So, you need one of these. Luckily for you, there are several ways to get one.
We had some cool rubber ducky shirts, but those are all gone. Now, we have some new T-shirts for sale: The concept was by our very own Ernie, the design was executed by Zach Schweitzer (of Undercover Saints fame) and it was printed by the best in the ‘Burgh: Commonwealth Press! …Read More
I read about this a while ago, and kind of put it in the back of my mind, and now it’s snuck up on me again. Being a food allergy advocate (or annoyance depending on your point of view) of sorts, I really ought to go to this.
The Walk is a non-competitive 2-mile course and participation is free. Families can enjoy samples from allergen-free food vendors, music and children’s activities. Joining us this year will be Sally Wiggin (WTAE-TV), and singer and songwriter Kyle Dine (http://kyledine.com), to educate and entertain with his songs about food allergies.
The article above also drops these fascinating facts:
Food allergy is the leading cause of anaphylaxis outside the hospital setting and the CDC reports that food allergies result in over 300,000 ambulatory care visits each year among children. Eight foods account for 90 percent of all allergic reactions in the U.S.: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (walnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios, pecans, etc.), wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish. Food allergy afflicts one in 25 Americans overall, and one in 17 under age 3.
I’ll sign up to walk as an individual, or I can put together a team if anyone’s interested. The individual suggested goal is $300. The suggested team goal is $1,500.00.
So, here’s where I ask for help. Does anyone want to donate, or walk with me?
I love Gooski’s. It’s a relaxing hole in the wall with a killer jukebox and ridiculously awesome honey BBQ wings. It’s always cool to play a place you’re so comfortable in, so please come out to this one, hang out, & have a fun time with Ernie and the Berts as we rock out with the Dirty Charms & What Else?.
GOOSKI’S. That’s all I need to say. Come early, stay late. Rock out with some cheap beers, tasty wings & pierogies. We all need a night of debauchery in Polish Hill every once in a while. That’s what your favorite local rock n’ roll bands are for! What Else? channels some glam, Ernie and the Berts will make you feel scuzzy & fuzzy, and the Dirty Charms just may make you need to take a shower… Read More
After much deliberation and careful consideration of many nominees, CBS Pittsburgh has narrowed the field of Finalists down for this year’s MVB. Voting for finalists is open now through September 9th. Let your voice be heard – vote now!
I’m in the list! So, to whoever nominated me, thanks! You forgot to include “obviously insane” in the description:
The topics are enjoyable to read & are written in a way that is highly entertaining, while containing favorable opinions & insight.
Vote for me! Please?
I’m in the Dining/Entertainment category. They have a badge up there, and they say to use it, so I will. And, here’s where I’ll beg for your votes. It looks like you can vote once a day in each category. Apparently, you have from now to Sept. 9th to vote. So, please… be obnoxious with your voting! Vote daily for yours truly, and spread the word!
I have to warn you, if I win it’s just going to encourage more goofiness. Fast food joints will most likely not be amused.
Also… in all seriousness, I was looking through the other nominees. Use this as an opportunity to check out some other cool local blogs! I see Only In Pgh is up, & I love that blog. No one nominated Secret Agent L? None of the blogs listed on UrbanSpoon Pittsburgh are up against me in the dining category? There are a bunch of cool ones there!
Twitter has opened me up to the wonderful world of bloggers out there, both near & far.
You dropped this...
Check out the contest, vote for your favorites, and tell me in the comments below which blogs I should be following & why. (After you vote for me, of course.)
Thanks again to the nominator (whoever you are) and to any potential voters!
I’ve lived in the same apartment for many years. My wife has lived there with me for most of that time. I’ve seen several neighbors come & go from the apartment upstairs… but they all make noise. Not just “normal” people walking around noise, but crazy “what the hell are they doing up there?” kind of noise.
The latest tenants are very quiet to see them outside, but at home in their own domain, they are noise monsters.
This is a list of things that I’m absolutely sure they’re doing if I’m to guess by sound alone:
I’m sure there’s more going on. This is only the tip of the iceberg. Sometimes I’m hurt that we’re not invited to join in on the incredibly fun-sounding activities. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.
It makes it interesting when this stuff occurs at 11:00pm, especially the stairwell activities… because their staircase goes right over top of our bed.
