My Q & A?!

Just as a disclaimer, please don't expect proper grammar and punctuation in this blog post, or any other future blog posts. I'll do my best with the spelling, but everything else is up in the air. Run-on sentences, incomplete sentences, numbered lists, and bullet points are all very good friends of mine, you will meet all of them very soon.

I asked for your questions......

And everyone froze!

Well, ALMOST everyone.

This is where I answer the questions from those of you who.......

Wait for it.......

Actually asked!!

So, let's get to the first question shall we?

Question 1 - What is the difference between a good song (of the year or summer) vs. a classic song (one that stands the test of time)?

Excellent question!

I think the first thing you have to look at when it comes to a "good song" vs. a "classic song" is the actual artist/band performing the song.

Especially when it comes to "One Hit Wonders".

They stand the test of time, but the artist or band who performed that song wasn't able to "catch lightning in a bottle" ever again.

For example, everyone knows "Take On Me" by A-ha.

The melody, the pencil sketch music video.

The 80's vibe through and through.

It's a classic song!

It's a song that will never die!

But then you take a song like "Watch Me" by Silento from 2015.

That was one of THE SONGS of 2015.

Everyone was doing the dance.

Silento was EVERYWHERE.

Then....he wasn't.

In today's world, technology is at our fingertips now more than any other time in history.

Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Vine (RIP).

Things go viral, and they spread like wildfire.

And just a quickly as they spread.....they get replaced.

It quickly becomes 'Yeah, that was nice, but what's next?"

We have a short attention span.

That's just the world we live in.

Things get oversaturated.

But BACK IN THE DAY.....

The exposure wasn't NEARLY as much as it is today.

People waited for their favorite song to play......ON THE RADIO?!

You'd have your cassette waiting IN THE RADIO, hoping to record that song when it came on!

You'd hope that your favorite artist/band came around your area so you could see them LIVE!

When it comes to a classic song that can stand the test of time, look no further than someone like Michael Jackson.

Beat It, Billie Jean, Thriller, Smooth Criminal.

The man made hit, after hit, after hit.

Every single one of those songs have stood the test of time.

Why?

Because he was a once in a lifetime talent.

He connected with the audience.

His songs all have melodies that you can recognize in less than ten seconds.

The melody is truly what i think makes a hit song.

Now whether it becomes a "song of the summer" or a "classic song" I think is ultimately up to the amount of exposure the song gets, and whether it hits the right audience at the right time.

The type of audience that will play that same song for their children, and grandchildren.

That's the best answer I could come up with!

Question 2 - Who would win in a fight, Han Solo, or Dr. Disrespect?

Wow.

This a question I never thought I would even have to consider.

One one hand you've got Han Solo, one of the key figures in helping topple The Galactic Empire.

He made the Kessel Run with the Millenium Falcon in LESS than 12 parsecs.

He knocked Boba Fett into the Sarlacc pit with MINIMAL EFFORT.

He took care of Greedo in the blink of an eye.

He's Kylo Ren's father.

He's Chewbacca's best friend.

He's freaking HAN SOLO!

HOWEVER.

On the other hand, you've got Dr. Disrespect.

One of the most prevalent current video game streamers on Twitch.

Easily the most entertaining character that Twitch, and the video game streaming world as a whole, has ever seen.

He's the Two-Time.....

Back-To-Back.....

1993.....

1994.....

BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO GAME CHAMPION. In NBA JAM.

He won them right in front of the Killer Whale Exhibit at Marine World.

He's 6 foot 8.

37 Inch Vertical Leap.

He drives a 1990 Lamborghini Diablo VT.

He's an International Video Game Superstar.

"A Jawline that will cut, slice, deliver anything that you can ever dream of, right to your front door, nothing but success, NOTHING BUT SUCCESS, that's what my life is about, PERIOD." - Dr. Disrespect

He has an Ethiopian Poisonous Caterpillar (a.k.a. Slick Daddy) as a mustache.

He has not one, not two, but THREE HIT SONGS.

