Happy Saint Dickinson Day!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!

On this day, sometime in the 2nd half of the 20th Century, my mother (Becky) was born. Growing up in Nebraska, she met my dad - had my brother, then decided there might still be a good child yet to come so they had me. My mom should be sainted..... saintified..... sainthoodified...... or sainthoodificationalized. Whatever the word is. She's an incredible person as anyone that's met her can attest to. Plus she gets bonus points for having to raise my brother and I. Here's a picture of my mom for you to all enjoy today on her birthday.


So in honor of this special day (a very rainy day here in MN..... this is the rain you need in Nebraska, Cari), I'd like to ask all of my dedicated readers to drop a quick happy birthday note in my comments section. She'd appreciate that. Even though she only reads about once a week, my dad will help make sure she reads by the end of the day!

Thanks!

No Drew and no Kristi at work yet.... could Baby Vesterby have arrived? I still submit the name "Poncho" for a boy and "Britney" if it's a girl.... nothing wrong with that name;)

It's time to golf but looks like it will rain pretty much all week. I will swing some clubs this weekend at the RAC at least. Now that bowling is over, we have a few weeks of break till golf league starts. The courses are open, just only the die hards out there.

Have a great weekend! This weekend is "catch up on house chores" weekend for me since Hazel has to work again. Happy early April Fool's Day as well!

Song of the Day - In honor of my mom, I'll listen to some of her music today. She's a big fan of Paul McCartney (and thus the Beatles), the Rolling Stones, Madonna..... Korn, Slipknot, and Megadeath. Ok, maybe I made those last three up but she's still pretty cool! She also listens to some stuff I'll pass on like Enya, Josh Gag-me Grobin......

Video of the Day - Um..... not much to say on this video but I enjoyed it.... Some of you might be smart enough to know what show that is. Ah, the days of free cable - and stuff.

Webpage of the Day - Drew officially challenged me to a dual yesterday by submitting today's Webpage of the Day. It's a 15 pound burger. For $30 you get the most kick ass burger I've seen. While the 15 pounder is probably meant for a group to split, I'm still up for trying out the 6 pound burger. Remember, I'm a professional eating champion! I have the shirt to prove it!!

Charter Sucks

Public Service Announcement - If you're a "sometimes" reader, or a regular..... make sure you come back tomorrow for a very VERY special blog tomorrow (Friday). It's a day you won't want to miss (and no, April Fool's Day isn't till Saturday).

Charter has crossed the line..... Sat down to start catching up on recorded shows off the Moxi box (Charter's attempt at creating Ti-Vo) and saw that all the shows that I was expecting to be there were indeed there - but only 1 second of the show. So now I really have no way of watching American Idol, Apprentice, American Idol results, or even Unan1mous. Thankfully with the help of the web I can see what happened.

With the help of so many of you, I heard AI was a bomb anyways this week - so I'm not necessarily too disappointed. What I am disappointed in is "ALL OF YOU, AMERICA" in actually voting for Bucky. Lisa's gone which nobody was surprised at, but Katharine???? What's she doing in the bottom 3? For the record (remember, I didn't see this week's show but no big loss there), here is my ranking of where I think the final 9 should be:

1) Chris - duh!
2) Mandisa
3) Paris
4) Katharine
5) Taylor
6) Elliott
7) Hillbilly Kellie
8) Ambiguously Gay Duo's Ace
9) Bucky

So assuming we get rid of Bucky next week (he should have been first one gone), the talent level will be a lot higher and then jumps again with the final 4. Country week next week which means Bucky and Hickville Pickler will be right at home unfortunately. Might be Ace's week to go home. The only reason to watch might be to see how high Paula's BAC level will be before the night is over with. Luckily they're only giving her an hour to drink instead of the two hours in the past.

Unan1mous looked interesting but of course Charter makes me have to read it online which doesn't get the same effect. Looks like Richard is no longer eligible to win, and with all of them sick of the game already - they decide Steve the Truck Driver should win. But of course Jonathan secretly changed his vote so they're stuck there even longer trying to decide who should win. Anyway, enough of that.

Apprentice - Dan was fired. This season sucks.

Singing at Church went well last night. Thanks to all of the millions (AND MILLIONS) of the Show's Fans for coming out. There will be more opportunities to hear me sing.... like Karaoke night. When are we doing that? I'm itching for some karaoke!

Song of the Day - Speaking of William Hung..... Guess who's performing at VEISHEA this year????? That's right... Mr. Hung himself! She Bangs She Bangs! Ah, the talent level of VEISHEA keeps on getting better and better. The days of Aerosmith are long gone folks, the budget can only afford William Hung. So keep on singing Rickie Martin songs today!

Video of the Day - We finished watching Vertigo last night. Nice little twist in there and very interesting movie. I like how there are really no end credits to the movie so it literally will end, you hear a last long note of music, then it's done. Vertigo was much better than our previous Hitchcock movie. The Birds is next on my list to watch (thanks Christie)

Webpage of the Day - Intellectual Property is a huge thing in the 21st Century Business Model. Ask anyone here at IBM how many times they are pressured into making up patents for everything. I have a new way of tying my shoes, I should write up a patent. I thought today's website has a wonderful way of pointing out the absurdities that continue to grow due to our modern day culture where everyone is trying to make a quick and easy dollar!

BTW - 8:15 and I'm still the only one from my team in the lab that's here!!!

Britney??

That doesn't look anything like Britney!!!! But it's causing quite the stir in Brooklyn where it will be on display. NYC anyone??

Sorry for the short blog today. I just got into work after donating platelets and I need to get things done. No, I didn't watch AI last night (ti-vo, I will watch it tonight and comment for tomorrow).

Have a great Wednesday!

Save the Peeps!!!!

Welcome back Drew!!! My cousin is home for a couple of weeks from Iraq and we're all glad he's back in the US. Unfortunately he goes back but hopefully this is his final stint over there. I admire him for volunteering to go back after already doing a tour in Bosnia, and already was in Iraq for a full shift. This is second trip to Iraq. While I think he's nuts, I admire him for doing so. I'm just jealous how fit he is every time I see him when he comes back. I'm too fat to be in the Army. I'd be good for motivational purposes though just like I am around here. I wonder how many Army guys (or gals) can eat 100 peeps while folks all over the world are watching him!!!

Speaking of Peep Cam and Easter on the way - how many people remember this?????

That's all that is left of the infamous Peeps Cam that broadcast me on the internal IBM web for a day. As you can see, I finished but the statistics of how many people watched me were ridiculous. This is just a snap shot, but perhaps someday I can do another one but this time do it worldwide!!! And with The Just Born Company sponsoring me! We could all get free shirts and FREE PEEPS!!!!! And for those that are wondering, yes - Britney is still on the IBM Rochester Property. She was more popular that day than I was! With the IBM lawyers too! ahhhh... memories....

I was finally able to see the Detroit Red Wings at their best last night as OLN (Only Lame stuff Network) actually had the Red Wings at St. Louis. Detroit looked ready for the playoffs as they won 4-1. Legace looks awesome and I'm hoping to be able to see all of their playoff games this year. Stanley Cup playoffs - nothing like it in the world!!

Any predictions for American Idol tonight? I'm guessing Bucky is gone but who knows. I'm also guessing Paula will be in just as rare of form as usual tonight.

