Quickie

Alright tonight will be quick because I got home late... We will go back to the favorites theme tomorrow, but tonight I have to share a really cool moment.

Tonight was my daughter's last softball game of the season. And after the game all the girls got individual participation trophies. But they also gave two special awards, one for Mental Toughness and another for Most Improved. Caeleigh got named Most Improved and I am such softy I almost started to cry (what a wuss, right?). Its so funny, how your child's accomplishments can provide such joy... This is my favorite moment for quite sometime.

Favorite Things - Vegas Style

My new mission is to blog everyday for the next 25 days. Why? Because I have not been blogging as much as I had been and I thought maybe by challenging myself, I will be able to rise to the mission at hand. To accomplish this goal I am going to go all Oprah and theme these blogs as my favorite things. Each day will be a list of my favorite things. So I hope my loyal reader (I refuse to believe I have multiple readers) like finding out all of my favorite things over the next 25 days... if not, check back 26 days from now.

First topic on our Reavo favorite’s tour is my favorite things about my favorite vacation city… Las Vegas!

The Flamingo – My first trip to Vegas was for Joe Taylor’s bachelor party and we stayed at the Flamingo and it has a special place in my heart to this day. Yes, I have stayed at much nicer hotels (Mirage, Caesar’s and Green Valley Ranch) since that maiden Vegas voyage, but there is something about the place Bugsy built that I really love. I just can’t figure out what that smell is in the casino.

The Ellis Island Steak Special – The best deal in Las Vegas in my opinion is this bad boy. Ellis Island Brewpub is connected to a very interesting (and by interesting I mean depressing and scary) little casino adjoining the Vegas Super 8. Now don’t let that scare you off of this place because for $4.99 this dump serves up a 10-ounce filet-cut steak, served with salad, vegetable, potato, garlic bread, rolls and a beer. Holla! This is a must for any guy’s trip. Is it a great steak? No, but I didn’t get mad cow disease or food poisoning there either, so I got that going for me.

The Bellagio Fountains – Greatest free Vegas attraction, enough said.

Fat Elvis at the hotel formerly known as Barbary Coast – First off THFKABC is my favorite place to gamble on the strip (I refuse to call it by its new name, so like Prince did back in the day I call it the hotel formerly known as Barbary Coast or THFKABC for short). It is a charming little joint with nice dealers and reasonable gambling limits. But the super secret awesome feature that THFKABC has is it’s afternoon Elvis Impersonator known as; you guessed it, Fat Elvis. Another must see and it is free, a rarity in today’s Vegas.

Sahara Poker Room – Not the classiest or best smelling poker room on the strip (by a long shot), you are probably wondering how it made my list. Well it is by far the luckiest for Mr. Reaves. In fact I won the 11:00pm tourney here a few years back. So to recap, this place smells nasty, has rude dealers and cocktail serve is lousy, but I will go back every trip to LV in the hopes of lightning striking twice.

Snackus Maximus – This is the pool side snack shop at Caesar’s Palace, the food is alright, but reason it make the list is its name… It does not get better than Snackus Maximus.

And there you have it... Reavo's Favorite's Vegas Style.

Cubs Sweep the Sox

Quick hit here... The Cubs are putting the sweep on the White Sox tonight and I love it... God Bless the USA and the Cubs. All Sox fans are dirt bags in general and should be ashamed of themselves. That's really all I have to say about that.

The Real "Crazy" World

I admit it folks, I was ready to give up on the Real World. I was ready to throw in the towel on my old TV friend. Ah but then the crafty folks at Bunim/Murray Productions (the production company behind the Real World/ Road Rules Universe) unleashed Real World Hollywood. Just when I thought I was out they pulled me back in!

The new season of the RW is truly a carnival of TV madness. Whoever cast this edition of the RW deserves a fat raise because I guarantee they had to hang out at some pretty strange places to find this group of morons and nut jobs.

