Pissed off

Pisses me off that I have a $39k 2012 car in which I can't listen to the Bruins because the #SiriusXM #Ford radio doesn't go above chan 184

Hello?!?!? Is this thing still on???

Wow, I haven't been here in three years?!? Amazing how time flies. Maybe I will start using this again. Between Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and message boards and online forums, the world needs more ways to find out about me, right?

Three more new Hooters this week (and a return to another)

Tuesday I went to three more Hooters locations that I had not been to yet, bringing my total up to 79 different locations all together.

My 77th Hooters was Hooters of Casselberry (near Orlando). The place looks like it's been there for a while but the food and the service were fine. I liked that they had a pool table and some arcade games and I especially liked the weekly contests that they do - Texas Hold 'Em on Mondays, Guitar Hero contests on Tuesdays, Wii game contests on Wednesdays, and "Are You Smarter Than A Hooters Girl?" on Thursdays (I REALLY wish I was there on a Thursday). I could have done without listening to Nickelback songs though, and found myself missing the typical oldies mix.

My 78th Hooters was Hooters of Waterford Lakes (near Orlando). I had a dessert there that we don't have around here: Fried Apple Caramel Bites (or something like that). The food and service were fine here, too.

I took a little break from Hooters and went to Universal Studios in Orlando to ride some rides. The Shrek and Mummy rides are among my favorites. It was late in the day and they closed early so I missed out on some of the new stuff, such as the new Simpsons ride that took the place of the Back To The Future ride.

My 79th Hooters was in Sanford, FL. They had a wonderful white sangria which went down way too easily and some mini chicken sandwiches similar in size to their Training Burgers (just like White Castle sliders). My mom was there and she told them that my birthday is in a few weeks so they made me get up on a chair and put paper cups in my mouth and plates in my hand and had me flap my arms.

And as if all that wasn't enough, Friday night I went back to my home-base Hooters in Saugus, MA. 

Summer and Fall 2008 Update (because I know everyone was waiting for it, right?)

I went to NYC a bunch of times this summer to see friends and to go to a birthday party, a wedding, and an annual softball game which draws people from all over the country...no, I don't actually play at the softball games, I just socialize...and apparently I also drink because I always have a cup in my hand in every pic...

I tried making cookies on the grill at the game - not one of my best ideas...




I also went to XM radio several times to see some radio shows and catch up with some friends. I met the wonderful adult movie star Bree Olson a few times there this summer - she let me get up close and personal...VERY close (hint: she's topless in this pic)...



On another visit to the XM studios I went to see my pals, The Than & Sam Show. It was around Sam's birthday and since they surprised me with a little birthday party on their show earlier in the year, I surprised Sam with a cake and his favorite chicken fingers...




After the presentation of the gifts they sent me out on the street with one of their interns to pick up chicks to bring up into the studio for their show.

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When I wasn't in NYC, I spent lots of time up at Lake Winnipesaukee, NH and Old Orchard Beach, ME as I usually do every summer. In fact one trip to ME started about 20 mins after I got home from a NYC trip - there was no traffic so I got home early and the weather was just too nice to stay home so I packed some clothes and hit the road again.

At the lake, as usual I spent a lot of time at the NASWA. I was there for their annual bikini contest...

One trip to the lake included trying to get my friend Ben waterskiing. It was my first time piloting a boat with a skier on the back and I didn't do so well, however I enjoyed seeing him fall face down on the water six or seven times.

Ben and I went on a Boston harbor booze cruise. The awesome Aerosmith tribute band Draw The Line played - they look and sound like the real thing and they play all kinds of songs that the real band doesn't. We also bumped into radio guy Scorch on the cruise...

We had no idea that he was going to be there. Sam from the aforementioned Than & Sam show used to work for Scorch years ago and I'd heard many stories about Scorch before and had heard him on the radio before. He was there filming for his online TV show which Ben and I got into a little (a little after six minutes into this clip).

In September I worked on a Mel Gibson movie in Boston where I was one of hundreds of commuters at a train station so good luck trying to find me in the crowd. The Dane Cook movie that I worked on last year finally came out and I could be seen a few times.

In October I had a supporting actor role in a play and I directed another play (my first time directing).

Also in October I went to another Hooters. This was the opening day of their location in Saugus, MA. This makes my third Hooters grand opening day and my 76th Hooters overall.


I was then interviewed by THE most popular and sucessful Hooters blog. Read it here.

