Guerilla Radio

Man I am soooooo behind on my blogging! I really wanna get this one in quickly.

Last Friday night, I hung out with Jason in his first fatherhood fun night out. After grabbing some food, we were trying to figure out what to do, so we put our future in our friend, Jeanie. We definitely wanted to go somewhere with live music, preferably a decent cover band. With the power of the internet, we looked up what was going on when the mostest awesomest thing EVER popped up on the screen. A Rage Against the Machine "tribute" band. Just like that we were instantly excited. They played at the upstairs portion of East Andrews.

So we found out about this show pretty randomly about an hour before it was supposed to start, so we rushed off to go over there. They even had some guy open up for him who was really pretty good. He played some recognizable cover songs. Then came "Guerilla Radio" (which is a title of one of RATM's popular songs for those not in the know). And they were AWESOME. Whenever I go with Jason to see a cover band, we always look forward and scream for them to "play some Rage!" The only downfall of the concert was how empty it was in there. I almost felt bad. These guys said this was their first show in Atlanta and the crowd was sparse. Whoever was in charge of spreading the word about this band did an absolutely terrible job. I would've planned my weekend around this concert! But it worked out, with an hour's notice, we went down there and had a BLAST.

I am SOOOOOOOOO Not an Outdoors Person

I've already used the title "Why I Could Never be a Pierson" and it would apply here too. As a refresher, the Pierson's are a branch of my family, namely a bunch of cousins - Jon, Dan, Rob, Liz who are all VERY outdoors-types. I'll never understand. I pay my hard earned money towards a mortgage each month so that I can sleep in a BED, with a perfectly good ROOF over my head.

I can only remember one other time that I tried camping, it was probably around 1994 or so with my Kenny Rogers Roasters crew, I will now see how many names I remember in case they ever google themselves (say hi!), this will be fun - Nicole Bradley, Dawn Bradley, Amy Swisher, Michele England, Poppy Bilbra-Jacobs...somewhere I've got a picture of all of us (holy crap I found it!!!! Wow, you probably know how it is, when you see a picture of yourself from about 15 years ago? All I can say is wow) Anyways, it was in the middle of nowhere in Southwest Virginia, we rolled in in my yet-to-be-named FSU-Jew-Mobile (my dinky garnet Plymouth Horizon). We got there, setup a tent, took a picture and that's all I remember before it started DOWN POURING. So we threw everything we could in my trunk and everyone came back to my parents house and we used the basement as our campsite...complete with a functioning ROOF! Not to mention air-conditioning. I haven't had any desire to try camping again since.

My friend Rory recently graduated from, well, some kind of advanced schooling to get her PhD, sorry for not knowing all the details, I don't get paid to write this crap! For her graduation party she invited a bunch of people to go camping at Lake Allatoona (which is only about 30 miles from my perfectly good bed). But, as a good friend I agreed to come...for the day. There was an evite and everything where I made my intentions clear that I'm only going for the day and that anyone else who wasn't a camper was welcome to stay at my place. Apparently that decision was overturned and I was going camping overnight. I soon realized I wasn't getting out of this. So I sucked it up and would give it a try. Tracy came into town from Jacksonville, Kim - and her boyfriend Michael and his boat - came in from Birmingham. Tara and Jason were going (but Tara used the 7-month's pregnant excuse to get out of camping...I was jealous). So it would be fun, a lot of my friends were going.

The first mistake I made (besides agreeing to go) was to drive Tracy to the campsite. Something bad ALWAYS happens when we go places together. Off the top of my head, a few incidents - She blew out a tire on I-20 driving back from a weekend in Tuscaloosa; driving back to Jacksonville last summer, a truck spilled oil ALL OVER poor little Vickie. Tracy will happily help me name some more incidents I'm forgetting. As we're driving up to the camp-site, on (the) 75 (why are interstate's only preceded with "the" in California?), we heard a noise at one point. Looked back in my rear-view and didn't notice anything, kept driving, assuming it was nothing. A few miles later we got off the interstate and onto some windy roads when driving got a little tougher. I just figured it was because there was a ton of stuff in the trunk maybe. We pulled into the camp site visitors center to check in, then when pulling out of the spot, guess what!!!!

Of course! A flat tire! Not just a flat tire, the tire was barely even on the rim even. Now, we're on a mountain, I was parked in a spot that was on a bit of a hill, so I had some trouble getting the jack to do it's thing. It slipped off about 3-4 times and about a half hour before I finally gave up. Rory's sisters' boyfriend (did I get that right?) managed to get the car jacked up (sounds funny) and he changed the tire in less than 5 minutes. Not the first time I've been bailed out in a tire-changing situation!!!!

