Davy Jones 1945 - 2012

Sources say, DAVID "Davy" JONES passed away from a heart attack, he was 66 (CNN)

The first time I heard of the Monkees coincided with the first time I ever watched MTV! o_O

Yea, I know! o_O

Our family drove north to Huntsville to a new resort development called Deerhurst Resort. No, I'm not receiving kickbacks from Deerhurst; my journalistic integrity is still intact (lies, lies, lies, lies, lies). Anyway, we spent the week up there, and one afternoon while our parents went out to one of the parents' events my sister found an old sixties' show called the Monkees: John, Paul, George, and Ringo (What?). Oh yeah... o_O

Every afternoon at 5:30pm that week we would sit in front of the television and watch the Monkees sing and get into all sorts of hilarious hi-jinx, but I noticed the lead singer of the group was not only a good actor, but a nice singer as well. Davy Jones was his name; I thought it was a typo: Davy without an 'e'. So, you can understand that when I heard he passed away today my first memory was sitting in that Deerhurst hotel room with my sisters, watching the little English dude singing along with my favourite Monkees tune of all-time. "I'm a Believer" is right up there, but nothing can compare to this next tune. Although I last heard the song back in nineteen ninety something or other, I can still say the lyrics with a ridiculous amount of accuracy. Nevertheless I couldn't match the melodious, subtle tones of Davy Jones, or would want to.

RIP Davy Jones.

Friends Make the Best Veggies!

The past few days, if not weeks, taught me something very important about relationships: The time is now to cultivate. What is cultivation? Well, because I'm a lazy goofball I checked Dictionary.com, and they describe "cultivate" as a verb "to prepare and work on (land) in order to raise crops; till".

NHL News: The Ducks of Anaheim's New Logo ^_^

Unlike Animal Crossing, Minecraft, or its sad older cousin Farmville, building a farm and establishing a plot of land takes time. I'm not an expert in farming, but in the stage of land development you must build a fence to mark the end of your territory. Some Facebook enthusiasts, on the other hand, want thousands of friends: The idea being the more friends you have on Facebook, then the more popular people believe you to be. It's almost impossible to be a really good friend to thousands of people, and so that large group of people become "acquaintances": People you recognize as good people, but don't have a vested interest in their lives, and vice versa. All the same, you are happy to see them.


With that said, in the hunt to have millions of friends on Facebook and millions of followers on Twitter, it's easy to forget about the actual friends you do have, or those that remain after you spent weeks and months inside building your mega city on a digital snowcapped mountain in Minecraft with a mouse and your index finger o_O


You didn't mean to be a prude and forget important dates in their history like if they still within the borders of your current country of residence, when within the next year they will marry their university sweethearts, declared they will play for your alma mater's varsity football team (Hi Shaka), or if they broke up with their significant other and are stuck at the corner Starbucks between a loud cell phone talker and the New Parents Book Club that meets every Tuesday at the coffee bar.

FUN: Telling your absent-minded friends to win tricks when they aren't supposed to.

Instead of growing your fan base, why not cultivate the relationships you do have? Pick ONE spot you frequent on a regular basis, become involved, and take a genuine interest in the lives of the people that frequent that chosen spot as well. Pick ONE event or something you enjoy doing, and invite others to join you (CAVEAT: As long as this 'fun' is wholesome, legal, and will not result in you having a guilty conscience about it. The things we whisper in the shadows always end up shouted from the rooftops). A good example is the WIZARD card game: If you did not laugh hysterically at least once during a six player game of WIZARD, you are not human. It is true, however, that saying Yes to one thing means saying No to something else, and that is just part of growing up as well as something I call "change" ^_^ As long as you are honest and willing to move forward with your life, you may find those things you say No to now will be available to you down the road. In most cases, if not all, you will be a better person for it. There are a myriad of things you can do to stop being an "acquaintance" to many, and a better "friend" to several; all you need to do is take that first step and...CULTIVATE! ^_^

Dear Charles (#GetWellCharles)

HAPPY DAYS ^_^ Charles Trippy (left) and wife, Alli

I don't know what to say right now, because I never wrote something quite this open and grammatically incorrect as this before. Please forgive the bad prose, but this is what is going on in my heart LOL.