I finally cut and donated my hair

I had been growing it for three years to donate it to Locks of Love.

These were taken less than ten mins before getting it cut. I had them cut off 11 inches. I still have about two inches left so I have a head start for next time.

I touched Sandra Bullock's butt

I was walking behind Sandy (as she is called on the set) during a rehearsal for a movie, she stepped backwards, and her butt rubbed up against my right leg and butt.

She smells nice. She is quite attractive in person and has a great personality. Ryan Reynolds also has a good personality and seemed fun.

My scene in 21

Since some friends and family have asked, I am in this scene, about 6-7 minutes into the movie, right after a scene in which the main character is talking about a scholarship to a professor in an office with a fireplace.

I start off under the awning and walk around the corner. I look goofy and my fat ass looks gigantic on the big screen as I walk out of frame.

I'm not a doctor, but I played one in a movie

I'm not a doctor, but I played one in a movie.

I was originally supposed to be a patient but wardrobe didn't have any hospital gowns (for a scene at a hospital!?!?!?) so they gave me blue scrubs and white clogs. Props gave me a hospital ID badge of a Cardiologist to complete the outfit. Instant doctor.

I did a quick scene with TV's Sarah Connor. I was so excited because I really liked that show and I really really like her. But there were a few of us walking back and forth so I don't think I was in a good position to be in the frame with her. And all I could think about during the scene was how could I get alone with her and tell her how much I like her.

But I did have a really good scene with the male lead, Josh Lucas. It was just the two of us alone in a small hallway. Three takes. I liked the last one and they said it was perfect. I hope it gets used.

Also on this shoot was "Omar" from The Wire, but I had nothing to do with him.

When I got there in the morning I found out that they planned for me to use my car in one scene. I rode with a Production Assistant to a parking garage where the scene was taking place. I had to take a ticket from the machine to get into the garage just as any regular customer would. The PA didn't know how the parking would be paid for but he said not to worry. A few hours later I was told by someone else that I should use my acting skills on the parking attendant and drop some names and say that I am working in the movie. I thought he was kidding but he wasn't. I said ''so in other words, you want me to scam my way out of paying?''. He said that I shouldn't think of it like that and I should think of it like acting. Um, ok. Either way it seemed really sketchy to me. But as it turned out we ran very late that night and the parking garage technically closed for the night so the gate was in the upright position for me to get out.

I also just did a movie at the Burlington Mall starring Kevin James. There were about 300 people playing shoppers that day. I didn't do anything noteworthy or remarkable.

Joe Perry & sons at the Hard Rock Cafe in Boston 2/29/08

To sum it up quite simply: one of the fucking best concerts I have ever been to!

After seeing Joe and Aerosmith close to 90 times at this point, it is easy for me to be apathetic about them and be less than enthusiastic about some of their gigs. But this is not one of those times at all.

Aside from three songs by his sons' band, TAB the Band, the rest of the set was pretty much all Joe Perry and Aerosmith songs (as you can see, I was a little excited about some of the songs while I was taking notes, lol):

Roadrunner!!
Walkin' The Dog!!
Hold On Me
South Station Blues!!!!
Chip Away The Stone!!!!!!!
Stop Messin'
10 Years
The Continental (a TAB song)
Bright Light Fright!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Secretary Day (TAB...really good!)
Red House!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Talk Talkin'
CYT (TAB...also good!)
Combination!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let The Music Do The Talking (the old JPP version!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

encore:
Helter Skelter!!!!!
Shakin' My Cage


WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JOE FUCKING PERRY as a frontman the whole night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I was about five feet away from him the whole time. See, I'm smart (lol) so I know that when AD/DC music starts playing, Joe is coming out soon. So while everyone else was all lingering and mingling I knew when to pick a spot on the floor directly in front of the Clint Eastwood of Rock and Roll (I saw that line used to describe Joe in a magazine about 20+ years ago and I liked it). Kill me now so I can die happy.

Before the show for quite some time I was standing right next to a couple of hot chicks who were with a kid who almost looked out of place there. I couldn't put my finger on it - maybe a little too young compared to everyone else? Dressed too well for a crowd like that? I don't know what it was, but he definitely stood out when I saw him. It turns out that kid was Tony Perry. I had no idea who he was until he got up on stage with a guitar. He is a really good player. Neither he or his brother in the band look at all like Joe - his brother sort of reminded me of Artie Lange a little. There was a roadie who looked more like Joe than either of the kids in the band (maybe the roadie is related? He really could be. I don't know).

