PacoNation: Pittsburgh

ripper workout week 4

2008-10-02T14:22:00.002-04:00

week 3 is done, and man was it a bitch! but still not hard enough that i want to say "F" it and chug down a vinny pie and a case of bass (that will come 8 weeks from now...).

week 3's biggest pain in the ass, was going from jumping as high in the air as you can 15 times in a row, and right into a one legged push-up! 3 sets of those, and if that wasn't enough... squatting with one leg at a time! the res of the exercises were all pretty much the same as the first 2 weeks. but, this has really been the only week so far that has gotten easier with each workout!

week 4 looks like this, lunges, push-ups, rows, ab bicycles, squats push ups with band resistance, chin-ups, etc... ugh! the hardest part was obviously the chin-up!

no need for paco to help us out on this one... everything else was pretty cut and dry. so 2 more weeks and i disclose where i got this workout from... because everything seems to be working fine (knock on wood...). i'm actually gaining muscle!

so the next workout will be saturday, then tuesday because of a few hockey games here and there!

sorry for the half-assed report, but work has been kicking my ass and there's very little time to update this blog! no biggie though. have a great week!

all caught up!

2008-09-19T19:04:00.001-04:00

welp, i finally caught up to week 3 of the ripper workout! i will be starting week 3 tomorrow, and giving a full first day recap on monday! so stay tuned!!! time to step my game up a little bit. i have been riding my bike into work 3 out of 4 days (which i will blog about later)... but i haven't really gotten into the running part of the workout. have a great weekend everybody!

NFL Week 3

2008-09-19T13:02:00.002-04:00

AFC East:
N.E.: see??? still the team to beat... and JUST the team to beat up on MIA... although... MIA will win. just watch...
NYJ: still sucks. but, fav-re on monday night? interesting... SD 0-3.
MIA: ...just watch
BUF: oakland is a comin'... basically, have fun! OAK is poop

AFC North:
PIT: scared... especially after that monday nighter. so just how good are the super steelers. first test (of many...).
CLE: @ BAL... power shift in the afc norzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
CIN: ouch, @ NYG
BAL: game of the week??? pfff! is the nfl really this boring?!?!

AFC South: SUCKS! i'm not writing about these teams...
IND:
JAC:
TEN:
HOU:

AFC West: SUCKS! not worth my time! except for denver...
SD:
DEN: just beat NO and shut them up... thanks!
OAK:
KC:

NFC East:
DAL:
NYG:
PHI:
WAS:

NFC North: SUCKS! GB is the only one that WOULD be worth it... but face it, rodgers is BORING!
MIN:
GB:
DET:
CHI:

NFC South: just win it please CAR...
CAR:
TB:
NO:
ATL:

NFC West: ASS!
SEA:
STL:
ARI:
SF:

OK, i'm already tired of the NFL... except for the steelers!

...THAT'S why i love hockey!

2008-09-12T14:04:00.000-04:00

from cnn/sports illustrated:

Friday, 10:27 a.m.
First, Felicia Young spoke up for her son Vince, the Titans QB. Now comes Christine Johnson, mother of Larry, the Chiefs RB, courtesy of KansasCity.com:
"He's not mad at the world. People have thought that and I just think he's misunderstood. He's not mad. He's just guarded sometimes and he also has a great passion for football. That passion can be misunderstood. He just has a different personality."
also:
Thursday, 11:58 p.m.
A Nashville resident has organized a prayer for Vince Young.
Earl Jordan, with the group Partners in the Struggle, is organizing a prayer rally for Young Friday night, according to WKRN Nashville. The rally will be held in Metro Center, on the corner of Rosa Parks Boulevard and Mainstream Drive.

are you F'ING KIDDING ME?!?! WHY ARE PEOPLE SO G.D. SENSITIVE THESE DAYS! you want to give vince young something??? give him a set of BALLS for pete's sake! this is the NFL!!! no wonder i'm a hockey first person! holy crap! my head is spinning right now! did young struggle before or after his signing bonus? i forget? or did his struggles start when he won a national championship and made more money in college than i'll make in years! and as for you larry johnson, or larry johnson's mom... why do YOU have a voice in the media? cant baby boy take care of himself? that's 6'1" 230lb larry johnson!!! you too vince young... i'm just too tired to look up your stats! UGH!!! AND DOUBLE UGH! gee... i CANT WAIT to pay $75+ to watch you guys play! and yes, NFL, i WILL be tailgating... and i WILL be drunk (don't EVEN get me started)! grow a "pair" people! F$%K!

DON'T EVER FORGET...

2008-09-11T13:23:00.001-04:00

9/11

other words, especially from me, just wouldn't do it justice...

the least we can all do is keep it in our thoughts, and maybe say a prayer or two.

ummm... duh?

2008-09-11T13:21:00.001-04:00

kanye... i know those photog's are a pain in the ass... but, you had an "altercation"??? at an airport??? on 9/11???

way to think that one through! tool...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/11/kanye.west.arrested.ap/index.html

OH BY THE WAY, FOOTBALL FANS...

2008-09-11T11:38:00.001-04:00

new england is STILL good! brady or no brady

...and this coming from a die-hard steelers fan...

ripper workout week 2... again

2008-09-10T14:54:00.001-04:00

same crap as the first time around, but not as sore! just read below...

damn dieting is hard work! so is cardio! started playing hockey and riding my bike into work (in the chilly darkness of 6am) again... so that should help out a lot!

NFL Week 2

2008-09-10T14:50:00.001-04:00

PacoNation NFL Notes Week 1:

AFC East:
N.E.: will the media make it a point to talk about brady EVERY DAY for the REST OF THE F'ing SEASON?!?! i feel sorry for whomever plays in the super bowl "the patriots would have been here, if brady didn't get hurt..." ...all-in-all, belicheck has A LOT of filming to do!
NYJ: i don't care what anybody says... favre ALMOST lost to the dolphins... let that sink in... now on to face another backup.
MIA: missing.in.action (NOT clever at all, by the way). have fun out in pittsburgh west. 0-2
BUF: what?!?! i picked SD in my "survivor league"... played real hard... will they play harder or softer in toronto??? what's the exchange rate??? in the meantime, JAC is way warmer than canada any day of the week!

