march madness

another weekend full of shenanigans is in the bank.

I threw a huge party on friday at the house... it was a combination of three people's burfdays, so the guestlist was pretty big. Then, some really ballsy underclassmen from BU decided to stop by. I'm not sure how the logic goes in their heads, but it must be something similar to "hey... it sounds like there's a party going on in that house. Even though we don't know anyone there, let's invite ourselves in and drink the beer!" Crazy kids.

Joe Mac had to yell out "COPS!" a couple of times to clear a bunch of em out. I didn't realize just how many young'ns were there until he did that and about half of the people in my kitchen fled out the back door. I was like "damn!"

Saturday required me to set my alarm for noon, as on Friday I had won a Bruins ticket from my company and wanted to catch the game. Turns out our company seats are frickin amazing. 5 rows up from the opponents face off circle. So I got to see the Bruins attack their goal for 2 of the 3 periods. They also won, beating the Senators 4-0. I'm not a huge hockey fan, but it was an awesome game to see (for free).

Saturday nite, Steve Nichols drove back down cuz he wanted to hang with some friend of his from Northeastern. I said I'd be down for that cuz I didnt have any plans. So we went over, met his buds, and walked to a small bar. Waiting to get a drinkie, I see a girl I went to elementary school wit sittin at the bar with her friend! Random! I'd only seen her once since I'd been in Boston, and that was when she came to a party of mine (the one where I was passed out at midnite-- bad news). So it was cool seein her. We ended up rollin to another place and gettin our dance on. I was dancin wit her friend for quite a bit. Then we went back to her apartment and she said I could crash on her futon (I'm too cheap to get a $20 cab ride home, i mean seriously).

So, I had known my friend had posed for some calendar that had featured all these Northeastern girls, but I hadn't actually seen it. But there it was on her wall-- open to her month! I must say, the photos were pretty frickin hawt. My friend was in two fotos which she showed me, then she took it down and showed me the cover (see the foto at the top of this entry.)

I looked at it for a bit. Dayummmmm it was her friend! Her friend is def an attractive young lady, but this pic was redonk (i mean, LOOK at it!). My friend said they had put on just a little bit of makeup. These pics were real professional-looking. I mean, I only pose when i know i'm dealing with professional quality people, and they hafta have good PhotoShop ability too.

Speakin of which. Check out this crazy vid showing just how amazing PhotoShop can be in the right person's hands.



It's also March Madness of course. I have UCLA winning my bracket, but frankly Memphis is looking NAAAAASTY. They're a really exciting team to watch. I absolutely hate UNC. It's mostly just Tyler Hansbrough. He bothers me a lot, for some reason. I wasn't too upset when this happened last year:

Anywhoo. How bout some muzack. I've been wanting to plug the following group for awhile, as they are awesome and a part of Maine culture. Schooner Fare plays marine songs (hard to describe i guess...) but their folky guitars and awesome, clear voices are some things I was raised on. I even saw them live a couple times, and they are great performers-- telling lots of jokes and stories between the classics.

So here are three good tracks by a great Maine band.

Schooner Fare - Day of the Clipper

Schooner Fare - Portland Town

Schooner Fare - Summer Roads

"Summer roads all full of turns and bends,
Summer roads that lead to my old friends,
Summer roads by summer streams,
where I live all my winter dreams,
and the good times always start down summer roads."

adios!

-- obbs

out of touch, out of time

so much has happened in the last week. mr. obbs apologizes for the lack of updates!! I know you fans are growing impatient. Thanks for all the blog comments too, btdubs.

So much has happened that I'll prob hafta break this into two posts to catch everyone up.

1. My company basketball teram came back from a 9 point 2nd half deficit to win the championship!! The prizes kept snowballing too... first a trophy, then a picture with 2 of the Celtic cheerleaders, then a bag full of warmup shorts and shirts, then a free spread of pizza, boneless wings, and a keg of lite beer!! I was like 'hot damn... i'm in heaven.' It was definitely a great ending to great season.