One of the bartenders made KILLER Wabo-ritas...exactly the way they're made at the Cabo Wabo. So I hung out for another drink after the show and another roadie gave me the set list off one of the speakers. :)






I took a bunch of pics with my phone...I wish I brought a real camera. :(










Oh yeah, it was a WAAF radio event and I was wearing an Opie & Anthony ballcap. Ooops, LOL. Every time I saw a camera light go on, I just happened to get into the background of the shot :D and when I was walking out of the bathroom the WAAF morning guy walked right past me, saw the cap, and literally stopped in his tracks. It cracked me up.

My birthday weekend in NYC

I went to NYC for my birthday weekend.

Friday morning I went to see the Opie & Anthony show at XM with some friends. They had comedians Bob Kelly and Jeffrey Ross as well WWE wrestler MVP as guests.

We went out to lunch at the Heartland Brewery where I had a beer sampler and fell in love with their Indian River Light Ale. After lunch (for which I payed WAY too much because someone in the group must not have paid their share) we went back to XM to go to the Ron & Fez show.

I wanted to do something touristy while I was in Manhattan so after the show we went to NBC where I got this pic taken. It took me about an hour and half while I waited for some older southern gals to get their pics taken - they kept doing it over and over and over again. I am surprised that my friends stuck with me for so long. But I had to do this because my mom loves the show...



After that we went to Dave & Busters in Times Square. Why? I don't really know. But at least it was a place where we could hang and kill some time while some people left our group and others joined it. We had the worst plate of nachos ever. Literally eight chips topped with chicken and typical nacho stuff. That's right - EIGHT of them. For close to $10. Shadow complained and the manager gave us a lame bullshit excuse that nachos are meant as an appetizer, not a meal, and that in Times Square everything is expensive. Ridiculous. Shadow fought with her and we wound up getting a free appetizer combo platter that was still kind of lame but at least a step in the right direction.

This is a pic of what I usually expect nachos to look like. This is from a place where I go in Hampton, NH and this also costs about $10:



We eventually wound up in Greenwich Village with some more people and saw an eighties/hair-metal cover band and a Guns N' Roses tribute band. I have mixed feelings about the first band because I hated the way they looked in their stupid wigs and didn't care for some of the songs they played, but they did kick bigtime ass on many songs. The GNR band TOTALLY ROCKED! They had the entire look and sound down perfectly!! Well, the guy who played the Duff character could have been a little taller, but that is literally the only negative thing I can find to say about the band and that is being REALLY REALLY picky. Their song selection was perfect - mostly all older stuff and pretty much GNR's entire first album. And like I said they sounded perfect and looked really great. It was like seeing GNR back in their younger days, before things started falling apart and shit started happening with them. Check out this band on their MySpace page to hear how great they sound.

Saturday we went to FH Riley's (Opie's brother's restaurant) out on Long Island. I really liked it a lot. The whole menu looked really really good and I wished I could have gone back there the next night for a pasta special they had. We met Steve From Bayshore there and he and I commiserated about writing our respective Opie & Anthony show recaps.



After that Shadow and his girl and I went to my 75th different Hooters where I was made a fool of for my birthday...



At that Hooters I found out that they are doing a contest to get to 25 different Hooters locations this year and everyone who does gets a free party. They had a similar contest five years ago and I went to 20 of them and had a big party at the end of the year.



Later that night we went back to the XM studios for the Than & Sam show. They are my favorite weekend radio show and I have called into just about every one of their live shows - all except for one last summer when I went into the studio. This was a busy show and there were a lot of people hanging out. Opie and his wicked hot girl were among the many people hanging out. I mentioned to Opie that I had been to his brother's restaurant earlier that day and he seemed surprised that I hadn't been there before now: "you haven't been there before?" I reminded him that I am from Boston and he said that he knew that I have been down there in the past three years that the restaurant has been open. Fine. He got me. But I will definitely go again next time I go down there because I really did like it.

