Go Ahead - Ask Me Anything!

HAPPY FAT TUESDAY!!!

Ask and ye shall receive. Here is the beautiful Emily from Ames (no, not the Emily that adds intelligent comments to my blog on a regular basis). She will be the big "ONE" next week. She's a single non-smoking female that likes to eat, sleep, cry from time to time, and is starting to enjoy walking. It's still faster to crawl but that will change. Oh, and she's a HUGE Cyclone fan. Unfortunately she looks a lot like her daddy but hopefully that too will change. Click on the picture for a larger view.

I'd also like to try something new for all of you fans out there. If you have a question about anything.... ANYTHING at all - ask away. Either by email or by comment section (or phone or in the hallway or text message or instant message.... you get the point), let me know what's on your mind and I'll either answer (because I have more random knowledge than most human beings), make something up, or look it up on the web for you (another random thing I'm good at - web surfing).

Today's first question comes from Adam in Rochester, MN. He writes:

Hey BigShow, Long time reader - I love your Blog! I'm a HUGE sports fan and all I could read in the papers and on any sports webpage was about this "Wonderlic" IQ Test..... despite sounding perverted, what exactly is this "Test"??

Well Adam in Rochester.... You sound like an extremely intelligent and handsome man. I bet you attract all kinds of attention from people because of your charm and culture that just radiates from you. Anyway, I'm glad you asked about this "Wonderlic" Test. I too was curious so did some research.

First off, here's where I found some sample questions. And please remember that this is NOT an exam for entering the 9th grade, this is a test given to professional athletes that are leaving college (yes, this means they actually got into college in the first place as football does not draft High School Students) for the NFL, some to be making 10s of millions of dollars in the next year.

The Wonderlic Personnel Test has been administered since the 1970s and is a 12 minute, 50 question exam to "assess ap

A sample question might be:

9. The ninth month of the year is
A. October, B. January, C. June, D. September, E. May.

Or if that one is too tough, how about:

7. A train travels 20 feet in 1/5 second. At this same speed, how many feet will it travel in three seconds?

I don't think either question is fair and here's why: The first one could confuse a player that might be used to the Chinese Calendar which doesn't celebrate New Years on January 1st. Or maybe he is Jewish so again, they use a different calendar. As for the second question, this is entirely too tough as we don't know what kind of TRAIN is in question here. This could be a choo-choo, a bullet train, or maybe even Thomas the Train? Thomas will probably have to make some stops along that 3 second time frame so it's not fair to ASSume it will go 300 feet.

I found it interesting as well to see some "Famous Scores" of athletes.... Most of your common famous quarterbacks are in the upper 20s, lower 30s. A Chemist averages 31, A Programmer 29... but a Handsome Guy like you Adam, i'm sure would score a perfect 50!!

Thanks for your questions - KEEP THEM COMING!!!

Song of the Day - At the RAC this morning I heard the classic song that all of us know the lyrics to..... Baby, I can rocket all night.... One thing I know I can do So yeah, today's song is Rocket 2 U by The Jets!! Sing it for the rest of the day.

Video of the Day - Walk the Line comes out today on DVD.... a quality flick! It'll be interesting to see what happens with the Oscars this year with that movie. Will another biography on a musical legend win a ton of awards this year?????

Webpage of the Day - Today is National Pancake Day!!! We don't have an IHOP otherwise we could get free stack of cakes this morning. Might have to find something for lunch though to celebrate!!

Have a great Fat Tuesday! Lent starts tomorrow!!!

Back In Rochester

So after a week of running around the country - the Donkey Dong has come back to Rochester for good.

San Jose was nice, perfect weather (enough to walk the 2 blocks to the office/lab that I was at for the day). I found it weird that after picking up my rental car (at 11:45pm San Jose time), I drove around one loop to get out of the rental car area, then had to drive around ANOTHER loop to get out of the airport area, and then when I finally found the entrance ramp for Hwy 101 (seriously 7 minutes after leaving the Hertz lot), I noticed that the ramp passes about 30 yards from where I originally picked up my car. It's messed up, but that was the quickest way out of there.

I also learned a few things when flying on this trip. Bulkhead seat in first class is not very good. You're stuck with a large wall in front of you to stare at, plus you don't have room underneath the seat to store your stuff. Luckily I didn't need it, but still not sure what that buys you. I also learned that there are way too many idiots that can't follow the rules. These "carry on" bags are getting bigger and bigger. One guy couldn't get his to fit till he pulled more and more stuff out of it so it was thin enough to fit. Then he took all the stuff that he pulled out and set it to the side of the luggage but in the same compartment, just loose. Then he shut the container before the flight attendant could see. I also wonder why a 100 pound girl feels the need to have to recline her chair ALL THE WAY BACK in order to sleep on a plane. She can fit in the overhead compartment but chooses to recline instead.

Anyways - I'm home finally. Went to Ames this weekend with Hazel so she could meet some of the college friends. It was also her first time on the illustrious ISU campus so I showed her around. I can't believe how much it's already changed in the past 5 years since I graduated, let alone where it will go in the next 5 years. Thankfully none of these changes are happening with MY money;) haha! I'm cheap like that.

Big Weekend of announcements. Congrats to Eddie and Juanita for getting engaged. Juanita told me that the wedding would NOT be in Mexico:( I was hoping for a trip down there for the event! Congrats also to Chris and Sonia who are expecting (in July)! Peabody seems to be the overwhelming favorite name at this time.....

Rehearsals start this week for the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra concert. Good concert with Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique! The dude wrote it while he was high on opium, about a guy that's high on opium.... you know it's going to be good at that point!

And the Olympics are over. So that means the new season of the Apprentice starts next week. Hazel will be watching the trashy finale to The Bachelor tonight. I think I have laundry to do so I'll have to miss it... oh darn.

Song of the Day - I was in a gangsta mood last night on the drive home so I tormented Hazel in listening to my Rap/R&B mix CDs from 2003 and 2004. I didn't make one last year for the lack of good quality songs to put on it. Included is the quality classic Yeah! by Usher. You know you like it! I just want to see you karaoke to it!

Video of the Day - Roommate Adam and I watched National Lampoon's Dorm Daze (2003) the other night. It was typical National Lampoons with some really funny moments and some really dumb moments. Overall the plot was pretty pathetic but still made us laugh.

Webpage of the Day - Sam the "Fat" Cat. You have to see this to believe how big he is. I know some of you have big cats (Mark and Heather) but Sam takes the cake at a whopping 45 pounds!! Make sure you check out the video!

Have a great Monday! Lent starts on Wednesday so start thinking what you should give up. I'll tell you mine on Wednesday!

Thursday Update from Donkey Dong

Short blog today, but I'm in California.... still hiding from the Austrian police! They'll never find me here!