I'm donating plasma tomorrow morning so the Blog might be a little late. Depends if I can get it all typed up tonight or not. Plus I'm still singing at church tomorrow night for anyone that's interested. I will try to get some video of it. I think I can get a 4 minute song off of one of my digital cameras.

Song of the Day - I found Tommy Roe's Hooray For Hazel yesterday and thought that was pretty funny till I listened closely to the lyrics....

Hazel's been in love with many a guy
She tells them that she loves 'em and then says goodbye
Hooray for Hazel, I'm now on her list
I'm just another fool that couldn't resist

Maybe not.... I just like the HOORAY FOR HAZEL part.

Video of the Day - Thanks to my friend Shary, we have a bunch of classic Alfred Hitchcock movies. Hazel and I watched The Man Who Knew Too Much which was slow at points, but typical Hitchcock. It's wonderfully done for 1956 (we watched the color version with James Stewart - who I don't really enjoy as an actor... the way he talks annoys me). We started Vertigo which is much more suspenseful and I should finish sometime. Any other recommendations of favorite Hitchcock movies???

Webpage of the Day - This is worth a quick laugh - mainly for the old school NES fans! But it's a different version - read the instructions first:) The theme music is the best part!! I need that for my ringer on my cell phone!

The Monday After

Spring is starting to arrive. It was 50+ yesterday and should get back up there this week which called for a few things this weekend:

1) Make sure the grill is ready to go! She's ready although I need to fix the light part of my grill. I bought one last year that has the lights in the lid so you can easily grill at night. They're pretty sweet when they work.

2) Golf clubs are down from storage. That's the first big step. They're back on their hook, but that won't be for long. The RAC has a couple of nets to hit into and I plan on getting there at least one day this week just to hit some golf balls. I also need to take inventory on balls, tees, etc. I bought new shoes last year so I should be good to go for that this year as well.

3) Initial plans for landscaping in the front with flowers. I think I'm planting two rose bushes and two day lily plants this year and see how that does. I still have a couple of planters that I will use again this year to make everything look nice.

4) By the end of the week I should have my table and chairs back out. All the elder ladies around me like my blue shade umbrella for my deck table for some reason. I was known as the "blue umbrella" guy for a while.

NCAA - what a bunch of surprises. Looks like I'm finishing 7th in one tourney and 2nd in Kahn's tourney. I'm not used to not winning these.... but what a bunch of great games to watch yesterday including George Mason ALMOST losing to UCONN because they couldn't make free throws. NASCAR was at Bristol yesterday and my thoughts were that there weren't enough crashes and only Gordon got screwed on the last lap. At least he was ready to beat the crap out of Kenseth. Jeff went from 3rd to 21st with about half a lap left when Kenseth low balled him. That's a difference of 65 points - have to remember those later on this season.

Lent is half over for those that are participating. I had a craving for a pop this weekend but declined. Still no alcohol and no caffeine for the past 3+ weeks. The candy part was easy I thought with my diet going on anyways. I am singing this Wednesday night at Evangel Methodist Church in Rochester for their Wednesday Night Lent Service if anyone wants to come hear me. Hazel will be there if anyone wants to sit with her. I'll make sure she showers before she arrives.

Have a great Monday! Apprentice on tonight, AI on tomorrow night!

Song of the Day - Thanks to American Idol last week (and watching a little more of it last night with roommate-Adam), I still have Johnny Cash's I Walk the Line going through my head. Although I like Chris's version better.

Video of the Day - Ok, pay attention now. I watched Everything is Illuminated which stars Elijah Wood and a bunch of Ukranian speaking folks. I had no idea what to expect and it was a rather interesting plot so I rented it. It's a very interesting movie, and a well done movie. It has a lot of comedy in it, but is categorized as a drama. I'd love for someone else to watch this movie so I can talk to them about it. I liked it. It's about a young Jewish Man who hires a family from the Ukrane to take him to find the woman who saved his family from the Nazi's in WWII. The Ukranian family is far from normal but they get the job done.

Webpage of the Day - Top 10 list of Guitar Solos to "air guitar" to... whatta ya think?

Another Friday

The Brews Brothers finished the season out in spectacular fashion taking all 7 points last night! I had my season best series taking 410 pins (41 pins above my average.... do I get a patch for that?). But the best part about last night's finale was the fact that golf season is next!! I need to go hit some golf balls this weekend to see how bad my swing is. I'm also going to take lessons this weekend to hopefully get me over that last little hump towards being a true bogey golfer.

Checking up on my bracket for the NCAA tournament..... I think I'm done. I had Duke winning it all and Gonzaga in the final 4, both of whom lost last night. I hate Duke, but thought they were better than everyone else. Obviously I'm wrong. I'll be cheering for Texas now since they represent the Big12 and in an indirect way, my Cyclones. Does that make any sense? Texas is in the final 8 after their win last night... see if they can go all the way and hold both the football crown and the basketball crown in the same year!

Still feels like Winter in Rochester. Light snow yesterday (nothing to lose sleep about), and still pretty cold. Should be back in the 40s this weekend. I might go get a head start tonight with planning my landscaping for the front of the Townhouse. Nothing fancy - I struggled with keeping grass alive next to the house where the sprinklers never reach. So now I'm going to dig it up and plant some rose bushes and a Day Lilly. I need to go kill the grass that is actually left now so that way it's ready to be sculpted as I want it later in April/May when I can actually plant things. Hey Eddie, what does Round-Up do? Any chance I'll see those fire-breathing rabbits in my yard? (inside joke there... I expect further hazing from Pitzen all the way from California).

Big Party in Decorah Saturday night if anyone's interested!! E-mail me if you'll be in that area and I'll hook ya up!

Song of the Day - At Beetles last night for post-bowl - some dude was performing but he was pretty bad at some of the songs. He was doing it Karaoke style with his laptop which was a disappointment after last week. The kid last week played all of his own songs either on the piano or guitar. The guy last night played some piano but wasn't nearly as talented as we were hoping. He did sing a ton of Neil Diamond which was pretty cool. The Brews Brothers woke up the bar with our group singing of Sweet Caroline. They should do Neil Diamond night on American Idol! I'd win for sure that night!!!!

Video of the Day - Speaking of Neil..... one of the funnier movies that you've never heard of is Saving Silverman. It has Jason Biggs (American Pie), Jack Black (Tenacious D.... but also King Kong for the less informed), Steve Zahn (Sahara and...... nevermind), and Amanda Peet (The Whole Nine Yards). Revolves around a young cover band that is obsessed with Neil Diamond. Pretty dang funny - and Neil rules!!

Webpage of the Day - Thanks to my Aunt Christie for today's page. A bowling game to play year round!!! Funny thing is, in my first game playing, I hit exactly 123 which is my real life average!!! So no, I'm no better at Virtual Bowling as I am with real-world bowling.

Last Night of Bowling!!! YAY

So I was dead on with my pick for the bottom 3 of American Idol, but I thought Bucky should have gone. Instead Harry Potter is gone and we move on. I still laugh at Barry Manilow though who no matter how much you hate that type of music, you can still appreciate his ability to sing. I'll have to take Hazel to see him in Vegas this fall. Wonder how much tickets are....