This is the only time during the show that Opie said anything on the air. Flea_Man is looking lovingly at Opie's crotch and I look like a child molester looking at Flea look at Opie. Ugh:



Than & Sam had WWE wrestler Matt Striker as a guest on almost the whole show. In the last 20 minutes of the show they called me into the studio. I figured it was just going to be something like a quick 'happy birthday' type of thing but it was much more. They totally surprised me by having an intern bring in an ice cream cake for me! I was shocked! All weekend before this I had been busting my buddies' balls about when I was going to get my cake and where we could do it. I had even joked a few times that too bad we couldn't do it at the radio studios since it was like a central meeting spot for all of us. But I had no idea that I was going to get it on the radio like that. That was so cool. My friends and the radio guys all did a great job of keeping it a secret. :) Listen to it here.





After the show I talked to Opie for a minute or two about the stuff I write for his show and he said that he checks out my stuff and likes what I do. And then several of us went to bar around the corner and Than & Sam came by.

BTW It was $50 to park in the parking garage for the show!

We drove around Manhattan for several hours the next day. I had to stop by Hooters to get my book stamped for the contest and then we had lunch at a BBQ place that is part of the brewery chain so I got to have some of my favorite ale again. We made it a point to be in and out of there in under an hour but it still cost $21 to park! Oh, and I almost got a ticket because Shadow had me do a last second left turn...right into a pair of New York's finest. When they saw that I was from out of town and when Shadow mentioned that he works for FDNY, they let us go. Shadow saved the day.

On my way home from NY I stopped off at two Hooters in CT to get my book stamped and at a third Hooters I hung out for a few hours with my buddy Schnit, where the waitress assaulted me for my birthday...

Cabo San Lucas, January 2008

I slept for barely 40 minutes on the plane ride from Boston to Phoenix. I woke up as soon as they came through with beverages. But there was no food. Unless they served the entire jet full of people in like ten minutes, but when I woke up I didn't even see anyone have any empty wrappers or trash or anything. So it sucked to be on a 5.5 hour flight with nothing but a couple of cans of diet Sprite. At the hotel I was pretty much wrecked before even getting into the room. As soon as I walked in the front entrance there was a waitress handing out margaritas. And then I got another one while standing in line at the check-in desk. But the room wasn't clean yet so I went to wait at the bar where there was a big table with margaritas all ready and waiting as soon as people walked in. So after a few hours of all that, I was off to a great start.

This is a view from that bar - notice the Carnival cruise ship and yacht in the background which had its own helicopter on top and supposedly belonged to golfer Greg Norman:


Saturday is where it got really fun for me. I think. I think we got to the swim-up bar around 10:30-ish and immediately started drinking. We met a bunch of fun people including a group of gals from a South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, a wedding party from Calgary, and a couple who I thought looked so adorable and cute together. Most of us, especially the Chamber of Commerce gals, drank together all day. A LOT. Literally non-stop since the drinks were free.

This is a view of the back of the swim-up pool bar as well as a view of one of the bigger pools:





But after about five or six hours of that, I don't remember much. I don't remember ever leaving the pool. I don't remember grabbing a plate of food at the buffet (there were buffets for about 20 hours a day) but I slightly remember spilling a plate it onto the floor. But that's all I can remember about the buffet and I thought it was just a dream until hours later when I found a plate full of food up in the room. Apparently I passed out and made a mess in the room. I don't know for sure. I don't even feel like I was there at all. I am only going by what I was told. I was told that I was found curled up in a corner of the floor on a pillow in a pool of messiness. But I don't have any knowledge about that at all. And I have no idea how I would have been able to reach up over seven feet to get a spare pillow out of the closet if I was that much out of it. And if I reached up to a shelf seven feet up, why wouldn't I just crawl into bed that was closer? I don't know. But anyway, this is the story I was told. I was also told that my buddy helped up into bed later and that I started gagging and choking and made a run for the balcony. I don't remember any of this, either. When I finally woke up around 11:00 I was still drunk. Very drunk. I saw there was a mess on the floor but had no idea what it was. I called the front desk to send up some cleaning stuff but they never came so I passed out again while waiting. Next thing I knew it was about 2:00 and I found my friends at the lobby bar I still drunk. Everything else after that was fairly 'normal'. Hung out at the pool bar the next day and then went downtown at night. I went to the Cabo Wabo Cantina and El Squid Roe and walked around the marina where I was propositioned all over the place. The Cabo Wabo is always a fun time and there is always a great band. Squid Roe is THE party spot until 4 or 5 AM.







Each room had these alcohol dispensers, and since we were told not to put the water in our mouth I thought I would brush my teeth with tequila.



