UFC 92 - My picks sucked

Well, I can't say I was disappointed by the event (except for Dollaway's tap that wasn't a tap that allowed him to escape the choke and then win, but Dollaway has a history of pseudo-tapping), UFC 92 delivered!

I was disappointed in my choices ... I'm not a betting man because I bet with my heart, not with my wallet. So if you're taking wagering advice from me ... buyer beware.

I was 4-6 ... victories by Hamill, Kongo, Hardonk and Evans were all I got. I was dead wrong about Mir and Jackson; Lister and Chonan let me down, Dollaway I've already mentioned, and Evenson is off my list after his knee got blown into 12 different directions by Berry's solid leg kick.

For the record ... this is one of the greatest six-week periods in MMA HISTORY:

We'll start in Japan on December 31, 2008 ... K-1 Dynamite featuring Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Kiyoshi Tamura, Gesias "JZ" Calvancante vs. Joachim Hansen and Eddie Alvarez vs. Shinya Aoki (for vacant WAMMA lightweight title), eight other MMA and seven K-1 fights, including an Under-18 Four Man Tournament and featuring the first of two fights between Badr Hari vs. Alistair Overeem ... this one under K-1 Rules, the next under MMA rules. Damn.

We'll stay in Japan for Sengoku 7 in January 4th ... this MMA only card is featuring Takanori Gomi vs. Satoru Kitaoka (for vacant lightweight title) and Kazuo Misaki vs. Jorge Santiago (for vacant middleweight title) and six other matches.

Then we head back to the United States as Zuffa really loads up in January for the UFC/WEC fans:

• UFC 93 in three weeks - January 17, 2009, featuring Dan Henderson vs. Rich Franklin and the return of both Mark Coleman and Shogun Rua as they battle in the cage.
• WEC 38 on January 25th (and free on Versus) features Champ Jamie Varner vs. Donald Cerrone (for WEC lightweight title) and the rematch of Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver.
• UFC 94 on January 31 ... the ultimate rematch: Georges St. Pierre vs. B.J. Penn for St. Pierre's 170-pound belt.
• UFC Fight Night 17 on Feb 7, 2009, and free on Spike, featuring Hermes Franca vs. Joe Lauzon and Mac Danzig vs. Josh Neer.

Oh, and if that wasn't enough, on January 24, 2009, Affliction is back with Day of Reckoning featuring WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski, Josh Barnett vs. Gilbert Yvel and Vitor Belfort vs. Matt Lindland.

Good time to be an MMA fan, eh?

UFC 92 - My picks

• Champ Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans (for UFC light heavyweight title)

I like Forrest ... but I just see Rashad rushing in and beating him with the kind of punch that left Chuck Liddell in dreamland. Evans - KO - Round 2.

• Champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir (for interim UFC heavyweight title)

I've seen Nogueira take unbelievable beatings and pull out a submission (Cro-Cop in Pride 2003 Final Conflict) .. all four of his losses are by decision. He's never been stopped. Mir is a mixed bag of up and down, good and bad. Mir has always relied on his BJJ skills ... he's never been matched with anyone better than him in BJJ before ... easy pick: Nogueira - Sub - Round 3.

• C.B. Dollaway vs. Mike Massenzio

I will give Massenzio $20 if he knocks out DULL-away. No, $25.

• Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva

I went back and watched both of their previous battles (Pride Final Conflict 2003 and Pride 28) ... and forgot how good the fights were, with amazing back and forth action. However, they both ended the same: Rampage was left beaten crushed demolished destroyed by The Axe Murderer. The 2003 fight had Jackson eating 17 knees to end the fight; but the Pride 28 one is, without a doubt, one of the most vicious knockouts in MMA lore ... Silva left Jackson draped over the ropes, unconscious, after landing five solid knees to the cranium.

• Mustafa Al-Turk vs. Cheick Kongo

Al-Turk hasn't impressed me ... Kongo took the best Cro-Cop could dish out and won a unanimous decision in what was supposed to be Mirko's coming out party. Al-Turk's only notable victory is a submission due to strikes over Mark Kerr ... but the 2007 Mark Kerr ... not the Smashing Machine. Kongo - Decision - Boring as hell fight.

• Dean Lister vs. Yushin Okami - Lister, submission; I like Okami, but Lister's a master.