I also caught the premier of Unan1mous last night. It was pretty funny and I think it will be enjoyable, but I also have a feeling that with only 30 minutes (more like 16 after commercials are factored in) a week, this show is going to DRAG ON forever!!! It's structured pretty well (as only Fox can do). For those that missed it, 9 strangers are thrown in a Bunker till they can unanimously vote for one person to get 1.5 million bucks. You can't vote for yourself, so you need 8 votes to win the money. To make it easier, they now pulled 3 "random" secrets (each one has one to submit) and they have to decide which secret is the worst. That person is eliminated. And until they decide, the money will start declining till they decide. Anyway... I enjoyed it.

I finished my book by the way. Deception Point by Dan Brown (the Da Vinci Code guy) and it was very good. I enjoyed it just as much as his other books. It deals more with the workings of government, but there are still some educational moments of science to be learned while reading it. I think that's why I like reading his stuff so much - I learn things as I read. I started a Stephen King book Insomnia last night.

Today marks the FINAL day of bowling for this season. Brews Bros took an impressive 5 points last week and to celebrate our finish, I'm entertaining everyone with my league leading low average. It's hard to maintain a 123 average all year long! I was a 120 last year so I'm 3 pins better this year! It's difficult to be this horrible week after week!

And my new shoes finally arrived. Hazel's been giving me a lot of crap about my old shoes that yes, were falling apart pretty badly. But the new ones arrived and I flushed my old ones down the toilet in a traditional Requiem Service.

Have a great Thursday!!

Song of the Day - I caught the final movement of Tschaikovsky's 6th Symphony last night on the radio. It is one of the more incredible endings to a symphony - ends with just the celli and basses in their lower registers and has a depressing overtone to the whole thing. I still have yet to play this one but hoping we pull it back out in La Crosse sometime soon!

Video of the Day - I watched Derailed recently. The new one with Jennifer Aniston and Xzibit. I hate to say it, but Xzibit plays the same character in every movie.... but he's actually pretty good at that same character! It's a good movie that has a nice twist to it to keep you on your toes.

Photos of the Day - In honor of the new basketball coach, Emily is showing off her Cyclone Pride for everyone!!

American Idol Review

I write this as I watch American Idol... along with "live" ratings (before the judges can open their mouth):

Mandisa - wow! A spectacular way to start and she looked like a true performer up there. Grade: A

Bucky CovingtonGO HOME ALREADY!! Would you people quit voting for him. I respect Carrie Underwood for making country work for American Idol, but come on, she had talent. This guy is horrible and at best deserves a routine on a cruise ship. And what kind of name is Bucky anyway? Grade: D

Paris Bennett - the 17 year old phenom continues to dazzle everyone and impresses me. She has such a drastic change between her speaking voice (sounds like she's 8 years old) and her singing voice where she can hang with any of the pop princesses.... song was just average though. Grade: B+

Chris Daughtry - That kicked ass. Seriously.... feel like I should be paying to watch him perform. He's obviously my favorite to win (as well as Simon's favorite to market as an "American Idol"). Grade: A+ (and then some) - It should be noted at this time that Paula's comments for Chris were about as dumb as she sounded all night.

Katharine McPhee - She's the only cute one left in my mind. Plus she can sing pretty well, but she looks bored on stage as she's singing. Has to work on that. Grade: B+

Taylor Hicks - (The Greyhaired Guy) - He should seriously do a Pee Wee Herman song cause that's who he reminds me of when he's dancing up there. What a weirdo. His singing is good, but he can't compete with the others. He does have the vote of the "Female Over 40" demographic I'm sure. He'll be around for a couple of more weeks though I'm sure. Grade: B- and note that it's obvious that Paula wants to "tutor" another American Idol contestant like she did with Corey Clark. Maybe she's just drunk on the show week after week.

Lisa Tucker - 16 year old that zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz oh sorry, what did I miss? I thought she was dressed like a hooker (Paula liked it though... what's that tell ya?), but that's not why fools fall in love. Sorry hun, you're bottom 3 again this week in my mind. Grade: C-

Harry Potter - doesn't he have Warthog school or whatever instead of wasting our time? Too many 8 year old girls staying up past their bedtime to vote for this shmuck. Grade: C- and that's only because I like that song. Didn't like the major pitch problems. And Paula... what the hell is "moxy"?

Elliott Yamin - at least he didn't cry when Barry came out like he did last week with Stevie. I was crying while having to listen to him (my TiVo had caught up at this point so I was forced to watch without being able to fast forward through his horrible performance). Grade: C

Kellie Pickler (aka - Carrie wannabe) - more country crap. And she's about as country as they come. And you all know how much I love country.... Grade: D but unfortunately I don't get a say

Ace Young - "you know how I know you're gay".... nevermind. Tanya, your boy was pretty crappy. Unless all the girls start voting for him just because they think they can make him straight, I'm thinking he was bottom 4, but won't be eliminated for a while yet. Grade: C+

BOTTOM 3 FOR ME: Bucky, Chicken Little, Lisa...... Bucky goes home (hopefully!!)

Paula Abdul - what the.... she is such a worthless idiot on the show. I didn't hear one comment that was worth listing here. Check out this article that has an interesting spin on her comments..... Grade: F

Song of the Day - I know Hazel idolizes Barry Manilow so I'll have to save tonight's American Idol for her to watch. Barry could still get any woman I think. As goofy as he looks, he still has "it". Mandy is the song everyone loves, but I like his Could It Be Magic much better.

Video of the Day - The original video that led to William Hung's fame.... he's still better than Bucky!

Webpage of the Day - New ISU coach was announced. All the way from.... Waterloo, IA!!! I'm happy with the change and McDermott has a winning history. Plus he beat Iowa this past year... hope he keeps that tradition alive for many many years. NOW get rid of McCarney!!

HAPPY SPRING BY THE WAY!!!

Home, Sick

It finally caught up with me dangit. My throat is killing me and I'm coughing enough to keep waking me up throughout the night. I should head in to the doctor for possible strep.

I caught up on my Apprentice watching last night. I'm not impressed this season so far. Part of me thinks they are no longer looking for a strong leader in their candidates, but rather the people that are going to be best for ratings. With that said, I think this season's group is a bunch of complete idiots that fail to prove to me how they have become "successful" in the real world.

I was surprised to see Brent go. I actually stood behind him in the fact that the others were ganging up on him and I didn't see him as a huge distraction. He was no "Markus" from Season 4 that was a continued distraction and lazy. Brent was neither of those from what I could see. It just felt like the team was a private club and since he didn't fit in like the rest of them, they did everything they could to get rid of him. It will be funny when team Synergy is back to their losing ways next week... I am not impressed with any of them.

With past episodes from this season, I think Trump was right in firing Stacy and Pepi... and Theresa. I do appreciate how Trump doesn't take crap and tells it how it is. I don't appreciate how I think every girl on the show has been on camera crying. I am not tolerant of crying in a business setting.... you have issues if you're letting something like this consume you to that point. It's different in a personal life, but not a business setting like this....

Charmaine is probably the next to go though, especially if Trump sees her crying and pouting like she did. And sorry, no early Season predictions yet... nobody has stood out as very good yet. In the words of Lenny "fire all of them!!"

Have a good day - I'm in need of some more cough syrup and OJ!

Song of the Day - I'm actually stuck with the "Everybody everybody" song from Homestarrunner.com in my head. Not sure why it gets there from time to time... possible new Strong Bad email today!

Video of the Day - The Day After Tomorrow was on this morning. The one with Dennis Quaid and all the snow. It is an ok movie, but very unbelievable in my mind. Especially about the two guys walking from Philly to NY in the snow... uphill both ways!! It has some cool effects though and it's the first big movie for Emmy Rossum (who played Christine in The Phantom of the Opera movie).