He runs the most exclusive club on the planet.

The Champions Club.

Could Han Solo even get in the Champions Club?

Maybe.

But here's how the fight would go down.

Han Solo pulls out his blaster.

Dr. Disrespect pulls out his Violence, Speed, and Momentum.

Game Over.

Dr. Disrespect wins.

Final Question - What are your Top 5 WWE Matches of All Time?!

Anyone who actually knows me, knows that I'm one of the biggest professional wrestling fans on the planet.

That's no secret.

But to narrow it down to my Top 5 Of All Time is no easy task.

I love so many.

But this is one of those hard hitting questions that I need to answer, so here goes!

These matches are in no particular order!

Match #1 - Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, Wrestlemania 13

It goes without saying that for this match, and the other four, that I can watch this match over and over again, and I have, and will continue to do so!

Two of my all time favorite wrestlers had an absolute classic in Chicago back in 1997.

Going into the match, Bret Hart was the "Good Guy", and Stone Cold was the "Bad Guy".

However, by the time they had reached this match, the tide had already turned.

Stone Cold was one of those bad guys that you couldn't help but like.

He was doing everything in his power to be the most hated man in the company.

But the more he tried, the more he got cheered!

So he and Bret took advantage of it, and pulled off the greatest "Double Turn" in the history of WWE.

That still rings true to this very day.

The iconic image of Stone Cold with blood pouring down his face, refusing to tap out to The Sharpshooter, eventually passing out.

Then Bret attacked him afterwards.

That was it.

Stone Cold was now the hero, and Bret Hart was the villain.

The WWE would never be the same.

It's not only one of the greatest matches in WWE history, it's one of the greatest matches EVER.

Haven't seen it?

WATCH IT.

NOW.

Match #2 - The Rock vs. Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker - Vengeance 2002

If you've ever wondered what a Triple Threat match is SUPPOSED to look like, then look no further.

Amazing actions from start to finish.

The crowd was into the match the entire way.

Three of the greatest wrestlers in history put on an absolute classic.

I legit cannot say enough good things about this match, because it's amazing.

It also falls under the radar for a lot of wrestling fans, but I'm telling you right now, watch it, you WILL NOT regret it!

Match #3 - "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat - Wrestlemania 3

There's nothing I can say about this match that hasn't already been said.

Everyone may have packed the Pontiac Silverdome to watch Hulk Hogan vs. Andre The Giant, but with 93,000 plus fans in attendance, Randy and Ricky took full advantage, and that is why THIS is the match that stole the entire show, HANDS DOWN.

An absolute classic, if you've never seen this match, I don't think you're a wrestling fan.

Yeah, I said it, fight me.

Match #4 - The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels - Wrestlemania 25

I know that I said these matches were in no particular order, but if I could only watch ONE match for the rest of my life, it would be this match.

For me personally, this is the greatest match in WWE history.

I remember watching it on Pay-Per-View, and as it was happening, I kept telling myself "I'm watching the greatest WWE match of All Time, it's happening RIGHT NOW!"

You won't find a single flaw in this match, because there isn't one.

This match is the DEFINITION of what a professional wrestling match is supposed to be!

Match #5 - C.M. Punk vs. John Cena - Money In The Bank 2011

To say the the crowd was one sided in this match would be the understatement of the century.

C.M. Punk was in his hometown of Chicago, and every single person in that arena was in his corner.

If was the most deafening standing ovation I have ever heard.

Now with that being said, John Cena was also the most hated person in Chicago that night.

It was also the most deafening standing JEERS AND BOOING I have ever heard as well.

But the match they had in that ring was absolute magic.

This is another one of those matches that you must go out of your way to watch.

It's that good.

You simple cannot manufacture how organic the crowd response was to everything they did in that ring on that night.

It was amazing!

So there you have it, my Top 5 WWE Matches Of All Time!

Well for only getting three questions, I'd say this was still quite the novel on my end!

For anyone who has stuck around this far, thanks for taking the time to read this, and I'll be making another blog in the very near future!!

