Burger King

So I didn't know what to write about this morning after a long day yesterday and I'm already super tired this morning.... but then the experience I just had was one I have to share.

I stopped at Burger King on the way in - mainly for a coffee - but because a biscuit sounded good. Not only does BK no longer have biscuits, but they are now only hiring the dumbest folks to work at the BK on Hwy 2 here in Burlington.

They open at 7am.... what the? Luckily I only had to wait 2 minutes for it to open but of course they're open, not "running". I wanted to order a sausage and egg biscuit combo.... they don't have biscuits, only they're answer to the McGriddle and it wasn't good. No Biggs, I'm not a picky eater. I order a "medium" meal in order to get the large coffee. She pulls out a shotglass sized cup. I said that I paid for the large and she said that was the only size they had. What the..... who has coffee and offers it in a shot glass sized cup only. She offered me a glass that was meant for pop but then I asked why I'd want a wax cup with hot liquid. That wouldn't taste good, but maybe it was part of their new offerings.

Anyway - not a good morning so far. I have finished my coffee already and am going to the cafe here at work to get another one in a few minutes.

Song of the Day - I heard Lenny Kravitz's Lady on XM this morning. Very "Prince" like in my opinion. I like it but the dang song reminds me of those stupid GAP commercials. Glad they had to ruin it for me.

Video of the Day - Miracle was on last night. What a great movie. It's kind of funny that it was on after I referred to it yesterday here at work. Emerich was trying to get a signal trace and I was at the reset switch so every time he was ready, he'd say "Again" and I'd hit the switch. After him saying "again" 20 or so times, I thought he had morphed into Herb Brooks! But Miracle is a great flick, even if it's Disney. I think it's pretty sweet how they used the original broadcast with Al Michaels and the new footage to match it. Good stuff!

Webpage of the Day - By suggestion (thanks Wyatt) -
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/09/30/denmark.reindeer.ap/index.html You can tell Christmas is coming as the links relating to Santa will continue to grow in number!

It's 41 degrees out this morning in Burlington, VT. I am wearing my Cyclones shirt to help motivate the boys into victory tomorrow in Lincoln. BigShow's prediction.... Cyclones 27 Cornsuckers 10

GO BIG CY!!!! Have A Great Day!!

Web's Finest Entertainment

I love the Internet.... this has to be the best researched blog I've done yet.

So a break from the usual today - thought for a Thursday, everyone could use a humorous blog. Only problem with today's blog is that it will involve going to other sights to view things so might take longer than your usual 5 minutes. I promise you that you won't be sorry. So grab some headphones (or speakers if you want to enjoy in a public setting) and let's get started. Don't worry - I will warn of any "not safe for work" material.

I present to you, the first of my "Top 10 lists".... in the form of

TOP 10 CLIPS THAT I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING AT:

10 - 30 Second Bunny Theatre - this one takes you to my favorite - The Exorcist. I fell in love with the 30 second bunnies a while back. They have many movies that have been recreated in 30 seconds using cartoon bunnies. All of them are pretty good but of course some movies are more familiar to me than others. I keep regular updates with the bunnies.... enjoy The Exorcist. Pulp Fiction is also good and coming in December, STAR WARS.

9 - Wok N Woll - Make sure you wait for the end.... I'm very impressed how anyone can master the art of playing drums on a keyboard as this guy does. You'll enjoy it.

8 - Tech TV classic.... Every now and then I watch Tech TV but I would have loved to see this one live. Make sure you listen to the older guy as he breaks an antique then proceeds to swear;)

7 - Farting Preacher - I can't stop laughing even now..... he's an actual televangelist and someone "altered" clips of him talking. Note that it is not making fun of religion by any means... just a laugh with how some people get the message across.

6 - Ding fries are done (for Larry Stoen) - With the holidays approaching sooner than you think, I thought this clip was quite appropriate:)

5 - Winnebago Man (NOTE: has bad language to add to the humor - proceed with headphones and caution) - of the 10 clips on here, this one might be one you have to watch at home or with headphones. Some local guy is filming a commercial for Winnebagos but keeps messing up his lines. When he does, he likes to swear a lot.

4 - David Hasselhoff video of the classic song Hooked On A Feeling. From here to the end, it was hard to list which ones finished in what order. Depending on the mood, this one could easily be my favorite. Make sure you look for the wiener dogs and explain to me their purpose.

3 - Dancing Queen from Iowa City to Chicago non-stop. An experiment as the guy goes to visit his girlfriend. Think about what song you would try in a similar experiment and how you'd probably never listen to it again. Too funny!

2 - Numa Numa Dance - I love this one mainly because it reminds me of Dave Shaw. He's very animated and had his 15 seconds of fame which I was glad to see. The world is still waiting for his next video:)

1 - And last but not least - Bubb Rubb and L'il Sis... "The Whistles go Woooo". I can't ever get enough of this. A real news broadcast from Oakland. Wait for it... wait for it...

I know I've probably missed some.... send me some links and I'll have a part 2 for tomorrow. Let me know which ones are your favorites! Hope you enjoyed it today!

Song of the Day - Nothing really comes to mind today. I'm still laughing at some of the videos:)

Video of the Day - Groundhog Day was on again this morning as I was running in the hotel workout room. I had forgotten about the scene where Larry (camera man) is trying to impress the cute blonde (Nancy for the true fans) and as they leave the bar to go to the dance, Larry puts 2 bucks down for a tip. As soon as she's not looking, he picks one of the dollars back up..... cheap skape but I know a lot of people that would do that!

Webpage of the Day - as if you haven't had enough, there was one more I thought of.... it's a quickie but still makes me laugh: QVC ladder accident - not sure why I love this one so much.... probably because nobody moves or does anything, they just cut away quick.

Hope you've enjoyed this - I HAVE!! Have a MARVELOUS day!!

Burlington Day 3

So my teammate Adam (yes, another one) arrived yesterday. We headed down to Magic Hat Brewery south part of Burlington. Pretty small operation and I bet they only brew for the Burlington area but when we went upstairs to get a balcony view of the operation floor, I was in awe for a good 20 minutes. The main thought I had after that experience was "I could do this in Rochester". So consider this my official suggestion to Budweiser to open a brewery/bottling operation in Rochester and hire me as the plant manager. Or as the official taste tester. As long as it pays well, I could consider "taste tester" as my official title in life.

So there were eight college aged students running the place. One would drive the lift that drops off the empty bottles onto the beginning tray. They are squeezed into a single line then taken into a washer of sorts that cleans the bottles. From there they go into a chamber where they are filled (the chamber is fed from the large vats of beer on the side of the room). Then they are crowned, and labeled. The kids there are only making sure the label application machine is always full, and that bottles don't fall off or get stuck in the process slowing the production down. From the labeler, they are boxed and a kid at the end lifts the 12 pack off the belt, and onto pallet where another kid wraps the pallet and drives it off. Pretty sweet stuff. A simple operation really in my mind;) Here's where you can read more and get more "lingo" of the business.....

