In honor of my least favorite day of the year, when all television channels show Dub-ya babbling about things he screwed up - I designate today's blog as a chance to liven his speech up a bit. I know, probably 90% of my regular readers voted for him, but I forgive you all.
There's a couple of easy ways to turn a State of the Union Address Party into a fun Party:
* Clapping Drinking Game. This is probably the easiest one to do with a group! Everytime the Congressional Audience claps, you take a big swig. Everytime they give the guy a standing ovation, everyone in the party finishes their drink no matter where they are at. Everytime that Cheney falls asleep, you get out the hard stuff and do a shot till he wakes up.
* Speech Bingo Drinking. It's probably just Bingo, but it's more fun to drink during this thing I would imagine. Anytime he uses any of the following terms, you take a big ol' swig. Only problem is that you have to be paying closer attention. Or at least someone from the group has to be listening. Not going to be me. Here's the list of words: Democracy, Saddam, New Orleans, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Medicare, Taxes, Economy (beware of that one), Homeland Security, Freedom, Terror/Terrorist, Bin Laden (Usama or Osama.... take your pick.... bonus beer from the host if you know what the difference between those two is), Elections (Iraq), Constitution, Nukular, Child Left Behind, Alito, Roberts.....
* Camera Drinking. Drink every time they show Laura, Jenna, Barbara (Sr. or Jr.). Drink every time they show Hillary or Giuliani. Drink twice every time Cheney gets his own camera shot.
* Listen for made up words (or "Bushisms") and if a majority of the party agrees it's not a real word, finish your beer and grab another one. Any mispronounced words (such as "Nukular" or his daddy's rendition of Saddam) require a couple of extra sips.
Luckily I have rehearsal in La Crosse tonight and will be unable to participate in any gatherings for tonight's event. Enjoy my suggestions and let me know if you think of any more games that I can add for next year!
Song of the Day - We have a new acquisition in the lab.... they agreed to let me purchase Karaoke Revolution Party for the Gamecube that comes with a microphone. So yesterday I "played" Karaoke by singing You Make Me Feel and I won a Gold Status on first try. I was robbed due to the delay we have in our monitors here in the lab otherwise I could have won an additional 50 points for Platinum status. The boys down here love it, let me tell ya! So I still have that song going through my head this morning!
Video of the Day - Pulp Fiction was on this morning. Don't think I've seen that for a couple of years but I have seen it 20+ times. It was the summer of 95 when it was out in the theatres and back in Cedar Rapids (shout out to my boyz of the 3-1-9!!) we had turned Lindale Six theatres into the $1.50 movie and since there was nothing else to do that summer, they kept rerunning Pulp Fiction all summer. And since it was only $1.50, we'd fill up the theatre every night for those 3 months. Most "2nd run movies" only lasted 2-3 weeks, this one was full for 3 months. It was fun to go to a 10:00pm show and be around a couple of hundred people who have seen that movie way too many times.
Webpage of the Day - Iowa State - in all of it's honor and glory.... has made us IBMers proud and now have a new Blue Gene Supercomputer on campus (In Durham of course). It's number 73 in the world at the moment and top 10 for Supercomputers at Universities in this country. Pretty Cool Stuff!
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Monday, January 30, 2006
This is NOT spam
I'm back like a vertebrae!
First - congrats to the Brews Brothers who kicked a$$ on Thursday taking all 7 points (out of 7) from the villains. We might be on a Detroit Piston's type streak here just in time for a run for the 2nd half title run!!!
Friday's Children's Concerts went rather well. I just thought it was unusual to be performing on the big 250th anniversary of Mozart's birthday and not play a single piece by Wolfgang...... but that's another complaint for another day! Ronald McDonald was again the MC for our Children's Concerts and he does so well with the kids. My only complaint is he began each of the 3 concerts with a "singalong" and said to the kids "I'm going to sing a line and then I need you to finish it...... Buh Duh Bup Buh Buuuuuuuh...." and then 5000 kids yell "I'M LOVIN' IT". That was pretty pathetic that our kids watch that much advertising to know what he's getting at. Scary. Remember, I'm anti-advertising (except for Sunday's Superbowl.... that's half the reason to watch!)
We still have concerts this weekend for our normal January Concert. We have a guest conductor from Brazil which will make it more interesting and give us a glimpse of what we hope is a different style of rehearsal and conducting. Tschaik 5 is the main piece on the program (A wonderful piece that I'd love to pass on to anyone that's interested in hearing it). In the first half we're also playing a Finale from Aida (by Verdi), and Fantasia for Soprano Saxophone by Villa-Lobos. I know, you're thinking "Isn't Soprano Saxophone what Kenny G plays"? And if you're thinking that.... you should be shot.
I finished the entire Chronic (WHAT?) les of Narnia book this weekend (DOUBLE TRUE!!). All 765 pages of the thing! The order that was suggested by Lewis to read them is:
Read them in that order is my thoughts... but don't get discouraged by the early on books because I think the ones I liked best are after the first three. In order, my favorites are: Prince, Voyage, Lion/Witch, Magician, Last Battle, Silver, Horse..... you lost yet? Yesterday, I quickly started The Five People You Meet In Heaven and it's another one you'll have to read. More on that one when I finish it (maybe tomorrow).
One quick complaint to start out Mondays..... I checked my IBM email yesterday to catch up from Friday's activities here at work. So there were ZERO unread messages in my inbox. When I logged in this morning, there were 13 new messages.... and ALL of them were spam. I went to the spam section where there was only 1 message. Isn't IBM the largest computer company in the world? And yet we have the worst spam filter I've ever seen? Need to see about getting Yahoo! to sponsor our spam filter in the future! Just a thought.
Song of the Day - I need to go find the Spam Song. I'm also interested in hitting the Spam Museum the next time Hazel takes me to Austin. We should make a road trip out of it if anyone else is interested... Spam and then a "quick" drive to Chippewa Falls.
Video of the Day - Wheeler and I watched Transporter 2 this weekend which was a huge disappoinment. I had rewatched the first Transporter about 2 months ago and enjoyed it a lot. But this new one was way too fake and cheezy. All the "just barely missed" scenarios that I wasn't in the mood for.
Webpage of the Day - Drew has today's suggestion - it's from a past episode of the MTV Movie Awards. If you haven't seen any of the Lord of the Rings movies, then don't bother watching this. Another trilogy that would be fun to reread but a lot more difficult due to the unusual names. Chronic (WHAT?) les of Narnia had easy names like Peter, Edmund, Lucy, Susan, Jill, and Eustace. I guess the English names aren't as cool though as Aragorn, Arwen, and Gandalf. This is still quite enjoyable - Thanks Drew!
First - congrats to the Brews Brothers who kicked a$$ on Thursday taking all 7 points (out of 7) from the villains. We might be on a Detroit Piston's type streak here just in time for a run for the 2nd half title run!!!
Friday's Children's Concerts went rather well. I just thought it was unusual to be performing on the big 250th anniversary of Mozart's birthday and not play a single piece by Wolfgang...... but that's another complaint for another day! Ronald McDonald was again the MC for our Children's Concerts and he does so well with the kids. My only complaint is he began each of the 3 concerts with a "singalong" and said to the kids "I'm going to sing a line and then I need you to finish it...... Buh Duh Bup Buh Buuuuuuuh...." and then 5000 kids yell "I'M LOVIN' IT". That was pretty pathetic that our kids watch that much advertising to know what he's getting at. Scary. Remember, I'm anti-advertising (except for Sunday's Superbowl.... that's half the reason to watch!)
We still have concerts this weekend for our normal January Concert. We have a guest conductor from Brazil which will make it more interesting and give us a glimpse of what we hope is a different style of rehearsal and conducting. Tschaik 5 is the main piece on the program (A wonderful piece that I'd love to pass on to anyone that's interested in hearing it). In the first half we're also playing a Finale from Aida (by Verdi), and Fantasia for Soprano Saxophone by Villa-Lobos. I know, you're thinking "Isn't Soprano Saxophone what Kenny G plays"? And if you're thinking that.... you should be shot.
I finished the entire Chronic (WHAT?) les of Narnia book this weekend (DOUBLE TRUE!!). All 765 pages of the thing! The order that was suggested by Lewis to read them is:
- Magician's Nephew
- The Lion, The Witch, The Wardrobe (what the movie is about)
- The Horse and His Boy
- Prince Caspian
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- The Silver Chair
- The Last Battle
Read them in that order is my thoughts... but don't get discouraged by the early on books because I think the ones I liked best are after the first three. In order, my favorites are: Prince, Voyage, Lion/Witch, Magician, Last Battle, Silver, Horse..... you lost yet? Yesterday, I quickly started The Five People You Meet In Heaven and it's another one you'll have to read. More on that one when I finish it (maybe tomorrow).
One quick complaint to start out Mondays..... I checked my IBM email yesterday to catch up from Friday's activities here at work. So there were ZERO unread messages in my inbox. When I logged in this morning, there were 13 new messages.... and ALL of them were spam. I went to the spam section where there was only 1 message. Isn't IBM the largest computer company in the world? And yet we have the worst spam filter I've ever seen? Need to see about getting Yahoo! to sponsor our spam filter in the future! Just a thought.
Song of the Day - I need to go find the Spam Song. I'm also interested in hitting the Spam Museum the next time Hazel takes me to Austin. We should make a road trip out of it if anyone else is interested... Spam and then a "quick" drive to Chippewa Falls.
Video of the Day - Wheeler and I watched Transporter 2 this weekend which was a huge disappoinment. I had rewatched the first Transporter about 2 months ago and enjoyed it a lot. But this new one was way too fake and cheezy. All the "just barely missed" scenarios that I wasn't in the mood for.
Webpage of the Day - Drew has today's suggestion - it's from a past episode of the MTV Movie Awards. If you haven't seen any of the Lord of the Rings movies, then don't bother watching this. Another trilogy that would be fun to reread but a lot more difficult due to the unusual names. Chronic (WHAT?) les of Narnia had easy names like Peter, Edmund, Lucy, Susan, Jill, and Eustace. I guess the English names aren't as cool though as Aragorn, Arwen, and Gandalf. This is still quite enjoyable - Thanks Drew!
Thursday, January 26, 2006
RAC and more
Happy Thursday to Everyone!!
I had a good workout this morning at the "New and Improved" RAC (Rochester Athletic Club.... the "it" of places to work out in Rochester - you ain't COOOOL unless you belong to the RAC!!! haha). They added a bunch of cool stuff and this morning was the first time I have explored into the new area to see what all they did. It's probably aimed more for kids, but I don't care. I plan on using that stuff.
First thing I noticed was the aeroball or whatever they called it where you jump on trampolines and try to throw a ball through the goal on the other person's side while they jump on their own trampoline. I remember playing that when I was in middle school or whatever at the place out by Westdale.... what was that called? Dad or Emily???? little help here. Had the outdoor water slide and was pretty pathetic when you compared it to Whacky Waters. Is that place still open?
They added a huge tunnel playground for kids. I know Elliott and Al love those things at McDonald's. They also have Foosball and PING PONG!!! So I'm going to start taking my paddles and "beer pong" balls in case I see some 6th grade punk thinking he owns the table. There is also some better quality golf nets so some pre-golf-league practice might be in store for Fisher and I. Plus a couple of other game things that I couldn't quite figure out what it was, and batting cages, and a new basketball court.
They also have the new treadmills that are so much easier for fat people like me to run on! I remember this type of treadmill at the Aspen place where my parents used to work out at in Cedar Rapids. I can already run further on them than I can on the smaller and older ones that the RAC usually has. I know, so many of you are saying "but I'd rather run outside than on a treadmill"... well when you're 100 pounds overweight, you take the fact that you can still run a mile on a treadmill as the first step to the recovery process....
So speaking of Tennis.... I was able to catch some Australian Open last night and this morning. There were some incredible matches being played. Unfortunately, Sharapova lost in 3 sets (she looked good in the 1st but lost her mojo after that) as did Kljisters. Justine will probably win again and I find her to be the most boring of all the women's tennis players right now. Kind of like Federer who will most likely be playing in the Men's Final. Watch out for Hingis though and I was also watching Patty Schnyder the other night (also from Switzerland)..... these dang Swiss players are taking over the world!!! But I was able to watch the 5th set this morning of Baghdatis defeating Nalbandian.... a great 5 setter match! Baghdatis is unseeded and from Cyprus.... who plays tennis in Cyprus? It's a "stoens" throw from Turkey and Lebanon for those still wondering where it's at.
I have performances in La Crosse tomorrow morning after rehearsal tonight. Every January we play 3 concerts for middle school aged kids. Maybe it's 4th grade, I can never remember. I will try to blog if I can connect from my hotel in La Crosse or somewhere. If not, have patience and come back real soon!
