My Weekend Wandering the Land of a Thousand MOL’s

Here’s a “little” breakdown of my first visit to Dallas for the annual(?) gathering of MOL’s.

Day One:

The flight was wonderfully uneventful: no sickness, no crying babies, and no delays. Upon arriving it was like the weather gods enacted their revenge for the balmy Christmas I had in Ohio. In other words it was cold and windy, at least until I left.

I settled into my hotel and called the voice and face of MOL Nation, MOL Jr. I was now prepared for my indoctrination into the nation. It began at Adair’s in the Deep Ellum area of Dallas. There I met the statesman El MOL, Suburban Jesus, and J-nice. I should state at this point that it’s odd of having everyone introduced as their real name and blog name. So, let’s stick with their given names.

Ronnie and Mitchell had families to attend so I joined Luke and fellow Hollywoodian Josh, Carter, and Eric at Lindsay A’s apartment for a viewing and discussion of the film The Constant Gardner. It wasn’t a bad plan except Luke had unwittingly bought an illegal copy of Constant Gardner which of course wouldn’t play. So we watched Millions instead.

Things then progressed to the Tipperary Inn where I met nearly everyone else (Sara, Babs, Kerri, Jess, etc.) for drinks and fish and chips. It should be noted that Serj Tankian of System of a Down apparently moonlights there singing Irish songs. At this point I realize there are factions within the MOL nation. Not being the only person that needs introductions helped make the acclimation process a little easier.

The first day of the MOL Weekend wrapped up as we closed the Tipperary, and went our separate ways. I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but the gradual meeting of MOL Nation in small groups throughout the day rather than all at once helped me feel not so overwhelmed.

Day Two:

I meet Ronnie, Amy, and MOL in training Phoebe for lunch. When I say MOL in training it is clear that Phoebe is perhaps the biggest MOL of them all. This got me to thinking that perhaps we are at the height of our MOLness when we are but wee pups and it’s all downhill as we age. That would explain our need to prove and vocalize how MOL we are when we’re older.

The rest of the day I had to explore Dallas by myself. I went to a few CD stores on Ronnie’s recommendation. The best being Good Records where they were celebrating their 5^th or 6^th year. To celebrate they had local bands scheduled to play all day. For the two hours I spent there I saw The Theater Fire and The Deathray Davies. Both are solid bands but the power pop leanings of the Deathray Davies won me over. I will give the accordion player, singer and Wes Anderson look-alike of the Theater Fire points for the following quote. “My Mom was at a Kinks show, and went home with Ray Davies…True story.”

I then went to Freebirds for a burrito. As many of you know there is much debate over who makes the best burrito between Freebirds and Chipotle. I will say that I actually lean towards the “Q” for my burrito. The other two are good, but they don’t have the cheese sauce that the “Q” does. Yes, I deducted points from Freebirds when it fell apart over my sweater because of poor construction.

That led to an impromptu shopping trip for non-stained clothes. It’s at this point that I would like to state that I was in fact planning on donning red and white for the party. Unfortunately, a Freebird burrito had other plans.

After a short nap, I readied myself for the MOL Jr. shindig.

The following took place at the MOL Nation party.

Here’s a small sampling of some of the things that took place at the MOL Nation party.

-Nerd shots

-MOLish discussion on such movie topics as best comedy and worst sequel.

-The unexpected appearance by the L-train.

-To Linz I'm now "the liar."

-Much picture taking, but not a lot on my camera. It was having occasional fits of shutting down. Also I’m not the best with a camera just ask Sara.

-Quiet reflection at the monument of Genslay.

-Faith made an appearance by phone. It was great to put a voice, accent and all, to the
face and blog.

-Video game and other geek goodness discussions with Shawn, Jess, and David.

-Devouring the sweet goodness of Sara’s Kahlua Chocolate Chunk cookies.

-Natalie even visited from Austin which trumps my visit because I least I had face to face time with Ronnie and Shawn before the birth of the MOL Nation.

Big ups to Sara who was kind enough to open her cool house to everyone.

