There are only 55 shopping days left until......Halloween

The passing of Labor Day means all of the retailers can take their 'My boss can suck it' plates and 'I ain't workin' THIS Monday, b*tch' t-shirts off of the shelves and replace them with orange & black decorative tampons and stuff. Yes friends, it's my favorite time of year - Halloween. Ahhhhhhh.........the one time of year you can rob a Denny's and not get arrested..................oh, and you can also get to dress up!

Has anyone else noticed that this year Halloween falls on a FRIDAY? Whoa. Dude. Dangerous. In keeping with tradition, I will be hosting a Halloween "party" at my "place" on the top "floor" in the lovely Avalon "towers" in "SOMA"*. If you've been to one of my parties before, you KNOW you will be gettin' yo' grub on and yo' drink on while you're gettin' your cheesy games (or haunted house on). This year, you can even play pool or watch the fireworks from the outdoor patio (there are fireworks on Halloween, right)?

And, oh, this year it will be EXTREMELY EXCLUSIVE. Only the first 49 people (in honor of the San Francisco 49ers**) will be admitted. Regular readers of the bloggity blogs5 in the Bay Area will get first dibs - official invites to go out in a week or so. If interested, post a response to this entry and you will automatically be added to the VIP list - note: this means you will probably have to WORK the party.....and/or be the subject in the barrel when people are bobbing for.....well, you.

So, now that we've got that behind us.....was anyone else in the city over Labor Day? Holy crap. THAT is why SF is so amazing. Summer is finally here!!!! Bike ride to Marin with da boys, tennis with my blistered partner, sushi and pub crawl with friends, way too many drinks with Sunset co-workers (there goes what little reputation I was trying to salvage). All good in the 'hood.

Halloween theme to be announced shortly. Peace (in the middle east).

* Gratuitous use of quotes caused by "global warming".

** Ok, it is REALLY in honor of the Avalon's stupid rules.

Fonzie done jumped that shark 'ready, Kenny

Great article I saw in the Yahoo business section today:

Title of Article: New Kenny Rogers record sold exclusively at Cracker Barrel

First Quote from Kenny Rogers in Article: "For me, the whole goal is to stay relevant as long as I can"

Um, yeah. Enough said.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080826/people_kenny_rogers.html?.v=1

Bloggity Blogs Five Returns After Two Month Strike

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?

Well, bb5 fans, I am happy to report that after hours/weeks/days of union negotiations, the strike is officially over. Muchas gracias to our lawyers and to the vending machine on the 2nd floor of 238 Pine St. I don't think this wouldn't have gotten done if both sides didn't share a mutual love for FunYuns. Delicious, delicous FunYuns.

SO, much has happened in the world of MCA since we last stopped by the bb5. After 6 months of essentially d*cking off at the beginning of 2008, I have been working up a storm in the past couple of months. On the weekends, have been helping my friends develop a business plan for their startup, and during the week have been spending my time in Menlo Park at the WORLD headquarters for Sunset Magazine. Super nice people, mellow culture, good team under me, even have a few cool kids working there. Seriously, what more can you ask for? Free sod for my garden? Oh wait, I GET THAT TOO. Oh wait, I don't have a garden. Only complaint so far is that the commute sucks. Spending 1.5 hours+ on public transport is a great way to................ WASTE 1.5+ hours of every day. It could be worse, but it is definitely eating into my ultimate fighting training time.

And so, on to the major accomplishments of the summer:

1) Got a new drivers license. Successfully convinced the attendant to let me keep this photo even though she said I "looked like a serial killer". Mission accomplished.

2) Joined Facebook. Was shocked to see that so many of my friends are actually ON Facebook. Thought it was just a site where people went to pick up high school girls. Amazed how much time people spend updating me on 'what they are doing every second of every day'. Glad to know that my friend Nick just took a dump...... because 55 minutes ago he was feeling constipated...and that's because 2.5 hours ago he ate a cheeseburger.....and had 3 donuts for breakfast....and....and......and............ oh man, it's all exhausting.

3) Went with Miriam to the 189th best beach in the US, Virginia Beach. Have you been thinking to yourself, "gee, I love the grittiness and violence of East Oakland, but I wish it was closer to the beach"? Well, VB is the place for you. Got smoked out on day 2 thanks to some forest fires down yonder in North Carolina. You know what caused those forest fires, right? Global Warming! Highlight of the trip was showing up to the fireworks show only to figure out that they started 20 minutes earlier than they were supposed to............end result being that we got to see 30 seconds of fireworks. Spent the rest of the night trying not to get mugged.

