Poor Jenny!

Did everyone catch the season premiere of SNL this past Saturday? I did. SNL in HD kicks ass. I like that we got two digital shorts, and poor Jenny Slate! She drops the F-Bomb (fuckin'.....for those of you not familiar with the phrase "F-Bomb") in her very first sketch. She will not be fired, as it was clearly a slip, as opposed to Charles Rocket and Norm McDonald, who were each fired almost immediately after saying the dirty, dirty word on SNL.

I am performing an inventory of all my albums, and I'm having a blast. It's fun to listen to things I haven't heard in a while, and it's equally fun to really sit down and take in the albums that I haven't given enough time to over the years. Some of these will be cut from the ipod, but a lot of them have moved into a catagory of albums I will never skip over again while browsing itunes.

I am 2-1 in each of my fantasy football leagues. Favre has had 2 starts for me. It's just business. Fuckin' Favre......he's still got it. Fuckin' Favre.

Chi-Chi's and Billy Joel

What does Chi-Chi's Mexican Restaurant have to do with Billy Joel? I'll tell ya! Before it closed in 2004, Chi-Chi's was hands down my favorite restaurant. We went at least once a month for about 10 years, and were never disappointed. It was a fun atmosphere, the food was great, and damnit, I miss it. I understand there are two still open, in Germany, and although we've joked plenty about heading up to Germany for a quick getaway to embrace our Fiesta platters once again, it ain't happenin'. Whenever I would tell people that Chi-Chi's was my favorite restaurant, most people would say, "That ain't real Mexican food". I never said it was. But, whatever it was, I loved it.

The same goes for Billy Joel. When I tell people that Billy Joel is my favorite artist, I hear, "Billy Joel isn't rock". I never said he was. I like his voice, I love his melodies, and he's a great story teller.

Don't let other peoples opinions of something or someone mold yours. Continue to like what you like....

This message was brought to you by Texas Nachos and Prelude/Angry Young Man.

What Can I Say?

Check out this early 80's video clip of Billy Joel. For those of you that met me after high school, this is essentially the look I was going for when I was 18 ...

Low Percentage Fruit

Curb Your Enthusiasm returned to television.........wait.......I'm sorry..........HBO, with it's Season Seven premiere episode tonight. Very good stuff. I've missed it, and it was good to see Cheryl Hines. I wasn't sure if she was going to be on this season. I have three shows that I'm loyal to. SNL, Sunny and Curb. With Reno being cancelled, I'm down to these three. When these three are gone, who knows.....

I guess the Packers are not as good as I thought they were. A very disappointing loss today to the Bengals. But a fun day, all the same. Got out and played catch, and actually injured my pitching forearm. I know you're making fun of me for referring to it as my pitching forearm, seeing I haven't pitched in 19 years, but I will always refer to it as such, so blpppppppppppppp!

Tonight's forecast: sunny!

Paddy's Pub is open for business again tonight at 9:00 CST. I am prepared to exercise my funny bone. Making a sammy, and you damn right I gotz pickle and mustard on that muthaphucka.

Today, I realized that I'm not crazy about Foo Fighters' One By One album. It is my least favorite Foo record.

A mental exercise

Things I like...(random order)

my record collection, orange juice, my fantasy football league(s), pickles, reading, writing, going out for pizza, Saturday Night Live, making people laugh, baseball (watching it, playing it, talking about it), spending time with my daughter, watching my niece grow up, Mac, Charlie, Dennis, Sweet Dee, the Peanuts, the Onion, boneless wings, my loyal friends, taking naps, the dogs at Miller Park, having worked out (not working out, but having worked out....big difference), the promise my future holds (with hard work), the State (obvious to loyal TLC readers), my work, cold showers, hot shaves, peaches, strawberries, my wrestling DVD's and you.

I recommend making a list for yourself, and revisiting it often. It feels good.

Let's review a record! This won't be like the Elvis Costello "bit" I did a few months back. I promise. I got a lot of mixed reviews on that. No real middle ground, people either loved it or hated it.

Tonight I'm listening to R.E.M.'s Reveal. If I remember correctly, this came out the same day as Weezer's self-titled "green" album in 2001. I had anticipated the weezer album for some time, and bought Reveal on impulse. I had seen the video for "Imitation of Life" on MTV2, and liked it. Sonically, this album is really good. A lot of good melodies. I think it gets buried amongst all their other really good albums, but I like it a lot. Another thing that sets this record apart from most other R.E.M. records is that Michael Stipe tries something called enunciation. It is common to hear people harken back to a bands' "old stuff", and although R.E.M.'s old stuff is their best stuff, this album deserves to stand on it's own and the best post Bill Berry album they've recorded.

If at first you don't succeed...

...try, try again. That's the first bit of advice I received as a youngster that has stuck with me over time. I enjoyed writing my first book last summer. It was, and will always be a souvenir for an amazing baseball season for the Brewers and Mets. I poured everything I had into it, and I'm proud of the work I did. Damn proud. My goal was to sell 10,000 copies. I fell short. By about 9600 copies. 4% of my goal achieved. Not published, not licensed, no marketing, very little time, and nobody knows who the hell I am. But I did sell 400. 400 people believed in me, and nobody has said to me that they hated it. In fact, a lot of you have made an effort to tell me how much you like what I did. That's pretty cool. I like writing. Actually, I love it. I love writing, and it's one of the few things that really fuels me. Writing, baseball, good music, good food, good company and being a dad. So, despite many doors being slammed in my face, and having little to no money to work with for my next book, I am going to write again. Starting tonight. Because I love it. I'm still going to fight like hell to get published. I think I'm good at whatever it is I do, and I can't wait to spring 10.25.86 on you, which, if all goes well, will be in your hands on 10.25.11, which would be 25 years to the day of Game Six (you know which one). My original plan was to write in even numbered years, and promote the books in odd numbered years, but this project is going to take about 2 years to complete. The title and release date are both tentative. I'm excited to get started....

Side note : Reno 911! was cancelled recently. I found out 10 minutes ago. Six years of hilarity. Is that a word? I think it is!

5-4-3

I couldn't sell any of my Brewers tickets this weekend, so I decided to take my daughter today. We were rewarded by seeing a triple play, and a walk off by Prince Fielder. Even though the Brewers are 14.5 games back, there is still nothing like a Sunday afternoon at the ol' ball yard. The weather was perfect, we enjoyed some popcorn, shared a dog, and had a great time. My daughter turns 4 this week. We celebrated her birthday yesterday with family and friends. Her favorite gift was her soccer ball and goal. It was the first thing she mentioned this morning after she woke up.

I'm heading back to the park tomorrow with Amber, Mike and Sarah. I can't wait.