#todds cowboy drawing. thats it

[holisticpippin]

todd's cowboy drawing will always occupy part of my mind. I might make a better quality version later

[backseatloversz]

was writing on the white of ur converse a thing kids did in the 50s. did neil or todd or any of the other poets ever write carpe diem or some other line of poetry, quote from keating, a line from a show neil did etc on the white of their converse......

[jewishdragon]

Dirk’s “power” as I understand it

This deserved it’s own post. 

Dirk is the Universe’s tool, same as Bart. Right? The Universe sends Bart to kill people that the world needs killed, who otherwise wouldn’t be stopped. That’s pretty simple.

Dirk is a bit more complicated, but similar.

Dirk is kind of, circumstantially, coincidentally, and conveniently clairvoyant. Thats a lot of alliteration but I’m serious. He knows things about the situations he’s adjacently involved in, if and when The Universe needs him to know.

He says a lot of things that seem strange and random, and if The Universe needs him to be right, he is. Like he was about the dog being Lydia (but wrong about the hypnosis). There are several more times when he rambles and one or two things (usually the more innocuous and out there) are correct. 

He’s not “psychic” in the classic sense. We can see this because he can’t complete any of the simple tests administered by Black Wing. Yet somehow, he knew what Todd had drawn on the napkin. That’s weird right? Because that’s a similar test to those at Black Wing, and it seems like his “power” cannot be forced. So how and why did he know about the cowboy drawing? I think because The Universe needed Dirk to know what Todd had drawn so that Todd would stick with Dirk. And so Dirk knew.

At Black Wing his powers don’t work. The tests are meaningless, and thus isn’t granted any insight into the solutions. Plus the tests are for HIM, to test Him, and his power cannot be used for himself. Dirk has said so himself. 

That’s what separates Todd’s “test” from the tests at Black Wing. Dirk knew what Todd had drawn because Todd needed him to know, and Todd was needed for the case to be solved.

Which brings me to this: Dirk’s power CAN be used by others! If someone hires him on a case The Universe will grant him the understanding to solve the case! Not right away of course, bits and pieces, only at the right time, usually at moments that are simultaneously convenient and inconvenient. Because then he is connected to but not the center of the events. 

Did I make sense?

[ayyfour-blog]

#stlrnation JaggedOff

Hope. That's a word that feels lost in the void after week 5's loss. It's a word that still has some meaning to me, however. Many fans expected a big win vs the Jaguars, however, I tempered by expectations. I saw the Jaguars blow out the Ravens in England. Steeler Nation was riding high after OUR win vs Baltimore. When comparing the two, and seeing the level of a blowout the Jaguars delivered to the Ravens, you'd expect some sort of transitive property to apply here. Myself being the smarty pants that I am, I expected a fight from Jacksonville. I knew how solid their defense was and I knew their ground game could come in and dominate. Looking back, I had a feeling that this was a sleeper or "trap game", I just don't know how I let my hopes get so high. Hopes of a 30+ point offensive showing. Hopes of Mike Mitchell NOT taunting after a big hit on a 30 yard completion into Steelers territory. Hopes of Ben actually looking like Ben. This Sunday, all hope was lost.

Tailgate Scene

To take you back,I've taken 2 gameday trips this year. The first, to Cleveland for Steelers vs Browns. A solid game, great tailgate scene, and warm, dry weather. This weeks trip took me to the promised land for Pittsburgh vs Jags. The trip was a part of a 1 year wedding anniversary gift. The trip brought us some good memories, a Penguins win in an NHL Finals rematch vs Nashville, late night Mario Kart Racing at Dave and Busters, and a few more personal scenes that I don't want to share on the interwebs. Sunday morning started off on an odd note for a weekened getaway. I woke up with an antsy feeling at around 6am. This is the time I normally wake up on weekdays, but on weekends it's usually around 8am I wake up, get a bike ride in, and make breakfast while listening to pregame. I worked out, grabbed some breakfast, and packed up to head downtown for the game. Pre-game show blasting into my ears all morning, I felt a sense of nervousness about the game.

