Summer of Dan

Swine Zombies

It appears that the swine flu is triggering zombie happenings out in California.

It's ok though, because let's face it, it's California.

I don't watch TV

I had an early lunch recently with my brother and sister. I'm not sure if a recurring theme of a conversation we had should be telling me something...you be the judge.

Jessie and I were talking about seeing pictures of the assholes from The Hills Spencer and Heidi on vacation wearing surgical masks to protect against the swine flu. Jack said, "Who the hell are they?" and Jessie said, "Spencer and Heidi...they're on The Hills".

"I don't watch TV," he said. "I look like I watch a lot of TV, one might think I'm a fat lazy slob that watches a lot of TV, but in reality I don't watch TV".

A number of times Jessie and I referenced things we've seen on TV only to have a blank stare from Jack accompanied by the same monotone of "I don't watch TV".

Knowing how often I am on the Niff about us deleting stuff from our DVR because it fills up so fast (many thanks to any shows that are taped in HD because they suck up space 8 times as fast as normal TV) I'm beginning to wonder if there is a fine balance between how much TV I watch and how much Jack watches.

The other day the Niff and I caught our cat Ray watching The Amazing Race quite intently. He looked pissed when we started laughing at him, probably because we were distracting him.

Maybe we should put down the remote for a bit?

Yeah, I didn't think so. What would Jack Bauer, Sawyer-Hurley-Kate-Jack, and my boys from The Unit do without me??

Rice and Beans

Growing up in my house was quite interesting. My father, who is epileptic, was always home growing up, and although he was never the gourmet chef no one can make hot dogs cut up and American Cheese melted on top and beans, scrambled eggs, and English Muffin pizzas like my dad. Mom always made awesome German dinners and I still crave a lot of those recipes.

As we got older and taught ourselves how to cook and the meals that they would make for themselves evolved.

Throughout high school, my dad primarily would make himself Rice and Beans. He'd get a block of Vermont Cabot Sharp Cheddar cheese and some smoked sausage, bring it into the living room on a small personal wooden cutting board and just cut off a slice of both and eat them, while munching on his rice and beans. This was a constant. Forever. And he still does it. He would always ask us if we wanted some, touting the health that would go with eating "rice and beans" and given the shape he was in maybe I should have listened.

But I didn't. I rarely ate it. But I remember the conversations that always went with it.

And now the Niff is eating it. Regularly. It didn't really phase me until she started talking like my dad. And now I might need to move away in the middle of the night because I'm having flashbacks.

Can you blame me?

Ruh Ro

The other day the Niff and I spotted this in the Best Buy parking lot near where we live. So awesome.

The inside was vintage Scooby as well, down to the Scooby seat covers.

It's even more badass because of the license plate.

Fall in the spring

Completely and utterly random update. Can you dig it?

• The Niff has never seen Back To the Future. I know, I know, what kind of boyfriend/fiancee/BFF am I to let her live another day without seeing it?
  
  
  
  
  
  
• It's supposed to be spring. But Mother Nature forgot. It's been about 48 degrees and breezy the last several days. And I love it. If I could live some place that was perpetually Fall, I would be there in a second.
  
  
• The apartment complex where the Niff and I live apparently are waiting for a lawsuit. A few weeks ago I called to notify them that the concrete steps into our building partially collapsed, on the side closest to the building. Their fix? Put a piece of plywood over it. Which works. Unless you step onto where the hole is like I have several times only to partially fall into it. They don't seem to care, but when someone steps with all their weight and falls through and snaps their ankle in half they'll care. WTF does that? Seriously, no matter how much it costs I am sure its the fraction of the cost of a lawsuit.
  
  
• How the fuck did this happen? Does he even know he's on his buddy? How does his buddy feel?
  
  
  
  
• As long as I've played football I've wanted to score a TD. Not just any TD, but a defensive touchdown. My buddy Jay was lucky/skillful enough to score our team's first ever TD last season on a fumble/strip sack in the end zone. I've sworn to all that if I am fortunate enough to score one my end zone dance will be the Truffle Shuffle. I hope this is the year.
  
  
  
  
  
• Jane Goodall and her little friend. Amazing.
  
  
  
  
• Everytime I revisit my top five movies of all time, this is always on the list. Jim Carrey has such range to go from one of the funniest guys in Hollywood to one of the most seriously scary good actors.
  
  
  
  
• This looks like me in bed. Mainly because we have anywhere between 5 and 35 blankets on the bed at any given moment.
  
