Saturday PubCrawl update. Yuengling for ALL.

Don't forget about the Friday BarCrawl, details here...

Details from Frank about Saturday's PubCrawl hosted by Pub Crawl International are below:

"Annual Mardi Crawl- Strip District Bar Crawl

Updated Information/Schedule for this Saturday Feb 2nd BYOB (Bring your own beads) and dress up for mardi gras if ya can!!!

As you know many of the bars in the Strip have closed and the area has become a virtual ghost town. We find no better reason to crawl there - we'll simply take over the area!

Please keep in mind that due to the lack of customers a few of the bars will have only one bartender. Please be patient! We will only be there for 45 minutes, that's not enough revenue to justify additional staff. Normally we wouldn't stop at places like that but they need our business and we need cheap drinks! =)

Don't forget about the challenge! We?ll be announcing the winner of the ?Who EARNED the Most Beads? contest at the last bar!!!

(I have no idea why everyone wants to put Yuengling on special! I'm trying to get some shots/martinis/mixed drinks at the remaining places on special)

Updated Schedule: Pubcrawl International- Pittsburgh presents Strip District Mardi Crawl

Gene's Last Chance
7:00-7:45 22 oz. Yuengling Drafts, $2.00

Mulaney's Harp N Fiddle
7:45-8:30 16 oz. Yuengling Drafts, $3.00

The Firehouse Lounge
8:30-9:15 Waiting to hear back about their special

Saloon on the Strip
9:15-10:00 Yuengling Drafts, $2.00

DejaVu
10:00 to 10:45 Waiting to hear back about their special

Rolands
10:45 to Close DO NOT SHOW UP AT ROLANDS EARLY! THEY ARE HAVING A PRIVATE FUNCTION BEFORE THE CRAWL!

Food service until midnight, full use of the upstairs and downstairs, pool tables, shuffleboard, etc. There will not be a DJ but there will be music playing and they will make us a dance floor! =) Working with managers on specials

We will have taxi information posted on the schedules - no drinking and driving, please!"

It's Fat Thursday...yeah, that's today, not Tuesday.

Added over lunch - Another resource to this blog: Poland.pl. Can't get more official than Poland.pl can it?

So what the heck is Fat Thursday you may ask? Well, it's a Polish and German day to be a glutton. It's similar to the Greek day known as Tsiknopempti. What the heck is Tsiknopempti? Translated it is Barbecue Thursday. Regardless what you call it, the reason to celebrate it is because it's a the last Thursday before Lent and you should eat, drink, and get fat. So get your eat on, drink on, and barbecue on so you can get your weight up slim...

From Wikipedia: (I know, what kind of blog uses Wikipedia as a resource)

"Fat Thursday is a traditional Polish and German feast marking the last Thursday before Lent. Because Lent is a time of fasting, the next opportunity to feast would not be until Easter. It is similar to, but should not be confused with, the French festival of Mardi Gras ("Fat Tuesday"). Traditionally it is a day of gluttony and belly-worship, when people meet in their homes or cafés with their friends and relatives and eat large quantities of sweets, cakes and other meals forbidden during Lent. Among the most popular all-national dishes served on that day are pączki or berliner, fist-sized donuts filled with rose marmalade, and faworki, French dough fingers served with lots of powdered sugar."

Fat Thursday:
Polish - Tłusty czwartek
German - Fettdonnerstag or Schmutziger Donnerstag, or in areas where canival is celebrated Weiberfastnacht)
Italy - Giovedì Grasso

Side Note: When my family lived in the Netherlands, every year all the small towns around us would have a Carnivale all week. The big attraction in our small town was bumper cars and all the food stands. But some of the bigger towns did things real big with more rides and more food.

Don't forget to check out the post below this one, for the weekend activities planned this weekend.

Big Events this weekend. Crawling.

Above is the map for Friday night, February 1. Each stop will feature the beers by Penn Brewery. See the event on BarSmart.com.