Webpage of the Day - Can't find anything funny for today - stop back tomorrow

Happy Monday!!

Dangit - I was a week off from celebrating S&BJ Day. I was still thinking it was March 20th but I missed the memo in 2003 switching it to March 14th.... oh well. Happy belated S&BJ day!! Wonder what happens if it hits a Friday, for those that are Catholic......

What a fun weekend of getting sick. Blah! Went to the cities Saturday for a baby shower and hung out with some friends all day and watched basketball which was a lot of fun. But then Hazel had a death in the family (yeah, another one unfortunately) so we were in Waverly, Iowa during the day yesterday helping out. My cold got worse and I'm coughing this morning. I stopped by my local friendly Wal-Mart to pick up some drugs and OJ this morning. Did you know you have to be 18 to buy cough syrup? I asked the lady when she was approving my cough syrup "Do I have to be 18 to buy the orange juice too?" She didn't think that was nearly as funny as I did.

Winter is still going strong for my relatives in Nebraska who are getting hit hard as I type this. That's your penalty for running up the score against Iowa State all those years (I think 50+ years to make up for). See..... God is an Iowa State fan and agrees with me. He just likes to watch us suffer with our crappy teams!

And of course an update with the basketball tourney..... I"m doing rather well (as usual) but using the "scenario generator" on my Yahoo! picks..... I can't win the Austin tournament. I'd get 2nd place by 1 point. I think the guy that would win has the EXACT same picks as me as he would always be one point ahead of me. Oh well, I'm still winning Kahn's tournament (again!) and I'm hoping Jen is making some money this year. To compare - I had 24 of the 32 teams in round 1, and I had 10 correct out of the Sweet 16. More importantly - I have 7 of my 8 still playing (only lost North Carolina... glad I didn't pick them over UConn like i was originally thinking of doing) and all 4 of my final 4 left..... that's a really good thing!!

But Friday was such an awesome day with the Smackeyes from Iowa losing in the first round in grand last second shot style! Nothing makes me happier than watching them lose! Congrats on blowing a good season in the first round as a 3 seed!! It also means that there are no more teams from the Big 10 left in the game!!!! That's awesome!! GO TEXAS and GO BIG 12!!!

Song of the Day - um..... nothing at the moment. I think the cold is stuffing up the part of my head that usually sings songs!!

Video of the Day - We started watching Sin City last night.... I still really like that movie and will probably finish that this week. That's the copy I won at Henry's Halloween party last year for being the first one to eat my big piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top... with no hands!!! Not sure why people thought they could beat me in an eating contest!! I'm undefeated!!!

Webpage of the Day - This is pretty sweet - dude dribbles a soccer ball for a while on his head, feet, etc. without letting it touch the ground. I'm impressed!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Saint Patrick was the patron saint of Ireland. And I looked it up for good measure but basically a "patron saint" is like a founding father for the Catholic Church. So St. Patrick was the one identified as first taking Catholicism to Ireland so was given the title "patron saint" by the Pope. St. Patrick lived back in the 5th Century for the record.

Basketball is underway and I'm not doin too shabby! I correctly picked 12 of the 16 games played so far, but more importantly, I have only lost one of my final 16 teams (Syracuse) and I still have 100% of my 8/4/2/1 left in the tourney. And yes, I was getting scared watching Gonzaga but I knew the boys would pull it out!!! More games today including a hopeful upset of Northwestern St. over the Squawkeyes from Iowa City. I hate those guys. And yes, hate is such a "soft" word when you talk about them.

Brews Brothers took 5 of 7 points last night in the "position round" night of bowling. The most important part of last night is the realization that there is only one more week of bowling left... THEN GOLF SEASON STARTS!!! Brews Bros finish below .500 for the season but last night was an inspiring night at the lanes without our star athlete - Fisher.....

And if anyone cares, US Baseball team lost to Mexico so they are out of the games. Yes, that means that the sport that is "America's Pastime" is also the sport that we lost to both our neighbors (Canada and Mexico) in. That's like owning a pool table and your neighbors come over and kick your ass on it and then go home laughing about it. And one of your neighbors was a drunk guy from the north side of the house that is better dressed to play curling or hockey. Funny.... that's what we get for sending our superstar pros that are obsessed with money. Don't know how to play for pride anymore.

Song of the Day - I thought this picture was really funny so I'm going to share it with you.... Alright



You all know the words..... and now it's stuck in your head as it is stuck in mine!

Video of the Day - For those that love hockey - and for those that don't.... this is why I watch hockey. A great fight that even drags out the goalies!!

Webpage of the Day - And for anyone that hasn't figured it out yet.... you can watch the bball games FOR FREE from your laptop. Video is really good and you just have to register is all. It's called "March Madness on Demand" and there's only about a 2 minute delay from the TV. Hint if you use it, don't have a scoreboard up otherwise you'll see the scores updated before the TV broadcast. Also good to watch if there's a game out of your region that they're not showing on your local CBS. And yes, productivity at the work place will suffer... DEAL WITH IT:)

Have a great weekend and Happy St. Patty's Day!!

Let It Snow Baby!!!

It's snowing out, with the heavy stuff on its way. It'll be interesting to see how many people do not show up for work today. Especially with the games starting this morning on TV..... why am I here already???

I'm getting on the American Idol bandwagon now after they finally eliminated the Bantha Fodder (Star Wars Reference) that had no hopes of winning. So after watching the performances from Tuesday night, I would have gladly sent home Bucky the Slack-Jawed Yokel (Simpsons Reference) and never cried over it. Or Kellie who is the Carrie Underwood wannabe that has the IQ of a chimp. Sorry, the country singing works one season, if they make it a 2nd (with far less talent) then they need to redefine it to American's Hillbilly Idol. I was surprised to see Ace in the bottom 3 (Sorry Tonya, I know how much you are in love with him) but who knows who America's voting for now a days. Melissa wasn't that great, but I didn't think she was that horrible either. If nothing else, she has the American Idol look that I thought would keep her around. I enjoy watching Paris and Chris though, I would call those two my final two at this point. On the bright side, there's only 2 nights a week of American Idol now and Unan1mous starts next week!!!!

Bowling enters the Playoffs tonight. Fink, Krabby, and Pat are keeping the Brews Brothers afloat tonight and hopefully take more than the 0 we took last week. I'm up next week then we are finished with the longest season ever known to man!!! We're well ahead of the Lightning Dorks in the standings so at least we have that minor victory after losing to them earlier in the season..... need to figure out a rematch somehow.

And for those people making last minute changes to their picks.... go with Duke. I hate Duke more than anyone out there, but these boys are good. I have Duke over UConn in the final game, with Ganzaga and Villanova the others in the final 4. It's all about streaks and winning your conference titles which neither UConn or Villanova did. We'll see how I did this year but at this point, I'm confident in my picks.

Song of the Day - I think the best Stevie Wonder song is either My Cherie Amour or Ebony and Ivory (with Paul McCartney). I'm surprised nobody did the first one at American Idol the other night (Stevie Wonder night).... of did I miss someone doing it? And no You are the Sunshine of My Life either.... hmmm....

Video of the Day - I also watched Melinda and Melinda this weekend. It's a very strange movie from Woody Allen and I think the reason I added it to my Netflix queue was because it had Will Farrell in it. He was ok in it, but the plot was strange. I'm not a huge Woody Allen fan but I know his films are always ones that I watch and have little emotion afterwards for some reason....

