Did you notice the t-shirt Greenberg was wearing this morning? That’s right, check him out sportin’ our “Freedom” t-shirt on ESPN2’s “Mike and Mike in the Morning”.

As I prepare for my trek out to LA at week’s end, and question the decision behind my sister, bro-in-law, and their friend’s wild journey from Phoenix to Puerto Vallarta next week, I can’t help but reflect on all the good times I’ve had on our countries (not Mexico’s) highways. Who doesn’t love a good road trip?

With the current cash crunch the holiday travel season will surely see many filling their tanks over dealing with airport crowds and spiked airfares. My advice to you is, “that if you are thinking of taking the tribe cross country, the Wagon Queen Family Truckster is your automobile.” With the automotive industry in the toilet you’re likely to get them to even throw in the “C.B. and optional rally fun pack.”
Sometimes unplanned or impromptu, what makes the road trip a real adventure is the unknown. “Maybe you’re heading someplace warm, where the beer flows like wine, where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano.” Or maybe you’re a couple of fugitives on the run, “puttin some distance between you and the scene of the last crime.”

Since the first successful North American transcontinental trip by automobile back in 1903, road trips have been as American as the classic movie. And with that, here is my compilation of the 9 best road trip themed movies of our time. While some live for road trips, “some people just aren’t cut out for life on the road.”

Plains, Trains & Automobiles, Easy Rider, Rain Man, Dumb & Dumber, Tommy Boy, Little Miss Sunshine, Thelma & Louise, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, and the best road trip movie of all time… Vacation.

There is nothing quite like supporting a cause about which you are passionate, which was certainly the case when we created our ‘Hope is a Good Thing’ shirt with all proceeds help to fight ALS. It was the perfect opportunity to pay homage to Curt Schilling and his work in 2004 bringing a World Series championship to Boston, while supporting the charity for which he has done so much for so long.

There is another cause for which we are creating a shirt that I am pleased to assist - the Sports Legacy Institute. This summer, one of my business partners with Muze (and a Harvard graduate) invited me to play in a golf outing at the incredible Carnegie Abbey in Rhode Island. I met another Harvard graduate named Chris Nowinski, aka Chris Harvard of WWE fame. Now I must confess that I stopped watching wrestling during the days of Chief Jay Strongbow - but with the magic of youtube I was able to get a crash course on Chris’ career (and after the round of golf and a few cocktails, I was pleased he chose my co-founder Mark Dimond to demonstrate his signature move - the Honor Roll).

Chris was forced to retire from wrestling because of a severe concussion, and immediate sought answers to the adverse affects he felt for years afterward. That quest led to his writing Head Games: Football’s Concussion Crisis, and ultimately to co-found the Sports Legacy Institute, an organization dedicated to furthering awareness of and research on sports-related head injuries, and increasing the safety of contact and collision sports worldwide.

SLI promotes medical and scientific research, education, prevention, and advocacy of topical sports injury issues, as well as pursuing the development of programs designed to benefit the knowledge and understanding of the lifelong psycho-social and health effects of sports and athletics.

See the story here!

We are considering several classic movie lines for the Sports Legacy Institute shirt, and may need your assistance in choosing the winner. We are also hosting a charity event in Boston on February 8th, with more details to follow.

Many of you know that from the summer of 2000 through February of 2008 I wrote extensively about things ranging from the Boston Red Sox to all things food and wine. I thoroughly enjoyed researching topics as varied as the origins of Valentine’s Day to how ketchup was first created, and reading all of the comments so many of you would send back. My readers started out as a handful of regulars in my first restaurant, and surpassed the 22,000 mark at one point. I had readers across the United States, and some as far away as Europe and Japan who would respond to my emails.

The restaurant business lives up to every positive and negative thing ever spoken or written about it. While it is as much high-energy fun as can be imagined, and can be as fulfilling as any calling when an evening is executed to perfection - it can also lead to some of the worst nightmares ever imagined. I am now realizing that one of the things I loved most about my restaurant experience was writing about it, and hearing from my many guests who enjoyed their “behind-the-scenes” look at my world through my posts. I’ve missed that correspondence.

We made the decision to close Foster’s Seafood, my first restaurant, in April of 2007 because a local bank made an incredible offer to purchase the building from us. It was an incredibly emotional time for all of us, because so much hard work and commitment went into that operation, from so many great people. That restaurant concept spoke to my New England heritage, and I was a proud to connect with so many East Coast guests there, and to provide an experience that reminded them of home.

Ironically, shortly after closing the restaurant, another series of events occurred that also reminded me of my Massachusetts roots - The Perfect Storm. Many of you from that area of the country are familiar with Nor’easters, which occur when cold air from Canada combines with the warmer air over the Atlantic, which loses it stored summer heat more slowly than the continent. In 1991, a confluence of weather conditions created a storm as powerful as any in recent memory, which was later dubbed ‘the perfect storm.’

