Will the Real Ray Charles Please Stand Up

In some horribly tragic news, Leonardo DiCaprio once again failed to win the ever elusive Oscar...

And Fnan is still without a Grammy, despite a prolific career behind the piano.  Here at The Clog, we take it upon ourselves to give credit where credit is long overdue.  This video collaboration does both of these underappreciated artists justice.

  

Stretching the all Mighty Dollar

After trudging thanklessly through a month of rotten luck, (the 49ers not making the Super Bowl, no rain, and my vain attempt at trying to make out with the protruding bricks at SJSU) the universe finally tossed a little love my way in the form of fifteen dollars.  There it lay upon the floor in the Starbuck's lobby like the pot of a gold at the end of a shit brown rainbow.  Every cent of my find would go towards lifting my spirits and enhancing my existence. 

If only we could turn that "F" into and "R."

I travelled to the nearest Safeway in hopes of purchasing the newest Thrasher Magazine, but was disappointed to find only the Skateboard Mag.  I was not disappointed however, to see that Daryl had a little interview nestled in the back pages.  No financial transaction occured, but things already started to look a little sunnier for me.

Tommy's is located within eye sight of Safeway, so my first $7.00 was spent on a pint of Sierra Nevada.

Total = $8.00

As the day progressed I found myself becoming weary, and thus purchased a different type of mind altering beverage that brings me joy.  I decided to forgo the carton of eggs because my funds were diminishing a little too quickly.  

Total = 6.65

If you begin to notice a Half Baked sort of theme to my adventure do not be surprised.

Being heart set on reading the new Thrasher I ventured into the Downtown San Jose Safeway.  There I was to find only the new Transworld magazine.  I went ahead and bought the damn thing.

Total = $1.20

Niko had promised me a couple beers because I fixed the toilet he had clogged (hehe Clog) earlier that day.

Total remains at $1.20

A couple bags of nuts and .99 cents later...

Total = .21 cents

We'll just have to throw the rest into the douche bag jar and wait for a rainy day. 

Ace to the D

To say that Andy Aced and I did not always see eye to eye is like calling my interest in pie making a "phase."  For every good time we shared together there were surely a handful of negative ones tagging along for the ride.  Our personalities differed greatly, and more often than not we would butt heads in goat like fashion.  Many years have past and we both have grown up, him considerably and myself, eh maybe a little, and now have a common acceptance of the things that have come to pass between us.  This video part was filmed sometime during our middle school years and still makes me a little fuzzy, and furious, inside my belly.  Or maybe it is just the quesadilla I just consumed.  Love yah Ace D.

 

January Quite Contrary

The month of January has provided the us with nothing more than endless blue skies of banality and football related failure.  I apologize to loyal Clog followers (Ben Fowler) for not posting a single thing during January, but there wasn't a trickle of rain to keep me indoors and on my laptop.  February is already promising sufficient amounts of rain and cold weather, perfectly fit for Clogging.

I am not totally sure if I would choose to bartend on New Year's Eve again... just saying.

Ciopinno 

The 49er's playoff run seemed promising, and our Tommy's crew was topnotch.  Observe the infamous Colin poking out from behind the post on the left side of the picture.

When the times got tough the rally slippers always found their way onto Mike's rancid feet.  I am blaming the 49er's defeat on the fact that we didn't watch that particular game at Tommy's.  We all learned a painful lesson that day.

No matter how dismal January was, Ben is back, Pizza my Heart is back in our lives, and the rain finally came.

 

Twas the Day After Christmas

We are now entering a strange purgatorial time during the year, when the final embers of Christmas slowly fade into ash but the anticipation of New Year's Eve lingers in the air like a thick fog of champagne and make outs.

Luckily I was able to make a mess of my living room with these two.  They created me, by the way.

These two created my mother, which is part of the reason why I am here.  You now have read my lame attempt at genealogy.

I am not sure exactly who created this monstrosity, but I'll bet anything it had to do with Satan. 

When you wrap a turkey breast around stuffing you realize why eating is fun.

As a child I wanted nothing more than to watch a new skateboard video on Christmas day.  Over time little has changed, and this year Habitat saved my parents some shopping hassle by delivering their video to me online.  Daryl made my Christmas by coming through with some badass skating, and also getting into some bizarre Travis and Julien situations with me.

I had to enlist the help of Quynh to decipher the skateboard wizardry of Suciu.  He proceeded to bite me and eat all my yogurt.  Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Things to See Whilst Shopping in the LG

Holiday shopping can suck the joy and mirth out of Christmas faster than my father can slurp marrow out of an animal bone.  A strange image perhaps, but I feel as though it is an appropriate comparison.  Each year my father and bundle up in our warmest attire and trudge out into the freezing streets of Los Gatos in hopes of finding Christmas presents for my dear mother.  This can be an arduous task...

...unless of course the store you happen upon is serving free drinks.

Big old bucket of holiday cheer.

Free food also makes the shopping experience more enjoyable.

Men covered in rabbits playing guitar on the street are a must in Los Gatos.

The Longest Week

The average week for a human being flies by at breakneck speed, seldom yielding any spectacular events or memorable moments.  It is much easier to sift through a month in order to find nuggets of awesomeness and joy.  This first week of December however, has been of for the books. 

My presence at Candlestick has always brought good fortune.  Never been to a game that didn't end in a win!

I couldn't find the damn place, but luckily this man and his sign helped me out.

Jesse and drove down to Redlands the next day so we could skate/chill and drink beer outside of 

dilapidated houses.

The following night was the Nike Premier.  Daryl and everyone in the video crushed skateboarding beyond all recognition.  An open bar means double fisting.

Daryl was nice enough to let us all pass out on his floor that night... and allow us to collect all of the old pumpkins in his neighborhood.

Ivan and Waka joined us for the long drive home.  This sexy beast needs no filter.

I worked for a couple days just to keep myself grounded, but then it was off to the Los Gatos Christmas Parade.  C.B Hannegans had the tastiest looking float.

Strange how the worst liquor store in the South Bay has a float with a built in bike jump.  Ryan Nyquist always throws out a backflip or two.

True LG Locs enter the Black Watch thirsty and leave with red cups.  This town's got issues.

We end this week the same way it started, with 49ers football.  I had to pick my folks up from the airport and this was the nearest place with beer and a tv.

They always had a nice warm fire, comfy seats, and a black Santa.

Not to mention Kool-aide mimosas!  Odd but good. 

Happy Holidays!