Confessions of a Part-Time Cripple

2007-12-15T16:37:00.001-05:00

2007-12-07T20:48:00.000-05:00

Just got done watching Penn State's 33-0 thumping of Lehigh. Ouch.

In a bout pitting a Junior World Champ against a National Beach Wrestling Champ, Bubba Jenkins DID A CARTWHEEL to avoid a shot by Trevor Chinn.

And no, I will never not refer to the beach thing when talking about Chinn.

Pretty Pictures

2007-11-22T23:43:00.000-05:00

Two artists I've just discovered after my first visit to Fecal Face in a while:

Greg Simkins

Fecal Face interview

Nancy Chan

Fecal Face interview

Reschedule the dual for '08!

2007-11-22T11:59:00.000-05:00

Being a Lehigh fan, I probably shouldn't be conceding this due to some recent bad blood between the two programs, but Cornell has a heck of a wrestling coach in Rob Koll. He's obviously gifted at recruiting and coaching, but he's also got a pretty good sense of humor, shown here with some quotes from a recent email to Big Red wrestling fans:

On 149-pounder DJ Meagher:
"What can I say about our freshman from New Hampshire, other then I am a damn genius for recruiting him! ... For those who have not seen DJ he looks like he is about 12 but he wrestles like an All-American candidate."

On 165-pound freshman Mack Lewnes:
"I don't wrestle him in the room anymore because I am not sure I can score unless I feign injury and he stops wrestling. How many times can I really get away with that offense?"

On his occasionally poor grammar:
"Remember, I coach at Cornell [but] I went to Carolina!"

It's a good thing Lehigh's got the incredible Greg Strobel at the helm (and, you know, their name on my diploma), or else I might consider jumping ship.

Bonus video: Although it doesn't have the history of "The Snake Pit" that is Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall, Cornell's got an awesome facility in the Friedman Wrestling Center.

Lehigh Wrestle-Offs

2007-10-30T21:40:00.000-04:00

Just got done watching the streaming web broadcast of Lehigh’s wrestle-offs (full results here). Thoughts:

Heavyweight Justin Allen started things off with a pin over good sport Samir Soriano, who weighed in somewhere near 184.
In a weight characterized by tiny guys, Kellen Aura looks especially undersized for a 125-pounder after wrestling 112 last year as a senior in high school. Mitch Berger (not “Ber-zhay”) got the best of him tonight by major decision.
At 133, Kevin Vinh surprised a few by getting the takedown in sudden victory overtime to defeat Seth Ciasulli, who was not sporting bleached-blonde hair.
Jeff Santo is recovering from an eye injury and didn’t wrestle tonight. Word is, he’ll be back later in the season wearing John Trenge goggles. The future of the 141-pound weight class after Santo’s graduation looks solid in freshman Kyle Rosser, a 10-0 winner over Steven Seemuller.
165-Pound National Beach Wrestling Champion (yes, really) Trevor Chinn is back down at 149 for the college folkstyle season and appears poised to show that last year’s lackluster performance was the exception and not the rule. He won by major decision over Greg Hilbert tonight.
Like every other Lehigh fan, I’m extremely excited about the arrival of Junior National Freestyle champion Sean Bilodeau. Although he’s likely to redshirt this year, he looked good out on the mat, as did his opponent and fellow freshman Ben Marich.
It was riding time that allowed sophomore 165-pounder Mike Galante to edge senior 157-pounder Dave Nakasone. I’m hoping for great performances by both guys this season. The 157-pound weight class in the EIWA looks to be up for grabs this year, while 165 is ridiculously stacked.
Sophomore sensation David Craig is rehabbing his knee and therefore did not wrestle tonight. He’ll jump in eventually at 174, at which point freshman Alex Caruso, who looked pretty good tonight, will bump up to 184.
Freshman Kadeem Samuels looks very athletic and appears to have quite some potential, but college wrestling experience proved to be the difference as he was edged by bookworm Manuel Schubert in overtime.
197 is filled with question marks for the Mountain Hawks this year, but looks like it will be filled for now by a bulked-up Alex Iacocca (of the automobile and hot dog empire). He won a fun 15-10 match over Jamie O'Dowd.

This weekend: actual competition! Maryland will be at the Avalon Duals and Navy at the Eastern Michigan Open.

Navy Wrestle-Offs

2007-10-27T22:36:00.000-04:00

Some quick thoughts on last night's Navy wrestle-offs:

Things started off at 149 where projected starter Joel Ahern had to default to Spencer Manley with a back injury. I hope it's nothing too serious, as I think Ahern should be ranked somewhere in the high teens or low twenties nationally.
Returning All-American Matt Stolpinski needed the sudden victory overtime period to beat Ben Nichols.
Matt Parsons looked good in proving that the 184-pound spot belongs to him.
Robert Johnston, last year's original starter at 165, got huge and bumped up to 197, but failed to snatch Tyler Moyer's spot.
Scott Steele was the aggressor and got the best of Ed Prendergast, making me wish that we could start both heavyweights. Both of them could be ranked top ten nationally. (Prendergast currently is.)
In three consecutive weight classes, Navy will start Maryland natives. (Parsons went to Northern-Calvert, Moyer to Broadneck, and Steele to Towson.) Not even the University of Maryland can say that.
I like what I see in Freshman 125-pounder Joey Boone.
Both back-up 133-pounders, Joe Breen and Matt Pagan, look good as well. With Breen (a McDonogh alumnus) winning in overtime, that makes four Marylanders in the starting line-up at the beginning of the season. Joe Baker is being held out for a bit to try to avoid the injury bug.
I was sitting behind Joe Baker and heard him say, "The big boys are boring, the light weights are much better to watch."

Next Tuesday: Lehigh's wrestle-offs, featuring several exciting match-ups exploring the good-for-the-team versus good-for-the-individual question, and me deciding whether or not I want to pay Yahoo! to watch.

