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Anything is Possible!!!
March/17/2010 08:09 AM
New Reno Bighorns TV Ad
January/11/2010 07:33 PM
The Next Karate Kid (Me and Jackie Chan)
January/01/2010 08:33 AM
See A Game On ME!
January/01/2010 08:31 AM
The Perfect Ad
December/19/2009 10:31 PM
The Update to Not and Retarded
September/18/2009 05:35 PM
So, after posting the “Not and Retarded” post last week, I got emails from both of the women in the article.
Hunter, the blonde girl who I didn’t have much of a problem with at all, proved why. She wrote a very sincere apology and to be honest, she didn’t even need to, because she apologized that night. There’s no need to mention her further. She’s not that bad.
Annie, the other one, wasn’t so accepting of the incident. John, the other factor from the evening sent me a text message conversation that he had with her before I got any email. I was ROLLING when I read this. john’s a fool for this. John’s msg’s are in RED. Annie’s are black. This is how it went:
12:02 AM): Who is this?
(12:02 AM): Annie a****le
(12:03 AM): I am pissed at your black friend, you guys are a****les just wait. I will get back at you.
(12:04 AM): I didn't post it. Ur whack anyways. You never hit me back.
(12:06 AM): Gimme my shirt back and we'll talk. Otherwise ur whack in my book
(12:06 AM): Whatever bye. Just because I am busy on the road and I can't reply back I get this? You are all awful and I was right about u and your friends
(12:07 AM): F**k you John! Never contact me again!!!!
(12:08 AM): I'm not trying to ur whack.
(12:08 AM): Have fun on ur broke ass trip
(12:09 AM): Just go away. Do not contact me ever again. You all are dead to me. I liked you and fey but at this point go away!!!
(12:09 AM): Bye asshole. Keep living your closed minded miserable life.
(12:10 AM): No ones tryin to like you! We will succed. U have fun strugglin
(12:10 AM): Glad you fit in to the rest of middle America. It fits you
(12:11 AM): Ur lower america. Stop talking to me. Keep the shirt
(12:11 AM): Bye! Have fun being negative. People w negative and closed minded thoughts never succeed. Keep living "the dream" ps you're not black.
(12:11 AM): Bye.
(12:12 AM): F**k you. Stop texting me
(12:12 AM): Ur a waste of my minutes
(12:15 AM): Deleted.
(12:16 AM): F**k urself
(12:16 AM): stop!!!!!!!!!!
(12:28 AM): I'm not trying to talk to you. I wanted charity the whole time. Please don't text m.e. Ur deal is whack
The next day:
(9:17 AM): I'm going to apologize because I yelled at you before I even re
I'm going to apologize because I yelled at you before I even read the article. Its not your fault and I'm sorry for yelling at you. Your friend is still a very
(9:18 AM): Hateful person but he is allowed to blog whatever he wants but its a shame he is blogging about a story that is one sided and untrue. But in any case I'm sorry
(9:18 AM): And charity can give you back your shirt. You were a gentleman for letting me wear it when I was cold. So thanks, I didn't steal it on purpose.
So I read all of this before getting an email from her the next morning. I was laughing so hard I could hardly breathe. I love how she says “I’m pissed at your black friend.” Mike is also black and besides that John has a ton of black friends. Whatever. It must have been minutes after her last text to John. I’ll just lay out her email, my response (in blue), and her final email:
“Hey, just wanted to know I read your email. I'm not mad, but are allowed to have your own point of views.
Like I said I didn't know those guys and I was not hanging out with them. I was hanging out with John. I still am clueless to know who those guys are.
The thing is, I'm a little hurt that you would say my name and tell people to say mean things to me. I'm not vindictive so I'm not going to retaliate.
And honestly you don't know me and its a shame you have to s**t talk about people before you even know them.
John and I were talking to each other at that point. He gave me his shirt to wear because he was a gentleman. Whatever he said to you about the case is because he was trying to be a man in front of you.
In any case, I enjoyed your blog, I think you are a funny person and I have even supported you and had links to your funny videos on my facebook.
I think its sad that you know none of this and yet you can try to be so hurtful. I was only combative that night because you were combative as well. I know the owner of the club and he was there and he even knows what happened.
With this being said. I call a truce. Let me know if you can be a man and accept that. If not then I'm sorry you feel so much hate in your heart that you had to belittle someone you don't even know.”
Here are some things you must understand:
First, you're right, I don't know you, but it was based on first impressions and John (maybe to not seem so ho-before-bro-ish) was legit mad about his shirt. I can only paint a certain picture if I am only given a few paints.
Secondly, I actually don't have negative emotion towards you. It's not really me to remain vindictive. That being said, that event is extremely funny in retrospect. Does the story vilify you? Yes. Do I say anything that's untrue? No. I tell the story exactly how it happened from our side. If you have a big problem with that, it's only because you truly didn't understand how it looked to us. Now you have a better understanding of how you placed yourself in our minds -- the spark that set the night on fire.
Thirdly, I know you're not apologetic about what happened that night, and neither am I. It is what it is -- a funny story with a funny antagonist and a lame result. I didn't even think about you, or that night, until I was beginning to write about my L.A. experience, of which you were the first of many. I am willing to call a "truce," but understand that implies that there is some sort of battle and I'm not battling anyone. I'm just, quite unapologetically, recounting a night exactly how it happened, and expecting to never hear from you again, told people (like I always do) to come at you. It worked, now here you are.
Anyways, when you sent me this email I was more ready to be kind and rewind, so to speak, but then John sent me a text conversation that claimed you were going to come at me. That's all good and fine, if you want, I guess. Do what you like. I will publicly accept your truce on my site, so people know to stop coming at you, but I will show them how the truce came to pass: you asked, I read a text convo between you and John, then accepted, still. Why? Because it's still all incredibly funny and good fodder. Hopefully you can see it the same way, because I have driven people to your site, and our little "truce" will only drive you MORE traffic. Take that as a sign of my lightheartedness about the situation.
Rod Benson
... And BOOM goes the dynamite!
Ok I'm not mad as I said about any of that. What I'm mad is that you try to get your friends to say shit to me which in my own opinion is childish. Also when I sent those texts to John I hadn't even read the article and I was drunk. So all I heard is really bad stuff so I went off on John. Also, John is trying to act hard in front of you. He tries to act mad about his shirt because he knows you have ill feelings toward me. I have told many times I would give it back to him and he has never followed through so I guess he's not that mad about the shirt. Why would I want the shirt? Its twenty times too big for me? Also this is after many poems John sent to me after that night and him repeatedly begging to take me out and saying that you guys are nothing. I have zero respect for someone that can throw their friends under the bus to get a girl then go talk s**t about the girl to his friends that he just said awful things about.
Anyway. This is between you and I. I don't care about the article that's up on your site. Just please take down the part about me being on facebook and to come at me. And until you have a better understanding of someone, who they are, and what they aim to be... I would try to be a little less judgemental. Because in all reality, I'm not the girl you painted me out to be.
Thanks for writing me back. No hard feelings.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now it all comes out in the wash. John was saving. Hard. I told him I resuscitate parties, but I don’t save ho’s. True story. Maybe she was so fired up because she had a thing with John or whatever, but still, this whole event makes her look sillier than anyone.
Still, I made a promise and I am keeping it. This is the official truce. If you see her on the streets, on Facebook, MySpace, or whatever, DO NOT ANTAGONIZE HER. She made her best apology attempt and, I guess, it’s in the past and I’m not trippin. Once again, however, remember that this could happen to you if you choose to party in LALA Land. Keep a watchful eye, my friends, and stay mad boom tho!
Hunter, the blonde girl who I didn’t have much of a problem with at all, proved why. She wrote a very sincere apology and to be honest, she didn’t even need to, because she apologized that night. There’s no need to mention her further. She’s not that bad.
Annie, the other one, wasn’t so accepting of the incident. John, the other factor from the evening sent me a text message conversation that he had with her before I got any email. I was ROLLING when I read this. john’s a fool for this. John’s msg’s are in RED. Annie’s are black. This is how it went:
12:02 AM): Who is this?
(12:02 AM): Annie a****le
(12:03 AM): I am pissed at your black friend, you guys are a****les just wait. I will get back at you.
(12:04 AM): I didn't post it. Ur whack anyways. You never hit me back.
(12:06 AM): Gimme my shirt back and we'll talk. Otherwise ur whack in my book
(12:06 AM): Whatever bye. Just because I am busy on the road and I can't reply back I get this? You are all awful and I was right about u and your friends
(12:07 AM): F**k you John! Never contact me again!!!!
(12:08 AM): I'm not trying to ur whack.
(12:08 AM): Have fun on ur broke ass trip
(12:09 AM): Just go away. Do not contact me ever again. You all are dead to me. I liked you and fey but at this point go away!!!
(12:09 AM): Bye asshole. Keep living your closed minded miserable life.
(12:10 AM): No ones tryin to like you! We will succed. U have fun strugglin
(12:10 AM): Glad you fit in to the rest of middle America. It fits you
(12:11 AM): Ur lower america. Stop talking to me. Keep the shirt
(12:11 AM): Bye! Have fun being negative. People w negative and closed minded thoughts never succeed. Keep living "the dream" ps you're not black.
(12:11 AM): Bye.
(12:12 AM): F**k you. Stop texting me
(12:12 AM): Ur a waste of my minutes
(12:15 AM): Deleted.
(12:16 AM): F**k urself
(12:16 AM): stop!!!!!!!!!!
(12:28 AM): I'm not trying to talk to you. I wanted charity the whole time. Please don't text m.e. Ur deal is whack
The next day:
(9:17 AM): I'm going to apologize because I yelled at you before I even re
I'm going to apologize because I yelled at you before I even read the article. Its not your fault and I'm sorry for yelling at you. Your friend is still a very
(9:18 AM): Hateful person but he is allowed to blog whatever he wants but its a shame he is blogging about a story that is one sided and untrue. But in any case I'm sorry
(9:18 AM): And charity can give you back your shirt. You were a gentleman for letting me wear it when I was cold. So thanks, I didn't steal it on purpose.
So I read all of this before getting an email from her the next morning. I was laughing so hard I could hardly breathe. I love how she says “I’m pissed at your black friend.” Mike is also black and besides that John has a ton of black friends. Whatever. It must have been minutes after her last text to John. I’ll just lay out her email, my response (in blue), and her final email:
“Hey, just wanted to know I read your email. I'm not mad, but are allowed to have your own point of views.
Like I said I didn't know those guys and I was not hanging out with them. I was hanging out with John. I still am clueless to know who those guys are.
The thing is, I'm a little hurt that you would say my name and tell people to say mean things to me. I'm not vindictive so I'm not going to retaliate.
And honestly you don't know me and its a shame you have to s**t talk about people before you even know them.
John and I were talking to each other at that point. He gave me his shirt to wear because he was a gentleman. Whatever he said to you about the case is because he was trying to be a man in front of you.
In any case, I enjoyed your blog, I think you are a funny person and I have even supported you and had links to your funny videos on my facebook.
I think its sad that you know none of this and yet you can try to be so hurtful. I was only combative that night because you were combative as well. I know the owner of the club and he was there and he even knows what happened.
With this being said. I call a truce. Let me know if you can be a man and accept that. If not then I'm sorry you feel so much hate in your heart that you had to belittle someone you don't even know.”
Here are some things you must understand:
First, you're right, I don't know you, but it was based on first impressions and John (maybe to not seem so ho-before-bro-ish) was legit mad about his shirt. I can only paint a certain picture if I am only given a few paints.
Secondly, I actually don't have negative emotion towards you. It's not really me to remain vindictive. That being said, that event is extremely funny in retrospect. Does the story vilify you? Yes. Do I say anything that's untrue? No. I tell the story exactly how it happened from our side. If you have a big problem with that, it's only because you truly didn't understand how it looked to us. Now you have a better understanding of how you placed yourself in our minds -- the spark that set the night on fire.
Thirdly, I know you're not apologetic about what happened that night, and neither am I. It is what it is -- a funny story with a funny antagonist and a lame result. I didn't even think about you, or that night, until I was beginning to write about my L.A. experience, of which you were the first of many. I am willing to call a "truce," but understand that implies that there is some sort of battle and I'm not battling anyone. I'm just, quite unapologetically, recounting a night exactly how it happened, and expecting to never hear from you again, told people (like I always do) to come at you. It worked, now here you are.
Anyways, when you sent me this email I was more ready to be kind and rewind, so to speak, but then John sent me a text conversation that claimed you were going to come at me. That's all good and fine, if you want, I guess. Do what you like. I will publicly accept your truce on my site, so people know to stop coming at you, but I will show them how the truce came to pass: you asked, I read a text convo between you and John, then accepted, still. Why? Because it's still all incredibly funny and good fodder. Hopefully you can see it the same way, because I have driven people to your site, and our little "truce" will only drive you MORE traffic. Take that as a sign of my lightheartedness about the situation.
Rod Benson
... And BOOM goes the dynamite!
Ok I'm not mad as I said about any of that. What I'm mad is that you try to get your friends to say shit to me which in my own opinion is childish. Also when I sent those texts to John I hadn't even read the article and I was drunk. So all I heard is really bad stuff so I went off on John. Also, John is trying to act hard in front of you. He tries to act mad about his shirt because he knows you have ill feelings toward me. I have told many times I would give it back to him and he has never followed through so I guess he's not that mad about the shirt. Why would I want the shirt? Its twenty times too big for me? Also this is after many poems John sent to me after that night and him repeatedly begging to take me out and saying that you guys are nothing. I have zero respect for someone that can throw their friends under the bus to get a girl then go talk s**t about the girl to his friends that he just said awful things about.
Anyway. This is between you and I. I don't care about the article that's up on your site. Just please take down the part about me being on facebook and to come at me. And until you have a better understanding of someone, who they are, and what they aim to be... I would try to be a little less judgemental. Because in all reality, I'm not the girl you painted me out to be.
Thanks for writing me back. No hard feelings.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now it all comes out in the wash. John was saving. Hard. I told him I resuscitate parties, but I don’t save ho’s. True story. Maybe she was so fired up because she had a thing with John or whatever, but still, this whole event makes her look sillier than anyone.
Still, I made a promise and I am keeping it. This is the official truce. If you see her on the streets, on Facebook, MySpace, or whatever, DO NOT ANTAGONIZE HER. She made her best apology attempt and, I guess, it’s in the past and I’m not trippin. Once again, however, remember that this could happen to you if you choose to party in LALA Land. Keep a watchful eye, my friends, and stay mad boom tho!
Boom Tho: The Mixtape!
September/11/2009 01:32 AM
First of all, here’s the newest video, featuring Mike Fey (UCLA 06) and John “Legend” Fieweger:
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Now, you will also need to check out the entire Mixtape and tell me what you think, because I’ll be making videos for these songs and skits all season, so get ready. It’s gonna be fun to just film all year for songs I’ve already done. So, no B.S., here’s 13 songs, skits, and otherwise of straight up BoomThoNess. Peep the cover art too.. Its itunes ready without the 99cents:
Boom Tho: The Mixtape!

>
Now, you will also need to check out the entire Mixtape and tell me what you think, because I’ll be making videos for these songs and skits all season, so get ready. It’s gonna be fun to just film all year for songs I’ve already done. So, no B.S., here’s 13 songs, skits, and otherwise of straight up BoomThoNess. Peep the cover art too.. Its itunes ready without the 99cents:
Boom Tho: The Mixtape!

NOT and Retarded
September/10/2009 06:35 PM
My first weekend in Hollywood, I was with Mike and John (in case you havent guessed by now, they are definitely my L.A. crew) and we were kickin it at Rand’s house in downtown. I literally went there straight off the plane, met Rand and John, and then went out with them in the wood.
Fey mentioned that we were gonna go to some spot I had never heard of, but I was cool with it because I understand that he always knows what’s up down there. John seemed pretty hyped about it and Rand was more or less along for the ride like me.
Fey and John mentioned that some girls they knew would be filming for their reality show or something like that while we were there, so I was kind of weary about partying on TV, but then I realized that any Boom Tho video pretty much has the same things. These girls had their own blog or something called hot and retarded I warmed up to the idea by the time we arrive.
It was a little spot, kind of tucked away close to an alley way right off the Highland exit of 101 (that only means something to the Hollywood people, I guess). It was actually suspiciously small. When we walked in, it seemed too small to house that many folks, but I’ve been to places like Hyde and that’s pretty small too, but never lacking in Boom-Tho-Ness. We get settled at the far end of the place and quickly decide (since the place is still empty) that we want to get bottle service.
Two bottles, 4 dudes, it seemed all good. We got our party started on our end of this small place. After a few minutes, a couple of girls walk in with bright camera lights following them. Since there were only ten people there, this event caused an obvious scene. John walked over to them to talk about who-knows-what and soon he was back with us, saying that we should head over to them because they needed it to look like the party was crackin for TV purposes.
We all headed over to the other side of the room where there were two dudes none of us knew, and three girls that Mike and John knew. I sat there and played the part. Soon, though, I got over it and went back to my table, but not before snapping this picture with the two ‘TV’ girls:

I know what you’re thinking: damn that Rod Benson is hella Boom Tho! I know. I can’t argue, but this isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Soon after I returned to the table, Mike, John, Rand, and the girls came over. Before I knew it, our two bottles were gone. Nothing wrong with that. The night was progressing just like many other before. Those dudes we didn’t know came over to our table before it was all said and done and I kept to myself mostly, besides my usual “Dance Off” quality moves.
All of a sudden it was closing time. We were the first to arrive and the last to leave, it seemed. Now we were signing off on our check and about to be on our way, but there was a problem.
Our bill had 3 bottles charged to it when we had only consumed two. It was quickly worked out that those two guys we didn’t know had charged one to our table, promised to pay for it, and left. Very classy.
Well the extra 500 had to come from someone. We all turned at looked at these two girls, not because they owed us 500, but because they knew and had invited these dudes. We needed some answers. Problem was, they failed to provide any... At all.
Before we knew it, security was hounding us for the money and we were in the kitchen. All of us were there, including team Hot and Retarded. They said that the money wasn’t their responsibility because they didn’t know the guys. Mike, who’s card was down, was starting to get angry. I told him that I would be the jerk tonight.
I came at the girls hard. I told them that we didn’t know them either (even though they DEFINITELY knew these guys) and that since we all partied together that we should all chip in equally. Security asked that I leave them alone. I asked why. Just because they were female didn’t mean that they weren’t involved and that their money isn’t green.
One of the girls, sensing that I was not about to let this go, started to take a crying tone. She asked that we just leave them alone because they had no money, but that she could give us the guys phone number. That was a good start. The other girl, the one in the right of the pic above, was way more combative. She kept arguing that they didn’t owe anything. That’s when I let her have it.
I told her that no amount of breast implants work double time as brain implants and that she just looked stupid. I then told her that she would pay for this somehow, eventually.
While I was in the middle of berating her, she took off. I had to help Mike work out the bill and then we were off, looking for her. Couldn’t find her anywhere. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find John either.
Come to find out that John is at Mels with her! I guess he was talking to her the whole time. WTF?
We smash over to Mels and I run in. I can’t find either of them. I look in both bathrooms, furious. Still nothing. All of a sudden John’s walkin back towards the car. I’m kinda mad at him but I’m looking for this Spring Break breezy. I don’t call her spring break cuz she’s wild, but because there’s no class.
I can’t find her anywhere. We jump in the car and begin to drive away. I then see her walking out, with 4 new dudes, wearing Johns brand new $150 shirt over her dress. It’s too late to do anything.
I guess I should thank her because she got John, who needed to be got for his actions, and she quickly introduced me to Hollywood’s legal prostitution. Drinks and partying will be on you, no matter what. As long as you’re “Hot and Retarded,” the sky’s the limit in the city of angels. But, I will get the last laugh. Well, maybe you’ll help me. Visit their site, and tell Annie Wonderlich (she’s on FB, too) that she can “Wonderlich my balls.” Thanks Hansel for that.
Oh and I guess they should be called “Broke and Retarded” because they have a DONATIONS page on their blog. How far do they really think they can get, being a group of 7’s? Not even dimes! Coddamn!
Fey mentioned that we were gonna go to some spot I had never heard of, but I was cool with it because I understand that he always knows what’s up down there. John seemed pretty hyped about it and Rand was more or less along for the ride like me.
Fey and John mentioned that some girls they knew would be filming for their reality show or something like that while we were there, so I was kind of weary about partying on TV, but then I realized that any Boom Tho video pretty much has the same things. These girls had their own blog or something called hot and retarded I warmed up to the idea by the time we arrive.
It was a little spot, kind of tucked away close to an alley way right off the Highland exit of 101 (that only means something to the Hollywood people, I guess). It was actually suspiciously small. When we walked in, it seemed too small to house that many folks, but I’ve been to places like Hyde and that’s pretty small too, but never lacking in Boom-Tho-Ness. We get settled at the far end of the place and quickly decide (since the place is still empty) that we want to get bottle service.
Two bottles, 4 dudes, it seemed all good. We got our party started on our end of this small place. After a few minutes, a couple of girls walk in with bright camera lights following them. Since there were only ten people there, this event caused an obvious scene. John walked over to them to talk about who-knows-what and soon he was back with us, saying that we should head over to them because they needed it to look like the party was crackin for TV purposes.
We all headed over to the other side of the room where there were two dudes none of us knew, and three girls that Mike and John knew. I sat there and played the part. Soon, though, I got over it and went back to my table, but not before snapping this picture with the two ‘TV’ girls:

I know what you’re thinking: damn that Rod Benson is hella Boom Tho! I know. I can’t argue, but this isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Soon after I returned to the table, Mike, John, Rand, and the girls came over. Before I knew it, our two bottles were gone. Nothing wrong with that. The night was progressing just like many other before. Those dudes we didn’t know came over to our table before it was all said and done and I kept to myself mostly, besides my usual “Dance Off” quality moves.
All of a sudden it was closing time. We were the first to arrive and the last to leave, it seemed. Now we were signing off on our check and about to be on our way, but there was a problem.
Our bill had 3 bottles charged to it when we had only consumed two. It was quickly worked out that those two guys we didn’t know had charged one to our table, promised to pay for it, and left. Very classy.
Well the extra 500 had to come from someone. We all turned at looked at these two girls, not because they owed us 500, but because they knew and had invited these dudes. We needed some answers. Problem was, they failed to provide any... At all.
Before we knew it, security was hounding us for the money and we were in the kitchen. All of us were there, including team Hot and Retarded. They said that the money wasn’t their responsibility because they didn’t know the guys. Mike, who’s card was down, was starting to get angry. I told him that I would be the jerk tonight.
I came at the girls hard. I told them that we didn’t know them either (even though they DEFINITELY knew these guys) and that since we all partied together that we should all chip in equally. Security asked that I leave them alone. I asked why. Just because they were female didn’t mean that they weren’t involved and that their money isn’t green.
One of the girls, sensing that I was not about to let this go, started to take a crying tone. She asked that we just leave them alone because they had no money, but that she could give us the guys phone number. That was a good start. The other girl, the one in the right of the pic above, was way more combative. She kept arguing that they didn’t owe anything. That’s when I let her have it.
I told her that no amount of breast implants work double time as brain implants and that she just looked stupid. I then told her that she would pay for this somehow, eventually.
While I was in the middle of berating her, she took off. I had to help Mike work out the bill and then we were off, looking for her. Couldn’t find her anywhere. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find John either.
Come to find out that John is at Mels with her! I guess he was talking to her the whole time. WTF?
We smash over to Mels and I run in. I can’t find either of them. I look in both bathrooms, furious. Still nothing. All of a sudden John’s walkin back towards the car. I’m kinda mad at him but I’m looking for this Spring Break breezy. I don’t call her spring break cuz she’s wild, but because there’s no class.
I can’t find her anywhere. We jump in the car and begin to drive away. I then see her walking out, with 4 new dudes, wearing Johns brand new $150 shirt over her dress. It’s too late to do anything.
I guess I should thank her because she got John, who needed to be got for his actions, and she quickly introduced me to Hollywood’s legal prostitution. Drinks and partying will be on you, no matter what. As long as you’re “Hot and Retarded,” the sky’s the limit in the city of angels. But, I will get the last laugh. Well, maybe you’ll help me. Visit their site, and tell Annie Wonderlich (she’s on FB, too) that she can “Wonderlich my balls.” Thanks Hansel for that.
Oh and I guess they should be called “Broke and Retarded” because they have a DONATIONS page on their blog. How far do they really think they can get, being a group of 7’s? Not even dimes! Coddamn!
This is NOT O.K.
September/10/2009 06:33 PM
This isn’t a very long story at all, it’s just an event that most men would find absolutely repulsive, so I must make you share my pain.
I was at the Mondrain Hotel in Hollywood (I spent most of the last month there), gettin in some pool time on a Saturday afternoon. It was me, Mike Fey, John (the Resuscitation team) and three girls who Mike had invited to come kick it at the pool. What you need to know about expensive Hollywood hotels is that their pools take on a Vegas vibe on the weekends and they turn into party pools. Now that that’s understood, we can move on.
So, like I said, short and sweet. I was in the water with John, and the girls were sitting up on the edge of the pool. All of a sudden the girls look off into the distance and start laughing. They are murmuring something to each other that I can’t really make out, so I ask them what they’re talkin about.
They say that I wouldn’t understand. My narcissistic side disagrees. There’s nothing funny that I couldn’t understand. I keep probing them. FInally they tell me to look as they point towards towards the other side of the pool. My view is something like this:

This view is actually not as good as mine. What you’re seeing here is a screen cap of a video that John tried to make but he got too excited, thinking that he had the shot, when he didn’t. He’s trying to capture what I eventually saw: this girl has a TAMPON string hanging down like 6 inches.
She dances around for about 5 minutes while the girls try to figure out who should tell her. I sit there, grossed out, awaiting some sort of action. Finally, one of the girls walks over and whispers something to her. She looks to her friend, and asks her for help, tucking it away as discretely as possible. But this string was sponsored by Brett Favre, because it was retired three times, and kept coming back. Her friend had to help her tuck that thing away again and again before she finally made a trip to the bathroom.
I think the girls we were with were right. I had no clue how to handle the situation except to nearly throw up into the pool, which still wouldn’t be as gross as being drawn to a dangling string of an ugly, drunken girl. Oh man that was almost as rough as the time a volleyball coach for a team we were playing had a big red stain on the crotch of her white pants. Some things you gotta notice all by yourself.
I was at the Mondrain Hotel in Hollywood (I spent most of the last month there), gettin in some pool time on a Saturday afternoon. It was me, Mike Fey, John (the Resuscitation team) and three girls who Mike had invited to come kick it at the pool. What you need to know about expensive Hollywood hotels is that their pools take on a Vegas vibe on the weekends and they turn into party pools. Now that that’s understood, we can move on.
So, like I said, short and sweet. I was in the water with John, and the girls were sitting up on the edge of the pool. All of a sudden the girls look off into the distance and start laughing. They are murmuring something to each other that I can’t really make out, so I ask them what they’re talkin about.
They say that I wouldn’t understand. My narcissistic side disagrees. There’s nothing funny that I couldn’t understand. I keep probing them. FInally they tell me to look as they point towards towards the other side of the pool. My view is something like this:

This view is actually not as good as mine. What you’re seeing here is a screen cap of a video that John tried to make but he got too excited, thinking that he had the shot, when he didn’t. He’s trying to capture what I eventually saw: this girl has a TAMPON string hanging down like 6 inches.
She dances around for about 5 minutes while the girls try to figure out who should tell her. I sit there, grossed out, awaiting some sort of action. Finally, one of the girls walks over and whispers something to her. She looks to her friend, and asks her for help, tucking it away as discretely as possible. But this string was sponsored by Brett Favre, because it was retired three times, and kept coming back. Her friend had to help her tuck that thing away again and again before she finally made a trip to the bathroom.
I think the girls we were with were right. I had no clue how to handle the situation except to nearly throw up into the pool, which still wouldn’t be as gross as being drawn to a dangling string of an ugly, drunken girl. Oh man that was almost as rough as the time a volleyball coach for a team we were playing had a big red stain on the crotch of her white pants. Some things you gotta notice all by yourself.
Starburst, of Burning Man, Enters My World...
August/06/2009 08:08 PM
I was down in SoCal with my boys Mike Fey (UCLA ’06) and John “Legend” Fieweger for the “6 Man” volleyball festival. We had our fun for a couple days down in Manhattan Beach then it was time to head back up to Malibu to Mike’s spot to chill.
While we were heading back to Mike’s house, he got a call. He relayed the news to me that there would be a party crackin at his spot when we got there. I was hyped to see the big house party, but he informed me that he didnt know any of the people. In fact, he didn’t know anybody who knew these people. He did know that the people throwing the party were not like us.
It seemed a little strange that he phrased everything the way he did. Why would there be a party at his house if he didnt know any of the patrons? It didnt really make sense.
He explained to me that a large part of the property is rented out for events since its a big property deep within the hills of Malibu. He stressed that this particular party, which he had been told would be over the day before, was actually being held by “Burning Man” people. I still don’t quite understand what it means, but a quick wiki made it seem like they shouldn’t be at his house but in the desert.
I guess that the actually Burning Man event is only held once a year, but in the meantime they have gatherings at random locations and do a bunch of weird nonsense. What would be the chances that they would have one of these events at Mike Fey’s house on THE day I go to Malibu? Seemed like he was making stuff up to scare me. Then we arrived.
Strange people were doing strange things all over the property. There were dudes dressed up like Ninja Geiden, women hoola hooping around their necks, multiple DJ’s spinning trippy acid music, and random Yanni look-a-like’s running around preying and being naked. Honestly I was quite frightened.
So hours later, after the fear subsided, we were on our way to get some food. We had heard through the grapevine that one of the people there was named “Starburst.” It quickly became a quick mission of ours to discover who it was.
It didn’t take long to discover Starburst. I saw a woman standing by the rock bed. I yelled the name Starburst and she turned around. I then whipped out my camera and asked her some questions. You’re about to see that video.
Check out the people who pass by and REALLY check out the Asian dude and what he says. It’s downright epic.
While we were heading back to Mike’s house, he got a call. He relayed the news to me that there would be a party crackin at his spot when we got there. I was hyped to see the big house party, but he informed me that he didnt know any of the people. In fact, he didn’t know anybody who knew these people. He did know that the people throwing the party were not like us.
It seemed a little strange that he phrased everything the way he did. Why would there be a party at his house if he didnt know any of the patrons? It didnt really make sense.
He explained to me that a large part of the property is rented out for events since its a big property deep within the hills of Malibu. He stressed that this particular party, which he had been told would be over the day before, was actually being held by “Burning Man” people. I still don’t quite understand what it means, but a quick wiki made it seem like they shouldn’t be at his house but in the desert.
I guess that the actually Burning Man event is only held once a year, but in the meantime they have gatherings at random locations and do a bunch of weird nonsense. What would be the chances that they would have one of these events at Mike Fey’s house on THE day I go to Malibu? Seemed like he was making stuff up to scare me. Then we arrived.
Strange people were doing strange things all over the property. There were dudes dressed up like Ninja Geiden, women hoola hooping around their necks, multiple DJ’s spinning trippy acid music, and random Yanni look-a-like’s running around preying and being naked. Honestly I was quite frightened.
So hours later, after the fear subsided, we were on our way to get some food. We had heard through the grapevine that one of the people there was named “Starburst.” It quickly became a quick mission of ours to discover who it was.
It didn’t take long to discover Starburst. I saw a woman standing by the rock bed. I yelled the name Starburst and she turned around. I then whipped out my camera and asked her some questions. You’re about to see that video.
Check out the people who pass by and REALLY check out the Asian dude and what he says. It’s downright epic.
Compete or Get Urinated On: A True Story
July/21/2009 10:09 PM
Every year, former Cal Wide Receiver Chase Lyman holds a series of competitions at his house on one day in the last weekend in June. These competitions range from Quarterback Challenge to Darts to Bocce Ball to Home Run Derby. These events are called the “Lyma Bean Olympics.”
This past OLYMPICS, I went down there to compete against Prelle, Richard Midgley, Mike McGrath, Tosh Lupoi, Conor Famulenor, and others. I did pretty poorly, but this story isn’t about me, it’s about Prelle and Mike.
I guess Mike has always performed pretty poorly at these events and Prelle has always done pretty well. So to spice things up a little bit they made a bet. They made it a little uneven given Mike’s performances in the past, but still, the difference was miniscule. The bet was that if Mike had a higher score at the end of the competitions, he would get to Pee on Prelle’s Chest. If Prelle won, he would get to Pee on Mike’s back. So it was written, so it shall be done.

We used aliases for everyone, but since Mike is balding, he’s on the board as “Rogaine.” Prelle is “The Nose.” As you can see, going into the final event they were all tied up. All that was left to establish a champion was pool. They would play each other to see who would get the golden shower.

Right before the final match
The pool game came down to the last couple of shots. What you’re about to see is video of those last few shots and what ensued. Be advised that there is no actual pee in this video, but that there is quite a bit of profanity because I didnt want to spend hours editing every cuss word they throw out.
This past OLYMPICS, I went down there to compete against Prelle, Richard Midgley, Mike McGrath, Tosh Lupoi, Conor Famulenor, and others. I did pretty poorly, but this story isn’t about me, it’s about Prelle and Mike.
I guess Mike has always performed pretty poorly at these events and Prelle has always done pretty well. So to spice things up a little bit they made a bet. They made it a little uneven given Mike’s performances in the past, but still, the difference was miniscule. The bet was that if Mike had a higher score at the end of the competitions, he would get to Pee on Prelle’s Chest. If Prelle won, he would get to Pee on Mike’s back. So it was written, so it shall be done.

We used aliases for everyone, but since Mike is balding, he’s on the board as “Rogaine.” Prelle is “The Nose.” As you can see, going into the final event they were all tied up. All that was left to establish a champion was pool. They would play each other to see who would get the golden shower.

Right before the final match
The pool game came down to the last couple of shots. What you’re about to see is video of those last few shots and what ensued. Be advised that there is no actual pee in this video, but that there is quite a bit of profanity because I didnt want to spend hours editing every cuss word they throw out.
Where Have I Been?
July/21/2009 10:07 PM
This is What Happens When You Forget What You've Done
June/16/2009 07:55 PM
So I was at my girlfriends apartment in San Francisco one afternoon and she had to leave the house to go to work or something. The problem with this was that her roommate absolutely despises my presence, and hates when I’m around without her. She once since my girl a text message reading: “What about ‘I don’t want Rod here when you’re not here’ do you not understand?” -- cold-blooded to say the least.
Anyways, I decided to stay and take a nap despite the fact that her roommate was home. My girl warned me to stay in the room with the door closed until I left and to not make much noise so that I wouldn’t get her in trouble. I agreed and fell asleep.
I woke up a few hours later and could hear her roommate rumbling the next room. Damn. I would have to put my headphones on and watch a movie on my computer so as to not make a peep. I laid there for quite some time and her roommate kept rumbling in her own room now, with the door open so that if I left the room I was in, I would be seen for sure. Damn.
After another hour or so of hiding in the bedroom, the urge to drain the main vein hit me like a ton of bricks. What was I to do? I couldn’t leave the room, not yet at least. I didn’t have many options. It’s not like I could piss out the window from the fourth floor of a San Francisco building onto a busy street. As time wore on, I tried to hold it, but it became unbearable.
I started to panic. This was gonna be all bad unless I found a solution soon. I have always believed that being able to hold it is mental, meaning you can hold it all day long, but as soon as you get near a toilet, it becomes impossible and you start jumping around like the counter finally hit zero. With that in mind you should always be able to remain composed as long as you keep the mental focus. My mental focus is very strong, but I feel like the fact that the bathroom was seven feet away eroded my mental ability to withstand the pressure. It seemed too close to hold out. I was torturing myself.
Finally, when my bladder countdown turned from minutes to seconds, I made a play. I ran over to what used to be a glass of water and was now empty, stood over it, unzipped, and did my deal. It felt great, truly great.
As soon as I was done, a full glass nearly to the brim, by the way, I said to myself: “Don’t forget to dispose of this glass before you leave.” Can’t just leave piss lying around these days, you know?
Later that day I was walking with my boy Prelle. We had just gotten some Jamba Juice in the marina and were headed to grab some real food somewhere in the area. My phone buzzed. It was a BBM from my girlfriend.
“Is that Urine in a glass on my desk?”
I froze. I yelled. I laughed. I worried, Prelle looked at me like I had gone crazy. He asked me what I was reacting to. I first set up the backstory, then I showed him the BBM.
“Wait, wait, wait. This is the greatest question ever. It has like three parts, each worse than the part before. Is that Urine? In a glass? On my desk?” He exclaimed.
He then spent the rest of the day repeating that same statement. As for my girl, she didn’t even get mad at me. In fact, she said that she at first thought it was apple juice and leaned in for a sniff, getting a little of Benson’s Own on her nose. Even I was grossed out by that. It just made her angry at her roommate, who was such a tyrant that I didn’t feel comfortable walking the seven feet to the real bathroom.
I guess I’ve learned my lesson. If I’m gonna piss in a glass, I need to leave a note saying that it isn’t Martinelli’s, it’s Rod’s.
Anyways, I decided to stay and take a nap despite the fact that her roommate was home. My girl warned me to stay in the room with the door closed until I left and to not make much noise so that I wouldn’t get her in trouble. I agreed and fell asleep.
I woke up a few hours later and could hear her roommate rumbling the next room. Damn. I would have to put my headphones on and watch a movie on my computer so as to not make a peep. I laid there for quite some time and her roommate kept rumbling in her own room now, with the door open so that if I left the room I was in, I would be seen for sure. Damn.
After another hour or so of hiding in the bedroom, the urge to drain the main vein hit me like a ton of bricks. What was I to do? I couldn’t leave the room, not yet at least. I didn’t have many options. It’s not like I could piss out the window from the fourth floor of a San Francisco building onto a busy street. As time wore on, I tried to hold it, but it became unbearable.
I started to panic. This was gonna be all bad unless I found a solution soon. I have always believed that being able to hold it is mental, meaning you can hold it all day long, but as soon as you get near a toilet, it becomes impossible and you start jumping around like the counter finally hit zero. With that in mind you should always be able to remain composed as long as you keep the mental focus. My mental focus is very strong, but I feel like the fact that the bathroom was seven feet away eroded my mental ability to withstand the pressure. It seemed too close to hold out. I was torturing myself.
Finally, when my bladder countdown turned from minutes to seconds, I made a play. I ran over to what used to be a glass of water and was now empty, stood over it, unzipped, and did my deal. It felt great, truly great.
As soon as I was done, a full glass nearly to the brim, by the way, I said to myself: “Don’t forget to dispose of this glass before you leave.” Can’t just leave piss lying around these days, you know?
Later that day I was walking with my boy Prelle. We had just gotten some Jamba Juice in the marina and were headed to grab some real food somewhere in the area. My phone buzzed. It was a BBM from my girlfriend.
“Is that Urine in a glass on my desk?”
I froze. I yelled. I laughed. I worried, Prelle looked at me like I had gone crazy. He asked me what I was reacting to. I first set up the backstory, then I showed him the BBM.
“Wait, wait, wait. This is the greatest question ever. It has like three parts, each worse than the part before. Is that Urine? In a glass? On my desk?” He exclaimed.
He then spent the rest of the day repeating that same statement. As for my girl, she didn’t even get mad at me. In fact, she said that she at first thought it was apple juice and leaned in for a sniff, getting a little of Benson’s Own on her nose. Even I was grossed out by that. It just made her angry at her roommate, who was such a tyrant that I didn’t feel comfortable walking the seven feet to the real bathroom.
I guess I’ve learned my lesson. If I’m gonna piss in a glass, I need to leave a note saying that it isn’t Martinelli’s, it’s Rod’s.
Randy Goes For His Own Manage
June/14/2009 02:29 PM
As it so happens, “Jimmy” wasn’t the only one to try for the 3 of a kind. A few weeks later, “Randy” had his own encounter. Once again, Randy is not his real name, it’s been changed to protect the guilty, as have all the names in the following story.
So one day Randy was telling me about how he doesn’t like to talk about potential good things in his life because he always jinxes them. It was an odd conversation to have with him. It seemed rather pointless.
I asked him why this was at all relevant. He explained that he would tell me because there were a couple of other people who knew what the deal was already.
Randy showed me a BBM conversation that he had had with a girl he has been talking to. She had asked him something about what he would want to do for fun. I can’t remember the exact words, but somehow a Manage came up. Expecting to read that she denied the idea quickly, she actually embraced it.
I looked up at Randy with a grin. It would appear that the improbably was now possible for him and I got excited as if it were me. I would now do anything in my power to coddle such a situation.
The situation developed over the next few days. The girl, we’ll call her “Stacy”, recruited a friend to participate. We’ll call the friend “Monica.” So Stacy found Monica and told her about the deal. Monica agreed and it looked like ol’ Randy was good to go. He consulted me on the situation.
He didn’t know if he should get a hotel room or whatever. I told him that of course he should. It would only add to the comfort level. Meanwhile, he was getting dirty texts from the girls about what they were going to do to him. He was riding high on a wave of emotion.
Finally the day came. He got a hotel room right across from the club that we were going to go to that night. The situation was primed and ready.
The girls met up with him after dinner so that they could pre-party at the hotel. Now they were all drinking in the hotel and Randy was sending me the updates via BBM. It all seemed like it was good to go. He said that he was taking very awesome pictures of Stacy and Monica making out. He said that clothing may or may not have been a factor during the pictures. It sounded pretty damn official.
Me, my girl, and the rest of the crew, met up with Randy and his women at the club and the three of them were dancing with each other. I pulled Randy aside and asked him what the progress was. He told me that Stacy was beginning to have reservations, but that Monica was all for it. I told him to get more liquor and do his deal.
See, our whole crew knew the story at this point and we were all pulling for him. We watched his every move. We watched as he gave both girls a fair amount of attention. We watched him do the normally very innocent “dance in-between two women” move, that now meant so much more. He was actually attempting to keep two separate women stimulated for hours. It was quite entertaining. I left him at about 1am. Randy was now on his own to handle the situation.
The next day I called Randy to see if it all went down. He told me that when he got back to the room, Monica was ready to go. The problem was that Stacy, the one who initiated the whole thing, now had cold feet about her friend possibly gettin down with Randy and put the brakes on the whole thing. Monica, tired of waiting, left the hotel room to go meet up with her boyfriend for some sweet lovin, while Randy and Stacy passed out.
He was so close, but yet so far away. Now my friends are 0-2 in the summer of ’09. There’s still plenty of time to get it done, though.
So one day Randy was telling me about how he doesn’t like to talk about potential good things in his life because he always jinxes them. It was an odd conversation to have with him. It seemed rather pointless.
I asked him why this was at all relevant. He explained that he would tell me because there were a couple of other people who knew what the deal was already.
Randy showed me a BBM conversation that he had had with a girl he has been talking to. She had asked him something about what he would want to do for fun. I can’t remember the exact words, but somehow a Manage came up. Expecting to read that she denied the idea quickly, she actually embraced it.
I looked up at Randy with a grin. It would appear that the improbably was now possible for him and I got excited as if it were me. I would now do anything in my power to coddle such a situation.
The situation developed over the next few days. The girl, we’ll call her “Stacy”, recruited a friend to participate. We’ll call the friend “Monica.” So Stacy found Monica and told her about the deal. Monica agreed and it looked like ol’ Randy was good to go. He consulted me on the situation.
He didn’t know if he should get a hotel room or whatever. I told him that of course he should. It would only add to the comfort level. Meanwhile, he was getting dirty texts from the girls about what they were going to do to him. He was riding high on a wave of emotion.
Finally the day came. He got a hotel room right across from the club that we were going to go to that night. The situation was primed and ready.
The girls met up with him after dinner so that they could pre-party at the hotel. Now they were all drinking in the hotel and Randy was sending me the updates via BBM. It all seemed like it was good to go. He said that he was taking very awesome pictures of Stacy and Monica making out. He said that clothing may or may not have been a factor during the pictures. It sounded pretty damn official.
Me, my girl, and the rest of the crew, met up with Randy and his women at the club and the three of them were dancing with each other. I pulled Randy aside and asked him what the progress was. He told me that Stacy was beginning to have reservations, but that Monica was all for it. I told him to get more liquor and do his deal.
See, our whole crew knew the story at this point and we were all pulling for him. We watched his every move. We watched as he gave both girls a fair amount of attention. We watched him do the normally very innocent “dance in-between two women” move, that now meant so much more. He was actually attempting to keep two separate women stimulated for hours. It was quite entertaining. I left him at about 1am. Randy was now on his own to handle the situation.
The next day I called Randy to see if it all went down. He told me that when he got back to the room, Monica was ready to go. The problem was that Stacy, the one who initiated the whole thing, now had cold feet about her friend possibly gettin down with Randy and put the brakes on the whole thing. Monica, tired of waiting, left the hotel room to go meet up with her boyfriend for some sweet lovin, while Randy and Stacy passed out.
He was so close, but yet so far away. Now my friends are 0-2 in the summer of ’09. There’s still plenty of time to get it done, though.
Jimmy Goes For the Manage
June/14/2009 09:56 AM
All of the parties in the following stories chose to remain anonymous, of course, so I’ve changed the names to protect the guilty.
We were in Vegas staying at the Venetian about a month ago. After going out the night before, I was the first one up in the morning the next day. It was about 11am and I knew that it would take a while to rally the troops. So I got fully dressed in my pool garb, grabbed my Ipod Dock (Bose. Very loud.) and went room to room, blasting Techno until everyone was up and ready.
We made it down to the pool at about 1, finally, and started gettin it crackin. We didn’t head into TAO Beach right away. We like to get our swerve on at the regular pool first, using the Ipod speakers to have our own party.
Once we were done doin our thing, we went into TAO Beach to take it to the next level. I’m not sure if you’ve ever been to TAO Beach, but I can tell you it’s small, loud, and ridiculous. When we entered, I immediately lost one of my boys. You would think it would be tough to lose somebody at a pool the size of a Texaco, but I couldn’t find him.
The thing about this boy of mine, I’ll call him “Jimmy,” is that he almost exclusively dates Asian women. It’s just his thing. We all know this and that’s why he and I have never clashed on the female front. We have very different tastes.
Anyways, after about an hours, Jimmy comes splashing into the pool with two women who fit his target demographic. He’s clearly all over one as he has her up against the wall of the pool, grinding to the sweet tunes pumping over all the patrons that afternoon.
I was happy for Jimmy, because he is just now gettin his college mojo back that he let slip away over the last year. So when I saw him with his tongue now down the girl’s throat. It was damn near magical. Many photos were taken that afternoon and I would like to say that half of them were borderline Cinemax: After Dark.
After the party was over, I headed back to my room with my roommate “Chris.” I was hella tired from a whole day of partying and needed a nap. Chris left the room and I got in bed. It was then that I started getting BBM’s from Jimmy.
“Man why is everybody actin gay?”
“#$*% these chicks aint dimes, but come on punanny punanny.”
I interrupted him.
“What are you talkin bout Jim? I have no clue,” I asked.
“It’s official, I’m off ‘Randy,’ and ‘Gary.’ All I need is a F#$%@$ wingman and they’re actin like they don’t like punanny,” he said.
Right then, Chris walked into the room laughing. I asked him if he was laughing at Jimmy’s situation and he said that he was. See, I know the Chris would handle business in that situation so I was actually more wondering why he didn’t lock and load into WIngman mode.
“Hold up Chris,” I interrupted his laughter, “WTF is goin on over in Jimmy’s room?”
Chris is a very technical talker. He’s probably as Spock-like as a man can be.
“Basically the situation is this: Jimmy brought the woman and her friend from TAO Beach back to his hotel room. They are currently in his bed, completely inebriated. Jimmy is trying to have sex with his girl, but her friend is hating. Jimmy is trying to put the other girl onto Randy or Gary, both of whom don’t want her.”
Chris’ voice was like that of a narrator.
“So,” I started, “you didn’t want to get on drunk girl #2?”
“Well,” he answered, “I tried to help Jimmy out, but they only wanted black guys.”
Chris is Jewish. He was the only non-black guy on our trip.
“Damn son. Cold blooded. Why doesn’t Jimmy go for the Manage? If they are that drunk... I mean it IS Vegas,” I asked.
From what I was told later on, the girls made many attempts to leave, but Jimmy did his best to keep them there. They had a long meeting in the bathroom of his room and he took the opportunity to call me and voice his concern.
He told me that they weren’t down for the manage. He then spent 5 minutes saying how much he hated all his boys for not taking the other girl, leaving him punanny-less.
If there was one moral to this otherwise moral-less story it’s this: Find a girl who likes Jewish guys. The end.
We were in Vegas staying at the Venetian about a month ago. After going out the night before, I was the first one up in the morning the next day. It was about 11am and I knew that it would take a while to rally the troops. So I got fully dressed in my pool garb, grabbed my Ipod Dock (Bose. Very loud.) and went room to room, blasting Techno until everyone was up and ready.
We made it down to the pool at about 1, finally, and started gettin it crackin. We didn’t head into TAO Beach right away. We like to get our swerve on at the regular pool first, using the Ipod speakers to have our own party.
Once we were done doin our thing, we went into TAO Beach to take it to the next level. I’m not sure if you’ve ever been to TAO Beach, but I can tell you it’s small, loud, and ridiculous. When we entered, I immediately lost one of my boys. You would think it would be tough to lose somebody at a pool the size of a Texaco, but I couldn’t find him.
The thing about this boy of mine, I’ll call him “Jimmy,” is that he almost exclusively dates Asian women. It’s just his thing. We all know this and that’s why he and I have never clashed on the female front. We have very different tastes.
Anyways, after about an hours, Jimmy comes splashing into the pool with two women who fit his target demographic. He’s clearly all over one as he has her up against the wall of the pool, grinding to the sweet tunes pumping over all the patrons that afternoon.
I was happy for Jimmy, because he is just now gettin his college mojo back that he let slip away over the last year. So when I saw him with his tongue now down the girl’s throat. It was damn near magical. Many photos were taken that afternoon and I would like to say that half of them were borderline Cinemax: After Dark.
After the party was over, I headed back to my room with my roommate “Chris.” I was hella tired from a whole day of partying and needed a nap. Chris left the room and I got in bed. It was then that I started getting BBM’s from Jimmy.
“Man why is everybody actin gay?”
“#$*% these chicks aint dimes, but come on punanny punanny.”
I interrupted him.
“What are you talkin bout Jim? I have no clue,” I asked.
“It’s official, I’m off ‘Randy,’ and ‘Gary.’ All I need is a F#$%@$ wingman and they’re actin like they don’t like punanny,” he said.
Right then, Chris walked into the room laughing. I asked him if he was laughing at Jimmy’s situation and he said that he was. See, I know the Chris would handle business in that situation so I was actually more wondering why he didn’t lock and load into WIngman mode.
“Hold up Chris,” I interrupted his laughter, “WTF is goin on over in Jimmy’s room?”
Chris is a very technical talker. He’s probably as Spock-like as a man can be.
“Basically the situation is this: Jimmy brought the woman and her friend from TAO Beach back to his hotel room. They are currently in his bed, completely inebriated. Jimmy is trying to have sex with his girl, but her friend is hating. Jimmy is trying to put the other girl onto Randy or Gary, both of whom don’t want her.”
Chris’ voice was like that of a narrator.
“So,” I started, “you didn’t want to get on drunk girl #2?”
“Well,” he answered, “I tried to help Jimmy out, but they only wanted black guys.”
Chris is Jewish. He was the only non-black guy on our trip.
“Damn son. Cold blooded. Why doesn’t Jimmy go for the Manage? If they are that drunk... I mean it IS Vegas,” I asked.
From what I was told later on, the girls made many attempts to leave, but Jimmy did his best to keep them there. They had a long meeting in the bathroom of his room and he took the opportunity to call me and voice his concern.
He told me that they weren’t down for the manage. He then spent 5 minutes saying how much he hated all his boys for not taking the other girl, leaving him punanny-less.
If there was one moral to this otherwise moral-less story it’s this: Find a girl who likes Jewish guys. The end.
I Must Protect the 7'3" Polish Guy!
April/02/2009 04:25 PM
Have you ever seen the movie “Can’t Hardly Wait”? I have many times. When I was a high schooler, our basketball team room had a pretty nice TV, couches, and a VCR. The problem was that there were only two movies in there. For no good reason whatsoever, one of these movies was Master P’s masterpiece: “I Got The Hookup.” The other was “Can’t Hardly Wait.” I digress.
In “Can’t Hardly Wait,” there’s a scene where the kids make the foreigner say things like “would you like to touch my...” you can finish the sentence. Anyways, that character kind of embodies my Polish teammate Cezary Trybanski. He actually speaks English pretty well, but there are times when he just doesn’t know when he’s being taken advantage of.
This story starts and ends with what happened the other night. We were out at some bar around the corner just talking and listening to this blues musician. One of my teammates is on the other side of the bar chillin, and Cezary is sitting next to some guy with a beard. It looks like they’re talking. A few minutes later, Cezary walks up to me.
“Can you come to tell me what he says?” He asks me.
“What are you talkin bout C?” I ask him right back.
“This guy, I don’t understand him. Find out what he says to me.”
I walk over with Cezary to this new friend. Cezary sits down again while I lean in.
“What are you talkin about? My teammate can’t understand you,” I yell to this guy over the music.
In a ridiculously raspy voice, like a Ken Kaniff from Connecticut type voice, he says:
“What are you guys doing?”
It was clear why Cezary couldn’t understand him. His voice was just do funny and raspy.
“We’re here chillin. That’s obvious,” I say to the creepy voiced guy.
“What are you guys doin later?” he asks me again.
I’m thinkin he knows about some sort of after party or something.
“I dunno man. We ain’t sure yet.”
“Do you guys wanna get in a hot tub with me?”
I thought I misheard him in a bad way.
“What!?!” I yell out even louder than before.
“I said do you guys wanna get in a hot tub with meeee?”
“HAIL NO!”
I grab Cezary and start to walk him away.
“Wait man, you don’t know what I’d do to you man. For real I’d s...”
The guy started a sentence I didn’t need to hear the end of. I took off running, Cezary right there with me until we were on the other side of the bar. RIght then, as if he had teleported over, the guy was right behind us.
“April fools, man. April fools, man,” he was yelling at us in his raspy, nasty Ken Kaniff voice.
I told him to step off. I didn’t believe him. It wasn’t even April Fools day, for one. Secondly, you cant run an April Fools joke on someone who doesn’t speak English. Whatever. Moral of the story is that I now have to watch over the Polish guy so that nobody takes advantage of him.
Whip Game Proper
April/02/2009 04:17 PM
Since photo’s of my car were already leaked on ridiculousupside.com (via my Facebook), I figured I’d do it right and show you how I’m rollin. It’s gonna be a great summer, baby! Oh yea, and my custom license plates will be here in a few weeks. If you can’t guess the 7 letter phrase that will be on my plates, then you REALLY don’t know me at all.