On the way from the hotel to the airport the van driver I had was very talkative and pointed out several things along the way. He showed a spot that is supposedly being considered for a new airport there and a spot up the coast a little that could become a cruise ship port.

The airline had assigned me and another person to sit in the same exact seat from Cabo to Phoenix. The flight was totally full so I thought for sure I was going to get bumped but I didn't. At the connection in Phoenix I had just an hour and ten minutes to go through Immigrations, get my luggage and take it through Customs and re-check it, and go up four floors and two terminals away to get my connecting flight. I thought for sure I wouldn't make it. If I hadn't cut so many people in the security line I surely would have missed it. People in the security line were getting pissed at me and the others who were cutting but it wasn't our faults that the airline gave us such little time to do all this and that there weren't enough Security screening lines open. One thing I noticed in Customs was signs saying that Arizona state law prohibits people from transporting more than one liter of alcohol and that anything over that amount would be destroyed. No one said that in Cabo. I would have been totally pissed if I bought a few bottles at the Duty Free shop and had it taken away from me in Phoenix.

Here are some other pics from this trip and here are some pics from my previous trips to Cabo.

I'm in "The Box"

I worked on this movie this week. I can't say too much about it but Wednesday I was in every scene except for one. I played a NASA employee. In a few of the scenes I was right in the action. I had to wear really bad 1970's clothes and shoes and they glued big sideburns on me...

From eagletribune.com...

Published: November 29, 2007

Star-struck in North Andover;
Town hosts makers of Cameron Diaz movie

A worker from a film crew breaks for lunch. The film crew has transformed a building in the former Lucent Technologies facility in North Andover into a 1970"s era Richmond, Va., police station and a NASA office. TIM JEAN/Staff Photo

By Drake Lucas, Staff writer
Eagle-Tribune


NORTH ANDOVER - "Are you in the movie?"

That was the question of the day at Osgood Landing yesterday, where filming started for Cameron Diaz's latest film, "The Box."

Vast, vacant space once used by Lucent Technologies has been transformed into movie sets depicting a NASA research laboratory and a Richmond, Va., police station during the 1970s.

Curious workers at Osgood Landing offices walked through to peek at the sets and try to catch a glimpse of the stars, including "Enchanted" actor James Marsden.

"Is she here?" they asked, meaning Diaz. No one would say for sure.

This is the second film to come to North Andover in a little more than a year. "The Game Plan" starring Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, filmed at Lawrence Municipal
Airport last year.

"It sounds like we are starting to be a little nexus," said Town Manager Mark Rees. He said both the wide open space at Osgood Landing and the quaint Old Center would be good spots for filming, something he said goes through the state. "Certainly we want to work with them to keep North Andover on the map for Hollywood-type stuff," he said.

Ellen Keller, vice president of commercial real estate for Osgood Landing, said a couple of commercials have also been filmed at the sprawling 1.5 million-square-foot complex. "Why not?" she said. "The space can be used for so many things."

The site is listed on Web sites where location scouts search for places to film.

"I always thought this place would be perfect for that. We should get more movies to come here," said Selectman Rosemary Smedile as she toured the set yesterday with Rees, police Chief Richard Stanley, Lt. John Carney and Community Development Director Curt Bellavance. Stanley stood on the set of the 1970s Richmond police station and nodded. "Looks like home," he said, referring to the Main Street police station that he has been trying to upgrade for decades. He said his police station could have been used for the set instead.

"The Box" is a mystery, described on the IMDB Web site as a movie about a troubled married couple who find a small wooden box on their doorstep. They open it and become instantly wealthy. What they don't know is the box also kills someone they don't know.

Silence was enforced on the set as the film crew and spectators yesterday watched Marsden rehearse a scene at the NASA office where his character works. His character is married to Diaz's character.

Bellavance said many workers at the town office spent their lunch breaks watching filming, or at least have taken a quick walk through the sets.

Actors and extras were easily recognizable in their '70s-era plaid pants and Burt Reynolds-style mustaches as compared with observers tiptoeing around the set. Filming is scheduled to continue through Friday.

"It's amazing to see this happening," said Bernadette Curran, Community Development administrative assistant who was headed in to look at the sets with her 12-year-old daughter, Melissa. "Nothing like this happens in North Andover usually," she said.

