The Brother in law visit's NY

After a lengthy absence, I'm attempting to make a comeback at blogging.

As a welcome back gift, here are a few highlights from Memorial Day weekend when Erin's brother came up for a long weekend. Enjoy.

Kris got in Thursday evening and we picked him up in Buffalo. It was a pretty standard drive back to Rochester followed by several Gin & Tonics at our apartment. Around 12:45 Kris decided that he needed a cigarette and he and I headed to the store to grab a pack. Once we got in the car, I quickly called an audible and made this statement "Kris, you know who else has cigarettes that are open right now? Bars". Brilliant idea. Kris and I head out to Park Bench and grab a few more drinks. During a game of pool I could tell things had gone south for Kris as he was having trouble making contact with the cue ball. I promptly decide we should go home and tell him I will meet him outside after I go to the bathroom. Upon walking outside, I see no sign of Kris. I eventually find him yanking on the backdoor of a pizza place, and I'm not really sure if he thought we were home or he wanted pizza. I motion him back down the stairs, at which point Kris took what I like to call a "misstep" and goes tumbling down the stairs into the middle of the alley in front of the bar. Kris is not well. He starts rolling on the ground and moaning heavily. Yikes. I eventually get him up, and after he shoots down my suggestion of street meat, I get him into the car, at which point he passes out. Kris is snoring by the time we make the 1 mile drive to the house. Kris is not waking up. I manage to shake him hard enough to get him conscious in order walk upstairs. I'm pretty confident that Kris will make it from the parking lot to our apartment without incident. I am wrong. While walking across our back parking lot, I turn around to see Kris walking right behind me and then suddenly peeling off to his right as he takes his second fall of the past 10 minutes. Kris is really not well. The fall is followed by some more rolling around and heavy moaning. I see a cut on Kris's head. After Kris manages to sit up I notice that blood is coming from his head wound. Blood is pooling rapidly in Kris's hand. I'm in over my head. I seem much more concerned about the blood than Kris. I take my t-shirt and wrap it around his head to hopefully stop the bleeding. Kris states that I am an "excellent brother-in-law", for that comment I award myself two points. I eventually get Kris upstairs and onto the couch. I then go and wake Erin up to help me. Imagine her thought process to see me with no shirt on and her brother passed out on the couch covered in blood. Erin is not pleased with either of us. Erin makes the executive decision that he doesn't need stitches. I am thankful and immediately go to bed and passout. The next morning we rehashed the evening and apparently Kris had been drinking at the airport, on the plane, and when we got home. He also decided that dinner wasn't too appealing and drank his dinner as well in Minneapolis. This is the lesson, always eat dinner before a heavy night of drinking.

Not one to be deterred by mere flesh wounds, cuts, scraps, or deep thigh bruising. We all rally to go out Friday evening because it's Kris's birthday. We head out to Acme Bar and it was a pretty standard evening. James Burgum was randomly in town (Kris's best friend from Casselton) and he met us out. Acme was running a special with $2 Corona's and Heinkens. Jackpot. Like I said, it was a pretty standard evening with everyone buying Kris drinks for his birthday. Shortly after 12, Kris decides he needs to buy a round of shots for everyone at the table (7 of us) to thank us for all the drinks and a good birthday. Now, I'm not sure how the conversation went between Kris and the bartender and I'm still not sure if the bartender was being NICE to Kris or throughly hated his guts, but Kris returned to the table with 7 double tequila shots... Jose Cuervo Tequila shots... Jose Cuervo Tequila shots that had been sitting by an oven all evening. Kris was also nice enough to bring with him a salt shaker and lemon wedges that were smaller than my thumbnail. I immediately see this going poorly. I stand up to look around and figure out my exit strategy should I get sick. Plus the smell has already made me nauseated. I locate a door immediately behind me that is open and leads into a small alley. Perfect. We do shots. I feel that my stomach is unhappy with my current course of action. I step outside to shake it off. I rally. Hot Cuervo will not win this evening. Then, disaster... The doorman walks over and tells me I can't be in that alley and closes the door. This is followed by my buddy Andy talking about the tequila shot and how bad it was. I begin looking for my second exit strategy. I have just thrown up a little in my mouth. This does nothing to help. I bolt for the front door as things have taken a drastic turn for the worse. I throw up some more on my way to the door. The doorman sees me making my exit and I guess my face said "I am currently yakking in my mouth and am trying to hold it together until I get outside". He yells "You're out of here buddy". I give him the thumbs up as a round the corner and yack back into the alley. I turn around to cheers from a car that was leaving and chants of "Go Red Soxs". I point to my Red Sox hat and give the thumbs up. Someone else in the car makes a derogatory comment about Papelbon. I respond with the fact that the Yankees aren't even .500 right now. This does not please the car and they leave. I am then forced to sit outside the bar for the next 10 minutes as everyone closes their tab because I got kicked out. The lesson: warm Cuervo shots always go poorly.