How I found you and the Charles Trippy Family X Core (CTFxC) was a bit by accident LOL. I gave up Facebook for an extended period of time last year, and besides writing and baseball I needed to occupy the Facebook portions of my brain with something that would not remind me of Facebook. My search took me to YouTube, where I found various YouTube personalities and viral videos to grab my attention for about ten minutes o_O Then I stumbled on your channel.

It was Day 772 on your CTFxC channel when I made the daily commitment to watching you, your wife Alli, and your dogs Zoe and Marley. The highlight of that day is when you tried to field golf balls Alli's father drove on the fairway (Yes, I said FIELD, as in catch them); most notably, you took a golf ball right off the side of your nose, which left a bruise for days ^_^ LOL. Through it all you remained the same honest, giving, caring, and hilarious young man you always were from when you started daily video blogging back in 2008, when you went with your then girlfriend Alli to Tampa to watch a baseball game. Although you aged and moved around quite a bit, you remained the same guy.

This screams WIN!

Two days ago, you told us you had a tumor in your brain, and for the first time in a long time I was really scared. For many of us, who are your fans, you become almost like family (I tried multiple times to say it without sounding like that phrase came from a Disney B-movie, but I'll just say it). As scared as I am for you and your family & friends, I am encouraged by your composure, grace, and humility in spite of everything that occurred in the last forty-eight hours. You remained the same great guy I followed since you took a golf ball to the face.

Thank you so much for getting me through the last of my ten months without Facebook, introducing me to the Drobo external hard drive unit, the usefulness of Macintosh products for video editing, and for zooming in on Marley's adorable face ^_^ I will keep you and your family in my thoughts and prayers. As for your bandmates, they are really class guys for making sure you are safe and sound and for waiting until family arrived at the hospital. Know that you are loved, and my God bless you and keep you in your hour of need ^_^

A mere fan,
Phil Wood

Extra Innings

Whether against better judgment or the ACL I strained last summer, which are now shuddering with the thought of more baseball, I decided to play one more year.

ALL STAR: One of the great diving catches I made last year (Dedicated to Taylor Swift)

I played in two leagues last year, and readers of HITS AND ERRORS/MAJOR LEAGUE GOOFBALL will remember I wrote weekly updates on my progress and the ups and downs during the season. You may also remember my team won the city championship last year, but I will be on a new team this summer. As for the spring league, I'm not sure if my old team wants me back.

GAME FACE: Taylor Swift was at this game when I made this diving catch.

I didn't have a good start, but I could field with the best of them. After torching my ACL, I decided to don knee pads, and take it easy, which meant allowing the future stars on the team and of the league to shine. The results were in our favour last year, but 2012 will have its share of tests, and one of them is to see how far my knees will take me this year.

I found my baseball equipment, including the knee pads, and my ROYALS and PIRATES gear from previous years. Not only will I have to get back into game shape, but now I must decide on which Major League Baseball team to wear out this year. My team in Spring League teased me, and thought I was hit in the head too many times for wearing my MLB gear; after a couple games, half the team started wearing some MLB apparel and the teasing stopped ^_^ Unfortunately, my friend Evelyn had an epiphany and suggested I wear PHILLIES gear because my name is Phil -_- She didn't know the whole back story with me and that Philadelphia team (Hi Evelyn...Hi Andrew).

Taylor Swift likes Baseball players, I hope o_O

Which MLB team's jerseys should I wear to games this year: Should I go back to the ROYALS and wear new gear, stick with my lucky PIRATES gear from a year ago, or go in a new direction? No to the PHILLIES or MARLINS...just to be safe. I can't pull off orange o_O

Taylor Swift: Oh Phil! You're so great at baseball!
PHIL: Well, I don't like boasting, but it's not too often I hit eight four homeruns and make two hundred diving catches in one game...in five innings...and get my number retired...before the seventh inning stretch.
Taylor: What is your number again?
PHIL: Yes, well I'll write it down: 905...

Care Bears & The Running Joke

There are days in the annual calendar, when you take a day off from work and still receive pay: Those are called statutory ^_^ I learned that in university, believe it or not o_O The word "statutory"; I learned that when I arrived at school to study for an exam when a friend, who lived on residence, told me I went to school for no reason -_-

CARE BEARS VI: Don't get too attached to Tender-Heart, just saying.