The all star of this loony bin is Joey… Joey is a body-builder who would like to be an actor. Joey is also an alcoholic with some serious rage issues. I know, let’s put this ticking time bomb on a reality TV show surrounded by alcohol and panty-droppers. Brilliant! The thing I find most disconcerting about crazy Joey is the he has this hulking body, but a very small almost miniature size head. On top of have a pea sized cranium and some serious crazy eyes , Joey does this thing with his hair were he spikes it straight up in the air with massive quantities of hair gel. He looks a little like the Slim Jim Guy (not the Macho Man).

The other character that has made this season exceptional is Greg. Greg won an internet contest to join the cast, so he dubbed himself the chosen one. This aspiring male model (not enough of those in the world) does not have girlfriends, instead he has associate females. This guy is pure comedy; he loves to pull “pranks” on the other roommates. For example he put rocks in another roommate’s bed and stole a female roomies underwear. Those are some ingenious “pranks”… watch out Ashton, dude may be trying to steal your gig.

Here is the rub, these two are so awesome (truly train-wreck TV) the that rest of the cast is just window dressing and their characters have been totally neglected other than supporting the story lines of the two lead knuckle heads (Roomies unite in hatred of Greg and unite in fear and then later support of Joey). All this would be fine except both these idiots left the show last week! Greg got “fired” from the cast "job" (yeah doing an improv class was so tough this guy kept blowing it off) and Joey left because he could not handle staying clean around the rest of these drunks.

So what to do now? I mean without the stars, the last few episodes are going to be really disappointing unless you enjoy watching Sarah put on makeup or sleep (this chick may want to get checked for narcolepsy). I guess I just have to wait for these two to premiere on the next RW/RR Challenge.

Cat Killer

It’s funny the wacky shiz you remember from your childhood. I remember my third birthday I had a wicked Cookie Monster Cake. I recall being royally POed that ET got beat by Gandhi for best picture of the year. And I definitely remember crushing big time on Kim Fields, Tootie from Facts of Life fame, back in the day. Tootie if you are out there, you missed out because as you can see below I have moves.





Back to the topic at hand...But the one thing I have heard about, but don’t remember is the day I killed a cat. Hold your horses PETA freaks. When I was a wee lad of three years of age (yes I remember the Cookie Monster cake that same year, but not taking a feline life, sue me) my mother and I came to visit my Grandparents in Indy and we brought our new cat with us. Now the way my Moms tell this story, this cat was a hellcat. This kitty would claw the heck out of my mom in the middle of the night and was generally kind of a d-bag (can a cat be a d-bag?).


Well long story short (too late) I guess I was a chunk as a toddler and a clumsy chunk at that… I was watching Sonny and Cher with my Mom and I rolled right of the couch. Question? What the hell kind of parenting is that? I know, where is child welfare when you need them? Anyway as I rolled my happy arse back up on the couch, I apparently had some blood on my super sweet PJ’s. My Granny asked my Moms if I was OK (Maybe she should have asked before my mother let roll off the couch like a freaking weeble-wobble?) because she saw the blood. Well you guessed it; I fell on the cat and crushed the poor kitty like a beer can at a fraternity party.


The next day I woke up and wanted to play with my cat and Grandpa told me that the cat had bolted after being taken to the Doctor for treatment of a stomach ache. I guess I was not very sharp at three because I bought that happy horse crap.


When I was in High School my Mom filled me in on the real scoop. I am sorry Mr. Cat… So sorry, I barely knew you. RIP.

Oh Mother

Well Mothers Day was a few weeks ago and I have been thinking recently how lucky I got in the Mom Lottery. For reals (I am feeling very street tonight… been watching too much of the Wire, I guess) basically there is a parent lottery and you end up jackpotting like me or end up coming up craps like one of those poor Spears kids.

Why is my Moms (damn Wire) so dope? Well first my Mom always, I mean without exception put my needs in front of her own. I never needed for anything. Sure, maybe I did not get everything I ever wanted, but I always had anything I needed and I usually got everything I wanted as well. Heck she ponied up a Wii for the family this year.

