Fandangles, Take Two

Just about a month ago, some friends and I went to a restaurant called "Fandangles" - in the Sheraton - for "Downtown Atlanta Restaurant Week" and we had "An Awesomly Horrible Dining Experience". I wrote about it in my blog, still thinking that only my parents and grandmother read this thing. Well, turns out this internet thing is a pretty big deal. Pretty soon after I wrote my little story, I had this email waiting for me:

Good Afternoon Jason,

I just finished reading your blog and can’t tell you how disappointed and embarrassed I am about the awful dining experience that you had while visiting Fandangles earlier this week. I would love to have the opportunity to bring you and your friends back to Fandangles and give you the perfect dining experience that we are known for (complimentary of course). Please let me know if you would like to take me up on the offer and when you would be joining us. You can reach me by email or directly at 404-555-5555 [not really]. I look forward to hearing from you.

Warmest Regards,
Leola (Director of Food & Beverage- Sheraton Atlanta Hotel)

I DEFINITELY wasn't expecting anything like that. As I said, in my mind, only my parents and grandmother ever read this stuff, no matter how high the visitor tally gets. I told her we'd certainly give Fandangles another chance.

Well, about a month later we finally were able to get the group of 8 of us to schedule a night - Tuesday - to come back. Since we had 2 out-of-towners last time, we did feel the need to select two replacements, who wound up being Matt and Rebecca. As soon as we walked into the place, the hostess definitely recognized Erica from last time, which was pretty funny. We were also spotted by Robert, one of the managers who remembered us from last time. He seemed pretty excited to see us as he and really everyone else went out of their way to make sure we were happy...and we were! We were seated in a little open room off to the side were served drinks as we waited on the rest of our group.

Eventually, everyone showed up and we were seated. There were 2 bottles of wine waiting for us by the table and we were then greeted by our server, Fletcher, who also couldn't have been nicer. We were told we would be able to order from the full menu (we did ask, because during restaurant week, it was a limited menu). So that was nice. Although I had planned all along to order the same steak I had last night because it was so good! So we ordered a couple of different appetizers for the table, I'm not a seafood person, so I passed on most of the stuff ordered but I was all for saving room for my steak! I did try something that I think was called a "Taco Tower" which was really good. Finally the main course was served, and I did struggle, but I somehow finished my steak. I think I was the only one to leave without any leftovers, I'd never been so full!!!! And even after the main course, Robert "made" us all order desserts and brought us all an after-dinner drink, which was a 50-year old Grand Marnier. It smelled SO good that none of us really wanted to drink it, but Robert came out a little late and made fun of us for sipping on it. So I went ahead and took a big drink and of course spilled a good bit all over my face. I may have gotten away with no one noticing that though! For dessert we pretty much ordered one of everything and each shared. Everything was soooo good, but I was so full I barely touched the chocolate cake + ice cream I ordered.

So, just like last time, the food was excellent. However, unlike last time, the service was excellent. The only other thing we could've asked for were a couple of hotel beads to sleep off our food coma's :) (kidding)

Me and Matt stuffing our faces, while Rebecca (left) and Alaina (right) acted like civilized human beings...for some reason

Matt, Stevens, Rochelle, Peter, Erica, me, Rebecca...photographer: Alaina.

I don't remember what this was but it was friggin delicious! Everything was!

More pictures to come if Erica ever gets her lazy arse around to sending em!!!!

And here they are!!!! Some sushi appetizer...

Rochelle & Stevens (2 future kickball stars for Team Canada: World Mounties)

Erica & Peter...

Me & Rebecca (2 more future kickball hall of famers)
If anyone wants my secret to partial one-eye red-eye reduction, let me know...