Song of the Day - I think I'm probably the only person that loves working out to classical music. If I know the piece well enough, the time goes faster as I sing along in my head. I hit the Sibelius Symphony #2 while running this morning and I think the 4th movement is one of the greatest running songs. I know I'm weird...
Video of the Day - I forgot to mention that I watched Taps last week while on the plane trying to make a 14 hour flight go faster. It's the first major role for Tom Cruise and Sean Penn even though neither one had the primary role (that went to Timothy Hutton who I can't remember any of his other roles without looking). It's a great movie if you haven't seen it. I hadn't seen it in probably 20 years so i rented it for a fresh viewing!
Webpage of the Day - Thanks to Clausen for today's link. It's a video from Google (Safe for work but has a song you have to listen to understand). I think the video is a typical message from every guy I know!
Have a great day!!
I had a good workout this morning at the "New and Improved" RAC (Rochester Athletic Club.... the "it" of places to work out in Rochester - you ain't COOOOL unless you belong to the RAC!!! haha). They added a bunch of cool stuff and this morning was the first time I have explored into the new area to see what all they did. It's probably aimed more for kids, but I don't care. I plan on using that stuff.
First thing I noticed was the aeroball or whatever they called it where you jump on trampolines and try to throw a ball through the goal on the other person's side while they jump on their own trampoline. I remember playing that when I was in middle school or whatever at the place out by Westdale.... what was that called? Dad or Emily???? little help here. Had the outdoor water slide and was pretty pathetic when you compared it to Whacky Waters. Is that place still open?
They added a huge tunnel playground for kids. I know Elliott and Al love those things at McDonald's. They also have Foosball and PING PONG!!! So I'm going to start taking my paddles and "beer pong" balls in case I see some 6th grade punk thinking he owns the table. There is also some better quality golf nets so some pre-golf-league practice might be in store for Fisher and I. Plus a couple of other game things that I couldn't quite figure out what it was, and batting cages, and a new basketball court.
They also have the new treadmills that are so much easier for fat people like me to run on! I remember this type of treadmill at the Aspen place where my parents used to work out at in Cedar Rapids. I can already run further on them than I can on the smaller and older ones that the RAC usually has. I know, so many of you are saying "but I'd rather run outside than on a treadmill"... well when you're 100 pounds overweight, you take the fact that you can still run a mile on a treadmill as the first step to the recovery process....
So speaking of Tennis.... I was able to catch some Australian Open last night and this morning. There were some incredible matches being played. Unfortunately, Sharapova lost in 3 sets (she looked good in the 1st but lost her mojo after that) as did Kljisters. Justine will probably win again and I find her to be the most boring of all the women's tennis players right now. Kind of like Federer who will most likely be playing in the Men's Final. Watch out for Hingis though and I was also watching Patty Schnyder the other night (also from Switzerland)..... these dang Swiss players are taking over the world!!! But I was able to watch the 5th set this morning of Baghdatis defeating Nalbandian.... a great 5 setter match! Baghdatis is unseeded and from Cyprus.... who plays tennis in Cyprus? It's a "stoens" throw from Turkey and Lebanon for those still wondering where it's at.
I have performances in La Crosse tomorrow morning after rehearsal tonight. Every January we play 3 concerts for middle school aged kids. Maybe it's 4th grade, I can never remember. I will try to blog if I can connect from my hotel in La Crosse or somewhere. If not, have patience and come back real soon!
Song of the Day - I think I'm probably the only person that loves working out to classical music. If I know the piece well enough, the time goes faster as I sing along in my head. I hit the Sibelius Symphony #2 while running this morning and I think the 4th movement is one of the greatest running songs. I know I'm weird...
Video of the Day - I forgot to mention that I watched Taps last week while on the plane trying to make a 14 hour flight go faster. It's the first major role for Tom Cruise and Sean Penn even though neither one had the primary role (that went to Timothy Hutton who I can't remember any of his other roles without looking). It's a great movie if you haven't seen it. I hadn't seen it in probably 20 years so i rented it for a fresh viewing!
Webpage of the Day - Thanks to Clausen for today's link. It's a video from Google (Safe for work but has a song you have to listen to understand). I think the video is a typical message from every guy I know!
Have a great day!!
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
A Normal Blog About Random Things
A very Happy Birthday to Melissa from La Crosse! Melissa has become a great friend of mine through the symphony along with her husband Jason, plus Troy and Shary.... and the 4 kids who all call me "Uncle Adam". There gets to be some confusion at holiday times when Jason's brother (who is also named "Adam") comes and they don't think he's the real Uncle Adam that they're used to seeing once a month around concert time! Happy Birthday Melissa!! Funny thing is that she was good friends with Miss Hazel in college so she knows both of us well.
My Camera made it. I was worried for a bit because the tracer on it said something about going back to Chicago. I was ready to write that one off as another mystery blamed on the mail elves at my house.
And I hit a milestone in the past week or so..... I have officially been ticket-free for over 3 years now! So my record for insurance purposes is now clean for the first time in my life!! I know, it's a miracle but I made it and I intend to keep it that way. So yes, do the math and you can probably figure out how many speeding tickets, running through a stop light tickets (I still think it was yellow and we were late to go see Judge Dread - a pathetic movie.... Claire will remember this one I'm sure). So as you can see, this was very important to me to accomplish!
Switch to some Classical Music thoughts for the benefit of everyone out there:
* Mozart's Birthday (#250 if he were still alive) is on Friday. More to come on that later in the week.
* Handel lived at 23 Brook Street in London for some 30 years (he wrote the Messiah that you hear at Christmas and Easter) which is now turned into a Museum. Funny thing is that Jimi Hendrix lived there in the 60s as well (same exact address) and people are wanting to turn the house into a Jimi Hendrix museum even though he only lived there a couple of years. There's your useless knowledge for the day.
* We're playing Tschaikovsky's Fifth Symphony next weekend in La Crosse. It's probably one of my favorite Symphonies to listen to, and probably my favorite to play up till now. Very loud but extremely emotional in spots too. Let me know if you're interested in hearing it (either via mp3 or live next weekend!) This is what was played by the Austin Symphony years ago when I went to one of their concerts while I was living down there for 2 months. This was also the same piece that was played by the Tucson Symphony last year sometime when I took my Grandmother to a concert while I was there for work.
In Australian Open news, The Great Hingis Return is over after a 3 set loss to Clijsters. At least Sharapova is still in it;) Of course Federer is still winning like a machine for the guys bracket.
And finally, there are tons of requests of more pictures of the Beautiful Hazel. Now that I have a camera again, I'll continue to take more pictures. These are from my parents and the trip this past weekend to Iowa.
Song of the Day - I have Zeppelin's Kashmir going through my head today for some reason. Don't think I've heard it in a while but I'll have to break out some Zeppelin today on iTunes as I work. Good song!
Video of the Day - I saw this morning the sad news that Nice Guy Eddie died.... Chris Penn from Reservoir Dogs for those that aren't following yet. He had probably the filthiest mouth in that movie but was very funny. I remember the argument he has with Mr. Blonde "Did you see that Daddy? Guy got me on the ground and tried to **** me.... I don't mind what you do but don't try to **** me in my daddy's office". Guess you had to be there. I remember the first time Chad and I watched this in High School. First of many showings of this movie over the years!
Webpage of the Day - New Strong Bad Email is Rockin' Cool! But no Easter Eggs on the last screen this time! Still pretty funny!
Have a great Wednesday!!
My Camera made it. I was worried for a bit because the tracer on it said something about going back to Chicago. I was ready to write that one off as another mystery blamed on the mail elves at my house.
And I hit a milestone in the past week or so..... I have officially been ticket-free for over 3 years now! So my record for insurance purposes is now clean for the first time in my life!! I know, it's a miracle but I made it and I intend to keep it that way. So yes, do the math and you can probably figure out how many speeding tickets, running through a stop light tickets (I still think it was yellow and we were late to go see Judge Dread - a pathetic movie.... Claire will remember this one I'm sure). So as you can see, this was very important to me to accomplish!
Switch to some Classical Music thoughts for the benefit of everyone out there:
* Mozart's Birthday (#250 if he were still alive) is on Friday. More to come on that later in the week.
* Handel lived at 23 Brook Street in London for some 30 years (he wrote the Messiah that you hear at Christmas and Easter) which is now turned into a Museum. Funny thing is that Jimi Hendrix lived there in the 60s as well (same exact address) and people are wanting to turn the house into a Jimi Hendrix museum even though he only lived there a couple of years. There's your useless knowledge for the day.
* We're playing Tschaikovsky's Fifth Symphony next weekend in La Crosse. It's probably one of my favorite Symphonies to listen to, and probably my favorite to play up till now. Very loud but extremely emotional in spots too. Let me know if you're interested in hearing it (either via mp3 or live next weekend!) This is what was played by the Austin Symphony years ago when I went to one of their concerts while I was living down there for 2 months. This was also the same piece that was played by the Tucson Symphony last year sometime when I took my Grandmother to a concert while I was there for work.
In Australian Open news, The Great Hingis Return is over after a 3 set loss to Clijsters. At least Sharapova is still in it;) Of course Federer is still winning like a machine for the guys bracket.
And finally, there are tons of requests of more pictures of the Beautiful Hazel. Now that I have a camera again, I'll continue to take more pictures. These are from my parents and the trip this past weekend to Iowa.
Song of the Day - I have Zeppelin's Kashmir going through my head today for some reason. Don't think I've heard it in a while but I'll have to break out some Zeppelin today on iTunes as I work. Good song!
Video of the Day - I saw this morning the sad news that Nice Guy Eddie died.... Chris Penn from Reservoir Dogs for those that aren't following yet. He had probably the filthiest mouth in that movie but was very funny. I remember the argument he has with Mr. Blonde "Did you see that Daddy? Guy got me on the ground and tried to **** me.... I don't mind what you do but don't try to **** me in my daddy's office". Guess you had to be there. I remember the first time Chad and I watched this in High School. First of many showings of this movie over the years!
Webpage of the Day - New Strong Bad Email is Rockin' Cool! But no Easter Eggs on the last screen this time! Still pretty funny!
Have a great Wednesday!!
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
The Wonderful World of Shipping
With my recent purchases, I re-enter the comical world of shipping and tracking my packages. I have 3 packages going to the house, and had one package shipped from Japan to work. With all of my history of trying to find packages, delivering them to wrong addresses, and the DAMN ELVES at the house that steal my stuff - here are the current status of what I'm waiting for:
* First package - shoes from Eddie Bauer Outlet. They ship via US Postal Service which is about as worthless as they come for tracking. Although my package has a number to "track", all I can get for details from the USPS is that my package has shipped. Not even telling me where it has shipped from.
* Second package - A big win from e-bay. I won the auction on January 17th and paid for it immediately. I got a notice from pay-pal following my payment that said my package would be shipped via "Paypal Shipping via USPS".... dangit, I'm screwed again. So I'm thinking this is my notice that tells me it's "in the mail". I check my status and it always says that it was notified on the 18th..... well yesterday I check and now the status says my item was processed and left their California facility on January 22nd. That was a Sunday so not sure I believe that statement 100%. No idea what that means for a delivery time.
* New Camera from Joe-Shmoe Camera in Brooklyn, NY. They ship via FedEx which gives me a tracking number and details I can follow. It's traveling via FedEx ground which moves at a snail's pace it seems. I should have just had Rob bring it on one of his three U-Hauls from NY. As of this morning, it's in Holmen, Wisconsin. Troy or Melissa, snag it on your way to work for me! haha! I'll probably pass it on my way to rehearsal tonight in La Crosse.
* Package from Japan... this one's the best. Via UPS (not ground obviously) from Kyoto, Japan. When it hits the terminal, there's a confirmation from Louisville, KY that it can get on the plane for the US (I suppose they had to do a background check on our 3 pound package and make sure it had a visa, etc). The following day it flies to Ancourage, Alaska.... and yet another call is placed to Louisville, KY. Then it makes it to Louisville, KY the following day after that. On Saturday, it leaves Louisville at 5:37am, arrives in Cedar Rapids at 6:03am (I could have snagged it from there if I'd have known). Leaves Cedar Rapids at 6:32am, arrives in Des Moines at 7:09am. Leaves Des Moines on Sunday evening, arrives in Minneapolis at 10pm. Leaves Minneapolis at 3:19am on Monday headed for Rochester (After circling it for 2 days) and arrives at 9:15am.
I had a buddy in college once that mailed himself an Overnight Envelope with UPS. He lived at Friley and mailed it from the 20th Century Hy-Vee in Ames. So for the Ames-illiterate, that's about a mile and a half down the road. Someone could have just driven it down the street and dropped it off on their way home, but instead it leaves Hy-Vee, truck to Des Moines, Plane to Louisville - where it's sorted and takes another plane to Des Moines, another truck to Ames, then is delivered the following morning. How funny is that?
