Whew, June and July were tough months for the Bloggity Blogs 5. Apparently, the staff was the last to find out about the Writers Guild of America strike that ended in February. Unfortunately, that did not stop the staff from taking a hard stance and complaining that their 'pay sucked' and that 'shimmer is a floor wax, not a dessert topping'. And hence, 2 months with no posts. No ridiculous travel stories. No mention of any 2008 national champion basketball team. Not even a single poop and/or fart joke. Tens of thousands of (well, actually, only about 10 total) people mourned. What were they to do without their weekly (uh, more like monthly) dose of wit, sarcasm and general tomfoolery?
The great Moustachio returns.....
If you're white and you know it, throw up some awkward gang signs....
7) Had the fam out to SF for a visit. After years of threatening her, we finally forced my mom to go to a sushi restaurant. She had never tried sushi before and was a total baby about the whole thing - this after years of tormenting me with threats because I wouldn't try nasty vegetables that she cooked. This was actually pretty fun for me.
- Saw The Teenagers at The Independent in April. While their album is my favorite of the year thus far, the band was not that stellar live - sometimes it just doesn't translate. I think the lead singer was saving his voice for Coachella or something. My buddy Aaron and I had fun nonetheless....
- Was at THE concert of the year this past Wednesday at the Rickshaw Stop. The Definite Articles PACKED the house and put on an amazing show at their CD release show. The band was incredibly tight and the sound was amazing (even if we were all a little blown away by Arjun's genius but extremely loud drums). Thanks to all my peeps who made the effort and came out - hope you enjoyed being a part of history. Again, for music/info, check out: http://www.myspace.com/thedefinitearticles
- Flew my brother Brianna up last weekend to participate in the most fun 'race' held annually in SF, the Bay to Breakers. My friend Shawn and I decided to reprise our role as the award-winning news team, WB2B, starring:
Michael Andrews as sexy newscaster, "Brock Mansion"
Shawn Alpay as nerdy sidekick, "Frank Salazar"
Brianna James Taylor as "Travis the kind of scary cameraguy who might kick your ass if you touch his camera one more time"
We had a ridiculously fun time. Exclusive coverage from the event will follow shortly - Brianna is feverishly working to edit over 2 hours of mostly repetitive, somewhat drunken drivel into a 15 minute piece that makes us look hilarious. More to come, but here are a few in-action shots from fans on the course:
Whew, another MASSIVE post. I guess that's what happens when you wait a month. Considering I am starting a new job, I'm sure the next post probably won't be in the next few days either, but keep checking in from time to time. I leave you today with an article from one of my favorite publications, The Onion. Classic!
30 Years of Man's Life Disappear in Mysterious 'Kansas Rectangle'
This picture was taken in downtown Lawrence on the day of the 12 minute 'congratulations for winning the championship' parade:
This photo was taken the same day in downtown Manhattan, KS (home of the rival Kansas State Wildcats):
On the scale of 1 to funny, I'd give this about a 2. But, this next video is a little better. Since Mario Chalmers hit the big 3 at the end of regulation in the National Championship, it has been referred to as "One Shining Moment". The following is a tribute to our other (and more hated) rival, the Missouri Tigers and some of their shining moments over the past few years:
When Roy left KU 5 years ago, I was definitely bummed. I had seen him speak a couple of times and thought he was not only an amazing coach, but an amazing human being. Very humble, hard working, genuine guy. I couldn't fault him for going back to his alma mater, but I still felt a little slighted by the guy who I had worshipped for 10+ years.
Kansas Jayhawks #1. Believe it. And good thing we won it this year because our entire team just declared for the NBA draft. Peace.
And Nada Surf, what a great story. Thought they would be a one hit wonder (they sang that song "Popular" in the early zips), but they came back from the abyss and have produced 3 solid albums. Live show was fun - they had a lot of fan participation and even invited a few friends on stage near the end...... 
2 nights later, I went to see Tokyo Police Club at The Independent. Although their new music/album lacks the raw power of their previous 2 EPs, I thought they sounded great live. Especially for guys that look like they could still be in middle school. Big props to my friends Isabel and Matt who toughed it out on a Monday night to join me for the show and the MOST DELICIOUS SALADS in San Francisco at Fly Bar....seriously if you haven't had the 5 parts bacon, 1 part spinach salad, you are missing out!!!