  
  
• Calvin and Hobbes will always be one of the greatest comic strips of all time. How can you deny it? If you do you're just an evil and bitter person. And not worth talking to.
  
  
• The NFL Draft is less than 2 weeks away. This is the greatest day of the year for me. The invites are sent already, the planning of the food is already in the works, and there will be plenty of room, courtesy of Mark who will host it in his mansion in Manch-lanta.
  
  
  
  
  
• Easter Sunday Brunch with my family for the win. Always a good time, always good stories and always good food.
  
  
  
• I get this look every day around 2pm as I am about to scarf down my daily Potassium.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Ray has taken a strong liking to my Cheerios. So much in fact that he decides to dig right in as soon (sometimes even before) I pour milk into it. This is a daily occurrence.
  
  
• We start hitting in practice this week. I cannot wait. I cannot wait for the randomly placed bruises. The constant zombie-walk I'll have for the next couple weeks. And the "taking all week to heal and finally feeling better just before I get to do it again".
  
  
  
   

Dick and Rick Hoyt: Inspiration and Awe

There aren't many people in this world I would like to meet. I'm not really taken by celebrities and I have a tough time filling out a table if you ask me "If you could have dinner with any 3 famous people who would you pick?"

But Dick and Rick Hoyt would be there.

For those people that don't know who they are they are the most amazing story I've ever come across. Ever.

Taking from a wonderfully written article by David Tereshchuk that is on their website:

 "Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father-and-son team from Massachusetts who together compete just about continuously in marathon races. And if they’re not in a marathon they are in a triathlon — that daunting, almost superhuman, combination of 26.2 miles of running, 112 miles of bicycling, and 2.4 miles of swimming. Together they have climbed mountains, and once trekked 3,735 miles across America.

It’s a remarkable record of exertion — all the more so when you consider that Rick can't walk or talk.

For the past twenty five years or more Dick, who is 65, has pushed and pulled his son across the country and over hundreds of finish lines. When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick is pushing. When Dick cycles, Rick is in the seat-pod from his wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike. When Dick swims, Rick is in a small but heavy, firmly stabilized boat being pulled by Dick.

At Rick’s birth in 1962 the umbilical cord coiled around his neck and cut off oxygen to his brain. Dick and his wife, Judy, were told that there would be no hope for their child’s development.

"It’s been a story of exclusion ever since he was born," Dick told me. "When he was eight months old the doctors told us we should just put him away — he’d be a vegetable all his life, that sort of thing. Well those doctors are not alive any more, but I would like them to be able to see Rick now."

I write this because many people don't know what love is. They think they do, but they really don't. Because this is love. I hope I grow to become half the man that Dick Hoyt is. He's an inspiration to not only parents with disabled children, but to anyone out there. People can complain about how they can't lose weight. Or they can't run a mile. Or they can't go to the gym because it's too hard. Or they can't make it through school. Or anything. But the next time you think about what you can't do, look at this 69 year old man doing Iron Mans with his son behind him as he tows him in a raft. And then ask yourself if you can do it.

I'm looking forward to seeing them run the Boston Marathon this year and the tribute that will be put on for them. Truly amazing.

NFL Network leaving Comcast on May 1st

In a move to force the monopolostic hand that is Comcast, the NFL Network has decided to pull it's channel from the Comcast lineup as of May 1st. Comcast decided to push the NFL Network into their Sports Tier Package, which costs subscribers sometimes as much as $15 a month to watch one of the best sports networks on TV. The NFL Network has always stood by it's fans and has tried to get Comcast to do what is the right thing - put it in the normal Basic Tier Package and allow the masses (up to 2 million more Comcast subscribers) to get the NFL Network for free. This is a big deal because when Thanksgiving rolls around every single week after that there are games that are put on the NFL Network that you normally wouldn't get to see. For NFL fans, one more game is a huge deal.

One thing I'm curious about is whether Comcast intends to drop the price of their sports package. I know I will cancel this package the second the NFL Network is not on my sports package. I couldn't care less about the other sports channels they put into the package as filler.

Comcast needs to learn that they can't continue to jerk their customers around. People will leave for other services - FiOs, DirecTV. If I had a choice I would be gone from Comcast in a heartbeat.

Check out a site the NFL put up to keep people updated - I know I'll be checking it out on a regular basis.

http://iwantnflnetwork.com/

There are some wild things out there

I haven't talked about this, for some unknown reason but I'm insanely excited to see that they are filming my favorite childrens book of all time Where The Wild Things Are. If it sucks, I think my head will explode in the theater. But I don't think that will be the case.

Fuck yes.