Tainted Love

It's only fitting that the name of one of the all time great 80's songs, is also the name of one of the all time great 80's cover bands. I first saw "Tainted Love" about 5 years ago in S.F. with my buddy Guido...they were awesome.

5 years later...still awesome.

Hard to tell in this picture but I am playing Megan like a guitar...absolutely crushing the solo in AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long".

Golden Birthday

For those that are unfamiliar with the term "Golden Birthday", it refers to the birthday that matches your age to the day of the month your birthday happens to be on. Mine came when I was 8, because I was born on May 8th. My wife had her "Golden Birthday" on Friday...I'll let you figure out the rest.

We hit some old favorites (Hip Hop Sushi & Nunu's) with some old friends and had a blast. In fact...that's why today's post is so late...a little too much of a blast.

Expect then same tomorrow.

I'm the One on the Right.

There was a time in the middle of the last decade that I would be walking down the street and random Padre fan would yell out at me, "Hey Matt, how are the Padres gonna do this year?"

The Matt they were mistaking me for was Matt Vasgersian. As you can see we look nothing alike.

So when random Padre fan yells to me now, "Hey Scan, how are the Padres gonna do this year?"...at least I kind of understand.

Fore

With Tiger Woods off at sex rehab camp somewhere in the desert, I'm not sure how many people really care that the PGA tour is in town this weekend. One guy that definitely does is Tod Leonard of the Union Tribune...he's the golf writer and we had him on set tonight for Postgame.

If you missed it...and who are we kidding, you missed it...he thinks Tiger will be back on the tour for the Masters this April. For now, he likes Ernie Els in the Farmers Insurance Open (that's the tournament this week here in San Diego at Torrey Pines).

As for me, I like Phil Mickelson...if he can drive well. He says he's worked on it a lot, and I believe him, that's why I've got him winning the tournament for the first time in 9 years.

We're number 1!

I met my buddy Greg for dinner tonight at Tornado in North Park. The food was good, but the beer was great...and most of what was on tap was local. I commented on that fact and Goose (that's Greg's nickname) responded with some interesting information. He said that San Diego had recently been named the number one beer town in America.

I wouldn't call myself a skeptic but the first thing I did when I got home was look it up on the Internet. And wouldn't you know it, according to "Men's Journal" San Diego tops the list of the best beer boroughs in the U.S.

According to the article there are 33 local breweries in San Diego...tops in the nation. That's pretty cool. I mean, none of our sports teams seem to be able to reach the pinnacle in their particular fields, at least when we're drinking our sorrows away we know we're doing it with some damn fine beer.

Confucius Says

As it turns out, fortune cookies are as American as apple pie. Actually they're more American because apple pie was invented in England and the Chinese Fortune Cookie was invented right here in California.

Though no one can seem to agree on exactly who invented the cookie or exactly when...it doesn't really matter. They're here now and we all get to enjoy then after dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant. The thing is I never really thought they tasted that good in the first place...I just love getting the fortune.

Best fortune I ever got... and I swear this is true...read like this:

"Something usual will happen to you at school or work this week." And you know what...that cookie was right.

A New PR

When I was younger I had a robe, but when I had my growing spurt freshmen year of high school, I literally and figuratively grew out of it. Now that I'm a bit older, and perhaps wiser, I thought it may be time to get back to my roots, so I asked my wife for a robe this Christmas.

Great call on my part because as it turns out robes are even better then I remembered them. Comfortable, practical, and yes stylish.

I know Snuggies are all the rage right now but I guarantee you'll never see James Bond wearing one. Just like Bond will always choose a classic tux over some ridiculous 7-button suit, he will always choose the sophistication of a robe over some gimmicky blanket.

Clearly I am on "Team Robe" and as a show of support today, I set a new personal record for robe wearing while perfectly healthy...7.5 hours. It could have been way longer but I slept in pretty late today and I had to go my Mom's birthday dinner at 7...and no matter how hard I tried to convince my wife to let me wear it to the restaurant, she wouldn't go for it.