How to Lose a Pillow Fight
March/13/2009 12:14 PM
Clay and I attended the big pillow fight in San Francisco during the D-League all star break. I was dominating everyone all day using my overhead beatdown method. It also led to multiple people trying to jump me and take me out. The following video is of my final confrontation. It left me feeling slightly concussed and with a skinned nose and forehead.
How to lose a pillow fight:
How to lose a pillow fight:
Boom Tho Girl 2
February/25/2009 01:36 PM
The New Boom
February/02/2009 10:38 PM
In the next month, I’ll be dropping my first set of videos for 2009. Starting with “Boom Tho Girl 2,” I’ll then do my Dance Off video and “The Rockumentary 2,” among others. In these videos I’ll be wearing the new shirts featuring new designs that I feel are ridiculously boom tho. They’re all on the “Gear” page, but I’ll post them here too so you can see.
Keep rockin the movement!




The detail for the above shirt:

Keep rockin the movement!




The detail for the above shirt:

I Don't do "Dress Code"
January/23/2009 05:16 PM
The day of the Emerald Bowl, Cal’s bowl game against Miami, all of my friends and I had grand plans for the day. We were going to wake up early, buy our tickets, support the bears, etc. The game started at 5pm so we figured we would head down to Momo’s at around noon to meet up with Prelle, Conor, and Chase for a full afternoon of tailgating.
At around 3PM, I finally made it over to Clay’s house and he was still asleep. So much for those plans. Grabbed some food and some drinks and decided to meet up with JGant who was at Dayo’s apartment (try to keep up) which was right by Momo’s which was where the other guys had been all day.
As we got dressed to get ready to leave, Clay put on his Cal sweatshirt and some jeans and whatever, figuring that he would come back to his apt before he went out later that night. I put on my New Jersey Nets sweats (I wear em all the time), a boom tho shirt, and my trusty Stewie Griffin slippers. When Clay questioned the slippers I, under the influence of some pre-tailgating, told him that I would not, under any circumstance, go anywhere or do anything else for the rest of the night WITHOUT my Stewie Slippers. Of course he had more questions and concerns, mainly regarding our after-party choices and the dress codes that coincide. (I also had on my favorite beanie -- not dress code friendly:

)
I told Clay that I knew the risks and that I didn’t care. He then said a statement that made me believe in myself even more.
“Well,” he admitted, “if anyone can pull it off, you can.”
We hopped a cab and headed down to meet JGant. He and seven other people were inside of Dayo’s apartment, while Dayo was at the game. That still makes no sense to me.
Everyone immediately questioned the shirt, then the beanie, then the slippers. I knew it was about to be a glorious evening. The tailgate was really no tailgate at al. It was just us watching the Cal domination from Dayo’s living room.
Towards the end of the game, it was time to head to Momo’s to meet the rest of the guys. It would be the Stewie slippers’ first test. Could I get into a decent restaurant/bar dressed like a comedian who was ready for bed? We were about to find out.
I walked right up to the bouncer, who didn’t notice my slips, dapped him up, and walked in. JGant and Clay seemed a bit shocked, but it wasn’t like Momo’s had a dress code, so they rolled with it.
After a few hours there, partying it up, I spotted my boys from EA Sports. Gary wanted to go to some other bar and meet up with some people in north beach, so I left with him to head over there and party some more. I got into that bar with no issues either. It was beginning to seem like I might be able to keep this streak alive all night and party w Stewie slippers on like I had vowed to earlier that afternoon.
When Gary called it a night, it was about 10:30PM. I was out by Clayton’s house, but Clayton was at Fluid with JGant and Cedric. It was now officially time to see if I was indeed the one who could “pull it off.” What you need to understand is that everywhere I went that day, people immediately noticed the slippers and were LOVING them. So theyweren’t exactly inconspicuous. The were actually a conversation starter (and the beanie) whenever I bumped into someone I didn’t know. You also need to understand that fluid is a real club with a real dress code, a line, and MANY bouncers, who have shut me down for wearing a hat before. It was about to get interesting.
I stepped out of the cab in front of Fluid. The line was average size, but I never wait in line there anyway (Ha, trust me, I’m not big time). I usually talk to my boy Big Matt out front and he lets me right in. I didn’t see Matt that night, but I did see the other guy who claims he can dunk on me, but usually lets me right in as well.
I walk up behind a group of people who have just paid for VIP bottle service. When I say behind, I mean RIGHT behind them. I actually went up so close, that there was no way my feet could be seen. My face, however, was easily visible, and the bouncer said I was cool to go in -- as long as I took the beanie off. Deal. I loitered a bit so that I could stay amongst the group and hide my feet.
When we all got in, they went right and I went left and found my boys. Clay couldn’t believe it. Heck, I couldn’t believe it. I was wearing big, floppy, red and yellow Family Guy slippers, blue sweats with 3 stripes all the way down the side, and a boom tho shirt inside of my favorite club. There was only one thing left to do: dance.
Clay and I went on an incredible dancing tear. Due to the super long “pre-party,” the whole thing is a little fuzzy in my mind, but the memory of fun remains very clear. Like all good things, however, it had to come to an end.
Clay told me that someone was hating, but I couldn’t see who, and I didn’t care. I was enjoying myself too much. All of a sudden, a VIP hostess and a bouncer were all up in my grill. My night in fluid was done. I had no regrets. It was my time to leave. Clay came right on with me as we re-grouped and made plans about our next spot. We would see the VIP hostess again a few days later at the Starlight Room and she informed us that the guys in her section got angry when they saw my slippers, because one of their boys wasn’t allowed in due to his faulty shoe game. Fair enough I guess.
We decided to head over to the marina and try our luck there. The marina is a place where there are a lot of bars without specific dress code rules, so we figured we would be alright. We headed over to Circa, which wasn’t the smartest move because they have a dress code and multiple bouncers outside. The line was also very, very long. The only reason we went is because I had some very strong persuasion by a member of the opposite sex.
So here we are, standing outside trying to strategize a way inside without waiting in line and without allowing them to notice my slippers. After strategizing for about 15 minutes, the girls came out and talked to the bouncer. Clutch play. We got right in, but with the condition that I had to take the beanie off again. Grrr. Still, there was no mention of the slippers, so once again there was a slippers, so I was still batting 1,000 for the night.
Clay and I kept dancing until it was time to go. If there was one downside about wearing the slippers it was that people kept wanting to step on them to see how puffy they were, or kick Stewie in the face, or put their high heels in his eye. I don’t understand what prompted that response, but I assume it was 75% alcohol related and 25% not knowing how to react to seeing someone wear those out on a random Saturday night.
Regardless, I had done the seemingly impossible. I had worn an outfit completely against all dress code rules from 3PM until 3AM. 12 hours of strict boom-tho-ness. I guess it’s true, if anyone could pull it off, it would be me.
At around 3PM, I finally made it over to Clay’s house and he was still asleep. So much for those plans. Grabbed some food and some drinks and decided to meet up with JGant who was at Dayo’s apartment (try to keep up) which was right by Momo’s which was where the other guys had been all day.
As we got dressed to get ready to leave, Clay put on his Cal sweatshirt and some jeans and whatever, figuring that he would come back to his apt before he went out later that night. I put on my New Jersey Nets sweats (I wear em all the time), a boom tho shirt, and my trusty Stewie Griffin slippers. When Clay questioned the slippers I, under the influence of some pre-tailgating, told him that I would not, under any circumstance, go anywhere or do anything else for the rest of the night WITHOUT my Stewie Slippers. Of course he had more questions and concerns, mainly regarding our after-party choices and the dress codes that coincide. (I also had on my favorite beanie -- not dress code friendly:

)
I told Clay that I knew the risks and that I didn’t care. He then said a statement that made me believe in myself even more.
“Well,” he admitted, “if anyone can pull it off, you can.”
We hopped a cab and headed down to meet JGant. He and seven other people were inside of Dayo’s apartment, while Dayo was at the game. That still makes no sense to me.
Everyone immediately questioned the shirt, then the beanie, then the slippers. I knew it was about to be a glorious evening. The tailgate was really no tailgate at al. It was just us watching the Cal domination from Dayo’s living room.
Towards the end of the game, it was time to head to Momo’s to meet the rest of the guys. It would be the Stewie slippers’ first test. Could I get into a decent restaurant/bar dressed like a comedian who was ready for bed? We were about to find out.
I walked right up to the bouncer, who didn’t notice my slips, dapped him up, and walked in. JGant and Clay seemed a bit shocked, but it wasn’t like Momo’s had a dress code, so they rolled with it.
After a few hours there, partying it up, I spotted my boys from EA Sports. Gary wanted to go to some other bar and meet up with some people in north beach, so I left with him to head over there and party some more. I got into that bar with no issues either. It was beginning to seem like I might be able to keep this streak alive all night and party w Stewie slippers on like I had vowed to earlier that afternoon.
When Gary called it a night, it was about 10:30PM. I was out by Clayton’s house, but Clayton was at Fluid with JGant and Cedric. It was now officially time to see if I was indeed the one who could “pull it off.” What you need to understand is that everywhere I went that day, people immediately noticed the slippers and were LOVING them. So theyweren’t exactly inconspicuous. The were actually a conversation starter (and the beanie) whenever I bumped into someone I didn’t know. You also need to understand that fluid is a real club with a real dress code, a line, and MANY bouncers, who have shut me down for wearing a hat before. It was about to get interesting.
I stepped out of the cab in front of Fluid. The line was average size, but I never wait in line there anyway (Ha, trust me, I’m not big time). I usually talk to my boy Big Matt out front and he lets me right in. I didn’t see Matt that night, but I did see the other guy who claims he can dunk on me, but usually lets me right in as well.
I walk up behind a group of people who have just paid for VIP bottle service. When I say behind, I mean RIGHT behind them. I actually went up so close, that there was no way my feet could be seen. My face, however, was easily visible, and the bouncer said I was cool to go in -- as long as I took the beanie off. Deal. I loitered a bit so that I could stay amongst the group and hide my feet.
When we all got in, they went right and I went left and found my boys. Clay couldn’t believe it. Heck, I couldn’t believe it. I was wearing big, floppy, red and yellow Family Guy slippers, blue sweats with 3 stripes all the way down the side, and a boom tho shirt inside of my favorite club. There was only one thing left to do: dance.
Clay and I went on an incredible dancing tear. Due to the super long “pre-party,” the whole thing is a little fuzzy in my mind, but the memory of fun remains very clear. Like all good things, however, it had to come to an end.
Clay told me that someone was hating, but I couldn’t see who, and I didn’t care. I was enjoying myself too much. All of a sudden, a VIP hostess and a bouncer were all up in my grill. My night in fluid was done. I had no regrets. It was my time to leave. Clay came right on with me as we re-grouped and made plans about our next spot. We would see the VIP hostess again a few days later at the Starlight Room and she informed us that the guys in her section got angry when they saw my slippers, because one of their boys wasn’t allowed in due to his faulty shoe game. Fair enough I guess.
We decided to head over to the marina and try our luck there. The marina is a place where there are a lot of bars without specific dress code rules, so we figured we would be alright. We headed over to Circa, which wasn’t the smartest move because they have a dress code and multiple bouncers outside. The line was also very, very long. The only reason we went is because I had some very strong persuasion by a member of the opposite sex.
So here we are, standing outside trying to strategize a way inside without waiting in line and without allowing them to notice my slippers. After strategizing for about 15 minutes, the girls came out and talked to the bouncer. Clutch play. We got right in, but with the condition that I had to take the beanie off again. Grrr. Still, there was no mention of the slippers, so once again there was a slippers, so I was still batting 1,000 for the night.
Clay and I kept dancing until it was time to go. If there was one downside about wearing the slippers it was that people kept wanting to step on them to see how puffy they were, or kick Stewie in the face, or put their high heels in his eye. I don’t understand what prompted that response, but I assume it was 75% alcohol related and 25% not knowing how to react to seeing someone wear those out on a random Saturday night.
Regardless, I had done the seemingly impossible. I had worn an outfit completely against all dress code rules from 3PM until 3AM. 12 hours of strict boom-tho-ness. I guess it’s true, if anyone could pull it off, it would be me.
Don't Urinate on the Stock Room Floor!
January/13/2009 08:00 PM
On the Monday before Christmas, I was in San Francisco chillin with my boy Clay. He wanted to go check out a bar in the Marina called “Gravity.” So, I rolled with him down the this bar and it had a huge line that the bouncers were holding (effin bouncers holding effin lines). I hate when that happens, so I suggested we go next door to Jones and wait there until the line died down or until they started letting people in.
We walked into Jones and sat down and there was just the bartender and a couple of girls at the bar. Clay’s a lightweight, so it didnt take much more than a couple Patron shots and a mixed drink to get him feeling frisky right off the bat.
We were enjoying ourselves and our impromptu pre-party when a group of five young women walked in and sat at the bar also. Now it’s me, Clay, and seven women at this bar. That’s when the fun started.
Clay has a BIG thing for Asian women and one of the girls just happened to be Asian, so he was zoned in. I started watching Clay, who was staring down the Asian girl, who was too drunk to comprehend anything at all.
To be honest, her whole crew was RIDICULOUSLY drunk. I couldn’t tell immediately, but Clay must have had his drunk-dar on high reception, because he seemed to hone in on the group and their actions. He was watching as they climbed over the bar and made their own drinks. He was watching when they fell out of their stools and chairs, laughing the way that drunk college girls tend to laugh when even they realize how drunk they are.
All of a sudden, Clay made his move. He yelled out, to all seven women at once: “who wants to do body shots?!”
I, personally, thought he was being ridiculous and that they would call both of us creepers since we were the only two men in there. Instead they started cheering. Clay started to unbutton his shirt as he stood up. I couldn’t believe it was really going to go down like this. In fact, all the girls were cheering on the Asian girl to let Clay take the body shots off of her. She was a little hesitant though and took her sweet time deciding if she wanted to go through with it. All the while, Clay was looking around, shirt unbuttoned, asking people “so, are we gonna do this or what?”
After about ten minutes of what basically amounted to the girl getting even more drunk, drunk enough to have no control over her decisions, she agreed to let Clayton take his body shot. With all her girls cheering, she laid down on the bar. Clay was handed a cup full of Patron (yea, a cup, not a shot) from which he then poured a small amount onto her stomach. He leaned in and hit the shot. Someone then shouted “do another one,” so he did. The girl didn’t move or seem to care, so he went on to do six more. The whole scene was pretty ridiculous.
Clay sat back down next to me (I hadn’t moved) and let the alcohol sit it. He was now drunk. The girls were still doing shots and getting more drunk. I was laughing at everyone and everything because it was quite funny. Seriously, the girl to my left started singing “Silent Night.” Like REALLY singing it like she was in the choir. The girl to her left started talking to Clay. Although I didn’t catch much, I did catch a phone number exchange and I SWEAR she said (cover your eyes if you don’t like Rated R): “c*m on my face!” I still have no clue as to why. I was the only sober person in the building besides the bartender.
All of a sudden, Clay gets down on the ground and starts ding push-ups. I gave him a look that said: “you gotta be kidding me,” but it was pretty funny. It got funnier when all the girls got down on the floor and they had a push-up contest. I guess alcohol gave them all extra chest muscle or something, because the all did upwards of 30 push-ups each.
They were still debating who did the most push-ups when somebody yelled out “hey! Everybody get the f*^k out! Bar’s closed!”
It was the bartender, and he had the asian girl thrown over his shoulder like a wet beach towel. I didn’t even notice she was gone from her friends who were doing push ups and arguing for the past 20 minutes. Everyone then turns and looks at the bartender, who is livid.
“Everyone’s got to go, I caught this girl, pants down, pissing on my stock room floor. Get her out of here and go home.”
Her pants did look like she may have missed the floor a little bit. That’s when Clay and I took our cues and left. Clay tried Facebooking all of the girls before he went to bed, but as far as I know, none of them have accepted. Cold blooded. He’ll always have his body shots though
We walked into Jones and sat down and there was just the bartender and a couple of girls at the bar. Clay’s a lightweight, so it didnt take much more than a couple Patron shots and a mixed drink to get him feeling frisky right off the bat.
We were enjoying ourselves and our impromptu pre-party when a group of five young women walked in and sat at the bar also. Now it’s me, Clay, and seven women at this bar. That’s when the fun started.
Clay has a BIG thing for Asian women and one of the girls just happened to be Asian, so he was zoned in. I started watching Clay, who was staring down the Asian girl, who was too drunk to comprehend anything at all.
To be honest, her whole crew was RIDICULOUSLY drunk. I couldn’t tell immediately, but Clay must have had his drunk-dar on high reception, because he seemed to hone in on the group and their actions. He was watching as they climbed over the bar and made their own drinks. He was watching when they fell out of their stools and chairs, laughing the way that drunk college girls tend to laugh when even they realize how drunk they are.
All of a sudden, Clay made his move. He yelled out, to all seven women at once: “who wants to do body shots?!”
I, personally, thought he was being ridiculous and that they would call both of us creepers since we were the only two men in there. Instead they started cheering. Clay started to unbutton his shirt as he stood up. I couldn’t believe it was really going to go down like this. In fact, all the girls were cheering on the Asian girl to let Clay take the body shots off of her. She was a little hesitant though and took her sweet time deciding if she wanted to go through with it. All the while, Clay was looking around, shirt unbuttoned, asking people “so, are we gonna do this or what?”
After about ten minutes of what basically amounted to the girl getting even more drunk, drunk enough to have no control over her decisions, she agreed to let Clayton take his body shot. With all her girls cheering, she laid down on the bar. Clay was handed a cup full of Patron (yea, a cup, not a shot) from which he then poured a small amount onto her stomach. He leaned in and hit the shot. Someone then shouted “do another one,” so he did. The girl didn’t move or seem to care, so he went on to do six more. The whole scene was pretty ridiculous.
Clay sat back down next to me (I hadn’t moved) and let the alcohol sit it. He was now drunk. The girls were still doing shots and getting more drunk. I was laughing at everyone and everything because it was quite funny. Seriously, the girl to my left started singing “Silent Night.” Like REALLY singing it like she was in the choir. The girl to her left started talking to Clay. Although I didn’t catch much, I did catch a phone number exchange and I SWEAR she said (cover your eyes if you don’t like Rated R): “c*m on my face!” I still have no clue as to why. I was the only sober person in the building besides the bartender.
All of a sudden, Clay gets down on the ground and starts ding push-ups. I gave him a look that said: “you gotta be kidding me,” but it was pretty funny. It got funnier when all the girls got down on the floor and they had a push-up contest. I guess alcohol gave them all extra chest muscle or something, because the all did upwards of 30 push-ups each.
They were still debating who did the most push-ups when somebody yelled out “hey! Everybody get the f*^k out! Bar’s closed!”
It was the bartender, and he had the asian girl thrown over his shoulder like a wet beach towel. I didn’t even notice she was gone from her friends who were doing push ups and arguing for the past 20 minutes. Everyone then turns and looks at the bartender, who is livid.
“Everyone’s got to go, I caught this girl, pants down, pissing on my stock room floor. Get her out of here and go home.”
Her pants did look like she may have missed the floor a little bit. That’s when Clay and I took our cues and left. Clay tried Facebooking all of the girls before he went to bed, but as far as I know, none of them have accepted. Cold blooded. He’ll always have his body shots though
My Blessings
January/13/2009 07:59 PM
The other day I got an e-mail that made me laugh out loud. I get a lot of boom tho related e-mail, and 99.99% of it is really cool, great stuff from good people. Then I got this:
Your Name: alex blakeney
Your Email: alexblakeney@yahoo.com
Subject: give it up
Message: give it up Rod. you are not that good. you should have stayed in europe. how much do you want to bet that you never make it to the NBA this year? $50, $100, $500, $1000? you got no game
I got this while I was at the D-League showcase and I was surrounded by other ballers and officials. We laughed, hard, then they told me that I had to respond, so I did:
Alex,
Thanks for your constructive input. I will strongly consider the questions posed.
Keep supporting the movement!
Rod
I went on about my day.
The next day, I got another response:
I was once again surrounded by other players, including my boy (and soon to be blogging here on TMRB) Coleman Collins who said this guy was ridiculous, a hater, and stupid. To quote Coleman:
“What does this guy think you’re gonna just go quit basketball today because he sent you this message? What does he expect to come out of this? Idiot.”
Coleman is a smart guy who has a point, but the e-mail did kind of get me to thinking. See, as cool as it would be to get called up this season, I’ve been here before and I haven’t. So what if I don’t? Did I waste my time? The answer, clearly, is no. Here’s why:
-- I spent 4 months in France and made more tax free money than every one of my friends, and most of the American public.
-- I haven’t payed rent since college.
-- I work for a few hours a day and spend the rest being creative.
-- I get to travel the country, and the globe, and get paid to do it.
-- My job is FUN.
-- I can go back to Europe in a heartbeat and make big money for the rest of my days. I made enough this year to where I feel comfortable chillin for a bit.
Those, among other reasons clearly indicate that playing hoops, at any level, is one of the best jobs there is. I’ll bet $50, $100, $500 on that! I, and every person I play with, am blessed to be able bodied and skilled enough to do it. So, I actually thank Mr. Blakeney for helping me to remind me of why I do it. 2009 is gonna be huge, I can feel it! In other words: “my horn can pierce the sky!”
Your Name: alex blakeney
Your Email: alexblakeney@yahoo.com
Subject: give it up
Message: give it up Rod. you are not that good. you should have stayed in europe. how much do you want to bet that you never make it to the NBA this year? $50, $100, $500, $1000? you got no game
I got this while I was at the D-League showcase and I was surrounded by other ballers and officials. We laughed, hard, then they told me that I had to respond, so I did:
Alex,
Thanks for your constructive input. I will strongly consider the questions posed.
Keep supporting the movement!
Rod
I went on about my day.
The next day, I got another response:
| face it, you had one good year at Cal, the other 3 were sub par at best. I guess it is hard for me to see an otherwise mulit- talented individual waste good years on pursuing something that is not feasible. sorry bro, sometimes you need to let the dream go and get on with your life. |
“What does this guy think you’re gonna just go quit basketball today because he sent you this message? What does he expect to come out of this? Idiot.”
Coleman is a smart guy who has a point, but the e-mail did kind of get me to thinking. See, as cool as it would be to get called up this season, I’ve been here before and I haven’t. So what if I don’t? Did I waste my time? The answer, clearly, is no. Here’s why:
-- I spent 4 months in France and made more tax free money than every one of my friends, and most of the American public.
-- I haven’t payed rent since college.
-- I work for a few hours a day and spend the rest being creative.
-- I get to travel the country, and the globe, and get paid to do it.
-- My job is FUN.
-- I can go back to Europe in a heartbeat and make big money for the rest of my days. I made enough this year to where I feel comfortable chillin for a bit.
Those, among other reasons clearly indicate that playing hoops, at any level, is one of the best jobs there is. I’ll bet $50, $100, $500 on that! I, and every person I play with, am blessed to be able bodied and skilled enough to do it. So, I actually thank Mr. Blakeney for helping me to remind me of why I do it. 2009 is gonna be huge, I can feel it! In other words: “my horn can pierce the sky!”
LMFAO Gets Groupies!
January/10/2009 12:13 PM
I’ve been away from the court for the better part of the last month, but it clearly led me to really enjoy myself. I basically had a winter vacation for the first time since I was a high school freshman. One of my first orders of business was to get out and party with my boys, because I never get to do that outside of a couple summer months.
I was loungin at Clay’s apartment, trying to figure out our plans for the night, when we were told that LMFAO would be performing at one of my favorite spots, FLUID Ultralounge. We looked up LMFAO on MySpace music to see if we knew any of their songs and, sure enough, I had heard a couple of them before. I really like their song called “I am not a whore.” Thats some quality electronic hip hop right there. They also sing “I’m in Miami, bitch.”
So we cabbed it over to Fluid later that night to catch the performance and to get our dance party on.

When we got there I realized that the crowd was about 70% women and that they were dressed like it was a sexy halloween party:


Maybe that should have been an indicator of the extreme groupie-ism that was about to transpire, but I just considered it to be a good ratio. Then the group started performing and every woman in there went buck-wild.


I just don’t understand why the girls go crazy like that? They had a fat guy walk around the club and invite girls backstage for little rendezvous all night. They pulled their pants down and grinded on hella women. They pulled tops down and signed bare boobies. They made out with half the women WHILE PERFORMING. The funniest part is that their song is called “I AM NOT A WHORE!”

Look at Exhibit A above. Girl on right has the two handed wrap-hug/smile-for-the-camera pose going on. Girl on left has completely neglected the camera, because she has floppy tongue in her mouth. She completely ignores the fact that this picture is on NapkinNights.com and can be seen by the entire world. Afro-headed LMFAO member in the middle has his pants down, Carolina blue tight boxers, his tongue out, his sunglass lenses in the garbage and his eyes closed. I swear this photo was taken while he was on stage performing.
In the spirit of not hating, I think this is a signal that I need to hold special live performances for “Boom Got Them Three.” If LMFAO is any indication of how these small concerts go, I should be pants down, tongue out, eyes closed be the start of my second verse.
I was loungin at Clay’s apartment, trying to figure out our plans for the night, when we were told that LMFAO would be performing at one of my favorite spots, FLUID Ultralounge. We looked up LMFAO on MySpace music to see if we knew any of their songs and, sure enough, I had heard a couple of them before. I really like their song called “I am not a whore.” Thats some quality electronic hip hop right there. They also sing “I’m in Miami, bitch.”
So we cabbed it over to Fluid later that night to catch the performance and to get our dance party on.

When we got there I realized that the crowd was about 70% women and that they were dressed like it was a sexy halloween party:
Maybe that should have been an indicator of the extreme groupie-ism that was about to transpire, but I just considered it to be a good ratio. Then the group started performing and every woman in there went buck-wild.
I just don’t understand why the girls go crazy like that? They had a fat guy walk around the club and invite girls backstage for little rendezvous all night. They pulled their pants down and grinded on hella women. They pulled tops down and signed bare boobies. They made out with half the women WHILE PERFORMING. The funniest part is that their song is called “I AM NOT A WHORE!”

Look at Exhibit A above. Girl on right has the two handed wrap-hug/smile-for-the-camera pose going on. Girl on left has completely neglected the camera, because she has floppy tongue in her mouth. She completely ignores the fact that this picture is on NapkinNights.com and can be seen by the entire world. Afro-headed LMFAO member in the middle has his pants down, Carolina blue tight boxers, his tongue out, his sunglass lenses in the garbage and his eyes closed. I swear this photo was taken while he was on stage performing.
In the spirit of not hating, I think this is a signal that I need to hold special live performances for “Boom Got Them Three.” If LMFAO is any indication of how these small concerts go, I should be pants down, tongue out, eyes closed be the start of my second verse.
It's So Cold!
December/08/2008 02:26 PM
Bill Adler Photoshoot
November/02/2008 04:26 PM
Before I left the U.S., I travelled up to Eugene, Oregon to help my buddy Sam out. He works for Bill Adler Leather, and they make high fashion belts that are sold in trendy boutiques all over.
Anyway, his Idea was to have belts be used in interesting/funny/fantastic ways. There’s not much of a story here, but i think the photo’s are funny. The first few are the ones that were actually used, after that are the ones I just think are awesome. You may recognize many of them from Boom Got Them 3.










Boom Got Them DOS!
Anyway, his Idea was to have belts be used in interesting/funny/fantastic ways. There’s not much of a story here, but i think the photo’s are funny. The first few are the ones that were actually used, after that are the ones I just think are awesome. You may recognize many of them from Boom Got Them 3.










Boom Got Them DOS!
Avi is Nuts (another example of a crazy Euro)
November/02/2008 04:12 PM
If you don’t know who Avi is, then you should go back and read “Naggin in Iceland.” Its a great little tale about his first year in Iceland. Anyway, now this is a short little iChat he sent me:
Avi: some guy that lives abouve came down to tell me they were doin construction but he spole little english so he tryin to tell and im thinking what the f*ck is this dude saying
Avi: anywyas we finally figure each other out after about an hour and he tries to make small talk and asks me where im from
Avi:and before i could say the usa he shouts out AFRICA
Avi: DEAD SERIOUS TOO
Me: hahahaha
Avi: I WAS STANDING THERE LIKE IS AVI FOGEL GONNA HAVE TO SMACK A BIOTCH
Avi: couldnt belive it man
Me:
HAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA
HAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA
Avi: hahahaha i know man
Avi doen’t feel comfortable in his apartment anymore I guess. I wouldn’t either. It’s OK dawg, I got your back.
Avi: some guy that lives abouve came down to tell me they were doin construction but he spole little english so he tryin to tell and im thinking what the f*ck is this dude saying
Avi: anywyas we finally figure each other out after about an hour and he tries to make small talk and asks me where im from
Avi:and before i could say the usa he shouts out AFRICA
Avi: DEAD SERIOUS TOO
Me: hahahaha
Avi: I WAS STANDING THERE LIKE IS AVI FOGEL GONNA HAVE TO SMACK A BIOTCH
Avi: couldnt belive it man
Me:
HAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA
HAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA
Avi: hahahaha i know man
Avi doen’t feel comfortable in his apartment anymore I guess. I wouldn’t either. It’s OK dawg, I got your back.
One Last Vegas Story (The Best One)
September/12/2008 02:45 AM
It was just one of those mornings. I knew that the night before had been spectacular because I woke up in my own bedroom and, for a split second, thought it wasn’t. It was a relief to know that I made it back to my hotel room and that my boys were there too. Well, actually, one of my boys, Elram, was there, the other, JGant, was nowhere to be found.
It was time for me and Elram to recount what happened the night before. I knew the story to a point. We all showed up at JET Nightclub hoping to get in, even though Elram didn’t have an I.D. I knew it’d be a tall order, but he wanted to go to the hottest club that night and not settle for the Palms.
Clearly they wanted no parts of him and his lack of identification, so we had to bounce. I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to head back to the Palms, so that if he was denied again, I could just go right to bed. Elram and JGant had other plans. They wanted to stay and wait for this girl to pick them up so they could try to go to the HARD ROCK and sneak in. After a short argument, it was decided that I had to get back to Palms. They stayed and waited for the girl. That is when our nights went down different paths.
My night was simple. I went to Rain and consumed a lot of alcohol. I fell asleep in my bed. I was awakened by Elram at 6am. He came up to the bed and tapped me to wake me up. I looked at him and told him to go to bed. He said: “wait wait wait. Gabe Pruitt is such a nice dude.”
Confused, I told him to go to bed. That was where my night ended.
I was waiting for Elram to explain to me where the hell JGant was, when his phone rang. JGant was calling. Elram picked up and started talking, then he started laughing. I grabbed the phone from him.
“JGant man where are you?”
“I don’t know,” he answered me.
“Well, why don’t you look at a street sign or something.”
“I don’t see any street signs.”
“Jason, seriously go walk outside of wherever you are and look at a coddamn street sign!”
“Bro, I’m trynna tell you that there are no street signs. It looks like Afghanistan. All I see is dirt.”
I started laughing. I told him to get a cab or tell whatever girl he was with to get him home. There was nothing Elram and I could do. JGant ended up getting a ride and meeting us at the hotel McDonalds. It was time for them to tell me what exactly happened the night before.
JGant explained that they waited for that girl to pick them up while they drank at the lobby bar of the Mirage. The girl came to pick them up a while later and took them to the Hard Rock. From what I was told, she had a bottle of liquor in the car that she offered to JGant. He claims that there had to be roofies in the bottle because he requested to go back to the Palms a few minutes after arriving at the Hard Rock. He passed out in the car on the way and woke up in “Afghanistan,” in her bed. That’s where JGant’s story ends.
Elram arrived at the Hard Rock with one goal in mind: he wanted to sneak into Body English. He was hanging around the lobby, drinking, when a woman began to give him the eyes. He started talking to her, and, before he knew it, he was on the way up to her hotel room.
When he arrived at the hotel room, she put her key in and opened the door. As he began to walk in, he noticed someone down the hall walking in their direction. He didnt pay any mind. He let the door close behind him when he entered the room. Right before it closed, though, a hand pushed it back open and a guy walked into the room as well.
Elram whispered to the woman.
“Who the hell is this?”
She answered him at regular volume.
“Oh, that’s my husband. He likes to watch. Don’t mind him.”
Elram looked over at the guy, who was now seated in one of the chairs, legs crossed, watching SportsCenter. The woman started kissing Elram on his neck and attempting to unbuckle his pants. Elram was feeling uneasy because the guy was just staring right at him. Elram described the watchful husband as “all swole with hella tattoos.”
It became too much for Elram to handle. He got up and took off. He went back downstairs, had some more drinks and somehow, walked into Body English. When I say walked in, I mean that he didn’t sneak in. He just waltzed right in through the regular entrance.
After he was tired of dancing by himself, he decided it was time to head home. He went out front and hailed a cab. The cab driver suggested that Elram go to a strip club before heading home (we later found out that cab drivers in Vegas get paid by strip clubs for referrals). Elram, too drunk to use his better judgement, decided to go to take the taxi drivers advice and head to the strip club.
When he got to the club, he walked in and realized that he didn’t have any I.D., so they sent him right back out. He walked back to the cab. The cab driver suggested ANOTHER strip club. Elram went. Elram went into and was denied from 5 strip clubs, not realizing that his lack of I.D. would keep him from being able to enter.
Finally the cab driver told Elram that he knew of a place better than any strip club. Elram ended up at some place called “The Redroom.” He walked in and there was one beautiful woman sitting there behind a desk. Behind the desk was a long hallway.
“What is this place?” He asked curiously.
“Here at the Redroom we offer full relaxation,” the woman answered.
“I’m sorry, but what exactly does that mean?”
“It means that we offer full relaxation.”
Elram, wanting to explore further, rephrased his question.
“Different people have different opinions on what fully relaxed is. Can you be more specific?”
“Specifically, when you leave here you’ll be fully relaxed,” she answered once again.
Elram left. He got back into the cab and FINALLY got back to the Palms. He paid his cab the $70 fare for driving him all over the city and walked back into the hotel. He walked over to McDonalds and, while waiting in line, struck up a conversation with Gabe Pruitt (Celtics guard). After all of that, he walked back to the room, woke me up, and told me how nice Gabe Pruitt was.
It was time for me and Elram to recount what happened the night before. I knew the story to a point. We all showed up at JET Nightclub hoping to get in, even though Elram didn’t have an I.D. I knew it’d be a tall order, but he wanted to go to the hottest club that night and not settle for the Palms.
Clearly they wanted no parts of him and his lack of identification, so we had to bounce. I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to head back to the Palms, so that if he was denied again, I could just go right to bed. Elram and JGant had other plans. They wanted to stay and wait for this girl to pick them up so they could try to go to the HARD ROCK and sneak in. After a short argument, it was decided that I had to get back to Palms. They stayed and waited for the girl. That is when our nights went down different paths.
My night was simple. I went to Rain and consumed a lot of alcohol. I fell asleep in my bed. I was awakened by Elram at 6am. He came up to the bed and tapped me to wake me up. I looked at him and told him to go to bed. He said: “wait wait wait. Gabe Pruitt is such a nice dude.”
Confused, I told him to go to bed. That was where my night ended.
I was waiting for Elram to explain to me where the hell JGant was, when his phone rang. JGant was calling. Elram picked up and started talking, then he started laughing. I grabbed the phone from him.
“JGant man where are you?”
“I don’t know,” he answered me.
“Well, why don’t you look at a street sign or something.”
“I don’t see any street signs.”
“Jason, seriously go walk outside of wherever you are and look at a coddamn street sign!”
“Bro, I’m trynna tell you that there are no street signs. It looks like Afghanistan. All I see is dirt.”
I started laughing. I told him to get a cab or tell whatever girl he was with to get him home. There was nothing Elram and I could do. JGant ended up getting a ride and meeting us at the hotel McDonalds. It was time for them to tell me what exactly happened the night before.
JGant explained that they waited for that girl to pick them up while they drank at the lobby bar of the Mirage. The girl came to pick them up a while later and took them to the Hard Rock. From what I was told, she had a bottle of liquor in the car that she offered to JGant. He claims that there had to be roofies in the bottle because he requested to go back to the Palms a few minutes after arriving at the Hard Rock. He passed out in the car on the way and woke up in “Afghanistan,” in her bed. That’s where JGant’s story ends.
Elram arrived at the Hard Rock with one goal in mind: he wanted to sneak into Body English. He was hanging around the lobby, drinking, when a woman began to give him the eyes. He started talking to her, and, before he knew it, he was on the way up to her hotel room.
When he arrived at the hotel room, she put her key in and opened the door. As he began to walk in, he noticed someone down the hall walking in their direction. He didnt pay any mind. He let the door close behind him when he entered the room. Right before it closed, though, a hand pushed it back open and a guy walked into the room as well.
Elram whispered to the woman.
“Who the hell is this?”
She answered him at regular volume.
“Oh, that’s my husband. He likes to watch. Don’t mind him.”
Elram looked over at the guy, who was now seated in one of the chairs, legs crossed, watching SportsCenter. The woman started kissing Elram on his neck and attempting to unbuckle his pants. Elram was feeling uneasy because the guy was just staring right at him. Elram described the watchful husband as “all swole with hella tattoos.”
It became too much for Elram to handle. He got up and took off. He went back downstairs, had some more drinks and somehow, walked into Body English. When I say walked in, I mean that he didn’t sneak in. He just waltzed right in through the regular entrance.
After he was tired of dancing by himself, he decided it was time to head home. He went out front and hailed a cab. The cab driver suggested that Elram go to a strip club before heading home (we later found out that cab drivers in Vegas get paid by strip clubs for referrals). Elram, too drunk to use his better judgement, decided to go to take the taxi drivers advice and head to the strip club.
When he got to the club, he walked in and realized that he didn’t have any I.D., so they sent him right back out. He walked back to the cab. The cab driver suggested ANOTHER strip club. Elram went. Elram went into and was denied from 5 strip clubs, not realizing that his lack of I.D. would keep him from being able to enter.
Finally the cab driver told Elram that he knew of a place better than any strip club. Elram ended up at some place called “The Redroom.” He walked in and there was one beautiful woman sitting there behind a desk. Behind the desk was a long hallway.
“What is this place?” He asked curiously.
“Here at the Redroom we offer full relaxation,” the woman answered.
“I’m sorry, but what exactly does that mean?”
“It means that we offer full relaxation.”
Elram, wanting to explore further, rephrased his question.
“Different people have different opinions on what fully relaxed is. Can you be more specific?”
“Specifically, when you leave here you’ll be fully relaxed,” she answered once again.
Elram left. He got back into the cab and FINALLY got back to the Palms. He paid his cab the $70 fare for driving him all over the city and walked back into the hotel. He walked over to McDonalds and, while waiting in line, struck up a conversation with Gabe Pruitt (Celtics guard). After all of that, he walked back to the room, woke me up, and told me how nice Gabe Pruitt was.
Rubber Ducky Escape!
August/20/2008 09:39 PM
After our early scrimmage on the Tuesday of Summer League, Joel Bosh (Chris Bosh’s brother), CJ Giles, Elram, and I were looking for something to do for the night since we had a day off the next day. At around 5pm, CJ hit me up and let me know that was going on. He mentioned to me that there was “Rubber Ducky” pool party going on that night and that we should go check out how much a cabana would cost us.
We all went down there to check it out at about 6. There were people all over who were setting up the cabana’s and filling to pool with the signature rubber duckies. We first went over to the pool and grabbed all the rubber duckies we could that were marked “free drink.” We must have left with about 25 free drink duckies, but before we did, our cabana host showed us which cabana would be ours. he set us up with one at the very back of the pool where we would be right next to a bar. Boom. He told us that each bottle would run about $400, but that he could kick us another one under the table for half off. Basically, we would be set. I was excited.
We headed back down to the pool around 9pm and it was already crackin. We went back to our cabana and got the party started. The problem with the situation was that somebody invited these girls into our cabana (nothin wrong with that, usually) who proceeded to destroy our entire $400 bottle and half our ducky supply. Coddamit.
I began to worry about our drink supply when all of a sudden, the guy who had promised us an under-the-table bottle of Grey Goose, showed up with what looked like a water carafe, but was actually filled with the promised Goose. Nobody knew what was in there except us guys who had reserved the cabana. We all enjoyed the disguised alcohol without the outside consumption and had a great time at the party.
The party was designed to really be an early-night party, ending at midnight so that people could shower and head out to the real club for the night, so while I was lolligagging, the rest of the gang paid for the alcohol, asked if I was cool to catch up, and left. Of course I was cool to catch up. They left and I stayed back a few minutes onger.
Right before I was ready to leave, they guy who hooked us up walked over to me and asked if I was planning on paying for the alcohol. I told him that it had already been paid, that I had watched the other guys sign the credit card receipt.
He told me that they had paid for the official bill, but they had failed to give him the cash required for the under-the-table liquor that he cant ring up in the computer. I, being the brokest one of my whole crew, was not about to fork over $200 cash (clearly I didnt even have that much cash on me). I told the guy that I would call everyone else and work it out.
I picked up the Blackberry and called up the guys.
“Yo, put me on speaker,” I told CJ, “Man what the hell? Did you guys leave me here with this bill?”
Their answer seemed to be collective.
“We told you to come on! It was under-the-table, why would we pay for it?”
I panicked and hung up the phone. It now became clear that I had to plan my escape. I looked up and around and could not see the guy anywhere. I decided I would just get up and do my best to be inconspicuous (a tall order for a tall guy). I scope the exit, and slowly started to walk towards it. Each step I took seemed to be so calculated. Was I walking too slow? Too fast? Was I looking like I had something to hide? Did I look too nonchelant?
All these thoughts were swirling through my head even though I had only taken about 5 of the 150 steps it would take to escape. You must understand that the pool was huge and the exit was clear on the opposite side of my cabana.
I took a couple more steps when I realized that the guy was walking 4 steps in front of me, the same pace as me, with his back to me.


I saw him look over his left shoulder. I ducked right. He then looked over his right shoulder. I ducked left. All of this happened as we continued to walk. I just needed time to think and I was starting to believe that that time would not come.
As we finally hooked the left to go to the home stretch, I had an idea. I figured I would enter the restaurant because there was a direct entrance to the restaurant from the pool. The restaurant must have another exit to the lobby of the Palms Place hotel and thus an exit to the parking lot and back to the Palms.

The guy kept it moving right past the path to the restaurant while I took a left, keeping the same pace, heading to what appeared to be the promised land. But, right when I hooked that left, as if he had been in this situation many times before, the guy took off running toward the exit. Right then I realized that he was going to go cut me off at the resturant exit, which must also be in position to see the regular Palms Place exit.
I turned right back around, this time not looking back or worried about pace and walked right back in the direction I had come from.

The guy must’ve still been indoors as I turned the right, nearly tripping over people and duckies on my way all the way back past our cabana. I remembered that there was an emergency exit on the side of the building that I accidentally discovered earlier while searching for the bathroom. I hightailed it over there.

