Category Archives: export-main

Penguins? *Yawn*

Am I the only Pittsburgher who doesn’t give a flying fart about the Pens?

Come to think of it, I’m not sure I care much for any team, or any sport for that matter. With each passing year I find it harder to get excited about watching people get paid too much to play games. I’d rather participate a sport myself (like ultimate) or watch amateur and unpopular, low-paying professional sports (like track and cross-country). The only popular professional sport I care much about any more is football, and even that’s losing my interest. Maybe I need to start watching soccer.

Anyone else feel like I do? Bueller?

Magma in My Mind

From introspection and multiple external confirmations, I know that I’ve become a lot mellower as I’ve gotten older. I’m not quite the reformer/revolutionary I was when I graduated high school twelve years ago. Nor do I have the temper I once had. I’ve even surprised myself, friends, and loved ones by taking on the role of peace-maker, diplomat, or arbitrator. I’m beginning to realize, though, that I rarely fill such a role unless I lack a stake in the matter at hand. When I do, it’s clear that I still have a lot of mellowing to do.

Sometimes I feel as though my emotions are volcanic in nature. Aside from the occasional tremor, I maintain a relatively calm exterior. Deep down, though, I’m really a very angry person; the red hot magma is still bubbling and flowing. It’s come close to breaking out of its rocky shell, but somehow enough heat and pressure are vented off that the volcano remains intact another day. Someday, though…

BOOM!

Goodbye, Good Friend

A recent post by a friend of mine brought back a painful memory.

"When I was 14, just a little over two months before [Rob] would have graduated from high school, he was killed. I hadn’t talked to him for some time when I just had this overwhelming need to call. His mom answered the phone and told me that earlier that day he had gone out to buy a motorcycle. As he was driving it home, he somehow lost control and wrapped himself around a telephone pole. I was frozen and utterly speechless."

My best friend in high school was pulled off a platform by a passing train and died. Getting that phonecall from my dad was one of the worst moments of my life. Anyhow, I know other folks have lost loved ones unexpectedly. We’re connected by a terrible bond, but we can use it to help each other. At the lowest points of my life I’ve found writing poetry to be very theraputic. I thought perhaps folks still mourning a loss would appreciate this poem that I wrote when my best friend died.

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Point of View

In anticipation of Brother‘s upcoming "best of" compilation, As You Were, I’ve decided to share the list of tracks on my personal 2-disc compilation, which I call Point of View.

    Disc 1

  1. Romp & Circumstance (Exit From Screechville)
  2. Thetimeisnow (This Way Up)
  3. River (Urban Cave)
  4. The Crow (Exit From Screechville)
  5. Didg Jam (Exit From Screechville)
  6. Shadowman (The Digging Bone)
  7. Rainmaker (The Digging Bone)
  8. Turn Me Upside Down (Demo)
  9. Hang On (Demo)
  10. Mr. Maintenance (Black Stone Tramp)
  11. He’den.bro (Black Stone Tramp)
  12. The Next Time (Exit From Screechville)
  13. In Your Name (Urban Cave)
  14. Wear ME Down (Urban Cave)
  15. The Serpent (Exit From Screechville)
  16. Give It Away (This Way Up)
  17. All I Know (Black Stone Tramp)
  18. Louie’s Return (Exit From Screechville)
  19. Stand Beside Me (Your Backyard)
  20. 2 Chairs and One Tree (Your Backyard)
  21. Crazy (i you you me)
  22. My Rhubarb (Pipe Dreams)
    Disc 2

  1. An Doarach Bheag (Exit From Screechville)
  2. Shoes (The Digging Bone)
  3. Lose Your Head (The Digging Bone)
  4. It’s All Good (i you you me)
  5. Blackest of Blue (This Way Up)
  6. Dirty Reeds (Black Stone Tramp)
  7. One Heart, One Soul (The Digging Bone)
  8. Matter of Time (Exit From Screechville)
  9. Falling (Black Stone Tramp)
  10. Circling My Heart (Exit From Screechville)
  11. Lonely (Your Backyard)
  12. Bitch (Inside of Me) (Demo)
  13. Sooner or Later (Your Backyard)
  14. You Are (The Digging Bone)
  15. Chains (Exit From Screechville)
  16. Got Inside (The Digging Bone)
  17. Face (The Digging Bone)
  18. Carry Me (Black Stone Tramp)
  19. Just Listen (Urban Cave)
  20. The Java Jive (Pipe Dreams)

Pittsburgh TV News Rant

Pittsburgh TV news reporting sucks.

Why are Pittsburghers are so bloody obsessed with weather? Between that and sports there’s barely any real news reported. I really don’t give a flying fig about Super Mega Kickass Vibromatic Storm Chaser 6000 and how it can slice and dice and make julean fries. Just give me a simple 5-day forecast and a little detail about tomorrow and shut the hell up!

As for sports, I enjoyed watching the Steelers beat the Seahags in the Superbowl and all, but can the celebration please stop? Then there’s the plight of the Penguins. I’m getting really sick of all the speculation. Leave the issue alone until something newsworthy happens, like the team moving to another city or Pittsburgh spending millions of dollars it doesn’t have on a new arena. Lastly, if I have to hear the sob story of Pitt’s early loss in the NCAA tournament one more time, I might go postal. They lost. Get over it and move on.

After you’ve suffered through a half hour of weather and sports, what kind of news gets reported? We hear about 5 minutes of sound bites about important world events (Iraq war, genocide in Sudan, etc.) and the remainder is local interest crap. Reporting local news is fine in moderation, but one can only watch footage of a broken down PAT bus for so long.

I shouldn’t have to watch PBS (Zzzzz) or be lucky enough to get BBC America in order to get decent national and international news. Before you say it, I get neither CNN nor Fox News, nor do I care to. If I want biased news, I’ll stick to reading blogs.

*grumble*