RANDOM THOUGHT ALERTS!!! (Vol. 2, No. 1)

The irony of the first edition of "RANDOM THOUGHT ALERTS!!!" for 2017 is I'm not leading off with anything about the New Year at all.  Instead, as I often seem to do best, I choose to wax nostalgic.  I'm watching TV one day--surprise, surprise--and see the "Coach Steve" Dr. Pepper commercial featuring the Ol' Ball Coach, Steve Spurrier.  In the midst of essentially tuning him out, my ears instantly perk up to "Stuck with You" by Huey Lewis and the News.  As if I'm Marty McFly hopping in the DeLorean with Doc Brown and hitting 88 MPH, I'm immediately transported to one of the happiest times in my life.  (In my Sophia Petrillo voice) Picture it...Northwest D.C...1985...we're riding in Big Dadi Scribbler's "money" green Cadillac down North Capitol Street on a sunny day and "The Power of Love" is blaring through the speakers as I watch all the cars go by.  Particularly, I see this red 1984 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z pull up beside us--for fellow Hunter fans, it looked like the one Det. Sgt. Dee Dee McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) whipped around--and instantly wish I was old enough to drive it so I could blast Huey Lewis like he's going out of style soon.  So whenever I hear any of his music, especially if I'm watching Back to the Future, I smile one of my big smiles.  Since I know somebody is giving me the Biff Tannen treatment and calling me "Dork Scribbler" by now, let's simply get on with the rest of this madness before I lose additional credibility...

Dirk Scribbler's Guide to Being a 97 Percent Raiders Fan, Part 1

In 2014, a BrainFall quiz titled "Which U.S. City Should You Live In" required answering questions about new restaurant openings, cost of living and favorite topics of discussion, and in my "You Should Live in Los Angeles" result, the summary read:

Perhaps best known for Hollywood, Los Angeles is the perfect place for aspiring artists.  There is no denying it's a playground for the stars, but even before you make your millions in the entertainment industry, you'll still be able to afford a bad-a** burrito.

Nearly three weeks later, I took a PlayBuzz quiz titled "Which American Accent Do You Actually Have" and having to pronounce words like "lawyer" or the trifecta of "Mary, merry and marry", I apparently have a Western accent.  Considering how folks never think I'm from D.C.--I've gotten New York and Philly the most--this explanation made sense of it all:

The west was the last area in the United States to be settled during the westward expansion of English-speaking people and it's full of linguistic patterns from other regions.  Your accent is general that no one knows exactly where you're from.  Your accent is perfect for public speaking, news broadcasting, acting, advertisements, etc.!

As I ponder the music, TV shows, fashion and even the weather toward which I've always gravitated, California has always seemed like the most perfect place on Earth and is the No. 1 state to visit on my bucket list.  Thus, despite being born and raised in Ward 8 D.C. and a fan of Washington's NFL team for the majority of my life, it only makes sense my AFC team (because most NFL fans have a favorite team from the opposite conference) since the mid to late 80s would be the Oakland/Los Angeles/back to Oakland Raiders...

Views from the Nosebleeds: 2016 NFL Wild Card Weekend

Although the NFL is the only one out of the four major North American sports through which you don't have to suffer through at least 82 games a season, die-hard fanatics like myself still look forward to this time of year.  While teams like the Browns, the Jaguars, the Rams, the 49ers and the Bears were long eliminated from the mix, the hard work of twelve teams  has the potential to pay off as they duke it out for a month in the ultimate "let's separate the men from the boys" tournament.  Unlike the NBA, the NHL or MLB, the beauty of the NFL Playoffs is you only get one shot to win or lose.  However, one of the biggest downsides to NFL Wild Card Weekend is the chance for at least one or two blowouts because unless we're talking the 2005 Steelers or the 2010 Packers, the higher-seeded teams usually handle their business.  Unfortunately, none of the games were competitive for longer than two-and-a-half quarters, but I'm still going to discuss them anyway...