It doesn't matter how you play the game, it's whether you win or lose, and even that doesn't make that much difference. ~ Coach Finstock ~

Thursday, April 28, 2011

10 million reasons

Following Bud Light's recent $50 million investment to become the NFL's new official beer they are sponsoring a contest surrounding the upcoming draft that starts today.

"The Best Round Ever," is a contest giving away $10 million to the contest who accurately picks every draftee in the 1st round of the draft. To sign up (and why would you not at least try to win 10 mil), go to their facebook page (http://apps.facebook.com/bestroundever/). Please read the fine print, one thing I have heard already is that if you mispell a player's name you are disqualified. If more than one person gets them all correct, the $10 million will be divided equally. So what the hell are you waiting for, get to it and I want a 5% commish for letting you know about this if you win.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Draft: Current Artist

The last in my music drafts is for current artists in today's music scene, this list did not consider bands only sole artists (so KOL did not make the cut). This one is tough due to the varying styles of music that exist today, but here you go. Again, who would make your top 5??

5. Lady GaGa (@ladygaga) - While I have not bought or own an album of hers, it is easy to see that she is one of the most popular acts in the 2000s and it is only going to continue with a new album coming out in May. She in a few short years has become on the world's most recognizable figures and is winning multiple Grammy's. Might not be fair to compare her, but she could be the next star like Madonna and be around for a long time. It doesn't hurt that she is extremely over the top and wears next to nothing most of the time. Will she be on anyone's celebrity death list and be another artist who overdoes it......Also, is that a penis??



4. Matt Hires (@matthires) - This one is definitely only ever gonna make my list, but I ran across Matt a year or so ago and have become a big fan. The good part is that he is really just getting popular and has one full album so plenty more to come from him, hopefully. He is another artist with a unique voice, stating that Bob Dylan and Tom Petty were his influences. Must say I am also a big fan of the fedora look. The video below is him performing an acoustic cover of "Kids" by MGMT in NYC. Check out State Lines or Tangled Web off his Take Us To The Start album, good introductions.



3. Amos Lee - An American singer/songwriter from Philly who mixes folk, blues and soul (stole this like from Wiki). He does have some Southern ties as he attended the University of South Carolina, we won't hold that against him too much. He's another musician putting out music that you can just turn on and let play. His latest album, Mission Bell, is more of the same, starting with his newest song...Windows are Rolled Down. If you like this song you will enjoy Amos' music for sure.



2. Michael Buble (@michealbuble) - To say that my music tastes are all over the place would be an understatement, that is further proven by my choice for #2. Stacy and I have been listening to Buble now for 5 years or so I guess and have seen him in concert 4 or 5 times as well. He has a unique way of bringing the old classics back to life with a new twist and attracting audiences from all over the place. The last concert we went to there was a couple of 40 year old dudes behind us, in front of us was a 13 or 14 year old with her mom and beside them was a couple in their 60's. Another one of those guys you have to see live to truly appreciate him, and it is well worth the money too. He always talks about how he will help the girls in the crowd pump up the bike tires during his show, that way they can go home and ride it all night long with their men, or at least something to that affect. Regardless of that he is a great entertainer and his only downside is he is Canadian, heh!!! He seems like he would be a cool guy to hang with and have some cocktails.



1. Ray LaMontagne (@RayLaMontagne) - Ray has a unique way of playing slower music and making it good, sometimes it is tough and can become really boring. He seems to be a very unique guy as well. All of his albums are good and can be played all the way through, and there is no mistaking it is him when the song comes on, he has a very unique voice and sound. I still have yet to see Ray in concert, but from talking to friends that have gone it is on my list for sure. If you have not yet listened to Ray I recommend it, to get you started check out Three More Days, Trouble and How Come....

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Draft: 80's Band

Let me preface this draft list by saying I considered only bands when putting this list together not sole artists from the 80s. This is a mixed up bag for sure, the 80s brought us all kinds of music, from new wave to hard rock. Who would be in your top 5????

5. Tie between The Cars & Tears for Fears - For the 80s these bands had numerous hit songs versus the typical one hit wonders.

