Ryno-Vision: Boardwalk Empire, Politics on Facebook, Pumpkin Beer & more...

How do you concentrate when there's so much going on in the world? I can't. But here's 12 things that have come across my brain desk this week...

Always nice to get my band, Me & My Drums, back together.

I love Boardwalk Empire and try to not to say anything bad about it. But here’s something I realized the other day- True Blood has gotten frustrating to watch because they’ve added too many story lines and with each one hour episode, there is roughly 25-35 minutes included that I simply don’t care about. The show was at its best when it was just keeping it simple (i.e. crazy vampire plots & storylines.) Boardwalk is edging dangerously close to this same problem; especially this season. I’ll stick with it, but I won’t be totally surprised when Owen Sleater reveals himself to be some kind of magical leprechaun.

“Pleaseproceed, Governor” is the new “Go eff yourself, San Diego.”

I do enjoy a good Yankees’ loss.

“I have to go pick up Gandhi’s grandson,” I said.
“That’s not something you hear every day,” Erin replied.
“It’s not something I say every day.”

I think that in general, politics don’t really belong on Facebook- although when thinking about it a little more, I guess it’s fine. I just wish there was a filter I could set up that blocked people’s political posts. Facebook as a whole could really benefit from more filters: parents filters, work filters, inside joke filters. But as far as politics go, I ignore most of the things people put up, but one picture stuck out at me and I’m still not sure what it meant. A friend from college posted a picture of the following: Ronald Reagan wielding a chain saw, George Bush hauling brush & Barack Obama awkwardly swinging a pick ax. Are we supposed to vote for the person who landscapes the best? If that were the case, wouldn’t Mitt Romney’s landscaping company have the best case for being President? Wouldn’t Carl Spackler be the new Reagan? I’m confused about this one.

Hardest decision of the week: haunted hayride or haunted walk. I have no idea how you pick one over the other and what your basis would be for doing so.

Best Shows on Television Right Now (in no particular order & determined by yours truly): Homeland, Parks and Recreation, Boardwalk Empire, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The Office. Yes, The Office. It’s making a comeback in its final season. Biggest difference between this season and last season is that this season I’m laughing because things are funny, not laughing because I feel bad for the show and feel like I should.

Your weekly SAT Analogy- CVS : Rite Aid :: Target : Wal Mart

Local Natives are back, which is great news.

I can’t tell if I’m bad at fantasy football or just unlucky. Either way, I’m not winning, which is unfortunate. Get your shit together Matthew Stafford!

How come the weirdness of Mormonism hasn’t been talked about more during this election? I mean, that shit’s weird.

Pumpkin flavored beer is my favorite non-beer tasting beer.

Thankfully Thankful & Full to the Brim.

Future Wife and I embarked on three…count them, one, two, three Thanksgivings this year and yes sir- we rocked them all. Early highlights seem to be Erin’s sweet potatoes, Kim’s apple pie, and fleece sweatpants. It was my first Thanksgiving not in Maine and there were twinges of regret when missing out on Wednesday night's Bay Lines' reunion. But this has been a year that is all about changing things up for the O’Connell family and Thanksgiving was no different. The folks have moved, Erin is preggers and Kim and I are getting closer and closer to making our relationship official…officially awesome.

Now it’s Monday and I had my first leftover turkey sandwich for lunch. It was delicious. And because the weather is so freakin’ nice today, I ate it outside at the old picnic table out in the parking lot. It’s Cyber Monday for office drones and a chance for those people not tough or crazy enough to tackle Black Friday to cash in on deals. But if you do your shopping on-line, how will you get pepper-sprayed? That seems lame. There is not even a chance you could get trampled. Where is the fun in that? We need to inject some danger into Cyber Monday and no, I don’t think identity fraud will cut it.

But today is also a day to reflect and look forward. The year is coming to a close and Christmas is coming in hot. We just spent a long weekend zeroing in on what we are thankful for and now we’ll spend four weeks thinking about funny things to put in our loved one’s stocking. It’s time for buying Christmas trees, dropping hints about what kind of gifts you want, and hoping none of your fantasy football studs gets hurt with the playoffs starting in a couple weeks.

It’s a fun time of year.

Here are some things I’m thankful for, listed in no particular order.

Kim- because what I have with her is what I’ve always wanted.

My parents moving closer and being healthy.

Erin having a bun in the oven.

The Black Keys- because they’re fun to listen and instantly make me want to play drums.