Maryland Wrestle-Offs

2007-10-25T22:40:00.000-04:00

I just got back from the University of Maryland wrestle-offs. Full results can be found here, so I've just got a few quick thoughts:

Annapolis resident (but Mt. St. Joe alumnus) Jon Kohler surprised me by bumping up to 141 (after starting at 133 as a true freshman last year) and beating 2005 ACC champion Charlie Pinto.
Eric Medina, last year's #10 recruit overall, will be awesome. He won tonight by first period fall.
We had an interesting (at least to me) 157-pound wrestle-off, as both competitors are relatives of former Lehigh wrestlers. Freshman Brian Letters is a cousin to Troy Letters, 2004 NCAA champ at 165. Senior Clint Stout's brother John was a part-time starter at 125 for Lehigh a few years ago before transferring to East Stroudsburg. The elder Stout's main claim to fame is having twice beaten Navy's Joe Baker - once by decision and the other by knockout. Also, if you didn't know, head coach Pat Santoro was an assistant at Lehigh before taking the job here at Maryland.
In the other 157-pound match, freshman Jake Fedechko messed up his knee something fierce. As bad as I feel for him, I also felt bad for his opponent, fellow freshman Dan Hawvermale, after seeing the look of sorrow/regret/worry on his face during the injury timeout.
After having a somewhat ho-hum year as a freshman at 157, I liked what I saw of Mike McGill at 165 tonight.
Mike Letts is a beast.
No match was contested at 184, so I'll assume that means Josh Haines will be starting again this year. Let's hope he can avoid the injuries that have been plaguing him for the past few years.
Hudson Taylor didn't have a match tonight, but he was hanging around. He definitely dresses like a theater person. Which he is. He actually made up his own major, something like Street-corner Improvisational Political Theater. I'm only half joking.

Tomorrow: Navy's wrestle-offs! I'm particularly looking forward to the Moyer-Johnston match at 197 and Prendergast-Steele at heavyweight.

The Boss and the Butlers

2007-10-20T22:03:00.000-04:00

How awesome is this?

DJ Egg?

2007-10-18T19:32:00.000-04:00

If you're looking for something to do next Wednesday, October 24, come to Stan and Joe's, where I'll be one of several Underground Wednesday dwellers taking over by contributing a set to DJ Dan's Guest DJ Party.

Clear eyes, full heart, can't get that song out of my head

2007-10-08T00:19:00.000-04:00

I got The Rolling Stones’ Out Of Our Heads a while back, because it’s the album with “Play With Fire,” and that had been in my head for a week thanks to mentioned in a Jeopardy! question (something about Phil Spector playing bass). I got really into the album, thanks to a bunch of rad Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, and Marvin Gaye covers, and even went so far as to say I might like it more than Exile On Main Street. Then I listened to that one again to make sure. Boy was I wrong. All it took was the piano intro to “Loving Cup” to change my mind back.

Some other songs that’ve been stuck in my head:

The Clash’s “Pressure Drop” (also the Specials and Toots & The Maytals versions), thanks to the Nissan Rogue commercial.

Wilco’s “Muzzle of Bees,” after hearing it twice in the season two premiere of Friday Night Lights. (Unlike many others, I’ve still got hope for the show. I liked everything about the episode except for one scene. If you saw it, you know the scene I’m talking about.)

“She Took All the Money,” from the new Frank Black (Black Francis, whatever…) album, with its “sham-a-lam-a-ding-dang” chorus.

Paul Simon’s “The Obvious Child.” I have no idea why.

Last Week

2007-09-18T21:12:00.001-04:00

The Kid

2007-09-02T11:19:00.000-04:00

Best of Jason Adams at the Black Label Peepshow. The dude's one of my all-time favorites.

Five, six, nine and ten

2007-08-30T20:18:00.000-04:00

One of my current favorite songs is Feist's 1-2-3-4. Its video is just as fun as the song itself. She also performed it on Letterman with a choir featuring members of Broken Social Scene, The New Pornographers, The National, Grizzly Bear, and Mates of State. Awesome.

That's the sound of the man...

2007-08-30T20:15:00.000-04:00

If you had been in St. Michaels around eleven o'clock this morning, you might have seen me banging on a manhole with a pick-axe.

Best. Rap Video. Ever.

2007-08-13T21:24:00.000-04:00

Kanye West's "Can't Tell Me Nothing"

Jim Henson's Time Piece

2007-08-13T21:17:00.000-04:00

Jim Henson is one of the raddest Marylanders, and one of my favorite people ever. It's not all rainbow connections and ladybug picnics, though. I just came across this.

"How long have you been skateboarding?" "20 years." "Why?"

2007-08-10T11:38:00.000-04:00

More on the Jake Brown thing from...

People who should not be talking about skateboarding: Larry King.

People who should: Dave Carnie.

Bonus Fun Fact: "Larry King" is Andy's porn name (middle name + street you live on).

Hot skate links

2007-08-06T20:36:00.000-04:00

Jake Brown should get the "Best near death on live television" Espy next year. ESPN made YouTube take down the video, but I'm sure everyone's seen his fall already.
William Spencer has been called the "Mile High Skate Ninja" by Michael Burnett. See why.
Slap is having their annual One In A Million contest again. It's like skateboarding's American Idol! I voted for the kid from Buffalo.
I love this photo from the Made For Skate exhibition in London. Hopefully we'll see that kid pick up a board in five years or so.

"Why should I change? He's the one who sucks."

2007-08-02T00:46:00.000-04:00

I just got back from the bar, where they had baseball on the TVs. Did you know that the Brewers have a dude named Corey Hart? His face looks like it's been hardened by years of being made fun of for wearing sunglasses at night.

