Go Blue.

I guess running off to another country for a few months and then spending the latter part of summer scrambling to readjust to reality had the inadvertant side-effect of really throwing off my mid-to-late-summer football jonesin'.

I've been in this hazy awareness that another season of football was coming right down the pike, but even moving into a house where I can look down the street from my front lawn and see Michigan Stadium didn't really kick the adrenaline into high gear the way it normally is this time of year.

If any of you are also suffering from a disturbing case of football lethargy, or if you're full out craving and need a fix to wind the cork even tighter, you might find that these will help.

They worked for me! GO BLUE! BEAT THE MOUNTAINEERS!!


Stevie B, doing what Stevie B does


DOMINATION!


1997


Daydrian Taylor


The Braylon Edwards Show, 2004


The Best MMB Half-Time Show Ever - Part I

The Best MMB Half-Time Show Ever - Part II



"One man... goodbye! Hellooooo Heisman!"


More Desmond

Embedding is disabled on this one, but if you've got a HART you'll want to click on it.


Thrilling last-second heroics...


...and the man that invented them:

Adventures in Home Rentership

Okay, so as it may seem obvious by now, this space is starting to wake up again. I'm not sure how long it'll last, but with the new changes and adventure of settling into my new place, I figure I'll have a lot of amusing observations and anecdotes about the house, and about living back in Ann Arbor. I'm going to be pretty busy the next few weeks, so don't expect anything of great substance, but I hope to toss a couple thoughts here and there.

For now, I'm dealing with the fact that none of the rooms in the house other than the kitchen and, (ironically) the sun room, have light fixtures. At the moment, I have one floor lamp that I have to keep moving from room to room with me. Meijers trip number one: floor lamps.

Also, I'm bemoaning the lack of an accessible Einstein Bros bagels. There is one in town, but it appears to be in the University hospital. I'll have to scope it out later, but I have a feeling its not a place that can be hit up for an easy, morning bagel-and-Mel's-Cool-Cap run. Instead, I ran out Barry Bagels on Jackson. Unimpressed by their selection, but the asiago I just had wasn't bad and they make a tasty iced mocha, so all may not be lost.

On a related note, I'm going to be living on bagels and cream cheese for probably the next 36 hours or so.

Abhaile Sweet Abhaile

I forgot to mention that it has been at least drizzling ever since I crossed over the Michigan-Indiana border Saturday afternoon. It's currently pouring. I just checked the forecast for this week:

Today
Showers and thunderstorms...heavy rainfall possible. Highs 63 to 67. East winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100 percent.

Tuesday
Mostly cloudy. A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs 74 to 78. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph...turning to southwest late. Chance of rain 40 percent.

Wednesday
Mostly cloudy through mid morning...then becoming partly sunny. A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs 85 to 89. South winds 5 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30 percent.

Thursday
Mostly cloudy. A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs 86 to 90. Chance of rain 30 percent.

Friday
Mostly cloudy. A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs 82 to 86. Chance of rain 40 percent.

Saturday
Mostly cloudy. A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs 77 to 81. Chance of rain 30 percent.


Did I really ever leave Galway?


p.s. - It was definitely better moving whether than what we've had a majority of the time since I've been back. I love a good rain shower/thunderstorm. It's just the endlessness of it that gets tiresome.

Home Sweet Home.

After a rather chaotic, busy and tiresome weekend, I am now, save for a few odds-n-ends, fully moved in to my new place.

Now unpacking and settling in is a different story altogether. It will hopefully not involve anything as dramatic as moving trucks tearing bumpers off of innocent bystanding cars, police reports, rain storms, or 3 hour traffic jams, making it instantly better than this weekend.

The Parting Glass, raised in honor of Tommy Makem, 1932-2007

I haven't been perusing some of the Irish music forums frequently lately, but I just happened in for the first time in a while today. Had I waited another day, I likely would've missed seeing that Tommy Makem passed away last Wednesday. Tommy was a legend of the Irish folk music scene, performing for many years with The Clancy Brothers and as a solo act. I had the good fortune of finally seeing him perform at the Milwaukee Irish Fest a few years ago, and his voice and enthusiasm were every bit as golden as in the recordings that made up some of my very first musical memories.

To Tommy Makem, the Bard of Armagh, we raise this toast:

Oh all the money that e'er I had, I spent it in good company
And all the harm that e'er I've done, alas, it was to none but me
And all I've done for want of wit to memory now I can't recall
So fill to me the parting glass, good night and joy be with you all

Oh all the comrades that e'er I've had, they are sorry for my going away
And all the sweethearts that e'er I've had, they would wish me one more day to stay
But since it falls unto my lot that I should rise and you should not
I'll gently rise and I'll softly call good night and joy be with you all

If I had money enough to spend and leisure time to sit awhile
There is a fair maid in this town, that sorely has my heart beguiled
Her rosy cheeks and ruby lips I own, she has my heart enthralled
So fill to me the parting glass, good night and joy be with you all

My dearest dear, the time draws near when here no longer can I stay
There's not a comrade I leave behind, but is grieving for my going away
But since it has so ordered been what is once past can't be recalled
Now fill to me the parting glass, good night and joy be with you all

If I had money for to spend, If I had time to waste away
There is a fair maid in this town, I feign would while her heart away
With her rosy cheeks and dimpled chin, my heart she has beguiled awa'
So fill to me the parting glass, good night and joy be with you a'

If I had money for to spend, I would spend it in her company
And all the harm that I have done, I hope it's pardoned I will be
And all I've done for want of it to memory I can't recall
So fill to me the parting glass, good night and joy be with you all

A man may drink and not be drunk, a man may fight and not be slain
A man may court a pretty girl and perhaps be welcomed back again
But since it has so ordered been by a time to rise and a time to fall
Come fill to me the parting glass, good night and joy be with you all

A seat house on the 50

I have a home!

Last night I signed a lease for a 2 bedroom house in Ann Arbor. It's a small house, but it is very close to The Big House. In fact, it is 1 block exactly due west of the 50 yard line!

I'm definitely excited to have a new, fresh, change of scenery to mix things up, and looking forward to my triumphant return to Ann Arbor residency! Being within walking distance not only of the stadium, but also downtown, Yost Ice Arena, Washtenaw Dairy, etc. is going to be great.

I take possession on the 16th, but for now I just need to figure out how and when I'm going to collect all my assorted belongings from their various locations and get moved in!