2. Thursday I went to a Bruins game. They lost... but I got a free t-shirt and my cousin James got on the jumbo-tron! Success in mr. obbs' book.

3. Friday I turned 23. sweet.

4. For Saturday I went home to see my gramma. She was feelin ill... but now is better. yay.

5. Had a delightful Easter brunch with two cousins and an uncle. Fam is good.

6. Today I went to work feelin great (maybe it was cuz i didn't get shitfaced at all this weekend... maybe. meh!). Got an email saying my company had 2 Celtic tix to give away. I'm not too superstitious... but I felt soething inside me. It was my time. I'd never won any of the Celtic tix they raffle off. Only 2 Bruins tickets (BOTH on nites I couldn't go... wtf). So I entered. When they announced the winners at 2pm... i didn't get it. So as 5pm approached, i waited at 4:59 for the clock to turn.

I get a call. What. the. fuck.

I answer it... talk to some guy for 12 minutes and finally hang up. JUST as i hang up i get an email saying "we have 3 more tickets. First 3 people to email me get em!" I hit 'reply' mash on my keyboard, and hit 'send.'

And tonite I got to see the league-leading Celtics lose to the lowly 76ers!! It was awesome! Naw but seriously it was mad fun. Thank you CSN. Maybe I will fill out that application to name you as one of the best employers of Boston. Maybe.

Welp, i guess one post was sufficient!

For the music, here's a techno remix of a song I heard about 4 times this weekend, but can't find the original anywhere... which is aggravating. If anyone has 'Out of Touch' by the marvelous Daryl Hall and John Oates, holla at me. For the interim, here's a sik dance mix which was huge when i was in london. I def got my trance on to this on the danceflo.

Uniting Nations - Out of Touch

until next time folks.
-- obbs

padraig!

welp... it was anotha rawhide weekend. no doubt. I really gave the ol' liver a workout, bein st. patty's day and all. Nothing too insane, but I made sure I was imbibing. TK, a huge 6'5" beast of a man I met while studying abroad in London, was in town for a solid 4 days. It was definitely good to have him around and have a formidable wingman to hit the town with mr. obbs.

Friday we just kinda chilled, as TK had been travelin all day. Saturday we checked out some Boston touristy sites and such. blechhh. I dunno, bein a tourist can be kinda boring. Walking around... seein a statue. wooooo. BUt anyways. We checked out a few shops and the original Cheers bar. Good ish. Stevy Nichols aka Jake Michaels drove down that night as well. We three men went out for some man time at a bar watching basketball.

That nite we had plans for a nite on the town... but they kinda got busted by a)long ass lines at clubs and b) our shabby dress code of sneakers and non-collared shirts. My bad! Meh. We ended up goin to this place the Cask & Flagon right next to Fenway Park which was a pretty lame time. The bar was so packed it took a solid 10 or 15 mins to get a beer. Then my posse moved to the danceflo'. I swear this was the worst DJ i've ever witnessed. He'd play a song, people would get into it, then he'd switch it to some other track after about 45 seconds. wtf! the ONLY redeeming moment was when he played this one R. Kelly song.

R. Kelly -- Burn It Up

Hearing that album cut make it into the usual club rotation was a welcome surprise.

Rather than pay for a cab, Steve Nichols and I walked home. Not too bad. Found a party goin on at my house that kept my sleep nice and interrupted til they left at 4:30am. shweet.

Sunday was a day of rest... nope! I'm kidding! Got up early and headed to South Boston for nthe big St. Patty's Day parade. My cousin had a contact who was throwin a pahty rite on the parade route. It may have taken a solid 2 mile walk to get there, but it was worth it. Delish food, jello shots, beers, and a funnel equaled great times! Plus there were some funny and beautiful ladies to provide some great conversation. Tony was along, and my other cousin Annie was back from school as she was on spring break from Barnard. After partyin all day, we went back to my cousins house in Natick for some homecooking!! What an awesome day. An A+ in mr. obbs' book.

