COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF

The 2006 (and into January 2007... I can feel it) season is about to begin for the Iowa State Cyclones! The Game starts at 7pm tonight - I assume Pitzen is already tailgating this morning. I'm half tempted to pay the $5 to listen to the game on Yahoo! radio. I might also have to look into Sirius radio subscription sometime so I can listen to the games.

The Cyclones return 10 Offensive Starters, and 4 Defensive Starters. Those are some good numbers considering we averaged some 28 points a game last year I believe. The defense took a hit, but I think they'll still be up for the challenge this year and will execute just as well as they have in the past. Our Offensive really clicked at the right times last year, and Stevie Hicks should be a lot closer to 100% this year. STE-VIE!!!

The boys in Cardinal and Gold have a lot tougher schedule this year though. 9 of the 12 teams we play came out of a bowl game appearance. This stat isn't as scary when you consider that over 50% of the teams out there will make a bowl appearance in the "IGotSlimed.com Bowl" or the "WTF.com Bowl" that plague the system. But this year has the Cyclones playing in 12 of the next 12 weekends. Yup, you heard correctly. No weeks off this year which I'm ok with. Any injuries could cost us though. We're playing AT Texas, AT Oklahoma and we'll whoop up the dumbasses in Iowa City this year to show how over-rated they are. So schedule aside, the entire success of this season comes down to one thing:

Mr. Dan McCarney. Senior Dan McCarney.... Monsignor... Dan McCarney. When the pressure is on, when you're leading the game... are you going to pull out the infamous "draw up the middle" and then punt the ball? We have an explosive offense that has proven their worth.... PLAY TO WIN!!! McCarney is still the worst coach out there because he never PLAYS TO WIN!!! That is why we continue to come up short in the big games - because he plays so conservatively in the 4th quarter and we play to hold a lead. You'll lose 3/4 of the time if that's the case. So McCarney... please play more aggressively for once in the 4th quarter. I'm tired of watching 14 point leads fade away late. I'm tired of relying on our defense every time to get us the win. That should not be the case this year.

So my prediction still stands... 12 games will finish us with a 9-3 record. I will predict every week as it comes, like tonight for instance. The Toledo Butt Rockets come to town and the Blue and Yellow will get spanked back to Ohio where they belong.

We'll be seeing a lot of celebrations this year in the Cyclone Endzone! Here's my favorite from last year to share with y'all:



That's right Todd Blythe.... we WILL be #1!!!

Song of the Day - Cyclone Fight Song will be going on through my head today. I can't find a decent, "non-marching band" mp3 or WAV out there of the fight song. I do have the one of the ISU singers but that's not cool for a cell phone. I just want to piss off my neighbor in the cubes at work (Stoen) that hates the Cyclones because he was educated poorly. Anyone? Anyone?

Video of the Day - Nothing Cyclones here, but I did see Club Dread this past weekend which is the 2nd movie by the Broken Lizard boys (think Super Troopers - Hazel's FAVORITE movie). It's not as funny as Super Troopers but does have it's moments. The dude that plays Farva actually plays the hero in this one! I did catch the name of the boat that sank off of the island.... the USS RamRod!!! Nice! Are you ready for Beerfest???

Webpage of the Day - Anyone want to travel to Southern Mississippi on Sept 9? We could see (not joking here) VANILLA ICE!!! Looks like he performs for about $10,000.... we need him at the next IBM celebration in the 105 degree heat. Instead of playing songs about the hot summer, we need a little Ice Ice Baby (too cold, too cold).

But How Does It Feel???

Random thoughts as I read my USA Today from Tuesday:

* Bob Dylan has another album. Trying to figure out who looks more freakish scary - Dylan or Bowie.
* US wins the Little League World Series..... That's the only true "World" Series that I think the US could win at this point. I put Dominican Republic on the top of my list of favorites to win if we did a real "World" Series
* Speaking of "Not-Guilty by terms of Insanity"... That should be the plea for this Karr guy. Why would you say that you did it when there is so much evidence saying you didn't do it. What a nutcase. The guy needs some serious help.
* Iowa Governor Vilsack (insert Beavis and Butthead type of joke here) is still contemplating a run for President. I think the guy is an idiot and doesn't stand a chance. Not sure who tells these folks that they should run but I think that money could be spent better somewhere else.
* Winchester, KY makes the National news due to a Mercury Spill. A student dropped a thermometer and the high school was "locked down". Bet that was scary to hear with the modern day occurrences of shootings and such.
* US Open was held up by rain all day yesterday. So they showed a replay of the Agassi/Blake Quarterfinal match from 2005 and wow was it incredible to relive that set. I taped the last set so I have one of the most incredible service return shots I've ever seen by Agassi (down 4-5 [a break] in the 5th set, from the backhand side). I'll work on putting it online this weekend.
* I do like this "instant replay" system they are using on the main two courts (Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium for those that are curious).
* Strong rumors that Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick are an item (after he "casually" went to watch her match the other day). How many people around the world (both male and female) is that going to crush if it's true?
* The Emmys are announced and......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
* I still don't like listening to Styx - although Jim is trying to change that in the lab every day.
* Kick off is tomorrow.... can you feel the excitement? I am on day 3 of wearing my Cyclone Pride during Cyclone Pride Clothing Week (self declared) - where's your shirt?

