Life: February 2005 Archives

I am starting to think i'm the new jinx of jinxes.

I went to watch the Sixers vs Knicks last night, after Kathy (whom I met from the Philadelphia Eagles Club of Hoboken) scored free tickets to the game.

I told her during the game that my current record, over the last 2 years of watching any Philadelphia sporting event (live) is (0-8).

0-8. Think about that. Everytime in the last 8 games of any team I wanted to watch win - they lost. Here is a recap, from memory...

Sixers at Knicks (2005) - Sixers lose.
Eagles vs Pats (2005) - Eagles lose.
Phillies at Mets (2004) - Phillies lose.
Flyers at Devils (2003) - Flyers lose.
Eagles vs Pats (2003) - Eagles lose.
Eagles vs Tampa Bay (2002) - Eagles lose.
Flyers at Devils (2002) - Flyers lose.
Phillies at Mets (2002) - Phillies lose.

My last victory that I remember? In 2001 I was at Eagles at Giants, where they won 10 to 9.

Suffice to say Kathy has now banned me from watching any more games with her. She accused me of jinxing the Smarty Jones loss at Belmont last year.

I have to get out of this funk. Even BEFORE my losing streak I have a tremendous amount of losses under my belt when I watch sporting events in person. I can honestly say that in watching about 20 events I think I saw my teams win about 5-7 games.

Remember when Eagles played Cardinals in 2001? The Eagles are winning the game, and its the 4th quarter and Plummer with no timeouts waltzes down the field and wins the game. Yep, I was there.

Phillies played the Yankees a few years ago - I was there to watch the humiliation.

I only sat down this morning trying to think back to all the games I have attended and how many of them have been losses.

This is horrible. Of course if any New York fans would like to give me more free tickets to bring the curse with them in person - I will be happy to oblige.

It started so innocently.

I was 11 years old, living in my suburban world of Richboro in the development of Tanyard Farms.

It was a quiet indian summer night, and word got to my brother and I that Paul was 'up to something' - which usually meant that we were going to pull some kind of prank.

Our pranks were so common that i'm amazed that my neighbors put up with it, but then again we were fairly good at not getting caught.

We used to have pranks on our sleepouts during that summer, but this one would end up differently.

Kevin and I showed up under the weeping willow tree on the backend of Steve T's house, around 7pm. Every property in our old development were interconnected, Steve T's house borders about 5 backyards, because of the position of his house on a cul-de-sac allowed for multiple neighbors to border his backyard.

A new family had moved into our development, a young father and mother along with their baby. They mostly kept to themselves, and weren't part of the "original families" that comprised the people who were the first time homeowners of the Toll Brothers homes.

This made them an outsider, and fair game to our pranks.

Paul was there with Steve T and with Steve B, one of those kind of kids who's career goals was to be a roadie with AC/DC. Steve B was the kind of kid who was shaving at 13, and always had a pack of Marlboro Reds on him. It was Steve B who was the first kid that taught me how to smoke a cigarette - only a few months before this.

"The timebomb is set.", Paul said.

"Timebomb?", I asked.

"Yea, take a lit cigarette, put a fuse from pack of firecrackers at the end of the cigarette, and put it by the back door. Once the cigarette burns down to the fuse...BOOM!", said a smirking Paul.

We waited a bit in silence under the weeping willow. Waiting for the firecrackers to explode, try to see if we get a reaction from the house and running off. Time passed slowly. Eventually we became anxious.

"Furey - go check out the timebomb.", Paul said, "It may have gone out. Just relight the cigarette if it went out.", and he handed me a lighter.

Now, this is one of those things that happen to kids all the time - peer pressure. I was 11. The other kids, Paul, Steve B and my brother were older. I, of course, wanted to prove myself to the older kids. Plus, I thought I was all sort of cool now that I knew how to smoke a cigarette.

After a moment of hesitation, I hopped the fence and in the twilight of a September dusk, I crept along the fence lined backyard. I approached the single family house, with its white aluminum siding, with a good deal of nervousness. I did see a light on, but didn't see anyone looking out the windows. They probably were watching Family Feud.

I got to the backdoor, which had a small concrete patio. To the side, off the patio, but under the kitchen window was a gas grill. I saw the timebomb, on the concrete and it looked like it may have gone out. I got closer and looked at the cigarette and the fireworks. I noticed that - no it didn't go out...why look...

BAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAM!!!!

The entire pack of firecrackers went off in my face.

I have always been a dreamer. I remember nights as a child, staring at the ceiling and just THINKING. I would say strange things to my mother, for a child my age, like talking about God or why things the way they are (she would always tell me later in life about how wild it was to have a 6 year old saying things like, "Maybe God isn't an actual person, maybe he is in the trees and the plants and the stars...")

Anyhow, I have random thoughts all the time. I wonder about a lot of things, but like any Aquarius type - I don't seek the answers to fruition - I simply like to wonder...here are a few tidbits of the randomness...