Rehearsals begin tonight in La Crosse. I don't have half of my music after I rehearsed last night. More info on the concerts coming soon!
Song of the Day - I've been relistening to Beethoven Radio (beethoven.com) which is based out of Connecticut but broadcasts on the Internet for the world to hear. They play some really good classical music and the quality is pretty good. I also like how they play soundtracks and "other" type of classical music that changes it up. Yesterday they even played some symphonic Zeppelin! HEY! Don't knock it till you try it!
Video of the Day - Hazel and I watched March of the Penguins this weekend which was very good! It's a documentary but it is narrated by Morgan Freeman who shows his ability to be so versatile. It's an amazing story of the Emperor Penguins and the extreme life they live at the south poll. They make an amazing march for 70 miles to reproduce every year and it's amazing that they are still surviving. The best comment was from Hazel when the baby penguins are out running around.... "aww.... I want one". But Daddy... i want a Penguin NOW!!!
Webpage of the Day - Words cannot describe this video.... it's long, but you have to watch it. I won't blame you if you turn it down to avoid the crappy music, but it only gets better with time. What an idiot!
* First package - shoes from Eddie Bauer Outlet. They ship via US Postal Service which is about as worthless as they come for tracking. Although my package has a number to "track", all I can get for details from the USPS is that my package has shipped. Not even telling me where it has shipped from.
* Second package - A big win from e-bay. I won the auction on January 17th and paid for it immediately. I got a notice from pay-pal following my payment that said my package would be shipped via "Paypal Shipping via USPS".... dangit, I'm screwed again. So I'm thinking this is my notice that tells me it's "in the mail". I check my status and it always says that it was notified on the 18th..... well yesterday I check and now the status says my item was processed and left their California facility on January 22nd. That was a Sunday so not sure I believe that statement 100%. No idea what that means for a delivery time.
* New Camera from Joe-Shmoe Camera in Brooklyn, NY. They ship via FedEx which gives me a tracking number and details I can follow. It's traveling via FedEx ground which moves at a snail's pace it seems. I should have just had Rob bring it on one of his three U-Hauls from NY. As of this morning, it's in Holmen, Wisconsin. Troy or Melissa, snag it on your way to work for me! haha! I'll probably pass it on my way to rehearsal tonight in La Crosse.
* Package from Japan... this one's the best. Via UPS (not ground obviously) from Kyoto, Japan. When it hits the terminal, there's a confirmation from Louisville, KY that it can get on the plane for the US (I suppose they had to do a background check on our 3 pound package and make sure it had a visa, etc). The following day it flies to Ancourage, Alaska.... and yet another call is placed to Louisville, KY. Then it makes it to Louisville, KY the following day after that. On Saturday, it leaves Louisville at 5:37am, arrives in Cedar Rapids at 6:03am (I could have snagged it from there if I'd have known). Leaves Cedar Rapids at 6:32am, arrives in Des Moines at 7:09am. Leaves Des Moines on Sunday evening, arrives in Minneapolis at 10pm. Leaves Minneapolis at 3:19am on Monday headed for Rochester (After circling it for 2 days) and arrives at 9:15am.
I had a buddy in college once that mailed himself an Overnight Envelope with UPS. He lived at Friley and mailed it from the 20th Century Hy-Vee in Ames. So for the Ames-illiterate, that's about a mile and a half down the road. Someone could have just driven it down the street and dropped it off on their way home, but instead it leaves Hy-Vee, truck to Des Moines, Plane to Louisville - where it's sorted and takes another plane to Des Moines, another truck to Ames, then is delivered the following morning. How funny is that?
Rehearsals begin tonight in La Crosse. I don't have half of my music after I rehearsed last night. More info on the concerts coming soon!
Song of the Day - I've been relistening to Beethoven Radio (beethoven.com) which is based out of Connecticut but broadcasts on the Internet for the world to hear. They play some really good classical music and the quality is pretty good. I also like how they play soundtracks and "other" type of classical music that changes it up. Yesterday they even played some symphonic Zeppelin! HEY! Don't knock it till you try it!
Video of the Day - Hazel and I watched March of the Penguins this weekend which was very good! It's a documentary but it is narrated by Morgan Freeman who shows his ability to be so versatile. It's an amazing story of the Emperor Penguins and the extreme life they live at the south poll. They make an amazing march for 70 miles to reproduce every year and it's amazing that they are still surviving. The best comment was from Hazel when the baby penguins are out running around.... "aww.... I want one". But Daddy... i want a Penguin NOW!!!
Webpage of the Day - Words cannot describe this video.... it's long, but you have to watch it. I won't blame you if you turn it down to avoid the crappy music, but it only gets better with time. What an idiot!
Monday, January 23, 2006
Monday Morning in Rochester
A nice 3 day weekend is over - sorry for the lack of blog on Friday. Despite the popular belief around the country, we DO have electricity and internet in Iowa. I just chose to do other things Friday morning.
First off, congrats to Pittsburgh and Seattle who will be in the Super Bowl in two weeks. I'm looking forward to that game and am pretty indifferent as to who wins. I am happy knowing it'll be a new champion this year that hasn't won in the past 10 years. Always something exciting when that happens.
Second, I've become a recent opponent to ESPN.com and am now finding it easier and easier to navigate through Yahoo! Sports to get my scores and polls. ESPN kept developing new ways of pissing me off from pop up windows, to in-navigation commercials, to being down half the time when I need updates. Yahoo! is providing me with a lot of that ability with no commercialism. I don't think ESPN even needs the extra money from advertising but what do I know?
Hazel and I had a wonderful time in Cedar Rapids this weekend. Always fun to hang out with the folks - Mom thinks I'm funny and Dad thinks I'm nuts. Hazel fits in quite well so far which I wasn't surprised at all about. Friday we went to Iowa City to do some shopping and walking around enemy territory. I made sure she realized that at any second, the 10s of thousands of idiots around us in Iowa City could explode so be careful. They can easily be distinguished by the black and yellow bumble bee colors that they wear. It snowed a bunch in Iowa City/Cedar Rapids that night which was nice to see a white January for once this year.
Saturday, we went to the Amana Colonies which is about 25 minutes from my parents' house. Amana is a German Community with tons of shopping and of course, tons of good food! They have a ton of antique stores, home made furniture and decoration stores, lots and lots of wine to sample everywhere...... good stuff I tell ya. It's even more fun to go during Oktoberfest and see the thousands of people and listening to the polka music the entire day! This was fun too since there were no crowds to fight. Dinner at the Ox Yoke Inn was incredible as was expected.
Came home yesterday and I'm pretty much back to normal sleeping hours although I felt like I could sleep a couple of more hours this morning. I'll use it as an excuse to go take a nap this afternoon;)
Song of the Day - Going through the CDs in the TrailBlazer I found In the Name of Love which features a bunch of Christian bands doing remakes of U2 songs. Most of them are pretty good, a few that I don't care for - but overall I enjoy hearing a new rendition of a quality song. One of my favorites is TobyMac's version of Mysterious Ways. Good Stuff!
Video of the Day - We watched Dark Waterthis weekend with Jennifer Connelly. Not very scary in my mind and not very good in my mind as well. Don't bother.....
Webpage of the Day - Nothing special today, but I did find the article posted a little bothersome...... glad someone's able to screw over the insurance companies for once!!
First off, congrats to Pittsburgh and Seattle who will be in the Super Bowl in two weeks. I'm looking forward to that game and am pretty indifferent as to who wins. I am happy knowing it'll be a new champion this year that hasn't won in the past 10 years. Always something exciting when that happens.
Second, I've become a recent opponent to ESPN.com and am now finding it easier and easier to navigate through Yahoo! Sports to get my scores and polls. ESPN kept developing new ways of pissing me off from pop up windows, to in-navigation commercials, to being down half the time when I need updates. Yahoo! is providing me with a lot of that ability with no commercialism. I don't think ESPN even needs the extra money from advertising but what do I know?
Hazel and I had a wonderful time in Cedar Rapids this weekend. Always fun to hang out with the folks - Mom thinks I'm funny and Dad thinks I'm nuts. Hazel fits in quite well so far which I wasn't surprised at all about. Friday we went to Iowa City to do some shopping and walking around enemy territory. I made sure she realized that at any second, the 10s of thousands of idiots around us in Iowa City could explode so be careful. They can easily be distinguished by the black and yellow bumble bee colors that they wear. It snowed a bunch in Iowa City/Cedar Rapids that night which was nice to see a white January for once this year.
Saturday, we went to the Amana Colonies which is about 25 minutes from my parents' house. Amana is a German Community with tons of shopping and of course, tons of good food! They have a ton of antique stores, home made furniture and decoration stores, lots and lots of wine to sample everywhere...... good stuff I tell ya. It's even more fun to go during Oktoberfest and see the thousands of people and listening to the polka music the entire day! This was fun too since there were no crowds to fight. Dinner at the Ox Yoke Inn was incredible as was expected.
Came home yesterday and I'm pretty much back to normal sleeping hours although I felt like I could sleep a couple of more hours this morning. I'll use it as an excuse to go take a nap this afternoon;)
Song of the Day - Going through the CDs in the TrailBlazer I found In the Name of Love which features a bunch of Christian bands doing remakes of U2 songs. Most of them are pretty good, a few that I don't care for - but overall I enjoy hearing a new rendition of a quality song. One of my favorites is TobyMac's version of Mysterious Ways. Good Stuff!
Video of the Day - We watched Dark Waterthis weekend with Jennifer Connelly. Not very scary in my mind and not very good in my mind as well. Don't bother.....
Webpage of the Day - Nothing special today, but I did find the article posted a little bothersome...... glad someone's able to screw over the insurance companies for once!!
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Cedar Rapids 101
Hazel and I are off to Cedar Rapids tonight to go see my Parental Units. We'll be there through Sunday (I hope to be back by the NFC Championship Game... don't think Hazel even knows who's playing) but I thought I'd use today to give a little bit of random facts about Cedar Rapids. Ok, so technically my folks now live in Marion (suburb) but there's more to write about Cedar Rapids.
* 2nd largest city in Iowa. Claims 242,000+ in the Metropolitan Area. I think Davenport is bigger, but they are split into two different states.
* Is known as "City of Five Seasons" although I don't know anyone that can name the 5th Season. Most of us call it "City of Five Smells" and can accurately name all 5 smells.
* Home of the National Czech and Slovak Museum. Czech village has an awesome farmers market and some good places to eat.
* Home of Quaker Oats. Most of your oatmeal and cereal is made there. Best day of the month is Crunch Berry Day when the whole city smells like Crunch Berries! Seriously!
* New home of the African American Historical Museum and Cultural Center of Iowa. This has been since I graduated High School so I haven't been there.
* Has a million dollar tree downtown. It's the big thing you see from the interstate that's made of metal as you drive down I-380. Still can't believe that cost a million bucks!
* Is one of two cities in the world that has the court house on an island. The other one is Paris, France.
* Home of Brucemore - A definitely fun place to tour. It's a "Queen Anne-style mansion built in 1886". I just remember that the dude had a pet Lion!!! How cool is that?
* Home of Grant Wood for a while. He actually was the art teacher at my middle school for a while and they have found works of his there.
* Cedar Rapids Symphony has been called one of the best smaller town symphonies in the country by multiple sources. They are a lot of fun to listen to - even though Tiemeyer was so hard to follow for all 20+ years that he was there!
* Current superstars that are from Cedar Rapids - Ashton Kutcher, Elijah Wood, Ron Livingston (think Office Space - or Sex and the City for Jen), Terry Farrell (Star Trek Deep Space Nine among others). And of course - ME!!!
* For more history of Cedar Rapids (too long for me to read right now) - GO HERE.....
That's all I can think of at the moment. Didn't put too much thought into it last night so I'm probably missing a bunch of things.
Song of the Day - I broke out my "Best of DC Talk" CD that I made. They had some quality stuff but too bad the band is no longer together. They started performing together when they were all teenagers so it was amazing that they stuck together for so long. Still one of the better concerts that I've been to over the years!
Video of the Day - nothing new.... I have some new DVDs coming today from Netflix.
Webpage of the Day - I found this very intriguing. A guy started a webpage for the purpose of advertising and it only cost $100 for a spot. For most companies, $100 is nothing for advertising but when you get 1000 companies paying that, he immediately gets a million bucks! Smart guy! His page was recently hacked but is back up for everyone to enjoy!
* 2nd largest city in Iowa. Claims 242,000+ in the Metropolitan Area. I think Davenport is bigger, but they are split into two different states.
* Is known as "City of Five Seasons" although I don't know anyone that can name the 5th Season. Most of us call it "City of Five Smells" and can accurately name all 5 smells.
* Home of the National Czech and Slovak Museum. Czech village has an awesome farmers market and some good places to eat.
