Monday, December 30, 2013

Monday Moaning (The Best of 2013)



That's right Scarlett, get the Champagne ready...New Years is upon us...

At the end of 2012, I heard a lot of people wishing it away, and happy to see it go...For the most part, 2012 was okay for us...Then 2013 started and it started shitty...The first half of the year was tough...Lots of bullshit to deal with...Lots of things not going our way...But I didn't wish it away...And talking with Sully on Christmas Eve, and later with my wife, I realized, as tough as this year was...As much of it sucked, we're still doing okay...We're a lot better off then many...So, when reflecting on your year, remember to look at the good with the bad...And look at where you are, compared to so many others who are having a much tougher go at it...

Okay, off my high horse...

So, normally I watch a ton of the college bowl games at this time of year...But it seems like they haven't had as many this time around...Maybe they aren't space them out as much, and just cramming them into a tighter slot...Saturday I finally got into some bowls...

I watched the second half the The Pinstripe Bowl, as Notre Dame grinded out a 29-16 win over Rutgers...All year I've been looking for the Irish to lean on their ground game...They finally realized it in the second half, of their final game of the season...It says something when the MVP of the game is a OT, as Senior Zack Martin lead the young O-line in dominating Rutgers up front...

Teddy Bridgewater and Louisville took Miami apart, 36-9...and after that I watched Kansas State roll Michigan 31-14...It felt good to watch 3 games and be rooting for the winner in all three...Thank God, I needed to make a couple extra bucks after Christmas! May have been the best College Football Saturday I had this season!

So that leads us to My BEST of 2013...

First, the Best Hockey Hit of 2013 ...




Thank God there are still leagues that allow beautiful, open ice checks...This was a high school game...Sad to say, if that kid goes any further he's going to have to stop laying people out with good, clean checks like that, because Hockey is starting to try and take away open ice hits like this...

Best Hockey Goal of 2013...




Nothing like a 19 year rookie Tomas Hertl, racking up his fourth goal of the night by not giving a fuck, and trick shot-ing  the fuck out of the backup goalie...This may have been the goal that got Martin Biron cut by the Rangers!

Best Offensive Touchdown of 2013 ...




Auburn, the kings of the big finish...This so should have been picked off, but Georgia fucking sucks, and Auburn will make you pay for that...

Best Defensive Touchdown of 2013...



What did I tell you?  Mother Fucking Auburn will make you pay...Offense, defense, they're about to lose, but no, you fucked up, and they just stole your game...Watch out Florida State...They're going to be pulling some witchcraft on your ass too...

Best Broken Leg of 2013...


Way to go Anderson Silva...You slipped that one in last second, to pull out the big win...HOLY FUCKING OUCH!!!

-Now...Enough sports...Time for my other love...Music...There was some really good music in 2013...I'm going to give you my Best 5 Albums of 2013, with a taste of each...

-Frank Turner's "Tape Deck Heart"  Great songwriter, taking his punk roots to the acoustic world...




-Lorde- "Pure Heroine"  This does not fall in music I would find myself listening to, but when I heard that the most offensive community, the Hip Hop community was offended by her lyrics in her hit song "Royals" because she basically called them out for their idiotic lyrics/lifestyle, I had to check it out...I was blown away that a 16 year old wrote this album...Amazing...




Here's the latest single...




-Raine Maida- "We All Get Lighter" The Our Lady Peace frontman's second solo album is again acoustic and instrumental...Just the raw music laying down the path for the emotional lyrics to follow...Just as in his first album, you won't find anything that sounds like an OLP song...Which while being an OLP fan, it's great to hear Maida detach himself from that a do something different...




-Twenty One Pilots-  "Vessel" This two man wrecking crew mix, rap, rock, electronica, and everything you can think of to make a record that should make the music world take notice...And their live show is amazing...But I have to hang in the back by the bar, because I'm the oldest fucker there...




-Elvis Costello & The Roots- "Wise Up Ghost" Costello cut up more then a dozen of his old songs, making them less melodic, and bit more conversational...This is not a rock/hip-hop mash up...The best description I heard was it sounds more like a "wordy bebop record"...Costello is taking a Jazz approach (flexibility) with his lyrics on this one...

 


That's it folks...Feel free to share your best whatever's of 2013...

Have a week...Happy New Year...

The Beeze.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

The Browns Circle of Suck Continues



When it comes to the Cleveland Browns, I am rarely shocked...But following their loss Sunday to the Steelers, rumors started swirling that head coach, Rob Chudzinski would be fired...What...Yeah, the team sucks, but it's only his first year as head coach...It's bad enough that this is the third or fourth time that his role in the organization is going to be terminated, but one year?  And yes, within hours, the Browns released a statement saying that they actually did shit-can Chud...