• Antoni Hardonk vs. Mike Wessel - Hardonk, knockout

• Reese Andy vs. Matt Hamill - Hamill will murderize Andy right in his face.

• Brad Blackburn vs. Ryo Chonan - I never bet against Ryo Chonan. Dude just finds ways to win.

• Pat Berry vs. Dan Evensen- Evensen. Knockout.

CD101 Andyman-A-Thon, Day 3

14:40 ... Welcome to the better-late-than-never Day Three of the CD101 Andyman-A-Thon ... we're just short of the $25,000. The band Ghost Shirt was here and those are some classy peeps who know how to rock ... they're among one of my favorite bands to see ... hard to go wrong with that lineup!

Karate Coyote is next ... they're setting up and it looks like fun ... and a great-sounding Gibson guitar, too!

15:19 ... Karate Coyote was quite fun. They're playing on Jan 7th at Skully's with one of my favorite bands ... Paper Airplane!

15:20 ... While my photos upload, I'm very surprised that we've had more than 1,000 unique hitson my CD101 Andyman-A-Thon collection ... that's great. Now if each one of those hits could donate $10 ... we'd be rolling in the dough for the kids.

I'd be remiss if I didn't thank and acknowledge the wonderful staff of CD101, from the air staff (Rachel, Leslie, Patrick, Michael, Copper, Alex and anyone I missed ...) to the management ... Wendy, Amy and Michelle ... and the staff here volunteering to keep the business of fund raising going on behind the scenes ...and providing the volunteers, like me, those answering the phones, helping load and unload band gear and keep Andyman awake, with food, beverage and smiles. Everyone's tired, nobody more than Andyman at this point, but everyone knows the bottom line is helping out a bunch of kids and families who need help.

15:30 ... We're about an hour away from Happy Chichester, our final scheduled musical act of the 2008 Andyman-A-Thon ... I like Happy ... he's rather entertaining.

Wow. Happy never disapoints. From last-minute requests to new songs to fun banter, he's quite the treat for the ears.

Well, we have but two hours left ... I hope the money continues to roll in and Andy suvives the next 120 minutes! I'll have photos when he's finished ...

CD101 Andyman-A-Thon - Day 2

So, welcome to Day 2 of the Live Blog from the Andyman-A-Thon at CD101 to benefit the CD101 For The Kids foundation. Listen live at CD101.com ... and donate if you can! Follow my Flickr stream here.

09:30 ... the Shamrock Club Pipes and Drums are supposed to be playing on the air. They are playing, warming up, tuning up, practicing ... but the soundman is nowhere to be found. Such is life at the Andyman-A-Thon, I'm learning. Things happen. As our friends in the Marines say, adapt and overcome. Andy and Josh lay the cables, hook up the mics and BAM! It's on.

09:45 ... there's NOTHING like being a room with eight bagpipers and two Irish drummers. That will wake up anyone. The original bagpipes were made from the skins of animals; and used as far back as the middle ages. All I know is they're loud, wonderful to listen to, and a force to the ears.

10:30 ... The Dammits are up next, and damn, that Bob Dammit is a hell of a nice guy, and his band rocks!

10:53 ... The Dammits are sound checking. Damn Ric has a HUGE kit.

11:05 ... The Dammits are rocking the Big Room. These guys are playing tonight at the Ravari Room ... go check them out. Great guys, lots of fun.

11:55 ... Delyn Christian is up next! Delyn cancelled ... he's not feeling well. Bummer.

12:25 ... The auction for the guitar autographed by Jet ended at $225. Sweet. Stay tuned for other auctions throughout the day. Listen live at CD101.com or 101.1 on your FM dial if you'rel local to Columbus!

12:30 ... Nuclear Children are up at 2 p.m.; there's an auction for some Columbus Crew stuff.

13:00 ... The Dammits just requested "Rocky Mountain Way." And Andyman has it cranking in the studio. Sweet.

13:05 ... Being a music nerd like I am ... walking around this radio station taking in all the stuff on the walls, the photos, autographs, promotional pieces ... it's amazing. There's so much history and pop culture here it's fascinating. I'll try to get some photos while we're between bands.

Click the photo, then click view original and check out the autographs on this guitar. REM, the Rembrandts, the Stray Cats, et.al.

