Wednesday, April 25, 2012

this site's next week


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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