So, last night I broke my normal “school night” routine of hanging out at home (or at least getting home by a decent time) to check out a local show that I could not resist. If you’ve read the blog, I’m obviously a Dethlehem fan. In addition to those medieval fantasy knuckleheads, the Pirates that “crashed” their CD release party were on the bill; The Bloody Seamen (apparently known in some circles asThe Flying Dutchmen). I’ve been wanting to check those cats out for a while, so this alone was a no-brainer. The other band was The Approach & The Execution. They’re out on tour from Cleveland, OH… but we won’t hold that against them. The place was Howler’s, and I know it well. Bengt is a hell of a sound-guy. I haven’t exercised my photography muscles in a while. All of the right ingredients added up to getting my lazy old musician behind out to a week-night show.
These guys were up first, and they just ripped it all apart right out of the gate. I’m pretty sure there were 5,692 guitars on stage and their lead cat went through all of them… even knocking one from the stage to the floor at one point. There was screaming, there was “woah-ing”, there was shredding, there was thunderous drumming, there was harmonizing vocals, there was dueling leads, there was even muscle flexing choreography. The one highlight of the set for me is when the one dude on vocals & guitar was playing a show soulful lead… and the dude next to him was shredding circles around it. It was later in the set, and I hope that song’s on the CD that I picked up, The Blood March. These guys were incredibly tight, & played really well off of each other. Apparently they had some setbacks in the way of van trouble and had to have AAA & some friends bail ’em out. They had a vehicle-less trailer out front. Hopefully they make it to their next destination tonight, so they can melt the faces of the next group of new fans! (Interestingly, I popped the CD in on the way to work this morning… and heard keyboards & a chick vocalist… neither of which were at the live show. I’m only 3 songs in so far, but I wonder what’s up there?)
These dudes are hardcore. They show up in full pirate regalia, and don’t break character easily. I even got a “business scroll” from Captaine Blackguts when inquiring about obtaining some recorded material! For all I know, these cats really are pirates, and have a ship docked somewhere on the Allegheny river. (Although, the one guitar player Cheswick looks a lot like the guy from Deathmobile/The It’s Alive Show…) This is a band of buccaneers that knows how to work a room, and work it they did. They definitely put a gleaming sharp metal edge on some really catchy drinking songs, with fighting, fornicating, plundering, and treasure thrown in for good measure. They seemed to cross musical genres with some straight up rock and some more funky/groovy stuff. Any band with a guy named “pipes” that plays the accordion, what think was a fife or some kind of small flute, and the bagpipes alongside screaming guitars is cool in my book. These guys know what they’re doing. I bought a T-shirt because no CD’s exist yet. I had sort of hoped they’d bust into “Friggin’ in the Riggin’” or “Whiskey in the Jar“, but alas… they were more original than that. I will definitely be at more of these guys’ shows. I just hope they weren’t distracting us with awesome swashbuckling metal as the rest of their crew picked our pockets and stole our women.
Have I told you how much I hate these guys? I mean, they have people that come out to their shows in costume. How cool is that? That’s fan dedication! Bovice and Hildor make seemingly effortless movements across the fret-board that put me under a musical spell. I wish I could unlock the secret to that power… or had the patience to practice like a madman. Davidicus is indeed a wizard with the low-end, weaving together the ridiculous guitars and Brom’s pulverizing rhythms while managing to still have a voice of his own. Lord Bonecrush commands your attention as he’s belting out tales of their conquests. He even let a guest get up to help belt out “Blood Forest”. Slaying orcs and harnessing dragons is hard work, but these guys have the time to do it, then to tell you about it. They follow a rich oral tradition as old as the first hunter coming back and telling how he captured his prey to provide dinner for all, and you’d better appreciate it. These warriors are going places. I expect a cartoon series, live action movie, a graphic novel that transitions into a monthly series, and some damn stickers, patches, and pins soon. I believe a side-quest with the Bloody Seamen is inevitable. I vote that it gets put out on vinyl as well as digital download.
⚔☠⚔
As stated above, I got some photos from the show. I have them up on Photobucket and will probably eventually have them all on Facebook too.