Mr. Obbs had taken Monday off from work in order to a) enjoy the weekends shenanigans a bit more and B) get to see TK more. So i got to sleep in Monday morn which was NOICE. Both the Sam Adams and Harpoon breweries were closed, so we resorted to plan dos: go to a bar. It was about 2ish i guess, and we got in line to get into a frickin North End bar. I was feelin a little "mehhhhh." Got in line behind these two whitehaired dudes. I walked up to see what the cover charge would be-- "10 bones" I told TK. The two white-haired guys overheard. "Wot, just to git ehn?" One asked in an awesome English accent. Now, spending a semester in England was awesome just for the accents and the people. They're real laid back. So I took this opportunity to chat it up with these dudes. We ended up ditchin that bar and goin to another. Spent the whole time talking and gettin drunk with these two English gents from Nottingham-- I guess a small mining community. One of the guys absolutely LOVED how American's give each other "pounds" sometimes instead of a handshake. When they finally left, I made sure to give him a pound and every other dap and american variation I could think of. Hilarious. I gave one em my card... told him to shoot me an email sometime. That shit pays off... knowin people around the world that is.

Some of the best times I had while abroad was staying with my family friends in Poitiers, France (home of a French exchange student my fam's hosted a few summers) and Horschbach, Germany-- long story how my family knows those people, but my last name is german and apparently i had ancestors from there. But yeah... keep those contacts cuz they pay off.

So anyways, I went home round 530, still buzzin, and got ready for my basketball game. We ended up winning and am in the company championship game tomorrow nite!! Craziness! I need to carb up asap.

all for now. I am still mad tired.

I found this soundtrack to the movie "The man From Snowy River" last nite randomly. It's really nuts the music you can find online if you know where to search. I don't have any of that LimeWire shit either... I just know where to look. Anyways, this is perhaps my mom's favorite movie, as she is obsessed with horses and also thinks the main character is pretty hot. I must say, it's a pretty cool movie, and has a solid soundtrack as well.

Check out this clip with some intense chase music and some nutso horse clips. Makes me wanna ride one again... honestly galloping atop a huge beast is pretty frickin sweet now that I think about it.

Bottom line: mr. obbs recommend you see this movie. Add it to your NetFlix queue **cough**katiebell**cough**

And here's the love theme to the movie. Pretty cool piano loop there.

Bruce Rowland -- Jessica's Theme

That's all for today folks.

-- obbs

"that's not the saddle-horn, ma-lady."

arms and sleepers

I made a decision to try and make it to some more live music shows a while back. So, when yesterday, my cousin called me to go to some show at a nearby bar with him featuring some "ambient/electronica type stuff" I was, honestly, a little iffy. I meannnnn I had a basketball game and i was gonnna be tireeeeed after.

But I sucked it up and told him i'd be there after my game. I guess a guy he used to play in a band with went off and formed some group to start making this ambient music and actually got signed by some label in Germany (unable to verify this).

So I get to the venue last nite and the opening act is on. Paid the $8 cover and got a brewski. The music was real chill. For some reason "electronica" had brought images of raves and poppin ecstasy to mind (kids: mix it with viagra and you have 'sextasy'). But this was so lax and i was so tired i almost fell asleep. Good music no doubt, just something i put on when i'm bout to crawl into bed.

But eventually my couin's buddy's group came on. They're called Arms and Sleepers, and they were pretty dope. Now, honestly, this type of music isn't exactly the best live experience... i mean, you just kinda watch. You can't sing cuz there's no lyrics. Arms and Sleepers was pretty sik cuz they have this video they broadcast onto a sheet screen behind them as they play. It's sort of like watching a live music video... if that makes any sense.

Watch this vid and you'll see what I mean. This was a pretty cool song they played.


THere's a few more on Youtube you should check out if you like dat one. The videos were also cool cuz some of em had Boston scenes in em.

Anyways, I'm real glad I went.

Makin music with machines is pretty amazing stuff. A kid i went to elementary school with has sent me some songs he's made, and I gotta say I am mad impressed. This kid is very talented musically, playing the trumpet I think since gradeschool, and is skilled on numerous instruments. He makes his music with a program called Reason. He goes by the name Bigadiga. Just check out the track below for god's sake.

