Vanilla Ice at Cowboys

hahahahahahahahahahaha. No, seriously. I can't stop laughing! Gotta love this ad I saw, literally on the side of the road yesterday. But it's true. Vanilla Ice will be "performing" (I guess?) at Cowboys tomorrow night (IN KENNESAW). I've been there once, it was a situation where I swore I'd never go again, but, this is too funny. I saw him up at Jillians around 2002 or so with Tracy. The best part was him asking "the ladies" in the crowd to flash him, and the crowd just kinda stood there. HILARIOUS. I may have to suck it up and go tomorrow night.

ATL Noise: Volume 6, Issue 1

It's been too long! Or maybe just the ATL Music scene has been lacking? This isn't a terrible list. I've bolded what I'm actually likely to pursue...

Thu 04/10/08 OK Go Georgia Institute Of Tech.

Mon 04/14/08 Nonpoint The Masquerade

Tue 04/15/08 Amaru The Masquerade
Tue 04/15/08 The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus The Masquerade

Wed 04/16/08 Bayside The Masquerade
Wed 04/16/08 Four Year Strong The Masquerade
Wed 04/16/08 Steel Train The Masquerade
Wed 04/16/08 The Starting Line The Masquerade

Fri 04/18/08 Feist Masquerade Music Park
Fri 04/18/08 Hayden Masquerade Music Park

Fri 04/18/08 Avril Lavigne Philips Arena (Don't Hate!)

Fri 04/18/08 Armor For Sleep The Masquerade
Fri 04/18/08 Metro Station The Masquerade
Fri 04/18/08 Saves The Day The Masquerade
Fri 04/18/08 Set Your Goals The Masquerade

Sat 04/19/08 "Sweetwater 420 Festival" Candler Park (I'll admit it, I'm just pimpin Sweetwater)
Sat 04/19/08 Last Waltz Ensemble Candler Park
Sat 04/19/08 Outformation Candler Park

Sun 04/20/08 "Sweetwater 420 Festival" Candler Park
Sun 04/20/08 Grace Potter and the Nocturnals Candler Park
Sun 04/20/08 The Jungle Candler Park

Sat 04/26/08 Motion City Soundtrack Masquerade Music Park
Sat 04/26/08 Panic At The Disco Masquerade Music Park
Sat 04/26/08 Phantom Planet Masquerade Music Park
Sat 04/26/08 The Hush Sound Masquerade Music Park

Mon 04/28/08 Andre Ethier The EARL (Only put this here because there's an Andre Ethier who plays for the LA Dodgers, so I'm curious...not exactly a common name I wouldn't think)

Wed 04/30/08 Bon Jovi Philips Arena
Wed 04/30/08 Daughtry Philips Arena

Thu 05/01/08 Bon Jovi Philips Arena
Thu 05/01/08 Daughtry Philips Arena

Fri 05/02/08 Jerry Seinfeld Fox Theatre (yea, like this isn't sold out already?)

Fri 05/02/08 Cracker Variety Playhouse

Mon 05/05/08 Flyleaf The Tabernacle
Mon 05/05/08 Red The Tabernacle
Mon 05/05/08 Seether The Tabernacle

Thu 05/08/08 Liars Lakewood Amphitheatre
Thu 05/08/08 Radiohead Lakewood Amphitheatre

Fri 05/09/08 Skid Row Wild Bill's (Really?)

Sun 05/11/08 Van Halen The Arena At Gwinnett Center

Thu 05/15/08 The Hives Center Stage

Fri 05/16/08 Conditions Masquerade Music Park
Fri 05/16/08 Meese Masquerade Music Park
Fri 05/16/08 Paramore Masquerade Music Park

Tue 05/20/08 Filter The Masquerade (Hey nurse Kim, remember the last time we saw them? I will never forgive you!)

Fri 05/23/08 The Presidents Of The United States Of America The Loft At Center Stage (Really?)

Fri 05/23/08 Be Your Own Pet Variety Playhouse
Fri 05/23/08 She Wants Revenge Variety Playhouse
Fri 05/23/08 Switches Variety Playhouse
Fri 05/23/08 The Virgins Variety Playhouse

Fri 05/30/08 Nada Surf Center Stage

Fri 06/13/08 The Breeders The Loft At Center Stage (What's with all these one hit wonder returns?)

