The whistles go ... whoo whoo!

Can't go wrong with Red, White and Boom. Small red halter tops on redheads with back tats also are agreeable in this day and age. Patriotism knows no bounds and I'm always glad to see it held up with cloth that resembles fishing wire.

The FancyFest on Thursday night up in the Huntington Building didn't disappoint. Walking toward downtown and $4 beers, The Godfather got a call from McGinley and we met up with him to watch fireworks from 30-some floors above. Aside from a scant selection of beers, the 'ding had everything you could possibly want. 27-year-old dudes that looked 43, people that were genuinely interesting to talk to, tons of friendly people, attractive cougars and cougars in training, McGinley telling stories, easy to get free beers and free beers. The view of the fireworks was pretty decent, as well. I liked watching the moment,I'm talking one second after the grand finale, when everyone turned and headed east toward High Street. Cool to see a throng of people all move in that same direction at once.

The Godfather wins MVP honors on the night. He led me to the free beers and also came along to the Arena District afterward. He denied McGinley's chants of "182" and allowed us to triple-fist Miller Lites at the Lodge Bar.

Lodge Bar was fun. I think we saw McCampus there for a second. Rainbow Brite, Headband, their other friend Moving to Cleveland and All Kinds of Awesome also were there.

All Kinds of Awesome was terrible. I call her All Kinds of Awesome because absolutely zero about her was awesome on Thursday night. Fun girl. Girl who is blatantly unfriendly, in a bad mood, can't wait to leave, thinks she looks 150 times better than she does, etc., etc., etc. Headband was with dude and we ended up staying there for about an hour, hour and a half.

Made it back to Youngstown on Friday. Huge family picnic. There were about 50 people there. I think I knew 17 of them. Everyone I know has kids between the ages of 0 and 13. Played the annual, requisite two-hours of basketball in the blazing heat. Really wasn't that bad. I was on the "old guy" team. I know. The fuck. A few other oldies didn't play and I was one of the five oldest guys playing, although I was the youngest by nine years. We should have got killed, as the other team had the one sweet black dude, my cousin Kevin who is like the energizer bunny and gets everyfuckingoffensiverebound, my cousin Patrick who's a junior in high school and dunks and this other dude Jason who is like 6'1'', 220 and got the offensive rebounds Kevin didn't. It was a half court game and that's not my style. I excel in the open court. Full-court games are my bread and butter. Though I don't like butter on bread. Odd.

Did what I do. Yes, this is a post about driveway basketball. Pick and rolled to 20-footers, got one rebound in two-solid hours of hoops, made a number of good passes, had a bunch of steals and yelled out "assist" on every one of my assists. We won two of the three games. It was awesome.

My dad showed up a bit later and left his golf shoes on the whole time. Ended up hanging out with my cousins Kevin and Brendan until about 3 a.m. that night. Great time. Watched this video about 40 times:



41 times.

Booze and fireworks at McCampus' bash on Saturday night. Always a safe mix. McCampus and crew can throw a party. Great times all around and the usual cast of O'Bannons and their non-talkative wives. Enjoyed myself there for about three hours before heading to 185 until closing time. I am sure The Godfather will have a report on that over at GVM sometime today. His text from last night:

I just wish someone would come along and tell me how great girls from GSG are. Even though none are going to Harvard.

Since closing time happened too early, apparently, I kept on boozing until about sunrise. Woke up at 2 p.m. on Sunday and have absolutely nothing to report from there on out.

I enjoy the weekends.

- Compiled by Art McGregor