Bigadiga -- Waiting For June

aptly titled now that I look at it!

Also, on the other end of the spectrum, check out this beat D-Drens aka DJD made with a program on my computer called Frooty Loops. I need to learn how to use this gaddamn program better. I think this is pretty good for Dave...

DJD -- beat

pretty cool.

All for now. Gotta rest up... tomorrow is a company trivia night followed by open bar at a local establishment. Long story short... Friday is gonna be a hungover mess of a day.

twerkin'

Mr. obbs took a weekend trip back to the Maine homeland this past weekend to see those who raised him and get some good ol' homecookin. Also celebrated my birthday a little early. My present were pretty cool. My parents framed this big poster I was given during graduation from my crew coaches. It was a sort of collage of pics of me and my teammates. Pretty sweet. It looks really good framed.

I also got a scrapbook my dad made. Starts with a pic from March 21, 1985 of me as a baby! It has some really great photos in it, and I laughed and smiled on every page. Kinda ties into my lsat post or so when I mention how we forget a lot of the great moments throughout life. My dad said his mom amde a picture book for him, so he thought he'd make one for me. It's pretty cool.

I didn't do much but just relax, which is really the only reason i went home, other than to sate my 'rents need to see me every now and then. Watched some basketball on tv.. ate lots of food.

On Sunday I spoke with my bro on the fone. He's a corrections officer at a prison in Arizona. He helps with the transport of inmates from facility to facility. Think of the police guys in the bus in the Fugitive when the inmates break out. That's what my brother does.

Anyways, they were transporting two vans full of inmates from one locale to another. My bro was in the rear van on the highway, goin about 75 mph. All of a sudden a tire on the lead van blows and the driver loses control. The van jerks into the median and begins to flip. It rolls over and over as my brother and the CO's in his van can only watch.

His van quickly pulls to the side and my bro jumps out to help. The crashed van's driver has been thrown through the windshield and is now laying face down in a pool of water. He attends to him and helps others while calling for backup. 3 officers and 3 of the inmates are MedEvac'd out of the scene. The inmates had it pretty bad cuz they're just sitting loose in the back with their hands and ankles bound shackled together. They musta been flyin around the van smashing their faces into the walls when that thing was flipping over and over and over. Long story short, my bro is getting Employee of the Month.

This is actually his 2nd time getting the award... the first time was for breaking up a knife fight and saving one of the inmates lives.

So... my brother has a home he is paying mortgage on. I am handin my landlord my hard-earned money each month. His job is important. Mine... is not. He makes almost 3 times what I make... conservatively, at least double.

Anyways... my lease is up at the end of May. Mr. obbs is gonna make some moves by the end of the year. Startin with a cross-country trip to see some sights.


For the music today we have the Ying yang Twins. Two of the most prolific writers in hip hop music history. Two of the greatest to ever grab a microphone. Nah i kid, but this track offa their "United States of Atlanta" album is pretty solid. It features Adam Levine from Maroon 5 doin the damn thang on the hook in all his high-pitched glory .

Talks about a stripper... but really it's an allegory. Aren't we all strippers? Selling our body and time for the dolla dolla bill. Right? That's what they meant when they wrote this, right?

Ying Yang Twins ft. Adam Levine - Live Again

"This road is a dead-end, I wanna live again."

a slew of activity

MR OBBS HAD A FULL WEEKEND.

Hot damn... got back from NYC yesterday. It was fun, and I had a good time seein people and the city as a whole. I hopped on the Greyhound after work and got down the Port Authority at 1030. Lemme just say how godawful Port Authority is. Has to be one of the dirtiest, sketchiest, awful places on earth. A nice welcome mat for what its residents consider the greatest city on Earth...

Anyways, I was tired and so was my cuzzin Dee, so we just went back to her place and chilled. Had to rest up for Saturday.

