Thursday night, I went to New Jersey. That isn’t really a big deal, in itself, since I go to NJ about 4 times per week on average. This time, though, it wasn’t just a run across the George Washington to Fort Lee. I actually took NJ Transit (above), and went to a little town near Newark. Deep Jersey. Snooki/Jerseylicious Jersey. Hahahah. I was there to shoot an interview with the famed tattoo artist Jun Cha, who I errantly reported earlier this week operates out of NJ. He is really a dude born and bred in So. Cal. trained by the likes of Mr. Cartoon. Anyway, here are a few of the shots from the interview:

The dude does traditional So Cal black and grey, in photo-realistic style. If I were ever to get a tattoo (which I never would), this is probably the dude that I would hit up.

Back to the matter at hand.. We are supposed to be blasted by Hurricane Earl on Friday. Hurricane season is the time of year that I suffer the pangs of being a poseur, past-prime surfer. Last time I checked the surf report it was like, double overhead at Coney Island. CONEY ISLAND! DOUBLE OVERHEAD! Can you imagine getting a barrel at Coney? This is the one time of  year where you are more likely to die at Coney by being swallowed by the ocean, than by getting stabbed while waiting in line at the Wonder Wheel. We aren’t even talking the point at Montauk. There is going to be some serious Mark Foo stuff going on out at that end of the island, this weekend. Last time I surfed double overhead, I was a 19 year old resident of the aloha state. These days I am a landlubbing surfboardless Manhattanite. So depressing.

On a less depressing hurricane season note, I watched my University of Utah football team eek out a nail biting season opener against Pitt, on Thursday night. How awesome is college football? I seriously love it.

Just when I could really really use a three day weekend, Labor Day comes along. We have a banger lined up, too. Some items on the agenda include: Party for TH opening a new store in SoHo; Multiple PJ visits; hanging out in the country (Rural CT); a long training run with tight amigos (also in the country); watching the GP race at Misano; a dip in the pool; a fun editorial shoot;  and, some barbecue. Have a fantastic weekend, peeps. And if you end up surfing Montauk this weekend, don’t tell me about it. Because I may accidentally punch you, out of pathetic jealousy.

I’m pretty sure that I just woke up my whole building. 10-0, baby.

Now that the 2008 MotoGP season has officially ended, I can devote my entire weekend couch lounging schedule to College football. UT has a dual meaning in our household. For me it is an abbreviation for Utah, the name of the state which is borne by its the largest public university and also my alma mater (for undergrad), University of Utah. For Reagan, UT stands for University of Tennessee. Luckily the SEC and the MWC don’t meet very often in the world of college football. It allows me to also be a Vols fan, and Reagan to be a Ute fan.

Being a University of Utah fan, since conception (yes, I attended multiple games while still in utero), has definitely had its ups and downs. Living about midway between the U of U campus and that of their largest rival BYU, was especially trying during grade school. It seemed like a lot of the kids I grew up with equated being a good cougar fan with being a good member of the Mormon faith. As one might suppose, throw religion into the mix and any type of competition is kicked up a notch. Such is the rivalry between the two schools. Don’t be fooled by the people who try to downplay it. There is some intense mutual hatred going on there.

There are a hand full of seasons from Utah Football history, since I have been following it, that stand out. On the most memorable, of course was the undefeated season under the guidance of Urban Meyer, that culminated in a Fiesta Bowl victory in 2005.

This was an event that I wasn’t sure I would see again in my lifetime, especially after Meyer took a position at Florida. With two games to go this year, Utah is still undefeated and is currently ranked #8, holding the nation’s second longest winning streak, all under the direction of head coach Kyle Whittingham.

I’m not going to count chickens before they are hatched or anything. They have two home games remaining, three games total. All three of them are conference games. The first will be this Thursday night against the horned frogs of TCU. TCU were taken to the woodshed by Oklahoma earlier this season, but then again Oklahoma spent a lot of the season ranked #1. A few weeks ago, TCU was able to pull off a very convincing win against BYU, giving the cougars their only loss of the season (so far). After TCU, Utah will take to the road for San Diego State on Nov. 15 (ok, this is one chicken I may be counting). Finally, Utah will face BYU on Nov. 22nd. I feel like I have already spent too much time on this post, and I don’t want to play sports analyst. I do want to say that I’m pretty excited to see what the next few weeks bring. Go Utes!

I enjoyed the debate last night. As I mentioned earlier, I was mostly excited about it because of the venue. I think that I may actually be a little less undecided after last night. Now that I got that out of the way, I’m pretty fired up for the weekend lineup.

Since I’m out tomorrow, today is my “Friday.” Nothing like an extra long action packed weekend. Here is the lineup->

-Sarah, Jessie and their girls arrive this afternoon from VA, where they have been staying with Jessie’s father, since they arrived from Alaska. Depending on what time they get here and how they feel tonight, Piper may meet her AK cousins for the first time tonight (as well as aunt Sarah and uncle Jessie). After that, the agenda is pretty much party and do whatever we feel like until Saturday.

-Saturday will most likely be spent (depending on weather) doing some football watching and getting ready for the B-day party that evening. Utah plays Colorado State. The Utes will be looking to extend their record to 8-0. It will be a tough road game, but I’m confident that they will be able to put another one in the “W” column. I’m sure there will be a Piper visit in the mix, for Saturday also. Saturday night, Reagan is throwing me a party, woo hoo.

-Sunday, shake off the sugar hangover (from all of the sweetorade and cupcakes), then more Cousin/Piper time. Hopefully we can get some good pictures outside with the kids. Once again, depending on the weather. After that, we will be watching a Discovery Channel show featuring the work of our good friend Tadd Truscott, who is finishing up post graduate work at MIT in fluid dynamics. Check it out, if you like nerd stuff (like I do). It should be pretty awesome. Then, MotoGP.

-The GP race is in Malaysia this weekend at the Sepang circuit. This will be the penultimate race of the season. True, Rossi already has the championship locked up. But don’t think that will stop Stoner from fighting for another podium or 2.