It’s been quite a while since I did one of these, so it seemed like a good as time as any.

To lead off, this weekend is St. Patrick’s Day. On that beautiful day, I’ll travel down to New Jersey to hit up a disc golf tournament. This is a tournament I look forward to every year because of how clean it’s run and how fun it is.

I’m ready for some disc golf this weekend!

The March O’ St. Pat’s Madness is likely one of only two or three PDGA tournaments I’ll play in this year, so I’m excited to see the weather should at least be decent.

The other blog I run, RattlingChains.com, is also taking part as a sponsor of the event. So it’s neat to have that be part of it as well.

I’ve actually had the chance to get out and throw a few times, lately, too. I think if I can just kind of plug along and stay calm and have fun, I have a chance — to not place last!

In the end, it’s my hope this is a sign spring really is coming. Hopefully, anyway.

****

Last weekend, I was contacted by a newspaper to cover a basketball game.

I won’t lie — basketball is one of my least-favorite sports to cover. It’s probably because I’ve never been a huge fan of the game. I don’t hate basketball, but I’d rather cover other sports.

Still, when money is calling…

It’s still fun to see a byline on a story I’ve written.

So I covered a sectional championship girls game. It was a sloppy game, but the end result was pretty exciting. The final four minutes really made the game something to remember. One of the teams scored on a three-pointer to tie it with under a minute to play. Moments later, the other team came down and responded with a wide-open three to take the lead for good.

And the best part about small-school basketball? The crowds were huge. And loud. And exciting.

After the game, I did my interviews and and soon after wrote the story. It was kind of nice tapping away at a story. I sent it in and all was good. But the next day, when this paper came out (a Sunday paper), I won’t lie — it was still quite a cool rush to see a byline on a story.

Even after my last stop at a newspaper — despite a sour ending — I still get a kick out of bylines. It’s a nice feeling to see your name on something done, so I’m glad I had the chance. And I’ll appreciate the check even more!

****

OK, people, I try — note try — to eat as healthy as I can. And, for the most part, I avoid fast food.

But this time of year is hard.

Shamrock shakes rule!

Why, you may ask?

The Shamrock Shake! I absolutely love this time of year at McDonald’s when they bring these bad boys out. I’ve been a fan of Shamrock Shakes for years and I usually limit myself to two or so a year. They are, after all, filled with sugar!

I’m at three this year. I know, bad me.

But they are so damn good.

I do wish they’d go back to the old-school way of doing things — in the paper cups with the shake already mixed. It’s not the same in these plastic cups and adding the mint mix.

It’s still pretty good though.

This year, I’ve also resorted to having them done without the whipped cream and cherry, which cuts out some calories and sugar.

Anyway, the ones I’ve had this year have been fantastic. I figure on one more this year and then I’ll let them go away for another year. If you haven’t had one, I’d encourage you to get one before they are gone for the year!

****

I’ll finish this post talking about beer.

As many of you may know, I’m learning how to homebrew. I have an Irish Stout finished and I think it came out really well. And with St. Patrick’s Day coming up…

I’ve truly enjoyed my Kiss Me Arse Irish Stout.

I’ve had some luck so far. The three that have been bottled and tried already have done really well. They’ve each received pretty good and honest reviews from friends. Nothing over the top, yet, but all pretty decent.

I also have an Irish Red bottled. As of today, it’s gone through that cycle and I can put one in the fridge to try it. Maybe that will be the beer to try when I get back from Jersey on Sunday?

It’s Irish, after all.

It’s been a fun process and I’ve slowly been stepping up from the easy process to a little harder. It’s been a heap of fun and I hope it continues.

Only time will tell.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe weekend and if you are out celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, remember to have a driver and be careful out there!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

“Get busy living or get busy dying…”

I’m sure many of you may remember that quote from the Shawshank Redemption, said by Red, portrayed by Morgan Freeman.

I write this post as I listen to some big-band era swing music. It’s some pretty sweet stuff. It can get you in the mood to be creative. Though I’ll readily admit not being a fan of a lot of jazz music, there’s something about the big-band era that really works for me.