An Awesomly Horrible Dining Experience

This week is "Downtown Atlanta Restaurant Week". It's a yearly thing (in other cities too) where people can dine at "fancier" restaurants for a flat fee of (this year) $25 per person to try and encourage people to come back after a great experience. For $25 you get an appetizer, a main course and dessert. Looking back, I've now done this four times. Three times were, uhhhh, bad. A couple of years ago, some friends and I went to Ruth's Crap, errrr Chris Steakhouse. Not only did they barely cook my "medium well" steak, but there was more butter than steak I think. Two years ago, we went to a place called Trader Vic's. I can't really remember anything bad to say about that experience. Last year we went to a place called "O’Terrill’s". As soon as we got close to the place I realized that this ain't no fancy place! It's like a dinky sports bar, which I'd been to once after a Thrashers game. I wanna say the "fancy" menu included chicken fingers. Awesome. So much for trying new restaurants!

But this year topped any and all bad experiences. Me and some Sweetwater friends (Erica + 2 friends, Peter, Rochelle, Stevens, Alaina) had reservations at place called Fandangles (which I thought was a website to go to buy movie tickets?). It is in the Sheraton Hotel on Courtland St. Our reservations were at 7:30. Due some really bad weather we got there a little early to try and beat the storms and got into the restaurant about 15 minutes early. We hung out by the bar, Erica thought I asked for a Shirley Temple...and made me drink it. After that, due to manhood issues, I ordered a $7 (ughhh) pint of Guinness. They had a pool table set up in a terrible location by the bar, there was a wall on three sides of the table, without enough room to actually play pool, with a flat screen TV on one of em. As the Guinness commercial guys say...BRILLIANT!

By about 8:30 we finally got seated at a table next to another table who looked completely miserable. Within a few minutes we heard them complaining, ask for the manager who eventually took 50% off their check. I leaned over and asked them if we should even bother staying! We'd been seated for about 20 minutes by then without anyone coming to say hi. We all already knew what we wanted, hell, we found a pen and half the table needed a smoke break, so they circled on the (paper) menu what they wanted.

When we finally did get our waitress to come by, we ordered a couple of drinks with the idea that she could also handle taking our orders too. Uhhhhh, no. She took drink orders for 2 people...and left. We assume to get those drinks, but it took about 15 minutes or so before she came back. Repeat that process about 2 more times. They're lucky we're a laid back, fun loving group!

By about 9:30 or so, a different waitress came by to FINALLY take our order. The smokers of the group were on cigarette break #2 by now, so we were able to order for them. Progress!!!!! A few minutes later, our new waitress came back out to inform us that one of the appetizers - "Friend Calamari with Spicy Remoulade Sauce" - was not available, but they had some kind of shrimp something or other to offer in its place, which the waitress said was "awesome" (With her middle-eastern sounding accent, it made it sound even funnier)

It was about 10pm when the waitress came back with some good news! The manager has decided to buy our table a round of drinks (not quite 50% off, but he knew how to keep us happy!). The waitress was talking Erica into trying some type of wine that she kept describing as "awesome". The manager also explained to us the reason for the problems all night is that they had a "random fire inspector" come by to test the sprinklers in the kitchen. And, uhhhh, they failed. He said there was white powder all over the kitchen and that they had to use a kitchen somewhere else. WTF????? I don't think any of us believed a word of that, but, whatever, he was creative with the story.

Finally, around 10:15 they served the appetizers. I ordered "Jack & Coke BBQ’d Babyback Ribs w/ Fried Sweet Onion Petals" (really only because it included the words "Jack & Coke"). But at that point any food was gonna taste great...and they did.

For the main course, you got to choose from 3 dishes, time for some bullets...

• Peach & Habanera BBQ’d Salmon over black-eyed peas and mustard greens ragout
• Blackened Ribeye Steak over Roasted Garlic Mashed Red Skin Potatoes with grilled asparagus
• Porcini Dusted and Grilled Airline Breast with wild mushroom & crawfish grits, sautéed spinach and onions and topped with a sage glace

(WTF is Grilled Airline Breast?) Anyone who knows me already knows I ordered the steak, and was daring enough to substitute the spinach for asparagus. By the time the main course did get to us, by about 10:45, I wasn't even that hungry anymore. The food was actually VERY good, but the fact that we had been there for over 3 hours kinda made that point...moot. (I don't use that word enough).