Loud Noises!!!

So what's everyone yelling about? All the January birthdays I guess. 3 of the 6 people in this picture had birthdays this month, and I know about 5 others including my wife, my mom, my brother in-law...seemingly everyone has a birthday in January.

Why?

I think the answer lies in some simple math. January minus nine months...equals April. And April is a good month for making babies.

The Answer is...Argyle and OB

"What are two things that don't go well together, Alex?"

"That is correct!"

Getting older is a funny thing, because you don't really think about it until you go out to a bar on a Friday night after work. Then all of a sudden 33 becomes distinctly different from 23.

Case in point, I met my wife and some of her friends out in Ocean Beach (OB) after work tonight. I knew I would be meeting her so I wore one of my favorite zip-ups...a black and white argyle sweeter.

Let's just say that's not the uniform of choice in OB. I may as well have been wearing a "I hate puppies and Christmas" T-shirt because you would not believe the looks of bewilderment I was getting at the bar.

This is a picture of our friend "Roby" modeling my zip-up. I don't know...I still think it looks good.

Stache-tastic!

I'm not sure why, but people always seem to want what they don't have. Curly haired people want straight hair. Straight haired people want it curly...and guys that can't grow a mustache want one so bad they can taste it.

I'm not saying that's me, but I do seem to have an affinity for mustaches and the one I grow on my own is not all that impressive.

To say I love mustaches might be overstating it a tad...let's just call it a crush.

So...That's a Big Wave

I left my chiropractor at 9:30 this morning and just happened to gaze out towards the ocean (a good 2 miles away mind you) and I could see the surf from there. I immediately drove to OB, along with seemingly half of San Diego, and this is the scene that greeted me.

Huge waves breaking over the pier. Needless to say, there was no one in the water, just a bunch of people standing on the beach with their cameras swapping war stories.

There was more then one old-timer swearing he'd seen it bigger, but mostly people just watched in awe.

It was impressive.

You Look Like a Helen.

Remember that scene in "Tommy Boy" at the restaurant where he convinces "Helen" the waitress to sell him some wings? He starts that scene off with the line, "Helen, we're both in sales. Let me tell you why I suck as a salesman."

Well let me tell you why I suck as a friend. I forgot my good buddy Teevan's birthday yesterday...so I took him out to lunch today. The really bad part however, is that when I called him today to see if he wanted to grab some food, I still didn't remember I missed his birthday.

At least he's in good company, I forgot my Mom's 50th too. Even when see called me that day to hopefully jog my memory, I answered the phone, "Hey mom what's up? Why are you calling?"

I'm not great with birthdays...nothing personal.

El Nino

Putting on windshield wipers is harder then you think. I'm not saying it's hard...it's just harder then you might imagine.

Or maybe I'm just dumber then I thought I was.

Either way, I got those suckers on and they worked like magic today. I was on the freeway when that little boy known as "El Nino" started with his golden shower and it didn't even phase me.

Usually doesn't...wha???

Deja Vu

It's almost eerie how similar today's game vs. the Jets was to the Chargers 2006 playoff loss (after a bye) to the Patriots. In '06 the Bolts went 14-2 in the regular season...this year they were 13-3. In '06 they had better players with more talent at almost every position on the football field...the same could be said today (even more so).

Both games were all about the things the Chargers didn't do during the regular season. They didn't turn the ball over, they didn't commit penalties, they didn't miss field goals...they didn't beat themselves. But just like 2006, the 2010 Chargers wilted under the bright lights of the playoffs.

Problem is this team was supposed to be too mature to let something like that happen.

This is Phillip Rivers trying to make sense of it all at the post-game podium.

Sweet Child of Mine

I meet my wife at Maloney's. In a lot of ways it really was the classic love story.