Other workers in the building said they didn't even realize the sets were being put up until today because the building is so big. Sherri Foy, who works at Access, which does business to business telemarketing, said she saw a sign last week that said "Extras," but she didn't realize what it was about. When she saw a sign today that said "Crew," she knew something was going on. "I'm star-struck," said Foy of Andover after walking through the sets. "This is so exciting."

Rose Aiello of Hampstead, N.H., and Shirley Coutu of Windham, N.H., just happened to pick yesterday to stop by and see the building, once Western Electric, where
they used to work. "Are you in the movie?" they asked as people came into the lobby to take breaks. They said they were surprised they could just walk in - something they couldn't do when they worked there. They were sad to see the building had so much empty space, but were still interested in the movie.

"It's going to be some sci-fi film," Aiello said. "We're going to look out for it," Coutu said.

Festival of Christmas Trees

I went to the annual Festival of Trees last week. Over 200 decorated trees in all shapes and sizes and colors and themes. Trees are donated by area businesses and organizations such as my high school and Bugaboo Creek. You can buy raffle tickets to win whatever tree(s) you want.

Here is a video from my phone...

Festival of Christmas Trees

I went to the annual Festival of Trees last week. Over 200 decorated trees in all shapes and sizes and colors and themes. Trees are donated by area businesses and organizations such as my high school and Bugaboo Creek. You can buy raffle tickets to win whatever tree(s) you want.

Here is a video from my phone...

Halloween 2007/"I'm Too Fat"

My mom found this fat suit at a store and bought it. I wore it to a costume party and won first place - $50!



I did a cameo appearance with it on TV on Halloween morning...



For Halloween night my mom dressed as a witch and we had a smoke/fog machine set up at the house along with some flashing lights and loud spooky sound effects playing. But none of that scared the kids. What scared them was me in my fat suit...



The neighbors across the street kicked our ass with their Halloween display. They were sneaky about it and didn't set it up until Halloween afternoon so we had no idea they were going to do any of this. I guess now we have a challenge for next year...

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A couple of days later my mom suggested that I use it for a video to my old song "I'm Too Fat"...

Another movie and another play

Not much detail here but several weeks ago I did a few scenes in the movie Bachelor No. 2 starring Dane Cook and Kate Hudson. In once scene I was walking by them in a park while they were jogging and in another I was walking down the street while Dane was talking with Jason Biggs.

This week I did a couple of plays. I had the lead role in an episode of The Saint and a co-lead role in an episode of Our Miss Brooks.

I witnessed a crash, went to a radio show, and hit Hooters 74

This one is about two months overdue. So much happened and it was a really great trip down to NY with my friends Rascal, James, Leadbelly, and PMS. On the way down we saw a roll-over accident on I-95 in CT. We didn't actually see it flip but I saw it as it was settling into the woods in a ditch on the left. Lots of dust and dirt blew all around. I had seen things like that before so I knew what was going on right away and started to think about pulling over. Some of my friends had been smoking so they were paranoid and didn't really want me to stop, however as we got closer and I saw how badly crushed the car was, not pulling over was simply not an option in my mind.

Rascal called 911. I pulled over a few hundred feet past the car in case it caught fire as well as to keep far enough away from police and emergency vehicles who would be coming to the scene. And I opened the windows and sunroof so my car could air out and hopefully ease the paranoia.

As Rascal and I walked to the car and we could see the amount of damage, I stopped for a second - I was afraid that we could see someone dead or decapitated stuck inside, and that was not a vision that I wanted to have for the weekend. But I think we smelled a faint odor of gas, so we would have had to check inside just in case someone one was in there. Luckily no one was. Leadbelly went out to the back of the car where the young female driver was crawling out of the wreckage. She was disoriented and clearly scared and in pain but she assured us that she was the only person in the car. By this point some other cars had pulled over as well and some of these people were just with this girl at work so they confirmed that she was alone.

Leadbelly deserves a gold star. He stayed with her, comforting her, holding her hand, and telling her not to worry. He touched her legs and her arms so she could know that she wasn't paralyzed or anything like that. We waited until all the emergency vehicles got on scene and then we took off for the rest of the trip.

I don't remember what time we made it to Shadow's house in Queens but it was sometime in the wee hours of the morning. White Castle was closed. So we hung out at his house and drank some Jagermeister and played Guitar Hero for a few hours. I talked with his dad who told me about meeting JFK once. I eventually went to sleep around 4:30 and was woken up around 7:30 to start the day.

