Stephen Strasburg's First Start 6/8/10

What's better than making it opening day at the brand new ball park and watching a walk off home run in the ninth? NOTHING! But watching rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg strike out 14 in his debut with no walks was magical. The Nationals needed a pitcher with presence on the mound and they have found him. Jump on the band wagon now because this guy is the truth. I've been to good games and great games where the place was packed but this game takes the cake. Everyone was on their feet when he got two strikes. It was electric! We finally have a super star in DC and his name is Strasburg!

Broken Bells 6/7/10

Sorry for the delay, with all this World Cup action it's hard to get these posts done in the morning! Started off a good night by going out to Hard Times Springfield for a few beers before heading to 930 for the show. They have a great selection of brews and always play the Nationals. Enough of that and on to the show. The Broken Bells are one part James Mercer of the Shins and one part Danger Mouse and a few other parts of backup players. Honestly I only heard "The Long Road" prior to the show but I like the Shins and really like Danger Mouse's production skills. They played a mellow yet focused set that to sum it up sounded like a Shins record produced by Danger Mouse, no surprise there. The Mouse played drums and keys and as Mike said, "this is the kind of good music I'd like to hear in the background of a movie". That's deep! Til next time!

Race Weekend of Doom part two

Congrats to everyone who was out there doing it this past weekend! Got in a little 5K action Saturday with the girls @ the Race for the Cure and finished the afternoon checking the scene @ the North Face Endurance Challenge. My friend Heather ran a 50K! That's unreal, she's like Lance Armstrong or my new hero Dean Karzanes. That guy is insane, google him. Also that day my buddy Andy competed in a triathlon and got himself in the top 30! Well done indeed. Sunday it was my turn to race the North Face Endurance Challenge in the half marathon. Heather's mom and a few firemen ran it too. I'm not going to lie, it was brutal. It had a mountain range and I had to ford the river three times! It was more of an obstacle course than race. I ended up cramping up and walking a good 4 miles no joke. BRUTAL! I kept thinking to myself "We're not worthy!" I did manage to get a run on to cross the finish line and got a photo with Dean too. Planning redemption soon! Congrats to everyone and anyone who swam, biked, power walked, ran, or crawled this weekend. Never stop and live strong!

Race Weekend of Doom

Somehow I was suckered into running another half marathon this weekend. I also was suckered into running a 5K too. With all this heat I may turn into hot chocolate before I finish either one! Should be fun though and I will have some beers awaiting! More news soon! Holy sweat bands!

Free Energy 5/30/10

After a great weekend in philly, drinking beers and going to shows, it was time to head home. Which consisted of drinking beers and going to shows. I took Brooke out to see Free Energy at the Rock and Roll Hotel on H Street but first we went to a new restaurant called Liberty Tree. I read a little blurb on them on washingtonian and it said it was a New England style establishment run by the chef from Matchbox. Obviously I had the pizza, Brooke obviously had a salad. After that we noticed we were early for the show so we continued our date at the H Street Country Club. Great bar with tons of games but most special they have a nine hole putt putt course upstairs! They incorporated DC themed obstacles with my favorite being the (former) Haines Point Giant with Marion Barry's head! Finally it was show time and after 2 previous blog entries you can guess how the show was. We ended sitting almost on the corner of the stage and the lead singer threw a nod to dancing Brooke as he must have remembered her from Philly just two nights earlier. Great show in a good neighborhood.

The Black Hollies/Blood Feathers 5/28/10

After an amazing show in Philly Brooke and I got a cab across town to see yet another show! She really wanted to catch Blood Feathers and we managed to see The Black Hollies play their last few songs. I don't know what they were playing but they were incredible. The guitarist had an amazing solo that must have been ten minutes long and the crowd was getting into it. After they finished we went downstairs and had an amazing drunken late night snack at the bar Johnny Brendas that was fantastic. The bar tender said the guy in Blood Feathers made the BBQ sauce! Their set was an upbeat session and I enjoyed it thoroughly, even if Brooke was just about ready to call it a night. Haha

Free Energy/Jukebox The Ghost 5/28/10

Brooke wanted to take a vacation and what better town than good ole Philly to get away from Rolling Thunder and beach traffic. Once we got there and got settled it was time for boozing and a couple of concerts. We ended up seeing Free Energy in a church basement! I don't know about that but they said we could booze inside but it was byob, so we promptly went to the local store and got a six pack for the show! Not as if Free Energy needed an extra boost but it was fantastic. This is Free Energy's home base and the crowd was really into it. I even read in the local city paper that their first video featured people from the Urban Outfitters next to our hotel! These guys are just cool and Brooke even got their lead singer to sign her cd! Good buzz and great show. Even the openers, Jukebox The Ghost were good. Guitars, drums, and keys! Yes please!