How A Past In Sports Affects My Present

Though you probably couldn't tell by my current physical shape and from the fact that I'm now a fully-respected writer and musician, I grew up an athlete - and most of my adult way of thinking is affected by that fact.

As a goalie, I trained to be 100% in the moment, and never think about the past nor the future except if it pertains to what’s in front of me (say if I’d prepared to play against someone in particular, know their tendencies), and because of that, I still have tremendous focus in what I'm doing as I'm doing it, but as soon as the task or the moment's gone, I'll likely have forgotten most of it.

Another quirk I have is wanting to know if the effort I put into something is worth it. In the case of work or performance, I want to be the best, I want to be designated to do or come up with something, and I want to be remembered for it, but it can feel like a chore to just mindlessly enter data for an extended period, for example. In social circles, say if I’m going after a girl, I want to know I’m at least a contender.

I play to win in general (be it by myself or as part of a team), and I want to be named the MVP in the end; I don't care that I'm not the favourite going in, I care that I finish ahead, am the last one standing and ultimately got the job done.

That's probably why I played three positions in football (defensive back, offensive tackle, and quarterback), two of which pitted me directly in a one-on-one battle with an opponent through speed or brute force, and the other had my brain scrambling to find a solution using 21 (or 23 in Canadian football) other humans to get my team to advance forward.

I love a challenge, but I don't want to play in vain. I always thrived under pressure (as can be attested by my vast collection of trophies and medals, hehehe) but have had to find outside motivation (scouts, girls, friends or family watching) at times when the situation felt hopeless – or boring.

My life is definitely taking a turn these days, but I have yet to read its full context and decipher its true meaning. And part of me wants to make the change even more radical than it already is, but that would mean having no grounds to stand on at all for a while, so my moral center is urging me to take it one step at a time. Also my immediate prospects, which may be looking up, though they are taking their sweet fucking time. First comes moving from a basement to a third floor, two weeks from now. In business terms, a higher floor means more success; that's how I'll approach it for the time being.

Justin Bieber: Not Safe For Life

When it isn't Rob Ford, it's fucking Justin Bieber. Since ''retiring'' a month ago, he has been arrested more times (5) than I know songs of his (1, that Baby thing if it even qualifies as one), and when the cops don't get him on their own, his own friends show the rest of the world just how much of a deranged attention whore he really is:

I mean, she doesn't seem to mind, so I really shouldn't care - and I don't - but isn't Bieber the ''ultra-Christian guy'' who advocates not having sex before marriage? Unless licking tits and anal don't count?

Good morning, by the way, I hope you didn't throw up your breakfast.

Ball Girls Promo

It's Spring Training, and that means most (MLB) baseball teams are playing in small towns in Florida, far from their home turf. And ''small-town''-type of promotions, like the Philadelphia Phillies letting Hooters girls be ball girls for a game against the Detroit Tigers... (click the link for video footage)

So I've Always Liked Strong Women To Match My Own Character

As a kid, I watched a lot of TV: G.I. Joe, Transformers, He-Man, Thundercats, M.A.S.K., Go-Bots (a cheap Transformers knock-off), Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends, Goldorak, Astro Boy, Albator, Mazinger Z (the poor man's Goldorak), Voltron... lots of guys with big muscles and cars that turned into shit, and things that turned into giant communist (all the heroes in the same character) robots. And an anarchist pirate.

And, for a short while... She-Ra. I'd add ''in my defense, I was only watching it in case He-Man made one of his many cameos'', but even I'm not sure if that would make me admit I'm more or less manly. But the truth hurts, that idiom stays real.

In any event, I always like when pop culture catches up to She-Ra, proving I wasn't the only one who liked watching re-hashed stories involving He-Man's cuter little cousin - with smaller boobs.

As a matter of fact, someone on HelloGiggles - Zooey Deschanel's own blogosphere that she shares with her friends - made a list of 5 things they learned from She-Ra...

Chicks To Blame

Remember that boat that crashed in Italy late last week?

Turns out supermodel Eva Herzigova is to blame. She was the one who christened the boat in 2006 - f.y.i: you christen a boat by throwing a champagne bottle at it, because the bigger the piece of machinery, the bigger its thirst for alcoholic beverages. That's why I throw a beer at small-to-mid-range cars and wine bottles at cars worth over $100,000.

In any event, Eva (pictured below hesitating between another glass of bubbly and a fifth orgasm provided by yours truly - she got both) isn't as strong as she looks, because the bottle didn't break, which is considered bad luck. Which apparently takes 6 years to materialize. Because the sea prefers having broken glass in it than people diving to retrieve a bottle of booze.

Poor Eva is distraught. She hopes she didn't cause the death of 6 or more people. To make her feel better here are more pictures of her bad self.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun And Fight

From one embarrassing football moment to another...

As the Lingerie Football League (oh yes, what started as a Super Bowl promo stunt has actually turned into a cash cow...) Philadelphia Passion (urgh) beat the Toronto Triumph (yes, like the Insult Comic Dog...) 74-0 playing by the rules, they also beat them outside the rules. Physically. As in: ''fight''.