4 hour 45 minute flight from Chicago to San Jose. My hotel is so close to the airport that I can hear a plane about every 2 minutes right now (it's 6:30am my time). One of those will be my plane tomorrow! I'm actually staying about 100 yards from the Yahoo! Headquarters. That's kind of cool:)

I found it interesting to see 35 people on the 11:40 bus to go to the rental car pickup. That's a full boat - plus someone had a dog that kept barking. It was in a carrier but kept barking and annoying a bus load of people that were obviously tired.

US Curling lost so they have to fight the Scottish guys for the Bronze medal. And the US Hockey team is on their way home without a medal as is Team Canada.

Have a great Thursday Everyone!

Your Daily News Source

HEADLINES
* Still protests in the middle east. If it's not cartoons that are making them mad, it's this bombing of a Shiite mosque in Baghdad. There's so much violence and hatred over there right now. Wonder if they should sign up for the Dale Carnegie for going to teach in Iraq. Teach them the power of positive thinking.
* Vice President hasn't shot anyone this week. Cheney gets a gold sticker for the week!
* Nobody in my family that lives in Lincoln has notified us that they won the Powerball. My Grams said she unfortunately wasn't the one but there's still a lot of family left to hear from.
* And in other shocking news..... the Democrats and Republicans refuse to EVER get along to become productive for once.

WEATHER
Rochester is going to be decent with a high around 32 and clear.
Austin, TX is highs in the upper 60s but Thunderstorms on their way. 60s in February?????
And my only care is for weather in San Jose, CA for the next two days..... 67 today, 65 tomorrow... both days are Partly Cloudy SO NO RAIN!! Last time I was in San Jose, it rained for the 6 days that I was there.

ENVIRONMENT
San Francisco is going to use dog poop for extracting the methane and using it for power. They already recycle 60% of their garbage. What gets me is that animal poop makes up "nearly 4% of residential waste or 6500 tons a year".... WTF!?!?!!? We should send Oso out as a trend setter. He poops more than any dog I've ever known!!

SPORTS
* There's drama in Speed Skating at the Olympics. At least they're not getting paid 10 Million dollars to act like babies like the NBA players do.
* US Hockey is in the quarterfinals (who knows how) but plays Finland.... yeah, good luck there boys. They are undefeated in Torino
* My main concern is the Men's Curling that is in the semis against Canada. The winner plays for the Gold medal!!!
* US finally medals in Bobsledding.... expect a Cool Runnings 2 out shortly
* Figure skating.... nevermind. Maybe they can make it more interesting and have other Olympic Athletes hurl curling stones around the ice while they figure skate. That'd be more fun to watch!!

OTHER NEWS
The Australian Military Police are after me..... so if I stop blogging soon, you'll know why!

Song of the Day - I still think of Pat, The every time I see the Verizon or T-Mobile commercial where the guy is holding a phone singing Urgent by Foreigner. Not that I like the song or the band, but I think the commercial is funny.

Video of the Day - Hazel and I watched Undercover Brother last night. Now there's a quality film!!! I think it ranks up there with Herald and Kumar as far as movies that have potential for being classics!! Only time will tell!

Webpage of the Day - Don't think I've shared the Lego version of Michael Jackson's Thriller yet. This is incredible! My dance is still better though!

Surrounding Myself With Controversy

Today I'd like to address the recent controversy surrounding my comments last week in my blog. No, there were no riots in the Middle East, or chickens without their heads sent to my home..... But I still stand by my comments that Figure Skating is not a Sport. It's an "activity" at best. Curling is more of a sport than Figure Skating - there's a clear winner and loser every time! And don't even get me started on that Ice Dancing stuff.....

So I'm surfing the web for news and I find Dan Wetzel from Yahoo! Sports that is in total agreement with me!!!

Here are some excerpts for those that are too "important" to click on that link above:

Figure skating requires strength, speed, stamina, dexterity, balance, timing, guts and just about everything other imaginable athletic skill. Certainly, more athletic skill than I could muster.

But figure skating is a competition, not a sport, and it has nothing to do with how difficult or entertaining it is. It is simply a matter of how the winner is determined. It is the same for gymnastics, diving, beauty pageants or anything that chooses a champion solely by human judging.

A sport needs to have a quantifiable way to determine a winner and a loser. There can be no debate about the scoring system. A ball must go into a goal or through a hoop; a runner must reach home or finish before the others. The winners run faster, jump higher, score more.

In some sports a clock is used to determine a winner, but the clock is not subjective. Besides, you can't have 53 guys racing down a ski hill at the same time. The clock is a judge, but it is an objective one.

Figure skating has none of this. Everything is about interpretation of success. It is about what the judge thinks, believes, feels. There is nothing absolutely quantifiable. Yes, the number of revolutions in a jump counts, but in the end if two people do the same jump, a human has to decide which one he or she likes better.

That is not a sport.

Thank you - The Prosecution rests.....

Song of the Day - Elvis was on at the RAC this morning.... nothing like running to Elvis and his A Little Less Conversation!

Video of the Day - You knew it was just a matter of time.... Aerosmith's version of Cheney's Got A Gun!

Webpage of the Day - Strong Bad Pop Up Book... I want one!!!

A Weekend of Sports

Saturday morning hit -18 on the TrailBlazer thermometer. I've never seen it that low before. And that was WITHOUT wind! Sunday Morning still hit -10 as I was driving around. Unbelievably cold and the winds were strong. Supposed to be "not-as-cold" this week.

Iowa State Basketball is horrible this year. We won't be making the Big Dance this year as we're already 4-8 in the Big 12 after losing our last 4 in a row. They need a big guy in the middle to help as they have all the other weapons already on the team. I also think they could use a new coach but that's my normal thought. If they only got rid of one coach, I'd get rid of McCarney in a heartbeat!

Jimmy Johnson won the Daytona 500. It was weird to watch with all the bad weather and the camera angles weren't anything special due to the "low ceiling". I had forgotten how absolutely horrible NBC's coverage of NASCAR is. Way too many commercials and missed camera opportunities. Plus the announcing is pretty crappy. Thankfully FOX gets the coverage for the next 18 weeks or whatever it is. Someone needs to take Stewart out in a race. That'll hurt him in the standings. And I thought Mark Martin retired? Is this another Jordan-esque retirement?

The NBA All-Star Weekend was fun to watch this year. The dunk contest was pretty sweet Saturday night with a special appearance by Spud Webb!!!! Can't believe that was 20 years ago already:( Makes me feel old again..... But I couldn't get over how it took a lot of the players at least 5 tries to get the dunk to work. And Nate Robinson took 14 tries but still won???!?!?!? How does that work? I don't ever remember Jordan or Dominique missing a dunk. Those guys were at a whole nother level.