Song of the Day - Thanks to Wyatt, I have a copy of EMF's Unbelievable again (couldn't find the other copy in my records anywhere.... records being "electronic paper trail" not those black things with grooves that spin in circles while you hear a bunch of static.

Video of the Day - I watched RVthis weekend (with Robin Williams and JO-JO... yes, she does sing at the end) and it was not very good. Definitely not getting Williams another Oscar nod anytime soon. I still think it would be cool to have a full sized RV though.

Webpage of the Day - a fun and addictive game called "You Got Song'd".... random questions in random categories about random songs. I scored a 240 in the Movie Themes category and a 200 in Video Game Music.... still trying out all of the other categories.

Representin' The 5-0-7

Congrats to my cousin Erin and her engagement. Another wedding to add to the 2007 calendar!

In an exciting match last night - Andre Agassi defeated some Pavel guy. One down, six to go! It had 3 tie-breakers and Agassi was even down 0-4 in the third but then he finally started to look loose and kicked ass back to the days I remember of his abilities. If he can stay loose through the tournament, he actually could cause trouble for the seeded players. He plays again Thursday. Gotta love those middle of the night matches that are unique to the US Open. This match finished around 11:30 last night - 20,000+ fans were standing on their feet for Agassi on match point.... don't usually see that at all in a tournament, let alone in a first round match.

Today is the anniversary of some of the devastation in New Orleans caused by Hurricane Katrina. Stop and say a prayer today for the families who had their lives changed by this thing and still continue to recover - mentally, physically, emotionally. It's still unfortunate that Michael Brown still insists he "was right" and the entire Bush administration screwed up yet will never admit it. Sometime in order to fix the future, you have to admit wrong in the past. Hell-of-a-job!

This week is my self declared Cyclone Shirt week. I have some 20 shirts that say Iowa State or have Cyclone colors.... so I'm wearing one every day this week in anticipation of our awesome season ahead. What's different from every other week when I wear Cyclone stuff? Well that's a good question... one that I really don't have an answer to. This week is just a concentrated effort to do so, unlike some weeks when it just happens by chance. Cyclone preview is coming, don't worry. I still stick by my 9-3 prediction though.

Have a great Tuesday!

Song of the Day - Just for Jim, he's in a Styx mood so I'll list the three songs by Styx that I can tolerate. Mr. Robato, Come Sail Away (makes me think of Cartman EVERY time now!), and The Best Of Times. Are you happy now Jim?

Video of the Day - Gotta see this to believe it. The new technology to help those of you whom have parallel parking trouble... IS HERE! I was a little freaked watching this video, but a Lexus can now park itself. No joke!

Webpage of the Day - Top 50 searched items on Wikipedia the past 3 days. I thought #7 was cool for obvious reasons:) There were some searches that I can't mention and wonder why someone would search for them..... but to each his or her own.

An End Of An Era - Thanks Andre For Everything

I grew up having a variety of idols that I'm sure are shared by many people of my generation. My first idol was my older brother. From there I added the superstars of the world like so many other kids. Jordan was a huge influence on so many of us growing up in that era of late 80s, early 90s. Now a days kids lookup to Tiger or maybe Puljos... But my lifelong hero and role model has always been Andre Agassi. For the past 21+ years, I have followed the ups and downs of such a visible icon in the tennis world. I've always tried to model my game (or what little game I have) in the tennis world around Agassi's. I can only hope to live my life in a caring and outwardly giving towards others way that Agassi has become.

Today begins the US Open in New York City. Agassi is playing in his 21st straight, and also final, US Open beginning tonight with Andrei Pavel. Agassi is 7 wins away from his 9th Grand Slam Title (3rd at the Open), but being an unseeded player with little success in 2006 due to multiple injuries, he is more of a longshot to make it to the 2nd week of the Open. After an incredible run in 2005 to the finals (losing to the champion of the "new" generation, Roger Federer), Agassi will have to again bring out only his best stuff of his career in order to go out on top. But then again, Andre doesn't have to win his final career match to go out on top in the minds of anyone.

