"Why Should I Be Frightened Of Dying?"

The other day on AOL, they had their list of "10 Albums You Must Buy Before You Die." I thought I'd check it out, see how many I have.

The list:
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
U2 - Joshua Tree
Michael Jackson - Thriller
Madonna - True Blue
Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation. . .
Billy Joel - The Stranger
The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
Prince - Purple Rain
The Beatles - White Album

So, I'm curious, Haven Dwellers. How many of these do you have? I'm sad to say that I only have two, Thriller and Dark Side Of The Moon. I guess I've got to run out to Waxie Maxie. Is that store still around?

Measure Of An "Out" Man

Well! That ends the speculation. I, for one, am relieved. So relieved, in fact, that it's given me the courage to confess something of my own. . . . OK. . . Here goes. . . . . . .

I'm black.

The Freecake Factory

When I eat out at a restaurant, I consider myself an easy customer. It's probably from all those years working food service at the dinner theater. I try to have fun with the server without monopolizing the servers time or being obnoxious. Well, I had dinner the other day at the Cheesecake Factory in Whiteflint with my little whipped topping, Andi. As always, we were jovial with our server. Now, it being the Factory, we ordered cheesecake for dessert, of course. Loved it! Well, at the end of the meal, our server brought the check by and said, "You know, you two were so much fun! The cheesecake is on me." Yes, he actually comped our cheesecake. The manager even came over to meet and thank us. I'm guessing that the servers are probably allowed to comp a certain number of cheesecakes. I'm just glad we got to be one of those numbers.

So, moral of the story:

Be nice, for goodness sake. You may get free cake!

Make 'em Laugh

Andi and I got to spend a fun evening enjoying comedian Gary Valentine this past Saturday at the Improv. For those not familiar with the name, he is the guy who played Kevin James' brother on "King Of Queens", which worked out well because, well, they are actually brothers. Anyway, this was the best time I ever had at the Improv. Gary was great!

Now, to add to the fun, we had the pleasure of sharing our table with our new friends Brian and Barbara (I think those were their names). If you've never been to the Improv, they tend to sell out, so unless you are a party of four, you end up sharing a table (H O T table, for you dinner theater folk) Anyway, they were part of a large birthday party of about sixteen people or so. Folks, I'm guessing that their party started well before they got to the club. They had us cracking up throughout the evening. At some point, some guy in their party ended up on Andi's knee while his wife's hands ended up on my face. Fortunately for us drivers on the road, they charted a bus for the evening.

Dwellers, between Gary Valentine and the birthday party, I laughed so hard the whole night, that I woke up the next day with no voice. And, once again, I could kick myself for not bringing my camera. I would have loved to have shown you our new friends. And, Gary posed for pictures and signed autographs afterward.

Talk To Me

Hey, guess what! I did my first professional voiceover this past Tuesday. Here's the background. Someone wrote a poem for the Lorton Arts Foundation's Workhouse Arts Center about the conversion of the prison into an arts complex. The foundation decided to have the poem recorded and put onto a video montage of the conversion. The montage would be presented during the grand opening this month. Well, they wanted someone with a deep booming voice to record the poem. Know anyone like that?

Now, I've done voiceovers and announcing before, but they were all kind of fun unofficial projects, like the Miss Dinner Theatre pageants and some of the fine claymations over at Janoose Productions.

The whole experience was a little nerve-wracking for me. Mostly because. . . well. . . I just don't get poetry. I get and appreciate the art form, but it all seems like a long roundabout way to get a point across. I was worried that, not only am I not getting this poem, but that it would come across in my reading of it. Fortunately, I had Joey there who did a decent job of interpreting the poem and using his directing talents to guide me.

What's also cool is that they also asked me if I'd be willing to compose some music to underscore the montage. Well, I said yes, despite the fact that I haven't composed anything since before the West End closed.

And now, a confession. That picture above. Totally posed. lol

Funny Commercials

Warning: Video contains mature themes.

Fun Quizzes

I took an informal survey of some of my readers and found out that their favorite feature on BruDog Haven is the quizzes. Well, I can't let down my dwellers, so here's a new one.

Breakfast Cereal ID Quiz

I got 17 out of 20 right. What can I say, I know my cereals. I think I could actually live off of cereal. Have fun!

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend a Washington Nationals Game this past Friday with my good friends Joey and Bill. I've been to many minor league games, but this was actually my first ever major league game. Folks, let me tell you. I had a good ol' time. And here's the cool part. We were lucky enough to score free Diamond Club seats. You know, those rows that you see on the lower level behind home plate. It was the best. The section has it's own lounge and waiter service at the seats. Oh, and did I mention the seats are padded. Now of course, since it was my first game, I had to bring my camera.

Here are a couple of shots before the game. I had to get a pic of Joey and Bill taking in the sites before we went to our seats.

Here's the view from our seats.

Bill and I enjoying the game.

A shot I took leaving the stadium after the game.

After the game, they shot off fireworks. But, to get the best view, it was suggested that we move over to the third base side of the stadium. So, we left our comfortable seats in the club section for the "regular" seats at third base. Wow! Those seats were not meant for the big man or the tall man. I was so uncomfortable. And, we were only in those seats for about ten minutes. I couldn't imagine sitting there for a three hour game. I guess I was spoiled by the club seats.

Today's Lesson

My sister recently threw a surprise birthday party for my Mom. When I arrived for the party, this is what I saw. Notice anything wrong with this picture? No, I didn't reverse the image. That "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" sign actually came like that. What's funny is that everyone who arrived kinda had the same reaction. First they would glance at it quickly. Then they would do a double take, followed by a look of confusion. We decided to leave it, because. . . well. . . it had personality.
I don't know, maybe somewhere in the world, they celebrate "YADHTRIB*YPPAH"

So, lesson for the day: Don't buy party favors from the dollar store.

A Day In The Life Of The BruDog

I wanted to show you a picture of the peach stand Andi and I stopped at Saturday. Were we in the great state of Georgia? No. We found the stand in Delaplane, VA on our way back from driving out to Harrisonburg to move by sister back to college for her junior year. Ugh! Can you believe it, junior year? Man, I feel old. I remember when I used to change her wittle diaper. . . Wow. . .

Anyway, we stopped in Markham to take advantage of one of the many wine tours in the area. Back in the day, the West End had a warehouse near there, so I'd driven through the area many times. I would always see signs for this wine tour at Naked Mountain Vineyard and Winery and always wanted to try it. We got there at 4:59. Unfortunately, the tours ended at 5. damn Damn DAMN! So, we missed it. On our way back down Rt 17, we found the peach stand.

OK, now that I've bored you to death, let me just say, you have to go see Tropic Thunder. After missing the wine tour, we stopped at the Cinema Deluxe at Fairfax Corner. I haven't had that much fun at a movie in a long time. Robert Downey, Jr in black face is highlarious. I think I might actually go see it again, which I rarely do. I hate to say too much more because I feel like I'll ruin it for you.
See it!

Oh my God, before the movie, we walked to the Ben and Jerry's. They have this new flavor called Coconut Seven Layer Bar. Haven Dwellers, let me tell you, it was heaven. I believe it's moved into the top position on my list of favorite ice cream flavors.
Try it!

So, in conclusion, because I know you're probably saying, "Antonio, this post is all over the place.", I just wanted you all to know that I had the best time I've had in a long time. I've been working a lot over the past few weeks and I've had lots on the mind also. Saturday was a welcome diversion. Thanks for the fun day, my lemon tart!
BruDog OUT!