Friday, April 25, 2008

Issue #1: Getting To Know You....Again

The blog is back!!!!!! This time in bi-weekly issue format, which I'm going to try to keep as thematic as possible. The first issue I'm going to dedicate to getting reacquainted with my readers. (Hi, Erin and Melissa) So, sit back, relax and enjoy the return of the Shames Shenanigans.

The New Craig

A lot has changed in the last 21 months. Neil Patrick Harris is back on tv. The Red Sox are good, the Yankees suck. A member of the Spears family is pregnant and it's not Britney. Things change. People change. I've changed. To help keep you up to speed on the new Craig, version 17.0, here's a quick look at some of the biggest changes:

1. I'm no longer a Yankees fan. I realized this when I was attending last week's Yankees-Red Sox game. At one point I actually stood up and cheered after Red Sox CF Jacoby Ellsbury stole second base and then again later on when Manny Ramirez hit a HR. It's sad but I only root for players on my fantasy teams now. Plus the Yankees suck anyway. Go Dharma Intiative: Better Than All The Others!!!!!

2. I have a new favorite tv show: Move over Lost there's a new top dog in town. Starz' new hit Headcase is the greatest show...ever. It's so good that I even like it more than Gossip Girl. Aside from having a ridiculously awesome title it also happens to be ridiculously awesome. Picture a therapist to the stars living in Hollywood who has more issues than the patients she sees. Then picture stars playing themselves and making total fools of themselves. Instant hit. (Check out the link below)

3. For some reason everything that's miniature tastes better. (Insert Jewish joke here) First it was licorice nibs. Then tater tots. Now it's mini oreos and mini chips ahoy. There's just something about them that tastes different than their larger brethren. It's like you're compressing all the flavor from one whole cookie into one bite so you're getting more bang for your buck. From now on I'm only going to eat miniature things!!!

4. I have a new favorite store: Steve and Barry's. I don't know who Steve and Barry are but they sound like cool guys to me. After all, how can you not like guys who are basically giving away clothes. Everything in the store is $8 or less. That's right, I said $8 or less. You can literally get a pair of sneakers or a winter coat for $8!!!! There's got to be a catch though. So chances are I'm wearing something that was made in a sweat shop and inevitably it will shrink after one wearing. But still. Only $8!!!! At those prices I could live the life of a rapper and literally throw my clothes away after one wearing.

Head Case - Ralph Macchio

Check out this clip of my new favorite tv show, Headcase. In it, the Karate Kid, Ralph Macchio goes to therapy and gets more than he bargained for.

Things You May Have Missed

A lot has happened over the last 21 months. And while I could bore with you the details of temp assignments that I've been on and sexual conquests that I've had (don't laugh at that last one), I thought it would be better to share some funny stories with you. Everything else you'll just have to read about in my yet to be written but already titled autobiography, "You'll Never Figure Me Out."

Without further adieu here's a look at what I've been up to:

1. I got into a pretty bad car accident when I was driving back to NY from Florida. My car flipped several times and I wound up in a swamp on the side of the road. A lot of people have asked me what was going through my mind while I was in mid-air. And while it may be hard to believe the answer is: Josh Johnson. Johnson is a pitcher on the Florida Marlins who was pitching two days after my accident. And no joke I actually said to myself, "if I die who is going to check my fantasy teams and make sure that I have Josh Johnson starting?"

2. While I was down in Florida a temp agency that I went to offered me a job as an importer-exporter. It actually wasn't that bad of an offer. Decent pay, benefits, the whole nine yards. I would work at the airport on a night shift. However, I immediately said no.

My reasoning? The George Costanza comparisons were already running rampant. Everything from my dream job of working for the Yankees to the overflowing wallet. All that's been missing is about fifty pounds and a receding hairline. I don't think that I could have taken the comparisons if I also wound up working as an importer-exporter even if I didn't refer to myself as Art Vandalay.

3. Some things just aren't meant to be. I found that out after attempting to start a South Florida Writing Club. The group would have met weekly and would have been a forum for people to pitch script ideas and get feedback on their work. It would have been like a book club minus the soccer moms and metrosexuals.

However, on the night of our first meeting I went by the restuarant that we were going to meet at and much to my dismay the windows were boarded up! Just hours before we were going to launch my club and the restaurant had closed its doors to business! The club, suffice it to say, never met.

4. On the other hand, some things are too good to be true. For instance. What if someone was to tell you that you could make $10,000 tax free, not pay rent for three years, and have sex with a hot girl who just so happens to have a thing for 'jewish guys' anytime you wanted? Sounds good, right?

Well, there's always a catch or rather in Florida there's always someone looking to get married for a green card. I was offered such a deal from a nice girl from Colombia named Monica. Of course I said no. After all, if you thought that living in your parent's basement cramped your style, try bringing a girl home when you're married!

5. If wealth was determined by how much common sense you have I would be a single mother raising three kids by herself while working at a car factory in suburban Detroit. You see, during a softball game last summer I thought it would be a good idea to 'wait out' a passing storm by standing out in centerfield rather than going do the dugout like everyone else. I was certain that it was just a sun shower and that play would resume momentarily. I thought that I was going to come off looking smooth.

Instead I came off looking like your cat after it accidentally fell asleep in your washing machine on wash day. Not only that but my wallet and cell phone got soaked because my bag was directly underneath where the water was coming down off of the top of the dugout. So much for looking smooth.

6. A few months ago I went up to Boston to visit my sister who was running in her first half marathon. Keep in mind that she didn't play any sports growing up unless you count trigonometry as a sport. It is after all about as much of a sport as golf is. But anyway, she trained hard, and did a great job, finishing the whole race in about an hour and half and not even stopping once!

While I was standing at the finish line, catching my breath after the long walk from the t station, I begin to reminisce about the time that I ran a half marathon. Now keep in mind that at the time I attempted to run it, I was in the military and in the best shape of my life. Which makes it all the more amazing that I finished in 2 and a half hours, after getting rescued by a search party, but not before getting chased for dear life by a stray dog after I wandered off course. I came in second to last, only finishing ahead of a parapalegic who tried to hop the whole way.

7. My friend Brian and I recently coached a PAL basketball team of 12 and 13 year olds. After starting out 0-2 we got on a roll and made it the championship game, where unfortunately we lost on a last second buzzer beater from near half court!!! It was a great season although not for my psyche. It's kind of hard to show your face in public after losing in a one on one game to a 12 year old....when you're trying your hardest. That's almost as bad as the team I got schooled at the beach club by a 65 year old man with a deadly hook shot.

8. I'm sure you're all dying to hear what's going on with the ladies. And so I shall oblige. In the last ten months I've run the gauntlet of human emotions. I've had someone ask me to marry them (Monica) and I've asked someone else to marry me. (Allison, the offer still stands) I've fallen in love (Brittany Snow after watching John Tucker Must Die) and become a scorned ex (Brittany Snow after not returning my phone calls). I've searched for love online (jdate, myspace, craigslist, etc.) and while standing in line. (At publix) Unfortunately, love has alluded me thus far.

9. But nothing takes the cake or should I say the turkey like the now infamous Round Up incident. What had happened was that I was dating this girl from my softball league. We went on 2 previous dates and nothing happened. So now we're on that third date deadline of having to hook up before officially falling into the friend zone or as I like to call it, Craigland.

The night was going well and things soon progressed to my apartment after my roommate Brian offered up some of my left over Turkey from Thanksgiving as a late night snack. Leave it to Brian to seal the deal for me. This should be the part of the story where you put the kids to bed because things are about to get x rated. Instead it's the part of the story where you shake your head in disbelief and yell out, Craig!!!!!

That's because after my date returned from the bathroom I announced that it was getting late and that we should probably start heading back to her place. Suffice it to say that was the longest car ride of my life. And it only lasted fifteen minutes.

Other things you may have missed:

I went out to eat at Chilis for my birthday when I was down in Florida with a few friends. Only problem is that I gave my friend Kevin directions to the wrong Chilis! He finally joined up with us an hour later! And was not to happy about it. Especially when we didn't have any more room at our table for him and his girlfriend and they had to sit at the next table over!

Speaking of Kevin we went out on his boat once. It was a beautiful day and we were able to drop anchor at a sand bar and hang out. But then all of a sudden, as is often the case in Florida, the heavens opened up and we were suddenly in the middle of a tempest. We had to make our way back to the dock which was a few miles away. And of course our motor was broken and we could only go like 5 mph!! I feared for my life on more than one occassion. Which begs the question: Kevin when can we go out on your boat again?

High 5: Greatest Comebacks

I wanted to find a way to honor Borat during the blog's comeback. I thought about writing an article about baseball agent Scott Boras entitled, "Boras: Cultural Learnings of a Sports Agent for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Scott Boras Corp." But thought better of it when I realized that I might inadvertently daydream of a naked Boras wrestling a naked Bud Selig in a hotel room.

Instead what I came up with is a new feature called "High 5". Essentially it's a miniature version of a Top Ten List. Kicking off the festivities this week is a look at 5 Great Comebacks in honor of this blog rising from the ashes.

1. The Red Sox coming back from down 3-0 in the 2004 ALCS to beat the New York Yankees: They went on to win the World Series that year, their first of 2 World Series Championships in the last four years. No team had ever come back from a 3-0 deficit before. Considering that this was the moment that the curse was reversed it ranks as a sure fire #1 on this list.




A familar sight....

2. Michael Jordan (the first time): Any time you can walk away from a professional sport after winning three straight titles, try to play a different professional sport, and then come back to your original sport and win three more titles consecutively you deserve a lot of props.






Not the comeback I'm referring to....