Article by ESPN.com that shares "Agassi by the numbers"
An array of photos of Agassi over the years

Agassi has been called the best returner to ever play tennis. He has been labeled as having the cleanest groundstrokes in the history of the game. At 36 years old and still competing at the highest levels (in 2005) in a sport dominated by "kids" under the age of 26, he is in better shape than most of his opponents whom are half his age. He spends more time working with a personal trainer than with his tennis coach (he can bench 350 pounds even at 36 years old!!). His game has evolved over the years - being the returner most feared on the tour to the king of efficiency on his serve, keeping his points short and making his younger opponents run across the court in order to tire them out. His charisma and charm for the audience makes him the crowd favorite around the world. Even playing in London or Melbourne, he is sometimes favored even over the local talents.

My favorite moments of Agassi's career:

* Jimmy Connors was making a historic run in 1988 (at the age of 36) to the quarterfinals.... only to get his butt whooped by Andre in 3 sets. Andre would beat him again in 1989 in 5 sets.
* His Wimbledon championship in 1992 (his first Grand Slam title after being 0-3 before that)... back in the long hair days.
* First US Open title in 1994 when he was unseeded (like this year???)
* French Open win in 1999 after being 2 sets down to Medvedev. He was also 0-2 in French Open finals on a surface that does NOT favor his game. This is the only Tournament to elude Sampras and currently Federer.
* US Open 2004 Quarterfinal loss against Federer. He gave him a 5 set match that I will always remember as the match that Agassi had won till the final set was moved to the following day when the winds were incredibly tough.
* US Open 2005 when he defeated James Blake in 5 sets after being down 0-2. I watched this match till 1am or so to cheer Agassi on to victory. He then went on to beat Ginepri in the semis in another 5 set match (he won 3 in a row).

More than those matches - Agassi has created a Foundation that has over $50 million in assets. Andre himself pays for the office space and the salaries of it's officers so any donations can go straight to the Foundation. I saw a statistic once that pointed out that Agassi donates more money per year than any other athlete out there. He continues to give himself to the Las Vegas community where he is from, and has always made himself available to children and fans across the world.

This week (and hopefully the next) will be the final times we will see his trademarked humbled smile and his fully appreciative wave to the fans (he waves and then bows to each of the four corners of the stadium), the last time to watch him get three tennis balls from the ball boy/girl, only to bounce one back behind him... ON EVERY SERVE! The final time we can observe the transformation from a wild and flashy kid on the court to an older and much wiser role model for tennis fans all over.

His only goal in life is simple: To be better today than yesterday. How powerful is that?

Andre, thanks for the memories and the years of having someone to cheer for and to model after. You've inspired and helped so many people and I wish you the best this week and next in your final tournament!

Stormin' into the Weekend

Big Big Storms last night in Rochester. Thunder, Lightning, lots of Rain, Hail, Tornados, Hurricanes, Black Holes.... whatever you can think of, we had it. Snakes on Planes even! The hail didn't do any damage to the TrailBlazer luckily, but there were cars to the North that had windows knocked out with baseball sized hail. I didn't check this morning to see how much rain we had total, but it was over 1.5 inches during the first wave of junk around 8:30.

And in the biggest news to hit our world this week.... no more Pluto as part of our Solar System. So for those that remember the "My Very Educated Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas" will have to resort to "My Very Elder Mother Just Sent Us NOTHING" or something like that. Glad there's nothing else for people to worry about than whether or not Pluto is big enough to be called a planet. What did the people of Pluto ever do to us?

Big series this weekend with the Twins playing at Chicago. Go Twins! They are .5 game back and could easily jump into the Wild Card Lead with a sweep, or even by winning the series.

Sunday also is Arthur Ashe Kids Day at the US Open which is always fun to watch. It'll be emotional as Agassi plays in his 21st straight, and final US Open. If you're around Sunday afternoon, watch the Kids Day stuff.... top players come out to entertain the kids with fun tennis games and are all wearing mics to entertain the crowd. US Open preview coming next week (action starts Monday).

Have a great Weekend! Kickoff is less than a week away for the 9-3 Cyclone Season!!

Song of the Day - I actually heard Falco's Rock Me Amadeus this morning while in and out of Wal-Mart. The song that never dies I guess. It has been referenced in Pop Culture a ton since coming out in 1986 (20 years! I'm old!) from the Simpsons! to the Bloodhound Gang, to Wedding Singer to American Dad. Still, not my favorite song to remind me of the 80s.

Video of the Day - This is funny, but wrong.... .knew where this was going but still made me laugh.

Webpage of the Day - The people that brought you the Best Buy mission a while ago, now bring you Home Depot action! A lengthy but fun read (with pics and video).

College Football 101

With the College Football season starting, I felt it was time to give you all MY rules of being a fan for this year. These are my rules and I'm sticking to them.

