Evil facial hair of doom

So Michael Jordan had a Hitler mustache in his new Hanes commercial. People are pissed and I understand why. My question is, do we as a society ever reach a point where a negative iconic physical trait can be used again? Have we retired the Hitler-stache for good? Would we be better off allowing it to come back, thus removing his power over it? Is there even any other physical fashion trait that is the same as this?

Pontificating

Man it has been forever since I wrote anything here. Our last few posts were about Andy, and I guess I just have not felt compelled to share my thoughts since we lost him this winter. In remembering Andy today, I'd just like to remind everyone to go out and live through your day with a smile; whether its a hard one or easy one, its what Andy would have done.

A lot happened in 3B Fantasy sports that I never wrote about. Mike won his second consecutive Dynasty Football championship and for that he is the first ever recipient of The Andy Minshall Trophy. That asshole also won the regular league. And he got engaged. Stupid happy jerk.

I lost the Dynasty Hockey championship to Ken, and he was awarded Zamboni's Cup, which shares time retroactively with Medium as he won last year. Pumpkin won the regular hockey league.

A lot is coming up this year again between many friends getting married, the 3B reunion being Ford's wedding, and a whole overhaul of participants for the Memorial Day Camping trip. Next year I might have to stay here and enjoy the coast.

I anxiously await September, when I get to move Nikkie down here and begin the great experiment of how many consecutive days she can tolerate me. I have it bet on somewhere around 12.

For Andy

One of you asked me for this, and I thought this was the easiest way. This is a copy of what I worked off of yesterday. It's not exactly what I ended up saying, but very close.

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My first year at Michigan State, I hardly knew anyone at first. But quickly, the group of guys on my floor, 3B, formed the core of what has become some of my closest friends. I think of them as my unofficial fraternity brothers, and Andy is one of these brothers.

Ever since Tuesday, everyone in 3B has been exchanging stories and thoughts about Andy, sharing some of our best memories. Fun times such as when we would all sit around and play videogames, or all head outside and play football. Funny things like Andy riding his minibike through the 3rd floor hallways of Landon, trying not to crash into walls or people.

In 2003, five of us packed ourselves into a fairly small car and drove all the way to the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas. We decided it would be a good idea to drive straight through, there and back, and only spend about a day and a half actually in Texas. This meant that we spent more time in the car than we did in San Antonio. The other downside of this was that myself and our friend Burly were both quite overweight at the time, and when we were both in the backseat, we had to put the skinniest kid in the middle. So poor Andy ended up spending most of that trip sandwiched between two fat guys in the back of this small car. I think he could hardly even breath most of the time. And we lost the game by something like 45 points.

Andy also dominated most of us whenever we played fantasy sports. No matter what, he always seemed to have a great team. I was so excited and proud last fall when my team narrowly squeaked out a victory against Andy that I decided to call him and kinda rub it in. Well for the first 10 minutes or so of us talking, it was basically me rubbing it in that I had won. I was really giving it to him good. And then, when I was finally done, I said "So what are you up to?" Andy says "Oh, I'm just on my way to radiation." Here I am, giving Andy all this crap, and hes on his way to radiation! I felt horrible! I think he could instantly tell I felt bad, and he was able to turn that around on me and give it right back to me. We ended up talking for about 45 minutes, most of it trash talk one way or the other. And Andy got the last laugh, cause just a few weeks ago he finished the season in 3rd place while I finished down in 7th.

Last year, another of our 3B brothers, Eric, got married. His bachelor party was in Los Vegas, and while I was not there, I've heard the stories and it really was a trip that you wouldn't want to miss. It was evidently such a great trip that there isn't actually any story that I can repeat here... but what I can say is that Andy being on that trip made it even more special for everyone. He was in obvious discomfort, but was out there having fun with his good friends. Just him being there showed everyone how much he cared, and it created memories for everyone that will be special for the rest of their lives.

I think any one of us could get up and share fun stories for another 30 minutes. I'll just say that Andy meant so much to all of us. I speak for everyone in 3B when I say that Andy is our brother forever. Andy, We love you, we miss you, and someday we'll see you again.

Remembering Andrew "New Andy" Minshall

The 3B gang lost one of their own yesterday morning. Andy Minshall refused to ever give into the disease of cancer and fought it with the courage and spirit rarely seen in man. Let his life, and the way he lifted those around him during his final days be a symbol of strength and an inspiration to face your challenges whether large or small. Andy never, ever quit, and that is a lesson I will carry for the rest of my life.

Andrew “New Andy” Minshall
January 31, 1983 – January 19, 2010

I know you want to hear my pretty voice

I get it, I have not written anything in forever. I suck. I didn’t even do a top albums of the year because I was so busy. My favorite two? Brand New’s Daisy and Thrice’s Beggars.

On the topic of music, I wanna ask a question. Almost everyone who reads this knows I was a disc jockey in college, most predominantly at the MSU student station the Impact and most sell-out-idly at Clear Channel in Ann Arbor. I miss these days a lot. I liked music and I liked talking.. surprises to absolutely no one.


Known to even less of you is I wrote my masters thesis on podcasting, yea I know crazy, I of all people have a masters, they’re just giving them away!

So the long and the short of it is, I have an itch to hop on my way too expensive computing rig and pump out some podcasts for my friends and family to grunt and bea… enjoy. This is where it gets tricky.

I would love to do an artist feature podcast. Play like 5 or 6 songs from an artist with history about the tracks, band, and scoops on where they’ve been and what they’ve done. Not just crazy crap I like, but like great bands like the Police or Faith No More and stuff. You download, listen to some tunes and learn a little bit to wow your friends with.

Well that is very much out the window as the RIAA would love to sue my ass for it. I typically wouldn’t mind saying F the police! (not the band) and doing it anyway… but since I kinda work in the industry, that would be frowned upon.

So other thoughts had been catching up with the 3B gang monthly, asking whats up, and having a collected update for the group. I could also just rant and rave about my opinion on music, video games, politics, sports.. essentially this blog in audible form… but who the hell would want to hear that? Outside of those ideas, I don’t have jack shit to talk about.

So… suggestions?