Let's start with The Cars, they were unique for combining different styles of music from the different genres of the time. Another oddity of the times was that they were from the US (Boston) versus a lot of the new wave 80s bands being from Europe. The Cars greatest hits album is a good listen all the way through. In 2010, they reunited and will release a new album in May of this year.



As far as Tears for Fears, they are a English band who was part of the new wave synthesizer craze in the 80s, they are still performing today. They are another good example of a band in the 80s with numerous hit songs. Not to mention the serious mullet on one of them. Side note, not really sure what the video actually means.....Their songs included Head Over Heels, Shout, Sowing the Seeds of Love.......



4. Bon Jovi - They had already hit the scene in the early 80s, but hit is big with Slippery When Wet. Wanted Dead or Alive has turned into the new go to at karaoke, Kirn killed it in Nawlins a couple of weeks back. They had some of the best sing-a-long songs during this time period that are still hits to this day. If you go back and listen to their earlier music you might not realize they even sing some of those older songs. They are still together today and selling out arenas!



3. Guns N' Roses - In 1987, Appetite for Destruction came out and changed the music scene for rock and for some probably changed their lives. The combination of Axl's singing and Slash's guitar rifts made for an album you could just turn out and let play, it was not an easy thing to do, especially in the 80s with all of the one hit wonders. One of my favorite scenes from the high school movies was when the nerdy kid heard Paradise City and rocks out at the party, this is all of us any time GNR comes on. Axl also showed the world a new dance move, I know I use it everytime I hear GNR.





2. aHa - Simply put aHa made this list due to one song, "Take On Me." Which might be the one of, if not the, best 80's song. The video alone is still ranked as one of the top 2 videos of all time. They have recorded 100s of songs, but this is the one song they will forever be linked to. Every time I hear this song it reminds me of back in Athens riding in Quint's Tahoe and playing the double keyboards in the front seat. For those Family Guy fans a little something special for you underneath the video.





1. Duran Duran - The hardest choice to make by far, Duran Duran could have either been # 1 or potentially out of the top 5, but they have so many great songs in the 80s, not to mention the early 90s. They are still recording today, although it is way to techno these days for my taste. But when people think of 80s music they think of bands like this with keyboards and a different sound then other decades of music. From Hungry Like the Wolf, Rio, Reflex, Come Undone to Enjoy the Silence, Duran Duran is my #1 80s band!!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Draft: Classic Rock Bands

In the spirit of the NFL draft coming up on the 28th, here is my first top 5 of the week, classic rock bands of all-time. A testament to each of these bands is that they rock/rocked live just as good if not better than their albums. To say this was a hard list to create is an understatement. I will say that I did not consider The Beatles in this list as I consider them more of an oldies band than a classic rock band, so no hate mail that I left them out. Let me know your top 5 (Randy - Pink Floyd is not allowed).

#5 - While there have been numerous bands from Australia few have the footprint of my #5 pick, AC/DC. This band survived a death and is still rocking the house, the crazy part is the death was the original lead singer, Bon Scott in 1980. To say Brian Johnson has stepped in and kept them going strong is again an understatement. They are definitely one of those bands that are recognizable as soon as Bon or Brian start singing. They can get you fired up for sure, when I am warming up before tennis matches, AC/DC helps get me going. AC/DC definitely has one of the most recognizable guitar players alive, Angus Young, who along with his brother formed the band in 1973.



#4 - This band continues to tour to this day, with very few lineup changes, pick #4 is The Rolling Stones. The Stones formed back in 1962 and got its name from a Muddy Waters LP in which one of the songs was "Rollin' Stone." The Stones came stateside during the British invasion of the mid 60's. They have sold more than 200 million records worldwide. This is one of those bands I have not been fortunate to see live, but from those I have met that have say it is one of the best concerts they have ever been to. Mick Jagger is one of the most recognizable celebrities in the world today and he was even knighted in 2003.