For dessert, I get to use even more bullets!

• Southern Style Bourbon Pecan Pie with Caramel
• Carrot Cake (how boring!)
• Chocolate Chocolate Cake

I got the Pecan Pie, but told them to put it right in a box. It was Erica's friend Jamie's birthday, and they actually took VERY good care of her. Erica supplied the trick candles and they brought out her dessert with a bunch of candles and sang to her. They also brought her a present - a small brown fancy lookin box with a few wrapped also fancy lookin chocolates inside. The waitress actually asked for the box back, but then said just kidding. So that was funny. They also gave Jamie all three desserts in to-go boxes. Where's mine??????????

Finally at about 11:30 we were ready for the check, we gave one of the guys a few cards and some cash and he proceeded to count it in front of us, which seemed odd. Rochelle made a comment about it, then I asked her...did you just get here??? Are you really surprised by anything at this point?

In the end, we were there for over 4 hours, no one was leaving hungry or angry. We had fun, mostly laughing about the restaurant, but the food was excellent. Can't deny that. I've still got leftovers to look forward to in my fridge!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EDIT: On Friday afternoon I got an email from someone offering us an opportunity to give Fandangles another chance, "complimentary of course". I'll be sure to report back how our 2nd try goes!

EDIT #2: http://jznole.blogspot.com/2008/08/fandangles-take-two.html

2008 Thrashers Draft Party

Last night was the 2008 NHL Draft. I managed to talk Matt, Erica and Peter into going to Philips Arena for the Thrashers Draft Party. I had gone a few years ago with Scott. That year, they opened up the whole arena and let people sit wherever they wanted to watch the draft on the big screen. There were games for kids going on where the ice usually is.

Well, this year was a bit different. The actual arena was not available, apparently some kind of an AARP dress rehearsal was going on inside an they weren't allowing anyone in. So, instead we hung outside the main concourse and watched the draft on a bunch of big screens. And a local sports radio station was broadcasting live. The area was pretty small, but crowded. We got there early enough to get a table, but so many people were standing, I sometimes had a tough time seeing the TV's! I noticed a guy with a camera lurking, so I started doing some acting. Pointing at the draft scout sheet we were handed as we walked in and I acted like I was pointing something out to Erica. Next thing I knew the photographer was asking us for our names! Cool!

The drafted started, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman got booed when he got things underway. Tampa Bay had the first pick, as expected they took Steven Stamkos. Everyone at Philips booed. LA was up next and took defenceman (we had arguments for a while why they spell it with a "c"...no winner in that argument yet) Drew Doughty. Next up were the Thrashers. We all were wanting and hoping for defenceman Zach Bogosian. Gary Bettman came to the podium and announced that there was a trade. I think everyone's in the room went silent. Or just screamed, "noooooooooooooooooo". Well, it turned out the trade had nothing to do with the Thrashers, we all breathed a sigh of relief! Finally, Thrashers GM Don Wadell made his way to podium, everyone at Philips booed. :) But they took Zach Bogosian, and we all yelled, "Bogo! Bogo! Bogo!"

After an incredibly slow first round, a couple of hours later, only a couple of picks later, we headed over to the new Taco Mac for the rest of the first round. It is actually inside Philips Arena. I'm not a fan of Taco Mac, but its cool to have a place like that within the arena now.

All in all, it was a good time, probably the last time to get to enjoy anything Thrasher-related until September, so I did my best.

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

After 3 rainouts and a game missed because I was out of town, I finally returned from the DL to play some kickball yesterday. And because of all the rainouts, we had a doubleheader yesterday. Luckily our team plays for fun, and isn't too competitive, hell, half the team is from other countries and don't know much about baseball, so we're there for fun, beer and more beer.

