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Some Music For You

Hartford, Rice, Clements, Douglas: "Steam Powered Aeroplane"
Levon Helm w/ Larry Campbell: Tennessee Jed"
Tony Rice Unit: "Tipper"
Waylon: "Luckenback, Texas"
Uncle Tupelo: "No DepressionRyan Adams: "Come Pic Me Up"

L'Hopital

My dad went into the hospital yesterday morning to have his right knee replaced. The surgery went well, & he was up & about a little today. I saw him for a few hours, let him beat me in a game of gin, & watched some Sky Sports w/ him where we learned all about the rumored Adebayor move from Arsenal to Man City. I'm going back tomorrow afternoon w/ the kids so they'll get a chance to say hi too. While the physical therapy people were getting him up & moving, I went down to the hospital cafeteria for a snack... I love hospital cafeterias! I scored perogies, egg noodles w/ sauerkraut, a big salad, a pudding, & a Diet Pepsi for 4 bucks. Awesome! I only get hospital cafeteria food once every year or two, so when I get it... I get it good!

Big Guns... & other assorted weaponry

Friday Night:
After a brief outing to the Rugby matches on Thursday, the saline Celtic festival really got going Friday night. We met up w/ Wendy & Pete in Fest Beer Tent for an evening of Murphy's Irish Stout, bagpipe music, & all around debauchery. Stephanie got to be a judge in this year's Mr. Pretty Legs contest & my 1st place finish in 2007 seems to be a free pass into the festival indefinitely. They treat me like a minor celebrity out there. I'm kind of like Timothy Stack on My Name is Earl. We also got to see Tartanic again; they're a fun pipe & drum group we saw last summer in Livonia. Stephanie worked hard to ensure anyone kilt wearers w/ obvious undergarments were quickly disqualified. The tool w/ his kilt on backwards didn't fare too well either... it was clear that he had no idea how to wear it, but I preferred thinking that maybe it was a tribute to Kris Kross (he looked more like he'd be paying tribute to Christopher Cross though).

Saturday:
We were invited to walk in the pre-festival Parade, but it was canceled due to lightening which actually ended & totally cleared up about a 1/2 hour before the parade was scheduled to start. Which was fine w/ me. Getting there that early though, we were able to check stuff out before it got crowded which was nice. I scored a new sgian dubh & sporran on the cheap so I gave my old ones to Aiden... he fancied himself quite the bad-ass walking around w/ a knife. Solstice also enjoyed the vendor area... she scored a new dress & a book. Isaiah loved the animals... sheep dogs, horses, & most of all the birds of prey... & he got a little soccer ball about which he then started saying the word "ball" (or @ least "ba").

Around 3:00ish, Solstice & Aiden left w/ my mom & we hung out in the tent, drank some Newcastle & watched Tartanic again. They covered Iron Man" on the pipes which was pretty cool. Once we got home, we continued our Schwarzeneggerian marathon w/ a viewing of The Last Action Hero. It starts strong w/ a nice self-referencial 1st act, but nose-dives by the 3rd. I imagine that the execs who develop the movie let the kernel of a good idea get washed away under the tide of big-budget ridiculousness. Oh well... we still have The 6th Day & True Lies to look forward to.

Sunday:
Isaiah's Big B-Day Bash
He turned 1 on Sunday so we had the family over for some cake & ice cream. He had a great time & even seemed to understand the concept of wrapping paper... something neither Solstice nor Aiden figured had figured out yet. It's pretty amazing what one can say w/ just 5 words (3 names, ball, & a general animal noise). You'd think there'd be some sort of communication break down, but he's usually pretty clear.

W/ Your Bitch Slap Rapping & Your Cocaine Tongue

In July of 1992, I went to The Silverdome w/ a friend from high school to see the circus that was the Guns n Roses/Metallica tour. Faith No More opened to a rather empty arena but when Metallica came out, the place was nuts. I was really there to see GnR, but Metallica were definitely the better live act. They played for a couple hours as we (in our youthful glory) got wasted... afterwards, I puked out the car door in the parking lot & then some dude walked by & slipped in it. That was pretty great. What wasn't so great was the GnR set. It could have simply come down to the fact that we'd just watched 4 hours of heavy metal & were a bit exhausted, but there was something missing from the energy of their set. Axl, in true douchebag form, did costume changes in between each song so as to wear what he wore in the videos while performing the singles, & if you'll recall, there were a lot of GnR singles back then. One of the more popular ones that year was the theme song to Terminator 2, "You Could Be Mine." While I was loving the song, I'd never actually seen the film... or any other Terminator film for that matter until last week. We recorded the movies & have had ourselves a little Schwarzenegger mini-marathon of late. As it turns out, I kind of loved the movies, even the 3rd one which has been almost universally panned. I love the time-travel stuff, I love the historical implications of attempting to change the past, I love that that dude from Tombstone plays Kyle Reese. It appears that I'm going to need to see the new one & maybe check out that short-lived series too. It also appears that I need to rethink my top 10 Schwarzenegger. Until last night, Total Recall sat atop that list, but we watched it last night (I hadn't seen it since 1990) & it kind of sucks. It certainly doesn't hold up after 20 years.
10) Twins
9) Red Sonja
8) The Running Man
7) Predator
6) Conan the Barbarian
5) Commando
4) Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines
3) Conan the Destroyer
2) Terminator 2: Judgement Night
1) The Terminator(Along w/ the Axl Rose info, there is a second kilt-wearing FYI for y'all... Friday night in Saline is the 3rd Annual Mr. Pretty Legs in a Kilt Contest @ the Saline Celtic Festival. Stephanie & I will be there drinking pitchers of Guinness so you should press your kilt &join us for a rockin' good time!)

