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moty movement

i don't like unemployment, corporate greed or corruption. i do believe in loosely organized groups, and i am of the opinion that it cant be an uprising without a little violence. plus i love to camp.

so why can’t i get into the occupy movement. it must be the lack of specifics. will there be a revolution, economic collapse or all out class warfare. maybe they need a leader. i’d love to see the next "i have a dream speech" in hd. probably shouldn’t come from michael moore or roseann barr. some rapper did a poem titled 'money man'. without hearing it i'm guessing it's not what i had in mind.

maybe it is time for our own change. maybe we need a new leader, more non leaders or a super committee. maybe next year

here is how shoes played out:
r.r.1st
c.k. 2nd
j.b  3rd
discretionary pts:
1 s.m. for bringing beer
2 n.g. ice pack points to "keep it interesting"

do the deux

growing up in the valley required some creativity when it came to going out. the yard didn't card, the bartenders at weber’s typically turned a blind eye, a friends older brother tended bar at los toros back when it was a hole in wall. and if all else failed, the winnetka drive in was a great back up plan. "yes sir. just one please. i’m... ah... meeting some friends {none of whom are in the trunk right now}". one time, after some technical difficulties acquiring beer and boones farm, we ended up with two twelvers of jolt cola. bottom line is several cans of highly caffeinated soda doesn’t really affect you until you try to go to sleep. the other side effect of consuming large quantities of an outrageously sugary beverage was waking up with a huge zit the next day. should'a just stayed in.

january’s event is moty dew. since we’re borrowing their logo, i thought we'd utilize their website for our first event. go to mtn dew.com games. play three card moty and email the crew a screen shot of your score. i’ll explain tie breakers if need be.  you have 24 hours to get your score in.

fall back

i got my first skateboard when i was five years old.  i remember this because i fell and knocked out my front tooth. i still have the bridge with a false tooth on it. my kids think it is pretty cool.

at some point, each has separately put it in her mouth – gross. i found skateboarding again at the age of 11. i remember this because my friend got caught with stolen property. you could call it trespassing and grand thief… we called it hoping a fence and taking rejected decks, trucks and wheels from veriflex’s dumpster. i had been there many times, but i wasn’t there the day of the shopping cart. there was no arrest or fine or anything like that. he just had to return the stuff they found. eventually, all the moms talked and i too had to return my stuff. i remember this because it was humiliating. i skated my first pool when i was thirteen. anthony’s pools went out of business and left behind three empty pools on their lot. i remember this because it was my puddle of blood that left the stain in the plaster right next to the drain. not too long ago, in my dad’s garage, i found one of the fruits of my dumpster diving days. a veriflex ten deck.

i remember this because we used to soak warped decks in water and try to get them to dry flatter (there was no concave or double tail kicks in those days). over twenty years have passed since i’ve skated any pools or ramps. this time i thought i’d be more responsible. i bought pads and helmet and a pass to the cove. i thought i was just a little rusty, until a kid pulls some sort of kick flip fakey in the clover
bowl. i’m ok backside, but on my frontside grinds need a lot of work. and i’ll remember that the next time i sit down. do they make a pad for your ass, or am i ready for depends

bowling saturday and remember - we all fall back sunday night. don’t forget to set your clocks

casting your shadow on the social networking green

it took a fair amount of urging before i joined facebook (the terms friended and poked were somewhat intriguing {as well as "syn syn/ack ack" which i am almost certain is a snowboarding trick}). i eventually signed up, logged in and even posted some pictures. it was fun at first. then it just became another neglected email account. f-book etiquette has always been a concern. avoid too many solo cup pictures, don't include your kids names with their photos and monitor your older kids accounts (thank god i’m not there yet – i can’t even monitor my own) – basically, stay on the cart path. i've probably typed twenty things in that status box. then just before hitting send the thought - who really cares that shawn is contemplating the phrase the edge of the universe - delete.

i used to said i only check my account while getting my oil changed, but now it includes the doctor's office waiting room, the airport and in line at the dmv. i’m not much of a wall poster because there is no way to cover your divots. i don’t think i have any good fail stories, my most awkward f-book moment would be accepting a friend request from a deceased person. here are some really embarrassing ones www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/08/the-funniest-facebook-sna_n_383847.html#s55567 .

hey batta batta sa-wing

my first car was a 1964 volkswagon squareback. factory sun roof with an aftermarket leak. it was the eighties, so i had to lower it for the look. 135’s in the front with positive camber in the rear for that squatty stance. added dual exhaust to improve that v-dub purr, converted it to 12 volt for the alpine stereo cassette deck, installed a hurst shifter with the trigger lock for safety (hindsight i should have had the e-break fixed), put on roof racks for functionality and covered the rear seat with a mexican blanket.

i thought i was cool. so cool that i didn’t need to change the oil.
only right now are the similarities of driving and baseball becoming apparent. between parallel and park, hit and run, distance and accuracy, eyes on the ball/road, throwing a ball or a rod… {until now, i wasn’t even sure i’d be able to tie the two together.}

train of thought - if you’re still with me: the title reminded me of ferris bueller’s day off which was right around the time i started driving. coupled with a recent conversation about first cars and since i typically open a little wordy... i thought i’d rattle on for a bit and while i may still have your attention.