So, soon we’ll be having Batman movie night. Batman has always been my favorite comic book character. He’s smarter, he’s darker, he’s a crazy detective, he’s relentless, he’s not invincible. He’s most likely just as insane as the villains he helps take down. I like that.
I’ve been a comic book & especially Batman fan since I can remember. I’m sure it had to do with the 60’s TV show being rerun in my youth in addition to Super Friends and Batman popping up on Scooby Doo for whatever reason. As a kid, I remember digging the Hulk(even though I ran out of the room during the transformation scenes), Spider-Man, and especially the Greatest American Hero. I want to say I even used to play with my aunts’ Barbie-doll sized Batman & Robin action figures.
I went to one of the open casting calls but wasn’t called… but it worked out better as the wife & I were both able to do some unpaid extra work thanks to BeInAMovie.com (peep their Facebook page for possible spoiler photos)! It was all in all a really long but incredibly fun day. It was cool to see a bit of the daily grind on a film that’s sure to be a blockbuster. When else will I get to say that I was an extra in a movie… let alone a BATMAN movie? Ha ha. That’s just awesome. Whether we make the cut or not, it’ll be an experience we’ll never forget.
In an email from BeInAMovie.com after the fact…
What gracious and appreciative people are the family that Warner Brothers are.
And they so appreciated each of your participation and how you came dressed for the scenes. And stayed through rain and heat and humidity.
AND Chris Nolan was awed by your acting ability when Bane and Mercenaries blew up the stadium and mayhem was everywhere.
In with all that, I’m just a fanboy at heart… so we arrive (again) at Batman movie night. The wife & I hosted a series of Star Wars movie nights that were a good time, a good excuse to get together, and a good excuse to nerd-out with a group of people… fellow fanboy geeks & newcomers alike. (On a side note… we never did get past the movies proper… we’ll perhaps have to revisit these to delve into the Ewok & Holiday Specials, Fanboys, then the cartoons & parodies.)
Why not Batman Begins out of the Nolan series? I’d argue it’s all about Batman vs. the Joker here. Sure, some other villains clutter up the ’66 movie, and I ought to include something animated with Mark Hamill & Kevin Conroy… but 3 movies in one night is about all this attention span can handle. The Joker is as mad & random as Batman is cold & calculated. The characters play of off each other so well. In the comics anyway, Batman won’t kill. He won’t cross that one line to become a madman. (And after the early 40’s, he wouldn’t use guns either.)
I love all of these interpretations of both of the characters. The ultra-straight-laced Adam West & zany Cesar Romero are a great pair. They play off of each other well in the campy style of the old show. I remember being old enough to think “Mr. Mom is going to be Batman?” in the late 80’s, but Michael Keaton was a stellar Bruce Wayne/Batman. He played such an odd person, and it worked. I also remember thinking Jack Nicholson was too fat… the Joker in the comics & in novels was very tall & lanky. I was surprised on both counts. Nicholson plays a maniacal psychopath like no other. Christian Bale is gruff and guarded, and Heath Ledger has redefined the Joker for a whole new generation, effectively making Dark Knight a Joker movie, not a Batman one.
If these nights work out, perhaps we can delve into Return to the Batcave, some of the animated films, Batman Begins, & maybe even a Joel Shumacher film.
We’re looking at Sat. Aug. 27th for Batman movie night. Let me know if you’re interested! We even got Batman cookie cutters!
☢ Ernie and the Berts ☢ Hopeless Otis ☢ The Awful Waffles
$5 / 21+ / 9:00pm
Click the link for details & links to the venue & other bands.
Beat the heat, not your meat! Hang out in the cool relaxing not-humid soothing basement of Sheffield Lanes… a little place we like to call the Fallout Shelter. Well, they called it that, so that’s why we call it that. We didn’t name it. Although, it is a pretty good name. For some reason, they like us there, and keep letting us come back. Randy just may be a little insane. That’s OK, I think we are too. At any rate, they have good drink … Read More
So, Ernie and one Bert decided to crash a Houlihan's open stage last night in Robinson. Apparently it enters us into a contest. We'd like to take the other Bert to round 2, so we'd like you to vote for us. How do you do that? Like Houlihan's Robinson on Facebook. Vote for us here. This is what we sounded like: …sort of. Imagine that you ca … Read More
World (and Lunar) Domination 