* The Cyclone game takes precedence over all other football games, all other activities, and all other "opportunities" that don't involve watching the ISU game on TV. The Cyclones represent all that is good in this world. If the game is not on TV (which is usually the case since we don't have our own TV contract), then cell phone updates (every 5 minutes) or web broadcasts (while at work in Burlington last year or while in China/Ireland) will also suffice.
* The Iowa Squawkeyes represent all that is evil in this world. They should be rooted against at ALL TIMES! This includes if for some reason they go to represent our country against North Korea in a grudge match.... you still root for the opponent. Any fan from Iowa State that says they "root for Iowa all the other times of the year" is a liar and should be hung from their shoelaces. Any one that has an Iowa sticker on their car can be assumed to have an IQ less than 20 and you should call the police immediately to let them know that "one of them escaped". 'Nuff said.
* When it's Big 12 vs a non-Big 12 opponent..... I root for the Big 12 school about 95% of the time. The exception being Nebraska. The Cornhuskers rank #2 on the "schools I have come to despise due to my proper education in Ames" in football. They ran up the score too many times on us and now they must pay. A true Cyclone fan has two color of fan attire.... Bright Red to wear at the Iowa/Iowa State games and Bright Yellow to wear when Iowa State sticks it to the Cornhuskers in October this year!
* Notre Dame needs to join a conference. Till they get rid of their private TV contract and their agreement with the BCS that as long as they win like 8 games, they automatically qualify for a BCS birth, they are #3 on the "wish against" list. Rudy would have been better off wearing Cardinal and Gold.
* I don't mind schools from the Pac-10. We never play them, they never affect us directly.
* The state of Florida has too many championships (or failed championships for that matter) and shouldn't be cheered for too often. When they play each other, it's usually best to hope for a miracle and both teams lose. There are three of them, take your pick.
* There should be NO polls throughout the season - it only encourages teams to run up the scores. And being on the losing end of these games in the past - it sucks and sucks big time. But those days are behind us so it's time to return the favor. Kansas State is top of my list this year! They're supposed to suck!
* The BCS is a joke and should be banished. The fact that over 50% of the teams make it to a bowl game is also a joke, but makes TV watching in December all that much better!
* The player that wins the Heisman is a good player, but will most likely fail in the NFL (based on history). So stop adding pressure by predicting the Heisman winner for the class of 2012 already!
* Bud Light is the beer of choice for tailgating, watching the game, celebrating a victory, mourning a loss, celebrating an off week, cheering on the team that is playing the Squawkeyes, or when you simply hear the word "football". The drink of choice the morning of the game is either Screwdrivers ("HEY, WHO DRANK ALL MY VODKA??!?!") or Hot Chocolate with Peppermint Schnapps.
* This year, fans of BigShow's Blog hail from all over the country. Expect weekly predictions for the Cyclone victories (including pre and post game analysis...es), predictions for the Arizona Wildcats and their rowdy fans, predictions for Moorehead State (more fans), and probably the rest of the Big 12. If you'd like me to express my opinion for your school, let me know!!! I'll usually comment on the big games of the week anyway.

Song of the Day - My commentary on Fight Songs. Sure, I'm biased and know that the Iowa State Fight Song is the best in the country (either version will suffice), but there are two others that I enjoy. Michigan Fight Song is also a good one to get stuck in your head. I love hearing that song when they are playing Iowa because the more you hear it, the more they are beating the crap out of Iowa. Notre Dame also has a good fight song, even though I hate hearing it (means they are winning or just scored).

Video of the Day - A classic film to love is Rudy and that might be the only time you'll see me smile when Notre Dame is on the field. Like I said, my hatred stems from them getting special treatment all the time. Can't say I blame them for taking advantage of it, but it's still dumb. Rudy is a great film, but sets up that guy to always hear me chant "RU-DY RU-DY RU-DY" in any movie he appears in (like Lord of the Rings and 50 First Dates).

Webpage of the Day - For any fans of SuperTroopers.... you'll find this really funny.

HumpDay

More signs that Fall is upon us:

* Golf league ends tonight with a bang! 4 man scramble, with each player only allowed 4 clubs on the course. At least this was the format last year. With golf league ending (notice I didn't say that golf season was ending... that doesn't happen till late October, maybe later for the serious folks).
* 64 degrees this morning and starting to rain outside
* The starters are playing more than one series in the pre-season games
* There are "free" car washes around town hosted by high school groups.
* The term "back to school sale" is already over used and still going strong.
* There are "fall previews" of more worthless new TV shows that will be dead by Christmas. I usually don't pay attention anyways but I do anticipate some good seasons from My Name is Earl, The Simpsons, and Family Guy. Of course American Idol and The Apprentice will be back I'm sure:)
* Baseball is heating up, although it's looking like the Yankees will make the post season (ugh!) after cleaning up using the Red Sox last weekend. Twins are still playing well but still have a ways to go to kick the White Sox out of the post season. They're working on it. World Series is sooner than ya think!
* Weddings are now spaced apart with a month in between, rather than a week in between. 2 more for us in 2006, 5 already for 2007 (NO - NOT MINE!!!)
* Vegas is a month away.
* NASCAR (which stands for National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing for those that are still riding the momentum from Ricky Bobby!!) has only 3 races before the "playoffs" begin. If you don't know what I'm referring to, no use trying to explain at this point.
* Happy Hump Day!