I would also like to make one apology. I meant to post about this before I left for Dallas. If I was talking to you at the party, and at one point kept asking you to repeat yourself, and then after the fifth repeat I just smiled and nodded my head at something I shouldn’t have been nodding about it’s because I have tinnitus in both ears. It makes it a little difficult for me to hear voices in loud areas. So if I agreed to something and I haven’t done it, I’m sorry. It’s not that I’m a complete jackass, but that I can’t hear. Yes, I realize how old this makes me sound.

Day Three:

For some reason I scheduled my flight back home at 9pm. At least this gave another full day in Dallas.

It began with me picking up a Deathray Davies album, and seeing Match Point at the Angelika. I then had a late lunch at the recommended Gloria’s for some good Salvadoran food. The rest of the day was spent at the Grassy Knoll and the Dallas World Aquarium. It’s all about the otters. With a full day behind me I was ready to go home to warmer weather and 5 mph winds. Sure the weather wasn’t that great, but I recommend a visit to Dallas if you get the chance. It has a solid local music scene, nice eateries, and good movie theaters.

Eventually, I flew home, and my flight sucked. Why? Because 80% of the passengers were employees of some glorified pyramid cult called ACN. They wore their little badges and chains proudly as they discussed the “morons” that wouldn’t give their all to the company, and who was under what team leader. My idea of a nice plane trip is not people trying to sell me into joining their “team.” I had five people confront me before boarding. Three talked to me on the flight. Then one guy tried again to get me to join while I waited for my luggage. They clearly beat out crying babies, sick people, and the obese as the worst people you could get stuck with on a plane. Still it couldn’t damper the enjoyable weekend with the MOL Nation.

It was great putting actual humans with their blogs. Everyone was very accommodating and nice to the new old man from LA and it was definitely worth the plane flight. I only had a few regrets. I wish I could’ve met the third part of the MOL Trinity, Genslay. It would’ve been nice to spend a little more one on one time, but that’s not exactly conducive to parties. I wish Mitchell and his wife, Cheryl, had been able to join me and Ronnie’s family for lunch. I am facinated by El MOL and would've enjoyed a little more discussion time. I honestly wish J-Nice and Sound/Fury had been able to make it.

Finally, I leave you with some things I’ve learned on this trip to Dallas.

1. Dallas’ carbonated beverage of choice is Dr. Pepper. Not in a casual way, but in the “it was difficult for me to find Pepsi anywhere” kind of way.
2. Death will always show up at a concert.
3.I will pay $35 bucks more for an extra six inches of leg room on a plane.
4. Salvadoran skirt steak with chimichurri is the shit.
5.Phoebe may very well be to MOL Nation what Luke Skywalker was to the Jedi.

Thanks again MOL Nation and particularly Ronnie and Sara for a great weekend. For better pictures go over to J-lay and Sara's site. Mine suck.

Christmas Break Recap (Pt. 2)

Dec. 27th:

I had a lot of plans for this day. None of it happened. I planned on going to the German Village, but I had to babysit. Then I had to wait to pick up my brother in law and stepfather at the movie theater. While I was waiting, one of the nephews, Alex, cracked his head open when he fell of a chair. Being somewhat knowledgeable of the area, I was summoned to be the driver. We drove to the theater so Jennie could pull her father out of the movie to look at her son's head. So, both her husband and father missed the end of King Kong. By the time we got back, it was too late for the 7 o’clock showing of Munich. I then aimed for the 10:35 showing, but was once again stuck babysitting while one kid got his head stitched up, and everyone else was running last minute errands. I’m pushing reset and trying again tomorrow.

Dec. 28th:

I wake up to 60 degree weather on my birthday. See, even God gives birthday presents. We went to Schmidt’s Sausage Haus for my birthday. Man, their Bahama Mamas are outstanding. Then we hung around and dropped by the stepfamily’s second get together. To cap off the day we saw Munich which was half and hour too long and lacking in emotional involvement.