#3 - This is one of those bands that everyone probably has in their top 5 and seldom realize how many songs they actually sing, pick #3 is Led Zeppelin. Zeppelin started in England in the late 60's and featured two of the world's best known musicians: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. Rolling Stone magazine and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has called Zep "the heaviest band of all time" and "as influential in the 70's as The Beatles were in the prior one." From Black Dog, Whole Lotta Love, Fool in the Rain, Stairway to Heaven to Kashmir, Zeppelin's music is still as good today as in the 60's and 70's.



#2 - A lot of people do not consider this band good at all, but to me have some of the best songs collectively to this day, my pick at #2 is Journey. Journey like many classic rock bands still tour today, however they will never be the same without Steve Perry. The only downfall is that Perry rocked sleeveless tees tucked into his Levi's with no belt, damn it Steve. Journey was started in San Fran by former members of Santana. From ballads to heavy hitters, Journey has a true list of greatest hits that most people recognize and sing-a-long with every time they are played. I must say that I have only ever seen two guys ever attempt to tackle Journey songs as Perry is a hard person to recreate. People seldom make mention, but Neal Schon is one of the best guitarists of all-time. Here is a little sampler of their live shows from back in the day (what a shirt from Perry).



#1 - Growing up in Texas I do not know if I would be allowed back if I did not select "That Little Ol' Band from Texas," ZZ Top, #1. It has amazed me since I first heard them as a little kid that three guys could make that much noise. ZZ Top has changed their sound numerous times over the years, but always go back to their blues roots. Little known fact is that the two front men have long beards (Billy Gibbons & Dusty Hill) and the drummer is named Frank Beard. Here is them performing one of there greatest hits in 1980.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Wonderlic

In the past few weeks a handful of the wonderlic scores of upcoming NFL draftees have been leaked, which prompted the question......and? The wonderlic is a test given by NFL teams at the combine, it is a test used to assess the aptitude of prospective employees for learning and problem-solving.

Not sure if it really means anything. A.J. Green (wide receiver-Georgia) and Patrick Peterson (cornerback-LSU) were two of the draftees who had their scores leaked, and they both scored low. Green answered 10 right and Peterson only single digits. The sad part is that teams shy away from players due to this score. I would gladly take both players right now as I believe they will be game changers in the NFL. The highest score was scored by Greg McElroy (quarterback-Alabama) who will most likely be a late round pick and be a third string QB, he answered 43 or the 49 he answered.

This brings up another reason that ESPN, sports talk radio, etc exist, because they spend time talking about this stuff. At the end of the day they stop short of asking the most important question......and what does it mean?

Here is a sample test to see where you would score.
http://walterfootball.com/draftwonderlic.php

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

420

In honor of today being 420 thought I would post one of my favorite comedians talking about weed.....enjoy (the weed part is the last 15 seconds or so).

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Essentials

Wiltin recently sent me a website and I must say it has some pretty good stuff on it. It is Essential Style for Men (@essentialstyle). They state the site's objective is to get some basic, essential ideas for how men should represent themselves. It has a little bit of everything that guy's enjoy, from cars, media, food/dining, dime piece, travel, fashion, etc. There are definitely some things on here that are not worth your time, but there is some stuff on here worth reading for sure, if anything check out the dime piece page.

Definitely check it out and add this to the growing list of sites to check out periodically as they update frequently.


Friday, April 15, 2011

New Restaurant: Coast Seafood & Raw Bar

Stacy and I recently went out to celebrate some good news at her job and decided to go to Coast Seafood & Raw Bar in Buckhead. Stacy had been wanting to go here and this was the perfect opportunity to try it out. Coast is a Here to Serve Restaurant, which is a group of chains in Atlanta from Shout, Twist, Prime, Goldfish and Noche. It is in a great spot at the corner of East Andrews and Paces Ferry, in the old home of Seeger's. The deck outside grabs your attention and will be a great spot to hangout in the summer. The inside was two stories with a bar directly to your right when you come in. On the night we went they also had a guy playing acoustic guitar at the bar, so another reason to come back again. Click on the link above and go to their gallery for more photos of the restaurant.


