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All about Brain Freeze

( #Brainfreeze, @heyyumsugar )

During my normal RSS scouring, I came across an interesting post by YumSugar regarding Brain Freeze.

The pain is caused by a change of temperature to the head. The introduction of cold causes the blood vessels to contract resulting in feeling like “you just got pimp slapped by Huggy Bear“.

Looks like the old solution of pushing your tongue to the roof of your mouth works because it heats up the impacted area.

Check out YumSugar’s post for more information.

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Boston 2010: Day 2

( #Boston, #Travel )

Our second day of vacation in Boston started with a trip to the local YMCA. This is the second time I have used a YMCA in a major city and both times it has been excellent. Clean, lots of good equipment, and they had a local community basketball that I could watch while I was doing cardio. Great gym experience.

[Harpoon Brewery]

Address: 306 Northern Avenue
Website:

Posted on

Reflections on the Tour De Philly (2010)

( #Philadelphia, #TourDePhilly, #JosePistolas )

My friend Tom started the Tour De Philly in 2004. We were young, single, and (mostly) ready to mingle. Over the years, the tours has reflected the changes in our lives. Girlfriends and wives (and husbands) became part of the team and those favorite old college bars started to get replaced with Center City bars. Regardless of the location and the people, a good time was always had. The 2010 edition of the TDP was no different: good friends came out and we had an excellent time, but as I clicked glasses filled with various compounds, I knew the era of the Tour De Philly was coming to a close (for us).

Before we even started the tour, the decision was made to reduce the number of bars. The last few years, the constant jumping made it hard for those falling behind to catch up and it was really hard to get drinks unless you stayed a while. So I made the executive decision to cut it down to three core bars (McGillins, Ladder 15, Jose Pistolas). This year was extraordinarily hot and the Philadelphia bars struggled to keep their businesses cool for the masses; this made the crew eager to jump to the next place, which had the effect shorting the duration of the tour.

While mostly everyone was pleased to start a McGillins, once the call for car bombs was made and the waitress informed us that they didn’t serve Guinness, the crowd wanted to move on. Ladder 15 wasn’t crowded and had plenty of seats. It was nice in there for about 30 minutes, but then the place started to fill up (and get warm) with people younger than I wearing flip-flops. One of the bar employees asked my friend who was wearing a jeff cap and a kilt to take off his hat (it was okay for kids to wear sandals and baseball caps, but Ladder 15 was too cool for the guy in the kilt). I was ready to leave.

We made a detour into Fado and it was packed. I left anyone who wanted to stay in there and made my way over to Jose Pistolas. Even though the AC wasn’t at 100%, Joses is always worth the sweat. Universally beloved (by my entire social circle) Buddy was working the bar on the main floor and I enjoyed a brief conversation and a good drink. As the Fado slackers started to shuffle in, they took over the 2nd floor of the bar. I stayed downstairs with Buddy until he told me the AC worked better up there. My friends ended their night eating and drinking, the way all TDPs should.

Sounds like a pretty good night right? Yup. But the passion is gone. The tours have been ending earlier every year and getting home via train and other safe means is becoming a headache. Additionally, who the hell wants to drink themselves into oblivion and feel like crap for the next 3 days. You are witnessing forced maturity boys and girls. It’s time for a new crop of young people with disposable income to run around the city getting completely trashed, I am too old for this shit and got stuff to do the next morning.


When this doesn’t look fun, it’s time to run

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Concert Review: Jack Johnson @ Camden Entertainment Center

( #JackJohnson, #Philadelphia, #Camden )

Main Event: Jack Johnson
Opening Act: G Love
Date: Sunday, July 11th 2010
Location: Camden, NJ (Susquehanna Bank Center)

[Opening Act]

I can’t say one thing about G Love because I completely missed his performance. My wife and I left our house at 6:00 PM for the 7:00 PM show (we live about 20 minutes from Camden). Everything was smooth until we got about 1/3 of mile to the Camden Entertainment Complex exit (5A); we were stuck there for the next 100 minutes. It took another 20 minutes to get forced into a $25 parking lot.

As you could imagine I was pretty pissed off getting into the concert, but thankfully I didn’t have to wait in line to get into the show.

[Main Event]

I have never seen the Camden Entertainment Complex (it’s called the Susquehanna bank center but this place changes names every 18 months, so screw it) so packed. The lawn area was an absolute sea of people (this show was definitely oversold). There was no room to put down blankets. This was one massive standing room only concert. In addition to the crowds, the PA for the lawn area was underpowered. You could hear the music, but not well (you don’t normally read me complaining a concert was too low).

Overall, Johnson sounded really good (like he always does). He put on an earnest yet laid back show. G Love came out to jam on a few songs (I was glad I got to see him play). Jack’s band was very good tonight; especially his multi-instrumentalist (mainly keyboard instruments). I don’t know the guy’s name, but he made slower songs like “Banana Pancakes” pop.

To be honest, we cut out at 11 PM because we were terrified of getting stuck for another two hours in Camden and it was so tight on the lawn that you couldn’t scratch your eye without elbowing somebody in the back. While I am a little annoyed at the concert conditions, Johnson is donating all profits from the tour to charity, so I felt good about my money going to good causes.

I keep saying it, but I really do think I am done with the big concert venue shows and any kind of open seating situation: they are expensive, the sound is usually not great, and there are ALWAYS a small group (or pockets) of people that ruin the show for everyone else.

Here’s hoping Johnson does a winter tour in small venues!