Dec. 29th:

With my Dad back in town from visiting “Bob Jonesville,” I drove out to see his new house. He said it was a ways outside of Columbus, but I thought he was perhaps exaggerating a little. After driving for an hour I realized I was wrong. It’s a cozy little place where he can plant his trees and have his garden. Basically he finally got his “cabin” in the woods. Still not a fan of the drive.

Dec. 30th:

Went back to my father’s place to have the Iten Christmas dinner with my brother and his family. We had the usual duck. Evie was feeling better, so she was running at full steam. The nieces played with legos, and I got to show my lego mastery in building. It takes years and years of practice. It’s not easy fitting big wheels on a boat.

Dec. 31st:

Anne Marie left to visit her boyfriend in California, so for a day it was simply Mandy and me. Tomorrow Ben K. and Julie were getting back into town. That meant rebuilding the house from the utter destruction left by the rest of the family. Mandy and I rang in the New Year as we watched Dick Clark in HD. I don't know if that's a pro or con. The first thing they cut to after the ball dropping was Clark kissing his wife. Not exactly the first thing I want to see in 2006.

Jan. 1st:

What better way to celebrate the New Year than more cleaning? With half an hour to spare I finally got the house presentable. Picked up Ben K. and Julie from the airport, and we had our own little Christmas exchange. I think I quickly rose up the favorite brother-in-law with getting Julie the deep fryer.

Jan. 2nd:
For Christmas my stepbrother, Sam, received a PSP. Finally I have someone to play online with. Unfortunately, he lives in London. So he called the other day because he wanted to play online. Apparently, his train from Ireland to London has wifi. So, I woke up early to play videogames. Yes I need help. Problem was that this train didn’t have wifi. I woke up for nothing. Except that right when I was about to fall back asleep, I hear the phrase, “Xbox 360!” Whispered through my door. Sure enough I walk down and Ben K. is unpacking an Xbox 360. That morning he had gone into Target to pick up some jeans for his wife. Stopping by the electronics department he sees that they had just gotten in some of the systems that morning. What are the chances? Of course the day before I was telling him that he probably won’t be able to pick one up till Feb., unless he really wanted to search for one. He just walks in the next day and buys one. So we played it till the Ohio State vs. Notre Dame game. It’s nice to be able to watch some Buckeye football with the family. Watching it in HD makes it even better. Watching it while eating fries and chicken wings freshly fried in my Christmas gift to Julie makes it the best.

The Buckeyes proved once again that speed kills, and that they clearly underperformed this year. I will say that being a Buckeye fan is a different experience of fandom from being a Cubs fan. The Buckeyes are consistently decent particularly since Tressel arrived. Still being a Cubs fan spills over and I always expect the worse. Then the Buckeyes prove my fears wrong. I can’t tell you how conflicted I was when they one the National title in 2002. I was truly lost.

Jan. 3rd:

I fly home today.

It’s been a pretty good Christmas. Thanks to Ben K. and Julie for putting me up...again. Some day I’ll make it up to you. I can’t wait till you add to the niece/nephew count next year. Once again this Christmas proves my family rules. Kayla and I bonded as well.

Christmas Break Recap (Pt. 1)

December 19th
Got Flu.

December 20th
Got over Flu

December 21st:
Once healthy my sisters and I went shopping and wrapping, and wrapping and shopping.
The family and I went with the family to see The Family Stone. That whole event is another blog post.

December 22nd:
Ben K. and Julie left for Ireland on the 22nd.

December 23rd:
More Shopping. My dogs are barking. My back is in knots.

Christmas Eve:

We went over to my brother, Ben I. and his wife’s place for Christmas Eve dinner.

We hung out with nieces Evie and Moira. Evie was a little under the weather and had the nose snot thing going. She did though do her best to entertain. As did Moira who is the smartest 7 year old I know. I offer this conversation as an example.

Mandy: Look Evie’s a bear. Bear’s are carnivores just like us.

Moira: We’re not carnivores. We’re omnivores. We eat both plants and animals.

Moira is seven.


