The Top 10 Posts Of 2011
(Based On Number Of Views)

#10 – Thoughts At 35
No matter how hard I try, I continue to get older.  On this “milestone” birthday I decided to jot down a few musings.

#9 – 100 Facts About Me – Or At Least 50
I really dove into Twitter in the past year.  There was a game/activity going around where you had to tweet out 100 facts about yourself.  I got halfway home before I decided to call it a day.

#8 – WrestleMania VI – The Ultimate Challenge
This was #10 on last year’s list.  It’s part of my WrestleMania Project where I’m reviewing every show since the beginning.  This particular show was outstanding, as the main event pitted Intercontinental Champion the Ultimate Warrior against WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan.  Tremendous.

#7 – Top 10 Guilty Pleasure Movies
Another list that I put together way back in the day.  These are flicks that no matter how bad they are, I’ll watch every time they’re on TV.

#6 – Harry Hamlin Made Me Smile (in 2010)
Another repeat from last year’s list.  This is a report of a video game that Pip played with an interesting cameo in it.

#5 – The Overuse Of LOL
There aren’t a lot of things in pop culture that piss me off, but this is of them.  My take (OK… more of a rant) on the use of the term “LOL” in today’s culture.

#4 – Empire Snow Removal – Solon, Ohio & Twinsburg, Ohio
Way back in 2008, I got screwed over by a scam called The Snowplow Guys.  This year, I got a flyer in my mailbox for the same service.  I wasn’t happy, and wrote this post.

#3 – The Best Animated GIF Ever
The title of the post pretty much says it all.  It’s epic.

#2 – The WrestleMania 27 Drinking Game
If you’re a regular reader, you know that a couple of times a year, Pip and I get together and pretend we’re a lot younger than we are.  One of these times is during WrestleMania weekend.  Each year, we build The Beeramid with the help of a drinking game that we develop through the year.

#1 – Top 80?s Action Movies
For the second year in a row, the top spot goes to this post that I made about my favorite 80?s action flicks.  Love it!

Since WWE announced it’s Mania main event the day after last year’s show (Rock vs. John Cena for those not paying attention), I figured we’d better get going and put together rules of engagement for the evening’s festivities.

NOTE: This post will be updated as the event draws near…

1. 1 drink every time the announcers reference the fact that Miami is The Rock’s home town.
2. 1 drink for every on screen reference to Twitter.
3. Shotgun a beer if The Undertaker loses.
4. 1 drink for every Rock / G.I. Joe reference.
5. 3 drinks for a surprise return.
6. 1 drink for every missed match outcome.
7. 1 drink for each title change (even if you called it).

I was working on Friday and Al had the day off, so he was nice enough to give Pip a ride downtown.  After work, I rode the RTA into town to meet up with the boys.  Needless to say, I felt like a sardine riding the RTA to the stadium.  Apparently I wasn’t the only one with that brilliant idea.  We met up at Cadillac Ranch for some awesome pre-game grub.

Opening Day in Cleveland is essentially a holiday… second only to St. Patrick’s Day.  That said, there were a TON of people who were WAY ahead of us in the drinking department – including this guy who was busting a move to Footloose.  I can’t be hyper critical though… Pip and I did the same thing at his wedding.

We made our way to Jacob’s Field which was beautiful as always.  Yes… I know it’s called Progressive Field these days.  I don’t care… it’ll always be “The Jake” to me.  The Indians did a great job during the pregame and honored recently deceased Bob Feller with a very touching video.

After the game, we headed out to celebrate my buddy Brad’s birthday for a while.  Through many protests, we called it a night before going “next door” and headed home.  In retrospect a very good decision.

Saturday we hung out with the boys during the day and then met up with one of Pip’s high school classmates and her husband for dinner and some drinks.  SUPER cool people that I’m so happy to have met.  After meeting up with them, Pip had to make his annual trek to the Annex.  Even if its for one beer (which this year it was) it’s nice to be back “home”.  We continued our rounds of local bars with a stop at Legends to check out some of the scenery… and a very talented band.  Knowing that Sunday was going to be a big day we headed home rather early.

Sunday – WrestleMania day.  Marko got in on this year’s action and came over at around 5:00 for the 7:00 show.  We got ourselves some food and we were ready for the evening’s festivities.  I’m certainly not a “foodie” by the traditional sense of the word, but I have to say we did a pretty damn good job in the food department.

I won’t go into the details of the show here but if you’re interested in my thoughts you can find them here.  The Beeramid as per usual was a tall challenge but I’m thrilled to report that we once again were up to the task.

If you want the blow by blow details of the Beeramid challenge you can find them here.  Suffice to say it was once again A-W-E-S-O-M-E.  Monday morning rolled around rather quickly and just like that the weekend was over.  Miraculously I was at the office right around normal time on Monday morning and Pip was out the door and on the road by 9:00 as well.  We don’t have a date yet for my trip to visit the Pips but it’s typically in the fall.  I absolutely can’t wait (though my liver does need a bit of a rest).  See you soon brother!