Things that look cool

2007-08-01T20:31:00.000-04:00

Here's a pair of sites devoted to things that have gone the way of, well, cassette tapes and the Atari 2600.

38th and rising...

2007-07-31T20:27:00.000-04:00

Things are looking up for Lehigh Wrestling next year. Incoming recruit Sean "Spike" Bilodeau is the 152-pound national junior freestyle champion and tournament Outstanding Wrestler, after winning eight of his ten matches by pin. Junior Trevor Chinn is the 165-pound national beach wrestling champion (Yes, that is a real thing.). Now all we need is to find a 197-pounder...

The He-Coon Walks!

2007-07-29T21:19:00.000-04:00

John's Event Horizon has become Walkin' Lawton while he's in Florida writing his book on Lawton Chiles (I don't know, ask him.).

Mumford

2007-07-29T20:34:00.001-04:00

Among my friends, there are a few movies that are severely divisive. And by that I mean they divide the group into those who haven't seen the movie, and those who hate me for making them watch it. Mumford is one of these movies. And I don't know why.

In it, a psychologist moves into a small town with which he shares a name, and proceeds to change the lives of several clients. The catch, it turns out, is that he is not, nor has he ever been, a licensed psychologist. I was drawn to the movie when it came out because of the involvement of Jason Lee, who plays a billionaire who runs the modem company that either employs or impacts the majority of the town's residents. He has a few scenes in which he rides a skateboard (a Stereo skateboard, of course), and in fact this is probably the only time that the "I should see this movie because it has a pro skater in it" rationale has actually had a good result. The rest of the cast is pretty good, with plenty of actors you either know or recognize.

I was pleasantly surprised to find Mumford on one of the local TV channels today, amidst the Robocops and Legally Blondes that are normally shown on weekend afternoons. It was the highlight of a Sunday spent almost entirely on the couch.

Kim Richey's Little Record

2007-07-29T19:50:00.000-04:00

Last time I was in the Record & Tape Traders here in Annapolis (which is sadly now closed), the dude behind the counter slipped Kim Richey's promo EP Little Record into my bag. It pretty much hasn't left my stereo since. Internet searches for more information have been fruitless; I can't even find the cover art to post here. It seems to be one of those cardboard-packaged discs that occasionally come rubberbanded to new CDs. The five-song EP "exclusive acoustic recordings" of two songs off her new album, two older songs, and a Cake cover (the song "Mexico," the original version of which I've never heard). If you somehow manage to come across this Little Record EP, or any other Kim Richey album, I'd highly recommend it.

Veritas

2007-07-26T00:39:00.000-04:00

I got my copy of Veritas in the mail the other day. I was first excited about this movie because I knew that most of the footage came from the filmakers following the Lehigh wrestling team around the entire '04-05 season (my senior year), and that would be a good season to relive. Throughout the course of that season, I got increasingly frustrated with Jon Trenge and his disqualification from matches that were costing Lehigh dual wins (despite the fact that he was a nice guy every time I encountered him off the mat in class). This documentary sheds some light on the pressure that was on Trenge to become a national champion, even after his potentially career-threatening eye injury, and how remarkable it is that he kept on going for it. I even feel bad now that on my old website, on the Lehigh server, I dissed Trenge for the matches from which he got disqualified. While it lacks the Disney-underdog-sports-movie ending, Veritas is a pretty great sports movie, showing the lengths to which one will go to compete in the sport he loves. If you live near me, chances are that I will try to force this movie on you sometime in the near future. Here's the trailer, so you know what you've got to look forward to.

Making (Faking?) Art With GIS

2007-07-23T21:20:00.000-04:00

I've always been really interested in maps. Every so often while using the GIS application at work, I'll notice a really cool, almost artsy view (in the eye of the beholder, mind you). This time the screen froze on this while waiting to redraw after zooming in:

Special no-prize for anyone who tells me what and where this is.

Travelin' light, gonna speed through the night

2007-07-12T23:25:00.000-04:00

Bren and I just saw Dean and Britta at Ram's Head. They played an awesome show for a crowd that was nowhere near capacity. They even played some Galaxie 500 and Luna songs! (Including three from Penthouse! (Including "Bonnie and Clyde!" (Which is really a Serge Gainsbourg song, but you know...))) This was also the second show I've seen at Ram's Head featuring a real-life counterpart of a fictional musician. (But I'll let you figure that one out.)

Virginia Beach

2007-07-11T20:21:00.000-04:00

I've been lagging in posting this stuff, but two weekends ago the family took a trip down to the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area.

On the list of places I've lived, my lenght of time spent in Virginia Beach (kindergarten through fifth grade) is second only to my second (and current) stay in Annapolis, so it's weird to go back and reminisce and think about what ifs.

We visited several of our old haunts, including the old house (The treehouse has been removed, but the basketball hoop remains.), Providence Elementary, and Mt. Trashmore (Maybe much can be explained by the fact that I used to regularly play on a landfill.). We also ate at a restaurant in Pungo, but there was no sign of the ghost of Grace Sherwood.

I was also excited about a visit to the Virginia Marine Science Museum, now known as the Virginia Aquarium, which doesn't sound nearly as cool to me. I have so many fond memories of Saturdays spent there that, even though I hadn't visited it in at least thirteen years, it still remains one of my top three museums ever.

It's amazing, some of the stuff they find in shark stomachs.

The wild Brendan, once indigenous to Virginia, is now more commonly found in Maryland crab pots.

Otter wrestling!

We spent every morning at Dam Neck, the beach we used to go to on a Navy base to avoid all the crazies at downtown Virginia Beach.

Bren wrangles the sand gator he spent all day carefully crafting.

Action shot!

Dad and Uncle Frank: did not plan this.

So the real reason we were down there was for my cousin Sarah's wedding.