* Home of Quaker Oats. Most of your oatmeal and cereal is made there. Best day of the month is Crunch Berry Day when the whole city smells like Crunch Berries! Seriously!
* New home of the African American Historical Museum and Cultural Center of Iowa. This has been since I graduated High School so I haven't been there.
* Has a million dollar tree downtown. It's the big thing you see from the interstate that's made of metal as you drive down I-380. Still can't believe that cost a million bucks!
* Is one of two cities in the world that has the court house on an island. The other one is Paris, France.
* Home of Brucemore - A definitely fun place to tour. It's a "Queen Anne-style mansion built in 1886". I just remember that the dude had a pet Lion!!! How cool is that?
* Home of Grant Wood for a while. He actually was the art teacher at my middle school for a while and they have found works of his there.
* Cedar Rapids Symphony has been called one of the best smaller town symphonies in the country by multiple sources. They are a lot of fun to listen to - even though Tiemeyer was so hard to follow for all 20+ years that he was there!
* Current superstars that are from Cedar Rapids - Ashton Kutcher, Elijah Wood, Ron Livingston (think Office Space - or Sex and the City for Jen), Terry Farrell (Star Trek Deep Space Nine among others). And of course - ME!!!
* For more history of Cedar Rapids (too long for me to read right now) - GO HERE.....
That's all I can think of at the moment. Didn't put too much thought into it last night so I'm probably missing a bunch of things.
Song of the Day - I broke out my "Best of DC Talk" CD that I made. They had some quality stuff but too bad the band is no longer together. They started performing together when they were all teenagers so it was amazing that they stuck together for so long. Still one of the better concerts that I've been to over the years!
Video of the Day - nothing new.... I have some new DVDs coming today from Netflix.
Webpage of the Day - I found this very intriguing. A guy started a webpage for the purpose of advertising and it only cost $100 for a spot. For most companies, $100 is nothing for advertising but when you get 1000 companies paying that, he immediately gets a million bucks! Smart guy! His page was recently hacked but is back up for everyone to enjoy!
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Random Wednesday Thoughts
Rochester welcomes back Rob and Leslie.... and little Phoebe born in November. Rob and Leslie are two good friends from Iowa State Music Hall that have been in New York living, working, going to school for the past 4 years. I am happy to have them both here again.
Iowa State Men's Basketball is back on their winning track with a victory over Nebraska. Unlike our pathetic football team, our basketball team knows how to close out a victory in Lincoln when you've been winning all game. Sorry to the Corn Husker side of my family (which is pretty much all of them) but most aren't as interested in college basketball as they are in college football. I still don't acknowledge the loss to Texas last week.... I think we sent our C squad out that day. Cyclones should be able to keep this pace and get a nomination for the big dance in March.
I won my camera auction finally. So I have my "replacement" camera from losing the one in China. Stupid cabs at 2:30 in the morning. It says "fast shipping" so we'll see if they can get it to me by Thursday when I head back to Cedar Rapids. Now that WOULD be fast!
I read today that Oprah's new book club addition was actually one I had read. Not that I actually read anything that she suggests... she hasn't told us which one is next (hopefully this is funny to the true Family Guy Fans out there). Seriously though, I rarely care what Oprah reads (or is read to) but I wanted to add that Elie Wiesel is one of the more emotional reads that you will have. His book that is added to her list is Night which is an account of his time as a child at Auschwitz during WWII. He miraculously escaped death but as you will find out, nobody that he knew or loved or saw survived. He has become an incredible speaker as well. Drew and I went to hear him speak probably 4 years ago in Rochester. It was right after Bush invaded Iraq so there was already tension in the air. Wiesel spoke of things he saw that he doesn't think should ever happen again. His book Trial of God is another favorite book of mine where three Jewish Rabbis begin a trial of God over him letting all the bad things happen to the Jewish people (who are historically known as "God's People") and in the end the message is the same that God gave to Job... Who am I to decide what is right and what is wrong in this world. Who am I to question what God does in this world as I know He can do anything and knows so much more than I ever will. It's a powerful message that can be learned and appreciated by Christians around the world.
It is sad to report that Brittany Murphy is engaged. Not saying that I care so much now that I have Hazel in my life..... but it's still sad to report;) And yes Christa, I still find Brittany Murphy "cute in that slutty, doped-up sort of way".
My sleep schedule is slowly returning to normal. I was given the suggestion of "more caffeine by day, more NyQuil by night". Somehow that just doesn't sound healthy.
Song of the Day - I really dig that new Kelly Clarkson song Because of You but I had to do a double take on the lyrics when I read them. Not at all what I thought the song would be about but still a quality song. I think she has more talent than the other current Girls of Rock or Pop. Plus she has more talent than any of the other winners of American Idol of Past. They should only show the reject episodes, then be done with it!
Video of the Day - I finished Gladiator which still kicks butt. I wish they'd redo it now that I think Joaquin/Jackie/Mannequin Phoenix can actually act. I thought he did much better in The Village and Walk the Line than he attempted to act in Gladiator (2000 in case you were wondering). He did fine in the dying part but the rest of the movie he is just creepy. Just my opinion for today.
Webpage of the Day - Can Art that's kind of cool.... Snoopy one is my favorite! I somehow remember trying to do something similar at the apartment in college using Busch Light cans but none of our designs were used for this effort unfortunately. I'll have to try harder next time.
Iowa State Men's Basketball is back on their winning track with a victory over Nebraska. Unlike our pathetic football team, our basketball team knows how to close out a victory in Lincoln when you've been winning all game. Sorry to the Corn Husker side of my family (which is pretty much all of them) but most aren't as interested in college basketball as they are in college football. I still don't acknowledge the loss to Texas last week.... I think we sent our C squad out that day. Cyclones should be able to keep this pace and get a nomination for the big dance in March.
I won my camera auction finally. So I have my "replacement" camera from losing the one in China. Stupid cabs at 2:30 in the morning. It says "fast shipping" so we'll see if they can get it to me by Thursday when I head back to Cedar Rapids. Now that WOULD be fast!
I read today that Oprah's new book club addition was actually one I had read. Not that I actually read anything that she suggests... she hasn't told us which one is next (hopefully this is funny to the true Family Guy Fans out there). Seriously though, I rarely care what Oprah reads (or is read to) but I wanted to add that Elie Wiesel is one of the more emotional reads that you will have. His book that is added to her list is Night which is an account of his time as a child at Auschwitz during WWII. He miraculously escaped death but as you will find out, nobody that he knew or loved or saw survived. He has become an incredible speaker as well. Drew and I went to hear him speak probably 4 years ago in Rochester. It was right after Bush invaded Iraq so there was already tension in the air. Wiesel spoke of things he saw that he doesn't think should ever happen again. His book Trial of God is another favorite book of mine where three Jewish Rabbis begin a trial of God over him letting all the bad things happen to the Jewish people (who are historically known as "God's People") and in the end the message is the same that God gave to Job... Who am I to decide what is right and what is wrong in this world. Who am I to question what God does in this world as I know He can do anything and knows so much more than I ever will. It's a powerful message that can be learned and appreciated by Christians around the world.
It is sad to report that Brittany Murphy is engaged. Not saying that I care so much now that I have Hazel in my life..... but it's still sad to report;) And yes Christa, I still find Brittany Murphy "cute in that slutty, doped-up sort of way".
My sleep schedule is slowly returning to normal. I was given the suggestion of "more caffeine by day, more NyQuil by night". Somehow that just doesn't sound healthy.
Song of the Day - I really dig that new Kelly Clarkson song Because of You but I had to do a double take on the lyrics when I read them. Not at all what I thought the song would be about but still a quality song. I think she has more talent than the other current Girls of Rock or Pop. Plus she has more talent than any of the other winners of American Idol of Past. They should only show the reject episodes, then be done with it!
Video of the Day - I finished Gladiator which still kicks butt. I wish they'd redo it now that I think Joaquin/Jackie/Mannequin Phoenix can actually act. I thought he did much better in The Village and Walk the Line than he attempted to act in Gladiator (2000 in case you were wondering). He did fine in the dying part but the rest of the movie he is just creepy. Just my opinion for today.
Webpage of the Day - Can Art that's kind of cool.... Snoopy one is my favorite! I somehow remember trying to do something similar at the apartment in college using Busch Light cans but none of our designs were used for this effort unfortunately. I'll have to try harder next time.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Happy Tuesday!
Howdy! Trying to get back in to my normal mode and I'm a little late on the blog for today.
I just finished Prince Caspian in the Chronicles of Narnia series. It's actually the 4th book in the order that I've been reading them and I have 3 left to go - The Dawn Treader is next. They're great stories and I remembered how Prince Caspian was my favorite as a kid. Just a well told story in my opinion. I wonder if they'll continue to make more movies on the other books of the series.... and no, I still haven't seen the Narnia movie yet. I'll probably wait till DVD like I do with everything else.
I went 2 for 4 this weekend with my NFL predictions. I did fine with the NFC but was absolutely wrong with the AFC. I think everyone was though. I think this Sunday's games will be a lot of fun to watch. I'm predicting Denver and Seattle I think. See how the injuries turn out by the end of the week. Sorry about the Bears to all of you fans out there.
I was going to mention that on both of my flights to and from Japan - they have the flight map which shows the path of the plane, the time left to the destination, ground speed, etc. On the map of the US as we're about an hour from Dallas, I see the following cities listed as reference points.... Dallas (where we started), Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco... and CEDAR RAPIDS!!!! Not kidding. No idea why they would use the HUGE Metropolis of Cedar Rapids as a reference point instead of some other city in the midwest. Maybe Minneapolis or even CHICAGO?!?!!?
The inflight movie was "The Man" with Samuel L Jackson and the dad from American Pie. It was one of the worst movies I've seen in a while. I'm glad I had my laptop to watch some other movies.
Hazel and Roommate Adam watched the Bachelor last night. 2 hours of it! I watched it a couple of seasons ago and thought it was trashy then, it's still trashy. I'll let them watch and do some reading or something. How these girls can cry over not getting selected after seeing the guy for a couple of hours is beyond me. American Idol starts tonight I think. I'm taping it to avoid the annoying commercials (I think American Idol is the worst for commercials) but not sure I'll stick with it this season. I think the talent gets worse and worse every year and the Judges Panel gets more and more annoying every year.
That's all i can think of for today.... Back to regular form though:
Song of the Day - I just bought a new Grieg CD with the Holberg Suite. It's one of my favorite pieces to play but I've never had a recording of it till now. Finishes with a lovely Gigue that might qualify as a "Hoe-Down" to some violin players.
Video of the Day - For some reason I was in the mood for Gladiator last night. I only wanted to see the scene where he turns his back on Caesar and then says "My name is Maximus the Kick Assesus, General of the Northern Armies and loyal to the True Caesar"! Then I stopped watching. I might finish it today sometime.
Webpage of the Day - New Strong Bad Email. I thought it was one of the better ones in a long while! For those that are wondering what the heck this Strong Bad stuff is... I"ll have an "introduction to Home StarRunner" blog coming soon! Going to take some time to research though.
I just finished Prince Caspian in the Chronicles of Narnia series. It's actually the 4th book in the order that I've been reading them and I have 3 left to go - The Dawn Treader is next. They're great stories and I remembered how Prince Caspian was my favorite as a kid. Just a well told story in my opinion. I wonder if they'll continue to make more movies on the other books of the series.... and no, I still haven't seen the Narnia movie yet. I'll probably wait till DVD like I do with everything else.
I went 2 for 4 this weekend with my NFL predictions. I did fine with the NFC but was absolutely wrong with the AFC. I think everyone was though. I think this Sunday's games will be a lot of fun to watch. I'm predicting Denver and Seattle I think. See how the injuries turn out by the end of the week. Sorry about the Bears to all of you fans out there.
I was going to mention that on both of my flights to and from Japan - they have the flight map which shows the path of the plane, the time left to the destination, ground speed, etc. On the map of the US as we're about an hour from Dallas, I see the following cities listed as reference points.... Dallas (where we started), Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco... and CEDAR RAPIDS!!!! Not kidding. No idea why they would use the HUGE Metropolis of Cedar Rapids as a reference point instead of some other city in the midwest. Maybe Minneapolis or even CHICAGO?!?!!?
The inflight movie was "The Man" with Samuel L Jackson and the dad from American Pie. It was one of the worst movies I've seen in a while. I'm glad I had my laptop to watch some other movies.
Hazel and Roommate Adam watched the Bachelor last night. 2 hours of it! I watched it a couple of seasons ago and thought it was trashy then, it's still trashy. I'll let them watch and do some reading or something. How these girls can cry over not getting selected after seeing the guy for a couple of hours is beyond me. American Idol starts tonight I think. I'm taping it to avoid the annoying commercials (I think American Idol is the worst for commercials) but not sure I'll stick with it this season. I think the talent gets worse and worse every year and the Judges Panel gets more and more annoying every year.