Webpage of the Day - Thanks to Drew for today's submission that kicks ass! And Kahn, this one is clean.... I PROMISE!!! How fast can you defeat Super Mario Brothers 1? I get hung up on 8-2 all the time but nothing slows these guys down. 6 minutes, 25 seconds!!! Impressive!!

Death to Phil and Bill... and Jill, Gill.....

Sorry for the Muppets take Manhattan reference... anyone catch that?

I do hate Groundhogs though. Sorry Christie, but Unadilla Bill was WAY off... but so was Punxsutawney Phil. What a bunch of morons. They should run for public office with as wrong as they are all the time. Get Phil to say "Weapons of Mass Destruction" and he's hired!

We got some heavy wet snow on Monday and then a cold spell yesterday and today...... NOW we're in a winter storm warning tonight from 6pm to 6am on Thursday. YUCK! It's almost 6 weeks after Groundhog's Day (Tomorrow will be exactly 6 weeks) and we're getting the most snow and winter type weather yet for the year. Dang Groundhogs.... I still trust them more than the weather man though. Prediction is 7-9 inches when all is said and done tomorrow - we'll see how they do. Hazel can use her new snow shovel again that is getting a TON of usage. How many of you women get this much use out of your flowers a month after Valentine's Day? Guess that makes me look all that much smarter now doesn't it?

Speaking of predictions.... NCAA starts tomorrow (today with the lame "entry" game) - I am pretty sure my winning picks are finalized. Only thing that would change them at this point is a major injury, or arrest, or academic probation. All of those are capable with College Athletes.

And finally I complain about Sam Palmisano getting a 29.2% raise. He will take home 11.4 MILLION DOLLARS in compensation for the past year. This year, we'd be thankful as employees at the bottom rung to get a 2.92% raise, let alone 29%. It just baffles me how one person can be worth that much in a company. Someday I'll be CEO and do the Steve Jobs thing where he takes home $1 in salary, the rest in stock options. Causes him to work harder to keep stock up. Just my soap box for the day.

Song of the Day - Hazel got me a great Disco CD this past weekend but it's from a cover band. As we were looking, there are no good CDs of Disco that are originals... they're all cover bands. The best cover band for Disco that I've seen is The Travoltas in Davenport. I need to find out when they're playing again and head down there. I'm also going to start looking through my way too many song collection and make a best of Disco CD or two for the car:) But this morning I heard the original Roller Coaster by the Ohio Players (the one by the Chili Peppers kicks ass too though) - ok, so maybe it's more Funk, but still fun to dance to.

Video of the Day - I watched All The Right Moves this past weekend with Tom Cruise. He was so young then but still quite good at overacting to the point of it not being believable. No way is a high school kid that emotional, sorry. But Craig T Nelson did a fine job in preparation for his TV role in Coach! And Lea Thompson was cute back then.... even in her Back to the Future days.... what happened to her now?

Webpage of the Day - I found this obscure, but funny.... Man was caught smuggling 1067 baby crocodiles in his car in South Africa. What gets me is the line "without the necessary permits"..... you can get a crocodile transportation permit? SIGN ME UP!!!

Have a great Wednesday!

BRING ON THE SNOW!!!

It's Gotta Be The Shoes

Thank goodness for that kick a** shovel I bought Hazel for Valentine's Day. We got some thick heavy snow (with ice underneath) yesterday and it was annoying to drive and even walk on. Best part is paying dues every month to my association to have someone else shovel my driveway, then coming home and it's still not done. I don't understand why they have to wait till the middle of the night to do it all the time. Oh well.

I broke out the Jordan DVDs last night. We watched the 69 point performance from 1990 against Cleveland. What a fun time to watch the "high tech" graphics of the 1990s. The players look pretty lanky as well, especially Jordan and Pippen. Makes me wish I would have gone to one of the games live though. I'll have to relive them over and over again with my DVDs now... to the delight of Hazel I'm sure!

Got your picks done yet for the Tourney that starts Thursday? I'm pretty close. I will probably revisit my picks over the next couple of days. If you need some hints or suggestions, my advice is available for 50 cents a pick. That's a steal!

Peter Tomarken was in a plane crash yesterday and died. He was the host of Press Your Luck. You know, the Wammy show! I think I watched that game show more than any other growing up. I watched Tic Tac Dough and Price is Right a lot as well. And does anyone else remember the MTV game show Remote Control? Well before the days of Singled Out with Jenny and Carmen. What other ones am I forgetting? Card Sharks was Pat's favorite.

Speaking of Press Your Luck - if you haven't' seen the special about Michael Larsen who scammed the gameshow by memorizing the patterns of the curser and ended up with over 100,000 bucks (usually a score in the 20,000 - 30,000 would win easily) - there's a special on the Game Show Network from time to time. Here's a webpage if you want a longer read to entertain yourself. It's really a classic example of how humans are still smarter than computers. Too bad the guy was a little creepy when you watch it.

Song of the Day - Like Mike.... if I can be like Mike.... (commercial is here.... sing along at home)

Video(s) of the Day - All the Mars Blackman commercials starring Spike.... and MONEY!!!! I love it:

Is It the Shoes
Air Jordan V
Aeronautics and Astronautics
Air Jordan IV
Air Jordan IV Part II
Above the Rim
Nobody

Webpage of the Day - Jordan's "Greatest Commercials" - according to ESPN.com. I would probably change the order around making the commercials with "Mars" #1. I also would add the new commercials for the Jordan XXIs on there. I love that one!

Peace Out

Pick 'Em Is Out

It's Monday and it's snowing like mad outside. We had a loud thunderstorm in the real early morning which is turning to ice now. So roads are pretty crappy and the snow has chances of being thick (visibility is poor right now). And for anyone in Rochester thinking about going to Chipotle for lunch, let me give you a heads up. The last snow storm we had, they were closed for the day. Whimps. So don't even think of going there for lunch today!

NASCAR had a crazy finish in Vegas. Drew was almost right with his pick but Jimmy passed him on the last lap to win yet again. Carl finished 26th. No, Jill - this was NOT last place. But close enough;)

And NCAA brackets are out. You'll have till Wednesday to fill them out. I'm usually in two different tourneys every year with folks from work in one (both Austin, TX and Rochester) and Kahn has the other. Haven't seen anything from Kahn yet.... But I have won both of them for the past 2 years.... not to be arrogant about it but - I RULE!!! I'll post my predictions on Thursday when the games start so you can track my progress every weekend.

Concerts are over with till end of April. Our Friday night performance was best comparable to a Train sliding all over the place but never really leaving the tracks and ending up where it's supposed to be in one place. Hazel said it sounded fine but there were a lot of scary moments where I didn't think it was going to hold together. Saturday night went a lot better other than the "Equipment Malfunction" of the oboe player right as her solo began. We stopped, Amy explained to the audience what had happened, then we started the movement over. I was ok with that. It's the rest of the talking to the audience that I could do without.

Enjoy the snow.... still wondering when the nice weather is here to stay!

Song of the Day - I got new stuff from Amazon this week! It's like Christmas at the house when I get packages from Amazon. I snagged a Bernstein recording of Beethoven 6 (Pastoral) and Beethoven 8, which I realized I had neither of in my collection. Not sure what was wrong with me. Beethoven 6 was used in the original Fantasia (no, not Flip Fantasia) by Disney for those that remember it.

