It was really a great weekend. I hope you feel the same. Here’s a bit of what went on:

On The Appetizer, I started a 2-part series that I’ve wanted to do for 10 years at least, and that’s feature the greater songbook of Pearl Jam. Most rock fans are familiar with at least 3-4 of their hit songs (Jeremy, Black, Alive, Even Flow, Spin The Black Circle, Better Man, Daughter, Given To Fly, The Fixer, Last Kiss, Man Of The Hour, Nothing As It Seems, and Yellow Ledbetter to name a few of the radio hits). But they have a TON of other songs that were never played on commercial radio (except maybe in Seattle) that I’ve wanted to feature and showcase. On Saturday, The Appetizer featured the first hour with some great b-sides and not commercially aired tracks like Just A Girl, Footsteps, Mankind, Tremor Christ, Garden, Indifference and more. It’s how we’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of the band. More great music from Pearl Jam coming up next weekend. I’ll have more info later in the week.

On Friday night my wife and I were invited to Baird, Tx to play a murder mystery game. Each of us were given character names that we had to portray and as the game went on, we were given individual slips of paper that had insights into what our character had been doing, our relationship with the other characters present, and some things we should be snooping around for. My character was a defense lawyer. I wore my best tie and used hair gell (I never do that) to look as slick as possible. I even made some business cards with a catchy line or two on them. It was nice. I really wasn’t interested in winning the game, just doing the character stuff. It was a lot of fun, and I didn’t win, but I did get close to figuring out who the murderer was. The game played like a real life Clue, where we all had to ask others questions and figure out who killed the victim, what room the murder took place in, what the motive was and what weapon was used. I got to meet a few new people and got to play with several friends, and seeing my friends act our their characters was a lot of fun. I think my friend’s that hosted this party and game might be doing more of these things, as a business type thing. When I know the details and how others can get in, I’ll let you know.

I finally saw The Blindside this weekend. What a great film. Sandra Bullock totally deserved Best Actress. I loved the script, the kid actors, and how love was the message of the film. If you haven’t seen it, you must check it out. My wife liked it too, and she’s not much of a football fan. So if you’re afraid you won’t like it because it’s a “football movie,” fear not.

I didn’t get to watch the big fight Saturday night, but was glad to know that Pacquiao won. Despite giving up a lot of size and possibly strength, Pacman stayed on top and left Margarito swollen, bloody, and messed up. He also further cemented his claim as the best boxer in the world, and the pound-for-pound champ. It will be hard for Mayweather to continue ducking Pacquaio if his legacy as the greatest pound-for-pound champion is tested or questioned. But I really doubt that superfight will ever happen. It’s just one of those things. As for the rest of last Saturday’s card, I learned that the other matches were interesting. I’m going to have to find a place online to see it.

Yesterday was football, thank God. The Bears beat the Vikings, which made me very happy. I thought that after Favre’s big week last week, the Vikes would kill us, but those Midway Monsters did the trick. And Cutler threw the ball to his own team instead of the other guys. That’s always a good thing. Since the bye week, the Bears have evenly mixed passing with running and won 2 in a row. Hey Martz, that looks like a WINNING recipe!!! Keep it up, please!!!

I also watched The Texans fail again to finish a game strong. On the last play of the game, Jaguar’s QB Garrard threw a hail mary that was batted down by Texan’s Safety Quinn, right into the hands of a Jacksonville receiver in the end zone. Jaguars win with a huge stroke of luck. Wow, it was an incredible play but the announcers said it right. Quinn had been coached to do that. It was possible for him to catch the ball and not bat it down. He did was he’d been coached to do and it backfired. I really feel for that guy, because he’s going to get flack for stuff that his coaches instructed him to do.

The Bengals lost. I didn’t read much about it but it seems that Bernard Scott (my choice for RB) didn’t get much action. When Benson is the main man at back, they lose. It didn’t help that Palmer has Cutler disease (or Grossman disease or Favre disease) in his way of throwing the ball to people not wearing the same color jersey that he’s wearing. Seriously, once you get 3 picks you need to sit on the bench and give someone else a chance. In baseball, if you give up 3 homers, and you’re costing your team the game, the manager pulls you. It’s just the way the game works. Maybe the Bengals should try that.

The Bills finally won, which is good even though I admit I wanted the Lions to win. Come on, the Lions have been horrible since Barry Sanders retired. They need something. And they have a good team this year. I estimate they will be a top NFC contender in 2 years. I watched The Patriots beat the hell out of the Steelers, which made me very happy. I’m unabashedly opposed to the Steelers. The only player they have that I like is Palamalou, maybe Ward and maybe Thomas. But the defense is a punk of thugs, starting with Harrison. That O-line for New England did awesome and Tom Brady is the man.

And then there’s the Cowboys. After a horrible week last week, and Wade Phillips getting fired, this group of millionaires were going to end up just being a bunch of overpaid guys watching football on TV at the end of the season. Then Pat Garrett gets the interim job and now they’re playing like champs. I watched part of that game. Kitna looked like he knew the playbook (as opposed to the previous week). The defense was strong. The offense was together. The components looked good. WHERE WERE THESE GUYS IN WEEK 1-8? Isn’t that what we’re supposed to be thinking? I don’t even like the Cowboys, but it is disconcerting when a group of guys play heads and tails different on two consecutive weeks. That’s wild. And what does that really mean? If they’re really that good, was Wade Phillips really that bad of a leader and coach? Are the players unprofessional for not playing up to their ability (and contracts) up to this point? It’s the drama that isn’t supposed to be in football. Guys rallying to win despite injuries and setbacks are the drama you want. Not whinny divas with big contracts and tons of talent not doing their job or that crapfest in Minnesota with Brad Childress and Brett Favre. I liked what Boomer Esiason said postgame yesterday about how Favre is too melodramatic for his own good, making every postgame press conference a cryfest isn’t doing anyone any good. Yeah, he owns every QB record, but he doesn’t need to add “most likely to shed a zillion tears after loosing a game” to his list. I’m just saying.