7:00 Casey's
8:00 Mario's
9:00 Smiling Moose
10:00 Jack's
11:00 Bar 11 After-party


On Saturday, I'll be attending the Pittsburgh Penguins game when they battle against the Carolina Hurricanes. Should be a tough game with so many men down for the Pens...following the game, I plan to hed to what Frank from Pub Crawl International suggests:

"Annual Mardi Crawl- Strip District Bar Crawl

Updated Information/Schedule for this Saturday Feb 2nd BYOB (Bring your own beads) and dress up for mardi gras if ya can!!!

As you know many of the bars in the Strip have closed and the area has become a virtual ghost town. We find no better reason to crawl there - we'll simply take over the area!

Please keep in mind that due to the lack of customers a few of the bars will have only one bartender. Please be patient! We will only be there for 45 minutes, that's not enough revenue to justify additional staff. Normally we wouldn't stop at places like that but they need our business and we need cheap drinks! =)

Don't forget about the challenge! We?ll be announcing the winner of the ?Who EARNED the Most Beads? contest at the last bar!!!

(I have no idea why everyone wants to put Yuengling on special! I'm trying to get some shots/martinis/mixed drinks at the remaining places on special)

Updated Schedule: Pubcrawl International- Pittsburgh presents Strip District Mardi Crawl

Gene's Last Chance - 7:00-7:45
22 oz. Yuengling Drafts, $2.00

Mulaney's Harp N Fiddle - 7:45-8:30
16 oz. Yuengling Drafts, $3.00

The Firehouse Lounge - 8:30-9:15
Waiting to hear back about their special

Saloon on the Strip - 9:15-10:00
Yuengling Drafts, $2.00

DejaVu - 10:00 to 10:45
Waiting to hear back about their special

Rolands 10:45 to Close
DO NOT SHOW UP AT ROLANDS EARLY! THEY ARE HAVING A PRIVATE FUNCTION BEFORE THE CRAWL!

Food service until midnight, full use of the upstairs and downstairs, pool tables, shuffleboard, etc. There will not be a DJ but there will be music playing and they will make us a dance floor! =) Working with managers on specials

We will have taxi information posted on the schedules - no drinking and driving, please!"

BarSmart Night is every Tuesday Night.

It's Tuesday again, and tonight is the BarSmart.com night at St. James Place on 18th in the SouthSide. See below video of Part 1 of what you are missing... Paul Karaoke 1

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New School to Old School to New School...

I didn't blog about this before, but in November I bought the w580i Sony Ericsson via Amazon.com. There was a defect for this phone where the keys were cracking in half. So the Sony Ericsson warantee service did a great job. I mailed the phone back and they received it on 1-18-08, I came home for lunch, and WOW, it's fixed and sitting on my stoop.

I compare my s710a Sony Ericsson to Ty Conklin. When my young phone broke down, the veteran stepped in. Sure the s710a has some faults like missing incoming texts until the next day sometimes never. But it was a solid backup.

But now I'm back to the slimmer cousin and wanted to give Sony Ericsson their props for getting the phone back to me so quickly.

MacBook Air and Urijah Faber kick some @ss.

Have you seen the new commercial for the MacBook Air? It's amazing how thin it is...I just wonder if it can keep up with the best of them...I haven't read any reviews on it...but I'll certainly be looking for some.

Commercial below.




So you wanna talk about tough...I happend to watch this kid fight back in December, but didn't catch his name. Well, he was on replay tonight and I did catch his name this time. Check out Urijah "California Kid" Faber, the World Extreme Cage (WEC) Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Featherweight Champion at 19-1. At only 5"6' and 145lbs the kid is small, but who else any size can tell a story like the one below? My prediction: with his boy hood charms, and tough like nails fighting skills, he will be the next Oscar De La Hoya/Tom Brady where he does his job, but everyone wants a picture of him on their magazine...The WEC is real, better than any PPV back at Jeff's, and it's on Versus...

Skip ahead to about 1:55, that's when he tells the story about the scars on his head and his trip to Bali.

Not the best video of him fighting, but it's highlights of a bunch of fights. I'd suggest to skip to the middle, gets a little better there. Kinda hard to keep up sometimes, and watch out the music is a little loud.