4) Received my first paycheck of the year! Went out and spent it immediately on a new guitar (Martin), new TV (plasma) and a bunch of new hats and stuff.

5) Joined zipcar. This has changed my life and is the greatest idea ever (besides the IPhone). I may never buy a car again.

6) Had my 'officially in the upper part of my 30s' bday party and decided that my alter personna, the Great Moustachio, should make a grand return. Tried unsuccessfully to get a new friends (Sunset) vs. old friends (Jamba) fight going. Pretended like it was my 21st birthday by staying up until 5am. Thanks to global warming, I was hung over the next day. I hate you Al Gore!

The group post-Dinner at Cha Cha Cha in the Mission


Da boys...
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.

Bite #1 of Sushi....... look at that pained expression on her face....

Eat your sushi, or you don't get to have dessert!

Happier times at the Giants game.

8) Wrapped up the summer with a 2 week visit from Miriam. We hit up Napa, Fresno, & Monterey and even found time to sing karaoke, eat at my new favorite restaurant Farina (pesto pasta is amazing) and attend a "Kung Fu Hustle" Movie Party. Too much fun.


Overall, a very good summer. Life is good. Peace out peeps.

Where, oh where, has my bloggity blog gone?

Wow, maintaining a blog should be fairly easy when you're not working, right?! I've been doing some reading on effective blogs and posting once a month is apparently a good way to drive all of your traffic away. It appears to be working - awesome.

There is an excuse, albeit lame - the job search intensified in late April/early May. I spent hours searching for jobs, talking with recruiters, etc. After several interviews with companies of all sizes and shapes, the BIG news is that I have accepted an offer! I will be headed to work this Tuesday for Sunset Publishing Corporation (Sunset Magazine) as their VP, Finance & Business Development. Yea! It's a part of the Time Inc family, but is operated fairly independently and has the feeling of a small company. Everyone I met with was incredibly genuine, nice and seemed dedicated to the brand (sound familiar?). Website needs a little bit of work, but you can check it out here. I am pumped about the opportunity! Only thing that will suck is the 45 minute commute to Menlo Park. Ah, how I long for the days when I lived 6 blocks away from my office....

Other big news, the Dupree era is officially over! I have moved out of my friend Nathan & Sarah's basement and into a one bedroom apartment at the fabulous Avalon in SOMA. Ok, so maybe fabulous is a little bit of an overstatement. The apartment itself is a step down from my place in the Mission:
- has slightly dated carpet instead of hardwood floors
- instead of a view of the city skyline, I have a view of a courtyard that looks like it belongs in an Embassy Suites
- has only 1 bedroom vs. 2 previously, although we all know how much I used that 2nd bedroom
- no crackheads outside of my front door (makes it harder for me to obtain crack and/or friends)

However, there are SEVERAL nice features of the new pad:
- laundry IN the apartment - WHAT? I know this seems trivial for some, but this is the first time I have had this in over TEN years.
- gym, indoor basketball court, ping pong, climbing wall, pool table, hot tub....ALL onsite. WOW!
- free wifi party room on 19th floor with sweeping views...only a matter of time before we destroy this....
- concierge service - still not sure what I am supposed to do with this, but it sounds cool
- right across the street from CalTrans....which I will be using every day to get down to Sunset

All in all, a "pretty sweet deal" as William Macy says in Fargo. The neighborhood doesn't have much charm, but there are several decent restaurants within 3-4 blocks and a Safeway right across the street. I am also about 100 yards from SBC Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. Too bad they suck now! I am going to try to make a go of it without a car for awhile - we'll see how long that lasts......

As always, I found time to have some fun in the past few weeks as well. A quick summary:
- My Aunt Pam and Uncle Ed stopped by the Bay on a layover from their 3 week trip to Southeast Asia. Their request after 3 weeks of noodles and rice? A good ole fashioned 'Merican meal. AP & UE are the coolest!

- 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:

- My final days of freedom also had a quick visit from my friend Miriam. We packed all kinds of fun stuff into 3 days: tennis, cycling to Tiburon, dinner with Dage & Jay at Perbacco and German food at Suppenkuche. Here is a shot of Miriam and my godson Jaxon. Couple of good looking kids!