Video of the Day - The coolest thing I received from Amazon was the Ultimate Jordan DVD set! It says "3 DVDs" but it's actually 6 since all the discs are double sided. The back sides of the DVDs include 5 complete broadcasts of Jordan's greatest games! NO COMMERCIALS!!! So now I can be even more worthless and watch some vintage Jordan. It also includes some of his Come Fly With Me and other videos that I used to have as a kid from Sports Illustrated or whatever.

Webpage of the Day - This is unbelievable. Your President... who is the "moral" and "Christian" president that everyone voted for since Democrats are nothing but evil in so many of your minds..... Looks like Dub-ya is having lunch with a porn star. Explain that one all you right wing hypocrites!

Friday - Happy Birthday Chuck!

It's Friday... finally! And Spring is starting to show here in Rochester with temperatures into the 40s yesterday and today. The snow is still apparent in some places (where they push all of it into one big pile in the parking lot making grown adults wanting to go play King of the Mountain during recess) but that might change after the weekend.

Iowa State lost last night so they're hopes of playing in the Tourney are over with. I know some people thrive on the NIT but I'm not one of them. So if they make that, yay for them.... as far as I'm concerned, the season is over. When do we get a new coach?

Speaking of crappy quarterbacks, the buzz in Minnesota is all about Culpepper whining about how he wants out of his contract or traded blah blah blah. What a baby. Good riddance is what I have to say! I think he was close to leading the league in interceptions when he only played half the schedule anyway. Dante, you're HURT, you are IMMATURE, and you SUCK!! Not sure what teams will want that but good luck to you. Hopefully you won't be in jail for your sex boat trip.

Red Wings continue to play well with a win last night. With 20 games to go, they should easily make the playoffs but hopefully have enough steam in them to bring home the Cup!

And NASCAR is back this weekend from Vegas. Any predictions?

Concerts tonight and tomorrow night in La Crosse (no speeding ticket for me last night!). It'll be interesting as there is some good music being played and some really awesome parts, and some parts where we definitely need more practice. Hopefully these things have a habit of coming together as they usually do for us.

Song of the Day - I have some good jazz going today with a little bit of Wynton Marsalis and his septet performing In This House, On This Morning where they translate a worship service into jazz. Has a Call to Prayer, a Processional, Hymns, more Prayer, Choral Reponse, of course the Sermon, Invitational, Recessional and the Benediction. It's pretty cool for anyone that loves Jazz.

Video of the Day - A recent thing from Netflix was Yo-Yo Ma's performing of the Bach Cello Suites where he talks about the pieces and then performs them with images to accompany. A wonderful mixture of visual and audio art together.

Webpage of the Day - HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHUCK NORRIS!!! No joke! So today I give you even more true facts about Chuck Norris.... including Geico saved 15% by switching to Chuck Norris!

Ho Hum

It's Thursday which means..... it's Thursday!

I fixed the "Garage Door Opener Scandal of 2006" that has been annoying me for a couple of months now. Let me tell you about it.....

On my continued list of "practical gifts to say 'I Love You'", I had bought Hazel a Keyless Garage Door Opener to attach to the outside of her house. I seem to always find the coldest days of this Winter to try to program it and it wasn't working first try (as mine had last summer when I had programmed it). So I just kept putting it off. Well I finally gave in and bought her a different brand thinking that might have been the problem all along (yet ANOTHER way for me to say "I Love You' - how many women now have TWO keyless garage door openers? That's how special Hazel is to me). I happened to be right and I thought that was the end of it...... nope.

When we came home this weekend from Iowa, her garage was wide open and I remembered shutting it. Didn't think too much of it till Tuesday morning her coworker drove by in the middle of the morning and it was wide open. Then again that night. Then Hazel heard it go off twice Wednesday morning while she was around the house. I figured out that while messing with the "Learn" function, her neighbor opened their garage door somehow and accidentally programmed their remote to Hazel's door. So when they open their door using that button, they open and close hers:)

So I was able to reset it last night and reprogram all of the controllers and I think we're done with it finally! PHEW!!!

Iowa State tips off tonight against Oklahoma State who we just beat a couple of weeks ago. It'd be nice to get into the final 4 of the Big 12 Tourney if not further. I think we'll have to win it in order to make the Big Dance this year. Just hope Northern Iowa makes it so I can cheer for them at least. I hope the Squawkeyes lose by 50 points whenever they play on Friday.

Rehearsal again tonight. We have an unusual but fun concert cycle this time around if anyone's interested in either Friday or Saturday night concerts. Let me know so Hazel has someone to sit with Friday night. On tap is Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique which is very visual and programmatic down to the point of being able to hear a head get chopped off and bounce down the stairs... and of course held up for the crowd to see and cheer for!! We're also playing two concerto movements by Tschaikovsky - one for cello (Roccoco Variations) and one for piano (Tschaikovsky's famous Piano Concerto #1). Come out and enjoy it if you have nothing else to do. Only one more concert in April then we're done till October.

Song of the Day - I had Tommy going through my head yesterday again. I think it's because of watching Rent this past weekend. Tommy has some awesome music by The Who. I have both the original version from 1970something (from Donette for $3 back at Towers!) and the Broadway Recording. Each is good in it's own regards.

Video of the Day - We watched The Interpreter this past weekend as well with Nicole Kidman (your favorite Matt). It was hard to follow at times and overall was a disappointment. Her acting abilities are still up for question......

Webpage of the Day - David Hasselhoff is getting a divorce so anyone that's interested in him... he has such good music and still holds the title of "My favorite music video ever made"

Speeding Right Along

I hate cops. So I had rehearsal in La Crosse last night. We had a meeting of the Orchestra Committee scheduled last night after rehearsal with our Conductor, Executive Director, and our Personnel Director to address some concerns of the Orchestra. I decided to stay for it even though it meant delaying my commute and I wouldn't be getting back into Rochester till midnight or later. I was being a nice guy... right?

Meeting went fine and then I left. As I drove over the Big Blue Bridge in La Crosse over the Mighty Mississippi, I had already started to break realizing that momentum was taking me way too fast on the down side of the bridge. Too late... there was a speed trap sitting at the bottom waiting for me and I knew I was screwed. It's 30mph on the bridge, and 40 about 100 yards once you are off the bridge. I was doing 42 when I saw the cop.

So one of his tag team buddies pulled me over (there was another car pulled over about 2 minutes after me). Remember that this is at 11pm already. He was a "nice guy" and knocked it down to 40 in a 30 which I was accepting of. I don't get warnings, I've accepted that - plus with it being a speed trap, they were out for the kill.