Especially the songs with the faster pace and beat. Songs like “Sing, sing, sing” by Benny Goodman. Excellent stuff. Makes me thing of the 1920s and 1930s. Gangsters. Prohibition. Suits. Cigars.

Ahhh… talk about a time in history.

Recently, I was at a friend’s wedding. During the dinner portion, the DJ played some swing music. A couple people got out and danced. It was kind of fun to watch.

I was then chatting to a friend about this era of music and noted if I could go and live in a different era, this would be the one.

Back when Zoot Suits were the norm.

And I’m not a supporter or advocate for organized crime, but there’s something about the gangsters from that era. The suits. The cars. The Tommy Guns — AKA a Chicago typewriter.

And, of course, swing music.

I’m not sure what I would have been. Maybe I’d still have been a scribe. I could see covering the Yankees or something back then for one of the many New York papers. Maybe I’d have been on the crime beat.

Heck, maybe I’d have been a gangster. Chewing a cigar and rat-a-tatting with the Tommy Gun.

Who knows.

But what an era.

I know a lot of people don’t listen to music when they write. And, for the most part, I can’t listen to music with words when writing. But tunes such as classical pieces or the swing band era can keep my mind rolling as I write.

And with the jazzy stuff I have playing tonight, it’s got me thinking of old cars (Like the Ford Model Ts and As) and the prohibition era of time. Black and white.

That’s the era I’d definitely love to be in if not for now.

And while you read the rest of this post, have a listen to a little Benny Goodman:

****

As many of you know, I’m still working on finding a job. The resumes keep going out and I can’t seem to find much. I’ve thankfully landed something on a part-time basis, but it’s basically once a week and it’s not even every week. Still, it’s something to help me along and get something more recent on the resume.

So, I’ve been looking at career changes. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned that here before.

I recently visited a school for a program I’m highly interested in. I’m not going to spill all the beans here because I hate putting things out there until I know for sure if I’m going to do it or not. Some friends already know as I needed to see what some people thought.

My issue?

I don’t want to fail — again.

Though I realize I didn’t fail in newspapers and journalism, the industry failed me. And I don’t think it’s getting any better. And with barely anything in a retirement fund, I need something different.

I’ve watched others go the route of changing careers during the mid-life years and do well. Heck, take a peek at my brother who fully changed directions and went into teaching and now he’s a tenured teacher at a good school.

Might as well give it a go, yeah?

So, I’ve e-mailed one other school today in hopes of being able to compare the two programs. There’s a significant price differential in the program, as well as hours needed and the time frame to finish. The end result would likely be me going into business for myself. It’s something I’m thinking long and hard about.

Once I decide, believe me, I’ll share with the readers of the blog. For now, I’ll leave it with my seriously considering a massive change in career direction.

****

Speaking of writing and career things, I’ve also finally sat down to work on a couple of fictional books. These likely won’t be huge books, but I’m hoping to write them and see where it takes me.

I don’t fathom any riches here.

I need to get working on my book ideas so I can one day have a book like this!

The reality is, I’ll likely publish them on myself. If any money is made, it will basically just be a bonus. My thing is just getting it done. Then seeing about shaping it and all from there. If something bigger comes out of one of these, awesome. If not, it’s more of a goal to just do it.

My big issue with fiction is shaping the story.

I have a couple of real-life things I’m working on, too. I’m not sure if they will be full-blown books, a series here on the blog or something along the lines of an Amazon Kindle Single. But, I am hoping to work on those, too.

I need to push forward. I’ve applied and applied for things to get squashed. I guess it’s time to take the bull by the horns…

****

I went on a small trip Sunday, heading up to Ithaca to hike a bit, find some waterfalls and take a few photos.

But I also got to play disc golf for the first time since early June.

Taughannock Falls just outside of Ithaca. I took this shot Sunday during a day trip to the Ithaca area.

It was nice to get out and flip a few discs on an actual course. To be fair, it was just a nine-hole course, but it was so nice. It’s also good because I’m playing in an Ace Race in a couple of weeks. While I don’t expect to do anything major in that Ace Race, I’d at least like to know I can throw a disc well enough to get it close to baskets!

As for the day overall, it was nice.