Darren Sproles, Johnny Knox, Ray Rice- for helping get me through my fantasy football season. Special thanks to Jeff for agreeing to trade Rice.

Not being bald and having all of my teeth- I just don’t want to lose either hair or teeth. Call me vain, but it’s the truth.

Having a job is pretty awesome.

Gas prices in the suburbs.

The NBA lockout being over.

Marly and Zach for lending us Madmen so we could finish season four. But now that we finished it, what do we watch next?

HBO for making both Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones.

Herman Cain for being so gosh darn funny.

Herman Cain for also not being a viable presidential candidate.

WXPN in Philadelphia.

November having an extra Friday, resulting in an extra pay check.

Refurbished I-phones.

There is more that I'm thankful for, but in the end, I'm just thankful. I can't go so far as to say life is good, because there are still bumps in the road and kinks that need to be worked out. But life is happening and that alone is something to be thankful for.

Go Celtics.

Occupy My Confusion

I’m confused.

I’m confused this morning for a variety of reasons. For a hot minute, I thought I was troubled- but that was just a gestational reaction to dinner last night…which was delightful. But I’m confused about what’s going on right now in our country. It is not dismay and it is not outrage. It is just simple confusion. It is the kind of confusion that is not easily remedied. Unfortunately, for my confusion, there is not really an end in sight.

These Occupy Insert City Here movements are confusing- specifically what has happened the past few days, whether it’s the brutal gang-busting happening in Oakland and New York or the he said/she said back and forth that is happening in Philadelphia. Frankly I’ve been a little bit confused about these Occupy Movements from the get go. Now though, it’s just gotten weird.

It’s not going to end well, anywhere. It doesn’t matter what city, what government or what motley crew of protestors are involved. This just isn’t going to end well. There will be martyrs and victims and there will be more police beatings and news conferences where up-tighters in ties say that the situation has gotten out of control and there will be news conferences following these news conferences, where protesters refute the claims that lawlessness has crept into their occupations. What will be the final straw? A vicious snow storm? Maybe, but even that might not stop them and if anything, will probably result in one or two nunchucks weathering the storm and becoming folk heroes for doing so. A Phish tour? No, this isn’t the nineties. I don’t know what will happen; I just know it’s confusing the shit out of me.

And I’m confused about Tim Tebow. Really, an NFL quarterback threw eight times, only completing two passes and is now 3-1? I think Tebow is the Wildcat re-incarnated. He’s a fad and will be gone in two years unless someone can talk him into becoming a mega stud tight end/halfback hybrid. He’s not a quarterback. Tom Brady is a quarterback.

I’m confused that the Phillies, a team that for two years in a row had their seasons end because they couldn’t get a hit to save them, opened the off season by throwing down fifty million dollars for a closer. Now I know that this closer is Jonathan Papelbon and I think Pap will be great in Philly- but I had the same reaction to the Pap signing as I did with the Cliff Lee signing- can he hit? I just don’t get it. I think Phillies’ GM Ruben Amaro has patience issues. He would be wise to heed the advice Arnold Rothstein gave Nucky Thompson in this week’s Boardwalk Empire- chill out some.

I’m not confused that J. Edgar wasn’t as good as I hoped. I’m disappointed.

Coldplay is confusing. It feels like I shouldn’t like them, but I do. Their new album is a great. It’s a big, international rock n roll album…and it has Rhianna on it. Bonus. I have no idea what Mylo whatever means- the title of the album, and I don’t care. I like Chris Martin’s voice. I also feel that their drummer has the easiest gig in music.

Republicans have me confused. Have you seen Herman Cain’s latest interview, talking about Libya? And that dude is a front-runner, despite being accused of numerous accounts of sexual harassment. And if the whole thing wasn’t a joke already, it’s now getting even worse- Newt Gingrich is supposedly making a run now. You guys know he’s a dick right? You know he’s a liar and would be a terrible president right? You know you should just cut your losses and support Mitt, right? I just don’t get it.

I’m confused by the weather- but happy that flip flops aren’t totally out of my life yet.

I’m confused that I can have five bars and the little 3G logo on my phone, but still can’t get current fantasy football scores.

I’m confused about the NBA situation- specifically confused about who put the people in charge in those positions.

However, there is one thing I am not confused, dismayed, outraged or befuddled about.

I am perfectly cool with the socks I have on. I love them. And on a day like today, that’s enough.

Happy Birthday Future Wife.