...Try Jack and ICE

For the second year, on the Saturday night before Mardi Gras, Erin and I were invited to her parent's friend Cecil's house to celebrate Mardi Gras. Now, as I am sure most are thinking, "McGee, why the hell are you writing a blog about a Mardi Gras party full of 50 year old people?". My responses to that is simple...read on...

To give you a quick recap, the 2005 edition of this party ended up being a wild time. Cecil spares no expense on this party and it really is an impressive party. 2005 included a full bar, a miget, and a girl I went to college with that was a stripper. Yeah, I know...

Anywho, to set the stage, Cecil lives in a very upscale neighborhood outside of Columbia in a house that probably runs around 700k. He decorates the house in full Mardi Gras decor and has the entire event catered. Low country boil, beef tenderloin, and massive fruit arrangement and chocolate fondue. He also has a full open bar with mostly top shelf liquors that flow pretty freely. Upon arriving at his house this year we were greeted at the door by Cecil and told that the "competition" this year was as follows. For every shot you take, you get a set of blue beads, the person with the most beads at 3 certain times of the night would win a prize. Cecil then looked at us and said with a wink "You should be able to find the shot girls".

WWWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL.... Lets just say the shot girls were showing most of their ASSets... The girls were actually "dancers" at the "bar" that Cecil and some of his buddies "frequent". They were in their "work attire".

After a quick shot to start the night, we made our way to the bar to assess the situation. It didn't take long for us to locate the group that got pretty out of hand last year. Needless to say, they were happy to see us and the formalities of reintroducing each other didn't take long. One of my personal favorites was a man named Ed, who kept us in tears last year with his stories. While talking to Ed later that evening, he asked me to hold his drink while he grabbed something off his plate. The following conversation insued.

Ed: "Marc, you mind holding my cup for me"
Me: "Sure Ed, whatcha drinkin'? A little Jack and water"
(Note: This was a 12 oz. Solo cup that was mostly full containing "beverage" and ice)
Ed: "Try Jack and ICE.."
Me: "Oh..."

Ed then proceeded to launch into the story that his beloved Jack Daniel Black Label, which was 90 Proof, had been merged with Jack Daniel Green Label, which was 80 Proof to form a mix that was a mere 86 Proof. Ed, unamused, had called 411 and tracked down the number of the distillery and finally managed to get ahold of the secretary of the VP of marketing. I don't do the story just, but it was classic.

The night became too much though and eventually we ended up leaving around 11:30 after hearing a couple of the guys start to tell about their sex lives...That's a story for another day though and not on the blog.

Upon telling Nuts this story his response was "Dude, How do I get on THAT guest list". Lord onl knows...

PS. St. Patty's day is in 16 days in Savannah....I can't wait

Will Hoge

Sorry it's been a while since my last post, but have been laying low getting ready for a big six weeks full of action and excitement.

Last night Erin and I went to the Handlebar to see Will Hoge in concert. Guy is straight up Rock and Roll and puts on an amazing live concert. He has a great energy on stage and if you ever get a chance to go see him you definitely should. In hopes of maybe converting a few fans, here are my top 5 songs of his that you should check out.

1. Not That Cool
2. It's a Shame
3. Lover Tonight
4. Bible vs. Gun
5. Baby Girl

He has several other good songs too, and if you like the above check out his albums "Blackbird on a Lonely Wire" and his new CD "The Man who Killed Love".

http://www.willhoge.com
http://www.myspace.com/willhoge

He plays a show in Columbia on 3/23 and Charleston on 3/25.

Hope everyone is doing well and I'll do better about keeping ya'll up on the happenings in Greenville in the next couple of weeks.

Last Note on New Years

Though I am tired of writing about our New Year's adventures, I do feel one story is worth retelling...

About 1:30 in the morning a extremely excited Pun runs up to me and the following conversation takes place.

Pun: "Dude, you know what would make this night complete?"
Me: "Seeing boobs??"
Pun: (Long pause while he ponders this) "Actually, I was going to say that the night would be complete if I pissed my pants!"
Me: (Becoming extremely excited)"Dude, DO IT!!!
Pun: "OK"

I then stand back and Pun proceed to attempt to pee his pants. You could tell he was very serious about doing this and tried for about 10 seconds before he starts laughing.

Me: "You do it?"
Pun; "I can't!!!! Let me try again."

More attempts before Pun breaks out in complete laughter. Pun never managed to actually pee his pants, but he did make a valiant attempt. Afterwards, considering how the cab ride went, I'm glad it didn't work...