Sat 06/21/08 Modest Mouse Lakewood Amphitheatre (Is it bad that I'd rather see Modest Mouse than REM?)
Sat 06/21/08 R.E.M. Lakewood Amphitheatre
Sat 06/21/08 The National Lakewood Amphitheatre

Sun 06/22/08 Rancid The Masquerade
Sun 06/22/08 The Legendary Shack Shakers The Masquerade

Wed 07/09/08 "Vans Warped Tour" Lakewood Amphitheatre
Wed 07/09/08 Against Me! Lakewood Amphitheatre
Wed 07/09/08 Anberlin Lakewood Amphitheatre
Wed 07/09/08 Angels And Airwaves Lakewood Amphitheatre
Wed 07/09/08 As I Lay Dying Lakewood Amphitheatre
Wed 07/09/08 Reel Big Fish Lakewood Amphitheatre
Wed 07/09/08 Relient K Lakewood Amphitheatre
Wed 07/09/08 Say Anything Lakewood Amphitheatre
Wed 07/09/08 Story Of The Year Lakewood Amphitheatre

Sun 07/20/08 Bryan Adams Verizon Wireless Amph. At Encore Park (Another Really? And where the hell is this place? Never heard of it)
Sun 07/20/08 Foreigner Verizon Wireless Amph. At Encore Park

Sat 07/26/08 311 Lakewood Amphitheatre
Sat 07/26/08 Snoop Dogg Lakewood Amphitheatre (REALLY? Snoop Dogg with 311?????)

Sun 08/03/08 Cheap Trick Chastain Park Amphitheatre
Sun 08/03/08 Heart Chastain Park Amphitheatre
Sun 08/03/08 Journey Chastain Park Amphitheatre

Sun 08/03/08 "Projekt Revolution" Lakewood Amphitheatre
Sun 08/03/08 10 Years Lakewood Amphitheatre
Sun 08/03/08 Atreyu Lakewood Amphitheatre
Sun 08/03/08 Chris Cornell Lakewood Amphitheatre (Kim!!!!! You know you're coming for this!!!!)
Sun 08/03/08 Hawthorne Heights Lakewood Amphitheatre
Sun 08/03/08 Linkin Park Lakewood Amphitheatre
Sun 08/03/08 The Bravery Lakewood Amphitheatre

Mon 08/04/08 Cheap Trick Chastain Park Amphitheatre
Mon 08/04/08 Heart Chastain Park Amphitheatre
Mon 08/04/08 Journey Chastain Park Amphitheatre

Tue 08/12/08 "Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival" Lakewood Amphitheatre
Tue 08/12/08 Disturbed Lakewood Amphitheatre
Tue 08/12/08 Machine Head Lakewood Amphitheatre
Tue 08/12/08 Slipknot Lakewood Amphitheatre

Wed 08/13/08 Nine Inch Nails The Arena At Gwinnett Center

Fri 08/22/08 G. Love & Special Sauce Chastain Park Amphitheatre

Fri 08/29/08 "The Regeneration Tour" Chastain Park Amphitheatre
Fri 08/29/08 A Flock Of Seagulls Chastain Park Amphitheatre
Fri 08/29/08 ABC Chastain Park Amphitheatre
Fri 08/29/08 Belinda Carlisle Chastain Park Amphitheatre
Fri 08/29/08 Naked Eyes Chastain Park Amphitheatre
Fri 08/29/08 The Human League Chastain Park Amphitheatre

Sat 09/20/08 Jim Gaffigan Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre

Quadruple Header Complete!

The weekend got off to a crappy start. From about 4:00 on it had been raining. So on my way home from work i call the Braves ticket office to see whats the best way to find out about the status of the first of three Mets - Braves game. I was told to either call back or listen to the pregame radio show. At about 6:30, as we're about to leave, I call again and am told "You crazy, they're gonna play. Starting time is still 7:35." Ok, I guess we have no chance but to buy it. We head down to the stadium and we get about a mile away from parking when they announce that tonight's game has been postponed. As if that's not bad enough, they decided to make it up as part of a day-night doubleheader on TUESDAY May 20th. Which means they're making the game up at 1pm on a TUESDAY. Bastards! Both teams are off on Monday May 19th. I don't get it.

Saturday was the big day though. Baseball would kick off the quadruple-header. Game-time 3:55pm. I met up with my friends Carl & Alycia, and sat with them in the Lexus Level. (Which is code for fancy seats). The only important part is that the seats were covered. Because there was a non-stop drizzle all day. (Drought my ass!!!!) After the 4th inning I went over to my actual seats with Lauren and her friend Stephanie.