And I'll be the first to admit - I'm addicted to curling. I now continue to Ti-Vo the curling and there is not only a lot of skill, but a lot of patience on top of all of the strategy that they play. I'm starting to understand some of it, but not all of it. Two pages I found to help explain the sport (yes, it's a sport since there are no judges scores, but they aren't necessarily "athletes" even though the broom part can be tough.... like golf, it can be played your whole life):

Curling 101 - gives some basics and history of the game.
This Page explains the terminology that the announcers use and don't realize that none of us know what they are talking about. Has some awesome animation to demonstrate what they are explaining.

I'm off to California on Wednesday and back on Friday for work. I'll still blog from out there if I am able. No promises though.

Song of the Day - I listened to Shostakovich Fifth Symphony on Friday night... a performance by the Minnesota Symphony from last year. I need to get to more of their concerts. They have a good thing going up there at Orchestra Hall!

Video of the Day - There's a new commercial out for the new Jordan's. XXI (21st in the series - III were still the best!!) But when you go to the JumpMan23 webpage, click on the Jordan symbol in the middle, then click on the dude with the basketball in the upper left, then on "watch". Wait for it to load, it's worth it!!! I can remember all of those amazing shots too. Very well done commercial;)

Webpage of the Day - For those (Kahn) that are opposed to the iPods (Kahn) - here are alternative (Kahn) MP3 players to the Apple product (Kahn). The Nintendo Controller mp3 player (Kahn) is my favorite..... (Kahn).

Have a great Monday!! ( *WHAM* - "KAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHN!" )

A Friday Blog (And List)

My first thought for today is how Chipotle really impressed me yesterday with how authentic they are really trying to be. Chipotle is an awesome Tex-Mex place that serves up burritos in a fast food style format (think Pancheros for those that follow me). Chipotle is SO authentic that yesterday, AFTER it had stopped snowing, it was closed for the day due to weather. As they would do in the south. I lost a lot of respect for them but hopefully they're open today for lunch!

I bowled pretty pathetic for the first two games last night but we all stepped it up for an 814 or something in the third. Only took two points though:( Fink kicked my butt overall and he really started to come on strong towards the end. Brews Brothers are still in the upper-middle part of the pack for the 2nd half. We've lost some momentum though the past couple of weeks. Luckily I don't bowl for a long time.

NASCAR has already begun, but officially it starts on Sunday with the Daytona 500. My buddies from Ames are already partying it up in Daytona when I called last night, sounds like they're having a great time! I know Eddie is pumped that Daytona is starting and he doesn't have to keep watching World's Strongest Man reruns every Sunday afternoon now.

This weekend there are two special birthdays, both on Saturday. My nephew Elliott turns the big FIVE this year. He's not a big fan of cake so not sure what he's getting this year but I'm thinking he'll want Spiderman or Thomas the Train on it. Happy Birthday Elliott!!! And my very good friend Claire turns 20-something (last time I can say that!!! HAHA!) on Saturday. Since she shares a birthday with my nephew, I have no reason to forget her birthday ever again. She's actually coming down this Saturday so I can take her out in Rochester for her birthday. If anyone in town has no plans that night, give me a call or meet us over at Westfire anytime after 9!

Today's list might be lame, but I didn't have a really good idea when I woke up this morning. Obviously I had pizza on the brain as that was the only thing I could think of:

Best Pizza Places
1) Little Caesars!! Pan Pan!! I lived in Cedar Rapids about 3 blocks from a Little Caesars so we could get this whenever since it was so accessible. I also worked pretty much next door at a Drugtown so this was a common lunch break meal for me.
2) Rocky Rococo! We used to have a lot of these and then I couldn't find it for years. Now thankfully I can find it again in La Crosse! Wonderful Sausage Pizza!
3) Great Plains Pizza! Eddie's Favorite!!!! Cause Eddie's from Chicago so he likes that thin crust pizza....... (or not - long story). Great Plains in Ames is the cheesiest pizza you'll ever find but OH MY is it good. Order ahead since you'll wait probably an hour for your pizza. Luckily they serve beer while you wait.
4) Pizzario Uno - very hard to find lately but I know there is a great one in Burlington that I hit a couple of times while I was there. I think there's one in the Cities but I'd have to look into that.
5) Mama Dickinson's homemade pizza..... even though I'm usually the one making it now adays. It's a long process, but making the dough and letting it rise all day is actually fun. Then rolling it out, adding sauce (not homemade), a ton of pepperoni, sausage, pineapple and extra cheese!!! hmmmm... I'm getting really hungry now....

Honorable Mention - Buca De Beppo, Godfather's, and the P'zone from Pizza Hut!

Have a great weekend everyone! The snow here is perfect, but the cold temperatures are really nasty out. Glad I got Hazel a sweet shovel for Valentine's Day so I can shovel her driveway after work! Aren't I sweet?

Song of the Day - With a mention yesterday, I'm still laughing and thinking about Right Said Fred's I'm Too Sexy song! I think i might have to add this to my list of Karaoke songs (even though it's not one of the included songs in Nintendo's Karaoke Revolution Party). You know you all loved it back in 1992 or whenever it was out. I also remember the Spanish version a little bit unfortunately.

Video of the Day - For some reason I was on an Oliver Twist kick from Netflix. I watched the original musical version of Oliver this past weekend (I forgot how many familiar songs are from there) and then yesterday I watched the new non-musical version Oliver Twist that came out recently from the US-Banned Roman Polanski (statutory rape of a 13 year old in the late 70s - hasn't been in the US since 78). He also directed the incredible The Pianist that was listed a couple of days ago right here!

Webpage of the Day - A maze game that is different but the harder ones are more interesting. I can't solve level 5 with my laptop mouse. Might have to bring in an external mouse to finish it. The sound effects are kind of funny.

Top Lists Marathon - Day 4

It's a snow day here in Rochester. 7-11 inches when all is said and done.... "supposedly". We are under Winter Weather Advisory so folks here in Rochester get to work about 10 minutes late is all. Snow like this would shut down Austin (Texas) for about a week!!! I can finally sing my song though..... It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....

Oh wait... nevermind.

And for those that were wondering - Hazel LOVED her shovel that I got her for Valentine's Day. Nothing says "I love you" more than a new snow shovel. Among other things of course. I think her words were "you got me a shovel"? She's dang thankful today with all the snow we're getting. Talk about impeccable timing!!! No, I'm not single today after giving that to her!

Glad everyone had fun with the game yesterday. Not sure how many IBM manhours were lost yesterday due to that game. I'll see if I can't find more.