AFC North:
PIT: wow! preseason really doesn't matter, does it? HOU is THAT bad though. thankfully, our next home game is 2 hours north this week! PRIME TIME!
CLE: *cough, cough*
CIN: really??? ocho cinco had uno catches and cero TD's... PIT & CLE will have a fun time this year... lucky you, TEN's qb needs a nappy-time and a hug!
BAL: nice score, but i missed in the highlights... was there ANY quality plays vs. CIN??? i can tell you first hand HOU sucks. have a fun day on D!

AFC South:
IND: ohhh... ouch! O line is important after all, huh? i don't know what to expect... you play MIN
JAC: hurt young's feelings! naughty! BUF, yeah great...
TEN: ha-ha!
HOU: ha-ha, again!

AFC West:
SD: F-OFF! i picked you in my "survivor league"... a-holes! have fun in denver going 0-2!
DEN: impressive! didn't see that coming... not even against OAK! russell is a bum! beat the PEE out of SD! i now officially hate EVERY team other then the steelers!
OAK: seriously? high pick a comin'... at least it's KC this week... OAK @ KC=power shift in the AFC this week!
KC: same thing above, basically...

NFC East:
DAL: wont even mention last week... vs. PHI on monday night? very interesting!
NYG: how do you spell BYE WEEK this week: R-A-M-S!
PHI: DAL on mon. night... nice!
WAS: cooley clearly drafted the wrong people for his fantasy league... at least you don't have to go to that puddle that is NO

NFC North:
MIN: don't quite know what to think yet...
GB: favre sucked in domes, lets see how rodgers does... DET still sucks though...
DET: just beat rodgers please
CHI: wow, again! didn't see that coming vs IND! delhomme is a beast though...

NFC South:
CAR: really?!?! last second?!?! see CHI
TB: don't really care... ATL and the second coming of joe montana this week
NO: still soft... have fun in WAS
ATL: see TB

NFC West:
SEA: BUF. enough said. what tricks will SF use to beat you?
STL: bye week for somebody... oh... NYG. whatever
ARI: pittsburgh west! vs. MIA. boring...
SF: it really is amazing how boring the NFC North, South, and East always is...

ripper workout week 1... again

2008-09-04T10:26:00.002-04:00

started back up again last night! awesome workout, but probably could have used a little more weight. for a complete review of the first week workout, read the previous post.

last night though, i wasn't quite as sore as the first time! and it isn't quite as hard the second time in 3 weeks. but looking forward to really pushing it in the next workout (saturday morning). also, looking forward to running tonight (cant believe i just typed that sentence!). so, all is well and back on track!

ripper workout week 3... scrrrreeeeetttttcccchhhhhhhhh!

2008-09-02T11:16:00.002-04:00

-UPDATE-

...BAD NEWS!!! injured shoulder this past weekend put me "on the shelf" for a few days! but that's ok... listen... my shoulder, as of today, is feeling close to 100% and ready to work out again... i have the "week 3" post all written up and ready to publish... BUT... due to the fact that i have been drinking like crazy and eating like a pig... and STILL seeing results... AND the fact that it's only week 3 of 12... i'm starting over again tonight! no biggie at all!!! this time around, i'm am going hard-core on the diet, and now i can sync up the running part of the workout with the workout itself! so back to page 1 on both parts. i'm very confident about this, and very excited for the results! so stay tuned, and bear with me!

Paco!

2008-08-20T11:27:00.003-04:00

for those of you that have never been formally introduced to paco, the paconation mascot...

-drum roll-

... here he is:

charming/happy little guy... everything i'm not! hahaha. KIDDING!!!

lots more paco in the future!!!

oh... and by the way:

yep! thats what i said at first... you learn to live with it though...

ripper workout week 2

2008-08-20T11:05:00.003-04:00

first week of the ripper workout is in the books! i successfully completed 3 days of working out, 2 days of interval training, and NO bitching or moaning about having to workout (which, is a BIG step for me!)...

my observation on the first week. each set seemed to take just under 2 minutes consistently. ranking the exercises from hardest to easiest for this week was:
squats
calf raises
curls
crunchesrows
shoulder press
dumbbell press

this program does a really good job of spacing out the different exercises so that you're not too overwhelmed. the main reason the squats are SO hard is that you "roll" down a wall with the use a resistance ball... so that isolates your quads and will make those puppies cry for days!!! the big surprise was the more you focus on just moving your arms during the resistance band curls, the harder/better it gets! and it always seems funny that you're ONLY working with 20lbs of resistance. i think the key is to only move the body part you're working out... which at first read sounds really stupid, but think of what pilates teaches you about focusing on a certain muscle and breathing.

but it's a good pain! so how am i feeling after week 1 of the 12 week ripper workout? great, and STILL looking forward to working out!

week 2 preview:

looks like this week will incorporate a little more yoga/pilates with a combination push-up/side staff pose... lets see what i mean... we'll ask paco for help on this one:

(look it up people!)

...a little more isolation on the abs with a resistance ball crunch! and a little lat and a lot of shoulder action finally rounding off the workout with some leg work!

the exercises include: crunches, lat pull down, squat press, hamstring lift, shoulder press, yoga-type push-up...

next workout will be thursday evening (8/21). next update MAY be a quickie this weekend (lets hope it's not the ONLY "quickie this weekend" hahaha. OH, such a sad, sad life!), but definitely will be at the end of the second week (thursday 8/28. last workout being tuesday 8/26).tonight, it's off to CMU's stadium to do some running!overall status: enjoying the workout... running is a little rough, but i have some ideas to make it better! my diet needs a kick in the ass though!!!
have a great week everyone!

mail pouch barn #2 (murrysville)

2008-08-18T15:06:00.003-04:00

i started the painting stage of my next "mail pouch" project... i stenciled it out a few months ago but got backed up with life-type stuff and couldn't find a few hours to continue it. so this past saturday, i cruised out to my friend's property in murrysville with paint and brush in hand! so far i got the word "CHEW" and the word "MAIL" and the letters "P" and "H" painted in... hopefully i can continue this week sometime in the evening. i measured the "I" wrong in the word "MAIL", but that's an easy fix! so far so good. also, i'm going to try out a new technique for stenciling the word "tobacco"... since it has now worn off. but, like i said, so far so good.

should have pictures to post soon... until then, here is a picture of the first barn (shed), i did for my family... half way through (it has since been finished):

work out: day 1

2008-08-15T16:18:00.001-04:00

from now on, i'm gonna call this the "ripper workout"! mainly because my friend at work calls me "ripper" and i don't want to refer to it as something as generic as "my workout" or something like that...

the first day only lasted about a half hour and consisted of: rows, calf raises, dumbbell press, shoulder press, squats, crunches, & curls.

how am i feeling? after a, what seemed easy, 30 minutes or so of weight training in sequence??? SORE MUSCLES! legs, tris, chest, & back mostly.

it feels great though, being this sore with that quick of a workout. i'm most amazed at my legs because, as i've said, i bike almost every day. and i didn't lift a pound over 20!

next workout will be saturday morning. next update will be at the end of the first week (thursday 8/21. last workout being tuesday 8/19).

tonight, it's off to CMU's stadium to do some running!

overall status: so far, so great! all the exercises were do-able! looking forward to saturday morning!

have a great weekend everyone!

p.s.
the last post was post #40... we all know how i feel about the #40! wooo hooo!

awwwwwww work out!

