Quick Note

It's a Two for Tuesday here on the Chicks Dig Blog, as I have a quick note regarding today's date, April 29.

April 29 is the 22nd anniversary of Roger Clemens setting a major league record for the number of strikeouts, 20, in a nine-inning game. Clemens did it in a 3-1 win over the Seattle Mariners in front of about 14,000 close family and friends (including myself, my brother and my Dad) at Fenway Park. Click here to check out a special section that the Boston Globe did two years ago on the 20th anniversary on the historic event.

And who would have thought that 22 years later, Clemens would still be making front-page news. I never knew Clemens liked his women so young, but 15-years-old is pretty young.

Twenty-two years ago on April 29, the Boston Celtics defeated the Atlanta Hawks (sound familiar) in Game 5 of their playoff series, to win the series 4 games to 1. I thought that I would be attending that game with my dad and brother to see the Celtics close out the Hawks, but the guy who was getting the Celtics ticket for my dad, failed to come up with the tickets. Instead, he had three tickets to the Red Sox game.

So instead of seeing Bird, McHale, Parish, Dominique Wilkins and a lesser known Atlanta starter by the name of Doc Rivers, I went to Fenway and got Joe Sambito's autograph, nearly caught my first foul ball (two rows in front of me, and I'm still waiting for my first snare of a foul ball) and watched history in the making.

Life is a funny thing sometimes.

Storytellers

One of the other things I watched over the weekend (aside from the NFL draft) was an episode of VH1's Storytellers, featuring The Dave Matthews Band. The concert took place in May, 2005, a week after their latest album, Stand Up, was released. I watched it on the Music High Definition channel, which is a pretty good place to check out musical performances, as they have alot of live performances and music videos.

DMB's set list for the performance was: Ants Marching, American Baby, Dreamgirl, Where Are You Going, Too Much, Louisana Bayou and Steady As We Go. As always the DMB never disappoint with their live performance.

I enjoy watching the 'Storyteller' or the 'MTV Unplugged' performances, because it offers the audience a behind the scenes look at what an artist was feeling, or thinking or what went into the process of developing a song that they had written. I'm fascinated with the creative process that is involved in coming up with a song, or a poem, or even a blog entry.

There's something to be said for those who can through either the written word or song poignantly and eloquently get their message across. It's a wonderful talent to have.

So, if you haven't guessed it by now the theme for today's YouTube Tuesday here on the Chicks Dig McLovin Blog is 'Storyteller' performances. Here are three great ones that I found.

First, Steady as We Go by the Dave Matthews Band. I wanted to post more performances from the aforementioned show, but this was the only one I could find. This is a wonderful, moving performance of this song. This is just a love song.




Second, a performance of Thunder Road by Bruce Springsteen, with just Bruce alone at a piano. Anybody got a tissue back there.




Finally, Coldplay performing their first big US hit, Yellow. This is a great story on how this song got it's title.

Stats

With the NFL draft being held this past weekend, it was a Saturday/Sunday filled with statistical information, analysis and breakdown.

Stats being thrown around - rushing yards, receiving yards, passing yards, number of sacks, interceptions, times in the 40-yard-dash, number of bench press reps at 225 pounds, height, weight. Everywhere you turned a new number was being thrown out that either validated a team's selection or supported the argument discrediting the pick.

The stat that I was most interested in this weekend was 710, with 950 being the total.

710 and 950 you ask, what does that mean? Was 710 the number of 'F bombs' I dropped this weekend (No) with 950 being the number of times that I cursed at myself for that stupid trade I made in fantasy baseball giving up Hanley Ramirez for David Ortiz? (again the answer is no).

Rather, 710 was the number of calories consumed in dining on the infamous Luther Vandross burger, with 950 being the total caloric intake of the entire meal.

Last Thursday, I wrote about (amongst other things) the Luther Vandross burger, a bacon-cheese burger that sits a top a grilled Krispy Kreme glazed donut rather than a regular hamburger bun. With wife and child out of the house Saturday afternoon, I decided to spend a hour out of my busy day to watch the NFL draft and partake in the LV burger (as it sounded too good to pass up).

Let's just say, it didn't disappoint (although I used a Dunkin Donuts glazed donut instead of a Krispy Kreme). Aside from being a little sticky (because of the melted icing), it was very tasty. You had the meat/bacon taste thing going on, but with the bonus of having something a little sweet with it (the donut). With a tasty burger such as this, you need something to wash it down with, so add two Sam Adams Light Adult Beverages to the menu.

Picture an empty house, with the television tuned into the NFL draft and this may have been the best meal I've ever had.