That's all i can think of for today.... Back to regular form though:
Song of the Day - I just bought a new Grieg CD with the Holberg Suite. It's one of my favorite pieces to play but I've never had a recording of it till now. Finishes with a lovely Gigue that might qualify as a "Hoe-Down" to some violin players.
Video of the Day - For some reason I was in the mood for Gladiator last night. I only wanted to see the scene where he turns his back on Caesar and then says "My name is Maximus the Kick Assesus, General of the Northern Armies and loyal to the True Caesar"! Then I stopped watching. I might finish it today sometime.
Webpage of the Day - New Strong Bad Email. I thought it was one of the better ones in a long while! For those that are wondering what the heck this Strong Bad stuff is... I"ll have an "introduction to Home StarRunner" blog coming soon! Going to take some time to research though.
Monday, January 16, 2006
One More Thing....
Not sure who was able to see this printed in the Des Moines Register today.... thanks to Heather for telling me it was there.
Shelly Bridgewater.... One Year Later
Today is the one year anniversary of the loss of one of God's true blessings here on Earth.
Shelly was one of my closest friends from Iowa State and her death still affects everyone that knew her, even after one year. While I still have so many unanswered questions, I am so very thankful that I got to see her last year one last time from her hospital bed. Her daughter Hailey is so incredibly adorable and it was the birthday that was celebrated last week on my blog.
Shelly was one of the most popular people I'll ever have known. This was exemplified by her constant over usage of her monthly minutes on her cell phone. Cell phones were invented for people like Shelly. She laughed more than anyone I've ever known and would have done anything for anyone she was around. I will never forget the honor of playing and singing in her wedding... but then having to do it again for her funeral 4 months later. That was one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do in my lifetime.
Shelly, I look forward to seeing you again someday... in fact, I hope you're the first person I see in Heaven. You were always the sister I always had and although I know you're not physically here - I know there are so many times that you're watching over so many of us in our lives.
I'm still messed up for sleep, doesn't make today any easier. I'm off to bed for a while after only getting about 2 hours of sleep last night.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Friday, January 13, 2006
Vincit Qui Patitur
WELCOME TO MY 100TH BLOG!!!! That's a big moment considering I started in September. Did that surprise you that I'm still going Kahn? And going strong I might add!
I think there are two regular readers that I know of that will know the translation of the title for today. But I find it quite fitting for a summary of this week's adventure!
First, before I forget, here are my weekend football predictions. We are down to 8 teams and I hate to miss any of these games. Unfortunately I have to miss Saturday's games while traveling, and I shall see how my sleep schedule is for Sunday. I think my presence is required in Austin, MN sometime on Sunday so I might have to miss at least one of the games.
Washington @ Seattle..... Seattle is too dang strong right now, I really think they have everything going right and will trounce Washington easily!
New England @ Denver. I will not pick against New England in the playoffs. They looked really good last week as well and I see them playing Denver pretty tough.
Pittsburgh @ Indianapolis. Does anyone actually think Pitt has a chance? Colts win.... by a lot.
Carolina @ Chicago. Sorry Kahn... no way is Chicago winning this in my mind. Carolina is playing well lately and just shut down one of the best offenses in the NFL (G-Men). I think they have learned from their earlier loss in Chicago and will win this one. Good game though - hoping this is the one I can watch.
So yeah, I picked both #1 seeds to win, and both #2 seeds to lose. Deal with it.
Now for the work part..... after another long day to finish a long week, we have been successful in what I was sent here to do. I am cleared to go home tomorrow (Saturday for me). Unfortunately, they haven't left me enough time to see anything. So just more reason to come back sometime! I discussed the possibilities of coming back next year sometime to help again later in the project. Exciting stuff! I'll be ready for another trip by then I'm sure - right now I miss my own bed.... and a nice juicy hamburger (well done).
I will miss Kyoto, but I am thankful for all that I have learned and experienced. I have a much greater appreciation for foreign customs and traditions. I am still watching sumo wrestling. I "think" we're getting to the later rounds as the wrestlers are better. As they introduce the group (either a bracket, or maybe even a weight class), they are introduced one at a time as they circle the ring (there's some ornately dressed little guy in the middle doing ceremonial things while they come up to the ring) and then they all do some ritual dance type thing. It was humorous watching them all and there was one "favorite" that got a lot of cheers from the crowd and his own camera close up. Must have been THE ROCK of Sumo! This isn't sing along with the Sumo! But he looked more American or Western I should say than the others. He also resembled more of an athlete rather than a traditional image of a Sumo. I decided that due to my lack of hair, I am not meant to be a sumo wrestler.
Just got back from a very nice dinner with the full team (all 6 of us!). It was very nice and much better than last night's meal. I did get in a lot of sake so that might have helped:) I enjoy sake and I enjoy just as much how it is served. I'm going to look for a sake set tomorrow in my few hours I have left before heading home. I'm also looking for a Samurai Sword to bring home:) I also have learned that when eating raw fish, there is a trick to make it easier. Take a bite, then make a chewing motion... then swallow whole. Then grab your beer or sake to help wash it down. Repeat till food is gone.
Also note that McDonalds in Kyoto closes at 9:30pm:( I could have gone for something from there..... oh well! Also note that sake is extremely good (I had it cold, it can also be served warm.
I leave you from Japan with a quote that I think came from Confucious.... Too much good sake can make one go home happy and sleep well. That is also quite fitting for me tonight. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND! See you on the flip side!
I think there are two regular readers that I know of that will know the translation of the title for today. But I find it quite fitting for a summary of this week's adventure!
First, before I forget, here are my weekend football predictions. We are down to 8 teams and I hate to miss any of these games. Unfortunately I have to miss Saturday's games while traveling, and I shall see how my sleep schedule is for Sunday. I think my presence is required in Austin, MN sometime on Sunday so I might have to miss at least one of the games.
Washington @ Seattle..... Seattle is too dang strong right now, I really think they have everything going right and will trounce Washington easily!
New England @ Denver. I will not pick against New England in the playoffs. They looked really good last week as well and I see them playing Denver pretty tough.
Pittsburgh @ Indianapolis. Does anyone actually think Pitt has a chance? Colts win.... by a lot.
Carolina @ Chicago. Sorry Kahn... no way is Chicago winning this in my mind. Carolina is playing well lately and just shut down one of the best offenses in the NFL (G-Men). I think they have learned from their earlier loss in Chicago and will win this one. Good game though - hoping this is the one I can watch.
So yeah, I picked both #1 seeds to win, and both #2 seeds to lose. Deal with it.
Now for the work part..... after another long day to finish a long week, we have been successful in what I was sent here to do. I am cleared to go home tomorrow (Saturday for me). Unfortunately, they haven't left me enough time to see anything. So just more reason to come back sometime! I discussed the possibilities of coming back next year sometime to help again later in the project. Exciting stuff! I'll be ready for another trip by then I'm sure - right now I miss my own bed.... and a nice juicy hamburger (well done).
I will miss Kyoto, but I am thankful for all that I have learned and experienced. I have a much greater appreciation for foreign customs and traditions. I am still watching sumo wrestling. I "think" we're getting to the later rounds as the wrestlers are better. As they introduce the group (either a bracket, or maybe even a weight class), they are introduced one at a time as they circle the ring (there's some ornately dressed little guy in the middle doing ceremonial things while they come up to the ring) and then they all do some ritual dance type thing. It was humorous watching them all and there was one "favorite" that got a lot of cheers from the crowd and his own camera close up. Must have been THE ROCK of Sumo! This isn't sing along with the Sumo! But he looked more American or Western I should say than the others. He also resembled more of an athlete rather than a traditional image of a Sumo. I decided that due to my lack of hair, I am not meant to be a sumo wrestler.
Just got back from a very nice dinner with the full team (all 6 of us!). It was very nice and much better than last night's meal. I did get in a lot of sake so that might have helped:) I enjoy sake and I enjoy just as much how it is served. I'm going to look for a sake set tomorrow in my few hours I have left before heading home. I'm also looking for a Samurai Sword to bring home:) I also have learned that when eating raw fish, there is a trick to make it easier. Take a bite, then make a chewing motion... then swallow whole. Then grab your beer or sake to help wash it down. Repeat till food is gone.
Also note that McDonalds in Kyoto closes at 9:30pm:( I could have gone for something from there..... oh well! Also note that sake is extremely good (I had it cold, it can also be served warm.
I leave you from Japan with a quote that I think came from Confucious.... Too much good sake can make one go home happy and sleep well. That is also quite fitting for me tonight. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND! See you on the flip side!
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Lessons Learned
Another long day of work, but a much more successful one. Chances of Big Show leaving Japan on Saturday are 65%!
I had the most interesting dinner tonight with some of the guys from work. It was very formal Japanese meal and very nice... but I've never been so distraught after a meal. I did try many things, and none of them will be on my list of things to eat when I get home. Among them tonight were squid (raw), tuna (raw... Claire, you're a big fat liar!), some kind of muscle (cooked), oyster (fried), cabbage with some kind of fishy sauce (yuck), shrimp on a stick (fried), and some black beans. If I could force the food up, I'd go find McDonald's. Yes, I'm brave and I swore that I'd at least try things. They did have shrimp with the eyeballs looking at you... no thanks.
To sum up my experience of this week so far.... I present to you:
2. Not only does Octopus look gross, it tastes gross too
3. If you’re going to wear a bright orange short sleeved shirt on the subway while everyone else is wearing blue or black suits, expect to stand out and be stared at.
4. When you’re a foot taller than everyone else around you (minimum 100 people), expect to stand out and be stared at.
5. When you weigh as much as 3 of the normal people here and you are the last one to get on a crowded elevator, expect nervousness.
6. Tuna sushi is somewhat edible, as long as you don’t smell it first
7. Other non-US countries actually learn to walk more than a block after parking somewhere. There is no “driving to look for a closer spot”
8. Most things taste better NOT knowing what it really is.
9. Japanese is a very fast language but seems very powerful. Don’t piss off someone that can raise his or her voice while speaking quick Japanese.
10. Bowing is an extremely courteous way to say hi to someone
11. Bowing this much when you’re not used to it can begin to hurt your neck and back.
12. God gave humans rice for us Westerners to fill ourselves with when all other food doesn’t look good or taste as good as it looked.
13. Tofu is only good warm…. And for only 3 bites when this occurs.
14. When in a country that drives on the opposite side of the road, you learn to look BOTH ways before crossing. And usually twice.
15. Not everything translates correctly when telling a joke. Puns are usually not understood by people where English is not their native language.
16. Just like when we were kids, it is easier to get places when you have a map with pictures (whether it be actual pictures or cartoons – either will suffice). It is the same with ordering food.
17. Do not attempt to speak Japanese, especially repeating something you thought you heard someone say. Mispronunciations can have a totally different context than what you are attempting to communicate.
18. Japanese keyboards slow you down when typing on due to the extra keys, the smaller space bar, and the Enter key being smaller. The Delete key is thankfully in the same location and same size.
19. People talk just as loud on cell phones in Japan as they do in the US. Must be a natural human characteristic after all.
20. “Alternative” or “grunge” to the Japanese is someone that wears jeans. Earrings and “hair expressions” are not common.
21. 1000 yen (about $8.75 US) is a lot of money to pay to use a hotel pool.
22. Not all cookies taste good.
23. Gagging reflex after eating certain cookies is a natural thing to do. This is the same reflex that occurs after second bite of octopus.
24. Christmas carols are still played through at least the 12th of January. This is not necessarily a desired thing.
25. There seems to be no language barrier in the language of babies. A screaming baby in Japan sounds just like a screaming baby in the US.
26. Little kids (when not crying and screaming) can be just as cute in Japan as they are in the US. Expect weird looks from such kids though when they see you walking by.
27. Evian bottled water is over priced in any country.
28. Assume everyone in Japan knows some form of martial arts. Even though they are smaller than you, they can still hurt you.
29. Respecting others, no matter what level they are in “society” should be standard in all countries, not just Japan. The 2nd line Manager still bows to the guard at the front gate as he comes in.
30. Japan is a wonderful, yet very expensive, place to visit. Plan a lot of extra money to site see, shop, meals, travel than you would to Europe. One day’s spending money in Japan would last a week in China.
Have a great Thursday!!!!
I had the most interesting dinner tonight with some of the guys from work. It was very formal Japanese meal and very nice... but I've never been so distraught after a meal. I did try many things, and none of them will be on my list of things to eat when I get home. Among them tonight were squid (raw), tuna (raw... Claire, you're a big fat liar!), some kind of muscle (cooked), oyster (fried), cabbage with some kind of fishy sauce (yuck), shrimp on a stick (fried), and some black beans. If I could force the food up, I'd go find McDonald's. Yes, I'm brave and I swore that I'd at least try things. They did have shrimp with the eyeballs looking at you... no thanks.