Until next time!!

Writer's Block?!

Just as a disclaimer, please don't expect proper grammar and punctuation in this blog post, or any other future blog posts. I'll do my best with the spelling, but everything else is up in the air. Run-on sentences, incomplete sentences, numbered lists, and bullet points are all very good friends of mine, you will meet all of them very soon.

Writers. Block.

It happens to everyone I guess.

Now it has officially happened to me.

I've been asking people for blog ideas.

I usually have like five or six different topics ready to go.

Then I narrow it down to one of those topics and off to the races I go!

Not this time.

This is weird.

I'm not used to having nothing to talk about.

I mean granted, if I don't know someone it takes quite a bit to get a word out of me.

Actually, plenty of people that I know very well still take a while to get a word out of me.

Ha!

That's just who I am I guess.

I like to stay "reserved".

I'll speak when spoken to.

If I have something to say, you'll hear it.

Otherwise, I'm just listening.

Observing.

People watching.

People fascinate me.

But that fascination goes to both ends of the spectrum.

I've seen people do things that have been truly AMAZING!

I'm talking breathtaking, spectacular, and every other synonym for "Awesome" that there is!

But on the other hand, I've also seen people do things that have been truly.......dumbfounding.

The kinds of things that make me realize why The Electoral College exists.

I do work at an airport after all.

"Oh that must be so interesting and exciting!!"

Yeah..........no.

Someone once got off a plane at the airport, walked over to me, and asked what state they were in.

You read that correctly.

They didn't know what state they were currently in.

I knew what state I was in.

I was in the state of shock, as well as the state of Connecticut.

I could have told them anything and they probably would have believed me.

But I did the right thing.

I told the person that I didn't know either.

Now we were both in the same foxhole.

Except I knew the way out.

I mean there an exit at the airport.

It's where everyone who gets off the plane goes.

It's the only way out for the general public.

It has signs all over that CLEARLY say "DO NOT ENTER" and "EXIT ONLY".

But at least once or twice a day, you'll see them.

You know who they are.

They look at the sign, disregard it, and try coming through the exit anyway.

That's why we have two people there at all times.

That's why all airports have people at the exit.

Because, well, because people.

So as I stated before, people truly fascinate me, in every way possible, both good AND bad.

I guess having writer's block isn't such a bad thing after all!

I didn't even think I'd be able to get this much out.

Yet here we are!

I started working out.

So there's that.

I've also started meal prepping.

And actually eating healthy.

Because there's no point in working out if you're not going to change your diet.

You can get away with having a good, clean diet with minimal exercise.

But the other way around? Not so much.

I'm not really sure what inspired this change.

I knew it was long overdue.

I guess I just had an epiphany of sorts.

I took a huge step back and told myself "enough is enough".

I've done my first full week.

I hit the gym every day on the way home from work.

I have my meals ready or at least planned for the entire week.

It feels.....good!!

It's one of those things I've started and stopped many times in the past.

Usually due to a lack of motivation, and a lack of self control.

But this time, it's different.

I'm sure plenty of people have said that same thing but then they fell back into their old ways.

I was one of those people, for a very, very long time.

But healthiness and happiness shouldn't have to be a "one or the other" decision.

They should work together.

I'm going to take it one day at a time.

Pretty soon the days will turn into weeks, months, and years.

That's the goal.

My motivation is finally here to stay!

Well, for a guy with some serious writer's block, I'm pretty satisfied with what I was able to come up with, until next time!

Alcohol? No Thanks.

Just as a disclaimer, please don't expect proper grammar and punctuation in this blog post, or any other future blog posts. I'll do my best with the spelling, but everything else is up in the air. Run-on sentences, incomplete sentences, numbered lists, and bullet points are all very good friends of mine, you will meet all of them very soon.

Most of my blog posts are light-hearted and fun.

This isn't one of those blog posts.

If that's enough for you to stop reading right here, I won't hold it against you!

As the title of this blog suggests, this post is about one thing.

Alcohol.