Ate at an Irish place in the downtown walk area. A much nicer day and night to walk around and enjoy the area. Hoping that the rest of the week stays that way and this weekend. Even though I have a feeling we'll be working most of the weekend, still easier to wake up in the mornings when there's sunlight.

I'm driving a Chevy Malibu.... first time I've had a Chevy from Hertz rental. But this car's pretty solid. Typical smaller car with small backseat but has some decent get up and go to it. Finally got a chance to floor it on the Interstate last night on my alternate way home. I like it. Much better than my SUV plus I'm getting 38 MPG which is kind of cool.

It also has XM radio in it. Not sure I like XM in a car as it keeps cutting in and out as I go through the hills or downtown area. Plus with the crappy weather that was here when I arrived, the XM cut in and out at least once a minute it seemed. Only thing more annoying than bad reception (as with radio), is no reception. But just like digital cable, you get 200 channels and there's STILL nothing good on. They do like Creed and Green Day on XM though. Seems to be one of those two playing all the time.

Song of the Day - so I heard a remake of More Than Words (originally by Extreme) but not sure who the artist was. Some female lead singer - I'll have to look it up on iTunes today. Not bad but still not as good as the original (as is usually the case. But today's song of the day is Mr. Brightside by The Killers. I like that song and it's currently downloading off iTunes right now:) Probably a one hit wonder band but that's ok. 2000-2010 is just like the 80s with so many one hit wonders. Maroon 5, White Stripes..... I'm sure I'll get disagreement there but deal with it!

Video of the Day - I picked up the new Family Guy DVD last night. I suggest it to anyone that enjoys Family Guy. I suggest it to anyone actually. And Jen, you can borrow it all that you want!!!! (NOTE: Jen hates all cartoons I think and claims to have never laughed at anything ever said or done in a Family Guy episode. Well I feel the same way towards your Friends show so there:P ). Lots of Stewie and there are a couple of references in there that are HI-LAR-I-OUS! Don't want to give it away.

Webpage of the Day - No real common theme today so let's see what I can find. With the Big 12 opener this weekend, I believe it may be time to start bashing the Huskers and the entire state. It should be noted that my entire family lives in Nebraska and I am disowned this weekend. Even my Kentucky Brother is a Husker fan. Nobody will talk to me next week after the Cyclones DESTROY the Huskers..... So with that in mind, here's an article that shows the wonderful state of Nebraska at it's finest.... http://www.theomahachannel.com/news/5027982/detail.html

Have a great day!!!

Burlington update

So enough about U2.... for now.....

I'm in Burlington, Vermont for work for 2 weeks. Everyone's been ranting and raving about Burlington and honestly, I see why. It's comparable to a "bigger Ames" or maybe a "Rochester with colleges". It's on a lake which dissects it from New York and then there's Canada not too far to the north. Only bad thing is that it has been raining non stop since I arrived. They are also in their early fall weather similar to Rochester but haven't seen much for turning trees yet. I'm here for a while so I'm hoping that by the end of this trip I'll get to see some.

I'm staying downtown, right by the lake which is pretty cool. There's a huge pedestrian mall on Church Street here that has a ton of shops and bars and nice restaurants. I took a walk through there for a while tonight (in the rain) to see what they have and they do have a lot. Tomorrow I'm hoping to drive to South Burlington which is a different suburb or area and explore that for a while. There is the Ben & Jerry's headquarters which is on my list of things to see. As well as a bunch of breweries and vineyards to go drinking at:) SO I'm hoping to have plenty of time to visit all of them over the next 2 weeks.

Quick complaint - doing some ironing again last night in between emailing and blogging and the irons in these hotel rooms suck. Can barely tell I tried to make it look nice to wear today. Oh well, it's the thought that counts? Does that work in this situation?

Anyway - I'll post pictures of Burlington as soon as I get some that look nice. Right now it looks like a commercial for rain tread tires.

I forgot about the Renaissance Festival - went up there on Saturday (after the U2 experience) and had a great day for it - overcast but not really raining while we were there. Must sees are the Joust, Puke & Snot, and my favorite is always riding on the elephant. For 3 bills, you get a minute on top of an elephant and wave to the world. I love elephants. If I had enough land for one, I'd get it and name him Stampy. See who all gets that one. Found out that elephants LOVE pickles. So i bought a pickle for each elephant and sho'nuff - they loved the pickles. Go figure. I didn't get there in costume this year like i wanted to. There were plenty of weirdos wearing costumes around:) I thought it was interesting how many facial piercings were present by the staff folks. Explain that one to me. Makes me want to get my tongue stud again. Any bets as to if I actually ever do it?

Song of the Day - We Don't Need Another Hero by Tina Turner. Song from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome which was a weird early flick from Mel Gibson. No real clue why I have that song going through my head. Don't remember hitting it on iTunes or any commercials with it but I seriously can't get it out of my head right now as I type this.

Video of the Day - I saw Italian Job on Starz again at the hotel. The last 20 minutes or so of it. That movie is ALWAYS on some movie channel. If you haven't seen it, it's pretty sweet and was the first time I fell in love with the Mini Cooper. Few parts of the movie still bother me with their lack of realistic physics but it's Hollywood... they can get away with that I guess.

Webpage of the Day - WHAT THE..... you have to read it to believe it but I am upset at my mother for not signing similar contracts when I was born..... Seriously - read it and I'll picture you shaking your head in disbelief!

Have a great day!!

U2 Concert Review

Gotta love flying - stuck in the Rochester Airport for another hour so I'm using this time to post my review of one of the greatest concerts ever!

Friday night in Minneapolis with Karl and U2. Got there around 3pm to see the line was already quite long for the GA folks. On this tour, they are doing a lotto system to determine who gets in the middle of the ellipse. On the Elevation tour, the earlier you arrived to wait in line, the more you were guaranteed to be inside the heart and closer to the stage. They changed to this lotto method in order to "make it fair for people who have to work during the day and can't wait for as long"..... that's crap. Take vacation like I do to wait in line. So knowing my chances were the same no matter what time we got there, I decided a trip to Old Chicago to get some beer in me was in order first thing.