So the first game starts, we're ahead 1-0 in the 5th inning or so (we play 7). I get myself my first hit (kick?) of the year. So, I'm on first base. Next batter (kicker?) gets a hit and I took off and scampered to 3rd base. I over-ran the base a little bit, because, no one in there right mind would slide in kickball, right? After I overslid the base, in trying to get back, I did kinda dive back into third base. Only because the pitcher got the ball back and was headed my way. In kickball, if you throw the ball at a base-runner and they're not on the base...they're out. With one exception: you cannot hit them in the head. well...you'll never guess where he hit me! Yep, right smack square in the face. Luckily those kickballs are pretty soft so it didn't do much damage other than getting my glasses dirty. So, no, thats not how I got hurt...although I tried ;)

Very next play, 2 outs, I'm on third. The next batter hits a ground ball and I take off from home, kind of assuming that the play will be at first base. No such luck, they were coming after me. I saw the guy was about to throw the ball my way, so without really thinking, i dove. Head first. In the dirt. Luckily I was safe or I would've been REALLY pissed. But with the big insurance run came came lots of blood and fun scratch marks on my legs and right arm. My teammates loved it though, got high fives from everyone. Of course, no one had any first aid of any kind, so I'm just sitting there, bleeding. Someone did find a couple of napkins, so I got some water and tried to clean myself up a little. I just got to play cheerleader the rest of the game. We were up 3-2 going into the bottom of the 7th and managed to lose 4-3, so that kinda took away from my hero status I think :)

A couple hours later was game 2. Luckily we had a pretty full squad so i didn't have to play in the field, but I got 2 at bats and managed to get RBI singles in both of em, all while limping my way around the bases. But it was fun. I'm sure the 7-8 beers I had helped ease the pain :)

After the game I got a ride to my car, which was parked in front of Erica's house, so I hung out there for a bit...then Erica cleaned me up a little. Hydrogen Peroxide hurts like HELL!!!! Just thinking about it makes me squirm a little. But it was for a good cause I suppose! Then after sobering up, I went home and planted myself on the couch with some ice and watched a 4 overtime thriller between Dallas and San Jose. After the 3rd overtime, around 2am...I was kind of falling asleep, so to enhance my pain, I took a shower. Owwwwwwwwwwowowowowowwww. Finally the game ended around 2:30 (8th longest game in NHL history) and Dallas won. I was rooting for San Jose, but, whatever, I was ready to sleep!

Don't worry, I'm hoping to get some good pictures up pretty soon...waiting for them to get emailed...

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Operation Believe in Tankland!

Well, as you may have realized by now, I've become a big Atlanta Thrashers fan now that I've lived in Atlanta for a few years. But it took some time. I grew up in NYC and was a big Rangers fan. I still remember where I was when the Rangers won the Cup in 1994! (Ok, even if it was just in the extra bedroom of my parents house in Roanoke, VA...I still remember being so excited but everyone was asleep so I had to be quiet!) Soon after, I started FSU in the fall of 1994 and for my birthday, I got my first hockey jersey (aka - "sweater"). It was a dark blue Rangers jersey. Up until about 2003 or so, I would wear it to Thrashers games and even root against em (which I still do the Braves, as a Mets fan...that one will NEVER change). But something happened that year. I realized how much fun the games were. The team was on the "cusp". Later on, maybe 2005, the Thrashers provided an opportunity to trade in any NHL team's jersey for a brand new Thrashers jersey. I traded my 11 year old Rangers jersey for a Thrashers jersey. You've probably seen me in it in many pictures since! And I've been a die-hard Thrashers fan since. Beginning with last season, my company actually started advertising in Philips arena, and as part of a contract they now have a suite in one corner (figures!) of the arena. Not frequently, but I've gotten to sit in the suite several times. Now this year, I've managed to (through Erica) become friends with a guy who actually works on the ice at Philips. He even gets to drive the zamboni occasionally (which apparently is a bottom feeder job that isn't as cool as it sounds). He's gotten me and some friends a bunch of free tickets. So, between him and work, I've gotten to go to A LOT of these games for FREE. With the NHL All Star Game in Atlanta this year, a couple of my friends decided to buy a season ticket package (all Saturday games) in order to have a shot at ($200) All Star Tickets. See, it all evens out. The All Star Game Weekend Festivities were worth it. And to date, I've been to all but 3 home games this season, all for good reason.