We finally got to our parking spot downtown around 10:30. Tailgating scene? Great as always. Steeler Nation knows how to turn out and put on a great tailgate. We walked through the Gold lots where all the high-end tailgaters put on a show, however, me being the cheapskate I am, I like to park across the river. My pregnant wife and I had walk about a mile across the Clemente bridge, around PNC Park, and to the nearby restaraunts to hit up our cheapskate "tailgate" favorites.The best spots to go? Stage AE, Rivertowne, and Burgatory never seem to disappoint. You can walk around with open containers, wander from bar to bar, and feel free to explore. Personally, I recommend doing this if you don't have a large group meeting up. It's about $8 to park and then you only need to worry about what you want to eat or drink. There's plenty to find between PNC and Heinz and it makes for one of the best easy tailgates in the NFL. Whatever you want can be found between the stadiums. Burgers? Burgatory. Pizza, Sandwiches? Rivertowne, which also serves their own home-brewed beer for about $4 for a pounder. Awesome deal if you ask me. There's also Jerome Bettis Grille 36- a spot that you can find Jerome himself at. My wife and I witnessed police stopping traffic and waving a gentleman across the street. My wife caught my attention by yelling "oh my GOD Joe.. do you see who that is!?" to which I responded "please dont draw any attention to him you'll start a riot". The only problem with getting to the Bettis grille is the line. The wait here will take you way past kickoff if you get in line at 10:30, I've only been able to eat there during away games.

The best spot to go if you don't have tickets? Stage AE. Take it from my podcast cohosts, we found our way to Stage AE during the Steelers vs Cowboys game last year. Get here early enough and you'll find FREE stadium seating upstairs. Complete with clean bathrooms, food vendors, beer, drinks, and everything you could need to watch the game. Expect a rowdy crowd at Stage AE, but friendly. Many taunts back-and-forth between Steelers and Cowboys fans during the game, but in defeat the Steeler fans remained humble and brotherhood of NFL fandom reigned supreme.

So, if you'd like to enjoy some freedom in your tailgate, try roaming around the North Shore of Pittsburgh. It's kind of nice not being confined to your vehicle, tables and chairs, shitty charcoal  grill that won't light, porta-johns, and your friends mistakenly poisoning you with peanut butter cookies instead of chocolate chips. Some days you want the traditional tailgate, but when you can't seem to gather a big crew and resources for a blowout, it's kind of liberating to roam free and feel no obligations to your $60 parking. The game

After the tailgate, it was time to head into Heinz field. Entering the stadium, there was a sense of sleepiness in the air. Normally, you'd expect a few "Here we go" chants going into the atrium, but this wasn't the case on Sunday. I talked to my wife on the way in uninterrupted by any lunatics screaming and waving their towels. Granted that it was free Pink Terrible Towel day. you never really got to see a sea of Yellow waving, a sight to behold when properly done.

Fans waved during the team intro's and the first drive allowed the fans to become more vocal. The Steelers got the ball to start the game. Off the bat Ben looked deep to AB. Business was Booming (Trademark Antonio Brown) as Heinz field exploded with passion and hope.  A long reception to Brown and a few handoffs to Bell showed the Steelers offense was finally primed to impose their will upon the NFL. 35 points in a game? No problem. Then, the Steelers offense went stagnant. Field goal good from the Wiz Chris Boswell and the Steelers are up 3-0.

That feeling of hope was slightly diminshed by 3 on the board instead of 7, however, you didn't expect what was coming for the Steelers. The Jaguars pounded the ball into the Steelers, taking a 7-3 lead in the second quarter by running Fournette down our throats. Basic tackling issues plagued the defense so badly that the Jags attempted only 14 passes the entire game! James Harrison, who was in sweats this past Sunday, will likely be back in a big way to help show the youngins how to tackle this week.