Dinner, it's whats in me...

I'm not much of a cook. What I do make, I wouldn't be able to make for anyone else. But tonight I made a dinner I'd consider sharing...it looked so good I had to take a picture of it and share how delightful it was. (actual picture above) 4 toaster waffles - Giant Eagle brand; Aunt Jemima Maple Syrup;squirt butter; 2 eggs cooked in the NordicWare - Microware Egg Poacher. They don't look great, but for only 1:05 in the microwave the eggs are cooked perfectly, and great tasting. I didn't even need a drink.

This was much better than my lunch. I couldn't stop home today because I had 6 boxes to take to the post office. After that I thought Arby's would be a nice idea. Well, not so much. I ordered the #4, you know, the Beef and Cheddar meal, curly fries, and a Mountain Dew. Worst part about it is the fries tasted like those Lobster Bites...but those are sold at Long John Silvers...so not sure how that taste was in the fries.

But back to tonight, great dinner.

Pretty good Old School R&B song.

James & Bobby Purify - I'm Your Puppet

Weekend...Start it up, like an ignition.

Yeah, start this out with a video. The countdown for workers is on until the weekend. But I will be working late into the night...but for something I like to do...take pictures. Tonight I'll be taking photos at McFaddens for BarSmart's awards. So come down if you are free:

Photo Time

Now for sale, over here.

Another great blog...and the great BarSmart.com

Have I told any of you that another blog I read regularly is theBurghBlog.com which is authored by PittGirl. She is completely anonymous but admits to wearing "do me boots," hates pigeons, and has names for certain Steelers players, did you know the Duke of Fug and the Earl of Gross are the same person? If you are looking for some interesting Pittsburgh news, take a look there.

Interested in some of the pictures I've taken, or in anything bar related in the Pittsburgh, Morgantown, or Key West? Then you should visit BarSmart.com. Yes I do take pictures of events for them, but the website is one of a kind with customer feedback to nearly every bar. This Friday, January 25th, from 6-8pm the BarSmart awards are taking place at McFadden's on the NorthShore. BarSmart visitors were able to vote on their favorite bars online in many different categories.

Super Malkin taking the show

Not only is Evgeni Malkin turning up his game, but he will also be turning up in the All-Star game this Sunday in Atlanta. Had he been snubbed again, there would be all out rioting at my house - smashing my TV, tossing my trashcan, maybe burning my couch. SO thank you NHL for your selection. It really is too bad Sidney will be out of the lineup for 6-8 weeks, but we will see a different Penguins squad on the ice. Should be interesting.

Justin Timberlake does it again

This won't be another video of Justin, nope. I'm still upset about my prediction about Crosby, very upset that my judgement was that off. So to try and redeem myself, I wanted to prove my post about Justin Timberlake's video to be true. So the proof I have is from a conversation with my Parents on MSN Messengerthat just ended a half hour ago at 9:58, so this is a copy and paste of part of that conversation.

76 says: did Mom like the song on my blog? The new video.
Dads says: she did not see it yet
76 says: let Mom hear it...did you read what will happen when a woman hears that song?
Dads says: she is watching game now
Dads says: mom coming now
76 says: what's that? Mom is coming? listening to the song already?
Dads says: soon
Dads says: mom says.....very smooth
~~Break of 5 minutes~~
Moms says: Were on our way to bed now. You get some good rest tonight. Bye and dad says good night too.
76 says: Good night...sweet dreams...funny you guys watch that song then go straight to bed...did you read what I wrote about that song?
Moms says: Yes dear. And daddy asked me if I feel romantic now. Good night again!
76 says: HA HA...OKAY...Good night.

Survey Sunday Get to Know Me - 50th Post

Woo hoo, this is offically my 50th post. SO maybe it's about time you get to know me better. On MySpace I'll do an occassional "survey" when I find a good one. So here is what I thought was a good one. This set was "Who Was Your First?" and I picked out a couple answers I thought were interesting.

2. Do you still talk to your first love?
Nope.

3. What was your first alcoholic drink?
My Family and friends went to a Mexican restaurant in Germany back in 1991. The dinner was great, and this place had a custom to bring a shot of Tequilia to everyone after dinner, no matter the age. So at age 14 or 15, my Sister, her friend, my friend and me all got shots. They may have brought extra ones as well, or I drank my Parents because I remember doing more than one shot and feeling looped. Crazy to be pretty buzzed at 14 with your Parents. I've never liked Tequila since.

4. What was your first job?
Managing the International Youth Services Teen Center Brunnsum, NL.

5. What was your first car? MY first car: Oldsmobile Cutlass Gls. First car I drove was when I first moved back to Pittsburgh, my GPa told me we should go out for milk or something. But instead he wanted to give me a driving lesson. I was still 15, but my Sister was 17 and without her licence because the legal driving age was 18 in the NL. He said to me,

"A man needs to have his own car. Your Sister will get driven around, you will need to drive around."

So that car was an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, custom top, creme on creme.

6. Who was the first person to text you today?
E-Light. Bobby Light's sister or cousin.


9. Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane?
From Panama to Pittsburgh at age 3 months.

10. When you snuck out of your house for the first time, who was it with?
I heard my Sister, and a friend sleeping over, sneaking out when we lived in Virginia, so I snuck out too and followed them around to make sure they were safe...I don't know if they ever knew I followed them but they remained safe. Also helped we lived on a military base that was fenced in with a guard at the gate.

11. Who was your FIRST best friend and are you still friends with them?
Most likely Mariliz, Lindsay, or Carlos. Don't really keep in touch with anyone prior to the Netherlands, and they were the first 3 people I got to know.

12. Where was your first sleep over?
Didn't do many sleepovers, but was active in the Cub/Boy Scouts so probably in the woods.

14. Whose wedding were you in the first time?
My Aunt Lucielle's. I was a fill in for my Cousin since he couldn't make it, and partnered up with my Sister. But there is a picture of me slipping up the garter belt on a cutie friend of my Aunt's. My eyes are super big and I have a grin from ear to ear.

15. What was the first thing you did this morning?
Just kept it real...on the dunny. (Australian for toilet, and also an art platform made by KidRobot.)

20. What was the first state you lived in?
Indianapolis, Indiana

22. Who was the first person to really break your heart?
Obviously my heart isn't broken, because it still works fine. So no one...but the first to really hurt my heart would be: Keep It Moving.

23. Who was your first roommate?
WOW...my pre-frshman year at IUP was the summer after my High School graduation, called Learning Center. There were only about 400 kids durning the summer, but my roomate was this cool dude from New Jersey, Jim or Murph. He was shy at first and kinda just stayed in the dorm room. I was all outgoing and stuff so I talked to everyone I came across. So after a few days or so of being in the dorms we started hanging out and I introduced him to everyone I sorta new. But about a week or two later Jim really opened up and I think he ended up banging maybe every girl I introduced him to. But we remained friends all the way until we both failed out our Freshman year. Good Times.

24 Who will be the first to repost this?
I'll put a challenge out to Amy to repost this first...uh huh...(that's right, I'll call you out on MySpace and my blog)

Justin Timberlake live, WOW.

So in between the rocking in the bathroom and now I caught a video on TV of Justin Timberlake live in New York singing "Until the End of Time" and let me tell you...If I had a girl and wanted to get freaky, or if I had a girl back at my place that I wanted to "get to know" better, I would soooo play this video on repeat.

So I'm going to put the video in my blog...prepare to get in the mood ladies...

So wrong...so so wrong.

I could not have been more wrong about my Crosby prediction. I am so so sorry if that was me that jinxed that. I have been in my bathroom, curled up in a ball rocking back and forth since I saw Sid crawl off the ice. That's why I haven't posted. BUT, I really think it was fellow Pens fan friend of mine Katie who we can place blame on. Here is her post in the Pens forum about her jersey history:

"After last night's game against Tampa, I am convinced that I am not allowed to buy any more jerseys for any Pittsburgh sports teams... Here's my history of jerseys that I've bought or received as a gift...

1. Ben Rothlisberger - motorcycle accident and appendix
2. Mark Recchi - traded twice
3. Marc Andre Fleury - high ankle sprain, out about 6 weeks now and still out
4. Max Talbot - high ankle sprain, missed about 6 weeks total and just came back
5. Sidney Crosby - high ankle sprain last night and we don't know how long he's going to be out

And it's not just jerseys I get for myself... these are the ones I've gotten for family and friends...

1. Troy Paulomalu - out half the season with numerous injuries
2. Antwan Randel El - left Pittsburgh about 2 weeks after I bought it
3. John LeClair - retired
4. Ziggy Palfy - retired
5. Gary Roberts nameplate to put on the LeClair jersey - injured his leg
6. Mark Eaton - torn ACL

Therefore, no more jerseys for me..."

So you see, how could it have been my post...But I will watch what I say in future posts...

What was nice to see was the bounce back on Saturday for the Pens vs. Montreal. Pens won 2-0, and Evgeni Malkin had a great game.

Sidney Crosby to the top!

Tonight is a big night for Sidney Crosby. He is currently tied for first in points with two other players. One being Vincent Lecavalier the other is Ilya Kovalchuk. What is interesting is tonight the Penguins are playing Lecavalier's Tampa Bay Lightning. Not that there is any reason to concentrate on who is winning the points race, much less before the All-Star break.

But, the curtO. take on it, is that Sid the Kid will take the lead tonight, and not look back.

If I get any good pictures I'll make sure to post a couple in here.

*EDIT at 1:30pm* Can you tell I'm excited...I just noticed I already commented on this in my morning blog...but I think this deserves 2x the posting...

TGIF - and the Penguins are in the house.

Welcome to Friday folks. I hope everyone has some big plans, if that's what you are into. Or if your choice is to sit at home and relax the night away, I hope your wish is granted as well. Just as long as everyone is safe, I'm happy.

Last night at The Hop House for the Bark and Brew event and it seemed to have a good turnout. Even Channel 11-WPXI News was there and did a brief story on the 11:00 news. I saw my shoe, and maybe even my pantleg.

Tonight I'll be attending the Pittsburgh Penguins game against the Tampa Bay Lightning where Sidney Crosby and Vincent Lecavalier are currently tied for first in the points race for the NHL. The Penguins goalie Ty Conklin is bringing his undefeated in regular time season streak into the game, he is 10-0-1.

IF you aren't in the Pittsburgh area, but would like to keep up with the game tonight. Empty Netters will be doing a live blog from the game to keep you up to date. Thanks EN.

Last, did ya see what auction price someone paid for the 2008 Winter Classic game worn jersey that Sidney Crosby wore? Yeah, $45,000...but I guess that it's a piece of history.

Are the Penguins on drugs? I guess we will find out soon enough.

Enjoy your Friday...and I hope everyone has a great weekend.

The Hop House - Bark N Brew Event

If you aren't doing much between 6 and 10pm tonight, stop down at The Hop House for the Animal Friends Bark and Brew charity event. $5.00 gets you in the door with a coupon for a free appetizer, and $3.00 drafts are waiting for you once you are on the inside. I've been to The Hop House a couple times and they have a SUPER draft beer selection, good food, and friendly staff.

The Hop House is located in Greentree, right on Greentree Road. Basically right across from Canevin High School. Their website is here.

See you there!

KidRobot...what is that?

For sale today, Thursday, at KidRobot.com and the brick and mortar KidRobot stores in New York, Miami, SanFrancisco, Los Angeles and online is the KidRobot 8" Dunny "Tag Team" by Tristan Eaton, and comes with a KidRobot 3" FatCap. Limited in each colorway to 1,500 pieces, and $50 each, guaranteed to sell out in only a couple hours. Then guaranteed you can find about 200 on eBay selling for about $100.

So if Tristan Eaton's Dunny wasn't enough excitement for the week, KidRobot just announced the release for February 14th, 2008, of the KidNinja - release #14 of the KidRobot logo line. This KidRobot was developed by Huck Gee and limited to 1,000 pieces in each of two colors, white and gray, price will be $39.95. Sometimes KidRobot is sneaky and will throw a "chase" colorway, which is much more limited in number, but nothing has been leaked. Guaranteed this will be sold out within a week of the release.

WTF Kenya. That's not cool.

I am now contributing to another blog called The Pittsburgh Men's Blogging Society. So from time to time I will post Men specific blogs over there...like this one:

This specific blog is only for Men...please go here to read it.

Thanks, curtO.

Oh what a night.

Yes, in Pittsburgh it was a great night for sports and to be either at Mellon Arena to watch the Penguins beat some New York Rangers @ss, or at the Petersen Events Center to watch the Pitt Panthers beat up the nationally ranked Georgetown Hoyas basketball game.

My Parents had the tickets for the Pens game, but I lucked out since my friend Mary had an extra seat for the Pitt game. Thanks Mary, I owe you a Pens game or $200. So after leaving the Pitt game, Mary and I ran down to Fuel and Fuddle to catch the end of the Pens game. We got there and saw the last 5 minutes.

Some quick notes about the Pens game:

• Pens are now tied with New Jersey for the division lead.
• Crosby is now tied with Lecavalier in the points race in the league.
• Malkin picked up a hat trick and gave the middle finger to the NHL for snubbing him on the All-Star roster.
• Laraque got a fight out of his system in the first 7 seconds of the game against Colton Orr.
• Conklin is amazing in goal for us. Set a new personal best with 43 saves in the game, he only allowed 1 to go in.
• Look for a heated battle when they play next on March 18th. Everyone on the ice fought in the last 10 seconds of the game and 3 players got tossed.
• Pens win 4-1.

Now some quick notes about the Pitt game:

• You can see Levance Fields in the top picture. Bottom left corner, in the orange Rocawear. Hope for a speedy recovery.
• Georgetown WAS ranked nationally #5, Pitt WAS ranked #15. I assume some movement in a favorable direction.
• Ramon and Benjamin came up HUGE with 18 points each.
• Georgetown senior Roy Hibbert didn't have an opportunity to hit a game winning 3 this game, but did have a nice putback thunder dunk.
• Jeannette quarterback Terrelle Pryor attended the game and his name was chanted by Pitt fans several times throughout the game.
• Pitt wins 69-60.
• Pic is from the end of the game. Hibbert snubbed Blair's attempted hand shake at the start of the game. I'm sure he snubbed him after as well.
• 

Relax yourself girl, please settle down.

Nice lazy Sunday. Met up with Paul at a Station Square establishment for lunch, had our friend Lauren be our waitress. Watched some of the Indy-San Diego game. Then drove a bit and saw Paul's new place.

Anyway, driving around my song came on, so I wanted to share it. I have liked this song since I bought the cd I think back in 93' and it's the ONLY song I have never gotten sick of if I listened to it too much. A Tribe Called Quest - Electric Relaxation.

Pens, Buckhead, and the 3 Ryans...

Tonight was a pretty crazy night. I met up with Mike, his friend Tracey, Ed and his wife and 3 kids, and 2nd period arrivers - Emily and Steve. The group met at a very cool place called Fox and Hound which is in the North Hills. The Pens were playing at the Atlanta Thrashers. You all know how that ended, with Recchi scoring the shootout goal for Atlanta...good for him. I'm glad he is successful in Atlanta.

Anyway.

Left Fox and Hound and moved to the SouthSide, to a small spot called Jeckell and Hyde which is on 18th. I met up with Mike and Tracey, as well as a face I hadn't seen in a month at least, Carie. Also ran into 2 cuties - Amy and Sarah from around my way, but I think they were on dates, good for them - GO 2008, you rock. Played a couple games of pool with Mike as my partner, won one lost one but I played pretty sucky throughout. Got a few texts from Jennifer, she was in the Station Square area. So I rolled from Jeckell and Hyde and met up with Jennifer at Buckhead.

Then it got crazy.

We got a nice spot in the back, where the windows look out over the entrance outside. So Jennifer and I are chatting and here is the dialog:

76: Hey, I think that's Ryan Whitney over there.