13:15 ... I have no idea what you're doing this afternoon, but you should tune in and give some cash ... if for nothing else than the killer collection of Columbus rock that's happening this afternoon: 2 p.m. - Nuclear Children; 3:00 p.m. - X-Rated Cowboys; 4:00 p.m. - The Receiver; 5:00 p.m. - Blasphemy Saints; 6:30 - Willie Phoenix.

That SCREAMS Columbus local music!

16:45 ... catching up from a hectic afternoon as photos from The Receiver upload to Flickr ... Nuclear Children ... loud, fun, very promising band that rocked the big room muchly led way to everyone's favorite drinking band with a bar problem ... The X-Rated Cowboys. Despite not playing live for nearly a year, they nailed $100 Guitar, which Tenacious D's Kyle liked so much he asked lead singer Quinn Fallon for a CD. Quinn found one in the car and Kyle was happy (yes, he's here hanging out!)

X-Rated Cowboys also played "Drinking For Two" ... with Blue interchanged for Two due to some structural damage to the entity known as Big Blue (no, not IBM!). Mark Nye did the required chug of beer; and they ended with "Low Self Esteem" to a great ovation.

The Receiver was next and featured our first full house in the Big Room, complete with another row of folks on the floor. Jesse and Casey delivered, as usual, with a rocking, stellar performance featuring three new songs from their upcoming album that should be out in February or March, according to Jesse.

Blasphemy Saints are next. Stay tuned!

17:05 ... Change of plans. Turns out we have a special guest in the studio ... the band's name is C-Bus ... the band formely known as Tenacious Me, featuring Kyle Gass of Tenacious D on guitar, John Spiker of Filter on bass, Erin Robinson on vocals and Doug Wells on drums ... a cover of "Go Ask Alice" was followed by another classic and then the highlight of the night ... "C-Bus Christmas" ... which was written on the fly and celebrated all things Columbus ... "Eat some buckeyes / Watch them Buckeyes" ... the band shortly left to head to a studio to record it. True Story!

15:58 ... Blasphemy Saints are warming up and it's gonna be something special. OH, hell yeah. Opening with "Mr Heat Mizer / Mr. Freeze Meiser" double-shot, then "All I Want For Christmas Is You" ... and ended with a unique cover of Purple Rain to promote the Hair Metal Cover Night that's happening across town to raise money for the Andyman-A-Thon!

19:14 ... It's Willie Phoenix time. Once he gets the pedal situation figured out ... we're rocking with the love and joy that is the Willie Phoenix Band! Joyous.

20:05 ... Still to come ... Brundlefly at 8:00 and Wing and Tusk at 9:30 ... and Colin Gawel of Watershed at midnight ... with another edition of "Stump the Colin" ... oh yeah!

20:27 ... Brundlefly ... wow. That's a band for those drivin' on by with the boomin' systems. Two drummers, bassist, keyboards and an MC! Interesting synth-metal-rap mixture there!

21:13 ... Wing and Tusk is setting up ... looks to be intersting! Sound check sounds incredible!

21:56 ... Wing and Tusk is amazing. Wow. WOW. They're finishing up their first full-length record and it should be available in March ... it's on my must-get based on the three songs they played tonight.

CD101 Andyman-A-Thon - Day 1

Hello. I'm here at the CD101 Studios in the Brewery District in Columbus, Ohio, for the CD101 Andyman-A-Thon. I'm doing photos and live blogging This is the blog, these are the photos:

Eric's 2008 Andyman-A-Thon Photos on Flikr

The Language Our Fathers Forgot is getting ready to play.

And they rocked it. Wow. Intensity!

(Photos posted on Flickr)

Listen live at CD101.com ... and donate if you can!

The Blue-Eyed Gunslingers ROCKED! Damn.
Photos are posted here.

2nd Hand Porn was a riot! Photos are here!

The Lost Revival might be my new favorite Columbus band. Photos here!

Since we have a bit of a break between bands, I'm going to give you a bit of the rundown on what exactly this is, and how it happens:

1. CD101, WWCD, is an independently owned modern rock radio station in Columbus, Ohio (webpage / wiki page). It is located, oddly enough, at 101.1 on your FM dial, and available streaming on the web at http://www.cd101.com/

2. Andy Davis (Andyman) was the first DJ ever hired, and is still here as the program director and face/voice of the station. Every year, around Christmas, he picks a weekend for the Andyman-A-Thon. During that weekend, he stays up for 48 hours broadcasting, talking to people, asking for money for the various charities that are helped out by the CD101 For The Kids Foundation. To date he's raised more than $55,000 last year. This is the 16th year.