Saturday
Woke up round 10 to phone calls from a drunk-sounding Kress telling me to get up and start drinking. I chose to hang up and eat a breakfast of Cheez-its and instant oatmeal before finding my way on the subway out to Hoboken. Got to the train round noon and it was full of revelers... I knew it would be a good time.

Finally got to the party at dOey's cousins place at 1pm and I realized i was by far the most sober person there. Quickly played catch-up and started some rando convos with people i didn't know. One being this girl who, as I talked to her more, realized she couldn't really form sentences. She tried dancing with me and nearly fell face-first to the floor. Sooooo I brought her over to a couch and told her to chill. Noticed half the room staring at us. I turned back to the girl only to catch a stream of brownish green liquid comin at me. I couldn't fuckin believe it.

So with my shirt splattered with drunk girl's stomach fluid. I took off my festive green T-shirt and managed to put on a happy face for the rest of the party. I gave the girl's friends some shit for lettin their friend get blackout (who DOES that anyways...) and you know what they said to me? "Well, what were you expecting?"
I then had a Lil Jon moment...

WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAT!?

apparently this was MY fault! I am such an idiot! But to answer your question, friend, I expected to NOT get thrown up on. That's what I expected.

Next time I will make sure to draw upon my wealth of knowledge when it comes to being puked on and act accordingly. "What a miiiiiiinute, i see what's about to happen here... this person is about to *bolts for the door*"

but anyways, it was actually my 2nd time getting thrown up on. First time was at a Holy Cross basketball game. Only then, the culprit fled the scene before I could confront him/her. That lucky bastid.

Anyways... eventually left the party and napped at dOey's for a bit. Left round 6 and went back to the city with my cousins. We ended up meeting a friend of my cousins at a piano bar. It was a real dive... imagine a guy at a piano surrounded by people singing Broadway show tunes. Later I would realize it was a predominantly gay bar... We met a few interesting characters there and I got a few "looks" but I was a total cocktease and ended up leaving the place alone.

Sunday morning was chill. Met up with my cousin who goes to Barnard and we all went to brunch. Nothin too exceptional here... except for my two pancakes, which came with bacon and sausage and eggs. Now, the eggs tasted more like a lumpy, yellow pureé, the bacon had NO flavor whatsoever, and my sausage? Excuse me, my "sausage," was really just a hotdog cut length-wise with the outsides charred to near ash and the middle grilled.

I was like "hmm... looks like a hotdog. Even smells like a hotdog... have I really just been given a hotdog for brunch from a NYC establishment?"

My cousin brought it up with our server who could barely speak Engrish, and he said that it was their turkey sausage. That's what they serve as "turkey sausage." Welp, I'm a pretty big fan of hotdogs, so I didn't pursue it any further... just thought it was kinda strange.

Anyways, got on the busride home and made it back to Boston in time for some trivia at the White Horse tavern. They have a special on Sundays: $4 burger and fries! Not too shabby, plus it was trivia nite... so needless to say, I was in heaven.

Today I made it through work and then met the lady who ran the MRI study (see my blog a few back) for a followup meeting. It was actually really interesting. It turns out all those disturbing pictures of mutilation, violence, and suffering I had viewed last time were now shown to me again and I had to see how many I could recognize from the first viewing with 100% certainty. When I first saw them during the MRI I had no idea I'd be seeing them again, so I hadn't really paid FULL attention. Well, it turns out I could remember the disturbing ones much more than the normal ones (like pics of an ironing board, or a kitty cat!) So it's kinda sad, but it seems you remember lots of sad, depressing things more than the happy, serene, peaceful things. As I walked home I started to think of all the happy things I've probably forgotten... isn't that too bad?

I was happy though... after the last picture and once i'd filled out some paperwork she handed me an envelope with $100 in it.

Do you know how many hotdog sausages I could buy with that???



for some music, check out how these two producers flipped the same sample, mmk? Lemme know who you think did it better.

Common -- Faithful (prod. by Kanye West)
Inverse ft. Trek Life, Deacon the Villain - 'Til the End (prod. by Kno)