Song of the Day - We had company over for dinner last night and Hazel put on some of the Digital music from the TV for entertainment. I should do that more often as they have some good channels with no commercials. That's key there. I am not sure which channel it was on for most of the evening, but U2's One is now stuck in my head thanks to the TV. So that's today's song of the day. Never can get enough U2 in one's diet.

Video of the Day - Today marks the anniversary of the execution of William Wallace (yeah, THAT William Wallace) in Smithfield Market, London. WAAAAAY back in 1305. His shouts of "FREEEEE-DOOOOOOMMM" can still be heard, or maybe that was just Mel in Braveheart. Either way, there's your movie of the day.

Webpage of the Day - Today's is a two parter.... First you have to watch the video (click on the Hot-Dog demo) on this "SawStop" to get your attention. Then you have to go to the webpage that describes "how it works". It comes with a hefty price tag but it looks pretty sweet! SAW STOP!!!

Seeing My Breath Outside This Morning

I agree with Paris Hilton's thoughts.... I, like, cry when I read my blog... It's SO GOOD!!

Happy Birthday to Jill!!! Unlike the rest of us (who are jealous of her), Jill has the physical opportunity to do something on her birthday that most of us only dream of having still..... that's right - FREE SUNDAE AT HICKORY PARK! That was the best part of having birthdays in Ames, ice cream from Hickory Park... then off to Campus Town for drinks. Maybe a Gyro from the Gyro Guy at 2am on the way home.

So pictures and more from the wedding this weekend. Saturday night was a musical celebration at the Temple in Cedar Rapids (way on the SW side of town for the Cedar Rapidians in the audience). Hazel and I showed up at 5:50 (posted to start at 6pm) and there was not a car in the parking lot. We patiently waited and at 6, I called the groom to see if we had missed something in our planning. Sid introduced me to a new concept called IST. Indian Standard Time. He said this means everything for an event starts way late! By 6:30, there were people there and the socializing began. Once the bride and groom arrived, it was like open mic night at the Temple!! Christine and I were upset that we hadn't worked on our Sonny and Cher for the occasion. The music was good (although in a language I couldn't understand..... and I don't think Sid (the groom) fully understood everything either:) ). We were entertained during the music by one young gentleman who was probably 2 years old and dressed in a Hawaiian shirt. He danced and made faces and overall just entertained us while we listened. During the music I was approached and asked if I knew Buddy Holly by one of the guests (long story that I don't fully understand what happened). Then it was time for dinner.

Dinner was NOT overly greasy... but still very good. No meat, but still some good spicy stuff for those of us that enjoy that type of thing. The weirdest part of dinner was me trying to cut the potato bread with my plastic fork (remembering to keep my mannerisms that I have been raised with) and wasn't being overly successful. Then a wedding guest came over and offered to show me how it's done. He then uses his fingers to rip the bread apart, dips it in some of the spicy sauce that was on my plate, then folds the bread up and puts it in front of my mouth to eat. So yes, he fed me and me being polite (and still heavily in shock at this point), I ate. By this time everyone was laughing and also in shock. Sid had no idea who the guy was which made it even funnier. I think the random guy went to give Christine an equal opportunity to be fed (or to kiss her.... I wasn't sure), but she was much quicker than I at recognizing the awkward intentions.

Sunday evening was a very elegant and fabulous reception at the Five Season's Center in Downtown CR (that refers to "Cedar Rapids" for those of you who didn't grow up in the hood). Sertac joined us (Austin coworker and friend whom I haven't seen in a couple of years) fresh off the plane from Florida where he was at yet another coworker's wedding the day before. Talk about dedication! There was good food, good pictures, and good times.... also some 400+ guests! There was also this dude that spoke for 20 minutes+ and had no intention of stopping till he was cut off. I think his intentions were good, but him being a professor of Engineering - he probably thought he could speak for his usual 50 minutes without interrupting.

A great experience - again, I recommend it to anyone that has the opportunity. Wonderful fashion to admire.

New couple with Hazel and I:










Some of the Dancing:










And the dude that spoke for 20+ minutes!!:










Have a great Tuesday!!

Song of the Day - No, not Paris... I really do hate that song.

Video of the Day - New 30 Second Bunnies out there to enjoy... This time it's Raiders Of The Lost Ark!!

Webpage of the Day - An interesting opinion on "10 Things You Shouldn't Buy New"

Back at It

It's another Monday and we're back in Rochester.... back to work. We got back from the reception last night around 12:40 am so it might be a coffee filled day here!