The Steelers mounted a late second quarter drive, leading to another disappointing field goal on a long drive to put it to 7-6 Jaguars at half. 1 Interception thrown by Big Ben, Jalen Ramsey got lucky and we still have Hope.. Second Half starts, Steelers march down the field to score another Field Goal and take the lead 9-7. "Okay, I can live with this" I think to myself as I can imagine this being the final. It's been a defensive struggle and it will end that way, let's just run as much as we can against one of the NFL's worst rushing D's.

Then, it all went awry.  

Remember last weeks article-the talk of the Resean Mathis curse? Where the Jaguars corners somehow have superb games against us? How they'll all look like hall of famers if they played us each week?

Jaguars get the ball, D holds strong and Jax punts, Steelers get the ball and decide its time to put the Jaguars down. We come out with a west-coast based passing attack. Short slants, HB screens, simple completions that essentially work as running plays to chew up clock, gain a few yards and keep the chains moving.

Ben drops back to pass-BOOM Telvin Smith jumps a slant for 28 yard Touchdown Jaguars, 13-9 lead- bad guys. OK- we can still throw it deep, right? Next posession, Ben looks deep middle to AB, Jalen Ramsey comes in huge to deflect the pass- right into the hands of a Jaguars defender. Church goes 51 yards for a pick-6 on back-to-back drives. Ben has now thrown 3 interceptions and it's now 21-9.

Fans begin to Boo Ben and call for Landry Jones.

Next drive, the Steelers fail to move the ball, Jalen Ramsey covers both AB and Bryant like the all-pro he's becoming, and we punt to Jacksonville. Jags move down the field and hit a Field Goal.  Fans are livid, ones such as myself are calling for Todd Haley's job as the offense cannot move the ball, we cannot stop Leonard Fournette on the ground, and  "OK..its the third quarter and its 23-9.

Thats only 11 points.." I tell myself and hope that Ben can pull a miraculous comeback. Ben starts the team marching downfield, hitting a couple quick completions, looks like the Ben of old and we finally find our flow. OK now lets try to go deep to AB or keep the ground game moving. Just don't throw toward Ramsey's side of the field!" I tell myself. Ben looks deep right for JuJu Smith-Schuster- at least not toward Ramsey- intercepted again. That makes 4. Teshaun Gipson comes up with one and Steeler Nation is getting furious with the West Coast offense. 23-9 does not seem to be insurmountable still. The D forces a punt yet again, God Bless Em', so let's give this another shot..

I'm a glutton for pain at this point.

Different drive, still decent ball movement, same results. In Jacksonville territory, Ben throws his career high 5th interception to Myles Jack at the Jacksonville 10. I start for the exits and don't want to stop marching until I hit that parking deck. No looking back, no more thoughts about what had just happened. I still was in shock and disbelief at what had transpired.

On the way to the car, I caught a faint bit of hope when I heard the roar from the crowd when I was in the vecinity of PNC park, then I realized that was the remaining Jaguars fans, for the sea of black and gold had flooded the streets, much like our tears flooding into the confluence. The Jaguars fans roared as their heroes added a finishing touch- a 90 yard Leonard  Fournette run up-the-gut. Steelers fans were gutted, the rookie RB who had taunted Mike Mitchell to come at him earlier in the game came right for the Steelers D and dominated.

Hopefully next week provides a better prepared team. The season is not even close to over, division is still up for grabs and supremacy in the AFC can still be obtained. The only thing standing in the way? The undefeated Chiefs- whose resume includes a win over the defending world champs and another rookie running back who is looking to cement a spot as the leagues premier back. Hopefully the offensive coordinator finds the right balance and feeds our premier back, who has dominated the league himself in the past few years. Run and stop the run, it sounds simple, but for the Steelers, has determined the course of their season thus far.

#herewego