3. New Orleans: Considering that President Bush didn't even want to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina turned the city into a cesspool it's been a remarkable road to recovery for N.O. It's no where near where it needs to be but with Mardi Gras and Chris Paul you can't go wrong.






Official poster from the New Orleans Board of Tourism....


4. Indiana Jones: Time to dust off that whip Indy. It's been twenty years since your last cinematic adventure but this summer everyone's favorite treasure hunter returns to the big screen. Going twenty years without seeing any action must have been hard for you. I should know. I'm almost half way there myself.






Indy then and now...

5. Ric Flair: In order to be the man you have to beat the man. And in order to make this list you have to survive a plane crash and go on to become the greatest wrestler of all time.





Wooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



And honorable mention goes to red wine.....first its healthy for you, then it's not, then it is again! It's made almost as many comebacks as Brett Farve.

Girlfriend of the Week: Brittany Snow

One thing about me that definitely hasn't changed...I'm still in love with Brittany Snow. It is still beyond my comprehension how she can be so overlooked in Hollywood. In my opinion she is the greatest actress of her generation. Whenever I make a comment like that my friend Steve usually follows it up by asking me where he can buy what I'm smoking. But in this case I'm being dead serious. I've never seen anyone else whose facial expressions match what they are saying so perfectly.

And apparently I'm not alone in my high praise. Here is an excerpt taken from another website called The Evil Beet:

"I fell in love with her on American Dreams, and I even loved her when she was playing that crazy racist psycho on Nip/Tuck. I mean, I didn’t love her character (in fact, I credit that entire subplot as the official Nip/Tuck shark-jumping), but I still loved her. I even love that cute little scar she has on her forehead. And, because I love her so much, I’m not going to spend much time harping on the fact that she’s wearing enough base here to feed a family of four for a month. I mean, if people could eat cosmetics..."

Too bad though that she's starring in a horror movie this spring because now I won't be able to see her work . But there is a light at the end of the tunnel for me. In her next movie she plays a stripper!!!! First Natalie Portman in Closer and now this. Apparently, there is a God!!!!!



Um, yea.....

Week In Review

Random thoughts from the last week:

The Boston marathon took place on Monday. My friend Erin reminded of the time that I wanted to run the marathon "as a gesture of love". I don't remember that but I do remember the time that I got chased by a stray dog and went off course during a half marathon, the time I got beat by a parapalegic, the time that I got beat by a 89 year old man, and the time that I missed a day of school recovering from a 5 mile run.

I don't know what the big deal was about the Pope visiting New York. Every day there are hundreds of people walking the streets of Manhattan who claim to talk to God. They're called homeless people.The Pope even held mass at Yankee Stadium. I've heard of Angels in the outfield but never clergymen in the dugout!!! Let's just hope that the bat boy wasn't nearby at the time.

The thing that gets me the most about religion is how unrealistic everything is. Do you really expect me to believe that Moses parted the red sea or that it really rained locusts? In Judiasm there is even a belief that the Jewish people ate manna during their exodus from Egypt which according to legend tasted like whatever you imagined it to. For example, if you wanted steak you could just imagine it to be there. Come on now. I of all people know that it's impossible to imagine what you want. Trust me. I've been trying to imagine a girlfriend for the last seven years. It doesn't work.

Speaking of steak I went to a Portugese restaurant on Friday night that serves all you can eat meat. It's a great concept but failed to live up to expectations. Which gives it something in common with a skit on Saturday Night Live.

I went to the Yankees-Red Sox game last week as part of a Northeastern alumni event. The highlight of the game was when a fan got thrown out for taking off a cop's hat and throwing it. And to think that some people actually think that baseball is boring!

CNN anchor Richard Quest was arrested last weekend in Central Park after being found with a rope around his neck that was tied to his genitals. Kind of puts Larry King and his suspenders in a new light doesn't it?

I wonder if I can get drafted in the NFL Draft if I change my last name to Long?

Sunday, April 20, 2008

The Blog Is Back!!!!!!!!!

I know you missed it. It's one of those things that you just can't live without. Kind of like food, water, and internet porn. And no I'm not talking about David Hasselhoff on prime time tv. I'm talking about the world famous, critically acclaimed, award winning, I'm a Headcase blog!

After twenty one long months of inactivity I have finally decided to make a comeback, wearing the 45, but it ain't to play games with you. Rather, I'm here to stay like a bad case of genital herpes and this time things are going to look a little bit different.

Instead of trying to be an Iron Man and blogging every single day I'm now going to release weekly issues, each and every Wednesday. Some features such as the Week in Review and Girlfriend of the Week will be there each week. Others will rotate in and out from time to time like out of shape defensive linemen.

The return of the blog promises to be the hottest thing to hit the internet since "One Night in Paris". Don't miss it when it gets re-released next Friday, April 25th in it's all new format.

Let the countdown begin.....







Don't call it a comeback....