Jennifer: No, can't be.

76: I'm 85% sure that's him. For real, and I bet that's the two guys that got called up, Stone and Lannon.

Jennifer: There is no way. They played in Atlanta.

76: Yeah, but...

So Jennifer and I keep talking, but we both keep an eye on the three wearing very expensive suits. Some pretty girls come up and start huggin and talking to the three. At one point the one girl that was very intrigued with the three get's the college prank...as she is standing directly in front of the three guys, she get's pounded on the bottle top and it starts to fiss up, so she tries to show her skills of sucking, but it blows up in her mouth and spirts EVERYWHERE, as she does a 360 in a circle of spirting, everyone has to back up...so the one suit guy is right besided Jennifer and I, so the three of us chat for a second about him being a troublemaker.

So the girl got all cleaned up and started chatting with the three guys again...not sure exactly what happened, but some dude did something to that girl...maybe tried to give her a pound? But another dude didn't like what he did, so they started having words...once again the three suited guys are backing up as the aggressive dude has about 4 friends come over to hush things...so the one suited guy says to Jennifer and me, "I feel bad, that one dude doesn't have anyone on his side, and there are 5 dudes that want to kick his ass."

So the one guy get's pulled back, and that was the end of that. The cute girls say goodbye to the 3 guys, who are now posted up directly behind me along the windows. I say to Jennifer, "I'm 98% sure that's Ryan Whitney right there." She still doesn't believe it. Then the one guy goes over for beer, he turns around and says, "Hey Whit, what do you want." Who I am now 100% is Whitney, he says, "Just put them on my tab Lannon."

It makes sense to use last names, since they all are Ryan's.

That's when I give Jennifer an eye jab, as she gets upset that I was right. In the meantime, some dude is doing that thing where you burp, and you know one of those burps could get messy. While he is doing that, his buddy is yelling, "Man UP. Come on Man UP." That while holding out a shot. So as dude is burping and gagging and trying to hold his mouth shut, RIGHT in front of the NOW CONFIRMED PENS GUYS, he is getting yelled at. As things start to come out of his mouth in the middle of the floor, Stone comes back over by us. So I decide to verify which Ryan he is, and it is Ryan Stone, and the other guy now standing with us is Ryan Lannon. I welcome to Pittsburgh, inform them that I'm a Season Ticket Holder and I look forward to seeing them on the ice. Also joked around with them that they seem like trouble, Jennifer did most of the joking with them...But they are very nice classy guys. You really realize how big these dudes are when you are standing next to them.

Anyway, they turned up the lights at 2am, and everyone left. But what a crazy night...

I should have at least gotten one of Jennifer and I, but nope. But what I did get was this sloppy pic of a truck that flipped over and blocking the right lane of Rt. 51, right by the Parkway West overpass. No cops there, but a fire engine was pulling away.

Tuesday excitement on the South Side

Every Tuesday for the past over 2 years BarSmart.com has been meeting up at a South Side bar, currently it's St. James Place which is on 18th Street. People show up anwhere from 7pm to 1am, DJ Monte of UpBeat Entertainment gets the karaoke going about 9:30. Specials are subject to change, but last I knew it was $2.00 Straub. Wings are great and cheap, kitchen is open until midnight.

I have been a semi-regular with this group. I've met a lot of nice people and I encourage anyone just wanting to get out of the house on a Tuesday to swing by there. Tomorrow should be extra fun since it's the first one of 2008.

Other BarSmart news:

Just recently you may have heard about the new poured drink tax, but you may not have heard that BarSmart owner Chris is very upset with it. And when someone like Chris is upset, you either move or hope he fixes it. So he developed a website dontservethem.com and created the below sign. Bars do have the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason and they have the right to print out the big version from the site to hang in their bar. BarSmart is here to help.

BarSmart, Inc owns and operates BarSmart.com a fully interactive and popular website for all aspects of nightlight and local news. It has been in operation since 1999 and has a dedicated and growing following. BarSmart lists and reviews every legally established drinking establishment in the Pittsburgh area. BarSmart.com attracts local residents looking for new places to spend their free time as well as tourists and travelers looking for the best nightlife that the area has to offer.

