I am digging Baltimore. In fact, I’ve dug Baltimore since my dad took us on a (not so very extravagant but very memorable) family vacation there in November of 1984. That began a lifelong love affair between me and the town known as Charm City. The streets are dusted with Old Bay Seasoning and crabs roam carefree in the streets. (From both the prostitutes and the Chesapeake Bay.) I went to college in Maryland, so the love increased tenfold after all the great times I had during those years.    

I love the Inner Harbor, I love the neighborhoods, and I love the bars and restaurants. But I love the people the most. [Read more →]

Tags: Marty digs, travel & foreign lands by Marty O'Connor
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This week, as October is flying by us, and Phillies playoff baseball has me in a tizzy, and yesterday’s Eagles game tailgate has me almost in a coma, I am digging Phineas and Ferb and the last day of the month Halloween.

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Tags: Marty digs, television by Marty O'Connor
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Tags: Marty digs, sports by Marty O'Connor
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Sometimes when I sit down to blog about a certain album I am enjoying, I have to really catch myself. Does my opinion count?  I mean, how hip can a 5’7 pudgy white guy be? I spent the past Friday night getting Chili’s Chips and Salsa take out and watching Die Hard 2. But I do try to keep my finger on the energy drink fueled pulse of our nation’s youth.  [Read more →]

Tags: Marty digs, music, television by Marty O'Connor
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I dig Wal-Mart. As much as people hate on Wal-Mart, I go for therapeutic reasons. I have been down in the dumps lately — work has been busy, money is tight, and I have spotted a few grays in my precious golden locks. But instead of going to a shrink to help me work out the kinks, I just jump in the car and go to my local Wal-Mart to make myself feel better. I cannot imagine what it costs for a session in some professional’s office to help you sort yourself out, but at Wal-Mart it’s free. (Well, it was $15.67 for the cashews, apple juice, Willie Nelson clearance priced T-Shirt, and pack of gum.) Once again, Wal-Mart has saved a consumer his hard-earned pocket change. [Read more →]

Tags: all work, fashion & clothing, Marty digs by Marty O'Connor
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Ok, I am going to admit, I’ve been a naughty blogger. So I want to start by apologizing for my lack of posts.  But this summer I achieved a dream I never thought possible — I had every Friday off! But now, as we savor the last tasty tidbits of summer, I am back — and armed with a summer’s worth of material. [Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment, Marty digs, recipes & food, television by Marty O'Connor
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To kick things off this week,  I want to tell you all about a website that instantly brings me back to my childhood. VirtualNES.com is a site where you can legally and safely play almost any game from the Nintendo Entertainment system. It is hilarious to see how simple the games were then, and how far we have advanced in video game technology. I’m not a “gamer” by any means but love playing old Nintendo games and harking back to my youth of hanging out with my friends playing RBI Baseball and listening to the Beastie Boys “Licensed To Ill” over and over.

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Tags: art & entertainment, Marty digs, music, sports by Marty O'Connor
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I have and will always love The Lemonheads album It’s A Shame About Ray. Came out in 1992 and yet I still listen to it on an almost weekly basis. It was a simpler time then — Kurt Cobain was still alive, mix tapes were literally cassettes, and the only person I knew with a cellphone was Zach Morris. Every song on the album is so good, and it brings me back to my days of stressing over girls and being almost solely responsible for keeping Oxy Cream’s stock up. Ahh, my teenage years! [Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment, Marty digs, movies, music by Marty O'Connor
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I am totally digging my new chicken recipe.  I use Wegmans Parmesan Italian Dressing and Weber’s Garlic and Herb spice.  Cooking is a pretty macho things these days, think about it — look at the guys on TV — Bobby Flay, Emeril, Guy Fieri, and Alton Brown. Well, 3 out of 4 ain’t bad. I would like to think I am a pretty decent cook — and love cooking on the grill.  Since the weather has turned, I have grilled practically every night.  So I got this stuff from Wegmans and added in the spice — then rubbed it all over the chicken and basted it while it was cooking. Wow, was it good.  The local potheads came floating towards my house like zombies when they smelled the amazing aromas coming off of my overworked grill. Most importantly, the girlfriend gave it the seal of approval.  Sadly, the potheads are all still milling around in my backyard waiting for me to make the chicken again.   [Read more →]

Tags: Marty digs, movies, recipes & food, television by Marty O'Connor
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Thanks to Netflix being available on Wii now, I have been checking out shows and movies I have passed over or never given the chance. One such show is Weeds. It’s about this attractive widow who sells pot to make ends meet — she would have been the woman of dreams to my roomate in my freshman year of college. I watched one episode the other night, then two, then seven episodes and a bag of Fritos later, I was passed out asleep on the couch. To me, this is the way to get into a show. I can’t stand watching it week by week — I am doing that now with How To Make It In America, and in true HBO fashion, it’s only a half hour long and the first season is something like 6 episodes. My two-year-old will be driving by the time that and Eastbound and Down have a second season. Back to Weeds — I am loving the fact there there are 4 more seasons left for me to watch. Better buy more Fritos! [Read more →]

Tags: Marty digs, television by Marty O'Connor
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This week I am digging Starburst jelly beans.  We are making a basket for our two year old son Jack, which means we are picking out candy we like since he can’t really have much of it.  I was happy to find my favorite Easter candy- the elusive Starburst jelly beans. The Holy Grail of beans made of hardened jelly.  Each year is different, sometimes you can’t find them, sometimes they seem to be raining from the sky. (At least in my dreams) The O’Connor house is on bag number three and they may be the reason I have had trouble sleeping lately.   [Read more →]

Tags: Marty digs, movies, travel & foreign lands by Marty O'Connor
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I am currently digging Say Anything — the 1989 Cameron Crowe movie starring John Cusack. If you live under a rock and never saw it, surely you have seen the image of Cusack holding the boombox over his head. Cusack stars as Lloyd Dobler, the most unrealistically cool, laid back, and interesting teenage boy that ever lived. Since I was the heavyweight champion of having crushes on girls in high school, it’s good to see that Lloyd gets the girl. But beyond all that — the soundtrack is ridiculous. Cameron Crowe never goes wrong — Singles is in my opinion the best movie soundtrack ever, and even Elizabethtown is a rather legit soundtrack. I have been driving my girlfriend insane with all my Say Anything references and recently serenaded her Cusack-style and adapted to the times by holding my ipod over my head. She didn’t think it was as funny as I did. 

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Tags: health & medical, Marty digs, movies by Marty O'Connor
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