Stood in line starting around 5pm and finally around 6:30 we started moving. They had 2 lines once you get to the front of the main line, one for U2.com ticket holders (that was me) and one for normal GA ticket holders. When we got up there, the engineers inside of us said stay in the normal line... it's moving faster and has the "inside" turn as well. When I get up there, they scan my ticket to see if I'm lucky or not to get inside the ellipse and so'nuff - VERTIGO VERTIGO VERTIGO appears meaning I'm in. I get to take one person with me and off Karl and I go to be next to the main stage for the night. Interesting to figure out that there were 4 other Iowa State folks standing next to us..... Go Cyclones!!

Opening band was Dashboard Confessionals who were ok, but of course I still hate opening bands. They are one of the better opening bands for U2 who have had the pathetic groups such as Smashmouth and Kings of Leon open for them. Then the fun started. City of Blinding Lights of course opens the show as usual. So much fun to be up that close (about 10 feet from the Edge and his incredible guitar rips all night) and be able to see everything. Bono continues to entertain and amaze me with his energy. He has this ability like nobody else to involve the crowd and get us screaming and jumping and swaying whenever he wants. Part of that is because he is so humbled to be on stage still and how amazed HE is when he hears the entire 20,000+ fans singing his songs... his lyrics! That would be pretty sweet. Per the startribune article - there were 20,240 people there which is a record for the Target Center.

The highlight of the night was Bono (who I later found out was seen at Mayo clinic this week - not sure why) giving props out to the Mayo Clinic. Bono talked about how they took the Edge to Mayo and told the doctors there that "The Edge is from the future". The doctors in reply of his tests said "his brain is incredible and even impossible" something Bono claims they've known for 25 years. He even said "this song goes out to the amazing Doctors and Nurses of the Mayo Clinic" as they began to sing Miracle Drug. How cool is that? Just wish I could have seen him while he was in Rochester.

What amazed me was their performance of Who's Gonna Ride Your White Horses which I will look, but not sure how many decades it's been since they last performed that one. Adam even had to have a sheet with notes on it next to him on stage as yes, it's been a while! A quick performance of The First Time was a great rendition with just him and the Edge acoustically as they moved to the end of the ellipse. Bono performed Miss Sarajevo (sans Pavarotti - but Bono assured us he's been "gaining a little weight") which was a first for me and I thought he executed quite well.

But as all concerts come to an end, Larry went down the stairs, but Bono decided they weren't done. As the band yelled for Larry to come back up, U2 decided the Minneapolis crowd deserved yet another encore... but this time, let's do Vertigo again since it gets the crowd so pumped. Amazing.... amazing..... something you don't see very often but you know what? It worked perfectly!

Here are some pics that I leave you with:

Sorry for no song or video of the day today..... I will leave you with a webpage which are a couple of U2 links with reviews, etc. of Friday's concert......

Startribune
U2.com
Set List


Have a great day!!

Bowling

Bowling is such a stupid sport.

Actually, by Fedor's definition, it's not even a sport since there is no singing of the national anthem before the event. So I'm going to call it a stupid "activity". There's a reason there is no Olympic Bowling. It's because Bowling is pure luck. There is no skill involved to throwing a ball and hitting pins for an hour and a half.

So yeah, I basically separated myself from the rest of the pack last night at League. I lowered my 120 average even lower and I am now the clear front runner for the "lowest average" title. I didn't have a single strike all night even though I was constantly hitting the head pin. I would normally blame the lanes, or the ball, or the heckler fans.... but I basically suck. Not sure why I struggle so much. I still think we should have Extreme Bowling for league with the black lights and loud music. Not that I'd bowl any better, but at least I'd have more fun in doing so.

Although my team The Brews Brothers is pretty entertaining. I'll use today's blog to introduce the team to you since Bowling lasts what feels like 50 of the 52 weeks of the year.

Last night our worthless captain Patrick fell over somehow when he was paying for the next pitcher. I missed it since I was busy throwing a ball into a gutter but was told it might have been the highlight of the year. Pat's known for some weird throws and a severe beer curve in his scoring abilities. He's also known for bragging about being a professional hockey coach and the superiority that it brings...... although as I've said before, there is nothing that can help save bowling.

Then there's Fisher who's our clutch roller and coach. The worst part about bowling is not getting a strike and knowing when I turn around, Fisher's going to be yelling at me at what I did wrong. That is what makes him a good coach though. Although his comment about my 9 in one frame was pretty lousy ("it's better than an 8"..... that's something my grandmother would say). I'd pretty much place him up there with Scotty Bowman, Bobby Cox, and Vince Lombardi. Although he has his Mike Tice moments....... He usually carries one of the top 5 averages in the league and is extremely hard on himself when he misses his "mark".

Krabby didn't bowl last night, but he's my entertainment on the lanes. He has the most awkward bowl but it gets great results.... sometimes. Krabby drops the ball so hard that you can feel it as well as hear it all the way at the other end of the lanes. But when he rolls the spare ball, it looks somewhat normal:) The best part about Krabby is how he can roll a 240 one game, then roll a 130 the next game. I bowl better with Krabby around because he's the morale booster of the team.

Our perma-sub is Fink. He's a lefty and hasn't had a chance to help us out this year yet but I know he will soon. We went head to head during a recent bachelor party and he kicked my butt. Not hard to do though but I am happy to put money on the line if it helps inspire others to do better. (Note that Fisher took $15 from me on Wednesday's golf outing). Still not sure about the lefty style though..... Fink is definitely fun to golf with too!

And the Brews Brothers wouldn't be where we are without the fans of course. Our #1 fan (with shirt that she actually brought last night) is Christine. Christine is on her way to Dublin today for work but still found the time to come cheer on her Brews Brothers. She even had a kickball match last night (that's right - kickball is now a Rochester League) but still came out long enough to forget her phone at the alley. Christine likes to talk about how pathetic we are and how she could throw better. She's probably right.

And last but not least, the reason I'm out of retirement and throwing a stupid 16 pound ball at 10 pins every week..... Mr. Stoen. Since he is on the 10 year Injured Reserve list, I was asked to come out of retirement last year in order to help the team out. So I did and I've regretted it every day since. Stoen is infamous for wearing THE CLAW which I'm hoping will still make an appearance... maybe next year.

NOTE: the following paragraph was ommitted by accident. The creator of this blog regrets any inconvenience and hopes all parties that were missed will forgive him.

Marcia Fisher..... she's the glue that holds us together. Not only does she continue to finish and perfect our great bowling shirts year after year. She also acts as agent for her husband and we all know that if you keep the agent happy, you keep the bowler happy. We are currently in contract renegotiations for next year so this relationship is very vital! One more interesting note.... Marcia knows all the cute waitresses in town it seems. So an extra reason to be nice to her in hopes of getting some help in hooking up on a date!!!

So there's the Brews Brothers. We won 4 of 7 points last night which doubles our total for the year. We're starting out slow to give the others a head start but we'll come on strong very soon... I can feel it. Plus I'm out for the next month so won't have to put myself through any more agony.