SHE'S GOING TO KILL ME FOR TELLING THIS STORY

One of my friends from university is reading this now, and praying I'm not talking about her, but I am! ^_^ During university, I convinced one of my friends that there were scores of Care Bears movies with great subtitles. Whenever our group of friends got on the subject of movies, I would usually spin it toward a Care Bears movie I saw like "Care Bears VI: The Death of Tender-Heart".

I would go so far as to talk about "that dogfight scene" in "Care Bears XII: The Battle of California", or I would go on and on about the character development in "Care Bears V: The Search for Noble". I kept the running joke going for years because I convinced so many of my friends they were actual movies, but my friend really bought it (later on, my other friends would ask me one by one if I made it all up, and I would say yes, but she believed they were real movies!)

Finally, in my last year of university, I told her all fourteen of the Care Bears movies I gave detailed synopsizes and plot twists for were all made up. The original intent was to keep the joke going for a few months, but I convinced so much that I decided to reference it every once in awhile for years afterward. Her world kind of imploded when I said that, because she told me she couldn't find any of the movies I talked about ^_^ LOL

Every now and then I leave little jokes about the Care Bears on my Facebook page, just to lighten the mood. She hates me for that ^_^ OW! >_< (Phil gets punched in the shoulder) That hurt! Not unlike that scene from Care Bears VII: The Legend of the Doomsday Machine: Brave-Heart Lion punched Champ Bear! DUH DUH DUH! (I'm a terrible person...)

Board Games: The Blog Series (Part 4)

For some reason, my miniseries on board games received lots of viewership since I wrote it last year ^_^ I chime in with a few new stories every now and then, and see if I should make this a thing.

SORRY!

Like Captain Ahab venturing out to sea to capture the elusive Moby Dick, or the Boston Red Sox and the "Curse of the Bambino" from 1918-2003, I made numerous ventures to win at the classic board game, "SORRY!", only to fall short...every time o_O Not once in my almost thirty years of life did I ever win in a game of SORRY; for whatever reason the stacked deck of cards in the middle of the board gave me numbers meant to push me into the Home space, and then back out onto the field of play, where my opponents would slide me out of the way or switch places with me and drop my game piece on the other side of the board >_< Every chance at victory went the same way: Before reaching for the penultimate, "winning" card I would turn to my friends and say a few words such as:

"Well, my friends, you are about to witness history. Moments from now I will pick the card, read aloud the number "3", move the fourth and final blue game piece in the Home Space, and celebrate my first ever victory in the game of SORRY. I thank you all for bearing witness to the greatest moment of my life."

Then, of course, I would reach for the deck, pick up the top card, turn it over, look at the number, and yell in a loud voice:

"GO BACK FOUR SPACES?!"

"I HATE THIS STINKING GAME!"

That always happened to me when I play this game, so much so that I accepted not winning SORRY. My friends seemed to enjoy playing SORRY with me: One of them was going to be really happy at the end of the game >_< However, I showed them...

Phil on SORRY!: Anger, Hatred, Violence...!

If I was not going to win the game, I was going to win something. Like the mediocre Buffalo Bills blowing the season in November, winning a couple of games at the end, and making lofty expectations for next year based on the mediocre team of the previous year, I was going to win anything but the game. So, like the great Olympic silver-medal winning hockey team from Finland in 1988, I was going to win that "SILLLVER MEDAL!" (You can't just say 'silver medal' like that: You must raise your hand, wag your index finger while pointing at the sky, smile, and say "SILLLVER MEDAL!").

Almost immediately, the fun and the laughter returned to the game of SORRY. Yes, I always play to win, but if I don't win the game, that's alright because the SILLLVER MEDAL is within grasp, and I always won the SILLLVER MEDAL. Finishing second in SORRY, for me anyway, is a wonderful thing: You get up from the table with both fists clenched in the air, walking in triumph as the retainer of the SILLLVER MEDAL. No one remembers who won that game of SORRY, but everyone remembers who won second place! ^_^ Sometimes, even the winner of the game wished she finished in second place. I can't remember the last time I played SORRY or had that much fun, but I miss feeling that way. Only in the Wizard card game or "Ticket To Ride" did I ever enjoy playing a game as much as I did playing SORRY; I miss that.

FOREVER ALMOST CHAMPIONS: Phil, Finland celebrate silver medal winning performance in SORRY!

