Filed under: Food and Drink,Home,Pittsburgh,Social Media,Sports | Tags: internet fun, pixburke, beeeeer, music (other), yum, yet another dreaded bullet update, woo-hoo, even more sports, yinzteam
Last week was an odd one, and it left me sort of unmotivated to write about all the cool stuff that was going on while I was in a funk. My cousin’s death had something to do with it; the fact that I changed my normal Sunday-through-Thursday schedule to accommodate some vacations at work probably threw me off a little too.
* But damn, it was an excellent week, starting with the Bucco Tailgate Tweetup on Saturday. We had a good turnout, and I cooked approximately 127 pounds of meat for everyone, a task that actually led me to melt the asphalt under the four Patented Family Tailgating Grills. Just a few of us went into the game, and those who stayed behind missed a Pirates’ comeback win and a kickass fireworks show. Jennie did a great job of putting it together once again.
* I was melted into a puddle of goo on Tuesday night at the Flaming Lips show at the Trib IC Total Chevy Media Light Amphitheater at Station Square. Fred has been telling me for a couple of years that it’s impossible to walk away from a Flips show without “just feeling … happy.” And he is exactly right, despite the fact that much of the stuff the band played from Embryonic is considerably darker than their other recent albums. But with the balloons, the confetti guns, the lights — AND THE MICS THE BAND PLACED ALONG THE RAILROAD TRACKS HOLYCRAPLOUDTRAINNOISES — it was a stunning aural and visual feast. And, yes, I came home grinning like an idiot.
* I also made a double batch of crab cakes on Tuesday. They were to be for Mrs. Crappy’s aunt, but our plans got kinda messed up, so we ate crab cakes for dinner two nights in a row. Excessive? Sure. Good? Oh, yeah…
* We had missed the last two YinzTeam softball games, so even in Friday’s heat — which turned out to be tolerable with the breeze — getting a chance to play was a welcome break. Getting beer, burgers, nachos and these ungodly little garlic rolls at North Park Lounge after the game was a great bonus.
Looking appropriately mysterious.
* Saturday. Fell down the basement stairs. Had pho with a bunch of good friends. Annnnd went to HelloSAL, the reveal party for Secret Agent L, whom we can safely refer to as Laura. I hadn’t yet discussed SAL here — OK, I had indirectly, as she was one of the people involved with Burgh Baby’s Do Good Day — but she got a great turnout at the Firehouse Lounge and a ton of support for the random acts of kindness she’s perpetrated on Pittsburgh for the last year. I was one of the folks who was lucky enough to be in on the secret for a while — I was flabbergasted that she wanted to meet me when she showed up at Jamie’s margarita party back in May — and I can’t wait until everyone else gets to see first hand what a genuinely great person she is.
* As I found a day or two before the party — and was able to confirm as I listened to the playlist she put together for the party — Laura is a Wilco fan. I think she’s going to get along with the Crappys just fine.
* I was — along with everyone else — turned into a puddle again Saturday night, as it was, uh, a bit warm in the upstairs room at the Firehouse Lounge. We did our best to say, uh, hydrated, but come Sunday morning, all Mrs. Crappy and I wanted was breakfast and a nap, both of which we got. The nasty hot weather broke a little bit on Sunday; my funk, I think, broke a little bit Saturday night.
* Other than the fact that I didn’t get a ton of sleep Sunday night, I’m feeling much better, thanks. A great weekend with great friends will do that.
Filed under: Food and Drink,Pittsburgh,Social Media,Sports | Tags: beeeeer, even more sports, internet fun, nablopomo, pixburke, woo-hoo, yinzteam, yum
Sizzle.
We take our tailgating pretty seriously. On home game weekends during the fall, we spend a lot of time planning, preparing and executing some pretty impressive spreads, whether we’re sprinting (getting ready for a noon game) or executing an all-day deal (a night game, usually with two complete meals).