Dec 12 vs Boston - doctor's apt & parents in town

Jan 4 vs Carolina - My friend Courtney & Mike's wedding

Jan 6 vs Buffalo - My Super Bowl XLII Champion N.Y. Giants had their first playoff game at the same time as the Thrashers game. Priorities! But I haven't missed a game since.

What I'm trying to say is, I'm a big fan. About a month ago, February 15th, the Thrashers won a 10 round shootout in New Jersey. That win put them a mere 2 games over .500 and into first place in the South(L)east Division. They've one just one game since. The playoffs aren't a realistic goal anymore. Beginning with last season, the Thrashers PR department (or whoever thinks up these things) came up with the slogan "Believe in Blueland". With "Blueland" being Philips Arena. I didn't really like it at first, thought it was kinda lame. But it grew on me. I approve. Now, fast forward to current day. My thoughts are, with the playoffs out of reach, the more games they lose, the better draft pick they'll get. Introducing "Operation Believe in Tankland". Thats right. I hope the team tanks and losing as many games as possible. If they manage to finish with the worst record, they'll have the best shot at the #1 overall draft pick, where a kid named Steven Stamkos would probably help out immediately.

Now, for the bad idea segment. Last night the Thrashers attempted to have a "White-Out" at Blueland. With the idea being, everyone wears a white shirt. As you can see by the picture, there are TONS more empty seats than people in white shirts. Even better, the Thrashers were supposed to wear their white jerseys too. Well, someone forgot to tell the Colorado Avalanche (the Thrashers opponent on White-Out Night) and they just happened to forget their non-white jerseys. Oops. First of all, the whole "white-out" thing has been done. Why not have a "blue-out" aka a "smurf out"? (credit given to Divya for thinking of that one). Instead they had us all wear shirts the same color as the opponent. BRILLIANT! Well, the Thrashers lost 5-2. As if that mattered, hell, they haven't won a home game, in regulation since January 30th!

The highlight for me was this Avalanche jersey. I know its a bad picture, but the back says "Redwings Suck". The Red Wings and Avalanche have one of the best rivalries in hockey. Especially in the late 90, early 0's (did I just name it that?)

So thats about it. Does it make me a bad fan since I'm basically rooting against my favorite team the rest of the season? I don't think so. It's whats best for their future! Right?

The Week in Review

First things first, Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!

This past Tuesday there were some pretty powerful strong storms around 6am or so. I woke up, turned on the TV to see if I'm supposed to be hiding in a bathroom or something. Luckily, I was perfectly safe in my bed. During the weather reports there were talks of power outages in Kennesaw (where I work). I had the brilliant idea of calling my extension to see if voicemail was working. It was not! A busy signal! I went back to sleep.

About 7:30 I called a coworker (Monica) to get an update. Stuck in traffic, but she'd update me when she got there. Eventually I got word that there was officially no power in the office and that everyone was to go home and check back around noon. I sent an email to my boss and back to sleep I went!

Slept all the way til 9:30! (sarcasm). Then I remembered it was NHL trade deadline day! Which was to be a big deal for the Thrashers. They had several soon to be free agents to trade, including Marian Hossa who is probably the most coveted impending free agent. I was glued to the internet, waiting for the Thrashers to do something when all of a sudden it was after noon already! I had just spoken to another coworker (JOAN!) who said that the power was back but nothing was working. So I stayed on the couch. Ooops! Got an email from the boss asking where I was. No one told me!!!!! Anyways, went to work. After expecting Hossa to get traded to Montreal all along, out of nowhere came the Pittsburgh Penguins. We gave up Hossa and one of my favorites, Pascal Dupuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis for Erik Christensen, Colby Armstrong, a prospect (Angelo Esposito) and a 1st round draft pick in 2008. That's A LOT! Unfortunately they didn't trade any of the other upcoming free agents. Oh well. The Thrashers are now 0-0-3 since the trade. And Hossa is out with an injured knee. Oops!