For those of you who have never been to Ithaca, it’s a wonderful little city. The city’s motto is “Ithaca is Gorges.” There are many gorges and waterfalls to explore throughout the area, so it makes for a nice day trip.

In total, I got to see several awesome waterfalls and hiked — including the disc golf — upward of 3.5-4 miles, which is always nice to do.

I had been worried about the waterfalls and how much water would be coming off them, considering the lack of rain we’ve had all summer. Alas, recent rains made most of them vibrant falls. All but one were fun to check out and take photos of — in all their glory.

And yes, there were a few geocaches mixed in as well.

In the end, it was a good getaway from the real-world issues going on in my life. Nature can do that to you.

**** 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the passing of a well-known local person.

Sid Levine died Sunday at the age of 99. I only knew Levine in his later years as he owned part of the Oneonta Tigers, the minor-league team I covered for six years. A quiet man, Levine was one of the nicest people I dealt with. He also was a no-nonsense person. He didn’t worry about what people though, he told you how it was.

And that’s how it should be.

He, along with co-owner Sam Nader, ran the local team up until selling in 2008. The team then left the area before the 2010 season.

I dealt with and developed a stronger relationship with Nader, now 93, but toward the end of the run of the Tigers, I also got to know Levine. He was always a gentleman and had an infectious smile. And he knew his baseball.

Nader and Levine were close friends for more than 75 years and when I visited with Nader one afternoon earlier this year, I had to come after a certain time as he and Levine still met nearly every day to chat.

Levine’s legacy in the Oneonta area will live on for a long time. But he’ll be missed, that’s for sure — for many more reasons than baseball.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

My noodle has been speaking lately — and it’s asking why I haven’t written one of these in a while?

My answer? No idea.

So, here it is. For those new to the blog, this is basically a spot where I’ll write about some things that have happened or caught my eye recently, but didn’t really work as its own blog post.

For the first time in a few years, our softball season ended before reaching the league final. We’ve won our league the past two seasons, but this one was a bit of a struggle. Despite a large roster, we had issues getting some people there at times.

No three-peat for us this year.

The problem with that?

We never really had the same lineup or people in the same positions. Though we had a lot of good players, we had to move people around. That makes things hard.

Still, we finished quite strong.

We earned the fourth seed in the playoffs and opened with a 2-games-to-1 series win over the fifth seed. We then took on the top seed, who we beat last year in the final.

In the opener, we played well. Our top pitcher got hurt and I had to finish. We ended up losing, unfortunately, in a game we played really well.

I pitched Game 2 and did as well as I’ve done in a long time. We ended up losing, 5-3.

Though not all their faults, the umpiring we had in these two games was downright awful. It seems like that was a theme for most of the year. Both teams suffered from it, too. The second game really hammered us, though, as we lost three close plays where I think he was dead wrong. He also threw one of our players out of the game for “throwing a bat.” The umpire didn’t even see it. He heard the bat clip the fence on the toss (and it was a toss, I was right next to it). The guy was downright awful and was for most of the year.

Look, bad umpiring is one thing. It’s at all levels. All I ask is to be consistent. If you strike zone is a shoebox, fine. Make it both ways. These things can’t — and shouldn’t — change every inning. But with some umps, they do. And for the money they are being paid, there should be some accountability. The semifinals of the playoffs should have the two best umps, not some of the worst. We got that in our two games and I’m sure the other team will agree.

In the end, it’s all good. We still won 10 games, found some new players for the future and have an idea on how to move forward. I’m sure we’ll be right back in the thick of things next year.

****

When it comes to geocaching, I’ve gone through several phases.

The excitement of being new, the numbers hound, someone who chased first-to-finds to now, where I kind of just dig playing the game and having fun.

One thing I’ve always done, however, is plan when it comes to a bigger trip. This, too, has gone through phases. I used to be an in-depth planner and then it got to the point where I basically wrote down caches in the best order to grab to be efficient.

Every once in a while, though, I go back to the in-depth planning. This upcoming weekend is one of those times.

My current Delorme map — which will hopefully be filled in much more by the end of the weekend!

