Archive for the 'Friends' Category

A Quickie

Published at February 24, 2008 in Friends and Life. 0 Comments

Far be it from me to judge our current political system but… I dont think the 2 party system is the best. I mean there are other political parties, but none of them have emerged as a powerful enough alternative to the the Big Guys. Enter Ralph Nader. Visionary that he may be, he pops up during these elections and tries to run. He’s not going to win. I know that, he knows that, the Viet Cong know that. So why does he run? Maybe to draw attention to the fact that we lack a powerful third party political party, maybe just to spoil elections. Enter the following text message exchange between myself and Paul F, Group Political Activist:


Me: Nader is running.
Paul F: If a Nader runs in the forest and nobody votes for him, does he make a sound?
Me: Ask Al Gore.
Paul F: Fuck.

I laughed my ass off. And I think there was some of this same kind of conversation going on around the country. “Ha ha, Nader’s running.” — it sinks in — “Oh crap, Nader’s running.”

Like I said, I am all for more ideas, more parties, not too many more, we don’t want to turn into some kind of European country with 30 parties, powers changing every 2 years, nothing gets done. That might work for the smaller countries, but we’re a Super Power!! Arent we?

A Worthy Update

Published at February 15, 2008 in Friends and Life. 0 Comments
“Politics. As exciting as war. Definitely as dangerous.“

First and foremost, congratulations are in order for my sister, Alicia and her ( now ) fiancée, John. He proposed to her just 2 days ago, and The Stickneys couldnt be happier. It’s funny, everyone asks me, “Is he a good guy?” Which I think is almost kind of odd. I mean, would I really let me sister marry an asshole? Probably not. So John, if there was any doubt in your mind, I do NOT think you are an asshole. Congrats! We’re all crossing our fingers and hoping for a Casino Wedding. I say Vegas, showgirls, booze, gambling, family, it would be grand!!

Now, onto other matters. I know, it’s been a month. Life has been going good. Good job, good food, horrible weather. I just havent felt inspired to write of anything of great importance. Until… today.

A few years back, I met a pretty interesting guy. Scott Ritcher. He was living with Webster at the time, and worked with him at Citadel Communications in North Kingstown. Scott was from Kentucky and had inexplicably moved to Providence pretty much for the hell of it. He was a graphic designer with a lot of talent, had lots of interesting photos, even edited and published his own magazine ( K Composite ). He even once ran for mayor of his home town of Louisville, started his own record label, wrote a book about it, was an influential member of Louisville’s punk scene, had a radio show about said punk scene, has gotten hate mail about his art work, and wrote a book about that.

Now he’s all grown up and still wants to make Louisville a better place. Scott feels the best way to do this is by running for state senator. Ive read through his website and I like what I see. He basically wants to make Louisville a better place by cutting through all the bullshit that comes with politics. I have to respect that. Also something I noticed that I found refreshing, I didnt see the words “democrat” or “republican” on his page. I think it’s foolish to label yourself. We did fight a war of Independence, we might as well all be Independents. I dont think I get many readers from District 35 in Louisville, KY, but if there are any 35thers reading, do yourself a favor and check out Scott’s campaign page: http://www.ballotrevolution.org/ Give em hell Scotty!

Thanksgiving

Published at November 27, 2007 in Family and Friends. 0 Comments
“Did I ever tell you kids about the first Thanksgiving? It took place between the ancient Egyptains and aliens from a distant galaxy.“

Ah Thanksgiving, the funnest, yearly ritual sacrifice ever conceived. Thanksgiving means my yearly trip to Miller’s Crossing Bar in Cranston, RI. Miller’s on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is basically a timewarp back to high school. There are some people I only see at Miller’s on this night. We’ve all moved away, but Miller’s calls to the Native Sons of Cranston ( West ). Though I hear Billy’s Frosted Mug has a similar gathering for our cross city cousins of the East. At any rate, the Wednesday ritual was good. A certain degree of awkwardness aside, it was good to see everyone.

On nicer days, I would go to the yearly football game between the 2 high schools, East vs West, the Cranston Cup, fought for bragging rights for 1 year. This year my mighty Cranston West Falcons fell 21-14. I think the overall record for the series is West 19, East, 18, I could be off, it is close though. This year’s weather proved amazing. But alas, blood is thicker than Gatorade, and I skipped out on the game and drove 3 hours north, to my sister’s house.

It was a pleasant drive, though the weather got progressively worse as I drove through Massachusetts and the temperature was 20 degrees cooler than when I left Cranston. It was a simple dinner, turkey, potatoes, bread, canned cranberry sauce, the typical bounty. I napped, I snacked, I napped again. ( Dormito, mangiato, dormito ? )

Next stop, Christmas.

Road Trip and Rolling Rally

Published at October 30, 2007 in Friends and Life. 0 Comments
“One can’t enjoy life with a job, without experiencing life without a job.“
- Alfredo V

1 post, 2 subjects, deal with it.

Webster and I took a road trip to Toronto, Ontario, Canada last Thursday. We left in the wee hours of Friday morning and arrived in Niagara Falls around 10AM. I lost $40 at the Casino Niagara, so the job hunt continues. But all was not lost, as it was Webster’s first time at the falls, we took the opportunity to stroll the boardwalk and take some photos.

As you can see here:
Niagara Falls Road Trip

Why did we go to Toronto? Because Justin and the boys needed a ride back to Cranston, after parting ways with the band they had been touring with and the tour bus that drove them around. It was a fun, tiring trip, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Issue #2

The Red Sox won the 2007 World Series. That’s great, awesome, I enjoyed every minute of it. But, and look at this as a curse or a blessing, I will forever compare any subsequent World Series victories to 2004. A curse because 2004 was so special, so cathartic for so many people, generations of people, no other victory could hold a torch. A blessing because I was old enough to remember it, watching it at Sharkz with Paul G, running with the parade in Boston a few days later ( capturing it on DVD ). We might even say that the dismal choke job by the Yankees in the ‘04 ALCS was the closing of their chapter in baseball history, and the opening of ours. Like so much in this crazy world of ours, only time will tell.

For the moment, please enjoy the pictures from today!

I also took a little video of Jonathan Papelbon playing with The Dropkick Murphys while they played “The State of Massachusetts”.



The Guys Throw A Wedding!

Published at July 23, 2007 in Family, Friends and Whoa. 0 Comments

Friday night saw the first of Us to get married. James married Kristin! Without a doubt the best wedding any of us had ever been to! What more can I say? Please head on over to the pics and take a look for yourself!