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'

Ok, so I think the Kansas Jayhawks did actually win the National Championship

After more than two and a half weeks, I am finally willing to acknowledge that the victory in the National Championship was not a dream and it ACTUALLY HAPPENED. Unbelievable!!! Go Hawks!!!

So there has been much discussion/gloating/etc post-game and I thought I would share a bit of the shenanigans:

First off, a little family related celebration. From the fine publication that is the Topeka Capital Journal, a picture of my little brother Grant (see arrow) on the night of the championship:

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:

Ahhhhhh.....it is a good time to be a Jayhawk.....

So there was a lot of discussion following the game regarding Roy Williams (current UNC coach and former longtime KU coach) wearing a KU Jayhawks sticker on his shirt at the National Championship game. Ok, so I can understand how UNC fans might be a little disappointed considering his UNC team 'got their tails whooped' (as he would say) 2 nights earlier. BUT, the gesture went a long way with many KU fans. This barbershop owner in Lawrence DID have a portrait of Roy in the bathroom (called it Roy's Room) until the sticker incident:

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.

It passed after a year or so and when Roy finally won his first national championship at UNC, I was happy for him. Many KU fans, however, seemed to foster a deep rooted hatred for the guy for many years. I am HOPING that this gesture will finally 'bury the hatchet' so to speak. In the meantime, we can continue to laugh at his expense. Here are some photos of Roy celebrating the victory:




Kansas Jayhawks #1. Believe it. And good thing we won it this year because our entire team just declared for the NBA draft. Peace.

Calling All Cars!

Friends, I don't ask you for much*, but I am asking for your support at an upcoming event. It's over a month away and I am going to be reminding you nearly every day until it happens, but please save the following date: Wednesday, May 21st.

A pal of mine from the old days of 2006, Shawn (aka Norm Jr. aka Grizzly Adams aka Sir Sleeps A Lot) and his band, The Definite Articles, are playing at the Rickshaw Stop. But wait, there's more! It is their CD release party....and rumor has it they will also be selling flash drives of their EP - never done before in the history of music!**

The Definite Articles have been compared to The Arcade Fire, Final Fantasy and Elvis among others and I would describe them as indie cello rock. I think the sound is really f*cking amazing but you can check it out for yourself here. Listen to "Sea Things" - it is just blowing me away right now. Beautiful melodies, transitions, progression, strings everywhere. Listen to it. Seriously. It may change your life.

I feel like this show is going to be one of those events where you will be able to tell your grandkids........"I was at the Definite Articles first CD release party." Of course, your grandkids will probably be like, "The Definite Articles? Oh man, that's OLD PEOPLE MUSIC". But, hey, screw them. I mean, what did those stupid grandkids ever do for you anyway..... ungrateful little sons of..............I digress.

Mark your calendars. Be there or......just be there.

* Unless you are Nathan and Sarah........whose house I have been squatting at for nearly 2 months. I ask them for quite a bit, like rides to the grocery store and for my allowance and stuff.

** Ok, I'm sure someone has probably already done it, but it seems like a pretty ingenious idea to me.

Laziest Bloggity Blog Ever

Sheesh maneesh. I have been horrible. The good news for the few bloggity blogs 5 regulars out there is that I will be forced for once to be brief in describing the highlights of my past 3 weeks of continued unemployment. Ah, who am I kidding? I can't be brief!!! This is going to be one long f*cking post. Might want to cancel that meeting you have this morning.....

So, in the past 3 weeks, I have...............................

Attended a Nada Surf/Sea Wolf concert at The Fillmore. Sea Wolf is one of those indie bands that just pretty much kicks a bunch of you know what. When my bro worked at musicplustv.com, he and I filmed an interview with lead singer Alex Church at the Treasure Island Music Festival. I was "associate producer" which meant I pretty much stood around and tried not to make any noise. Die hards can check out the interview here.

If you have 3 minutes and 36 seconds, check out their single, "You're a Wolf" here - one of my favorite songs of 2007. Hey, you can listen while you read! Do it. Photo from the Fillmore show:

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"

"very grapey with hints of red wine"

"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!!!!!

5) Get our picture taken by these flowers!

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.