Wednesday was another wacky day. Oh, I forgot to do my rant on everyone being pregnant. My good friend and coworker, Beth (the one who actually trained me when I first got to Aarons) had her baby on Feb 19 (Claire Elizabeth Robinson - aka - E-Claire). She was a few weeks early. Another coworker, Lakeisha was due before Beth and didn't have her baby until Tuesday (Feb 26 (Stephen Champion Moore). Then on Wednesday, it was my friend Jill's birthday. She was, what looked like about 2 years pregnant. Met up with her at some Italian restaurant called Il Localino. I had no idea what kind of place it was, I just showed up in my Thrashers hoody and jeans. Apparently it's a somewhat fancy place. Oh well, the owner had a good time with us. He actually told me that a few guys from the team are regulars! I'll never understand the lifestyle of spending $100 on a meal, but amongst about 10 of us, we racked up a $700+ bill! Hooray beer! A lot of that was wine, which, luckily I'm not a fan of. It was a good time, Josh (Jill's husband) has some wacky friends. Josh was wearing a crab? hat the whole time. Another girl (Bonnie?) had a Viking hat. Very strange. But it was a fun time.

Thursday I had my first episode of Beth withdrawal. Usually I make her come with me whenever I have to buy anything at lunch. Well, I needed new work-shoes. I'm a guy, what the hell do I know? I had to somehow choose between brown and black shoes. Beth was nowhere to be found. I called Lauren and she talked me into the brown ones - actually, I eventually realized they didn't have the black ones in my size. My newest problem is, they come with light brown and dark brown shoelaces! What do I do? (Seriously, I'm clueless here)

Thursday night was the first Thrashers home game in over 2 weeks. And it was a mess. Traffic was terrible. I got there in time for the traditional pregame 44oz beer. Met up with Pat and Jeremy. I was waiting on Divya with my ticket, but she was stuck in traffic. And it turned out that the tickets that were supposed to be waiting for her never showed up! Matt couldn't get off work til about 6:45. Erica got there right around 7:00 and happened to have an extra ticket. So in with them I went. I had all kinds of friends there. I stayed with Erica and Peter for the first period (in the good seats). My friend Jason was there for "guys' night" so I told them I'd hang out with them for a bit. Went upstairs in between periods, hung out with Jason, Mike, Adam, Seth and some others. With a few minutes left in the 2nd period (and with the Thrashers losing 3-0) I finally heard from Matt, who was apparently sitting nearby. He called and said to come over, he ran into our favorite usher...Millie! So I ran over. I don't remember if I ever mentioned Millie on here, but she's hooked me and Matt up numerous times, including getting us lower level seats for the 3rd period of the all star game. Anyways, Millie had us follow her. Usually this involves going down lots of stairs. Well, not this time. She had us sit in the very last row of the upper deck. In her defense, apparently she said "wait here, I'll be back". Well, she came back, but we wound up staying there the rest of the game. Oh, as an added bonus of sitting in the last row, I had the bright idea of jumping over the back of the seat and landed flat on my ass. Oops. Oh, the Thrashers came back to tie the game, but lost in OT. Like you care.

Friday, Violet Louise Reiter was born (that's Josh & Jill's). That thing was almost 10 pounds!!!!!
Friday night began my Family Guy marathon. I'd managed to avoid Family Guy for years. Everyone said that I would love the show, but I just always thought there is no way it could live up to expectations. Well, it has. Jeremy got a hold of the first two seasons on DVD. Started watching it right away. Love it!

Saturday, me and Matt went to go visit Jill & Josh & Violet in the hospital. We parked at what we thought was the right place. Oops. Walked around a building that seemed like a hospital for a while. Walked through a parking garage for a while. Finally found the front door of what looks like what used to be a hospital? Still not sure but it became obvious we were in the WRONG building. We managed to get directions from a security guard and jumped back in the car and found the right place. The only thing I wonder about this whole baby thing, both Beth & Jill have cats. How do they know their kids aren't gonna be allergic????? (Cats suck)

After the hospital Matt introduced me to this place called Raging Burrito. It was REALLY good but I found out a little later why I think they call it that. Ok, sorry, that was gross. But the burrito was really good. Two words - Pineapple salsa!

