I enjoyed this when it aired before the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Here’s part two of that awesome Cleveland tourism youtube. Cannot. Stop. Laughing.

Some of you have been asking, so here’s an update on my move to California:

It looks like I am going to be starting my new job in June, so I will be around longer than I originally thought.  This actually works out well because I will now be in town at least up until my brother’s wedding in April.  This also gives me a ton of time to clean up the house.

As an aside (and warning), my future sister-in-law Courtney gave me her scanner.  Over the weekend, I scanned a lot of old pictures that I have collected/found during my house cleanup.  I have seriously found boxes that I haven’t even opened since I bought the house in 2003.

I also have to admit that the thought of moving to San Francisco (as opposed to SoCal) still lingers.  It just seems like SF would be a better fit for me.  I am so much more a Bay guy rather than an LA guy.  No city (other than Boston) has ever elicited a response from me like San Francisco.  No matter what happens, I can pretty much guarantee that I will live there before I move back to this area.

One of ways I learned of this response has been from watching “The Bachelor” recently.  And before you say it: I know, I know – the velveeta quotient on the show is off the charts.  I started watching this season because I was instantly smitten after seeing Ali, one of the girls on the show.  Ali grew up in Western Massachusetts and now lives in, you guessed it: San Francisco.   She is probably going to be the bachelorette in the next show, so I will probably be watching that as well.

Deal with it.

“The Bachelor” has great scenery (heh).  Whenever they show the aerial shots of “The City,” I can’t help but think maybe I’d be better off just moving to San Francisco.  This also happens when hear a blurb about an Olympian from the Bay Area, or hear/read something about the city by the bay.  For some reason, I feel a real connection to that place and have ever since my first visit in 2004.

Time will tell where I end up, I guess.

(Oh yeah…..USA! What a win last night.)

WARNING: Language not safe for work!

I’m a pack rat.  I save everything.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve really stepped up my clean up effort at the house.  During the past few days alone, I’ve thrown out five large bundles of newspapers and four large boxes of “stuff” that I was saving for some reason.  I had newspapers from pretty much every memorable event over the past 20 years.  Most of them were sports related.

I have mentioned before that I save wedding invitations.  I felt like if I just threw them in the trash, it would be a bad omen for the couple.  Over the past weekend, I found practically every invitation to every wedding I have ever attended.  Some of these weddings have even already ended in divorces.  I also found graduation cards, Christmas cards, birthday cards, letters and even receipts – some of them were 15-20 years old.  A lot of the letters and cards were from my college days.  I found letters from family members, friends and even former co-workers.

I spent a lot of the weekend re-reading some of these items, keeping only the most important items, and throwing most of them away.  Hopefully in doing so, I will send no bad karma to anyone’s marriage (if so, I apologize in advance).  Today, I can now officially say that I was a pack rat.  One can’t continue to physically save everything.  We can only rely on our memories and feelings to remember people.

Because of these feelings (and few things that happened last week) and because I am a maudlin sap, it has been a really emotional couple of days.  And because of this, I have recently a few messages to people I’ve known a really long time thanking them for those cards and letters.

Sometimes we need to stop and remember our past.  The clock and calendar never stop moving.

I simply cannot stop watching this.

The announcer is awesome as well, “WHOA, devoured!”

The old raptor is the best mascot in sports, but this one isn’t bad either.

A few weeks ago a friend mentioned the Pit Stop Barbeque on Facebook, calling it the best BBQ in town.  I was surprised.  In this area, most people swear by Blue Ribbon or Redbones.  I had never even heard of the Pit Stop and after googling it, I found out it was in Mattapan.

I’ve been to a lot of restaurants, but the Pit Stop is totally my speed.  There is only one table in there (sans chairs) and the people were so kind.  When they heard it was my first time there, the woman behind the counter gave me a sample rib.  Also, one of the cooks threw a small container of the coleslaw in my bag for me to try.  I totally felt out of place amongst all the regulars, but they made me feel right at home.

Even better than the hospitality was the food.  They have the best barbeque sauce I have ever tasted.  The Pit Stop is a culinary anomaly.  It is a little shack that seems like it should be somewhere down south rather than just outside Boston.  Everything I tried was good (especially the brisket)!

I highly recommend this joint.  If you do go, keep in mind it is only open from Thursday to Sunday.

Surprisingly, I wasn’t really excited about the Super Bowl this year.  I thought it was pretty much a forgone conclusion that the Colts were going to win.  I was actually more excited for the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet than the Super Bowl itself.

As the game went on, I found myself loving this game more and more.  It was a great game start to finish and Drew Brees was as brilliant as his coach was gutsy.  As the minutes ticked away, the game and the day got better and better.  The greatness of the day culminated when Tracy Porter intercepted Peyton Manning and “went marching in” to the end zone.  At that moment, Porter virtually handed his teammates the Vince Lombardi trophy which (in my opinion) is the hardest trophy to win in professional sports.

When the Saints smoked the Patriots back on November 30th, I really wasn’t that upset.  It was the day I realized that the Patriots just didn’t have it this year.  Looking at those faces in that Superdome crowd, I was actually happy for those fans.  On that day I also realized that there really isn’t anyone in or anything about the Saints organization that I dislike.  This is such a rarity in this day and age of free agency.  For the first time in as long as I can remember, there is a (”four major”) sports champion that is not one of my teams and is completely likable.

Since February 3rd, 2002 I have always felt a special connection to the city of New Orleans.  It is not only one of America’s greatest cities, but it was the site of best weekend of my life.  February 7th, 2010 was a heck of a day for the Saints fans and for the entire city of New Orleans.  4.5 years ago the city was underwater and the home of the World Champion New Orleans Saints (how cool does that sound?) was being used as an emergency shelter.

Today, they sit atop the football universe and the Lombardi is coming to their town.  Only on a stage as big as the Super Bowl could something as special as this happen.  I couldn’t be happier for the people of New Orleans, the Saints organization, and all of their fans.

I’m never taking Super Bowl Sunday for granted again.  It is always one of the best days of the year and this was one of my favorite Super Bowls ever.

In honor of the final season of “Lost” (which starts tonight), here’s a cool youtube for people who like the show.  It is the crash of Oceanic 815 in real time.

Enjoy!