Classiest Guy In The NFL

By now, all of the sports world knows that Lane Kiffin was fired today. Kiffin has been on the hot seat since the beginning of 2008, when Lane wanted to find a replacement for Rob Ryan, who must be Al Davis' illegitimate son the way he thinks the world revolves around him, at DC. So a team executive told Kiffin last night that he was going to be canned and that Mr. Decomposition would be calling him in the morning. Not only does someone other than Davis tell him he is going to be fired, Davis does it over a phone call. Then to top it all off they are trying to not pay him the remaining salary left on his contract. Because Lane was not afraid to speak his mind, the Raiders will probably win that battle, claiming that the coach was insubordinate, and merited the firing. How long before the old decrepit bastard realizes that he should have sent Ryan out the door with him. Probably never. Al Davis will Matt Millenize him. Al Davis should fire himself. He as already ran the team into the ground. Not much further he can go. Al Davis is a scum bag.

The Raiders players were at least trying for Kiffin. They respected him and bought into his system. He was not even allowed to address the team upon his firing. Even Scott Linehan was afforded the opportunity to address his team, and his team had no respect for him.

The Lane Kiffin watch is officially on in Syracuse.

First Box in Years

So I get home today and to my delight there is a package waiting for me on my front patio. Being that this is the first box that i have opened in a couple of years. I have the box broke in about 5 minutes. At first I thought that this was a great looking set. A lot of that had to do with my initial excitement. After mulling it over for a while, I have to admit that the 2008 SPX Football is ok. While it is not an overall great design it is not bad.

Breaking down what I "pulled" out of this box, I have to say that I may not have gotten the value of what I paid, however I am happy with a lot of the cards that came out of this box. I got a few lower end rookies and another low end rookie autograph. Most likely a bunch of guys who may never make it in the league, but I will hold on to them, because you just never know. I also got on redemption card for a SPx Football Super Script Amobi Okoye. I am actually hoping that UD can fill this redemption. I have been a fan of Okoye for the last couple of years he was in college.

Here a couple of signature and game used cards that I am excited about. I think these guys will grow into stars and can only add value to my set. The design on the cards is not stellar, but I don't think they are bad.

Then there is this guy, who I am still a little iffy on.

The one base set rookie that I did pull is John David Booty. I dont think the lay out of the card is too bad. Booty looks like he is still in the middle of an acid trip. I am not a big Vikes or USC fan so this one was little bit of a disappointment.

Here are the two multiple player game used cards that came from the box. The first one I think is awesome and I love the layout. I think the layout of the second one is pretty ugly.

This is my favorite card out of the box. Not so much for the design, nor am I a big Denver fan, but I do like Royal and I think the card has a nice looking patch.

Well, there you have it. I know that the pictures are not the best in the world, sorry that some of them are a little crooked (I have a pretty old scanner). May not have been the best box in the world, but I am really happy about out. Especially considering it was my first break in a while. I would be interested in hearing any feedback on what you think about this break.

Back in the Game

Just to give everyone a little background about me. I began collecting back in the late 80s/early 90s. I got out of it probably around 1992 (high school). In 1999 I was working with a guy ("Rob") and he had a bag full of binders one day. Out of curiosity, I had asked him what was in the bag. What I saw blew my mind. I had not followed collecting for 7 or 8 years. Before my eyes I saw hundreds of sports card type of which I had never seen before. Here before me were cards that were autographed, had peices of the game inserted in them, and a collection of the two. I was immediately hooked. . .


During my early days of collecting, I realized then that Beckett was full of crap. When I first started, I collected mainly for trading for my favorite teams and players. One day someone finally used the phrase that we all have loved to hate so much. "Book Value". I wish I could remember the cards now, but I do know that the other guy had a nice RC that I had wanted and I had a whole bunch of his favorite team. Well I was all set. I had one card that I wanted and he had a couple. I said that the trade was cool because we were both getting what we wanted. He came back and said the the Value on that card was double of what I am getting in return. I had no idea what he was talking about. It was at that time that I was introduced to the douchbaggery that was Beckett. I wish I could say I never used it. After that day I used it for some time. Till one day I got my hands on a Kirby Puckett RC. My dad never supported the hobby and always told me it was a waste. Me in my teenage rebellion told him that my KP RC was worth $60 (which is what the BV was at the time). He told me to prove it and go sell it for that amount. So I went to the nearest card store and tried. I was offered around $20. After talking to the owner of the shop for some time I learned a lot about "Real Value". He told me that just because this book says that a card is worth so much, it all matters on what it is worth to the holder and/or person buying it. He told me that he would only be able to sell it for a few dollars more than what he offered me. From that moment on I would only look at Beckett as an idea of what they said they valued it at and then figured that if I had tried to sell it, it would only be for about 35% of that.