Instead of explaining myself (it's my blog, there's no need to argue), I'll just throw a bunch of lists out there for you. Pitzen and Eddie, these should be familiar for the most part;)

Top 5 80s Bands (apologies to Soundgarden)
1) Poison
2) Guns N Roses
3) Stryper
4) Bangles
5) AC/DC

Top 5 Bands of All Time (my list)
1) U2
2) Garbage
3) Stone Temple Pilots
4) REM
5) The Beatles

Next 5 (late addition - apologies to Right Said Fred)
1) Nirvana
2) Beastie Boys
3) Dave Matthew's Band
4) Run DMC
5) Pearl Jam

Top 5 Solo Acts of All Time (my list - apologies to Hammer)
1) Elvis
2) Prince
3) Neil Diamond
4) Michael Jackson
5) Ray Charles

Top 5 Videos (apologies to MJ - Thriller)
1) Billy Idol - Rock the Cradle of Love
2) Britney - I'm a Slaaaaaaaaaave
3) David Lee Roth - California Girls
4) Aerosmith - Love in an Elevator
5) Chris Isaak - Wicked Game

Worst 5 Bands (apologies to Boston)
1) Journey
2) Rush
3) Color Me Bad
4) Brooks and Funn (or just "Country")
5) Smashmouth

Song of the Day - Nirvana's on today after their mention in Greatest Bands Ever. Quality.

Video of the Day - Went with Hazel, Matt and Jen to Capote - which was interesting. He's supposed to win the Academy Award for the movie which he might be worthy of. But the movie was pretty disappointing and overall... just different. I'm still trying to figure it out.

Webpage of the Day - I think almost everyone's played this one before, but in honor of the snow today, I'm bringing it back!! Even better than yesterday's.... Anyone get more than 330.2 yet?

I leave you with pictures outside my Townhouse from this morning..... nice to see white stuff!!

Best List Week - Day 3

Snow is on it's way.... 6-9 inches in Rochester I heard on the radio this morning. That means we'll get maybe 2 inches by the end of the weekend.

Valentine's Day is over for most of you, but Hazel and I celebrate tonight with dinner and a movie since she had to work last night till this morning. I'll let you know how I did this year being a new rookie at the Valentine's Day stuff. We're off to see Capote tonight since it's up for some awards and What's-His-Name is supposed to win the Best Actor award.

So speaking of movies - today's list:

Best Movies in My Mind
1) Tommy Boy - I never get tired of quoting this one on a daily basis. I feel so much in common with another fat guy in a little coat for some reason. Quality at it's finest, just sad that Farley had to die so early in his life.
2) Blazing Saddles - Mel Brooks is a comedic genius. This was our heavy drinking movie in college among my music buddies. Drink anytime anyone says a line with the movie... that got interesting real fast!
3) Amadeus - The Right Brained in me comes out. Although not entirely a "true" movie, still a wonderful play and now movie based on the life of Mozart.
4) Immortal Beloved - On the same musical track, a story about Beethoven. This one is even less "factual" but a wonderfully performed movie. Gary Oldman kicks ass!!
5) Green Mile - An incredible adaptation of the book by Stephen King. I only wish I would have read the book before the movie as it's a little bit different and interesting. I don't think I've ever been so intrigued by a movie in all of my life as the first time I saw this one.
6) Airplane! - Surely you can't have a greatest movie list without this one! And quit calling me Shirley! Oh, and I speak Jive!
7) Batman - I have to put a Tim Burton movie on here and it was either this one or Big Fish - take your pick.
8) Caddyshack - No movie gets more quotes while on a golf course. Or in the clubhouse after a horrible round.
9) Groundhog Day - Bill Murry is on this list a lot I think.
10) Fantasia/Fantasia 2000 - appeals to the kid in me.
11) Hunt for Red October - just watched it again this weekend. If they could only redo some of the cheezy graphics in this movie.
12) Pulp Fiction - have to include Quinton as well but I had a hard time between this one and Kill Bill (both Volumes).
13) Snatch - A movie that surprisingly a lot of people haven't seen. Has Brad Pitt in one of the only roles I can stand him in. I f**king hate Pikeys!
14) Gladiator - My name is Maximus Kick Major Assesus, commander of the Northern Armies and loyalist to the True Caesar.
15) Memento - definitely the winner of "weirdest movie that kicks ass when it's finally over and you understand what's going on!!"
16) Vacation - It's a Quest. It's a quest for fun. I'm gonna have fun, and you're gonna have fun. We're all gonna have so much f'in fun we'll need plastic surgery to remove our ** smiles! you'll be whistling 'Zippity Doo-Da' out of your a-holes! PRAISE MARTY MOOSE!!!
17) The Pianist - one of the few dramas on the list. His award for Best Actor was incredibly well deserved in this one. plus he got to kiss Hale Barry. I'll take the trophy.
18) Strange Brew - something about movies about beer that appeal to me
19) Terminator 2 - over 15 years old and this movie still kicks ass on my stereo at home!
20) West Side Story - Quit laughing and just go watch it sometime with your honey. Then you'll thank me!!

And a quick (shorter) list of Movies that Suck
1) Big Lebowski
2) Brother Bear
3) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
4) Alien 3
5) Anything with Nicholas Cage
6) Monster's Ball
7) Punch Drunk Love (or Little Nicky)
8) Taxi
9) Conspiracy Theory
10) The Crow

Talk amongst yourselves..... Happy Wednesday!

Song of the Day - I'm a Maniac, mannnnniac oh no.... thinking about Tommy Boy again.

Video of the Day - While not on my list today, Wheeler and I watched Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels by Guy Ritchie (also did Snatch). Quite a funny movie while not as good as Snatch. My favorite part about Guy Ritchie movies is how he brings in some interesting music to fully enhance the effect. Next time you watch either of these movies, listen for it and you'll see what I mean. Stanley Kubric did the same thing very well (watch Eyes Wide Shut for something OTHER than the nudity).

Webpage of the Day - Thanks to Bellyitcher, I'm addicted to this game..... I'm up to 13 seconds so far but Brian says he's over 20. I think he's full of it!

Best List - Valentine's Day Issue

First off, Congrats to Lee and Jill Backstrom and the birth of Sage last weekend. Check out Lee's Blog Page for pictures of the little one. Now to get to North Carolina to see all three of them.....

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. This is usually the dumbest holiday of the year but I have good reason to celebrate this year (first since 1998!!!). So today's "list" has a loving theme. Let's also remember that the PowerBall is at $300 Million so I decided to combine the two and I present to you today:

Kick Ass Things I Could Get Hazel For Next Valentine's Day When I Win The Lotto!!