The day before the TPC show, I attended a truly San Francisco event with my friend Gloria from Charlottesville (good timing on the visit Gloria!!!) The 8th annual Bring Your Own Big Wheel race for adults. I think the photos do most of the explaining, but in summary: 400 adults, in costumes racing down THE crookedest street in San Francisco (for all you tourists, it is not Lombard but VERMONT in Potrero Hill) while 1,000 spectators look on. Wow. Next year you can be damn sure that I will be on a big wheel.....
After my weekend of musica and big wheel fun, I headed for San Diego to hang out with my double Js friend Renee. Got to "surf" one day although I think that you call what I was doing "fall" - I blame the crappy conditions. Also put on one of the most pathetic shufflepuck performances in the history of barsports one night when out with her baby's daddy Brenton and his friends. Needless to say, I bought most of the drinks that night. Renee attempted to get me hooked on this horrible television show on Bravo (oh wait, that's redundant) called Rich Housewives of New York or something. The premise is these ridiculously spoiled socialite women who basically plan parties, play tennis and bitch about absolutely nothing. It would be worth watching if ANY OF THEM were hot. Ok, maybe not. They are complete retards.
During the weekend, I watched my Hawks play their way into the Final Four (more on that later) and attended a wine party thrown by the PDiddy of San Francisco, Lyle Poindexter (yes, this is his real name). Normally, I would think a wine party would not be my scene, but it was a blast. Maybe it was the fact that we had to try 15 different wines? While definitely feeling it, I miraculously gave a duplicated wine the same score at positions #2 and #13.....yeah, let's see YOU try that after 12 glasses of wine! Some samples from my comment sheet:
"if my grandmother were alive, she might like this wine. but, she's not. she's dead. thanks for me reminding me"
"this wine is so oaky it reminds me of West Virginia......which reminds me of Deliverance.....which reminds me of that scene with Ned Beatty and the hillbillies.......which......you know what, this wine sucks"
Fun times, indeed. The next week saw me travelling back to Virginia to hang out with my friend Miriam. The first time I rolled through Charlottesville, it was freezing and gray. This time, it was......um, well, exactly the same. I think there is some kind of wierd Michael Andrews/Charlottesville jinx going on. All of our outdoor activities plans (tennis, hiking, etc) were scrapped, but we did get to go to:
1) Thomas Jefferson's house (Monticello)!
2) The gift shop at Thomas Jefferson's house (I think we actually spent more time here than the actual house)!
3) Perform the musical "Singing in the Rain" starring Miriam's friend Christina as Gene Kelly!
4) Watch the Kansas Jayhawks demolish North Carolina and then Memphis! YEAH!!!!!
6) Go to the climbing wall!
7) And.....and.......and.....
Yep. Did I mention that I got to stay in the dorms again and eat at the dining hall? I had nachos, pizza, salad, cereal and 3 different types of pasta for lunch! One night, the guys and I on the floor stayed up until 4am playing video games, playing poker and rating the girls on the floor. It was awesome. Ok, there may be SOME embellishment here...
So, last but certainly not least. Kansas Jayhawks NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy CRAP!!!!!!! I still feel like it is all a dream. Except it is getting to be a really long dream. And frankly, parts of the dream have been kind of lame and unnecessary - like why would I get a cold after the game? I am just hoping it wasn't like that one season of Dallas where Bobby Ewing died, but it ended up all being in his wife's head and then he came back.
So, the main thing I will say about the Championship.......man, it takes a lot of luck to win the whole thing. We could have very easily gone home if Davidson would have made the three pointer at the end of the game OR if North Carolina would have kept their rally going in the second half of the semifinal OR if Memphis wouldn't have completely choked and missed all those free throws OR if Mario wouldn't have made that incredible three pointer at the end of regulation. Florida coach Billy Donovan said it best after his team won in 2006 - if you played the games again, you probably would get a completely different outcome. No doubt. But, I will take it. The National Championship that is. Kansas Jayhawks #1.
Whew. I've got to start updating this more often so it doesn't become such a marathon. Updates on my job search upcoming - I actually had an interview last week. WHOA.
Unbelievable.