Dressing Up As A Troubled Fan

It’s hard to know what is more unsettling. There is the Patriots’ dismal and long-view disheartening loss to the Steelers, Boardwalk Empire possibly spreading itself too thin or my kind of okay Halloween costume of a skuzzy roadie being realized as a more spot on Fred Durst costume. Yeah, Fred Durst- the loser from Limp Bizkit, who I realized I looked like in the bathroom. Before I could fully digest this, I was called out for looking like him by a gal dressed up like Crock Pot.

It was a nice weekend for sure, but it was a weekend that came away turbulent by the time Monday morning rolled around.

So where to start? Well I could start with wondering why I still have Matisyahu on my I-pod. I never listen to him anymore and when I do it’s for about a minute- struck by the novelty of listening to him before being struck even harder by the fact that his songs are kind of boring.

No, I’m leaving that alone and skipping ahead.

Boardwalk Empire- we will start there. This is a massive show. It’s confusing and like a James Joyce book, something that only makes sense when tackling it with outside resources like Alan Sepinwall and the A.V. Club. It just has a lot of characters and a lot of moving parts- things that make for slightly challenging Sunday evening viewing, especially after a few hours of casual day-drinking and laundry-doing. I thought, and still do think, that this season has been amazing and has made last season’s arduous and sometimes less entertaining and more educational first season totally worth it. But after last night, I’m left thinking that perhaps the show is just a bit too big for its britches.

I like all the characters, but I’m starting to get worried that it is fast becoming too much for one show. Is Boardwalk Empire a morality play or a gangster flick? Is it story about people struggling with their beliefs, struggling with themselves or struggling with getting booze across state lines? Last night was the first night that I started to think that maybe Steve Buscemi’s Nucky Thompson would be pushed aside like Ned Stark in Game of Thrones and in this case, making room for Jimmy Darmody in the same way Ned’s death made room for his son Rob. I just don’t know what kind of show I’m watching with Boardwalk. When it first started, the producers talked about the show as a rare look at the gangsters we had come to know and love- Al Capone, Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky, as baby gangsters, and instead of seeing them at the height of their power, as we had on so many occasions, we were seeing them as ambitious up and comers. I never thought about this until last night. But doesn’t that statement mean that the show isn’t long for Buscemi and his Thompson character? Just where is this show going? I have no problems with them going gangster, but if that’s the case, I have problems with things like Van Alden baby daddy drama and Margaret Shroeder pinning for Irish Furio. After every episode of this season, I’ve been left saying- wow, this show is amazing. Last night I was left wondering what kind of show that I found amazing.

As for my beloved Patriots, yesterday’s game was very simply put- not a lot of fun. They only lost by eight? Christ, it should have been twenty. There were times when I forgot the Pats’ had dressed an offense for the game. Since 2007, the Patriots have played games that I call “Wait, Isn’t Belicheck a Defensive Genius?” Games and yesterday was one of those games. It was a dismal loss and one that when looking long-term at the team, leaves you with questions and not even a glimmer of the confidence that you had after the Jets and Cowboy games. Bob Ryan had a column in Sunday’s Boston Globe, talking about how at this point, Pats’ fans want playoff wins and not regular season wins. Well if yesterday’s game was any indication, the Steelers look playoff ready and the Patriots look first or second round loss ready…again.

But whatever, the weekend if over and now it’s another Monday and it’s Halloween. There will be no sports radio today, just loud music. I have my face back after shaving off my chin and the patchy hair that was there for my Halloween costume and even though it’s cold, the sun is shining. We will move on because we have too. The Patriots will either have a defense come January or they won’t and Boardwalk Empire will either succeed because of its ambition or capsize because of the weight it’s put on.

I know one thing for sure, my pumpkin-carving skills are lacking. We will all move on. We have too.

Moderately Maximum Intensity Tuesday Quick Hits: Tebow, Rick Perry & when to not be Barney Rubble

Boom! It’s a coffee-induced Maximum Intensity Tuesday. The Corrolacoaster is in the shop, getting some kinks worked out and I’m dipping out of the office at noon to save my sanity. The sun is out and it’s been a good day for tunes- Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, old school Red Hot Chili Peppers and now Pearl Jam. I won’t go far as to say life is incredible…but today…life is pretty okay.

In honor of a pretty okay Maximum Intensity Tuesday, here are some pretty okay random thoughts.

I have a couple simple rules when it comes to Halloween. 1) Don’t stress about a costume. 2.) Wear something that is comfortable 3.) Don’t wear a costume that you wouldn’t want to go to jail in. I almost learned the hard way when it comes to that last lesson and all I can say is that the last place you want to be when you’re dressed up as Barney Rubble is a Baltimore prison.

