Even With The Side Wind, The Comeback Is Strong...

Shockingly, I have had a couple (and by "couple" I mean exactly two) people ask me, "where's your next post?" Needless to say, I was psyched.

So because I've gone on blog vacation (and because I was actually BUSY at work if you can believe it) many an issue has backed up in my brain and so I'm going to go with the Ryan/Shaughnessy emptying out the blog desk drawer of the mind...

You might notice the groovy picture to the right. That's me and my roomate and still great friend Brian. The picture was taken by Jay sixteen years ago. His parents found a bunch of Jay's old photogs as they were converting his old bedroom into a play den for the grandchildren. And this is the result. 37 emails and a deluge of memories later, I was so happy Jay spent the ridiculous amount of money he spent to get these pics turned into digital photographs. It turned a lame Tuesday into a phenomenal Tuesday. And if any of you have the ability to do this for your friends, please do it. It was phenomenal in a way that only great memories can be...

Two weeks ago, I saw Tapes 'N Tapes at the Paradise. I don't mean to be the guy who pretends he only sees obscure bands in small venues and so that is not what this is about. But there is nothing better than the few seconds of silence following a band first coming onstage and them ripping into the chords of their opener. Don't care who you are, where you are, or what you are seeing. The anticipation and feeling of complete happiness at that moment is tough to match...

Speaking of music (and Tapes 'N Tapes), with the weather nice last week, it's tough to not want to drive around with all your windows down and crank tunes. That is why I never get mad at people blasting reggatone outside of my apartment because I understand exactly the feeling of wanting to do that. And so my three favorite songs to crank in my car with the windows down RIGHT NOW (this is always subject to change) are Silversun Pickups "Melatonin", Jimmy Eat World "The Middle", and "Le Ruse" by Tapes 'N Tapes. Please, please, please download Le Ruse. This song needs to be a monster hit and if it doesn't show up on an Apple or car commercial this summer, I'll eat my hat...

Back to Shaughnessey. He wrote a column Tuesday (maybe Wednesday) about Bob Lobel that was absolutely amazing. I've often "heard" (you know, because I'm so connected to the industry) that media and print guys never got along and while I've always thought Lobel was a tool, the article by Shaughnessy is pure class. So you can dump on some of his pieces all you want and you can hate him because his opinions are strong and clearly stated, but Shaughnessy writes some articles that are so moving the hair on your arms stands up...

Speaking of the hair standing up on your arms (and ignoring my no movie promise), the film The Orphanage was great. The more I've thought about it, the more I love it. Without giving too much away, it ends up being a film that is a lot more moving that it at first seems it should be. And just so you don't yell at me, it is in subtitles. Get over it...

There really isn't better television than The Bachelor. I love when people feel that they are "above" this show because it is such awesome TV. Not to mention the fact that I am CONVINCED that sociology professors will eventually make it required viewing as the insight into the female relationships are incredible. But the worst part is that Matt is going to pick lame-o Shayne "I'm the daughter of Lorenzo" Lamas and her doughy body. I can't believe he gave Noelle the gate. Noelle, I liked those hips in the Sevens. British Matt may have cut you loose, but if you need some emotional support, I'm here for you. But you gotta wear that same outfit...

My favorite author Emily Giffin (I believe she's an acceptable author to like according to that NY Times piece) has a new book coming out on May 13th. Because she is so damn talented, I'm sure it well be painfully cheesey, super relevant to my age, challenging in a way that chick-lit shouldn't be, really funny, cliche, extremely well written, and difficult to put down. I can't wait...

What's weirder: Watching the Red Sox at a bar and witnessing people go crazy over a guy getting a two out single in the eighth inning of a tie game in April or me and my brother laughing hysterically at the disappointment of said fans when Jed Lowrie gets gunned at the plate..?

I have to be honest. I'm kind of sad I never heard back from my mystery commenter/maker of the Gerard vodoo doll. I was hoping they'd get back to me, if only to keep drama in my life. Maybe this will work: Hey mystery commenter... I'd beat you in Scrabble because I'm way smarter than you and I can do more push ups than you because I'm way fitter than you...