Blood Subs & Sin Binnings

The USA Rugby team qualified for the Rugby World Cup yesterday in what was a rather slow, boring match against Canada in S. Carolina. I haven't watched a lot of Rugby, but the matches I've seen before yesterday have been a lot more entertaining. Stupid mistakes coupled w/ a lot of fouls made for tough viewing, but I can only think of 7 or 8 ways to better spend Independence Day than cheering on the US Team. The mediocreness of the game didn't stop me from picking My Eagle though: Chris Wyles is a strong fullback who plays for Saracens FC in Watford... & he was sporting a SWEAT mustache. w/o the stache

In other Rugby news, The Saline Celtic Fest is next weekend which means the Mr. Pretty Legs in a Kilt Contest will be Friday night in the bar tent & on Thursday there wil be an evening of Rugby matches in downtown Saline. Be sure to press your kilt & meet us out there for beer.

Andre's Big 37

We just got back from the Ypsi parade which was about that same as it always is. As always, we ended up choosing our spot rather poorly. I hadn't been to the parade in a couple years, but that last time I ended up next to some crazy war supporter. Today it was some tool who kept trying to chat up Stephanie about the various parade entrants. of course, the random church floats were ridiculous as always... particularly the New Grace Church... "WHEN I SAY NEW, YOU SAY GRACE!" At least they have an ethos, unlike the other thing that really stood out which was a float publicizing some haunted hayride which will take place in October. I have nothing against the hayrides, but it seems a bit odd to have a float in the 4th of July parade for it. It's be different if it were connected to some sort of year-round orchard like Wiards or something, but as a stand-alone haunted hayride, it's weird. That said, I think I'm going to enter a float next year... something equally ridiculous & self-promoting. It's gonna remind people about my Big 37th B-day which will be coming up just 50 short weeks after the parade. If I do it every year leading up to my 40th, but the time it rolls around everyone in town will be able to say, "Oh, it's that one asshole's birthday... I'm not going anywhere near that party." In which case, it will have sort of back-fired, but @ least nobody will be able to suggest that I didn't make the most of my attention-whoreness.

Green Team Speaks w/ its Feet... & its Elbows... & its Mohawk

Jules & Stella got hitched yesterday & an awesome time was had by all. We were running a little late & missed the ceremony, but the reception was really nice. It was quite an honor to be invited, Stephanie even got to here "I'm a Believer" > "I Saw Her Standing There" which made her really happy. The mojitos made me happy as I hadn't had 1 in quite a while. Congratulation Jules & Stella.

Congratulations also go out to Brasil for turning it up in the 2nd half. When the US was up 2 nil @ the half, I thought it was a lock... but it was not to be. Once the Brasilian central midfielder moved the the wing, he became sort of unstoppable. Of course, the fact that the US totally choked after the interval didn't help the situation. That brings us to the Visions of Ypsi Confederations Cup Finals Player of the Day: Kaka.Just as things didn't work out well for the US today, they didn't work out well for the Green Team either. We started pretty strong this season after an early slip up. By the Memorial Day break we were 3 & 1. We proceeded to go to 4 & 1 before finishing w/ 4 wins, 4 losses & a more than questionable draw. For the season overview, you can go to the Green Team's Home Page, but as for my quick reflections, I'll give 'em to you right now. After the 2 weeks off in the middle of the season, we suffered some injuries (2 broken ribs & a messed up leg), some vacations (Pat went to Europe for a week, & Dan & Elizabeth went to Europe for a couple weeks), & others just became less reliable. We may need to make a few acquisitions in the off season to press for any sort of championship style bragging rights in the fall. The injuries will be overcome by then though so I'll remain Arstemistic & say we've got 1st place locked up.