Now if you know anything about me, then the next phrase should come as no surprise.

"I don't drink alcohol."

That phrase has been met with pretty much every question as to "why".

Quite frankly, it just doesn't appeal to me.

It never has.

Some people have given me the side eye, as if I don't really mean that.

Not really sure why I would lie about that.

In fact, my feelings on alcohol are quite strong, and VERY well defined.

"Well what about wedding toasts?"

What about them?

Did I say "I don't drink alcohol, except for wedding toasts?"

No, I didn't. I even double checked. The rule still applies.

You don't need to make a toast with alcohol.

That shouldn't be breaking news.

"Is it a personal choice?"

Yes. 100%

"Haven't you ever wanted to at least TRY it?!"

Nope.

"I wonder what you would be like drunk!"

Keep wondering, because that's the closest you'll ever get.

"You don't know what you're missing!"

I'm not missing anything.

Then there's my personal favorite statement that i always here when people hear this "revelation" for the first time.

"Good for you!"

Now I have to make something clear here.

That phrase has been said to me in two completely different forms.

One of the forms is truly sincere, and genuine.

That's not the one I'm talking about.

The other form is condescending and disingenuous.

Bingo.

I have never seen anyone do anything while "under the influence" that has made me take a step back and say "Wow, I'm really missing out there!"

It's actually the opposite.

It only helps to reinforced what I have felt from the very beginning.

I'm not missing a single thing.

Underage drinking is seemingly a right of passage these days too.

Granted, it probably always has been, but you get the idea.

Everyone trying to scramble through the liquor cabinet and go to that one friends house where their parents aren't home.

Shotgunning beers as fast as you can, as if it's some sort of accomplishment.

As if it's something actually to be proud of.

To the point where they ALWAYS have to have a beer of some kind in their hands at all times.

They can't even let go of it to take a picture.

For ten seconds.

I never understood that.

I never will.

Then you have "The College Experience", which is apparently supposed to be the super awesome feeling of racking up anywhere from $40,000 - $80,000 in student loan debt while getting blackout drunk for four years around your "peers" who definitely don't have your best interests in mind.

I'm glad I missed out on that "Experience".

I've seen people become the absolute worst versions of themselves.

Thanks to alcohol.

I've seen people turn into someone that I no longer recognize.

Thanks to alcohol.

If those people were like that when they were sober, I would have never been friends with them in the first place.

That's how drastic of a change it is for some people.

It's flat out scary.

The horror stories that I have heard.

The horror stories that I have SEEN.

I would never want to do that to myself.

I would never want to voluntarily make the decision to alter my mental faculties to such a degree that someone else has to tell me what happened after the fact, because I will have no memory of actually doing it.

All in the name of "having a good time"?

Where is the appeal in that?

Am I missing something?

Why would I ever want to do that to myself?

I would never want to be unable to walk under my own power, slurring my words, and potentially throwing up all over the place, and calling it "a good night".

Now don't get me wrong, I know plenty of people who drink, but they drink responsibly.

They drink in moderation.

It's that little message that they always say at the very end of those glorified alcohol commercials.

In the tiny white letters.

No one looks at those tiny white letters on a TV commercial.

Those tiny white letters are only there to begin with because they HAVE to be.

Drink Responsibly.

What does that even mean?

Well as this whole blog has hopefully established by now, I don't drink.

But as someone on the outside looking in, depending on said "drink", I would say one, maybe two drinks, usually with dinner or at a social gathering.

No mental faculties altered.

No equilibrium has been compromised.

There's a huge difference between that, and just flat out drinking that's only stopped when your body finally steps in and says "enough".

That's when you blackout.

That's when things can go really wrong, really fast.

I would never wish that on anyone.

I would never want to see that happen.

That's why you won't find me at most parties.

Not the ones where people that I know and care about are about to become people that I no longer recognize.

I've seen that happen far too often enough as it is.

It's a terrible sight.

I've hated it every single time.

At that point I feel helpless.

In that moment, those people might as well be a stranger on the street.