Weeks and months of perfecting my skill and losing friends at Scrabble all but washed away those memories of wrong SORRY cards and SILLLVER MEDAL shouts, but it would be nice to feel the joy and happiness that comes from playing board games again ^_^

By the way, you cannot use the slide, if it is the same coloured slide as your game piece. There I said it; you can't do it! I am a member of Team "You Can't".

Valentine's: The Day After

So, how are you? Are you feeling better, or are you feeling worse? Unfortunately, "Retweet Taylor Swift" Day didn't catch on as I hoped, but western societies are going to give Valentine's Day another go next year around the same time.

According to various news media outlets in my hometown, some consider Valentine's Day the most hated and overrated of the annual holidays; there are different names for Valentine's like the pitiful "Single Awareness Day", violent "Anti-Valentine's Day", or "Let's All Laugh At the Procrastinators in the Lineup at the Florist Tonight" Day. Alright, I made that last one up -_- Nothing gets by you, does it?

LEIGHTON MEESTER: Wait, that's not Taylor Swift? o_O

The general consensus is that because 2/14 is Valentine's Day that means a growing population of the disenchanted and disheartened has a "right" to be angry. After all, we did everything a "nice guy" or "good girl" is supposed to do, according to Gossip Girl: Do the exact opposite of whatever Blair does at the start of each episode, more or less (Hi Leighton Meester! ^_^ Call me; we'll go bowling! o_O). Why are we still single? If those relationship books, trashy magazines, and internet "how to be happy" guides had any value, then by the time a dude finishes reading one of those he would already have a boss lady, er, girlfriend sitting beside him. Like the good turret in the video game, Portal 2, we do everything we are asked to do before being tossed into the incinerator while "junk turrets" get hitched, right? Wrong! We are neither turrets nor suckers for taking everything we read in Cosmo as gospel (alright, most of us aren't o_O).

I can stop looking at Taylor Swift any...time...I...WHAT?! Oh yeah, my BLOG!

It's 2/15 today, and around now most of the us, whom I shall term The Unhitched, are thinking about how snarly, sullen, or selfish we were the night before. We made decisions last night that we would not make on any other day because it was Valentine's Day, and we didn't want to feel left out. How many of us made angry decisions, sad decisions, or selfish decisions? Think about that 'Unhitched' person then, and the person you are now: There is a slight chance those are two different people! Both are alone, without answers, or forever asking "why?", but the difference between them is that for one day the former, 2/14 you was willing to settle because it was 2/14, and the real, latter, 2/15 persona deserves so much better: Both, rather all of you do! I recognize I could be overgeneralizing a whole host of people, because there are some genuine and authentic people meeting on Valentine's Day and hitting it off ^_^ If you fall in this category, I extend my congratulations and best wishes to you (You wouldn't happen to know if Taylor Swift is reading this, would you?)

Do not let circumstances define who you are; it doesn't matter what the date is, what matters is how you seize that day, and how you dictate what those circumstances are. A year ago I never imagined I would write down something so outlandish as this about the worst holiday ever, and there are times when being without a boss lady gets me down, but that should not mean I close up shop, row a boat into the middle of Lake Ontario, and then toss the paddles into the lake. As followers of this blog already know this point of view doesn't come out of thin air or experience, but from my relationship with my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I'm not sure where you are personally in terms of how you get along during Valentine's Day, but I hope the results are affirmative and constructive, and not feigned or contrived. February 15th is as good a time as any to start fresh, and make the most Single Awareness Year and say hello, or something nice to someone because it is 2/15 ^_^

Dear readers,

I made a reference to Leighton Meester in the previous blog post. Do not worry about this recent display of affection for the Gossip Girl starlet. There is plenty of room in my heart for both Taylor Swift, and Taylor Swift...what was I talking about? Oh yeah, Taylor Swift; she won!

BAM HEAD SHOT! Momzo: Phil, are you crying? Phil: YNO!

Taylor, as your future husband, I MEAN o_O, loyal fan I congratulate you on your recent Grammy-winning success collecting two miniature gold gramophones Sunday night ^_^ I always knew you could do it, and I could never doubt someone so talented, genuine, wonderful, and stinking attractive ^_^ Thank you also for redeeming blonde hair and the term "head shots". BAM!

Twas The Night Before Valentine's...

