Can we talk about it?

I had plenty of time to prepare for this one.

I didn't need much help today with other events going on in the world.  I could have talked about Egypt going crazy and shutting off the internet.  And somehow the USA continues to support this dictatorship.  Looks like things are going well there.  You know when a country shuts off the internet, people are completely destroying everything.  "Not the internet!!"

And of course, there is always Charlie Sheen to talk about.  He's really living up to his Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn persona.  Listen, when a person gets a briefcase delivered to them, it leads to bad things.  Think about it, when have you had a briefcase delivered to you?  You maybe see that in a movie.  It always turns out to be a bad sign.  And the thing about our friend Charlie is that I completely believe the story that came out about him here.  Only Charlie could have his life saved by some reality show couple after a four day bender.  Lovely.

No, I don't want to talk about any of these stories because they do the talking for themselves.  I want to discuss how terrible my ride home was.

I'm not going to complain; all I'm going to say is that I'm sick and tired of crazy Massholes running the show.  It took me 3.5 hours today to get a haircut.  That's right, 2.5 hours in traffic and then I had to wait a half hour for the hair cut and of course half hour for the ride home.

I don't understand what goes on in this state.  They continuously tax people and I wonder where this money goes!?  It certainly doesn't go to fixing the roads.  Or removing snow off the streets.  Or fixing the infrastructure to help the flow of traffic.  No, it goes to the socialist government that controls the state.

I'm not going to get political here.  I just want to vent.  Clearly, all drivers born here are some type of terrible on the road. So here's what I'm suggesting:

I think that all Mass drivers take a mandatory test every week to make sure they are competent to drive. Some I have a lot of confidence in, like our friend Emily.  She clearly has a controlled chaos when it comes to commanding the road.  I appreciate the aggressiveness.

But others, like the taxi drivers should have to take the test hourly. I swear, student drivers are better fit to get to point A to point B than the taxi drivers. 

Nothing will change though so thanks for listening.  Because venting is really the only option.

Secret lover, best friend

Best. Thing. Ever.

Last V-day, I was given one of the best gifts ever.

If you have a significant other, you know you have to get a little creative when it comes to gifts for birthday/v-day/holiday sessions; especially if you've been dating awhile.

Also this significant other, if female, should know the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

Thank goodness that my significant other knows this.  Now, I don't usually plug gifts or products.  However, if you love pizza and you own an oven, why do you not own a pizza stone?

The picture above is my pizza stone after a full years use.  It is literally is the gift that keeps on giving.

And best of all, it's simple to use.

So here's what you do if you want to have the gift of a lifetime:

1. Buy a pizza stone.  Pretty easy to find. I've actually done a lot of the work for you.  Check it out.

2. Put pizza stone in oven.

3. Buy the ingredients for a pizza and make it.  Trader Joe's has dough for only a dollar.

Folks, I'm making this plea because I couldn't hold out anymore.  I was up day and night saying to myself, "is the world ready to know what I know about my beloved pizza stone?"

The answer is yes.  All of you are ready to have a pizza stone in your life.

And if this hasn't convinced you let me give you a scenario that you may or may not have experienced:

Dateline: Big city of your choice
Time: Bar Close

Scenario:

You've had a wonderful evening dancing/chilling/with friends.  But now you have a problem... you're hungry and possibly intoxicated.  What to do?

Then you remember earlier that day you woke up to buy ingredients for your new pizza stone that your friend Dvo recommended.  Remember?  Your favorite pizza is one with the works.  Everything on that bad boy.

You go home and instead of waiting for a pizza place to deliver or possibly give up because they are all closed; you and your closest friends/significant other(s) start hammering away at making a delicious homemade pizza.

Don't be that guy (or girl).  Don't be the one person that doesn't have a pizza stone.

And they make great leftovers.  Make sure to let me know how it goes.  You'll thank me later.

Looking forward to another summer

Do you smell that folks?  That's the smell of my favorite baseball team making another smart move.

No, O-Dawg didn't come back.  However the Minnesota Twins did resign Jim Thome to a one year, three million dollar contract. This is wonderful news.

Should I be excited as ever to welcome back a 40 year old to the Twins? Absolutely.

Look, Jim Thome has made over 159 million dollars over his career and I think all of us assumed that the money never mattered to him.  What matters to him is winning and winning now.  Although his post-season average is not great (.217) and neither is his OPS (.790), he still brings the clutch bat that the Twins need.  The man is first all time in walk off's.  Who wouldn't want him back?

This isn't football people.  We all knew when another 40 year old individual came back to play another season with my favorite football team that he would not be the same person as the year before.  I expect the same to happen to Thome.  His OPS was the fourth highest in his career (1.039) and in a replacement role for an injured Morneau, he hit 25 HR's.  That just won't happen again.

But he will be a great insurance plan if for some reason Morneau is not ready to go.  I think that he was a great protection for Delmon Young last year as well.  Thome usually batted behind Young and allowed DY to have more freedom with the bat.  Now DY having another great year?  I certainly expect that.

Though as we wait for the new season to start, let's just smile and realize that this is probably the Twins most significant signing this off-season.  More than that Japanese infielder and more than Pavano (soon trust me).  And because the culture of the clubhouse is also important to our team, it helps that he's considered one of the best people in baseball.   Baseball is all about numbers and memories.  To play basically start just half the season and have a WAR (Wins above replacement) at 3.5 is fantastic in my book.

So let's remember the memories that he's given us and look forward to another great season for the Minnesota Twins.

Here's one to get you started:  http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=11084089

On a serious note...

It was a tough day on Saturday.