Props to pun though for actually trying to pee his pants, because it's like Adam Sandler says "Peeing your pants in the coolest!!"

Stage 2, yeah, the one you wanna listen to

Disclaimer: There is no disclaimer, I am simply recalling what I remember.

Needless to say, after Friday night's antics, there were some people in rough shape on Saturday morning. A majority of Saturday was spent trying to rally the troops for another night. At 3 o'clock some people were still in pretty sorry shape.

We eventually made our way to the Econo-Lodge where we had found hotel rooms for $40 a night. It doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist to deduct that $40 hotel rooms on New Years are not the most "posh" of establishments. We weren't disappointed. Everyone finally rallied at the hotel and we had our first official head count of the weekend.

It went as follows: McGee, Erin, Marc Lynn, Trey, Julien, Ox, Dixon, Anderson, Pun, Paq, Nuts, Jewell, Cassie, Karen, Watson, Nicole, Viren, Nisha, and Dan Plyler. The group was also suppose to contain Jessica (a girl coming from Alabama, who wrecked her car on her basketball goal at home on New Years Eve and spent New Years stuck in ATL traffic and didn't hit Charlotte until 1 am).

Our group's dress contained 5 sports coats, 4 pink or purple shirts, and 8 stripped shirts. I feel this is an important detail to mention as this clearly means that we "came to get down".

Pimp outfit of the night was a tie. Marc Lynn showed up in Velvet blazer which was a massive hit with his "periwinkle shirt" while Pun jammed out it a classy pair of slacks, a classic pink shirt and a 3/4 length wool jacket.

Least fashionable was Anderson, who showed up in his Blue Blazer with gold buttons. He was least fashionable because he wasn't trying to be funny.

We started the evening with dinner and drinks at Rock Bottom Bar. After a massive cluster fuck of trying to seat 20 people we had dinner and several drinks and headed to Dixie's where we were to spent the rest of the night.

Upon arriving at Dixie's we find a line roughly 200 people long waiting to get in. We then realize that we have pre-ordered tickets and didn't have to stand in line. This deserves a shout out to Trey for organizing, because we never plan ahead, so this was a very big deal. For those of you who haven't been to Charlotte, Dixie's is a bar that is hard to explain. It's not really upscale, but has a fashionable crowd and plays GREAT music.

The night started innocently enough as we bought rounds of beer and established that the place to be was under an outdoor tent near the bar.

20 minutes later things went downhill as Pun discovered that they had free pour Patron tequila for $7 a shot. Pun literally looked like a kid in a candy store. Under his breath, and in his best African voice, he kept whispering "Nigga, that shit is GOOD!!" Pun was a shot ahead of me and insisted that I take a shot with him, so we headed to the bar where 6 of us proceeded to order a Tequila shot. I nearly passed out when I saw the bartender pour literally HALF THE BOTTLE into a shaker and then pour our shots.

45 minutes later Jewell, the Asian sensation, shows up with the reddest face I have ever seen and declares that he is "Officially Fucked Up!!". Jewell spends the rest of the night drinking water and telling everyone how much fun he has with us.

The next two hours are spent singing all the hit songs into our beer bottles. They include Scotty Doesn't Know, Since You've been Gone by Kelly Clarkson, Journey, and Gold Digger.

Real Disclaimer: I have NO idea what songs were actually played. I remember singing and being very excited everytime a new song came on.

We actually missed New Years, since the DJ wasn't exactly on top of a countdown.

(I'm not counting couples on this one). I'm giving Nuts the edge on the New Year's kiss over Paquette this year. As great as a Paq and Cassie makeout is for everyone, Nuts met a random girl at 11:59 and made out with her at the stroke of 12. Nuts was a clear winner though because said random girl showed back up around 1, made out with him again and then just left the bar. Nuts had a classic goofy Nuts smile on his face and if I recall actually broke out the "Nuts happy dance" which hasn't made in appearance in quite some time. For those who don't know Nuts, the happy dance is basically him rocking his hips from front to back like he's humping the air. What makes the Nuts dance special is the way he cocks his head toward the sky and has a stupid grin on his face like "I'm getting laid".

We then ran into the ugliest caveman ever. The picture is enough. He conversation with this girl went something like.

Caveman: Hey, you should make out with me.

Chick: (Nothing said, she just started sucking his face).

Shortly after seeing caveman. Pun cemented his website "Pundances.com" with a classic show of booty shaking and grinding. Unfortunately he ran out of women and I ended up dancing with him to the delight/disgust of the crowd.

The rest of the night was dominated by drinking and singing all the songs we knew, plus most of the ones we did not. Eventually the night ended with us in a big circle singing Piano Man by Billy Joel. It was a fitting end.