My stepfather showed Moira and Evie all about taking video and photos.












Anne had a little birthday cake.












Returning home we went to bed while Anne went out with friends for her 21st birthday. She came back sick and hung over. She didn’t listen to my one advice. Never do Tequila shots. It will mess you up. She did seven that night.

Christmas Day:

Since the rest of the family wasn’t coming till later in the evening, my sisters and I exchanged our presents.

My stepfather opened up am envelope left by Ben K. and his wife, Julie, before they went to Ireland. The only thing inside was an ultrasound picture of my new nephew/niece. Julie is due in August I believe. That makes six.

They then went to my stepfamily’s Christmas get together. I stayed home and watched football on my stepbrother’s new HDTV. I clearly had the better afternoon.

There was peace in the house.












Then the rest of the immediate family arrived or returned, and we had our Christmas Chaos. It was quite entertaining watching the two new nephews from Russia experience Christmas for the first time. The most recent one, Andrei, literally got out of the orphanage a week ago, and now he’s playing with dinosaurs and trucks.












Evie was nearly buried in wrapping.












Boxing Day:

We go back over to Ben I, and Jamie’s for lunch and more quality niece time. I would like to point out that the cute outfit Evie is wearing was purchased by me, the greatest uncle ever.
The evening was spent organizing things for Inga and my brother in law, Dan, birthdays. Once again we had last minute gift buying. It really never ends.

After the birthdays, my sisters and I go see King Kong. Their first time, my second. It doesn’t hold that well on a second viewing. At least for me it doesn’t. I couldn’t tolerate Jack Black as much this time. I’ve come to the opinion that you can’t write fake B-movie dialogue. It’s not funny. It’s the same thing as trying to make a movie so bad it’s good. It’s simply something that happens. You can’t force it or fabricate it.

Goodbye Work...

...Hello Christmas Break! Benefit number 132 of working in the biz is the two week Christmas break. It's like I'm still in school. Having worked at a bank and retail, I truly treasure this lengthy break. It means I have time to visit family and friends and not feel I have to compress it into a long weekend. Which is really good considering how far I live from everyone. Have a merry Christmas. I'll still be posting while I'm back in Columbus, so I hope you have time to visit after being stuffed with turkey and boozed up on eggnog. In fact being in that state probably makes this blog more entertaining.

High School Reunion Recap...kind of.

So here's a rambling of the recap. Part of it's written during the weekend which explains the changes in the tense. I still don't know if the whole trip was worth it.


Thursday - Friday: I’m a moron. A couple months ago I thought for some reason that going to my 15 year high school reunion was a good idea. When I found out that it was in December I still thought it was a good idea. I thought it was such a good idea that I bought an airplane ticket. Now I’m stuck in O’Hare at 2 in the morning. I’ve just sat on an airplane for seven hours. Three and a half of those hours the plane was in the air. My real mistake was booking a flight that went through Chicago…in December. What the hell was I thinking? I thought it might be nice to see Chicago in the winter time. I’ve only seen it during baseball season, so I thought it’d be worthwhile. I’m a moron. At least I’m not alone. There are plenty of strangers sleeping on cots or just sitting around. Oh how I love strangers! I have another six and a half hours left in O’Hare till I can hopefully fly into Columbus. I wish I could sleep but I can’t. There’s no way I’m sleeping with all these strangers. It can only go up from here, right? Right? That is till I have to fly back. At least my Christmas flight goes through Atlanta. What I wouldn’t do for a Pepsi and a cigarette.