Four of us are going on an insane trip through the top of New York to fill in squares for the Delorme Challenge. For those who don’t geocache, the Delorme Challenge is based up on the New York  Atlas and Gatetteer, which is published by Delorme. In the atlas, the state is broken down into 80 squares. Your job is to find one cache in each square. Once you do, you get the coordinates to the Delorme final so you can go find that cache. My hope is to make that my 3,000th find, of which I am approaching.

At this moment, I have 63 of 80 pages filled on the Delorme map.

As long as nothing goes wacky, by the time this trip is done sometime Saturday night, I should have filled in 11 more squares and will be a mere trip to the Buffalo area to get six more squares to finish it up.

At the same time, I’ll be getting all the counties I need (sans the Buffalo-area ones) for the New York Counties Challenge.

The three others on the trip will also be filling in squares and counties, but on different levels. Some have more and some have fewer to get. We’ll also be taking a quick trip into Vermont for a few caches.

In the end, I had to go in-depth because with a trip that will eclipse 600 miles and be for more than 12-15 hours, we needed to make it as efficient as possible. We have some good caches on the list and we have a lot of quickies, too. But in the end, it will make for a memorable and fun trip with caching friends. I’ll be blogging more about this next week.

****

Speaking of geocaching, I’ve recently gone on a hiding spree. I archived some of my older caches and decided to place some new ones. Another cacher in a town not far from here has placed a whole heap, too. Hopefully with all of these new caches, some cachers will come our way to make some finds.

One of my recent hides.

See, this area isn’t easily hit by major highways and such. We’re in a rural area, so sometimes people don’t want to come here and find caches. I know one cacher who basically refuses to come to this area because all the roads are winding and such.

Their loss.

On top of the ones I’ve recently placed, I have several more to put out. I just need to find where to place them.

The hides have been fun to do. I like writing the descriptions and I like getting the notices when people find them all. It’s kind of a cool thing to know people are out finding the ones you hid and are enjoying them.

I have two caches, specifically, I need to get out. One is one I got at a cache I found and will be a “spawn” cache and the other is one I received from a fellow cacher when out in Chicago in 2011. These caches are his signature items. He gave me two, so I want to get one placed with the other remaining in my collection of sig items.

Further, I just have some other lock-n-lock containers I want to put out there!

****

As many of you know, I dig attending independent wrestling shows. One, it’s great action and usually better than what you see on television. And when it’s not better, it way worse, which makes it fun that way.

I know how hot it was for three of us to watch this card — I can’t imagine what it was like in the ring performing!

One company we watch often is 2CW, based out of Syracuse. They always put on a great show and this past Friday was no exception.

Except for one thing — it was hot!

The company returned to the Pastime Athletic Club in Syracuse for what seems like it will be the final show at this building, which is affectionately called the “2CW Arena.”

Herein lies the issue — it was hot as can be outside. Inside, which was basically a small gym, had the ring, wrestling, probably 400 fans inside and… no air conditioning.

Holy cow was it hot!

With the action going on, it got hotter as the night went on, too. It easily had to be above 100 inside.

We stayed for the whole card because we wanted to see the main event, which featured former WWE superstar John Morrison against one of the top indy stars, Sami Callihan. The match didn’t disappoint. Overall, the card as per normal, was solid. It was worth going to and watching.

I just wish it had been cooler!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook! 

It turns out, there’s life beyond disc golf!

Let me clarify that. Back in March, I started a second blog. That has somewhat hurt this blog a little. Not a ton, but it’s made it so I don’t publish a new post here every day. That’s not the biggest worry in the world, but it has come to the idea that I have had some issues with said other blog.

See, that blog — which is all about disc golf — has become pretty popular. In two full months, we’ve averaged more than 12,500 page views per month. For being a blog without any advertising and revenue, that’s pretty solid. We’ve gained many readers and have several writers, all working to build a better disc golf community.

I love disc golf, but with a blog and playing and all, it had taken over a portion of my life. I needed that to change so I don't get burned out from it!

What I love about it is we’ve worked as a group to make a great little spot for disc golf news articles and such. We give things in an entertaining way and, usually, with a journalism twist to things. We’ve done some really cool things, such as a women’s week and our weekly polls and such. It’s been fun.