2008-08-15T13:10:00.001-04:00

after all these weeks of scraping together a blog, i finally found something to write about... or to be more accurate... i finally found something (worth while) to document... i think... but it will keep me busy, and keep my blog updated. win-win!

i've been riding my bike into work 2-3 times a week for the past month and a half or so. that's about 6.5 miles/35-40 minutes (both ways almost). in the mornings, i have a .8 to .9 of a mile climb through frick park from commercial street up to beechwood blvd. in the evenings, i have 3 climbs with an average of about .8 of a mile per each climb (greenfield ave., monitor st., commercial st.). my diet has been pretty good... very low fat, lots of water. not too, too many veggies but i'll change that. i have been slowly losing weight. i think i am losing body fat, but gaining muscle in my legs. i want to go the extra step and shed off as much body fat as i can, but cant do that successfully until i start lifting weights. i'm always ass-backwards when it comes to working out. i'll lift weights... but then i'll eat bad or just wont do any cardio. or i'll eat good one day... and not do anything else. you get the idea. well now that i ride my bike into work and get two decent cardio workouts per day, the rest is coming pretty easily... "the rest" being eating right and lifting...

lifting weights... lifting has always been sort of a problem for me because i'm not the most motivated person in the world. so to solve this problem i was looking into joining a gym. the first time i stepped back into a gym last week, i immediately remembered how much i HATE gyms! seriously! i settled on one i liked with the thought that, it's on the way home and if i'm paying THAT much money per month my ass will definitely be in the gym. so JUST as i was about to sign up... the day i was going to bike over and hate gyms for the next 3 months (with an initiation fee)... i jumped on google and randomly searched "ab workouts". i wanted to get a list of different exercises that i can do for 2 weeks at a time and blah, blah, blah. i wanted to start with abs because that's the body part i wanted to build the most. then i would have worked arms and chest. so as i was searching, i found this goofy titled workout (which, if i see results, i will post after week 6). and, to wrap up my thoughts, i had all the equipment at home (dumbbells, resistance ball, resistance band). so hear i go... 10+ weeks/3x a week of training, eating pretty good, and riding my bike! i'll document my progress here... so stay tuned. target date is 11/4

adios amigos!

2008-07-23T14:56:00.000-04:00

...in MEXICO! will return in a week or so...

get to know the captain a little:

2008-07-16T14:38:00.000-04:00

I Am: a real american, fight for what's right blah, blah, blah-blah!
I Want: to rock!
I Have: A SNAKE!
I Wish: i was a neutron bomb, for once i would go off...
I Hate: everything about you!
I Fear: fear itself!
I Hear: oprah may buy the steelers. yep. heard it on TheBurghBlog!
I Search: the internet for por... new friends everyday!
I Wonder: wonder, wonder, wonder who! who wrote the book of love...
I Regret: running into an electrical transformer while sled riding drunk at 2 in the morning... just sayin'
I Love: what you do for me, toyota!
I Ache: just THINKING about my bad hamstrings and bum shoulder!
I Always: color inside the lines!
I Usually: take a shower... usually...
I Am Not: a complicated person at all!
I Dance: in a big group of my friends evertime i hear lady in red at a wedding.
I Sing: songs in my head while playing ice hockey. seriously! it helps me not to overthink things (which is never really a problem in life, by the way)!
I Never: take things too serious!!!
I Rarely: get my hockey skates sharpened!
I Cry: for you, agrentina!
I Am Not Always: on time paying bills!
I Lose: an average of twice a week on the powerball!
I'm Confused: often!
I Need: to clean my house, bike, and car!
I Should: get back to work... i "should" anyway *wink, wink*

crappy days!

2008-07-09T14:08:00.005-04:00

remember this f'ing thing?!?!

thats right people, it's the f'ing sun! it's f'ing summer in pittsburgh... NO MORE RAIN!!! this sucks! lol. the rest of this summer better be hot and sunny

well, that NOT what i meant... but... you all know what i mean!

quit f'ing with us mother nature!

the good ol days!

2008-07-09T14:05:00.003-04:00

i've had this pirates logo on my screen in the background all day. look how awesome! much better than the crap we have today, which i refuse to post! but, sit back and enjoy:

gone!

2008-07-02T13:55:00.000-04:00

"F" you detroit...

oh, "bobby bo"!

2008-07-01T15:12:00.004-04:00

wow bobby!!! well played!!!

from wikipedia:

"When the New York Mets placed Bonilla on unconditional waivers in 2000, they agreed to pay out the remainder of his contract by deferring the remaining $5.9 million, instead giving him 25 equal payments of $1,193,248.20 each July 1 from 2011 to 2035, for a total of $29,831,205"

p.s.

remember there was a time when bobby bonilla was fatter then bonds???

dance like nobody's watching...

2008-06-30T15:42:00.000-04:00

jabbawockeez beware!

check out this gem i found online this afternoon!!! 4 minutes of your life, WELL SPENT!!! be sure and stick with the video too. the more he dances... well... heaven! i have every right to rip on this guy... because... i dance the same way...

that move he pulls off at the 1:59 mark... well, you'd be hard-pressed to find that kind of "smooth" anywhere! usher is jealous! then the moves between 2:10 and 2:30ish are CLASSIC!

the girl dropped it like its hot at about 3:08!!!

nuff said... watch:

hell... definied!