I barrelled through the “alarm will sound” labeled doors and didnt look back. They led out to the street, but in the middle of a ton of bushes. I stayed low, hunching over and wading through the bushes down Flamingo Street, all the way back to the Palms.
When I finally got back I celebrated, met up with the guys and went into Moon. It couldnt have turned out better. Boom.
We all went down there to check it out at about 6. There were people all over who were setting up the cabana’s and filling to pool with the signature rubber duckies. We first went over to the pool and grabbed all the rubber duckies we could that were marked “free drink.” We must have left with about 25 free drink duckies, but before we did, our cabana host showed us which cabana would be ours. he set us up with one at the very back of the pool where we would be right next to a bar. Boom. He told us that each bottle would run about $400, but that he could kick us another one under the table for half off. Basically, we would be set. I was excited.
We headed back down to the pool around 9pm and it was already crackin. We went back to our cabana and got the party started. The problem with the situation was that somebody invited these girls into our cabana (nothin wrong with that, usually) who proceeded to destroy our entire $400 bottle and half our ducky supply. Coddamit.
I began to worry about our drink supply when all of a sudden, the guy who had promised us an under-the-table bottle of Grey Goose, showed up with what looked like a water carafe, but was actually filled with the promised Goose. Nobody knew what was in there except us guys who had reserved the cabana. We all enjoyed the disguised alcohol without the outside consumption and had a great time at the party.
The party was designed to really be an early-night party, ending at midnight so that people could shower and head out to the real club for the night, so while I was lolligagging, the rest of the gang paid for the alcohol, asked if I was cool to catch up, and left. Of course I was cool to catch up. They left and I stayed back a few minutes onger.
Right before I was ready to leave, they guy who hooked us up walked over to me and asked if I was planning on paying for the alcohol. I told him that it had already been paid, that I had watched the other guys sign the credit card receipt.
He told me that they had paid for the official bill, but they had failed to give him the cash required for the under-the-table liquor that he cant ring up in the computer. I, being the brokest one of my whole crew, was not about to fork over $200 cash (clearly I didnt even have that much cash on me). I told the guy that I would call everyone else and work it out.
I picked up the Blackberry and called up the guys.
“Yo, put me on speaker,” I told CJ, “Man what the hell? Did you guys leave me here with this bill?”
Their answer seemed to be collective.
“We told you to come on! It was under-the-table, why would we pay for it?”
I panicked and hung up the phone. It now became clear that I had to plan my escape. I looked up and around and could not see the guy anywhere. I decided I would just get up and do my best to be inconspicuous (a tall order for a tall guy). I scope the exit, and slowly started to walk towards it. Each step I took seemed to be so calculated. Was I walking too slow? Too fast? Was I looking like I had something to hide? Did I look too nonchelant?
All these thoughts were swirling through my head even though I had only taken about 5 of the 150 steps it would take to escape. You must understand that the pool was huge and the exit was clear on the opposite side of my cabana.
I took a couple more steps when I realized that the guy was walking 4 steps in front of me, the same pace as me, with his back to me.


I saw him look over his left shoulder. I ducked right. He then looked over his right shoulder. I ducked left. All of this happened as we continued to walk. I just needed time to think and I was starting to believe that that time would not come.
As we finally hooked the left to go to the home stretch, I had an idea. I figured I would enter the restaurant because there was a direct entrance to the restaurant from the pool. The restaurant must have another exit to the lobby of the Palms Place hotel and thus an exit to the parking lot and back to the Palms.

The guy kept it moving right past the path to the restaurant while I took a left, keeping the same pace, heading to what appeared to be the promised land. But, right when I hooked that left, as if he had been in this situation many times before, the guy took off running toward the exit. Right then I realized that he was going to go cut me off at the resturant exit, which must also be in position to see the regular Palms Place exit.
I turned right back around, this time not looking back or worried about pace and walked right back in the direction I had come from.

The guy must’ve still been indoors as I turned the right, nearly tripping over people and duckies on my way all the way back past our cabana. I remembered that there was an emergency exit on the side of the building that I accidentally discovered earlier while searching for the bathroom. I hightailed it over there.

I barrelled through the “alarm will sound” labeled doors and didnt look back. They led out to the street, but in the middle of a ton of bushes. I stayed low, hunching over and wading through the bushes down Flamingo Street, all the way back to the Palms.
When I finally got back I celebrated, met up with the guys and went into Moon. It couldnt have turned out better. Boom.
How to Sneak Into Ghostbar (And Get Your Legs Broke!)
August/19/2008 08:01 PM
A month ago I wrote a story about how simple and easy it is to sneak into Body English nightclub in Las Vegas. Well, as it turns out, there is another Vegas hotspot that is nearly as easy to sneak into called “Ghostbar” at the Palms.
So while I was in Vegas for the summer league, it became apparent that Ghostbar was the best place to go because I was staying in the Palms and it was located on the top floor of the same tower that I was staying in. Essentially, I could head up there at 9 and be in bed by 11 if I felt like it. It was the perfect spot.
During my two weeks in Vegas one of my fellow Boom Tho Originator’s, Elram, came out to stay with me for a number of days. It was all good except for the fact that Elram isn’t 21 and his fake I.D. was confiscated the first day he got to Vegas. This presented many problems. He had asipirations of partying at all the big clubs, but since I wanted to be in bed early and he didnt have an I.D., we tried to get him into Ghostbar.
JGant was also visiting and I informed them both that I had been let into Ghostbar for free and without being carded before. I felt that it would be easy for them to just get right in. They agreed and Ghostbar became our destination for the night.
When we walked up to the Bouncer, he told the cashier that we should be able to get in free. Excellent. Almost there. Right before we were let in a second bouncer started checking ID’s. I showed mine and kept it moving, JGant also showed his ID and got in. The cashier drew up the reciept with the number 2 on it, signifying that there were two of us who were to be let it. She handed it to me and told me to hand it to the guy at the door. I knew that Elram would get turned back and that JGant would stay back with him.
It was then that I realized how easy it would be to sneak in. See (pay attention here if you ever want to sneak right in), Ghostbar, as I said before, is located on the top floor of the tower with the hotel rooms, but the bouncers who check ID and hand out the receipts, are all downstairs on the lobby level. After the woman hands you the receipt, you walk back to the elevators and press the 55th floor button marked “Ghostbar.” When you get to the top, there is a bouncer waiting there to check your receipt and see how many people are supposed to be with you, because anybodywith a suite has to board that elevator to reach their room.
So, I called JGant and Elram and told them to get on the Elevator with me anyway. The three of us got on with a reciept marked for two. There were other people on the elevator who were also heading to ghostbar, so I kind of had to unveil my plan in front of them, no matter. I explained that JGant and Elram should use the receipt marked “2” and that I would get off on the 52nd floor and go back down. Since they don’t card at the top, Elram should be good. They agreed and went up. I sat on the 52nd floor for a minute before recieving a text from JGant saying that it worked and they were in. I then went back to the lobby and to the bouncer, explaining that I had to go back to my room real quick. The cashier gave me a new reciept with the number 1 on it and I used it to get in. Boom. Just that simple.

Me, Elram, and JGant in Ghostbar.
Now, we did this trick for a few days in a row with perfect execition. On day 3, on our way into the elevator to head up to Ghostbar, one of the gaurds asked Elram what floor he was going to (since the knew he didnt have a receipt. Elram answered confidently “54.” As the door of the elevator closed, you could see the guard reaching for his radio.
When the doors were closed, I yelled out loud in front of the other 12 people in the elevator, “You idiot! Tell me what floors are up here!”
Elram looked at the floor buttons. There was 51, 52, 53, and 55. For some odd reason this hotel doesnt’t have a 54. Dammit, I thought, that was a crucial mistake.
An hour and a half later, we were in Ghostbar just chillin. We were kind of off too the side while Elram was talking to some nice young ladies. Elrams mistake hadn’t proven coastly. We were having a great time. We walked back into the main bar area and Elram handed his drink to Joel Bosh, who was also with us, and said “make sure you drink this. We can’t let it go to waste bro.”
I asked Elram why he just gave up his drink. He responded with “they figured me out. They know I’m not 21.”
I told Elram he was being paranoid. There was no way they could figure that out, and if they somehow had, I could see every bouncer there (power of height), and none of them were looking at Elram and I. I turned around to tell Joel to give Elram back his drink and tell him he was trippin. When I turned back around, four bouncers had grabbed Elram and had already almost whisked him away. I saw Elram look back at me with fear in his eyes as they walked him out of my view.
Joel, respecting what seemed to be Elrams last words, began to drink the drink. I stood there with a confused look on my face. I tried to call Elram four times. There were no answers on the first three calls. On call four he picked up, but I couldn’t make out his words. It was like a bad Verizon commerical. I started to get worried. All I heard him say was “I’m in the kitchen surrounded by 7 big ass dudes.”
Now everyone was in a bit of a panic. We’ve all seen the movies and in those movies this situation always ends with someone gettin their legs broke. I couldn’t afford to have broke legs on my conscience. Another friend of mine tried to break into the kitchen to see if Elram was in there. She pretended to just be too drunk to know where the bathroom was, but when she was in there, she couldnt see him anywhere.
We all left Ghostbar with many questions and no answers. We started back up to my hotel room. When we got off the elevator on my floor, there was Elram standing with one security guard. Elram didnt look hurt. Elram noticed us and yelled out “There they are! I told you!” The guard let Elram come with us. I told the guard that I thought Elrams legs were bout to come back broke. The guard responded “we don’t do that stuff anymore.”
We settled down in the room and I asked Elram what happened. He said that he saw the guards eyeing him while he was still in the Ghostbar and he noticed them talking into radios. When one of them apporached him, he handed off his drink and told me they had him. Sooner after that, he was surrounded in the kitched. They kept asking him what his name was and how he got in without an I.D. Elram, being resourceful, took his wallet out of his back pocket and tucked it under his armpit, so that they couldn’t get his info from his real ID. The questions continued. Elram never backed down, and never told them anything. Instead of breaking his legs, they let him go. That was it.
Elram’s Ghostbar run came to an end that day, luckily, it was also his last day out there so it didn’t really matter. Moral of the story, you can sneak into Ghostbar, just know that THE 54TH FLOOR DOES NOT EXIST!
So while I was in Vegas for the summer league, it became apparent that Ghostbar was the best place to go because I was staying in the Palms and it was located on the top floor of the same tower that I was staying in. Essentially, I could head up there at 9 and be in bed by 11 if I felt like it. It was the perfect spot.
During my two weeks in Vegas one of my fellow Boom Tho Originator’s, Elram, came out to stay with me for a number of days. It was all good except for the fact that Elram isn’t 21 and his fake I.D. was confiscated the first day he got to Vegas. This presented many problems. He had asipirations of partying at all the big clubs, but since I wanted to be in bed early and he didnt have an I.D., we tried to get him into Ghostbar.
JGant was also visiting and I informed them both that I had been let into Ghostbar for free and without being carded before. I felt that it would be easy for them to just get right in. They agreed and Ghostbar became our destination for the night.
When we walked up to the Bouncer, he told the cashier that we should be able to get in free. Excellent. Almost there. Right before we were let in a second bouncer started checking ID’s. I showed mine and kept it moving, JGant also showed his ID and got in. The cashier drew up the reciept with the number 2 on it, signifying that there were two of us who were to be let it. She handed it to me and told me to hand it to the guy at the door. I knew that Elram would get turned back and that JGant would stay back with him.
It was then that I realized how easy it would be to sneak in. See (pay attention here if you ever want to sneak right in), Ghostbar, as I said before, is located on the top floor of the tower with the hotel rooms, but the bouncers who check ID and hand out the receipts, are all downstairs on the lobby level. After the woman hands you the receipt, you walk back to the elevators and press the 55th floor button marked “Ghostbar.” When you get to the top, there is a bouncer waiting there to check your receipt and see how many people are supposed to be with you, because anybodywith a suite has to board that elevator to reach their room.
So, I called JGant and Elram and told them to get on the Elevator with me anyway. The three of us got on with a reciept marked for two. There were other people on the elevator who were also heading to ghostbar, so I kind of had to unveil my plan in front of them, no matter. I explained that JGant and Elram should use the receipt marked “2” and that I would get off on the 52nd floor and go back down. Since they don’t card at the top, Elram should be good. They agreed and went up. I sat on the 52nd floor for a minute before recieving a text from JGant saying that it worked and they were in. I then went back to the lobby and to the bouncer, explaining that I had to go back to my room real quick. The cashier gave me a new reciept with the number 1 on it and I used it to get in. Boom. Just that simple.

Me, Elram, and JGant in Ghostbar.
Now, we did this trick for a few days in a row with perfect execition. On day 3, on our way into the elevator to head up to Ghostbar, one of the gaurds asked Elram what floor he was going to (since the knew he didnt have a receipt. Elram answered confidently “54.” As the door of the elevator closed, you could see the guard reaching for his radio.
When the doors were closed, I yelled out loud in front of the other 12 people in the elevator, “You idiot! Tell me what floors are up here!”
Elram looked at the floor buttons. There was 51, 52, 53, and 55. For some odd reason this hotel doesnt’t have a 54. Dammit, I thought, that was a crucial mistake.
An hour and a half later, we were in Ghostbar just chillin. We were kind of off too the side while Elram was talking to some nice young ladies. Elrams mistake hadn’t proven coastly. We were having a great time. We walked back into the main bar area and Elram handed his drink to Joel Bosh, who was also with us, and said “make sure you drink this. We can’t let it go to waste bro.”
I asked Elram why he just gave up his drink. He responded with “they figured me out. They know I’m not 21.”
I told Elram he was being paranoid. There was no way they could figure that out, and if they somehow had, I could see every bouncer there (power of height), and none of them were looking at Elram and I. I turned around to tell Joel to give Elram back his drink and tell him he was trippin. When I turned back around, four bouncers had grabbed Elram and had already almost whisked him away. I saw Elram look back at me with fear in his eyes as they walked him out of my view.
Joel, respecting what seemed to be Elrams last words, began to drink the drink. I stood there with a confused look on my face. I tried to call Elram four times. There were no answers on the first three calls. On call four he picked up, but I couldn’t make out his words. It was like a bad Verizon commerical. I started to get worried. All I heard him say was “I’m in the kitchen surrounded by 7 big ass dudes.”
Now everyone was in a bit of a panic. We’ve all seen the movies and in those movies this situation always ends with someone gettin their legs broke. I couldn’t afford to have broke legs on my conscience. Another friend of mine tried to break into the kitchen to see if Elram was in there. She pretended to just be too drunk to know where the bathroom was, but when she was in there, she couldnt see him anywhere.
We all left Ghostbar with many questions and no answers. We started back up to my hotel room. When we got off the elevator on my floor, there was Elram standing with one security guard. Elram didnt look hurt. Elram noticed us and yelled out “There they are! I told you!” The guard let Elram come with us. I told the guard that I thought Elrams legs were bout to come back broke. The guard responded “we don’t do that stuff anymore.”
We settled down in the room and I asked Elram what happened. He said that he saw the guards eyeing him while he was still in the Ghostbar and he noticed them talking into radios. When one of them apporached him, he handed off his drink and told me they had him. Sooner after that, he was surrounded in the kitched. They kept asking him what his name was and how he got in without an I.D. Elram, being resourceful, took his wallet out of his back pocket and tucked it under his armpit, so that they couldn’t get his info from his real ID. The questions continued. Elram never backed down, and never told them anything. Instead of breaking his legs, they let him go. That was it.
Elram’s Ghostbar run came to an end that day, luckily, it was also his last day out there so it didn’t really matter. Moral of the story, you can sneak into Ghostbar, just know that THE 54TH FLOOR DOES NOT EXIST!
Aubrey Sings Maxwell
August/19/2008 07:54 PM
Aubrey gives us another look at his talents, this time in vocal form to the tune of Maxwell.
Aubrey Sings Maxwell from Rod Benson on Vimeo.
Aubrey Sings Maxwell from Rod Benson on Vimeo.
How to Sneak Into Body English / Sugar Shane's My Boy!
July/20/2008 07:38 PM
This story happened over Memorial Day weekend, but I was too busy to write about it before heading to the Summer League. Anyway, I definitely feel that it’s worth reading. In a way, it’s a story, but in another way, it’s a very simple way to start your night outside the Hard Rock hotel in Vegas and end your night inside of Body English nightclub at the Hard Rock. Here goes:
We started out our night in our pimp ass presidential suite at Caesar’s Palace. While we were decided where to go, I got an E-Mail from Dj Dig Dug alerting me that Body English was the spot to be that night.

As you can see, we are just about ready to make our moves for the night. From left to right it’s Cedric, Lil Jason, JGant, Me, and Ramy. The five of us had no idea what was in store for us, but with Dig Dug’s guidance, we were sure to have a lot of fun.
When we got over to the Hard Rock hotel, the lines were out of control. There must have been four different lines, all with a different meaning and all of those except for one led to another inner waiting area. Even with Dig Dug’s help, we were going to be in a world of hurt.
Thing about it was that Dig Dug told me a name to ask for and everywhere I tried to ask, I was told to talk to somebody else. I finally just chose the shortest line and cut to the front. The guy there sent me to the waiting area to ask for the guy I was looking for with the hook-up. The problem with this manuevar was that Ramy had dissappeared so now our 5 had become 4. Even more problematic was the fact that they were charging $100 per person to get in and once the bouncer decided to let us in, we would either have to find that connect quickly, or pay the cover.
Lil Jason, JGant and I were finally at the velvet rope. Any second now it would all work out or come to a depressing $100 end. Cedric was about 10 feet back talking to some girls. All of a sudden, Sugar Shane Mosely popped up behind JGant and me. The guy working the rope couldn’t see him though becuase we are over a foot taller than Shane. Already frustrated with the situation, we conceded that Sugar Shane was about to walk right in and we would be stuck there. We moved out of the way and told the bouncer that Sugar Shane was right there. He quickly grabbed Shane and asked him who he was with. Shane pointed to his crew, then turned back and pointed at Jgant and me and told the bouncer that we were with him too. Jgant quickly grabbed lil Jason and brought him with us.
The bouncer walked us through the kitchen, up some back stairs, and right up to the VIP section. The moment was filled with a high degree of Boom-Tho-Ness. When I first got to the VIP table, I noticed that there was a disposable camera, which I instantly commandeered. JGant and I were ready to rock and roll and get in there like swimwear.
Cedric, who was busy gaming up some girls, never caught up with us and was basically left outside. Ramy was still MIA and nobody knew what had happened to him. It didn’t matter though. We were inside gettin loose off that Goose courtesy of Sugar Shane Mosely.

What you see about is me, Shane, Lil Jason and JGant in the VIP. We were holdin it down in there for about 20-30 minutes when all of a sudden, Ramy shows up out of Nowhere:

I was so confused when Ramy showed up. We hadn’t seen the kid in an hour and we just figured he was locked out with Cedric. Ramy informed us that he had been inside of the club partying for an hour. JGant and I didn’t quite understand how that could be. The lines were super long and ridiculous. There was no way for him to get in, then find us up at the upper level VIP. It just didnt make sense. Ramy then began to tell us a story that we just couldn’t believe. If you want to sneak your way into Body English, now is the time to listen up. I’ll rewind back to when we first showed up at the Hard Rock hotel.
So Ramy, being very intoxicated and impatient, decided that he was ready to party right when we got there. Also, he had a couple of his boys meet him and I told him that it would be hard enough to get in with 5 men, let alone 7. After realizing how long the line was, he doubled back around to a place he hadn’t been since he was 16 years old.
Ramy now stood outside the Hard Rock hotel staring at the door he had discovered back when he was an underage kid trying to live up his Vegas experience. There are many doors outside of the Hard Rock hotel, but if you look, like he did that night, you’ll see a double glass door with two sets of white doors to the left of them. One is a single white door and the other is a double white door. Ramy confidently walked through the single white door, which led down a small flight of stairs and right into thr middle of the dance floor. JGant and I nearly fell over when he reached this point in his story.
Ramy then, forgetting that he had left his other two friends outside, went back up the stairs and back out the door. As soon as he cracked the secret door, his two homies were waiting for him outside and followed Ramy back in. They got to the bottom of the stairs and begin to celebrate by jumping around wildly. Right then, a security guard spots them and walks up to Ramy and says “You guys got in? Great. Now get the f*** out.”
Ramy and his boys were forced back out the way they came. At that point, they simply waited a couple minutes outside, then walked right back in through the door. This time, instead of celebrating, they came right up to the VIP and spotted JGant and me.

As you can see, the night ended very well for everyone... except Cedric. When I got back to my hotel room, Cedric was waiting there, alone. He was not happy about the fact that we all partied with Sugar Shane. His bad. He should have just snuck it!
We started out our night in our pimp ass presidential suite at Caesar’s Palace. While we were decided where to go, I got an E-Mail from Dj Dig Dug alerting me that Body English was the spot to be that night.

As you can see, we are just about ready to make our moves for the night. From left to right it’s Cedric, Lil Jason, JGant, Me, and Ramy. The five of us had no idea what was in store for us, but with Dig Dug’s guidance, we were sure to have a lot of fun.
When we got over to the Hard Rock hotel, the lines were out of control. There must have been four different lines, all with a different meaning and all of those except for one led to another inner waiting area. Even with Dig Dug’s help, we were going to be in a world of hurt.
Thing about it was that Dig Dug told me a name to ask for and everywhere I tried to ask, I was told to talk to somebody else. I finally just chose the shortest line and cut to the front. The guy there sent me to the waiting area to ask for the guy I was looking for with the hook-up. The problem with this manuevar was that Ramy had dissappeared so now our 5 had become 4. Even more problematic was the fact that they were charging $100 per person to get in and once the bouncer decided to let us in, we would either have to find that connect quickly, or pay the cover.
Lil Jason, JGant and I were finally at the velvet rope. Any second now it would all work out or come to a depressing $100 end. Cedric was about 10 feet back talking to some girls. All of a sudden, Sugar Shane Mosely popped up behind JGant and me. The guy working the rope couldn’t see him though becuase we are over a foot taller than Shane. Already frustrated with the situation, we conceded that Sugar Shane was about to walk right in and we would be stuck there. We moved out of the way and told the bouncer that Sugar Shane was right there. He quickly grabbed Shane and asked him who he was with. Shane pointed to his crew, then turned back and pointed at Jgant and me and told the bouncer that we were with him too. Jgant quickly grabbed lil Jason and brought him with us.
The bouncer walked us through the kitchen, up some back stairs, and right up to the VIP section. The moment was filled with a high degree of Boom-Tho-Ness. When I first got to the VIP table, I noticed that there was a disposable camera, which I instantly commandeered. JGant and I were ready to rock and roll and get in there like swimwear.
Cedric, who was busy gaming up some girls, never caught up with us and was basically left outside. Ramy was still MIA and nobody knew what had happened to him. It didn’t matter though. We were inside gettin loose off that Goose courtesy of Sugar Shane Mosely.

What you see about is me, Shane, Lil Jason and JGant in the VIP. We were holdin it down in there for about 20-30 minutes when all of a sudden, Ramy shows up out of Nowhere:

I was so confused when Ramy showed up. We hadn’t seen the kid in an hour and we just figured he was locked out with Cedric. Ramy informed us that he had been inside of the club partying for an hour. JGant and I didn’t quite understand how that could be. The lines were super long and ridiculous. There was no way for him to get in, then find us up at the upper level VIP. It just didnt make sense. Ramy then began to tell us a story that we just couldn’t believe. If you want to sneak your way into Body English, now is the time to listen up. I’ll rewind back to when we first showed up at the Hard Rock hotel.
So Ramy, being very intoxicated and impatient, decided that he was ready to party right when we got there. Also, he had a couple of his boys meet him and I told him that it would be hard enough to get in with 5 men, let alone 7. After realizing how long the line was, he doubled back around to a place he hadn’t been since he was 16 years old.
Ramy now stood outside the Hard Rock hotel staring at the door he had discovered back when he was an underage kid trying to live up his Vegas experience. There are many doors outside of the Hard Rock hotel, but if you look, like he did that night, you’ll see a double glass door with two sets of white doors to the left of them. One is a single white door and the other is a double white door. Ramy confidently walked through the single white door, which led down a small flight of stairs and right into thr middle of the dance floor. JGant and I nearly fell over when he reached this point in his story.
Ramy then, forgetting that he had left his other two friends outside, went back up the stairs and back out the door. As soon as he cracked the secret door, his two homies were waiting for him outside and followed Ramy back in. They got to the bottom of the stairs and begin to celebrate by jumping around wildly. Right then, a security guard spots them and walks up to Ramy and says “You guys got in? Great. Now get the f*** out.”
Ramy and his boys were forced back out the way they came. At that point, they simply waited a couple minutes outside, then walked right back in through the door. This time, instead of celebrating, they came right up to the VIP and spotted JGant and me.

As you can see, the night ended very well for everyone... except Cedric. When I got back to my hotel room, Cedric was waiting there, alone. He was not happy about the fact that we all partied with Sugar Shane. His bad. He should have just snuck it!
You Just Got JGanted!
July/06/2008 10:03 PM
The second day of Memorial Day weekend, JGant, Kim, Ced and I were walking down the strip, when somebody thought it’d be a good idea to go into some bootleg casino and play the slots. I guess one of my homies had garnered a ticket that gave them $50 in free slot play, so thats what they did. It was obviously a set-up. A winner wasn’t a winner unless the jackpot was hit, which, of course, was never going to happen.
Well, while we were in this place, JGant and I walked around a bit because he wanted to play blackjack or something. After about a quarter-lap around the tables, someone yelled out to me.
“Rod Benson! Boom Tho!”
I turned around and there were some guys who looked pretty excited to be part of the movement. Soon after they saw me, they saw JGant.
“JGant! JGant! What’s up?!”
You have to understand that JGant usually doesn’t get the recognition. He gets some, but when he does, he ALWAYS feels big time when it happens. He makes a face that tells you that his heart and brain have just given each other a high five.
On this day, he quickly made the same face. He started smiling too as we started walking over to talk to the guys who were mad-boom-tho. The guys made it clear that they read TMRB and knew all the stories. They also made it clear that they knew JGant. I explained to them that he loves the recognition, which I think he also loved.
The who event took a turn when they explained to JGant why his name rings bells in their circle. They explained to us that their favorite entry on TMRB was “Don’t Make Me Punch You in the Balls... Again”. If you haven’t read that yet, do it now before you continue. It’s very important.
These guys then proceeded to say that they, sometimes sock eachother in the balls just to make each other mad or as a prank. They said that right after they sock their victim in the balls, they yell out “YOU JUST GOT JGANTED!” or “I JGANTED HIM!”
JGants brain and heart went from high-fiving, to collaborating on a way to erase these guys from the face of the earth. I’ve never seen him go from so happy to so annoyed in a second. These guys then proceeded to demonstrate the whole ball-punching motion while yelling out “I JGanted him!” It was real tough on JGant. I was ROLLING though. No way was this for real. People out there are really “JGanting” each other with my blog in mind? I LOVE it. I absolutely love it.
We took pictures with the guys (JGant wasn’t happy about the photo’s either) while they had their fists balled up in an “I’m about to ‘JGant’ you” fashion. Classic. I guess a new era has officially been ushered in: the “JGant him” era.

Well, while we were in this place, JGant and I walked around a bit because he wanted to play blackjack or something. After about a quarter-lap around the tables, someone yelled out to me.
“Rod Benson! Boom Tho!”
I turned around and there were some guys who looked pretty excited to be part of the movement. Soon after they saw me, they saw JGant.
“JGant! JGant! What’s up?!”
You have to understand that JGant usually doesn’t get the recognition. He gets some, but when he does, he ALWAYS feels big time when it happens. He makes a face that tells you that his heart and brain have just given each other a high five.
On this day, he quickly made the same face. He started smiling too as we started walking over to talk to the guys who were mad-boom-tho. The guys made it clear that they read TMRB and knew all the stories. They also made it clear that they knew JGant. I explained to them that he loves the recognition, which I think he also loved.
The who event took a turn when they explained to JGant why his name rings bells in their circle. They explained to us that their favorite entry on TMRB was “Don’t Make Me Punch You in the Balls... Again”. If you haven’t read that yet, do it now before you continue. It’s very important.
These guys then proceeded to say that they, sometimes sock eachother in the balls just to make each other mad or as a prank. They said that right after they sock their victim in the balls, they yell out “YOU JUST GOT JGANTED!” or “I JGANTED HIM!”
JGants brain and heart went from high-fiving, to collaborating on a way to erase these guys from the face of the earth. I’ve never seen him go from so happy to so annoyed in a second. These guys then proceeded to demonstrate the whole ball-punching motion while yelling out “I JGanted him!” It was real tough on JGant. I was ROLLING though. No way was this for real. People out there are really “JGanting” each other with my blog in mind? I LOVE it. I absolutely love it.
We took pictures with the guys (JGant wasn’t happy about the photo’s either) while they had their fists balled up in an “I’m about to ‘JGant’ you” fashion. Classic. I guess a new era has officially been ushered in: the “JGant him” era.

The Ipod Game?
July/04/2008 01:39 PM
Memorial weekend was coming to an end and it seemed like we hadn’t really enjoyed our pool at Caesars Palace quite the way we should. On Memorial Day Monday we decided this should change. JGant, Ramy, and I headed to the elevator to go down to the pool. When we stepped on, there were three pretty good looking women on there too. We talked for a second, then parted ways when the elevator reached the lobby.
We dropped our bags off at the front desk and headed over to the pool. After searching for 3 chairs for what seemed like ages, we finally found our resting place in a shaded area of the pool deck and sat down. 20 minutes later, those same girls from the elevator came walking out of the pool in their swimsuits and sat in their chairs, which just so happened to be 15 feet from us, facing us.
I’m pretty sure that most girls look better in swimwear (see why I’m always trynna get in there?), and they were no different. They went from good to great just that quickly.
So now we are sitting in our chairs with our sunglasses on and they are in sitting in their chairs, sunglasses on, and we are all pretending like we arent looking at each other, which is impossible because our chairs are 15 feet away and facing towards one another. It was half-awkward, half-awesome. My glasses don’t allow you to see my eyes, so I made it a point to look straight ahead, but check them out at the same time.
Finally, JGant went to go grab something from his bag. I was going to ask him to grab my book so I could read, but I realized that that was foolish. I instead told him to grab my portable ipod speakers and my ipod. It was time to get this party started.
When he came back, I started playing music at max volume. The speakers are loud, but not THAT loud, so the girls could hear the song well enough, but not great. I played everything from Usher to Journey, from Bob Sinclair to Mickey Avalon. It wasn’t long before they all bought in. They were singing my songs amongst themselves like we were in a club. Still, the music hadn’t brought us together, which was my ultimate goal.
Ramy had just come out of the pool when I asked him to do me a favor. I told him that I was gonna play a song and that he should walk the ipod dock over to the girls and set it down right in front of them. He was reluctant at first, but after some more convincing, I started a song and he walked the dock over to the girls. He sat it down at the feet of the hottest girl and said “this is from him.”
“Tell me why
Ain't nothin' but a heartache
Tell me why
Ain't nothin' but a mistake
Tell me why
I never wanna hear you say
I want it that way”
Oh yea. I definitely sent them “I want it that way” by the Backstreet Boys. They laughed and enjoyed it. After that, the flood gates were open. I walked over and said “I’m sure you’re used to guys sending you drinks. I figured I’d send you a song. A song that shows just how I want it: that way.”
We started talkin w them and ended up riding in their car over to TAO Beach at the Venetian. Once we were there, we got in the pool and had the greatest pool party ever.
We finally parted ways at 9pm that night after a whole day that started with a song. If you’re not enough of a poet to compete in the Poem Game, then try sending a song. Maybe your day will turn out like ours did.
We dropped our bags off at the front desk and headed over to the pool. After searching for 3 chairs for what seemed like ages, we finally found our resting place in a shaded area of the pool deck and sat down. 20 minutes later, those same girls from the elevator came walking out of the pool in their swimsuits and sat in their chairs, which just so happened to be 15 feet from us, facing us.
I’m pretty sure that most girls look better in swimwear (see why I’m always trynna get in there?), and they were no different. They went from good to great just that quickly.
So now we are sitting in our chairs with our sunglasses on and they are in sitting in their chairs, sunglasses on, and we are all pretending like we arent looking at each other, which is impossible because our chairs are 15 feet away and facing towards one another. It was half-awkward, half-awesome. My glasses don’t allow you to see my eyes, so I made it a point to look straight ahead, but check them out at the same time.
Finally, JGant went to go grab something from his bag. I was going to ask him to grab my book so I could read, but I realized that that was foolish. I instead told him to grab my portable ipod speakers and my ipod. It was time to get this party started.
When he came back, I started playing music at max volume. The speakers are loud, but not THAT loud, so the girls could hear the song well enough, but not great. I played everything from Usher to Journey, from Bob Sinclair to Mickey Avalon. It wasn’t long before they all bought in. They were singing my songs amongst themselves like we were in a club. Still, the music hadn’t brought us together, which was my ultimate goal.
Ramy had just come out of the pool when I asked him to do me a favor. I told him that I was gonna play a song and that he should walk the ipod dock over to the girls and set it down right in front of them. He was reluctant at first, but after some more convincing, I started a song and he walked the dock over to the girls. He sat it down at the feet of the hottest girl and said “this is from him.”
“Tell me why
Ain't nothin' but a heartache
Tell me why
Ain't nothin' but a mistake
Tell me why
I never wanna hear you say
I want it that way”
Oh yea. I definitely sent them “I want it that way” by the Backstreet Boys. They laughed and enjoyed it. After that, the flood gates were open. I walked over and said “I’m sure you’re used to guys sending you drinks. I figured I’d send you a song. A song that shows just how I want it: that way.”
We started talkin w them and ended up riding in their car over to TAO Beach at the Venetian. Once we were there, we got in the pool and had the greatest pool party ever.
We finally parted ways at 9pm that night after a whole day that started with a song. If you’re not enough of a poet to compete in the Poem Game, then try sending a song. Maybe your day will turn out like ours did.
Return of the Mac
July/03/2008 09:57 AM
It’s been damn near 40 days since my last post. I’ll explain why real quickly. My trusty old MacBook decided to take a permanent vacation. It was working just fine, then it just never turned on again. The sourcefile for my site was stuck on that computer and thus, lost forever. I have since purchased a new MacBook Pro and started the rebuilding process, which included copying and pasting ALL the content from my old site.
Anyways, now I have MANY entries to update over the next couple weeks, so expect a healthy dose of ridiculousness.
Anyways, now I have MANY entries to update over the next couple weeks, so expect a healthy dose of ridiculousness.
Frantic Search for Jeans in Vegas
May/21/2008 03:57 PM
When my season ended, I was scheduled to go to Eugene, OR for the weekend to get together with my man Sammy Glaser and shoot some photos for Bill Adler Designs. Well, the trip was paid for and everything, when I found out that JGant was gonna be in Vegas that same weekend. How could I pass on an opportunity to party with my partner in crime in the Sin City? I couldn't. I had to switch it up and make my way down to Vegas.
Along with JGant was a whole crew of Berkeley kids who were all part of my crew back in the day, so I didn't mind sharing a room with 3 other grown men. The entire weekend was ridiculous to be honest. We had a group of about 12 in 3 adjoining rooms, so everybody was wilin' out the whole time. We hit the town in our boom tho shirts as a crew and everything. It was solid. We even started freestylin' some boom tho raps while we were pre-gaming in the hotel room:
As you can see we are goin pretty hard right now. Right after this, my man Anthony Bright took over and gave me a solid boom tho flow that we got on tape (rated R):
Untitled from Rod Benson on Vimeo.
Well in the midst of this ridiculous weekend, I hit up my man Ryan Vezapour and asked him what would be crackin for the weekend. At the same time, I emailed the Vegas DJ with the most boom-tho-ness, DJ Dig Dug, and asked him the same. Ryan told us about the Kanye West concert that was crackin that Friday, and it so happened that Dig Dug said the same thing. Boom. JGant and I knew what we were doing that night. We were gonna drop $88 apiece and check out one of the best rappers on the planet out at the Red Rock Hotel and Casino, which was about 25 minutes off the strip.
Ryan picked us up and drove us out there for the big show. When we got to the outdoor venue, Lupe Fiasco was already killin the mic up on stage so we settled into the middle of the pack and got right to enjoying ourselves. During the course of the concert, about 5-7 people approached me and proclaimed their boom-tho-ness. It was pretty solid. Except for this one girl behind me who kept grabbin my ass the whole night. When I asked her what was goin on, she said she saw me on E:60 and I couldn't help but laugh. Silly.
I've been to Rock the Mic, Up in Smoke, and the Glow in the Dark tour, and Kanye's performance that night at Glow in the Dark was easily the best I've ever seen from a rapper. Crazy stage, no hype men, 20 songs, and the straight up realness bein' spit every verse. While I was enjoying the show, Dj Dig Dug told me that he was DJing the afterparty at the club inside of Red Rock. He said that we should just go up to the door, drop his name, and boom boom.
So, after the show we walked over to the club (like everyone else) and told the security that Dig Dug had us. He left, then came back and said that we were good. As we were about to walk in, he stopped us. Ryan and I had on shorts since it was Vegas and it was an outdoor party. He said that the shorts would not fly. He said we were good if we came back in some jeans. Damn. So close, yet so far away. Our hotel was 25 minutes away and it was already 10:40, driving back to the strip would mean that we would just go somewhere over there and give up on the Kanye afterparty. We needed to get some jeans, and fast.
We walked out to Ryan's car. He had a pair of jeans in his trunk that fit him just nicely, but I had nothing to work with. What you are about to see is a video documentary of what transpired next:
Untitled from Rod Benson on Vimeo.
What you need to understand is that Wal-Mart was about 10 minutes away, so it made sense to make that trip considering that every other store was closed. Also, I could have probably worn the 36 length jeans, but there was no way I was gonna be caught dead in some coddamn wranglers. No way. Luckily for us, JGant didn't recognize what developed and we ended up having a pretty spectacular night. I wore his nice jeans and he wore the wranglers.
We met up with Dig Dug in the party and told him what kind of music we were lookin for. That dude HOOKED IT UP. Have you ever seen someone C-Walk and get Hyphy in some Wrangler jeans? I have. His name is JGant and it was a legendary moment. It was a moment that taught me that if you have a high degree of boom-tho-ness in your heart, it doesn't matter if you just bought your jeans at Wal-Mart. JGant still got down and pulled a couple numbers. Mad-boom-tho-ness.
Along with JGant was a whole crew of Berkeley kids who were all part of my crew back in the day, so I didn't mind sharing a room with 3 other grown men. The entire weekend was ridiculous to be honest. We had a group of about 12 in 3 adjoining rooms, so everybody was wilin' out the whole time. We hit the town in our boom tho shirts as a crew and everything. It was solid. We even started freestylin' some boom tho raps while we were pre-gaming in the hotel room:
As you can see we are goin pretty hard right now. Right after this, my man Anthony Bright took over and gave me a solid boom tho flow that we got on tape (rated R):
Untitled from Rod Benson on Vimeo.
Well in the midst of this ridiculous weekend, I hit up my man Ryan Vezapour and asked him what would be crackin for the weekend. At the same time, I emailed the Vegas DJ with the most boom-tho-ness, DJ Dig Dug, and asked him the same. Ryan told us about the Kanye West concert that was crackin that Friday, and it so happened that Dig Dug said the same thing. Boom. JGant and I knew what we were doing that night. We were gonna drop $88 apiece and check out one of the best rappers on the planet out at the Red Rock Hotel and Casino, which was about 25 minutes off the strip.
Ryan picked us up and drove us out there for the big show. When we got to the outdoor venue, Lupe Fiasco was already killin the mic up on stage so we settled into the middle of the pack and got right to enjoying ourselves. During the course of the concert, about 5-7 people approached me and proclaimed their boom-tho-ness. It was pretty solid. Except for this one girl behind me who kept grabbin my ass the whole night. When I asked her what was goin on, she said she saw me on E:60 and I couldn't help but laugh. Silly.
I've been to Rock the Mic, Up in Smoke, and the Glow in the Dark tour, and Kanye's performance that night at Glow in the Dark was easily the best I've ever seen from a rapper. Crazy stage, no hype men, 20 songs, and the straight up realness bein' spit every verse. While I was enjoying the show, Dj Dig Dug told me that he was DJing the afterparty at the club inside of Red Rock. He said that we should just go up to the door, drop his name, and boom boom.
So, after the show we walked over to the club (like everyone else) and told the security that Dig Dug had us. He left, then came back and said that we were good. As we were about to walk in, he stopped us. Ryan and I had on shorts since it was Vegas and it was an outdoor party. He said that the shorts would not fly. He said we were good if we came back in some jeans. Damn. So close, yet so far away. Our hotel was 25 minutes away and it was already 10:40, driving back to the strip would mean that we would just go somewhere over there and give up on the Kanye afterparty. We needed to get some jeans, and fast.
We walked out to Ryan's car. He had a pair of jeans in his trunk that fit him just nicely, but I had nothing to work with. What you are about to see is a video documentary of what transpired next:
Untitled from Rod Benson on Vimeo.
What you need to understand is that Wal-Mart was about 10 minutes away, so it made sense to make that trip considering that every other store was closed. Also, I could have probably worn the 36 length jeans, but there was no way I was gonna be caught dead in some coddamn wranglers. No way. Luckily for us, JGant didn't recognize what developed and we ended up having a pretty spectacular night. I wore his nice jeans and he wore the wranglers.
We met up with Dig Dug in the party and told him what kind of music we were lookin for. That dude HOOKED IT UP. Have you ever seen someone C-Walk and get Hyphy in some Wrangler jeans? I have. His name is JGant and it was a legendary moment. It was a moment that taught me that if you have a high degree of boom-tho-ness in your heart, it doesn't matter if you just bought your jeans at Wal-Mart. JGant still got down and pulled a couple numbers. Mad-boom-tho-ness.
Naggin in Iceland
May/07/2008 03:51 PM
My old high school teammate and current overseas baller Avi Fogel and I were driving down to the UCSD campus to play some pickup ball with the D2 kids when he decided to break the silence of the lazy afternoon.
"Rod man I forgot to tell you about for funny ish that happened when I was overseas in Iceland," he said excitedly, knowing that I would enjoy the story.
"Oh yea?" I responded. "What's crackin?"
I won't quote him because due to laughter, I don't remember his exact words. So I'll it the way I remember it. He tells me that when he was in Iceland the majority of his teammates were black and from the U.S. He said that one night they all went out to some Icelandic club that, based on his description of Icelandic women, I would have to assume was pretty crackin and filled with many dime pieces.
One of his boys was REALLY feelin one of those dimes out in the club so he made a play, but she shot him down. I guess later he tried again, and again, and finally again. She just wasn't buying what the man was selling I guess. I wasn't there, but I can imagine a dude thinkin that he was gonna get some "easy" play overseas who realized that she wasn't that way.
Well, I guess the girl started to get annoyed with the situation. She walked up to Avi and his bothersome teammate and said "Why do you keep naggin me so much? All you do is nag nag nag!"
I guess Avi replies "Hahaha what? He keeps nagging you?"
Frustrated, the girl says to the teammate: "Yes. Why are you such a stupid NAGGER?"
Ummm.... I guess the accent made it tough to hear, so the teammate says: "What? Bitch, you don't know me!" and allegedy socks her in the face!
I haven't laughed so hard at anything yet since season ended. Obviously hitting a girl is off limits, but coddamn, he hit her because she called him a stupid NAGGER? Classic. Nagger should have shut his coddamn mouth!
"Rod man I forgot to tell you about for funny ish that happened when I was overseas in Iceland," he said excitedly, knowing that I would enjoy the story.
"Oh yea?" I responded. "What's crackin?"
I won't quote him because due to laughter, I don't remember his exact words. So I'll it the way I remember it. He tells me that when he was in Iceland the majority of his teammates were black and from the U.S. He said that one night they all went out to some Icelandic club that, based on his description of Icelandic women, I would have to assume was pretty crackin and filled with many dime pieces.
One of his boys was REALLY feelin one of those dimes out in the club so he made a play, but she shot him down. I guess later he tried again, and again, and finally again. She just wasn't buying what the man was selling I guess. I wasn't there, but I can imagine a dude thinkin that he was gonna get some "easy" play overseas who realized that she wasn't that way.
Well, I guess the girl started to get annoyed with the situation. She walked up to Avi and his bothersome teammate and said "Why do you keep naggin me so much? All you do is nag nag nag!"
I guess Avi replies "Hahaha what? He keeps nagging you?"
Frustrated, the girl says to the teammate: "Yes. Why are you such a stupid NAGGER?"
Ummm.... I guess the accent made it tough to hear, so the teammate says: "What? Bitch, you don't know me!" and allegedy socks her in the face!
I haven't laughed so hard at anything yet since season ended. Obviously hitting a girl is off limits, but coddamn, he hit her because she called him a stupid NAGGER? Classic. Nagger should have shut his coddamn mouth!
Top 5 Arcade Games
April/02/2008 03:13 PM
See more funny videos at CollegeHumor
So I watched this video, which is awesome, and it reminded me of Street Fighter at the arcade. I remember the days when every arcade game cost a quarter. Well a quarter soon became fifty cents. Fifty cents soon became 75. Games went from 2-D joystick fun to sit down, stand up, Wii style action. You need a coddamn pre-paid card just to play anything anymore. I digress.
I started thinking about the best arcade games. I started thinking about all the classics. It lead me to one conclusion: that I needed to list them so you could help me reminisce about the best of the best. I decided that maybe I should do a list anyway because there are a lot of TMRB list worthy things out there. So, this will be the first list. The top 5 arcade games of all time are:
5: Pac Man
Since I'm 23 years old, people were playing Pac Man at the arcade before I knew how to spell arcade. I'm pretty sure this is my mom's favorite game, which just goes to show that Pac Man brings generations together. I honestly think she is better than me at it. I have a terrible habit of getting the coddamn power pellets too early because I'd panic if a ghost got too close.
4: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Arcade Game

I'm not sure, but I think this was the first game to have four person co-op action. Whether it was or wasn't, it was still the first game to teach children all about dangerous weapons, genetics, The Renaissance, and pizza. Donatello had the long range, but slower attacks. Leonardo had the flashy sword and a non-nonsense style, while Raph and Mikey were quick and ruthless. If you got hurt, all you needed was a slice of Pizza to get you going again. If you got really hurt, you might need to find that whole pizza to save the day. Got 3 friends and 4 quarters? Take on the foot in this epic arcade game. Dont forget some extra quarters because a continue or two will be necessary to keep all four together.
3: NBA Jam
Left, Right, A, B, B, A. Left, Right, A, B, B, A. That was the code I always entered to get the full court dunks going on my SNES. The arcade version was different though. Still, you wanna talk about a great game. The graphics son!? The graphics!? No way did they have real looking faces on these players. Three makes in a row and you're on fire. Want to play as the Vancouver Grizzlies? Then it looks like you've gotta hook up with Shareef Abdur Raheem and "Big Country" Bryant Reeves. No MJ on this bad boy, but you could take BJ Armstrong and Scotty to the top if you knew what you were doing. In fact, why not enter a code and play as Frank Thomas (Chicago White Sox) and pair him with scotty. Game, set, match, bitch.
2. Street Fighter II
This may have been the first game to try to bring together all of the worlds cultures, only to have them beat the $#!T out of each other. Take it to Brazil with Blanka, keep it sexy with the Spanish flair Vega brought to the table, or fight the good fight with Guile. The odd the thing about this game was that you very rarely fought in the street. If you were Guile, you fought in front of a ship which I always referred to as the "USS Beat Down." Blanka fought in front of his jungle home. Vega was a straight up cage match waiting to happen.
Street Fighter II was the first and only game that I could never win. My Hadukens were too weak. My E-Honda fast hands were too slow. My Blank electrocution move always left me assed-out. Still, this game was so hot, they turned into a movie starting Jean Claude Van Damme. I was already inspired by Blood Sport, but then he did this, taking Street Fighter to the next level.
1: Mortal Kombat II

I still remember the day I first discovered Mortal Kombat. The fat kid that my brother was friends with had a GameBoy and brought it over one day when I was 8 years old. Next thing I know, I'm at the Arcade wasting the quarters I took from the couch trying to perfect my moves.
As good as Street Fighter was, Mortal Kombat was even better. Street Fighter proved to be conservative and dry compared to Mortal Kombat. Blood was everywhere, and fatalities changed the game forever. And let's not forget about those graphics son! The graphics!
There was no internet back then, so the only way to know about the fatalities was to buy the official Prima strategy guide. After my friend got that guide, we picked our characters based on how solid the fatalities were. Mortal Kombat introduced fatalities, but what people tend to forget about MKII is that there were now "Friendships" and "Babalities." Babalities were really, really lame, but Friendships, if executed with the right character were nothing short of amazing. I hated playing as Johnny Cage, but if I did, and I won, please believe I was gonna friendship your ass in a heartbeat. The deep voiced announcer would say "Friendship! Friendship!" Then Johnny would whip out a photo of himself, autograph it, and display it so that your opponent could know that there were no hard feelings and that you could still be a fan and a friend.

HONORABLE MENTION:
Donkey Kong, Centipede, Dance Dance Revolution, Tekken, Space Invaders, The Simpsons.
This is my list, if you think youve got a better one, don't hesitate to put it out there in comment form. Hollar.
Is it O.K.?
February/20/2008 03:09 PM
This is very simple. I am going to ask a question, then tell the story behind it, then ask the question again. Is it O.K.?
1. Is it O.K. to bump someone with your elbow while on an airplane?
I was flying somewhere recently. Since I was on the inside and there was very little room, the arm rest of lifted up. What this meant was that the guy next to me was already rubbing shoulders with me for the entire flight. I guess that's how it goes.
Well, I fell asleep and I woke up to elbow bumping me. I look over and this guy has his hands on his balls, scratching those bad boys like a coddamn scratch and sniff sticker. Guy's elbow was bumping only because of the ferocity of the ball scratch. I looked at him in the eye and waited for him to stop, but he didn't. The scratching only came to a halt when I coughed extremely loud to get his attention. Still, he didn't look like he was ashamed or sorry. He actually looked a little annoyed.
So, I ask you, is it O.K. to bump someone with your elbow while SCRATCHING YOUR BALLS on an airplane?
2. Is it O.K. to copy your friends business card?
Last year about this time, I thought it would be cool to have a business card that had the toomuchrodbenson.com on it. While trying to figure out what else to put on there, I decided on my phone number, email address, and "professional basketball player" for the work info. Still, I thought that it needed something more. It needed something that defined me and separated me from everyone else with the boring card.
JGant and I talked about it and he suggested that I use my MySpace display name: "The Renaissance Man". It was a great idea. I already go be that name on myspace, so why not add it to the card to give it a kick on hilarity? My final card said that I was a "Professional Basketball Player / Renaissance Man". It always gets a good reaction.
Well, a few months later, JGant called me and told me that his card had finally been ordered. I was excited because we hadn't talked about the card issue since I had gotten mine in the mail. I asked him what his looked like and he emailed me the preview picture.
J. Gant Renaissance Man
Boom Tho 415- XXX-XXXX
I was like "Jason, what the hell is this?"
"What you mean what is this?" he asked.
"I mean why does your card say that you are the renaissance man?"
"I couldn't figure out what to put so I just put that. It just works so well."
"Well, it's on my card too buddy. Now we are just team renaissance?"
"It's not like we will give them to the same people, Rod."
"Of course we will! We do all the same things with all the same people! This is ricodamdiculous right now."
The dialogue continued for a while, but it was too late. JGant and I now had the same title on our cards. Not just any title, but MY title, and a memorable ad distinguishable title at that. Great, just great.
So around new years when I was down in LA, the two of us went to AREA nightclub to get our party on. I got in before J and went right to the bar. The bartender was very attractive and flirtatious, so I stayed there for a long time. I ordered all my drinks from her and kept my dancing to that part of the club. Well when the night was done, I went to hand her my card, just in case you know, and she starts reading it.
"Is this a joke?" she asked me.
"No, no jokes here," I answered in my best 'get the girl' voice.
"Well, your friend, the other renaissance man, already gave me his card earlier."
I walked away. I kept walking until I found JGant.
"You gave her your card too! The coddamn renaissance man!"
"What you mean bro? The bartender? Oh yea, she said I had no chance so I just slid her the card real quick."
"No way. I did have a chance and the renaissance man thing killed it. I knew this was happen."
So, I ask you, is it ok to copy your friends business card?
3. Is it OK to act crazy in the street late at night?
The story behind this can be seen right here:
1. Is it O.K. to bump someone with your elbow while on an airplane?
I was flying somewhere recently. Since I was on the inside and there was very little room, the arm rest of lifted up. What this meant was that the guy next to me was already rubbing shoulders with me for the entire flight. I guess that's how it goes.
Well, I fell asleep and I woke up to elbow bumping me. I look over and this guy has his hands on his balls, scratching those bad boys like a coddamn scratch and sniff sticker. Guy's elbow was bumping only because of the ferocity of the ball scratch. I looked at him in the eye and waited for him to stop, but he didn't. The scratching only came to a halt when I coughed extremely loud to get his attention. Still, he didn't look like he was ashamed or sorry. He actually looked a little annoyed.
So, I ask you, is it O.K. to bump someone with your elbow while SCRATCHING YOUR BALLS on an airplane?
2. Is it O.K. to copy your friends business card?
Last year about this time, I thought it would be cool to have a business card that had the toomuchrodbenson.com on it. While trying to figure out what else to put on there, I decided on my phone number, email address, and "professional basketball player" for the work info. Still, I thought that it needed something more. It needed something that defined me and separated me from everyone else with the boring card.
JGant and I talked about it and he suggested that I use my MySpace display name: "The Renaissance Man". It was a great idea. I already go be that name on myspace, so why not add it to the card to give it a kick on hilarity? My final card said that I was a "Professional Basketball Player / Renaissance Man". It always gets a good reaction.
Well, a few months later, JGant called me and told me that his card had finally been ordered. I was excited because we hadn't talked about the card issue since I had gotten mine in the mail. I asked him what his looked like and he emailed me the preview picture.
J. Gant Renaissance Man
Boom Tho 415- XXX-XXXX
I was like "Jason, what the hell is this?"
"What you mean what is this?" he asked.
"I mean why does your card say that you are the renaissance man?"
"I couldn't figure out what to put so I just put that. It just works so well."
"Well, it's on my card too buddy. Now we are just team renaissance?"
"It's not like we will give them to the same people, Rod."
"Of course we will! We do all the same things with all the same people! This is ricodamdiculous right now."
The dialogue continued for a while, but it was too late. JGant and I now had the same title on our cards. Not just any title, but MY title, and a memorable ad distinguishable title at that. Great, just great.
So around new years when I was down in LA, the two of us went to AREA nightclub to get our party on. I got in before J and went right to the bar. The bartender was very attractive and flirtatious, so I stayed there for a long time. I ordered all my drinks from her and kept my dancing to that part of the club. Well when the night was done, I went to hand her my card, just in case you know, and she starts reading it.
"Is this a joke?" she asked me.
"No, no jokes here," I answered in my best 'get the girl' voice.
"Well, your friend, the other renaissance man, already gave me his card earlier."
I walked away. I kept walking until I found JGant.
"You gave her your card too! The coddamn renaissance man!"
"What you mean bro? The bartender? Oh yea, she said I had no chance so I just slid her the card real quick."
"No way. I did have a chance and the renaissance man thing killed it. I knew this was happen."
So, I ask you, is it ok to copy your friends business card?
3. Is it OK to act crazy in the street late at night?
The story behind this can be seen right here:
I'll Get You Sooner or Later
December/30/2007 02:27 PM
My friend Stephanie sells commercial real estate over the phone. I guess her company is supposed to be the largest online yada yada commerical whatever you get the point. Stephanie constantly tells me about how hard her job is because people will consistently berate her because Americans don't really appreciate tele-marketers. I guess she has to call these people up and spark their interest in commercial real estate, but she deals with obscene language, and people who say they will call her back, but never do. I've heard it from her time and time again.

Stephanie on the right
Well, I told her I would call in and pretend to be one of these difficult individuals and just basically give her a hard time. I told her that I would mask my voice and do my best to give her trouble on a day when she would least expect it. I first called about 3 months ago. I tried to do a southern accent, unfortunately she knew my voice and she had caller I.D. on her work phone, so my efforts were thwarted.
A couple weeks ago I had a great idea. I decided I would get her by having my Trinidadian teammate call her using his caribbean accent and his 917 area code phone. What you are about to see is the video of him calling her company one morning and talking with an unprepared Stephanie. Notice how he switches from using his accent to talking perfect english just to be more confusing. He even says my name as a reference, but she still can't figure it out:
She promptly called him back and continued to be very confused:
She later told me that she was crying tears of relief when she found out that it was all a prank. Seriously. Even after I picked up she still didn't know what was going on. I had to calm her down. All I have to say is that when I say I'm gonna get you, I'll get you.

Stephanie on the right
Well, I told her I would call in and pretend to be one of these difficult individuals and just basically give her a hard time. I told her that I would mask my voice and do my best to give her trouble on a day when she would least expect it. I first called about 3 months ago. I tried to do a southern accent, unfortunately she knew my voice and she had caller I.D. on her work phone, so my efforts were thwarted.
A couple weeks ago I had a great idea. I decided I would get her by having my Trinidadian teammate call her using his caribbean accent and his 917 area code phone. What you are about to see is the video of him calling her company one morning and talking with an unprepared Stephanie. Notice how he switches from using his accent to talking perfect english just to be more confusing. He even says my name as a reference, but she still can't figure it out:
She promptly called him back and continued to be very confused:
She later told me that she was crying tears of relief when she found out that it was all a prank. Seriously. Even after I picked up she still didn't know what was going on. I had to calm her down. All I have to say is that when I say I'm gonna get you, I'll get you.
Best of the Worst
December/30/2007 02:26 PM
It's very tough to get me angry. I pretty much find the funny side to everything in life. So even when someone comes at me with the utmost disrespect I laugh it off. That being said, I figured I would relay a couple things that have been said to me that I find hilarious.
At a house party:
I was at a small gathering at a house next door to my apartment socializing when someone said "I could, but it's so big and hard". I don't know what they were talking about, but I, of course, said "that's what she said". I always say it because it always works. Well, also because Michael Scott is my hero.
Anyway, some guy who I DIDN'T know interrupted the mild laugher of the room and said "you know he always says that right? Like he didn't make that up or anything".
I looked at him and thought to myself that he just addressed the room as if I wasn't standing right in front of him. Then I realized that I didn't know him at all. Then I said "I mean, yea I do. It always works".
"Right. I get it", he said back.
Hilarious. I wasn't even mad. I was more impressed that he had the balls to come at me like that not knowing exactly how crazy I could be. I could be a psycho who fights for no reason. Luckily I'm not. Besides he was actually right. I do say that all the time.
Yahoo! Hilarity:
Ever since I started posting on Yahoo! I have noticed a difference in the blog comments. See, people come here because they want to read what I have to say. Yahoo! readers are people who could care less sometimes so their comments can reflect their lack of Rod Benson support.
One recent comment had me laughing so hard. I was writing about what makes a good fan, which was a complete joke in the first place, and this guy said that my #4 (sober up) was once violated by me:
"in regards to #4 I was personally at the Cal @ UCLA football game in 2005 where an injured and intoxicated Rod Benson was talking way too much trash in line to enter the Rose Bowl. Not only does that violate rule #4, but he was heckling some 5'2'' blonde sorority girls who, also intoxicated, naturally returned the banter. Offended, the 6'10'' Benson thought it was a personal attack and actually approached the girls face-to-face (or as close as possible) as if wanting to make the argument physical. I literally had to hold this chump back while he was pelted with wrappers and water bottles for making such a fool out of himself. What a hypocrite... I hope he never makes the league. oh and I failed to mention that I am a Cal fan too... and he was always a chump. He did nothing for the Bears."
Hahahahahahaha. Mann. First of all I even say in the post that I AM NOT A GOOD FAN. I can't be a hypocrite. Regardless, none of it is serious. The best part of this is that what he said is somewhat true. On my 21st birthday (of course I drank that day, actually the most I ever had in 24 hours) I went to watch a Cal-UCLA football game. While entering the game from the UCLA ticket entrance (my tickets would only allow for this entrance), I decided to help a couple of Cal fans who were in the back of the line cut up to the front with me. The girl was mad that I helped them cut and started yelling me. I came back at her, and I'll be honest I took it real far, but it ended quickly, I got the Cal guys in with me, and enjoyed the game until we lost. Nobody threw anything at me, nobody was going to fight, and I can bet with 99% certainty that this guy couldn't hold me back if I did need holding back. People only get held back when they want to. As if I would hit a girl anyways. I honestly believe that the guy who wrote this was one of the cal fans I helped cut in line, which would be hilarious. If not, then oh well.
It's really funny that he would hope I never make the NBA. People only have so many hopes in life and one of his hopes is that I have no success? Mann my hopes include but are not limited to: meeting Jenna Fischer, playing an NBA game, getting the #1 Madden ranking, and earning a spot on "The Real World". I can only assume his hopes include: the failure of Rod Benson, world domination, maybe even unlimited pornographic website access. Plus, it's so funny that I am a chump now, but I would be there were many opportunities for him to call me a chump at Cal. Oh well. College is a funny place. That's why I loved it so much.
Why I Hate Rod Benson:
To be honest, the first blog I ever read was titled "Why I Hate Rod Benson". It was my senior year at Cal and some girls on the track team came to me and said that a guy on the track team had a website about why he hated me. Naturally, I went and checked it out as soon as I could. I thought it was pretty funny too. He called me goofy repeatedly and said that I had a crush on his girlfriend (not true, but obviously the real reason for the whole thing), but cited a very specific incident as the main reason.
He said that one night at a party, he was changing the party music on the computer when a cup of beer hit him in the head. When he turned around to see what happened "who did [he] see running out the door? Rod Motha$#%$n Benson". Oh man I nearly pissed my pants when I read this stuff. I remember it all so clearly and it was funny then too. Someone was mad that this guy was changing the music so they threw a full cup of beer on him. I was laughing so hard at the situation that I knew I would be the most conspicuous person there, so I tried to leave before I was framed with a crime I didn't commit. Alas, I was still framed.
Well, there are two things I will never do that he claims I did. I will never waste a beer. There are too many sober kids in India. I will also never throw liquid near a computer. I love computers far too much to see them damaged by a Pabst Blue Ribbon.
At a house party:
I was at a small gathering at a house next door to my apartment socializing when someone said "I could, but it's so big and hard". I don't know what they were talking about, but I, of course, said "that's what she said". I always say it because it always works. Well, also because Michael Scott is my hero.
Anyway, some guy who I DIDN'T know interrupted the mild laugher of the room and said "you know he always says that right? Like he didn't make that up or anything".
I looked at him and thought to myself that he just addressed the room as if I wasn't standing right in front of him. Then I realized that I didn't know him at all. Then I said "I mean, yea I do. It always works".
"Right. I get it", he said back.
Hilarious. I wasn't even mad. I was more impressed that he had the balls to come at me like that not knowing exactly how crazy I could be. I could be a psycho who fights for no reason. Luckily I'm not. Besides he was actually right. I do say that all the time.
Yahoo! Hilarity:
Ever since I started posting on Yahoo! I have noticed a difference in the blog comments. See, people come here because they want to read what I have to say. Yahoo! readers are people who could care less sometimes so their comments can reflect their lack of Rod Benson support.
One recent comment had me laughing so hard. I was writing about what makes a good fan, which was a complete joke in the first place, and this guy said that my #4 (sober up) was once violated by me:
"in regards to #4 I was personally at the Cal @ UCLA football game in 2005 where an injured and intoxicated Rod Benson was talking way too much trash in line to enter the Rose Bowl. Not only does that violate rule #4, but he was heckling some 5'2'' blonde sorority girls who, also intoxicated, naturally returned the banter. Offended, the 6'10'' Benson thought it was a personal attack and actually approached the girls face-to-face (or as close as possible) as if wanting to make the argument physical. I literally had to hold this chump back while he was pelted with wrappers and water bottles for making such a fool out of himself. What a hypocrite... I hope he never makes the league. oh and I failed to mention that I am a Cal fan too... and he was always a chump. He did nothing for the Bears."
Hahahahahahaha. Mann. First of all I even say in the post that I AM NOT A GOOD FAN. I can't be a hypocrite. Regardless, none of it is serious. The best part of this is that what he said is somewhat true. On my 21st birthday (of course I drank that day, actually the most I ever had in 24 hours) I went to watch a Cal-UCLA football game. While entering the game from the UCLA ticket entrance (my tickets would only allow for this entrance), I decided to help a couple of Cal fans who were in the back of the line cut up to the front with me. The girl was mad that I helped them cut and started yelling me. I came back at her, and I'll be honest I took it real far, but it ended quickly, I got the Cal guys in with me, and enjoyed the game until we lost. Nobody threw anything at me, nobody was going to fight, and I can bet with 99% certainty that this guy couldn't hold me back if I did need holding back. People only get held back when they want to. As if I would hit a girl anyways. I honestly believe that the guy who wrote this was one of the cal fans I helped cut in line, which would be hilarious. If not, then oh well.
It's really funny that he would hope I never make the NBA. People only have so many hopes in life and one of his hopes is that I have no success? Mann my hopes include but are not limited to: meeting Jenna Fischer, playing an NBA game, getting the #1 Madden ranking, and earning a spot on "The Real World". I can only assume his hopes include: the failure of Rod Benson, world domination, maybe even unlimited pornographic website access. Plus, it's so funny that I am a chump now, but I would be there were many opportunities for him to call me a chump at Cal. Oh well. College is a funny place. That's why I loved it so much.
Why I Hate Rod Benson:
To be honest, the first blog I ever read was titled "Why I Hate Rod Benson". It was my senior year at Cal and some girls on the track team came to me and said that a guy on the track team had a website about why he hated me. Naturally, I went and checked it out as soon as I could. I thought it was pretty funny too. He called me goofy repeatedly and said that I had a crush on his girlfriend (not true, but obviously the real reason for the whole thing), but cited a very specific incident as the main reason.
He said that one night at a party, he was changing the party music on the computer when a cup of beer hit him in the head. When he turned around to see what happened "who did [he] see running out the door? Rod Motha$#%$n Benson". Oh man I nearly pissed my pants when I read this stuff. I remember it all so clearly and it was funny then too. Someone was mad that this guy was changing the music so they threw a full cup of beer on him. I was laughing so hard at the situation that I knew I would be the most conspicuous person there, so I tried to leave before I was framed with a crime I didn't commit. Alas, I was still framed.
Well, there are two things I will never do that he claims I did. I will never waste a beer. There are too many sober kids in India. I will also never throw liquid near a computer. I love computers far too much to see them damaged by a Pabst Blue Ribbon.
Im Only Half of the Movement
December/17/2007 02:19 PM
My teammates and I were riding through the streets of Bismarck on the way home from practice when I got a call.
I picked up the phone and said "What's up bro?"
"Bro, what's up?" was the reply.
We start every conversation the same. JGant was calling to congratulate me on a few things. What a stand up guy.
Well, sometime during the conversation, one of my teammates figured out who I was talking to.
Will Frisby interrupted my conversation. "Hold up. Is that JGant?"
"Sure is baby," I replied.
"Man you gotta ask him to sing his part of the song!"
"O.K."
I asked JGant to sing his little hook from Boom Got Them DOS! At first he was hesistant, but after some light convincing he shouted out over speakerphone: "What you think you comin to my room fo?! You already know it's BOOM THO!"
A few days later while eating dinner in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Will asked me to call JGant again. This time WIll picked up the phone and told JGant that he was a big fan. I think Will even said he was a JGant admirer.
I'm not sure how JGant responded to having his first admirer, but I don't quite think he was ready for that kind of love. He should be though. If I am going to promote the Boom Tho! movement, then he has to be ready for the big time and stay ready to give boomisms at the drop of a dime. I figured I would take the time to speed up the process.
If we were a cartoon we'd be in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I'd obviously be a combination of Leonardo and Donatello. Not only do I lead, but I also do machines (that's a fact Jack!). Clay (the DOS! camera man) would be Raphael because he is cool but rude. JGant would be Michaelangelo, the party dude.
Clay likes to call refer to us like the show Entourage. He calls me Vinny Chase. I am nowhere near that class of awesome, but it's fun to hear. It's like shooting a fade-away at the park and yelling "Jordan!". I'm not even close, but I can pretend. Clay calls himself E the manager. And JGant is a mix between Johnny Drama and Turtle.
When we all get together there is a mix of ready spaghetti, swimwear that's always in there, and we already know it's Boom Tho! Sometimes I have to sock JGant in the balls to help him out, but for the most part he is the guy that really gets the party going. He's pretty much just always gong wild. You should watch the videos again and look beyond the terrible lyrics or vocal ability and look at the man. He's one silly summabitch:
Jgant is very good at being the Michaelangelo/Johnny Drama/Turtle. As we look forward to the third video, expect JGant to have his coming out party, because I'm not going anywhere without him.
I picked up the phone and said "What's up bro?"
"Bro, what's up?" was the reply.
We start every conversation the same. JGant was calling to congratulate me on a few things. What a stand up guy.
Well, sometime during the conversation, one of my teammates figured out who I was talking to.
Will Frisby interrupted my conversation. "Hold up. Is that JGant?"
"Sure is baby," I replied.
"Man you gotta ask him to sing his part of the song!"
"O.K."
I asked JGant to sing his little hook from Boom Got Them DOS! At first he was hesistant, but after some light convincing he shouted out over speakerphone: "What you think you comin to my room fo?! You already know it's BOOM THO!"
A few days later while eating dinner in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Will asked me to call JGant again. This time WIll picked up the phone and told JGant that he was a big fan. I think Will even said he was a JGant admirer.
I'm not sure how JGant responded to having his first admirer, but I don't quite think he was ready for that kind of love. He should be though. If I am going to promote the Boom Tho! movement, then he has to be ready for the big time and stay ready to give boomisms at the drop of a dime. I figured I would take the time to speed up the process.
If we were a cartoon we'd be in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I'd obviously be a combination of Leonardo and Donatello. Not only do I lead, but I also do machines (that's a fact Jack!). Clay (the DOS! camera man) would be Raphael because he is cool but rude. JGant would be Michaelangelo, the party dude.
Clay likes to call refer to us like the show Entourage. He calls me Vinny Chase. I am nowhere near that class of awesome, but it's fun to hear. It's like shooting a fade-away at the park and yelling "Jordan!". I'm not even close, but I can pretend. Clay calls himself E the manager. And JGant is a mix between Johnny Drama and Turtle.
When we all get together there is a mix of ready spaghetti, swimwear that's always in there, and we already know it's Boom Tho! Sometimes I have to sock JGant in the balls to help him out, but for the most part he is the guy that really gets the party going. He's pretty much just always gong wild. You should watch the videos again and look beyond the terrible lyrics or vocal ability and look at the man. He's one silly summabitch:
Jgant is very good at being the Michaelangelo/Johnny Drama/Turtle. As we look forward to the third video, expect JGant to have his coming out party, because I'm not going anywhere without him.
I Watch a Male Modeling Show Every Week
December/11/2007 02:18 PM
I'm with 6 of my teammates. It's movie night so we all have the popcorn out watching Superbad on my 73 inch T.V. Right after the fight scene outside the random party where the guy says that his "tiger got out of the cage", I jump out of my seat and tell everyone to hold on. I grab the remote, still shocked that I almost forgot, take the T.V. off of DVD mode and put it back on cable box. I look through the channel guide until I find the Oxygen network. Boom. I set the DVR to record "Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency" which starts in 2 minutes, look around the room at the stunned faces staring back at me, then return to the movie.
My teammates didn't understand what I did. Too bad for them. I knew full well that my pants down dancing parter Christian Prelle was making his T.V. debut that night. He was selected by Janice as one of her models to headline her newly created Latin division
Rell, as he called by those who know him, was my teammate and my roommate for a year at CAL. This is the same guy who was right along side me as I went through my "I'm gonna take a megaphone with me everywhere I go just to cause a scene" phase. This is the guy who used to cook SPAM like it was some sort of delicasy. This is the same guy who was a part of my very first music video. You will never see this video because it was a valentines day video where I said sweet nothings to my then girlfriend. I will tell you that we had a line that went:
"(my part) Zero and RELL with their two breezes,
like pasta shells with the finest cheeses,
(Rell's part) when they're away it aint no fun,
like mid summer, without the sun"
Rell is the only person will literally, always challenge me for the attention of the room. However, when we combine our forces, it is always an event. Whether it's beating halo on co-op mode, watching The Hills (I call him Spencer and he hates it), or pants down dancing, we always get it done. We definitely bring out the cockiness in one another. In fact, we kind of have a credo that we took from The Sandlot: "Heroes live forever, but legends never die."
With that said, this modeling thing has given me soooo much to make fun of him for. There are so many emails going back and forth within the former CAL hoops group that involve this guy right now. I mean this is the guy who would head butt a guy who looked at him the wrong way, now he's taken on a whole new persona.
Pictures of RELL used to look like this:
Solid, right? Rell is a tough looking, party loving animal. These were the days when modeling was just a distant thought on an ambitious day. Now his pictures tend to look like this:
Notice the hair. That coddamn hair! Cmon Rell! I'm sure he didn't have to make his hair look like that, but somewhere along the way he bought it. Oh well, it got him a big time modeling gig.
You may be reading this thinking that you haven't really seen anything so bad. This is true. See, there were two before pictures, and there are two after pictures. I just need to set up the second one a little bit first. This picture was emailed to me the second it was discovered. Upon receipt, I immediately forwarded it to everyone I knew. I then proceeded to call Rell up and he didn't answer...for obvious reasons. I wouldn't answer my phone either if I discovered this:
Wow. The prices we pay for success! For starters, this picture is on a site called MEN.BGAY.COM. No way right now. No way. Then you look at this thing and you see that a guy has his head on Rell's thigh. Then you see that this guy is wearing lace underwear, which is gross. Then you see that Rell has his arm on this guys side. Then you see that that same arm is rubbing against Guy #2's balls. When he signed up for Janice Dickinson I doubt that he envisioned this picture ever being taken. Beyond that he definitely didn't think it would ever surface, but it did.
So I've built Rell up and knocked him down. Now, I'll hype him right back up. You need to watch this guys show. Seriously. I think it comes on Tuesdays at 9:30pm. If nothing else you get to see a former macho guy get naked and take funny pictures and witness the mental conflict he struggles with as he makes it big as a model. All of that, plus he hyped up the Boom Tho! movement in his Janice Dickinson profile.
To quote Rell when talking about himself: "We can't all be legends. Someone has to sit on the curb and clap as I go by."
I clap for this stuff every day.
My teammates didn't understand what I did. Too bad for them. I knew full well that my pants down dancing parter Christian Prelle was making his T.V. debut that night. He was selected by Janice as one of her models to headline her newly created Latin division
Rell, as he called by those who know him, was my teammate and my roommate for a year at CAL. This is the same guy who was right along side me as I went through my "I'm gonna take a megaphone with me everywhere I go just to cause a scene" phase. This is the guy who used to cook SPAM like it was some sort of delicasy. This is the same guy who was a part of my very first music video. You will never see this video because it was a valentines day video where I said sweet nothings to my then girlfriend. I will tell you that we had a line that went:
"(my part) Zero and RELL with their two breezes,
like pasta shells with the finest cheeses,
(Rell's part) when they're away it aint no fun,
like mid summer, without the sun"
Rell is the only person will literally, always challenge me for the attention of the room. However, when we combine our forces, it is always an event. Whether it's beating halo on co-op mode, watching The Hills (I call him Spencer and he hates it), or pants down dancing, we always get it done. We definitely bring out the cockiness in one another. In fact, we kind of have a credo that we took from The Sandlot: "Heroes live forever, but legends never die."
With that said, this modeling thing has given me soooo much to make fun of him for. There are so many emails going back and forth within the former CAL hoops group that involve this guy right now. I mean this is the guy who would head butt a guy who looked at him the wrong way, now he's taken on a whole new persona.
Pictures of RELL used to look like this:
Solid, right? Rell is a tough looking, party loving animal. These were the days when modeling was just a distant thought on an ambitious day. Now his pictures tend to look like this:
Notice the hair. That coddamn hair! Cmon Rell! I'm sure he didn't have to make his hair look like that, but somewhere along the way he bought it. Oh well, it got him a big time modeling gig.
You may be reading this thinking that you haven't really seen anything so bad. This is true. See, there were two before pictures, and there are two after pictures. I just need to set up the second one a little bit first. This picture was emailed to me the second it was discovered. Upon receipt, I immediately forwarded it to everyone I knew. I then proceeded to call Rell up and he didn't answer...for obvious reasons. I wouldn't answer my phone either if I discovered this:
Wow. The prices we pay for success! For starters, this picture is on a site called MEN.BGAY.COM. No way right now. No way. Then you look at this thing and you see that a guy has his head on Rell's thigh. Then you see that this guy is wearing lace underwear, which is gross. Then you see that Rell has his arm on this guys side. Then you see that that same arm is rubbing against Guy #2's balls. When he signed up for Janice Dickinson I doubt that he envisioned this picture ever being taken. Beyond that he definitely didn't think it would ever surface, but it did.
So I've built Rell up and knocked him down. Now, I'll hype him right back up. You need to watch this guys show. Seriously. I think it comes on Tuesdays at 9:30pm. If nothing else you get to see a former macho guy get naked and take funny pictures and witness the mental conflict he struggles with as he makes it big as a model. All of that, plus he hyped up the Boom Tho! movement in his Janice Dickinson profile.
To quote Rell when talking about himself: "We can't all be legends. Someone has to sit on the curb and clap as I go by."
I clap for this stuff every day.
Giving Thanks
December/07/2007 02:04 PM
Have you ever spent a Thanksgiving away from every single one of your family members? I have. In fact, I've spent the last six Thanksgivings away from home. It would appear that there is no end in sight to this streak.
I've gotten used to spending holidays away from home because basketball tends to always get in the way of such occasions. Still, besides not seeing my family, I have never gotten used to eating terrible food on a day when the food should be tremendous. There's nothing like getting 88 text messages from people talking about how good their Thanksgiving food is while you're staring down at a pile of goulash.
When I was a freshman at CAL it was the worst. I didn't even own a jacket, yet here I was walking through the streets of Cleveland with Erik Bond looking for a 7/11. Actually, it was more of a backpedal because Erik Bond convinced me that walking backward helped when walking in cold, windy conditions. He was right. So here we are walking backwards in 5 degree weather with snow falling all around us searching for a place to eat...on Thanksgiving. I think I bought a couple hot dogs and some Gatorade from the local 76 gas station and that was it. Great Thanksgiving. Oh yea, and I ended up missing the Big Game (CAL v Stanford football) which just happened to be the first time CAL had won in years. Great road trip. I heard that we marched the goal posts down Bancroft Ave. Real great road trip.
This Thanksgiving started out like that one. This was my official "meal" for the day:
I know it looks real bad, but it tasted pretty decent. It was my first time ever eating Thanksgiving food at Golden Corral Buffet, but since we went as a team I made due. The point is that your meal DEFINITELY looked better than this. On Thanksgiving, this pig slop is just unacceptable.
I decided to take matters into my own hands. I needed a little part of what I'm used to. I needed some Sweet Potato Pie. I hadn't had any SPP since I was in high school and my late great grandmother made it, so I felt like I needed to do this the right way. I could have easily gone to Wal-Mart and bought a SPP from Sarah Lee, but I decided to call up moms and get the real family recipe. This is how it went:
Yee! It turned out so coddamn delicious. Just look at the deliciousness.
Ok, so I know what some people are thinking out there. You're wondering what this pie is supposed to be because it looks like the scrumptious pumpkin pie that you're used to eating. You have to be white people. Why? I don't know. I don't know when it started, but sometime long long ago, black people starting eating sweet potato pie and white people started eating pumpkin. I can't explain it. What I can tell you is that I don't know any black people who eat pumpkin pie and (considering I know thousands and thousands of white people) I know only a handful of white people that eat sweet potato. I don't want this to come off as racially insensitive, but for some reason thats how it goes. If you have never tried a sweet potato pie, give it a try. it is much sweeter and better than pumpkin, but then again, I'm biased aren't I?
Well, I figure I'll finish by telling you what I'm thankful for:
10. Colin Brickley (Not at all gay as it sounds)
9. Madden
8. 1080p HDTV's
7. Cinnamon Toast Crunch
6. The D-League
5. The Boom Tho Movement which is > Thankfulness. JK.
4. Madden
3. Short Skirts
2. Short Dresses
1. Family
We will see how Christmas goes.
I've gotten used to spending holidays away from home because basketball tends to always get in the way of such occasions. Still, besides not seeing my family, I have never gotten used to eating terrible food on a day when the food should be tremendous. There's nothing like getting 88 text messages from people talking about how good their Thanksgiving food is while you're staring down at a pile of goulash.
When I was a freshman at CAL it was the worst. I didn't even own a jacket, yet here I was walking through the streets of Cleveland with Erik Bond looking for a 7/11. Actually, it was more of a backpedal because Erik Bond convinced me that walking backward helped when walking in cold, windy conditions. He was right. So here we are walking backwards in 5 degree weather with snow falling all around us searching for a place to eat...on Thanksgiving. I think I bought a couple hot dogs and some Gatorade from the local 76 gas station and that was it. Great Thanksgiving. Oh yea, and I ended up missing the Big Game (CAL v Stanford football) which just happened to be the first time CAL had won in years. Great road trip. I heard that we marched the goal posts down Bancroft Ave. Real great road trip.
This Thanksgiving started out like that one. This was my official "meal" for the day:
I know it looks real bad, but it tasted pretty decent. It was my first time ever eating Thanksgiving food at Golden Corral Buffet, but since we went as a team I made due. The point is that your meal DEFINITELY looked better than this. On Thanksgiving, this pig slop is just unacceptable.
I decided to take matters into my own hands. I needed a little part of what I'm used to. I needed some Sweet Potato Pie. I hadn't had any SPP since I was in high school and my late great grandmother made it, so I felt like I needed to do this the right way. I could have easily gone to Wal-Mart and bought a SPP from Sarah Lee, but I decided to call up moms and get the real family recipe. This is how it went:
Yee! It turned out so coddamn delicious. Just look at the deliciousness.
Ok, so I know what some people are thinking out there. You're wondering what this pie is supposed to be because it looks like the scrumptious pumpkin pie that you're used to eating. You have to be white people. Why? I don't know. I don't know when it started, but sometime long long ago, black people starting eating sweet potato pie and white people started eating pumpkin. I can't explain it. What I can tell you is that I don't know any black people who eat pumpkin pie and (considering I know thousands and thousands of white people) I know only a handful of white people that eat sweet potato. I don't want this to come off as racially insensitive, but for some reason thats how it goes. If you have never tried a sweet potato pie, give it a try. it is much sweeter and better than pumpkin, but then again, I'm biased aren't I?
Well, I figure I'll finish by telling you what I'm thankful for:
10. Colin Brickley (Not at all gay as it sounds)
9. Madden
8. 1080p HDTV's
7. Cinnamon Toast Crunch
6. The D-League
5. The Boom Tho Movement which is > Thankfulness. JK.
4. Madden
3. Short Skirts
2. Short Dresses
1. Family
We will see how Christmas goes.
Im Really Good at the Internet
December/01/2007 01:54 PM
I think I am becoming an internet champion. What is an internet champion? Funny you should ask. I actually just made it up 30 seconds ago. An internet champion is always winning--at the internet. Simply put, I am most likely better at it than you.
I am just plain winning at the internet. My MySpace is championship calibre. My Facebook is real hot right now. My blog is rated number 1. Solid yes, but there are four more internet related things that I can't help but be dominant at:
Wyld Stallions:
The "Wyld Stallions" are the members of my fantasy football team. After a 2-3 start, the stallions have run off 7 straight and have already clinched a playoff birth. What makes the Stallions so Wyld? I manage them. Drew Brees, Brian Westbrook, Braylon Edwards, Wes Welker, and Hines Ward all contribute to my complete domination of my fantasy football league.
Bayside Tigers:
The "Bayside Tigers" are the members of my fantasy basketball team. Basically, I don't even need to check my standings because I play in a league full of pro basketball idiots. I had the first pick in the draft, so I obviously took K.G. because I am smart and I want to win. But there are 16 people in our league, so I didn't get to pick again until picks 32 and 33, then picks 64 and 65 and so on. I was able to get KG, Carlos Boozer, Tony Parker, Richard Jefferson, and Chris Kaman, among others. After the draft I decided that the league wasn't even worth playing because my team was already too good. One guy even threatened to change his team name to the Valley Bulldogs to be my rival. I dont think he knows that Valley never beats Bayside. I smell another internet championship.
When I was doing the draft, I noticed that every single player had a preseason ranking. I think there were about 900 ranked players to chose from. KG was #1, LeBron was #2. Rod Benson was on the list at number 594. 594 was ahead of Kevin Lyde's 630-something, Dontell Jefferson's 680-something, and Carlos Powell's 712. Mo Baker got me by 6 spots I think. I didn't care what my ranking was, I drafted myself in the 13th round. The way I see it, when I get called up, I'll provide my own fantasy stats.
Kevin and Dontell can't believe they are rated lower than me.
Pwiggle Boomhauer:
This may be my proudest, and lamest, internet achievement to date. Pwiggle Boomhauer is my name. Actually, you could call Pwiggle Boomhauer my second name. If you're in the know, then you already know what that means, if not, then I'll break it down for you.
I was watching "The Office" a few weeks back and I saw that Dwight joined a website called SecondLife.com. Dwight's job in SecondLife was Assistant to the Regional Manager, same as in real life, he even wore the same short sleeve dress shirt and dumb tie in his SecondLife. Later in the episode, Jim Halpert had also created a Second Jim to track Dwight's movements in Second World.
After the episode finished, I went to SecondLife.com to see what all the fuss wad about. It's basically a 3D world that is all user created. You go on there and make a 3D person and then use this person to live in a fully interactive and user created 3D online world. There is even a currency called "Linden" and it has an actual exchange rate to real USD no joke. I think its like 500 Lindens = 1USD I am not kidding you at all. If you set up a shop on SecondLife you can make REAL UNITED STATES DOLLARS by getting so many Linden's. That's SecondLife.
So I was in Berkeley just days before coming out to North Dakota and I decided that if Jim Halpert had a SecondLife, Rod Benson should have one too. Sitting in the living room of the basketball team house, I created my new online identity: Pwiggle Boomhauer. The last names have to come from a list, but the first name is all you. Pwiggle Boomhauer was born and ready to rock. The thing was, the guys on the Cal team all got into it and created SecondLives too. Oscallante Weatherwax and Beamont Marksman were a couple of the SecondNames people came up with. Even my old trainer at Cal got into the act. His name? Swarley Wingtips.
All set up and ready to rock, I entered SecondWorld without any expectations. What I have discovered so far is that it is extremely hard to get Linden's. It really pisses me off that I currently have 0L (zero Linden's). Basically I can't buy anything. I can walk around and talk to people. I can voice chat with them. I can even dance, but I can't buy a coddamn thing.
Somehow one of my old Cal teammates (Beaumont Marksman) managed to make 50L. He is a SecondLife master as far as I'm concerned. Women on SecondLife walk up to him and ask him to make out and he agrees. They engage in virtual 3D online make out sessions that look just awkward. Seriously, imagine Andy Milonakis in a make out scene, then make it twice as awkward, but also overly passionate because 3D Virtual People don't have different scales of kiss. I digress.
I am not doing well at SecondLife because Lindens control everything. I can't even upgrade my clothes. It took me a week to figure out how to take off this feminine looking half zip cardigan I was wearing. Now I have a super tight green shirt and "Nightclub Jeans". Definitely not a good look:
See my shirt? See my pants? I'm over here in Dance Island trying to get people to talk to me and it's just not going down. I may be one of the only people in the whole SecondLife who have better luck in a real life club than in one online. I need Lindens. I need them badly. I cant even get a good black man haircut without them! I will basically commit to a SecondLife of crime soon if I cant find a legal way to get Lindens. I will continue to update you on the progress of Pwiggle Boomhauer, the underachieving, feminine looking, too-tight shirt wearing, Dance Island loser. Im actually not even close to championship calibre in SecondLife because I have no Linden's, but I want you to know I'm coming.
toomuch pwiggle:
O.K. So, after months of me saying one thing and then doing another, I finally, seriously am on XBOX Live again. My name is toomuch pwiggle. All lower case baby. Come find me if you want a loss on your record. I consider myself the best Madden player in pro sports. Prove me wrong.
Lastly, while I have your attention, go ahead and email/comment with good boomisms and I will add them in for the boom tho button. Hollar.
I am just plain winning at the internet. My MySpace is championship calibre. My Facebook is real hot right now. My blog is rated number 1. Solid yes, but there are four more internet related things that I can't help but be dominant at:
Wyld Stallions:
The "Wyld Stallions" are the members of my fantasy football team. After a 2-3 start, the stallions have run off 7 straight and have already clinched a playoff birth. What makes the Stallions so Wyld? I manage them. Drew Brees, Brian Westbrook, Braylon Edwards, Wes Welker, and Hines Ward all contribute to my complete domination of my fantasy football league.
Bayside Tigers:
The "Bayside Tigers" are the members of my fantasy basketball team. Basically, I don't even need to check my standings because I play in a league full of pro basketball idiots. I had the first pick in the draft, so I obviously took K.G. because I am smart and I want to win. But there are 16 people in our league, so I didn't get to pick again until picks 32 and 33, then picks 64 and 65 and so on. I was able to get KG, Carlos Boozer, Tony Parker, Richard Jefferson, and Chris Kaman, among others. After the draft I decided that the league wasn't even worth playing because my team was already too good. One guy even threatened to change his team name to the Valley Bulldogs to be my rival. I dont think he knows that Valley never beats Bayside. I smell another internet championship.
When I was doing the draft, I noticed that every single player had a preseason ranking. I think there were about 900 ranked players to chose from. KG was #1, LeBron was #2. Rod Benson was on the list at number 594. 594 was ahead of Kevin Lyde's 630-something, Dontell Jefferson's 680-something, and Carlos Powell's 712. Mo Baker got me by 6 spots I think. I didn't care what my ranking was, I drafted myself in the 13th round. The way I see it, when I get called up, I'll provide my own fantasy stats.
Kevin and Dontell can't believe they are rated lower than me.
Pwiggle Boomhauer:
This may be my proudest, and lamest, internet achievement to date. Pwiggle Boomhauer is my name. Actually, you could call Pwiggle Boomhauer my second name. If you're in the know, then you already know what that means, if not, then I'll break it down for you.
I was watching "The Office" a few weeks back and I saw that Dwight joined a website called SecondLife.com. Dwight's job in SecondLife was Assistant to the Regional Manager, same as in real life, he even wore the same short sleeve dress shirt and dumb tie in his SecondLife. Later in the episode, Jim Halpert had also created a Second Jim to track Dwight's movements in Second World.
After the episode finished, I went to SecondLife.com to see what all the fuss wad about. It's basically a 3D world that is all user created. You go on there and make a 3D person and then use this person to live in a fully interactive and user created 3D online world. There is even a currency called "Linden" and it has an actual exchange rate to real USD no joke. I think its like 500 Lindens = 1USD I am not kidding you at all. If you set up a shop on SecondLife you can make REAL UNITED STATES DOLLARS by getting so many Linden's. That's SecondLife.
So I was in Berkeley just days before coming out to North Dakota and I decided that if Jim Halpert had a SecondLife, Rod Benson should have one too. Sitting in the living room of the basketball team house, I created my new online identity: Pwiggle Boomhauer. The last names have to come from a list, but the first name is all you. Pwiggle Boomhauer was born and ready to rock. The thing was, the guys on the Cal team all got into it and created SecondLives too. Oscallante Weatherwax and Beamont Marksman were a couple of the SecondNames people came up with. Even my old trainer at Cal got into the act. His name? Swarley Wingtips.
All set up and ready to rock, I entered SecondWorld without any expectations. What I have discovered so far is that it is extremely hard to get Linden's. It really pisses me off that I currently have 0L (zero Linden's). Basically I can't buy anything. I can walk around and talk to people. I can voice chat with them. I can even dance, but I can't buy a coddamn thing.
Somehow one of my old Cal teammates (Beaumont Marksman) managed to make 50L. He is a SecondLife master as far as I'm concerned. Women on SecondLife walk up to him and ask him to make out and he agrees. They engage in virtual 3D online make out sessions that look just awkward. Seriously, imagine Andy Milonakis in a make out scene, then make it twice as awkward, but also overly passionate because 3D Virtual People don't have different scales of kiss. I digress.
I am not doing well at SecondLife because Lindens control everything. I can't even upgrade my clothes. It took me a week to figure out how to take off this feminine looking half zip cardigan I was wearing. Now I have a super tight green shirt and "Nightclub Jeans". Definitely not a good look:
See my shirt? See my pants? I'm over here in Dance Island trying to get people to talk to me and it's just not going down. I may be one of the only people in the whole SecondLife who have better luck in a real life club than in one online. I need Lindens. I need them badly. I cant even get a good black man haircut without them! I will basically commit to a SecondLife of crime soon if I cant find a legal way to get Lindens. I will continue to update you on the progress of Pwiggle Boomhauer, the underachieving, feminine looking, too-tight shirt wearing, Dance Island loser. Im actually not even close to championship calibre in SecondLife because I have no Linden's, but I want you to know I'm coming.
toomuch pwiggle:
O.K. So, after months of me saying one thing and then doing another, I finally, seriously am on XBOX Live again. My name is toomuch pwiggle. All lower case baby. Come find me if you want a loss on your record. I consider myself the best Madden player in pro sports. Prove me wrong.
Lastly, while I have your attention, go ahead and email/comment with good boomisms and I will add them in for the boom tho button. Hollar.
My Roll Dawgs
November/08/2007 01:45 PM
The title of this entry sums up nearly 3 weeks of happenings. I think some of the events described go back as far as my last night in New York, and go all the way to right now. I've got the Kanye West on and no T.V., that means it's time for some bloggin'. Let's do it.
I'll start by taking it back to that last night in NYC. You see, before my agent had even called me to tell me the news that my days in New Jersey were done, I was already heading out to the city to watch then #2 ranked CAL play Oregon State in football. Before I left the hotel I was cutting my hair as usual, when the guard slipped off of the clippers without my knowledge. I gave my head a few more strokes before I noticed that the guard was lying on the ground next to my foot. I looked back up at the clippers and sure enough my #1 cut had become a number zero. Damn. I looked at the mirror and immediately saw that my head was definitely giving that Charles Barkley, K.G., M.J. shine . It wasn't that bad, but people who know black people's hair would definitely notice my spot. I called up Clayton and told him what had happened. We agreed that if any of the white people at the CAL bar noticed my spot, then it was really bad, if they didn't, then if was just a minor patch of hair lower than the rest. My main concern was that I was going to have to practice the next day and that the entire team (esp. Antoine Wright and Vince Carter) would make fun of me. Luckily, as I am a glass half full kind of guy, I was released before any of them had a chance to check me out.
That night I did end up going to the bar to watch CAL play Oregon State. I met up with my boys Stevie P. and Cam Jones.
We watched the whole game and they had no clue what had happened to the side of my head. Nice.
After the game was over, a close loss that should have never been, we sat there stunned for about 20 seconds. The whole bar was sad, down, and in a state of disbelief. I started to let my mind wander. My team had lost, all but ensuring another Holiday Bowl bid (not anymore). I had just been released by the New Jersey Nets, basically sending me back to North Dakota. And, last but not least, I had a patch in the side of my head, causing me to avoid my black homies who would laugh at me. Dang, what a bad 4 hours.
Well, all of a sudden, I realized that it could be worse. Why? Because long after everyone had moved on to thoughts other than the CAL game, there was this CAL fan sitting on the ground of the bar sulking. I mean this guy was literally sitting in a puddle of beer, half cross eyed, half teary eyed, mouth drooped open, arms and legs hanging lifelessly. Picture a homeless guy. Now imagine that this homeless guy is like newly homeless. This guy just realized he has nowhere to go and nobody to lean on and his body goes limp. That is how this guy looked. Just seeing him looking so pathetic over a CAL football game made me realize that I needed to pull myself together. I mean, if this guy ever gets cut by the Nets, and gets a bald spot in his head on the same day as a CAL loss, all of his friends should be on suicide watch. As for me, I still had fun on the night it all happened to me. Thanks to Stevie P and Cam Jones for helping me get it done that night.
getting it done
I flew back down to San Diego from the Newark airport ready to just relax for a little bit. Too bad the whole place was on fire:
Our house ended up being fine, but a lot were not. A lot of people are still in need. If you want to help some of them out, click here:
https://secure.salvationarmy.org/donations.nsf/donate?openform&projectid=USW_SC-07fire
After a couple of days at home I went up to Huntington Beach to kick it with Rell and go up to the UCLA football game. The day before the game was spent beating Halo 3 and battling fiercely in Wii Tennis and Bowling. The night was another story.
Rell and I went with Kam Walton (Luke's cousin), and an all star cast of former Torrey Pines High ballers to some bars out in Newport Beach. When we got the the main bar, I wouldn't exactly say it was cracking. Yea, there were a lot of people in there, but so what? These people didn't know how to party. Well, not get it cracking like Rell and Reeks Benson (as Rell calls me) do. How do we do? Let me tell you.
You can go back to the "Hollywood" entry and get a taste of what goes on when Rell and I hit the scene. Let's just say we always dance. Always. This bar we were at in Newport was not a dance spot, even though there was a D.J. there. Rell and I started dancing with random girls to get the place cracking a little. Rell has a girlfriend, so his dancing wasn't quite as enticing as mine, but let's just say that after about 15 minutes this place started to liven up.
Now Rell and I have another sort of tradition. Actually, let's not call it a tradition, let's call it an "if, then". Let's actually change that. We will call it an "if and only if, then". If, and only if the party is crackin', then Rell and I will probably do our pants off dancing. Basically it is just how it sounds. There were no pictures of that night, so i'll show you the one from the "Hollywood" entry:
As you can see, the pants are down and dancing continues to proceed. In college we had this spreading like wildfire. I now realize that that was then and this is now. In that bar in Newport, which was at this point crackin', we began our pants off C-walk. You must understand that the C-walk is the easiest dance to do pants off because your feet are so close together and the pants kind off restrict your foot spacing. So we are in the bar making it happen, pants off C-walking away, and I'm telling you, everybody around (mostly female) was buying what we were selling. It was just getting more and more cracking. Out of nowhere, the music stops. It was kind of like a movie where the D.J. scratches the record to a stop.
"What the hell are you guys doing?" the D.J. said into his mic, easily garnering the attention of everyone in the building. "This is why I don't play hip-hop, because of guys like this! Security come and do something about this."
Right then, everybody (probably 200 people) turns and looks at Rell and me, who are trying our best to shimmy our pants back up. It was a lot easier for me because I was wearing Jeans that had a regular fit. I had mine up in about 3 seconds. Rell, on the other hand, was STRUGGLING. Ever since this guy became an underwear model (catch him on the new season of Janice Dickinson Modeling Show on Oxygen Network Dec. 4), he has been wearing these jeans that are just way too tight. There were two problems with his tight jeans: the D.J. refused to put the music back on until we had the pants back up, and Rell also wore some his designer underwear which had a downright gross bikini cut. I think that the only reason the D.J. stopped us was because of Rell's designer briefs that were so0o0o disgusting. Security actually threw him out and let me stay...had to be the designers. I left anyways because we are a team and we both did the act. I just didn't gross anybody out.
Speaking of gross, Halloween didn't get any better. I decided to steal my brothers ostrich outfit because it was money in the bank. Man on ostrich, so hot right now. I wasn't the gross one though. I must warn you, this really is gross. Don't look at the next two pictures if you think you will be grossed out. This is my boy Jason, and he was a tennis player for Halloween:
Why he had to buy the fake balls and hang them like that I will never, ever understand.
As for the rest of national dress-up day, I got it done up in the bay area.
ride that ostrich young man
clay rocks out with my Guitar Hero Guitar
JGant once again getting harassed
Seriously though, I thought JGant and I had talked about this. I mean, I had to sock him in the balls twice for crying out loud. But look at him. He is having the most fun ever isn't he? Maybe I am a little shallow, but I know he can do better than this! I know it. If he just doesn't care, then i'll forward his myspace profile to all the girls who message me and they can dance the night away.
Oh, and before I met up with him that day he sent me a Blackberry Message that said: "Rod you know i'll wait for you. Can't leave without my roll dawg!"
I was very confused by this. I asked him what that meant? Did it mean like roll-out dawgs or what? He said: "I dont know its just what people say."
I said: "I dunno man that sound a lot like ROAD DAWGS."
He replied: "Oh yea! Thats what they must be saying."
What would I do without my ROLL DAWGS?
I'll end this entry by saying that college basketball is here. Check out my CAL bears. I think they will make some noise.
Top 5 reasons to watch the CAL Bears:
5. I went there, duh. You read my blog, watch my Bears coddamit!
4. People sleep in the trees. Seriously.
3. 2 first round (projected) draft picks
2. You probably need a new team to get into anyways
1. Devon Hardin (one of the draft picks) can get low!!
Hollar!
I'll start by taking it back to that last night in NYC. You see, before my agent had even called me to tell me the news that my days in New Jersey were done, I was already heading out to the city to watch then #2 ranked CAL play Oregon State in football. Before I left the hotel I was cutting my hair as usual, when the guard slipped off of the clippers without my knowledge. I gave my head a few more strokes before I noticed that the guard was lying on the ground next to my foot. I looked back up at the clippers and sure enough my #1 cut had become a number zero. Damn. I looked at the mirror and immediately saw that my head was definitely giving that Charles Barkley, K.G., M.J. shine . It wasn't that bad, but people who know black people's hair would definitely notice my spot. I called up Clayton and told him what had happened. We agreed that if any of the white people at the CAL bar noticed my spot, then it was really bad, if they didn't, then if was just a minor patch of hair lower than the rest. My main concern was that I was going to have to practice the next day and that the entire team (esp. Antoine Wright and Vince Carter) would make fun of me. Luckily, as I am a glass half full kind of guy, I was released before any of them had a chance to check me out.
That night I did end up going to the bar to watch CAL play Oregon State. I met up with my boys Stevie P. and Cam Jones.
We watched the whole game and they had no clue what had happened to the side of my head. Nice.
After the game was over, a close loss that should have never been, we sat there stunned for about 20 seconds. The whole bar was sad, down, and in a state of disbelief. I started to let my mind wander. My team had lost, all but ensuring another Holiday Bowl bid (not anymore). I had just been released by the New Jersey Nets, basically sending me back to North Dakota. And, last but not least, I had a patch in the side of my head, causing me to avoid my black homies who would laugh at me. Dang, what a bad 4 hours.
Well, all of a sudden, I realized that it could be worse. Why? Because long after everyone had moved on to thoughts other than the CAL game, there was this CAL fan sitting on the ground of the bar sulking. I mean this guy was literally sitting in a puddle of beer, half cross eyed, half teary eyed, mouth drooped open, arms and legs hanging lifelessly. Picture a homeless guy. Now imagine that this homeless guy is like newly homeless. This guy just realized he has nowhere to go and nobody to lean on and his body goes limp. That is how this guy looked. Just seeing him looking so pathetic over a CAL football game made me realize that I needed to pull myself together. I mean, if this guy ever gets cut by the Nets, and gets a bald spot in his head on the same day as a CAL loss, all of his friends should be on suicide watch. As for me, I still had fun on the night it all happened to me. Thanks to Stevie P and Cam Jones for helping me get it done that night.
getting it done
I flew back down to San Diego from the Newark airport ready to just relax for a little bit. Too bad the whole place was on fire:
Our house ended up being fine, but a lot were not. A lot of people are still in need. If you want to help some of them out, click here:
https://secure.salvationarmy.org/donations.nsf/donate?openform&projectid=USW_SC-07fire
After a couple of days at home I went up to Huntington Beach to kick it with Rell and go up to the UCLA football game. The day before the game was spent beating Halo 3 and battling fiercely in Wii Tennis and Bowling. The night was another story.
Rell and I went with Kam Walton (Luke's cousin), and an all star cast of former Torrey Pines High ballers to some bars out in Newport Beach. When we got the the main bar, I wouldn't exactly say it was cracking. Yea, there were a lot of people in there, but so what? These people didn't know how to party. Well, not get it cracking like Rell and Reeks Benson (as Rell calls me) do. How do we do? Let me tell you.
You can go back to the "Hollywood" entry and get a taste of what goes on when Rell and I hit the scene. Let's just say we always dance. Always. This bar we were at in Newport was not a dance spot, even though there was a D.J. there. Rell and I started dancing with random girls to get the place cracking a little. Rell has a girlfriend, so his dancing wasn't quite as enticing as mine, but let's just say that after about 15 minutes this place started to liven up.
Now Rell and I have another sort of tradition. Actually, let's not call it a tradition, let's call it an "if, then". Let's actually change that. We will call it an "if and only if, then". If, and only if the party is crackin', then Rell and I will probably do our pants off dancing. Basically it is just how it sounds. There were no pictures of that night, so i'll show you the one from the "Hollywood" entry:
As you can see, the pants are down and dancing continues to proceed. In college we had this spreading like wildfire. I now realize that that was then and this is now. In that bar in Newport, which was at this point crackin', we began our pants off C-walk. You must understand that the C-walk is the easiest dance to do pants off because your feet are so close together and the pants kind off restrict your foot spacing. So we are in the bar making it happen, pants off C-walking away, and I'm telling you, everybody around (mostly female) was buying what we were selling. It was just getting more and more cracking. Out of nowhere, the music stops. It was kind of like a movie where the D.J. scratches the record to a stop.
"What the hell are you guys doing?" the D.J. said into his mic, easily garnering the attention of everyone in the building. "This is why I don't play hip-hop, because of guys like this! Security come and do something about this."
Right then, everybody (probably 200 people) turns and looks at Rell and me, who are trying our best to shimmy our pants back up. It was a lot easier for me because I was wearing Jeans that had a regular fit. I had mine up in about 3 seconds. Rell, on the other hand, was STRUGGLING. Ever since this guy became an underwear model (catch him on the new season of Janice Dickinson Modeling Show on Oxygen Network Dec. 4), he has been wearing these jeans that are just way too tight. There were two problems with his tight jeans: the D.J. refused to put the music back on until we had the pants back up, and Rell also wore some his designer underwear which had a downright gross bikini cut. I think that the only reason the D.J. stopped us was because of Rell's designer briefs that were so0o0o disgusting. Security actually threw him out and let me stay...had to be the designers. I left anyways because we are a team and we both did the act. I just didn't gross anybody out.
Speaking of gross, Halloween didn't get any better. I decided to steal my brothers ostrich outfit because it was money in the bank. Man on ostrich, so hot right now. I wasn't the gross one though. I must warn you, this really is gross. Don't look at the next two pictures if you think you will be grossed out. This is my boy Jason, and he was a tennis player for Halloween:
Why he had to buy the fake balls and hang them like that I will never, ever understand.
As for the rest of national dress-up day, I got it done up in the bay area.
ride that ostrich young man
clay rocks out with my Guitar Hero Guitar
JGant once again getting harassed
Seriously though, I thought JGant and I had talked about this. I mean, I had to sock him in the balls twice for crying out loud. But look at him. He is having the most fun ever isn't he? Maybe I am a little shallow, but I know he can do better than this! I know it. If he just doesn't care, then i'll forward his myspace profile to all the girls who message me and they can dance the night away.
Oh, and before I met up with him that day he sent me a Blackberry Message that said: "Rod you know i'll wait for you. Can't leave without my roll dawg!"
I was very confused by this. I asked him what that meant? Did it mean like roll-out dawgs or what? He said: "I dont know its just what people say."
I said: "I dunno man that sound a lot like ROAD DAWGS."
He replied: "Oh yea! Thats what they must be saying."
What would I do without my ROLL DAWGS?
I'll end this entry by saying that college basketball is here. Check out my CAL bears. I think they will make some noise.
Top 5 reasons to watch the CAL Bears:
5. I went there, duh. You read my blog, watch my Bears coddamit!
4. People sleep in the trees. Seriously.
3. 2 first round (projected) draft picks
2. You probably need a new team to get into anyways
1. Devon Hardin (one of the draft picks) can get low!!
Hollar!
Year 24, Day 1
October/11/2007 12:58 PM
The 24th year of my life began like every other day this past month. I woke up, checked my facebook (already flooded with happy birthday messages), got dressed, played a game of Madden (beat the Colts 77-0, on all madden) and went to practice.
Once I got to the practice facility, things took a turn. There were cameras waiting outside when I got out of the team van. The cameras actually filmed me going into the building. I know that you probably assume that they should want to follow me in, since I am one of nineteen players that they are supposed to film, but Rod Benson is on a lower spot on the totem pole than some of the big time guys, so I was very surprised.
I got into my gear, had a delicious Gatorade energy shake, and got my ankles taped. I have to reiterate how good these things are, the Gatorade shakes. Every time a baby laughs, I believe that the tears of joy that stream down their faces are collected by Gatorade scientists, mixed together with such wonderful ingredients as uncooked cake batter and sucrose syrup, and put into a wonderful green can. Remember 9/11? Yea, the exact opposite of that. I digress.
Once everyone was ready for practice, coach Frank called us all in for our usual pre-practice circle talk thing. With everyone paying the utmost attention coach Frank said he had to make an announcement.
"Guys, when one our own gets recognition, we should all be proud."
No way he is talking about me. No way.
"It just so happens that one of our guys is the very best at what he does."
He HAS to be talking about me. Really?
"Rod Benson..."
Yes!
"...has been recognized for having the #1 blog in professional sports. I read it in the newspaper yesterday."
Not knowing what to do, I gave a slight fist-pump. It was like MJ in the first quarter or Tiger Woods on the third green. Not the big time fist pump signaling victory, but a subtle, less energetic pump that says "there's still more work to do." I wish I was recognized by ESPN as the best basketball player in the history of the world, but blogging would have to do. Right then, in that moment, blogging definitely would do.
"Furthermore, it is his birthday today. Rookies have to sing happy birthday to him. Who are the rookies? Sean, and who else? I....guess it's just Sean. Sean, go ahead."
"Right now? In front of all the cameras?" Sean obviously didn't believe coach was serious. Everybody else on the team chimed in, making it pretty serious.
"Oh yea."
"Right now, gotta sing."
"Lets go rook. Happy Birthday. Sing it to Rod."
All I could do was laugh. It may have been more awkward for me that it was for Sean. I don't think he really had any problems doing it, because when he finally did, he seemed to enjoy his off-tempo, deep voiced, slightly mis-worded rendition of the birthday tune.
After practice, we split up into groups of 5 or so for an event called "Paint the Town." Basically, each group went to a different location and shook hands and signed autographs and whatnot. My group (Krstic, Boone, Ilic, and Armstrong) went to a McDonalds about 20 minutes away from the practice facility.
We all washed our hands and went to the back. They showed us the fridge and freezer rooms, the rooms where all the happy meal toys are kept, and then had us make a big mac. It took Darrel Armstrong 1 minute, 59 seconds to make one. Boone it took 1:29. Rod Benson got that bad boy done in 1:09. Should I be so celebratory? Yes. I should.
I would say how long it took Mile to get his done, but he didn't seem to comprehend too much. He seemed pretty content with the helium tank...
We then got behind the register and made some sales.
I was working the drive thru. I decided to sprinkle a little sunshine on the drive thru customers by placing a happy meal toy in their bag regardless of their order. I figure they will be so happy to have gotten a toy, that they will always return to that McDonalds. I was showing them that this particular McDonalds knows how business is done.
Well, as it turns out, the McDonalds people knew that it was my birthday somehow. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had a cake all set up with candles and whatnot:
They sat me down in a chair while all the employees and PR people sang happy birthday to me. None of the players sang because only rookies sing. I guess. When the singing ended, one of the employees threw the cake in my face. I couldn't believe it. There was literally cake coming through my nostrils into my throat. It was gross. They brought me a bunch of napkins and whatnot so I could clean my face off. After about two minutes of wiping, I thought I had it all off...
Wrong. I continued to clean my face off in the bathroom for a few minutes more before it was really all gone.
I got back to the hotel later and I thought to myself that I had not yet done anything for my birthday. I had to do something. At about 8pm, I got into a cab and went to Wal Mart. What better place to spend an hour or two of my birthday than at the local Wal Mart? It's full of gifts I can give to myself if the mood strikes. In fact, I did buy a gift for myself. I bought a new digital camera that is "YouTube Approved". What does this mean to you? It means that my video making is back. A third chapter in the boom tho series? Dont count it out!
I left Wal Mart feeling satisfied with my purchase. I began to walk around aimlessly, when my brother called me. He informed me that he has now purchased 2 different halloween costumes. His first costume is the king from Burger King. Sounds pretty cool. His second is an inflatable ostrich that, when worn correctly, looks like a man is riding an ostrich with his legs flailing behind him. Looks like lil bro is on the right track to follow my footsteps. He purchased his costumes a month early, he chose funny and inventive costumes, and he chose two of them, obviously understanding that you dont just party once on halloween. Props lil bro, props. I told him that I intend to be the Kanye West bear. You know the bear with the little backpack and whatnot? Yea, that would be costume one. Costume two, the real costume, I figured I would be a fat guy. Like a fat version of Rod Benson. Kind of like Eddie Murphy and the Klumps. I would wear a fat suit, of course, but also get fat face makeup. I assume that I wouldn't have that much fun being fat and hot with makeup all over my face, but it would be hilarious, which is all I care about.
After I got off the phone with the bro, I walked past a movie theater. I stopped, thought about it, then walked back to the ticket office to see a movie. The only movie playing at 9pm was Mr. Woodcock. I bought my ticket and walked on in. I think there were about ten screens in this theatre, yet I was the only person in the whole building. Seriously. 3 employees and 1 total customer -- me. I went into my actual theatre to see Mr. Woodcock, and nobody else was in there. I've never been to a movie by myself before, let alone a 9pm showing with nobody else in attendance. It was kind of like having a private screening or something.
I yelled out "I guess nobody cares if I leave my ringtone on, right?" Of course there was no response. It was nice in a way. I used my phone, I laughed when things were funny and didnt fall into the trap of mob laughter. You know... laughing when something really isnt funny, but since everyone else is laughing, you get caught up in the moment and give an artificial laugh. No studio audience for me on that night.
I finished my night off with a call from my mom who said that the NBA TV guys called me intelligent. She then said that she always knew I was smart because I was the only newborn she knew who could hold their own bottle. Interesting.
Back at my hotel room that night, I did my best to recall every birthday I ever had...
My 22 other birthdays (minus 1-4, which I dont remember):
5: Got remote control car, which was cool except my brother got one too.. on my birthday. I never forgave grandma for that.
6. Got "Contra" on Nintendo. Awesome.
7. Won the paper airplane contest at day care with a design I learned from older kids the night before.
8. Dont Remember.. probably because I was consumed with trying to learn my coddamn times tables.
9. Got "Tecmo Bowl" on Nintendo. Awesome.
10. Got a new lot of Frank Thomas baseball cards as well as my A-Rod rookie and a Mickey Mantle.
11. Dont remember. Odd. I will blame excessive amounts of the newly released "Rice Krispies Treats" for this.
12. Camping with the homies and fishing for trout. Also, got my first AOL screen name and entered chat rooms pretending to be a 14 yr old named Shaun. I had a "14 year old girl named Stacey" sending me letters from Seattle. She loved safeway chicken nuggets, it was what we had in common. It was all good until mom saw a letter and banned me from the computer.
13. First set of Golf clubs.
14. Snowboarding in Big Bear.
15. Broke my wrist snowboarding in Big Bear, thus ending my snowboard career. I was also called out for being the only black guy to go snowbarding, being 6'7" at that, and consequently miss basketball season. After Jeff (my AAU coach) called me out, I quit boarding and focused on hoops. That talk led me to college basketball.
16. Took a trip to Santa Barbara with our high school girls volleyball team. It was on this trip that I discovered dance music beyond Jock Jams. DJ Sammy - Heaven... get on that.
17. Dont remember. I blame College recruiters for this.
18. First day of practice at CAL. I nearly fainted due to exhaustion.
19. Quiet night rebuilding my computer.
20. "Rod-Fest" as it was dubbed by my man Prelle. The greatest party ever thrown, basically. People danced on my futon and broke it, and I wasnt mad about it at all. Junior year was the greatest year ever.
21. Cal vs. UCLA football at the Rose Bowl. Although we lost, it was one of the greatest days in Rod Benson history.
22. JGant, Clay, Marty, Devon, and many more gettin it done in Berkeley. There are photos of this night, but I wont show them to you.
A year from now, I will have to do something spectacular. Until then...
Once I got to the practice facility, things took a turn. There were cameras waiting outside when I got out of the team van. The cameras actually filmed me going into the building. I know that you probably assume that they should want to follow me in, since I am one of nineteen players that they are supposed to film, but Rod Benson is on a lower spot on the totem pole than some of the big time guys, so I was very surprised.
I got into my gear, had a delicious Gatorade energy shake, and got my ankles taped. I have to reiterate how good these things are, the Gatorade shakes. Every time a baby laughs, I believe that the tears of joy that stream down their faces are collected by Gatorade scientists, mixed together with such wonderful ingredients as uncooked cake batter and sucrose syrup, and put into a wonderful green can. Remember 9/11? Yea, the exact opposite of that. I digress.
Once everyone was ready for practice, coach Frank called us all in for our usual pre-practice circle talk thing. With everyone paying the utmost attention coach Frank said he had to make an announcement.
"Guys, when one our own gets recognition, we should all be proud."
No way he is talking about me. No way.
"It just so happens that one of our guys is the very best at what he does."
He HAS to be talking about me. Really?
"Rod Benson..."
Yes!
"...has been recognized for having the #1 blog in professional sports. I read it in the newspaper yesterday."
Not knowing what to do, I gave a slight fist-pump. It was like MJ in the first quarter or Tiger Woods on the third green. Not the big time fist pump signaling victory, but a subtle, less energetic pump that says "there's still more work to do." I wish I was recognized by ESPN as the best basketball player in the history of the world, but blogging would have to do. Right then, in that moment, blogging definitely would do.
"Furthermore, it is his birthday today. Rookies have to sing happy birthday to him. Who are the rookies? Sean, and who else? I....guess it's just Sean. Sean, go ahead."
"Right now? In front of all the cameras?" Sean obviously didn't believe coach was serious. Everybody else on the team chimed in, making it pretty serious.
"Oh yea."
"Right now, gotta sing."
"Lets go rook. Happy Birthday. Sing it to Rod."
All I could do was laugh. It may have been more awkward for me that it was for Sean. I don't think he really had any problems doing it, because when he finally did, he seemed to enjoy his off-tempo, deep voiced, slightly mis-worded rendition of the birthday tune.
After practice, we split up into groups of 5 or so for an event called "Paint the Town." Basically, each group went to a different location and shook hands and signed autographs and whatnot. My group (Krstic, Boone, Ilic, and Armstrong) went to a McDonalds about 20 minutes away from the practice facility.
We all washed our hands and went to the back. They showed us the fridge and freezer rooms, the rooms where all the happy meal toys are kept, and then had us make a big mac. It took Darrel Armstrong 1 minute, 59 seconds to make one. Boone it took 1:29. Rod Benson got that bad boy done in 1:09. Should I be so celebratory? Yes. I should.
I would say how long it took Mile to get his done, but he didn't seem to comprehend too much. He seemed pretty content with the helium tank...
We then got behind the register and made some sales.
I was working the drive thru. I decided to sprinkle a little sunshine on the drive thru customers by placing a happy meal toy in their bag regardless of their order. I figure they will be so happy to have gotten a toy, that they will always return to that McDonalds. I was showing them that this particular McDonalds knows how business is done.
Well, as it turns out, the McDonalds people knew that it was my birthday somehow. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had a cake all set up with candles and whatnot:
They sat me down in a chair while all the employees and PR people sang happy birthday to me. None of the players sang because only rookies sing. I guess. When the singing ended, one of the employees threw the cake in my face. I couldn't believe it. There was literally cake coming through my nostrils into my throat. It was gross. They brought me a bunch of napkins and whatnot so I could clean my face off. After about two minutes of wiping, I thought I had it all off...
Wrong. I continued to clean my face off in the bathroom for a few minutes more before it was really all gone.
I got back to the hotel later and I thought to myself that I had not yet done anything for my birthday. I had to do something. At about 8pm, I got into a cab and went to Wal Mart. What better place to spend an hour or two of my birthday than at the local Wal Mart? It's full of gifts I can give to myself if the mood strikes. In fact, I did buy a gift for myself. I bought a new digital camera that is "YouTube Approved". What does this mean to you? It means that my video making is back. A third chapter in the boom tho series? Dont count it out!
I left Wal Mart feeling satisfied with my purchase. I began to walk around aimlessly, when my brother called me. He informed me that he has now purchased 2 different halloween costumes. His first costume is the king from Burger King. Sounds pretty cool. His second is an inflatable ostrich that, when worn correctly, looks like a man is riding an ostrich with his legs flailing behind him. Looks like lil bro is on the right track to follow my footsteps. He purchased his costumes a month early, he chose funny and inventive costumes, and he chose two of them, obviously understanding that you dont just party once on halloween. Props lil bro, props. I told him that I intend to be the Kanye West bear. You know the bear with the little backpack and whatnot? Yea, that would be costume one. Costume two, the real costume, I figured I would be a fat guy. Like a fat version of Rod Benson. Kind of like Eddie Murphy and the Klumps. I would wear a fat suit, of course, but also get fat face makeup. I assume that I wouldn't have that much fun being fat and hot with makeup all over my face, but it would be hilarious, which is all I care about.
After I got off the phone with the bro, I walked past a movie theater. I stopped, thought about it, then walked back to the ticket office to see a movie. The only movie playing at 9pm was Mr. Woodcock. I bought my ticket and walked on in. I think there were about ten screens in this theatre, yet I was the only person in the whole building. Seriously. 3 employees and 1 total customer -- me. I went into my actual theatre to see Mr. Woodcock, and nobody else was in there. I've never been to a movie by myself before, let alone a 9pm showing with nobody else in attendance. It was kind of like having a private screening or something.
I yelled out "I guess nobody cares if I leave my ringtone on, right?" Of course there was no response. It was nice in a way. I used my phone, I laughed when things were funny and didnt fall into the trap of mob laughter. You know... laughing when something really isnt funny, but since everyone else is laughing, you get caught up in the moment and give an artificial laugh. No studio audience for me on that night.
I finished my night off with a call from my mom who said that the NBA TV guys called me intelligent. She then said that she always knew I was smart because I was the only newborn she knew who could hold their own bottle. Interesting.
Back at my hotel room that night, I did my best to recall every birthday I ever had...
My 22 other birthdays (minus 1-4, which I dont remember):
5: Got remote control car, which was cool except my brother got one too.. on my birthday. I never forgave grandma for that.
6. Got "Contra" on Nintendo. Awesome.
7. Won the paper airplane contest at day care with a design I learned from older kids the night before.
8. Dont Remember.. probably because I was consumed with trying to learn my coddamn times tables.
9. Got "Tecmo Bowl" on Nintendo. Awesome.
10. Got a new lot of Frank Thomas baseball cards as well as my A-Rod rookie and a Mickey Mantle.
11. Dont remember. Odd. I will blame excessive amounts of the newly released "Rice Krispies Treats" for this.
12. Camping with the homies and fishing for trout. Also, got my first AOL screen name and entered chat rooms pretending to be a 14 yr old named Shaun. I had a "14 year old girl named Stacey" sending me letters from Seattle. She loved safeway chicken nuggets, it was what we had in common. It was all good until mom saw a letter and banned me from the computer.
13. First set of Golf clubs.
14. Snowboarding in Big Bear.
15. Broke my wrist snowboarding in Big Bear, thus ending my snowboard career. I was also called out for being the only black guy to go snowbarding, being 6'7" at that, and consequently miss basketball season. After Jeff (my AAU coach) called me out, I quit boarding and focused on hoops. That talk led me to college basketball.
16. Took a trip to Santa Barbara with our high school girls volleyball team. It was on this trip that I discovered dance music beyond Jock Jams. DJ Sammy - Heaven... get on that.
17. Dont remember. I blame College recruiters for this.
18. First day of practice at CAL. I nearly fainted due to exhaustion.
19. Quiet night rebuilding my computer.
20. "Rod-Fest" as it was dubbed by my man Prelle. The greatest party ever thrown, basically. People danced on my futon and broke it, and I wasnt mad about it at all. Junior year was the greatest year ever.
21. Cal vs. UCLA football at the Rose Bowl. Although we lost, it was one of the greatest days in Rod Benson history.
22. JGant, Clay, Marty, Devon, and many more gettin it done in Berkeley. There are photos of this night, but I wont show them to you.
A year from now, I will have to do something spectacular. Until then...
Don't Make Me Punch You in the Balls... Again.
August/29/2007 12:46 PM
This past saturday I was out at Slide (upscale San Francisco nightclub) with JGant, Clay, and Cedric. The thing about Slide is that it's a lot like L.A. clubs. Tight women basically can just walk right in, while women who the bouncers think aren't good enough to walk right in and all men without a VIP table have to wait out side. Even then, men can't get in unless they have at least 50% women in their group. Well, Clay and I were on the list, so we didn't have to worry about female accompaniment. JGant and Cedric were on their own to find some womens to help them get into the club.
JGant was the only one drinking that night so it was no surprise when we walked back up with the only 3 girls in line that I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. Then again, he had to make his way in somehow. Right before we got in, 3 other girls that I wouldn't call terrible, butI also wouldn't call the cream of the crop walked by and said "Look at those guys," clearly talking about JGant and myself.
Cedric, Me, and JGant at Slide
I disregarded all six of the women and made my way inside. As usual, there was a lot of talent in there. I'm telling you, in S.F. you can't get more eye candy than slide. As my eyes were making their way around the room, I felt a tap on my shoulder.
I turned around and saw that it was that same group of girls who were looking at us outside. Like I said, they weren't terrible, but I mean, I really wasn't interested.
One of them yelled over the music "Why don't you loosen up and dance?"
I, having a complete understanding of club speak, replied "Umm well, I need to drink before I can dance, sorry."
See, in club speak, that translates to "I'm trying to be nice, but I'm just not interested in dancing with you." Everybody knows this. I mean, maybe some people persist beyond that point, but it's rare. These girls were that rare case. They continued to ask me to dance and to loosen up. Finally, I walked over to Clay who was at the bar and I said "Clay I am only speaking to you so that these girls will think I'm giving you a drink order and then leave me alone. What is gonna happen is, when you get your drink, we are gonna walk to the other side of the club and avoid them."
When Clay got his drink, I quickly grabbed JGant and Cedric and we went to the other side of the building. The girls followed. Dammit. JGant and I had already started dancing, so I couldn't use the "I need my drink" line again. When JGant and I get going, we command the attention of the whole room, so it would be tough to get these girls to leave now. They all surrounded me and started trying to get me to dance with them. No way was I gonna honor their request. Within a 5 foot radius of me there were plenty of girls worth dancing with who would see this exchange and assume that I was with one of them. I couldn't let that happen.
Somewhere along the way, they scouted that JGant was drunk. I mean he was just wasted. I don't know how this happened, it didn't look like he drank that much. Either way, the girls now had two targets: me and JGant. JGant started breaking them off one by one. Honestly, I couldn't believe he was really going at them this hard. I know he has higher aspirations for a place like Slide, but at the end of the day, it was just dancing so I wasn't concerned.
I wasn't concerned until I heard from Cedric that he and JGant had made a bet. $100 would go to the man who could take a girl home with him that night. I remember thinking "Oh no." With this bet in mind, JGant wouldn't pay any attention to the classy, attractive women in the building. He would focus his attention on those women who were ready like spaghetti, regardless of any other factors. Those women were already right in front of him. I realized that we had been there for maybe 45 minutes and that those 3 girls were still all surrounding him. I don't think he realized that they had cut him off from the rest of the group. I was still being nice to them because they were just doing them. Then they started taking hella pictures. Pictures of me.
When the photos started, I went from being nice to being angry. I went to the one with the camera and told her to stop taking pictures of me. She asked if I was somebody important and I told that I wasn't. Then she came at me with "Then why do you care?"
"Why do I care? It doesn't matter why I care. The point is, quit taking coddamn pictures. I don't need a reason." Mean? Maybe. Necessary? Absolutely.
I made another effort to relocate our group. Cedric and Clay went to the other side of the room, while I had to literally drag JGant away from these women. When we got to the other side of the room, I set JGant up to dance with a much better woman who was not ugly, or wasted, or taking photos of us. I swear I must have turned my head for a second when the other 3 girls were back, tugging at his shirt. He turned around and started dancing with them again. I quickly pulled him away and moved the group to the other side of the room again. These girls were killing our whole situation in that bad boy and they knew it. They were standing around us like we all came in together.
The followed us again, and this time they put the full court press on JGant. The started grabbing him and rubbing him, slow dancing him and caressing him. I really think he had no idea what it looked like. It looked like they were raping him. They basically controlled his every move. We had been in there for almost 2 hours and they were still just making my man look bad. I made a couple more relocation attempts, but they kept following us. Worse yet, they kept taking pictures. I said to JGant: "Tell your girls to quit taking pictures of me or I will break that coddamn camera. No joke." He seemed to listen, but when he went to talk to them, it turned into him giving out lap dances.
It was time for us to leave JGant alone for a while and make our own moves. For about 30 minutes, clay and I made moves all over Slide, really just enjoying ourselves. When we came back to near where JGant was, one of the 3 girls was kissing some other black guy near the bar, another one was grinding up on someone else, and JGant was hugged up with the ugliest one against the wall.
Clay, Cedric and I had a quick meeting. Should we let JGant wake up the next day ashamed, disgusted, and possibly carrying Herpes? Or should we end this now, knowing that he would get mad, but thank us later. There was still about 20 more minutes of good time at Slide and he could make moves in that time no doubt. I concluded that I would make one last effort to get him away.
I walked up to JGant and told him to leave the girl behind. It was crazy because the other two girls left their partners to come back and stop JGant from leaving. He finally told them he had to go and began to walk away when the main girl grabbed his shirt and wouldn't let him get away. I think he was so drunk that he forgot that he was supposed to leave. He turned around and kept talking to them. I had seen enough. These girls were not playing fair.
I walked over to Cedric and told him to watch. I walked back over to JGant and socked him right in the balls, hard. He bent over and fell the the ground. The girls knew that his attention was diverted and they snapped at me.
"Oh my God that's so mean, why would you do that? That was so un-cool," the main one said.
"Hey, he's my friend. He can be mad at me if he wants, but I had to get him in the one place where he would stop thinking about you," I fired back.
Meanwhile, JGant was still on the ground holding his balls very gingerly. He got up and hobbled over to the bar, where he placed both hands on his knees and stayed bent over for a few minutes. I walked over to him and let him know he could hate me, but I had to do what I had to do. The girls were nowhere in sight so I finally felt like he could have a good time.
Once his little JGants recovered, he found a new set of women to entertain. I felt like a proud father who had steered his child away from drugs. I went on about my business and had my fun. Then I saw the 3 girls come back into view. They walked right up JGant and grabbed his hands. They actually grabbed him away from the new girls he was dancing with and walked him over to the bar.
This time I didn't hesitate. I walked right over there. I saw he was smiling at their words so I reared back and socked him in the balls again.
"You're an assh#le," one of the girls said as they made their way toward the exit and finally left. JGant stayed down much longer this time. He was clearly hurt. I leaned down towards JGant and said, just loud enough for him to hear me, "Better to have sore balls today, than to have Gonorrhea tomorrow."
I don't know if he recovered from that second punch that night. He also lost his phone. Im pretty sure I saw him crying 10 minutes later. But he probably just had something in both his eyes. He was over all of it an hour later, so we're cool.
A lot of craziness for my last bay area night out. I head to Jersey next week so it's time to make moves. I don't think I can sock anyone in the balls out there. Especially not twice.
JGant was the only one drinking that night so it was no surprise when we walked back up with the only 3 girls in line that I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. Then again, he had to make his way in somehow. Right before we got in, 3 other girls that I wouldn't call terrible, butI also wouldn't call the cream of the crop walked by and said "Look at those guys," clearly talking about JGant and myself.
Cedric, Me, and JGant at Slide
I disregarded all six of the women and made my way inside. As usual, there was a lot of talent in there. I'm telling you, in S.F. you can't get more eye candy than slide. As my eyes were making their way around the room, I felt a tap on my shoulder.
I turned around and saw that it was that same group of girls who were looking at us outside. Like I said, they weren't terrible, but I mean, I really wasn't interested.
One of them yelled over the music "Why don't you loosen up and dance?"
I, having a complete understanding of club speak, replied "Umm well, I need to drink before I can dance, sorry."
See, in club speak, that translates to "I'm trying to be nice, but I'm just not interested in dancing with you." Everybody knows this. I mean, maybe some people persist beyond that point, but it's rare. These girls were that rare case. They continued to ask me to dance and to loosen up. Finally, I walked over to Clay who was at the bar and I said "Clay I am only speaking to you so that these girls will think I'm giving you a drink order and then leave me alone. What is gonna happen is, when you get your drink, we are gonna walk to the other side of the club and avoid them."
When Clay got his drink, I quickly grabbed JGant and Cedric and we went to the other side of the building. The girls followed. Dammit. JGant and I had already started dancing, so I couldn't use the "I need my drink" line again. When JGant and I get going, we command the attention of the whole room, so it would be tough to get these girls to leave now. They all surrounded me and started trying to get me to dance with them. No way was I gonna honor their request. Within a 5 foot radius of me there were plenty of girls worth dancing with who would see this exchange and assume that I was with one of them. I couldn't let that happen.
Somewhere along the way, they scouted that JGant was drunk. I mean he was just wasted. I don't know how this happened, it didn't look like he drank that much. Either way, the girls now had two targets: me and JGant. JGant started breaking them off one by one. Honestly, I couldn't believe he was really going at them this hard. I know he has higher aspirations for a place like Slide, but at the end of the day, it was just dancing so I wasn't concerned.
I wasn't concerned until I heard from Cedric that he and JGant had made a bet. $100 would go to the man who could take a girl home with him that night. I remember thinking "Oh no." With this bet in mind, JGant wouldn't pay any attention to the classy, attractive women in the building. He would focus his attention on those women who were ready like spaghetti, regardless of any other factors. Those women were already right in front of him. I realized that we had been there for maybe 45 minutes and that those 3 girls were still all surrounding him. I don't think he realized that they had cut him off from the rest of the group. I was still being nice to them because they were just doing them. Then they started taking hella pictures. Pictures of me.
When the photos started, I went from being nice to being angry. I went to the one with the camera and told her to stop taking pictures of me. She asked if I was somebody important and I told that I wasn't. Then she came at me with "Then why do you care?"
"Why do I care? It doesn't matter why I care. The point is, quit taking coddamn pictures. I don't need a reason." Mean? Maybe. Necessary? Absolutely.
I made another effort to relocate our group. Cedric and Clay went to the other side of the room, while I had to literally drag JGant away from these women. When we got to the other side of the room, I set JGant up to dance with a much better woman who was not ugly, or wasted, or taking photos of us. I swear I must have turned my head for a second when the other 3 girls were back, tugging at his shirt. He turned around and started dancing with them again. I quickly pulled him away and moved the group to the other side of the room again. These girls were killing our whole situation in that bad boy and they knew it. They were standing around us like we all came in together.
The followed us again, and this time they put the full court press on JGant. The started grabbing him and rubbing him, slow dancing him and caressing him. I really think he had no idea what it looked like. It looked like they were raping him. They basically controlled his every move. We had been in there for almost 2 hours and they were still just making my man look bad. I made a couple more relocation attempts, but they kept following us. Worse yet, they kept taking pictures. I said to JGant: "Tell your girls to quit taking pictures of me or I will break that coddamn camera. No joke." He seemed to listen, but when he went to talk to them, it turned into him giving out lap dances.
It was time for us to leave JGant alone for a while and make our own moves. For about 30 minutes, clay and I made moves all over Slide, really just enjoying ourselves. When we came back to near where JGant was, one of the 3 girls was kissing some other black guy near the bar, another one was grinding up on someone else, and JGant was hugged up with the ugliest one against the wall.
Clay, Cedric and I had a quick meeting. Should we let JGant wake up the next day ashamed, disgusted, and possibly carrying Herpes? Or should we end this now, knowing that he would get mad, but thank us later. There was still about 20 more minutes of good time at Slide and he could make moves in that time no doubt. I concluded that I would make one last effort to get him away.
I walked up to JGant and told him to leave the girl behind. It was crazy because the other two girls left their partners to come back and stop JGant from leaving. He finally told them he had to go and began to walk away when the main girl grabbed his shirt and wouldn't let him get away. I think he was so drunk that he forgot that he was supposed to leave. He turned around and kept talking to them. I had seen enough. These girls were not playing fair.
I walked over to Cedric and told him to watch. I walked back over to JGant and socked him right in the balls, hard. He bent over and fell the the ground. The girls knew that his attention was diverted and they snapped at me.
"Oh my God that's so mean, why would you do that? That was so un-cool," the main one said.
"Hey, he's my friend. He can be mad at me if he wants, but I had to get him in the one place where he would stop thinking about you," I fired back.
Meanwhile, JGant was still on the ground holding his balls very gingerly. He got up and hobbled over to the bar, where he placed both hands on his knees and stayed bent over for a few minutes. I walked over to him and let him know he could hate me, but I had to do what I had to do. The girls were nowhere in sight so I finally felt like he could have a good time.
Once his little JGants recovered, he found a new set of women to entertain. I felt like a proud father who had steered his child away from drugs. I went on about my business and had my fun. Then I saw the 3 girls come back into view. They walked right up JGant and grabbed his hands. They actually grabbed him away from the new girls he was dancing with and walked him over to the bar.
This time I didn't hesitate. I walked right over there. I saw he was smiling at their words so I reared back and socked him in the balls again.
"You're an assh#le," one of the girls said as they made their way toward the exit and finally left. JGant stayed down much longer this time. He was clearly hurt. I leaned down towards JGant and said, just loud enough for him to hear me, "Better to have sore balls today, than to have Gonorrhea tomorrow."
I don't know if he recovered from that second punch that night. He also lost his phone. Im pretty sure I saw him crying 10 minutes later. But he probably just had something in both his eyes. He was over all of it an hour later, so we're cool.
A lot of craziness for my last bay area night out. I head to Jersey next week so it's time to make moves. I don't think I can sock anyone in the balls out there. Especially not twice.
Elaine Mooseman is Going Down!
August/29/2007 12:42 PM
Where oh where has toomuchrodbenson.com gone? What happened? I tried to check for an update and there was no longer anything there.
I got emails saying all of that and more over the last few days. I didn't really have a good answer for anyone. I, like you, thought that this beautiful thing called toomuchrodbenson.com was dead. Since this has been spread by word of mouth and linkage, I figured the time had come when TMRB would be no more. Let me explain...
Back on July 15th of 2006, I started toomuchrodbenson.com when I bought the domain name from Godaddy.com. Those sexually charged commercials really got to me. Anyways, I had the domain for a year. When I changed hosts from Apple to IXhosting, I was told that I could move my domain name to IX web hosting services. I did this and got my cancellation notification from GoDaddy. Boom. Perfect. The new TMRB.com was up and running just fine for the last 6 weeks.
Well, not so perfect. I got an email from GoDaddy about 5 days ago. It basically said the same thing as the cancellation email I got on July 15th, 2007. I disregarded it. About an hour later (like 2 am), toomuchrodbenson.com was gone. I don't know where it went, it was just gone. It routed me to some GoDaddy error page. Confused, I decided I'd sleep on it and call GoDaddy in the morning.
I wake up and checked it out again, just to make sure. This time I was forwarded to Sedo Site Parking. Oh snap. My domain name was now parked. Parking basically means that whoever owns the domain makes money each time somebody attempts to access tmrb.com. Well, I was now really confused because I, Rod Benson, am the creator and owner of toomuchRODBENSON. How in the world could it get parked?
I called IXwebhosting and asked them why my site was not showing up. The guy on the phone asked "May I ask who is calling?"
I told him "Rod Benson. That's why it's call toomuchrodbenson, because that's me."
"Well, that's why I asked. It says here that the name toomuchrodbenson.com is owned by a woman named Elaine Mooseman. I can't tell you anything beyond that," he said.
I hung up the phone and whispered 5 words through my teeth: "Elaine Mooseman is going down."
I knew that my options were limited. What could I really do about this? I wasn't even entirely sure that I heard the name right. Elaine Mooseman? Why would she buy toomuchRODBENSON? I'm pretty sure that toomuchelainemooseman.com was available if she just wanted to be a copy cat. But no, she took the name I created years ago with my instant messenger screen name. I can still remember when I got the idea. I was watching the tape of Cal vs. Stanford hoops from my junior year, and I had just run off 12 straight points. As 11 and 12 fell through the net, the announcer said "It's just too much Rod Benson, too much number zero!"
Now Elaine Mooseman had it. Some woman, somewhere, knowingly or unknowingly had overtaken me in the 7 hours between when I fell asleep and when I woke up. I called up GoDaddy. They couldn't tell me anything because I didn't know my account number or the last 4 digits of the credit card I originally used to buy the domain. I mean coddamn, I lost my wallet like twice since then. It was then that I knew it was over. The dream was dead.
I began telling people what happened. Over the next couple of days, I had a few interesting conversations with people who were all shocked and appalled. One of my homies, Kelly, even said "Give it up. It's over. They got you."
I contemplated just using 2muchrodbenson.com, but then the whole word of mouth basis for this site would be dead. I got an IM from a friend of mine minutes after I looked into the 2much thing. For the sake of time, I'll post the conversation here. For the sake of children, I have edited it a bit:
Me: Mike:
2muchrodbenson.com
the new domain
what the hell
will be up later today
in process now
cant believe some breezy bought it
my word of mouth hype took a serious hit
coddamn, that's messed up
let's find out who bought it
we'll mess them up big time
by word of mouth
i know who bought it
its some woman named elaine mooseman
or something
i didnt get a spelling
do you have a location or anything?
nope
4:20 PM
well i'll talk to my boy. that's the biggest B.S. ever
4:25 PM
Elaine Moosman (address edited)
7*** H***** M*** C***
W**** J******, ** *****
United States
i think you should have people write her and tell you what they think
it could be the first entry on your new site
oh snap how did u find her
or did u just google the name
there are sites where you can get the info on who registers a domain
it doesnt show an email?
i bet we could find a phone number too
let me check
elaine******@msn.com
hahah forreal what page r u on?
where is this from
4:30 PM
my friend got it for me
mann wow
well time to send out the emails
hahaha
try and contact her first
ask her what the hell
yea im about to
i'll get you her phone number
(***) 566-4306
there you go
it's on like donkey kong
oh snap
im bought to call her right now
this is blog worthy
absolutely
dialing
haha hits like an old woman
voice mail tho
damn im not leaving a msg
damn
haha
4:35 PM
maybe she's at work, let's see if i can find any company info
hahah wow
i guess utah is like 530 right now
http://www.elaine-moosman-online.com/index.php
what the?
im gonna get screwed here
this does not seem like an old woman
4:40 PM
who is this guy, ur friend?
mann
you have a couple options, but it all starts with getting in touch with the b**ch
what are the options
a nice blog entry involving the public information. leave it up until you get your domain back.
let me think, there has to be something else you can do. it's totally screwed up
4:50 PM
damn this is crazy that i have all her info
this friend of urs is on another level
4:55 PM
did you send an email?
no
i have a phone number
blow up her home phone
5:00 PM
hell yeah
i just tried calling myself
hahaha
nice
just think, if all Rod Benson fans call the number...
at like 2am
hahaha
have like a call time
hahaha, that'd be f'ing great
break it into a couple groups
have a group call at 2am, another at 3:30, another at 4
i want to talk to her first
before i release the info
yeah, for sure
5:10 PM
i love your new away message (Elaine Mooseman is going down)
she is
i have a feeling she wont give it back
but i also have a feeling she has like 50 sites like mine
right. i'm on her site right now doing a contact us message about a different business matter that I made up. i can hopefully get some more info on her this way
hahah mannn
on my side!
5:15 PM
my name is Earl Garrick and I'm contacting them about web sales
hahah earl garrick
hahaha
Earl Garrick runs a website based on used auto parts
end of convo
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So after I finished talking to Mike, I called her up again. This time she answered. She definitely was an older woman.
"Hello," she said.
I got it started..."May I speak with Elaine please?"
"This is Elaine," she said again.
That's when I broke into it. I told her everything. I told her how I started toomuchrodbenson last year. I told her about how it has grown over that time. I told her that somehow I had lost it all for reasons unknown. I basically painted the picture of a sad, strange, broken man with nothing left except this domain name. The thing is, I was sad, I am strange, and toomuchrodbenson is all I have.
Elaine then explained to me that she is retired and that she makes her money these days buying domains that come recommended from domain appraisal services. She told me that my domain was appraised with a very high value. Kinda sweet. Then she said that she would give it back to me, no questions asked. I think her exact words were "Happy Birthday."
After a couple of hours of info switching, conference calls between myself, Elaine, and GoDaddy, toomuchrodbenson.com was mine once again. Elaine Mooseman is not going down. In fact, she went up big time in my book. If you ever run into her, sing her praises. Pay for her meal. Thank her for keeping the dream going baby. She knows whats up with boom tho.
Elaine, if you saw the title of this article, just know that you are definitely NOT going down.
The end.
I got emails saying all of that and more over the last few days. I didn't really have a good answer for anyone. I, like you, thought that this beautiful thing called toomuchrodbenson.com was dead. Since this has been spread by word of mouth and linkage, I figured the time had come when TMRB would be no more. Let me explain...
Back on July 15th of 2006, I started toomuchrodbenson.com when I bought the domain name from Godaddy.com. Those sexually charged commercials really got to me. Anyways, I had the domain for a year. When I changed hosts from Apple to IXhosting, I was told that I could move my domain name to IX web hosting services. I did this and got my cancellation notification from GoDaddy. Boom. Perfect. The new TMRB.com was up and running just fine for the last 6 weeks.
Well, not so perfect. I got an email from GoDaddy about 5 days ago. It basically said the same thing as the cancellation email I got on July 15th, 2007. I disregarded it. About an hour later (like 2 am), toomuchrodbenson.com was gone. I don't know where it went, it was just gone. It routed me to some GoDaddy error page. Confused, I decided I'd sleep on it and call GoDaddy in the morning.
I wake up and checked it out again, just to make sure. This time I was forwarded to Sedo Site Parking. Oh snap. My domain name was now parked. Parking basically means that whoever owns the domain makes money each time somebody attempts to access tmrb.com. Well, I was now really confused because I, Rod Benson, am the creator and owner of toomuchRODBENSON. How in the world could it get parked?
I called IXwebhosting and asked them why my site was not showing up. The guy on the phone asked "May I ask who is calling?"
I told him "Rod Benson. That's why it's call toomuchrodbenson, because that's me."
"Well, that's why I asked. It says here that the name toomuchrodbenson.com is owned by a woman named Elaine Mooseman. I can't tell you anything beyond that," he said.
I hung up the phone and whispered 5 words through my teeth: "Elaine Mooseman is going down."
I knew that my options were limited. What could I really do about this? I wasn't even entirely sure that I heard the name right. Elaine Mooseman? Why would she buy toomuchRODBENSON? I'm pretty sure that toomuchelainemooseman.com was available if she just wanted to be a copy cat. But no, she took the name I created years ago with my instant messenger screen name. I can still remember when I got the idea. I was watching the tape of Cal vs. Stanford hoops from my junior year, and I had just run off 12 straight points. As 11 and 12 fell through the net, the announcer said "It's just too much Rod Benson, too much number zero!"
Now Elaine Mooseman had it. Some woman, somewhere, knowingly or unknowingly had overtaken me in the 7 hours between when I fell asleep and when I woke up. I called up GoDaddy. They couldn't tell me anything because I didn't know my account number or the last 4 digits of the credit card I originally used to buy the domain. I mean coddamn, I lost my wallet like twice since then. It was then that I knew it was over. The dream was dead.
I began telling people what happened. Over the next couple of days, I had a few interesting conversations with people who were all shocked and appalled. One of my homies, Kelly, even said "Give it up. It's over. They got you."
I contemplated just using 2muchrodbenson.com, but then the whole word of mouth basis for this site would be dead. I got an IM from a friend of mine minutes after I looked into the 2much thing. For the sake of time, I'll post the conversation here. For the sake of children, I have edited it a bit:
Me: Mike:
2muchrodbenson.com
the new domain
what the hell
will be up later today
in process now
cant believe some breezy bought it
my word of mouth hype took a serious hit
coddamn, that's messed up
let's find out who bought it
we'll mess them up big time
by word of mouth
i know who bought it
its some woman named elaine mooseman
or something
i didnt get a spelling
do you have a location or anything?
nope
4:20 PM
well i'll talk to my boy. that's the biggest B.S. ever
4:25 PM
Elaine Moosman (address edited)
7*** H***** M*** C***
W**** J******, ** *****
United States
i think you should have people write her and tell you what they think
it could be the first entry on your new site
oh snap how did u find her
or did u just google the name
there are sites where you can get the info on who registers a domain
it doesnt show an email?
i bet we could find a phone number too
let me check
elaine******@msn.com
hahah forreal what page r u on?
where is this from
4:30 PM
my friend got it for me
mann wow
well time to send out the emails
hahaha
try and contact her first
ask her what the hell
yea im about to
i'll get you her phone number
(***) 566-4306
there you go
it's on like donkey kong
oh snap
im bought to call her right now
this is blog worthy
absolutely
dialing
haha hits like an old woman
voice mail tho
damn im not leaving a msg
damn
haha
4:35 PM
maybe she's at work, let's see if i can find any company info
hahah wow
i guess utah is like 530 right now
http://www.elaine-moosman-online.com/index.php
what the?
im gonna get screwed here
this does not seem like an old woman
4:40 PM
who is this guy, ur friend?
mann
you have a couple options, but it all starts with getting in touch with the b**ch
what are the options
a nice blog entry involving the public information. leave it up until you get your domain back.
let me think, there has to be something else you can do. it's totally screwed up
4:50 PM
damn this is crazy that i have all her info
this friend of urs is on another level
4:55 PM
did you send an email?
no
i have a phone number
blow up her home phone
5:00 PM
hell yeah
i just tried calling myself
hahaha
nice
just think, if all Rod Benson fans call the number...
at like 2am
hahaha
have like a call time
hahaha, that'd be f'ing great
break it into a couple groups
have a group call at 2am, another at 3:30, another at 4
i want to talk to her first
before i release the info
yeah, for sure
5:10 PM
i love your new away message (Elaine Mooseman is going down)
she is
i have a feeling she wont give it back
but i also have a feeling she has like 50 sites like mine
right. i'm on her site right now doing a contact us message about a different business matter that I made up. i can hopefully get some more info on her this way
hahah mannn
on my side!
5:15 PM
my name is Earl Garrick and I'm contacting them about web sales
hahah earl garrick
hahaha
Earl Garrick runs a website based on used auto parts
end of convo
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So after I finished talking to Mike, I called her up again. This time she answered. She definitely was an older woman.
"Hello," she said.
I got it started..."May I speak with Elaine please?"
"This is Elaine," she said again.
That's when I broke into it. I told her everything. I told her how I started toomuchrodbenson last year. I told her about how it has grown over that time. I told her that somehow I had lost it all for reasons unknown. I basically painted the picture of a sad, strange, broken man with nothing left except this domain name. The thing is, I was sad, I am strange, and toomuchrodbenson is all I have.
Elaine then explained to me that she is retired and that she makes her money these days buying domains that come recommended from domain appraisal services. She told me that my domain was appraised with a very high value. Kinda sweet. Then she said that she would give it back to me, no questions asked. I think her exact words were "Happy Birthday."
After a couple of hours of info switching, conference calls between myself, Elaine, and GoDaddy, toomuchrodbenson.com was mine once again. Elaine Mooseman is not going down. In fact, she went up big time in my book. If you ever run into her, sing her praises. Pay for her meal. Thank her for keeping the dream going baby. She knows whats up with boom tho.
Elaine, if you saw the title of this article, just know that you are definitely NOT going down.
The end.
The Offseason Part 4
August/23/2007 12:38 PM
My off season continues to roll on as August passes and September comes in. I arrived in Sacramento 3 weeks ago direct from my NBA Fair extravaganza in North Dakota. Since getting up here, things have really slowed down for me. It seems like everything I do now has a meaning to it. The season is right around the corner, and what I do now will have a direct correlation with the season. I think they call this focus in some places. If so, this is the most focused I've ever been, but that doesn't mean that I can't have different kinds of excitement along the way.
My next door neighbor is Harold Pressley. You may remember him from Villanova back in the days or from the Sacramento Kings in the 90s. He has 3 kids, one of which looks exactly like Kevin Martin. I mean not like a look a like, but the kid looks like a kid would look if Kevin Martin reproduced asexually.
Anyways, these kids provide about 40% of my entertainment throughout the week. Most days, between 3 and 5pm, these kids will walk over and ask me to play baseball with them. I always oblige. They have home plate in the middle of the street, while first, second, and third are all located on Harold's wrap around driveway. Since the kids are different ages, they get different types of pitches. The 7 yr old girl gets underhand, the middle son who's 10 gets slow overhand, while 13 year old Kevin Martin gets fastballs baby. A homerun is anything over the house into the back yard.
Every day we play this game. Some days I'm just about to take a solid nap after a hard workout, but then these kids come over. They might as well be asking my mom "Can Rod come out and play?". There's even a couple other kids in the neighborhood who get in on the act. And those kids have a 20 year old sister who I just cant get them to introduce me to. Maybe it's the wrong idea to ask my 7 year old baseball teammate to hook me up with his sister. To be honest, I don't even know what she looks like, I just know shes 20 and I'm so bored that I have become an all-star on Matheny Way.
After a few days of baseball, my agent gave me a call. I stepped outside for like 45 seconds to swing my driver. When I stepped back in, I saw the missed call. I check the message on the phone.
"Rod, this is Bill. I'm going to sleep. I just wanted to let you know that we have an Invite to camp. I'm going to sleep though, call me in the morning."
I called him back but it went right to voicemail. I don't think he realized that it was like 7pm west coast time and that he didn't mention the team. Yes, I was hyped, but I had 4 hours to go before I even would begin to feel tired enough to sleep. My mind wandered all over the place. Chicago? Phoenix? Golden State? I had no idea.
First thing the next day, I called him up. "You're going to camp with New Jersey," he said.
New Jersey. Sweet. Immediately I had a pretty good list of what the situation is in Jersey:
1. I might have more connection to this team than any other team in the league. My connections include:
a. I was roommates with Jameel Pugh last year who supposedly was the first to ever do a through the legs dunk off two feet, and from whom Vince Carter then took it and made it even better.
b. My brother tells me that he is friends with Richard Jefferson. I guess Rich (Can I call you Rich, Rich?) frequents the L.A. Fitness that little Benson works at.
c. Last year Hassan Adams was on the team. Hassan and I use to party at the U of A.
d. Actually the biggest connection of all... I have a relative on the team. A cousin. Second cousins I believe, but I don't exactly have a family tree handy to figure it out. I know this may seem a bit shocking, but it's true. I am related to Jason Kidd. It has never been publicized for a variety of reasons, but If I was to get signed by some chance, it would be tight to play with someone of the same blood line. The problem with this is that I'm pretty sure he has no idea of our relation. It will be truly funny how this all comes about. Do I walk up to him and be like "Yo, oh sweet you're at camp too? That's tight man. By the way, you're my cousin. So, what's for lunch?"
What could be even more funny is if he decides to ask me how we are related. I don't have a good answer for that. I know my grandfathers last name is Kidd. After that, I didn't really ask my mother about the details. We both felt that it was important, especially since I went to Cal also, that I had my own identity and to not allow the media to publish this fact when I signed my letter of intent.
2. Could I be Mikki Moore part DOS!? Who knows? I do know that if I grew my hair out a little bit and got some tattoos, there would a lot of confused people in the New Jersey area.
3. Roster space? I looked online and pretty much saw that 16 of the 13 guys on the current roster are posts.
4. East Coast? Could be interesting. Rod Benson on the east would produce a whole different level of fun. I just don't know if I could hail a cab.
With a camp invite under my belt, my focus and work ethic have reached a new level. There is one big knock on Rod Benson: he's just too skinny. This off season I decided to do something about that. Granted, it's only been 2.5 weeks since I started my weight training, but I've already put on 6 lbs. of muscle. I was 219, now I'm 225. By the time camp starts in October, I could be up around 235.
How am I doing it? Well, it starts off with a personal trainer who works me to death. I realized that serious weight lifting requires killing yourself, or coming close, then living through it somehow and getting stronger as a result. If you've ever seen Dragon Ball Z, you know that Saiyan's are the same way. I'm just trying to become a super saiyan.
Besides just lifting, I make these shakes and have one after every meal. I went to the Max Muscle store and asked the guy what I should take. He pointed to this big ass tub of nonsense. I said to him "Umm do you have something smaller? I'm only here for a month and a half"
He said "If you're doing it right, this thing well be gone in 3 weeks."
My tub 'o protein for weight, creatine for recovery, and glucosamine for my joints.
Before I left the store, I asked him if I should take it with milk. He replied "Not unless you wanna fart all day long."
So after 2.5 weeks of water based shakes, I would say that he has been right about damn near everything we discussed. I can honestly say that this coddamn tub has about 3 shakes worth of stuff left. I can't believe how much I've consumed. One thing he was wrong about was the amount of gas these things give you. Mann sometimes I lie in bed and think "Is an NBA contract really worth having to smell your own gas all day?"
I mean, you know how you can always stand your own gas, no matter what? You know, sometimes you relish that smell. You want more of that smell. My gas right now is so terrible, that I gag sometimes. Even when it's just me in the house, I'll go outside on the street when I have to fart, then I'll run around a little bit so it doesn't linger with me, then I'll come back in the house, just so I don't have to smell it.
At the end of the day, it will all be worth it. The boring afternoons and stinky nights. The near death experiences that have consumed my weight training days. When I get to camp and I'm bigger, stronger, and faster than I was before, hopefully there will be no more questions. It will come down to 3 things in my mind:
Do he have the skill?
I think so
Do he have the desire?
Hell yes I do (Napoleon Dynamite)
Do he have the size and athleticism?
Always been athletic. Size? Improving every day baby! If they dont care about me stinking up practice, then we're good!
Well this will probably best my last off season post. Hopefully next time I write about hoops I'll be a 235lb monster! For now, I gotta go, the Pressley kids are knocking on the door.
My next door neighbor is Harold Pressley. You may remember him from Villanova back in the days or from the Sacramento Kings in the 90s. He has 3 kids, one of which looks exactly like Kevin Martin. I mean not like a look a like, but the kid looks like a kid would look if Kevin Martin reproduced asexually.
Anyways, these kids provide about 40% of my entertainment throughout the week. Most days, between 3 and 5pm, these kids will walk over and ask me to play baseball with them. I always oblige. They have home plate in the middle of the street, while first, second, and third are all located on Harold's wrap around driveway. Since the kids are different ages, they get different types of pitches. The 7 yr old girl gets underhand, the middle son who's 10 gets slow overhand, while 13 year old Kevin Martin gets fastballs baby. A homerun is anything over the house into the back yard.
Every day we play this game. Some days I'm just about to take a solid nap after a hard workout, but then these kids come over. They might as well be asking my mom "Can Rod come out and play?". There's even a couple other kids in the neighborhood who get in on the act. And those kids have a 20 year old sister who I just cant get them to introduce me to. Maybe it's the wrong idea to ask my 7 year old baseball teammate to hook me up with his sister. To be honest, I don't even know what she looks like, I just know shes 20 and I'm so bored that I have become an all-star on Matheny Way.
After a few days of baseball, my agent gave me a call. I stepped outside for like 45 seconds to swing my driver. When I stepped back in, I saw the missed call. I check the message on the phone.
"Rod, this is Bill. I'm going to sleep. I just wanted to let you know that we have an Invite to camp. I'm going to sleep though, call me in the morning."
I called him back but it went right to voicemail. I don't think he realized that it was like 7pm west coast time and that he didn't mention the team. Yes, I was hyped, but I had 4 hours to go before I even would begin to feel tired enough to sleep. My mind wandered all over the place. Chicago? Phoenix? Golden State? I had no idea.
First thing the next day, I called him up. "You're going to camp with New Jersey," he said.
New Jersey. Sweet. Immediately I had a pretty good list of what the situation is in Jersey:
1. I might have more connection to this team than any other team in the league. My connections include:
a. I was roommates with Jameel Pugh last year who supposedly was the first to ever do a through the legs dunk off two feet, and from whom Vince Carter then took it and made it even better.
b. My brother tells me that he is friends with Richard Jefferson. I guess Rich (Can I call you Rich, Rich?) frequents the L.A. Fitness that little Benson works at.
c. Last year Hassan Adams was on the team. Hassan and I use to party at the U of A.
d. Actually the biggest connection of all... I have a relative on the team. A cousin. Second cousins I believe, but I don't exactly have a family tree handy to figure it out. I know this may seem a bit shocking, but it's true. I am related to Jason Kidd. It has never been publicized for a variety of reasons, but If I was to get signed by some chance, it would be tight to play with someone of the same blood line. The problem with this is that I'm pretty sure he has no idea of our relation. It will be truly funny how this all comes about. Do I walk up to him and be like "Yo, oh sweet you're at camp too? That's tight man. By the way, you're my cousin. So, what's for lunch?"
What could be even more funny is if he decides to ask me how we are related. I don't have a good answer for that. I know my grandfathers last name is Kidd. After that, I didn't really ask my mother about the details. We both felt that it was important, especially since I went to Cal also, that I had my own identity and to not allow the media to publish this fact when I signed my letter of intent.
2. Could I be Mikki Moore part DOS!? Who knows? I do know that if I grew my hair out a little bit and got some tattoos, there would a lot of confused people in the New Jersey area.
3. Roster space? I looked online and pretty much saw that 16 of the 13 guys on the current roster are posts.
4. East Coast? Could be interesting. Rod Benson on the east would produce a whole different level of fun. I just don't know if I could hail a cab.
With a camp invite under my belt, my focus and work ethic have reached a new level. There is one big knock on Rod Benson: he's just too skinny. This off season I decided to do something about that. Granted, it's only been 2.5 weeks since I started my weight training, but I've already put on 6 lbs. of muscle. I was 219, now I'm 225. By the time camp starts in October, I could be up around 235.
How am I doing it? Well, it starts off with a personal trainer who works me to death. I realized that serious weight lifting requires killing yourself, or coming close, then living through it somehow and getting stronger as a result. If you've ever seen Dragon Ball Z, you know that Saiyan's are the same way. I'm just trying to become a super saiyan.
Besides just lifting, I make these shakes and have one after every meal. I went to the Max Muscle store and asked the guy what I should take. He pointed to this big ass tub of nonsense. I said to him "Umm do you have something smaller? I'm only here for a month and a half"
He said "If you're doing it right, this thing well be gone in 3 weeks."
My tub 'o protein for weight, creatine for recovery, and glucosamine for my joints.
Before I left the store, I asked him if I should take it with milk. He replied "Not unless you wanna fart all day long."
So after 2.5 weeks of water based shakes, I would say that he has been right about damn near everything we discussed. I can honestly say that this coddamn tub has about 3 shakes worth of stuff left. I can't believe how much I've consumed. One thing he was wrong about was the amount of gas these things give you. Mann sometimes I lie in bed and think "Is an NBA contract really worth having to smell your own gas all day?"
I mean, you know how you can always stand your own gas, no matter what? You know, sometimes you relish that smell. You want more of that smell. My gas right now is so terrible, that I gag sometimes. Even when it's just me in the house, I'll go outside on the street when I have to fart, then I'll run around a little bit so it doesn't linger with me, then I'll come back in the house, just so I don't have to smell it.
At the end of the day, it will all be worth it. The boring afternoons and stinky nights. The near death experiences that have consumed my weight training days. When I get to camp and I'm bigger, stronger, and faster than I was before, hopefully there will be no more questions. It will come down to 3 things in my mind:
Do he have the skill?
I think so
Do he have the desire?
Hell yes I do (Napoleon Dynamite)
Do he have the size and athleticism?
Always been athletic. Size? Improving every day baby! If they dont care about me stinking up practice, then we're good!
Well this will probably best my last off season post. Hopefully next time I write about hoops I'll be a 235lb monster! For now, I gotta go, the Pressley kids are knocking on the door.
Public Transportation/Use Your Phone
August/22/2007 12:32 PM
As an avid Amtrak and BART (bay area subway type thing) rider, I am witness to many ridiculous things. Remember the man who followed me from Sacramento to Richmond, then followed onto the BART, then got off at Glen Park station just like me, only to offer me oral sex when we got there? Yea, that pretty much justifies me as an expert in Trains, BART, and ridiculousness.
Seems like every time I ride Amtrak something ridiculous happens. This last weekend, I was on my wasy from Sacramento to Richmond, like always. I had my Ipod on my ears, blasting my new favorite song. It's called "Feel The Rain on Your Skin" by Natasha Beddingfield. I know it's old, but so it "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton and that's hot too. Maybe it's just because it's on The Hills, which is now my 7th favorite show. I digress.
I had my music blasting real loud on my ears, and I was actually singing along. You know, kind of mumbling something like "staring at the blank page before you, open up the dirty window, let the sun da da da da da da da da, reaching for something in the distance..." when I got that bathroom urge. It wasn't like "mann I need the bathroom right now" but it was still a "well, if I don't do this now, I could be in a world of hurt later".
I got out of my seat, music still blaring, and walked down the aisle, then down the stairs to the bottom level of the train where the bathroom was located. I remember vividly the part of the song I was on when I opened the bathroom door: "...release your inhibitions..."
I swung open the door and there was a woman frantically trying to cover herself up. I couldn't hear a word she was saying, if any, because now the song was on the chorus. I do remember her look though. It was so confused. I could tell her thoughts went from "Oh my word I've been exposed" to "Oh lordy I didn't lock the door" to "What the? This guy is like 8 feet tall!". It was when I realized that she got to this third stage of her shock process, that I slammed the door back shut. I guess we were both so in shock that I had been standing there for almost 3 seconds. 3 seconds is an eternity when you are faced with a random, tall black man, who can smell your poo and see it too.
After I slammed the door shut, I began to laugh. I realized that the Natasha Beddingfield song was still on, which was awesome. There are only a couple of funnier songs for a situation like that. There's "Down by the bay, where the watermelons grow, down to my home, I will not go.." I dont know what it's called, but I remember it from Kindergarten. There's also "Mmm Bop" by Hanson and possibly, well it's not a song, but, if for some reason, somebody was just yelling out "Duck, Duck, Duck..." and then when I opened the door, "Goose!" that would be hilarious.
Anyways, I then realized that the bathroom was in the middle of the row of seats. This meant that at least 7 other people had seen our interaction. Sweet. I laughed harder. I mean she wasn't that young, like in her 20's, but she wasn't old enough where she wouldn't care. She was just the right age and attractiveness to feel truly embarrassed. I returned to my seat and thought about what had gone down. I processed the fact that I didn't even look at her, but somehow I noticed so much. She then walked up the stairs. She saw me, turned around and went back down the stairs. I knew then that she took an alternate route to avoid walking past me. I understood.
My Public Transportation is not limited to Amtrak. The BART is also a big part of it. It also ties into the second half of this entry, Use Your Phone. I was riding the BART to San Francisco one night, and when a group of like 15 Irish girls got on heading the same direction. My first reaction was to grab my phone and scroll through my address book for no reason. I had no intention of calling anyone, but it just felt the right thing to do -- to seem like I was too busy to talk to them. I then realized that the phone is a societal weapon. When used correctly, the cell phone can say more than direct words ever could.
For example, that night, on the BART, I could have used my phone is a variety of ways. Yea, I did the standard address book scroll, but I could have done more. I could have done the fake text message. The fake text message basically consists of me pretending to send a text message, then look around kind of like I'm a big deal. Then I look at my phone as if it has just vibrated. A quick response to my text? Of course. I then respond to the fake response. I repeat this process over and over until I finally give a kind of exhausted sigh as if to say "Why am I so busy, cool, and important?"
I could have even taken it a step farther. I could have even made a fake phone call. This way the girls could hear every word I say, they might even interject, giggle, or rip my clothes off right there on the spot. A fake phone call consists of me, giving the fake scroll through the address book. Then I pretend to let the phone ring 3 times on the other end. Then, I create a fake conversation out of nowhere, and I talk juuuusssttt loud enough for the girls around me to hear it. The conversation has to make me seem awesome enough for them to be interested in me. I might say things that make no sense to anyone who knows the truth, but sounds cool to women. Like "Yea, that NBA intersquad backtrack thing we did last year with the Lakers was fun, you think we will do it again this year? Yea, we will need to invite some women to come this time. Can't let Shaq get all of them!" See, if you know basketball, you know that the intersquad backtrack thing means nothing, you know that Rod Benson has nothing to do with the Lakers, and that Shaq is married and is in Miami. If you are a random Irish girl you might just be very impressed.
A guy with no phone can't do that without the help of live friends there. I heard a Berkeley freshman attempt this (poorly) the other day. Since he wasn't smooth enough to make up a conversation on his phone, he did the next best thing he could think of to try to impress the girls at the table next to him at Chipotle. He struck up a very loud conversation with one of his boys. I was sitting at the next table so I could easily hear him say these exact words: "I would have called you but I have no phone. So I was texting this girl when some dude jumped me, so I had to beat his ass. Now I have no phone."
I looked over at Theo Robertson who was eating with me, and I asked him "True of False?". Theo quickly said "That was all false.". Exactly. A fake story, so fake, that I dont think that the girls bought it. If he really hadnt lost his phone, I would have advised him to use the fake text message so that nobody would have had to hear him speak. If it was a nice phone, he could have even done the "Hey see how expensive my phone looks?" technique, but nope. My phone was my weapon and his mouth was his defeat.
Seems like every time I ride Amtrak something ridiculous happens. This last weekend, I was on my wasy from Sacramento to Richmond, like always. I had my Ipod on my ears, blasting my new favorite song. It's called "Feel The Rain on Your Skin" by Natasha Beddingfield. I know it's old, but so it "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton and that's hot too. Maybe it's just because it's on The Hills, which is now my 7th favorite show. I digress.
I had my music blasting real loud on my ears, and I was actually singing along. You know, kind of mumbling something like "staring at the blank page before you, open up the dirty window, let the sun da da da da da da da da, reaching for something in the distance..." when I got that bathroom urge. It wasn't like "mann I need the bathroom right now" but it was still a "well, if I don't do this now, I could be in a world of hurt later".
I got out of my seat, music still blaring, and walked down the aisle, then down the stairs to the bottom level of the train where the bathroom was located. I remember vividly the part of the song I was on when I opened the bathroom door: "...release your inhibitions..."
I swung open the door and there was a woman frantically trying to cover herself up. I couldn't hear a word she was saying, if any, because now the song was on the chorus. I do remember her look though. It was so confused. I could tell her thoughts went from "Oh my word I've been exposed" to "Oh lordy I didn't lock the door" to "What the? This guy is like 8 feet tall!". It was when I realized that she got to this third stage of her shock process, that I slammed the door back shut. I guess we were both so in shock that I had been standing there for almost 3 seconds. 3 seconds is an eternity when you are faced with a random, tall black man, who can smell your poo and see it too.
After I slammed the door shut, I began to laugh. I realized that the Natasha Beddingfield song was still on, which was awesome. There are only a couple of funnier songs for a situation like that. There's "Down by the bay, where the watermelons grow, down to my home, I will not go.." I dont know what it's called, but I remember it from Kindergarten. There's also "Mmm Bop" by Hanson and possibly, well it's not a song, but, if for some reason, somebody was just yelling out "Duck, Duck, Duck..." and then when I opened the door, "Goose!" that would be hilarious.
Anyways, I then realized that the bathroom was in the middle of the row of seats. This meant that at least 7 other people had seen our interaction. Sweet. I laughed harder. I mean she wasn't that young, like in her 20's, but she wasn't old enough where she wouldn't care. She was just the right age and attractiveness to feel truly embarrassed. I returned to my seat and thought about what had gone down. I processed the fact that I didn't even look at her, but somehow I noticed so much. She then walked up the stairs. She saw me, turned around and went back down the stairs. I knew then that she took an alternate route to avoid walking past me. I understood.
My Public Transportation is not limited to Amtrak. The BART is also a big part of it. It also ties into the second half of this entry, Use Your Phone. I was riding the BART to San Francisco one night, and when a group of like 15 Irish girls got on heading the same direction. My first reaction was to grab my phone and scroll through my address book for no reason. I had no intention of calling anyone, but it just felt the right thing to do -- to seem like I was too busy to talk to them. I then realized that the phone is a societal weapon. When used correctly, the cell phone can say more than direct words ever could.
For example, that night, on the BART, I could have used my phone is a variety of ways. Yea, I did the standard address book scroll, but I could have done more. I could have done the fake text message. The fake text message basically consists of me pretending to send a text message, then look around kind of like I'm a big deal. Then I look at my phone as if it has just vibrated. A quick response to my text? Of course. I then respond to the fake response. I repeat this process over and over until I finally give a kind of exhausted sigh as if to say "Why am I so busy, cool, and important?"
I could have even taken it a step farther. I could have even made a fake phone call. This way the girls could hear every word I say, they might even interject, giggle, or rip my clothes off right there on the spot. A fake phone call consists of me, giving the fake scroll through the address book. Then I pretend to let the phone ring 3 times on the other end. Then, I create a fake conversation out of nowhere, and I talk juuuusssttt loud enough for the girls around me to hear it. The conversation has to make me seem awesome enough for them to be interested in me. I might say things that make no sense to anyone who knows the truth, but sounds cool to women. Like "Yea, that NBA intersquad backtrack thing we did last year with the Lakers was fun, you think we will do it again this year? Yea, we will need to invite some women to come this time. Can't let Shaq get all of them!" See, if you know basketball, you know that the intersquad backtrack thing means nothing, you know that Rod Benson has nothing to do with the Lakers, and that Shaq is married and is in Miami. If you are a random Irish girl you might just be very impressed.
A guy with no phone can't do that without the help of live friends there. I heard a Berkeley freshman attempt this (poorly) the other day. Since he wasn't smooth enough to make up a conversation on his phone, he did the next best thing he could think of to try to impress the girls at the table next to him at Chipotle. He struck up a very loud conversation with one of his boys. I was sitting at the next table so I could easily hear him say these exact words: "I would have called you but I have no phone. So I was texting this girl when some dude jumped me, so I had to beat his ass. Now I have no phone."
I looked over at Theo Robertson who was eating with me, and I asked him "True of False?". Theo quickly said "That was all false.". Exactly. A fake story, so fake, that I dont think that the girls bought it. If he really hadnt lost his phone, I would have advised him to use the fake text message so that nobody would have had to hear him speak. If it was a nice phone, he could have even done the "Hey see how expensive my phone looks?" technique, but nope. My phone was my weapon and his mouth was his defeat.
Camp/Dive Bars (I've been told this needs a more grabby name, due to the fact that it is actually the craziest post ever).
July/25/2007 12:20 PM
Finally, there was a break in the madness. A week at home in Cardiff by the Sea (North County San Diego) with no commitments, games, or pressure. I basically had just a few things on my agenda: I wanted to spend time with the fam, explore our local dive bar scene, and work my high school basketball camp for some extra cheese. Plus, I was driving a hearse all week as my transportation. Pretty much all the ingredients necessary for a crazy week.
Death Mobile
Camp:
Working bball camp is always cool for a couple reasons. For one, I get paid and it saves me from having to write the "Will work for fude. Anytheeng will help" sign I've come so close to writing before. That friday when the paychecks come is one of the most miraculous days of the year. James Rahon (found a way to get you in, buddy) and I got a little bonus money for running the "Team Offense" station. Half the time we just let the kids literally run around in circles and play tag, all James' fault, obviously. I figure coach Olive could pay me a little more, because the program funding appears to be just fine:


Best high school locker room ever
Another cool thing about camp is, of course, the kids. My kids won the championship this year, like they do every year. The youngest ones tried to tackle me again, like they do every year. The whole camp chanted "Dunk it! Dunk it! Dunk it!", they do every year. There was one difference this year, however. The kids really wanted to know who I played for. I wore a Grizzlies shirt the first day, so they all asked if I played for them. My team even voted to have our team name be "Memphis." The second day I wore a Bucks shirt and they called me traitors. One girl went home and googled me to find out everything she could about me. Kinda cool, except she stumbled upon toomuchrodbenson.com and did a lot of reading. Hopefully she got bored before she saw the good stuff.
The last cool thing about camp is the parents. They are usually awesome and love me. My favorite parent is Andy Ashby. He is a legendary pitcher in my mind and it's tight when he comes and watched me do anything. Andy Ashby could watch me clean toilets and I'd feel good about myself. This year there was another parent who I immediately moved to #2 on my parental depth chart. Basically, the only reason this parent is #2 is because she is an absolute MILF. Seriously, I don't think I've seen a better MILF ever in my life. I wanted to somehow take a picture so the world could see how hot this MILF was. She would come everyday to pick up her sons wearing these tank tops and wife beaters everyday -- teasing me on purpose, no doubt. Day two I got a pretty solid look from her. Day 3 I got a smile. Day 4 I got one of those "my head is facing left, but my eyes are staring right, right at Rod Benson" looks. I could not get a good look at her left hand to save my life. I couldn't tell if she was married or not. I got close one time, but she had her dog leash wrapped around her left hand -- teasing me on purpose, no doubt. One night while falling asleep, I had a bright Idea to ask one of her kids if his daddy ever picks him up, but when I woke up I thought that was ridiculous. I guess she will always be that mom. The mysterious mom just teasing away.
Dive Bar Circuit:
In Cardiff, there is a bar called Yogi's and in Del Mar there is one called Jimmy O's. Both owned by the same guys, they've always been the local spots where people go to enjoy themselves after a hard days work, or after surfing for hours, or when returning home from college. They also tend to have plenty of women in goofy, yet expensive, hats who are coming straight from the racetrack.
So anyways, tuesday is karaoke night at Jimmy O's, so we went there. It doesn't really feel like a karaoke atmosphere there though, because the place is packed, and nobody sings along with any of the amateur vocalists on the upper deck. It's basically like a one room dance hall with all the kids I went to high school with -- my 5 year reunion I guess. A lot of people don't know that I was one of 5 black students to spend all 4 years at Torrey Pines high school, and that is out of 3200...but I digress.
I had a serious problem with karaoke night. I had an epiphany of sorts. I decided that certain songs just should never be done at karaoke. I mean, obviously nobody should attempt Whitney Houston's Bodyguard song without expecting a Simon Cowell like reaction from me. Heck, I might walk right up and say "You are not going to Hollywood." That's a different story altogether. I decided that there are certain songs you cant sing at karaoke because it's cheating. These cheaty McCheaters out there are taking the easy way out when they do certain songs. Why is it cheating? Because everyone at the bar knows every word to the song. You don't need a coddamn mic to get 200 drunken people at a dive bar to sing these songs together in unison. I actually got kind of angry when these songs were selected. The guys on stage didn't even sing half the words, they just held the mic in the air like Brett Michaels might do if he was performing. I am calling for an outright elimination of these songs from karaoke. The worst that could happen is we get better competition and newer musical selection at these places. Maybe cheater songs are what make dive bar karaoke what it is, but I still must try. They are all great songs, but if you chose them during karaoke, you obviously have no self esteem. I composed a top 5 list of songs that should not ever be sung at a karaoke bar, in order:
5: Party Like It's 1999
It's 2007. The party is over, cheater.
4: Sweet Child 'O Mine
So the intro to this song is pretty sweet, but seriously, how many days a week can you hear this song? Where are you karaoke ethics.
3: Jack and Diane
Oh, she said karaoke goes onnn, even after the thrill of singin it's gone. Keep cheating with this one.
2: Pour Some Sugar on Me
This song might be #1 on a lot people's lists. If not for the easy-as-hell lyrics, then for the way women will yell them at the top of their lungs. This is a song that gets all the screams from the girls whenever it comes out and your cheating ass wants to karaoke it? Not cool in my book.
1: Journey - Dont Stop Believing
Clearly the #1 song on this list. People know every single word of this song. The bartenders stop serving drinks, the fights break themselves up, Osama and George Bush put their arms over each other and start belting the lyrics. I swear if you are in line outside waiting to get in, you have no choice but to start yelling out "Just a city boy, growin up in south Detrooooooiitt!" It's the only song people have free permission to sing louder than "Pour Some Sugar on Me." Using this song for karaoke is just unfair. I get that it takes balls to get up on stage in front of all of your drunken friends and sing like you're in the shower, but it takes no balls to sing this song. Everyone will help you sing it so it doesn't matter. In fact, I dare any of you who read this to try doing a karaoke night, anywhere in the U.S. Select this song. Then, right before you begin, tell everyone in the bar not to sing along. Tell them that you want to show your vocal range on this one and they can just listen to your beautiful voice make magic on the microphone. You might, nay, will get beat up, and a group of rugby players will tag team that bad boy with the help of the entire bar. Coddamn cheaters.
Back to the Dive Bars...
Yogi's was where we went the next night because it was opening day at the horse races. I was there with my boys Tommy, Kelly, some girl Kelly knew, and Matt (different that Vegas Matt). I decided to be the driver tonight so I didn't partake in the alcoholic festivities, but I still watched the action as my friends got into it. Tommy can drink ridiculous amounts, so I kept buying him triple and quadruple shots of tequila, because he kept saying that he wasnt feeling it. In the midst of all of this, I glance over, and Kareem Rush is over there just chillin. I wonder if he knows I'm the best player to ever come out of Cardiff? Anyways, this girl in that Kelly brought starts talking all crazy. "I can out drink all of you", she says. I let her know that there is no way she can keep up with any of us...it's impossible, Tommy and kelly booth outweigh me by at least 50lbs, and she weighed maybe 120.
Kelly and Tommy at Yogi's.
Anyways, she starts matching the drinks that I buy for Tommy. I mean she is seriously taking these big time shots and acting like it's nothing. Well, as I expected, she ends up just ridiculously drunk. Trouble is, SHE drove herself. Tommy and Kelly decide to taxi home early, so now it's just me and her. As the sober one, I offer to drive her home. We go outside and her car is in valet. Of course, she can't find her ticket. The guy says: "What kind of car is it?" She replies: "I have an Acura." He then asks her to describe the keychain. I can see the keychain he's holding behind his back. It has a teddy bear linked to it some how. She says back to him "I have an Acura, just give me my Acura." I stop her and say "Look, what is on your keychain that will identify your keys and help this man do his job?" She replies "Can I just have my Acura?"
She keeps up the whole Acura thing for like 3 minutes. It's incredibly annoying. The guy is frustrated and basically just goes through her glove compartment to find something her name on it so that we can get out of there. He tosses me the keys and I get to driving.
"Where do you live?" I ask her. I'm pretty sure her answer was "shednjdsst." I ask her again. "Where do you live?" She get's a little clearer, but it still sounds like "clegsisshme." I pull the car over and ask a third time. "Where do you live?" I swear this was her answer: "Craigslist."
I look over at her and say "Ok, seriously. Focus up here. Where do you live?" That's when she got angry with me. She starts cussing and yelling. "I told you muther@@@$er! I live at Craigslist!" "You clearly have a real address that is not use on internet explorer," I say back, "now where do you live?" She then calms down a bit. Finally I'm going to get a real answer. She says "L.A. Fitness. I live at L.A. Fitness." (L.A. Fitness is like 24 hour fitness) I am incredibly frustrated now. I say "One last time, where do you live?" Her calm goes away. "I told you. I keep telling you mutherf&%$er! F*^k! I live at Craigslist!"
I pick up my phone and call Kelly. "Kelly," I say into my phone, "this is over. This is your friend, I;m taking her to your house. You figure out what to do with her." After I get off the phone with Kelly, I notice that she is passed out. My focus turns from her and turns toward getting to Kelly's house. I was almost there when I saw a McDonalds. I was ridiculously hungry, so I got in the drive through. I ordered a 10 piece all-white-meat McNugget meal. The woman on the speaker says "Anything else?" I say "Nope" and pull ahead. I begin to think that maybe this girl wants some food. I turn and look over at her, and I realize that should have been paying attention. I hadn't even looked at her since she passed out because I was on the phone with other people telling them what was going on. I can't believe my eyes, but it's true, the girl has for some reason gotten out of her clothes and is now naked in the passenger seat of her car and is just playing there passed out.
Here I am, about to go pay for and get my food from the drive through window and there is a naked, passed out woman in the other seat. I've got to get my food from the drive through and somehow not look like the black guy to drugged a white girl and stole her car. I roll the window down a total of 6 inches to pay for my food. At the same time, I turn my back to the woman behind the McDonalds window, probably raising suspicion, but also covering up what was going on in the seat next to me. The woman takes the money and goes back to get my food ready. That is when I violently begin to try to wake this girl up and tell her to put her coddamn clothes back on. She is un-reponsive. The woman returns with my 42 ounce soda, of which 4 ounces spill on my lap as I work it through the 6 inches of open window space. I get my food, back to the lady, and drive to Kelly's house. When Kelly sees what has happened, he can't believe it. I say to him "Mann this girl is crazy, she kept talkin about craigslist and whatnot, then get takes her clothes off for no reason." He says "Yea, it aint the first time. Give me her keys." I toss him the keys and go to bed. I have told this story to all of my close friends and none of them can believe it. But you know what? I can believe it, because crazy things like this seem to always happen around me. Plus, Kelly says he has hooked up with this girl, so I know she's crazy. I should refrain from the driver role next time. I bet people who are designated drivers see alot of things they were never meant to see.
Death Mobile
Camp:
Working bball camp is always cool for a couple reasons. For one, I get paid and it saves me from having to write the "Will work for fude. Anytheeng will help" sign I've come so close to writing before. That friday when the paychecks come is one of the most miraculous days of the year. James Rahon (found a way to get you in, buddy) and I got a little bonus money for running the "Team Offense" station. Half the time we just let the kids literally run around in circles and play tag, all James' fault, obviously. I figure coach Olive could pay me a little more, because the program funding appears to be just fine:


Best high school locker room ever
Another cool thing about camp is, of course, the kids. My kids won the championship this year, like they do every year. The youngest ones tried to tackle me again, like they do every year. The whole camp chanted "Dunk it! Dunk it! Dunk it!", they do every year. There was one difference this year, however. The kids really wanted to know who I played for. I wore a Grizzlies shirt the first day, so they all asked if I played for them. My team even voted to have our team name be "Memphis." The second day I wore a Bucks shirt and they called me traitors. One girl went home and googled me to find out everything she could about me. Kinda cool, except she stumbled upon toomuchrodbenson.com and did a lot of reading. Hopefully she got bored before she saw the good stuff.
The last cool thing about camp is the parents. They are usually awesome and love me. My favorite parent is Andy Ashby. He is a legendary pitcher in my mind and it's tight when he comes and watched me do anything. Andy Ashby could watch me clean toilets and I'd feel good about myself. This year there was another parent who I immediately moved to #2 on my parental depth chart. Basically, the only reason this parent is #2 is because she is an absolute MILF. Seriously, I don't think I've seen a better MILF ever in my life. I wanted to somehow take a picture so the world could see how hot this MILF was. She would come everyday to pick up her sons wearing these tank tops and wife beaters everyday -- teasing me on purpose, no doubt. Day two I got a pretty solid look from her. Day 3 I got a smile. Day 4 I got one of those "my head is facing left, but my eyes are staring right, right at Rod Benson" looks. I could not get a good look at her left hand to save my life. I couldn't tell if she was married or not. I got close one time, but she had her dog leash wrapped around her left hand -- teasing me on purpose, no doubt. One night while falling asleep, I had a bright Idea to ask one of her kids if his daddy ever picks him up, but when I woke up I thought that was ridiculous. I guess she will always be that mom. The mysterious mom just teasing away.
Dive Bar Circuit:
In Cardiff, there is a bar called Yogi's and in Del Mar there is one called Jimmy O's. Both owned by the same guys, they've always been the local spots where people go to enjoy themselves after a hard days work, or after surfing for hours, or when returning home from college. They also tend to have plenty of women in goofy, yet expensive, hats who are coming straight from the racetrack.
So anyways, tuesday is karaoke night at Jimmy O's, so we went there. It doesn't really feel like a karaoke atmosphere there though, because the place is packed, and nobody sings along with any of the amateur vocalists on the upper deck. It's basically like a one room dance hall with all the kids I went to high school with -- my 5 year reunion I guess. A lot of people don't know that I was one of 5 black students to spend all 4 years at Torrey Pines high school, and that is out of 3200...but I digress.
I had a serious problem with karaoke night. I had an epiphany of sorts. I decided that certain songs just should never be done at karaoke. I mean, obviously nobody should attempt Whitney Houston's Bodyguard song without expecting a Simon Cowell like reaction from me. Heck, I might walk right up and say "You are not going to Hollywood." That's a different story altogether. I decided that there are certain songs you cant sing at karaoke because it's cheating. These cheaty McCheaters out there are taking the easy way out when they do certain songs. Why is it cheating? Because everyone at the bar knows every word to the song. You don't need a coddamn mic to get 200 drunken people at a dive bar to sing these songs together in unison. I actually got kind of angry when these songs were selected. The guys on stage didn't even sing half the words, they just held the mic in the air like Brett Michaels might do if he was performing. I am calling for an outright elimination of these songs from karaoke. The worst that could happen is we get better competition and newer musical selection at these places. Maybe cheater songs are what make dive bar karaoke what it is, but I still must try. They are all great songs, but if you chose them during karaoke, you obviously have no self esteem. I composed a top 5 list of songs that should not ever be sung at a karaoke bar, in order:
5: Party Like It's 1999
It's 2007. The party is over, cheater.
4: Sweet Child 'O Mine
So the intro to this song is pretty sweet, but seriously, how many days a week can you hear this song? Where are you karaoke ethics.
3: Jack and Diane
Oh, she said karaoke goes onnn, even after the thrill of singin it's gone. Keep cheating with this one.
2: Pour Some Sugar on Me
This song might be #1 on a lot people's lists. If not for the easy-as-hell lyrics, then for the way women will yell them at the top of their lungs. This is a song that gets all the screams from the girls whenever it comes out and your cheating ass wants to karaoke it? Not cool in my book.
1: Journey - Dont Stop Believing
Clearly the #1 song on this list. People know every single word of this song. The bartenders stop serving drinks, the fights break themselves up, Osama and George Bush put their arms over each other and start belting the lyrics. I swear if you are in line outside waiting to get in, you have no choice but to start yelling out "Just a city boy, growin up in south Detrooooooiitt!" It's the only song people have free permission to sing louder than "Pour Some Sugar on Me." Using this song for karaoke is just unfair. I get that it takes balls to get up on stage in front of all of your drunken friends and sing like you're in the shower, but it takes no balls to sing this song. Everyone will help you sing it so it doesn't matter. In fact, I dare any of you who read this to try doing a karaoke night, anywhere in the U.S. Select this song. Then, right before you begin, tell everyone in the bar not to sing along. Tell them that you want to show your vocal range on this one and they can just listen to your beautiful voice make magic on the microphone. You might, nay, will get beat up, and a group of rugby players will tag team that bad boy with the help of the entire bar. Coddamn cheaters.
Back to the Dive Bars...
Yogi's was where we went the next night because it was opening day at the horse races. I was there with my boys Tommy, Kelly, some girl Kelly knew, and Matt (different that Vegas Matt). I decided to be the driver tonight so I didn't partake in the alcoholic festivities, but I still watched the action as my friends got into it. Tommy can drink ridiculous amounts, so I kept buying him triple and quadruple shots of tequila, because he kept saying that he wasnt feeling it. In the midst of all of this, I glance over, and Kareem Rush is over there just chillin. I wonder if he knows I'm the best player to ever come out of Cardiff? Anyways, this girl in that Kelly brought starts talking all crazy. "I can out drink all of you", she says. I let her know that there is no way she can keep up with any of us...it's impossible, Tommy and kelly booth outweigh me by at least 50lbs, and she weighed maybe 120.
Kelly and Tommy at Yogi's.
Anyways, she starts matching the drinks that I buy for Tommy. I mean she is seriously taking these big time shots and acting like it's nothing. Well, as I expected, she ends up just ridiculously drunk. Trouble is, SHE drove herself. Tommy and Kelly decide to taxi home early, so now it's just me and her. As the sober one, I offer to drive her home. We go outside and her car is in valet. Of course, she can't find her ticket. The guy says: "What kind of car is it?" She replies: "I have an Acura." He then asks her to describe the keychain. I can see the keychain he's holding behind his back. It has a teddy bear linked to it some how. She says back to him "I have an Acura, just give me my Acura." I stop her and say "Look, what is on your keychain that will identify your keys and help this man do his job?" She replies "Can I just have my Acura?"
She keeps up the whole Acura thing for like 3 minutes. It's incredibly annoying. The guy is frustrated and basically just goes through her glove compartment to find something her name on it so that we can get out of there. He tosses me the keys and I get to driving.
"Where do you live?" I ask her. I'm pretty sure her answer was "shednjdsst." I ask her again. "Where do you live?" She get's a little clearer, but it still sounds like "clegsisshme." I pull the car over and ask a third time. "Where do you live?" I swear this was her answer: "Craigslist."
I look over at her and say "Ok, seriously. Focus up here. Where do you live?" That's when she got angry with me. She starts cussing and yelling. "I told you muther@@@$er! I live at Craigslist!" "You clearly have a real address that is not use on internet explorer," I say back, "now where do you live?" She then calms down a bit. Finally I'm going to get a real answer. She says "L.A. Fitness. I live at L.A. Fitness." (L.A. Fitness is like 24 hour fitness) I am incredibly frustrated now. I say "One last time, where do you live?" Her calm goes away. "I told you. I keep telling you mutherf&%$er! F*^k! I live at Craigslist!"
I pick up my phone and call Kelly. "Kelly," I say into my phone, "this is over. This is your friend, I;m taking her to your house. You figure out what to do with her." After I get off the phone with Kelly, I notice that she is passed out. My focus turns from her and turns toward getting to Kelly's house. I was almost there when I saw a McDonalds. I was ridiculously hungry, so I got in the drive through. I ordered a 10 piece all-white-meat McNugget meal. The woman on the speaker says "Anything else?" I say "Nope" and pull ahead. I begin to think that maybe this girl wants some food. I turn and look over at her, and I realize that should have been paying attention. I hadn't even looked at her since she passed out because I was on the phone with other people telling them what was going on. I can't believe my eyes, but it's true, the girl has for some reason gotten out of her clothes and is now naked in the passenger seat of her car and is just playing there passed out.
Here I am, about to go pay for and get my food from the drive through window and there is a naked, passed out woman in the other seat. I've got to get my food from the drive through and somehow not look like the black guy to drugged a white girl and stole her car. I roll the window down a total of 6 inches to pay for my food. At the same time, I turn my back to the woman behind the McDonalds window, probably raising suspicion, but also covering up what was going on in the seat next to me. The woman takes the money and goes back to get my food ready. That is when I violently begin to try to wake this girl up and tell her to put her coddamn clothes back on. She is un-reponsive. The woman returns with my 42 ounce soda, of which 4 ounces spill on my lap as I work it through the 6 inches of open window space. I get my food, back to the lady, and drive to Kelly's house. When Kelly sees what has happened, he can't believe it. I say to him "Mann this girl is crazy, she kept talkin about craigslist and whatnot, then get takes her clothes off for no reason." He says "Yea, it aint the first time. Give me her keys." I toss him the keys and go to bed. I have told this story to all of my close friends and none of them can believe it. But you know what? I can believe it, because crazy things like this seem to always happen around me. Plus, Kelly says he has hooked up with this girl, so I know she's crazy. I should refrain from the driver role next time. I bet people who are designated drivers see alot of things they were never meant to see.
Best Week Ever
July/24/2007 12:19 PM
Basically, I have decided that I now love Las Vegas. The last time I was there, I had an O.K. time. In the "I'm Not Big TIme" and "You've Got to be Kidding Me" entries, I watched the beautiful celebrities splash champagne in the VIP while I was crowded on the dance floor. This last trip was very different my friends. Why was it so diffewrent this time? Hmm I dunno. Maybe it had a little something to do with the fact that I was there with the Memphis Grizzlies. Yea, that was it. I was in town with 20 NBA teams. It makes a little bit of a difference. Oh yea, I happened to be staying at The Venetian ... eeevvverrr heard of it?
You haven't heard of it? Well take a look at both of the plasma TVs that were in my room. There was also a 20 inch LCD in the bathroom which could easily be seen through the glass shower doors. The downstairs TV was actually an LCD too and was only 32 inches, whereas the upstairs one was a full 42 inch plasma. Sorry, I had correct myself on the awesomeness of my room. Once I saw the room, I knew this was going to be the best week ever. It only got better...
So, we played a game on the first Friday and had 2 days before our next game on Monday. Perfect. Nice. When we got out of our game, it was about 7. Got back to the Hotel at 8 after dinner. I call down to TAO Nightclub and tell them that I want to be added to the guestlist. They inform me that the list closes at 7pm. I say "Well that's a shame because my teammates and I thought we could get on a list." They ask me what team. I then say "Memphis Grizzles." I hear plenty of typing and then "O.K. my sincerest apologies Mr. Benson. I have Benson plus six on the list. Is there anything else I can do for you?" "Nope," I reply, "that will be all."
That was the first time I've ever gotten such treatment. The night would only get sweeter. When we got into TAO some other NBA guys (names much bigger than Rod Benson) already had a VIP booth reserved. Some of us knew some of them and all of a sudden, I find myself in VIP at TAO. The sweet thing about this was that our booth was next to the main walkway, so we all just stood out at the front of the booth. This is no joke, whatever girl I asked to come chill with me in the booth said yes. Every single one. I'm talkin striaght up ready like spaghetti. I've never had such a great success rate. It was like being the lone fisherman, in a clear pond, fishing for record sized, starving fish. My bait? Good looks and NBA promises.
After our game on monday, we had another two days off. It was that monday night that I had the best night ever. I had my 32 ounce steak at Outback -- delicious. Then I headed back to the hotel. As I was making my way towards the elevators to go to my room, I saw a kid who I hadn't seen since high school. He tells me about how successful he is nowadays and that he gambles so much that they comp his room at The Venetian. He then asks me if I want to go gamble with him. I let him know that I have no intention of gambling because my Per Diem has to last me for weeks after summer league. He says: "Hey, don't worry about it. I'll give you a couple hundred, lets just go." How could I turn that offer down?
We sat down at the blackjack tables and got to work. I got down to $50 very fast. I then won 5 straight hands to get up to $400. I then got up, gave my boy his $200 back, and went to my room -- $200 richer.
I wasn't sure if I was gonna go out that night or not, but my boy Matt wanted to check out some club at the Palms. We caught a cab over there and the place was dead. We then decided to check out Pure. I let it be known that the last time I was at Pure, I hated it. Somehow we still decided to go.
When we got to Pure, it was almost the same scene as I remembered from last time. I was standing at the end of a very long line that would take about an hour to get to the front of. It was right then that the similarities to my last trip ceased to exist.
"Rod Benson," I hear someone call from a short distance, "are you Rod Benson?" I tell him that I am indeed Rod Benson. He then says to me: "Your blog is awesome and I watched you play in the summer league man, good stuff. Anyways, we have a list in VIP. Just go up to the front and say the name Adrian Abello."
So I walk right up to the front and stand in the VIP line. The guys says: "Name?" I reply "Adrian Abello." He checks his list and lets us in. BOOM Tho. Well, actually, since Matt got in too, BOOM got them DOS!
I get in and make a couple laps. The pussycat doll burlesque is in full effect. Some people think that I'm in a strip club or something in "Boom got them DOS!", but it's actually inside of Pure during the pussycat doll show. Anyways, I keep moving and I notice a couple NBA vets have a VIP table. Turns out again that some of us knew some of them and now I'm in the VIP son. Im talkin about Grey Goose and Courvoisier son in the VIP like rockstars. It gets better.
The bouncer says to me that I can bring a girl in but she has to look good. I say to him that I don't see any immediately. He then invites me to take a walk with him. We walk to the elevator and go to the outside part of the club. He then says a pretty amazing statement to me. "Pick one." "What do you mean pick?", I say back to him. He then says "I mean tell me which girl you want to talk to and I'll get her over here."
I stood there and started thinking to myself. Could this be real? It didn't seem real at all. I guess I was daydreaming for longer than I thought because he came up to me and said "Do you see that girl over there? I told her you wanted her to come to VIP with you, but she thinks you're out of her league. Anyways, my job is done here. See you back downstairs."
So, now I'm downstairs, in VIP, with NBA stars, sipping courvoisier (actually, probably obnoxiously, repeating the phrase "pass the courvoisier"), with a girl who ROD BENSON is out of her league. There's pretty much nothing that can make this moment any sweeter.
And then I hear someone bark into a microphone. "Grrrrr. Arf, Arf!" No way is it DMX having a surprise performance up on the stage. I might have shed a single, joyous tear right at that moment. I couldn't have scripted the night any better than what really happened. DMX rocked the house. Mann he must have performed like 6 songs. I looked at him, then at her, then at the Courvoisier, and decided right then and there that these times must go on. I must make the NBA. I must.
See the joy and disbelief in my eyes? The VIP has that effect on a brotha!
GRRRRR ARF ARF! DMX up on the DJ Booth getting loose son!
I now have 2 very specific and related goals:
Goal 1: Make the NBA at all costs.
Goal 2: Use my NBA-ness to get into a party that Megan Fox is at (See Transformers) and hope that she finds me to be out of her league.
Everything else is just details.
You haven't heard of it? Well take a look at both of the plasma TVs that were in my room. There was also a 20 inch LCD in the bathroom which could easily be seen through the glass shower doors. The downstairs TV was actually an LCD too and was only 32 inches, whereas the upstairs one was a full 42 inch plasma. Sorry, I had correct myself on the awesomeness of my room. Once I saw the room, I knew this was going to be the best week ever. It only got better...
So, we played a game on the first Friday and had 2 days before our next game on Monday. Perfect. Nice. When we got out of our game, it was about 7. Got back to the Hotel at 8 after dinner. I call down to TAO Nightclub and tell them that I want to be added to the guestlist. They inform me that the list closes at 7pm. I say "Well that's a shame because my teammates and I thought we could get on a list." They ask me what team. I then say "Memphis Grizzles." I hear plenty of typing and then "O.K. my sincerest apologies Mr. Benson. I have Benson plus six on the list. Is there anything else I can do for you?" "Nope," I reply, "that will be all."
That was the first time I've ever gotten such treatment. The night would only get sweeter. When we got into TAO some other NBA guys (names much bigger than Rod Benson) already had a VIP booth reserved. Some of us knew some of them and all of a sudden, I find myself in VIP at TAO. The sweet thing about this was that our booth was next to the main walkway, so we all just stood out at the front of the booth. This is no joke, whatever girl I asked to come chill with me in the booth said yes. Every single one. I'm talkin striaght up ready like spaghetti. I've never had such a great success rate. It was like being the lone fisherman, in a clear pond, fishing for record sized, starving fish. My bait? Good looks and NBA promises.
After our game on monday, we had another two days off. It was that monday night that I had the best night ever. I had my 32 ounce steak at Outback -- delicious. Then I headed back to the hotel. As I was making my way towards the elevators to go to my room, I saw a kid who I hadn't seen since high school. He tells me about how successful he is nowadays and that he gambles so much that they comp his room at The Venetian. He then asks me if I want to go gamble with him. I let him know that I have no intention of gambling because my Per Diem has to last me for weeks after summer league. He says: "Hey, don't worry about it. I'll give you a couple hundred, lets just go." How could I turn that offer down?
We sat down at the blackjack tables and got to work. I got down to $50 very fast. I then won 5 straight hands to get up to $400. I then got up, gave my boy his $200 back, and went to my room -- $200 richer.
I wasn't sure if I was gonna go out that night or not, but my boy Matt wanted to check out some club at the Palms. We caught a cab over there and the place was dead. We then decided to check out Pure. I let it be known that the last time I was at Pure, I hated it. Somehow we still decided to go.
When we got to Pure, it was almost the same scene as I remembered from last time. I was standing at the end of a very long line that would take about an hour to get to the front of. It was right then that the similarities to my last trip ceased to exist.
"Rod Benson," I hear someone call from a short distance, "are you Rod Benson?" I tell him that I am indeed Rod Benson. He then says to me: "Your blog is awesome and I watched you play in the summer league man, good stuff. Anyways, we have a list in VIP. Just go up to the front and say the name Adrian Abello."
So I walk right up to the front and stand in the VIP line. The guys says: "Name?" I reply "Adrian Abello." He checks his list and lets us in. BOOM Tho. Well, actually, since Matt got in too, BOOM got them DOS!
I get in and make a couple laps. The pussycat doll burlesque is in full effect. Some people think that I'm in a strip club or something in "Boom got them DOS!", but it's actually inside of Pure during the pussycat doll show. Anyways, I keep moving and I notice a couple NBA vets have a VIP table. Turns out again that some of us knew some of them and now I'm in the VIP son. Im talkin about Grey Goose and Courvoisier son in the VIP like rockstars. It gets better.
The bouncer says to me that I can bring a girl in but she has to look good. I say to him that I don't see any immediately. He then invites me to take a walk with him. We walk to the elevator and go to the outside part of the club. He then says a pretty amazing statement to me. "Pick one." "What do you mean pick?", I say back to him. He then says "I mean tell me which girl you want to talk to and I'll get her over here."
I stood there and started thinking to myself. Could this be real? It didn't seem real at all. I guess I was daydreaming for longer than I thought because he came up to me and said "Do you see that girl over there? I told her you wanted her to come to VIP with you, but she thinks you're out of her league. Anyways, my job is done here. See you back downstairs."
So, now I'm downstairs, in VIP, with NBA stars, sipping courvoisier (actually, probably obnoxiously, repeating the phrase "pass the courvoisier"), with a girl who ROD BENSON is out of her league. There's pretty much nothing that can make this moment any sweeter.
And then I hear someone bark into a microphone. "Grrrrr. Arf, Arf!" No way is it DMX having a surprise performance up on the stage. I might have shed a single, joyous tear right at that moment. I couldn't have scripted the night any better than what really happened. DMX rocked the house. Mann he must have performed like 6 songs. I looked at him, then at her, then at the Courvoisier, and decided right then and there that these times must go on. I must make the NBA. I must.
See the joy and disbelief in my eyes? The VIP has that effect on a brotha!
GRRRRR ARF ARF! DMX up on the DJ Booth getting loose son!
I now have 2 very specific and related goals:
Goal 1: Make the NBA at all costs.
Goal 2: Use my NBA-ness to get into a party that Megan Fox is at (See Transformers) and hope that she finds me to be out of her league.
Everything else is just details.
You've Got to be Kidding Me
June/02/2007 11:23 AM
Well, on my last night in Vegas, I was definitely over the club scene. I was too small time for the club the night before, and spent $40 just to get in. I made up my mind early on that last day that I would only go to bars that night. Nobody was gonna change my mind. I wanted to do something free, and I wanted to do something adventurous.
I figured I would hit 20 bars in 4 hours. I’d have a beer at every spot, check out the women and see if any were ready like spaghetti, and keep moving after a few minutes. The plan seemed flawless. “Billy” was gonna come with me and Renee was strongly considering joining in with me.
At about 8 P.M. I was ready to make my moves. Renee, “Jimmy”, “Billy”, and a few other people got a bottle of Ketel One and each had a few shots. It was then that I was informed that Jimmy convinced Billy to go with him to the clubs and Renee had decided to do the same. Basically what it meant was that I had to either join them, or make my moves on my own.
I took a couple more shots and alerted the room that I would indeed hit the bars on my own. We all agreed to meet up later, after the dust cleared. At about 8:45 we got into a limo (I still dont know who paid for it), and I told the driver to drop me off at a hotel with good bars, while everyone else went to the Hard Rock for some party that cost $100 for men and $50 for women (good decision not going there).
I got out of the limo and went right to the first bar I saw. I ordered a Miller Lite and began to look out for “stragglers”. Rod Benson’s 2007 Dictionary defines a “straggler” as any woman who has for some reason decided to have a small time night and kick it at a bar without male company. They often include girls who ditched their girl-friends that night. Anyways, no stragglers were found. After about ten minutes at the bar, I left and began walking to the next bar.
I went from bar, to bar, to bar, to bar, having a Miller Lite at every one. I would sometimes get a Grey Goose and Cranberry (Bill Simmons suggests that Red Bull is a more typical athlete drink, but he also suggests that one of us will die as a result, which is why I dont get them). I had reached about 10-12 bars and still had not seen any decent stragglers. At this point I was at Caesers Palace. There was a shuttle that made its way to the Palms every 10 minutes, so I decided to wait for it. It was at this point that I realized that I was beginning to cross that line. Either I was feeling the drinks or I was just feeling the griminess from 3 nights in Vegas.
I arrived at the Palms hotel and went looking for the first bar. As it turns out, the first bar I saw had like 6 bowling lanes inside of it as well. I thought to myself “You’re already here, might as well bowl a game.” It was about 12:30 at this point. Reports were coming in from my friends that Hard Rock line was too long and they weren’t trying to pay that $100 to get in. Good call on my part not partaking in their activities.
I bought a Miller Lite and one game on the lanes. I got to my lane, picked out a 14 LB. ball (dont act like you’re not impressed), and threw a strike right off the bat. The place was small, and I am 6’10” so I got a little attention already, but the strike turned a couple heads. Two girls behind me smiled when they saw the strike. I confidently picked my ball back up for my second throw. Gutter ball, dammit. I turned back to the girls who were now laughing at me. They had reason to, I guess.
I walked back towards the girls, and motioned for them to come bowl with me (it was a little loud for me to yell over the music). They both agreed and walked over. Stragglers, yes! They balls much lighter than mine (thats what she said), and began to bowl a couple of my frames. They were communicating via sign language because it was so loud, but it also meant that I couldn’t understand them. Whatever, I was tipsy anyways, I didn’t really care. I just hate secrets, and I hate when girls use secret non-verbal communication to talk around me.
At about frame number 7, I turned to the girls and said over the music “So, whats up with you guys?” It was a simple enough question. Not too forward at all.. I’m good at this sort of thing. However, they didn’t answer me. I said it a little louder, because it was hell of loud in there. they looked at me dumbfounded. I yelled it this time. “WHATS UP WITH YOU GUYS?!”
They looked at me, then turned back to each other and starting doing more sign language. Coddamn secrets! I wish I knew sign, then I wouldn’t have to yell. Just then, I noticed something.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said aloud. “There’s a coddamn hearing aid in this girls ear.” I yelled out something else, loud as I could. Everyone in the bar turned and looked at me -- except them. Of course, these girls were DEAF! I had literally just spent 45 minutes bowling with these girls and only now had I realized that all that sign language was more than secret girl talk. They were deaf girls. Sweet, actually, awesome choice I made right there. They then big timed me. “We have to go,” they said. I make that sound to good. They definitely used “deaf talk” where it sounds like they were losing a game of chubby bunny. To be honest, they spoke better than I would expect for being def. But still, they big timed me and left.
I bowled my final couple frames and left. The rest of the night was irrelevant. Yea, I gave my card to a couple hostesses and whatnot, but I couldn’t get the deaf girls out of my mind. How could I have not known? How could they big time ME? I mean how many pro ballers invite them to bowl a game? I left Las Vegas the next morning feeling very insignificant. I guess I’m a big fish in certain small ponds, but in Vegas, I’m a small fish in a big pond. So small, in fact, that even the deaf girls are bigger. I guess that’s how it goes.
I figured I would hit 20 bars in 4 hours. I’d have a beer at every spot, check out the women and see if any were ready like spaghetti, and keep moving after a few minutes. The plan seemed flawless. “Billy” was gonna come with me and Renee was strongly considering joining in with me.
At about 8 P.M. I was ready to make my moves. Renee, “Jimmy”, “Billy”, and a few other people got a bottle of Ketel One and each had a few shots. It was then that I was informed that Jimmy convinced Billy to go with him to the clubs and Renee had decided to do the same. Basically what it meant was that I had to either join them, or make my moves on my own.
I took a couple more shots and alerted the room that I would indeed hit the bars on my own. We all agreed to meet up later, after the dust cleared. At about 8:45 we got into a limo (I still dont know who paid for it), and I told the driver to drop me off at a hotel with good bars, while everyone else went to the Hard Rock for some party that cost $100 for men and $50 for women (good decision not going there).
I got out of the limo and went right to the first bar I saw. I ordered a Miller Lite and began to look out for “stragglers”. Rod Benson’s 2007 Dictionary defines a “straggler” as any woman who has for some reason decided to have a small time night and kick it at a bar without male company. They often include girls who ditched their girl-friends that night. Anyways, no stragglers were found. After about ten minutes at the bar, I left and began walking to the next bar.
I went from bar, to bar, to bar, to bar, having a Miller Lite at every one. I would sometimes get a Grey Goose and Cranberry (Bill Simmons suggests that Red Bull is a more typical athlete drink, but he also suggests that one of us will die as a result, which is why I dont get them). I had reached about 10-12 bars and still had not seen any decent stragglers. At this point I was at Caesers Palace. There was a shuttle that made its way to the Palms every 10 minutes, so I decided to wait for it. It was at this point that I realized that I was beginning to cross that line. Either I was feeling the drinks or I was just feeling the griminess from 3 nights in Vegas.
I arrived at the Palms hotel and went looking for the first bar. As it turns out, the first bar I saw had like 6 bowling lanes inside of it as well. I thought to myself “You’re already here, might as well bowl a game.” It was about 12:30 at this point. Reports were coming in from my friends that Hard Rock line was too long and they weren’t trying to pay that $100 to get in. Good call on my part not partaking in their activities.
I bought a Miller Lite and one game on the lanes. I got to my lane, picked out a 14 LB. ball (dont act like you’re not impressed), and threw a strike right off the bat. The place was small, and I am 6’10” so I got a little attention already, but the strike turned a couple heads. Two girls behind me smiled when they saw the strike. I confidently picked my ball back up for my second throw. Gutter ball, dammit. I turned back to the girls who were now laughing at me. They had reason to, I guess.
I walked back towards the girls, and motioned for them to come bowl with me (it was a little loud for me to yell over the music). They both agreed and walked over. Stragglers, yes! They balls much lighter than mine (thats what she said), and began to bowl a couple of my frames. They were communicating via sign language because it was so loud, but it also meant that I couldn’t understand them. Whatever, I was tipsy anyways, I didn’t really care. I just hate secrets, and I hate when girls use secret non-verbal communication to talk around me.
At about frame number 7, I turned to the girls and said over the music “So, whats up with you guys?” It was a simple enough question. Not too forward at all.. I’m good at this sort of thing. However, they didn’t answer me. I said it a little louder, because it was hell of loud in there. they looked at me dumbfounded. I yelled it this time. “WHATS UP WITH YOU GUYS?!”
They looked at me, then turned back to each other and starting doing more sign language. Coddamn secrets! I wish I knew sign, then I wouldn’t have to yell. Just then, I noticed something.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said aloud. “There’s a coddamn hearing aid in this girls ear.” I yelled out something else, loud as I could. Everyone in the bar turned and looked at me -- except them. Of course, these girls were DEAF! I had literally just spent 45 minutes bowling with these girls and only now had I realized that all that sign language was more than secret girl talk. They were deaf girls. Sweet, actually, awesome choice I made right there. They then big timed me. “We have to go,” they said. I make that sound to good. They definitely used “deaf talk” where it sounds like they were losing a game of chubby bunny. To be honest, they spoke better than I would expect for being def. But still, they big timed me and left.
I bowled my final couple frames and left. The rest of the night was irrelevant. Yea, I gave my card to a couple hostesses and whatnot, but I couldn’t get the deaf girls out of my mind. How could I have not known? How could they big time ME? I mean how many pro ballers invite them to bowl a game? I left Las Vegas the next morning feeling very insignificant. I guess I’m a big fish in certain small ponds, but in Vegas, I’m a small fish in a big pond. So small, in fact, that even the deaf girls are bigger. I guess that’s how it goes.
I'm Not Big Time (Vegas Part 1)
June/02/2007 11:22 AM
Las Vegas, it’s just one of those places. It just happens to be the place that I spent memorial weekend. As you probably already already know, I’m and energetic guy and Las Vegas brings a lot of energy itself, so when combined, the effects can be explosive. At least I felt that I was in store for an explosive weekend when I stepped off the plane. I now feel like I wrong. I’m just not big time enough to really have the kind of time I would like to have when I become official. Why do I feel this way? Because of nights like these....
The names have been changed to protect the guilty...
The second night I was there, my boy “Jimmy” suggested that we go to club PURE. Supposedly it was going to be a big time event because it was Rampage Jackson’s after party (I found out later that he won his fight, helping build the hype for the night). Jimmy, “Billy”, and I got to the club at 9:30 P.M. and the line was already like 1,000 people long. I was not trying to wait that long to get into this place.
I walked up to the front of the line and asked the guy how long it would be before we got in. He let me know that it would take about 2-2.5 hours to get to the front, and that it would cost $40 when we got there (our bootleg free passes meant nothin). As I was walking back to our group, a guy near the front yells out “Haha! You tried that basketball B.S. to try to get V.I.P. and that sh*t didn’t work!”
I turned around and looked at this guy. He was with a crew of about 6 guys who all seemed to share his sentiments, because they were all laughing at me. The amount of disrespect was unbelievable. I mean basically those were fightin words. I turned and looked back at my crew. Jimmy and Billy were no fighters, and let’s face it, neither am I, really. So I decided to let them have their fun.
I returned to our spot in line. Jimmy said that he would wait in line while Billy and I went to the liquor store because Billy and I are not those guys who can afford to pay $13 per drink.
We got our fill at the liquor store and met back up with Jimmy. We finally got in at 11 (an hour ahead of projections), and it was already absolutely packed. It was actually pretty uncomfortable. I kept trying to get space, but there was none to be had. There was plenty of space, however, in the VIP section. It was elevated by about 4 feet so that all the beautiful celebrities could look down on us.
Wilmer Valderamma took the mic and started saying a ton of things that I couldn’t understand. Then he started calling out the names of all the celebs in attendance: Adam Sandler, Kim Kardashian, Mandy Moore, Rampage Jackson, etc. Rod Benson stood below and watched all these people toast their drinks and talk their talk, while he was stuck down with the common folk, overly crowed, being asked how tall he was every 8 seconds.
I got asked if I played basketball so many times that I began saying that I didn’t, so that I wouldn’t have to explain for what team, then explain what the D-League is, then see the disappointment on their faces. One guy says to me “How tall are you? I know you play basketball!” I respond with “No, I don’t. Sorry.” Then he has the nerve to say “Wow, that’s just a waste of height. That sucks.” I, being far too annoyed at this point to give a damn, say “That’s interesting. There are kids dying of leukemia everyday, and you’re wasting this healthy body by talking too much. That sucks.” I walked away after that.
It was then that I wanted to leave. I already knew everyone was thinking “Wow, this guy is so tall, he must be in the N.B.A.! But why isn’t he up there with them? He must not be any good at all, actually.” I asked Billy if he wanted to leave, he said he did, because it was too crowded for him too. Jimmy had already left with a young lady, so we didnt have to worry about him.
Billy and I arrived at the same liquor store for the second time that night. Since I decided that we were pretty much losers at this point, Billy decided to buy a whole fifth. “No way are we coming back here for a third time! No way bro,” he said to me,”I’m gettin the fifth this time.”
We sat back in an alley and starting drinking and talking about how lame we were. The beautiful celebrities were still at the hottest club in Vegas, while we were in the loading dock area of Bally’s by ourselves. We decided that, even though we were lame, and losers, that we could still salvage the night, even though it was already 1:20 A.M. That’s when Billy went to work on the bottle. His tolerance is nowhere near mine, but he didn’t seem to care. These photos represent what followed (the exact reason why I changed his name):

Halfway thru the bottle...

Starting to feel himself a little too much....

Falling down, Del Taco Lemonade goes everywhere

Why get up? Just go ahead and make a phone call while laying in the middle of the sidewalk...
Well as you can see, he was getting progressively worse. When we got back to the hotel (4 A.M.), he was still in high spirits. Some of our other friends were already there waiting for us at the bar. We met some girls and began to talk.


As you can see, I’m still fine, but Billy is DRUNK. Well, we sat down with these girls. Billy was talking to the one on the right (his left). While in the middle of a sentence, he puts his head down and starts throwing up between his legs. The girl says “Wow, how rude.” But Billy does not respond. He literally just sits there with his head down, motionless.
I tell my friend Renee not the go to him just yet, so that we dont cause a scene. Nobody has seen him yet, so I let him sit there for a few more seconds, then Renee and I carry him to the elevator. He drags his feet the whole time. When we get him to our floor, he literally refuses to go any further and makes his body heavy to stop us from carrying him.

I actually had to grab him by one arm and drag him 40 yards through the luxor hotel because he wouldnt move his body. It was funny because he was trying to stop me, but he couldnt. He just kept saying “Rod, wait wait wait. Stop, wait. Hold up hold up.” Then I’d say “What the hell do you wanna stop for?” Then he’d reply “I dont know, just stop.”
It took me almost 2 hours to drag him from the bar to his bed. When he got into bed he just kept saying “No0o0o0o! No0o0o00o! No0o0o0o0o!” Who knows why? All I know is that Billy made his mark that night. Actually he literally left throw up marks in about 7 different spots in the hotel. Had we been big time, this wouldnt have happened. We would sipped casually with beautiful celebrities. I guess we’ll just have to wait until I get that contract
The names have been changed to protect the guilty...
The second night I was there, my boy “Jimmy” suggested that we go to club PURE. Supposedly it was going to be a big time event because it was Rampage Jackson’s after party (I found out later that he won his fight, helping build the hype for the night). Jimmy, “Billy”, and I got to the club at 9:30 P.M. and the line was already like 1,000 people long. I was not trying to wait that long to get into this place.
I walked up to the front of the line and asked the guy how long it would be before we got in. He let me know that it would take about 2-2.5 hours to get to the front, and that it would cost $40 when we got there (our bootleg free passes meant nothin). As I was walking back to our group, a guy near the front yells out “Haha! You tried that basketball B.S. to try to get V.I.P. and that sh*t didn’t work!”
I turned around and looked at this guy. He was with a crew of about 6 guys who all seemed to share his sentiments, because they were all laughing at me. The amount of disrespect was unbelievable. I mean basically those were fightin words. I turned and looked back at my crew. Jimmy and Billy were no fighters, and let’s face it, neither am I, really. So I decided to let them have their fun.
I returned to our spot in line. Jimmy said that he would wait in line while Billy and I went to the liquor store because Billy and I are not those guys who can afford to pay $13 per drink.
We got our fill at the liquor store and met back up with Jimmy. We finally got in at 11 (an hour ahead of projections), and it was already absolutely packed. It was actually pretty uncomfortable. I kept trying to get space, but there was none to be had. There was plenty of space, however, in the VIP section. It was elevated by about 4 feet so that all the beautiful celebrities could look down on us.
Wilmer Valderamma took the mic and started saying a ton of things that I couldn’t understand. Then he started calling out the names of all the celebs in attendance: Adam Sandler, Kim Kardashian, Mandy Moore, Rampage Jackson, etc. Rod Benson stood below and watched all these people toast their drinks and talk their talk, while he was stuck down with the common folk, overly crowed, being asked how tall he was every 8 seconds.
I got asked if I played basketball so many times that I began saying that I didn’t, so that I wouldn’t have to explain for what team, then explain what the D-League is, then see the disappointment on their faces. One guy says to me “How tall are you? I know you play basketball!” I respond with “No, I don’t. Sorry.” Then he has the nerve to say “Wow, that’s just a waste of height. That sucks.” I, being far too annoyed at this point to give a damn, say “That’s interesting. There are kids dying of leukemia everyday, and you’re wasting this healthy body by talking too much. That sucks.” I walked away after that.
It was then that I wanted to leave. I already knew everyone was thinking “Wow, this guy is so tall, he must be in the N.B.A.! But why isn’t he up there with them? He must not be any good at all, actually.” I asked Billy if he wanted to leave, he said he did, because it was too crowded for him too. Jimmy had already left with a young lady, so we didnt have to worry about him.
Billy and I arrived at the same liquor store for the second time that night. Since I decided that we were pretty much losers at this point, Billy decided to buy a whole fifth. “No way are we coming back here for a third time! No way bro,” he said to me,”I’m gettin the fifth this time.”
We sat back in an alley and starting drinking and talking about how lame we were. The beautiful celebrities were still at the hottest club in Vegas, while we were in the loading dock area of Bally’s by ourselves. We decided that, even though we were lame, and losers, that we could still salvage the night, even though it was already 1:20 A.M. That’s when Billy went to work on the bottle. His tolerance is nowhere near mine, but he didn’t seem to care. These photos represent what followed (the exact reason why I changed his name):

Halfway thru the bottle...

Starting to feel himself a little too much....

Falling down, Del Taco Lemonade goes everywhere

Why get up? Just go ahead and make a phone call while laying in the middle of the sidewalk...
Well as you can see, he was getting progressively worse. When we got back to the hotel (4 A.M.), he was still in high spirits. Some of our other friends were already there waiting for us at the bar. We met some girls and began to talk.


As you can see, I’m still fine, but Billy is DRUNK. Well, we sat down with these girls. Billy was talking to the one on the right (his left). While in the middle of a sentence, he puts his head down and starts throwing up between his legs. The girl says “Wow, how rude.” But Billy does not respond. He literally just sits there with his head down, motionless.
I tell my friend Renee not the go to him just yet, so that we dont cause a scene. Nobody has seen him yet, so I let him sit there for a few more seconds, then Renee and I carry him to the elevator. He drags his feet the whole time. When we get him to our floor, he literally refuses to go any further and makes his body heavy to stop us from carrying him.

I actually had to grab him by one arm and drag him 40 yards through the luxor hotel because he wouldnt move his body. It was funny because he was trying to stop me, but he couldnt. He just kept saying “Rod, wait wait wait. Stop, wait. Hold up hold up.” Then I’d say “What the hell do you wanna stop for?” Then he’d reply “I dont know, just stop.”
It took me almost 2 hours to drag him from the bar to his bed. When he got into bed he just kept saying “No0o0o0o! No0o0o00o! No0o0o0o0o!” Who knows why? All I know is that Billy made his mark that night. Actually he literally left throw up marks in about 7 different spots in the hotel. Had we been big time, this wouldnt have happened. We would sipped casually with beautiful celebrities. I guess we’ll just have to wait until I get that contract
Escape From Philly!
May/24/2007 11:18 AM
Last week, I took a trip to Lancaster, PA, to visit a friend of mine. I must say that every single day I was there, I was involved in a situation I had never been a part of before. Like things that people may never have happen to them in their lives. I’ll just get right to them...
One day I was at the mall, with a couple friends and a little girl (my friends niece). As you can see, I had her up on my on my shoulders:
Well, after about 10 minutes of her being on my shoulders, I felt an odd feeling that I had never felt before. It felt like someone tried to spit on my neck, but no spit came out. It was an odd air burst. Then there was another, and another. I thought I had it figured out, but I wasnt quite sure yet.
All of a sudden, the little girl says “I want to get down.” I say, “Yea, it’s about that time.” She then runs over to her mother and says “I have to tell you a secret. I farted.”
I standing there like “This is ricodamdiculous. I’ve just been crop dusted.” I was directly farted on, right to the neck, three times. I smell like a public bathroom, so I stay away from my other friends, who are all laughing at me. Awesome.
Another day, there was a big BBQ/party that basically lasted from 6pm until 4am. While in the midst of the party I met this woman who asked to take a picture with me because I was so tall (as usual). So I took it and added my own little twist:
After the picture, the woman seemed to always be near me for the rest of the night. She kept calling me pretty eyes and whatnot. Not necessarily unusual (I am rather striking), but still a bit odd considering that I was not really acknowledging her.
One of my friends and I pass out in the basement of the house at the end of the night. He is on one side of the room near the TV, Im on another side, near the stairs.
I wake up in the morning a little earlier than I want to because I hear a couple of voices. I realize that its the same woman and her girlfriend, sitting on the couch in the basement. They are straight up watching us sleep. I pretend to still be asleep, so I can hear what they are saying.
“Oh yea baby, roll over for me”, I hear her say. I’m laying there thinking “this is wrong. So0o wrong.”
I fall asleep again. I wake up two hours later and they are still there, watching us. I hear her say “that’s beautiful over there, and that’s handsome right there. Beautiful and Handsome.” I pop right up this time. My boy has started to wake up too. “Hey handsome,” she says to me, “and you too beautiful,” she says to Darryl.
I got up and walked out of the room. That was it for her.
On the last day, I had to make moves to go home. I had to take the train from Lancaster to Philadelphia because I was flying out of Philly. As I arrived at the Philly Amtrak, I had to take the SEPTA train to the Airport. SO, I dragged my bad up to the counter for the SEPTA train tickets, and I asked the guy how much these tickets cost. He said they cost $5.50. I realized that I only had $2.13 is cash and change on me, so I asked him where an ATM was (I looked stupid because it was right behind me). I walked up the the ATM to withdraw $20. DENIED. What? How could that be? Direct Deposit should have gone through the day before. Well, just how much money was in there then? $0.68. 68 cents, my man, 68 cents.
I’m in downtown Philly. I’ve got $2.13 in cash and $0.68 on my card and a flight back to San Diego that takes off in 2 hours from an airport that is gonna cost $5.50 to get to. How the hell am I gonna escape from Pennsylvania?
I check my wallet once again. There’s a check for $25 dollars that my friend had given me 5 months ago. It’s from Bank of America. I decide that if I’m gonna make it out of here, I will need to get to Bank of America and cash this check. The thing is, I already know that Bank of America is lame and that they don’t cash checks without 2 valid forms of I.D. I’ve got my license (valid) and my expired passport (NOT valid). So, if for some reason I could get to a BofA soon, there’s only a 20% chance I could trick the teller into thinking that my passport is still valid.
“Time to roll the dice,” I thought to myself as I walked out to the taxi area. I tried to hail like 3 taxis before one stopped for me. It was a black guy driving. As I got in, he mentioned that nobody but him would have stopped. It then hit me that, if this check thing didnt work out, not only would I be stuck in Penn, but that I wouldnt be able to pay the only taxi driver who would pick up a black guy, so he might kill me. I dunno what I’m thinking but I know that on TV, the east coast is a crazy place where things like that could happen.
“Do you know where Bank of America is?,” I asked as we got moving.
“Nope, let me try to find out,” he replied.
I was watching the meter carefully. I knew that I would need to pay for a ride to and from this place, and still have $5.50 left over for the damn SEPTA train. I was calling 411 to try to find a close one, but everything was automated. We drove around for a few minutes before I could get one out of this automated thing. BofA was only a few blocks away.
We parked at BofA and the meter was at $9...running. I went inside. As I walked in, there were 3 tellers open. To the far left (closest to me at the time) was a young, attractive black woman. “Nope!”, I thought to myself. No way was I gonna embarrass myself in front of her with my $25 dollar check. Furthest to the right was an older white lady, she seemed in charge. I wasn’t gonna mess with her either. I needed this check to go through, she seemed like she would have no compassion for the lack of valid I.D.’s. Right in the middle, was a 30-35 yr old black woman. I had to go to her by default, but this was no guarantee.
I handed her my check and let her know that I needed it cashed. She asked for my I.D. I gave it to her. “Just one?”, I thought to myself. A good sign. She starts doing a lot of typing into her computer. Too much typing? It was hard to tell, but this check was only for $25. What the hell would take so long. She then walks it over to the old white woman in charge. DAMMIT. No way, exactly what I didnt want. They confer and head behind closed doors. You would think that I was taking out $25,000, not $25. I know that the meter outside is still running. How high is it by now? So many questions, not enough answers.
She comes back and types some more. Finally she asks to me to endorse the check. Yes! As Borat would say: “Great Success! Sexy time explosion!” She handed me my $25 and I was off.
The taxi meter was only at $12.40. Perfect. “Where’s the nearest SEPTA station, my man?”, I asked. “Hold on.”, he replied.
I paid him $15 ( it was like $13.20) when I got out of the cab. Sweet. I had $12.13 now. I got a bomb ass Philly Cheesesteak and still had money to spare for the SEPTA.
Well, as a result of the whole fiasco, I got to the airport about 45 minutes before takeoff. That is normally not a problem, but on Southwest Airlines, seating is based on who gets there first. I was forced to get a “C” boarding card, meaning that I would definitely have a seat in between two 300 lb. wildebeasts. This was going to be a 5 and a half hour flight, I had to get “my seat”. “My seat” is on every southwest flight. It has no seat in front of it and it’s the exit row. This seat is the only seat I can sit in on the whole plane and be comfortable at all. The problem is that these random 4 foot 10 women will take that seat if they beat me to it. I will literally stare them down the whole time as I walk past them. I give a look that says “You have got to be kidding me, you joke.”
I digress. So, I asked the customer service rep for a pre-board slip so that I could get on before everyone else. Southwest has enacted policy recently that says that you cant sit in my seat if you pre-board. I knew I couldn’t get my seat with the pre-board seat, but maybe I could get bulkhead and have some space.
When I got on the plane, some dumbass woman had already “reserved” the entire bulkhead section. Feeling dejected, I walked down and sat in the seat directly behind “my seat”. The flight attendant asked me if I was a pre-board guy. I said that I was, hoping that she would have compassion and put me into my seat anyways. No dice. She walked to the back, and another attendant walked back towards me. This attendant noticed how tall I was. She asked if I played in the NBA. This is when I realized that there was a glimpse of possibility. I mean, coddamn, this had been a long ass day already, I needed my seat.
“Yes, I was on an NBA team.”, I said confidently. She then asked me if I would autograph something for her kids. I replied, “I will, if you can get me that seat.”
She looked at me and said “O.K. But, were you a pre-board?” I said that I was. She then made a big time play and told me to sit there anyways. She then told the other attendant that I had made a mistake and that I misunderstood the whole pre-board thing.
The plane was full by this time, and she came back with some things for me to autograph. She asked me “What team did you play for?” I said “The Sacramento Kings.” I figured that if she googled my name it would have some mention of the kings from last years summer league. I was supposed to go, but before we got on the bus I was told that I wasnt needed. Not exactly a lie, but not what she was looking for. Either way, she would find out sometime. I have big time plans for this summer anyways. By this time next year I think I will be one of those guys. I signed the stuff with “Go Kings!!!” on it and gave it back to her. Yes. Boom. Got my seat.
“I couldnt help but overhear...you’re in the NBA?”, someone behind me asks.
“Oh snap”, I starting thinking, “this could be bad.” Within minutes, everyone on the coddamn plane was all hyped up about me being in the NBA. They were all asking me questions about the league: “What’s it like playing with Ron Artest? What do you think about Kobe? How’s Madison Square Garden?” I had to come up with answers to all these questions on the fly even though there were all false. Basically, at the end of the flight, all these people thought that they had met their first NBA athlete, when in reality they didn’t. A hopeful D-Leaguer with aspirations much higher than his current position is that they got -- a random guy who wanted a good seat. Regardless, I finally escaped from Pennsylvania...comfortably.
One day I was at the mall, with a couple friends and a little girl (my friends niece). As you can see, I had her up on my on my shoulders:
Well, after about 10 minutes of her being on my shoulders, I felt an odd feeling that I had never felt before. It felt like someone tried to spit on my neck, but no spit came out. It was an odd air burst. Then there was another, and another. I thought I had it figured out, but I wasnt quite sure yet.
All of a sudden, the little girl says “I want to get down.” I say, “Yea, it’s about that time.” She then runs over to her mother and says “I have to tell you a secret. I farted.”
I standing there like “This is ricodamdiculous. I’ve just been crop dusted.” I was directly farted on, right to the neck, three times. I smell like a public bathroom, so I stay away from my other friends, who are all laughing at me. Awesome.
Another day, there was a big BBQ/party that basically lasted from 6pm until 4am. While in the midst of the party I met this woman who asked to take a picture with me because I was so tall (as usual). So I took it and added my own little twist:
After the picture, the woman seemed to always be near me for the rest of the night. She kept calling me pretty eyes and whatnot. Not necessarily unusual (I am rather striking), but still a bit odd considering that I was not really acknowledging her.
One of my friends and I pass out in the basement of the house at the end of the night. He is on one side of the room near the TV, Im on another side, near the stairs.
I wake up in the morning a little earlier than I want to because I hear a couple of voices. I realize that its the same woman and her girlfriend, sitting on the couch in the basement. They are straight up watching us sleep. I pretend to still be asleep, so I can hear what they are saying.
“Oh yea baby, roll over for me”, I hear her say. I’m laying there thinking “this is wrong. So0o wrong.”
I fall asleep again. I wake up two hours later and they are still there, watching us. I hear her say “that’s beautiful over there, and that’s handsome right there. Beautiful and Handsome.” I pop right up this time. My boy has started to wake up too. “Hey handsome,” she says to me, “and you too beautiful,” she says to Darryl.
I got up and walked out of the room. That was it for her.
On the last day, I had to make moves to go home. I had to take the train from Lancaster to Philadelphia because I was flying out of Philly. As I arrived at the Philly Amtrak, I had to take the SEPTA train to the Airport. SO, I dragged my bad up to the counter for the SEPTA train tickets, and I asked the guy how much these tickets cost. He said they cost $5.50. I realized that I only had $2.13 is cash and change on me, so I asked him where an ATM was (I looked stupid because it was right behind me). I walked up the the ATM to withdraw $20. DENIED. What? How could that be? Direct Deposit should have gone through the day before. Well, just how much money was in there then? $0.68. 68 cents, my man, 68 cents.
I’m in downtown Philly. I’ve got $2.13 in cash and $0.68 on my card and a flight back to San Diego that takes off in 2 hours from an airport that is gonna cost $5.50 to get to. How the hell am I gonna escape from Pennsylvania?
I check my wallet once again. There’s a check for $25 dollars that my friend had given me 5 months ago. It’s from Bank of America. I decide that if I’m gonna make it out of here, I will need to get to Bank of America and cash this check. The thing is, I already know that Bank of America is lame and that they don’t cash checks without 2 valid forms of I.D. I’ve got my license (valid) and my expired passport (NOT valid). So, if for some reason I could get to a BofA soon, there’s only a 20% chance I could trick the teller into thinking that my passport is still valid.
“Time to roll the dice,” I thought to myself as I walked out to the taxi area. I tried to hail like 3 taxis before one stopped for me. It was a black guy driving. As I got in, he mentioned that nobody but him would have stopped. It then hit me that, if this check thing didnt work out, not only would I be stuck in Penn, but that I wouldnt be able to pay the only taxi driver who would pick up a black guy, so he might kill me. I dunno what I’m thinking but I know that on TV, the east coast is a crazy place where things like that could happen.
“Do you know where Bank of America is?,” I asked as we got moving.
“Nope, let me try to find out,” he replied.
I was watching the meter carefully. I knew that I would need to pay for a ride to and from this place, and still have $5.50 left over for the damn SEPTA train. I was calling 411 to try to find a close one, but everything was automated. We drove around for a few minutes before I could get one out of this automated thing. BofA was only a few blocks away.
We parked at BofA and the meter was at $9...running. I went inside. As I walked in, there were 3 tellers open. To the far left (closest to me at the time) was a young, attractive black woman. “Nope!”, I thought to myself. No way was I gonna embarrass myself in front of her with my $25 dollar check. Furthest to the right was an older white lady, she seemed in charge. I wasn’t gonna mess with her either. I needed this check to go through, she seemed like she would have no compassion for the lack of valid I.D.’s. Right in the middle, was a 30-35 yr old black woman. I had to go to her by default, but this was no guarantee.
I handed her my check and let her know that I needed it cashed. She asked for my I.D. I gave it to her. “Just one?”, I thought to myself. A good sign. She starts doing a lot of typing into her computer. Too much typing? It was hard to tell, but this check was only for $25. What the hell would take so long. She then walks it over to the old white woman in charge. DAMMIT. No way, exactly what I didnt want. They confer and head behind closed doors. You would think that I was taking out $25,000, not $25. I know that the meter outside is still running. How high is it by now? So many questions, not enough answers.
She comes back and types some more. Finally she asks to me to endorse the check. Yes! As Borat would say: “Great Success! Sexy time explosion!” She handed me my $25 and I was off.
The taxi meter was only at $12.40. Perfect. “Where’s the nearest SEPTA station, my man?”, I asked. “Hold on.”, he replied.
I paid him $15 ( it was like $13.20) when I got out of the cab. Sweet. I had $12.13 now. I got a bomb ass Philly Cheesesteak and still had money to spare for the SEPTA.
Well, as a result of the whole fiasco, I got to the airport about 45 minutes before takeoff. That is normally not a problem, but on Southwest Airlines, seating is based on who gets there first. I was forced to get a “C” boarding card, meaning that I would definitely have a seat in between two 300 lb. wildebeasts. This was going to be a 5 and a half hour flight, I had to get “my seat”. “My seat” is on every southwest flight. It has no seat in front of it and it’s the exit row. This seat is the only seat I can sit in on the whole plane and be comfortable at all. The problem is that these random 4 foot 10 women will take that seat if they beat me to it. I will literally stare them down the whole time as I walk past them. I give a look that says “You have got to be kidding me, you joke.”
I digress. So, I asked the customer service rep for a pre-board slip so that I could get on before everyone else. Southwest has enacted policy recently that says that you cant sit in my seat if you pre-board. I knew I couldn’t get my seat with the pre-board seat, but maybe I could get bulkhead and have some space.
When I got on the plane, some dumbass woman had already “reserved” the entire bulkhead section. Feeling dejected, I walked down and sat in the seat directly behind “my seat”. The flight attendant asked me if I was a pre-board guy. I said that I was, hoping that she would have compassion and put me into my seat anyways. No dice. She walked to the back, and another attendant walked back towards me. This attendant noticed how tall I was. She asked if I played in the NBA. This is when I realized that there was a glimpse of possibility. I mean, coddamn, this had been a long ass day already, I needed my seat.
“Yes, I was on an NBA team.”, I said confidently. She then asked me if I would autograph something for her kids. I replied, “I will, if you can get me that seat.”
She looked at me and said “O.K. But, were you a pre-board?” I said that I was. She then made a big time play and told me to sit there anyways. She then told the other attendant that I had made a mistake and that I misunderstood the whole pre-board thing.
The plane was full by this time, and she came back with some things for me to autograph. She asked me “What team did you play for?” I said “The Sacramento Kings.” I figured that if she googled my name it would have some mention of the kings from last years summer league. I was supposed to go, but before we got on the bus I was told that I wasnt needed. Not exactly a lie, but not what she was looking for. Either way, she would find out sometime. I have big time plans for this summer anyways. By this time next year I think I will be one of those guys. I signed the stuff with “Go Kings!!!” on it and gave it back to her. Yes. Boom. Got my seat.
“I couldnt help but overhear...you’re in the NBA?”, someone behind me asks.
“Oh snap”, I starting thinking, “this could be bad.” Within minutes, everyone on the coddamn plane was all hyped up about me being in the NBA. They were all asking me questions about the league: “What’s it like playing with Ron Artest? What do you think about Kobe? How’s Madison Square Garden?” I had to come up with answers to all these questions on the fly even though there were all false. Basically, at the end of the flight, all these people thought that they had met their first NBA athlete, when in reality they didn’t. A hopeful D-Leaguer with aspirations much higher than his current position is that they got -- a random guy who wanted a good seat. Regardless, I finally escaped from Pennsylvania...comfortably.
You Don't Have the Balls!
May/07/2007 11:17 AM
While in L.A., I got to spend time with my boy Alex. Alex went to UCLA where he was in AEPi fraternity. Basically, because of him and Noose (also an AEPi), I spent a ton of time at AEPi over the years. I became very much a part of the Jewish frat life. Anyways, Alex invited me to their “Jungle Party” on thursday night. I didn’t think he would be so hyped up for it considering we have been out of college for about a year. Well for whatever reason he was real hyped so we decided to go.
At about 9pm that night, we met up with his other Frat brothers for a little pre-party in Westwood. While there, talk of my blog sprung up somehow. All of a sudden everyone is saying how they need to make the night a “blog worthy” night. I’m sitting there in disbelief. They actually want to do something so ridiculous that it would end up as fodder for tmrb.com? Who was I to stop them? I sat there and watched as they all put their hands in (like the way teammates do in sports before breaking a huddle) and say “Get in Rod’s blog on three. 1. 2. 3. Get in Rod’s blog!” Thats when the drinking picked up. Everyone was even more hyped up for the night now that there was a common interest.
When we left the pre-party spot, a couple of guys went straight to the party, while Alex and I made a pit stop at his girlfriends house. When we got there, Alex and Liz started talking about whatever while I prepared a couple more drinks for Alex and myself. I came back into the room and they were talking about something that caught my attention.
Liz was mentioning the fact that, because she is an actress, she has kissed other men since they started dating. She then says that she always says that Alex can kiss another girl to make things even, but that Alex never does it. I interject.
“Liz,” I begin, “you mean to tell me that you would really let Alex kiss another woman?” In my mind this is all just a ploy to test his loyalty to her, but she answers me with “of course I would. I have kissed other guys so it is not a big deal.” It is then that I take it to the next level. “So,” I say laughingly, “if he was to kiss another girl tonight, you mean to tell me that you would be O.K. with it?” She quickly replies with “Yes. Of course. In fact if he kisses another girl tonight I’ll buy him dinner tomorrow.”
I look over at Alex who hasnt said much in a while. I then turn and look at Liz again. “I hope you realize that I will really make him do this. I won’t let him think his way out of this. I will get him drunk and I can get him to do anything when he’s drunk.” She, ever so confidently says to Alex: “You dont have the balls. You’re too much of a p*ssy.” Alex begins to speak up but I dont remember what he says. I am caught up in this new challenge. She has just made the night blog worthy. It is everything Alex could have hoped for. I give her one more chance to end this. I say “Look, I know what you’re doing here. I get it. Testing his loyalty doesnt take all of this. When I leave here it’s on like donkey kong.” She says “We have been going out for 2 and a half years, if he was gonna cheat he would have done it a long time ago. I dont need to test his loyalty. Just make sure that she is not fat or ugly, cause that would be too easy.”
As Alex and I headed towards the party, we were giddy about the party and the possibility of getting him hooked up. It was like he was given his mojo back for a one night trial. As soon as we walked in, we went right upstairs and I got to work. First, I enlisted as many frat guys as I could. I told them that they had one mission and one mission only: to get Alex kissed before the night was over. Once I had an army of helpers, I began to work my magic...
“So I have this friend. His girlfriend actually, seriously bet him that he wouldnt kiss another girl tonight. I was wondering if you would help us out?”
“See my boy over there? Yea, thats him. Im looking for a nice young lady who might kiss him tonight. Just a kiss?”
“Ok so, Im not saying youre that type of girl or anything, but could you see yourself kissing a guy tonight?”
“I will give you $20 straight up if you do me a favor. All I need you to do is kiss my boy over there for just a second. Cmon $20!? Better take that money honey!”
“My friend is a broadway actor. He’s in the new production of ‘The Little Mermaid’. We are looking for an Ariel type girl for the whole ‘kiss the girl’ scene. Do you think you can help us out?”
“Heres the deal. Can you, or someone you know please kiss my friend. We NEED to get this done.”
“$20 bucks to kiss him on the lips. Please. 25?”
I must have tried every single line I could think of. Every single angle I could come from, I did. There was one time where I was like “I have this frien..” the girl cut me off with “No.” One girl said “What are you some kind of pimp? Offering money? Not cool.” Another actually listened to my whole rap, but Alex stopped me with “Liz said the girl can’t be ugly.” Dammit, I guess I got desperate. As 1:30am rolled around, I realized that this was a lost cause. I also realized that for Liz, this wasnt about see if Alex would kiss another girl, it was about whether or not Alex could kiss another girl. Wow. When it hit me I thought she was kind of mean, but hey Alex has been faithful for 2 and a half years, his mojo is all out of whack. What could you really expect from him in a one night situation. The game was unfair.
Oh snap! I had been so busy trying to hook him up, that I didnt talk to one girl my coddamn self! No way did I just let that happen. I grabbed Alex and said “Yea, its getting late. i dont think we can do this. Lets, umm, switch the game and see if we can hook ME up.” He obliged. The only problem with this was that the party was damn near over and every girl there had already heard me pitch for my friend. Terrible terrible situation. It was all over.
The next day, Liz made it clear that I was a failure for not being able to hook Alex up. Then she made him buy her dinner at this nice Italian restaurant and pay for her Spider - Man 3 ticket. She may have won this round, but I swear, one day I will redeem my hookup abilities and get Alex a girl so hot that he will reconsider his lover for her. Lets bet dinner on it.
At about 9pm that night, we met up with his other Frat brothers for a little pre-party in Westwood. While there, talk of my blog sprung up somehow. All of a sudden everyone is saying how they need to make the night a “blog worthy” night. I’m sitting there in disbelief. They actually want to do something so ridiculous that it would end up as fodder for tmrb.com? Who was I to stop them? I sat there and watched as they all put their hands in (like the way teammates do in sports before breaking a huddle) and say “Get in Rod’s blog on three. 1. 2. 3. Get in Rod’s blog!” Thats when the drinking picked up. Everyone was even more hyped up for the night now that there was a common interest.
When we left the pre-party spot, a couple of guys went straight to the party, while Alex and I made a pit stop at his girlfriends house. When we got there, Alex and Liz started talking about whatever while I prepared a couple more drinks for Alex and myself. I came back into the room and they were talking about something that caught my attention.
Liz was mentioning the fact that, because she is an actress, she has kissed other men since they started dating. She then says that she always says that Alex can kiss another girl to make things even, but that Alex never does it. I interject.
“Liz,” I begin, “you mean to tell me that you would really let Alex kiss another woman?” In my mind this is all just a ploy to test his loyalty to her, but she answers me with “of course I would. I have kissed other guys so it is not a big deal.” It is then that I take it to the next level. “So,” I say laughingly, “if he was to kiss another girl tonight, you mean to tell me that you would be O.K. with it?” She quickly replies with “Yes. Of course. In fact if he kisses another girl tonight I’ll buy him dinner tomorrow.”
I look over at Alex who hasnt said much in a while. I then turn and look at Liz again. “I hope you realize that I will really make him do this. I won’t let him think his way out of this. I will get him drunk and I can get him to do anything when he’s drunk.” She, ever so confidently says to Alex: “You dont have the balls. You’re too much of a p*ssy.” Alex begins to speak up but I dont remember what he says. I am caught up in this new challenge. She has just made the night blog worthy. It is everything Alex could have hoped for. I give her one more chance to end this. I say “Look, I know what you’re doing here. I get it. Testing his loyalty doesnt take all of this. When I leave here it’s on like donkey kong.” She says “We have been going out for 2 and a half years, if he was gonna cheat he would have done it a long time ago. I dont need to test his loyalty. Just make sure that she is not fat or ugly, cause that would be too easy.”
As Alex and I headed towards the party, we were giddy about the party and the possibility of getting him hooked up. It was like he was given his mojo back for a one night trial. As soon as we walked in, we went right upstairs and I got to work. First, I enlisted as many frat guys as I could. I told them that they had one mission and one mission only: to get Alex kissed before the night was over. Once I had an army of helpers, I began to work my magic...
“So I have this friend. His girlfriend actually, seriously bet him that he wouldnt kiss another girl tonight. I was wondering if you would help us out?”
“See my boy over there? Yea, thats him. Im looking for a nice young lady who might kiss him tonight. Just a kiss?”
“Ok so, Im not saying youre that type of girl or anything, but could you see yourself kissing a guy tonight?”
“I will give you $20 straight up if you do me a favor. All I need you to do is kiss my boy over there for just a second. Cmon $20!? Better take that money honey!”
“My friend is a broadway actor. He’s in the new production of ‘The Little Mermaid’. We are looking for an Ariel type girl for the whole ‘kiss the girl’ scene. Do you think you can help us out?”
“Heres the deal. Can you, or someone you know please kiss my friend. We NEED to get this done.”
“$20 bucks to kiss him on the lips. Please. 25?”
I must have tried every single line I could think of. Every single angle I could come from, I did. There was one time where I was like “I have this frien..” the girl cut me off with “No.” One girl said “What are you some kind of pimp? Offering money? Not cool.” Another actually listened to my whole rap, but Alex stopped me with “Liz said the girl can’t be ugly.” Dammit, I guess I got desperate. As 1:30am rolled around, I realized that this was a lost cause. I also realized that for Liz, this wasnt about see if Alex would kiss another girl, it was about whether or not Alex could kiss another girl. Wow. When it hit me I thought she was kind of mean, but hey Alex has been faithful for 2 and a half years, his mojo is all out of whack. What could you really expect from him in a one night situation. The game was unfair.
Oh snap! I had been so busy trying to hook him up, that I didnt talk to one girl my coddamn self! No way did I just let that happen. I grabbed Alex and said “Yea, its getting late. i dont think we can do this. Lets, umm, switch the game and see if we can hook ME up.” He obliged. The only problem with this was that the party was damn near over and every girl there had already heard me pitch for my friend. Terrible terrible situation. It was all over.
The next day, Liz made it clear that I was a failure for not being able to hook Alex up. Then she made him buy her dinner at this nice Italian restaurant and pay for her Spider - Man 3 ticket. She may have won this round, but I swear, one day I will redeem my hookup abilities and get Alex a girl so hot that he will reconsider his lover for her. Lets bet dinner on it.
The Many Faces of Rod Benson
May/07/2007 11:15 AM
I have one rule when out on the town. The only rule I have is that if someone asks to take a picture with me, I have to get one with MY camera too. You may be surprised how many people want to take a photo with me. I dont think its for any special reason other than the fact that people are overjoyed by my tallness. “Hey, look he’s 7 inches taller than my uncle who I thought was tall!”
Anyways what basically ends up happening is I end up with a ton of ridiculous photos because I tend to make a certain face in the photo so that I remember my feelings at the time. I wake up the next day and check my camera and realize how ridiculous some of these situations really were. Here are a few my recent faces and the best analysis of why I made that face at that time:

See, this is my “I dont know this guy but he must be big time to show up at an L.A. club with a French Model who is younger than me” face. It kind of says how surprised I am, but also says that I can’t hate. This guy would actually break my camera right after taking this photo. I was lucky to fix it, because he made it clear he wasnt gonna pay for another one.

This is my “Hey, I’m not a player, I just crush a lot” face. Sometimes beautiful women just want to be in my presence. Who am I to tell them they cant be? I guess I’m just one fo those guys hahaha.

This is my “I hope you see what I’m seeing” face. I’m walking down 6th street in Austin and what do I see? I see a guy wearing a coddamn thong like its the thing to do. This was a photo that needed to be taken. Still, after everything this guy brings to the table photo wise, I still laugh at the girl more. For some reason her face never gets old.

Wow. I don’t know if I can even title this face. Its very unique because you can see the pain and anger in my eyes. I guess I should call it the “Maybe some pictures should remain un-snapped” face. I feel bad because she looks so happy and I look like she is a walking fart that I am trying not to smell. Hahaha I guess thats how it goes.

This would be the “C’mon guy, seriously?” face. Some people are just way too drunk and will not recognize when I really dont want to take a photo. I’m pretty sure I did everything in my power to get out of it, but he just wouldn’t take no for an answer.

This is my “No, you didnt just do that. Wow.” face. See, you agree to take a pic with someone, then they go and throw up a gang sign. No, that is not the shocker because his index and middle fingers are way too far apart for nearly any woman. Its obvious that he thought it was cool throw up the signs because I probably would too. Wrong.

We call this the “Why the hell are we taking Patron shots at the END of the night?” face. See when you start out with wine at 5pm and drink til midnight, then take 2 Patrons back to back to cap it off, that face seems to pop up every now and then. Girls can get you to do anything I guess.

This is the “I think the championship celebration has gone a bit too long” face. Yea, basically I was done.
Lastly, this is the “You know what? Im just gonna buy in.” face. Yea, after making fun of him in the previous shot, I decided to just throw up a dub. It made the whole thing fun for everyone. Boom.
Anyways what basically ends up happening is I end up with a ton of ridiculous photos because I tend to make a certain face in the photo so that I remember my feelings at the time. I wake up the next day and check my camera and realize how ridiculous some of these situations really were. Here are a few my recent faces and the best analysis of why I made that face at that time:

See, this is my “I dont know this guy but he must be big time to show up at an L.A. club with a French Model who is younger than me” face. It kind of says how surprised I am, but also says that I can’t hate. This guy would actually break my camera right after taking this photo. I was lucky to fix it, because he made it clear he wasnt gonna pay for another one.

This is my “Hey, I’m not a player, I just crush a lot” face. Sometimes beautiful women just want to be in my presence. Who am I to tell them they cant be? I guess I’m just one fo those guys hahaha.

This is my “I hope you see what I’m seeing” face. I’m walking down 6th street in Austin and what do I see? I see a guy wearing a coddamn thong like its the thing to do. This was a photo that needed to be taken. Still, after everything this guy brings to the table photo wise, I still laugh at the girl more. For some reason her face never gets old.

Wow. I don’t know if I can even title this face. Its very unique because you can see the pain and anger in my eyes. I guess I should call it the “Maybe some pictures should remain un-snapped” face. I feel bad because she looks so happy and I look like she is a walking fart that I am trying not to smell. Hahaha I guess thats how it goes.

This would be the “C’mon guy, seriously?” face. Some people are just way too drunk and will not recognize when I really dont want to take a photo. I’m pretty sure I did everything in my power to get out of it, but he just wouldn’t take no for an answer.

This is my “No, you didnt just do that. Wow.” face. See, you agree to take a pic with someone, then they go and throw up a gang sign. No, that is not the shocker because his index and middle fingers are way too far apart for nearly any woman. Its obvious that he thought it was cool throw up the signs because I probably would too. Wrong.

We call this the “Why the hell are we taking Patron shots at the END of the night?” face. See when you start out with wine at 5pm and drink til midnight, then take 2 Patrons back to back to cap it off, that face seems to pop up every now and then. Girls can get you to do anything I guess.

This is the “I think the championship celebration has gone a bit too long” face. Yea, basically I was done.
Lastly, this is the “You know what? Im just gonna buy in.” face. Yea, after making fun of him in the previous shot, I decided to just throw up a dub. It made the whole thing fun for everyone. Boom.
Me vs The Madden Racist
March/30/2007 11:04 AM
As many of you may or may not have read, I like to play Madden NFL 2007. Actually, that’s a hell of an understatement, I love Madden. I love it like my child, or my wife. In my last post about Madden, I made all of these things clear. Now I would say that I am more in love than ever. I want to renew my vows to Madden because it makes me feel so good on a daily basis. Yea, I said it. You may think I’m crazy now, but thats ok. Im crazy in love... with my XBOX 360 and Madden.
I was sitting in my living room on a snowy day 3 weeks ago, when it dawned on me to go get a 360 so I could play Madden. So I did. It didnt take long before I realized that the 360 version is completely different than the PS2 one used to be, and that I would need time to adjust. So I called my teammate over who claimed to be good and we played a game. He actually beat me like 65-63. I couldn’t believe I lost. I hadnt lost a game since back in September 2006, weeks after the game came out. I then decided to go online and join the Madden Nation. Here I could test my skills, day in and day out, and prove to myself what kind of player I could be. I have since beaten him 10 straight times. He quit every one for fear of the score getting out of control.
Game one, go time, no looking back, in there like swimwear. I still didnt know the controls, but I didnt care. Well, neither did the guy who was beating me 35-0 before I unplugged the cord from the box. I read the manual and turned my box back on. This time I was playing an 11 year old kid. He got up 14-0 on me before saying “Wow, you’re 22 years old? You suck.” Bastard little kid, if only he knew my accolades on the PS2, if only he knew. Well too bad for him that I came storming back to beat his 6th grade ass. Oh yea, I was running my mouth the whole time too. See in case you don’t know, you have a headset on when you play this game, meaning you can hear them, they can hear you. So on my way back to victory I used my trash-talk skills. I was like “Dont you have homework to do son?” “Hey Jessica Simpson called, she says get proactive now before the pimples take over in two years.” “I’m the school bully kid, time to take your beating!” “Hey kid, dont ever speak to your elder with disrespect son. I wont tolerate that kind of disrespect!” Am I the bad guy here? No. This is online Madden, and all’s fair in love and Madden. If he couldnt take the heat, he shouldve stayed out my kitchen runnin his mouth!
Well since that game, I have gone 28-17. I only challenge people with winning records, and my record isnt quite indicative of my ability because my internet cuts out sometimes and when it does, I lose automatically. Im like a .750 winning percentage. So I go into every game confident that I will win. Well, I go into this game against a guy whos GAMERTAG is “FudgeOmaha”. He’s the Cowboys, I’m the Chargers as usual. He says “What’s up?” in a thick southern accent. I say “What’s up?” From then on he doesn’t say a word. He jumps out to a 12-7 lead and then I run off 28 straight points. The whole time Im singing various rap songs into the mic trying to get a reaction out of him because hey, trash talk is my job. That’s when it took an unexpected turn. As my boy Tomlinson runs in a 75 yard touchdown, I hear the guy fondle with his mic a little. Then, no joke, he says “F*#k you, you f*43kin N-gger.” I say “Wait, what did you say? I don’t think I heard you right.” He then repeats it: “I said F*#k you, you f*43kin N-gger.” Now as a black man, there are only so many things you can do when a white guy calls you this, but when playing madden online there are even less. I dont know this guy, he could be anywhere. I could report his GAMERTAG in which case he would just get another one, I could get all worked up for no reason, or I could turn my box off and lose the game. Well if you know me, you know that I don’t follow those kinds of rules. I came right back at him. “Hey whoa whoa whoa, don’t tell me you’re a racist? Oh man this is just too good. It gets better and better!” He seemed a little surprised that I would say that so he said “Shut up!” I was like “Hey hey hey, man where are you from?” “Why the F*#k would I tell you, N-gger?”, he replied. “Well,” I said, “where I’m from, guys like you are few and far between. You wouldn’t like it there. Too many (in a southern accent) damn liberals!” He doesn’t reply. Right then he runs back my kickoff for a touchdown. You know how announcers will say things like “He’s at the 30, the 20, the 10... Touchdown!”? Well he kinda did the same thing except it was “F*#k you N-gger, F*#k you N-gger, F*#k you N-gger... Touchdown!” I swear to you this is what he says. Im sure he wants me to start insulting white people or something, but I refuse. My next possession I am just annoying the hell out of this guy. As I’m marching down the field for my next score I, in the thickest accent I can conjure, say things like “Hey hey hey, why would you control DeMarcus Ware? He’s black! Wait hey hey hey! Now you wanna use him to sack my white quarterback!? What the hell is wrong with you? Can I report you to the KKK? You seem like a N-gger lover to me! Do you have some sort of bumper sticker that says ‘How’s my Racism? Call 1-800-LOVE KKK’? No? Well look, just sub in your white guys so we can have a racial battle.” I swear this got to him so bad it was unbelievable. All he was saying was “Shut up, shut the F*#k up!” over and over again. But I didn’t shut up, this was Madden. I was winning 45-19 at this point and there were still 6 minutes left. “So were you born racist or did you become it? I seriously want to know. Did your dad beat you into racism? Was it like a class in school that was mandatory? Do you include other races in your hatred or just blacks?” He wont answer any of the questions because I’m just running them off a mile a minute. Im doing my best to get under his skin and it’s working. As the game comes to an end, I say to him “So let’s review what we learned today, shall we? We learned that YOU are stupid, ignorant, and slow. We learned that YOU suck at Madden. We learned that you have no pride and are a loser. We also learned that I am smarter than you, which really sucks because I’m black, so don’t lose sleep over it, it happens. We learned that I completely dominated you in Madden all while out witting you and proving myself to be much more assertive and a better trash talker than you. We learned that white supremacy can’t possibly mean athletically because you only used black players, you hypocrite, and it cant mean academically because you are one stupid summabitch. So, I’ll ask you again... What have we learned?”
Absolutely beautiful right? I feel like the damage I did to him verbally is much worse than any reporting of his GAMERTAG would have been. Well as soon as I exit the game, I get a friend request from “FudgeOmaha”. Word? You really wanna play me again, son? I accepted it because he obviously wanted a rematch. Next time I was online, he was also online and he sent me a message that said “Rematch.” Sure, why not beat the brakes off him once again for all my people. This time wasnt as fun because he didnt have his headset in. I beat him 65-0. After the game he sent me a message that said, and I am not changing it for censorship purposes: “N1553R.” It took me a second to realize what it meant, but when it hit me I sent him back “Hey it’s too bad you wont play me anymore, I had a lot more lessons to teach you, son.” Two days later he sent “God bless you.” Word? Trying to flip the script at this stage in the game? Not even worth a reply. What would you do in my situation? Am I wrong for comin at him with his own material?
Anyways, I will keep you updated on him, along with my other madden exploits that are worth mentioning. Until then..
I was sitting in my living room on a snowy day 3 weeks ago, when it dawned on me to go get a 360 so I could play Madden. So I did. It didnt take long before I realized that the 360 version is completely different than the PS2 one used to be, and that I would need time to adjust. So I called my teammate over who claimed to be good and we played a game. He actually beat me like 65-63. I couldn’t believe I lost. I hadnt lost a game since back in September 2006, weeks after the game came out. I then decided to go online and join the Madden Nation. Here I could test my skills, day in and day out, and prove to myself what kind of player I could be. I have since beaten him 10 straight times. He quit every one for fear of the score getting out of control.
Game one, go time, no looking back, in there like swimwear. I still didnt know the controls, but I didnt care. Well, neither did the guy who was beating me 35-0 before I unplugged the cord from the box. I read the manual and turned my box back on. This time I was playing an 11 year old kid. He got up 14-0 on me before saying “Wow, you’re 22 years old? You suck.” Bastard little kid, if only he knew my accolades on the PS2, if only he knew. Well too bad for him that I came storming back to beat his 6th grade ass. Oh yea, I was running my mouth the whole time too. See in case you don’t know, you have a headset on when you play this game, meaning you can hear them, they can hear you. So on my way back to victory I used my trash-talk skills. I was like “Dont you have homework to do son?” “Hey Jessica Simpson called, she says get proactive now before the pimples take over in two years.” “I’m the school bully kid, time to take your beating!” “Hey kid, dont ever speak to your elder with disrespect son. I wont tolerate that kind of disrespect!” Am I the bad guy here? No. This is online Madden, and all’s fair in love and Madden. If he couldnt take the heat, he shouldve stayed out my kitchen runnin his mouth!
Well since that game, I have gone 28-17. I only challenge people with winning records, and my record isnt quite indicative of my ability because my internet cuts out sometimes and when it does, I lose automatically. Im like a .750 winning percentage. So I go into every game confident that I will win. Well, I go into this game against a guy whos GAMERTAG is “FudgeOmaha”. He’s the Cowboys, I’m the Chargers as usual. He says “What’s up?” in a thick southern accent. I say “What’s up?” From then on he doesn’t say a word. He jumps out to a 12-7 lead and then I run off 28 straight points. The whole time Im singing various rap songs into the mic trying to get a reaction out of him because hey, trash talk is my job. That’s when it took an unexpected turn. As my boy Tomlinson runs in a 75 yard touchdown, I hear the guy fondle with his mic a little. Then, no joke, he says “F*#k you, you f*43kin N-gger.” I say “Wait, what did you say? I don’t think I heard you right.” He then repeats it: “I said F*#k you, you f*43kin N-gger.” Now as a black man, there are only so many things you can do when a white guy calls you this, but when playing madden online there are even less. I dont know this guy, he could be anywhere. I could report his GAMERTAG in which case he would just get another one, I could get all worked up for no reason, or I could turn my box off and lose the game. Well if you know me, you know that I don’t follow those kinds of rules. I came right back at him. “Hey whoa whoa whoa, don’t tell me you’re a racist? Oh man this is just too good. It gets better and better!” He seemed a little surprised that I would say that so he said “Shut up!” I was like “Hey hey hey, man where are you from?” “Why the F*#k would I tell you, N-gger?”, he replied. “Well,” I said, “where I’m from, guys like you are few and far between. You wouldn’t like it there. Too many (in a southern accent) damn liberals!” He doesn’t reply. Right then he runs back my kickoff for a touchdown. You know how announcers will say things like “He’s at the 30, the 20, the 10... Touchdown!”? Well he kinda did the same thing except it was “F*#k you N-gger, F*#k you N-gger, F*#k you N-gger... Touchdown!” I swear to you this is what he says. Im sure he wants me to start insulting white people or something, but I refuse. My next possession I am just annoying the hell out of this guy. As I’m marching down the field for my next score I, in the thickest accent I can conjure, say things like “Hey hey hey, why would you control DeMarcus Ware? He’s black! Wait hey hey hey! Now you wanna use him to sack my white quarterback!? What the hell is wrong with you? Can I report you to the KKK? You seem like a N-gger lover to me! Do you have some sort of bumper sticker that says ‘How’s my Racism? Call 1-800-LOVE KKK’? No? Well look, just sub in your white guys so we can have a racial battle.” I swear this got to him so bad it was unbelievable. All he was saying was “Shut up, shut the F*#k up!” over and over again. But I didn’t shut up, this was Madden. I was winning 45-19 at this point and there were still 6 minutes left. “So were you born racist or did you become it? I seriously want to know. Did your dad beat you into racism? Was it like a class in school that was mandatory? Do you include other races in your hatred or just blacks?” He wont answer any of the questions because I’m just running them off a mile a minute. Im doing my best to get under his skin and it’s working. As the game comes to an end, I say to him “So let’s review what we learned today, shall we? We learned that YOU are stupid, ignorant, and slow. We learned that YOU suck at Madden. We learned that you have no pride and are a loser. We also learned that I am smarter than you, which really sucks because I’m black, so don’t lose sleep over it, it happens. We learned that I completely dominated you in Madden all while out witting you and proving myself to be much more assertive and a better trash talker than you. We learned that white supremacy can’t possibly mean athletically because you only used black players, you hypocrite, and it cant mean academically because you are one stupid summabitch. So, I’ll ask you again... What have we learned?”
Absolutely beautiful right? I feel like the damage I did to him verbally is much worse than any reporting of his GAMERTAG would have been. Well as soon as I exit the game, I get a friend request from “FudgeOmaha”. Word? You really wanna play me again, son? I accepted it because he obviously wanted a rematch. Next time I was online, he was also online and he sent me a message that said “Rematch.” Sure, why not beat the brakes off him once again for all my people. This time wasnt as fun because he didnt have his headset in. I beat him 65-0. After the game he sent me a message that said, and I am not changing it for censorship purposes: “N1553R.” It took me a second to realize what it meant, but when it hit me I sent him back “Hey it’s too bad you wont play me anymore, I had a lot more lessons to teach you, son.” Two days later he sent “God bless you.” Word? Trying to flip the script at this stage in the game? Not even worth a reply. What would you do in my situation? Am I wrong for comin at him with his own material?
Anyways, I will keep you updated on him, along with my other madden exploits that are worth mentioning. Until then..
Trouble w Being Tall 2
February/19/2007 10:41 AM
You wanna what else sucks if you’re tall? I’ll tell you... it’s kind of obvious, but it’s airplanes. So much about them is just retarded. Seriously, the airlines must think that anyone over 6’5” is just not allowed to fly. Considering that I have flown pretty much weekly for the last 5 years, I pretty much know exactly how to make a flight “comfortable” against all odds. However there are still certain things that will always be all bad.
Being tall has disadvantages as soon as you enter the airport. First thing, you gotta go through security. Don’t you dare worry about handing/showing your boarding pass while walking through the X-Ray machine or Whammy! Chances are good you’ll hit your head like I did.
The actual plane ride depends on which airline you fly. Being from San Diego, I am very used to Southwest. What used to be great about southwest was the fact that they let you board early if you were tall. Southwest is the only airline with “chose your own” seating anyways, and on every single southwest plane, there is a seat in the exit row with no seat in front of it. It’s pretty much the only seat I sit in. Since Southwest changed their policies, I can’t get this seat anymore unless I get an “A” card and get there first...nearly impossible. Now, sometimes there are jackasses and 4’11” in fat women who take this seat. I literally make it a point to stare at that person long enough to make them realize that they are a joke for taking it. True story, one time when I was a freshman at CAL, I boarded the plane, early, and there was a small asian woman in the seat next to “my” seat. No, she wasn’t in it, just next to it. I didn’t know how she got on early, but I didn’t care...it was “my” seat anyways. I went and started to sit in it. She taps me and says “that’s my husbands seat.” I was preparing my intimidating stare as I asked “Whos?” I hear is a deep, but raspy and somewhat recognizable voice. I turn around in full stare mode and Bill Walton is standing right behind me, waiting to sit down. It’s been almost 5 years since then, but I remember for some reason, he was kind of mean about it. It wasn’t just a “me”, it was more of a “me”. I’m pretty sure he thought I was retarded for not recognizing him earlier or realizing that he had the shortest wife on the plane. Either way, my teammates definitely made fun of me. “You got punked by Bill Walton. Throw it DOWN big man, throw it DOWN!”
I digress. So Southwest has that seat, and the the normal exit row and that’s it. I now live in North Dakota, meaning that most planes that come in and out are little tiny prop planes and whatnot. This is a whole different story. For starters, there are seat reservations, so if an exit aint open, I might as well fagitaboutit. Once I sit, there is literally no way I can fit my legs behind the chair in front of me if someone is sitting next to me, so I’m forced to turn out into the aisle.
That’s my legs completely in the aisle. This sucks because the attendants need to wheel their snacks and beverages up and down the aisle, basically running my feet over every single time. I can’t fall asleep because of all the bumping and moving that goes on in that aisle. I’m 6’10”, James Maye is only 6’7” and he has it bad too:
So it’s terribly uncomfortable the whole ride. No doubt about that. So let’s say I have to use the bathroom...suchhh a joke. Let’s assume that during my lifetime, I may get with a supermodel, and I might have a threesome, but I will never, ever, join the mile high club, no way. The bathroom is for some reason like half the height of the rest of the plane with less space than my seat. Here’s me squeezing into the bathroom:
If the plane hits some turbulence? If I slip even a little? If I try to reach the “flush” button that is usually somewhere around my knees? ALL BAD! Well I guess that’s just how it goes when you’re tall. I know that every time I leave the bathroom, the attendants kinda stare at me like “Wow, how does that work?” It’s kind of like passing a test that you didn’t study for -- every time. Each time I go in there I feel like I’m gonna fail, then my instinct takes over. It actually really bothers me that I’ll never be a mile high guy unless I get a G4 jet or something. Tough times for tall people...tough times. Well, until next time...holla! Oh and lemme kno if you wanna kno about a certain tall situation and maybe I’ll add it...
Being tall has disadvantages as soon as you enter the airport. First thing, you gotta go through security. Don’t you dare worry about handing/showing your boarding pass while walking through the X-Ray machine or Whammy! Chances are good you’ll hit your head like I did.
The actual plane ride depends on which airline you fly. Being from San Diego, I am very used to Southwest. What used to be great about southwest was the fact that they let you board early if you were tall. Southwest is the only airline with “chose your own” seating anyways, and on every single southwest plane, there is a seat in the exit row with no seat in front of it. It’s pretty much the only seat I sit in. Since Southwest changed their policies, I can’t get this seat anymore unless I get an “A” card and get there first...nearly impossible. Now, sometimes there are jackasses and 4’11” in fat women who take this seat. I literally make it a point to stare at that person long enough to make them realize that they are a joke for taking it. True story, one time when I was a freshman at CAL, I boarded the plane, early, and there was a small asian woman in the seat next to “my” seat. No, she wasn’t in it, just next to it. I didn’t know how she got on early, but I didn’t care...it was “my” seat anyways. I went and started to sit in it. She taps me and says “that’s my husbands seat.” I was preparing my intimidating stare as I asked “Whos?” I hear is a deep, but raspy and somewhat recognizable voice. I turn around in full stare mode and Bill Walton is standing right behind me, waiting to sit down. It’s been almost 5 years since then, but I remember for some reason, he was kind of mean about it. It wasn’t just a “me”, it was more of a “me”. I’m pretty sure he thought I was retarded for not recognizing him earlier or realizing that he had the shortest wife on the plane. Either way, my teammates definitely made fun of me. “You got punked by Bill Walton. Throw it DOWN big man, throw it DOWN!”
I digress. So Southwest has that seat, and the the normal exit row and that’s it. I now live in North Dakota, meaning that most planes that come in and out are little tiny prop planes and whatnot. This is a whole different story. For starters, there are seat reservations, so if an exit aint open, I might as well fagitaboutit. Once I sit, there is literally no way I can fit my legs behind the chair in front of me if someone is sitting next to me, so I’m forced to turn out into the aisle.
That’s my legs completely in the aisle. This sucks because the attendants need to wheel their snacks and beverages up and down the aisle, basically running my feet over every single time. I can’t fall asleep because of all the bumping and moving that goes on in that aisle. I’m 6’10”, James Maye is only 6’7” and he has it bad too:
So it’s terribly uncomfortable the whole ride. No doubt about that. So let’s say I have to use the bathroom...suchhh a joke. Let’s assume that during my lifetime, I may get with a supermodel, and I might have a threesome, but I will never, ever, join the mile high club, no way. The bathroom is for some reason like half the height of the rest of the plane with less space than my seat. Here’s me squeezing into the bathroom:
If the plane hits some turbulence? If I slip even a little? If I try to reach the “flush” button that is usually somewhere around my knees? ALL BAD! Well I guess that’s just how it goes when you’re tall. I know that every time I leave the bathroom, the attendants kinda stare at me like “Wow, how does that work?” It’s kind of like passing a test that you didn’t study for -- every time. Each time I go in there I feel like I’m gonna fail, then my instinct takes over. It actually really bothers me that I’ll never be a mile high guy unless I get a G4 jet or something. Tough times for tall people...tough times. Well, until next time...holla! Oh and lemme kno if you wanna kno about a certain tall situation and maybe I’ll add it...
Hollywood
February/10/2007 10:35 AM
It really feels good to be back in California right now. It’s 66 degrees (I used to think that was a little cold), there are beautiful women, and there are things to do...a lot of things. We got in on Friday to play the Anaheim Arsenal on Saturday so it was pretty much official that I’d have to go out friday night to have any chance of offsetting the weeks of boredom spent in Bismarck. Seriously, I honestly, really, spent Tuesday - Friday sitting at the dining room table, eating Hamburger Helper (lasagna flavor of course), wearing nothing but boxers and a comforter, hitting “refresh” on my myspace home page. If that doesn’t sound lame to you, I don’t know what does, but I digress. Everyone was going out and taking advantage of the change of scenery. I had my whole entourage in town so I went out with them. To be more specific, there was Rell, JGANT, Renee, Christina, Alex, Mario, and Becca.
Some interesting notes about our night at the club:
Rell:
My boy Rell is a real lightweight when it comes to his drinks. He makes these faces every time he consumes alcohol like his appendix just burst because he can’t stand the taste. He will literally take a shot, wait ten seconds, and then say “mann, Im kinda feelin it.” Anyways, before we left for “AREA”, I had filled up my cup from In ‘N Out with 3/4 Vodka and 1/4 Coke, but didn’t tell anyone. I pressured Rell into taking a shot even though he wanted to wait a little bit. No joke, I poured him a triple shot, maybe a quadruple and basically just harassed him into taking it. His only request was that I give him a chaser. “I have some Coke,” I said. He grabs the “Coke” and sets it on the counter next to him. I count down “3, 2, 1!” He takes the super shot kinda slowly because he knows how much it is, then lunges for the “Coke” and throws it down his throat like Napoleon Dynamite drinks his Gatorade after practicing dance moves. I swear it was one of the funniest moments of all time as his mind tells him that the shot has been chased, but his throat and mouth ring like there’s a three alarm fire in his asophogous. He basically runs around the kitchen screaming for a real chaser. He yells at Mario “What’s in here?!” Mario says “Lemonade.” Rell yanks Mario’s cup from his hands and begins to chug, “--and vodka.” Mario says. Rell flips out because he has probably just swallowed about 8 shots in 12 seconds. He runs to the sink and spits out whatever is left in hist mouth as the rest of us in the kitchen are just laughing at the top of our lungs. Here’s Rell snatching some real orange juice from Alex’s hands:

It’s blurry because I was laughing so hard, but you can basically see the look on his face -- so much pain and shame in those eyes. As you could guess, that drink melee really got to him. How bad did it get to him? Take a look:

As you can see, he’s not in this photo. That’s not important here is that I don’t know this girl. In fact, the only reason I have this photo is because as soon as I walked into club AREA, no joke, this girl walked right up to me and asked “Are you famous?” and wanted to take a pic with me (Hollywood, what a place). But anyways Rell, literally kicked this girl in the head...twice. He said he was trying to see if he could kick his leg over her head. He was unsuccessful so he tried again. I stood there and watched his foot kind of bobble between her neck and shoulder and she screamed in disgust. But he didn’t stop there, no, this is “One Shot Rell.” 8 shots take it a little further:

Yea, that’s him alright. Shirt up, pants down. I question myself as to why I took this photo, but then I remember that I took it for you. In his defense, this used to be our signature move. We would take our pants down for a song or two back at Berkeley house parties. But now, at a big time club, in our grown man gear? No way was I even thinking about it.
You can see all the wacky photos from the night in the Photo section.
So I had a great time that night but I had to get to work the next day as we had a game. Oh yea I only grabbed 21 rebounds on em holla at ur boy! Wow It must have been all the beautiful women and warm weather or somethin because I havent gotten that many boards since high school. It was also cool because about 15 people came to watch me play. It’s always nice to have friends and family come out and support me.
I mentioned it earlier, but I need to revisit the “Are you famous?” line. Hollywood is pretty much the only place where a question like this could really be asked. Yea, she got kicked in the head later that night, but still she could ask it. It’s because in Hollywood there are two types of people: people who are somebody and people who pretend to be somebody. Either way, someone like me is a lot better physically equipped to handle such situations being that I’m 6’10”. In a club like “AREA”, there are always big time people doing big time things. It basically costs you $1000 just to sit down at a table so you if you see someone sitting, expect that they are big time (or just fronting and going broke until the 15th of the month).
In Hollywood you tend to see a lot of interesting things. Like imagine you’re on the freeway, half asleep, and you see a Chevy Aveo pass you by. In North Dakota I wouldn’t even think twice because Aveo’s are some of the lamest cars ever made, especially since the only way I would fit inside of one would be to remove the drivers seat and drive from the back seat. But in Hollywood, the land of people who do too much, you might look twice at this Aveo:

Yea, in case you can’t see it right or you think you’re trippin, that really does read “Da Baddest Bitch” right there on the back of the car. It really reminds me of a bad myspace display name. This is the exact type of girl who will one day see my page and message me with “u lukk gud git wit the da baddest b holla bakk” or something retarded like that. She basically just publicly identified herself not only as “da baddest bitch,” but also as a walking billboard for the new book “How to Look Like a Dummy -- for Dummies.”
Well despite the lack of common sense amongst some people, I still love my SoCal. I can’t wait to come back down here in April after my season’s over. Thanks to all those who came out and watched me (Renee, Alex, Branden, Mario, JGant, Becca, Rell, Christina, Mom, Terrance, Keelon, Sjondron, THE Stacy D, and Tila). You guys just remember that when I go back to Bismarck and I’m refreshing my Myspace and lowering the temperate from “Boiling” to a low “Simmer” as directed by my hamburger helper box, that you are in my thoughts.
Some interesting notes about our night at the club:
Rell:
My boy Rell is a real lightweight when it comes to his drinks. He makes these faces every time he consumes alcohol like his appendix just burst because he can’t stand the taste. He will literally take a shot, wait ten seconds, and then say “mann, Im kinda feelin it.” Anyways, before we left for “AREA”, I had filled up my cup from In ‘N Out with 3/4 Vodka and 1/4 Coke, but didn’t tell anyone. I pressured Rell into taking a shot even though he wanted to wait a little bit. No joke, I poured him a triple shot, maybe a quadruple and basically just harassed him into taking it. His only request was that I give him a chaser. “I have some Coke,” I said. He grabs the “Coke” and sets it on the counter next to him. I count down “3, 2, 1!” He takes the super shot kinda slowly because he knows how much it is, then lunges for the “Coke” and throws it down his throat like Napoleon Dynamite drinks his Gatorade after practicing dance moves. I swear it was one of the funniest moments of all time as his mind tells him that the shot has been chased, but his throat and mouth ring like there’s a three alarm fire in his asophogous. He basically runs around the kitchen screaming for a real chaser. He yells at Mario “What’s in here?!” Mario says “Lemonade.” Rell yanks Mario’s cup from his hands and begins to chug, “--and vodka.” Mario says. Rell flips out because he has probably just swallowed about 8 shots in 12 seconds. He runs to the sink and spits out whatever is left in hist mouth as the rest of us in the kitchen are just laughing at the top of our lungs. Here’s Rell snatching some real orange juice from Alex’s hands:

It’s blurry because I was laughing so hard, but you can basically see the look on his face -- so much pain and shame in those eyes. As you could guess, that drink melee really got to him. How bad did it get to him? Take a look:

As you can see, he’s not in this photo. That’s not important here is that I don’t know this girl. In fact, the only reason I have this photo is because as soon as I walked into club AREA, no joke, this girl walked right up to me and asked “Are you famous?” and wanted to take a pic with me (Hollywood, what a place). But anyways Rell, literally kicked this girl in the head...twice. He said he was trying to see if he could kick his leg over her head. He was unsuccessful so he tried again. I stood there and watched his foot kind of bobble between her neck and shoulder and she screamed in disgust. But he didn’t stop there, no, this is “One Shot Rell.” 8 shots take it a little further:

Yea, that’s him alright. Shirt up, pants down. I question myself as to why I took this photo, but then I remember that I took it for you. In his defense, this used to be our signature move. We would take our pants down for a song or two back at Berkeley house parties. But now, at a big time club, in our grown man gear? No way was I even thinking about it.
You can see all the wacky photos from the night in the Photo section.
So I had a great time that night but I had to get to work the next day as we had a game. Oh yea I only grabbed 21 rebounds on em holla at ur boy! Wow It must have been all the beautiful women and warm weather or somethin because I havent gotten that many boards since high school. It was also cool because about 15 people came to watch me play. It’s always nice to have friends and family come out and support me.
I mentioned it earlier, but I need to revisit the “Are you famous?” line. Hollywood is pretty much the only place where a question like this could really be asked. Yea, she got kicked in the head later that night, but still she could ask it. It’s because in Hollywood there are two types of people: people who are somebody and people who pretend to be somebody. Either way, someone like me is a lot better physically equipped to handle such situations being that I’m 6’10”. In a club like “AREA”, there are always big time people doing big time things. It basically costs you $1000 just to sit down at a table so you if you see someone sitting, expect that they are big time (or just fronting and going broke until the 15th of the month).
In Hollywood you tend to see a lot of interesting things. Like imagine you’re on the freeway, half asleep, and you see a Chevy Aveo pass you by. In North Dakota I wouldn’t even think twice because Aveo’s are some of the lamest cars ever made, especially since the only way I would fit inside of one would be to remove the drivers seat and drive from the back seat. But in Hollywood, the land of people who do too much, you might look twice at this Aveo:

Yea, in case you can’t see it right or you think you’re trippin, that really does read “Da Baddest Bitch” right there on the back of the car. It really reminds me of a bad myspace display name. This is the exact type of girl who will one day see my page and message me with “u lukk gud git wit the da baddest b holla bakk” or something retarded like that. She basically just publicly identified herself not only as “da baddest bitch,” but also as a walking billboard for the new book “How to Look Like a Dummy -- for Dummies.”
Well despite the lack of common sense amongst some people, I still love my SoCal. I can’t wait to come back down here in April after my season’s over. Thanks to all those who came out and watched me (Renee, Alex, Branden, Mario, JGant, Becca, Rell, Christina, Mom, Terrance, Keelon, Sjondron, THE Stacy D, and Tila). You guys just remember that when I go back to Bismarck and I’m refreshing my Myspace and lowering the temperate from “Boiling” to a low “Simmer” as directed by my hamburger helper box, that you are in my thoughts.
The Trouble with Being Tall
February/08/2007 10:32 AM
I am consistently asked how tall I am. What usually follows is some mention of how cool it is to be tall or how the person wishes they could be tall too. I must admit that it is pretty great, but there are times when being tall isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I’ve decided to highlight those times so that you realize that sometimes it’s just not as easy as you think.
In this particular blog we look at the “public bathroom.”
Im sure none of you ever thought about what it takes for a successful trip to a public bathroom when you’re 6’10”. The answer is really not that much, but it’s still hella awkward. For example: the urinals are all just a little too low. Think about any public bathroom you’ve ever been in. If it was a big one then chances are that there was that urinal that’s about a foot lower than the rest that’s made for little kids or whoever. Now imagine that they’re all like that. 5 urinals that are all too low...now you have to CONCENTRATE. One lapse in concentration may lead to wet shoes and floor, or worse yet, wetness on the shoes of your neighbor which is never cool.

As you can see in the photo above, these are two standard urinals, yet my belt-line is as high as the flusher, meaning that serious knee bend and/or downward pointing is necessary.
The urinals are only half of the story. The stalls happen to pose an even bigger problem. The idea with stalls is that they are designed to limit the visibility of two people in neighboring toilets. All your really supposed to see is the boxer-pants-shoes pile that covers the ankles of the person next to you. The average person can basically do whatever they want once they close that stall door because they essentially disappear. I, on the other hand, am visible the whole time until I sit down. It never feels comfortable staring at some guy washing his hands as im getting situated in the stall. What if its a hot day and I want to take my shirt off? What if I smell the place up real bad and I want to kind of escape without being seen? Impossible. My whole head and shoulders are above the stall level.

In this photo, taken at my eye level, I see right over the stall with ease.

Now imagine you just wanna piss at the urinal on the left and then there’s me in the stall next to you, I can clearly see you and I’m changing my shirt -- awkward. The only time that it was ever cool to see over a stall was when I was 17 and I lived in Co-Ed dorms with Co-Ed showers. Now it’s just a joke.
So that concludes this edition of “The Trouble With Being Tall”. Look out for more editions soon because there’s so many normal things for you that are just awkward for us.
In this particular blog we look at the “public bathroom.”
Im sure none of you ever thought about what it takes for a successful trip to a public bathroom when you’re 6’10”. The answer is really not that much, but it’s still hella awkward. For example: the urinals are all just a little too low. Think about any public bathroom you’ve ever been in. If it was a big one then chances are that there was that urinal that’s about a foot lower than the rest that’s made for little kids or whoever. Now imagine that they’re all like that. 5 urinals that are all too low...now you have to CONCENTRATE. One lapse in concentration may lead to wet shoes and floor, or worse yet, wetness on the shoes of your neighbor which is never cool.

As you can see in the photo above, these are two standard urinals, yet my belt-line is as high as the flusher, meaning that serious knee bend and/or downward pointing is necessary.
The urinals are only half of the story. The stalls happen to pose an even bigger problem. The idea with stalls is that they are designed to limit the visibility of two people in neighboring toilets. All your really supposed to see is the boxer-pants-shoes pile that covers the ankles of the person next to you. The average person can basically do whatever they want once they close that stall door because they essentially disappear. I, on the other hand, am visible the whole time until I sit down. It never feels comfortable staring at some guy washing his hands as im getting situated in the stall. What if its a hot day and I want to take my shirt off? What if I smell the place up real bad and I want to kind of escape without being seen? Impossible. My whole head and shoulders are above the stall level.

In this photo, taken at my eye level, I see right over the stall with ease.

Now imagine you just wanna piss at the urinal on the left and then there’s me in the stall next to you, I can clearly see you and I’m changing my shirt -- awkward. The only time that it was ever cool to see over a stall was when I was 17 and I lived in Co-Ed dorms with Co-Ed showers. Now it’s just a joke.
So that concludes this edition of “The Trouble With Being Tall”. Look out for more editions soon because there’s so many normal things for you that are just awkward for us.