But, like anything else, if you are pushing out a lot of things, you get burned out. I’ve been having a tough time with it lately because I feel like it’s taking up a ton of time and I’m trying to keep fun in it. We make no money on it and we do it in our spare time, so I need to make sure it doesn’t get me. As I said, thankfully we have a few writers and a few more have indicated they want to join. It’s a good group.

Alas, it’s kind of hit me over here with creative. I’m trying to find my “thang” again over here. I want it to be as it used to be. Fun and a way to relieve stress. Being I’m still in a job hunt (which takes up much of my days), I would like to be able to mix some fun here and not just at the other blog. I need this place to write some potpourri and enjoy it again.

That means it’s back to the old — topics ranging from real life to geocaching to pro wrestling to baseball to book/movie reviews to whatever else I can come up with. Earl will be coming back soon and I have some more players to work on for the HooHaa 9.

I’m going to push to get back to some fun here. If you have some blog ideas/topics you think you’d like to read about on the blog, let me know. It’s time to hit the idea notebook and see what I can come up with!

****

So speaking of geocaching, allow me to share this story.

There’s a new cache series in my area. It’s 12 caches total, including the “final” cache. It’s in a state forest land and follows trails (though many of the caches you have to go hacking and bushwhacking off the trails to get). It was a hot, and somewhat humid, day.

I was meeting up with a fellow cachers, who was probably going to have to come and go once or twice to finish. Still, my goal was to complete the series that day. By looking at the map, it appears the caches go in a loop and would bring you back to your car.

Note this is not one of the geocaches we found, but rather just a photo to show that fun is finding these items!

As I arrived to meet the fellow cacher, he says “Why don’t you ride with me and when I have to bold, we’ll go and then when we get back, we can park at the other parking area.”

So, I agreed.

What followed was something out a Keystone Cops type situation.

We did the lower loop of caches and had to decide how to get back to the car the quickest. Caching pal says to continue up trail and there’s a cross over. Alas, nothing came after another nearly half mile. That made us turn around and go back to the roadside.

From there, he bolted the road to grab the car (and I waited as I wasn’t going to keep up with him on this one). While I waited, with an amazing full service phone, I created the spot “Lost” on Foursquare and checked in.

We headed back to his area, where we picked up his daughter and into another town to drop her off to a birthday party. Then back to his place to get his son and do Round 2 of the caches.

We started at the upper parking area, got confused, found another trail and got an idea of the cache layout. With it being hot and on another time schedule, frustration set in early as we couldn’t figure which way to go.

See, I had planned on looping. By not looping, I had no idea where I was as I don’t know this area!

But, we were on target now and we started to cross off the caches. Then we had to go pick up his daughter. And I hadn’t figured all the coords out yet… yikes! Little did I know if I had plugged them in, it wouldn’t have required the third trip.

In the end, as I noted to the fellow cacher, I should have kept my car and could have continued on the path if he needed to go back-and-forth. But, to be fair, it also gave me a fun piece to this blog!

Overall, the series was a heap of fun. We actually might have walked more by doing it the way we did it because we went back and forth to things instead of just going around everything! And, in the end, we got some good stories, had a lot of fun and really enjoyed it, which is what this game is all about, right?

****

Do you ever get into a text conversation with a friend and it takes an odd turn?

It seems to happen to me too often.

Anyway, a conversation that started about bike racing to other sports to sports camps. Out of the blue, I decided to change it up a bit.

Me: I race turtles.

Friend: I thought you like crawfish?

Me: Turtle racing is big money.

Friend: On or out of water.

Me: Road racing.

Me: I once held the record for the 100 meters with a turtle I trained. Crossed in 14.3.

Friend: Is that hours?

Me: Days.

Me: Most people leave. I stay. Even if my turtle loses, I win.

Friend: That’s determination!

Random, I know. But it gave me one heck of a good laugh, that’s for sure!

****

I think it’s time for a Facebook purge.

Every once in a while, it’s worth going through my Facebook contacts and deleting some people. Let’s be honest, there are people on everybody’s Facebook that probably can be purged.