here’s how the baseball event played out
hitting
n.g. 1st
j.b 2nd
t.d. 3rd

throwing
d.f. 1st
n.g. 2nd
s.m 3rd

scoring
n.g. 1st 5pts
d.f. 2nd 4pts +1 discretionary point for bring beer and coordinating the event
j.b. 3rd 3pts
s.m 4th 1pt + 1 discretionary point for placing in an event
t.d. 4th 1pt + 1 discretionary point for placing in an event
a.l. 5th 1pt
j.s. 5th 1pt
f.g. 5th 1pt
p.n. 5th 1pt
j.w. 5th 1pt

cheers david

shine on

last night the family went out to support a friend who shaved his head to show solidarity for kids with cancer and to raise money for cancer research. it didn’t hurt that it was at the riviera in redondo. good food and the best margaritas in the south bay (yes... followed closely by pancho's dirty maggies). he raised over two grand and got a great haircut to boot! there were a few kojack type jokes (all in fun), but the real props go out to all the men, women and children shavees for the money they raised. it was super cool seeing the girls sitting in the front row with several children affected by cancer, each in different stages of their battles. my girls didn’t even realize who they were sitting with until a speaker invited the kids up. i loved seeing that it didn’t change their perspective. they went on laughing and enjoying the festivities with them. it did open the door to a bunch of questions on the way home. a topic i may have to research a bit before we pick it up again. if you’d like to learn more about the cause check out ttp://www.stbaldricks.org/events/mypage/eventid/46/eventyear/2010. 

i would attach his 'after picture' but in the spirit of anonymity →

make a donation while you’re there. i thought about getting all philanthropic and setting up moty "team buzz", but then i considered many of your hair dos (and don’ts) -  for some of us nature is already doing the job and for others it would be just another trip to the barber!

moty update: the pop a shot portion of the march event is still set for saturday, april 3rd. the time is 2pm.

can i get a head count (for stick and stein not a hair cut)

case in point

it’s officially that time   the folks on acacia are starting to set up their displays. the big guy’s sleigh schedule is out. the boat parade and firework festivities are planned, decorations are up everywhere and tree lightings are happening all over the beach cities. the entire southbay’s getting its commercialized “christ-on” (i can almost hear sister rosemary clinching her ruler behind me for that one).

hell, i’ve got the christmas music playing. our home is making another transformation. it seemed easy from halloween to thanksgivng. come to think of it, it happened so fast, i'm not sure i did anything. well that was then... right now i’m putting up our lights* (actually right now i'm procrastinating - doing this blog and trying out the 'links' feature). but it is next on my list because i’m totally filled with holiday cheer! and some of the other items will require a trip to the poe. time to start spiking the egg nog! (if that’s not a euphemism for something... it should be).

with that said, i hope you had the good fortune of getting booZed for halloween

or basted er ah wasted for thanksgiving.

how’s about a little pre moty competition contest? (yep im procrastinating here too - list of events, schedule, scoring i know). so get your thinking caps on, design the next boo’d for christmas, chanuka or kwanzaa. the winner will get a bottle of jett {must be twenty one or older to play, odds of winning are yada yahdah yaahdaahh}. all entries must be submitted by post or emailed to me by friday dec 11. concept must include artwork and tag line. so let’s keep the prosperity going and keep the alcohol flowing. there is no reason the kids should have all the fun. i'm just makin this up as i go... are you with me boys?!. (there really should be an emocon for the sound of crickets).

good luck

*i wont officially turn on the christmas lights until december first

i hesitate to call it a mission statement

Inception
I read that "if you plan it they will come" (it sounded promising). It went on to say an event planner must be: creative -check, communicative -ok, enthusiastic –YES!, honest -i am...i swear, organized -you should see my office, decisive –maybe... So that's the kink in my armor. A friend suggested i start a blog. I quickly decided to 'just do it' (yet i still don't feel any more decisive). Some might call this a kitchen pass, a reason to get out of the house, hook up with the boys for a little male bonding. yes yes and yes. Hence the name the eject button, it’ll get you up and out quickly.

Purpose
This blog is set up primarily to promote and document the first annual Southbay Man of the Year Competition to begin in 2010. I will post the schedule of events, set up the rules, coordinate the organization of each event, send out reminders, publish the scores/standings and hopefully include only non-incriminating pictures along the way. At this point it is an invitational event, only because i don’t know any better (but if you know how to plan something like this – you’re totally invited). With that said, I would like to get an idea as to who is in, and further i will need a few good men to help with the coordination. I intend on asking participants to host at least one event. Beyond that i’d also like to offer this site to all of you, the men of the Gundo, as a place to post your happy hour hang outs, impromptu mudbowl or volleyball pickup games, carpool road trips to san ono, a heads up that a cool band is playing out, or if you have to dump those laker floor seats in a pinch (and i absolutely can’t go – then post it here). And finally this isn't y chroms only. if you're taking the family to the beach or you got the kids while your wife is doing her girls night out - share it here. Maybe you can get a group to 'man up'.

Summation
I’m devoted to my family. It will always be my wife and kids first. me-time is second. This rule will trump all others. But there is no rule stopping anyone from bagging on you for it. If you can’t laugh at yourself then laugh at me. {note to wives if you come across, “ball and chain” or any other malphemism on this site. it was meant with love and sincerity}. i am a general contractor by trade. rarely the first one to the party so to speak. Architects and engineers typically come before me. I can read the plans. handle mathatical calucations. I'll even follow most uniform building codes (to an extent), but this is uncharted territory. I can coordinate a fairly large group of men to build huge structures form the ground up, down to some very discerning details - so this should be easy right? You are more than welcome to just watch me try or you can help me out.