For everyone elses sake, the sarcasm was clear there, right..?

Hopefully, you've all heard about Dr. Pepper's promotion to give everyone in America a free Dr. Pepper when the new Guns N Roses album, Chinese Democracy drops. I don't like Dr. Pepper, but I hear that your taste buds change every seven years, which is perfect because that's when Chinese Democracy will hit stores and maybe I'll like Dr. Pepper in 2015...

I've actually been watching the NHL playoffs (PUT IN KESSELL!!!) and I know absolutely nothing about the game or the league, but I think that working to market Ovechkin and Crosby would be a really good idea. Even I made a point to watch them. Plus, watching the NHL is now cool because to be a hockey fan is to be a contrarian...

On a negative hockey note, I was proud to be a member of Masshole Nation when I heard the stories of Bruins fans pissing on Canadien fans. Between that and Bar Hopping Bostonians rooting for a random white Russian girl as she overtakes the black girl, it might be time to be like white people and threaten to move to Canada...

Anybody see Julia Roberts on Oprah? I didn't, but then I watched it on youtube. Two words to describe the woman who played Vivian Ward: Worth. Less...

Why oh why do I still listen to sports talk radio? It is my version of crack. I know I should quit. I know it's bad for me. I know that the Four Horsemen will eventually drive me insane. But like a crack addicts' high (I'm assuming), those six awesome minutes I get each week of Tony Maz bitch slapping The Big O and making a passive/aggressive comment about Glenn asking Belichik a hard hitting question keep me coming back...

Speaking of football, you likely know that I can't understand the football draft, but people love it and find it entertaining and that's fine. So I ask, why doesn't baseball do the same thing? Make it an all day affair, put it on ESPN (I mean, they are showing the Florida Spring Game, which I'm still not clear on what that "game" consists of), bring in Gammons, Steve Phillips, Fernando Vina, Jayson Stark, and have them break the whole thing down. Yeah, we know nothing about these players, but outside of fifteen guys in the NFL draft, we know nothing about THOSE guys either. We say we do because we read magazines and stuff, but at the end of the day, Tom Brady was drafted 199th, so really, what do we KNOW?!? I mean, I'll help out with MLB draft. I got some canned Kiperesque phrases all set right now: "Nick Young has ALL the makings of a future big league ace. He's got a high 90s fastball, a plus slider, and a dominating circle change. He reminds me of a young Frank Viola sans the porn moustache. The only concerning thing is his violent delivery, which has rotator cuff surgery written all over it." Think about this. I could make "violent delivery" become the MLB version of the NBAs "long wingspan." I'm gonna make this happen, sort of like The National Geographic Channel is trying to make Nat Geo happen...

And lastly, on Marathon Monday while my friends and I were... Um... Watching the marathon (and listening to everyone cheer on the white girl), my sister and I talked about how not impressed we are by people who "finish" the marathon. My brother in law Matt then asked, "well, what are you two impressed by?" A fair question. Here's a few of my responses: Someone who finishes the Sunday Globe Crossword; a person who plays an instrument; the guy who created Stuff White People Like; someone who was valedictorian of their class and never mentions it until I've known them for five years; a person who DOESN'T talk about how smart their children are; someone who asks me how my day is; a person who plays Abel on the jukebox at Magouns; a person who gets a Seinfeld, Pulp Fiction, or Swingers quote; Chuck Klosterman; a person who knows multiple languages; whoever invented flavored vodka; someone who knows Geography; Mariano Rivera; awesome snow boarders; Randy Shugart and Gary Gordon; people who laugh at The Far Side; pilots; people who read The Atlantic Monthly and don't talk about reading The Atlantic Monthly; the inventor of chocolate chip pancakes; people who think Cranium is overrated and boring; someone who is really good at funneling beers; Ken Jennings; Bostonians who like Joe Torre; Nick Hornby; and people who understand and appreciate my irrational hatred of coconut...