We hit the road and met some people along the way enroute to the second annual FBA softball game in Hartsdale, NY. It was a very fun ride up whatever parkway - a food-fight erupted between people in my car and people in Shadow's car. It started quickly and I was driving so I wasn't seeing everything unfold but I think it started because PMS had the munchies. He was in Shadow's car but all the snacks and stuff were in my car. So Leadbelly threw a couple packs of Goldfish out of the window of my car and into Shadow's car. Great aim. One thing led to another and more food and bottles of water were thrown back and forth between the two moving cars driving alongside each other. There was so much stuff thrown around and it went on for several minutes. I am surprised that the people behind us didn't call the cops (or maybe they did?) because to outsiders I am sure that it looked like we were at war with each other.

I paid little attention to the actual softball games. I was there to socialize and see a bunch of friends whom had traveled from all over the country. The high-point for me was meeting Sam from the Than & Sam Show and the Opie & Anthony Show. I had invited him to come to the game and was very pleasantly surprised to see him show up. I think we talked for a few hours. I was loving it. This is a pic of me and Rascal and Sam and me:

After the game most people went to an area hotel and went out for dinner and drinks. But I went down to Manhattan with Ace to visit the Than & Sam radio show. Coming from a background in broadcasting and being a huge fan of theirs, this was by far one of the best parts of my entire summer this year. It was soooooo much fun for me! This is a video that Ace took of me on the show: http://youtube.com/watch?v=s5K-dznFZaQ

Afterwards we drove around the city a little and drove by the Statue of Liberty and then headed out to Wayne, NJ so I could go to my 74th different Hooters:



After that it was time to pick up the others guys and head home. An awesome weekend.

The Traveling Virus Tailgate Party at the Tweeter Center

I think it was a great turnout (a couple hundred people!) and lots of fun. I really enjoyed meeting people - I'm sorry that I didn't get to meet everyone but I tried.

I was VERY bummed out that the police confiscated my beer ball and shut down our contests after the Rock Scream competition, but it was still a fun time anyway. And thanks to Danny and Travis for judging the Rock Screams. :)

I should also thank Rascal for getting the RV and thank Shadow for helping me organize stuff.

Here is a video of Opie signing our banner, courtesy of Ace Danger. Sadly I wasn't there when he came by (I missed him at my own party!! DAMMIT!) because I got recruited to work inside the venue at a baseball tossing booth.

Opie visits Rascal's RV

Rush - Mansfield, MA 6/27/07

It was a relatively boring show. It started off strong with Limelight and then an older obscure song or two and Free Will several songs later. That was followed by some new songs that didn't really go over very well and a few more obscure things.

About an hour into the show was intermission, after intermission was five or six more brand new songs. Ugh. All slow or midtempo. A few of them kinda grooved but not many people seemed extremely interested.

Then came Subdivisions which got everyone screaming and jumping for joy...I think probably because it was the first familiar song in almost an hour. Then more slow songs. People started leaving.

My buddies wanted to leave so I went online and looked up some recent setlists to see what would be ahead: a drum solo, more new stuff, Tom Sawyer, and YYZ for the encore. But that was another forty-five minutes away and not really compelling enough to want to sit through the other shit in between so they left. I held out another ten minutes to confirm the setlist was similar to the ones I had looked up. I left around 10:20 during the drum solo. It just wasn't worth it. And it was a boring drum solo from what I saw and heard on the way out.

A total of nine new songs was a bit much. Especially so many of them all in a row. That was just stupid IMHO. If it wasn't for that I would have enjoyed it more. I would have also enjoyed stuff like Working Man and 2112 and Distant Early Warning.

Here is a tip for the band: when the drummer looks like he is so unhappy to be there, don't aim close-up cameras on him. As fans we like to think that our favorite bands are having some kind of fun up there on stage, we don't want to see the guys looking like they're ready to cry or bored with us or whatever his problem was. Just don't bother showing them at all if they're going to be like that.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't all bad - the sound mix was pretty much perfect and I was very happy to see Geddy playing way more bass than keyboards as opposed to other times I've seen him play keys most of the show. There is never a substitute for him plucking the strings and rocking out. So at least I was happy about that.

RIP Hooters

Bankruptcy has claimed the life of all of the Hooters locations in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and Rhode Island. They were killed by some upstate NY locations that drowned the franchisee in debt.

I am extremely saddened by the news. The closest location to me is now 111 miles away from me in CT.