Song of the Day - Not to forget about U2 - tonight's the concert. So I'm listening to The First Time originally off of Zooropa which is my 2nd favorite U2 CD. I know I'm nuts but it's a great "art" album. One that should be listened to start to finish every time. If you listen to just one song, you don't get the same effect. Anyone know what I'm talking about? Like Abbey Road by the Beatles. (Thanks Fedor for the help there)

Video of the Day - Still Elevation Live DVD although I did pull out the "Go Home" DVD that was the same tour, but their homecoming concert in Dublin. Slane Castle. I went to Slane Castle while I was in Dublin. Check out the pic - look at that hair... who was I kidding?:):

Webpage of the Day - Proof that there are really stupid people in this world: http://www.wftv.com/irresistible/5006942/detail.html

Have a Great Day - 12 hours till u2 takes the stage!!!! I'll be there with my buddy Karl who last saw U2 on May 22, 1983..... this will be fun for both of us!

U2 - The Greatest Band Ever

Today's post is dedicated to Brent Wieman whom I recently discovered is an even bigger U2 fan (and especially of Bono) than I ever thought possible.......

So in high anticipation of one hell of a concert tomorrow night at the Target Center in Minneapolis, I'd like to share my TOP 5 U2 CONCERT MEMORIES!!

#5 - At the Elevation Tour stop in Minneapolis, Claire and I were there at 5am and she was #7 in line, I was #8 (I wanted 7 but decided to be a nice guy.... her boyfriend Jeff is bigger than me). So knowing we'd be next to the stage for the concert, we made posters to take in and try to get even more attention! I worked with my buddies from IBM Ireland to get the Gaelic translation of Beautiful Day. So my poster said Lá álainn. Before the concert, one of the tour promoters who runs a daily blog on the band's webpage came out to see what posters were there (usually they would get a reference in the blog). She was Irish and when she saw my poster, she said "Beautiful Day - that's Brilliant!" When the band first came out, Bono was of course in his own world from the beginning, but I watched as the Edge scanned the crowd in front and reading all the posters.... he had to do a double take on mine, but then realized what it was and started smiling:) It was pretty sweet!

#4 - Two days later, I was waiting in line in front of the Bradley Center with Claire yet again.... she disappeared to find a restroom and while I was waiting in line (further back this time... probably #30 and 31 in line this time) she called my cell phone and said "Bono is back here signing autographs.... but keep it quiet and bring something for him to sign". So I went back to the tail end of the Center and was able to get Bono's autograph and wish him a Happy Birthday (it was actually the following day but close enough). We just missed Larry signing autographs. I told Claire she should have had Bono sign her boob and then she could be a true U2 roadie!

#3 - Recently we saw the Vertigo Tour in Chicago (which is what we'll see again tomorrow night). We arrived on a colder rainy morning at 8am in front of the United Center for a Monday night show. I think we were #120 and #121 in line (some were there days ahead of time) but proceeded to sit there all day. Funny thing was finding a wireless router to jump on with my laptop as we waited... ironic but still funny. We met some friendly folks but as we waited we started hearing rumors that this concert was the night that the DVD was being filmed. There was a DVD crew going around all day filming us in line, having people sing for the camera, share U2 stories... it was pretty funny. Sure enough, they gave us a pep talk before the concert to get the crowd even more into it. It'll be cool to see me on the DVD this fall when it comes out. I threw Claire up on my shoulders when the band was right in front of us on thellipsese to make sure she gets on the DVD. More news as it gets released!

#2 - Metrodome - My first U2 concert was Pop Mart at the Metrodome back in the 90s. We started in the 3rd row but as soon as U2 came out, we jumped to the front row and scooted towards the middle. That was an awesome concert, but my favorite part was Bono being right in front of Claire and I for Pride (In the Name of Love) and when he got to the best part where everyone was singing "oh oh oh ohhhh.... oh oh oh ohhhh", he looked down at us in the crowd and pulled Claire up on stage..... just kidding, making sure you were paying attention. No, but he turned to the band and had them cut out to hear the 50,000 or whatever was there singing in unison. We did that for at least 2 minutes before he bowed and said thank you for the experience. Pretty dang sweet. Sorry, Claire wanted to get on stage for If You Wear That Velvet Dress but failed to get up there. We'll keep trying though.

#1 - And of course my favorite memory (ironic that this song just jumped up on iTunes as well out of the 700+ U2 songs I have on here) was during Sunday Bloody Sunday while we were at the Target Center. Front row with my Irish flag (bought in Dublin) and warned before the concert by Bono's body guard that (in cool Irish accent) "if Bono takes your flag, you probably won't get it back" - I said that's ok. Sure enough, during this song, Bono slowly reached down and took my Irish flag and dragged it across the stage. Then he picked it up as if it were a wounded soldier and eventually laid it across a speaker on the far side of the stage where it sat for the rest of the concert. Enjoy these pictures of that experience:

So of course after the concert, as the crew is cleaning the stage, we yell that I need my flag back. She went to get it and as she's getting ready to throw it at me in the crowd, I can sense about 6 high school aged girls coming up as if they even think they're going to steal my flag from me. So as soon as the flag was tossed, I was on crowd control and pushed back the kids and was able to successfully snag my flag back from their grasps. The flag is now in my office and hanging with pride after spending a concert on stage with one of the greatest ever.

Song of the Day - Beautiful Day by U2. Best part is the repeat of the chorus towards the end where they drop the bass line an octave and crank the volume. Sounds great in my TrailBlazer!

Video of the Day - Elevation DVD by U2. My buddy Siddhartha in Austin claims that this is the "greatest DVD to create mood and atmosphere for any visiting ladies". Ok, maybe not in those exact words but I'm trying to keep this pretty clean.

Webpage of the Day - http://www.u2.com Simple I know, but I want to get this posted before my morning meeting.

ENJOY AND LISTEN TO MORE U2!!! IT'S GOOD FOR YOU!

Nintendo

Some of you may know that IBM is designing a custom made chip for the Nintendo Revolution that is due out in 2006. If not, IBM has been making processor chips for game systems, notably the new XBox 360 coming out this November, the Play Station 3 coming out 2006, and the Nintendo Revolution. I am on the hardware lab team that will work on bringing up and characterizing the processor that IBM has designed and is providing for Nintendo. Thus my trip to Burlington, VT next week is for this.

What I present here is all public knowledge. I sometimes am able to find out more information by going to CNET then if I go through what notes I get on a daily basis. I saw some video and pictures lately that I wanted to share.