But it’s not about getting nice things; it’s about exposing to so many of the things I love today. The summer before my sixth grade year, my Mom felt like I was up to no good (she was probably right) and she decided was going to try to get me interested in something beside laying around and watching Different Strokes (love that Arnold Jackson). So she read The Stand to me aloud, two to three chapters per night. To this day it is by far my favorite book. I reread this book myself any time I hit a rough patch or feel like I need to be reground. I owe this to Mom.

My mom exposed me to raw cookie dough (way before it came in packages), Psycho, To Kill a Mockingbird, the British version of the Office, my first trip to Graceland and so many other things that have made my life richer today.

I got my sense of humor from my Mom and most importanly she is the one person that will call me on my BS.

I am very lucky indeed.

Reavo's Strange Likes

First off I realized pretty early on in my life that I have some pretty, how shall we say… interesting likes, others might deem them strange. I find beauty in things many others don’t. I also have a well defined taste palate; enjoying food and tasty treats others with less developed palates might miss the pure deliciousness.

So here are a few of what some people may refer to as “my strange likes”.

Candy Circus Peanuts –Some find them gross, others find them disgusting. Me, I love them. I love them stale and hard. I love them fresh and soft. I love the smell as you bust open a new bag. In 7th grade I ate a whole bag and made myself puke… doesn't matter like a girl that treats you poorly I always come back for more.

R Kelly – Some find him gross, others find him disgusting. Me, I find him to be a pure genius. Yes I know he has may have made some interesting choices where to urinate recently, but dude is a pure lyrical showman. My personal favorite is the Ignition remix.

Logan’s Run- OK I can’t use the gross disgusting line here, but many people find Logan’s Run to be a really boring 70’s sci-fi movie. Me, I see a masterpiece. Sure it moves a bit slow, but it is a great concept and is 70’s kitsch at its finest. However, this one maybe the my fanboy coming out.

Dawson’s Creek – Many may find it a little nuts for a straight man in his mid 30’s to profess his love for a show whose target audience is teenage girls, but if loving Dawson's Creek is wrong I don't wanna be right! I am proud to say I love it (for the record I also like Degrassi as well, classic and the new generation… yeah for real). Weird? Maybe, but I love the Pacey/Joey/Dawson love triangle of season 3. I loved the show because I hated Dawson, so rooting for Pacey to win the heart of the pre-robot Katie Holmes, became good sport. It was a well written (excluding the boring year in college) piece of teenage melodrama that I miss each time a see a crap filled commercial for One Tree Hill.

So those are just a few of my strange likes…

Loose Ends

OK a couple of loose ends to tie up here my loyal readers…

I have yet another new guilty pleasure, The Paper on MTV. This new reality show instant classic chronicles the inter-workings of a southern California high school newspaper. The show does an excellent job showcasing the true experience of a high school geek squad. Now I was never on my high school newspaper staff… I was way too cool for that.

No, Repertory Theater and Radio and TV class were my personal geek calling cards. But back to the Paper, the thing that makes it a great show is that these kids take the newspaper so seriously. You can also pick out each of the characters from your own high school experience. I went to a school with a girl (HG if you are reading this it’s you!) that is a dead ringer for the lead character Amanda. So if you get a chance throw a glance at the Paper, you won’t be disappointed.

On to other things…

American Idol – Oh what to do about the new singing Elmo doll – David Archamakemewannapuke. I cannot stand this kid.

Scramble – My new addiction is wearing out, I still enjoy a game here and there but the magic is gone I fear.

GI Joe – Good news fellow fanboys… There will be a live action GI Joe movie… Roadblock, Duke and the rest of the Joes will be hitting the screen next summer! Yo Joe! Yeah you guessed it I had a wicked collections of GI Joes back in the day.

That’s it for now…

Operation Sneaky Tooth Fairy

Recently my wife and I had to attempt a covert operation under the cover of darkness. My daughter CJ had been an absolute nightmare for like a week because her front top right tooth was loose. CJ is the kind of kid that is a dream to be around 90% of the time, but man if she is sick or God forbid has a loose tooth… Katie bar the door, it is time for trauma-drama!

So this tooth was so loose that every breath would move it. Literally the tooth was swinging in the breeze. CJ would absolutely not let us pull it out. She was refusing to eat because her tooth was bothering her, so that compounded her already horrible mood. One morning CJ came in our bed room before school crying and said she look “ridiculous” with a loose tooth lisp, but still would not touch her tooth. I had finally had enough. I was like Joe Don Baker in Walking Tall; I needed to take matters into my own hands.

That night after CJ went to bed it was time to put my plan in action. The insurgent tooth, had to be deal with… it was time for Operation Sneaky Tooth Fairy! I got the flashlight and tiptoed in to CJ room. The glow of my flashlight illuminated CJ’s powdered blue walls, I slowed my breath like GI Joe solider Duke on a mission behind Cobra enemy lines. I was so freaking stealth that CJ did not stir as I made my way towards her bed. I was there, it was the moment of truth; the tooth and I were going to do battle. I moved her upper lip slightly and I barley grazed the loose bugger. That was all it took, the tooth was out in an instance. But… oh no… where had it gone? I could not find the tooth. At that point it was time to call in reinforcements, the wife. I told my wife she needed to go and find the tooth, I was afraid CJ might choke on it or something. The problem is my wife could not stop laughing. So she and I are standing in my daughter’s room, try to regain our composure before completing the mission. Finally my wife pulled herself together and rescued the tooth from CJ bottom lip.

Operation Sneaky Tooth Fairy was completed successfully and the next morning we had our sweetheart back. Can you say Father of the Year?

Nothing mini about the Mini

Recently I embarked on a new challenge. The Indianapolis Mini Marathon! I have thought about doing this for years, but always thought why pay $55 dollars to be miserable? I am miserable most days for free. But this year I decided what the heck, you only live once (unless you buy Shirley MacLaine’s take on things) lets do it.

What was I thinking?

Now most folks who sign up for these 13.1 miles of hell, train for months to prepare for the big day, me, not so much. Originally I had delusions of running this monstrosity. Then I remembered, I run like I am tied to a tree. So walking seemed like a more logical choice for this broken down old body.

There are some very nice ladies that I work with that offered to let me train with them, but I was always otherwise detained when they were conducting their training sessions. Activities, such as Wii, Scramble, blogging and sleep all took precedent to training. This is not to say I did not train at all, but not nearly enough. I topped out at eight miles during my training, never getting close to the 13.1 I was going to need to complete this chamber of horrors.

I was frightened the morning of the Mini that would not be able to keep up with sub 18 minute pace needed to avoid the loser bus. Yes if you don’t maintain that 18 minute pace, they pull you from the road and make you get on a bus. Oh the horror!

Well I rode down to the Mini with the marathon vets from work that had offered to let me train. They were calm and relaxed, but I was a bundle of nerves. What had I gotten myself in to? As I walked in to corral X I was looking for an escape from this madness. But alas there was no escape; I was going to have to do this.

As I crossed the starting line with two of my co-workers I was filled with adrenaline! I could do this. In fact when one of my fellow walkers started to run, I did as well! Yeah let’s run this whole thing I thought, who needed training? Then we came to our senses and slowed down, this was half marathon after all.

I was fine until mile three. My partners decided we would run at the end of the miles… well as we got to mile three I ran. I turned to see where my partners were and BAM I went down like Tonya Harding had taken me out. Except my Tonya Harding was my own lack of coordination. I got up and dusted myself off; I was no worse for wear.

Other than my brush with ground, I was fine until I hit the mile nine. Every step from mile nine and 12 was utter hell. Each step hurt immensely, my feet bottoms felt like I was walking on broken glass. I was getting cold chills and I had to use the bathroom.

Then I hit mile 12. I realized I was going to finish… I could do it. I told myself over and over, just finish and you will never ever make this mistake again. Just finish it this once you can say you did it and then be done with it forever.

Crossing the finish line was unbelievable! I even ran the last 1/ 4 mile. I could not believe I was finally done… in 3 hours and 20 minutes. I was able to keep a 15 minute pace, which is not too bad for my lack of real training.

Now the crazy part… I can’t wait for next year.