You can say a lot of things about Obama, but one thing I don’t think you can say is that he is weak on national defense. Osama? Dead. Khaddafi? Dead. Mubarack? In court. Iraq? Peacing out in time for Christmas. I think something that is important to remember is that Obama was left to clean up the international mess Bush created and I feel he’s doing a fairly decent job at it.

You know what’s a bummer? Trying to make a trade to shake up your fantasy team, getting a diehard Ravens’ fan to give up Ray Rice and then having Rice and the other player you picked up, Miles Austin, score a total of 5 points. That’s a bummer.

Not a bummer? It’s the Cameron Crowe Pearl Jam documentary that was just released. It made me instantly do two things: realize how much I love Pearl Jam and realize how much I miss being in a band. It’s such an awesome film and I’d recommend it to anyone- regardless if you like Pearl Jam or not. It’s simply a great story about a good old American rock band.

I know I’m sick of Michelle Bachmann when I don’t even care about the negative coverage anymore.

I’m not mad at Donald Trump for still yapping about Obama and his birth certificate. I’m mad at the lame ass reporters who keep asking Trump about Obama and his birth certificate.

It’s fun watching Rick Perry fall on his face. He carries himself like someone who is not accustomed to failure.

Anyone who says they are without a doubt convinced that the Rangers will win the World Series are without a doubt a moron. I just don’t think you can count the Cardinals out and even if you feel that the Rangers are going to win (and I think they will,) you can’t say so without feeling a little bit of buyer’s remorse. The Cardinals have been a resilient and good for almost two months now. That should count for something. On a side note- I hate how baseball teams have a couple different hats now. Multiple jerseys, well that’s one thing. But you should have only one hat if you’re a baseball team.

When describing my ideal quarterback, the fact that he is a nice guy is way, way, way down on the bottom of my list. The fact that it’s one of the first things people say about Tim Tebow is one of the main reasons why I can’t stand him.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck making a movie about Whitey Bulger written by Terrance Winter, the producer of the Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire, makes me the most excited I’ve been for a movie since the Dark Knight.

Back to Tim Tebow- he’ll be like the Wildcat offense- marginally successful for a couple weeks until defenses figure out how to stop him and then serving as a backup for the Eagles.

Going through a corn maze once seems like the appropriate amount of times to go through a corn maze until you have kids.

Thursday Quick Hits: Red Sox, the Black Keys & Occupy Insert City Here.

It’s raining. I have thoughts. I have coffee.

Random Thought Run-Down Wednesday…oh wait, it's Thursday.

I hate what’s happening with my beloved Red Sox. I hate everything about everything that everyone is saying about everything. Jon Lester, I’m most disappointed in you- you the one who overcame cancer and looked to be on his way to becoming a genuine stud pitcher and here you are drinking beer and eating fried chicken. Come on man. And David Ortiz…you’re sick of the drama? Well you’re a veteran- you should have done something about it. As far as Theo goes, I understand why he’d want to leave. But there is a part of me that thinks it’s a little cheap. He built this team (whether or not he did it by himself is up for debate) and that team became a dumpster fire. Instead of sticking around to put out the fire, he’s bolting. I can’t support that. A man should always clean up the mess he makes.

Fantasy football update! I’ve won three games in a row but have lost twice in my attempt to trade Tony Romo. Kenny doesn’t believe in trades & Jeff backed out when it came to trading Miles Austin. At this point, I’m standing down. Side note- Darren Sproles is becoming my 2011 Jamal Charles- the player I’m the biggest fan of, but never actually see play.

New Black Keys’ album coming out in December! There are officially three bands out there today that make me want to buy their album as soon as it comes out: My Morning Jacket, the Roots and the Black Keys.

The idea of Republicans nominating an African-American for president sounds like a joke. A bad joke- but a joke nonetheless. And could we really have a president named Mitt? Mitt Romney sounds like a character on Madmen…one of the annoying ones.

Really…how many Republican debates do we need? The one this week was like an awkward introduction to journalism class. I watched for ten minutes and heard two questions based on a candidates’ statement followed by that candidate starting their response with a version of this: well what you said isn’t entirely true…

I have no problem with the Occupy Insert City Here movement. However, them (specifically the Occupy Philly movement) asking for donations of food, clothes, etc just doesn’t seem right to me. I mean, you don’t have to be there and you’re not homeless. If you’re cold, go inside. If you’re hungry eat. But I just don’t think they should be asking for donations.

