http://www.loupickney.com/ Official homepage for writer/producer Lou Pickney http://www.loupickney.com/comm/december2007/12282007.shtml In a few short hours, I'll be on the road to Memphis with my bro Matt. We're heading to the Liberty Bowl, which will be my first bowl game to attend since January 1998. In that case, it was the Orange Bowl: Tennessee vs. Nebraska. I went down to Miami with three Nebraska fans (my friends Lance, Chad, and Kenny from WEHT), had my one and only experience with a South Florida strip club (very nice), and proceeded to see Nebraska destroy UT. As if Miami to Evansville isn't a long enough drive, I had to hear about it the entire way back. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/december2007/12192007.shtml I've watched the new ABC game show series Duel with great interest. I talked with producers via e-mail about appearing on the program, though they ultimately decided not to fly me out to Los Angeles for it. It's too bad; I think I would have done quite well on the show. I appreciate ABC promoting the program via advertising on Draft King, though I would have watched (and written about it) regardless. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/december2007/12142007.shtml Busy season is upon me with my work with Draft King. I've put a considerable amount of effort into getting that website to where it needs to be, even at the expense of this site and others that I run, but it's been well worth it to give it as strong of an opportunity as possible to succeed. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/november2007/11302007.shtml It looks like this Sunday I'll be going to the Titans/Texans game with my friend Brian Cart. I've known Brian since I was in the first grade, and much to my discredit, I haven't hung out with him since I moved back to Nashville in April. He is in a different spot than I am, being married with three kids, but still he and I go back a long, long way and I look forward to the experience. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/november2007/11212007.shtml Today I received payment for a pair of Bucs tickets that I sold on eBay (for less than face value, I'm embarrassed to admit), which meant that I needed to get to the post office before 4:30 to mail them off. No problem, right? Guess again. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/november2007/11192007.shtml Taking I-40, you can get from Nashville to Little Rock in about 350 miles. And, with it being all interstate driving, that's not too bad. However, to get everyone together for the trip, the crew that went to the Arkansas/Mississippi State game met up in Aberdeen, MS, which took us well out of our way. But the trip also allowed us to see areas of Tennessee and Mississippi that I'd never visited before, and to that end I was happy. Visiting new places for the first time can be a great adventure; you never know what you'll find. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/november2007/11182007.shtml I'm back in Nashville (Smyrna) following a whirlwind, breakneck trip to Mississippi and Arkansas. Here are a few thoughts from the dark side of the moon; the fun stories from the trip will come tomorrow. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/november2007/1162007.shtml I've written on here about my experiences with migraine headaches and the hellish effects they can have on me. Feedback on this has been interesting, with people from all sorts of associations with me (and a few strangers) writing to share their migraine misadventures with me. Their candor is most appreciated. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/november2007/1112007.shtml Wow, was that last article I wrote on here from a deep, dark place or what? Sometimes I get like that, especially low on sleep and after a few drinks. It's true, every bit of it, but it's not the sort of thing I typically generate. Perhaps it's the whole trying to stay positive and upbeat thing, I dunno. But, as I once told my friend Scott Massey, "That was a shoot!" http://www.loupickney.com/comm/october2007/10312007.shtml The college crowd of today wouldn't know it, but I remember a song by Semisonic that was blatantly ripped off for a project by a girl in one of my Writing classes when I was a student at the University of Evansville. No, not the song quoted, but another from the same disc. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/october2007/10262007.shtml This is shaping up to be a fun weekend. Tonight my friend Gary Graham (of 2003 Las Vegas trip fame) is flying in from Florida to hang out here for the weekend and to go to the Titans/Raiders game this Sunday. It should be a good time. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/october2007/10202007.shtml You might think that working at home for the past two weeks would have given me more latitude to crank out website entries, but that would be an incorrect assumption. I've been putting enough energy into Draft King, with not only the writing but also the planning and thinking of what it's going to take to make it work, that additional time to write has been limited. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/october2007/1042007.shtml I reached an agreement this past week with a company called Fantasy Sports Ventures to provide advertising for DraftKing.com, my nearly five year old foray into the world of the NFL Draft. It started as a sub-page on this site, and the overwhelming volume of traffic lead to me moving it to its own URL. And now? It'll be my major source of income. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/september2007/9272007.shtml In a major move, I am leaving Adenus Technologies effective Friday, October 5 to work on my website development on a full-time basis. I've been treated well in the duration of my time at Adenus, and I will miss my co-workers. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/september2007/9172007.shtml I have the hookup for the Yahoo! Mash beta, for any of you who might be interested. So far it looks like a poor man's Facebook without any sort of user base, but it is early in the development process. This past weekend was eventful, as it was my first ever trip to Auburn, Alabama. My bro Matt is a Mississippi State grad, and M-State had a football game on Saturday down there, so we had a tangible reason to make the trip.. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/september2007/9162007.shtml It's been an eventful weekend, but I'll have the wrap on that soon, hopefully tomorrow, in its own stand-alone article. I'm sunburned and exhausted, but it was well worth it. The fact that I haven't posted in the past two weeks should serve as some indication as to how busy I've been. Between the start of football season, work, a bout with bronchitis, etc., it has been one thing after another. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/september2007/922007.shtml I love the gym where I work out; they recently added more Precor machines there, meaning they have all modern-style machines on the front row that I like to use. It may seem strange for me to prefer the kind with the moving arm-levers (which I don't utilize in my workout), but I like the newer machines because they have handles on the front, which so far have prevented the iPod accidents I used to have with the older models. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/august2007/8312007.shtml I seem to have found myself in a curious spot, loaded with free time and nothing big pressing on the schedule. The time was blocked out ahead of time with the thought that I'd be going to Huntington, WV this weekend, but with Velvet out of commission that trip received a big CANCELED stamp. What's more, Matt and Dustin went to Starkville to see LSU's massacre of Mississippi State last night, so right now it's me against the world. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/august2007/8242007.shtml You only turn 30 once, and for me that experience was a fun one. This past weekend was an absolute blast and certainly exceeded my hopes and expectations -- even if I didn't have the juice to crank it as long as some people would have liked, particularly on Friday night. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/august2007/8242007.shtml Here I am at that big signpost that says "30". Hmm. Funny, I feel the same, but here I am. At 29 you're hanging on; you hit 30 and you're over into the next bracket. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/august2007/8222007.shtml The clock is ticking -- on Friday I turn 30. It's hard for me to believe. Time flies. On the upside, it should be an eventful weekend. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/august2007/8212007.shtml I don't know how much I've written about this, but I've been reading an incredible book titled The Art of Seduction by Robert Greene. It's a fascinating look at emotion, behavior, and human nature. I promise you, if you read that book, you'll never look at life the same way again. It's captivating, and it uses many stories from history to give real-life examples (and applications) of the tenants instructed within. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/august2007/8162007.shtml It was 30 years ago today that Elvis Presley died. The idea that 50,000 people will visit Graceland to commemorate the date is a testament to the bizarre nature of human hero worship. But, for me, this date means that the shadow of 30 has almost crossed my path; the lid is about to be shut on me as a twenty-something. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/august2007/8152007.shtml I've been busy the past week or so putting together (and executing) a radio spot for The Karg Boys, the great band that my friends Rich and Andy Karg have. They put together a really good song called "In My Book" that I think is outstanding, and you can get it for free if you sign up with the promo code. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/august2007/852007.shtml Barry Bonds tied Hank Aaron's MLB home run record last night. He'll probably break it this week at home in San Francisco. But it's not without controversy; drugs aside, Bonds is a colossal prick, and he is never going to be an ambassador for the game of baseball or for MLB as an organization. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/august2007/822007.shtml My deepest sympathies go out to the victims and families of those impacted by the bridge collapse in Minneapolis, MN yesterday. The Sunshine Skyway bridge collapse in 1980 was more than 20 years in the past by the time I moved to Tampa in April 2001, but people who lived through it in the area still talked about it with the hushed reverence that only the worst of disasters bring, even through the end of my run in Florida last year. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/july2007/7292007.shtml There have been some great songs that I've been privy to catch well ahead of the U.S. pop culture curve in the past year, everything from "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse to "Nothing Left To Lose" by Mat Kearney. To my discredit, I've not written about these songs with the earnest they deserve (especially early on), despite having what I consider to be a good ear for music that has breakthrough potential. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/july2007/7102007.shtml Last Thursday morning I arrived in Tampa via Southwest Airlines, my carrier of choice. Low cost, direct connection to most major destinations I want to visit, and friendly service. Plus, with my window seat and Dramamine/Xanax cocktail, I slept through the flight, which is the way I like it. Fall asleep in one place and wake up hundreds of miles away -- I can dig it. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/july2007/792007.shtml Several weeks ago, my friend Matt Sieracki appeared on Millionaire; he e-mailed me with a heads-up a week before his appearance, on which he won $8,000. In looking for the airtime for the first-run shows here in Nashville (Sinclair runs the show in two timeslots on two different stations here), I discovered that the show was going to be holding tryouts in a few cities... including Tampa. I was overdue for a visit to the Tampa area, and the tryout provided a great excuse to go down there. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/july2007/742007.shtml My brother Matt and I watched the Nathan's Coney Island hot dog eating contest today on ESPN. Part freak show, part grotesque endurance test, the event is now an annual tradition that is carried live on the largest sports cable network in North America. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/june2007/6262007.shtml I've had a few people e-mail me to find out my take on the tragic death of Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy, and his son Daniel. Investigators are calling it a double murder-suicide perpetrated by Chris Benoit, which is incomprehensible since that goes against all normal human instinct. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/june2007/6212007.shtml Tomorrow my Uncle Bill is getting married, and I plan to attend the wedding. This is Bill's first marriage, and I'm certainly happy for him. Picking 10 a.m. on a Friday for a wedding is a bit odd, but it's his wedding and he can have it whenever he wants. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/june2007/6122007.shtml One upside of my move to Nashville has been getting into a habit of hitting the gym regularly. That has allowed me some great thinking time, alone with my iPod and whatever happens to be on TV. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/june2007/652007.shtml Have you seen the latest commercial for the allergy medicine Claritin that shows a horse racing jockey? It's amusing to note that, in the commercial, the jockey is holding a whip during the race... but he never hits the horse with it. Would there have been backlash if he had been shown whipping the animal? I mean, it's not like there's a big hubbub about it in the Triple Crown, and it's carried on TV. I understand that Claritin wouldn't want to be associated with animal abuse, but once you notice the whip in the ad, it's hard to ignore. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/june2007/632007.shtml It took a little bit of prodding, but I ended up hitting up the D-Street (or D-Skreet, as you might hear it pronounced in this dojo) scene last night. The participants: my bro Matt, Turbo (Dustin), Dunski (Jon), Kyle, and a new guy in the mix named Jimmy. Jimmy rode with Matt and I, and he was a cool new addition; he grew up in Ft. Lauderdale, so we swapped Florida stories. We also reached the consensus that A.J. Soprano on The Sopranos is quite possibly the biggest puss of a character in television history. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/may2007/5312007.shtml This past Memorial Day weekend I returned to Huntington, WV to visit my friend Velvet. And, just like New Year's weekend when I went there, I had a blast. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/may2007/5182007.shtml I arrived home from work today to find one of my roommates, Dustin, playing some old school NBA Street, the original version for the PS2 (that I bought directly from EA in June 2001). Unfortunately for Dustin, my memory cards for the PS2 were under the house, and him not knowing where they were (combined with his phobia of spiders) prevented him from being able to play on my saved game. I went under the house and procured the memory cards, so at least he'll have them for later. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/may2007/5122007.shtml If you haven't seen the Golden State Warriors play basketball this NBA post-season, you've missed out on a fun brand of ball that is extremely enjoyable to watch. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/may2007/5102007.shtml I'm on the comeback trail from being sick, using the power of Zithromax (an old friend of mine, as longtime readers might recall) to fight an infection that left me coughing, hacking, and generally feeling terrible for the past three days. After taking off Monday (travel day) and Tuesday (dentist appointment), I had to miss work yesterday and today due to being sick. I really wanted to get in there today in particular, but I would've been pretty much worthless because of how I felt. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/may2007/582007.shtml This past weekend I went to Memphis to take part in the fun and revelry of the Beale Street Music Festival. An annual tradition, the event featured a boatload of great bands and certainly lived up to the hype. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/may2007/542007.shtml I've been in Nashville (technically Smyrna, in Nashville's eastern suburbs) for almost two weeks now, and this is my first post since my move. Why? I've been busy, for sure, but a whole new living arrangement has changed many day-to-day habits. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/april2007/4232007.shtml Moving can be a brutal, back-breaking, psychologically and physically draining process. And, for me in my move back to Nashville after almost 12 years, that was certainly the case. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/april2007/4182007.shtml My deepest sympathies go out to the friends and family of the victims of Monday's Virginia Tech massacre. No one deserves the pain that the people there had to suffer, both at the time of the attack(s) and dealing with the tragedy in the aftermath. Hang in there, Blacksburg. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/april2007/492007.shtml If you haven't heard of Amy Winehouse, you should. She's a British singer that my friend Mickie (who I've known since my freshman year of college) told me about awhile back who is starting to get some mainstream exposure. Winehouse's song "Rehab" is stuck in my head right now. Think 60s pop/soul mixed with Portishead and a sensual, authentic, heartfelt stage presence. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/april2007/482007.shtml There is one golf tournament every year that I thoroughly enjoy watching: The Masters. Maybe I'm buying into the CBS propaganda. Maybe the green jackets mesmerize me. Maybe the intentionally limited commercial interruptions appeal to me. But, whatever the appeal is, I tuned in for all of the coverage on CBS today. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/april2007/462007.shtml If you haven't heard, ESPN radio talk show host Colin Cowherd has stirred up controversy -- and possibly broken federal law -- by making a call to action for his listeners to flood the website TheBigLead.com in what could be considered a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/april2007/432007.shtml Congratulations to Florida for winning their second straight basketball national championship last night. I knew that this meant we'd hear from Joakim Noah, who is solid gold on the mic. He reminds me a bit of pro wrestler Konnan cutting a promo, only Noah isn't saying things to "draw heat" -- he's speaking his mind. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/april2007/412007.shtml I had a nice plan drawn up to send out an April Fool's e-mail to friends claiming that Namco was suing Adam "Pac-Man" Jones for trademark infringement by using the Pac-Man name... but for whatever reason, I decided against it. Maybe I just wasn't in a prankish mood. Though I did go far enough to discover (via the link above) that the original name of the game was Puck-Man, which was changed because of fear of vandals changing the P to an F. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/march2007/3262007.shtml Early this evening I was resting on my bed, listening to my Sirius radio, when my Verizon cell phone rang. At this point not that many people have the number. I looked at the ID on the call -- it was from home. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/march2007/3242007.shtml This morning I finally watched the movie Lucky Number Slevin, which I rented a week ago yesterday from Blockbuster... and the movie proved to be very entertaining. I picked it up on a whim, based on one good recommendation that I heard awhile back (and I don't even remember who made the recommendation), but I was very pleasantly surprised. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/march2007/3232007.shtml It hasn't been the easiest of weeks for me; punctuating that was when, as I played World of Warcraft on Wednesday night, my computer suddenly froze up and gave me the dreaded Microsoft "Blue Screen of Death." http://www.loupickney.com/comm/march2007/3182007.shtml Yesterday afternoon I sent a text message over to my friend Pouncey to see if anything was going on for St. Patrick's Day. He called me back a few minutes later, and we made plans to go out for the night. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/march2007/3152007.shtml As I type this, I have one NCAA men's basketball tournament game broadcasting via my TV and another via the internet. Two more are also taking place right now; the first Thursday/Friday of the tournament is an annual overdrive of hardwood drama for college basketball fans everywhere. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/march2007/3122007.shtml Unlike what I've done in the past, I don't intend to post any predictions or brackets for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament on here. I used up all of my mojo on the 1996 tourney (when I finished #6 in the nation in the ESPN online pick 'em, picking the final four right and Kentucky over Syracuse in the finals.) And, because this stuff posts on here are semi-permanent, I set myself up for mockery for years with a bad run. And, yes, I have had people write me out of the blue in the past to give a "ha ha!" Nelson-style. Never underestimate the enthusiasm some people have at busting balls. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/march2007/382007.shtml Tonight I finished reading John Sandford's The Fool's Run, which was one of the books Velvet suggested (and which I bought) during her visit last month. It was a simple enough read, without too many intricate sub-plots to bog me down. Velvet tells me that the next two in the series are better, and with the character development that went into the first book, I'm curious to see what the next two offer. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/february2007/2252007.shtml Finally, at long last, I watched the Eddie Murphy stand-up comedy performance Delirious today on YouTube. It came out in 1983, and as a result there are some very dated references in it, but the comedy is still laugh out loud funny almost 25 years later. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/february2007/2232007.shtml You have to hand it to Adam "Pac-Man" (or is it "Pac Man" or "Pac-man" or "Pacman") Jones of the Tennessee Titans, who made sure that the NBA wasn't the only pro sports organization to come top-of-mind in Las Vegas last weekend. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/february2007/2212007.shtml If you haven't seen The Departed, you really need to take a trip to the movie store and rent it. Or buy it outright, if that's your thing, as it is mine. I went to Blockbuster during my lunch break today to land a copy, figuring (correctly) that I'd have better luck at an off-peak time on a Wednesday than on a Friday night, which is when I tried to rent it last week. They had one left, which I promptly rented and watched as soon as I got home from work. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/february2007/2192007.shtml On Saturday, following more than a year of inferior cell phone service from Sprint, I made the leap to Verizon, obtaining a VX8300 phone. And, so far, I'm thrilled. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/february2007/2162007.shtml I wrote on Wednesday about the new Wrestling Society X show that airs on MTV on Tuesday nights. Well, it figures that the time I give them a write-up on here is the week that MTV decides to pull an episode because of a fireball being thrown. Is someone over there still gun-shy from the whole Beavis and Butt-head fire controversy of 1993? Ugh. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/february2007/2152007.shtml I suspect that there are many, many people out there who have views that fall into the Libertarian category... only they don't realize it. Perhaps that applies to you. I urge you to take a moment to read the Wikipedia entry on Libertarianism and see. My estimation is that politics is not best quantified a straight line (left, center, or right), but instead as a square as seen in the Nolan Chart. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/february2007/2142007.shtml It's the end of an era in Nashville, as the owners of the Starwood Amphitheatre have decided to sell the facility, and more importantly the land that it's on, to real estate developers. The move means the likely demolition of the facility, and the loss of a great place to see a concert. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/february2007/2132007.shtml Tonight MTV aired the third week of its new Wrestling Society X show. And, despite a 30 minute time slot, crazy cuts to the crowd mid-match, zero selling, a lack of character development, and a ring announcer who is apparently paid by the decibel... it has become, for me, the most consistently entertaining wrestling program on American television. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/february2007/2112007.shtml It's February, the NFL season is over... and that means it's college basketball time in my book. Yes, it's been going on for months, but for football-first people like me, hoops goes on hold until this time of year. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/february2007/282007.shtml Apparently the promos for the CBS Evening News during the Super Bowl failed to help the program's sagging ratings. The Drudge Report revealed bad news this morning with this bulletin... http://www.loupickney.com/comm/february2007/272007.shtml My favorite show on TV, Lost, returns tonight with a new episode, following a "recap" show the hour before. I fear that some people may see the recap show on and think that the new shows don't start until next week. Hopefully ABC will make it clear for everyone. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/february2007/252007.shtml Wow, what a weekend. Velvet came to visit, the Colts won the Super Bowl, and I am a happy man. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/february2007/212007.shtml This is shaping up to be a great weekend. Velvet is flying in from Huntington tomorrow afternoon, and she'll be visiting me through Monday morning. Between that, and the Colts playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday, it should be a very good time. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/january2007/1272007.shtml Last night I was listing to Sirius Radio's 70s music station (Channel 7) and heard the song "Conquistador" by Procol Harem. This is a song I heard many years ago and loved, but I did not know the title or artist of it. Conquistador fell into the category that a few songs are in for me that I know and love... but which I have not been able to hunt down. Thanks to the internet, in recent years the songs in that category have greatly diminished, and now another one is off the list. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/january2007/1202007.shtml My grandmother on my Dad's side, Grandma Pickney, passed away tonight in Nashville from pneumonia. She had suffered from Alzheimer's for the past few years, stealing her formerly razor-sharp mind from her. It hurt me to see her in that condition, slowly having her mental faculties taken from her, with nothing doctors could do to stop the process. It hurt really bad, not only for me, but for all of us in the family, to see her in that condition. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/january2007/1122007.shtml So far things are going great on my visit to Los Angeles. My friend Suzy knows the area pretty well, particularly for a relatively new arrival, and it's been very fun. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/january2007/172007.shtml From a sports standpoint, the year has been off to an exciting start. On Monday night, Boise State vs. Oklahoma was a game of the year contender on day one of 2007. Consider this: Boise State threw an INT that was taken back for a go-ahead TD for Oklahoma with about one minute to go, then drove down the field and scored a TD on 4th and long on a hook-and-ladder play. Then in OT, Adrian Peterson scored on the first play from scrimmage for Oklahoma, only for Boise State to one-up the Sooners by scoring themselves with a drive that included another 4th down conversion, then winning the game with a Statue of Liberty play on a two-point conversion try. The topper: Boise State RB Ian Johnson proposed to his cheerleader girlfriend after the game. Even the female demo had to pop for that turn of events. http://www.loupickney.com/comm/january2007/162007.shtml It's Wild Card Weekend in the NFL, which means I'm a happy guy. No plans or responsibilities or trips planned... just four playoff games. No complaints here.