That's about it. This week is spring break. Yippee. Doesn't exactly mean the same now that i'm working. All it means is that I don't have to be awake for an 8am class (which I'm consistently 15 minutes late for, hell, I'm consistently 15 minutes late for anything AM related) Any advice is appreciated!

My 15 Seconds of Fame

So last night I went to the Thrashers game at Philips Arena, as I pretty much always do. Usually me and Matt are able to buy student tickets for $15 each (technically I AM a student!!!!). However, last night they were all sold out. Unless we wanted to sell our respective houses, we couldn't afford what seats were left. So our other option were Standing Room Only seats for $10 each. Done. So we head to the upper deck to the very top of the arena where we are supposed to stand. We noticed Jay-Bird (He's the guy who does all the contests during Thrashers games) standing around up there. Matt had the idea to ask him if we could use his microphone to ask anyone if they had a place for us to sit. I thought that was a great idea but Matt wouldn't ask...so I did. I asked him if I could use his mic to beg for a place for us to sit. He laughed, which is surprising because he usually only laughs at things HE says (which is pretty much the most obnoxious thing you can do, in my mind). Matt asked him if we could sit in his seat, since he's just walking around, we could keep his seat warm! Jaybird responded with some comment that made absolutely no sense and had something to do with drunk people. And of course, he cracked up laughing. I told him we weren't that drunk, then asked him how you sign up to do one of the in-game contests. He, again replied with something that had nothing to do with contests...and laughed...then walked away. We weren't really that surprised, I think that's about what we figured a conversation with Jaybird would go. Then I texted Erica, who was sitting downstairs, "We just chatted with jaybird...he's even worse in person!" As soon as I hit send, jaybird comes back, taps me on the shoulder and wants us to come with him. He's gonna put us on the big screen to do a contest!!! It was a Home Depot game called "Risk it All" where they tell you an item and a price and we have to decide if the actual price is higher or lower. If you get it right, you win that item. The first thing was a pair of heavy duty gloves...got it right. The second thing...I had no idea what it was, still don't...I even said, I have no idea what that is, but I'll say "higher"...and we got it right. The third item was an electric sander thing. Got that right. So then we have the option of keeping what we've won, or "Risk it All" in hopes of winning all that plus Thrashers stuff. We go to a lot of games...EVERYONE risks it all, so we did too, saying that I don't even know what some of those things are...and so then you pick a number from 1-9. We were surrounded by about 3-4 Thrashers girls...who were telling us not to pick #5, we've noticed that #5 usually says "lose all". So we knew better...we picked #3. What happens??? "LOSE ALL"!!! Of course. I think #5 was at least a $25 Home Depot gift card. #4 I think was "WIN ALL" We would've won the 3 items, free Thrashers tickets, $100 Home Depot gift card, and a signed puck or stick or something. Oh well, there went my 15 seconds of fame! Oh, me and Matt do get to split a $5 Home Depot card as our consolation prize.

Meeting Ray Bourque

So last night the Atlanta Thrashers were playing the Washington Capitals. It happened to be the debut of Chris Bourque, son of NHL Hall of Famer Ray Bourque.

I know alot of you aren't hockey experts, here's what Wikipedia has to say about him:

Raymond Jean Bourque (born December 28, 1960 in Saint-Laurent, Quebec, now a
district of Montreal) is a Hockey Hall of Famer who currently holds the records
for most goals, assists and points by a defenseman in the National Hockey League
(NHL) and has become near-synonymous with the Boston Bruins. He played for the
Bruins and Colorado Avalanche. Finally, on June 9, 2001, after 22 seasons, the
Avalanche—and Bourque—won the Stanley Cup, in what proved to be Bourque's final
game as a player. He had waited longer to win his first Cup than any other
Cup-winning player had in the 108-year history of Stanley Cup play.