For those who care (and honestly, the type of person who would eat an LV burger isn't the kind of person who counts calories), here's the caloric breakdown.

1 Glazed Dunkin Donut – 230 calories (only 80 more calories than a Burger King bun)

1 piece American cheese – 110 calories

2 pieces bacon – 80 calories

1 hamburger – 240 calories

1 tbsp Hellman’s Light mayo/1 tbsp Grey Poupon mustard (have to cut calories, but not sacrifice taste, somehow) – 50 calories

Total for the burger 710 calories. Total for the two beers (240). Grand total: 950 calories, about half of the daily recommended intake of calories (2,000).

While that might sound like a lot, consider the Burger King's Triple Whopper with Cheese. The number of calories in that burger (without a drink) - 1,250. A Whopper with Cheese - 770 calories.

I'll go with the LV burger any day over a burger from BK.

Random Thoughts, Sights and Sounds - A Potpourri of Knowledge

Boston has been referred to as 'The Hub of the Universe' (by Oliver Wendell Holmes). If you look at the city as a place that has World-Renowned Hospitals and some of the better Colleges and Universities, add to that the success of the professional sports teams, one could see why that nickname is appropriate.

Boston is now becoming known as 'The Hub of the Universe' for attractive female sports anchors/sideline reporters.

First Julie Donaldson, a former Miss Florida pageant winner was recently hired to be a sports anchor for Channel 7 in Boston, now NESN has hired Heidi Watney to be the Red Sox sideline reporter, replacing Tina Cervasio. Watney is a former Miss San Diego (Discovered by the Germans in 1904, they named it San Diego, which of course in German means a whale's vagina. You stay Classy San Diego).

Watney has had an interesting career in TV working in Fresno. It will be interesting to see how she adapts to the Boston market.

Add Watney and Donaldson to a sports scene that's already being covered beautifully by Hazel Mae, Kathryn Tappen and the Boston Globe's Amalie Benjamin (who is getting more and more face time on NESN's Red Sox pre-game show) and the days the days of having to watch Jackie MacMullan, Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Karen Guregian and Alice Cook cover sports are far behind us.

During this past offseason when the Red Sox were exploring a trade with the Minnesota Twins for Johan Santana, it is believed that two different offers that the Red Sox made to the Twins was: Coco Crisp, Jon Lester, Jed Lowrie and Justin Masterson for Santana or Jacoby Ellsbury, Lowrie, Masterson and Michael Bowden.

While you have to give up something to obtain a pitcher of the magnitude of Santana, it looks like (for now) that the Red Sox are fortunate that Santana went to the Mets, based on the way some of the players in the proposed possible deals have been playing.

Ellsbury has taken over the starting job in centerfield from Crisp, and assumed his place atop the Red Sox batting order. Lester has been up and down as the number 4 starter in the Red Sox rotation. Lowrie has been a more than adequate fill-in as a utility infielder with Mike Lowell and Alex Cora on the disabled list. Masterson had a strong outing in his Major League debut on Thursday, holding Los Angeles to just one run in six innings.

Adding Ellsbury, Lester, Lowrie and Masterson to a young nucleus of Kevin Youklis, Dustin Pedoria, Josh Beckett, Dice-K, Clay Buchholz and Jonathan Papelbon will ensure that the Red Sox will be in position to stay atop the standings of the American League for years to come.

Finally, here's something to chew on while your watching the NFL draft this weekend, the Luther Vandross burger.

You'll need to take a time out from pouring over all of the various mock drafts, hanging on Mel Kiper Jr's every word, while trying to decide if the New England Patriots should stay at Number 7 to take Vernon Gholston or Sedrick Ellis (I say they stay at 7 and the pick will be Gholston) to enjoy this tasty treat.

So what is a Luther Vandross burger you ask? You take a Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut (or for us in the Northeast, a Dunkin Doughnut) slice it in half and grill it, as you'll use this as the bun. Add one hamburger, one piece of cheese and two pieces of bacon, and voila you have the Luther Vandross burger. My beverage of choice to go with the LV burger, I'm thinking Sam Adams.

To learn more regarding the origin of the burger and how Luther Vandross came up with the burger click here. Mulligan's Tavern in Atlanta is home to the original Luther Vandross burger. Anything cool related to food or beer happens in Atlanta (that's all they have going for them as their sports teams suck - see how empty The Philips Arena will be when the Hawks and Celtics play Satuday night).

