Luca Gobbato - My Italian Friend

I've almost had 1 yr of Luca, and this video is hilarious and could not be more dead on when it comes to him and the rest of the Italians I've met.

(note: he sent this to me - grazie!)

A PLAYLIST FOR U !!!

So, many websites use Imeem, and now I'm gonna give it a try. Here are some songs I've been listening to in the past couple of months. I would have more, but Imeem didn't have a lot of the songs I wanted :( . Regardless, here's my 1st playlist attempt. I threw in some oldies but goodies that have been on a bunch of commercials lately. MGMT's "Time to Pretend" was hands down one of my favorites last year and is now all over TV in the preview for the movie "21". (that is the movie they were filming at MIT last year when mom, dad, whit and I rode in an elevator with Kate Bosworth and her dog at our hotel here. she had nice boots from what we remember and was not as waify as expected) The 2nd oldy but goody is from 3 or 4 yrs ago and maybe getting its due as it is in the new awesome NIKE commercial. I just wonder if the ad execs knew what the song is about. it's about reparations for slavery.................whoops - not exactly a sports anthem.....still beat poet/actor/musician Saul Williams is cashing a fat check for "List of Demands (reparations)" - enjoy!

TRIVIA NIGHT !!!!!!!!

For the record, Trivia (Bar Trivia) is one of my favorite things. Apparently, Coach Sawyer would agree with me. Team Sawyer (Claire and Robert) are in town this weekend (whoo!), and arrived late Wednesday night. Instead of retiring for the night, we went to Matt Murphy's Pub and participated in their trivia night. Mind you, this was our 1st time to play trivia here, also. As I checked out the packed house and our competition, I was reminded of two things: a gentle blend of "The Mathletes" from Mean Girls, and Elle Woods going around the circle with her new classmates during Harvard orientation. I didn't like our odds....we were the smallest team at 4 and had no iPhone. Our team name was properly chosen ("Southern Pride"), and the domination began. My knowledge of pop culture combined with Sawyer's wealth of info proved unstoppable. When it was said and done, we emerged victorious with 56 points (the nearest competition = 47). The unassuming southerners dominated the multi-cultural smarty pants of the Ivy Elite. What did we win? 8 movie passes to the premier of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" (new Judd Apatow movie that comes out Apil 18) the next night. Unfortunately, I don't think that made up for our $70 tab.......

They were no match for us....

Tourney Time!

Good Luck to all in your pools and your brackets! Of course, good luck to everyone's favorite teams!
(ahem.....GO VANDY!.......and the vols - I'm not totally heartless)

Sneaky Devils!

Nashville's own, The Raconteurs (Jack White/Brendan Benson - Detroit, MI----Patrick and Jack from the Greenhornes - KY and OH - all live in Nashville now), have announced that their new album comes out next Tuesday. What a wonderful (totally last minute) surprise! Whitney, Leland, C Brown, and I saw them last year at City Hall (awesome). My only complaint with their 1st album had NOT ENOUGH RACONTEURS! Regardless, pick up Consolers of the Lonely next Tues. or their 1st album, Broken Boy Soldiers, NOW!


side note - Whit and I held the door for Patrick (the drummer) and his pretty lady last year at Cheesecake Factory in Green Hills (OW!!!) - he rolls in a nice X5......anyways

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Boston !

...and a very happy happy from the Gulf Coast Leprachaun ~ Mobile - Represent!

THE RAP

THE NEWS REPORT

Come On Fulham!!!

How in the world did Fulham beat Everton? America's team holds off the death rattle for another week with a header to win by an American, Brian McBride! Leland, we're coming for your Magpies! (that's Newcastle people) Come on Cottagers!

A Day In the Life

I removed these for biopsy today....most likely benign....don't use tobacco......check yourself...

Boy, You're Gonna Carry That Weight....

Well, 1 singer down, and Idol is destroying some of the best songs ever written. Tonight, the final 12 are opening up the Beatles music for the first time. I'm gonna hold these kids' feet to the flames. Tread lightly. The judges put it pretty straight (Paula to be exact - who never makes sense actually did...). These songs have excellent melody. Sing them how they were sung, and you'll be all right. Mess with the arrangement.....beware - YOU BETTER HOPE IT WAS WORTH IT!

Sayesha (please forgive for not being able to spell how that sounds) just ruined a great Paul song from Revolver. "Got to Get You Into My Life" sounded like it was being done for the lounge on The Loveboat. I'm not sure who caused this problem - the singer or the band - it all sounds like 70's GARBAGE!

Dear God! Chikeezie is making "She's a Woman" into a Celtic/Deliverance jam that has now veered into Roger Daltrey stutter singing for any 70's rock band - huh......? - wasn't awful, just bizarre, at least better than Sayeisha (sp) - for those keeping score: Paul - 2 John - 0 - How Safe....