-Cuba. I was thinking about Cuba the other night when I took my roommates to La Isla on 1st and Washington (mmmmm...Cuban Sandwiches) the other night. I was thinking that its an island about the size of Florida. Its located probably in the most perfect part of the equator for sun-worshippers, and about a 3 hour flight from New York city and Castro is 79 years old this August. All I know is that when Castro dies, i'm making pals with my Cuban-American friends and going to buy real estate in Cuba. Talk about untapped paradise. Think about it. Its a freaking island (hello, beachfront everywhere!), and the development of Cuba basically stopped in the 60's. Imagine when Castro dies - how long does the communism last? A year? Two? Eventually that island is going to be like a scene from Far and Away when everyone is going bonkers on the horses for the land grab. I'm telling ya - get a $50,000 loan and grab a parcel of land. In 30 years (after Castro dies) it will be your cheap retirement home.

-What's up with the Pope? The guy looks like he is about as lucid as Andy Reid walking by a McDonalds. I'm thinking that its time to put the Pope into pasture, and let his final years be peaceful - get a newer, younger Pope to revitalize the church. I can't be the only non-practicing Catholic who thinks that enough is enough.

-I have been passively searching for a condo, letting the agents bounce different ideas off me. The bottom line is that the market is white hot in Hoboken and to get something I like i'm going to be so screwed. Greenspan says "there isn't inflation". Yet, there is. Think about it - if I saved, say, $100,000 (I don't have this, its only a theory) for the last 3 years - would that buying power of $100,000 be the same today that it would be 3 years ago? In the housing market, no. So that just steams me to watch the prices off the charts. Funny thing about inflation - you can still get a BMW for $35,000 today as you could have gotten the same car 3 years ago. Maybe I should just do what other yuppie Hobokenites do - rent, buy luxury items and go into debt. All my past roommates are looking so smart for jumping ship and buying when they did. Like I wrote before, I know as soon as I buy a place the entire market will go "poof". Mark my words, i'm like the kiss of death when it comes to financial timing.

I was thinking this weekend about what kind of qualities in a girl I'd like as a girlfriend.

I know the first thing is she needs to have a sense of humor, one that enjoys me making her laugh. As I get older...

...It was my birthday on Saturday (hello, 33 - or as my brother said "A third of the way to 99")...

I realize that there are two kinds of people in "my world". Those that get my sense of humor and those that don't. The people that do basically think i'm hilarious and (nearly) everything I do can make them laugh. I love that. I guessing being the last born child has wired me into a mentality of "I need to entertain people".

I mean, come on, look at this blog. It's a brain dump of things about Hoboken, the Eagles and me.

The other kind of people are those that simply find me unfunny and not very amusing. I find that I graviate towards people who I can make laugh, and those that enjoy being "the audience". There is a girl who works at Club H, that without fail, will laugh at everything I say. Even when I approach her at the counter, know she sees me and i'll watch this sly grin creep across her face, while she is working with another customer, because I know she finds me funny - On the flip side, I absolutely look forward to seeing her because I know that she is going to laugh at my jokes and I find her terribly attractive.

What is my type? Well, aside from the audience complex that I seemed to have formed, here is a quick list of things that get my attention...aside from the pure physical aspect of attraction...

Jacksonville Landing - right by the waters edge in downtown Jacksonville. It was a nippy 40 degrees that night - we should have just played the Super Bowl in Philadelphia, instead.

This picture is deceptive. My room actually looks fairly nice in the photo. It wasn't this good.

It's Groundhog Day!

Phil and I are a bit alike, I think. Two, single bachelors living in an urban jungle. Being very irritated when we are slumbering and someone wakes us up. My hair is as nearly as thick as fur, which Big Jack, regular barfly from the Midtown Triangle, told me once. This guy in the hat kind of looks like Jack, actually...

So I got that goin' for me.

Six more weeks of winter. That isn't so bad, considering that winter technically started about 2 weeks ago - it was 66 degrees one day during the first week in January!

It seems like every year has been the same winter for me - at least with the Eagles.

They have a tremendous regular season, I get very excited for the post season and i'm let down.

I'm hoping this will not be another winter of our discontent.

The trip to Jacksonville is coming up. I'm really not as jazzed about it as I thought I would be. Don't get me wrong - i'm very excited for the game, but I think what is irritating me is that i'm not looking forward to going to JACKSONVILLE itself.

Everything I heard about the city makes it sound like some backwater town. Now, i'm sure with about 200,000 new visitors it should get somewhat more interesting - but I have already heard horror stories from the media who have been down there since Monday.

Different kind of tales, from overpriced hotels to expensive taxi rides to a sub-standard feeling from the media that this city isn't quite "Super Bowl Material". Give me San Diego, Houston, Miami, Atlanta, Tampa - even Dallas!

Jacksonville?

I guess it could be worse, next year the Super Bowl is in Detroit! Who the hell wants to be in that city during the dead of winter?

I leave on Friday...returning Monday...hopefully I will snap a bunch of pictures...