With the help of a good number of friends last summer, we were able to pull together an excellent tailgate for a Pirates game last summer. I grilled a shit-ton of burgers and hot dogs, and many of you guys brought along enough luscious sides that we ate like royalty in the parking lot.
We also had enough beer to tranquilize a team of horses. Also very important.
If you click on the pic above, you’ll be able to take a look at the pix from last year’s tailgate. Everyone who attended said it was one of the best parties of the summer, and I can’t really argue that point.
You say you missed the 2009 party? You’re in luck — we’re doing it again, on July 17. I’m cooking again, we’ll have tons of other food and drinks, we’ll probably miss a good portion of the actual baseball game again — but we won’t miss the fireworks — and when we’re done, you’ll be able to say you attended the best tailgate party ever.
(Except for those ones we do for the Michigan game — those are kind of special.)
Want in? Our organizer, the lovely and talented Jennie, is hoping to have the tickets spoken for by July 1. Want the details? You’ll find ‘em here. Questions beyond that? Ask me or her.
Trying to think up excuses as to why you won’t be there? Seriously, you don’t want to miss this two years in a row. We’ll see you there.
Filed under: Pittsburgh,Sports | Tags: even more sports, i'll get into shape even if it kills me, mild irritation, nablopomo, pixburke, woo-hoo
So when Mrs. Crappy suggested that we take a bike ride down to the North Shore Trail this morning, I said “Sure!” while I thought that the hottest day of the year so far might not actually be the best time to ride down to the trail instead of driving to the parking lot just south of the penitentiary.
Our access to the trail is actually pretty easy — a quick ride down California Avenue, being careful on the parts where we str technically riding the wrong way on the one-way portion of the street.
And it’s all downhill.
The first part of the ride was great; we rode to the Water Steps near PNC Park, where we found a swimsuit photo shoot, about a dozen dogs and Dr. Yohe, who was walking the trail Sunday morning. We had a nice, refreshing stop in the fountain.
Looking for pix of the bikini model? Here you go...
And then we had to ride home.
Getting back to California Avenue wasn’t hard, but we did pick a way that required us to drag our bikes up a loooong set of steps from down by a park and ride lot off Beaver Avenue. And when I checked my phone, I saw that we were just barely two miles from home. No problem, right?
(Ahhahahahahahahaha! That’s funny…)
That two miles is all uphill, except for the part where you get to Davis Avenue and then get to coast for the last quarter mile it took us to get home. Mrs. Crappy had to walk a decent part of that stretch, but I am happy to say that I was able to ride the whole thing, with a couple of short breaks.
We then ate mountains of bacon and I took my pre-work nap while Mrs. Crappy headed to the pool.
No, we didn’t die. Yes, we now know we can make that ride and leave the car at home.
And, yes — maybe next time we won’t try it on a day when it’s already 80 by 10 a.m.
Filed under: Food and Drink,Pittsburgh,Social Media,Sports | Tags: drunk again, even more sports, history, internet fun, media fetish, woo-hoo, yinzteam
This will perhaps be the most anti-climatic post in the history of Uncle Crappy, but here we go: The Jim Lokay-Tall Cathy Mariachi Night Tequila Dance.
Background: That morning, Jim — whom you may or may not know is the greatest television traffic guy of all time — and I and a crew of the usual suspects played in the second-annual YinzTeam Flackle Turkey Bowl, which turned out to be an awful lot of tackle and not quite as much flag. That’s OK, but it meant a bunch of us — by which I mostly mean me, far and away the oldest guy on the field — were pretty gimpy for the rest of the day weekend following week.
Which made it all that much more impressive when Lokay and Kiss-FM’s Tall Cathy busted out into a long, improvised dance during mariachi night at Las Velas. Ginny and David were hosting a Make Room for Kids benefit, so a bunch of us showed up in hopes that the margaritas would help ease our pain. But while the rest of us limped around the restaurant, Jim found the strength and energy to do this:
You’ve seen this picture before. That night, I told him I shot video that I wouldn’t post without his permission; I don’t think I asked him about the pic. And since then, I’ve asked. I’ve begged. I’ve pushed and prodded. I even sent him a copy of the clip several months ago, but I never got the word that it was OK to post.