Congratulations to Siddhartha and Hareesha!

We had an awesome weekend in Cedar Rapids at the wedding. So much to tell, but I'll save that for tomorrow when I can finish getting all the pictures uploaded. If you ever have a chance to go to a wedding of another culture, DO IT. If you ever have a chance to attend a Hindu reception with authentic Indian food.... DO IT. Nice and spicy! We're talking more spicy than those Buffalo Wings at Applebees that the waiter warns you about how hot they are. A lot more than that. And wonderful traditional dress was worn. I felt underdressed in my suit and tie at times:)

Sports Wrap: Yankees have taken 4 from Boston IN Boston.... what the crappity crap? I hate the Yankees. Twins are still 1 game behind Chicago. Kenseth is lucky he didn't get his butt kicked by Gordon again (who finished 2nd). Tiger wins another major (shocker) - making the cut (top 64 or so) not only allows you to play the last 2 rounds of golf, but nets you a cool $12,725 for a weekend paycheck. How many baseball players went without a hit all weekend and still took home 10 times that??? Pathetic.

US Open starts next week. Cyclone Football starts in less than 2 weeks!

And the final sports note for the day.... Saudi Arabia (known for their height in worldly comparison) have a 13-year-old first baseman in their Little League team that is 6'8" and 256 pounds. 13 YEARS OLD!!!! Controversy surrounds Little League yet again.

Have a good Monday, I'm going back to sleep here in my office!

Song of the Day - While driving back last night, as Hazel slept very soundly in the passenger seat.... fully reclined with a pillow and blanket of course (nothing but the best offerings in MY vehicle), I began to sing in my head one of my favorite Bare Naked Ladies songs..... Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel. It's a great and unusual song (final track off of Maroon) that features an organ of some sorts and sounds kind of like a carnival ride accompaniment. It kept me awake though so that's a good thing.... for all of you!!

Video of the Day - I finally saw Talladega Nights this weekend and I can honestly say that I haven't laughed that hard at a movie in a long time. We're talking the same type of humor that was found in 40 Year Old Virgin just for reference. Will Farrell is so funny and makes the movie a classic already in my mind. GO SEE IT!! Even if you hate racing, still funny.

Webpage of the Day - This one will make your head hurt. Chinese student suing his teacher for waking him up during class. I thought we only did these ridiculous lawsuits in America!!! Now they're stealing our stupidity too!

Snakes in My Laptop

It's Friday, and hopefully my laptop issues will be solved by the end of the day. The highlight of my conversation from the "support" desk over the phone yesterday:

Support: When did you first start seeing this problem?
Me: Last Thursday
Support: (after doing the quick math and conversion.... carry the one.... ) So you have had this problem for a week then?
Me: Yup
Support: Have you called the support desk before?
Me: Yeah, I think I'm considered VIP since I've called in so many times.

Anyway - I really do consider this "Computer Age" just a fad. It'll die off as quick as Milli Vanilli or Vanilla Ice.

My friend Sid is getting married this weekend in Iowa through a Hindu ceremony. So I'm anxious to experience a different religion's custom of marriage. Hazel is going with and we'll be crashing at my parent's house - always good to hang out with Ma and Pa.

Anyone else as "intrigued" by this John Karr and his admission to killing JonBenet Ramsey? Maybe it's just been that slow of a week, but I'm all over this thing. Something just doesn't add up to this whole thing. If you run to Thailand, why confess to something 10 years after the fact? He doesn't strike me as the type of person that finally was consumed by a conscience. The details don't quite add up either.... things that make you go hmmmmmmmmm.

Less than 2 weeks till kick-off! GO CLONES!

Song of the Day - I picked up the new Live CD - Songs from Black Mountain. It's pretty good and is the same ol' Live singing on there. If you're a fan, you'll like it..... if you're not a fan, you won't like it. How's that for detailed and original?

Video of the Day - It's FINALLY the weekend when there are Mother F***in' Snakes on the Mother F***in' Plane!! I've never seen so much web publicity for a movie. The title is what made it all happen though. I'd be game to go see it sometime, but again - doubtful that my parents would want to go. Maybe next week.

Webpage of the Day - Those crazy folks in New Zealand have done it again.... this time they named the street Kaka Street.... after the native parrot named "Sh!t" I guess. "You have to take a left on Kaka to get there"

Blog Best Read With Coffee

The big news of the morning is that they have a prime suspect admitting to having a roll in the death of JonBenet Ramsey... 10 YEARS LATER!!! Have you seen pictures of this guy yet? Just go to any news site and you'll see how creepy he looks anyways. What I don't get is how he says her death was "accidental" even though she was beaten and strangled when found 10 years ago. The whole thing is really kind of sick when you consider that she was 6 years old. I'm sure he'll plead insanity since you have to be insane to do what he did to a 6 year old.

