Hi there everybody!
(Hi Stevo!)
Just a heads up, I don’t plan on posting much over the next
few days. I might get to an “Idol” recap
tomorrow night if the NFL draft bores me even 2/1000ths as much as I expect it
to, and I am tied up all weekend on a BBQ cooking team in a contest out in
Independence. (If you have nothing
better to do on Saturday (cooking and fun day) or Sunday (judging day), feel
free to swing by and enjoy what Russ has in the smoker and the grill. For the record, we’re entering ribs, pork,
brisket, and chicken. It’s our first
competition, so who knows what’ll happen, but if you have nothing better to do,
the contest is at the Eagles Lodge, on 47th Street just west of
Sterling (basically right across the street from Royal Meadows.
Toss in the month-end closing coming the first three or four
days next week, and odds are, there won’t be much posting for a week or
so. Just a heads up. Well, unless I win the Mega Millions jackpot
(currently at $88 million), then I’m quitting my job and doing what I want to
do, which is write, as opposed to what I have to do to earn a living, which is
reinsurance accounting at “major global insurance company”.
So, to tide you over, a couple “quick hits” on stuff I’ve
read or seen lately that’s still in my head …
* The cheaters website AshleyMadison.com has reportedly
offered a $1 million reward to anyone who can submit proof that they have had
sex with … Tim Tebow. Really guys? Is this how low our society has sunk? I mean, I freely admit, I give the terrorists
a pass for hating us, because I look at our modern culture and want to hurl
chunks. Any society that glorifies teen
pregnancy on an alleged music video channel has serious deficiencies. But this is as low as it gets. I am not a religious person. I’ve stepped foot in a church once in three
years for something other than a wedding, dedication, or funeral. But for crying out loud, if you’re going to
hate Tim Tebow, find something legitimate to hate him about. I have far more respect for Tim Tebow than I
do for anyone who would actually use AshleyMadison.com, that’s for damned sure.
* It is almost Draft Day, and here, in order, are my
preferences for what the Chiefs should do at pick eleven of the first round:
1. Trade down. I
always favor this option, unless someone is guaranteed to fall to you in your
slot that greatly improves your roster immediately (like in 2010 with Eric
Berry). The Chiefs did this last year
(almost) brilliantly, moving down 5 spots, still getting a solid wide receiver
in Jonathan Baldwin, and using the third rounder picked up for their troubles
on budding star linebacker Justin Houston. The only way this would have been better is if
we’d used pick 50 in round two on Ryan Mallett, but at some point I’ll get over
the fact that we whiffed on a dude I believe is going to be the best QB in the
league come 2020.
2. If you’re stuck, draft Dont’a Hightower, LB, Alabama. I think he’s the best backer in the draft,
even better than Luke Kuechly, who has been linked to us at eleven for at least
two months by most mock drafters. Seems
to me the last time we drafted a linebacker from Alabama in the first round, it
worked out pretty well – does the name “Derrick Thomas” ring a bell?
3. If you’re convinced that Ryan Tannehill is better than
any quarterback on the roster, then I’m OK with trading up to seven (with the
Jags) and sacrificing a day two pick for the right to do so. Here’s the deal with Tannehill – he has an
upside few QB prospects do, in that if he sucks at QB, you can still salvage
him as a wide receiver. Remember, he was
a decent wide-out his first two years at Texas A&M before being moved under
center.
Personally? I wouldn’t
trade up for him, simply because the guy I’d like to see under center come 2015
isn’t in this year’s draft. (That would
be Aaron Murray of Georgia). I’d try
like hell to pull off option (1), but I’d settle for option (2).
But while I’d pass on option (3), if Miami doesn’t take
Tannehill … and he falls to you at 11 (because he would, the Panthers and Bills
won’t draft him in front of us), wow, that’d be an intriguing decision. (And would make option (1) very, very viable …)
* The Royals.
Ugh. As I type this, they lead
4-2 in the top of the 9th, threatening to break the 12 game losing
streak. Sam Mellinger had a great post
on the Star’s website today, noting that no team that has lost 12 games in a
season, has ever finished at .500 or better.
(The best a team finished was 78-84.)
Memo to Ned Yost: if you can’t get this team into contention come early
August? I’d contact a realtor. Twelve losses in a row with this much talent
is unforgivable. Not finishing within
2-3 games of .500 this year is fireable.