Boardwalk Empire is one great episode away from becoming the best show on television. This season has been amazing so far.

I look forward to watching two shows every week: Parks and Recreation and Boardwalk Empire. I forget about one show a week, but get stoked a half hour before it’s on when I remember it’s on: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I watch one show each week that is increasingly become more because of it’s track record and less because of it’s current entertainment value: The Office.

Still very upset about the Red Sox.

I watched last week’s Patriots’ game with my dad- first time in a year or so. Hard to beat that.

Lucky for a lot, Luckiest to not be an Eagles Fan

I feel lucky in a lot of areas. I feel lucky that I met Kim and I feel lucky to have such a great family. I feel lucky that Ma Dukes is the strongest Ma Dukes there is and I feel lucky that I was able to drive my Blazer for as long as I could without it bursting into flames. I feel lucky to be healthy, to not be shorter than I am, to not be bald or balding and I feel lucky I have a car that gets good gas mileage.

But this morning, what I feel most lucky about is that thankfully, I am not an Eagles fan.

Upon moving to Philly a little over five years ago, I took to the Phillies largely because of my love of baseball, tied to my love of getting enthusiastic about things and finally coupled with my desire to care about something I’d be watching nearly every night from April to October. It turns out that my timing was pretty good as the Phillies current rise to prominence coincided nearly perfectly with my relocation to Philly.

Of course that made Friday night especially painful as Future Wife and I sat at an Irish bar in our neighborhood, watching the once-Fightin’ Phils loses 1-0 to the Cardinals. It was a hard game to watch and tough to see a team with so much potential go down so easily. If they had shown a little fight and maybe at some point during the game, had even scratched at the idea of coming close to scoring a run, it would have made the loss a little easier to take. But nope, the Phillies just went out- not with a bang and frankly, not even a whimper. Saying that they went out with a whimper would be giving them too much credit. For the last three to four innings of the game, no one in the bar was saying very much except for “Yes, I’ll have another,” whenever the overworked barkeep came around. Man, I thought, if only the Phillies were working as hard as the bartenders in Philly were, things would be different.

When the game ended and all that we saw was Ryan “Anti-Clutch” Howard hobbling down the line before crumpling up in a heap, the bar was silent. I looked around and people were doing one of two things- staring blankly with their mouths dropped open or shaking their head and mumbling a few inaudible curse words. In regards to feeling lucky, I was at that moment, lucky to be a Red Sox fan. It had prepared me for moments like this.

That was Friday night. Saturday was the hangover and if it hadn’t been sunny and seventy degrees and had it be rainy, windy and from a weather perspective, just overwhelmingly depressing, the city wouldn’t have made it to Sunday. The big news in the city was Occupy Philly, followed by the big question in the city- what was Occupy Philly all about? Yeah, no one really had an answer for that one. But the weather was beautiful and like any decently earned hangover, it gradually went away and we were able to move on with our lives. At some point in the afternoon, news came out that Big Ry tore his Achilles and would be out until early June at the earliest. But by then, it was almost white noise. It was like finding out that the night before in a drunken stupor you had punched a baby dolphin in the face. At that point it didn’t matter- it was just more bad news.

Sunday was Eagles’ day in Philly- a chance at redemption, a chance at good news, a chance to put a smile on the face of a city that had been pouting for a day and a half. For Future Wife and me, it was mostly just a Sunday until 4:15- then it was time for the Patriots’ game- a game that was thankfully broadcasted nationally. We would not be affected in anyway by the Eagles’ game. Our allegiance to Philadelphia sports had run its course and had been shelved until next April. All we could do was put together a shopping list to have ready if the Birds lost so we’d be prepared for the looting.

Well the Eagles did lose. They lost again, for the fourth time in a row. After Boardwalk Empire (quickly becoming the best show on TV,) we briefly watched the local news and even the anchor sounded disgusted. They ran through a rundown of interviews with fans who all shared one common trait (and that doesn’t count “still looking hammered”) - these fans were pissed. They were pissed at Andy Reid, pissed at Vick and they were pissed at Eagles’ ownership. It’s a good thing today is a holiday, because I don’t think anyone in Philly would be going to work today anyway.

And more importantly, it’s a good thing I didn’t hitch my wagon to the Eagles like I did with the Phillies.

So today, amongst all the things I’m lucky for- not being an Eagles’ fan tops the list.

Go Pats.