What is this salty discharge leaking from my eyes?

I finished The Shadow of the Wind this morning & I actually brought a few tears to mine eyes. I've never squeezed 'em out over a book before so it was a strange feeling. As I manned up & realized it was ridiculous, I got to wondering a) why fictional stories make people cry so often b) why I'd never been effected that way before, & c) what it was about this particular book that did it to me. i said it last week & I'll say it now... read it! After finishing it this morning, I started The Moon Pool, a Sci/Fi book 1st published in 1919 by A. Merritt. it's another 1 from the Lostpedia book list. I know I'm a nerd, but it seems pretty cool so far. In other Sci/Fi news, before we get to the Player of the Day Award, I'm watching a ridiculous Zsa Zsa Gabor film from 1958 called Queen of Outer Space. It's certainly calling out for some MST3K commentary, but I'm enjoying the Hell out of it none-the-less. A rocket ship get thrown off course when it's destination, a space station orbiting Earth is destroyed by a beam from Venus. They end up there only to find it's ruled by women. And as the crew well understands that women can barely drive cars, they must come to accept that these women are armed & dangerous... & fucking nuts!

While I nearly cried over a book, Jason was on the verge of losing his shit when Brasil barely squeaked by S. Africa on Thursday in the 2nd Confederations Cup Semi-Final. Not until the 82nd minute substitute found the back of the net in the 88th minute did they put forth anything noteworthy at all. I sort of forgot to watch the match as I was in the throws of getting my license plate tags renewed the day before my big 35th, so I had to defer to Jason for the Player of the Day. He claimed that no one really did anything good @ all throughout the match so only the 88th minute savior deserved recognition. That said, your Visions of Ypsi Confederations Cup Player of the Day is Barcelona right back, >Dani Alvez. His fantastic free kicked moved the Brasilians into the finals where they will face the USA tomorrow afternoon. B sure to check it out.

RIP MJ

Darkness falls across the land
The midnite hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood
To terrorize y'alls neighbourhood
And whosoever shall be found
Without the soul for getting down
Must stand and face the hounds of hell
And rot inside a corpsey shell
The foulest stench is in the air
The funk of forty thousand years
And grizzy ghouls from every tomb
Are closing in to seal your doom
And thogh you fight to stay alive
Your body starts to shiver
For no mere mortal can resist
The evil of the thriller

A Bachelor, A Baby & An Award

Last night, we celebrated Jules' bachelor Party w/ drinks & billiards @ The Full Moon, formerly The Monkey Bar, formerly The Full Moon. The party was fun & we @ Visions of Ypsi want to congratulate Jules & Stella as they will celebrate their nuptials this weekend. Congrats also go out to the Josher & the Joshette as they brought their 2nd kid into the world yesterday.

Prior to the party, I journeyed to Livonia to watch the US play Spain in the semi-finals of the Confederations cup. It's back to business as usual for Spain: until last summer's European Championships, Spain was notorious for under-performing in major tournaments. They would be predicted winners & then stumble & it happened over & over & over... until last year when they won Europe & became the #1 ranked team in the world. People claimed they'd overcome some sort of "curse." Until yesterday, of course, when they fell 2-0 to the Americans in the Semi-finals. Spain played well & controlled the match but the US defense was unbreakable. The whole team put in great performances so picking 1 standout has been tough. I even considered Landon Donovan as he was fantastic. However, after much deliberation, I realized 1 person did stand out. Your Visions of Ypsi Confederations Cup Semi-Final Player of the Day: Tim Howard. The Spanish attack peppered his goal w/ 29 shots, but he stayed strong. Nice work!

A Quick Player of the Day Award

As wee come up to the Confederations Cup Semi Finals tomorrow, I figured I should log in & say something about the final matches in the group stage. Brasil did exactly what everyone assumed they'd do.... they had their way w/ Italy. Surprisingly, so did the USA. As you all know, in order for the US to progress, they needed to beat Egypt 3-0 & Brasil needed to beat Italy by the same scoreline. By halftime, Brasil was up 3-0 & the US was up 1-0. While I'm sure you were still skeptical @ that point, 2 2nd half goals saw the US through to face Spain on Wednesday. Luis Fabiano ha a great game for the Brasilians, but for a change, I'm gonna honor an American. (Mark your calender... it could be the last time this happens.) As a central midfielder for Borussia Moenchengladbach in Germany, & the son of the US coach, he has been developing well over the last few years. I was impressed by him the 1st time I saw him play, & now he has certainly become an important figure in the squad. He controls the mid-field well & has great vision (in fact I think he'd work well @ Arsenal w/ Fabregas). Now, your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day: Michael Bradley

