Fall, Glimmer, Sparkle and Fade

:: Thursday, December 19, 2002 ::

Okay, it's that time of year again. It's time for me to put together my Top 20 albums of 2002. Now I know you've all been anxiously awaiting my list, so you won't have to wait much longer. Before I finalize the list though, I want to make sure I didn't overlook anything this year. So this is where all of you come in. Use the wonderful comment button and leave some of your favorite records of the year and if you list one I haven't heard yet, I'll give it a listen.

Put your thinking caps on kids. I'm just starting to put this list together and would love any outside opinions I can get.

:: Ryan 11:40 PM [+] ::
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This is interesting...

Which Founding Father Are You?

:: Ryan 1:50 AM [+] ::
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Yea, two months between posts! Time flies when there's a lot of work to be done. Plus, when there's work to be done there isn't much to post about. Lucky for me (and you?) this past weekend has given me a little to post about. Three little letters: CMJ.

Last week I spent 5 days in NYC for CMJ's Music Marathon and it really reaffirmed my love for music. Don't get me wrong, it's not as if I had lost it, but there wasn't all that much I was getting excited about. I was there on Sony Music's dime and saw all the great stuff Columbia and Epic will be putting out over the next year.

Epic will be putting out the likes of: Pearl Jam, Audioslave, Mudvayne, The Juliana Theory and Vendetta Red (among many others). While Columbia will be sending these titles your way: System of a Down, Pete Yorn, Wheatus, Nas, Crazy Town, Bleu and The Ataris.

The best part of the weekend though were the live shows. I was able to check out Mudvayne, Boy Sets Fire, Sprites, Deep Blue, The Raveonettes and Allan Clapp. Those shows ranged from interesting (Boy Sets Fire) to insane (Mudvayne) to pleasently surprising (The Raveonettes). I was also lucky enough to see acoustic sets by The Juliana Theory, Howie Day and Bleu. However, the best show award has to be split this year between Vendetta Red and Joseph Arthur. Those two couldn't be more different, but both put on an AMAZING live show. Vendetta Red is a band (to quote CMJ) that has to be seen live to be understood. They're rock, punk, 'emo', they're a little bit of everything. Above all else, they put on an AMAZING show and no matter what type of music you listen to, you have to see this band live. Joseph Arthur on the other hand is eclectic, but easier to classify. He's a singer/songwriter that creates a different show each time he plays, because he uses effect pedals to loop samples and will add different layers to a song at any given time. His new record is coming out in a couple weeks and I suggest you all pick it up. In the meantime, go d\l some of his tracks (live ones if possible) from your favorite Digital Music d\l Engine.

I'm still recovering from the early meetings and late night concerts, but things certainly aren't slowing down any now that i'm back. The concert season is picking up, the holidays are just around the corner, classes are hitting the home stretch, both jobs are getting crazy and the job search is just about to get underway.

It's on now...

:: Ryan 2:00 AM [+] ::
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Into the Fire
--Bruce Springsteen--

The sky was falling and streaked with blood
I heard you calling me, then you disappeared into the dust
Up the stairs, into the fire
Up the stairs, into the fire
I need your kiss, but love and duty called you someplace higher
Somewhere up the stairs, into the fire

May your strength give us strength
May you faith give us faith
May your hope give us hope
May your love give us love

May your strength give us strength
May you faith give us faith
May your hope give us hope
May your love give us love

You gave your love to see, in fields of red and autumn brown
You gave your love to me and lay your young body down
Up the stairs, into the fire
Up the stairs, into the fire
I need you near, but love and duty called you someplace higher
Someplace up the stairs, into the fire

May your strength give us strength
May your faith give us faith
May your hope give us hope
May your love give us hope

May your strength give us strength
May you faith give us faith
May your hope give us hope
May your love give us love

May your strength give us strength
May you faith give us faith
May your hope give us hope
May your love give us love

It was dark, too dark to see
You held me in the light you gave
You lay your hand on me
Then walked into the darkness of your smoky grave
Up the stairs, into the fire
Up the stairs, into the fire
I need your kiss, but love and duty called you someplace higher
Somewhere up the stairs, into the fire

May your strength give us strength
May your faith give us faith
May your hope give us hope
May your love bring us love...

May your love bring us love

:: Ryan 1:49 AM [+] ::
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Yea, so the Mets finally won a game (4 in row too!). The A's finally lost a game (after 20 in a row). Swimfan is officially the worst film I have ever seen in my life. Definately two hours of my life I can NEVER get back. And I have to get up in three hours to help give out 1000 hotdogs at a UConn football game. Goodnight.

:: Ryan 3:06 AM [+] ::
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I was right, there isn't a better way to end the summer than a week on the beach. I had a lot of fun while I was away but when I got back it was right back to QAQ, school and work. This summer was a lot of fun and I'd like to thank everyone that helped to make it such a good time. According to most people this was my last 'real' summer because it was the last before I graduate and enter the so-called 'real world'. If it was, it was. If not, then that's cool too. Either way I had a good time.

I learned a ton about the world of radio and was able to reassure myself that I'm not wasting $100,000 of my parents money on a degree in Communications.
I got to see a lot of really good concerts. Some were more stellar (Santana) than others (Third Eye Blind/ Goo Goo Dolls) but since they were all free I always got my money's worth.
Even though I was forced to watch the Mets completely implode for the second year in a row, they won the most important game of the year: 6/21 against the Royals in celebration of my 21st Birthday. If you've been reading this somewhat consistently (doesn't everyone?) then you know there were a handful of us at Shea for that game to celebrate what should be a national holiday. I'd like to thank Fatty Mo Vaughn for 'legging' out the infield hit that scored the hustling Tony Tarasco for the winning run in the bottom of the 9th.
For a while I thought I would be forced to forsake baseball forever because of a players strike. How does someone complain about money when the minimum salary for your job is $200,000 and the average is $2.5 million. I was happy to see the summer of baseball, which had given me a lot of Met misery, end on a positive note with the Players Association and the MLB Owners reaching a working agreement for the next four years. Now I'll get to see the Oakland A's finally beat those fuckin' Yankees.
Not only did I see my first ever Bruce show, but it was a show that I will never be able to top. Ever.
A year that started off slow when it came to music, really started to pick up with new releases from Our Lady Peace and Bruce Springsteen. The end of summer has given us glimses to the albums that will carry us through the rest of the year: The Juliana Theory, Tori Amos, Nine Days and the Rage/Cornell Project.
Hell, I even learned how to throw a fastball and a mean curveball. Mean because it usually lands 5-10 feet in front of home plate. So I can throw it, just not all that well.
Finally, the Top 10 Keyword Searches that people used to find this site over the summer:
10. Raine Madia - This isn't exactly exciting by any means, but people found this site searching for him almost ten times. For those of you that don't know, he's the lead singer of Our Lady Peace.
9. Pictures of Scott Stapp's Wife - People really go around searching for this stuff? Damn. This is definately not the site you want to find if you are looking for anything pro-Creed.
8. Incubus song in Mountain Dew Commercial - This is also one that I got more than a couple times. Apparently there are more than a few people that can't tell the difference between Incubus and the band who's song is actually in the Mountain Dew commercial (Hoobastank. aka Incubus Jr).
7. Fernando Vina naked - Okay, I don't even know why this page would show up for that search. Vina is the second baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals and I'm pretty sure I've never mentioned him on this site before. I'm POSITIVE i've never mentioned anything having to do with him being naked. In place of BRITNEY SPEARS NAKED, I guess I should have been putting FERNANDO VINA NAKED. Who's next? Bob Dole?
6. Mellissa Etheridge concert - This isn't all that interesting either, but wouldn't it be funny to see a hardcore Etheridge fan read my review of that show? If you missed it then go back in the archive and read it because it's certainly not a favorable review of the type of people that might search for her on Yahoo.
5. Steven Segal Assault Wife - This is the most recent search that turned up my site. I don't keep up this horrific actor's life, so I'm not sure if he has actually beat his wife recently or if this person was just hoping that at some point he did.
4. Free Porn - This speaks for itself.
3. Trailer Park Scott Stapp pictures - I almost fell off my chair when I first saw this one. This is a search I wish I thought of first. Wouldn't it be hilarious to see some pictures of Scott Stapp standing in front of his Trailer Park home long before he was an "angel sent from God to sing" as his mother put it in his Behind the Music?
2. Athlete Mullets - The best ever. I don't know what's scarier though: The fact that someone wants to see pictures of athletes with mullets or that my page is found when people search for them.
1. I hate Nickelback - A person after my own heart. There is only one thing I hope everyone reading this page has in common: a loathing of Nickelback.

It's 5:00am. Summer or not, some things never change...

:: Ryan 4:58 AM [+] ::
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Is there any better way to end the summer than a week on the beach?

I didn't think so. I'll see you in a week.

:: Ryan 7:58 AM [+] ::
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Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ
BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE!!!!!!