Last summer, I had to undergo a very complicated double back surgery - where discs were repaired in both my lumbar and cervical region simultaneously. The recovery period, which included some unforeseen complications, extended well into the fall and winter. Just about that time, the economy took a dramatic downturn - and when that happens, discretionary spending is usually the first to go. Restaurants in the Valley began to see significant decreases in traffic and revenue. The 3rd element of my personal ‘perfect storm’ came when the SBA funding I had been promised for months literally imploded with no notice.

Many months prior to this ’storm,’ I sought to launch an apparel concept that I had considered for many, many years. It became apparent to me (candidly, long after it was very apparent to those around me), that given the economy’s worsening issues, the restaurant’s funding implosion, and my impending health issues, that I would have to choose between pursuing my vision for the apparel business, or pursuing my current restaurant operation. After careful consideration, I chose the former. The reason was simple. I had tremendous passion for Foster’s, for being the home of Red Sox Nation and Patriot fans (and I must confess that I would have LOVED to see the Celtics win their 17th banner over some fried clams and chowder in Foster’s bar) - and I found that same passion in bringing the Muze Clothing vision to life.

Since we launched Muze Clothing, an incredible thing occurred…people from all walks of life began embracing the brand. In college, I spent countless hours watching classic films with my buddies - and those hours of enjoyment were relived every time one of us dropped a line from Caddyshack on the golf course, or a line from the Godfather at dinner. I thought this was a small subculture that existed in my little network of friends alone. When I launched the concept of putting some of those classic lines on the highest quality T-shirts available, it became immediately apparent that this wasn’t a small subculture at all. Suddenly, people like Ryan Seacrest, and Tony Romo, and others were proudly wearing the shirts in public - and some of the top boutiques in the country like Lisa Kline and Fred Segal were selling our product through quickly. It was a new business, one I knew absolutely nothing about, and the challenge of learning on the fly was one I absolutely loved.

Many of you are probably asking: “what about Foster’s? I signed on to the Email Family because I love Foster’s.” I have made this promise to many of you individually, and I will do so again - I want to see Foster’s return to the Valley. Obviously this economy has amended our plans considerably, as many of the titans in the restaurant business are barely hanging on at present. I want to bring back Foster’s, but when I can do so not as my vocation, but as my passion project. The Valley needs the kind of culinary diversity we delivered (does anyone else offer steamers here?), and I miss that gathering place of friends and family more than you know. I actually try to avoid driving by the old gal, because the bank still hasn’t erected their bank branch (and given the problems in their industry, I wonder it they ever will) - so it just sits there as a reminder of some wonderful times.

I have rambled on long enough for one blog - but want those of you who have been so kind and supportive of my writing to know that I will be updated this blog often. My new email address is bill@muzeclothing.com and I welcome your emails and comments. As always, I thank you for your tremendous support over the years, and look forward to hearing from you. As a special gift for visiting my blog, I want to offer you a one-time 50% discount on any of our shirts. Simply put the code word “FAMILY” in at check-out to receive your discount.

One of the coolest features of a blog versus an email is the ability for everyone to read the comments below each post. I welcome your thoughts to my email address, but encourage you to post your thoughts for others to read below each blog as well. It feels great to be back in action, and I look forward to reconnecting with all of you.

p.s. On a personal note, it was exciting to see long-time Email Family member Jim Lane involved in such an exciting race for Mayor! Good luck, Jim!

You think movies, you think this man. One of the most heralded of his time, Martin Scorsese’s been making classics for nearly four decades. He developed his passion for film at an early age, when his father often took him to the movie theaters around New York City. After serious considerations of entering the priesthood, he took the chance, and instead opted for cinema over the seminary. “When you decide to be something, you can be it. That’s what they don’t tell you in the church.”

“Maybe you didn’t hear about it, you’ve been away a long time”… but after years and classics without receiving his due honor from the Academy, he finally reached the pinnacle. Scorsese assembled a dream cast on his way to winning the Best Director Oscar for The Departed - because after all… “no one gives it to you, you have to take it” – and that he did. It seems that whenever Hollywood has hit the bottom of the barrel, Scorsese steps in to step up the game, once again.

“I remember those cheers, they still ring in my ear. After years, they remain in my thoughts. Go to one night.” It certainly doesn’t take a shelf of trophies to justify his career, as few can compare to this man’s accomplishments. On this, his 66th birthday, we all say, happy birthday Marty, and thank you for not keeping your word of making Raging Bull your last film.

Now, 9 classics from the man. Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Cape Fear, Casino, Gangs of New York, The Aviator, and The Departed. If I left out your favorite or offend you by, let’s say, selective language… “whoopsy daisy!”

It was indeed quite the weekend for Muze, but with a Friday night fashion show usually comes a Saturday filled with the couch and remote. With no morning games of any serious interest my friend and I opted for an attempt to laugh away our headaches with a Will Ferrell classic, Talladega Nights, because after all, “it did win the Academy Award for Best Movie Ever”… or was that Highlander?