Ok, so now you know he was a superstar. He was at last night's game since it was his son's NHL debut. He also just happened to be sitting in the same row as my friend Erica. So she texted me, "We are sitting next to Ray Borg". I had no idea who she was talking about until I said it out loud (seriously, try it!). Then when I cracked her spelling problems, I decided my gameplan. I picked up a free program, and snuck into their section. Borrowed a pen from a girl sitting in front of them and made my move.

I said, "excuse me sir, sorry to bother you, but I was wondering...is your son by any chance making his NHL debut tonight?". (clever, huh?). He said yeah, I said I was how great that was and I asked him if he would mind giving me his autograph and taking a picture. He paused, I was scared for a second, then he said "Not at all". i opened the program up to the page with the Capitals roster...unfortunately it wasn't updated with Chris Bourque's name yet, but I had him sign that page anyways. Then took a picture. I told him I was a huge fan and it was an honor meeting him, all that stuff, and wished his son the best of luck. 7 minutes later Chris took his first ever NHL penalty.

Bitching about packing and other ramblings to help procrastinate

T-minus 15 days til the move. I packed THREE boxes tonight...doubling my output of 6 total boxes packed. Of course, 2 and a half of those boxes were pretty much all CDs that I never seem to listen to anymore but have a hard time giving them up. You just never know when I might have a sudden desire to pop in that old Bell Biv DeVoe album I guess. You'd think I'd be good at this...since I started college I've moved 11 times (and I just counted, I've had 18 different roommates during that time - fun with procrastination, I'm the king!) But anyways, you'd think I'd be good at this whole moving thing by now. I'm not...its the worst. Last time I wasn't even halfway done packing by the time moving day came. I had people just throwing shit into boxes as people were taking my stuff out to the truck. I really hate packing, but I vow to at least be done by the time moving day gets here!!!!! I promise!

Other short stories from this past week...

Got a pretty good review and raise at work last week, so thats always good.

Hung out with my new friends at Sweetwater this weekend. Went to the brewery Friday after work then to a BBQ afterwards at Erica and Peter's house. We got to tour the house being built next door, which is still very much under construction, but on sale for a cool 750k. Thats crazy! They don't even have any doors or windows in that house! Maybe its in the plans, but its risky.

Saturday night was a housewarming party, again with the sweetwater crowd. Played some darts, oh...they had an old school atari system, I definitely need one of those!!! Then i learned how to play flip-cup. Something you're probably supposed to learn in college...its a drinking game. Needless to say I slept on Matt's couch that night and spent most of Sunday sleeping as much as possible.

Monday I tried to watch the home run derby, but good lord, it took over 3 hours!!!! I consider myself a pretty big baseball fan and I lost interest in a hurry.

Tuesday night was the All Star game, and it was a pretty good one. Comcrapstic's DVR screwed it up for me though, i missed an inning while I was helping Lauren fix her router.

Wednesday was a big day. I know I'm retarded, but I was very excited that the 2007-8 Thrashers schedule came out at 2pm. The home opener is Friday October 5th at 7:30pm vs the Washington Crapitals - who apparently have some new gay looking uniforms. Wednesday October 10th the Thrashers play Ottawa, which is the first time I get to hear my favorite National Anthem next season. They play home games against teams from Canada 9 times next season!!! Thats just about one-fourth of all home games. Very exciting for this wanna-be-Canadian!

Wednesday night was me and Matt's weekly Sweetwater beer tour gathering. One of the guys I know who pours beer there, I chat with and asked him about his girlfriend twice apparently. The second time he told me they broke up last night. Yeah, so I felt like an asshole. A group of us went out afterwards to help cheer him up.

Thats about it, I've been pretty tired all day today, gotta rest up for the weekend. Tomorrow is Lauren's birthday and I'm sucking it up and going to a bar I really don't like. It'll be fun though, the band playing she says is pretty good (its her boyfriends' brothers' band). So she's probably biased. I'll be sure to let you know!

Alright, thats enough procrastinating for one night. Night kids!