I'm pretty sure -- No, I'm positive -- that I will never experience a concert like that again. Friday I had the privilege to see Bruce Springsteen warm up for his performance on Tuesday's "Today Show @ Convention Hall" and his upcoming US Tour. The whole environment of the show was just completely surreal. Convention Hall is the size of a gymnasium (the Jersey Shore Basketball League plays their games there) and I figured for this type of performance it would have been filled its breaking point. Instead, it was only about 3/4 full, no more that 2,000 people or so. The show was to start at 2pm, but people were still getting in at five past so they pushed back the start time. Sometime around 2:10, a mild applause starts to come from the corner of the Stage and then the place erupts when Bruce, with the house lights still up and with no introduction, just walks up to the mic as if he were walking up to a fast food counter:
"Hey. So are you guys contest winners?"
Everyone there proceeded to go nuts because... well because it's the freakin' Boss, that's why. He just came out to welcome everyone and explain what the show was gonna be like:
"We're gonna play some old songs, some new songs and just have some fun."
Again, people went ape shit. Once again, simply because it was the Boss. He then walked backstage and people continued to file into the Hall with every fifth person blurting out something to the effect of "Oh my God" when they saw how small this place was. The one thing that no one seemed to know was how long they were going to play for. The note that came with the backstage passes didn't even give specifics:
"Please meet at the Beer Garden on the 2nd floor of the Convention Hall after the performance."
Would this just be a run through of the new songs? Would they throw in a few old songs? Would they play an hour? Two hours? Could they play longer? If you've seen a Bruce show then you know he puts on ridiculously long concerts, but this wasn't your typical show. This was a bunch of radio winners from around the country sitting in a gymnasium watching a rehearsal. Almost everyone was debating how long they'd play all the way up until the lights went down and the keyboards started up.

Bruce walks on stage with the ever so talented E-Street Band and go right into the title track, and current single, from his new record "The Rising". Only one song in and everyone already knows this band certainly doesn't need to be rehearsing. They played three or four more new songs, transforming good studio tracks into phenomenal live songs. After those songs he stepped up to the mic:
"That second song we played was called 'Lonesome Day'. It was pretty good, right?"
After about 45 minutes or so, the band walks off stage to thunderous applause. Everyone knew they were coming back out. And come out they did. I didn't think 2,000 people could be any louder. That is until they started the encore off with "Born to Run". The place was so loud that I could barely hear the trademark snare drum hits for the beginning of "Born in the USA". They continued to go through another 45 minutes of songs, both old and new. After "Mary's Place", a song of the new record, everyone in the band lined up in the front of the stage and took a few bows and it seemed they were done for good this time. Come on, you didn't think Bruce would only do one encore, did you? They all go back to their instruments and play four or five more songs and again come to the front of the stage and take a handful of bows. On their way off stage Bruce walks over to the piano and starts playing a few notes. The rest of the band then retreats back to their instruments. He asks everyone to head down to the stores in downtown Asbury to help the revitalization of the City. It was one of many times during the show that he asked the crowd to support the local Asbury Park merchants. Anyone that doesn't know, Asbury Park was a beautiful place at one point (before my time) but is a bit run down now. But each year more and more people try to help turn the city around and Bruce has always been one of them. He then plays "City of Ruins" and dedicates it to Asbury Park.

Finally, Bruce asks the us if we'd mind hearing "The Rising" one more time, so they could work out the kinks. Who the hell's gonna say no to the Boss? This time it sounded five times better than the first time and for the third time the entire band came to the front of the stage to take their bows. This time they were done for good. Amazing show. I look down at my watch and the total performance time: 2:20. A performance of almost two and a half hours to one of the smallest crowds they will ever play to and a non-paying crowd at that. Amazing. Simply Amazing.

Only in Jersey.

:: Ryan 3:53 AM [+] ::
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Nothing like a few days in Jersey to recharge the batteries. I made the 2+ hour trip to the Garden State for my sister's (HI JILL!) birthday party. Although the trip ended up taking almost four hours due to a few accidents, it's still always nice to go back home for a few days. Every summer there's at least one big party at my house and they're always a lot of fun. This one was no different. For the third straight year Jill was asleep by 1am, while her friends were up until around 5am polishing off a keg and then a thirty pack. They might be out of college, but those kids can still throw 'em back. Fun was had by all.

Now it's back to CT and back to work. I love both and this week should be a lot of fun. Tomorrow (later today?) I'm working the Creed show at the Meadows in Hartford and then Thursday I have to work DMB at the same place. Now I'm excited because I love both of these artists (please sense my sarcasm). I think the only band I hate more than Creed is Nickelback and while I don't hate DMB, I'm not a fan either. Both shows should still be fun and the best part is that after those shows I get to go to the shows of all shows on Friday. Just like a lot of the tri-state area radio stations, we are giving away tickets to a private Bruce Springsteen performance in Asbury Park. It's his last dress rehearsal before he starts his big US tour. I can't think of a better place to see Bruce play than Asbury Park. The kicker of that show is that I am allowed to bring someone with me. And when people at home found out about that they started bidding for the spot. Even though I already told my friend Dave that I'd give him the spot if I was indeed allowed to bring someone. One of my sister's friends offered me $250 and then raised it to $350 after I turned him down the first time. People love the Boss.

If you didn't read my last post, scroll down now and read it because I think it's hilarious. What's even funnier is the fact that Garnett was trying like hell to remove his foot from his mouth the entire day after ESPN.com printed the story. He tried to explain how his comments were taken out of context and that the reporter was a liar. How can anything that he said during that shoot be taken out of context? There aren't many ways to take "KG is the motherfucking shit". The saddest part about the whole situation is that over the past week or so other NBA players have made him look like a saint. First Allen Iverson kicks his wife out of their mansion naked and then feels the need to go looking for her with a gun. I'm sure he meant to pick up a flashlight, not a gun. I guess AI stands for Artificial Intelligence. Then this past Saturday Glenn Robinson, the No. 1 pick in the '94 draft, was arrested on charges of domestic battery, assault and illegal possession of a firearm. Robinson decided he should be inside his ex-finance's house, so he demanded to be let in and then after he was let in, he pushed and shoved her around the house. Obviously the biggest problem is the fact that both committed a form of domestic violence, which isn't acceptable under any circumstance. I don't care if you live in a trailer park or if you own 12 mansions around the world, you don't ever hit a woman. Come on, we get taught that in first grade. What I was amazed by though was the fact that both were 'allegedly' wielding a gun. I don't understand why either of these guys would need a gun. If you are a millionaire then you can hire people to do the gun carrying for you. That's one of the perks of making millions of dollars every year.

After all the stuff with AI went down, I overheard one of the more humorous things I've heard in a while in the TIC-AM newsroom:
"Did you see what Iverson did? Hell, if he pulled a gun on me I'd tell him 'Go ahead and shoot. With your shooting percentage, I like my chances'."

Now I don't mean to keep picking on NBA players, but... okay, yes I do. Here's what Drew Gooden, the first round draft pick of the Memphis Grizzlies, said after he was asked about his visit to Graceland:
"I didn't even know Elvis was from Memphis. I thought he was from Tennessee."

:: Ryan 2:52 AM [+] ::
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I was reading an interview on ESPN.com with Kevin Garnett and thought some of it was worth sharing. You can read the entire thing here. The interview was filmed for a future And 1 commercial, but all the answers were completely unscripted. Here's part of what the 26 year-old whose present contract is worth $126,006,000 had to say:

Question: Are you overpaid?
KG: Hell no. If anything I'm underpaid, with everything I do. That's a ridiculous question. I have to do everything for this team.

Q: Word on the street is that you're soft in the fourth quarter.
KG: Fuck you talkin' about? That's not what I hear.

Q: What do you hear?
KG: That KG is the motherfucking shit. N----s know. My peers in the league know what I'm about.

Q: What have you learned about the fourth quarter?
KG: To not pass the ball if we're losing.

Q: Has Kobe ever dunked on you?
KG: That's a stupid question. No. Kobe has never dunked on me in his life.

Q: Why did you skip college?
KG: At the time I felt like going pro was the only way I was going to make something of my life. Besides, college ain't shit. It's like slavery, they're trying to fuck the kids. You gotta get your education but I made a decision for me.

I've never heard college compared to slavery before. Money can buy a lot of things, but it obviously can't buy intelligence.

:: Ryan 5:04 AM [+] ::
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Just about two weeks between posts and there's a good reason for the gap: I've done next to nothing. Not that I usually do anything all that exciting, but at the very least something that I do will give me material to write about here. Now I'm pretty sure all of you will survive without a new post from me, but lately my traffic has increased a bit and at the very least I want to give each of you something to read and hopefully something to entertain you. I've been enjoying Deirdre and Kraig's blogs as of late. Both of them post at least every couple days and are much more entertaining than I could ever be.

For a while now (at least since high school) I've been a night person. My sleeping habits are so incredibly off the wall, just check out some of the times that I post. For example, last week I went to sleep at 6am and got up at 5pm. Obviously I can't keep those hours during the school year because of class. Luckily both of my jobs allow me to sleep in virtually everyday because neither requires any pre-noon effort. Usually if I'm in bed before 4am, it's been an early night. Staying up until the wee hours of the morning have led me to one major conclusion: There is NOTHING on TV after 3am. The only reason the 2-3am hour isn't bad is because SportsCenter is still running. Every so often I can find solace on Comedy Central or TBS' "Late Night Movie", but even those two offer very little overnight programming (read: Battle Bots and Steven Segal movies 'respectively'). MTV and VH1 both start playing videos at 3am usually, but MTV's playlist at night tends to lean more towards hip-hop (I am down with neither the hip, nor the hop) and even when I can deal with seeing Sheryl Crow's 'Soak up the Sun' twice an hour, VH1 throws in a couple Celine Dion, Puddle of Mudd and Nickelback videos to make their channel completely unwatchable. I've seen the Christian Children's Fund commercial so many times I'm really starting to think I should sponsor a starving child for only pennies a day.