1. Unlimited Supply of Dots for the rest of her life.
2. Barry Manalow for a day. Imagine having him travel around and sing wherever she goes? Plus a travel band to provide the background music. That'd be pretty cool and I'm sure she'd love that.
3. Full-Time Limo and Driver... no more complaining about me swerving all over the road. He'd wear the chauffeur's hat and all. She hates how I drive.
4. A Driveway with heaters to melt the snow and ice so no more shoveling (for her or me)
5. Position as part of the crew for the next filming of The Bachelor - her favorite show to annoy me
6. Unlimited clothes that have Iowa State colors and logos on them. She looks good in the Cardinal and Gold!!
7. A custom designed purse from Mr. Burberry himself. Whoever that is.
8. A Mini-Cooper for her awesome boyfriend to drive - convertible!
9. Her very own Polka band and pub for hanging out with friends whenever she wants. Ok, maybe this one's more for me but that'd be awesome!! Name it "Hazel's"
10. Chuck Norris as her body guard wherever she goes. He'd kick you in the Jimmy just for entertainment purposes.
11. A full week's worth of lessons on "How to watch and appreciate football" by John Madden himself (with coaches clicker of course)!
12. Her very own ice rink. I get to hire the Ice Hawks to play scrimmage games there when she's not using it
13. A spot in those T-Mobile commercials where they see if the minutes are enough... with Hazel and cell phones, it's never enough!!
14. Her own Superbowl Commercial to say hi to family and friends.
15. I wouldn't have to work so I could cook for her all day long. Or just hire a Master Chef to do it while I play video games all day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! It's actually kind of fun to celebrate this year now that I have a girlfriend (and a wonderful one at that!)

Song of the Day - On today's theme, it has to be "If I Had A 1,000,000 Dollars" by Barenaked Ladies. I could get her John Merz from Maine (and all them crazy Elephant Bones).... But not a real green dress... that's just cruel!

Video of the Day - I watched House of Wax last night. Now I'm being honest and unpartial here... the movie was bad, but definitely not the worst cheezy horror flick movie I've seen. I've seen far worse (Boo! and Amnity Horror come to mind) but yes, Paris Hilton has no acting ability. It definitely has it's moments with things jumping out and the plot is dumb and not really well explained. There were some instances of symbolism which I found interesting for a low-budget horror flick.

Webpage of the Day - Valentine's Day cards that I decided NOT to send to Hazel.... she can thank me later!

Best List Week - Day 1

This is List Week here at Adam's Blog. Each day I'll post a different random list about something and you can either like it or not. It's my blog so deal with it!

Quick weekend summary - played Nintendo Friday night with Hazel. Broke out the Dance Pad and Microphone for the Karaoke Revolution Party. Hazel's actually really good at it. We were able to open up some new songs and outfits for the lab to enjoy! Nothing more fun than spending a Friday night Dancing and Singing with my girlfriend to Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline!!!!!

Saturday I cleaned finally and started my taxes. I should be able to finish those tonight and get it sent off electronically. For those who hate taxes, go do Turbo Tax (link off of Yahoo!) - it is the easiest thing ever and I think for both Federal and State Taxes, it only costs around $40 and takes about 2 hours total! Easiest money to spend ever!

Sunday we did some photo taking with Drew and Kristi and some Olympic Watching. It's addictive.

So today's List is:

Best non-Classical CDs that I Own (in no particular order... I swear!)

1. Achtung Baby by U2. This one's a no brainer. I could probably fill up this whole list with U2 CDs but I won't. I've done a similar "Best of U2" blog that if you're really interested, you can go check that out whenever you wish. Bought this one at the Disc-Go-Round in Cedar Rapids when I was in High School. Somehow I lucked out and found a copy with the original cardboard foldouts... not the typical jewel case you can only find now a days.
2. Blue Light, Red Light by Harry Connick, Jr. Something not all of you would expect but I'm a huge Harry fan. And while he has a bunch of CDs that could be listed on here, this is his best one in my opinion. Includes the ultimate driving song "Kiss Me" at the end with lots of improve jazz moments for those tight turns. Always makes me think of driving out to your parent's house, Claire on those windy roads... perfect for a sports car commercial. Another CD I bought in High School.
3. Barenaked Ladies with Maroon (Special Edition) - I think I know the lyrics to the whole CD which is very rare for me. The most unusual song in my collection of 10 Billion songs is probably on this disc with "Tonight Is The Night I Fell Asleep At The Wheel". Bought this one in Poughkeepsie while I was stuck out there for 2 weeks in the hot summer weather in August.
4. Hello Nasty by Beastie Boys - bought this one in college and I think I listened to it for a week straight. They have some better individual songs, but nowhere will you find a better compilation of classic Beastie Boys. Plus with "Intergalactic" it's hard to beat that one! Bought this one in Rochester, summer of 1998 when I was a co-op and "Intergalactic" was popular. Brings back some memories of us at Ladie's Night at Rookies with this one!
5. Romeo and Juliet Soundtrack - not only a quality movie (in my opinion... despite having Leonardo De Crapio in it) but a quality soundtrack with Garbage, Butthole Surfers and Radio Head. Might have to listen to this one again today. Bought this one from Target my freshmen year in college.
6. Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95 by Dave Matthew's Band. Forget their studio albums... Dave will be known for his live CDs that he puts out more of them than his studio stuff and for good reason. Although I love some of his newer songs and some of the newer live CDs, this one is still my favorite and probably has a couple of hundred hours of play time in the old SUV (Saturn Utility Vehicle). I actually don't remember where I bought this one from. One of the few instances where I don't remember where I got my CD from (out of 450+, that's not bad).
7. Elvis Presley - 30 #1 Hits - This could also be titled "30 songs that Drew wouldn't let me do as Karaoke at his wedding" but I won't nit pick. Only complaint was the lack of "Viva Las Vegas" which I consider one of his finest! Does it seriously get any better than Elvis for an hour? Bought this one at Best Buy... not a single regret!
8. Supernatural by DC Talk. Too bad they aren't together anymore since this last CD was by far their best. They were really starting to get it together and then they broke up. Too bad. The concert that followed this album was pretty sweet too! Bought this one in College on the way to campus when it came out.
9. Michael Jackson - Number Ones - I don't care if he IS some perverted child molester.... he is still the King of Pop (not to be confused with the King of Cartoons) and deserves some respect for this. I choose this album due to it having the best of Thriller among other hits that deserve recognition. Does have some crap though i could have done without. Bought this one with my cousins in Lincoln and played it the whole way home despite Nikki being embarrassed. I don't get embarrassed... EVER!
10. Garbage - Bleed Like Me - Another band that continues to get better with every album. This is easily the LOUDEST CD I own. If you don't believe me, come for a ride in the Trail Blazer and I will change your mind very quickly! Bought this one the day it came out in Rochester at Best Buy!