First off is the game console itself. Pretty slim and not the "cube" style that they last used:

Pretty sweet stuff. Best part is how it will be backwards compatible. That's the best part! Then this week they announced the controllers for the Revolution... this is where it gets interestingg. Here are some of the pictures I found:

And if you're really confused, then go watch the presentation by Iwata-san (President of Nintendo Co, Ltd.) and skip to the 28:30 point of the presentation:

http://www.irwebcasting.com/050916/03/ff3672f7df/index.html

Well worth the time investment:)

Song of the Day - Sorry folks, but I have Nintendo on the brain today. Only thing going through my dang head this morning (with headache) is the Zelda theme. Come on party people and sing with me.... Dup, dum... ba-da-da-da-da-dummmmm.... da-da-da-da-dup ba-dum.... boh-dum... da-dup dum.... boh-dum, ba-dum (dum dum dum dum)......

Video of the Day - Again.... more Nintendo but I'm going to refer to the bad decisions by film makers to produce a movie version of Super Mario Bros. (1993....... keep thinking and it'll come back to you! Dang suppressed memories). I think it's the only instance in Nintendo line of games (note that there have been other successful movies off of video games, but not from the traditional Nintendo titles). I did see this movie and thought it was horrific. Not sure why they thought it'd be a good idea but at least Dennis Hopper was in it as King Koopa. What the..... I'm sure they'll someday try a movie on Legend of Zelda. I'd love to see an Excitebike movie or even a Contra movie.... Ah Contra, the greatest video game ever made!!

Webpage of the Day - Last but not least... I leave you with some entertainment as only I can provide!! You'll need sound! http://gprime.net/video.php/nintendothemesacappella

ENJOY THE DAY!!! I'm golfing this afternoon!

U2, Paint, Family Guy and He-Man

3 days till U2!! Hoping they do another great rendition of Trash, Trampoline, and the Party Girl this time like in Chicago. What a great song!

So for those that know me well, and for those that don't, you'll understand why I say that giving me a blog page was pretty ignorant and dangerous for the Kings and Queens of the internet for two main reasons - 1) I tend to be a tad long winded. So some of these posts might take you an entire lunch break to read. Hope none of you are causing danger to your area by reading my blog ("HIT THE RED BUTTON TO MAKE THE REACTOR SHUT DOWN" "I can't, Adam's still talking in his blog.... give me another minute and I'll hit the button"). 2) I have a short attention span so I tend to jump from subject to subject quickly and very often without transition.... so keep up with me here. If you need some practice with this subject-jumping thing, come borrow Family Guy Seasons 1-3 from me and you'll know why that cartoon is the best thing on TV right now.

I recently bought a town house (moved in first part of June 2005). For the past 3 months, I've just lived with the white and cream colored walls that resided there when I took over. The time has come to adorn the place with a little bit of life and vigor. Last night my friends Jen and Tanya came over for the long selection process of finding paint colors and I think we have it. Now think of Ralph Lauren type colors... very earthy and stylish:) But for the kitchen, I'm going with "Classic Burgundy". Yes, that is a wine color so there will be lots of wine drunk in there. For the main color in the living room, it is a khaki type color called "Almond Toast". Then for fun (explaining this is the hard part) we are adding squares in a random pattern around the top of the cabinets in the kitchen and into the dining room with a darker shade of the main khaki ("Congo Brown") and a lighter shade ("Safari"). It'll be really cool. Then the fireplace wall will be again the "Classic Burgundy". In the back hallway and bathroom I have "Newburyport Blue" ready to go. It'll look pretty sweet and I'll put pictures here first when I get them. Here's a quick shot of all the colors I just referenced:




So I was going to paint this weekend but since I'm off to Burlington, VT this weekend for work for 2 weeks, I think I'm going to just wait till I get back to do the whole thing rather than mess with a half painted house or unfinished project.

Still only 3 days till U2:( I have to stop looking at the clock.

Song of the Day - Well, Record of the day is Achtung Baby by U2 (of course) which is in the running for Best Album ever recorded. I think on that list, there might be at least 2 U2 CDs or the final 5. I'll do that list for you soon to discuss and laugh at. But Achtung Baby invokes all kinds of emotion that as a listener, I should be thankful to be on the journey with the band. From the start with Zoo Station and an almost anger that you feel, to One where you sit back and see the duality of love and of life. The battle like introduction of Until the End of the World which btw might be some of the best lyrics ever written..... the Last Supper and final days of Christ as written through the eyes of Judas. Try to do a Google search on how many times that's been done. A party like music with The Fly and of course.... Mysterious Ways which might be their best. And the truthful words of Love is Blindness...... did I miss anything? Just go listen to it today while at work/school.... you'll be laughing, crying, singing, and contemplating life all within the 58 minutes of the CD.

Video of the Day - Since I referenced Family Guy earlier, I thought it quite appropriate to plug any or all of the episodes of the Family Guy. I know Kahn loves it! The ability to entertain and keep the viewer guessing as to where they're going next is amazing. But again, pay attention or else you will get left behind.

Webpage of the Day - I waited all night and morning to be able to post this one for you. HE-MAN was a childhood favorite of mine to watch after school. I think it was on at 3:30 which just meant I had to high tail it home after school to catch the full episode. No messing around. He-Man was there with Transformers and GI Joe. All deal with the battle of GOOD vs EVIL. Don't get that as much now a days with Dora the Explorer and BackYardagans. So I was sent this link yesterday after I'd already posted my blog for the day..... so enjoy with headphones and try very very hard not to sing along! I'm still laughing. Enjoy!

Have a great day!!! 3 MORE DAYS TILL U2!!!!!!!!!!!!

Green Day Green Day Green Day!!

Wow.... let me say that again.... WOW!!!

So here's my informal review of the Green Day concert from Saturday night. So much energy, so much passion for what they're doing up there. Or maybe it was when Billie Joe Armstrong came out and opened by telling us to "scream so every redneck across America hears you" that had me hooked. Oh yeah... and after the first song (American Idiot which is a message to Dub-ya), Armstrong said that "tonight was a big F*** You to George W. Bush". Ok, so maybe that was harsh in retrospect, but I still had a good laugh and enjoyed the moment!

Earlier in the day I had called my buddy Nate who lives in Des Moines with his wife and asked what he was doing that night. He said he was going to Green Day in Des Moines. I replied that's funny because I was in Des Moines and going to Green Day. He then informed me of the possibility of having extra room in their box suite and to call him later so we could hook up. So what could be better than going to a Green Day concert???

How about seeing them from a private Suite with a fully stocked fridge and air-conditioning and lots of space to mingle with friends????? yeah - it was rough. I would definitely recommend this concert to anyone that loves GreenDay, remembers Green Day from their High School days (I think Longview was our Senior Prom theme... or at least was a close 2nd to Richard (Karl) Marx's Hold onto the Night (yuck!). I think the Star Trek theme also got votes that year...... I'd have to go look.