2008-06-27T15:49:00.015-04:00

quick reference for fans of the site... this... is my version of everlasting hell. go fourth and tread lightly for these next few images may disturb you as they have me... if that makes sense? anyways... hell:

...scratch his f'ing eys out already!

have a great weekend!!!

jack johnson in cleveland

2008-06-19T14:40:00.008-04:00

whew! been a long strange week for your captain!

monday was cool... rode the new bike a part of the way (about half) into work.

new bike:

felt SUPER strong chugging up the two hills i have to take back to my car! all is well (knock on wood...)... so today, i biked the whole 6.5 mile way into work! tonight i have to climb 3 hills on the way home, but i'll take my time and cruise when i can!

tuesday and wednesday... i did no biking. took a half day tuesday to roll up to cleveland with "the accountant" to see jack johnson! what an unbelievably great show! probably the best sounding show i've been to in quite awhile (probably ever... tom petty rocked it last year too though). hats off to jack johnson for continuing to make great music!

seats:

bass:

stage:

did i mention bass?

bass, by the way, is $8! ugh, quality beer!

it was hell getting out of the parking lot that night though!

hell:

the show was at blossom, near cleveland... if you go, make sure you're there for show time... not a minute earlier!!! we were early and were directed to park in the closest lot to the venue. sounds good at first... except when there is ONE road leading out of there and you have to wait for EVERYBODY! took us 2 hours to leave the lot... have fun, and good luck!

didnt take away from the show though... great time! robert randolph is playing there in september, so expect the same kind of post... with a little less biking, and a little more mexico b.s.!!!

flag day! fathers day!

2008-06-13T16:14:00.000-04:00

oops... haven't submitted a post since monday. my bad!!!

i promise to return next week with a vengeance!

but first, and most importantly... big weekend!

flag day!

i'm always proud to display my flag on flag day (and on all other beautiful days), because 1) i love my country 2) show support to our troops overseas and 3) because i saw just how important and how proud my dad was to display his flag!

so tomorrow, my flag will be out in front of my house in memory of my Great Uncle Allen:

http://www.legacy.com/postgazette/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=111225533

...and great he was! we'll miss you Uncle Allen!!! but i know you're in a better place with Dorothy and the rest of the family! just tell "deep" to keep the "blues" in the pots please!

so father's day will be sunday... it will the first fathers day since my dad passed back in august. my flag will be displayed for him on sunday! the rest of the year... well... will be for the rest of the family, friends, and people that make this such a great country!

have a great weekend everybody!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_flag#Future_of_the_flag

http://www.usflag.org/history/oldglorystory.html

ocean city commercial

2008-06-09T13:41:00.003-04:00

ahhh... what else can i say bout o.c.m.d.???

i laughed there...

i cried...

i bled my own blood...

got drunk...

caught some fish...

got arrested...

spent time with family...

swam...

enjoy:

PacoNation exclusive!!!

2008-06-09T13:30:00.006-04:00

update:

this just came across the wire from our great photographers here at PacoNation:

you can see... well... the "m" is over...

well, this one is much... bett... ummm...

damn... we should stop spending money on bass and boardshorts, and start spending more on talent!

NAHHH!!!

quiksilver only please...

big weekend!

2008-06-09T10:55:00.006-04:00

what a big weekend for paconation!!!

friday i used my instant blogging celebrity! i got into a pittsburgh exclusive opening of barroom...

--no pics--

...then got a tour of clear channel radio station and offices!

--no pics--

stellar reporting, AND memories to last a lifetime!

saturday got a new bike:

then proceeded to ride myself sick and dizzy (more-so than usual)! lol. i LOVE the heat, by the way (i really do! the hotter the better)...

then sunday woke up with an AWESOME pain in my neck!

slept wrong... aliens planted a device... karma... or something... who knows? either way it gave me an excuse to do NOTHING yesterday!

ahhh rest and relaxation for captain dummy!

i'm sure you've all noticed the "m" in "upmc" on uss tower is up and functional! does it look crooked though? i guess when you're hanging a letter the size of a street some 60+ stories in the sky with a helicopter you tend to be not all that anal about it! no pictures or anything... just look for yourself sometime!

i'm working on a little sponsorship myself...

oh... it will happen people...

fighting for our right...

2008-06-04T14:32:00.005-04:00

well, the pens toughed it out... and i mean TOUGHED it out for their right to a game 6!

thepensblog had a GREAT thought for tonight's game (check it out here)... basically they said that, in short, the red wings wanted NOTHING to do with a game 6. the penguins, on the other hand, wanted EVERYTHING to do with a game 6. is that the edge the penguins need for tonight? could that mega-huge win for the penguins be the "wind out of detroits sails"??? did detroit expect and prepare themselves for the worst, even with a minute left in regulation of game 5?

we'll soon find out...

thepensblog went with the bee gees stayin' alive... i'm gonna switch it up a bit and go with this:

one thing is DEFINITELY certain...

pens are 9-1 at home in the playoffs

no matter what, THIS IS THE LAST TIME THE PENGUINS WILL PLAY IN THE MELLON THIS SEASON! this is the last time the penguins will be +17,132 strong this season! make it happen tonight, and i hope, hope, hope we take it to a game 7 in detroit!!!
as always:

"F" you detroit! "F" you and the horse you rode in on!

LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS!

2 favorites, right off the bat!

2008-06-04T10:40:00.007-04:00

so in my usual morning internet commute... you know... thepensblog, emptynetters, myspace, uniwatchblog, theburghblog (see links to the left)... etc. right off the bat, on thepensblog, i came across this article:

"Outrageous Tales of the Stanley Cup"

"Mike Bolt is the official keeper of the Stanley Cup. Where it goes, he goes. Here, he shares just some of the odder things that have been placed in or sucked out of the NHL's most cherished prize"

good article there, check it out here!

but the 2 best parts of the article??? RIGHT AWAY i notice my future ex-wife is featured in the side bar (today):

amanda bynes, my friends, is "paconations #1 favorite girl"!!!

love her!!! so how happy did my day start?!?!

so while i was reading along with the stanley cup article (before slime-ing... i mean... clicking over to amanda'a article and drooling for a good 2 hours (and finding this site)), i came across this question and answer:

"Who's downed the most booze from the Cup?[Ducks forward] Teemu Selanne is the warmest, most sincere man you could ever meet—but he is also one hell of a drinker [laughs]. We were at his place in Anaheim, and he had eight to 10 of his buddies there. They went through about 12 bottles of Scotch, right out of the Cup. If I drink half a bottle, I'm going to fall down, and I have a tolerance. Not Teemu. No problem. One of the best drinking clinics I've ever seen"

so now i'm faced with seeing "paconation's #1 favorite girl"... AND reading that "paconation's #1 favorite non-penguin hockey player" is a HUGE drinker!!! drinking 12 bottles of scotch out of the stanley cup?!?! trooper! ladies and gentleman... if that article read "they went through about 12 cases of bass ale" my head would have exploded! seriously! just to clear everything up for first time readers (which most of you are), bass ale is... "paconation's #1 favorite alcoholic beverage"

be back later, i'm going to search the far reaches of the internet for videos of amanda bynes taking a bath in bass ale... or a funny bowling video... whichever i can find first:

Penguins Pride!

