I have memories of going to the Air Show in Cleveland as a kid and still enjoy watching the jets fly over my place in Cleveland every Labor Day weekend.  I’ve often heard banter of an accident years back where a US Air Force Thunderbirds jet crashed into Lake Erie, but never knew much until I found the video below.  Very interesting, classic footage.  When’s the last time you saw the local news do a close up on an EMS squad doing CPR?

Thunderbirds Commander / Leader, Lieutenant Colonel David Lawrence Smith killed on the shores of Lake Erie as seagulls caused his T-38 to lose power.

From source:

Tragedy struck the Thunderbirds in Cleveland on September 8, 1981. The team was leaving to return to Nellis Air Force Base when Thunderbird #1 ingested numerous seagulls on take-off. The aircraft immediately lost power, caught fire and crashed into Lake Erie. Aboard the T-38 were Thunderbirds Commander / Leader, Lieutenant Colonel David Lawrence Smith and his Crew Chief, Staff Sergeant Dwight Roberts. Both men ejected with Sergeant Roberts suffering minor arm and knee injuries. Lieutenant Colonel Smith, 40 years old from Rossville, Georgia, perished when his parachute failed at low altitude. This page is dedicated to the memory of Lieutenant Colonel Smith.

Lastly, here’s a video I shot from the roof of the building I used to work in.  Get’s real at about :30:

Some classics in this.  Joe Pesci is hard to top, enjoy:

Just wanted to say The Knife are absolutely incredible and anything they produce is gold.

If aliens listened to Swedish electro pop, they would listen to The Knife.  Here are some oldies, but absolute goodies.  Turn the lights off, the volume up, and enjoy.  You may not like at first, so take the time:

I love a good documentary.  Here are a few I’ve caught recently – all of which are available to stream on Netflix Instant Queue.  All four share a common theme – telling a tale of some of the most interesting real-life people I’ve ever seen on camera.

Check them out!

I Like Killing Flies – 2004
About a hard-nosed vulgar restaurant owner in Greenwich Village.  As New York as it gets.  I like this guy.

The King of Kong – 2007
An absolute classic.  One word to describe Billy Mitchell?  Awesome.  The tale of Donkey Kong and competitive arcade gaming.

Cocaine Cowboys – 2006
The shocking tale of literally why Miami exists today and of the cocaine epidemic in the 1980′s – super interesting.

Confessions of a Superhero – 2007
You’ve seen these people in Vegas, NYC, Bourbon Street all the way to your local shopping malls.  The tale of L.A. street performers (dorky ones, at that) and their struggles.

Here’s the end clip of I Like Killing Flies. Dude’s awesome: “You’re not good., You’re not so terriffic.”

2 minute philosophy. Stay hungry, stay humble:

Les Claypool is the greatest at what he does.  Here’s my video from last night:

News from Huntsville, Alabama – hate to make light of a serious issue, but Antoine Dobson makes me do just that:

The Flaming Lips do Letterman:

Congressman Anthony Weiner goes ballistic on the House floor:

A great event in Cleveland!  Here’s a video I shot from Friday’s ride.  Head to http://clevelandcriticalmass.com/ for more details!

You’ve probably already seen this, but here is the footage of me being interviewed by Cleveland Channel 5 ABC affiliate (WEWS).

Please be sure to also check out http://www.ClevelandCriticalMass.com

Loaded up the truck this past week and drove to Fort Collins, Colorado with Court to visit her sister and to see the sights and drink the craft beers that Colorado has to offer.  Below is how it went down:

SUNDAY

• Left Cleveland early, made it well over half way by nightfall.  With a 2 hour time gain, we shacked up at a Travelodge somewhere in Nebraska.

MONDAY

• Finished the drive through the Pawnee National Grassland (skipped Cheyenne) on the drive from Nebraska to Fort Collins.
• Checked in at the Hilton on E. Harmony, room #113.
• Visited with Erin on the CSU campus, met Shadow, and then headed to Stuft for lunch.
• Did some shopping at Happy Lucky’s Teahouse and a couple bookstores.
  • Replenished my stock with the latest two Boneshakers.
• Finished the night drinking some craft brews at Coopersmith’s Pub and sipping New Belgium at The Sports Exchange.
  • Courtney claims there was a Taco Bell visit.

TUESDAY

• An absolutely amazing breakfast at Lucile’s.
• Drove out to the beautiful Front Range and hiked to the falls in Horsetooth Mountain.
• Shower and drive to the great city of Boulder.
• Stopped in Longmont at Left Hand Brewing (yes, their public site is a Blogspot site.)
• Super tasty Mexican lunch at Illegal Petes.
• Shopping in Boulder at American Apparel, Patagonia, Into the Wild, others, multiple bookstores and coffee shops.
  • Boulder is an awesome place to visit (and it seems, to live).  Very cool atmosphere.  The touristy places are covered with street performers, folk singers, and transients.
• Swung by the Google Office in Boulder.
• Drove to Avery Brewing, sipped some White Rascal.
• Drove to Oskar Blues in Lyons – one of the coolest parts of the trip.  Not only were there great brews, good food, Tron and Donkey Kong machines; but there was a 30+ string player bluegrass jam going on upstairs.
  • All local, free admission.  This was Colorado.
• Drove back late to Fort Collins, next to a pretty mountain sunset.

WEDNESDAY

• Awoke early and drove to the scenic Roosevelt National Forest.
  • Was a beautiful morning, 8,000 ft above sea level, cool and comforting.
• Rode my first horse ever at Sombrero Ranch.  Was pleasant, did about an hour up through the mountains.
• Lunch at Mad Greens.  Tasty!
• Did the tour at New Belgium!  Sampled great beers, learned a little, bought some swag, loved all the cool New Belgium bikes.
• Shopping at Wagz and Jax, others.
• Local simple pizza from Pulcinellas.

THURSDAY

• Quiet Morning.
• Checked out the Colorado State campus and bookstore.
• Drove to Denver.
• Shopping, walking around.  Chatted with a guy from Westlake.
• Had some of the best sushi ever at Sushi Sasa.  A friend’s brother manages here and we got the hook up!
• Headed to Coors Field and watched the Rockies put a hurtin’ on the Giants.

FRIDAY

• Literally drove 22 hours back to Cleveland.
• We stopped to get gas somewhere near Gary, IN.  I tried to check in on FourSquare and found that Micheal Jackson’s childhood was some 2,000 feet away.  We went there.  It was both scary and sad.
• Was pulled over in Indiana at 4am, got a warning (a true miracle, considering my speeding history.)

THOUGHTS

Colorado is a great state, with much to offer.  The cities we visited (mainly Fort Collins) were modern, clean and friendly.  The climate is much hotter than that of NE Ohio, but with less humidity so it’s far more pleasant.

There are countless bike shops and the streets are crowded with bikers and bike racks.  The town has a liberal sense of feel, plenty of progressive book stores, coffee shops, stores, and more – surrounding CSU.  Much of Boulder has free city wide WiFi.  The concentration of craft breweries has to be some of the best in the country.  The region is also scattered with promising businesses including AMD, Intel,  and Google to name a few.  The altitude difference didn’t bother me too much – but I could definatly tell in certain instances.

VIDEO

Some clips I shot:

PICTURES

See all at: http://picasaweb.google.com/shawnmariani/ColoradoVacation#

I like Gaslight Anthem and who can’t love some Springsteen.  Here’s a good vid of the singer of Gaslight living his dream and performing with The Boss in the flesh.

Both are from Jersey and it’s known that Gaslight is heavily influenced by Springsteen.  Good stuff: