Given to Fry: November 2005

Happy Thanksgiving

The Cheese and The Macaroni

Clinton Portis' Thursday interviews seem destined to become Redskins folklore. Portis' many characters provide a needed comedy relief each and every week. Can you tell me another professional athlete that willingly sets himself up to be on ESPN's "Not Top Ten Plays"? Some people are annoyed with Clinton's antics, but I assume most aren't. His sense of humor is a breath of fresh air admist the T.O.-saturated media.

For those that aren't hip to #26's beat, Portis creates a new character each week to answer reporters' questions during what is supposed to be the pro-bowl RB's regular media session. Sample characters include Dollar Bill, Sheriff Gonna Getcha, and the currently MIA, Jerome from Southeast.

These characters explore the issues that keep us all up at night like:

* Who took Dollar Bill's 20 Gs? And was Warren Sapp involved?
* What was Jerome from Southeast doing in an underground poker party with A-Rod?
* Who won the gold medal for gymnastics at the 1998 Summer Olympics?
* And can the Sheriff name any Led Zeppelin songs?

Anyway, I guess this all means that Clinton is starting to feel very comfortable in Washington. And to me that is good thing. He is an outstanding talent on the field (weird socks and all) and I hope he continues this absurd behavior (in DC) for as long as he is a player in the NFL.

motion sickness

Did i ever tell you that rollercoasters make me really sick? Especially the ones with the loops. I loose my lunch pretty much on the spot. That's what being a Redskins fan feels like in 2005. From the high of the Eagles win to the low of losing to paper tiger Bucs. Up and down, up and down. Where will this season end up?

But hey, it's better than last year when only the most dellusional thought we had a shot at the playoffs. This year we really do have a shot, which I guess is the reason why my knuckles are so white right now.

Poster collecting

OK, so I admit that I am a complete Pearl Jam dork. I know it's not cool to like them anymore -- hasn't been for sometime. But all you hipsters can suck a ding dong cos they move me like no other band. I have seen them live probably ten times and I will probably see them at least ten more. Anyway, within the rock world, as some of you know, there is a subculture of poster collecting. Now when you tell most people that you collect rock posters, they think you are stuck in adolescence with pictures of Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sabora up on your wall. Well that's just not the case.

Rock art is a well developed and long-standing tradition that became a big deal starting in the 1960s with all the hippy bands. The great thing about this hobby is that you are in a sense collecting prints that maybe 50 to 1,000 other people will have in the w

orld. And the prints are unique to each concert. These posters can actually become very valuable if the show the poster was made for turns out to be a really memorable night. For example, you would be hard-pressed to find a poster from Pearl Jam's 1998 tour for less than $200 on Ebay, and they will sell for well over $500 in some cases. Keep in mind these prints were sold at the shows for a mere $15 (the shady guy with his coat open below is from the 1998 show at MSG).

The bitch of all this is framing, wall space, and finding a way to blend your collection with the aethestics of the rest of your house. For now, I have most of my prints stored flat with the dream of one day having a basement to showcase "my collection". Anyway, if you are interested in seeing some other cool rock poster art, a good site to visit is www.expressobeans.com.