2008-06-02T17:15:00.002-04:00

...for the love of the game!

LETS GO PENS:

just bring it back to the burgh... please!!!

of, p.s.

"F YOU" DETROIT!!!

goodness, gracious, great halls of fire!

2008-05-29T14:19:00.003-04:00

you all watched the game yesterday... want 2 great re-caps??? emptynetters & thepensblog

found on the thepensblog from last nights game:

oh poo!

2008-05-29T14:15:00.002-04:00

oh... technology... you failed me yet again!!!
first off, damn you blackberry for making ANY model of a phone without a camera! who does that these days?!?! especially on a blackberry?!?! and just why exactly, am i bitter at you this afternoon blackberry?!?! because my friend at work has said model of blackberry phone w/o camera option... and friend at work went and "beat up" the men's bathroom room as if it stole his last pop-tart, pissed in his shoe, cut him off and hit the brakes to slow down for the squirrel hill tunnel ... you know what i'm talking about... total destruction of the nasal cavity! and shortly after the damage occurred and he had finished up, i walked on in to do a little somethin'-somethin' of my own, when there it was... left in the bathroom stall by accident! a friends cell phone. the sky's opened, rays of sunshine, lady luck smiling at me, etc.! but! no camera... or else... there would have been an ABUNDANCE of poo pictures, poo text messages, poo e-mails, poo wallpaper, poo, poo, poo! but no... the world is probably that much better of a place because that phone in particular doesn't have a camera option... poo-hoo... i mean, boo-hoo!!!

let this be a warning to you world/pittsburgh... i will!

any given wednesday!

2008-05-28T16:20:00.002-04:00

well, i kicked off yesterdays post with a rockin' cheesy 80's song... in this post, one of three things will happen... 1) you wont really understand what's going on 2) you'll TOTALLY get it and hate me (plus, i'm sure one of these songs WILL be stuck in your head for the rest of the night) or 3) one of you ladies MAY get pregnant to the sweet sound of phil collins in your ear! my finger are crossed! i'm excited! off we go to the most useless blog/post on the net...

there's a BIG, BIG game within hours but i don't need to tell any of you that... obviously! a game that could potentially change the direction of the whole series! a big win at home can certainly spark something deep within the pens... a loss will just... ugh... either way, energy, anticipation, excitement:

being down 2 games to 0 in the finals of any sport will automatically put a team:

the pens however??? with youth... an EXPLOSIVE offence... on home ice... with a whiteout... NO MATTER WHAT happens... they are definitely:

if the pens loose to detroit tonight, detroit will pretty much be dancing:

and for penguins fans, a loss will set up for:

but you know what?!?! pens!!! pens fans!!!

because:

"F" you and the horse you rode in on detroit! this ultra-cheesy, stupid-assed post is for you!

game 2... ugh...

2008-05-27T13:53:00.008-04:00

...well... last night was one of those nights...

you know... one step closer to...

after the third goal of the game... SEVENTH unanswered goal of the series... turn the tv off... stomp around the house slamming every door and yelling obscenities... jump into your focus... i mean car LEAVE... give all the annoying ghosts/aliens at your house time to re-group and get you back for stomping around my... your house...

save me jennifer. hee hee

those puppies will save me EVERY time!

take a long drive with the windows down... go to pick up an orange juice and peanut butter twix (comfort food)... give a bum your change... yell at that same bum 10 seconds later when he accidentally asks you AGAIN for change!!! drive some more... think about all the times you've punched somebody square in the chops... and, well... did it help for me??? NO.

maybe it will help for you...

ugh! just pain old ugh!

did i give up yet, you ask??? no *whimper*

but holy geez! c'mon guys! get your heads out of your wah-zoo! now, i'll get the same felling going into game three as i do every time i hear "meet us dahn at sing-sing n'at" ... where you KNOW the night is just going to flat-out suck (just, when it sucks at a sucky place like sing-sing or any other dueling piano bar for that matter, you have a sucky soundtrack to go along with it).

sucks! just sucks!

but, no, i HAVE to stand firm and support the pens through-and-through! besides, we could be in for a giant turn around and one of the best rides of our lives!

or... take it:

or better (worse) yet... TRUE torture:

shut up and sing pens!

take us out dan:

p.s.

not for nothing... but... bonnie tyler would have had my babies in the eighties!

pens galore!

2008-05-22T15:09:00.009-04:00

ok, so i promised i wouldn't really blog about the penguins (the team), until AFTER the cup finals... and i'm holding through to that... a bit! but, thanks to emptynetters... reading his post today (go check it out!!!), and after a little digging into the detroit free press (or whatever), i found a few videos of interest: penguin themed (not the team).

first up, i found those silly english over at the BBC did some april foolishness via technology... technology that seems to be way better than mine... WAY better than mine:

technology:

technology/to do list
(by "to do list" i mean... an add for the local "rub & tug"):

jessica alba's gq in my desk drawer:

ok, we all know how that fits into my workday!

anyways, here are those wacky BBC'ers and their funny-ness (you'll get the gist after a few seconds... no need to watch the whole video):

so then, also on the detroit free press (or whatever) web page i found an "oldie but goodie":

but, as i was watching it, my boss walked buy and i quickly "x'ed" out of it... so, no biggie, instead of digging through pages of stuff, i can just find it again on youtube! right? sure... well, go and type in "beware the penguin" in youtube and find out what YOU come up with!!!

penguin cartoon:

YEAH! me too!!!

where do i start with these intriguing, crayonic, intriguing cartoons??? did i mention intriguing??? i am addicted! there, that will kick it off. i could only handle "the sequel"... youtube describes it as:

i'll describe it as AWESOME!