AH, here's a John song..."In My Life" - pretty straightforward stuff from Rameal (again spelling, what?). no risk taken and perhaps no reward......BOring (J - 1 P - 2)

Jason Castro is coming up - I have faith in this kid. Anybody who pulls out the Lovin' Spoonful (he sang "What a Day for a Daydream" a week or 2 ago), is alright in my book. Here we go...."If I Fell in Love" - that is a great song (John also) - BUT it really is missing the Paul/George harmony at the chorus. regardless, pretty good rendition from the guy is stoned for his interviews. Paula wants this kid.....OH and there are the Kardashians (Whitney's new favorite family - they're a class act....) in the audience.

Carlie rocks through "Come Together" predictable, but good...

David Cook goes into "Eleanor Rigby" (which personally, I think is risky in the vein of In mu Life - slow and borderline depressing - great song, though) - well, it's better than I thought - I love it when Scott Stapp sings the Beatles.....

Brooke White does a very straightforward and safe "Let it Be" - good, in a wispy way

here's where things get rough

the Hernandez male stripper guy cheesed up one of my favorites, "I Saw Her Standing There" - yuck...I'm blocking this from my memory - otherwise, I'll think lap dance when I hear it...

Amanda Obermeyer - wow, if only she didn't look like she sounds...."You Can't Do That" was barely recognizable....Randy was ever so prophetic, "Yo, dog you made that sound like a southern bar romp....." (you know. the same thing she does to every song)

Michael Johns.....disappointing.....not the biggest fan of "Across the Universe"...not a bad job, just blah

Kristy Lee Cook....whew....this is the butchering that Sanjaya, I mean Sayesha, brought to light earlier. "Eight Days a Week" could be country if it was slowed down not sung at the same pace as the original with double timing the kick drum to make it sound like Robert's Country Western World.....just bad all over...

David Archuletta, I forgot about you. you get a qauzai-pass for being like 12, but saying you really don't know their songs.....really? oh, "We Can Work It Out"? "Stevie Wonder sings that song, I love it!" shoot yourself, david.

In the end, I'm disappointed (shock). Self fulfilling prophecy I guess. I just new there would be some weak versions of obvious songs like Yesterday, Hey Jude, and All You Need Is Love. (Im glad there wasn't) I really wanted someone to roll out with a harmonica and jam out to "I should have known better"...but whatever. Chikeezie had the vibe I wanted in the beginning of his song - except I wanted harmonica like this

there are so many songs to do...i probably never would have been satisfied - I really just wanted one George song...but they repeatedly said it was Lennon-Macca night - George must have his songs secure (unlike John and Paul - thanks MJ! though, you had to sell them to sony to get out of bankruptcy...) sad...

Have a Smashing Good Tuesday

I love nostalgia in video games. That is why the Super Smash Bros. series has always been a favorite of mine. Nintendo's battle royale lets you square off four at a time with all of your favorite characters of days gone by in an attempt to smash them off the screen.

Whether it be Donkey Kong, Link, Yoshi, Princess Toadstool, or Mario everyone is invited to this smashing good time. With 32 characters in toll, Super Smash Bros. Brawl comes out Tuesday on the Wii. With free online play, I see a lot of time being wasted in the near future......

Relegation Vacation

Fulham was long ago headed for the dreaded drop....Relegation. I just hoped that they could pull a miracle. Nope. I took little solace from Jimmy Bullard's late free kick that salvaged a measly point for the Cottagers. After looking like a child that wanders into the middle of a movie up until now, new American addition, Eddie Johnson, finally found some life breaking away in the 2nd half, stepping over a couple of times, and glancing one off the post. All for naught, nichts, nada, niente, rien and wolloshe. Surely Fulham will moan that their marker (Stalteri) was thrown down in the box for Blackburn's go-ahead goal (hence Gamst's wide open header), but he should have just been stronger and stayed firm. Still my biggest beef with futbol - everyone loves to fake/flop/whine/die on the pitch, get carried off on a flippin' stretcher, and then magically return five seconds later to play at full speed. Italians and South American players are the worst for me at this charade. Pathetic. If you're gonna go down, be for real ala Eduardo da Silva (nasty).

And yes, that's his tibia sticking out of his sock/skin. (shiver....)

Nevertheless, a loss or a draw is no win, and Fulham needs wins like a crackhead needs a hit. With 9 games to go and 6 points adrift, I have finally given up. Having won only 3 games all season, I find it highly unlikely for them to win 4-5 of 9 (which they'll need to survive). The "American" team will be playing AAA ball in the CocaCola Championship division meaning NO tv in the US. A promotion back to the Premiership next year doesn't seem to be in the cards either considering their current form. They have 3 goals in their last 7 games....yuck. There is a run of lower tier teams coming this month, but hope is lost. Looks like I'll be throwing my support back to the Merseyside and Fernando Torres (and don't even get me started on all the drama in Liverpool). I think this will be my lot in life. Cheering for the three-legged dog in a fight. Whether it be Fulham Futbol or Vanderbilt Football, my team is going down...