* Took “My Special Little Guy” to the new Sea Land aquarium
at Crown Center this morning. It’s
pricey (although a little cheaper if you pre-order online like I did) … but it’s
worth every cent. It’s phenomenal. Plus, afterwards, you can head over to the
Crayola Café and get the Grown-Up Mac and Cheese that is to die for. Which reminds me …
* Man do I miss working downtown. Ayden was absolutely fascinated by Crown
Center. He even dug the parking garage,
calling it “cool!” In his defense, it is
a cool parking garage – it actually has some personality to it. (Plus, trying to park in that garage is
damned near impossible – the spots were designed with small early 1980s
compacts in mind.) The ride down the
escalator to the front entrance, then walking out and seeing the shooting
fountains, the blue waterfalls on either side, it’s neat. We live in one HELLUVA city. When in a fifty block drive, you can go from
P&L, to Crown Center, to the Plaza, to Brookside, then Waldo? HELLUVA city!
Speaking of which …
* If you ever want a breath-taking view of how sweet Kansas
City is, come into downtown driving up the Watkins Freeway on a sunny day in
the spring, as the bushes and flowers and trees are budding, and about the
Paseo or 22nd Street exits, just look straight ahead. It’s postcard perfect. God bless it, I hate working in
suburbia. I look out my window, and I
see a freeway, an ugly hotel, and a Hooters.
My old office downtown? I looked
south, and saw the H&R Block building, and on a clear day, could see past
Crown Center, past midtown, all the way to the Plaza. To the east?
Power and Light, and on a clear day, the Sports Complex. If I ever look for another job, “downtown
location” definitely is on the list of desirable qualities.
* Oh, and Legoland opens next door to Sea Land this weekend. When you leave Sea Land, you have to walk
through the last couple rooms of what Legoland is going to be. As someone who loved Lego’s, and whose “Special
Little Guy” is now playing with the (damn, this is scary) SIX dresser drawers
filled to the top of my old Lego’s my mom never pitched, I definitely have to
take a tour at some point. (And have
another plate of Grown-Up Mac and Cheese afterwards.)
* Also, if you go to Sea Land, when you start the visit,
they make you pose for a group photo, like the annoying folks at Worlds of Fun
do. A hint to the wise – wear a green
shirt. They stand you in front of a
green board, and snap the pic. Green on
green = the CGI’d background replacing your shirt. The photo is hilarious – there’s A-Man
cheezily smiling, and there’s my head, my pants … and the CGI background where
my shirt should be.
* Finally, it wouldn’t be a week without a “Smash” thought
or two, and this week’s thought is this: the original production number this
week, “Second Hand White Baby Grand”, just struck a nerve with me, in a good
way. “Let Me Be Your Star” is probably
not going to be topped … but “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” is good, “Let’s Be Bad” is
really good, and “Second Hand” is epically good. This one got to me emotionally,
actually. Probably because I get the
message far better than I should.
(stevo taking a deep breath …)
“Something second hand and broken / Still can make a
pretty sound …”
Here’s why that lyric, the lead line of the chorus, hits me
so powerfully. So many of you who read
this have never given up on me, no matter how many reasons I’ve given you to do
so. And I appreciate it. At this time of the year far more than any
other.
This upcoming weekend is the ten year anniversary of the
lowest moment in my life* … and somehow, everyone who was there to help me pick
up the pieces, is still there. Along
with a few other good ones picked up in the decade since. For that, I am beyond humbled, and extremely
grateful. (stevo tearing up a little bit
…)
(*: I actually got a couple positive responses to “The
Decade That Was: 2006” post from Sunday.
(Seriously, I love the email feedback, it’s cool … but post some
comments if you like it! It’s ok to
share with the world that my rambling style of blogging isn’t THAT epically bad
…)
2006 was easy to post – the only “negative” was losing a job
I passionately hated. 2002? Will not be as easy to write … or post. Ditto 2004.
I’m thinking 2008 will be the next one, because that year I witnessed some crazy
sh*t go down – for example, the night of my 31st birthday, I was
staying in Des Moines the night of President Obama’s shocking Iowa caucus upset
of Senator Clinton that revolutioned (for the worse, in my opinion) the modern
Democratic Party. Throw in a forcible
eviction of a roommate, a KC native winning an “American Idol” season that
included the (infamous in my inner circle of friends) Neil Diamond Night, a KU
national championship, the introduction of “The Ex” and “Boasheao” into my
life, not even three days after (arguably) the single most satisfying Chiefs
victory of the decade (here’s a hint – we won 2 games in 2008, and I’m not
talking about the win in oakland), and it’ll be another fun post to compose.)
Anyways, I’m done rambling.
Here’s the clip embedded below, the closing scene from Monday’s “Smash”,
from Hulu. I fear “Same Auld Lang Syne”
by Dan Fogelberg might gain a rival as “Stevo’s Most Depressing Song He’s Ever
Heard”. Give it a listen, and give “Smash”
a chance to be your star – still three original episodes to go, a second season
coming next fall, and you can catch up online at Hulu for the low, low cost of
$0.00 (if you opt for the free week trial – the most recent five episodes are
free regardless of signup for Hulu Plus).
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