Category: Life Style

10 Ways a Beard Makes a Man Better

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(From the Archives)

The beard is no more.

While tragedy didn’t strike in the Buffa household in the form of death, illness or serious injury(which is amazing because we hung pictures today), the beard came to an end. The monstrous full friend that has went wherever I went for the past three months. The last time I had this little hair on my face was during the final weeks of Banshee Season 3. Yeah, the little things count when it comes to facial hair memories. We all know where we were when the towers fell or the stadium collapsed. Where the hell were you before you had the great wall of fur, gentlemen? I bet you didn’t think there was going to be a beard postmortem on your must read agenda today, but that’s the way we kick it here at Up All Night. We bring all kinds of stories and don’t just tell you who got traded, which movie is good or how the latest wrestling match changed your life.

Here are 10 ways a beard makes a man look tougher because once the hair fell, I suddenly felt like I couldn’t win any telepathic battles with large groups of men. (more…)

The Dirty Dozen: 12 Coolest Beer Names

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What if there was a Dirty Dozen remake with characters carrying the name of 12 cool beers?

If Hollywood is going to churn out remakes, sequels and reboots like Starbucks cranks out latte’s, they may as well insert a cool twist. Tuesday marked National Beer Day across the United States and that meant calling upon the tastiest beers in the land. Being a huge fan of craft beer(Budweiser fans can take their watered down mess back to the pool), I have become addicted to tasty rarely known cool sounding beer. Thankfully, a lot of the beer I love has a cool name to match the delicious taste. I’m the Most Interesting Man in the World when it comes to beer. I don’t love it every night, but when I do partake in the buzz inducing confines of the rich flavored alcoholic holy land beverage, I like to acquire some memorable beers. Why waste all those brain cells on crappy beers? Let’s assemble the 12 Tastiest Beers with the Best Names to create our Dirty Dozen Movie Cast.

Unfortunately, I haven’t found beers named Chuck Steak, Biff Webster or Slowjack Keys yet. Sorry George Carlin. The search continues. While I ponder the late great comedian’s disapproval, I fire up the casting. (more…)

10 Ways A Beard Makes A Man Better

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Beard shotThe beard is no more.

While tragedy didn’t strike in the Buffa household in the form of death, illness or serious injury(which is amazing because we hung pictures today), the beard came to an end. The monstrous full friend that has went wherever I went for the past three months. The last time I had this little hair on my face was during the final weeks of Banshee Season 3. Yeah, the little things count when it comes to facial hair memories. We all know where we were when the towers fell or the stadium collapsed. Where the hell were you before you had the great wall of fur, gentlemen? I bet you didn’t think there was going to be a beard postmortem on your must read agenda today, but that’s the way we kick it here at Up All Night. We bring all kinds of stories and don’t just tell you who got traded, which movie is good or how the latest wrestling match changed your life.

Here are 10 ways a beard makes a man look tougher because once the hair fell, I suddenly felt like I couldn’t win any telepathic battles with large groups of men.

10. When you get up in the morning and look in the mirror, there is no large scream that makes you regret the way you look. The beard is your look. It is you. (more…)

The Idea of Love/Marriage 10 Years Later

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exchanging ringsTen years ago this very minute, I married my wife, Rachel. February 18th, 2005. I had hair, a few different friends and got married at a small venue in St. Louis called Orlando Gardens. Friends and family were there from both sides. I watched my dad bring down the house with his dance moves and even got my mom on the dance floor. My friends smiled and danced. It was a different time because back then, times were tough, responsibilities were limited and the future was so distant. There was no Vinny. There was no need to determine the course. There was just Rachel and I, eating Dominos Pizza near midnight in a crummy apartment off Laclede Station Road. All we had was love.

I’ll admit I was nervous as shit that night. When you get married at 23, nerves are hanging around you no matter what. It’s part of the deal. You are giving away a piece of your life and taking a piece of someone else’s life. Marriage involves sacrifice because your lives do begin to change. For the first time in your life, you put someone else ahead of yourself. Dating is nice. Getting engaged is sweet. Getting married is the final step. Get in or get out. I got in and I was nervous. By the end of the night I had little doubt. There I was eating cheap pizza watching a 27 inch television in my tux with my wife(slowly peeling the makeup off her face with each slice of pizza). It’s real when you wake up the next day and see the ring on your hand, at least for a guy it is. So many couples get engaged and decide to NOT go through with it or worse, decide to do it just because it’s what others expect or think they should do. (more…)

10 Things I Am Doing When I Get To NYC

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People ask me where I want to go when I have the time and money, and every time it’s an easy answer. New York City. The land of maniac life and beautiful soul. Where so many things have happened and will happen again. A place of heroic energy and everlasting grace. I don’t need to step outside my country(you are next Italy) to have a good vacation or basically escape. I want to go to New York and that’s as clean cut as it gets. I can’t answer many questions faster than I can this one. What kind of things will I do when I get there? A shit load of tasks and activities. Here are the 10 things I am doing right off the plane.

