How Can He See Over The Bar?

ET / Coors Poster (1982)
Happy New Years Eve, everybody.  Remember, when your bartender starts to look like ET, it's time to hand over the car keys.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the Schweitzer boys.

Christmas In The Stars

Christmas In The Stars
RSO Records (1980)
This is right up there with the Star Wars Holiday Special as being one of the most bizarre parts of Christmas and of the history of Star Wars.  It features the voice of Anthony Daniels as C-3PO and the beeps of R2-D2, and the hit single "What Can You Get A Wookiee For Christmas (When He Already Owns A Comb)".  Seriously, it was a hit.  It charted on the Billboard Hot 100.

As if that isn't bizarre enough, producer Meco Monardo revealed in an interview with TheForce.net that this record is the first professional recording of Jon Bon Jovi.  The album was co-produced by Tony Bongiovi, who is Jon Bon Jovi's older cousin.  The future rock star was 17 years old at the time and he had a job sweeping the floors at The Power Station recording studio.  Meco and Tony had three different people at the studio to sing R2-D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas.  The producers weren't crazy about any of them, so they asked Jon to step in and give it a shot and they loved his performance so much that it was used for the album.

A Window To The Past

Once in a while, I look on eBay for things from my hometown of Hazleton, PA.  I recently came across this postcard from 1907.

I'm having a little trouble making out the handwriting on some of the words, but this looks to have been written by Tillie Gerhardt of Hazleton, PA to May Sinclair of Walkerton, Ontario to wish her a Merry Christmas after she returned home from her visit, and that she can't wait to see Miss Sinclair when she returns to school.

The return address written on the front of this postcard is North James Street in Hazleton, which is five blocks down from the Victorian homes in the photo.  They're on North Laurel Street, on the other side of Route 309, just before you get to the intersection of Laurel and Diamond Avenue.  Those houses are still standing today, and I can personally attest that they're still in excellent condition because this is my home.  Specifically, I live right here:

The arched window that the arrow is pointing to is in my living room.  We're renting the third floor of an old Victorian home that's been here for over 100 years.  The landlords are a lovely couple who live on the first floor, and they gave us a really great deal on the place with all utilities included.  They're both retired, but the husband still works part-time as a repairman, which is how we found out about this place.  My girlfriend's father has an old 50's jukebox in his kitchen that breaks down at least once or twice a year, and my landlord is the guy who comes over to fix it.

 

This is the other side of that window.  When you walk into the living room of our apartment, you'll see a door on the far wall.  It leads to a very small porch... a very, VERY small porch.  You can't even fit a chair in there.  If you go out there, you pretty much have to walk sideways with your arms at your sides, like you're a spy trying to sneak around a corner by flattening yourself against the wall behind you.  It would be a really great sitting area if it wasn't so narrow because the view is pretty nice.  This is what it looks like during the summer.

I wonder what it must have looked like to stare out of this window a hundred years ago.

ROH Final Battle 2005

ROH Final Battle
Inman Sports Club - December 17, 2005
Edison, NJ
The fourth Final Battle took place in Edison, NJ.  After the show, I volunteered to help with the ring crew to clear the arena and load the trucks, and I got to meet many of the wrestlers, including Samoa Joe, Low Ki, Nigel McGuinness and Prince Nana.

Final Battle is Ring Of Honor's biggest show of the year.  It's my second time attending an ROH show, and it didn't disappoint.

Results:

• Jimmy Rave defeated Milano Collection A.T.
• "Classic" Colt Cabana defeated Azrieal
• ROH Pure Championship Match
  Nigel McGuinness defeated Claudio Castagnoli
• Alex Shelley defeated Steve Corino
• Four Corners Survival Match
  Jay Lethal defeated Samoa Joe, B.J. Whitmer and "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels
• Ricky Reyes defeated Davey Andrews
• ROH Tag Team Championship Match
  Generation Next (Austin Aries and Roderick Strong)* defeated Tony Mamaluke and Sal Rinauro
  *new champions
• ROH World Heavyweight Championship Match
  "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson defeated Naomichi Marufuji
• GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship Match
  Kenta defeated Low Ki

Mom Mom

Ethel Mae Tom
1936 - 2005

You were there for me in my worst moments, when no one else would be.  I'm going to miss you, Mom-Mom.  Thank you for being the most bad ass grandma this world has ever seen.

As Mischievous As He Looks

Here's my little buddy Terry on the deck waiting to come inside.

One Last Holiday Season To Overeat

There's a couple of things I need to say about this photo.

1. My girlfriend wanted to take a photo of me standing next to the Christmas tree.  It's not a particularly large tree, but it's still a Christmas tree, so I expected it to be significantly larger than me.  It wasn't, and I felt very self-conscious standing next to an object that's supposed to be large when I am both taller and wider.

2. I now weigh 303 pounds.  For a 25 year old guy with a family history of diabetes that goes back at least three consecutive generations, this is not good.  I've never been over 300 pounds before, but I love food and I tend to eat more when I'm depressed.  This just kind of snuck up on me.

3. It's too difficult to start a diet during the holidays, but I tend to do well when I set a goal with a defined starting point.  With that being said, as of New Year's Day, I am starting a diet.  No more recreational eating - just breakfast, lunch, and dinner with an appropriate amount of food for each.  No liquor, no beer, no soda - just water and coffee without sugar.

4. I promise, I'm not as mean or angry as I look in this photo.  I just think I look dumb when I smile.  Yes, I know I look dumb anyway, but trust me, it's worse when I'm smiling.