They had a pretty big menu with everything from fresh fish to scallops, shrimp and lobster. We started with an order of crab/corn hush puppies and calamari. The hush puppies came out in two minutes and were really good and a different twist to normal hush puppies. The calamari took forever, but was worth the wait as we were both starving. For entrees, Stacy ordered Charleston Shrimp & Grits and I had the Shrimp/Bacon Mac & Cheese. Mine was really creamy with the right mix of shrimp and bacon. Both of our entrees were really good and we definitely want to go back again to hang on the deck. I cannot wait to go back and try their tuna, as it looked incredible. I do have to say that we ordered the cup cake trio for dessert and it was the one thing that I definitely would not recommend, it looked and tasted like it had been in the fridge for a few days.
I would recommend Coast to anyone who enjoys seafood, it was a little pricy, but for the serving size and the quality of the food it is worth it. Overall I would give Coast 3 out of 5 beers.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Nawlins!

Wish us all luck, we depart this AM for Kirnanopolis' Bachelor Party in New Orleans. Will share some of the fun and festivities when we get back, looking forward to the airboat ride for sure. The link below is a glossary of New Orleans' terms to keep in your back pocket so you can talk like the locals.

http://www.experienceneworleans.com/glossary.html

Here are some of the best youtube vids I could find related to Nawlins. Enjoy and Laissez le Bon temp rouler!!





Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Shocker

A few weeks back the Pro Football Weekly Draft Preview by Nolan Nawrocki came out and it was critical of Cam Newton on the field and off. The link below is about what Nawrocki said about Newton.

http://www.csnne.com/03/28/11/Wicked-takedown-of-Newton-in-PFW-Draft-P/landing_patriots.html?blockID=492577&feedID=3946

As with any writer, Nawrocki is entitled to his opinion, however it rubbed former QB Warren Moon the wrong way. Here is where my "shocker" title to this post comes into play. Moon was upset about how his advisee, Newton, was being treated by the media and fans. Moon said, "A lot of the criticism he's receiving is unfortunate and racially based. I thought we were all past this...He's being held to different standards from white quarterbacks." My first reation was simply, whelp!! However, after thinking about this more I focused in on his statement about being past this, and I agree we could be if the race card wasn't pulled every freaking time a black athlete, etc is criticised for anything. Let's not hide from the fact that Newton is a well-known figure for a lot of reasons and they are not all good, he is still involved in an NCAA investigation, so he is going to get more attention than most. There are legitimate questions about whether Cam can play at the next level and if I were an NFL team I would want to make sure Cam is my guy before I invest millions into him as my franchise. Do the off the field comments made by Nawrocki cross the line, I am not sure, but some of the things he says are drawn straight from public things we know about Newton, he had legal issues at Florida, played at a Junior College one year and at Auburn for one more. Maybe Moon is too close to the situation as he is advising Newton during this process.

I seem to remember Tim Tebow being killed last year prior to the draft not only for him playing in a spread offense, but also for his holier than now persona. Also, here is a recent article about Blaine Gabbert, a white quarterback from Missouri, and criticism he is receiving from Mel Kiper.

http://kansascity.sbnation.com/missouri-tigers/2011/4/4/2089953/mel-kiper-blaine-gabbert-2011-nfl-draft

Maybe there is a time we will be past it, but until the card continues to be pulled every time, we are a long way off!!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

DVD Review: Catfish

Stacy and I were sitting at home and about to watch a movie and the previews for "Catfish" came on and she mentioned that she had heard it was a good documentary type movie, so I added it to Netflix and we watched it this past weekend. I am glad we made that decision as this was a good movie.

The movie is based on a young photographer in New York, Nev, who meets a young artist (Abby) online when she sends him a painting of one of his pictures online. Nev starts to communicate with Abby, her mom and a half-sister. They do most of their talking, etc on Facebook, including sending pictures and songs. Nev and the half-sister start to develop a relationship, but it never works out to where they can meet up. On a job out in Colorado the sister sends a song to Nev and he soon discovers it is another artists' song on YouTube. This leads to Nev, his brother and friend to dig deeper and find more holes in the mom's story.


So to find out if it is true the three of the guys head to Michigan to meet the family. Needless to say it is creepy and you are almost waiting for something scary to happen. I will not give too much more as they could completely ruin the movie.