first off, kudos for coloring inside the lines! you got this little 'giun... that i'm guessing is waiting for underwater public transportation... when he starts daydreaming (who doesn't while waiting for the bus)... so he starts a cliffhanger-esque dream bubble:

cliffhanger:

or better yet:

not my first choices of daydreams... this is:

hmmm:

or (stick eith it, or fast forward to the last 10 seconds or so):

but anyways, cliffhanger, blah, blah, blah... penguin with helmet mountain climbing... here, have my cool hat before i plunge into a white abyss... daydream ends... here comes shark (smiling, no doubt)... steals hat (sharks WILL do that from time-to-time), looks hungry... gets punked down by the penguin! "hey, look at the huge blue-eyed whale"---"like i'll fall for that"---chomp---"duh"---boo-yow! eatin by a whale! oldest trick in the book! well, one of them anyway... whale closes eyes and squirts hat out of hole (if i had a dollar for every time i typed that statement during the day)... penguin: "gimmie that back"... whale turns and sends a SERIOUS message via his other hole (didn't know whales could do that on que)... swims away, penguin chases... whale gets pissed, swims back FAST and YOINK!!! eats penguin... smiles... but wait! penguin RAGES inside whales tummy: peter pan style (or whatever that little wooden boy was named)... whale does whatever any whale would do in that situation... swim over to a giant pepto bismol and wills it into his stomach... penguin like "WTF?!?!" ... rage, rage, rage... uh oh! glorious explosion!!! nothing but jaws & eyeballs!!! dogs & cats, living together... total anarchy! wink, wink from mr. penguin... "i'll be back"

bitch!

WHEW! what an eventful day in the PacoNation offices!

speaking of the PacoNation office: reminder, tomorrow is black & gold jeans day!!!

he'll wear 'em:

out!

i'm done for the week! have a great/safe holiday weekend!!! see you tuesday!

PacoNation@gmail.com

PacoSpace!

2008-05-20T13:23:00.004-04:00

... probably no post today (other than this one (obviously))... working on the NEW PacoNation MySpace page!!!

http://www.myspace.com/paconation40

go check it out if you get the chance... friends!!! haha

rex gildo!

2008-05-19T13:32:00.006-04:00

first off, i'd like to treat you with this (should have all seen it by now... just in case):

almost makes me forget how hung over and sick i was yesterday morning (and, by "yesterday morning" i mean like 1:00 when i finally rolled out of bed)!

the "hossa" video was found out on ThePensBlog sometime last week and has been stuck in my head ever since! such a happy triumphant song! it should seriously be the mexican national anthem... and hossa should be mexico's "favorite son"... even though he not mexican...

that picture alone is the reason hossa is my man-crush... and is everything i want to be as a human! LOOK... AT... HER!!!

...and speaking of 1 of my first 2 stops, and favorite sites on the internet! ThePensBlog & Emptynetters! the dynamic duo! i am happy for the penguins so far, but know they HAVE a long way to go, and i'm just as nervous today as i was wednesday april 9th! nuff said about that... my point is, i'm JUST as happy for the hard working EN & TPB staff! they deserve this just as much... and have the honor of blogging their home team through the cup finals! i hope we enjoy every minute of it, if you know what i mean, because i will be reading right along!!!

enough about that... more to come!

speaking of favorite internet sites in general, i found this over at uniwatchblog (the only reason its not one of my first stops is because it's not updated till 9:30-10ish... definitely one of my favorites though!!!)... anyways, look at the name the "pats" could have been... the bay city patriots? kind of neat but only cause i'm a:

definitely interesting though! read if you get a minute or two, but here is the link to yet ANOTHER great site out on the web fleersticker... with awesome old-school football pics:

http://fleersticker.blogspot.com/2008/05/1968-fleer-football-big-signs.html

i'm obviously no expert so, say what you will about "bay city" vs. "new england"... one thing i DO know for sure is that... i think the patriots have a new training facility near scranton pa:

and the sentence/statement of:

"one thing i DO know for sure is that... i think..."

is the whole reason i blog in the first place!!! captain dummy, at your service!

lets have a gwat-stompin' great monday and an even better (if that's even humanly possible) week!

*HOSSA! HOSSA! HOSSA! HOSSA! Ho-ssa fiesta mex-i-ca-na do-do-do-do-do-do-doo...*

just imagine being an american boy growing up with the last name "gildo"...

-can't find the saturday night live clip of "little johnny hildo"-

rex could handle it though... that man is all business! his business is groupies *wink, wink, nudge, nudge*... and business is GOOD!!!

oh, the "F" bomb!

2008-05-16T11:11:00.005-04:00

--TURN DOWN VOLUME, "CHOICE" WORDS!!!--

ladies and gentleman... mrs. sue simmons:

so i ask... sue... what the "F" are they doing?!?! what is going on in that news room during the 6-11 shift? geez!!! how many captain & cokes do you have to sneak in between stories??? i know... did chuck do the ol' "hey, look at this paper on my lap" and written on the paper was "here's the beef!" (cause he's SO old he'd still get that joke), or "if this was your house you'd almost be home!" and while you starred at either phrase in confusion, he pulled the paper away... and you were left with an eye-full of his *breakfast buffet?!?! if that's the case, gosh i love chuck scarborough!!! or "c-scar" as the interns around the station probably call him (chuck, just make the "woo" noise next time you do that trick)... hope you didn't see the movie waiting, sue, or you're gonna end up with some sore cheeks! f.y.i., party's at chucks place this weekend...

...maybe sue just wanted a cool re-mix like our favorite dorky camp counselor-like news man bill o'reilly???

bombs away!!!

cold in here?!?!

enjoy the weekend everybody!!!

veronica... ron... piano man... take us out of here!!!

*sausage & eggs!!!

dummy to: self

2008-05-14T16:13:00.003-04:00

yeah... that didn't happen today! great "note to self"... dumb ass!

alright wednesday!

2008-05-14T15:06:00.002-04:00

where the hell did the sun go from yesterday?!?! ugh!

crappy weather, and absolutely NOTHING to talk about today*... so i will leave you with this... every time i hear it i can't help but think of the jackass crew either dancing around like kids, or doing something insanely stupid! loved that show!!! enjoy:

*as i AM a HUGE fan, i refuse to talk/type in depth about a certain pittsburgh NHL team right now because without me... the are doing JUST FINE!!! KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK GUYS!!! <--- that's all!

gorilla what?!?! wtf???