3. In addition to playing any song they have or can get, regardless of if it fits the mostly alternative format at CD101, there are a ton of local bands and musicians who come into studio's famous Big Room and perform anywhere from three to 10 songs, depending on the band, the popularity and the time available. Most bands get three songs. The bands donate their time and performance.

4. Many local retail and food service establishments donate food, beverage and prizes. Some prizes are won by callers, others are put into the CD101 For The Kids eBay auction along with autographed items from the many bands that have visited the CD101 Studios over the past year. This year's eBay crop features 160 items. Some of the auctions are still on-going.

5. The entire Andyman-A-Thon is staffed by volunteers in addition to the station's staff; volunteers man the phones, help the bands load in and load out, mill around and keep the place festive and keep Andy away as the hours tick by. Amy and Michelle are running the show this year, and doing a masterful job.

6. This is the first year I've been involved. I was a spectator to Big Room performances in 2004 and 2005. As a friend of Andy's, I had the idea to volunteer my skills as a photographer and document the bands, the event and the fun ... I hope to do this every year. It's for a good cause.

Okay ... The Lost Revival is setting up. They're the final band for the evening. They could be my next favorite Columbus band ... I'll have to investigate them more ... and with that, I'm heading home and calling it a night.

I'll be back tomorrow ... for Day 2 of the 2008 Andyman-A-Thon!

Andyman-A-Thon - I'm doing photos!

This weekend is the 16th Annual CD-101 Andyman-A-Thon to raise money for the CD101 For The Kids foundation. Andyman stays awake for 48 hours ... the station, being independently owned and operated ... will play any song from any artist for a donation, as long as it's FCC-allowed.

What makes the Andyman-A-Thon special, however, are the legendary Big Room Performances ... here is a schedule of shows. The only one not confirmed by the station is the X-Rated Cowboys ... but I have good word they'll be playing it. The bands come into the studio and play live, original and covers ... again, all for donations.

The first year I was there (2004) I saw Watershed do an hour of "Stump The Band" ... watched as they auctioned off a backyard concert ... and became a fan for life.

This year I'm volunteering my services as Andy's official photographer for all the action in the Big Room and around the station - the volunteers who man the phone banks, Andy for the mission he does every year ... and it is a haul to be awake and alert for 48 hours ... and the general comings-and-going of the event.

If you're not local, you can listen to the show live on the web at CD101.com ... and check my Flickr page and the CD101 website for photos ... I'm going to shoot them and upload to Flickr without editing ... but it will be quick.

All that being said, here's the tentative lineup for the Big Room ... with the XRC show in italics since it's not confirmed by the station ... there may be other acts as the weekend rolls on ... Andyman-A-Thon is always good for a surprise or ten, and allows you to hear some of the great local bands here in Columbus without having to pay a cover or find somewhere to park.

So listen, enjoy, donate, have fun.

Fri 20:00 Language Our Fathers Forgot
Fri 21:00 Blue Eyed Gunslingers
Fri 22:30 2nd Hand Porn

Sat 00:00 The Lost Revival
Sat 09:30 Shamrock Club Pipes & Drums
Sat 11:00 Dammits
Sat 12:30 Delyn Christian
Sat 14:00 Nuclear Children
Sat 15:00 X-Rated Cowboys
Sat 16:00 The Receiver
Sat 17:00 Blasphemy Saints
Sat 18:30 Willie Phoenix
Sat 20:00 Brundle Fly
Sat 21:30 Wing and Tusk

Sun 00:00 Colin Gawel from Watershed
Sun 09:30 Lucy's Maze
Sun 12:00 St. Timothy's School 3rd Graders and Chior
Sun 13:30 Ghost Shirt
Sun 15:00 Karate Coyote
Sun 16:30 Happy Chichester

Stuff For Sale - Four 1GB DDR800 (6400) RAM

Hello. Welcome to Stuff For Sale - Part II:

Today's offering is 4GB of RAM ... I have four Kingston 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory ... will sell them for $40 shipped.

Interested? Let me know.

Bored. Bored. Bored.