I did get to see one of the most controversial moments I've witnessed. The Mets had the bases loaded, 1 out. Jose Reyes hits a line drive to center field. The ball CLEARLY hits the ground and THEN into the glove of Braves center fielder Mark Kotsay. The 3rd base umpire calls it a catch and the Braves get a double play out if it. Mets manager, Willie Randolph comes charging out of the dugout for a rare argument. The Braves trotted off the field, into the dugout during the argument. Randolph convinced the umpires to discuss the play and they ruled it was NOT a catch. They forced the Braves back onto the field to continue the inning. I don't think I've EVER seen that before. It took at least 5 minutes. I really don't understand why the don't use instant replay in baseball. It would be much easier and faster than that. Each team should be allowed 1 or 2 challenges per game and that's it. You can challenge anything other than balls and strikes. That's my proposal.

I have a policy against leaving sporting events early, but I had to make an exception for this one. After all, I was headed to another sporting event! If there was any way what-so-ever I'd be able to see the full game, I'd need a quick one. Ha! The Mets wound up losing 11-5. And in a game with 16 runs and sloppy weather...that's not the recipe for a quick game. And the Mets never beat the Braves, so I wasn't gonna miss anything (turns out I missed a Braves grand slam...yippee). Thanks to Lauren's near play by play text messages, I definitely didn't miss anything.

So, 2nd stage of the quadruple-header: Philips Arena, AKA - Blueland. The last Thrashers home game of the year. My 38th game of the year (out of 41). I got there just in time for the National Anthems, which began at 7pm. Now for the challenging portion of my day. I had to completely ignore the many TV's and scoreboards within Philips Arena. Luckily we (Me, Erica, Peter, J.B. - Matt is busy protesting the Olympics in London) were sitting in a section where half of the stadium's scoreboards were blocked. I managed to only glance and see a score one time...Kansas was winning 9-6. So I felt pretty good about making it through a 2 1/2 hour hockey game without accidentally learning any Final Four scores. The game itself was pretty meaningless. The Thrashers were going to finish with the 3rd worst record in the NHL no matter what. But they'd be better off if they lost. They were playing division rival Tampa Bay, owners of the worst record in the NHL. If Tampa Bay would have won, they would've finished with the 2nd worst record instead of THE worst. Yes...it makes a difference. More on that later. The highlight (lowlight?) of the game was during the 1st intermission. Comcast's "Dating on Demand" was on hand. They played a version of a dating game, where one girl got to ask a question of 3 guys, whom she couldn't see. The questions were bad, the answers were worse. The first guy was asked, if you could be any animal...what would you be? Answer - A polar bear. Wow. He kept talking but we were too busy booing. The next guy was asked...if you could be any alcoholic drink...what would you be. We were practically begging him to say beer (he was quite the large redneck type). No, he came up with...A Bloody Mary. We couldn't boo loud enough. He said (in his redneck twang) that he's hot and spicy. The booing wouldn't end. The third guy was asked, if he could be any entree at a fancy restaurant...what would he be? I don't even know what he said. The booing was too loud. They then had the crowd text in who they thought she should date. The Bloody Mary guy apparently won the fans over. They screwed up the contest so bad that she didn't even have a say in who she would go on a date with. Contestant #2 it is. Worst intermission idea ever. Actually, there was one good twist. He had his choice...the date with the girl...or whatever was behind curtain #1. So, there wasn't really a curtain, but the redneck chose the girl. What did he pass up on? A 36" plasma TV...and a 2yr lease on a Mustang. Now, no one knows for sure if that's legit or not, but serves him right.

Oh, the game, the Thrashers won 4-1. Rookie Bryan Little wound up scoring the first and last goals of the season. Whatever that means. But the most important part of the Thrashers season is tonight. They have a 14% chance to win the NHL Draft Lottery. If they do win, they will be awarded with the first pick in the June NHL Amateur Draft. Which means prized center sensation Steven Stamkos. He's a franchise changer. So, that's tonight at 8pm...I'm sure no one will miss it. Now back to my story...

After the Thrashers game, I hurried home to watch the DVR'd final four. Got home at about 10:30. First up...Memphis vs. UCLA. Memphis was VERY impressive. I think I yelled out "wow" at least 10 times. Memphis won 78-63. Next up, Kansas vs. North Carolina. This was probably built up as one of the most exciting match ups in semifinal history. Roy Williams, was the coach at Kansas for a long time before jumping ship to UNC a few years ago. As Brian described that situation...he's like an ex-girlfriend. Well, Kansas probably had a warrant out for their arrest because they were beating the SHIT out of Roy Williams' Tarheels. It was 40-12 at one point! 40-12!!!!! There's no coming back from that...right? Well, my newly adopted second favorite college team wound up scaring the shit out of me. North Carolina stormed back to make it 54-50 halfway through the second half. But that was as close as they'd come. Kansas held on and pulled away and won 84-66.