To sum up my experience of this week so far.... I present to you:
Thirty Things I Have Learned While Working In Japan
By Adam Dickinson
2. Not only does Octopus look gross, it tastes gross too
3. If you’re going to wear a bright orange short sleeved shirt on the subway while everyone else is wearing blue or black suits, expect to stand out and be stared at.
4. When you’re a foot taller than everyone else around you (minimum 100 people), expect to stand out and be stared at.
5. When you weigh as much as 3 of the normal people here and you are the last one to get on a crowded elevator, expect nervousness.
6. Tuna sushi is somewhat edible, as long as you don’t smell it first
7. Other non-US countries actually learn to walk more than a block after parking somewhere. There is no “driving to look for a closer spot”
8. Most things taste better NOT knowing what it really is.
9. Japanese is a very fast language but seems very powerful. Don’t piss off someone that can raise his or her voice while speaking quick Japanese.
10. Bowing is an extremely courteous way to say hi to someone
11. Bowing this much when you’re not used to it can begin to hurt your neck and back.
12. God gave humans rice for us Westerners to fill ourselves with when all other food doesn’t look good or taste as good as it looked.
13. Tofu is only good warm…. And for only 3 bites when this occurs.
14. When in a country that drives on the opposite side of the road, you learn to look BOTH ways before crossing. And usually twice.
15. Not everything translates correctly when telling a joke. Puns are usually not understood by people where English is not their native language.
16. Just like when we were kids, it is easier to get places when you have a map with pictures (whether it be actual pictures or cartoons – either will suffice). It is the same with ordering food.
17. Do not attempt to speak Japanese, especially repeating something you thought you heard someone say. Mispronunciations can have a totally different context than what you are attempting to communicate.
18. Japanese keyboards slow you down when typing on due to the extra keys, the smaller space bar, and the Enter key being smaller. The Delete key is thankfully in the same location and same size.
19. People talk just as loud on cell phones in Japan as they do in the US. Must be a natural human characteristic after all.
20. “Alternative” or “grunge” to the Japanese is someone that wears jeans. Earrings and “hair expressions” are not common.
21. 1000 yen (about $8.75 US) is a lot of money to pay to use a hotel pool.
22. Not all cookies taste good.
23. Gagging reflex after eating certain cookies is a natural thing to do. This is the same reflex that occurs after second bite of octopus.
24. Christmas carols are still played through at least the 12th of January. This is not necessarily a desired thing.
25. There seems to be no language barrier in the language of babies. A screaming baby in Japan sounds just like a screaming baby in the US.
26. Little kids (when not crying and screaming) can be just as cute in Japan as they are in the US. Expect weird looks from such kids though when they see you walking by.
27. Evian bottled water is over priced in any country.
28. Assume everyone in Japan knows some form of martial arts. Even though they are smaller than you, they can still hurt you.
29. Respecting others, no matter what level they are in “society” should be standard in all countries, not just Japan. The 2nd line Manager still bows to the guard at the front gate as he comes in.
30. Japan is a wonderful, yet very expensive, place to visit. Plan a lot of extra money to site see, shop, meals, travel than you would to Europe. One day’s spending money in Japan would last a week in China.
Have a great Thursday!!!!
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Lost in Translation
Not a long blog today. I've had an extremely long and rough day with work and am now getting back to my room at almost 9pm from work and dinner. I did try octopus tonight... not very good. Luckily they have rice at every meal so I can usually get my fill or rice in cases where everything else doesn't seem to suffice.
Work is challenging but I'll get through it. I always do. Not sure if I'll be able to leave Saturday as was planned or not. We'll have to see how the next couple of days go. I do have a gorgeous view tonight out my window and it's been rather nice outside when we walk to work from our subway. One thing I discussed with Shibai-san was how the US does not have a very good train system for traveling around the country. You can get anywhere in Japan by train.... as is most travel in Europe it seems. In the US we rely very heavily on cars and this past time taking the subway is actually pretty convenient and very inexpensive considering the alternative.
I had a rather unusual lunch. We ate as a team in the cafeteria and most of the conversation was in Japanese.... actually probably 99% of it. I politely ate and enjoyed the company even though I had no idea what was discussed. Japanese is a very fast language when spoken in my opinion.
Oh, and driving here is so much better than it was in China. They do drive on the left side of the road though as was the case in Hong Kong. I'm used to that after my two trips to Ireland.
Have a great Wednesday! I did not win my ebay auction so I'm on to the next auction.....
Work is challenging but I'll get through it. I always do. Not sure if I'll be able to leave Saturday as was planned or not. We'll have to see how the next couple of days go. I do have a gorgeous view tonight out my window and it's been rather nice outside when we walk to work from our subway. One thing I discussed with Shibai-san was how the US does not have a very good train system for traveling around the country. You can get anywhere in Japan by train.... as is most travel in Europe it seems. In the US we rely very heavily on cars and this past time taking the subway is actually pretty convenient and very inexpensive considering the alternative.
I had a rather unusual lunch. We ate as a team in the cafeteria and most of the conversation was in Japanese.... actually probably 99% of it. I politely ate and enjoyed the company even though I had no idea what was discussed. Japanese is a very fast language when spoken in my opinion.
Oh, and driving here is so much better than it was in China. They do drive on the left side of the road though as was the case in Hong Kong. I'm used to that after my two trips to Ireland.
Have a great Wednesday! I did not win my ebay auction so I'm on to the next auction.....
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Kyoto
First thing's first.... I have wrote a lot recently about the evil empire that is named "Starbucks".... but I would never wish anything tragic to happen such as a bomb in a bathroom in San Francisco. I pray that there is no future instances of this and the evil person will be caught.
Work was a learning experience today. There is a constant language challenge that I am not used to being a factor. It's one thing to discuss weather or travel where minor details can be miss understood but the point of the story is still communicated. In a technical discussion, it's a different matter. There were multiple instances where we had to write out or draw out what we were trying to communicate. Or where a word was miscommunicated or lost in the translation. This is definitely the most difficult trip I've had to make in my 5.5 years for IBM but I'm always up for the challenge!!
Before I go on, I thought about something.... most of my family and friends know details of what I'm doing here... but in case I'm on some blogging search, I better leave out details with why I'm here other than "I'm here working as an employee of IBM". Need to be more careful about that I suppose... this includes comments made to my blog please;) I did change my post from a couple of days ago.
I've been doing some reading about Kyoto that I'd like to share.
Kyoto was the imperial capital of Japan between 794 and 1868. It is now considered the cultural center of Japan with its rich history and how it visually depicts what we in the West see as depicted Japan on TV. There are 1600 Buddhist Temples, 400 Shinto shrines, palaces, many gardens and museums. And for those in the interest of current movies, Kyoto has the most Geisha in all of Japan.
There are 1.5 million people in Kyoto but there are many tourists year round in Kyoto. It has also become a central location for many businesses that are developing their influence in Japan.
I'm trying to get to some of the temples after work this week. I can't post pictures (till I win on ebay) but I will post links when I find them. Here's the first one that I'm trying to get to... it's called the Kinkaku-ji Temple (or Golden Temple):
I have more change today than one person should ever carry in their pockets. I have 35 coins (all gathered today) that come to about $10 US total. I need to be quicker at finding the coin I want since I now always have exact change! I also rode the subway a couple of times today between all of the offices. Lunch was actually more of a Chinese lunch that Shibai-san took me to. It was very good. I could eat rice at every meal. I am going to try one of the hotel restaurants for dinner tonight!
Oh and a note to all of you thinking of traveling for business sometime... make sure you have business cards before going to Asia. I never had issues traveling to Europe for work without business cards, but I am definitely embarrassed not having any while I've been meeting people today. I requested some last year but IBM shot down my request for $7.50 last year. I will not let this happen again. Shibai-san hooked me up with some printout business cards that I was able to use today. He's extremely kind and helpful. He works for IBM here in Japan.
Hope y'all have a good Tuesday! I'm off for dinner, then maybe a swim, then read more about Siddhartha and his transformation into Buddha and his teachings!
Work was a learning experience today. There is a constant language challenge that I am not used to being a factor. It's one thing to discuss weather or travel where minor details can be miss understood but the point of the story is still communicated. In a technical discussion, it's a different matter. There were multiple instances where we had to write out or draw out what we were trying to communicate. Or where a word was miscommunicated or lost in the translation. This is definitely the most difficult trip I've had to make in my 5.5 years for IBM but I'm always up for the challenge!!
Before I go on, I thought about something.... most of my family and friends know details of what I'm doing here... but in case I'm on some blogging search, I better leave out details with why I'm here other than "I'm here working as an employee of IBM". Need to be more careful about that I suppose... this includes comments made to my blog please;) I did change my post from a couple of days ago.
I've been doing some reading about Kyoto that I'd like to share.
Kyoto was the imperial capital of Japan between 794 and 1868. It is now considered the cultural center of Japan with its rich history and how it visually depicts what we in the West see as depicted Japan on TV. There are 1600 Buddhist Temples, 400 Shinto shrines, palaces, many gardens and museums. And for those in the interest of current movies, Kyoto has the most Geisha in all of Japan.
There are 1.5 million people in Kyoto but there are many tourists year round in Kyoto. It has also become a central location for many businesses that are developing their influence in Japan.
I'm trying to get to some of the temples after work this week. I can't post pictures (till I win on ebay) but I will post links when I find them. Here's the first one that I'm trying to get to... it's called the Kinkaku-ji Temple (or Golden Temple):
I have more change today than one person should ever carry in their pockets. I have 35 coins (all gathered today) that come to about $10 US total. I need to be quicker at finding the coin I want since I now always have exact change! I also rode the subway a couple of times today between all of the offices. Lunch was actually more of a Chinese lunch that Shibai-san took me to. It was very good. I could eat rice at every meal. I am going to try one of the hotel restaurants for dinner tonight!
Oh and a note to all of you thinking of traveling for business sometime... make sure you have business cards before going to Asia. I never had issues traveling to Europe for work without business cards, but I am definitely embarrassed not having any while I've been meeting people today. I requested some last year but IBM shot down my request for $7.50 last year. I will not let this happen again. Shibai-san hooked me up with some printout business cards that I was able to use today. He's extremely kind and helpful. He works for IBM here in Japan.
Hope y'all have a good Tuesday! I'm off for dinner, then maybe a swim, then read more about Siddhartha and his transformation into Buddha and his teachings!
Monday, January 09, 2006
Just Another Manic Monday (ohhhhhh-oo-ohhhhh)
Moshi Moshi! It's a cold day here in Kyoto - wish I would have brought my stocking cap and gloves. Funny thing is that I took them to China mainly for the trip over. But since I was flying through Dallas, I thought "why would I need those". Oh well, I'll be fine with my jacket.
So I went exploring this morning when I got up (in search of some food and water). Unfortunately, I'm sad to report that the first thing I saw that was recognizable English was a DANG Starbucks!! So I did some research on their evil webpage and I see they have 14 Starbucks in the Kyoto area. WTF!!!! And the other weird thing about Japan is that one dollar US is worth about 110 Japanese Yen. So all the prices are usually in the thousands, etc. makes you feel rich when you withdrawal 20,000 Yen from the ATM!!! But yes, all the prices at Starbucks are well over 500 Yen! But you can't call it "Fourbuck's" anymore... have to call it "500Yenbucks" or something!
Yes, the 7th ATM that I found (yes, I was counting for my letter to the IBM Financial Gurus) accepted American Express AND was in English. I found one ATM that seemed to take my card and was entirely in Japanese. I was very tempted to try to finish the transaction all in Japanese (it's an ATM... how hard can that be? you enter your pin, you enter what account to pull the cash from, you say yes to the bank's extra fees (although that seems to be a US only thing), you say no to a receipt). It never got to the pin number screen so I have no idea why it rejected my card.
I had a wonderful croissant and some kind of bran muffin for breakfast. And an OJ. I can't read enough of the milk containers (as was the case in China) to see if it's 2% or that crap you people like to call skim. I'd be very distraught if I bought a milk here and it turned out to be skim. We're talking permanent damage here! I do miss having milk though. The milk I tried in China didn't taste right so I stayed away from it. So back to my breakfast..... as I'm waiting in line to pay, I hear some music that sounds kind of like a music box. It was just in that store, but I thought I recognized the tune but it sounded too cheezy to be anything that I would recognize (with my superior taste in music). Then it dawned on me and I bust out laughing.... it was indeed the song that all of us used to know all the words to - STEP BY STEP..... yes, NKOTB was playing. I do have to admit that it made for a great laugh. Remember people, I can't make this stuff up!