St. Jimmy was definitely a highlight for me. I love that song - something about the chord progression at the end that is very different, yet still quite musical. Revolutionary even! At one point, Armstrong said they were going to build a band and had audience members come up and one to play drums (he was pretty good - just played a basic rock beat that I could have done with my YEARS of air drumming practicing) and then he asked "WHO OUT THERE KNOWS HOW TO PLAY BASS" and of course this was where I started screaming "I DO... I HAVE A )(*)@$# DEGREE IN THE DANG THING". But of course there was no way Armstrong could hear me from our private box suite so some pud got up there and enjoyed the thrill of playing with Green Day. Then after an unsuccessful attempt at getting a lead guitar player from a 14 year old girl (he told her to get off his f'in stage), the next girl was very good and we had an amateur make-shift Green Day. How cool would that be to get to play onstage with Green Day like that? The bass player fan got to take a stage dive at the end, and the guitar player girl got to keep the guitar. AWESOME.......

More than anything, I like to observe at concerts how a band plays to the crowd and Green Day was very very interactive with their millions (AND MILLIONS) of fans in the audience. He kept giving the cheap plugs to Des Moines (causing reaction from 20,000 of us screaming "I LIVE IN DES MOINES") or changing lyrics to "I-O-WA". Would have been even cooler if he would have added a "Go Cyclones" in there but was still a thrill none the less! Here's the review from the Des Moines Register that is pretty good.

So...... how does my week get any better after that experience? Oh yeah... I have GA floor seats to U2 on Friday night in Minneapolis at the Target Center...... yeah, good luck finding those tickets online. I will be talking about U2 all week so get used to it.

Song of the Day - One more day of this, but it's Boulevard of Broken Dreams this morning by Green Day of course. They ended with that (well, they went into a cover of We Are The Champions which was interesting but was well interacted with a singalong by the crowd - then Billie Joe played Good Riddance solo style (Kahn, you have to teach that one to me along with the other 100 songs I keep telling you to teach me) to send us packing. Pretty cool, pretty cool.

Video of the Day - I brought U2's Elevation Tour DVD to work today to start getting excited for this weekend. And yeah, for anyone that doesn't already know, the new DVD for U2 that will probably come out this Fall.... yeah, I'm on it;) They filmed the DVD the Monday and Tuesday Chicago shows back in April that Claire and I went to. So look for the real tall bald guy that is next to the stage on the outside on the right. Plenty of times when Bono and Adam were right in front of us:) More info later this Fall.

Webpage of the Day - http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/50_most_awesomely_bad_songs/series_countdown.jhtml
A list I agreed and disagreed with. VH1 lists "50 most awesomely bad songs"... whatever that means. I did not agree with the Right Said Fred because I love that song and would be proud to Kareoke that at the next wedding I attend (any takers?).

Have a great day.... and keep on Truckin'!!!!

Weekend Thoughts

Green Day starts in about 12 hours, so I have to get rollin' down to Des Moines soon but wanted to leave some thoughts for the weekend readers.... and another passion I have is sports so here we go:

Baseball
I love the Atlanta Braves but I'm worried because yet again it looks like they're going to limp into the post season. I'm hoping their road trip ends better than it's started. They're currently under .500 on the road which isn't good when you might face the Cardinals. Plus they've been owned by the Padres this year for some odd reason (1-5) which also isn't good. As for the AL, the Twins have no hope this year but I'm definitely rooting for the Indians. I'd rather see them get in instead of the Spankees (as I think most of us would) but I think it's funny how the White Sox are only 4.5 up on the Indians and if they get overtaken in the next 2 weeks... they need to worry about staying in the playoffs! Just a little useless knowledge.

Football
I don't have an extreme favorite in Football other than whomever is playing the Packers. The Packer fans annoy me up here. I enjoy watching the Vikings because they seem to always lose or make the game way too close every week which humors me. They're one of the most interesting teams to follow I think. Their fans are pretty hard core but they get so pissed watching Dante fumble and throw interceptions that you can't help but laugh. It's too early to pick a favorite but it's cool to see KC back with a defense. Anyone to win but the Patriots. (Sorry Peter Griffin)

College Football
No Cyclones this weekend so the celebration can fade and focus on the season forward. I'll be rooting for the big 12 this weekend and against the big 10 as I usually do. I honestly haven't followed close enough this week to know what the big games are. Next Friday Cyclones are @ Army which should be a win, but won't be easy.

Hockey
NHL had preseason last night - YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. Go Red Wings!!! More thoughts on them coming soon:)

Song of the Day - GreenDay - Jesus of Suburbia - you shouldn't be surprised at this point. But go check it out. Great song!

Video of the Day - GreenDay - Supposedly there's a movie coming out for American Idiot (Think Pink Floyd The Wall ). We'll see if it actually ever happens but I'll be buying it when it comes out.

Webpage of the Day - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050916/ap_on_hi_te/ibm_education - IBM is encouraging employees to go back into education to help our surge of baby boomers that are retiring from teaching and leaving a gaping hole in experience. So what makes anyone think that engineers make good teachers? I work with so many engineers that are brilliant minds, but struggle to educate someone that doesn't understand at their level and that is the primary skill necessary to become a teacher of our kids. Teaching is something I would love to do after I was a tutor at Iowa State to 10 or so underclassmen/women music majors in Theory and History.... oh and in Music Technology. Haha! But I know I need proper education to be able to do it professionally. I hope IBM's program helps and it's the right thing to do over all, just depends on implementation. Still an interesting subject to discuss.

I'm off to Des Moines - HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!!

Britney, Bowling and Blog

The bad news of the day was that Britney had her baby. I'd like to thank all 12 people that had sent me messages throughout the day either offering their support, or asking if it was mine, or any other kind of concerns. I'll be fine. Britney will always have a place in my heart, but I've figured out that it's time to move on. So the new loves of my life (I figure, why just have one??? Am I right... or am I right?) are Brittany Murphy (similar yes, but spelled differently) and Rachel McAdams. Hopefully neither of them will be leaving me for the trash anytime soon. I still have the cardboard cut out of Britney in my office although not on display. Don't want to get in trouble again for that:)

So I reread my post yesterday and as incredibly well written as it was.... it was very long. What do you, the MILLIONS of fans that I have, think? Too much... too little? I actually have class again today so I don't have as much time to type. I actually had homework that I didn't get done so I need to work on that. It's a Leadership Excellence Development course that I am taking through IBM and it has opened up another world to me on how to deal with other human beings both in a work place, and in a personal relationship outside of work. It's amazing how much you can learn if you're willing to be taught. Through this class among other personal events in my life over the past year, I have really felt myself become more of the person that I aspire to be. I am more relaxed at events both good and bad in my life, I hope that I have a better more positive attitude even at work where things can become extremely stressful, and I hope that I can deal with other people in any situation that much better. I have done a lot of reading outside of class and have a bunch of books that I would love to recommend to anyone if you're interested. Again, I stress at how incredible this information can become for anyone that desires to improve themselves no matter what level you are at in being a leader. It can help improve not only professional relationships and behavior, but also personal relationships and behavior.