The lack of any decent late night programming forces me to find my entertainment on the Internet. Despite the suggestions of more than a few people that I should spend my time checking out all the 'hot' porn sites the net has to offer, porn isn't my thing. No, really, looking at "pictures" of a naked Britney Spears honestly does nothing for me. So unlike the many porn enthusiasts out there, I started to search for something other than "Hot Young Teens XXX" to keep me entertained. After a few games of Collapse, I realized online gaming wasn't quite gonna cut it. After a short while of searching I came to another conclusion: there are millions -- literally millions -- of sites that claim they can teach you how to do anything. From how to become a great cook to how to master being a rodeo clown. Many of those same sites claim that you can earn a degree in just a few short weeks! That's right, you too can earn your hotel management degree from the comfort of your own home! I was amazed at how many hits these pages got and even more surprised at the number of 'testimonials' many of the sites boast. So I decided I should try and find out for myself if you really can learn how to do anything you want via the internet. I have no desire to be a good cook and I'm gonna put off being a rodeo clown until after college, so I had to find something that A) I'm not very good at (lots to choose from) and B) I actually want to learn how to do (not that much to choose from).

If you were going to learn how to do something, what would it be? I think we all have something we wish we were good at or at least knew how to do. At first I thought I'd teach myself how to sing, that way I could become a rock star and people could start worshipping me (see previous post). But I sing to myself everyday, as I imagine most people do, and I wanted to pick something that isn't a part of my every day routine. Then I thought back to when I was a kid and if there was anything I've wanted to be able to do since then. It hit me almost immediately. From the minute I knew that Baseball existed, I've wanted to know how to pitch. I remember playing in the leagues when kids first got to pitch -- as opposed to tee ball and then the coach's pitching-- I was actually allowed to pitch because I was the only one with a strong enough arm to throw strikes consistently. It wasn't about throwing it hard or striking people out, it was just about being able to get the ball over the plate from the mound and that I could do. When I was in one of those 11-12 year old leagues, I pitched when I was 11 and then since I couldn't hit or field or do anything else, I stayed in that league as opposed to moving up to the 12-13 year old league, but the catch (no pun intended) was that they didn't let the 12 year olds pitch. So they moved me to catcher, again because I was the only one that could consistently throw to second base and because catcher requires the least amount of skill in little league: squat, catch the ball, throw it back to the pitcher, repeat. Over the next couple years I tried to get people to teach me how to pitch but since I was the fat kid that couldn't hit, no one wanted to bother. So I never really got a chance to pitch on a consistent basis and due to my lack of ability I stopped playing organized baseball once teams started making cuts and were concentrating on that whole 'winning' thing.

Over the last couple days I've started reading up on how to pitch and again have been amazed at just how many sites are dedicated to this one specific thing. Since I haven't played in a competitive baseball game since 6th grade I figured if I make any significant progress then this little experiment -- as I like to call it -- will be a success. I think we should take a poll and/or bets on how I will fare and more importantly how long before I blow my elbow or shoulder out. Remember, every day people that have been playing Baseball their entire life and who get paid a lot of money to do it blow out their arms -- If I throw the ball around for twenty minutes every couple days it's a lot and I'm not getting paid a dime. The fact that there could be real health consequences should make this experiment that much more legit because I could have picked learning how to speak Japanese, never taken any time to actually learn it and labeled 'internet learning' a waste of time. This way I'm forced to, at the very least, learn how to pitch properly or run the risk of seriously injuring myself. Tomorrow will be my first time throwing off a mound since I started reading up on how to pitch and I'll be sure to keep this site updated with my progress each step of the way. I'm sure you'll all be on the edge of your seats.

See what happens when you don't go to bed at night?

:: Ryan 5:17 AM [+] ::
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My 21st birthday came and went and I'm happy to report that I was able to make it home under my own power. That's quite an accomplishment considering what most people go through on their 21st. All I know is that the only thing that could have topped this years birthday would have to have it at Chuck E. Cheese. Since Mr. Cheese's place was booked, we decided to catch a Met game at Shea Stadium. There were 11 of us in all and we were lucky enough to catch one of the most exciting Met games in a while. Good times were had by all.

Then Sunday came around and it was time to get back to work. I was working with TIC-FM at the Melissa Etheridge concert in Hartford. Now before I say anything else, let me just state for the record that I've never, nor will I ever, have a problem with a person because of their sexual orientation. Whoever someone likes, they like. I like women, but not all guys do. Some like other guys, some are into themselves, some are into horses... Whatever. My point simply being that everyone is into their own thing and that's fine by me. That being said: there were some SCAAAAAAAARY people at this concert. Trust me, I know I'm not all that attractive, so I'm not saying that these specific people were ugly by any means. What I AM saying is that a good 50-60% of this concert going population had at least 25 pounds of pure muscle on me... and they were all girls. While almost every person there was a female, the guys that were there all thought that the mullet was back in style (was it really ever IN style?). So between all the mullets and FE-mullets (female mullets) it looked like a mullet convention.

The best part of the Mellissa Etheridge concert was the opportunity I had to meet Rosey, a very talented and very attractive musician who was the opening act. Over the last couple days I've looked at some pictures on her website and seen her perform on Leno and she doesn't look that attractive, but believe me when I tell you that she is absolutely beautiful. While I didn't get to see her performance, I heard it and her music is phenomenal. No, I'm not just saying that because she's hot. So go to her website, listen to some of her stuff and then buy her CD.

On a more serious note:
This past week has been tough on the world of Major League Baseball and more specifically the St. Louis Cardinals organization. Last Tuesday legendary broadcaster Jack Buck died at the age of 77. Mr. Buck was one of the all time greats when it came to calling baseball games. If you ever heard any of his calls, specifically his calls of two big HRs by Kirk Gibson and Ozzie Smith, then you would know he was just a fan sitting in the booth. He always reacted the same way you or I would. When Ozzie's HR went out he screamed "Go Crazy folks! Go Crazy!". Nothing he did in the booth was typical, he would always react to plays as if he were sitting around watching the game with a few friends. His son Joe, the #1 play-by-play guy for Fox, said that in many ways it was better that his father was gone now, only because he had been in so much pain the last months of his life. So while it hurts to lose someone like Jack Buck, his death didn't come to a shock to anyone because of his health problems and his age.

Before the Cardinals, or baseball for that matter, could recover from the loss of Jack Buck they were hit with something no one ever thought could happen: they lost one of their own. Saturday morning Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile was found dead in his hotel room. He was 33 years old and left behind a wife and three children. If you go to the Cardinals team page on ESPN.com, they can describe the details surrounding Kile's death better than I ever could. Losing someone is obviously never an easy thing to deal with, but it's even harder when it's a 33-year-old professional athlete, who by all accounts was in perfect health. I don't think I have ever seen a death in major league baseball hit home with so many people, players and fans alike. Kile was one of the most popular players in the league and it isn't one of those situations where people speak well of someone only after they die-- which as bad as that sounds does in fact happen-- Kile was genuinely liked by everyone to ever come in contact with him. He took rookies under his wing, he gave back to the St. Louis community and what makes the news of his death even more of a surprise is that in his 12 seasons in the majors he didn't go on the Disabled List or miss a start once. The Cubs-Cardinals game on Saturday was canceled and when they met as a team to decide if they should play on Sunday they voted unanimously-- To play the game. It was Darryl Kile's turn in the rotation. In 12 seasons he never missed a start and his teammates weren't about to let that change. Fernando Vina, the Cardinals second baseman, led Sunday's game off with a basehit and when he got to first base he pointed to the sky in memory of his teammate, his friend. It didn't matter who won the game or how many runs the team scored. The Cardinals were playing. Playing for their fallen teammate and for each other. With a "DK 57" patch on their sleeves and two of Kile's jerseys hanging in the dugout they will have to recover the only way Darryl Kile knew how to live-- by playing.

"God needed a pitcher on his team in heaven, and he sure got a good one."
-One fan's sign at the makeshift memorial to Darryl Kile outside Busch Stadium

:: Ryan 2:57 AM [+] ::
...

I'm only a few minutes away from turning 21. I think, for me, this is the most overrated birthday. Most people are happy when they turn 21 because they can go out to the bar, legally anyway, every night and can go into the liquor store and, once again legally, come out with whatever they want. For me, however, it's a little bit different than most people. I'm anything but a college alcoholic. The only time it would have really been convenient for me to be 21 was when I was a freshmen because my best friends were seniors and I couldn't go to the bar with them. I wasn't interested in going with them to drink, but just to go and hang out. Sure, next year it'll be fun to hang out with my friends when the go to the bar, but really the best thing about being 21 is I no longer have to worry about being kicked out of bars when I'm there working. Both of my jobs require me to sometimes be out at a bar and even though I've been there in an official capacity, I always expected someone to tap me on the shoulder and ask me to leave, thus not allowing me to do my job. Wow, after reading that statement, I must seem like the most boring 20-something on the planet to a lot of you. And that's fine with me. Most people don't understand how someone can go to parties, hell how someone can throw parties like the ones I've helped throw over the last three years and not drink. The simple answer is that I just don't like the taste of most alcohol. Lets say that you don't like Mountain Dew. You're not gonna drink Mountain Dew if it's something you don't like, right? Right. Pretty simple, yet people still give me that "he must be on medication" look everytime I say no thanks to their offer of a beer. Then there are the other people that I meet for the first time and they apologize for drinking in front of me, as if I'm a straight edge kid and will get offended because drinking is against my moral beliefs or something. I have friends who don't drink for those reasons and I think that's cool, but my reasoning is much less exciting. I almost think people want a reason that's sexier than my Mountain Dew comparison. Oh well...