One year as the head coach, with a team who's #3 QB was their best QB, until he destroyed his knee...One year, where the front office gave up on last year's #1 pick and traded him away early in the season...Okay, dude (Richardson) didn't do shit for the Colts, but it's still weird...So, no QB, no running game...Every back on this team was picked up off the scrap heap...One good WR, one good TE, and a couple good O-linemen...A defense that played well, for 3 quarters each week, but when you're out there all day carrying the whole team, you're gonna wear down...


That's what the Browns Logo should be...That's what they gave Chud to work with...A steaming pile shit...

An old friend of mine summed up this situation on Facebook really well...

"The Browns basically gave Chud a typewriter and fired him for not being able to send emails with it."

Thanks for that Matt...You nailed it!

I gave up my Browns fandom a couple years ago...I'm out...I don't by the gear, I take my kids ice skating during the games...I waste no time, and no money on the NFL's most consistent product...Consistently bad product that is...Clevelander's I suggest you do the same...This organization is the laughingstock of the NFL...

I wish there was another city out there, that wanted to take Browns away again!

The Beeze.

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Christmas, Fantasy Football, and Hockey...



Merry Christmas folks...Here we are, the day after Christmas...But I don't stop the holiday spirit right there..."The twelve days of Christmas" start on Christmas...Not before...So I have no problem leaving the lights on...Playing some Christmas music, and watching a couple extra Christmas flicks...I use to get bummed out Christmas night...After all that time, money and energy, for it to all be done in a day was a downer...But I've learned to enjoy it, and extend the fun with the kids...

Oh, the kids...Holy crap did they get spoiled...Every year Mrs. Claus and I say we're going to not spend as much...We're going to scale it back a bit...But then Christmas Eve comes, and we do our thing, and I take a picture, and we realize, 'We've done it again!'




Yeah, they got hooked up!

The kids had a blast...They loved all the stuff they got...Plenty of what they wanted, and plenty of surprises...Especially our oldest, who got a 32 inch TV for her room...Something tells me little brother is going to want to hang out there more...

Mrs. Beeze was also very happy with the sweaters, Kindle Fire HDX, and concert tickets I got her...She was very happy and surprised...I was very surprised when I opened a Rush tin, that had two sets of special edition Rush playing cards...But it also had a $200 Guitar Center gift card for me to put towards my dream guitar...I also got a really nice coat, and NHL14 for the Xbox, so finally my New York Rangers will be playing well!

-For a bit of sports news, I found myself shocked to be in the YouGab Fantasy Football Championship this past week...My team had struggled all year, and to my surprise limped into the playoffs...I had no idea...I hadn't even looked at my roster for a couple weeks...Then Sunday I looked, and I was in the Championship against Uncle B.O.B.  It came down to Monday night and him having Frank Gore going...Luckily, Colin Kappernick liked calling his own number near the goal line...Was to use Gore as a lead blocker...Championship, Beeze!

I may go all next year without trying...Maybe I'll go undefeated!

-Thursday Team USA begins their defense of their World Junior Hockey title...They open against the Czech Republic at 11:30 AM on the NHL Network...Sadly, fucking AT&T Uverse doesn't carry the NHL Network...I've been waiting two years for these two companies work out a deal, and it's pissing me off!

The U.S. then plays Slovakia Saturday, Germany on Sunday, and then the big test comes Tuesday against Canada...Team USA will roll 4 solid lines, and has two top-notch Goalies...Look for Providence College's Jon Gilles (drafted by Calgary) to carry the load...He has the potential to steal a game or two on his own...

If you have a chance to watch any of this tourney, featuring a ton of young hockey talent from all over the world...Check it out...

That's all I have for now...I need to go catch the last West Coast feed of "A Christmas Story"...

I hope you and yours have had and are having a great holiday season...


The Beeze.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Monday Moaning (The Beeze's Top 10 Christmas Songs)



This week the normal Monday Moaning is taking a break...It's just before Christmas and I've been all wrapped up in getting things ready for Christmas...We have our annual Christmas Eve party...Plus I have to pick up the Christmas dinner duties because my Mom was slowed down by some health issues...Don't worry, she's fine...Minor thing, but it threw my folks a wrinkle...My brothers aren't in any position to pick up the slack, so it's on us...

Anyways I've spent no time on sports between work, and the Christmas prep...So, I'm going with music...Music as always been big in my life...Ever since I was a kid...My Mom teaching me about the Beatles and Stones...My dad teaching me about Blues and Jazz...Then my older brothers brought in their influences...I've been hooked on music forever...So this week, since I've been sharing different Christmas song each week, we'll get into the full list...Well, at least the top 10....