Don't forget to play the PowerBall on Wednesday. It's up to $71 million. Win it and share it with me.

nerdOlert. It's short.

So I'm currently doing price and feature comparisons on phones for a couple people. Then when looking at phones coming soon, I came across this at the Gizmodo.com site:

"...new ultra-compact, LED-illuminated projection engine that can project a 40-inch or larger image at VGA resolution."

"The device is intended to be integrated into a wide array of mobile technologies - and cellphones are undoubtedly at the top of that list."

So by the middle of 2008 we could have people walking around with projectors that can cover a 40" screen in our cell phones. CRAZY.

New Videos. Winter Classic.

The Empty Netters made a cool tailgating interview video ~ here. In the video, funny Pens at 1:45, I think I took a pic of the guy at a game, pic above. You can see me at the 3:07 mark ~ as well as Buzz, Tim, Ryan D., and Kenton. Maybe even Allison and Lara or Mike, Ed, Bruce.

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Who was louder, Pens or Buffalo fans? Compare in my videos below: Series 1: 2008 Winter Classic Conklin Pens

Add to My Profile | More Videos In the 2008 Winter Classic it all came down to the shootout. This was my video of Kotalik scoring on Conklin - which turned out to be the only time Buffalo got it behind Conklin in the shootout.
Series 2: 2008 Winter Classic Christensen Pens

Add to My Profile | More Videos Sadly, this is when Christensen missed, so the cheering is Buffalo fans.
Series 3: 2008 Winter Classic Crosby Pens winner

Add to My Profile | More Videos This is the peak point of the whole 2008 Winter Classic, when Crosby put the goal behind Miller. Shot from my point of view at the game.

THIS JUST IN!!!

Just recently read that Pittsburgh Penguins ticket prices are skyrocketing. On sites like StubHub.com and TicketsNow.com as well as eBay.com the prices are up by 50%.

In other news...

After a very exciting 4th quarter comeback by the Pittsburgh Steelers, they lose in the last minute.

Steeler players - time to break out the swimwear until camp.
Steeler fans - time to get in line for Pens tickets. 32 Sellouts so far this season, 19 more regular season home games, and the playoffs for more than one game.

Great season Steelers, you were pretty banged up and you almost won. Next year men.

Pens vs Panthers - Super game.

What a great game by the Penguins. Goalie Ty Conklin goes to 7-0, gets his 2nd shutout in seven games. But the game was full of action with the Pens moving the puck very well, good solid defense, and Conks stopping all 35 shots. So I took some pics and wanted to share.

Yup, the #1 Star of the night. Mr. Conklin.

Just a sequence of when Crosby scored. I think...

My Neighbors. Hey Paul and Terri, sometimes Jenelle - nice blue by the way.

Diane, Marcus, Jaime, Deven...

Jennifer and #76?

My worst attempt at getting Rutuu's black eye...can't stand blurry pictures. Then Malkin and Staal.

#2 Star Crosby, Newest Assistant Captain Malone, #1 Star Conklin...

Great game folks...Now let's hope these Steelers can come back from the current score of 28-17...I think they can do it...

curtO.

New Year's 2008 preview.

I'm still getting all the pictures and video's together since I had 4 camera's with me, but used only 3. So here is a sneak of some New Year's was.


Carri and I. First photo of the night.


Group photo. Back row: Bobbi, Mike, Buzz, Tim, Front row: I don't know, Carri.


A few Pens fans. Shawn, Kell iy, Carri, Me.


Carri with Andrew "Dice" Clay at the Crock Bar in Buffalo.

This is who I did a shot at MidNight with. The lovely couple, the bartender, Carri, and I.

My Buddy Buzz and I saying goodnight.

For the MySpace friends, see more pictures now by visiting the New Year 2008 photo folder.

curtO spotted at the Classic

Thanks to Buzz and Tim for spotting me in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette photo album from the game.