PGA Championship starts this weekend and it is really exposing how I hate the media. There is so much focus on how Tiger and Phil are matched together for the first two days and how they don't "get along" that after reading some of the press, you think that they're going to wrap their drivers around one another while walking off the tee box!! I'm sure nothing will happen and my prediction is that neither one wins the thing this weekend.

Speaking of good fights, catch the highlights of the fight between the "LA Angels of Anaheim of Southern California That Used To Be The Anaheim Angels That Used To Be The California Angels That Used To Play In LA or Anaheim" vs the Texas Rangers? It was bench clearing and one of the more severe fights in baseball in a while. Twins win, White Sox lose.... Twins are 1 game back. Braves are fading to oblivion.... I still hate the Mets.

New Harddrive for the Laptop is coming today... still has to get reloaded once it gets here so the game of no laptop continues!!!

The last article of discussion comes to us from a Little League game in Utah where a league for 9 and 10 year olds, Championship Game, guys on 2nd and 3rd in the final inning, down by one run. The best hitter on the team comes up to bat. The worst hitter on the team is on deck. Do you walk the best hitter on the team to get to the worst hitter and play the rules of baseball to win the game? My answer is yes.... NOW, do you still do it when you find out that the guy on deck is also a cancer survivor at age 10? My answer is still yes. The boys at SI are ripping on the coach, as is the community but think about the best hitter who's at the plate. If they pitch to him, he could win the game but knows it was only because of the guy behind him. Why not give the chance to be a hero to the worst hitter? I think this is getting drawn out WAY too much when 95% of the coaches out there would have done the exact same thing in that situation. So as fair as I try to be in life, I side with the coach on this one!

Have a great Thursday! Back to class for me for the next 2 days. I did pass my exam for my Project Management class for those that are wondering!

Song of the Day - I picked up an interesting CD at the library yesterday to sample.... Strummin' With The Devil which is Van Halen, BLUEGRASS style! Seriously... David Lee Roth actually sings on it too! It's actually well done and while I doubt I will add it to my list of "Greatest CDs", it's worth a listening to!

Video of the Day - I finally finished watching Superman II last night and that movie kind of sucks. It's not nearly as "classic" as the first Superman even though I remembered more of the plot from this one than the original. This is the one with the three bad guys from Superman's home planet, the big guy who is wearing too much make-up the whole movie and looks really goofy when he's blowing to create strong winds. This is also the one where Lois figures out that Clark Kent is Superman (she's the only one that makes that connection!?!?!?!) but then he causes her to forget at the end.... blah! One thing I've noticed now after watching the two movies... I never hear the line "It's a bird, it's a plane... it's Super Drewbie!!!" Or something like that.

Webpage of the Day - Not sure I agree with all of these, but some bartender tries to clarify on "top 10 myths" about bartending. I still want to become a bartender in my "free time"... I think it'd be fun!!! Still, an interesting read and humorous.

Thoughts in 5 minutes

• Yes, I know my blog page is looking funny for some reason, haven't had time to look into it yet. Thanks for noticing though!
• Gerald Ford is in Rochester, not for all good reasons. It is rare to hear of someone checking INTO the Mayo Clinic around here, usually it's so tight lipped that we only hear when someone checks OUT of the Clinic.


• Golf again tonight, last night of competition - next week is the final week and it's only a fun night. Our team has struggled for points, but that's what happens when Matt shoots a 38 one week and a 50 the next week. Consistency is the key


• My first class ends today with a Test. I haven't taken a Test in over 6 years!!! Our instructor insured us we wouldn't fail as long as we stayed awake. None-the-less, I need to get over there in the next 10 minutes to study.


• Coffee at 6:15am tastes very very good..... Especially today


• Cyclones get their first win in 15 days.... and counting!!


• Happy Humpday.... go and celebrate as you see fit*hint**hint*

Song of the Day - Is it just me, or does the new song by Jo-Jo (no, not the style of fries from John Hardy's) sound exactly like her OTHER song? She's still only 12 or whatever and singing about guys getting out of her bed or whatever..... gross

Video of the Day - Snakes on a Plane opens this weekend. Now that I am no longer afraid of snakes, I actually wouldn't mind seeing this movie. I know my folks won't go to it this weekend when Hazel and I are down visiting.

Webpage of the Day - Add this to my list of things NOT to do..... dumbass.

Dude... You're Getting A Fire....

Happy Birthday Rachael!!! My Sister-in-law celebrates today along with Ben Affleck, Rob Thomas, Tom Kelly (Former Minnesota Twins Coach and icon up here), and also the start of the Woodstock Festival back in 1969! That's pretty sweet!