1. The Kinks- Father Christmas....The poor kids anthem, and a classic Kinks riff...





2. Billy Squier- Christmas is a Time to Say I Love You...Showing my age...The days when MTV played music...Totally underrated Christmas song...





3. Dead Sara- Snow in Los Angeles...This is a new one...Released last year just after I had done a list of Christmas songs...This one shot up right away on my list...





4. Pearl Jam- Let Me Sleep (It's Christmas Time) Back in the early '90s none of us expected  these guys to do a Christmas song, but they did, and it's excellent...





5.  "Blue Christmas"  This one is an old standard...It always makes me think of those I wish were still with us...I'm sure there are plenty of people feeling this year...I don't like Elvis...And since my favorite band did it a couple years ago, I'll go with them...Our Lady Peace...





6. The Pretenders- 2000 Miles...I just flat-out love this song...My favorite song from the Pretenders...





7. Daniel Mustard- Since Santa Ain't Coming...I shared this a couple weeks ago...An anti-Christmas song, from a guy who just months before recoding it was homeless...





8. Let it Snow...Another old standard...You gotta love how Dean could lay it down...And I have to say, the Rat Pack Christmas album is awesome...





9. Silent Night....I'm going with the Sarah McLachlan version...But there are so many great versions, it's hard to screw up...If you really want to get depressed check out the Lisa Hannigan version...Uhgg





10. Chris Cornell- Ave Maria...Everyone knew the Soundgarden front man could sing, but when he did this for 1997's  "A Very Special Christmas Volume 3" everyone was blown away to hear just how amazing of a singer he is...





That's it...What do you think?  What are your favorite Christmas songs?

If you're interested, here's my LIST of the 15 top Christmas Movies...

Have a week...And a Merry Christmas!

The Beeze.

Monday, December 16, 2013

Monday Moaning



Well, Christmas is fast approaching...Are you ready...I'm ready for Rosie Jones there to be wrapped up next to my tree!

Megyn Kelly of FOX News has caught some flack for her full throated, not backing down stance, that not only Jesus, but Santa Claus are both white...Now, I never personally got to know these guys, so I can't give a definite answer, but I think comedian Jim Norton summed up the situation best...

"People are mad at Megyn Kelly for saying Jesus and Santa were white,
but not because she mentioned Santa as if he were real?
#CountryOfAssholes"

Yeah...People look pretty stupid when they get worked up over a mythical guy like Santa...But I will say this, in my house, Santa is white...I've got the fucking receipts to prove it...And Santa Beeze is all done shopping...The earliest the Mrs. and I have been done...

But if you are looking for something to get me last minute, this would be sweet...


A mid-70's Fender Starcaster....Awesome, and rare...They've put out a reissue recently...I'd take one of those...


Some reviews are saying the reissues actually play better then the original...I'm willing to try it out...Hint, hint Mrs. Beeze!

-Now for some sports nonsense...As expected, sadly, Jameis Winston won the Heisman Trophy...Why do I say sadly?  Because Jordan Lynch from NIU was invited, but was an afterthought...And Andrea Williams of Boston College, who had one of the great seasons all time at running back, got no respect at all...While he wasn't on my radar pre-season, or even most of the regular season, he should have won...at least top two finish...

But more so why I have become anti-Winston was his reaction to winning...First, he didn't shake the hands of the other finalists when it was announced...I don't think I've ever seen that...Then during his idiotic, rambling speed about "trusting the process" he never mentioned the other finalists...Could have made up for not shaking their hands...Could have shown so real classiness...But he didn't...Yes, he's the youngest guy to ever win it...I don't care, not an excuse...FSU could have, and should have prepped him a bit about dealing with the media, and with his speech...He came off as a total dolt to me...Now, I'm thinking about rooting for Auburn...

-In other expected college football news...Mack Brown announced he was stepping down as head coach at Texas...We all saw it coming...But when Alabama locked up Saban with an extension, I'm sure some people thought Brown would be safe for at least another year...Yeah, I said safe, after saying he was stepping down...We all know Texas pushed him to that...And he's the type of guy to keep it classy...

-Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly has to retool his staff for next year, let alone work shorthanded in their bowl game, as both Offensive Coordinator, Chuck Martin and Defensive Coordinator, Bob Diaco have left for head coaching gigs...Martin to Miami (Ohio) and Diaco to UConn...