So tomorrow night I'll be in the Upper Deck at Shea Stadium in Flushing Queens celebrating my birthday with some friends and family. Anyone reading this has an open invitation to come and celebrate with us. We'll probably be on the first base side in the Upper Deck reserved, so gather your friends together and walk around screaming "Ryyyyyynooooooo" and you'll be able to find us. I'm sure a good time will be had by all. My sister can't wait to be able to buy me a drink or two or three dozen. Maybe I'll make her happy and have some Mountain Dew...

Happy Birthday to me...

:: Ryan 11:47 PM [+] ::
...

I don't mean to sound like a commercial, but.....

The best record of the year so far was released yesterday and if you're reading this and don't own it already then go to CDNow, Amazon, or whichever online retailer you prefer to purchase it. I'm speaking of "Gravity" by Our Lady Peace. This band has been around long enough and has had enough success in the US that you probably know who they are, but probably don't own any of their CDs. I never quite understood how a band could be so huge in Canada and yet only have mediocre success in the States. Although like most people I never understood Canadiens much either and usually look at bands that are only popular in Canada and think to myself "What's that aboot?" But it was always different with Our Lady Peace. I've been fascinated with the lead singer's voice from the moment I first heard it, although at first it wasn't nessecarily in a positive way. All it took was one more listen, then I was hooked. I understand most people in the US haven't made that same connection with this band yet and all I'm saying is that now is as good a time as any to take a listen. Maybe you could connect with them this time around.

"Gravity" will appeal to almost all music fans. If you are strictly into Country or Hip-Hop then obviously this isn't for you, but there's a little something for everyone else. You a hard rock fan? Go d\l "All For You". Do you lean more towards Top 40? Take a listen to the first single, "Somewhere Out There", or the best track on the album "Innocent". If you're into more dynamic songs then check out the last two songs "Bring Back the Sun" and "A Story About A Girl". Trust me, I'm not trying to sound like a commercial for the band, but it seriously upsets me that this band is not one of the more popular groups in the US. There are certain bands I like, but understand why they don't have mainstream success... See, that's why OLP's lack of major popularity gets to me the most, because I simply cannot understand why this band has not caught on with the average American music fan. If you know why they haven't then please feel free to fill me in. Maybe it all goes back to my Nickelback/Puddle of Mudd theory, which is that somehow the bands with the least amount of talent end up being the most popular. As much as I HATE Creed, I do understand why people like to listen to their music, because it's just harmless generic rock that won't offend anyone. While OLP's music will do anything but offend people, Raine Maida's songwriting makes this band anything but generic and blows Scott Stapp's shit out of the water. Just listen to one of their songs off the new record that I listed at the beginning of this post and if you like it buy the CD, but if you don't then post a comment here to tell me why. It's that simple kids.

:: Ryan 3:13 AM [+] ::
...

Has anyone else noticed the ridiculous amount of online quizzes that you can take? Ones that can tell you what color you are, what day you are or even which Episode II character you are. What color you are? I'm white, but the quiz said I'm blue. Whatever. My point is that these things are the dumbest things to ever grace the internet (besides my blog). However, one I saw the other day caught my eye. It's supposed to measure just how worshipable you are and the results just further support my belief that I am destined to be a rock star:

73%

I am 73% worshipable! 73%! You see that shit?? What are you?


The reason there are so many rock stars that have a problem with their new found fame is because they can't deal with large amounts of people worshiping the ground that they walk on. It freaks them out. Certain people just don't have the right mentality to be a rock star. Sure, they might have the musical talent, but I have the worshipability. If you can't deal with people worshiping you then you have no right being a rock star, because you will let down all of your die hard fans. I'm all kinds of ready to have thousands of people want to know everything about me. I want radio stations gossiping about which female rock star (Michelle Branch?) I'm dating. I want a tour bus and I want hundreds of people waiting outside said tourbus to get an autograph. And if for some reason I can't physically go out and sign the autographs right away (broken bones, unconsciousness, cheap hooker) then I want them waiting until i'm able to sign. I want to answer the same questions from fans everyday (how'd your band get its name?) and give the answer as if it was the first time anyone asked me. Just because thousands of people ask me the same question, doesn't mean I should get upset each time it's asked. I want to stay outside a venue after a show for as long as it takes to talk to and take pictures with every single fan.

Now I'd like to believe that at some point most all musicians have felt the same way. You would think having success would only make those feeling stronger, but a lot of times it's the exact opposite. Some bands will go from signing after every show before they are popular to being too 'good' to even talk with all of their fans once they've sold some records. I will never understand how that works.

:: Ryan 1:28 AM [+] ::
...

I am now employed by two of the biggest corporations in the world. I've been an employee of Sony Music Entertainment, Inc. for just about two years now and today I added a second pretty decent name to my resume: CBS, or more specifically Infinity Broadcasting Corporation. The fine people that run 96.5 WTIC-FM, WTIC News Talk 1080am, Hot 93.7 and Lite 100.5 FM decided it would be a good idea to add me to their family.

Similar to my job with Sony, I didn't pursue it for the money, but instead because it gives me an opportunity to do what I love doing, which is anything related to the Radio Broadcasting field. If you read Erik's most recent post, he says he's come to the conclusion that "our work, our jobs, and our chosen professions are just something we can bear, a burden that we can carry, in-between the times in our life that are designated for leisure." Maybe I'm overly idealistic, but I would hope people choose a profession that is something they can enjoy just as much, if not more, than what makes up their 'leisure' time. I know I'm only dealing with two part time jobs right now, nothing that makes up a '40-hour work week'. And I realize that no matter what your job- lawyer, doctor, radio dj, rock star- there is always going to be something you have to do because of your job that you won't enjoy. I don't know, maybe it's 'cool' to sit around and bitch about your job since you aren't supposed to enjoy "WORK", but I have every intention of doing something that I love. I intend on looking forward to going to work in the morning, because I'll know that there will be something there for me that I can't get anywhere else. I will feel just as much at home at my job as I will sitting in my apartment watching my favorite TV show. Why can't your entire life being 'leisure' time? As I said, maybe I am just overly idealistic. And maybe my last year of college will take that idealism from me.... God I hope it doesn't, because look what that gets you: A need to burden yourself to feel free...

:: Ryan 5:56 AM [+] ::
...

It's been a while since my last post, mainly because I haven't had anything interesting to say (not that anything on here is all that interesting). Don't get excited, I still don't have anything too interesting, but I was pretty excited to see the first, of what hopes to be many, person discover this page via Yahoo. This person was searching for "Vandome of Hartford" and my page was the sixth page result to come up. In my May Weekend post I mentioned the words VanDome and Hartford separately, thus why it showed up. This may not seem like a big deal, but I think it's cool that if someone searches for something and I have mentioned it here, then my page will show up. For example, if I were to talk about PORN, or better yet FREE PORN, I'm pretty sure my counter would go through the roof. Maybe I should have more posts about NAKED BRITNEY SPEARS PHOTOS and STAR WARS.

Speaking of Star Wars... Who has seen it? Or should I ask, who hasn't seen it? Just like every other American, I've seen the first three Star Wars movies (no angry comments from hardcore SW fans please, I know that the ones being released now are the 'FIRST' ones, but I don't care enough to name them by episode number) and I thought Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and those little furry fuckers were pretty cool. But I haven't seen the Phantom Menace and I probably won't see Attack of the Clones. I usually try not to buy into hyped up movies. I was doing so well at staying away from the movies that are all HYPE, but just like everyone else, I gave into Spider-Man and I ended up regretting that move. So my question to those of you that aren't huge Star Wars fans is: Will I be wasting $9.00 if I, as a passing fan at best, go to see the most recent installment of the Star Wars franchise?

Another movie that has been getting alot of attention (not $114 million worth though) is Insomnia. The reason the acclaim for this one didn't scare me off was A) It was directed by Christopher Nolan, who directed one of last years best pictures in "Memento", B) Al Pacino doesn't make bad movies and C) Robin Williams doesn't make bad movies. I would have seen this even if it was directed by Nolan but didn't have the two big stars, starred just Pacino or just Williams. Even with the hype surrounding this flick, I wasn't disappointed at all. It wasn't as good as Memento, but it's hard for any remake to be as solid as Memento, which was as original as it gets. Like Memento though, you leave the theater with more questions then answers, which might rub some people the wrong way. However, unlike Memento, the movie doesn't jump around and thus is easier to follow. All in all, it was the best thing I've seen in the theater since "In The Bedroom". I'm looking forward to renting the original now.

I told you I didn't have anything interesting...

:: Ryan 4:08 AM [+] ::
...

Summer is coming and with it comes a whole slew of new songs to blast with the windows down. But before you start singing along to the new albums from Weezer, the Goo Goo Dolls, KoRn and Third Eye Blind, take a listen to some of the records that made 2001 the best year for music in recent memory. Did I leave anything out? Should any of these be taken off the list? Let me know. That's what the comments option is for kids...