The greatest part of Japan so far has to be my toilet in my hotel room. This thing is the greatest thing ever invented!!! Starts out with a heated seat... very nice in the cold of winter! Then there are controls for when you are finished doing your job, it comes out and cleans your bum!!!!! Either the bidet style function or the spray all over style... they clean and get the job done right. Sorry, I haven't experienced anything this cool in a while. Plus it has a built in deodorizer! Gotta get me one of these! Hazel wasn't as impressed when I was telling her about it. Must be a guy thing!
There is a HUGE mall underground that connects to my hotel. A ton of clothing stores (Heather, you'd love it) and there's even a GAP and GAP KIDS close by. I just wandered around looking and found some traditional Japanese type restaurants. A lot of sushi and other things that I don't know what it is. Scared to try some of it, especially since it's all in Japanese and I really don't know what I'd be getting. I'm hoping that the restaurant here at the hotel that I'm going to try has English menus, or at least some pictures. That seemed to be an easy thing to find in China.
Sumo wrestling is on the Television. I think I was built to Sumo Wrestle! Seriously! Not sure about wearing that oversized diaper though. I'd be much taller than the guys I'm watching now. No, there's nothing else on that I can understand.... not that I understand this! They take forever to actually get to the pushing and shoving that you associate with Sumo. The first part of the match is them throwing chalk into the ring, and the ceremonial dance. Not too much actual pushing. But when they do actually wrestle, it's well worth the wait!! Or is that well worth the weight? haha!
For those that were concerned after reading my blogging from China, don't worry - I found the ICE MACHINE!!!!! So that will not be an issue. But finding normal Pepsi might be different as I see a lot of Pepsi Twist. There are pop machines EVERYWHERE when walking around. They even have beer vending machines (how cool is that?) and cigarette vending machines all over as well. It's interesting none the less.
On a non-Japanese topic: Today is the 1st Birthday of a true miracle baby Hailey Bridgewater. She has grown so much and is still working on growing some hair (don't worry Hailey, I was bald till I was 2 years old! AND NOW LOOK AT ME!!). She's quite amusing to see and her mother would be so proud of her. It's a shame she looks so much like her daddy though;)
Have a great Monday - I'm off to find some dinner and then maybe swim some in the pool!
So I went exploring this morning when I got up (in search of some food and water). Unfortunately, I'm sad to report that the first thing I saw that was recognizable English was a DANG Starbucks!! So I did some research on their evil webpage and I see they have 14 Starbucks in the Kyoto area. WTF!!!! And the other weird thing about Japan is that one dollar US is worth about 110 Japanese Yen. So all the prices are usually in the thousands, etc. makes you feel rich when you withdrawal 20,000 Yen from the ATM!!! But yes, all the prices at Starbucks are well over 500 Yen! But you can't call it "Fourbuck's" anymore... have to call it "500Yenbucks" or something!
Yes, the 7th ATM that I found (yes, I was counting for my letter to the IBM Financial Gurus) accepted American Express AND was in English. I found one ATM that seemed to take my card and was entirely in Japanese. I was very tempted to try to finish the transaction all in Japanese (it's an ATM... how hard can that be? you enter your pin, you enter what account to pull the cash from, you say yes to the bank's extra fees (although that seems to be a US only thing), you say no to a receipt). It never got to the pin number screen so I have no idea why it rejected my card.
I had a wonderful croissant and some kind of bran muffin for breakfast. And an OJ. I can't read enough of the milk containers (as was the case in China) to see if it's 2% or that crap you people like to call skim. I'd be very distraught if I bought a milk here and it turned out to be skim. We're talking permanent damage here! I do miss having milk though. The milk I tried in China didn't taste right so I stayed away from it. So back to my breakfast..... as I'm waiting in line to pay, I hear some music that sounds kind of like a music box. It was just in that store, but I thought I recognized the tune but it sounded too cheezy to be anything that I would recognize (with my superior taste in music). Then it dawned on me and I bust out laughing.... it was indeed the song that all of us used to know all the words to - STEP BY STEP..... yes, NKOTB was playing. I do have to admit that it made for a great laugh. Remember people, I can't make this stuff up!
The greatest part of Japan so far has to be my toilet in my hotel room. This thing is the greatest thing ever invented!!! Starts out with a heated seat... very nice in the cold of winter! Then there are controls for when you are finished doing your job, it comes out and cleans your bum!!!!! Either the bidet style function or the spray all over style... they clean and get the job done right. Sorry, I haven't experienced anything this cool in a while. Plus it has a built in deodorizer! Gotta get me one of these! Hazel wasn't as impressed when I was telling her about it. Must be a guy thing!
There is a HUGE mall underground that connects to my hotel. A ton of clothing stores (Heather, you'd love it) and there's even a GAP and GAP KIDS close by. I just wandered around looking and found some traditional Japanese type restaurants. A lot of sushi and other things that I don't know what it is. Scared to try some of it, especially since it's all in Japanese and I really don't know what I'd be getting. I'm hoping that the restaurant here at the hotel that I'm going to try has English menus, or at least some pictures. That seemed to be an easy thing to find in China.
Sumo wrestling is on the Television. I think I was built to Sumo Wrestle! Seriously! Not sure about wearing that oversized diaper though. I'd be much taller than the guys I'm watching now. No, there's nothing else on that I can understand.... not that I understand this! They take forever to actually get to the pushing and shoving that you associate with Sumo. The first part of the match is them throwing chalk into the ring, and the ceremonial dance. Not too much actual pushing. But when they do actually wrestle, it's well worth the wait!! Or is that well worth the weight? haha!
For those that were concerned after reading my blogging from China, don't worry - I found the ICE MACHINE!!!!! So that will not be an issue. But finding normal Pepsi might be different as I see a lot of Pepsi Twist. There are pop machines EVERYWHERE when walking around. They even have beer vending machines (how cool is that?) and cigarette vending machines all over as well. It's interesting none the less.
On a non-Japanese topic: Today is the 1st Birthday of a true miracle baby Hailey Bridgewater. She has grown so much and is still working on growing some hair (don't worry Hailey, I was bald till I was 2 years old! AND NOW LOOK AT ME!!). She's quite amusing to see and her mother would be so proud of her. It's a shame she looks so much like her daddy though;)
Have a great Monday - I'm off to find some dinner and then maybe swim some in the pool!
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Konnichiwa
That was the quickest way to lose a weekend!! I was at the Rochester Airport 6:15am on Saturday morning, then I checked into my hotel here in Kyoto at 8:30pm Sunday night. Grrrrrr......
Flight was as long as was expected but I made it. A 75 minute train ride from Osaka to Kyoto, then my hotel is right here.
My complaint against IBM.... whoever thought it'd be a great idea to use American Express as the coporate credit card was an IDIOT!! I remember having troubles in Dublin finding an ATM that would take AmEx and once again here in Japan I am 0 for 4 on ATMs that know what AmEx is. Anyone know of a way I can find one? Good thing I have Visa and Mastercard of my own to get cash off of. I have never had trouble using those!!!
Have a good Sunday and I'll update with my travels from tomorrow......
Sayonara!
Flight was as long as was expected but I made it. A 75 minute train ride from Osaka to Kyoto, then my hotel is right here.
My complaint against IBM.... whoever thought it'd be a great idea to use American Express as the coporate credit card was an IDIOT!! I remember having troubles in Dublin finding an ATM that would take AmEx and once again here in Japan I am 0 for 4 on ATMs that know what AmEx is. Anyone know of a way I can find one? Good thing I have Visa and Mastercard of my own to get cash off of. I have never had trouble using those!!!
Have a good Sunday and I'll update with my travels from tomorrow......
Sayonara!
Friday, January 06, 2006
A short update
I'm still messed up for sleep, but no use fixing it yet till I get back from Japan.
I'm all booked to go to Kyoto tomorrow morning. I fly through Dallas, then a straight flight from there to Kansai. Then a high speed bullet train from Kansai to Kyoto.
So I'm taking a short day at work, getting the things gathered that I need to take for work. Then I have a ton of packing and organizing to do at home before my 7:30 flight tomorrow morning.
So please forgive the shortened blog today and this weekend. I will blog again once I get to Kyoto and my hotel room.
Have a great weekend!!
I'm all booked to go to Kyoto tomorrow morning. I fly through Dallas, then a straight flight from there to Kansai. Then a high speed bullet train from Kansai to Kyoto.
So I'm taking a short day at work, getting the things gathered that I need to take for work. Then I have a ton of packing and organizing to do at home before my 7:30 flight tomorrow morning.
So please forgive the shortened blog today and this weekend. I will blog again once I get to Kyoto and my hotel room.
Have a great weekend!!
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Back To "Normal"..... For Now
First off, for my new reader Kristie.... I thought you'd have a little more faith in me:) I DID check the spelling before I typed it and here's what I found:
aught also ought ( P ) Pronunciation Key (ôt)
n.
A cipher; zero.
Archaic. Nothing.
(Zilch - like you're faith in my righting skillz write now)
Second, CONGRATULATIONS TO TEXAS in an awesome football championship game last night. It was finally time for a competitive championship game and overall, looks like the Bowl Season was really good this year.... despite the Cyclones losing. At least the Duckeyes lost too! But championship football returns to the mighty Big 12!!! Next year it will even come back to the Big 12 North as ISU will bring it home!!!
This time change thing is really weird. I slept in till 10:30 am (after what I calculated was a 32 hour day for me yesterday) but was tired all afternoon. Then after the game last night, it was 11:30pm and I'm still wide awake!!
Oh and I'm going to Japan this weekend. I fly out Saturday and work Monday through Friday with IBM in Kyoto, Japan. I talked to Claire who's become my Japan resident expert after living there for 9 months and she said Kyoto was one of the most beautiful parts of Japan so I'm excited to see even more of the world! So no use getting used to sleeping normal hours since I have to go back to the +14 hours again.
I decided that it should be internationally illegal to travel 14 hours in a contained vehicle like an airplane. That was not cool but I made it. The first hour I was sitting there thinking "14 hours of this.... what the ****". Then I found a zone with my music and books so the time started passing faster. Then the final 2 hours I start shaking and twitching as I wanted nothing more than to get off the plane. On Tuesday, I saw TWO sunrises, and TWO sunsets.... all on "Tuesday". How messed up is that? I did travel around the world literally so that's something that doesn't happen all the time.
When i got to Chicago, I wanted a water but I only had $2 US, but $220 in RMB (Chinese Juan) and $120 in Hong Kong money.... about $35 US but none of it buys me a $2.50 water in O'Hare. And for those that are familiar with the newer G Concourse where the American Airlines Puddle Jumpers are, there are no restaurants, no ATMs, no banks for money changing....
I stayed up long enough to go pick up Hazel who traveled back from Louisiana Tuesday with a very long travel day as well. It was nice to spend the day together for once and it sucks that I have to leave again, but she loves the idea of traveling herself so knows it's a good experience for me plus it's for work.... I'd take her with if I could.
Congrats to Amber who is newly engaged. I take it that this is the "big news" that you were referring to, Jill. Couldn't imagine Pitzen was pregnant.... thought you and Boy might be ready to give Emily a younger sibling!!! Haha!!
Bowling tonight - Brews Bros had a great week last week taking 5 of 7 points. Mr. Fink kicked butt and passed me again in the standings. I don't bowl this week which is fine, I'd probably fall asleep on the lanes anyways.
Hope everyone has a wonderful week - I'm back to work to get caught up and prepared for my trip to Japan!
aught also ought ( P ) Pronunciation Key (ôt)
n.
A cipher; zero.
Archaic. Nothing.
(Zilch - like you're faith in my righting skillz write now)
Second, CONGRATULATIONS TO TEXAS in an awesome football championship game last night. It was finally time for a competitive championship game and overall, looks like the Bowl Season was really good this year.... despite the Cyclones losing. At least the Duckeyes lost too! But championship football returns to the mighty Big 12!!! Next year it will even come back to the Big 12 North as ISU will bring it home!!!
This time change thing is really weird. I slept in till 10:30 am (after what I calculated was a 32 hour day for me yesterday) but was tired all afternoon. Then after the game last night, it was 11:30pm and I'm still wide awake!!
Oh and I'm going to Japan this weekend. I fly out Saturday and work Monday through Friday with IBM in Kyoto, Japan. I talked to Claire who's become my Japan resident expert after living there for 9 months and she said Kyoto was one of the most beautiful parts of Japan so I'm excited to see even more of the world! So no use getting used to sleeping normal hours since I have to go back to the +14 hours again.
I decided that it should be internationally illegal to travel 14 hours in a contained vehicle like an airplane. That was not cool but I made it. The first hour I was sitting there thinking "14 hours of this.... what the ****". Then I found a zone with my music and books so the time started passing faster. Then the final 2 hours I start shaking and twitching as I wanted nothing more than to get off the plane. On Tuesday, I saw TWO sunrises, and TWO sunsets.... all on "Tuesday". How messed up is that? I did travel around the world literally so that's something that doesn't happen all the time.
