BEACH BOYS FACT #6

The Beach Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.

BEACH BOYS FACT #5

The Beach Boys formed in Hawthorne, California. The same city Marilyn Monroe grew up in as an infant.

Podcast and Celebrities

my favourite podcast is the BS Report with Bill Simmons. He is a writer for ESPN and references pop culture. If you are a male, white American between the ages of 19-38 there is a 75% chance you know of him. Also, if you fit into that demographic then I probably dont know you.

If I were to have dinner with any celebrity it would be Bill Simmons, hands down.

Anyway, yesterday he had David Duchovny on the podcast whom he is friends with. They talked Knicks, X-Files and roles he turned down. The most interesting thing Duchovny brushed upon was celebrity pick-up basketball at Gary Shandling's house. He talked about how Adam Sandler is a physical player and Sarah Silverman being the only female to step on the court.

If you are bored, please download and enjoy this fine episode.

this post is for my friend chad holmes.

survivor odds

50:1 colby makes it to the tribe merger

20:1 jerri and parvati become friends

10:1 russell finds another immunity idol

2:5 coach has another breakdown

2:1 rupert actively pursues cannibalism

Dennis Hopper

one of the world's best people is dying. dennis hopper. i was reminded of this because i read a blurb in the paper about how he has to pay something around $12,000 a month because of his divorce as he battles cancer. horrible.

its not often you can plan to hear about someone you admire die. there are too many awesome things he has done to list. please wiki him and learn somethin about him before the tragic news breaks.

must watch

one of my favourite films of the past year is coming to dvd. it's called Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. It stars Nicholas Cage and Val Kilmer. Cage is perfectly casted in this role as a deranged, drug-addled cop. I highly recommend it if you enjoyed the original with Harvey Kietel. Keep in mind this film is rated R (a rarity these days) for its explicit drug use, explicit language and explicit performance. (Cage uses a crack pipe multiple times.)

the only bad thing i gotta say about this movie is that xzibit is in it.

the team: nolan ryan headlock

my 12 team, head-to-head fantasy baseball draft was last night. i had 4th pick. heres the roster:

C – Oakland – Kurt Suzuki
1B – SanFran – Pablo Sandoval
2B – Florida – Dan Uggla
3B - New York – Alex Rodriguez
SS – Cleveland – Asdrubal Cabrera
IF – Minnesota – Michael Cuddyer
OF – Atlanta – Nate McLouth
OF – Boston – Mike Cameron
OF – Detroit – Magglio Ordonez
OF – Detroit – Johnny Damon
UTIL – Colorado – Todd Helton
BENCH – Atlanta – Melky Cabrera
BENCH – Philadelphia – Placido Polanco
SP – Seattle – Felix Hernandez
SP – Arizona – Dan Haren
RP – New York – Mariano Rivera
RP – Detroit – Jose Valverde
P – Oakland – Ben Sheets
P – Los Angeles – Fernando Rodney
P – Philadelphia – J.A. Happ

my strategy going into the draft this season was get a real slugger in the 1st round that would crank out home runs and massive RBI's all season (A-Rod) then immediately spend my next two picks on pitchers (Hernandez and Haren) then draft a decent 2nd basemen (Uggla) since that position is quite shallow then fall back on pitching. what happened was that I ended up with the strongest overall pitching in the entire league. Loyal readers will remember Rivera was on my wishlist (as with Suzuki). Ben Sheets is a boom or bust.

I did however suffer in the outfield drafting low picks to fill in those positions (Damon was a pick that made me cringe). Luck would have it that I picked many former Detroit Tigers (my favourite team). I have 4 players affiliated with the team! I am banking on McLouth and Uggla to have career stolen bases this season but I am thrilled with my roster.

that show is terrible

I think it must be a golden rule that whoever watches the show How I Met Your Mother must also tune into The Big Bang Theory. Most people I’ve met watch the two avidly. It doesn’t really matter since both are horrendous. The thing that bugs me about both shows is that it seems as if the males on the show don’t act like real guys. (same thing with Friends after the first couple seasons). Both shows have mostly male writers that must be experts in creating characters of what-they-think-women-think-men should act like. Make sense? Feel free to agree with me on this.

listen to this.

my buddy steve ward plays on the new caribou album, swim. please check it out. he is a wonderful, experimental trombone player and plays all the time around toronto.

hot dog! we have a wiener!

I obviously love hotdogs (look at the URL). Since baseball season is approaching I wanted to post something about the best ballpark grub.

I recently read about a place called Japa-dog in Vancouver which features Japanese-style franks. Some examples are:
Okonomi – Pork sausage, Japanese Mayo, Fried Cabbage, Bonito Flakes (wha?), and special Okonomiyaki sauce. (?)

Oroshi – Pork sausage, Special Soy sauce, green onions and grated radish.

A great spot to get some creative hotdogs in Toronto is a place called Buddha Dog on Roncesvalles. The place has got organic, local dogs (which are kinda small) which can be topped with gourmet sauces and toppings like cherry ketchup, red pepper jelly, garlic aioli…

mmmmm.

Beach Boys Fact #4

Paul McCartney has said that the song "God Only Knows" is the greatest pop song ever written.

art

Over the break I saw some great art. Below are some photos of exhibits by Diane Arbus and Gerhard Richter.

final fantasy baseball league.