The shooting in Tuscon was a hard pill to swallow for the country.  We get caught up in each day's tasks and events such as the one on Saturday make all of us shake our head and appreciate what we have.  It's unfortunate that this event happened and clearly my thoughts and prayers are with all of the victims and those affected by this senseless tragedy.

And as we learn more about the young man who seems to be a complete sociopath, you would think we play the card for what it is.

But no, Deputy Clarence Dupnik had to address the media hours after the event (while still possibly looking for a second shooter???) that this tragedy was spurned by venomous political rhetoric.

Huh?  When did this Deputy decide that he would use this public stage as a personal outcry of what's wrong right now in American politics?  Instead of delivering facts and focusing on the investigation at hand, the Deputy decided that it would be in the public's best interest to gauge the cause of this unspeakable crime.  

Well, we all know what would happen next.  Not even a day of focusing on the victim's lives and what they  lived for, the talking heads started....talking.

It quickly became a war of words.  Democrats finally pointing the finger saying, "you've gone to far  with your words you crazy republicans!"

Yes this is wrong. But it
doesn't have anything to do
with Saturday

Republicans matching this word fight by saying, "your policies caused this to happen!"

WHOAAA... everyone slow down here.  Let's take this for what it is.  This was a sociopath committing a heinous crime that had nothing to do with the rhetoric of politics.  Rather, this was a sick and twisted individual who should be put to death because of his actions.  Actions that had nothing to do with a Palin map with crosshairs.

In the book Columbine by Dave Cullen, he describes the two individuals that committed one of the worst tragedies in American history.  He analyzes the influences they might have had.  And while Dylan for the most part followed Eric in whatever he did, Eric was just a sociopath.  It wasn't Marilyn Manson or violent video games.  He was just a sociopath.

So while I agree that there is a problem with the way congress addresses each other and the public, I think that it would be best to talk about the "venomous political rhetoric" on a different day.  Because it really has nothing to do with this.

Instead, let's honor the victim's of this tragedy.  Here are their names:

Gabe Zimmerman, 30

Phyllis Scheck, 79

Christina Taylor Greene, 9

John Roll, 63

Dorwin Stoddard, 76

Dorothy Morris, 76

And to those who are injured, we keep them in our thoughts and prayers including congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords

First things first

My California math
says 14 years is too much

Got a little taste?  Good.  Here's some more:

BBWA: Wow, 14 years huh?  It takes you that long to put one of the best curveballs in the baseball hall of fame.  I'm grateful that it will never take 14 years for someone to evaluate me.  The concept makes no sense to me.  Either you are a hall of famer, or you're not.  It should be an active discussion and then a vote and it's done. Please, don't delay Larkin's admission as well.

Give this man his money

Vikings:  17 unrestricted free agents equals problems.  Here's what I'm thinking.  Priorities have to go to Greenway, Rice (I mean come on), Robison (replace Edwards, he costs too much), Fat Pat (let him retire a Viking) and Tahi if you can get him cheap.  Out the door are our QB's and notably Longwell.  Yeah if we can get him cheap, resign him but at this point we need to save some money.  The fact of the matter is that during this offseason we should also pay AD.  Why not?  He's the best player in the league.

Can't spell love without this bag

Teriyaki Sauce:  Why are you so simple to make?  Why are you so delicious?  So underrated. Also awesome is Teriyaki beef jerky.  Thought I would share.

The new "troika?" Let's hope so

Twovles:  Have you seen them lately?  Granted, no one is comparing the Love-B-Easy-Darko troika to Bird-Parish-Mchale.  However, they've got something going.  I enjoy the way the play basketball and if they can get a defensive stopper plus a solid SG.  Like Monta solid.  That said, we're still a year or two out.

Generic Blog Title #1

Well... this is going to be awkward.

Originally, my nickname came to fruition with my first football coach.  It was sixth grade and I was a asthmatic, nerdy, and undersized fullback that had never played any type of organized football.  But wanting to emulate a hero of mine, my brother, I decided that football was something I was going to do because he did.

The first day of practice, I partook in a few drills to get me accustomed to hitting.  Mind you, this is the same stage of life that I would still cry often and be afraid to have a baseball thrown at me (had been playing that sport much longer and still pathetic).  The coach called one drill "the box."  This drill would consist of four cones, placed to look like a square no larger than your kitchen table at home.  Two players would face each other from opposite ends and be ready to get hit.  At the coaches whistle, he would throw the ball to one of us and it was the other person job to tackle the ball carrier.

Of course the coach, a high school drop out and borderline convict, knew this was my first time playing football.  He lined me up first and made sure that the other player was the largest kid on the team.  He blew the whistle and a 6th grader as large as 6'5" 300 lbs. came rick rolling my direction. Tears rolling down my face, I lowered my shoulder and got nailed back at least 20 yards.

After practice, coach came over and gave me a pep talk.  He said, "you gotta play fierce, play like you wanna hurt people.  You wanna hurt people don't you?"

Confused by the context but still scared I reluctantly nodded my head.

"You need a nickname," he exclaimed.  "Something that makes others shake in their pads."

"What about 'killer'," I asked.

"No, I don't see you as a 'killer'.  Though you should still sound tough.  You seen the movie Friday yet?"

"Umm, no.  I'm not sure I can see that," I said referring to the rated R movie.

"Well the guy in there, that movie, his name is DeeBo.  You're last name kind of sounds like that."

And from there it was born, or spawned, or something.  The letters of my last named were used to form my nickname that I've fondly carried with me since that season.

And most may know me by my first name, I thought I would share how others might call me.  Though spelling might be a different story of course.  Devo, Divo, D'vo, DeeVo.....

So now, I'll introduce my blog.  A luxurious collection of stories, opinions, sports and food.  You could call it a coming out party.  Wait... please don't call it that.

Happy reading

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5