Boy meets girl. Boy stalks girl. After 2 months boy finally gets up enough nerve to ask for girls number. They live happily ever after...classic.

Well, Megan and I returned to the scene of the crime this evening for our friend Rachel's birthday, and when "Sweet Child of Mine" started blasting over the sound system...this is how we ended up.

Due to the total spontaneity of the moment I was unable to capture it on my camera, but our friend Erin was. This is a picture of her picture.

I call it "Rockin'".

Office Linebacker

Sometimes the productivity at Channel 4 can dip a tiny bit on Friday's. When that happens, I take it upon myself to crank up the intensity and become an office linebacker.

It's a subtle change...but you can't argue with the results. When it comes down it, we're all about the bottom line.

Barkley

Modern Family is the best new comedy on TV...hands down. If you haven't seen it, watch it. It's well written, well acted and perfectly executed. Comedy is a tough thing to pull off and I'm not one of those people that thinks every thing is funny...but this is funny.

If you have seen it then you know what I'm talking about...and you know why I took this picture.

Dinner

You ever get so busy at work that you forget to do something? Yeah me too, except instead of forgetting to return an email or follow up with my manager, I forgot to eat dinner. Okay maybe "forgot" isn't the right word, I just got busy around dinner time and before I knew it I had missed my window.

Or had I?

Spoiler alert...I hadn't. In fact, in a world of 24 hour Mexican taco shops no one has to miss their window ever. I don't even think you can get Mexican food 24 hours a day in Mexico. Don't you love this country?

May the wings of liberty never lose a feather!

Triton Domination

Look, I'll be the first to admit it, I haven't paid a lot of attention to the UCSD Women's basketball program. Division II women's basketball is not high on my list of things to care about. That said, if you win 31 of 32 games over two years...including a 12-0 start this season...I'm gonna take notice.

I spent the afternoon at RIMAC Arena with my photographer Michael talking to these girls about perfection...and whether or not they believed in such a thing on the basketball court. For those of you in San Diego the story will air on Thursday Night's Postgame at 10 PM. For those not in town, you'll just have to go on not caring about division II women's basketball.

P.S. This photo is totally staged...I'm not talking about a thing. I just figured it would be more interesting then Michael and I grinning for the camera.

Chipooddle

Working nights at Channel 4 means Steve and I eat a lot of meals together, and sometimes we just have to get off campus. Tonight we went to Chipotle in the Sports Arena area and guess who we ran into...Pad Squad Catherine.

Aside from yelling at Quis for trying to eat some of her chips, I thought the conversation was lovely. We heard about her weekend in PB, found out she spent the holiday's in beautiful San Jose and learned that she's protective of corn tortilla chips.

Like I said...lovely.

The Long Cold Winter

If you live in San Diego the you don't need me telling you how awesome the weather is...and if you don't live here, you really don't need me telling you that.

So I won't.

I will however remind everyone that sunny 70 degree weather certainly makes it easier to get outside and enjoy life. Today, for me, that meant heading over to the Station Tavern with our friends Tonya and Greg for lunch.

I love this place! Good beer, good food, and a great atmosphere. It's pet friendly, kid friendly...and for those of us that don't have either...it's people friendly. And when the weather was as good as it was today...you can't beat it.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

The Wolf Pack falls to 0-1

A couple of years ago I was on a coed adult kickball team named the Shockers...and let's just say we stuck it to the competition. We made the finals 6 out of the 7 seasons we played...winning 3 championships. But then people moved away and some of us got night time jobs so we decided to call it quits.

Well recently we decided to get the band back together (minus some of the original members), only this time it would be flag football and instead of calling ourselves the Shockers, we would be the Wolf Pack.

Unfortunately the Wolf Pack lost their first game 12-6...but we had way more fun then the other team did once the game was over, so really...can you call us losers?

Don't answer that.