2008-05-13T14:34:00.007-04:00

not much going on today, other than this:

seriously? gorilla munch organic cereal sounds SO awesome! *sarcasm*

i guess when "they"... the powers that be... FDA? removed the word "sugar" from cereal boxes i.e.: sugar pops, sugar smacks, etc., they needed words to replace it... like... "gorilla"???

"sugar munch" would have been... no... would have sounded SO much better!!!

which brings me to my next thought... organic? as if gorilla munch isn't bad enough, it has to be organic? ugh! just my opinion! i'm sure some of you kiddies (or hippies) just cant get enough gorilla munch!!! the name alone is SO appealing... "hello, marketing department... just when I thought you couldn't get any dumber, you go and do something like... name our cereal gorilla munch... and totally redeem yourself!"

*triumphant high-5*

what?!?!

me on the other hand... i'll be searching for some gorilla grahams, fruit poops, and... uh... some... cap'n dummy crunch??? hmmm...

aye, aye cap'n... go on with that bad-ass mustache!

looks kinda like me after a hockey game... or... sled riding... ehhh...

i actually goggled gorilla munch to see what exactly the deal is, and as the http://www.naturespath.com/ (don't bother), page took FOREVER to open (must be scientologists), i realized 2 things: 1) this post, albeit not funny in the first place, has ran its ground ... and 2) i really could give a gorillas arse about the whole thing! just thought the box was funny...

peace & chicken grease!

lobster insurance!

2008-05-12T10:54:00.007-04:00

alright, for those of you "lucky" enough *cough, cough*... to know me on a more intimate basis, then you know i'm a pretty simple guy and really don't give shmack about too much else! really... sometimes it gets me into trouble *cough, relationships, cough* geez! must have caught a cold out there at mellon arena walking around pre-penguins game last night!

yes, i stole that pic...

anyways, i don't get too political, too religious, too deep, etc.. AT ALL! ha-ha. so i DO think its sad and unfortunate if you don't have insurance of some type... especially kids. but i can tell you one things FOR SURE: weather you have insurance or not... grown up, kid, or something that resembles either... C.E.O., or the person that cleans the booths at the 25cent movies on liberty ave (not that i know... ahhh...)... all i know is STAY FAR AWAY FROM THIS KID:

everywhere the 'the little...' goes, something bad is happening! geez! he's walking around all smug with a back-pack... NOT because he's off to school! probably because his family is LONG gone and he's on the run! use your imagination, whatever... he just oozes evil! i will have nightmares just knowing this kid is walking among us...

gee, 3 guesses who just happened to innocently wander by 4 seconds before this:

how bout now:

cute kid though (not miley... well)... maybe they (director/company), could have went a better direction in their commercial choices but we're not all spielberg, scorsese, or smith are we???

in fact, the closest i've ever come was filming lobsters duke it out in the tank at the monroeville red lobster. angry little "F'ers" too! video to come as soon as i figure out this whole "cell phone video to youtube" thingy-ma-giggy!

other GREAT *cough, cough* videos i've from my camera phone:

a fire,
dogs running at me,
a deer eating garbage, and finally
a baby looking at me

o hollywood, where art thou?

first things first... now i'm hungry for cheddar bay biscuits, and i gots to get this *cough, cough* nagging cough checked out...

oh, by the way

2008-05-12T10:00:00.001-04:00

"the nation" rests on weekends!

ok, that sounded incredibly stupid!

i'm probably not going to post on weekends! obviously <--- me!

more to come later today! hope everyone had a great weekend/mother's day!

VW United!

2008-05-09T11:02:00.008-04:00

"On Mar 6, D.C. United and Volkswagon of America, Inc. today announced a five-year partnership highlighted by jersey sponsorship rights..."

d.c. united will always have a soft-spot in my heart. if the MLS ever becomes more popular and competes with the 4 major north american sports, then i need a home team to brag about (screw columbus...)! d.c. has cool colors, the first ever MLS championship, 4 MLS championships, and the other washington sports teams have never really posed much of a threat to pittsburgh!

also, they sold me an affordable authentic "captain #40" jersey! AND, after a big mess up, i ended up paying half of what i should have paid for it anyways... the first official captain dummy jersey... behold:

...and then addidas/MLS/whomever changed their uniforms:

caption: "this guy! this guy right here!"

tools!

caption: ummm... yeah...

now i know uniwatch will tear this new jersey up because of both the huge v-dub logo in the middle, and the logo creep right there as big as day at the top... but if you absolutely HAVE to have a sponsor on your jersey??? all things considered??? volkswagon isn't too shabby. the fact the vw seems like a cool company and is very trendy and forward thinking... plus the logo is pretty sweet... and one of the most recognizable logos on the planet... a true icon! just ask mike d:

whoa! addidas AND vw?!?! coincidence??? i think not...

what bothers me about the jersey? ADDIDAS! WTF is up with the shiny-ness?!?! seriously?!?! these jerseys/uniforms... for being "authentic"... are chincy at best! as i sit here in my ultra-heavy, double/triple stitched bristol-rugby-bass ale-jersey!

one of the finest pieces of clothing i've ever purchased! and by the way, VW=cool sponsor... bass ale=no question about it!!! it would be like asking:

"you need to buy a hockey jersey, and that jersey needs to 'send a message'! so, would you like gary roberts? or gary roberts?"

exactly! no question. back on topic... addidas, to me, makes sensationally bad clothing anyway... it's just too bad you HAVE to buy from them to support your team! and that corporate addidas logo is awful! RBK, you listening? at least the nike swoosh is simple and you know what it is... plus, nike makes a great product. as much as we (you all) like to hate on them!

... i'll own a new d.c. united jersey when they're made available... ugh!

on a side note... tough:

#40!!! rick??? sutcliff???