So after installing a poor little donut on Vickie, I let her chew on that for a while and threw all our crap into Jason & Tara's car (nice timing by the way! They showed up just as we were done!) and headed to the camp site. Things calmed down for a bit...settled in, grabbed a beer and setup a chair and just sat there. I guess thats what you do? It was cool though just sitting around...at least it wasn't too hot out, there were plenty of trees and we were right by the lake. So all was going well, I did pass on the opportunity to go on a ride on Michael's boat, especially knowing Tracy was going...something bad was bound to happen :)

The most fun was probably watching Rory's friend (and my soon to be kickball teammate) Joel's dog swimming. (To clarify Joel's dog is not eligible for kickball I believe) That dog probably swam more in the few hours we were there than I may have in the last 10 years. It was also fun watching him and Rory's dog Piper go after a frisbee in the water. Especially when they finally gave up fetching it and we got to watch the frisbee slowly but surely float away. Eventually I did get in the water for a bit, then decided I'd even go on the next boat ride. It soon became evident that someone didn't want me on that boat. Almost immediately...in came the clouds. Dark clouds. Even though the radar was clear (OH! Tracy brought her laptop, you know...like a true camper!) We all know that the weather-peoples are never right, so it became obvious that the sky was about to explode all over us. First came the clouds, then came the wind, the thunder, the lightning, the rain...and just for the hell of it...let's throw in some HAIL for good measure. Luckily we were able to make our way to a bathroom facility in the middle of the campground site. The power was out, so it was pitch black inside the bathroom. I will admit this was a better situation than 2 weekends before when I was stuck on Pensacola Beach in a lightning storm with just an umbrella protecting (or, NOT-protecting) me! But the combination of those two weekends got the best of me...I had enough, I did NOT want to be there anymore. After the storm finally passed, they managed to get a fire going and I got a hot dog out of the deal before I got the hell out of there. If I had stayed, I know I would've been miserable and probably ruined it for other people, so I took one for the team and left with Tara and Jason, who took me back to poor little donut-wearing Vickie and then followed me back, going about 45MPH on "the 75". Ughhhhhhh! So I'm officially 0 for 2 in attempts to camp. Which reminds me of my favorite Bush-ism..."There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." Well, I got fooled twice now...shame on you Rory!!!!!!

Here's all of us...I still don't understand why everyone's so happy? If you look carefully you can see some hail on the bottom left...I think

Did I pick the perfect shirt to wear or WHAT? Goes good with the Twister towel :)

Three Up, Three Down

I have just learned a whole new meaning to that phrase. Have you ever done something that you know is a bad idea but you just can't help yourself? Just keep going back for more? Ok, no, I'm not talking about drugs, although...just kidding. The last 2 days, I've gone to 3 Mets-Braves games, and all 3 have been equally terrible. On Tuesday, I was lucky enough to see the Mets barely show up to lose twice to the Braves. First, was a makeup game from a rainout in April, so I got to sit in the hot sun for a couple of hours - yes mom, I used sunscreen! (although I missed a spot on my neck). Yet the Mets lost, 6-1. Former Met and currently hated human (by me and many Mets fans) Tom Glavine tried to give the Mets a couple of runs in the first inning but they wanted none of it. The Mets were actually winning, 1-0. That didn't last. They didn't even get another hit until the 9th inning! Not a fun time.

In between games we went back to my friend Patrick's car and tailgated to kill some time. Met a couple of college kids parked next to us. We chatted with them for a while, they were trying to get their grill going and had a tough time of it, it was pretty windy in their defense. Eventually they got it going and after sacrificing a couple of hot dogs (picking up hot dogs off a grill with a spatula is harder than you might think!) they shared their food and beer with us! So, not all Braves fans are bad. After hanging out drinking for a couple of hours, I met up with some other friends for the second game - Matt, Divya, Jason, Tara and Eggbert*, . I also met up with Brian, who was in town for business. He was lucky enough to get some pretty good seats in the lower section. Our seats were in the front row of the upper deck, not bad at all! But...then came the rains. Lots of it. What better way to start a second game of a doubleheader than a 98 minute rain delay???? The second game was pretty bad too. I'm not sure if the Mets knew the game had started, they were on the field, but sometimes I wonder if they were even trying. It wasn't until the 8th inning that they showed up I think, already down 4-0, they managed to make it 4-2. Only to give the Braves 2 runs back in the bottom of the 8th to make it 6-2. Which also turned out to be the final score. As if thats not bad enough, on the last play of the game, arguably the Mets MVP of 2008 so far, Ryan Church got hurt:

Damion Easley grounded into a double play to end the nightcap, but New York right fielder Ryan Church and Braves shortstop Yunel Escobar were hurt on the play. Church, who was on first after a single, tried to break up the double play with a slide. Escobar, racing toward first after he fielded the ball, had his knee collide with Church, who was left with a bloody forehead after it scraped off the dirt. Both Church and Escobar had to be helped off the field. Church was diagnosed with a minor concussion and was taken to Piedmont Hospital. Escobar was limping in the locker room after bruising his right knee.

I will say this, I have HATED Chipper Jones for a long time. But when Church was laying at second base motionless, Chipper was the one calling for the Mets medical staff to come out and stayed right by Church until he got up. So, for one day anyway, I didn't hate Chipper as much as I usually do. But that was a pretty shitty ending to a pretty miserable 11 hours at Turner Field.

But thats not all. Wednesday I went back for more punishment. But this time I brought my secret weapon. My friend Jeanie. Whenever she goes with me, the Mets win. It happened twice last year and once the year before I believe. Those are probably the only wins the Mets have in Atlanta the last few years. We got off to a good start, 1-0. Then it got ugly. In the bottom of the 3rd inning, with one out, Mets left fielder Moises Alou walked off the field. One of the strangest things I've seen. He just left. Of course, in the stands, we've got no clue whats going on. Turns out he had cramps. CRAMPS!!!!! Are you f-ing kidding me??? CRAMPS???? Ughhhhhh. It got worse from there, the Braves went up 11-2, and won 11-4.

So it's been a pretty awful couple of days at Turner Field. And for some reason, I'm going back for more tonight. But, this time I very well may wear a paper bag on my head. It's getting embarrassing!

*-Eggbert is the official name of Jason & Tara's unborn child.

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!

Am I Cursed? Brrrrrrrrrrrr

So last week it was (insert Dr. Evil accent) FRIGGIN freezing (end accent) here in the ATL. It was 17 one morning that I remember. Which seems like the perfect time for my heater to stop working. Yep, I got home from work and it was about 50 degrees INSIDE my place. Poor Mitsa, I could almost hear her shivering! I'm not a Pierson, so I was not about to brave the cold, I slept at a friends' house (Thanks Jason & Tara!) that night. Wanna take a wild guess as to what happened that night? Yep, my presence broke their heater.

We each managed to get our respective heaters fixed within 24 hours, so I guess there was a happy ending. If anyone needs their heater broken for any reason...give me a call, I'll be happy to see what I can do.

Why I retired from poker

Back in the day, me and my old roommate Jason used to play poker at bars or at someones house a couple of times a week. We played alot, and I was doing fairly well. But I was getting tired of coming home smelling like smoke everyday. I really didn't like playing with people who took these games too seriously, but mostly I was tired of people beating me with crappier hands than mine! I think I've played once in the past year. Jason (my old roommate) was having a guys night poker event at his house, so I decided to give it a go. A key factor in this decision was that I could show up a little early and take a HOT shower!!!! And I did, so that was awesome.

There were 9 of us playing poker...2 of them were the types that took everything way too seriously. It was $10 a piece to play, so its not like this was life or death for anyone. Just play some cards, drink some beer and enjoy yourself...thats my theory anyways. So on to the game. It took almost forever for me to get any good cards and when i finally had something good I had very little money so I just bet it all. One of the serious guys called my bet, with a much crappier starting hand...and of course he got lucky and beat me. So thats the end of game 1 for me. A couple hours later, they started a 2nd game. Very first hand, I got good cards, someone bet big, so I went all in. I think I had an ace and a queen. The other guy called me...with absolutely nothing, I think it was a 10 and an 8. And of course...he gets an 8. I lose. Thats fine, it happens (too often, but it happens). The part that really pissed me off is that this guy started celebrating like there was no tomorrow. Typically people are almost apologetic when they win on crap hands like that. But no. This guy was 100% obnoxious. And it lasted for a while. Eventually I couldn't take it anymore, so I went across the street to play darts the rest of the night.

So, it was worth a shot, but i have no desire to play poker anytime soon. I wound up crashing at their house...and snuck in a shower this morning, so that was nice. Thanks Jason (& Tara) you guys are awesome friends!