I have a bad history of speeding tickets. BUT I'd like to remind everyone that for the past two months (almost two whole months), my record was clean for insurance purposes. They track speeding tickets for three years and it had been well over three since my last citation. So here I give you a list (as much in order as I can remember) of all my driving citations for your amusement this morning:

1) SPEEDING - I had my license less than a year and the cop was sitting on Forest Drive in Cedar Rapids on the last turn before approaching Washington High School (GO WARRIORS!!). He claimed I was going 42 in a 25 but a week later I tried to do 42 in my car on that same corner and about rolled the car. I think he was a lying dirt bag.
2) RUNNING A RED LIGHT - Summer after graduation before college (GO CYCLONES!!). We were late for the movie Judge Dredd and I hit a light pretty "pink" as the officer put it. Red and yellow don't make pink... they make orange. Idiot - doesn't even know his colors.
3) SPEEDING - While doing an internship here in Rochester, I spent the weekend in Ames, but thought I'd be a NICE GUY and go out of my way to see my parents on the Sunday before heading home. It was about 2 hours out of the way but worth it. On my way back to Rochester the pig pulled me over as soon as I had crossed the border into Minnesota.
4) SPEEDING - I was coming back the following summer (1999) for another internship at 2am with a car full of stuff that I would need for that summer. Luckily I had my wallet on me and I didn't have to dig through my car for everything.
5) SPEEDING - My last year at ISU. Damn DPS pulled me over at 3:30am when I was about 1/4 mile from my apartment. I had been practicing all night and was dead tired and no idea how fast I was going.
6) SPEEDING - My return trip from Kentucky to see Jeremy and Rachael (about 3 weeks before Elliott was born). Pig pulled me over in Indiana, about 5 miles from the Illinois border. My first speeding ticket that was in the daylight.
7) SPEEDING - Driving Mom's Blazer back from Rochester with Jeremy, Rachael and a screaming young Elliott in the car (pre-Al). On our way back to Iowa from Rochester, we were trying to catch up to mom and dad to get within radio contact to tell them to pull over for Elliott. Piggy didn't see it that way though.
8) SPEEDING - I was running home in Rochester after my last trip to Ireland (2003) to get paperwork for my Travel Report. It was 40 below that day and I just wanted to get home where it was warm. Pig pulled me over in front of my house on 19th Street NW.
9) WARNING - This one was dumb. He caught me doing "40" (I said I was going under 40) on a three lane one way right in front of the Brewery in La Crosse. I told him I thought the speed limit was 35 and he said it might be in Minnesota. I would have fought this one anyways as there was only one speed limit sign at that time on that road when I turned on and it was on the LEFT side of the road. Who looks over there for a speed limit sign. They have since moved it to the right side.
10) SPEEDING - Last night in La Crosse. I think I'm now "gold status" with the cops. Do I win the toaster yet?

So there you go - amuse yourselves in my tragedy. This week just keeps getting worse! I think speeding tickets should be tax deductible!! Anyway, be careful in La Crosse this week! They're out for blood..... or pig's feed.

Song of the Day - There were a couple that came to mind (Bob Marley and NWA come to mind.... anyone follow me?) but I'll stick to Inner Circle's famous Bad Boys that everyone knows from COPS.

Video of the Day - This video shows you what kind of geniuses I'm dealing with here.

Webpage of the Day - Dedicated to all of America's Finest Cops out there.... I salute you with this picture!!

Tuesday with Spring on the way

Thank you all again for your thoughts and prayers the past couple of days. It's been a sudden shock. Nyla was one of my mom's older sisters who has lived in Florida all of my life so we don't see her and the family as often. I have two cousins that are both getting married this summer (April and August) and that will be a hard thing to do now without their mother. There is a memorial service this week in Ft. Lauderdale that will be attended by many since she was a beloved teacher and I'm sure there will be lots of teachers and kids there to honor her. Then in May, we will have a family service in North Carolina where she and my uncle had a cabin for some 20 years. Nyla would spend a lot of time there in the summers so they are going to bury her ashes there sometime in May when the weather gets nicer. It'll be a lot of family that hasn't had the opportunities to get together in one large group for a very long time.

I'm back in Rochester and going to work later today. I need some practice time and have to run a few errands this morning due to all of the unusual happenings this weekend.

Kirby Puckett passed away yesterday pretty unexpectedly as well. Been a rough weekend as I said.

Thank you again all for your prayers. It is much appreciated.

Song of the Day - The Midwest says goodbye to Mr. Pitzen who is moving to California permanently (after spending 7+ months there in a hotel) this week. He called me from Missouri last night and requested a great song by Notorious BIG (Biggy Biggy Biggy, can't you see) - Going Back To Cali. So yes Brian, this song is for you and good luck driving. And good luck with the earthquakes:)

Video of the Day - Watched Rent which I rather enjoyed, but I know Hazel wasn't too keen on. It's a modern day musical which is in a different category than the traditional musicals that set the standard years ago (Oklahoma!, Music Man, etc). It's very modern and controversial in subject matters so for those that are bothered by "non-traditional relationships", it might not be a movie for you. Oh, and expect a lot of singing!

Webpage of the Day - On the subject of controversial subject matter.... Homecoming King at Hood College is "non-traditional". Funny to read some of the comments.

My Aunt Nyla passed away late Saturday night. I am in Cedar Rapids for a couple of days with my mom and family. I will be back to Rochester and blogging again soon. Thank you all for your thougths and prayers!

Asking anyone who reads this to pray for my Aunt Nyla in Florida please. She developed pneumonia late this week and had to be admitted to the hospital and now her kidneys have shut down among other things. We're not sure what will happen yet..... I'll keep you posted. Thank you.

TGIF

It's Friday and yet another week closer to golf season. Good thing too as the Brews Brothers didn't show up last night and went 0 for 7. Only 3 more weeks to the LONGEST sport season known to man! Then Wednesday nights become the focus for golf league:)

Quick question for the day comes from Maureen in Rochester.... or Decorah..... or wherever:)

Do only Catholics do ashes on their forehead? You're the coolest person on the whole planet!!!

Ok, maybe I added that last part. I had more space to fill up. But thanks for your question Maureen! Ash Wednesday began in Catholicism as the start of the period of Lent. As other forms of Christianity developed a desire to share in the "preparation for Easter" season, they also accepted the celebration of Ash Wednesday. So no, not only Catholics do ashes on the forehead. The symbolism of the cross on the forehead echoes the ancient tradition of throwing ash over one's head signifying repentance before God. And another little bit of info - a lot of churches will take the previous year's palm branches (from Palm Sunday) and burn them creating the ash used for the following year's Ash Wednesday. Just in case you were wondering where the ash comes from!

Claire, your question will have to wait due to it's..... uncommonality:)

Catching up on the "reality" TV...... Apprentice has begun but I haven't seen it yet. American Idol is going strong. While I'm not an "avid" watcher yet (probably won't till it gets to the final 4 or so), I'm amazed with how successful they continue to be with that show even though (in my opinion), the talent factor continues to decline. Unfortunately for us all, The Bachelor is finished. Some girl won and the losers are all the people that watch that stuff. Seriously, who cries after not "winning" a guy that they've known for like 2 weeks.... the whole time he's making out with all the other girls in the house as well. I guess after Joe Millionare, I see no point in the rest of these shows.

I am excited for the new show coming to Fox (of course, only Fox has the GOOD stuff!) called Unan1mous. Yes, it's spelled with a "1" in there. They are locking 9 people in a bunker till they vote unanimously for one person out of the bunch to get 1.5 million dollars. Of course there are no people in the middle, to stir up controversy, they have selected 9 people that are very far to the left, or very far to the right. The longer they wait to vote, the less money that is available. And somehow they will start selecting people to no longer be eligible for the money. I think it's a great concept that will of course bring out the worst in people!

Song of the Day - Gas prices are back to $2.39 a gallon here in Rochester. I have a feeling we'll see $2.60+ over Memorial Day weekend. So today I need to find some blues to listen to. I'll have to see what I can find.