Top 20 Records of 2001
1) Pete Yorn 'musicforthemorningafter' : The best record of the year and nothing even comes close, which is saying alot in a year that really had a ton of great albums. If you aren't familiar with him then do yourself a favor and hit up his site so you can check him out. Listen to any song on this record and I promise you won't be able to get it out of your head.
Standout Track: Murray, but this is the only CD that I could make an arguement for every single song to be the best.

2) Travis 'The Invisible Band': No question that everyone should own this record, but it still finishes a distant second to Pete Yorn. These boys from the UK take you on a crazy roller coaster from start to finish. Overall this is a very mellow record, but the songwriting is so good that it's not a mellow album that will put you to sleep, instead you'll be hanging on every word. Most Travis fans argue with me that their last record, 'The Man Who', is better but 'TIB' blows it out of the water.
Standout Track: Side

3) Better Than Ezra 'Closer': Just like a fine wine, this band gets better with age. With each album I think it's not possible for them to top themselves, but each time I'm amazed by how much better they get. One of the few bands out there that can write a ballad that doesn't sound like one.
Standout Track: A Lifetime

4) Ben Folds 'Rockin the Suburbs': Being a huge fan of him with the Five, he was going to have to completely blow me away with this record for me to take notice. Five minutes into this album you will forget all about the Five. I'm convinced that Ben is, and will continue to be, one of the best storytellers of our era(yes, he's THAT good).
Standout Track: Losing Lisa

5) John Mayer 'Room for Squares': If I would have posted this list here when I first made it in January there would have been a lot of dumbfounded looks out there reading this. Fortunately for John and many of you radio and MTV jumped on 'No Such Thing' and this record is now Gold. If you are one of the few that haven't discovered John yet, do it. People like to compare him to Dave Mathews, but besides the every so often vocal similarities I don't hear it. Do yourself a favor and buy this record.
Standout Track: My Stupid Mouth

6) Jude 'King of Yesterday': Singer/songwriters are definately becoming more popular (Yorn, Mayer, Ryan Adams, etc.) and I hope that Jude can get anywhere near the attention that the others have been getting, because he is just as good, if not better, than a majority of them. This record isn't up to par with his last two, but it's still one hell of a listen. Hell, if Madonna likes him then so should you!
Standout Track: King of Yesterday

7) Ryan Adams 'Gold': I was never a fan of his old band, Whiskeytown, but I love this record. Out of all the albums on this list, I think I was surprised the most by this one. The album isn't as radio friendly as the single, 'New York, New York', and in fact most of it has a country feel to it, but the songwriting is just that good.
Standout Track: Firecracker

8) Tenacious D 'Tenacious D': A comedy album that isn't a comedy album. Confused? Good. Jack Black (High Fidelity, Shallow Hal) is the lead singer and co-founder of the self-proclaimed greatest band in the world. They developed a cult following with their short lived HBO show and after a while of pleading by some producers they were convinced to make an actual record. It'll make you laugh, but there's nothing funny about the production work on this record. Anything with Dave Grohl on drums gets my approval.
Standout Track: Tribute

9) Flickerstick 'Welcoming Home the Astronauts': These guys won VH1's 'Bands on the Run' show. I rooted against them all throughout the show and didn't like their music on the show at all, but after listening to the record and seeing them live I've decided that VH1 did a shitty job of representing their sound. Even though they rock much harder than the record, you can still crank this up and sing along.
Standout Track: Hollywood

10) Starsailor 'Love is Here': The UK invasion continues. Technically this record was released in 2002, but I got the UK version that was released in 2001, so it's good enough for the list in my mind. I was hoping that their single 'Good Souls' would take off more than it did, but hopefully the people that did take notice will keep telling their friends about it(sort of like I am now).
Standout Track: Poor Misguided Fool

11) Our Lady Peace 'Spiritual Machines': A concept album based on a book by Ray Kurzweil, this fell short of their past albums but was still better than most records put out last year. I continue to be amazed by Raine Madia's vocal range. Never have I heard anyone hit the notes he hits.
Standout Track: Life

12) Star64 'You May Be Beautiful': They used to be called Angry Salad and this was going to be the next Angry Salad record, but after a messy break from their record label they changed their name, lead guitarist, label and became Star64. If you aren't familiar with Angry Salad, then now's as good a time as any to get familiar with both.
Standout Track: Overnight Drive

13) Cousin Kevin 'Coming Back From Yesterday': The lead singer is the former lead guitarist/co-songwriter for Third Eye Blind, but there are no 'pop' songs on this record. Or at least nothing as 'pop'y as 'Semi-Charmed Life'. Any fans of 3EB will recognize the guitar work right away, but will probably be surprised at the overall sound. Standout Track: Coming Back From Yesterday

14) Remy Zero 'The Golden Hum': Quite possibly the most eclectic record on this list. You get everything from slow ballad to all out rock with everything in between. They've been getting a lot of publicity over the last couple of months thanks to the WB show Smallville because their song 'Save Me' is the theme song.

Standout Track: Belong

15) Train 'Drops of Jupiter': Yes, the title track to this record was EVERYWHERE, but that doesn't change the fact that it was one of the strongest singles released last year, no matter how overplayed it was. It also doesn't change the fact that overall this was one of the strongest records released last year. While I refuse to vouch for Pat Monahan's character, his voice and songwriting will never stop amazing me.
Standout Track: Hopeless

16) Something Corporate 'The Audio Boxer EP': Pop/punk bands are a dime a dozen now a days, but this one jumped out to me the moment I heard them. They aren't up there playing the same old shit, their songs hold up and leave you desperately wanting to hear the full length.
Standout Track: The Formal Weather Pattern (Hurricane)

17) American Hi-Fi 'American Hi-Fi': This is another band that never really got any recognition past their first single, 'Flavor of the Week'. I heard this record early last year once and then put it in a pile with the rest of my CDs, but after seeing them live four times I was so blown away I decided to give the record another try and it's been constantly in my stereo since.
Standout Track: Another Perfect Day

18) Matthew Jay 'Draw': He falls under the same category as Jude, "Singer/Songwriters that don't get enough attention". Matthew has written b-sides that are better than most singles on the radio today and he's still learning.
Standout Track: Let Your Shoulder Fall

19) Dashboard Confessional 'Places You Have Come To Fear The Most': Whining never sounded so good. You wanna not only hear a song about being dumped, but do you wanna cry while your listening? I've never heard so much emotion put into such a simple subject matter. Wow.
Standout Track: Again I Go Unnoticed

20) Jimmy Eat World 'Bleed American' and then after 9/11/01 it was renamed 'Jimmy Eat World': This record pissed off A LOT of people, specifically old school Jimmy Eat World fans. This is so different from their other records that it sort of scared their fans, but I was impressed. They took the old Jimmy sound and just tweaked it enough to make this ten times better than any of their old records, even 'Clarity'.
Standout Track: Hear You Me

Honorable Mention: Weezer'Weezer(2001)', REM 'Reveal', System of a Down 'Toxicity', Incubus 'Morning View' and The Mayfield Four 'Second Skin'

:: Ryan 4:03 AM [+] ::
...

Last Goodbye
--Jeff Buckley--

this is our last goodbye
i hate to feel the love between us die
but it's over
just hear this and then i'll go
you gave me more to live for
more than you'll ever know

this is our last embrace
must i dream and always see your face
why can't we overcome this wall
well, maybe it's just because i didn't know you at all

kiss me, please kiss me
but kiss me out of desire, babe, and not consolation
you know it makes me so angry 'cause i know that in time
i'll only make you cry, this is our last goodbye

did you say "no, this can't happen to me,"
and did you rush to the phone to call
was there a voice unkind in the back of your mind
saying maybe you didn't know him at all
you didn't know him at all, oh, you didn't know

well, the bells out in the church tower chime
burning clues into this heart of mine
thinking so hard on her soft eyes and the memories
offer signs that it's over... it's over


**To my friends who's time at Quinnipiac is over: Don't let this be our last goodbye. Thank you all so much for making my three years here so much fun. Know this: If you don't visit regularly I will hunt you down. Good luck and keep in touch.**

:: Ryan 3:16 AM [+] ::
...

It's very possible that John Franco, the Mets longest-tenured member and captain, has thrown his last pitch. An MRI has revealed an injury to his MCL and flexor tendon in his pitching elbow. He will need what is known as 'Tommy John' ligament replacement surgery which takes at least 12 months to recover from. At the age of 41, recovery will be even more difficult.

John was brought to tears when he was given the news...

"The Mets lose to the Giants 8-2 tonight, but what's much worse is they lose John Franco for the year. Maybe forever." - Mets Announcer Gary Cohen wrapping up the Mets post-game show tonight.

"It's a shame. It's a damn shame. We're gonna miss him."- Mets Manager Bobby Valentine

:: Ryan 1:00 AM [+] ::
...

Ryan
MC 220
Final Paper
5/8/02


To Freeze or Not to Freeze

Every director has certain techniques they use to not only get their point across but to grab and keep the attention of the viewer. When dealing with any picture directed by Martin Scorsese, it’s almost impossible to point out every technique that he uses. Upon first viewing, it is hard to find one aspect that is most powerful among the visual onslaught that is Goodfellas. But when you break the film down, one technique that truly holds the picture together is Scorsese’s use of freeze frames. By freezing the picture, he manages to hook the viewer in to what he wants. The importance of this technique can be seen if you take it away and measure the power of the film.