I recommend watching this movie for sure, Catfish get 4 out of 5 beers.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Next BBQ Stop: Hottie Hawg's

This past Thursday we made the next stop on our tour of Atlanta BBQ joints, this time we had two newbies to the group, Brian Watson and my lovely wife, Stacy. Hottie Hawg's is in Atlanta near the intersection of South Cobb Drive and Bolton Road, it is in a interesting spot considering the neighborhood around it. The building is painted in two great colors, red and black. Once you stepped out of the car who could immediately smell the BBQ. Wrapped around the side and front of the restaurant was a deck which in the upcoming months could be a great spot to hang. The interior was nothing like you would have thought, but you could tell they put a lot of work into it. They also have a full bar which is good for stopping in on the way to the game or downtown for a quick bite and a cold beer.


Their menu had numerous items that sounded unbelievable, so we started with the Southern Fried "Bottle Caps" Pickles/Peppers and DSB Dry Rub wings. Both of them were really good, but the wings were the best wings I had ever had, hard to beat a wing that does not need anything on them to make them really good. For the main course I ordered the Texas Sliced Brisket plate with garlic mashed potatoes and mac/cheese. The brisket was tender and had great smokey flavor and the sides were really good as well. Here is a pic of Jason's brisket plate.


The attire of the waittresses did not hurt either, the were in daisy duke jean shorts and cowboy boots. The pic below was our girl from their Facebook page. Needless to say Hottie Hawg's is destined for a regular spot. I give them 5 out of 5 beers for sure.


Sunday, April 10, 2011

Holy Hole!

Since it is Sunday of The Masters I figured I would embarass myself and share a story from a recent golf outing. Last Sunday a few of my buddies and me ventured out to North Fulton Golf Course (@northfultongolf) in Atlanta near Chastain Park. First off let me preface by saying I was feeling a little rough after the 40th birthday party we attended the night before (Happy Birthday Jack). So I did not even attempt to play the 1st or 2nd hole after duffing one off the tee box. I will not get into the course too much, but the fairways need some work, which from my understanding they are what they are.

Well at about hole 5 I got my second wind and started to get into it, not that I hit the ball any better or off the ground for that matter. I would have been better off teeing off with my putter. As I reached down to grab my ball out of the cup, Branden says, "Hey man did you rip your pants?" In which I respond, "yeah there is a little hole near the left back pocket." In which he returns, "no, not a hole, you have a tear." So I reach back and sure enough from the inside corner of the pocket there is a tear down my left cheek about 4-5 inches long. So I untuck my shirt and march on, needless to say the tear got a little bigger as we continued. Good thing I was not rolling commando, I am sure Jason is happiest about that as we were in the same cart.

So as it started getting darker we decided we would go out and grab a bite to eat at Taco Mac in the Prado (@TacoMacPrado) up the street. As we were finishing up I asked if anyone had a jacket or something I could wrap up in. The pics below are the fashion trend I am starting. I got a few looks as it was mid-70's and I have a jacket wrapped around my waist, but it sure beat the alternative of flashing my ass for all to see. As for the golf, I played horrible and of course on the last hole (par 3) I hit the best ball of the day and sit about 8-9 feet from a birdie, which of course I missed the putt.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Fore!

One of the best weekends in sports starts this morning, The Masters. It goes without saying that Jim Nantz from CBS Sports has one of the best gigs around, he goes from calling the Final Four to Augusta. While a lot of people may not want to hear this a lot more viewers will be glued to the tube if Tiger Woods is near or on the top of the leaderboard going into the weekend. It seems not that long ago that the bet was Tiger or the field, I guess a smart betting person would tell you to take the field this year. To add to the drama six of the world's top seven golfers can become #1, even though it is beyond confusing how the rankings work since Tiger was #1 and did not play a lot during his demise. To further prove my point, Paul Casey is #6 and he cannot reach #1 because he has played in more tournaments than Woods, who is #7. Even better is that Mickelson won last week in Houston and enters the tournament as the favorite.

For all things Masters check out their site: http://www.masters.com/en_US/index.html. Here is a little something to get you cranked up for rounds 3 and 4.