I noticed several people who have disabled or gotten rid of their Facebook, but they still remain “friends.” I have also noticed people I probably haven’t talked to in years. It just seems silly to keep so many. To be fair, I actually do stay in contact with many of the people on my Facebook. Still, I’d like to trim the numbers. I’ll have to see what I can do to bring the numbers down a little.

****

Softball is supposed to start today.

The weather forecast doesn’t look perfect, but we have hope. There is a chance of showers in the morning and then thunderstorms in the afternoon/evening. So, it’s going to be shaky, but hopefully we can get it in and get the season underway.

Another year of softball starts tonight!

We won our second straight league championship last year and this year is going to likely be even harder as a few teams beefed up a little. And that’s what softball should be about. Several good teams battling it out. That makes it fun. I look forward to a strong season.

We’re 35-4 over the past couple of years with, for the most part, the same guys. Other teams are getting better and younger teams (thankfully) are joining the league. So, if we have a few more losses this year, it happens. Hopefully in the end, we’ll have earned our third straight title. But you can never guarantee that to happen.

I’m stoked that we’ve won two straight. Because in this game, teams can win at any point. Figure this — in some 20-plus years of playing softball, I’ve been on teams that have won championships four times. Once in a league I only played part time back in the mid 90s. We won one title in the old Delhi league, which I’m thankful we actually won. Then these past two. We’ve been to finals many times, but finishing it off isn’t easy.

So, the season starts today (hopefully). We’ll see how it goes and check back in at the end of the year!

****

NOTE TO FELLOW BLOGGERS: I am trying to finish a survey I started a few months ago. It’s basically about the male/female blogging tendencies etc. I need a handful of bloggers for each sex to fill things out as I want to try and have an even number of each.

I will be taking some comments and using them in a blog post and everyone who participates will get a link back to their blog.

Please comment here or e-mail me if interested in participating. The survey shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes or so to fill out.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook! 

As many of you know, I’ve been on Flickr for several years. I use it as a spot to share my photos and such. Flickr has this thing called “Explore.” Basically, it’s the top photos of the day as determined by Flickr’s secret algorithm. Nobody seems to know how it works. But there are some amazing photos on there, as well as many not-so-great ones.

One thing I’ve always notices is the people seem get out and comment a lot, driving traffic to their photos.

Though I try and search Flickr and comment as much as possible, it’s not a daily habit.

So color me shocked when I got a comment on one of my recent images from someone saying they had viewed the image on Explore. Score! I have wanted to get on Explore for a long time — and thought I had photos that would make it there before — but it was this one that did.

Waffle House!

It got to No. 358. But later when I checked, it had dropped off. Flickr giveth and Flickr taketh away. No biggie. I got to Explore. So that’s cool enough.

On a side note, I did tweet that I got on it and gave the ol’ @ to the Waffle House and the Waffle House twitter guy/gal re-tweeted me, so I have that going for me. Which is nice.

The algorithm on Flickr is pretty silly, anyway. But I got Explored. Can’t take it away, buddy!

****

I’ve received a postcard through Postcrossing a while back. I just noticed it on the desk and that I hadn’t registered it.

I should probably do that, eh?

****

This two blog thing is tough!

I love this blog, I really do. And I’ll never give it up. But it’s been tough to come up with ideas when I’ve been pushing myself to make sure the other blog (Rattling Chains) is really up and running.

We have several people now writing with us, including 2009 World Champion Avery Jenkins and two others with journalism backgrounds. We’re taking it seriously over there in hopes of making a daily destination for disc golfers.

We’ve worked to make it a really sweet site with great content and a solid look. I’m trying to get it on the Internet news sources, too, in hopes of driving some traffic.

If you’re a disc golfer — or are interested in the game — peek at it over there and see what you think!

****

The fantasy baseball league I am in is drafting tonight.

An auction draft, online.

This should prove to be interesting. A lot of interesting names were left off keeper lists, so I imagine it should be pretty wild to see where people go with their teams.

****

Baseball season opens tonight. Well, it kind of already did with the Mariners and Athletics playing a pair in Japan a week or so ago.

But tonight is the official opening night.

Marlins (blech) vs. Cardinals (double blech).

The Phils open tomorrow. That’s when I’ll get pumped. The good news is — baseball is back!