Hip Hop Sushi

So Megan and I went to dinner tonight and you know how some sushi places are very proper and refined...maybe even classy. Tokyo Sushi is not one of those places. In fact we call it hip hop sushi because instead of playing traditional Japanese music in their restaurant...they crank a more contemporary mix.

To give you an idea here's a sampling of what we heard tonight at dinner: Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga, Sir Mix Alot, Venga Boys and whoever it is that sings "Okay Barbie Let's go Party". On second thought, maybe it's not that contemporary.

But here's the deal...it's so much fun!!! They even hand out little raver lights so that it can feel like 2001 all over again. I heard that if you tip the waiter really well they'll even hook you up with some X.

Okay I made that last part up, but here's something you can take to the bank...the sushi is really good as well. I like the "Hot Kiss" and some other spicy roll I can't remember right now.

If you're looking for some good sushi in a casually hilarious atmosphere...this is your place. Just remember to bring a camera.

Come back of the year?

When Texas quarterback Colt McCoy went down with a shoulder injury on the first drive of the game for the Longhorns...the national championship was as good as gone. Alabama built a 24-6 halftime lead and looked to be cruising to title town.

Then Texas freshmen Garrett Gilbert found his stroke and all of a sudden it was a game at 24-21. Unfortunately for the young QB a late sack/fumble at his own 3 yard line ended it.

This is producer Ed and I cutting the highlights in Edit Bay 5...good game.

Just a little more to the left...too far.

My co-worker Jenny Cavnar had been going to a chiropractor since 2007, so this summer when my shoulder started to hurt, I asked her who her doctor was. Turns out she had two...Dr. Ron and Dr. Mary. They're my doctors now too...and my wife's.

If you've never been to a chiropractor before...it looks like this, and I know it looks weird and maybe a little uncomfortable but it's not. I love it.

Aztecs Can't Lose!

The San Diego State Aztecs made it 13 in a row at home tonight with a 10 point victory over 15th ranked New Mexico. I know...that was a lot of numbers for just one sentence...but that's sports. Here are some more numerals for you, tonight's victory was just the 14th (out of 90) in school history against a ranked opponent.

The point is, this was a big deal and I got a little excited. So excited in fact that I forgot to take a picture at the game.

So I had to improvise.

Postgame starts...right now!

"Hey, what do you do at Channel 4 when the Padres aren't playing?"

I can't tell you how many times I hear that during the off-season. Let's just say it's a lot...and it hurts every time. The reason it hurts is because Steve, Jenny and I (along with all the other behind the scenes people at Channel 4) are here every week night doing a 30 minute sports show.

It's called "Postgame" and while you may have no idea what it looks like on TV...this it what it looks like to me.

11 in a row

The Chargers are a good team, the Redskins are not. Nothing too surprising there, but the fact that the Bolts 2nd, and at times 3rd string players, beat the Redskins regulars has got to be down right embarrassing for anyone living in Washington.

Lucky for me...I don't live there. I live in San Diego where on January 3rd, when most of the country is bundled up for a long cold winter, I get to pose for pictures with the Charger Girls. It's boring but it's part of my life.

Tennis Saturdays

For about a year now, every Saturday I get together with these guys and we play tennis. Three sets and we rotate partners each set so that we all get a chance to play with each other.

I've learned two things since we've started playing. First, tennis is all about attitude. If you keep your head in the game and concentrate on every point you're going to win a lot of games.

Second, Wilson tennis balls suck. We only play with Penn. I realize that sounds super douchey and elitist...but it's true. Wilson's just don't cut it.

My Inagural Post

So this might be harder then I thought...I'm one post in and I'm already breaking the rules. My picture of the day is actually going to be two pictures of the day...but they're my rules so who cares.

I spent New Years Eve at my favorite bar in all the world...Nunu's. For the uninitiated, Nunu's is a neighborhood bar with cheap drinks, a good jukebox and friendly bartenders. It's the perfect place to hang with friends and get rowdy.