The 2010 baseball season is upon us. This means it’s time to gear up your 5 on 5, Head to Head fantasy baseball team. I have been slowly glancing over the stats and here are some players on my wishlist:

- Kurt Suzuki (a projected sleeper in many circles)
- Chase Utley
- Tim Lincecum
- Mariano Rivera
- Curtis Granderson (even though he was traded to my archnemesis the Yankees)
- Prince Fielder
- Evan Longoria
- Justin Verlander

tigerrrr uppercut.

A huge happy birthday goes out to George Lee “Sparky” Anderson former coach of the Detroit Tigers from 1979-1995 also known as the Bless You Boys era.

heart and sole

This weekend a woman made history.

In fishing.

Pam Martin-Wells placed 22^nd in the Bassmaster Classic on Sunday. She faced 50 men on Lay Lake, which is just outside of Birmingham, Alabama. At 42, Pam is the second woman to ever qualify for the Super Bowl of Fishing tournament (in the tournament’s 40 year anniversary) AND the first woman to fish on the final day.

Congratulations Pam Martin-Wells. My new favourite angler.

kissing grandma

If a tie is like kissing your sister, losing is like kissing your grandmother with her teeth out. ~George Brett

The Olympics remind me of how horrible Canada is at sports. Statistically speaking, our teams never really bode well on a global level except for hockey…er..sorta. Canada’s national soccer, basketball, baseball and rugby teams are weaker than prison coffee.

We are good at hockey and that’s about it. We can produce gifted individuals but never a solid Canadian team that isn’t playing puck. (Steve Nash, Justin Morneau and Ben Johnson fall in this category.)

Anyway to deal with this here are ways to cope with losing.
STEP ONE: Accept the reality of the loss. The more you talk about it the more you realize how real it is.

STEP TWO: Allow yourself to experience grief. Make sure you feel the pain and do not bury it deep. Avoiding it will only cause further damage.

STEP THREE: You need to learn how to adjust to your environment during this loss. Learn new skills and tasks in order to assume responsibility of your own life. Do not withdraw from the world. Know things will get better.

STEP FOUR: After a considerably amount of time, know that all wounds heal. Acceptance and a determination to live your life fully will refocus your energy in a more positive manner.

Ok, so maybe these are steps for coping with a death of a loved one but the hurting is similar. I realize sports are leisurely activities but the only people that truly believe that are the ones that lose.

BEACH BOYS FACT #3

When the Beach Boys entered the studio to record the "Surfin" demo they called themselves the Pendletones.

souper bowl

Since I have a sports blog, I owe it to my loyal readers to make a post about THE BIG GAME. After all, the best sports writing comes out during this time of year. Every columnist has something to write about. To me, reading these articles adds to the tension in the air right before kickoff. I decided to geek out a bit and run through some stats and articles about the soon-to-be epic matchup on Sunday.

First, let me reference sports analyst Woody Paige’s great article in the Denver Post. He writes about Archie Manning (Peyton’s father) and how he moved his family to New Orleans to play football. Archie is on both sides of the fence. He would love to see the Saints win their first Super Bowl and bring ‘dancing’ back to Bourbon street as well as his son win another championship. This is an intriguing back story.

Now for the fun.

(I could not find indoor stats for both teams’ offense.)

Stat 1: The Saints have only had 7 playoff appearances, this run is the only conference championship won in franchise history.

Stat 2: The Indianapolis Colts have the 5^th ranked defense this playoffs.

Stat 3: The Saints had the #1 offense in the regular season and now sit at 7^th in the postseason.

Stat 4: The Saint have 132 penalties yards this playoffs.

Stat 5: The Colts have allowed the fewest sacks this season.

Stat 6: The Colts have scored three touchdowns this season on turnovers and kick returns; the Saints have scored 10.

Ill stop there.

I understand stats do not necessarily say anything. Anything could happen this Sunday. Injuries, illnesses and other unforeseen circumstances can alter the outcome. We have all seen the ProLine commercials that prove this but I still would bet on the Colts to win, simply based on their approach. To quote ESPN Page 2’s Gregg Easterbrook (to whom I borrowed a couple stats) “The Colts approach football like a machine. The Saints approach it like a party.” It is a true clash of styles. Read his article at: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/100202&sportCat=nfl. But I advise. Only read what he has to say about sports nothing else. I have no idea why Miss America is in this week’s edition of Tuesday Morning Quarterback. Anyway, this Sunday will be a big offensive shootout with highlight reel poised to be a youtube classic.

So with further adieu start placing your bets for Sunday now.

today is tomorrow.

happy groundhog day loyal readers.

groundhog day is the 2nd most significant holiday in february AND subject of one of the top 3 holiday movies of all time starring Chris Elliott and Andie MacDowell.

we all know Wiarton Willy and Punxsutawny Phil but here are other popular rodents associated with this day and their location.

- Balzac Billy (Balzac, Alberta)

- Spanish Joe (Spanish, Ontario)

- Octoraro Orphie (Quarryville, Pennsylvania)

- Shubencadie Sam (Shubencadie, Nova Scotia)

- Sir Walter Wally (Raleigh, North Carolina)

- Buckeye Chuck (Marion, Ohio)

- General Beauregard Lee (Snellville, Georgia)

- Jimmy the Groundhog (Sun Prairie, Wisconsin)