But there is good news for the Irish...Quarterback Everett Golson was readmitted at Notre Dame this week...After getting bounced from the team and the University for academic infractions...He spent most of this past semester living in a one bedroom extended stay apartment in San Diego, working with QB coach George Whitfield...Whitfield has worked with Roethlisberger, Cam Newton, Andrew Luck, and Johnny Manziel...This was the longest Whitfield has worked one-on-one with an "elite" quarterback, working  hard to turn Golson into a student of the game....Irish Nation is hoping the work pays off...

I give ND credit for booting their starting QB before the season for screwing up how he did...Many schools wouldn't take that stand...And I give Golson credit for working hard to do what he had to, to get back to Notre Dame...He easily could have transferred, and maybe not learned a thing from what had happened...

-Other Irish news...Notre Dame's men's soccer team won the NCAA National Championship this weekend...I don't follow soccer, and don't care at all...But way to go Irish!

-Sunday, the Cleveland Browns managed to blow another 4th quarter lead, and lost to the Bears...With this type of tank job going on, they better not screw up their draft next year!

-Here at the Beeze house, we had birthday madness this weekend...Our oldest birthday was a couple weeks ago, but with schedules her little sleepover with friends was set back a bit...So the girls came over Friday, had pizza...did the gift thing...Goofed around...Then I took them to the ice rink for open skate...Then it was back here, where they played video games, and wrote a song on the keyboard about a girl they don't like...and whatever else until two in the morning...

That rolled into Molly's birthday on Saturday...So we got the tweens out so we could get things going for the little ones...Molly had a blast...And by 5:00PM, I was wiped out...I can't believe she is 3 already....From this....



To this, way too soon....


Time is flying...


Now for this week's Christmas song...This is Sherwin Sleeves' "Christmas La La Song"...I know some people who can't stand it, but I kind of like it...





Alright...I'm off to a long, busy week at work...Plus mix in Little Beeze's Christmas concert, and our daughter's Christmas band concert...'Tis the season to be busy!

Have a week...

The Beeze.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Monday Moaning




So Monday is here again...Wow, that went fast...Before I get into all the College Football madness, and my own personal madness, I have to talk about the Cleveland Browns game in New England...I was busy all day Sunday, but I kept checking into the game...Each time I was shocked to see the Browns in the lead...The lead was never too big...That will happen when you settle for field goals instead of punching it into the end zone...

Late in the 4th quarter the Browns were still up, but Tom Brady gets the ball back with over two minutes left...TD, Onside Kick, Bad Pass Interference Call, TD,  Game Over...Patriots win...The Browns snatch defeat from the Jaws of victory...BRUTAL!

I was reminded of why I gave up my Browns Fan Card...Games like this...Like most of the games they've played this year...

My numerous Ohio State fans had a rough go at it this weekend, and Michigan State's defense handled Braxton Miller and company...And the MSU offense seemed to surprise the hapless Buckeyes defense...The Spartans took down the #2 Buckeyes 34-24, and every Auburn player, coach and fan rejoiced...And all of the SEC had another chance to laugh at Ohio State...

Earlier in the Day Auburn won the SEC title in a no defense allowed battle with Missouri, winning 59-42...Florida State rolled Duke 45-7 in the ACC title game...So it's set...#1 FSU will take on Auburn in the National Championship Game...So how did the other bowls shake out?

I was hoping they would have matched Urban Meyer and Nick Saban's egos in a battle...But instead Saban's Tide will face Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl...Ohio State will take on Clemson in the Orange Bowl...Or the battle of two highly touted teams that fell on their faces!

The Fiesta Bowl will be Baylor and UCF...Oklahoma State and Missouri will play the Cotton Bowl...And in what could be the most fun game to watch, the Rose Bowl, Stanford will face Michigan State...Two hard-nosed teams that like to pound the ball and play defense...Defense! What's that!?!   A rarity these days!

My Irish will play Dec. 28th against Rutgers, in the Pinstripe Bow at Yankee Stadium...The Irish better win! That's all I have on that.

As for my life this weekend...Friday night I took the kids skating...My wife and I were suppose to go out to a Christmas party, but our sitter got seriously sick, and our evening out was screwed...

Saturday we took the kids with friends to lunch with Santa...The saw the fat man...Asked him for a specific thing or two...(already have them...Santa already has his shopping done!) Here's Little Beeze thinking hard about exactly what he wants...



Afterwards we took the kids for ice cream...Then back to our friends home...My buddy and I ditched the kids and ladies for a couple hours, grabbed a couple beers, a burger, and watched some football...Lunch with Santa wasn't that good, or filling...