Today is February 13th, and I'm willing to bet you know what tomorrow is: Yes, it is Retweet Everything Taylor Swift Says on Twitter Day ^_^ Wait, what? Oh yeah, and it may be "Valentine's Day" or some junk. I hear it is a new holiday western cultures the world over want to make an annual thing; we'll see how it goes.

It is a time to celebrate love and affection couples have for each other, while for many others it could be anything from "Just another day" to "Don't talk to me!" day. I only have a few hours to reach out to the latter, or at least to the few people on Facebook who believe every couple they know is waiting to rub their noses in it tomorrow with rosy status updates they don't care to know. It is human nature for a single person to become self-centered about everything relating to Valentine's Day; this will be my twenty-ninth Valentine's Day without a boss, I MEAN, girlfriend to celebrate the day with, and during those years I invented different ways of celebrating the occasion: Denying the truth about my life, shouting at family, shouting at friends, fear of being alone, fear of dying alone, eating, overeating, lack of eating, sulking, crying, going to the mall and crying, going to the mall and counting the number of couples holding hands, going to the mall to prove what a big spender I was, buying lottery tickets, more eating, buying Under Armour, closing my Facebook account, reopening my Facebook account, and sleeping. Not the biggest to-do list in the world, I know, however each of those responses contained one major flaw: Selfishness!

Twenty-eight times I entered a twenty-four battle with the world to prove it could not get me down. For eight of those years I worked at a paint store, and customers, who happened to be married, chimed in on how much of an idiot I was for not having a "boss lady" and why I should work on Valentine's Day and Family Day because I was "inept" and "not a man". You may know people just like that at your school, office, or marketplace that you want to strangle for suggesting that you are an "old maid" or "lonesome George"; don't do that. Consider, if you will, that somewhere in the world there is a man or woman, who played by the "rules" of Valentine's Day, and will not receive a bouquet of flowers courtesy of TELEFLORA, or a heart shaped box of chocolates from LAURA SECORD: Other single people, family and friends with loved ones serving overseas in the military, single parents wishing they had an extra pair of hands to help raise a family, the divorced, and widows. 

TANGENT: Right now, I'm eating roasted soybeans to pass the time (munch munch munch: Mr. Peanut is on the bag). I never thought I would live to see that: Me eating something from Planters!

Hopefully the previous tangent gave you an opportunity to think about people in your life for whom Valentine's Day is the most difficult; by comparison, you don't have a lot to be upset about, or rather still you don't have a right: No one does. I'm sure we are all in agreement there is at least one person out there who loves us no matter what, and would risk it all just to keep you around and on this planet even if just for another day? The next twenty four hours will be tough, but for so many others "just another day" without that special someone life is tougher still. What can you do (I am aware the video is a bit dated, but that's beside the point: Just enjoy, alright)?

There are many things you can do on Valentine's Day: Call that person on the phone, leave a joke on their Facebook profile for them to laugh at, invite a bunch of single people over to your house and place a moratorium on the word "Valentine" and play SCRABBLE or WIZARD or something, or you could put your feelings aside and write something down to encourage someone else going through the same thing.

Tomorrow will be the 29th Valentine's Day I will celebrate, but I'll try not to do "celebrate" alone like in previous years. Thumbs up if you agree normal Phil is better than sulking, angry, overeating Phil? Thanks ^_^

Kraft Dinner Did a Bad Thing!

Yes, Bryan, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese can do something terrible. I recently had some for a snack, and fifteen minutes after the first bite in the microwaved, powdery cheese flavoured goodness my arm began twitching. Ever since I was in grade school, various parts of my body would twitch for a few minutes or so; the general areas would be in my legs, but for one year during university above my right eye! I wrote off the matter as stress-related, and when calm the twitching would go away. The memory of the right eye twitch still gets to me, but it was years before the last episode o_O

However, after eating Kraft Dinner the twitching returned! This time, the spasms appeared in my right bicep muscle. Now to the skinny young boys looking to impress girls at school, these types of spasms are not easy to see, so don't get your hopes up. You can feel the beating within your arm, but another person can only see them if you are wearing a short-sleeve shirt, and they are looking directly at your arm. With that, I feel better knowing my latest, uncontrollable body reflex will not freak anyone out ^_^ I should lay of the Macaroni and Cheese for awhile, but it taste so good! o_O