Video of the Day - Thanks to Wieman for today's suggestion..... a bunch of college aged kids in Atlanta decide to see what happens when they drive the posted speed limit of 55 on the main interstate in Atlanta. Wait for it because the best part is towards the end when they show the results of their "Meditation".

Webpage of the Day - nothing humorous today, but rather in my research for the Ash Wednesday question, I found a wonderful poem by TS Eliot titled "Ash Wednesday" that I'd like to share. It's a spiritual poem that has a few lines in it that will give you chills!

Mail Bag

It's Thursday and since it's March, we received a trace of snow last night. Welcome to Minnesota where we get more snow the last week of February and beginning of March then we do in December and January combined. I'm ready for the snow to stop as I think everyone is.

Two questions were sent in for today (wow! These things really do get read!). First one from my big brother in Kentucky asks:

Dear Jeeves,If you really want to impress me, find out where the practice of no meat on Friday originated (also not biblical, has something to do with one of the popes). Is that a question?

"Jeeves"? I'm honored! Well Dr. Dickinson, the original Christians were Jewish. By Jewish customs, it was common to fast, especially for holidays and on Mondays and Thursdays (can't find exactly why those days at the moments). It is believed that the first Christians changed the fasting days to Wednesday and Fridays because the two days to mourn were the day that Judas turned Jesus over to the authorities (Wednesday) and Jesus was crucified on Good Friday. Through time, society pressures have moved this time of fasting to almost non-existent. Eastern Orthodox still practice the twice a week fasting ritual, but most forms of Catholicism encourage, but don't mandate fasting during Lent.

Now why no meat? Again, not Biblical but more traditional. Historically, meat was a "luxury" food. Most common people (such as the Jews and early Christians) would have to buy it from someone since it was expensive to own land and cattle. But vegetables could be grown by these same people, and they could also catch fish - so neither of these items were considered "luxurious". Poor people could eat fish so for most people, they could humble themselves by giving up the "luxuries" in life and stick with the things most common to society. Funny how now, Fish can cost more than hamburger:) Except Fish sticks - those things just smell really really bad.

Pope Nicholas I (858-867) made fasting from meat obligatory for the Catholic Church. There was a Canon 1251 in 1983 that states: Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Thanks Brother Dickinson for the question.

The next question comes from Heather in Ankeny:

What is the difference between a Chihuahua and a mini Chihuahua? Aren't all Chihuahua's small? Anyway, I saw that they have a police "mini Chihuahua" somewhere on the news this morning and it got me wondering.

Thanks Heather for asking. The new craze for celebrities and little dogs is annoying, yet unavoidable. The "mini" Chihuahua are sometimes referred to as "TeaCup" or "Deer-faced" Chihuahuas are even smaller than the already small dog. They make Riley look like a monster giant in comparison! But most often, these smaller dogs are being sought due to their even more convenient size. These "mini" Chihuahuas are mainly the dwarfs, or runts in the litters. This is common in any breed of dog, but now they are becoming popular among Chihuahuas so breeders are charging more for the rare smaller dogs. I don't think Purrrrrcilla would like a "mini" brother to play with so hope you're not getting any ideas!

Keep the questions coming! I'll answer anything!


Song of the Day - I'm Mike Jones, Who.... Mike Jones, Who.... Mike Jones

Video of the Day - Hmm.... I need to find some new movies to watch. Not even sure what I have at home from Netflix.

Webpage of the Day - I found a page for Chipotle that has nutritional information and recipes of some of their stuff. I've always liked their rice there. But now I'm laying off of Chipotle for a while after "building" my burrito from yesterday that ended up at 1100 Calories! That sucks! But they're so good... why would God let us create such a good food if it was meant to be so bad for us....

Beginning of Lent

Happy Ash Wednesday! In honor of Lent, I usually partake in the Catholic tradition of giving something up for Lent. Not because I'm Catholic, but because I think it's a great concept of giving up something that you use or do on a regular basis that you know you probably could do without. So this year, I'm giving up the following:

1) Alcohol. I think I've done this one every year for the past 6 years now. Only time I get tempted is bowling nights....
2) Caffeine. This is a new one for me this year. I know I no longer have my caffeine addiction that I had in college. I remember going to my doctor in college and he asked how much pop I drank and I told him he really didn't want to know. I think my last year when I never slept I was drinking a 2 liter of Mt. Dew every day (it was 99 cents and COLD at QT in Campustown). I can now go an extended time without caffeine, but not sure I've ever done 40 days. Now this is only direct forms like coffee, tea, pop (for those raised in IA), soda (for those raised in MN).... not sure what they say in Nebraska.
3) Candy. This one actually has more to do with my diet than Lent but I'll throw it on here to impress my mom.

Eddie and Pitzen - don't forget to give something up, and NO MEAT on Fridays for you. I'll enjoy a nice juicy steak for you!

Speaking of Lent, today's question revolves around the history and origins of Lent. I'd like to remind my readers that if you have any questions for me (either personal, professional, or just a random information quest) send them my way!!!

I received a letter from Mike Rotch in Buhmbel Fuhk, Egypt who writes:

Hey Adam! Thanks for all the great insight and humor you always provide every day! My question involves Lent. Nowhere in the Bible do I find any information about Lent. Can you help me out?

Thanks for the question Mike! Lent is the 40 day period before Easter (not including Sundays) that is used in preparation for the arrival of Easter. It began as a holy week, but due to the overwhelming symbolic use of the number 40 in the Bible, it was changed to represent the period of temptation and suffering before Easter when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Christ, along with resurrection of ourselves.

The number 40 appears in the Bible as the number of days spent by Jesus fasting in the wilderness while being tempted by the Devil all this time, Jonah gave Nineveh 40 days in which to repent, the Jews wandered the desert for 40 years traveling to the promised land with Moses, 40 days and nights of the Great Flood and Noah, Elijah walked for 40 days and 40 nights.... so sure, the number 40 when attributed to "suffering" makes sense.

As for the term "Lent" and its use in the Bible, there is some debate as to if this period was actually participated in by the Apostles (the First Christian Church) after the Ascension of Jesus. I tend to believe that Lent is a post-Biblical tradition and its officialization can be traced to the Council of Nicea in AD 325. Christianity was legalized in AD 313 but there are letters even before then of a preparation time for Easter.

And why give up the good stuff during Lent? While originally Lent was setup as a time of fasting (fasting was much more common in Biblical times in preparation of Holy Events) but modern Christians find fasting difficult with our modern lifestyles. So Lent is basically a time for a more strict diet. Some divisions of Catholicism even give up Meat and milk ("essentials") for the entire 40 days, not just on Fridays.

There you go Mike - hope this helps! Keep those questions coming!!

Song of the Day - Today is a Classical selection. I pulled out the recording I have of the Brahms Piano Concerto. It's one of the few pieces by Brahms that I enjoy. We performed this with HOOBERT last year in La Crosse. Those were some good memories!

Video of the Day - Thanks to Wieman for the suggestion for today. Chris, you'll really like this one!! Microsoft repackages the iPod for marketing! Very funny if you understand the different market strategies between Apple and Microsoft. And some great Danny Elfman music to enjoy with it!

Webpage of the Day - Lady gets scammed on ebay for a $2400 wedding dress. Not sure what pisses me off more about this, the fact that they try to make people not trust ebay, or the fact that the lady was dumb enough to go down a multi-red-flagged path to get screwed over! I won my ebay case;) I'm a huge fan of it!