That's how much they have changed.

I go from being surrounded by people, having a coherent conversation, joking, laughing, and having a good time, to being completely alone.

Two words.

It. Sucks.

Any story that someone tries to tell me that starts with "So we were all drinking..." or anything along those lines, is a story that you can stop right there.

I've already heard enough.

I'm not going to be impressed.

I've seen alcohol ruin families.

I've seen alcohol ruin friendships.

I've seen alcohol ruin LIVES.

You'll see a commercial that demonizes smoking and tobacco use.

And rightfully so, because I think smoking is also terrible for you.

If lungs could talk, they would all say the same thing.

But then you'll see a commercial that glorifies alcohol right after the anti tobacco one.

Not so breaking news flash!

Alcohol can be Just. As. Dangerous.

Especially drunk driving.

It doesn't really help matters that the first thing that alcohol alters is judgment (I guess something DID stick with me from Health Class), so people who are in NO condition to operate any type of motor vehicle tell themselves "Yeah, I'm fine to drive".

Now those same people are literally putting the lives of themselves and others into their currently incapable hands.

Others who had nothing to do with that alcohol that someone else decided to consume before getting behind that wheel.

People who are just trying to drive home safely.

It's not worth it.

It's never worth it.

I can't stress that enough.

There's also people who have been led to believe that "You can't have a good time without alcohol".

That couldn't be any farther from the truth.

In fact, if the only way that you CAN have "fun" is WITH alcohol, then that is a very, very big problem.

If it reaches that point, now we're talking about an even more serious matter.

Addiction.

That's a completely different can of worms.

I won't even attempt to open that can, but I will say this, addiction is terrible.

In closing, I don't need alcohol.

I don't need alcohol to "have a good time".

I don't need alcohol for any reason whatsoever.

I don't need it, and I don't want it.

If you're going to drink, please, drink responsibly.

I don't want to see anyone else get hurt because of choices made with alcohol.

As for me, I'll stick with never drinking to begin with.

It's one decision that I'll never regret.

Senior Year?! YUP!

Just as a disclaimer, please don't expect proper grammar and punctuation in this blog post, or any other future blog posts. I'll do my best with the spelling, but everything else is up in the air. Run-on sentences, incomplete sentences, numbered lists, and bullet points are all very good friends of mine, you will meet all of them very soon.

The year was 2004.

My Senior Year at Southwick Tolland Regional High School.

15 Years Ago.

Fifteen YEARS.

Wow.

It's hard to believe that I've been out of school longer than I've been in school.

And yet, here we are.

By the time my Senior Year rolled around, my lollipop business got hit with a HUGE roadblock.

We got a new principal that year, and he wasn't a fan of people eating anything in the halls.

That's where 95% of my business took place.

He just ruined 95% of my business!

It was at that moment that I realized it was time to pack it up.

It was a good run.

We'll always have the memories.

Of the 8 classes I had left in my High School career, only three of them were required for me to actually graduate.

The other 5 were electives, basically just there to take up space.

Gym class was one of those electives.

Because obviously.

I also took Spanish 4 as an elective.

You only needed two years of a foreign language.

Yet I took 4.

Perhaps I was a glutton for punishment.

The jury is still out on that one.

The three classes that I HAD to take were English 12, Physics, and a nice little class called Speaking, Writing, and Research.

There were two versions of that class, regular, and advanced

Full disclosure, I mentally checked out as often as I could, so I had no desire for any "advanced" class.

It's still the biggest mistake I ever made in my entire school career.

The only difference between the regular class (that I took) and the advanced one was the research paper due at the end of the semester.

Two extra pages for the advanced class.

That was it.

Now I bet you're wondering why I regretted not taking the advanced class, I mean why would I regret having to write three pages on a research topic of my choosing instead of five pages?

It had nothing to do with the pages.

It had EVERYTHING to do with the fact that MY BEST FRIENDS WERE IN THE OTHER  CLASS. 

I didn't find out until everything was locked in.

It was too late for me to switch.

They were having fun in their class.