Honorable Mention
* GreenDay - American Idiot
* INXS - Kick
* Jamie Cullum - Twentysomething
* Jars of Clay by Jars of Clay
* Nine Inch Nails - Downward Spiral (still a quality album... just missed the list)
* John Denver and the Muppets - A Christmas Together
* MC Hammer - Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em
* Nirvana - Nevermind
* Very Best of Prince - duhh.....
* REM - Monster
* Shaggy Boys - Shagabego Groove (don't ask)
* Can't Stop The Rock - The Stryper Collection 1984-1991 don't knock it please

Song of the Day - Still singing Sweet Caroline after the Karaoke Revolution Party from Friday night.

Video of the Day - Hazel and I watched Romeo and Juliet yesterday but not the one you're thinking of. It's actually an incredibly amazing ballet written by Prokofiev as well as many other composers but his version is one of my favorites. The ballet was nothing amazing, but it's neat to hear the music and see an interpretation of it after hearing it for so many years. This one would rank towards the very top of a Classical version of today's list.

Webpage of the Day - Interesting Cartoon with a bunch of Super Heros. I still don't think Optimus Prime can be beat but whatever..... Anyone know the blue guy with glasses and brown mustache that you see a couple of seconds after Mario and the Back to the Future car is? He has us all confused. Thanks to Wyatt for the link!

Snow for the Weekend

It finally snowed in Rochester. Only about an inch, maybe a little more - but WE'LL TAKE IT!!! It's depressing to be entering the middle of February with no snow. Supposedly some chances of more this weekend, I don't believe it anymore.

Brews Brothers had a disappointing showing last night. Took only 2 of 7 points and lost some momentum after the past two weeks. Same lineup for next week so hopefully we can turn things around. We did have a bounty of fans last night... just not sure what they were paying attention to. Definitely wasn't bowling for most of them! Can't say I blame them with the way we bowled.

Next week is the annual hallmark Holiday called "Valentine's Day". This will be my first celebration of the holiday since 1998. I'm serious here..... halfway through Clinton's 2nd term! Ahhh.... those were the days..... I read though that men will spend TWICE AS MUCH as women on Valentine's Day. WTF?!?!?! $150 is expected per man this year (Hazel, don't get any ideas!). What happened to the days of a card and a box of chocolates? Mama said love's like a box of chocolates..... you always expect it to be sweet inside, but it doesn't always work out that way....

Today starts the Winter Olympics in Turin (that's in Italy) with the opening ceremony tonight (tape delay I'm sure for the US primetime). So for the next 2 weeks you will see all the heroic stories of people overcoming obstacles to make it to Italy. Or for most of the people that watch TV, the next round of American Idol! But seriously, I hate most of the things they show on primetime Olympics no matter if it's Winter or Summer Games. I still stand by my statement that "if it requires a judges score, it's not a real sport". That includes ice skating, ice "dancing", that ski jumping free style thing...... and for summer, that includes gymnastics, diving, synchronized swimming. There, I said it and I stand by my statement. Bring on the speed events anytime! And of course Hockey:) I love watching Luge for the speed and for the really insane, the skeleton (where you go down face first, not feet first.... remember the danger as a kid of going face first?)

RedWings win again last night for 5 straight. Looking good going into the Olympic break! Iowa State loses at KSU Wednesday Night to fall back to the bottom half of the Big 12. Not sure what to think of their season yet. At least we beat the stupid Clockeyes.

Have a great weekend everyone! This is "project weekend" for me around the house and at Hazel's house. I'm considering that part of her "$150 Valentine's Day Gift". Haha!

Song of the Day - After playing the 80s Game last week, a question came up with the answer being U2's All I Want Is You (from Rattle and Hum). So I have that playing now to hopefully help get it out of my head. Still a good song for Valentine's Day!

Video of the Day - I'm in the mood for Sin City tonight. Great movie and I haven't really watched any others this week. Can you blame me? I've had the entire first season of Pee Wee's Playhouse to watch remember?????

Webpage of the Day - In honor of Valentine's Day and the love that goes with it.... don't get caught three times in 30 minutes! At least it was all with the same guy!

Adam's Grammy Review

So I was pleasantly surprised at a lot of the results last night. Plus I was surprised at which performances I liked and which ones I was thankful for Ti-Vo so could fast forward through the boring stuff (like acceptance speeches, honorary awards). I also fast forwarded through the hill billy country parts since that stuff is not of interest to me.

Awards
I thought that U2's Album "How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" was not their best work, but still an enjoyable album. But I was shocked to see them take home so many awards for it including Album of the Year. I also found it amazing that two different songs from that album were awarded. Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own for Song of the Year and City of Blinding Lights for Best Rock Song.

I was also surprised to see Green Day take home the award for Record of the Year when Boulevard of Broken Dreams is so not the punk style from the rest of the album that already won so many awards last year.

Anyone but Mariah Carey and Coldplay..... Sorry Kahn, your favorite song Hollaback Girl didn't win any awards either of major recognition. You can still sing that in Kareoke if you want.


Performances
Kanye West/Jamie Fox - This was one of my favorites of the night for no other reason than the originality. I'm honestly tired of hearing Golddigger but when someone comes out with a high stepping Southern Style Marching Band and Drumline.... that's pretty dang cool!

U2/Mary J Blige - The first part was ok. Stage like that always looks so small for the biggest rock band in the world. But when they brought Mary J Blige out.... THAT WAS HORRIBLE!!! I don't care how many records she sells on her own, she will always be known to me as the Girl that Ruined One. No other way to describe it other than the face that she didn't even sing the right song. Randy Jackson might have called it "making it her own" but I thought that required singing the melody at least.

Sir Paul McCartney - Another awesome performance. While I don't know any of Sir Paul's newer stuff, I enjoyed his performance of Helter Skelter as much as any other moment in the evening. I find it amazing that a 60 some year old rock legend above all other legends can find these 20something musicians for his back up band and they don't feel the least bit intimidated. Proved that he still does have it in him even though he holds his bass backwards. Try that sometime Troy!

Gorillaz / Madonna - An awesome way to open the show! Very Enjoyable!

Kelly Clarkson - She continues to surprise me with her abilities to sing and rock at the same time. She also looked very amazing by the way.

Bruce Springsteen - Never been a big fan of The Boss and last night didn't change anything for me.

Looks
Kelly Clarkson - I thought she looked very cute and performed so well. Only problem I have with her is every time they interview her or give her a chance to talk, it's like she's 16 again. I've never been impressed with listening to her speak and thankfully she doesn't have to do that too often.

Madonna - she's looking pretty old. I'm beginning to wonder how much money she spends constantly on plastic surgery, etc. because she looks different every time I see her. She still isn't as bad as Michael Jackson's freak show, but I wonder if she's not getting closer as she gets older. She can still rock, I agree!

Alison Krauss - another one that usually looks very cute and attractive..... except for last night.

Teri Hatcher - looked like a doped up $20 whore. She's usually a more beautiful older woman but not last night.

