Super Bowl 43 or “ex-el-eyeeeeee!” as I like to call it was tonight and while the first three quarters where a snooze-fest for me (not being a Cardinals or Steelers supporter) but the last 20 minutes where pretty good football. Bruce Springsteen was pretty dull to be honest, but his groin-slide into the camera was pretty hilarious. I loved his smug face after it happened. Considering he just tea-bagged America I can say a smirk is somewhat warranted. All said though I am one of those guys that watches the game mostly for the ads.
I have to say the commercials where particularly disappointing with a few exceptions. Everyone had mixed feelings going into it because of the state of the economy and the high cost for the 30-second spots. What was upsetting to me was that the ads that did have the money pumped into them where some of the worst ones there, and the 3D glasses gimmick was atrocious. I will seriously never drink a Sobe product ever again after that monstrosity of a commercial. Go-Daddy lowered even their standards and put out some of the worst ads of the night too, but that was pretty much expected. The best ad of the game goes to the one with the Koala punching (Career Builder) because I was rolling on the floor laughing. Doritos’s get an honorable mention too for the snow globe ad, and the Audi spot with Jason Statham was just awesomely badass (and has me looking forward to the Transporter hitting blu-ray next month).
Sarah and I headed out to THE CITADEL to watch the game with Eric, Coy, Holly and their friends. It was good time with loads of food and good company. Turns out that I was sitting on a packet of Rollos the whole night that Sarah had slipped into my back pocket on the way up to Eric’s apartment. So tomorrow I might be shopping for a new wallet.
I finally finished the canvas I have been promising Eric since before Christmas! The picture is for his condo (aka THE CITADEL) in Arlington, so I wanted to get a DC-flavor to it, especially considering the current décor in the lace has a DC slant to it. I stuck with the basics and did a traditional (for me) color wash with high contrast black and whites on top. Simple and colorful is the way I seem to like to do these things. I’m rather pleased with the way it turned out, hopefully he’ll enjoy it. I wrapped the painting around the sides of the canvas and opted to sign it on the side as well. Overall it’s a nice effect that I think I’ll continue for future canvases. I’ve already had a request for one come in so it’s fair to say that I’ll be doing another one pretty soon. Heading over tomorrow to hang it up.
One of the best parts of the holiday season is the constant flow of holiday parties and gatherings. Spending time with the family is always fun, but throw into the mix social gatherings with co-workers and friends that otherwise tend not to happen in the less festive months and December is always a nice change of pace.
After being at my new job for two weeks Sarah and I went to the company Christmas party which was a lot of fun. One would except that after only meeting people for less than a fortnight, going to a formal party would be a bit difficult. Fortunately that was not the case and we both had a lot of fun. The next day we were tasked with coming up with ugly holiday sweaters for Eric’s annual Christmas Sweater Party at THE CITADEL. I opted to borrow one of Mum’s eclectic teacher waistcoats while Sarah and Melissa decided to craft their own festive attire with various Christmas craft items. It was a lot of fun and getting to see the Arlington crew (as they are now to be dubbed) was much overdue. Unfortunately with the move in full swing at the time we weren’t able to attend Coy and Holly’s Christmas dinner the night after however which was a real shame but unfortunately just not in the cards for us that weekend.
Christmas itself was a whirlwind of family gatherings. With Sarah’s sisters in town, Stefan making his return, Craig visiting, plus all the regular shady characters who we like to call ‘family*’ being around we barely has a moment where we weren’t wrapping gifts, stuffing our faces or spending time with loved ones- you know all the stuff that the holidays are great for. We went out to the Russia House for a delicious Christmas Eve dinner to celebrate everyone being together- promptly followed by the traditional Hunt Family Sheppard’s Pie dinner (somehow I was still able to finish a whole plate at both meals). Christmas day had many stages being at the apartment, my house, Sarah’s house and the customary overeating at two family Christmas dinners.
Two days after Christmas we went down to Re-Ra’s in Clarendon for a surprise welcome home party for Stefan and Greg’s return from overseas. Both families where there in full force as well as all their friends to great them. Greg’s family has it organized that the guys thought that they where going to out to a family dinner with both sets of parents. They where surprised when all of their friends where upstairs in the bar waiting to greet them. It was a fun night.
So January might have its work cut out for it when it comes to matching the variety of after hours entertainment of December… or it might give everyone a chance to rest…maybe do a few crunches and work off the 3rd helping of figgie pudding.
*Sarcasm of course guys. Except you Jake… you’re pretty shady.
Friday night Sarah and I headed down to THE CITADEL to meet up with Eric and a few of his friends. We took a bit of a cop out approach and rehashed our costumes from last year. It’s really no foul though because we never really got to use them properly in Orlando and it’s not as if anyone here had seen them. Don’t tell them. The rest of our group consisted of April O’Neil, 80’s Girl, a giant Taco, and…well whatever it was that Reed decided to call his knight-with-bowtie concoction. We hung around THE CITADEL for a good while before heading down to a couple of places in Clarendon. Afterwards we jumped in on a reservation at Ihop for some late night/early morning eggy-ness. Jackie ended up signing-off Channel 6 a bit early (see picture below- then recognize how awesome our Ninja Turtle references are). Fun night, weather was perfect for it.
When I moved away I knew I was leaving behind a lot of friends and that things wouldn’t ever really be the same when I came back to visit. When it became evident that I was coming home I was excited for everything to be the way it was before I left. Unfortunately that is not the case, what with graduations, jobs and moving taking place in everyone’s lives, not just my own. While I understand this it is sad to think that there probably wont be another chill session in Kevin’s basement, or meeting for brews up at the Auld Shebeen. That said however I was really pleased to hang out with a few of my friends this past weekend out in Arlington (where all the cool kids live these days). Kevin and Alex are rooming together in Ballston, so Sarah and Jevan and I headed out to hang with them for a night, along with Nico and a group their friends who had a birthday amongst them. It was great just to sit around with a DVD on, a case of crappy beers and just shoot the shit with my old friends. Everyone seems so grown up now, (and by that I mean everyone has a collar). It’s great to see everyone making headway in their own life-directions too, but getting to chill with the good-old-boys definitely wins out As my favorite.
On Saturday I headed back out to Arlington to hang with Eric and Coy at THE CITADEL (Eric’s Arlington Condo- always in caps*). We chilled for a bit and did some my of my favorite; reminiscing with the TV on, before heading downtown to Lucky Bar- a pretty cool Welsh Bar in DuPont. We met up with a friend of Coy’s (Chelsea) who was particularly cool, and spent most of the night standing about making fun of ourselves. I ended up crashing at Eric’s and making the drive back in the morning.* Please note that Eric does not necessarily endorse the naming of his condo THE CITADEL…which is why it shalt be named thusly.
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