Friday, April 8, 2011

MLB Opening Day....Lessons Learned

So it still blows my mind that MLB officials are not smart enough not to start the season in cold weather cities. Their excuse is poor at best, that the home teams will have less home games in the warmer months. There are 81 freaking home games, 4-7 games at the beginning of the season are not going to make that much of a difference and you will probably sell more tickets for opening series than you will in the warmer months anyway. Some of the teams had to hold practices indoors due to snow and cold weather, that is insane. Not to mention the teams have spring training in Arizona and Florida so they get used to the warmer climates and then have to jump back into freezing temps when they get back home.

MLB has 30 teams, and instead of starting elsewhere there were opening series in Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Where the average temps are in the lower 30s during this time of the year. There are six teams with dome or retractable roof stadiums, and only one of them hosted games the first weekend. Not to mention the warm weather cities that had stadiums empty: Anaheim, Atlanta, San Diego, San Franciso.

There are way too many smart people in the offices of MLB, time to start showing them off.

Its not all bad though, today is the Braves home opener and I cannot wait, nothing like Opening Day at your home ballpark!!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

You've Got a Friend in Me......

With the Barry Bonds' trial on-going it brings back the stories of his friend, Greg Anderson, who has gone to jail numerous times for refusing to testify and being held in contempt of court. As of today, he has been in Federal prison numerous times for not testifying. I would say Bonds has a great friend in Anderson, not sure Bonds is a good friend to Anderson. Last time I checked Bonds is still a free man, while Anderson spends time behind bars....who has the better end of the deal here? I know Bonds doesn't want to go to jail for lying in Federal court, but he could have admitted his errors before like others and not had to go through this. Does anyone really believe that he never took steroids? I have seen stubborn before, but this is getting ridiculous.

This story takes me back to Chris and Jessica Andres' wedding and John's speech.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Movie Review: Lincoln Lawyer

For Stacy's dad's birthday we ventured out to check out the new Matthew McConaughey film, "The Lincoln Lawyer." The movie is based off a book by Michael Connelly, who my mom started reading a few years back and said that she enjoyed, so we were looking forward to the movie. It also didn't hurt that the last time we remember McConaughey playing a lawyer in a movie, "A Time to Kill," it was a great movie.


So it is not just a clever title for the movie, McConaughey's character, Mickey Haller, is a lawyer who conducts most of his business from the back of his old school back Lincoln Town Car, funny enough driven by an ex-client who is working off his legal fees. Right off the bat who can tell this will be a good movie from the music alone, the movie kicks off with "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City" by Bobby 'Blue' Bland. The movie centers around a brutal beating of a prostitute by a rich boy from Hollywood. The movie definitely does not flow as you think it will after about 45 minutes in, it goes a completely different way. The movie has an all-star cast with Marisa Tomei (ex-wife), Ryan Phillipe (rich boy), William H. Macy (investigator), Josh Lucas (DA), Josh Leguizamo (bondsman) and Trace Adkins.

The movie has a lot of twists and turns and never slows down, you do not even notice that it runs for right at 2 hours, which by today's standards seems to be a long movie. I recommend that everyone sees this movie, it is worth the $10-12. Overall I really like the movie and give it 4 out of 5 beers.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Rastlin'

Over this past weekend Wrestlemania XXVII (27) was held in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome and from reading the tweets late Sunday or Monday, it was not good and it was over the top staged and too fake. Well no sh*t, what did you expect, did you really think it was real..................Last week in Atlanta was Wrestlemania week with events taking place all week; golf tournaments, Hall of Fame ceremony, fan fest and some actual wrestling. I will say I got sucked in changing channels last week when I noticed "The Rock" was talking, I did not know he was back, and then of all things, the kid from the Real World on mTV, Mike Mizanin was the champ! Needless to say I ended up being sucked in and watched the last 15 minutes of the show. From my understanding the city of Atlanta is expecting the events to have a $1.8 billion impact so bring it on.
I actually just wrote this blog to be able to show the following clip from Tosh.O and it fit right in with the wrestling thing, a great web redemption. For anyone who watched wrestling early on the Ultimate Warrior stuff is hilarious, enjoy.