Our night then hit a low point as we waited for 45 minutes for a taxi. We eventually managed to grab a cab driver in a Chevy Malibu. We managed to split the taxi with another couple. We then fit random couple, me, erin, Pun, and Nuts....in the backseat!!! Paq and Cassie somehow managed to ride shotgun and we were nearly halfway home before we realized it. Upon arriving at our hotel, which was about 5 minutes from downtown, the cab driver proceed to tell us we owed him $100. Pun, Nuts, and Paq gave them a piece of their mind and we retired for the night.

It was a hell of a New Years. Thanks to everyone.

A Very Happy/Crazy New Year

A happy to everyone. The trip to Charlotte for the weekend was complete success/disaster depending on your outlook. It you look at it from the aspect of hanging out with friends and having a blast, then the weekend was a compete success, but if you are looking at the weekend from a financial aspect then clearly it was a COMPLETE disaster.

A BRIEF recap of the weekend. Erin, Jewell, and I left Greenville Friday morning around 11 to make the trip up to Charlotte/Rock Hill for the weekend. Upon arriving at 1 o'clock the first thing Lynn suggest "Let's have a beer". This was a trend that continued for the next 13 hours. During these 13 hours the following things happened.

1. 13 of us watched in total disbelief as the Gamecocks blew 21 point lead to Missouri. Looking back on the game I realized how happy I was that I HADN'T driven 12 hours to Shreveport, LA to watch us lose our bowl game. Below is a picture taken at any moment during the second half.

2. Post game there was the same feeling in the air as finding out your girlfriend just left you for your best friend. In an attempt to "get the super fans" back on their feet, Dixon suggest a game of Trivia Pursuit Genus 5. I, along with Paq, Lynn, Erin, and Cassie, decide this is a horrible idea seeing as we have just suffered a defeat in football who wants to be humiliated in a game of Trivia Pursuit. We ultimately decide to pair into two teams consisting of "Team Scholar" which was Dixon, Trey, and Joe vs. "Team Remedial" which was everyone else. The following picture shows who won.

If you still don't know, please reference my teammate "Pun". He is the large confused looking gentleman sitting down next to me.

3. The entire group decides we need to go downtown to the busseling metropolis of Rock Hill and check out the bar scene. The following events occurred.

Dixon sells Trey on the idea of placing about 5 tablespoons of mustard in his hand for no apparent reason. Trey, who had drank a majority of his handle of Beam, promptly dropped it all over his shoe.

Paq dropped his pants in the bar

Other things that occurred were yet another Paq and Cassie make out session, Dixon challenging several of the "locals" to hit him in the face, and Karen puking off the back porch of the bar. Everything else is a blur. My next clear memory was walking out of the bar to find Lynn outside waiting for us to get in. The following exchange occurs

Paq: "Lynn, just tell me you are OK to drive".
Lynn: "Nope"

Lynn proceeds to open his passenger door in the middle of main street and hop into another one our cars that was driving home. Paq, Erin, Cassie, Jewell, Karen, and I stare at each other in disbelief and Jewell finally agrees to drive us home. Through some careful navigation, I managed to get Jewell into the neighborhood and this was when things went terribly wrong. I "might" have told Jewell to turn in the wrong entrance and somehow we discovered a dirt road in the middle of the neighborhood, thinking this is a construction cut through, we decide to stay on the road. Nearly 3 minutes later we hit a dead end with a creepy looking house with Christmas lights on. At this point Karen, who had passed out in the backseat, wakes up and is very confused and starts to freak out. I very calmly got in her face and screamed "OH MY GOD, IT'S BLAIR WITCH!!!" This resulted in hysterical crying the remainder of the way home. I went to bed when we got home, but the drunkest man alive this weekend went to one Mr. Dan Dixon and this picture sums it up.

This was Erin's response to seeing the picture.

Please see Sigma Alumni for more antics from the weekend.

The Day After Tomorrow?

Is it simply a catchy movie title, or the end of the world for a group of young men, or is it New Year's Eve? More than likely, it's going to be all three of those things. Tomorrow afternoon a group of 17 college buddies are descending on Charlotte for our annual celebration to usher in the new year. We have the added bonus this year of having two days of debauchery vs. Our usual one. It seems the powers that be have scheduled the Mighty South Carolina Gamecocks to play in the Independence Bowl on December 30th. This has created the need to call up what we commonly refer to as "super fans" to Charlotte a day early to cheer the Gamecocks on to a post season win, hopefully the first of many under "The Ol' Ball Coach".

After taking Saturday to recover, we are headed out to Dixie's for a night of singing "Scotty Doesn't know" and hopefully surviving the night. New Year's Eve promises to bring drama, drunkenness, and stupor to all involved. Check back for pictures sometime the first of next week.