"You don't stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing."

After a busy summer of traveling (home two weekends for the whole summer) we have settled back into the school year and the busy grind of work and career growth.  Maybe it was not traveling for a month or maybe its just the natural progression of things but for the first time in my life it felt like there was a steady routine.  Get up, exercise, work, housework, romance, sports, eat and sleep.  Being in school up until last year, there was never a routine, classes always changed and you could spend your time the way you wanted to but with the "real" world you have set hours which can force a routine.  My wife has one of the tougher jobs that exist (teacher) because the education system is majorly flawed, but that is another story altogether, we have both been in a steady routine and we talked about feeling old.  Now some of you might say ok, whatever, you are 28 and 24, but for us both being done with school and working on our careers, this truely is the first time we have a routine and I dont really like that.  I like being spontaneous, free, and flying by the seat of my pants but this is a part of life and I get why people always said enjoy your time at school, because you are your own boss, you generally set your own hours and what not.  So we decided we needed to do something we dont normally do like go out to concerts on a "school" night, took a little convincing to get the teacher who gets up at 5:30am to stay out past midnight but we did it! One of our favorite bands was playing, The Head and The Heart, a little bit of Seattle in Raleigh and we had a ton of fun.  What I did realize is that I am older than the crowd that was out drinking and dancing on a week night, most of the people out were 18-23 years old in college at one of the numerous schools in the Raleigh Chapel Hill area, part of me felt old and part of me felt young.  It's a weird place to be because life and society want you to do one thing and everything in me as always says fuck the machine and I am going to do what I want to do, however, in many ways I am a working stiff and in many ways I am a teenager living it up.  Staying out past midnight during the week used to be common but somehow that changed and I didnt realize it until I had to think about going out late when before, it was always just get up and go--I dont even have kids and I had to think about it.  Seems like things are slowing down but then again we just spent 10 of 12 weeks traveling and we go to Mexico in a month or so, so who knows, maybe the perspective is just off.  Being practical is good but it is not as much fun and that is part of the balance I am thinking will always be something that is just a bit off for me, as an addict, I always want more, there is never enough and sometimes its nice to get up and go, to stay out late, to act like a 21 year old would, just like its nice to dive into work and work 13 hour days, hold two or more jobs, balance between work in play is the goal.  These words might not make much sense, this was the first time I thought about acting how a "practical adult with a 9 to 5" would think and I dont think I liked it, I am young at heart and I want to always be able to enjoy that, I hope you can too.  Life is too short, have some fun, and like Bob Dylan said "I hope you stay, Forever Young"

Mariano Rivera The Greatest of All Time

 

Mariano Rivera is absolutely the best pitcher, not just closer, pitcher, I will ever see in my lifetime.  There was Pedro, Maddux, Randy Johnson, Nolan Ryan, and Roger Clemens but none of those guys had what Mariano has always had, one unhittable pitch.  Those pitchers threw several pitches, some 7 or 8 different pitches, Mariano for 95% of his career has thrown one pitch and no one can seem to get it even at 42 years of age.  The pitch is a freak, hitters have nightmares about it and when teams come to New York they think that they have to win in 8 innings or else its over and that's almost a given.  One pitch.  There was a great article a few years ago when he reached 500 saves that talked about how Rivera at one point was a struggling starting pitcher and then one day, his normal fastball just started moving more than anybody else's.  The man has made a career off of that God given talented gift, one pitch.  The man was already the greatest closer in my mind and the numbers back that up, 2.22 career ERA with 602 Saves, .071 Career ERA in the postseason including 42 career postseason saves--off one pitch--this includes a run from the 1998 playoffs until the 2000 playoffs were Rivera never gave up a run...not one.  In this day and age of big egos and flashy theatrics(that ass 250 miles Northeast) Mariano Rivera has been cool, calm, and collected never showing the opponent up even though he purely dominates them unlike any other pitcher I have ever seen.  I keep waiting for the day that it will all be over, that one pitch wont break and he will get hit....I have been waiting for it since 2003 and it just hasn't happened, he is still the most dominating pitcher in all of baseball at the age of 42.  Mariano Rivera is grateful and humble, true class through and through.  There isn't enough said about what this man means to baseball, the Yankees, and the numerous charities that he is involved in.  As you can see from this interview there is a real humility, even in all his greatness of a moment where the emotions are high, he is genuinely a great person.  I hope someday that future generations will have a Mariano Rivera to root for, someone like him, because there will never be another.  He was to the pitchers mound what Babe Ruth was to a batters box and I was alive to witness it.  Being far from NY we spend money on the baseball package to see Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera go at it one more year, every year they get better and the story becomes deeper, more inspiring, and almost to good to be true.  What makes them both great, especially Mo, is that no matter winning or losing they act the same way, they approach life the same way.  One more pitch, one more chance, one more day, there will be another game, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose either way you give it your best.  I have learned alot from the way Mariano approaches the game, preparation, humility, gratitude, take nothing for granted.  I try my best.  Thank you for the memories and the humility.  One pitch 

Best Summer Movies of 2011

We watch alot of movies and most of the big budget blockbuster movies always seem to come out in the summer when people should be outside being active.  For us, its a cheap summer date out of the sweltering heat of the southeast and we see alot-its a great escape.  The movies this summer were fairly good.  I am looking more foward to next summers movies especially the Dark Knight Rises.  In my opinion here are the best of the summer of 2011.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes-and no this is not prisoner of the moment as it is a recent release.  The movie had great CGI, great story(unlike the others), and it was what I would expect from a movie-meaning entertaining enough to get lost in the story.  This movie builds and builds with themes and undertones of health, sciences, humanity, the environment, and ethical standards of people.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and would call it the best of this summer.