Scorsese wasted little time in the film before freezing the picture for the first time. Just over two minutes into the picture he freezes a picture of Henry Hill looking down on the trunk of his car. Without this freeze there’s no way the audience would have ever connected with the film or its characters. Henry had just shot a man several times and the man with him, Tommy DeVito, stabbed the same person prior to the gunshots. A man has been killed in cold blood in the first scene of the film and the picture of Hill’s face is frozen while he narrates:

“As far back as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be a gangster.”

Near the end of Henry’s narration, upbeat big band music starts to swell. The audience has to make a personal attachment to the characters, but how can you expect anyone to connect with a character that has just committed murder. By freezing the frame and allowing the viewer to concentrate more on what Hill was saying as opposed to the murder, Scorsese created the right environment for a connection to be made. With the narration and music, he conflicts the tone enough to let the viewer convince themselves that it is okay to be interested in this man’s story. Without that freeze a good portion of the audience wouldn’t have wanted to hear Hill’s story, which is Goodfellas.

He used this technique again only a few minutes further into the film. While Hill is telling of his childhood, his father becomes aware that he hasn’t been to school in months and begins to beat him. The scene is much faster paced than anything leading up to it and on the surface it’s just a father beating on his son. In the middle of the scene, a father whipping his son while a frantic wife tries to intervene, the picture is frozen and Hill narrates:

“Everybody has to take a beating sometime.”

All of a sudden another case of domestic violence has become so much more. For the first time we see Hill’s thinking change from a child to a gangster. His father’s rampage represented a form of initiation into the world that he’s admittedly wanted to be a part of his entire life. If you take away the freeze, then you take away yet another chance for the audience to connect with Hill’s character. If he were to narrate over the beating and it wasn’t frozen at any point, his statement about having to take a beating would get lost and any early transformation to a gangster would be lost.

The next time the freeze frame allows the viewer to truly see where Hill’s life is headed is after his first appearance in court. After Hill beats the charge brought against him one of the more powerful members in the family, Jimmy Conway, congratulates him on his ‘graduation’. The scene looks like nothing more than Conway making sure Hill knows not to rat him out. However, once they leave the courtroom, the entire family is waiting at the top of the stairs to congratulate him. As Hill becomes lost in a sea of the family members the scene is frozen:

No voice over.

Scorsese uses the freeze frame to show us what words couldn’t do justice to. It was the first time that Hill was accepted as a part of the family. It was the culmination of everything he had wanted and it made perfect sense to be the very last scene in the story of Hill’s childhood. He was no longer a child. Any innocence he had left had just been taken away by a group of men congratulating him. Without the freeze the viewer is taken straight to 1963 without any form of closure on the first part of the film and you cannot properly see Hill’s acceptance into the family.

The last time Scorsese uses this technique in the film is one of the most effective of them all. The walls of Hill’s life in and out of the family are starting to come in on him when he meets with Conway at a diner to discuss a trip they have in store for him. For most of the scene Hill’s voice over is louder than anything Conway is saying. The viewer isn’t given any specific reason why we aren’t hearing everything that Conway has to say. Is the trip not important to the outcome of the film? Is Hill already convinced he’s a dead man? Then we hear the end of Conway’s description of the trip and we freeze on his face followed by a freeze of Hill’s face:

“I knew if I went I would never return from Florida”

Hill had heard every single word Conway said and all of his fears were confirmed, that the family felt he knew too much and that he was to be killed. Even though he spoke of that very paranoia for some time, it was this final freeze that shows the viewer that the decision had been made. Hill’s time in the family was over and the only way he can survive is if he testifies against them and goes into the Witness Protection Program.

It’s virtually impossible to break down everything Scorsese does in his films, but if you were to take out this one simple technique you would change the entire scope of Goodfellas. The connection between Henry Hill and the audience would surely never be made and without that connection the movie would lack the one constant that is needed. Arguably one of the most powerful pictures in recent times could have been just another mob movie.

“We ran everything. We paid off cops. We paid off lawyers. We paid off judges. Everybody had their hands out. Everything was for the taking. And now it's all over.”

----That was my final paper for my Media History class. I did it in just over three hours tonight after I procrastinated until almost the very last second. There is a possibility that this paper is the worst I've written in my collegiate career. I won't know for sure until a)I reread it when it isn't 5am and b) I find out my grade. Peace out cub scout.----

:: Ryan 4:39 AM [+] ::
...

Have you heard of Jack Johnson? He has a mild radio hit with his song 'Flake'. You might have heard it on your local 'Alternative' station. Your mission is to go to your preferred music downloading site and get every Jack Johnson song you can find. His album was released a couple years back but Universal just recently picked it up, thus the airplay. The airplay is mild, but this thing is selling like mad. It's almost Gold(500,000 units shipped). Not too shabby for a surfer turned songwriter.

Apparently the entire state of Connecticut converged on North Haven to see Spider-Man. I was going to pass on this movie, just as I had for other over-hyped movies like Episode I, Lord of the Rings and anything starring the Rock. However, the album (If I call it a 'soundtrack' I just might be fired) is the number one priority at work, so I've been staring at Spider-Man posters for the past two weeks. The album, entitled 'Spider-Man Music From and Inspired By', is really good and I'm really interested to see how the most boring actor in Hollywood can play a super hero. Or can't play as it will most likely turn out.
I started planning to see this movie on Thursday. It was going to be three or four of us to start. Then slowly it became seven of us and then it was getting up towards ten. Try getting ten college kids together the weekend before finals at the same time for two minutes, let alone two hours. So come 7:15 tonight I couldn't track down anyone of the ten or so that wanted to see the movie. So I called my friend Dave, another one that had shown interest in seeing the movie but not a QU student, and we decided to watch the Met game and then we'd see the movie at midnight or 12:30. The North Haven cinemas had twenty showings of Spider-Man tonight, so we figured the last two of the twenty wouldn't sell out. Right? WRONG. According to the very intelligent man (?) selling tickets at the theater, virtually all showings had been sold out since mid to late afternoon. Although he did offer to sell me tickets to the next morning's first showing of the movie at 10:30am...Wasn't that nice of him? If you had told me a year ago that a movie starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst would sell out 18 of 20 theaters anywhere, I would have laughed at you. I'll still laugh at you... although you're probably one of the people that actually got to see the movie, so I'll shut up now...

:: Ryan 5:12 AM [+] ::
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Over a week and not one post. I'd like to say it's because I've been busy, which I have been, but that's not it. There has been a lot going on, so I wanted to leave it all in one post and I was hoping that the three of you that read this on a regular basis would keep checking back and see my last post and maybe, just maybe it would sink in.

Things have been crazy here lately, but everything stopped for a few days starting Thursday night. Every year the campus at Quinnipiac University is allowed to completely explode for one weekend. It just happens that this past weekend was that weekend. The weekend, entitled 'May Weekend', was given the theme 'So good, it's in April.' Hey, don't kill the messenger. If I were allowed to name it, the theme would be "5,000 screaming, drunken idiots', because that's exactly what it is. Thursday night started with me getting lost with half of Likewise on the way to their show at VanDome in New Haven. If any of you know the New Haven area, you know how incredibly hard it is to get lost in New Haven, especially going to a place like VanDome that is literally right off an exit on Interstate 91. Nonetheless, we were lost and got to the venue a half hour after the band was supposed to go on. No harm, no foul though because VanDome is a dance club and I don't think anyone there was counting down the minutes until the dance music was turned off and a rock band went on. Anyways, that's not so much the interesting part (is any of this interesting?) After the set, we all wanted to get out of there pretty quickly, so we start loading their equipment out the back door. Well-- on my way down the steps in back of the stage, while carrying a fairly large speaker, I misjudged just how high the last step was from the ground and... Ouch. You know when sports stars say they 'hear a pop' when they get hurt? Oh you better believe I heard a pop. My first thought: "I broke my ankle". After slowly putting pressure on it, I knew that it wasn't broken, but something definitely seemed wrong. Burning sensations around your joints are never a good thing, right? Some people would have gone to the Emergency Room. Hell, at least 4 or 5 people wanted to drive me there. See the reason I wasn't overly concerned after I realized it wasn't broken is because I did the exact same thing to my ankle in October of Soph. year, except I was sober this time around. See, people don't always do dumb things because they are drunk, they do dumb things because they are dumb. Wait a minute...

Anyways, I spent the remainder of Thursday night icing my ankle, waiting to drive my very drunk friends home, something I am always more than happy to do. This leads us to Friday night. Friday was by far one of the better nights I've had on the campus of Quinnipiac University in a while. While 90% of the people on campus started drinking at 11am Friday morning, I wanted to be able to remember the concert that my $30,000 tuition was going towards. Freshman year the concert was Ben Folds Five/Guster, last year it was Uncle Kracker/Angry Salad, this year it was Wyclef Jean. Yes, the same Wyclef who's 'posse' are the Refugee Allstars. I had my doubts, but it was gonna be Wyclef, Ludacris or Nickelback. Now Ludacris wanted $40,000 for a 40 minute performance... ummm, no Peg. And even though I hate Nickelback, I would have been all for them coming if they were a good live band, but I had a chance to see them perform a year and a half ago or so and they were horrible. So while I didn't expect a great show from Mr. Jean, I figured he would at least be entertaining. To say I was pleasantly surprised would be the understatement of the year. I could have done without the local opening act and while the DJs that performed before Wyclef were definitely talented, their set went 15 minutes too long. I heard rumblings that the DJs were asked to go longer then they anticipated because Wyclef was MIA, but there has been no confirmation of those rumors. Wyclef came out to his version of "Jump Around" and had the place going nuts, which is saying a lot for a Quinnipiac crowd, drunk or not. Normally I hold it against someone if they're a Yankee fan, but I was able to look past all of the Yankee garb that he was wearing and enjoy the performance. This guy was crazy, he seemed to have more and more energy as the show went on. I honestly think he would have played all night long if a) enough people would have stayed around for it and b) the school would have let him. His set was well over an hour and his encore might have been longer if the place didn't clear out. People didn't leave because they weren't enjoying the show, but because they were starting to sober up and that is apparently a big no-no on May Weekend. After the show I bounced around campus from crowd to crowd. Any of you that were there know what I'm taking about and if you don't go here then just imagine a huge sea of about 5,000 students, security guards and cops all having a big party outside the dorms. I don't know if I'll ever get over watching people do waterfalls in the middle of their conversations with Hamden cops. It was a good time and was most certainly worth the after effects.