2008-05-08T14:38:00.008-04:00

what's my favorite number in all the world? you got it? so why do i love when sports illustrated (or any other sports outlet) releases its "best player by number" deal??? for obvious reasons! and i know that the #40 is a total jobber*/middle relief/right fielder number, but, c'mon!!! the #40 is NOT very well represented in baseball! rick sutcliff for cryin' out loud?!?! all right, in a career that spanned the far reaches of 1976-1994 sutcliff was a: 3x all star, 79 R.O.Y., 84 NL cy young, 87 roberto clemente award (awesome!), etc.. not too shabby... ehh well. spent most of his career in the NL, so no doubt mike schmidt tagged him a time or two (5 to be "almost" exact)! is this the best picture of sutcliff that wikipedia could find/post by the way?

i mean... i'll stand around a group of kids and pick my nose from time-to-time too... but just add a cow bell and he looks like will farrell in this saturday night live skit:

this little tid-bit, though, makes me proud to share the #40 with rick... from wikipedia, and i quote: "On May 10, 2006 after a long day of drinking and golfing with comedian Bill Murray, Sutcliffe attended a night game between the San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers in San Diego..."

when will that situation ever turn out for the good?!?! ha-ha! bill, rick, next time you decide to golf & booze it up... call your boy, captain dummy!!! it goes on to say that "...he began a rambling and incoherent interview by saying, "It's not that busy man, it's not that busy." He then rambled on about off-the-wall subjects such as George Clooney and his daughter's "mission"... blah, blah, blah..."

his daughter's mission: to hook up the the captain! kidding! now i'm curious...

runner-up (and my vote): don wilson!

why you ask? never heard of him? me neither! until i went back to "old reliable, always true" wikipedia!!! don wilson's story is a more unfortunate, sad story... decent career, no hitter, good record... but found dead in his car... in the garage... engine running... that's not the reason, as i am not a morbid person... the thing that most caught my eye:

"wilson's career began after he graduated from compton community college in compton california"

that's right (turn your speakers DOWN!):

i once thought of transferring from CCAC to CCCC or C4! GO EL CAMINO!!!

i would feel like my name should really be "paco" just to fit in...

hometown pirates famous #40 you ask??? murtaugh! 2 TIME PITTSBURGH PIRATES WORLD SERIES CHAMPION-MANAGER!!! that statement really doesn't do him all the justice in the world. he was a good ball player, better manager and had a great eye for talent. in fact, he was the first manager to start an all minority line-up. the only reason i really don't "love him" is i heard that he really didn't see eye-to-eye with my boy roberto! maybe i'm wrong, maybe rumors are wrong... it was certainly a tough time for everybody and danny was, after all, a hard-ass... who knows, maybe everything was taken out of context! either way, glad to see the #40 is retired by my favorite baseball team!

...i can ONLY hope someday i have a wikipedia entry and one of the points start up "... after a long day of drinking and golfing with comedian bill murray..."

*many thanks to ThePensBlog for "jobber"... SUCH a great word that describes SO much!

ahhh, angus at his best!

2008-05-07T16:17:00.002-04:00

sometimes words just aren't necessary:

HUGE pirates game friday night!!!

2008-05-07T09:53:00.001-04:00

went to the ol bucco game last night! when i left 7th-ish (i think right after the pirates batted around the order) it was 12-2... i definitely don't "re-cap" games (esp. around playoff hockey time), so don't ask me how or why 4 more runs were scored... but in the grand scheme of things, the pirates were there wearing uniforms and everything... i mean, won . big whoop! nice night, no fans, dippin' dots, what more could you ask for, right? what's that, winning team, what?!? come again?!?! *cough, cough*

so that brought up a question in my head and in conversation with co-worker "the b.e.".

the penguins are playing friday night in the first game of the east finals against the hated flyers... a game that should traditionally "set the tone"... a must see game (NO more game-hype needed!!!)! so, our fearless pirates are playing the boys from the ATL... now, you KNOW there will be a few fans (at least) at the pirates game... so my question: WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE??? who misses the penguins game for a pirate game?!?! i would LOVE a local news station to sit outside of PNC park friday night and ask this very question to people either at the game, or leaving in the 7th as i did last night! i really don't even want to break down my opinion of what percentage of fans are 1) employees of the pirates 2) out of towners who's life long dream is to catch a game in PNC park 3) atlanta fans 4) just plain stupid! really, i hate to be SO harsh... but c'mon! at some point friday night, i WILL flip over to the pirates game just to catch a quick glimpse of PNC parks attendance... probably in an intermission... probably to avoid don cherry and his "tough-guy, canadians rule-except for the canadians that play in america" rants! and that flash wardrobe he's always sportin' around!

anyways... they WILL come! just who "they" are??? we shall only be left to wonder...

lose 10 pounds fast!!!

2008-05-06T10:25:00.003-04:00

...cut your head off! ha-ha.

so, in preparation for the last week of july... when my brother is getting married in mexico... i went on a "low-to-no saturated/trans fat" diet and i've been hitting the weights... not too hard though. at the moment, i don't lift a weight over 30lbs... the regularity and the routine i'm now in... along with ice hockey 1-2 times a week, everything is fitting in nicely! should be beach-ready by summer! take a look for yourself:

any other info you'd like about the diet/workout, just e-mail me. i'm certainly no nutritionist (can recommend a good one though), or personal trainer but hey... when it works, it works! no biggie!

125 years of pittsburgh sports (and no mini ponies in this one)

2008-05-06T09:45:00.003-04:00

i saw this video over at TheBurghBlog and just HAD to share! great video, although i wish they could have found better resolution from some of the clips... but, if you're a true pittsburgh sports fan, those clips are burned into your memory and are clear as day while watching! hopefully your brain broadcasts in HD! enjoy:

p.s.

2008-05-05T13:47:00.000-04:00

what a beautiful site!!! the light blues... the dark blues... the goofy logo that i couldn't figure out how to re-size the word arc around the.... blah, blah, blah! i must say, simply lovely! ha-ha!

cause i'm baaaad... i'm nation-wide!

2008-05-05T13:39:00.000-04:00

ok, z.z. top sang it WAY better than i could ever type it! well here it is: the kick-off to this blog!

i finally settled on a name i'm comfortable with, and that is easy to remember (and designed an awesomely goofed-up logo). PacoNation is in fully operational!!! enjoy posts with bad grammar and "...'s" because i don't know when a comma or period is appropriate in a sentence... or a thought... see??? but don't expect an every day thing... especially on the weekends! this is just a place for me to vent, review, show off, or what-have-you! stop back every once-in-a-while at your convenience!

one love,
capt. dummy!

p.s.
at the moment, that "one love" is bass ale... so if you know who i am and see me out... you know what to order!!!

...looks about right!!!