You still awake?

Bowling League was tonight (week #2 out of 10,000,000). I upped my league low leading average but we still only took 2 points. Bummer. Starting to find my groove though. If that's what it's called in bowling. I need to work on my bowling lingo. I'll see what Google or Wikipedia have to offer. I'll get a team shot soon and post it with all of our kick a$$ shirts that I designed. Here's a shot at the logo I did with Photoshop:

Song of the Day - 50 Cent - Candy Shop. I can take it - I like this song. I'll take you to the candy shop.... give it a try. It's a good song to piss off the neighbors as you have it blaring as you pull in late at night. I have a whole bunch of those songs!

Video of the Day - This Netflix idea isn't working so hot. Been too busy to watch any new movies. BUT - one of the greatest movies in the world was on TV tonight and I was watching in the background as I caught up on my Britney news. Groundhog Day with Bill Murray is a classic film that the plot alone is so intriguing that you'll be hooked. But Murray is at his best as Phil Connors who lives the same day over and over again. I'm excited as I plan on going to Punxsutawney, PA to go see the Groundhog next year. As good as time as any to take a vacation and how many people can say they went to see Phil come out and see his shadow? haha... SNOW IS COMING!

Webpage of the Day - I had a lot of positive comments about the French contribution from yesterday. Glad you enjoyed it. Today's contribution comes from Russia though:) I can't read a single word on there but look at the pictures and you can still enjoy it as much as I did. http://blogga.ru/2005/09/12/wooden_comp.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!

Concert Fever!!

So in strong anticipation of the Green Day concert this weekend, I spent some quality time reflecting on the concerts I've been to in the past and wanted to share them (both good and bad) with you. I will let you know next week where this one ranks with the trip to Ozzfest, U2, Hard Rock and even Classical concerts (remember, I have a Music Degree that I have to use once in a while).

I am one of the biggest U2 fans on the planet. Next week on the 23rd will be my 6th time seeing them live and I am PUMPED! 4 of those have been with my good friend Claire who has been a great friend since high school days. We're probably a little bit on the obsessive side of being fans but until I get a court order, I consider it still a hobby. I do use many vacation days to go see them. I was too young to see them in the 90s during my favorite time of U2s (Zoo-TV t0ur would have been FanTasTic!!). But my claim to fame was getting MY Irish flag taken on stage by Bono during Sunday Bloody Sunday during the Elevation Tour in Minneapolis. What a great show. Claire is dumping me for next week's concert unfortunately (some lame wedding excuse) but hopefully the next tour in probably 2008, we'll be there yet again! U2 puts on a hell of a show though. A basic "we know how to play and entertain" type concert where they show off their musical abilities, not the post-engineering skills that most bands use to sell albums.

One of the greatest and more recent concerts I went to was Garbage back in April. I am a firm believer that Garbage is one of the most under rated bands in the history of music. Shirley Manson is incredibly beautiful (helps a lot) but she also has a stage presence that ranks up there towards the top. What a great high energy show. Sure, I had a ringing in my ear for 4 days afterwards (seriously), but it was well worth it.

Another favorite is always Harry Connick, Jr. (sorry for the change in style...... you still with me?). Harry is such an amazing entertainer and is a great place to take a woman on a date;) Although both times I've seen him I went by myself:( Anyone want to be my date the next time? He plays so well and has more fun on stage than anyone else. He is most likely the most gifted musician of my generation, or one of the most gifted. I remember when he was playing piano in Ames for a concert and he looks offstage and yells "hey , I have a ringing in my ear...... it's a B-flat ring......" then looks to us in the audience "makes it hard to play in other keys so I guess I'll just have to transpose everything to B-flat for a while" and then modulated into B-flat very subtly. Continued from there;) Also, he's the only musician that I've ever seen do a full sprint across the stage when demonstrating his need to go to the bathroom earlier in the day. Strange, yes but very amusing. I highly recommend his concerts to all music lovers!

Family Values concert was great when it was Stone Temple Pilots and Linkin Park (they had just burst out onto the scene back then). And Staind although I thought they sucked. Linkin Park played to the crowd like no other which was surprising for such a young group. And STP...... again, Scott Weiland is incredibly insane but I think that's why I love him so much! I also saw him in the Velvet Revolver atmosphere a couple of months ago which was a great concert. Although I now realize that VR is much more Slash's band then it is Weiland's.

Summer Insanasilum Tour with Kid Rock, Metallica, Korn..... that was pretty sweet. This was before James Hetfield became sick so we got the full show! Lots of explosives and l0ud things:)

I also enjoyed Ozzfest in Summerset (although I was one of the 3 people there without tattoos and at the time, I had no piercings). Ozzy was pretty cool but not as animated as I heard he was. I don't know if I'd enjoy seeing him anymore as he continues to get older.

Bare Naked Ladies always put on a great humorous show... yet another great band. Live was a good show. I also always enjoy going to Dave Matthews Band and Creed back in the Day. They're no Sevendust though;)

For Classical, one of my great memories was when i was working in Poughkeepsie, NY and had a "slow weekend" so I traveled to Tanglewood, MA which is the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. I was able to see Seiji Ozawa conduct Tschaikovsky's 5th Symphony which was quite remarkable. I also saw the Pittsburgh Symphony do the Rosenkavalier Suite and Don Quixote with Rostropovich playing. INCREDIBLE! One of the few concerts where we demanded an encore and when the symphony performed an encore, the crowd stayed standing.... that's what should happen at ALL concerts (rock or classical) when they give you an encore.

As for concerts to avoid.....

Wheezer (sorry Kahn) - Kahn kidnapped me at gunpoint and made me go to Wheezer where I was one of 5 people over the age of 20. The other 4 were also in my group. I didn't mind the music but every song was 2 minutes long so they performed for 90 minutes and did at least 45 songs!! No joke. Plus with all the high school kids crowd surfing, only to be waiting for mom to pick them up in the mini-van afterwards was annoying.

Smashmouth. They opened for U2 on Pop-Mart and were pathetic. U2 has a bad history of getting crappy opening bands unfortunately. I forget who's opening for them next week. Kings of Leon did back in April and they might take the cake for worst band ever.