As in previous years, Pip and I started out early creating our WrestleMania 27 drinking game that will help us along the way to building this year’s Beeramid.  We’ve actually laid off the last couple of weeks creating new rules partially because we already have 15 rules (remember, the list is modified up until game day) and partially because we had really no idea what matches we were going to see.  At this point we’re only a couple of weeks out and there are officially 7 matches on the card.  A card that’s shaping up nicely if I do say so myself.

1. World Heavyweight Championship – Edge (c) vs. Alberto Del Rio
   Rumble winner Del Rio goes after his first WWE title.  This should be a good one.  They’ve been building Del Rio up pretty hard over the last couple of weeks.  I’m guessing we’ll see Christian enter into this one somewhere alon the way.  My pick at this point is Del Rio to take the title.
2. WWE Championship – The Miz (c) vs. John Cena
   Miz has been nothing short of AWESOME lately.  Up until Rumble I didn’t think Miz was anything more than a transitional champion.  Now I’m almost sure he’ll walk out of Mania with the title after defeating Cena.
3. Triple H vs. The Undertaker
   Taker and Shawn stole the show for the last two years.  He’s a year older, but I’m guessing he’ll do it again this year with HHH.  The WWE’s toughest job is making it appear that “The Streak” may actually end.  Taker goes 19-0.
4. Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole (with Jack Swagger)
   I’ll put this in the “who gives a shit” category, but I’m guessing it’ll be rather entertaining (especially with special guest referee Stone Cold Steve Austin.  Jerry Lawler has never been on a Mania card.  I’m guessing he gets a win in his debut event.
5. Randy Orton vs. CM Punk
   Not sure what’s happened to Orton’s heat as of late.  Punk is the best heel on the show in my opinion.  This has the makings of a 5 star match in the middle of the card.  Thinking Punk should go over, but with politics backstage Orton will get the win.
6. Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes
   I always enjoy watching Rey wrestle.   I can’t stand the Cody Rhodes character so I’m very much looking forward to Rey getting a big win here.
7. Trish Stratus, Snooki and John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler, LayCool
   Um… OK.

Oh yeah… don’t forget about the most electrifying man in sports and entertainment… The Rock will be the guest host of this year’s show.  He and John Cena have been having an epic war of words of late so you can pretty much guarantee that Rocky will be getting involved.

What about Kane, Sheaumus, Big Show, Kevin Nash/Diesel, Wade Barrett, and the rest of the Divas?  Like I said, it’s gonna be a great WrestleMania.  Thanks for stepping it up Vince!

This is simply a shot of my shirtsleeve.  I love this particular shirt, but the sleeves are just REALLY long.  Not really sure if it’s just made incorrectly or not cause the rest of the shirt fits just fine.

There’s an absolutely AMAZING restaurant in the Cleveland area called Melt Bar & Grilled.  They make grilled cheese.  That’s not quite fair… they make the best grilled cheese known to man.  The above pic is a shot of my sandwich from a recent trip with my wife, bro and sister in law: The Parmageddon.  The description from the menu: 2 potato & cheese pierogi, fresh napa vodka kraut, grilled onions, sharp cheddar.  My description: INCREDIBLE.

My boys are getting to that age where their toys come with decals.  As they’re 4 (G) and 2 (C – until next month) guess who gets to do the decaling work… Super Dad.  This particular kit was a tough one as it took me longer to get the stickers on than it did to build it.  However all of my frustration was totally worth it when I saw how happy they were.

Even with my infinite childlike behavior, I think my wife would agree that I’m good for at least one thing: running errands.  Unfortunately, many times I even mess THAT up coming home with the wrong thing.  SO, on a recent trip for additional fettuccine I decided to take a photographic “wish list” of what I was to bring home.  I’m happy to say that with minimal issues, I did in fact return home with the correct item.

For many people, spring means birds, snow thawing, and finally seeing green grass after a long winter.  For me it means WRESTLEMANIA.  And with WrestleMania comes one thing: The Beeramid.  I sent this shot to Pip just the other day letting him know that the pre-Mania stockpiling had begun.

The Calm Before The Storm

Row #1 - We're On Our Way

Row #2 - In For A Long Haul

At this point, we knew we were in for a fight.  Regardless of what we’d like to think, we can’t “git r done” the same way we used to.

Row #3 - Hitting Our Stride

Row #4 - We... Can... Do... It

Row #5 - Gonnna Make It

Row #6 - The Champs Are HERE!!!

Look at that… no matter how many times we complete the beautiful structure it feels good to have won.  This year, WrestleMania was out west so the show started a little bit earlier in the afternoon.  That being said, even though we were done with our building, we had a long time until the show was done.  It was at that point that we made a decision… one… more… row.  Me being the jackass that I am, figured I’d get things started by shotgunning one.  Bad idea.

Shotgunning... Always A Good Idea

A Tired Champion

Row #7 - A Beeramid Record!!!

WrestleMania XXVII (that’s 27 folks) will be held in Atlanta, Georgia on April 3, 2011.  We’ve got it on our calendar… until next time!

Pizza… check

Wings… check

Snacks… check

Beer… check, check, check

It’s the Grandaddy of em all… WrestleMania time!