It was a Navy wedding, so we got the rad sword tunnel thing. When the couple comes to each pair of lowered swords, the dudes say, "Price of passage: a kiss," and they kiss, and the swords get raised. Uncle Jimmy refused to raise his sword and responded, "How about a real kiss..." Then he let them through, smacked Sarah on the ass with the sword, and said, "Welcome to the Navy, Mrs. McMath!"

It was also a Jewish wedding, so we did that rad chair dance thing.

Sarah and Dan apparently met swing dancing, so they looked like they knew what they were doing on the floor...

...Unlike the Weckerlys. Yes, the four of us really are dancing here.

A bunch of loser Weckerlys.

"It's like a plastic piano that you blow into."

2007-06-28T16:54:00.000-04:00

I just found out that for the past year, every time I've mentioned harmoniums, I've really been talking about melodicas. Silly me.

"Rob Koll isn't very well-liked in the Lehigh Valley."

2007-06-15T13:28:00.000-04:00

It's unrelated to anything that's actually going on in the world right now, but I was checking some off-season wrestling message board chatter, and came across several possible Cornell line-ups for next year. It's scary, the team they might put on the mat in November.

Eastern Exposure Zero

2007-06-15T13:12:00.000-04:00

Dan Wolfe has put Eastern Exposure Zero up on his web site. Mid-nineties street skating from the likes of Donny Barley, Ricky Oyola, Fred Gall, Keith Hufnagel, Mike Maldonado, and Jamie Thomas, among others. It's awesome how well the footage holds up today; I'd highly recommend investing the nine minutes to check it out. The streaming internet video is better quality than the dubbed VHS copy I have.

Diagram of my shin after the past few days skating:

2007-06-09T17:39:00.000-04:00

Highest, Longest, Farthest... Nakedest?

2007-05-26T02:15:00.000-04:00

I posted about it a while back, but I just got around to watching the 2006 Thrasher King of the Road video. A few thoughts:

Zero could keep entering forever and they'd still be a lock to win it. We already know that they were nice enough not to enter this year, though.
We also already know that Chris Cole is one of the best skateboarders ever, but after his leg wrestling win over El Vortex, I will never mess with that dude.
Tommy Sandoval may have won "Gnarliest Naked Trick," but I think that award should've gone to Ed Templeton and his naked impossible nosepick over a spine.
Baker filmer Beagle firecrackered 26 stairs. Good Lord!
Did we really see Chet Thomas boneless into a dirt bike track? Awesome.
Best trick for points in the book yet? The half cab staple gun on transition.
Prior to watching the video, I was impartial towards Adam Dyet, but now I would count myself as a fan.
I cannot believe that the kind of people who can become professional skateboarders are fucked-up enough to get heart-a-gram tattoos. Idiots.

Spiderman 3

2007-05-09T23:11:00.000-04:00

Just saw Spidey 3. Being the former (at least that's what I tell people) comics nerd that I am, there was a whole bunch of stuff about it I didn't like. But it was still an awesome movie, and probably my third-favorite of the recent Marvel adaptations (behind the other two Spiderman movies. Yes, Chris, it was better than X-Men 2.) Here are some thoughts on it: Oh yeah, SPOILER ALERT or whatever.

Gwen Stacy: prettier than MJ. Betty Brant: hotter than them both.
I thought for sure that Captain Stacy was going to get it when that rubble was falling from the building during the crane incident. Even without the involvement of Doc Ock.
Also: how are they going to kill Gwen now, having already used the bridge gimmick with Mary Jane? You know they’ve got to do it somehow before Peter and MJ get married.
With the costume changes/updates that often happen with comic-to-movie translations, I’m happy that the Sandman kept his green striped shirt.
Stan Lee said “’Nuff said.”! Now he’s got to appear in Fantastic Four 2 and shout “Excelsior!”
If they keep making sequels, they're going to run out of ways to work the old cartoon theme song into them. What next? A punk band singing it at some bar? Quick, someone resurrect half of the Ramones! In the Marvel Universe, only Bucky and Uncle Ben stay dead!
Was that Bruce Campbell as the French restaurant Maître d'?
Not too keen on Harry’s Green Goblin outfit, but it was better than his dad’s.
When symbiote costume Spidey smashed Eddie Brock’s (Topher Grace’s) camera, prompting him to shout “What the hell?”, I almost expected it to be followed by the name Donna.
Chris thinks the Lizard will be one of the next villains. I’m kind of hoping they just keep amputee Dr. Connors around as a supporting character without the mutation thing.
Pelvic thrusting and dance scenes: totally unnecessary. Secondhand embarrassment: through the roof.
I was really hoping for a Spiderman vs. Green Goblin, Venom, and Sandman handicap match.
They need to bring back Harry Osborne and the Green Goblin eventually.
When Sandman was giving that speech to Spidey after the big fight, was I the only one who thought he was going to go into the “All we are is dust in the wind…” spiel from Bill & Ted’s? And now that he’s showing signs of redemption, will this lead to a role in Silver Sable’s Wild Pack or a stint with the Avengers? Only time will tell. Or not.

I love the internet.

2007-04-26T00:41:00.000-04:00

I think my new favorite band is Best Fwends.

Awm mah feewin

2007-04-26T00:26:00.000-04:00

I rarely listen to them anymore, but I had my computer on shuffle while writing that last post, and Pearl Jam's "Yellow Leadbetter" came up. Damn, that's a good song.

Penguin Dreams and Stranger Things

2007-04-26T00:11:00.000-04:00

The Onion's A.V. Club does a weekly feature, Random Rules, in which they take a certain celebrity, be it a Daily Show correspondent or a drummer from some indie band, and have them put their mp3 player on shuffle and talk about what comes up (no skipping allowed). This week's shuffler happens to be one of my all-time favorite cartoonists, Berkeley Breathed. It also may be my all-time favorite installment of this feature.