Jump to 1999, I am hitting the Wax boxes hard. So excited in my new found glory. Not remembering much of my past experiences what do I do, drop six bucks on a Beckett (last issue ever bought). Going through the cards and the guide it starts to come back. Looking at the cards, I am thinking to myself, "There is no way that I could get that much out of this on EBay." DING DING DING. It hits me, check eBay and see if anyone else has this out there was selling any of the cards that I wanted to get rid of. Sure enough, selling for about 35% of what it was listed for. SCREW YOU BECKETT.


About seven years after my Sports Card relapse, I was forced to sell of my entire collection for personal reasons. Because I collect the cards for personal enjoyment, I felt that I did not get no where near what they worth. They worth a lot more to me. I am not so concerned with the real value of the card until I need to part with it. The ones we love are always worth more that what we can get for them. I did manage to hold on to one.

I though that is was an awesome looking card and probably one of the best ones I ever got out of a box.

Well it has been a couple of years and I am at a point now that I can get back into collecting. So I am about to have my second relapse. I have bought my first Wax Box. It is the 2008 SPX Football box. It is supposed to be here tomorrow. I will keep you posted on what comes out of it (if you even care)

"News Flash" Fall Fashion Story Featuring Emma Beam

Check out my latest spread in the September 2008 issue of Florida International Magazine. It's pretty cool, graphic and predominantly black and white. I did several makeup changes throughout the story sticking mainly to black, white, silver, grays and fleshy neutrals. I even had time to play with those limited edition Viktor & Rolf eyelashes from Shu Uemura. You can check out a behind the scenes video of the entire crew and the making of the shoot (video shot by Jason Koontz) here:






and take a look at some of the final picks the magazine chose below.....Enjoy!

Bombay the Hard Way, Resurrected....

It's so surprising what treasures the internet holds: To preface, in all professional honesty, I probably should have started blogging months ago...It was an idea first kicked around several months ago at the Air India terminal at JFK with my stylist friend Jersey.

My parents (gotta love mom and dad) dropped me to JFK for what was to be a 10 day work/job trip in Mumbai, India and I told them that I would keep in touch etc. via daily computer updates etc....(mind you, this was all before I knew that Wi-Fi and internet service is SOOOOO not what it is here....neither are toilets, showers, electricity, and taxi's to name a few but that's another blog altogether)

Ankywhoo, our assignment was to shoot ex-model turned #2 Bollywood star Bipasha Basu for Nirvana Woman magazine as not only was it their 'First Annual Bollywood Issue' but it was the launch of the publication in India. What better way to launch it but with Bips, shot with an all international crew!!

Being the seasoned traveler that I am, I normally would have done due diligence in preparations for this trip via Google, but being that I only had 2 days prep time before my departure, the trivial things such as picking up a guidebook and reading some web blogs and just doing some general research got pushed to the side in favor of things like: digging out summer clothes, getting a visa, conquering my luggage and kit dilemmas and filling scripts for malaria and other possible ailments.

I have decided to spare the gory details, in part because I don't want to relive the first 3 days and the pre-production nightmares, but also, to protect the names of the innocent and the not so innocent....I would also like to add, that this trip was made 1000 times easier as the crew was comprised of some of my closest friends.

I will however, say that the shoot day, while tense, (extra fast paced; 5 hours max from prep, clothing changes, to wrap. This folks, mind you, is a generous time frame for a celeb) went off according to plan. Beautiful location (The Taj Land's End), beautiful clothes and jewelry (western and european designers), beautiful talent (Bipasha's gorgeous in case you didn't know, ex model turned actress) and of course a super talented team (ahem, me being included in that). The story was an 8 page fashion spread plus cover. See below for final results:

Nirvana Woman Cover with Bipasha Basu. Photography: James Weber, Styling: Jersey and Satorii Pond, Makeup: Kim Weber

I am also linking to our Zoom TV television interview. It took me from March when I returned, until now to find it and let me just say, that I am happy that you see only a flash of my turquoise tunic and my hand in the very beginning, as I was a humid, sweaty, jet lagged mess on that day. I am thankful that the folks at the network cut out my on camera interview. Bipasha looks flawless and camera ready as she should. Me on the other hand, let's just say, I could blackmail myself with the visual.... href="http://www.zoomtv.in/view/news/bips-international-cover-girl-0

Special super duper kudos and Thanks goes out to Arunesh...and he knows why!!

Enjoy!!!