Watching basketball without commercials may be the best thing ever. I watched 2 full games, minus commercials, minus halftime in about 2 1/2 hours. It was great. And I pulled off my quadruple header.

There was still Sunday though, another busy day. Mets @ Braves...again. 1:30. This time I was meeting up with: Lauren, Shea, Shelley, Dave, Davis...and Jill and Josh were in attendance as well, although I never did see them. Well, I did. During one of the in between innings things on the giant scoreboard, there was Josh. I wasn't thinking fast enough or I would've gotten a picture. I was really looking forward to this game because it was the debut of Johan Santana (new Mets pitching STUD) in Atlanta. So, I got a picture of his first pitch: which you can clearly see was a strike... This game went about as well as any Mets-Braves I can remember seeing. I wasn't lying when I said they ALWAYS lose. They were down 1-0 in the bottom of the 8th when Mark Teixeira hit a 2run HR to make it 3-0 Braves. Great. But the Mets gave me a bit of hope in the 9th. They got it to 3-1, had 2 men on base with 2 outs. Then, Mets newcomer Ryan Church (and a member of my fantasy team The League Dumbass) hit a line drive down the first base line...Teixeira made a diving stop and ended the game. Ughhhh. Swept again. I really don't know why I keep putting myself through these games! The Braves fans were extra classy (sarcasm) on Sunday. Check out the sign: (Warning, choking hazard...with a Mets logo)

It took a lot for me not to remind them of who has finished ahead of who the last two seasons (for those of you not keeping score at home, the Mets have finished ahead of the Braves the last 2 years).

If you really look at the buildings in the 3rd picture you can see a TON of windows boarded up from the tornado. It really is unbelievable how much damage it did and only 2 people died.

The Braves game was not the end of my sports-filled weekend, however. There was still kickball. I went from the Braves game over to Piedmont park for the game. Along the way (while stopped at a red light) I had the bright idea to check my email via my phone. And wouldn't ya know it. An email saying kickball was cancelled. That's not my favorite part. Why did they cancel it? "Muddy conditions"!!!! I was in my car, all alone SCREAMING MY ASS OFF. MUDDY CONDITIONS????? Where the F&^*( was that decision LAST WEEK when I could barely walk for the next couple of days because of the damn mud. Bastards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This Weekend's Attempt at a QuadrupleHeader!

Now I'm just making up words. Here's what I've got in store for Saturday:

3:55pm New York Mets @ Atlanta Braves (where I will be booing the HELL out of Tom Glavine)
7:00pm Tampa Bay Lightning @ Atlanta Thrashers (the Thrashers final home game - finally I can have a life again!!!!)

And after the Thrashers game, I will rush home, ignore my cell phone, and watch the Final Four on "tape delay" (can we please find a new term since no one uses tapes anymore?)
6:07pm - Memphis vs. UCLA
8:37pm - UNC vs. Kansas

Then combine that with another Mets-Braves game tonight and Sunday. And my 2nd attempt at kickball on Sunday...

Who gets hurt playing KICKBALL???? Me!!!!

For the longest time I've been wanting to join a kickball league. Kim has been doing it for years up in DC. The main attraction this time around (as compared to the 2nd grade or so) is beer. And I won't lie...I like beer. But my kickball debut was not such a good one. Our team really had no clue. It was our first game, very understandable...but we lost 11-1. It was cold. Too cold to drink beer. (Seriously). The field was very muddy. And this is how I would meet my demise. Right around the batters box was probably where the worst of the mud was. During my 2nd at bat (do they even call it that in kickball?) I was about to kick the ball when I kind of slipped...then replanted to correct myself. Didn't really hurt at the time, probably because it was so cold. But by the time I got home, and was inside for a while, both of my knees were pretty seriously stiff. Woke up at about 4am in a cold sweat. Chugged a bottle of tylenol (not REALLY) and went back to sleep. Woke up still in pretty bad shape. Went to work, hobbled around all day, took all kinds of fun drugs. But I learned what worked better than any drug I could've tried...ICE!!!! After work, I came home, did the every 20 minutes thing with the ice on the backs of my knees and not too much longer, I was feeling a LOT better.

It's been a couple days now, my knees are still kind of sore, but I've been upgraded from "questionable" to "probable" for this Sunday's kickball game against the Blueballers. We're gonna make em look silly...because they may not realize this, but we play with red balls. Idiots!!!!

For anyone keeping track, I'm 0-2 with a groundout and a fly out so far. But I played a rock solid first base, only had trouble with the first ball that came my way, but it bounced in the mud funny! Definitely not scored an E-3!!!!