2007-04-17T20:43:00.000-04:00

I just got done watching [Plan B's 1994 video] Second Hand Smoke. Jeremy Wray is one of my all-time favorites, and his part in this might be my favorite of his. Would you believe it's not on Youtube, though? Would someone please get on that? We don't see enough of him nowadays.

I did, however, come across this.

Real men wear spandex. And dance.

2007-04-15T19:24:00.000-04:00

The Ohio State wrestling team: tenth in wrestling, first in dancing.

The Side Effects of Urethane

2007-04-14T13:11:00.000-04:00

Skateboarding in a Finnish art museum. I like these guys.

"Creature" feature

2007-04-09T19:18:00.000-04:00

When I first saw David Gravette, I regarded him as just another teenage sponsored am (although he does skate for Creature), but now after seeing his performance at the Phoenix Am, he's up near the top of my list.

On a somewhat related note: my current favorite Mark Gonzales quote is "I don't collect anything. Except for smiles."

Juli and Lisa's Crazy Adventures

2007-04-02T20:21:00.000-04:00

So Juli's in Singapore for a while doing nurse-y things. She set up a blog over here.

I would've posted this sooner, Juli, but I've been skating.

Really "Rollin' 'em over in the clover"

2007-03-21T17:40:00.000-04:00

I'm lagging in posting this now, but watch this match between Darrion Caldwell and Ryan Lang from this past weekend's NCAA Championships. What a scramble!

The 103rd EIWAs

2007-03-03T12:53:00.000-05:00

After the first day of the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association tournament, Cornell unfortunately seems to have locked up the team title, with 112.5 points and six men in the finals. Navy’s in second with 90.5 points and four in the finals. After winning the thing five years in a row, Lehigh stands at a disappointing fifth with 61 points and one finalist. Here’s a weight-by-weight breakdown with an obvious Navy/Lehigh bias:

125: Navy’s Alex Usztics was knocked out of the tournament in his third and closest loss of the year to Army’s Fernando Martinez, 4-3. Paired up against Martinez in the consolation semis is Lehigh’s Matt Fisk, last year’s EIWA runner up, for whom I predict a third place finish. Fisk was defeated in the semifinals by Penn senior Matt Eveleth, a three-time Maryland state champion from Chesapeake High School. Eveleth will wrestle Cornell’s Troy Nickerson, last year’s national runner-up, in the finals.

133: Everyone’s excited about the finals here, featuring a rematch of Penn’s returning national champion Matt Valenti and Cornell freshman phenom Adam Frey. In their previous match this season, Valenti literally spanked Frey after decking him in a minute and a half. Proving that his defeat of Navy’s nationally-ranked Joe Baker a month ago was no fluke, Bucknell’s David Marble did it again in the quarterfinals. Baker has now reached the consolation semis after finally beating John Stout of ESU (and formerly of Lehigh). In their two dual meetings over their careers, Stout has beaten Baker both times, once by decision and the other by knock-out. In an ideal world, Baker would now wrestle against Lehigh’s Seth Ciasulli for third, but he first has to get through Harvard’s Robbie Preston, and Ciasulli’s got to get past the obviously dangerous Marble. This is the most stacked weight in the conference, likely to send all six placers to the national tournament. There are, however, probably nine guys that deserve to go.

141: Nobody saw this one coming. Army’s fourth-seeded Matt Kyler has reached the finals after narrowly beating Penn’s eight-seeded Brett McCurdy, who pinned American’s unseeded Kyle Borshoff, who pinned Harvard’s top-seeded Max Meltzer. Lehigh senior Matt Ciasulli has breezed through to his third appearance in the finals, where he will seek his first title. He’s already beaten Kyler once this year. Navy’s Brad Canterbury has been knocked out of the tournament by the previously-mentioned Meltzer, who may meet Borshoff again in the third-place match.

149: This weight is a disappointment to Lehigh fans for sure. Returning finalist Trevor Chinn is out with an injury, so 141-pounder Jeff Santo stepped up to fill the spot. That was, however, until he failed the skin check Thursday afternoon. Enter: 133-pound Maryland transfer Kevin Vinh. Almost needless to say, two and out. You’ve got to give it to him for trying, though; he only lost by a point to Rutgers’ Jack Barrett. Navy’s John Cox will likely place third here. The seeds have played out into the finals, with number one Jordan Leen of Cornell going against number two J.P. O’Connor of Harvard.

157: Navy’s second-seeded team captain John Jarred will meet Penn’s top-seeded Matt Dragon, last year’s champ at 149, in the finals. I think Jarred can win this one. I’m hoping for a third-place finish for Lehigh’s Dave Nakasone, a product of Ellicott City’s Centennial High School (who, I have heard, didn’t even start wrestling till ninth grade). Also worth mentioning at this weight is Franklin & Marshall’s Andrew Smith, an Annapolis High alumnus. While he was eliminated early, he has come a long way since getting booted from the Maryland state tournament for throwing a headbutt.

165: I, like many others, have been pleasantly surprised this season by American’s Mike Cannon and his ascent up the national rankings. It’s unfortunately uncommon to see Maryland natives (Cannon went to Chopticon) having that kind of success at the Division I level. In the finals he’ll see Cornell’s Steve Anceravage, against whom common opponent strings have him winning on paper. This is a weak weight for both Lehigh and Navy, with Manuel Schubert and Justin Jacobs having been eliminated early. I’m a fan of both guys, though, Schubert for getting a 4.0 GPA every semester, and Jacobs for bumping up from 157 for the good of the team.

174: Navy’s Matt Stolpinski will look to continue his success against Columbia’s returning All-American Matt Palmer (another Maryland native, having attended Bullis before transferring to Blair) in the finals. Earlier in the season Stolpinski got the win by fall, but I’m willing to bet Palmer makes it much harder this time. American’s Rudy Rueda, a former high school standout at Dematha, will place at least sixth, as will Matt Herrington, the fourth of Penn’s nationally-ranked Matts. Lehigh’s Dave Helfrich has continued his disappointing season with a two and out performance here.

184: Antonio Miranda! The Navy senior upset Lehigh freshman David Craig, this year’s number one recruit, four-time undefeated Florida state champion, and multiple-time junior national champion, in the semis. He will now attempt to read Harvard’s Louis Caputo his rights in the finals.

197: Matt Parsons has been doing well for Navy after bumping up from 184. He’s reached the consolation semis with a tech fall, a major decision, and a pin, with his lone loss coming from American’s Josh Glenn, last year’s 184-pound champion. I’m hoping for a third-place match between Parsons and Lehigh’s Matt Cassidy, who upset Cornell’s Jerry Rinaldi last year to become champion at this weight. Cassidy has had bad luck in the past against Navy 184-pounders bumped up to 197. The finalists here are Rinaldi and Glenn.

285: Continuing the Navy tradition of strong heavyweights, Ed Prendergast is in the finals after a series of close decisions (Close decisions at heavyweight? Who’d have thought?). There he’ll face Cornell’s Zach Hammond, who advanced with a slight upset of Lehigh’s Paul Weibel. In what seems to be an act of defiance against the statement that he “lives or dies by the pin,” Weibel has wrestled the full seven minutes in all three of his bouts yesterday. He’s favored to get third now, and I’m sure the audience is hoping to see some of his dramatic but risky throws.

They’re wrestling the consolation matches up in East Stroudsburg as I type this, so I suppose I’ll have to update later with the final results. Also occurring today is the ACC tournament down in Raleigh, which I’m hopeful (and somewhat confident, even) that Maryland will win.

Update: See how things actually played out at the ESU site.

2007-02-28T19:31:00.000-05:00

Today I learned that there's a Maryland Association of Tobacco & Candy Distributors. And they say they don't market cigarettes to kids...

Big Mouth strikes again

2007-02-25T13:36:00.000-05:00

Smolikburger with steez

2007-02-10T09:40:00.000-05:00

Back in the late nineties when he was in the spotlight, I used to love Peter Smolik. I think I saw that he's got a part coming out in the next Transworld video. I can't wait.

Some rad things that've happened in the last month of wrestling

2007-01-20T19:46:00.000-05:00

Both Navy and Maryland finishing ahead of Lehigh at the Southern Scuffle.
Navy falling two points shy of upsetting 4th-ranked Oklahoma State.
Annapolis High School’s state champ Bubby Graham defeating Broadneck’s Abe Hunter 1-0 in the dual meet. Graham’s now 5-0 against Hunter. They’d previously met in last year’s dual and the finals of the county, region, and state tournaments.
Maryland defeating UNC, which probably clinched an ACC regular season dual meet title. I though for sure that UNC would win.
Maryland’s then-20th-ranked 165-pounder Jason Kiessling upsetting two ranked foes – UNC’s then-12th-ranked Keegan Mueller and Illinois’ then-14th-ranked Roger Smith-Bergsrud – in one day.
Maryland’s Mike Letts throwing the most beautiful fireman’s carry I’ve ever seen against his Illinois opponent in that same dual.
Navy beating Lehigh for the first time in ten years with a final score of 26-12. Just four years ago Lehigh became the only team to ever blank Navy.
Walt Whitman High School’s Eren Civan, an undefeated three-time state champion, losing by injury default in the 160 pound finals of the Mount Mat Madness tournament to Luke Rebertus of Deleware’s Caravel Academy. The two may meet again in college, as Civan has committed to Columbia and Rebertus recently committed the Naval Academy, both schools who wrestle in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association.
In a rebuilding season in which they lost to Rider, Lehigh somehow upsetting Cornell 21-19.
On a related note, while it’s rare that I say something nice about a Cornell wrestler, 149-pounder Jordan Leen has written a pretty entertaining blog post that you can read here. (Scroll down to entry number four.)

2007-01-06T20:06:00.000-05:00

Line Rider: "With the pencil tool, draw a line from top-left towards bottom-right. After you finish drawing, press the play button and watch the rider go." Apparently there are versions of this coming out for the DS and Wii. When you get tired of playing, check out some of the movies. The tracks in those will put yours to shame.

Also: Check out what Shin Tanaka can do with paper.

Happy New Year

2007-01-01T15:35:00.000-05:00

Merry Twisted Christmas!

2006-12-23T21:15:00.000-05:00

We Feel Fine

2006-12-20T21:26:00.000-05:00

While wefeelfine.org may not be as useful as Google Maps, I certainly wasted as much time when I first discovered it.

AS / FSTS / ZY

2006-12-16T00:33:00.000-05:00

I've never been a fan of Anthony Shetler, but that tailslide on the blue wave ledge in France in the new Zoo York promo: daaaaammnnn!

Lighted boat parade

2006-12-10T11:14:00.000-05:00

Angel blowing a horn. "Heralding" may be the verb of choice here.

From left to right: shark, waterskiing Santa, palm tree, animated jumping dolphin, and parrot.

Whale.

Same whale with different colored spout.

Unidentified mammal with either window panes or presents.

Blue angel. Not heralding.

Navy flag. John thought it was Norway. As you can see here, he was kind of close.

Train.

I call this boat "The One With The Chiclets."

More fun with hyperlinks

2006-12-09T14:43:00.000-05:00

Matt Furie is good at drawing. If you poke around on his website you can find Skeletor and a Street Shark and Big Bird.

Live hamster in an 8-bit world.

Manimals?

Hello internet.