They were making jokes and laughing in their class.

Me?

I got put into a four person group project that included a French Foreign Exchange Student who didn't speak a single word of English.

I was then told by my teacher that my four person group was technically going to be three people doing the work, and that the Foreign Exchange Student would get whatever grade that my group got, even though she didn't have to do anything.

Also, there was going to be no "individual grade" for this group project, just one grade for the entire group.

Which meant if either of my other two group members didn't carry their weight on this project, MY GRADE WOULD SUFFER.

Long story short?

I wrote an entire radio play by myself, because my other two group members couldn't handle making a timeline where I gave them every date and event that needed to be entered.

Apparently I was asking for too much.

Mind you, every other group had FOUR PEOPLE DOING THIS.

I had one person who couldn't speak or understand a word of English, and two other full members of the English speaking tribe who were also grand masters of being inept.

It was magical.

Luckily I decided to mentally check in, you know, since I wanted to graduate and all.

My "group" got an A+.

Meanwhile my BEST FRIENDS IN THE OTHER VERSION OF THIS CLASS were telling me what they had come up with in their group.

I should have been in their group.

I should have been in their class.

But hey, it's fine.

It's not like I still think about it to this day or anything.

It's not like I've dedicated a huge chunk of this blog post 15 years later about it or anything.

Like I said, it's fine.

I also had the same teacher for English 12 and Speaking, Writing, and Research.

That meant I either had to do my homework for both classes, or skip it, I couldn't do one or the other.

I mean I'm crafty when it comes to thinking of stuff off the top of my head when it came to the whole "no homework" excuses over the years, but I'm not THAT crafty.

Or am I?

In my High School, you had the same homeroom for all four years.

All four years I never had my homeroom teacher, Mr. Tarpinian, for any of my actual classes.

When I took Physics in my last semester, that finally changed!

I finally didn't have to go anywhere for my first class of the day!

Now for those of you who went to school with me, you already know what Mr. Tarpinian looked like.

You know what he sounded like.

But for everyone else, let me give you the best possible description.

Imagine a cross between Ben Stein, and the guy who played Robert Barone on "Everybody Loves Raymond".

Boom. That's Mr. Tarpinian.

Turns out he actually knew his Physics too.

Who knew?

By the time the year was coming to a close, it was starting to sink in.

School was almost over.

For good.

College was never in the cards for me.

I never fully understood why the school that you have to PAY for, AFTER going to school for 12 years, was supposed to be the only one that "mattered".

What were these 12 years for?

I was all set.

Looking back on it now, and the amount of people that I've seen get into HUGE amounts of debt thanks to Student Loans, which they're still paying off now, and then not even get a job in the field that they got their degree in, which is what they took out the Student Loans for to begin with, makes me glad I dodged that bullet.

With the full on Digital Age we're in right now, it's easier than ever to generate revenue streams from your own home in your spare time, while still having a full time job.

And speaking of streaming..........

Let's just say all these years of video games may not have been "a waste of time" after all.......

But that's another story for another time......

There was one thing left to do before graduation.

A return trip to High Meadows!

I had not been there since 8th Grade.

It was a LONG four years, but it was just as magical as I had remembered!

To this day I've still wanted to go back there, with a huge group of people.

Once High Meadows was over, there was just one thing left on the horizon.

Something I had been looking forward to since I was in 1st Grade.

Walking down that hill.

I saw it for years.

The graduating class had their year of graduation dug into the hill.

I remember watching the years go by on that hill.

Then it finally read "2004".

This was it.

It was finally my turn.

Everyone was going to go their separate ways after this.

I grew up with these people.

Literally.

Over the past 12 years I had spent as much time with these people as I had with my family, maybe even more at times!

I was hit with every emotion you could think of.

Happiness.

Sadness.

Anxiety.

Wonder.

Hope.

It was a long 12 years.

It was a fun 12 years.

It was a time of my life that I'll never forget.

15 years have gone by in the blink of an eye.

I think I'll take a next 15 a little slower!