 major upsets this year, Gardener-Webb over Kentucky (by 16), Mercer over USC (by 15), plus Belmont beat Cincinnati by 11.

It's time the NCAA selection committee punished "power conference" teams for avoiding playing "mid-majors" on the road. It's time to admit that the middle of the ACC is equal to the middle of the CAA. Sure the top teams of the power conferences are better than the rest but #3 and below aren't. If you're an ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac 10, Big East team and are not in the top 2 in your conference you'd better prove your worth and win on the road. If you don't then you don't deserve to make it into the tournament. Put up or shut up.

What a website!

2007-11-18T22:44:00.000-05:00

You've gotta love this!

"Sweet Jesus I Hate Bill O'Reilly"

This is the new baby gift of choice.

I will be giving this to any of my friends who are expecting.

My Birthday 12/30/57

2007-11-18T18:03:00.000-05:00

Can't argue with that. Don't know what "Love to bust" means though.

This bugs me (and what doesn't)

2007-11-18T17:40:00.000-05:00

There's a Best Buy commercial that really pisses me off. It's about a family that wants to open presents but has to go to Grandma's house first. The guy says "you can open it when we get back." so they drive to Grandma's and when they get there they stop and ,without getting out of the car, say "Hi Grandma", and then say "I guess we're done here", and drive off. Okay, presents are more important than family. This is just sick. I'm not shopping at Best Buy for xmas this year because of this ad. When consumerism becomes more important than family then we have made the turn to soulnessless. I'm a frickin' athiest and this totally offends me. The only reason I do anything for xmas is because I don't want to snub the niece and nephew and the gf's son because they wouldn't understand and they're too young to see my point of view. I want them to grow up and make their own decisions without my outside influence. Not that I agree with those who observe but "the reason for the season" should carry some weight. I don't think that those who believe shouldn't observe the holiday but the commercialism of the thing has gotten way out of hand. Retailers count on the xmas season to make or break their year and that's just sad. My sister makes things for the family and that is so much more important than anything that anyone could buy. I'm a schmuck and I get gift cards because I don't know what the kids like so I let them decide what they get. Do something altruistic this year, donate money to a food bank or another charity. My 50th birthday is coming up and I don't need anything. To celebrate this I want people to donate to a favorite charity. That would mean more to me than anything. That and a bottle of a good single malt scotch.

The Latest

2007-11-18T10:33:00.001-05:00

Dear old GMU is 3-0 to start the season with wins over Vermont, Cleveland St., and Dayton. Before you snort at our powerhouse schedule Cleveland St. went down to Florida St. yesterday and beat them. Things get tough as our next game is in Florida vs Kansas St. at the Old Spice Tournament. This is the first time Coach L has had a team start 3-0 since he's been at Mason. Outside shooting has not been very good so far but our defense has been excellent and we're getting some good minutes from 2 freshmen so things are looking good for the season. Trust in Coach L. I was so keyed up to get to the Cleveland St. game last Tuesday that I managed to roll my ankle walking to my car, good job. Of course it was the ankle that I broke last year, real good job! Now I'm slower than ever when I take Ouzo for a walk which annoys him no end.

I'm playing guitar with some friends and it's going very well (I think, I hope they do). My timing keeps improving and I'm playing some leads that actually sound reasonable. I'm doing things that I don't think I could have done back in my crunch rock days 25 years ago. There is a benefit to getting older, you do get wiser. I understand the music so much better now and I'm having much more fun now than I remember having back in the old days. These are really good guys and there is a lot of positive feedback and suggestions amongst the group. You're only as old as you feel (but that Les Paul weighs a ton and I feel it after 4-5 hours). Now all we need is a name.

The Practice Set Up

2007-11-02T01:25:00.000-04:00

A 30 old Traynor amp, a borrowed Pod XT amp emulator, some old Roland effects pedals, and the '79 Silverburst Les Paul.

Life is good. Go Mason, Go Steelers, Go Liverpool!

The Cost of Being a Good Samaritan

2007-10-31T20:05:00.000-04:00

I came home from work the other day and I saw a woman with a dog sitting on the sidewalk up the street a few houses from mine. It seemed rather strange but there appeared to be no harm. As I walked up to my front door the woman started yelling "help me" and from the tone of her voice she was in obvious distress. I dropped everything and ran up the street. On the other side of her was a cat, maybe 6 months old, firmly attached to her finger and leg, claws in the leg and teeth all the way in the finger. Not good. My first thought was "how the hell am I going to get this cat off of her without getting bitten myself" but after the next scream I just had to go for it. I got the claw out of her leg and I grabbed the cat by the back of the head and put pressure on the base of the jaw. The mouth slowly came open and she pulled her finger out. The cat just lay there. I managed to avoid getting bit or scratched by I couldn't avoid cat spit. The woman was a kind hearted soul and while walking her dog she came upon this cat that was not doing well. She called some friends to came and get her so she could take the cat to a vet. She tried to comfort it and it reared up and bit her.

About 6 days later I get a call from the County Health Dept. telling me that the cat was rabid and that I had been exposed and was at high risk so I would need to undergo the rabies vaccination series. I was flying to Memphis that day and so I hurried down to the ER and got started on the program and was able to make my flight. The timing was such that I had to get the second shot down in Memphis and that turned out to be ridiculously difficult. Most hospitals down there don't stock the rabies vaccine and the ones that do treat it like you're asking them for morphine. After many phone calls I got the shot. I get the third tomorrow and then 2 more over the next 3 weeks.

At $100 a trip to the ER for the shots this good deed will cost me $500 and an enormous amount of time, plus I had to cancel a business trip to Galveston.

If next week I saw someone being attacked by an animal I'd do the same thing. We are who we are.

50

2007-10-21T00:47:00.001-04:00

This December I hit the big 5-0. I need to do something big. My 30th birthday was spent rewiring a heat-pump. On my 40th I was sick (my ex-wife threw me an awesome party however) and I went to New Zealand for a month right after. I need to celebrate with something special. If this guitar thing turns out to be really cool maybe I'll indulge and get something I've always wanted, a Fender Stratocaster. Since I haven't been playing there's been no reason to get one but if this thing takes off and I really start playing again then why the hell not! Music is a great hobby and I'll need something to do to take me into (sort of) retirement. Maybe it'll keep me out of trouble!

Rust never sleeps!

Tomorrow I play again!

2007-10-20T23:26:00.000-04:00

25 + years after playing in a band I will pick up my guitar and try again. Some friends have convinced me to pick up the guitar and rock out once more. I've been practicing for the last 2 weeks but when you haven't touched the guitar in 2 decades it seems like a rough road lays ahead. Luckily these guys are a very laid back group and hopefully will excuse my lack of manual dexterity on the fretboard. I will say that I was amazed at what I was still able to do after such a LONG layoff. That being said I'm still a long way off of being competent let alone pathetic. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.

This is my axe.