A Review & an Award

We watched the B movie Fanboys last night. I kinda sucks, but if you're like me (& I know you are) & you like the Trilogy, they you should give it a go. It centers around a group of Star Wars dorks who set out from Ohio to break into Skywalker Ranch in the fall of 1998 in order to see an early cut of The Phantom Menace. Along the way, the encounter many fun cameos which really make the movie almost worth it: Carrie Fischer dropping a famous Star Wars line, Billie Dee Williams as Judge Reinhold... a judge, not the actor, Ethan Suplee as a crazy Dork God, Kevin Smith & Jason Mewes referencing 1 of their movies, Seth Rogan in a great dual role, Danny Trejo of Machete fame, & Shatner as Shatner... & I also just learned that Ray Park... of Darth Maul fame made an appearance too.The Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day:
Thursday saw 2 matches in Group B as Brasil had their way w/ the USA. My 1st thought was that a Brasilian would get the award, but really, it was just a walk in the park for them. The US was so bad that no one really needed to rise above the rest. Which leaves us w/ the Egypt Italy match. Of course, I love watching Italy lose, but to see them lose like that was fantastic. They controled most of the game & kept the Egyptian goal under siege so Essam El Hadary really needed to stand up & be counted. And he did, so he get the nod today. We'll see how they do tomorrow against the USA; perhaps the US just don't deserve to be in a tournament w/ these other teams.

Confederations Cup

I'm thinking about a new career!

Along w/ thins link, don't forget to check out the b-day links down on the sidebar!!!

Freeverse... not the poetry style (& the Player of the Day)

Before the kids got out of school, we decided to let the cable/internet lapse for a while in order to get them off the couch & either outside or reading... or in Solstice's case, reading outside under a tree like Polly-freaking-anna (it's pretty awesome). Well, I decided to get it turned back on this week, mainly because the "Ypsi Wireless" free wifi is a bit unreliable so I called to pay up & have it turned back on. it turns out that after a couple weeks, the boxes need to be reinstalled so the cable guy came out yesterday to do just that. The internet is working fine, as is the DVR box in the living room, but the bedroom box wouldn't recognize the signal, nor could I log into my account on-line so he said he had to come back this afternoon.

Upon his return, it turned out that they couldn't activate the account because I don't have a credit card (my bank card wasn't acceptable to them). He had me talk to someone who didn't seem able to solve the problem. I said, "But the internet & the other box are already working...." To which she responded, "Well, that must be a glitch in the system." I was starting to get pissed, but let it drop & said I'd call back tomorrow w/ a credit card #. After I hung up, the cable dude explained that since they weren't able to activate the account, I'd never actually get a bill if I just settle for the living room w/o the bedroom since as far as their system is concerned we don't technically have their service... SWEET. He then said that if it ends up getting turned off @ some point, I should just call him & after I get the credit card # he'll take care of it... DOUBLE SWEET. To sum up: free high-speed wifi, free cable, free DVR, free pay-per-view... FREEDOM!

As it stands, we no longer have Gol, Setanta, HBO or Skinamax, but that's a small price to pay for not having a price to pay. And just in time for the Confederations Cup, no less, which brings us to the player of the day.
For those of you unfamiliar w/ the tournament, here's a quick overview. It features 8 teams: the champions of each of the 6 Confederations (Europe: Spain, Africa: Egypt, Asia: Iraq, Oceania: New Zealand, N & C America: USA, S America: Brazil) plus the winner of the last World Cup (Italy) & the host nation which is also the host nation of the next World Cup (S. Africa). I wasn't able to watch any of the matches until today, but based on the reports, I'm not afraid to award Players of the Day awards retroactively.

14-6-09: Fernando Torres... a hat rick in the 1st 17 minutes against NZ is pretty sweet.
15-6-09: Mohamed Zidan: 2 goals for Egypt against Brazil in a tight 4-3 injury time loss ain't bad @ all.
17-6-09: Mohammed Kassid: He gave up a goal against Spain today, but made a shit-load of saves to keep the Iraqi hopes of a semi-final berth alive. Even though Spain will certainly go & Iraq was out of their element against the sweet sweet Spanish side, they looked pretty good. it's too bad they've already been eliminated from the 2010 World Cup because I wouldn't mind watching more of them. In the end, however, I'm sure the finals will be Spain v Brazil. That said, I was under impressed by David Villa... he squandered many a chance... like his name was Bendtner. Capdevilla, on the other hand, looked really strong on the left side. If Arsenal didn't already have Clichy & Gibbs, I'd be hollering for him to transfer to Arsenal.

Don't miss the USA v Brazil match tomorrow, & be sure to pay attention (as if you could miss them) to the ridiculous buzzing horns in the stands. They sound like a swarm of bees & I'm sure we'll be treated to them again next year during the World Cup.