Needless to say, the rest of the afternoon was spent muzing Will Ferrell lines one after the next – they really are endless. After watching Ferrell’s alma mater USC take down Cal, and my alma mater ASU take down my buddy’s pathetic Washington, we returned to the man I believe has the best collection of classic lines and films from the past decade. Sure, we can argue there are some we may wish he had taken a pass on, but overall, this man is a legend, he’s Ron Burgundy, “the a man who discovered the wheel and built the Eiffel Tower out of metal and brawn.”

So here it is, this is what we came up with for Frank the Tank’s top 9 efforts in no specific order: Zoolander, Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Blades of Glory, Step Brothers, Wedding Crashers, and Night at the Roxbury.

It started Friday afternoon out at Phoenix International Raceway, where NASCAR rookie driver Scott Speed, PIR President Bryan Sperber, and Muze Clothing, held a press conference to unveil our latest charity effort, teaming with Speed to produce the “Mufffin Man” T-shirt to benefit the Southwest Chapter of Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America.

Later that evening we headed out to Old Town Scottsdale for our latest fashion show. Competing with numerous events held around town for Scottsdale Fashion Week we nailed the competition, filling the event hours before the show went on. There are more shows to come in the near future so check back often and we’ll see you soon. Until then, thanks to everyone who made it out, including co-host of ESPN’s PTI, Michael Wilbon.

“If there is one thing the history of evolution has taught us it’s that life will not be contained…”

Michael Crichton, the novelist, screenwriter, director, and even M. D., died unexpectedly yesterday after a courageous and private battle against cancer. He was just 66 years old.

The man responsible for such “Jurassic Park”, the “Andromeda Strain”, and “ER” will certainly be missed.

“Michael’s talent out-scaled even his own dinosaurs of ‘Jurassic Park,’ ” said Steven Spielberg, a friend of Crichton’s for 40 years. “He was the greatest at blending science with big theatrical concepts, which is what gave credibility to dinosaurs again walking the Earth. … Michael was a gentle soul who reserved his flamboyant side for his novels. There is no one in the wings that will ever take his place.”

He predicted the age of bioterrorism in ‘The Andromeda Strain’, wrote about robot cowboys in ‘Westworld’, challenged feminism in ‘Disclosure’, and made Clooney CLOONEY.

“No lunch with Michael lasted less than three hours and no subject was too prosaic or obscure to attract his interest.” “ER” executive producer John Wells said. “Sexual politics, medical and scientific ethics, anthropology, archaeology, economics, astronomy, astrology, quantum physics, and molecular biology were all regular topics of conversation. He was an extraordinary man”

Rest In Peace Michael.

Well, today is the big day and I hope everyone got out, or gets out, to vote. Regardless of the outcome, it’s pretty clear Washington needs a shake up as our country could certainly use a new direction.

I’m half tempted to just throw in a movie when I get home to avoid the torture of continuous coverage and projected exit polling, but who am I kidding, this is the pinnacle of the last two years of my life. It would be much easier to distract myself with a movie that reminds me of better times than to sit waiting anxiously, nervously, all be it optimistically, for the results.

I think back to being a kid, when things were much easier and even if I could name the president, I surely didn’t know what issues were deciding the candidacy. Things have certainly changed in this country in my short 28 years, but one thing has undoubtedly stood the test of time… the classic movie. For you that want that distraction and would rather fall asleep, wake up tomorrow, and learn who will lead this country, may I suggest my top 9 childhood movies with memories of better times. There is no right or wrong, these are my 9 favorite, we can agree to disagree – just like the election.

At this moment, on such a historical day, who knew that Cameron from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off would sum up my thoughts so eloquently… “I am not going to sit on my ass as the events that affect me unfold to determine the course of my life. I’m going to take a stand. I’m going to defend it. Right or wrong, I’m going to defend it.” Now go vote!

After you cast your ballot, you can go and rent one of these classics: Goonies, Karate Kid, Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Breakfast Club, Revenge of the Nerds, Days of Thunder, and Rad.

With the Presidential election now just a day away and the 24-hour media cycle inundating us with round the clock coverage maybe its time to take a break from the political ticker and venture to the lighter side of politics. While some political movies certainly focus upon serious historical topics, some offer the lighter version of past events and the system of democracy. There is no shortage of political hits, but what would win if we all had a vote?

Is it ‘Wag The Dog’? Considering the timing of the film it is certainly memorable. The President gets involved in a sex scandal and decides to start a fake war to divert the public’s attention… just as the Monica Lewinsky scandal was breaking.

Many would likely cast their vote for ‘All The President’s Men’, starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as the infamous Woodward and Bernstein, portraying the Watergate Scandal that eventually led to Nixon’s demise.

Perhaps it’s ‘The Manchurian Candidate’, centered on the McCarthy era, the legend of the film is only elevated as it was locked in a vault and unseen by the public for decades after its initial release.

Who could argue with the Marx brothers’ ‘Duck Soup’? What many believe to be their best effort, Groucho Marx’s character Rufus T. Firefly is named president/dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania.

Whether you lean left, right, or find yourself split down the aisle, the big screen can bring us across party lines… at least for a couple distracting hours. Here are 9 political classics… and of course, let us know if we left out your favorite.