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    Live from SXSW


    Tuesday
    23Feb2010

    What the hell is a "snow hurricane"?

    Oh hell no.

    We just finally started to thaw out from the Snowpocalypses! (Snowpocalypsi? Snowpocalypso?) And now they're predicting something in the Baltimore area called a "snow hurricane", which sounds as terrifying as it does silly.

    Tonight, I did what I did during the last snowfall and checked in with Foot's Forecast (a site that really needs its own iPhone app, if only for my own personal convenience). Forecaster Foot and his weather posse (if they don't call themselves that, they should) are really good at delivering the facts with just the right about of humor, and forego the sensationalism in which our local TV affiliates seem to indulge. (Example: "IT IS STILL SNOWING DEATH FLAKES FROM CLOUDS OF DOOM, WITH A BLIZZARD FROM SATAN'S FREEZER ON THE WAY, AND THIS TIME IT'S COMING AFTER YOUR CHILDREN. More after these messages." I'm paraphrasing.)

    The bottom line of the forecast is this: Baltimore might catch the southernmost tip of this next storm which has the potential to be pretty severe north and east of the city. We might catch somewhere in the neighborhood of five inches, but nobody really knows for certain right now. The National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Watch that starts tomorrow night and extends to Thursday night.

    Compared to what we just went through, five inches of snow doesn't seem like much.

    According to AccuWeather.com, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York better hold on tight:

    Stay tuned, folks. This just got real-er. Again.

    Tuesday
    23Feb2010

    The Year of Adventure at home 

    2010 is going to be packed with trips, global events, new technology, great sports, and lots of cool stuff I'm sure I don't even know about yet.

    But it all starts right here, at home in Baltimore.

    March 6 - My 30th Birthday

    I will be 30 years old in less than two weeks.

    I just had to see that sentence written out. Granted, this is much more of an adventure for me than it is for anybody else, but it's a big event nonetheless. Truthfully, I'm pretty stoked to be entering my thirties. It's like reaching a new level, a place where I can take all the things I learned in my twenties and apply to a brand-new, awesome decade. Some people might call it "growing up", but I prefer my description.

    April 9 - Opening Day for the Orioles

    Another year, another baseball season for my Baltimore Orioles. No, we're not expecting this to be a record-shattering year for the birds. No, most fans aren't making plans for the playoffs. Many people doubt the team will even have a winning record. But, season after wretched season, we have Opening Day, the day when we all rally behind the Orioles, when the slate is wiped clean and a brand-new baseball season stretches out before the team and the city of Baltimore, they day we halfway expect for all the tumblers to fall into place, for the team to come together as a cohesive unit, and rack up the wins. Even if we lose our optimism for every proceeding game, even if Camden Yards is mostly empty in August, we'll always have the magic of Opening Day.

    Grad School

    In May, I will finish my first year in the Creative Writing and Publishing Arts MFA program at the University of Baltimore. So far, I love this program. It's motivating me to write more and sparking all kinds of great ideas. I'm channeling my thoughts and ideas about the future of publishing into honest-to-goodness schoolwork. Plus, I'm surrounded by talented and friendly people who provide a seemingly limitless supply of creative fuel.

     

    Tuesday
    23Feb2010

    I declare 2010 the Year of Adventure

    That's Krafty on the bass and me on guitar, singing.

    Whether or not it was welcome to everyone, 2010 started off as a very adventurous for pretty much everybody in the mid-Atlantic region when we received more snow in a single season than we've ever seen before. Harrowing as it sometimes was, it was still exciting to see three feet of snow stacked on everything in the city, and sidewalks dug out in long ice canyons along the road.

    There was something thrilling about being stuck in the neighborhood, weathering the storm. When the sun came out, so did the people of Hampden who walked their dogs, went sledding down 37th street, and packed the bars and restaurants. Most people, it seemed, were making the best of it. So many people found fun in the face of an emergency. Though it took me a week to move my car from the ski slope that used to be my street (which also meant a week away from work without pay), it was nice to have time to spend watching the storm, with friends, at the bars, or a combination of all three.

    A week after the storm, I played a reunion show with my close friends Josh and Matt in our old college band, Three Track Mind. It was amazing to play the old songs, our first show in six years, and catch up with a huge number of friends who braved the ice to see us perform. It was a wonderful, touching night all around.

    Last night, I looked at my calendar and was astonished at the exciting chain of events still to come. So, I'm officially declaring 2010 the Year of Adventure, and I plan on using this site as a way to document as much of it as I can through blog posts, photos, podcasts, and video.

    Over the next few days, I'll highlight some of the big events I'm looking forward to. I was going to put it all into one post, but I realized halfway through that it was going to be a really long one.

    Are you having a Year of Adventure, too?

    Tuesday
    23Feb2010

    Live blogging space shuttle Endeavour's landing at Kennedy Space Center

    10:37 - P.S. ICE DANCING? REALLY?

    10:23 - Great landing, great mission. Kudos to STS-130!

    10:21 - Did they say that its approach was 20 times faster and seven times steeper than a commercial airline landing? Yeesh!

    10:21 - On CNN, they've apparently already landed safely. I guess this web stream is close enough to real time for government work!

    10:20 - Endeavour: "Runway in sight." Ohboyohboyohboyohboy!

    10:19 - The first grainy night vision camera shot! Oh wait... it's just showing other camera crews for some reason. That's government camera work for you!

    10:16 - It just occurred to me that more Americans are watching ice dancing than a group of their fellow Americans on the way back home from freaking outer space.

    10:12 - Houston: "It's a beautiful night to land in Florida." Aww.

    10:11 - The outline of Florida on Mission Control's monitor looks like something out of Tron.

    10:09 - Wait, 13,000 miles per hour? That's... insane! 12 minutes to touchdown.

    10:03 - Endeavour is on its way to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Right now it's less than 18 minutes to touchdown and about to pass over Central America, flying at 13,000 miles per hour. Yowza!

    Tuesday
    23Feb2010

    It's time for (fantasy) baseball

    I love baseball. From the chilly opening week to the oppressively hot last games (no matter how horribly my Baltimore Orioles play), I love watching the sport.

    Last season was rough. The Orioles just didn't come together as a team, and to add insult to injury, the stupid Yankees for jerks won the World Series.

    Some think (and vocalize on Twitter) that fantasy baseball is the most boring thing in the world. To me, it's a sign that spring is just around the corner. And as we slowly melt our way through two feet of snow and ice here in Charm City (with rumors that more might be heading our way next week), I can use all the signs of spring I can get.

    And when you love a team that plays so horribly, rooting for a fantasy team helps add some joy to what would otherwise be a miserable season.

    The first spring workouts start this week, and I've set up a fantasy baseball team on Yahoo. If fantasy baseball is your thing, or if you'd like to give it a try, I invite you to the official league of The Gavin Show.

    The league ID is 262008 and the password is "yankeessuck" because, well, they do, champs or not. (Baseball fan logic doesn't have to make sense.)

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