Our Idiot Brother-another recent release but excellent movie.  Probably the funniest movie I saw all summer besides Bridesmaids.  I would also say this is Paul Rudd's best role.  He finally plays somebody besides the guy from Clueless(who he is in every other movie).  The story is uplifting and very positively spirited, told through many perspectives of different everyday lives.  It does ask the question that the super mellow Jack Johnson asks "where'd all the good people go?"

X-Men First Class or Bridesmaids- This X-Men was probably my favorite of all their films, there were actually some actors in it(McAvoy)and Kevin Bacon was finally a badass instead of some lame dancer in some random town that would never ever exist in real where people arent allowed to dance, I buy the X-Men more then I buy that plotline-so hes taking a step up.  Great special effects but no real suprises, another "series" or "saga" movie where you already know what to expect, takes the suspense out of it.  Bridesmaids was finally a movie about women for women made by funny women.  The movie makes a lot of fun jokes and Kristen Wiig finally gets some of the spotlight she has earned with her crazy role playing skills.  Loses major points for falling into the hollyweird stamp of "every woman needing a man" in order to find happiness.  I expected more from these women but I guess just a comedy cast featuring women was all they could bargain for and they were succombed by the "man's world" perspective and gave in to the penis.  I was hoping to see women stand on their own for a change, be strong, and not as needy--funny movie though so its a toss up between these two.

Much of the rest was fluff and didnt leave strong impressions on me.  Some other decent movies were: Crazy, Stupid Love, Horrible Bosses, HP7, and Super 8.  Hopefully, next summer will be much much better.

NFL Picks 2011

Given the short off season and after all the hype last year I gotta do it....

AFC East
*Patriots
*Jets
Dolphins
Bills

AFC North
*Steelers
*Ravens
Browns
Bengals

AFC South
*Texans
Colts
Jaguars
Titans

AFC West
*Chargers
Raiders
Chiefs
Broncos

NFC East
*Eagles
Cowboys
Redskins
Giants

NFC North
*Packers
*Bears
Lions
Vikings

NFC South
*Saints
*Falcons
Buccaneers
Panthers

NFC West
*Cardinals
Rams
Seahawks
49ers



Wild Card
Jets Vs. Texans
Ravens Vs. Patriots
Eagles Vs. Cardinals
Bears Vs. Saints

Divisional
Chargers Vs. Jets
Steelers Vs. Patriots
Packers Vs. Eagles
Falcons Vs. Saints

Conference
Steelers Vs. Jets
Packers Vs. Falcons

Super Bowl
Falcons Vs. Jets

J-E-T-S!! JETS JETS JETS!!!!!

Anniversary

One year ago on August 20th 2010 I got married to the girl of my dreams.  The year has flown past us faster than most and that is because it has been a complete blast from start to finish.  Alot of people ask, hows married life? or when are you going to have kids? really, married life is not different at all from the way we lived and enjoyed life before.  We have become "working stiffs" with full time jobs but we still experience life one moment at a time, trying to soak up as much as possible, loving as much as we can love.  I would imagine that throwing kids into the mix will change some things (like not being able to just pick up and go) but at this time we are enjoying our new careers and gaining a deeper sense of love with each other, so why rush or change any of that good stuff.  We were lucky enough that our favorite band announced 3 weeks before our anniversary that they would play a small venue right around us on our anniversary and again we were lucky enough to win a lottery for tickets.  As we got together after a DMB show, went to a DMB show the day after we were engaged, and spent our honeymoon with the band as well, it was more than fitting that they played for us for our anniversary.  We had a great night sitting right behind Dave's family and enjoying the music that we love together.  It has been a fast and amazing year together, I plan to enjoy each moment as much as this sweet one.

Saturday  Aug 20 2011
nTelos Wireless Pavilion

Bartender
Old Dirt Hill
Save Me
Grace Is Gone
Squirm
So Damn Lucky
Where Are You Going
Crush
Tim solo
Out Of My Hands 
Little Red Bird
Funny The Way It Is
Stay Or Leave
Jimi Thing *
#41 *
Baby Blue
Eh Hee 
Tim solo
Sweet
Don’t Drink the Water
Lying In the Hands of God
Lie In Our Graves
You and Me
Dancing Nancies
__________________

Whiter Shade of Pale
Corn Bread
Two Step 

Show Notes:
 All Songs Dave and Tim unless noted
* Warren Haynes