1. Visit the 9/11 Memorial and Freedom Tower. Newly named one of the tallest buildings in the world, the tower is a given but I want to go walk along the fountains.Freedom-Tower-at-sunset-Courtsey-of-Port-Authority-of-New-York-and-New-Jersey I want to stop and look at as many names as I can on the engraved markings around the fountains. I want to think about what that person would be doing if they were alive today.As you can tell from reading my 12 years later post on that horrible day, it rocked the shit out of me and I was thousands of miles away in the Midwest at college when it happened. The event was so catastrophic and powerful at the same time that it stretched across the world to effect many people. I still can’t shake it to this day. I don’t have to go into detail about it to tell you why. When I am walking around those fountains and see people there, I want to talk to them about that day. If it doesn’t tear open wounds, I would love to hear about the individual strength people showed and how it changed their life. In this world, you learn by asking and listening. I want to soak up the experiences of that day and what followed afterwards. I want to take my kid there and tell him what happened, who got back up off the ground and became a more united front ever since that horrible Tuesday 12 years ago. One of the most important things a parent has to do is teach his kid about the history of where they walk. Tell them what happened and why. Preach to them a little about remembering these kind of things. It’s makes the next generation that much stronger.

2. Times Square. I want to walk towards the middle of it and just let it suck me in. Stand there. Arms stretched out and just exist. Bucket list check off.

3. Find and talk to 10 strangers on the street. Get them to tell me a story about the city and how tough it is and the true nature of the beast. Have them tell me fuck off. Give me directions to a great restaurant which will include a story about proposing to their wife. Sure, I will be turned away by a few people but I am sure I will learn a lot from a few others. This is what the world revolves around. Human interaction. Shared stories. I am as social and energetic as anyone around, so this is basically me investigating the idea that strangers carry the best stories. I may not understand a word they are saying at times but I am going to listen. I want stories and I want them now.

4. Get a slice. Quite simple. I want a slice of pizza and I don’t want a New York style slice. I want a slice of pizza from a New York joint. I want that skinny weak paper plate that can immediately turn into a taco as you fold the pizza up to eat it too. Grease in the goatee and a pizza so good that you taste it on your breath 4 hours later.

5. SEEK OUT STRONG BLACK COFFEE. This man will surely find a Starbucks. That isn’t a new thing. I could find the Starbucks in a small town with no sign, 10 planted bombs and no sense of smell. I want a cup of strong joe from a NYC mom and pop shop. I want some place to sit me down and pour me a cup of coffee where the spoon stands straight up. I want a man with a old vest, button up shirt and pocket watch with disheveled hair to serve me a cup that I won’t forget and sell me a pound to take back home that comes in a wrinkled brown paper bag.

(more…)

Eight Facts About Me

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I try not to do a lot of talking about myself, even on my own blog.  It can be counter productive and won’t last long before I need a violin, a soap box glass case of emotion to hide in.  I come here to inform and dish on subjects.   Sometimes, though, I feel the need to enlighten my readers about who I am and what makes me tick.  A few details from the blood and bones.  This started on Facebook and I was given a task to provide 8 facts about myself.  I decided to share it on here too.   Enjoy….or not.

8 Facts About ME-

IMG_0367(MY WORLD, RACHEL AND VINNY BUFFA)

1.) Without my coffee, I am a complete asshole in the morning. Scratch that. I am a complete ass if I haven’t had coffee in a couple hours. It’s my fuel.

2.) Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to have a family. Took mental notes watching my dad growing up. My proudest moments in life are marrying my wife and watching Vin come into this world and fight his way towards health.

3.) My sense of humor directly from my dad, Rich. Apple didn’t even fall off the branch.

4.) I live and die by the St. Louis Cardinals. For 6 months a year, they control my mood.

5.) Writing is my single greatest passion and my favorite medicine. I will never stop doing it because it is therapeutic for me.

6.) I am fascinated by the world of film. The people who make them. The stories that live inside them. The collaboration. The wonderful magic that takes place as a result of them and how they can lift us up at any given time.

7.) I work out because it is an obsession that manifested inside me during high school. What started out as morning crunches in front of Sportscenter before high school in the morning became two a days in college and now is something I can’t stop doing.

8.) Take away everything but leave me my phone. I am addicted to my IPhone and can’t put it down for long. The world I live in. Take my clothes, the canoli but leave me my mobile device so I can check social media.

Eight more facts when I turn 40!!! Goodnight ladies and gents.

-DLB

@buffa82 on Twitter

***IF YOU FEEL THE NEED AND SHARE THE ABILITY, REPLY TO ME HERE WITH 8 FACTS ABOUT YOURSELF.  I WON’T SHARE WITH ANYONE.  JUST READ THEM MYSELF.  I MAY RESPOND BUT THAT’S IT.  CALL IT A CHALLENGE.