Rant


Today was a pretty damn good day. Started out the day with a very promising meeting that will no doubt help me in my professional development and eventually land me a job. There was no job offer but there was plenty of valuable information I took away from that meeting and it will no doubt help me going forward. 

On my way back from that meeting I noticed a chalkboard that said the Barcelona v Chelsea Semi Final Champions League Match that was to be televised @ 2:30. I made a mental note about that game the week before but I totally would have forgotten about it if it weren't for that chalkboard. I strolled into my apartment at 2:40 to catch the first minute of the game and saw a well fought match by both sides where it seemed as though Chelsea dominated Barcelona for much of the match. Michael Essien scored in the 12th minute on an incredible side volley knuckler that grazed the crossbar into the back of the net. (See Video Below) 

Valdes had absolutely no shot at stopping this goal and in all likelihood I don't think Essien could make that shot if he had 100 more tries. Barca played a very physical match and were quite aggressive in their own box. There were a couple slide tackles that could've ended up in a penalty kicks but they also got screwed on the red card given in the 60th minute that put them a man down. I'll call it a wash. 

In the 2nd half Barcelona had plenty of opportunities to put the ball in the net off of Free Kicks and Corners but they couldn't capitalize and it seemed as though Chelsea was destined to win. Fast forward to the 92nd minute and the current man of the match Essien whiffs on a clearance just inside of their box. The ball gets played out to Iniesta at the top of the 20 and he ripped a shot on the outside of his foot that bent perfectly away from the diving keeper to tie the game up 1-1 and all but secure their position in the finals in Rome.



For those of you who don't follow soccer, and I imagine that is the vast majority of you. I myself am a novice, yet I do love catching top notch futbol. In Champions League play there are two matches, each team gets a home game and the aggregate score for both matches ultimately decides the winner. The first game ended in a 0-0 tie, this game ended in a 1-1 tie. You may think they would go to penalty kicks, but that is not the case as away goals are weighed more heavily than home goals. Tie Breakers are decided on the away goal aggregate. So Barcelona's aggregate total was 1-0 over Chelsea.

I'll never forget the last time Barcelona was in the Champions League Final. It was the senior year at UD and the final day of classes for me. I had one class at 5 pm and it was a joke to say the least. For those of you who did not attend UD and even those who did and would like to reminisce. I caught the game at Grotto's which serves $2 24oz beers. I downed 10 of those bad boys in the 2 hours of soccer that was played. Even in my best drinking days that is alot. Needless to say I was quite stumbly and incoherent. I made it to my 5 oclock class drunk as a skunk and I can say that is the only time I've ever been in a college class wasted. 

Ahh yes, for those of you who don't know the end result of that game; Barcelona played Arsenal and they were down a goal going into the half. Barcelona went on to score 2 goals in the second half to take home the cup in an incredible match.

That was quite the tangent I just had. Applause for all of you who have made it this far. I rarely have that kind of patience for rambling. 

For a nightcap I got to meet one of the most venerable literary figures and by far my favorite author ever. Mr. Chuck Palahniuk. I've been a big Chuck fan for the past 7 years after I fell in love with Fight Club my Freshman Year of college. I've seen the movie over 500 times  and was lucky enough to write a paper on the movie in English 101. He has consistently written books that I love to read and have actually re-read Lullaby. I cannot say that about any other author, how many of you have read a fiction book twice? Exactly. 

Note the sweet mutton chops on Chuck here.

There is no author I can even put in the same ballpark. For the past 4 years I have been at the bookstore the first day to pick up his latest novel. I could never say that about anyone else. He is the author of one of the greatest novels of our generation and I was ecstatic to get a ticket early enough that I got VIP status where I got a picture with Chuck as well as a signed copy of his new book Pygmy. I also snagged a sweet blow up penguin that he was throwing out to members of the crowd. (For all of those people not fortunate enough to see or read Fight Club, it's his power animal. What is your power animal? )

Sliddeee

The reading was held at Webster Hall and this was the first time the Strand held any reading/signing at Webster Hall. It was a great experience and I intend on catching him in years to come on his book tours. There were no instances of people passing out or anything too crazy. I did see a few people dressed in German Beer maiden attire and one dude rocking a sombrero with a drug rug. Chuck fans are definitely an eccentric bunch and I'm happy to say I'm one of em. I'll save a Chuck rant for later as I'm sure this post is getting wayyy too long. 

Stay tuned for pictures from the Chuck reading...hopefully I don't look like too much of a jackass in the pictures. A nice high school student in line behind me was nice enough to take pictures of me and said he'd send over the photos.. 


Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more Beinstein Rules!



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