They have restaurants that have beer taps at your table and they have the LV burger. Mulligan's Tavern is also famous for another dish called 'The Hamdog', which is a hot dog wrapped inside a beef patty, deep fried, covered with chili, cheese and onions, and served on a hoagie roll topped with a fried egg and french fries. For dessert they have a 'Tasty Twinkie', a Twinkie coated in Captain Crunch, then deep-fried and drizzled with raspberry sauce.

Happy eating everyone and have a great weekend.

Idea Block

Similar to writer's block, but a little more difficult to solve. For me, one of the more frustrating things in life is the failure to come up with a productive idea. Searching through a mind devoid of good ideas is not a fun way to spend an evening.

Last evening, I sat in front of a computer screen for several hours, either staring at it blankly or performing fruitless Google searches, trying to come up with an idea. I kept waiting for that "AH HA that's it, " moment - the one when your brain realizes that you've just found the answer to your riddle, solved your problem or answered your question - but that moment never came.

In this case, the idea that I was looking for is regarding a project that I'm working on in my Project Management class. I'm looking to develop a project that will allow me to present a project plan that will save an company money.

My original idea of presenting a plan on how the airlines industry can improve it's customer service performance (and in turn generate more revenue), was seen as being too broad by my professor. So, in an attempt to either narrow my focus or try to come up with a new idea, an unproductive evening resulted.

I tried looking at particular areas of customer service that the airlines could improve upon (baggage handling, food quality), but there wasn't much current literature on the subject. Then I tried looking into ways that Major League Baseball could speed up the times of there games (especially Red Sox-Yankees). Faster games would (could???) better numbers at the box office. Which sounds great until you realize that MLB set a new attendance record (over 79 million fans) last year for the fourth consecutive year.

The search for that perfect idea continues. Hopefully my answer will come in class this evening.

Mas Tequila

Today's word of the day is Tequila, which means today's YouTube Tuesday theme is Tequila.

A big Chicks Dig Thank You goes out to the Montreal Canadiens, who finally disposed of the Boston Bruins, winning Game 7 of their first-round playoff series 5-0 on Monday. This means a bottle of Cabo Wabo Tequila for yours truly as payoff for correctly predicting that the Bruins would not get past the first round of the playoffs.

Though, as a long time (more than a decade) Bruins hater I have to admit I enjoyed watching their performance in Game 6. It was one of the more exciting hockey games I have seen in a long time and it was the most time I've spent watching a Bruins game this year.

It will be interesting to see if the Bruins late-season success carries over into next season, or will they go back to a team that the majority of the people in Boston could care less about?

So in honor of tequila, I present to you three wonderful videos that discuss the benefits of consuming tequila.

Video 1 talks of the medicinal benefits (eliminating shyness and awkwardness) of Tequila. I WANT TO STOP HIDING AND START LIVING WITH TEQUILA.



Click here to see video 2 from country artist Joe Nichols. I'm not at all of fan of country music (unless it's the Dixie Chicks or Shania Twain, as they are nice on the eyes), but Nichols song "Tequila makes her clothes fall off" is something that I can get behind. Plus there's a reference to Bon Jovi and Slippery When Wet. That's awesome.

Video 3 is from the man himself, Sammy Hagar creator of Cabo Wabo Tequila, singing about some of his favorite things in life.

Random Thoughts, Sights and Sounds - A Potpourri of Knowledge

Yesterday's public support for the Montreal Canadiens Let's Go Canadiens (clap, clap, clap, clap, clap) marks the last time that I will outwardly state my support for a team in such a way on this blog. I am now 0-3 when I publicly back one team over another.

Claude Julien pulled a Terry Francona and inserted a player (Phil Kessel) back into the lineup that all of the fans and media knew should be in the lineup, much in the same way that Francona did for Game 6 of last year's ALCS when he sat down Coco Crisp and started Jacoby Ellsbury. Much like Ellsbury did in Game 6 of the ALCS, Kessel had an impact in Thursday night's game Game 5, scoring the first Boston goal, tying the game at 1-1.

Will Kessel's presence in the lineup be enough for the Bruins to come back and win the series, that remains to be seen, but the possible parallel to Ellsbury is hard to ignore.

The McLovin fund - has nothing to do with me and this blog, but please feel free to float McLovin a dollar after watching this public service announcement. He needs our support to cure his sex addiction.



Cool website of the week. If you haven't already, check out hulu.com. It's a site where you can watch many popular tv shows (such as 30 Rock, ER, Nip/Tuck and The Office) and movies (such as The Simpsons Movie, Fever Pitch, The Girl Next Door, Master and Commander) for free from your computer.

Have a great weekend everyone.