Jennifer Love Hewitt - Took the crown for looking amazing last night in my mind. Although I can't tell you any movies that she's done over the past two years (since Garfield basically....) but she still has a nice way of coming out into public looking amazing!

Other

And for those that are wondering, Jimmy Stuff and His Orchestra took home the award for Best Polka Album!

Song of the Day - so many to choose from, but what's on my iTunes now is the award winning City of Blinding Lights by U2 of course! Great song to start out their last tour and emerge from the stage from with confetti everywhere!!!

Video of the Day - For those of you that miss the days when MTV showed music videos, I use Yahoo! to view videos and keep up on my hip hop and stuff..... It's free if you have a Yahoo! ID....

Webpage of the Day - Thanks to Nori for getting me hooked on one of the wierder webpages out there.... Making Fiends is definitely strange, but somehow it's so addicting! I've watched all the episodes already and no, they continue to not make sense. If you're curious, start with the first episode to understand who everyone is. I watched the 21st (and final) episode first and that didn't make things any better!

Have a great Thursday!! If you want some fun entertainment, stop by the bowling alley tonight to watch Mr. Fink and I go head to head for lowest average in bowling league title! Colonial Lanes... pre-bowl starts at 4pm. Bowling starts at 5 till about 7ish. Call my cell phone to find out where post-bowl is!

Um.....

Happy Birthday Nikki!! Nikki's my cousin that is a freshman (or freshwoman if you're even more PC than I) at the U of Nebraska. I forgive her for that. We can't ALL go to the illustrious Iowa State remember!

Today is also the birthday of NASDAQ! cool..... you also share a birthday with John Williams (composer of Star Wars music among thousands of others), Ted Koppel, Nick Nolte, John Grisham, Vince Neil, Gary Coleman, Seth Green. Today is also Nirvana Day in the Buddhist calendar. I know, way too much information but how much of that did you actually know about your birthday?

My uneventful week continues.... but I'm ok with that. It's nice having a week with no real plans or rehearsals, or traveling to worry about. I thought I'd share some pictures with you of the boys (they're always a hit):





















Sorry for the short blog, although some of you will like it I'm sure.

Song of the Day - I still have Aquarius from Hair going through my head. Or maybe it's from the 40 Year Old Virgin. Either way... I do like that song. Might have to go find it on iTunes today.

Video of the Day - I'm still watching Pee Wee's Playhouse. I might start including videos from the web here..... If so, here's my first submission....Brokeback to the Future. No, I haven't seen Brokeback Mountain yet because I hate going to movies in the theatres. I am interested in the hype and will watch it once it comes out on DVD like I normally do.

Webpage of the Day - I thought this was an interesting article that will appeal to both the musical folks and the business folks. I liked it for both reasons obviously. You'll have to let me know your thoughts!

Have a great Wednesday folks!!!

Catching Up on Random Things

Isn't it strange that we had more snow in one week in November than we have had in December, January, and February combined? Or so it seems. Only one use of the snow blower this year and that was in November. Car still looks nasty from all of the salt but I'm working on that today. Now it's just cold. And depending on which Groundhog you follow (Punksatawney Phil or Unadilla Bill) you decide how much longer this will last.

The Brews Brothers are back in business after a couple of huge weeks! They have taken 12 of the possible 14 points the last two weeks. If Fish wouldn't have left an open in the 10th last week, we probably would have taken all 14. I'm rolling this week along with Mr. Fink so the handicap should be in the 300s somewhere I think. The other team is going to love that!

This past weekend was a lot of fun. We met the nephews at the Great Howling Wolf Lodge at the Dells which has a huge indoor water park. The boys LOVED Hazel (no surprise there) to the point that they would have rather gone down most of the slides with Hazel, not with their Uncle Adam. Elliott is getting so smart and is reading pretty well. He'll be 5 next weekend. And little Al is still going to be the heart throb. He and I were hanging out in the hot tub while he would get out and jump in the hot tub (with his PFD - Personal Flotation Device - of course). Well one time he got out and turned around and dropped his shorts enough to moon me!! It was pretty funny! He just giggled and jumped back into the hot tub.

The concerts went well. We played alright on Friday night with a few scares just from our shortened rehearsal schedule for this concert. Our Guest Conductor had been sick, thus the reason he shortened some of the rehearsals. But Saturday night was something else! We played the first half which ended with a song from Brazil. It has a samba feel to it with lots of brass fanfare and the Maestro was dancing as he's conducting. The crowd in La Crosse loved it so much that we did a real Encore! Where we come back out and play the same piece again! (it's about 5 minutes long) That's what an Encore is supposed to be, not what it's turned into with the rock concerts where they play the best stuff only in the Encore. But anyways... it was a performance I think all of us will remember for a long time to come!

This week is full of relaxation and catching up on movies and reading. Catching up in sports - Red Wings are on a roll lately but have a big test with two games against Nashville this week. Timberwolves had a great road win last night over Phoenix but still need some help if they want to see the post season. I'm still following the Pistons in their quest for 70 wins. I don't think they'll make 72 like da Bulls did though! And of course my beloved Cyclones..... they layed the smack down on Colorado on Sunday proving there is still some Hilton Magic left. It's a big week of road games that could help push them to the top 4 of the big 12 which they need since the conference is so weak this year.

Song of the Day - Not sure why, but I have Come on Eileen going through my head. (The Dexy's Midnight Runners version, not the Save Ferris version). I haven't been to a wedding lately so not sure why this song is in my head today. Probably from the evil TV!

Video of the Day - I've been renting Pee Wee's Playhouse from Netflix the past week and watching them. Brings back so many memories..... I used to watch that every Saturday morning (there were usually two episodes on every Saturday). My mom hated me watching that show.... but it's educational as well as funny I think. I forgot that Lawrence Fishburne is on there (Cowboy Curtis... not Morpheus), as is Phil Hartman (Captain Carl).

Webpage of the Day - The single most pathetic use of internet space I've run across in a while..... I'm still wiping away the tears here!

Super Commercialism

Yeah, yeah - my prediction was wrong. Shouldn't be a surprise then that I lost $6 and had a "5 minute penalty" outside in the cold due to other wrong predictions. Congrats to the Steelers though. Time to start focusing all of this energy on Hockey!

The game itself was ok. Some bad drops on Seattle's part and some bad offense all the way around at times. But the commercials (at some 50 bajillion dollars for 30 seconds) lived up to their usual hype. My favorites:

* H3 was my favorite, although I was told it was NOT a new commercial. New to me who hates watching commercials on the other 364 days of the year.
* Budweiser showed they are the King of Commercials again this year. I enjoyed The Drinking Stadium and the Streaker commercials a lot.... but the best Bud commercial was easily the Hiding of Budlights at the Office....
* Phone Deterrent was awesome.... Nice to see Sprint do something funny for once, although that might be the Nextel influence helping out.
* FedEx was a good one. No excuses.
* There was a great commercial with a cute girl playing tackle football..... problem is that while the commercial was funny, I couldn't remember without looking it up what the commercial was for. Michelob.... but still a good commercial in my book.
* Whoperettes was a good commercial...