Girls fighting in lingerie... and helmets. Lose the helmets, throw in a few pillows perhaps?

Ball Handling

I bet she could give a few basketball players some ball-handling lessons... wait, no, that's not how I should have phrased that.

Video Of The Week: Red Hot Chili Peppers

Sure, I made the Red Hot Chili Peppers the Video Of The Week just a short while ago, but The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie is a funky song - and it'll be banging from all the cars and radio stations until winter arrives.

So before we start hating it after too much over-exposure, why not appreciate it for what it is: a much-welcome break from all the rap songs that sample the same fucking 1990 techno beat and/or that Harry Belafonte song, and the shitty auto-tuned pop starlets currently polluting our ears. Yes, all of you.

Enjoy the Peppers on L.A. rooftops, at the beach, marvel at their big-breasted fans (0:52, 1:28) and keep telling yourself ''I can't believe Anthony Kiedis grew a porn mustache!''

Video Thrilled The Kids' Dads

Now I feel like watching kids' shows...

Notice how she starts lifting her ''dress'' up at 2 minutes...

Better Know A Hottie: Karen Waldrup

She was born in Louisianna but practices her craft in Nashville, Tennessee. And she excels at writing country songs so well she was chosen as a finalist in the show Platinum Hit, where judges ranging from Kara DioGuardi to Jewel show young future stars the rudiments of songwriting.

Karen Waldrup is still merely 24 years old and could be country music's next bright, young star. Especially since she's much more pleasant to the eye than Taylor Swift and has that aura of both wisdom and fun.

Look at that spunk! I'd love to have her play on my next record! (before she gets too big...!)

World Cup Endeth

Remember the Women's World Cup (soccer) I was telling you about?

It ended, with Japan defeating the Americans. And many Americans calling the ladies ''chokers''. Hy, silver may be the first loser, but it's also the second winner. Or something.

World Cup Femmes

Alright, raise your hand if you've been following the Women' World Cup of soccer.

No one?

Of course not. On this side of the Atlantic, soccer is less than even a niche sport, it's a distant memory that we were once from another continent, whether it be Europe, South America or Africa. And even for Europeans, women's soccer football is more of an afterthought than a happening.

Which is why the ladies of Team Germany went all-out (well, almost, anyway) and posed for the German version of Playboy: to attract some kind of attention.

Here is what they came up with:

I still haven't watched a game myself, but I am aware that Canada's captain suffered a broken nose and later scored a goal. If that means anything to anyone... but without the German ladies, I might even be unaware of that. So... thanks?

Boob Ben Eager Gets Flashed

Hockey.

You live it, breathe it. You want to stick your face in it.

That's No Moon!

When a website calls itself The Superficial, you're not to expect quality reporting or profound analysis - it's a given.

But a Star Wars reference for a celebrity booty shot? Why the hell not?

A look at Kim Kardashian's bikini butt:

The rest of the pictures - not as much fun - are here.

Women Who Rock: PJ Harvey

First up, Polly Jean Harvey.

Born on October 9th, 1969, this British dynamo has been an important voice in music since the early 1990s with the release of Dry (1992) and Rid Of Me (1993). But she really hit the big time in 1995 with To Bring You My Love and the smash single Down By The Water. It was then that the public realized she also had a habit of changing her musical and fashion styles with just about every release.

In 1996, she released Dance Hall At Louise Point with John Parrish, a critical success if not a commercial one, but the accolades continued with Is This Desire? (1998), the amazing Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea (2000) and Uh Huh Her (2004).

When famed radio presenter John Peel passed away, she released a compilation of her performances on his show as The Peel Sessions 1991-2004 in October of 2006 (including the rare song Naked Cousin from the soundtrack to The Crow: City Of Angels), before the release of her next album, White Chalk (2007).

2009 came along with another collaboration with John Parrish, A Woman A Man Walked By, and two weeks ago she released the terrific Let England Shake.

She is a major artist who releases high-quality stuff regularly, for which she is often recognized in awards ceremonies, as attested by her 3 Mercury Prize nominations (one win, in 2000), 5 Grammy nominations (unusual for a foreign artist), and was named the #1 female artist by Q Magazine in 2002.

On our side of the pond, Rolling Stone magazine named her 1992's Best New Artist and 1995's Artist Of The Year, in addition to naming two of her albums (Rid Of Me and To Bring You My Love) among the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time.

Women Who Rock: Introduction

My original idea was to take advantage of Women's Day and make up a list of ladies in music who kick some major ass. Unfortunately, the problem with that is I'll forget some, be disappointed in myself, and stop blogging forever. And new ones would keep coming up all the time.

Instead, I decided to make this a regular recurring segment.

Nearly half the acts I book for UnPop Montréal have at least one lady as a permanent member. The music I listen to the most often is made by women, although there are none in my 5 favourite acts of all time (Pearl Jam, Cream, The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, and Guns N' Roses).

I assume my contradictions fully.