Nobrainer’s Think Tank

For the Clemson crowd that reads my blog, which should be most of you, the Clemson Tiger Sporting News blog has just recently been launched. I have been invited to contribute, which I will gladly do. Inasmuch, my output of Clemson related posts will likely increase but occur mostly over there.

Please check it out, leave comments, and provide feedback.

Go Tigers!

The Clemson Marina?

When did that open/happen/come into existance?

UPDATE: Is this out where the OLD Charlie T’s used to be? They made it look nice. How did that happen? And in my defense, I never saw aerial shots of it before. I’m an idiot.

I picked up a couple of DVD’s over the weekend — my reviews

• Caddyshack - enough said.
• Live! from Last Vegas featuring Ron White, Jeff Foxworthy, & Bill Engvall - It is funny, as you would expect, but there probably isn’t any worthwhile material that you haven’t heard already. About the only new thing is that Ron isn’t wearing black and he’s not smoking a cigar. Don’t bother with this one.
• Sideways - This was a well regarded comedy. I laughed but felt more depressed afterward than amused. The movie is about a couple of mid-lifers hitting their crises. Thomas Haden Church, who you’ll probably remember as Lowell from the early ’90s sitcom “Wings” is a past-his-prime actor enjoying his last week before he marries. His cohort, played by Paul Giamatti (son of former Major League Baseball comissioner Bart Giamatti) plays a divorced, aspiring writer stuck teaching 8th grade while longing to still be in his previous marriage. Readers of this blog are probably too young to appreciate this flick. Instead you’ll realize how great life is now, and relatively how bad it could be in 10 to 15. Maybe it will be funnier later. NOTE: if you haven’t seen it yet, there is a severe dudity warning to be issued - I had not been informed.

Other than movies…

• in the ACC baseball tournament, #2 seeded Clemson faces off tomorrow against, who else, Virginia. Tomorrow will definitely be a ‘wear orange (and tiger paws)’ to work day.
• I cooked bratwurst tonight. I added some parts of Evan’s method to the recipe. Specifically I used the carved out hoagie rolls, added shredded cheddar cheese, and put them under the broiler for about 90 seconds to melt the cheese and toast the bun. It was a great upgrade.
• I think there are a lot of empty apartments in my building now. I’ve seen a lot of cleaners around lately, and I think I heard a group of them in the flat next door. I’d rather not have new neighbors.

My cohort over on TigerNet has put together another excellent montage dedicated to Clemson’s dominance over its in-state rival.

It runs 4 minutes and 19 seconds, consists of a little over 18 megabytes, and is well worth every minute it will take to download.

Previously, Shoeless provided us with the classic Clemson - Rick James Edition.

Enjoy!

I can’t believe I forgot to mention this in my post about my trip to Charleston. In my defense, however, it really has no relation any other part the of trip.

As was posted, we played a very early round of golf the morning of the wedding. Well the men’s restroom had a limited supply of paper towels and a hand dryer. This, however, was no typical hand dryer. No, they had the Xlerator. Instead of the typical warm breeze that doesn’t really dry your hands, the Xlerator employs heated gale force winds to remove anything that doesn’t specifically belong on your hands. As such, any water remaining from washing one’s hands is quickly removed. What makes it even cooler, though, is that you can see your own skin rippling — much like what you see in videos of people who are skydiving.

On the whole, it’s pretty cool to begin with. Plus, it actually dries your hands quickly. That there is a technological marvel and victory.

Well I just got in — without any lottery winnings. I covered 364 miles in about 5 hours and 15 minutes. That’s an average of just over 69 mph — not too bad in my opinion. The drive was pretty boring. There was a fair number of drivers doing stupid things, but that did nothing other than slow me down.

The CDs I played were as interesting as the rest of the drive. I listened to Frank Sinatra’s ‘Come Dance with Me’ twice, Henry Rollins’ ‘Get in the Van - On the Road with Black Flag’ second disc, as well as Black Sabbath’s first album and Paranoid. That’s a playlist you don’t see everyday. I hadn’t listened to Paranoid in a long time and I’d really forgotten how good it was. It’s a great example of how good heavy metal can also be good music.

So let me recap Saturday. After spinning my wheels in the room, I headed out to shop. I realized that the belt I brought with me was too wide for my dress pants. Plus there were a few other items I could use. I really didn’t know where the local malls were, but I thought I remembered how to get to Haywood in Greenville. Somehow I ended up at Greenville Mall. That was depressing. That mall was at least half empty. The Mr. Knickerbockers store was still open and 5 people were working. There couldn’t have been 50 shoppers in the whole mall.

Out of sick curiousity, I had to walk through the entire place. I picked up some cheap jeans and a shirt and started to head back out. Suddenly I hear a black guy yelling. It was the kind of yell you hear right before a fight. I’m expecting to see a rumble but quickly I realize he’s the only one there. He’s on the phone, yelling at someone to “put down the pistol” and “get out of there.” That certainly helped complete my shopping experience.

I got to the wedding later on. It went pretty well. Apparently the ring bearer was picking his nose. I missed that. Unfortunately, I didn’t miss Jabba-The-Bridesmaid. I’m sure it was difficult to scrounge up as much material for her dress as they did, but it wasn’t enough. Fat was spilling out of the edges, and some type of wonderful tattoo was visible between her shoulder blades.

Unfortunately, I didn’t know anyone else at the event and the reception was dry. There was some damn good barbecue though. I ended up talking with one of the older fraternity brothers I hadn’t met before and his wife. They didn’t know anyone either. I think I did recognize a fat, bearded, head-shaven guy as a bouncer from Overtime. The guy’s a dumbass and I’m pretty sure I’ve let him know my opinion in the past. I was in no mood to go ask for the ass-kicking which I probably deserve. I left after the cutting of the cake. I skipped on the sweets though and went back for extra barbecue.

I made it happily back to the hotel without cake or ass-kicking, watched some NASCAR, and got a good night’s sleep.