Commercials that were a waste of money:

* United.... didn't they just get OUT of Bankruptcy and their commercial probably just sent them back into it.
* Ford (with Kermit).... dumb. Simply Dumb.
* All the new lineups for ABC programming
* Disney World. Who did end up saying the line that we'll see for the next 20 years???
* While the new Pizza from Pizza Hut looks good.... the commercials were a waste of time.

That's all you get for today! Have a great Monday - back to "normal" tomorrow!!

A Remote Gobbler's Knob

Rise and shine, campers, and don't forget your booties 'cause it's cooooold out there today!!
It's cold out there every day. What is this, Miami Beach?
Not hardly. So the big question on everybody's lips.
On their chapped lips
Their chapped lips is, does Phil feel lucky? Punksatawney Phil, thats right wood chuck chuckers its.....

GROUNDHOG DAY!!!!!

Sorry about this, but today is probably one of my favorite holidays. It's the time of year when we pay attention to a little groundhog in Pennsylvania who is probably just as accurate at predicting the weather as the idiots on TV that get paid for it!!! Being a Meteorologist or whatever it's called, has to be the ONLY job I can think of where you can be right only 10-15% of the time and still keep your job. Even an employee of Burger King has to be right more than 50% of the time!!

It's also the day when I pull out one of my favorite movies and enjoy an incredibly funny performance by Bill Murray as Phil Connors. Hey now, don't tell me you don't remember me 'cause I sure as heckfire remember you.....

BING!

I'm off to La Crosse tonight for rehearsal, then concert on Friday and Saturday nights. Hazel is tagging along (I should make her drive so I can watch my movie in the car) since tonight we'll be in the Wisconsin Dells and get to see my brother and his family. That means I'll have new pictures of the adorable nephews to share with y'all next week!!!!

Then Super Bowl Sunday is very near! Yet another strange holiday that seems to be bigger than Christmas at times. I already predicted the SeaHawks to win and I still stand by that prediction. Am I right... or am I right? or am I right? Am I right?

Reading the news today, I see that Phil unfortunately saw his shadow and went back into hiding for 6 more weeks till Spring arrives. Yeah, that means spring arrives late this year.... I'm predicting March 21st.

My closing thoughts are this..... When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope. Yet we know that winter is just another step in the cycle of life. But sitting here among the millions of readers of my blog and basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn't imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter.

Song of the Day - Of course in honor of today, it's Pennsylvania Polka. Not only is it a quality song from a quality film... it's one of the greatest Polkas out there to sing, dance and of course drink to. I still have a ways to go to work this one up on the Accordion. Requires the big 120 button one which I'm not ready for!

Video of the Day - Duh....

Webpage of the Day - There's an Official Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.... I might have to look into that before next year's trip to Pennsylvania!! Too funny!

Everything You Need to Know for the SuperBowl

Seattle wins by 17.

Now that that's over - I am looking forward to the one time of a year where I think commercials are ok and they don't raise my blood pressure by 20 points! I always look forward to Pepsi and Budweiser advertisements. I'm also hoping there's a new GoDaddy.com advertisement;)

I finished my book yesterday. The Five People You Meet in Heaven is an amazingly quick read but so extremely powerful. Took me about 2 days to read and honestly, if I would have just started it on a lazy Saturday, there would have been no problems finishing it. It discusses "Eddie" (no, not the muscle bound, meat packing, Polish guy in Madison that we all know and love) upon his death and the 5 people he meets in heaven.... and why he meets them. It puts a lot of things in life in perspective to the point of making one reconsider how he or she interacts with people. One of the most powerful sections in my opinion that I'd like to share with you comes from Eddie's "3rd person" (Ruby) who might be a stranger to Eddie, but she helps put Eddie's relationship with his father into perspective. Eddie's father was very distant and abusive in Eddie's development and he's held onto that resentment his entire life:

Ruby stood, and Eddie stood, too. He could not stop thinking about his father's death.

"I hated him," he mumbled.

The old woman nodded.

"He was hell on me as a kid. And he was worse when I got older"

Ruby stepped toward him. "Edward," she said softly. It was the first time she had called him by name. "Learn this from me. Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves.

"Forgive, Edward. Forgive. Do you remember the lightness you felt when you first arrived in heaven?"

Eddie did. Where is my pain?

"That's because no one is born with anger. And when we die, the soul is freed of it. But now, here, in order to move on, you must understand why you felt what you did, and why you no longer need to feel it."

She touched his hand. "You need to forgive your father."

It's pretty incredible and I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. I think roommate Adam is going to read my copy next but let me know if anyone else would like to borrow it.

Rehearsal went well last night in La Crosse. I really like the music on this concert. There are still tickets available for anyone that's interested!!

And Friday I get to see my adorable nephews and my brother and sister-in-law whom I haven't seen in a long while unfortunately. They are going to the Wisconsin-Dells for a couple of days so Hazel and I are going over for a day to spend with them and so I can get the nephews' approval on Hazel:) I'm sure they'll have no problem with her as they usually don't have problems with anyone. Just mention you like Spiderman or Thomas the Train and they'll be in quick agreement!

Song of the Day - I'm slowly finding classical music that I don't have. Actually there's a ton of music that I don't have but I have quite the collection and most of the "standards". But one piece I do not have that I heard this morning is the Overture to Candide by Bernstein. It's a very quick piece and fun to play for everyone (especially the violins and brass). When Bernstein passed away in 1990, at a memorial concert for him by the New York Philharmonic (where he conducted for an extensive time and revitalized them in so many ways), the musicians performed it without a conductor in his honor. Since then, it has been performed by them 19 times... all without a conductor.

Video of the Day - I watched The Island recently with Scarlett Johansson (who was in Lost in Translation which has become a "realistic" movie after my recent travels) and Ewan McGregor. It's a pretty well done Sci-Fi flick that I enjoyed. Steve Buscemi's pretty funny in it as he usually is in movies. He's still the best as Mr. Pink.... "I don't tip. I don't believe in it"

Webpage of the Day - Stiffler.... F**k!! The weird girl (one that gave Taraholic Reid sexual advice) from American Pie has a warrant out for her arrest for many things... including "allegedly threatening to sexually molest her former neighbor's dog in 2004"... that is disturbing!

Happy February Everyone!!!! Get ready for the big day tomorrow!!!! Go Phil!!! (Like the Groundhog!)