Which leads us to Saturday. I'm pretty sure I was one of 5 non-RA students to be sober Saturday night. I thought people were out in full force on Friday, but Saturday was a whole new ballgame. Once people got back from the College Prom (otherwise known as the May Weekend Semi-Formal), the place went crazy because now you not only had all of the QU students, but all of the visitors that were on campus for the Prom. The highlight of this night was watching my friend Chris go absolutely fuckin' bonkers. Yes, bonkers. The funniest moment of the whole weekend was him standing outside the Ratt (a cafeteria of sorts), taking a plastic chair and throwing it down the steps out of nowhere. He was sitting down in the chair and then just stands up, screams "It's May Weekend! Woooo" and picks up the chair and hurls it. Priceless Chris, priceless.

The school had planned a big fireworks display for Sunday night, but because of the weather it was pushed back to Monday. The whole thing was really impressive and during it I thought to myself "wow, this is really nice, but it must have sent the school back a few nickels." A few nickels aren't even the start of it. I was talking to a friend of mine on SPB about the fireworks and she mentioned it was really nice for '$1,000 a minute'. $1,000??? For one minute?? Overall they dropped $25,000 on the whole event, which includes the local police and firemen that had to be there. I love fireworks and all, but am I the only one that thinks $25,000 is just a bit extreme? Maybe the best way to end a weekend of excess is with even more excess...

:: Ryan 2:32 PM [+] ::
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A classmate of mine was killed yesterday when the Jeep he was driving went out of control, struck a tree, found its way back to the road, left the road again and went airborne for 80 feet before hitting a tree and rolling over. He was 20 years old. If anyone reading this has ever driven a car drunk, stop and thank God that you are still alive. Even more, be thankful you didn't kill anyone else. If you ever drive a car drunk, forget you know me. There is absolutely NO EXCUSE to get behind the wheel of a car drunk. None.
He was 20.
He's dead.
He shouldn't be.

:: Ryan 3:42 AM [+] ::
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I know you're supposed to write in this thing everyday. And trust me I would, really. The problem is that in order to post, I need a computer to post FROM. Right about now that seems to be the problem. Mind you I know very little, if anything, about computers, but I know that when you turn your computer on and nothing but a black screen pops up, you're in big trouble. I have this disk that will fix my computer, but in order to do that it has to delete everything on my hard drive. Does that sound like a good idea? Yea, not so much. So until I figure out how to fix my computer, the posts will just have to be few and far between... Yes, I know all three of you that read this on a regular basis are broken up about this. When I can't brighten your day with a post, head over to any of the other blogs I have linked up on the side, each one will be much more interesting than anything I have to say and for the most part each have something new everyday. Now that I have found my way to a computer on campus, I might as well leave something that I've wanted to post for a while now.

Today's post will have absolutely no meaning to you unless you are a baseball fan. Sorry. Something I like to do every sports season, mainly because I'm a loser, is try my hand at predicting the final standings and a few award winners. Now that Baseball season is upon us, I figured I'd post my picks here so that this year I can't say "oh yea, I picked the Twins to be a contender this year", similar to what myself and everyone else around the country were saying at the All-Star Break, but laughed at during Spring Training. You can all point and laugh, more so than usual, after the season when my picks are all wrong.

NL East
Braves
Mets
Marlins
Phillies
Expos

NL Central
Cardinals
Astros
Cubs
Brewers
Reds
Pirates

NL West
Diamondbacks
Giants
Dodgers
Padres
Rockies

NL Wildcard: Mets
NL Cy Young: Matt Morris
NL MVP: Mike Piazza
NL Rookie of the Year: Josh Beckett
NL Batting Champion: Moises Alou

I picked everything on Easter Sunday, the day the season started. Already I look pretty dumb if you believe the Pirates can keep winning(i still say they'll lose 80 games) and Alou will keep getting hurt. There is no science to any of this.

AL East
Yankees
Red Sox
Blue Jays
Devil Rays
Orioles

AL Central
White Sox
Indians
Twins
Tigers
Royals

AL West
A's
Mariners
Angels
Rangers

AL Wildcard: Mariners
AL Cy Young: Tim Hudson
AL MVP: Jason Giambi
AL Rookie of the Year: Hank Blalock
AL Batting Champion: Jason Giambi

Again, I look pretty dumb if you think Giambi will keep slumping(he'll hit .330 with 40 homers if he's healthy) or this kid Blalock will continue to bomb.

The playoffs look like this:

NL Division Series:
Mets over the Cardinals
Diamondbacks over the Braves

NL LCS
Mets over Diamondbacks

AL Division Series
Yankees over the Mariners
Oakland over the White Sox

AL LCS
A's over the Yankees

World Series
A's over the Mets in 7

I might be biased as a Met fan by putting them in the Series, but I can't be THAT biased if I have them losing to Oakland. So write all this down and place your bets in Vegas! Or just come back here at the end of the season and laugh at my stupidity. Either way, just keep coming back....

:: Ryan 10:52 PM [+] ::
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In place of any thing I could possibly post, I will just direct you to Kraig's Blog. You should be reading this on an everyday basis already, but if you aren't then now is as good a time as any to start. So go and enjoy it!

:: Ryan 12:37 AM [+] ::
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"Y'all drove all the way to Atlanta just to see a baseball(pronounced bayseboll) game?"