When i got to Chicago, I wanted a water but I only had $2 US, but $220 in RMB (Chinese Juan) and $120 in Hong Kong money.... about $35 US but none of it buys me a $2.50 water in O'Hare. And for those that are familiar with the newer G Concourse where the American Airlines Puddle Jumpers are, there are no restaurants, no ATMs, no banks for money changing....
I stayed up long enough to go pick up Hazel who traveled back from Louisiana Tuesday with a very long travel day as well. It was nice to spend the day together for once and it sucks that I have to leave again, but she loves the idea of traveling herself so knows it's a good experience for me plus it's for work.... I'd take her with if I could.
Congrats to Amber who is newly engaged. I take it that this is the "big news" that you were referring to, Jill. Couldn't imagine Pitzen was pregnant.... thought you and Boy might be ready to give Emily a younger sibling!!! Haha!!
Bowling tonight - Brews Bros had a great week last week taking 5 of 7 points. Mr. Fink kicked butt and passed me again in the standings. I don't bowl this week which is fine, I'd probably fall asleep on the lanes anyways.
Hope everyone has a wonderful week - I'm back to work to get caught up and prepared for my trip to Japan!
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Gee It's Great to Be Back Home
Home is where I wanna beeeeeeeeeeeee!!
I'm back - just still not 100% sure where I'm at. Give me a day to get caught up (and laundry done) - I'll have something for tomorrow.
Have a great Wednesday!
I'm back - just still not 100% sure where I'm at. Give me a day to get caught up (and laundry done) - I'll have something for tomorrow.
Have a great Wednesday!
Monday, January 02, 2006
Mama I'm Coming Home!
Ozzy provides today's theme song.... even the clip expresses what I'm feeling with what Ozzy says at the end.... Is there any greater song to sing on a voyage home? I know Eddie will like it. By the time all of you go to bed on Monday, I'll be on a plane headed East. Here's a map of approx. my trip around the world in the past 2 weeks (click to zoom in)
Today's a very humid day here in Shenzhen. Makes me even more ready for the snow and cold back home! I seriously don't like the humidity here and it's only January. Can't imagine what August would feel like.
Forgot to tell you about yesterday in the square. I was walking around and on my way back to the hotel when I saw some guys that were wearing warm up suits like basketball players would. They were getting looks from people because they were my height and 4 of them together wearing the same suits. I was walking right behind them and none of them could have weighed more than 200 pounds. As I walked by two of the guys stopped and I think they were surprised to see someone as tall as they were and probably twice as big and round. Guess you had to be there;)
I've spent most of the day relaxing at the hotel and enjoying the pool. They even have a small paintball field here as part of the hotel accommodations. How bizarre is that? The pool overlooks the Sea towards the south and Honk Kong would be in the distance if there wasn't so much smog!
I was able to watch some of the Dallas and St. Louis football game with Chinese commentary. Still better than Madden! But the playoffs start next week - stay tuned for my predictions.
Here is a list of movies that I've seen while I've been here (mostly at night before going to bed since the TV is pretty worthless to my mono-lingual self. I've included my grades next to them for your reference:
- Wedding Crashers: A- Rachel McAdams is a total hottie but I still am not a huge fan of Owen Wilson
- Brothers Grimm: D WTF... horrible
- War of the Worlds: C+ Tom Cruise over acts in yet another movie. Dakota was the only saving one in this movie.
- 40 Year-Old Virgin: A+ Easily ranks up there with Old School for funny movies
- Flightplan: C I had this figured out before it was revealed.
- Red Eye: B+ Very short movie... not enough shots of the incredible Rachel McAdams
- Aeon Flux: F Easily the worst movie I've seen in years. I will ban this from memory and stick with the weird cartoon of the early 90s.
- Saw II: A- Just as good as the first one - Jen, you won't like it
- Fantastic Four: B Jessica Alba can't act... doesn't need to
- Mr and Mrs Smith: B It's a'ight
- Four Brothers: B+Marky Mark crying in one scene ranks up there with Ben Affleck crying in Jersey Girl. Andre 3000 is a crappy actor too.... "Now what's cooler than bein' cool?"
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Ringing in Ought Six
2006 is here and there was much less fanfare here in China when compared to Christmas last week. Still fireworks and people everywhere, but far less of a mess to clean up today. I'm still amazed at the Christmas Countdown but why shouldn't Jesus get a countdown to his birthday?
Here's my thought to share with you this New Years Morning:
During our foot massage last night, I found a channel that had a live performance from what I'm still guessing was the Beijing Symphony. They were doing an all night concert that started out with some native Chinese music and tonality. Then went to a violin soloist playing the Mendelssohn violin concerto, then came the fun stuff. They were doing a night dedicated to Beethoven and I had the privilege of hearing his 3rd, then 5th, then 7th, then of course his 9th Symphony (I didn't get to see what followed that)... all "Live"!! Of course the musicians took an extensive break in between each performance but it was incredible to hear all of them and watch them be performed by professionals.
But then it dawned on me. I've been in China for almost 2 weeks now. One of the great difficulties is the obvious language difference. I've struggled to communicate what I want; I've sacrificed things knowing it's easier for me to pull the onions off my burger than try to communicate "no onions" to them with my hand gestures; I've tried to understand what they are asking of me; I've tried to listen to English that is broken by my standards and try to pull the pieces together.... but when I watched that concert last night, I realized the power of music to bring the world together. Beethoven didn't care what language people spoke when he wrote that powerful Allegretto movement to Symphony #7.... yet the people on that stage that I struggle to understand when they speak with their mouths, caused me to feel every passion with the language they spoke with their instruments. There was no communication gap or language hurdle when they played - only the haunting monotonous melody that Beethoven opens with then develops every time it repeats. That can be done around the world. Remember this for 2006: the people around the world aren't so different after all. We just have to take the time and have patience enough to find that common language:)
On that note, I wish all of you a Happy New Years 2006. Even Pitzen and my cousin TJ in California have celebrated by now so I think it's official. No friends or family in Hawaii that I know of so it's safe! And of course, here are:
*******************************************************************************************
1) To lose weight (too cliché for you yet? I promise they won't all be generic). I'm shooting for 5 pounds a month this year. Was on track last year to do that but then got sidetracked.
2) Eat more healthy (related to number 1). I already told Hazel that eating out will become a once a week thing when I get back. Trying to cook more and take my own lunches. That way I can eat lunch with the cool kids outside of 030-1!!
3) To read more. Hoping for at least a book a month but should be able to do more than that. I enjoyed the reading I did in 2005 which included A Widow for one Year by John Irving, both The Da Vinci Code and Angels andDaemonss by Dan Brown, among other Non-Fiction and Leadership books. It all depends on what I'm in the mood for.
4) Appreciate Nature more. This is something I've developed while here in the middle of a major Metropolis with a bad pollution problem. Makes me appreciate the mid-west and the clean air it has to offer. Yeah yeah, I'll take the snow too!
5) Pray more. I trust God 100% with His hands shaping my life. I need to pray more for others that don't always have the faith that I have learned to live by. God can do anything and has control of everything, sometimes his plans don't match up with ours but I pray for patience andtolerancee around the world.
6) Volunteer more. I have a lot of time that could be spent less watching TV and helping in the community more. I've always admired Matt and his continual involvement in Big Brother program. Although his buddy Jake unknowingly got more of a Big Sister in Matt, it's still a great program. I want to work with large groups of kids though. Yes, I watched Patch Adams last week but that's exactly what I would like to do for kids;) Suggestions welcome for Rochester. Brenda, let me know if you want me to dress as a clown for someone's birthday and come over!
7) Practice my bass more. I'd like to work out a couple of movements from the Bach Cello Suite #5 but it's going to take some dedication. Again, watch TV less and practice more. Plus I need to be better prepared for my concerts in La Crosse. I think Troy's tired of me faking my way through some of the nasty licks. I do enjoy playing same stand with him - he inspires me to practice more.
8) Learn Polkas before Oktoberfest on Hazel'saccordionss. You all laugh now, but you'll be thanking me in 10 months when we're drinking and having a good time singing the Pennsylvania Polka! I'll make sure to learn at least 2 though!
9) Be less condescending towards K-Fed. He's just trying to live the American Dream! He has a new single out... PopoZão. For those that haven't heard it yet, go to Yahoo! and take a listen to the sample. yes, it's pretty bad. Britney will be single by the end of the year 2006.
10) Of course - continue blogging and entertaining the MILLIONS ("AND MILLIONS") of the Big Show's Fans!!!
Here's my thought to share with you this New Years Morning:
During our foot massage last night, I found a channel that had a live performance from what I'm still guessing was the Beijing Symphony. They were doing an all night concert that started out with some native Chinese music and tonality. Then went to a violin soloist playing the Mendelssohn violin concerto, then came the fun stuff. They were doing a night dedicated to Beethoven and I had the privilege of hearing his 3rd, then 5th, then 7th, then of course his 9th Symphony (I didn't get to see what followed that)... all "Live"!! Of course the musicians took an extensive break in between each performance but it was incredible to hear all of them and watch them be performed by professionals.
But then it dawned on me. I've been in China for almost 2 weeks now. One of the great difficulties is the obvious language difference. I've struggled to communicate what I want; I've sacrificed things knowing it's easier for me to pull the onions off my burger than try to communicate "no onions" to them with my hand gestures; I've tried to understand what they are asking of me; I've tried to listen to English that is broken by my standards and try to pull the pieces together.... but when I watched that concert last night, I realized the power of music to bring the world together. Beethoven didn't care what language people spoke when he wrote that powerful Allegretto movement to Symphony #7.... yet the people on that stage that I struggle to understand when they speak with their mouths, caused me to feel every passion with the language they spoke with their instruments. There was no communication gap or language hurdle when they played - only the haunting monotonous melody that Beethoven opens with then develops every time it repeats. That can be done around the world. Remember this for 2006: the people around the world aren't so different after all. We just have to take the time and have patience enough to find that common language:)
On that note, I wish all of you a Happy New Years 2006. Even Pitzen and my cousin TJ in California have celebrated by now so I think it's official. No friends or family in Hawaii that I know of so it's safe! And of course, here are:
*******************************************************************************************
My 2006 New Year's Resolutions
by Adam Dickinson
by Adam Dickinson
1) To lose weight (too cliché for you yet? I promise they won't all be generic). I'm shooting for 5 pounds a month this year. Was on track last year to do that but then got sidetracked.
2) Eat more healthy (related to number 1). I already told Hazel that eating out will become a once a week thing when I get back. Trying to cook more and take my own lunches. That way I can eat lunch with the cool kids outside of 030-1!!
3) To read more. Hoping for at least a book a month but should be able to do more than that. I enjoyed the reading I did in 2005 which included A Widow for one Year by John Irving, both The Da Vinci Code and Angels andDaemonss by Dan Brown, among other Non-Fiction and Leadership books. It all depends on what I'm in the mood for.
4) Appreciate Nature more. This is something I've developed while here in the middle of a major Metropolis with a bad pollution problem. Makes me appreciate the mid-west and the clean air it has to offer. Yeah yeah, I'll take the snow too!
5) Pray more. I trust God 100% with His hands shaping my life. I need to pray more for others that don't always have the faith that I have learned to live by. God can do anything and has control of everything, sometimes his plans don't match up with ours but I pray for patience andtolerancee around the world.
6) Volunteer more. I have a lot of time that could be spent less watching TV and helping in the community more. I've always admired Matt and his continual involvement in Big Brother program. Although his buddy Jake unknowingly got more of a Big Sister in Matt, it's still a great program. I want to work with large groups of kids though. Yes, I watched Patch Adams last week but that's exactly what I would like to do for kids;) Suggestions welcome for Rochester. Brenda, let me know if you want me to dress as a clown for someone's birthday and come over!
7) Practice my bass more. I'd like to work out a couple of movements from the Bach Cello Suite #5 but it's going to take some dedication. Again, watch TV less and practice more. Plus I need to be better prepared for my concerts in La Crosse. I think Troy's tired of me faking my way through some of the nasty licks. I do enjoy playing same stand with him - he inspires me to practice more.
8) Learn Polkas before Oktoberfest on Hazel'saccordionss. You all laugh now, but you'll be thanking me in 10 months when we're drinking and having a good time singing the Pennsylvania Polka! I'll make sure to learn at least 2 though!
9) Be less condescending towards K-Fed. He's just trying to live the American Dream! He has a new single out... PopoZão. For those that haven't heard it yet, go to Yahoo! and take a listen to the sample. yes, it's pretty bad. Britney will be single by the end of the year 2006.
10) Of course - continue blogging and entertaining the MILLIONS ("AND MILLIONS") of the Big Show's Fans!!!
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