Friday: It’s now 1:00 PM and I just got in from the Chicago. This has been the most wheels off flying experience I’ve had. It even beats sleeping in La Guardia. So my morning flight into Columbus at 9:00am was cancelled. But, there was a 7:15 flight that was delayed to leave at 8:15. So, I ran down and put myself on the standby list or so I thought. The desk lady said there already were four on the list, so that would make me numero 5. I wait patiently and a few others walk up to get their name on the standby list. I’m guessing there are about 8 now. People begin boarding the plane. After awhile they started calling the standbys. After the fourth name was called I had my fingers crossed. “Just one more! Just one more!” Then they called someone else’s name, and then someone else’s. What the hell? They skipped me! I ran to the desk and asked why I was skipped. She said I wasn’t in the system. Not only was I not on standby, but I wasn’t even listed anywhere to be on any flight. This was the same lady who entered my information. I asked her how she could forget me. I just talked to her ten minutes ago. She said she was sorry but the plane was full. There were 44 passengers and that’s all they were allowed to put on the plane. Then I heard the magic words, “I only have 43.” Apparently, someone checked in but didn’t get on the plane. So they kept paging this person while I prayed and prayed and prayed. Finally, they allowed me to get on as passenger number 44. With my own paranoia mixed in with watching Lost, I was a little worried that I had doomed the plane. Or, the plane was already doomed and I “luckily” got the last ticket to ride. There were two babies on the plane so I thought we were pretty safe. Still I’ve clearly watched too much TV in my life. Perhaps the fact that we sat on the plane until 10:30 reversed any doom effect I brought on the plane. Yes, 10:30 is an hour past the flight time of my cancelled flight. With a short hour flight I finally landed in Columbus 13 hours after I was supposed to. I understood the canceling of flights due to weather. I just don’t understand the complete lack of communication. I felt like I was looking for an Xbox 360.

Maybe I should start going without sleep every now and then. It’s midnight here in Columbus and I still haven’t gone to bed yet. After landing I had breakfast with the Bens and Ben K’s wife Julie. Then I went Christmas shopping with Julie and was able to get gifts for 2 nieces and 2 siblings. Thanks to Julie, I feel pretty confident with my purchases. Still my day and night wasn’t finished. My niece Moira was singing in their church’s Christmas kid’s choir. They were called something “Jam.” Being the great uncle I am I went. Riding my fifth wind, I was able to stay awake. When the adults got up to sing I was tempted to nod off, but then Moira sat next to me and we had our uncle and niece chat. Besides with the smoke machine and stage lights shining in my face sleep was out of the question. Then we all met up at Ben K’s house after picking up some grub at the Mad Greek. I was able to summon up what was left in my tank and played with Evie and Moira. Eventually Ben I. and the family had to leave. The nieces were up past their bedtime and it was beginning to show. Finally, I’m able to go to sleep. I hope I wake up in time for the reunion.

Saturday 10AM: Grumble…grumble…roll over…zzzzzz.

2PM: I finally wake up, and still have that airport grime on me. It takes another three hours for me to be able to put words together to form sentences. Eventually I shower the airport off of me, and get ready for the reunion.

Arriving at the Rusty Bucket, my first thought was ”What the hell am I doing?” After a cigarette I scoured the parking lot for familiar faces. Seeing none, I decided to just giddy up and go for it. I had the flop sweat going as I climbed the stairs to the “party room.” There were only about 13 there from my class. Add in the spouses and you had about 25. Not bad I guess for a class of 50ish. Of the three people I wanted to be there, Karl actually showed up. I got to meet his wife. Every single one of my conversation consisted of two topics. First was what are you doing, and the second was how is your Dad. He is everyone’s favorite teacher for 19 years and counting. It took awhile but I’ve accepted the fact. Nothing really spectacular happened. I just talked for around three hours and left. Obviously, I over analyzed the whole thing before coming. Also, most everyone knew what was going on with other people in our class. I was sort of the wild card and my ego liked that. The nerdy comic book, shy, baseball loving kid left town and came back with after making good in Hollywood. At least that’s what they think and I’ll let them think that.

The flight home was a breeze…of course.

Side note:

I’ve always been disappointed with my lack of celebrity sightings when I fly. I made up for it all on this trip. Two are pretty cool. R. Lee Ermey was actually on my flight to Chicago. You might remember him for Full Metal Jacket and all the other movies where he played the same character.



Waiting for a taxi after returning to LA, I saw Robert Loggia wandering around the airport. I felt like he should help him out, but he just wandered off. He may still be wandering.






My favorite though was on my flight from Chicago to LA. I saw what I thought was for certain a pimp. Can you guess which one I thought was a pimp? It wasn’t till I saw the other two that I realized it was R&B supergroup Earth, Wind and Fire! Earth, Wind & Fire! They clearly can’t stand each other anymore because I never saw the utter a word to each other.

Rusty Bucket Here I Come!

I’m heading back to Buckeye country tomorrow for my 15 yr high school reunion. I think the over/under on how many attend is probably 22. My graduating class totaled 63. I’m hoping the awkwardness portion of the evening ends quickly. Since I can’t even remember the last time I saw anyone from my class, I’ve spent the last couple days brushing up on names and faces. What I’m really looking forward to is some quality time with the nieces. It’s been nearly two years since I’ve seen them. I hope Evie at least still remembers me. Have a good weekend everybody.

Jiff's Wedding w/ photos

To begin let us get a few non wedding moments out of the way. This being my first trip to Seattle, I was quite impressed. I could feel my lungs filling with fresh air with each drag of my cigarette. Also, you don't get many views like thise in Los Angeles:









I arrived at the airport early Friday. I had forgotten to set my alarm and I woke up with less than an hour to get to the airport. Thank goodness I flew out of LBC. Also, when the pilot say the current temperature in Seattle is 54, what's the first thing you think of? "Sweaters!" is what first went through my mind. I met up with Sara. She is a firend from the Regent days. She would be my travel buddy for the weekend. She's always good for a laugh.

Our first mission once we checked in was to buy some sweaters. Sara had not planned accordingly either. In the little visitors brochure at the hotel they offered 15% off at this mall. Here's a little advice. When a mall uses 15% offers to entice shoppers, the mall probably blows. This mall was no exception. The first problem was that it was located in Puyallup. The trip was worthless. How does any store in Washington not constantly carry sweaters? It was 54 degrees in September! Aren't sweaters needed year round? The trip did have one highlight. Here is the biggest pumpkin I've ever seen in person. It was HUGE!
I then went to the rehearsal dinner, while Sara did the wise thing and got some sleep. The dinner was nice. I hadn't seen Jeff in quite some time, and got to finally meet his fiance, Kristin.

The next day, Sara and I finally found a decent mall. We then went down to the Pike area in downtown Seattle. We ate at Etta's, walked around a little till we had to get back for the wedding. My whole time wandering around I kept thinking I have to come back and take my time with Seattle.

Finally the wedding:
The groomsmen:







"My Buddy Steven" sings:









Tim and Anna:









Bobby and Dal:









Me and Sara:









(I was caddying before the wedding, so I could buy a wedding gift.)

To explain this cake I will simply say that Jeff is from Texas. There was also a real wedding cake, but this one that warranted a picture:









Considering it was pouring buckets a few hours before the wedding, Jeff and Kristin were certainly blessed to get that window of sun. It was great seeing Lauren again. Jeff's family is always great. Missed Mol Jr. not being able to make it. One of the odd things is that Bobby, Tim, Dal and I were constantly getting recognized for the "Goodness" shorts we did. It was like being a mini-mini-mini celebrity. I hope this will somehow spur us on to make some more.

Overall, the trip was great. It was nice seeing the Jeff's side again. It's most likely the last time I'll see them. Who knows? I never did get to go to Safeco Field, but after hanging out in downtown I knew I'd be coming back to Seattle. So big ups to Jeff and Kristin. He finally found someone who he feels comfortable touching, and big ups to Seattle the land of rain, seafood, and really big pumpkins.!

A Short Vacation

These next two weeks I’m going to be traveling a lot with two weddings in as many weeks. I also have a spec script that I actually need to finish. So I’m taking a little vacation from the blog. I will post tomorrow, and there will be a post next week (Thurs.?). If something strikes me, I’ll post, but for the next two weeks there will only be the two posts dedicated to my friends that are getting married. I will return with renewed vigor for this blog, or at least I’ll come away with some stories I can post.