Until last week, when he did a dancing segment on the air. In reaction, I tweeted something about how there was no reason for me to not post the Las Velas clip if he was going to be dancing on television anyway. About 24 hours later, I received a response via Twitter: “Go.”
And so without further ado … here’s the clip:
Yeah. I’m pretty much speechless too.
Filed under: Pittsburgh,Social Media,Sports | Tags: even more sports, pixburke, woo-hoo
I generally frown upon any activity that requires me to get up before 7 a.m. — much less one that forces me to set an alarm for 5:30 — but I have to make an exception for today. Not only did I have a kickass time slinging water for the runners at the Pittsburgh Marathon, but I got to see and personally yell at cheer for nearly every one of the runners I was looking for today.
I’m not sure whether anyone at the Mile-7.8 water station had actually done this before, but the team leader, an executive for the Allegheny County YMCA — along with some of our bossier YinzTeam members — got everyone whipped into shape before the runners started arriving. Mrs. Crappy, AAA, Beth and I got a couple tables set up on our own — two stacks of water-filled cups on each one — while Abby, AJ, Jen, Jaci and Mark worked on tables across the street.
The first people through were the cyclists, who were flying, to the degree that they didn’t even slow down to think about getting some water (which they already had with them, actually). The next group through were the front-runners, and I was blown away. These guys — men and women — were nearly eight miles into a freaking marathon, but they looked to me like they were sprinting. A couple took cups of water, but most of the lead group just blew by.
And then there was the fun part. Big groups followed soon after, many of them clustered behind pace-setter’s signs so they could keep up with their own goals. We cheered and handed out water for about 90-minutes straight before the numbers slowed to a trickle. Sometimes we cheered for team T-shirts; sometimes we were able to pick out names on their bibs and offer some more personal encouragement (Mrs. Crappy thinks I startled a couple people when I did this, but most seemed to light up when they heard their names).
I wish I had some pix of the actual runners, but we were pretty busy once the herd started filing through. But being busy and having fun interacting a little bit with the runners made the time fly — and it made me not notice the soaking rain that kept up most of the time we were out there.
It was also really cool for me to hear how appreciative people were towards the volunteers. As we were cheering for them, a huge number of them were looking at us and thanking us for standing out in the rain with them.
The best part? That started when Grandpa, who joined us for a beer Saturday afternoon before meeting law-school friends for their pre-race dinner, appeared in front of me just as I turned back around with fresh cups. He was doing great. I think I surprised Jason when I saw him approaching and yelled his Twitter handle (HEY CRANBERRYPERSON), but I got a fist bump from him too. Kelly, whom you know as @aPSUmama, found me, said she was doing great and kept going to a solid finish. We yelled at Pam — who set a personal best for the half on Sunday — from across the road just after she found the YinzTeam table over there. And Dudders not only managed to hit up both YinzTeam tables but took a cup of water from me on the way to completing a relay with the rest of our heroic YinzTeammates: Lokay, Woy, Adrienne and TehJim.
I missed a few — Deanna, Julianne and Sarah, all of whom commented on my pre-race post a couple days ago, and Eric, who finished his second full marathon today. In fact, all of them finished what they started, whether it was a relay, a half or the whole freaking thing. I’m seriously impressed by anyone who who gave it a shot, but I’m especially proud of my friends who we saw — or didn’t see — and what they accomplished Sunday morning.
And I saw nothing — not even a few cases of bleeding nipples — that made me think I shouldn’t do this next year. Attempting my first half marathon at 44 is probably pretty stupid, but I do stupid things all the time — so why the hell not?
After a thorough research session — meaning I looked up the names and the odds on the internet — I am proud to present to you the official House of Crappy Kentucky Derby Picks:
Mrs. Crappy: Sidney’s Candy (Something about hockey, she said).
Uncle Crappy: Paddy O’Prado (I’m just digging the name).