Godsmack. They only played for about 55 minutes at the time. It was at SuperToad in Des Moines and the concert was so warm physically we almost suffocated. I also think I was legally high after that concert from all the Wacky-Tabaccy smoked there.

on that note:

Song of the Day - Still anything by Green Day. I highly recommend their Grammy Award Winning CD American Idiot to anyone that doesn't have it. I'm looking forward to St. Jimmy and Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

Netflix Video - Still haven't watched anything - but I would like to take this moment to recommend Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle to everyone. A high quality funny movie that ranks up there towards the top of my favorite movie list. That will be coming soon for my blogger fans:)

Webpage of the Day - This one's for Wheeler..... I'm not a huge fan of the French, but I was sent this link as one of the few things "good" to come from France. Some very attractive News Anchor (or is it Anchoress?) that would definitely entice me to watch more news! Even if I couldn't understand her! Don't worry, the pictures are very safe for work.

Have a wonderful Day!! Feel free to leave comments so I know who's watching at home. I'm open to any and all suggestions:)

Younger Sibling? IT'S CRAP!!

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Hurricane Thoughts

So some people might be tired of all the coverage on the Hurricane, but I find it addictive. One of the more interesting pages I found was a blog file of some folks that decided to stay in their offices on the 10th and 11th floor of a building right in the middle of New Orleans. They update often with a web cam and journal and were a vital source of information from "Ground Zero". Armed with a gun (since there are so many desperate junkies in the aftermath) and a bunch of generators to give them power for their networking (almost ran out of gas) - they're still there and helping with the clean up now.

Have you donated yet? Red Cross is the way to go! I did read about how some a$$e$ are calling people saying they are the red cross looking for donations but it's just a scam. Not to scare people off but I guess it surprises me at how yet again some evil tries to benefit from a disaster that usually helps bring people together.

But thankfully Michael Jackson is planning a benefit single for the Katrina cleanup effort. Talk about someone trying to save his image. He's recruited Mariah Carey, Snoop D-o-double-gizzle, Jay Z, James Brown, Laryn Hill, Missy Elliott, Wyclef Jean, R. Kelly, and Mary J. Blige..... how does Michael Jackson fit in there again? Rap/R&B meets the king of Pop? I suppose Jo Jo and L'il Bow-wow (or is it just Bow-Wow now?) were the first ones asked but were smart in declining an invite to Nevernever land! Don't get me wrong - MJ is still one of the greatest Pop icons ever, but he's a FREAK!! And unfortunately yes, I'd go see him in concert.

Song of the Day - Green Day - "Brain Stew". Concert in Des Moines in 5 days! I'm really looking forward to this concert. Jimmie Eat World is opening who I'm not familiar with but heard they are pretty sweet as well. I'll have a review posted when I get back. Green Day will be pretty kick a$$ though! Only punk band to survive. Not even the Presidents of the United States of America survived (think Peaches and Lump!). Kahn will be having that song going through his head all day now that I mentioned it.

Netflix Video - I'm trying to watch Purple Rain. So MJ might be the "King of Pop" but Prince is the "Emperor of Weird". Prince has just as many quality songs as MJ did off of "Thriller". I haven't started the movie but I know it has a bunch of his quality songs. Many of you know I'm a sucker for Kiss and Raspberry Beret among others. Kareoke rules baby!!!!!!

Webpage of the Day - http://newsobserver.com/news/story/2793846p-9234235c.html UNC student picked up for urinating 2 TIMES in 30 minutes in public. Good ol' college stories to tell the grandkids. Just hope he remembers it as I doubt he was sober. Public urination is fun!!! Try it the next time you're out and about. Rumor has it that public urination is still legal on the ISU campus if you're male. I might have exercised that right once or twice while I was there. GO CLONES!!!

If you're bored in the Rochester area tonight and belong to the RAC - come to Kickboxing class. It's called The Contender or something fancy like that but my friend Jessi and I went last week. Good workout plus you get to hit things and other people!!

Have a great day!

FINALLY!!

Welcome to my new blog page (after many many months of putting it off).... bare with me (or is that bear with me.... GRRRRROOOOOOOOOOWLLLLLL) as I learn to use this tool but I hope to have some interesting stuff up here real soon.

Things I'd like to always have on here are
* What the song of the day is so you can either laugh at my music, or agree that I have only the highest standards and taste in music.
* My latest movie that I watched from Netflix. I strongly suggest Netflix to anyone that loves watching movies. Since I hate TV programming (other than cartoons... more on that later) I'd almost always rather watch Movies or sports.
* The funny or unusual webpage of the day...... yet another way to entertain you people.

Feel free to share or add me to your page if you want and I can do the same. Props to Kahn Evans in giving me crap long enough for me to publish. I will hopefully do the same with our milk challenge. Go to his blog for a more advanced user!


With that being said... the biggest thing on my mind today is THE CYCLONES ROCK ONTO VICTORY!!! Cleaned the crap out of the Hawks Saturday 23-3. I'm still waiting to figure out what lame excuses are coming from the dedicated Hawk fans as to why they lost. Tate got rung up but he was throwing the ball right to us.... what is a guy supposed to do with the ball but run it back for more points:) It was a great day of tailgating and enjoying the domination for yet another year in the CYCLONE STATE!!!

On a bad note, Andre Agassi lost yesterday in the finals. He is now 8-7 in Grandslam Finals which is amazing to think that he's been in 15 finals. If he was 15-0 he (not Sampras) would have the record for most Grand Slam titles.... Agassi is my childhood idol and I've closely followed his career over the past 20 years and he's an inspiration to us all. I just hope he sticks around for more tennis. He should win the Austrailian Open again in January since he's the only Tennis player that actually works out in the "off season". GO ANDRE!!! I'll come to NYC to watch you win the 2006 US OPEN!!

Song of the day - Stone Temple Pilots - "Meatplow".... interesting note is that when they performed this live for the Family Values concert many years ago in St. Paul, Scott Weiland pulls out a megaphone for this song live, just like they did in the studio. He had a megaphone as well for the Velvet Revolver concert a couple months ago. Never seen one person so obsessed with a megaphone:)

Netflix Video - I actually just watched Godspell last night. I knew a bunch of the songs from there, just never seen the movie. Straight out of the Hippy 70s (along with Hair, and Jesus Christ Superstar). The storyline is basically the same as JCS - but spends more time on his teachings which was pretty cool. Day by Day.... (a good remade song by DC Talk)!

Webpage of the Day - http://www.thewgalchannel.com/news/4959608/detail.html - new weapon in PA area..... Not sure if I'd be scared of a sledgehammer if someone threatened it with me. But then again I can't run very fast:( yet......

Enjoy the day!