Sunday was work...Lots of work...We did a big switch in the Beeze house...We moved the girls upstairs to our room...and moved us down to their room...Fuck I forgot how heavy that King size bed was...And those sweet bunk beds I put together months ago...I had to take them apart to get them through the doorways, and up the stairs...It was ton of work, cleaning, lifting...Good exercise too...Which will go well with our change in diet...We've gone with organic meat, fruits, and veggies...And we've been juicing in place of one meal a day...We've both felt better and lost some weight in just a week since we got the juicer...

The weekend went fast, and somehow felt long...

Now for this week's Christmas song...It's more of a anti-Christmas song, but I like it...Daniel Mustard's "Since Santa Ain't Coming"






Have a week...

The Beeze.

Monday, December 2, 2013

Monday Moaning



You know, some weekends are work, work, work...Luckily Mrs. Beeze does the majority of the laundry!

The weekend started with me in the kitchen preparing Thanksgiving dinner...The kids watched the parade, my oldest nursing a serious cold that knocked her for a loop Tuesday afternoon, and kept her in bed for 2 days...

Family came and ate...Not too much family...Which meant lots of leftovers...Everyone left the house with extra food, and we still had plenty to enjoy the rest of the weekend...Plus the turkey stew I made with the dark meat, and the bones, and veggies...It cooked on very low heat for about 17 hours, and then we poured it over some fresh biscuits...Delicious!

Then came Saturday...I made it clear that all I was doing was watching football...First Ohio State at Michigan...It became very clear, early in this game, that neither team was here to play defense...It came right down to the wire...Michigan scores with less then 40 seconds left...42-41 OSU...Michigan coach Brady Hoke decides to try to ruin the Buckeyes' season right here and go for 2...They failed...Seemed like a bad play call, not giving his running QB an option to run it in himself if it's there...Me, I would have played it safe, kicked the 1, and go at it some more in OT...People say OSU would have rolled in OT...Well, the way the game went, Michigan wasn't having trouble moving the ball themselves...Oh well...The Buckeyes undefeated season marches on, looking ahead to Michigan State in the conference championship game...and looking over their shoulder to see if they get jumped by a 1 loss team in the rankings...

Then the "Iron Bowl" came on...Alabama at Auburn...So many of us wanted to see an upset...And with 1 second left, Alabama attempts a 57 yard field goal with a freshman kicker...Their starting kicker (who I won't name because he has already gotten enough hate mail and bad press) missed 3 field goal attempts earlier in the game...The kick was short, and Auburn CB Chris Davis returned it 109 yards for the winning, touchdown...




Fucking Auburn is becoming masters of the exciting big play, big finish...

After the game, Auburn AD Jay Jacobs was already pissing off Ohio State, and Ohio State fans by making his case to jump them in the standings saying it would be "a disservice to college football" if a one-loss SEC champion was left out of the national title game for Ohio State....Fucking balls down there in the South!

I'm not taking a side here, I'm just saying, maybe wait until your school plays Missouri in the SEC title game before you start trying to get into the National Championship game...

Then I watched my Fighting Irish take on Stanford...I didn't expect the Irish to win, but I was glad they hung in there...The fact is, they could have won this game...Like some other games this year, mistakes, and bad QB play got to them...I read a headline that summed up Saturday's game...

"Rees Shows Heart, Not Enough Arm."

I also had myself jumping to the UCLA/USC game...I was actually expecting it to be closer, but UCLA handled the Trojans 35-14...When that one lost it's luster I started checking on the Missouri/Texas A&M game...Missouri won 28-21, putting them into the SEC Championship game against Auburn, and putting that miserable look on Johnny Manziel's face...And I never get tired of that...

It has been a crazy football week...Thursday, I didn't watch the NFL, with the exception of the last 5 minutes of the Steelers/Ravens game...I did watch the Ole Miss/Miss State game...It was an old school backyard brawl, and Miss State pulled 17-10 OT win...From what I heard, it was better then the Lions/Packers game...

Sunday, I watched no football...Had to pick up the slack from doing nothing Saturday...So, we broke out the Christmas decorations and got all that crap started...It's the earliest we've ever done this crap...I don't like going this early, but the kids were excited...Plus the weekends are already getting booked up, plus both the girls birthday's are this month...Our oldest turns 12 Tuesday...Were the hell did the time go!?!

Oh, and I saw the Browns lost to Jacksonville...Jacksonville...that shit is why I quit being a Browns fan!

So, since I'm being Johnny Festive, I figure I end each week's post with a Christmas tune...But I'm gonna try to use some songs that aren't traditional...Here's Dead Sara's "Snow in Los Angeles"





Have a week...

The Beeze...