If I never hear that line again it will be too many times. In case you didn't know, I guess now you do: This past weekend I drove down to Atlanta to see the Mets play the Braves. As you say to yourself "You're crazy Ryan." trust me, I know I'm crazy. I went down last year for Mets opening day and the trip actually wasn't that bad. Sixteen hours in the car sounds like a long time, but it really does go by pretty quick. It doesn't hurt to have a few hilarious stops along the way to keep you awake. The first seven hours of the trip were pretty uneventful, but then things started to get a little more interesting. While driving in Virginia, I realized that I was running low on gas, so obviously I just need to pull off at the next exit and get gas... sounds pretty easy, right? Yea, not so much. Did you know that there are almost no 24 hour gas stations in Virginia? So after close to 20 minutes or so of praying my car didn't stop dead in the middle of Virginia at 3:30 in the morning, we finally found a 24 hour gas station. I know it's not all that exciting, but what we found inside the gas station was a bit more interesting. Now I've never been one to discriminate against someone because of their skin color, sex or religion... number of teeth is another story. This woman, calling her a woman might be giving her too much credit, was scaaaaaaary. Besides the shirt that was three sizes too small, the hair from the 80's and the weird lookin guy that was sitting right next to her just staring into space, her three teeth were the worst part. I was afraid to get too close to her because I thought she might club me and take my teeth. So I pay her for the gas, very cautiosly mind you and since we figured we wouldn't be able to sit down and eat for a while, we decided to go across the street to the classiest restaurant ever: Denny's. Our waitress was another winner. Just imagine a resident of southern Virginia who works the overnight at the local Denny's restaurant. As always though, the food was as close to diner quality as you're gonna find. Plus, they had the coolest video game ever: Galaga! After playing a rousing game of Galaga(i got second place) I was reenergized and ready to start the second leg of the Atlanta trip. After a couple hours, which included flipping off the Duke Universitysign, I decided to hand over the driving duties to one of my friends and take a nap in the back seat. I woke up a few hours later and we were parked at a gas station. I stumble out of the car and into the Exxon Mart and ask a very valid question: Where are we? The response didn't come from my friends, but instead from the guy behind the counter: "Y'all in tiger(pronounced tiega) country now." Apparently we were in Clemson, which above all else is Tiger country. This guy was similar to the lady in Virginia in the way that if he had five teeth it was a lot. After filling me in on exactly where I was, he continued to show us how he and his Exxon Mart partner were trying to 'win the big one', meaning $100,000 from a scratch off ticket. They both seemed VERY excited about the fact that you can put the tickets into the machine WITHOUT EVEN SCRATCHING THEM and find out if you won. Apparently if we had won the 100,000, we were going to 'drive to greenville, then turn the car towards caaaaaaaaaancun'. Our friendly clerk, however, would open a 'flop house'. Call me stupid, but I had no idea what a flop house was. He let us know that it was exactly what the name says, a place for all your friends to come over and just 'flop around and do nothing'. Yea, gotta love those south folks. Anyways, it was then off to the whole point of the trip, seeing the Mets in Atlanta. Atlanta really is a pretty city, but the people working at the Sheraton in downtown Atlanta are the dumbest people in the world and to top it all off, none of them speak more than two words of english. After not being able to find our reservation for a few minutes(it 'magically' appeared later), the valet guy tried to explain to me how their system works, I just gave him my keys and said 'Okay' because I figure he has to at least understand that. After a power nap it was off to Game 1, a 7:35 start at Turner Field. The pitching matchup was Pedro Astacio against Albie Lopez. The Mets went down early in the first inning, giving up a two run homer to Andruw Jones, who is of no relation to me. The Mets responded with a couple RBIs from Rey Rey 'warning track power' Ordonez and the pitcher, Pedro Astacio. The Mets ended up putting the game away with a three run homer in the 5th inning by Jeromy Burnitz. Anytime I can see the Mets put up a 9 spot is a good time, and it's even better when I drive 16 hours to see it. The next day's game was night game too, so we had a few hours to kill before gates opened and decided to explore downtown Atlanta a bit. Apparently Atlanta shouldn't be called 'hot'lanta, but instead 'coke'lanta because it's really the only soda you can buy in the city. I almost felt dirty walking around with a pepsi bottle that I bought the day before in Clemson. The Coke factory is there and so we decided to take the guided tour, which really isn't much of a tour. Basically you walk around the three level 'exhibit' and look at old Coke bottles and advertisements and then you can taste any of the Coke products you already know and love (cherry coke, sprite, tab, etc..) and then you can taste soda from all over the world. Let me just tell you, some of that stuff was some of the worst shit I've ever tasted in my life. The one that didn't taste like carbonated cough syrup had this really gross metallic taste to it. So after getting our 6 bucks worth of soda, we decided to make our way to Turner field for Game 2. This time it was Jeff D'Amico against their stud Tom Glavine. D'amico looked great for the Mets, going six innings only giving up two runs while striking out 4. Glavine was just as good, giving up 2 runs over 7 innings with 4 strikeouts. It was 2-2 going into the top of the ninth and their closer, John Smoltz, was coming into the game. Smoltz is one of the better pitchers in the game and our biggest gun Mike Piazza went down two innings earlier with a knee injury, so I wasn't feeling so confident. the first batter of the inning is Jay Payton, the Mets center fielder, and he proceeds to send one of the first pitches he sees into the left center field gap for a triple. I think it's safe to say that now my confidence has been restored. Two of the next three batters had singles and the Mets were holding a 4-2 lead. This is where I realized that Atlanta fans completely suck. Now I basically already knew this, but this completely convinced me. The Braves were down only TWO runs in the ninth inning and the Mets closer warming up in the bullpen had blown two games in this very stadium just months earlier, yet they all started pouring out of the stadium after two runs. Maybe that's why the rest of the inning made me feel that much better. The Mets weren't happy with just a two run lead, they wanted more... much more. They got just that with singles from Robbie Alomar and doubles from Vance Wilson, the aforementioned Rey Rey Ordonez and 'Super Joe' Mcewing. 9 runs later it was a 7-2 ballgame and the Mets took the first two games of the series, which sent me home very happy, feeling a bit better about being in a car for 16 hours and having to make that same trip again that night. During our two day stay in Atlanta, despite wearing Mets gear and looking like tourists the whole time, we only got one 'Go home yankees', which was in the middle of the second game. I was actually pretty impressed because if there were a bunch of people from Atlanta walking around Queens and then watching the game at Shea in full Braves gear, I can guarentee you they would hear a lot worse than 'go home'. Oh well... Gotta love that southern hospitality.....

:: Ryan 3:40 AM [+] ::
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Wow... lots of stuff to get to today. So much stuff that I don't even know where to start. I have a handful of new links to the right, so check them out. There's a place to buy Likewise merchandise(more on them in a bit), some more blogs for you to check out, more band sites to keep you busy and other random sites.

I think I've found something that is more addicting than porn... um... I'm guessing it's more addicting than porn, based on what I've heard. It's promoted on almost every major television network and people of all ages participate in fulfilling their every fantasy. No, not THAT fantasy... Fantasy Sports. How many people do you know that don't have at least one fantasy team? How often have you caught your friends scurrying to find out if Reggie Miller had enough three pointers last night to help his or her fantasy team ranking? If you said never than just skip to the next mindless rant. Honestly, I've never been one for computer games or porn(stop laughing, i swear I'm serious), but Fantasy Baseball.... shit, it's addicting. ESPN and Yahoo throw so many different stats at you, it's kind of like a car wreck: you don't want to look, you just kind of have to. When most people hear the word WHIP, maybe they think of whipped cream, or snapping a whip... you know what I think of now? Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched... it's a disease and I need help... Hi, my name is Ryan **Hi Ryan** and i'm addicted to Fantasy Sports....

As for Likewise and the merchandise i've been shamlessly pushing on everyone. Likewise is a band here at Quinnipiac that has put their future in my hands.... foolish musicians. I've been tagged 'Manager', but I'd like to think I'm just an all around band Superstar. They just finished their new EP and it really is quite a listen. Leave a comment, or drop me an e-mail and we'll arrange it so you can buy the EP. If you have any good opportunities for the band to get exposure in your area through a local show, just drop me an email at AOL or likewisebooking@hotmail.com. I'm really excited about working with a band that has so much potential and hopefully with all of your help they can make a name for themselves. Send an Instant Message to WQAQDJ and request their single 'Lost' or if you're really ambitious you can call at 203-281-0011. We'll make them number one, Today WQAQ, Tomorrow the world!

Speaking of QAQ, elections for managment staff were yesterday. There are 54 extremely intelligent kids on staff here that feel I've done a good job the last two years as Music Director and they want me back for the final lap, so one more year here at THE BEST college radio station before i'm booted out into the real world. Speaking of the real world, do I really have to go? I was thinking of putting a bed in Academic Affairs and just staying there for the next 5 or 6 years. You think they'll mind? It's not that i'm afraid of looking for/getting a job, it's just why would I want to leave the perfect situation: school work that isn't too hard, a non-paying job at QAQ that is amazing, a paying gig at Sony Music that is alot of fun and a fairly cheap apartment that I don't have to pay for. But as I said before, I'm not afraid of the real world, cause I look forward to it on many levels, i'm just not in the rush that many people are to get out of college.

Onto the best topic of all: Music. I've been talking to people about the best records of 2001 again recently. I put together my top 20 at the end of December and since that's long before I started this wonderful site, I never posted it. So sometime in the next week or so I'll give you insight to what the best records were and why. Not that any of you care, but as it says on the top of the site: This is all for my own sanity... As for music in 2002, while there hasn't been that much new stuff that's gotten me excited, that's starting to change. I was waiting for the Chris Cornell/Rage project, but who knows if any of us will ever get to hear that. As soon as the label tells me for sure, i'll tell you all. I was still sulking over that today when I got the new Our Lady Peace single in the mail. Their lead guitarist seperated from the band a few months ago and they've been working with Bob Rock(New Metallica, Veruca Salt). I've never really been a Bob Rock fan, mainly because he seems to change an artists sound more than needed. When you hear the single, 'Somewhere Out There', if you're familiar with OLP you will be able to hear the difference right away. It's not a bad difference, because I like the song very much, but Raine's vocal range isn't quite showcased the way it usually it is. Some would say this is a good thing, but I always love listening to his voice, it's phenomenal. It's pretty mellow, which is surprising because Bob Rock usually puts a harder edge on the stuff he works on. Look for the new album on June 11th, listen for the single on rock radio now. In other OLP news, they're on the new WWF CD "Forceable Entry"(sounds like the title to a porno if you ask me), with the song 'Whatever' which is an interpretation of Chris Benoit's(he's a wrestler) theme song. It's pretty sweet, which isn't surprising because it's Our Lady Peace but is surprising because most music associated with the WWF sucks. Anyway, onto other new stuff. I got the new Oasis single in the mail today, 'The Hindu Times'. There's absolutely no information other than that on the CD, so I can't really tell you anything about a new album or anything. As for the song itself... It's.... Well, it's Oasis. It's nothing different from anything on their last few albums. I really liked Oasis back when they first hit, their last couple records have been sort of blah, especially the Live disc. Not too much in the way of good live shows around here, I missed Jimmy Eat World last week which I wasn't too happy about, but Dashboard Confessional will be up in Hartford next week and that should be a hell of a show. Tomorrow night I'm headed up to Providence to catch Better Than Ezra for the third time...They are such an amazing live band, even if you only know three songs, go to the show, I promis you won't be disappointed. Then there will be a slew of shows, but nothing that good until Green Day/Blink/Saves The Day headlining the local Radio Fest in May.

Last, but certainly not least, Opening Day is upon us. As a Met fan, it's been a great offseason because of all the moves they made, but it's time for this team to get on the field and show they can finally beat the fuckin Braves. I apologize for the language, but the Braves are the only team that I loathe as much as the Yankees. I will be up in the nose-bleed seats Monday for opening day sporting the ugliest Met shirt you will EVER see, eating a hotdog, and enjoying one of the best lineups in baseball with Little John, who is flying in from AZ to see the game. Good times, Good Times.

That took a lot out of me, as I'm sure it did the same to you. Stay tuned for my famous Top 20 albums of 2001... Oh and by the way, go to Kraig's blog, it's hilarious. Happy Easter/Passover(is it right to say Happy Passover?)/Weekend depending on what religion, if any, you are.....

:: Ryan 7:24 PM [+] ::
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