2006-12-07T17:51:00.000-05:00

Raddest turtle ever:

Remember that video? The one that was on the internet? It had that guy in it? He did a bunch of dances in a row? It was not in the least bit entertaining yet a million people liked it anyway? Well this guy is about twenty-eight times awesomer. And he's got a video game playing roommate.

The recent collaboration between Mark Gonzales and Christian Hosoi has some good stuff to look at.

2006-12-05T21:35:00.000-05:00

Some weird things that've happened in the last few days:

I woke Brendan up the other morning to find that he was already holding his cell phone. Then he threw it at me.
I somehow managed to get tzatziki sauce in my hair while eating a gyro.
I just had a conversation about socks.

Rollin' 'em over (in the clover)

2006-11-30T00:52:00.000-05:00

So wrestling season's pretty much in full swing. And Lehigh's totally sucking it up. Relatively. They started the season 0-2 for the first time since like 1992. And it looks like their streak of 5 EIWA championships is going to end at the hands of Cornell (or Harvard. Or Penn.). And they're only ranked 23rd or something. And Rider beat them.

Meanwhile, Navy's got a well-rounded team and a few guys who'll qualify for nationals, but probably not place. As usual. And Maryland keeps getting better, with continuously highly-regarded recruiting classes. Look for them to be in the top 20 within about three years.

End of an era?

2006-11-30T00:46:00.000-05:00

I have it on good authority that Acme's Underground Wednesdays might be coming to an end soon. So get there while you can. And by that I mean like next Wednesday. Bummer.

My favorite artists are all the masters

2006-11-16T01:23:00.000-05:00

Mark Gonzales is fucking awesome.

Critical Areas 1, Unsmart Growth 0

2006-11-06T17:50:00.000-05:00

You probably haven't heard in the midst of all this election hub-bub, but the State of Maryland is going to buy and preserve 754 of the 1,080 acres of the proposed development threatening the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Yay conservation!

McCarty Photoworks

2006-11-04T01:55:00.000-05:00

Photos of toys in real world settings; you should check this site out.

Liquid poetess

2006-11-02T19:05:00.000-05:00

Have you ever listened to "One Inch Rock" by T. Rex? He was a weirdo, Marc Bolan.

Handrail nollie smiths

2006-11-02T17:52:00.000-05:00

Remember Matt Mumford's part in Zero's Misled Youth? It was short but awesome.

GIS!

2006-10-31T18:08:00.000-05:00

Had this up on my screen for a while at work today. Kind of pretty, isn't it?

It was a graveyard smash

2006-10-31T18:03:00.000-05:00

I heard "The Monster Mash" on the radio this morning, and couldn't help but think of pro skateboarder Donny Barley. His uncle wrote the song, you know.

On a related note, they played like twenty versions of "Werewolves of London."

Aussies abroad

2006-10-28T01:14:00.000-04:00

Blake and Maggs are keeping a journal of their journeys around the globe. It's worth viewing if only for the picture of Clark in his professor costume.

Juli's pictures from last weekend

2006-10-28T00:57:00.000-04:00

Part 2: Camping

We went down to look at the Elk River and thought we lost Maggs. Then we turn around and holy shit he's up the cliff behind us on a tree root.

Me contemplating nutrient loads to the Chesapeake Bay estuary system.

Maggs, Blake, and Clark discuss sex. Or the mile run. One or the other.

Blake's midshipman outfit.

A ghost. Or Paul Revere. Or me.

That's beer that Juli's drinking from that there kettle.

Juli's pictures from last weekend

2006-10-28T00:40:00.000-04:00

Part 1: Phillips

A half-and-half and Clark. Ask him where he got his "Zcud" hat.

It's pictures like this that make my friends hate me. Chris, Juli, and Melissa.

I give a thumbs up to Chris's broken pinky. Also, it looks like he's double-fisting. He's not.

The Aussies: Maggs and Blake.

Floodplain safety? Hell yeah!

2006-10-11T17:50:00.000-04:00

Today I was reviewing the administrative variance file for a project in which the homeowner is increasing the elevation of his garage to meet floodplain safety requirements. Enclosed I found a letter from the Critical Area Commission containing the following text:

"It appears that the project proposes to raise the roof..."

Garage construction gets me excited like that, too.

Fartsy

2006-10-09T00:26:00.000-04:00

I just found an old email to myself to check out these links:

zvereff.com

saidanddone.ca

And while you're at it, check out Corey Arnold's stuff, it's always awesome.

coreyfishes.com

Playing music that doesn't suck

2006-09-30T00:36:00.000-04:00

If you're looking for something to do in Annapolis on Wednesday night (October 4), come to Acme Bar & Grill, where I'll be one of several guest DJ's helping celebrate the fifth anniversary of Troy's Underground with DJ Dan.

And now you're just putting the days to bed

2006-09-30T00:18:00.000-04:00

Saw the Long Winters at Sonar on Wednesay. I'm now one step closer to dying happy. They were totally awesome. And I'm not just saying that because they're one of my favorite bands. They really were one of the best live shows I've seen.

What the hell?

2006-09-30T00:13:00.000-04:00

That is all.

A brief excercise in bullet points

2006-09-13T23:38:00.000-04:00

What's Going On by Marvin Gaye is still an awesome album.
I tried to skate the other day. A few no-complies later (both regular and switch) and it seems that I'm still not up to it.
Exploding Dog continues to amuse me.
I got lost in the middle of the woods in my truck on a twelve-hundred acre parcel at work today.
If I had to pick one ROM file to live with for the rest of forever, there's a pretty good chance it would be Sonic the Hedgehog 3 for the Sega Genesis.
For those of you who do not participate in the democratic process (*ahem* Chris), shame on you.
I like ti ite ite ipples ind bininis.

Yet another tiger-related video...

2006-09-02T09:36:00.000-04:00

Do you think Xzibit could hook me up with one of these?

KOTR

2006-08-29T18:29:00.000-04:00

If you ride a skateboard, then chances are you've heard by now that Zero won Thrasher's King of the Road for the third time in a row. I heard that next year they're changing the title of the competition to "Win Jamie Thomas' Money."

Wizards of Radical

2006-08-19T18:09:00.000-04:00

Bueno's new promo video is out. Peep it here.

Recycling won't save you...

2006-08-10T22:02:00.000-04:00

"In his new book Endgame, Jensen argues that civilization—the utilitarian worldview put into practice—is not only stupid, it’s terminal. All forms of human civilization have historically worked to steadily exhaust the planet’s non-renewable resources, he says; therefore, no amount of technological ingenuity, no amount of political reform, no amount of Al Gore documentaries or carpool lanes or farmers’ markets or solar credits or biodiesel vehicles or Daryl Hannah in a tree will ever adequately replace what civilization has consumed in order to sustain itself, much less invert its fundamental imperative to use up the planet."

Read on...

2006-08-10T21:58:00.000-04:00

I had a Harvey Danger song stuck in my head today that wasn't "Flagpole Sitta." How often do you think that happens?

Oh Bee Ecks

2006-07-31T20:05:00.000-04:00

The song's rad, too.

2006-07-20T01:22:00.000-04:00

Among recent skate videos I don't own, I've been really enjoying watching Ethan Fowler's That's Life part. Check it out, it's rad. Or don't, if you're not into skating.

Magazines currently found in the bathroom at work

2006-07-20T00:55:00.000-04:00

National Inquirer:

The theme of this issue is “The fifty worst celebrity beach bodies.” Or something like that. The part that cracks me up every time is where there’s an arrow pointing to Chris Noth’s gut that says “Mr. Big!” It’s actually kind of unsettling that I understand enough to find that funny.

Maxim:

Holy shit! Jessica Simpson dyed her hair! Also: cocktails with names like “Space Monkey.” I haven’t even bothered to pick this one up. This one has a Post-It note on the cover that says “Custodial staff: Do not remove.”

This Old House:

Plumbing fixtures from the future: sinks with LED lights that change according to the water temperature. I am pretty psyched about that. Another article details how to turn your garden into a secret meditative hiding place or something. No mention of Bob Villa. [Side note: One of my favorite public service announcements to play when I was a radio DJ was the one with Bob Villa explaining that your chances of getting tetanus decrease if you wear gloves when you’re gardening.]

2006-06-26T18:08:00.000-04:00

I was just recalling this nice memory I have of riding a sleeper train from Germany to Italy and staring out the window. It's a shame that I was listening to Third Eye Blind on my headphones at the time, though.

Solstice and Slappies

2006-06-21T20:48:00.000-04:00

Aside from being the longest day of the year and beginning of summer, today also happens to be Go Skateboarding Day. Since my knee's still messed up from a week or two ago, I didn't get to participate to the degree that I would've liked, but I can still say that I did indeed go skateboarding. Sean and Jay (ages 3 and 1) from next door participated, too. To get you in the GSD mood, here's The Gonz in Video Days.

Talbot County is weird, vol. 14

2006-06-20T19:25:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday I found a dude sunbathing in the parking lot behind the Acme in St. Michaels.

I haven't been able to look at her with a straight face since I got home.

2006-06-19T19:11:00.000-04:00

Guess who went on a pirate adventure today.

Is it Spring where you are? I Waited all winter...

2006-06-03T00:54:00.000-04:00

The Long Winters have a new album coming out July 25. Totally psyched. So far we can hear "Pushover" and "Ultimatum" (off previous EP of same name). Sounds awesome.

Tyger

2006-05-27T15:53:00.000-04:00

Dude, watch this video.

Here are some rad things:

2006-05-26T22:13:00.000-04:00

Andrew Pommier

Randy Laybourne

Michael Sieben

Otis Redding

Billy Bragg & Wilco

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Fordham Brewing Co.

Larry Fellows Live

2006-05-22T22:47:00.000-04:00

Just saw Mark Kozelek at the Ram's Head. It was rad.

Djddy?

2006-05-20T20:25:00.000-04:00

I speak for the trees

2006-05-11T19:29:00.000-04:00

This past week I've seen two rad bumper stickers:

First was The Lorax, amidst a whole bunch of other environmental stickers.

And yesterday I came across what might be the best white oval sticker I've ever seen.

Clark's new do

2006-05-07T12:57:00.000-04:00

"Alright, Clark, let me get the 'before' shot."

"Sean, stop making Andy laugh."

"This would've been more fun if we'd waited till after a few more beers."

"Crap, the clippers died. Just kidding."

"That's right, dude, look menacing. Smiling is a sign of weekness."

There's more to the NES than Tecmo Super Bowl.

2006-05-01T21:06:00.002-04:00

Prior to Saturday night, Chris had never played Bubble Bobble:

What a deprived childhood. Other games Chris has missed out on include Burgertime:

And Duck Tales:

Follow-up on the note to self

2006-04-22T21:26:00.000-04:00

For the longest time I've had this image playing in my head of someone doing a switch frontside bluntslide, like with a very specific style. I just watched the Stereo video, and it's totally Matt Rodriguez (on the C-Block at Embarcadero).

Note to self:

2006-04-22T20:35:00.000-04:00

Watch the Physics video and the first Stereo video.

Japanese Rube Goldbergs just stole thirteen minutes of my life.

2006-04-19T19:33:00.000-04:00

The same can happen to you here.

Found on Youtube, vol. 8314

2006-04-18T21:42:00.000-04:00

Og De Souza - A skateboarder that anyone can (and should) appreciate.

Lupe Fiasco's "Kick, Push" - Skate rap!

So hot right now...

2006-04-15T19:44:00.000-04:00

Get it?