More proof that computers are a pain in the butt: Dell recalls 4.1 million laptops because the batteries can overheat and START ON FIRE!!!! "rare cases" can they produce smoke and catch fire but still.... that still blows my mind how that can happen. And no, my laptop still hasn't been reloaded so I'm still stuck without full communications today. I feel like a junkie who just had my crack taken away from me. Remember, nobody says they want to be a druggy when they grow up.

The Vesterby house was up in arms last night as pre-season football saw the Raiders vs the Vikings. Poor Joey is stuck in the middle, but remember, it's only preseason! It'll be different when the two teams meet in the Superbowl..... oh wait, nevermind.

I did get to watch some of the game last night and I don't like the new ESPN crew as much as last years. I still like Theismann (even though he seems to be hated by the rest of the media) but Tirico talks too much as the play-by-play guy. I do like Kornheiser but wasn't impressed by his debut. He'll relax and fit more into the role by the end of the season I'm sure. Remember, it's only preseason. I did like the call to go for the win at the end and not just a tie because it IS only preseason - too many injuries already for these games not counting for anything but revenue. I also liked how the game was over at 10ish due to it starting at 7pm, not the usual 8pm.... could future games follow in such a time format and allow us all to be ontime to work Tuesday mornings???

Song of the Day - There was a thing on PBS last night that had The Who performing stuff from Tommy on stage. It was pretty sweet actually, especially for a Tommy fan. Pete Townshend is always fun to watch in action, but Daltrey always has scared me for some reason. This was a performance from the 80s or something based on the glasses and clothes of some of the fans in the audience. So today's SOTD is anything from Tommy. Can you hear me? Can you hear me singin'? Tommy's been to hospital - they're going to make him.... nevermind.

Video of the Day - I also watched Dominothis weekend that was not at all what I thought it was going to be. It's actually well done though. The movie is about Keira Knightley who is an attractive female that becomes a bounty hunter in LA (with Mickey Rourke) in a business that isn't used to attractive females. Movie also has appearances by Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green (90210 fans!) which was unusual as well. I gave the movie 4 stars (out of 5) because I thought it was pretty good. Just different, but that scores bonus points for me though.

Webpage of the Day - New shopping carts are being tested that have a device in them where your kids can watch Barney, Wiggles, or even Bob the Builder while you grocery shop. Since keeping them at home isn't an option, nor is disciplining them so they don't act up in public (my preference). Should have just gotten them that Nintendo DS to keep them occupied.

A Case of the Moondays.... Heck, a Whole Keg of the Moondays

The first proof that Summer is over is upon us - the first days of back to school for some of my teacher friends across the MidWest!!! The temperatures are still going to be high so I hope you all have air-conditioning!! My "last day of summer" isn't until after Labor Day when I can turn the AC off for good! Only a couple of weeks away:)

A fun weekend in Madison surprising Eddie for his 30th birthday. This is the year that a lot of my friends turn 30, starting with Eddie, and more on the way in the next couple of weeks (or even tomorrow). I have 9 months or more so I'm safe for a while.

My laptop is getting reloaded today - so back to "normal" tomorrow. Yes, I wish I had a non-Windows environment to use, but due to most of the applications I use being unavailable for MAC, I use what IBM gives me. I just think there should be easier ways to fix the "blue screen of death" in Windows instead of just reloading. Luckily I was able to retrieve most of my personal files and stuff since I can boot in Safe-Mode for about 5 minutes at a crack.

I have classes all week this week at work. I used to think an hour class three times a week was a long hour, but in the "adult" world, we do things 8 hours a day for three days, sometimes more. I have a class Monday through Wednesday for my Program Management training... then a programming class Thursday and Friday - yuck:P

Cease-fire is under way in Lebanon/Israel area.... hopefully it lasts this time for a while. Long enough to let negotiations proceed.

Have a good week!

Song of the Day - Thanks to Kahn, I checked out American IV by Johnny Cash. It's a pretty good album and I love his rendition of Hurt almost as much as I liked NIN's version back in the day.

Video of the Day - Lots of movies to discuss this week after the weekend. First movie I watched was Final Destination 3. After a surprisingly successful sequel a couple of years ago, this 3rd one kind of sucked. A bunch of no name actors as usual, but this time they can't even act. The theory is the same, but this time they have clues based on pictures taken at the amusement park before the rollercoaster derailed. I'm curious how long they'll pull out this series, hopefully they're done. Too bad because again, I actually enjoyed parts 1 and 2 a ton.

Webpage of the Day - Simpsons (among other high quality US cartoons) are banned in China.... what the?!?!?!? I'd be pissed... that also means no Aqua Teen Hunger Force, no Ren and Stimpy, no Family Guy, no American Dad, no King of the Hill, no Beavis and Butthead..... Wow, I watch a lot of cartoons as an adult!

Windows Sux

I hate computers....

I'm getting the blue screen as of late yesterday afternoon and spent most of last night trying to repair, "recover" (those programs are worthless), drop kick, and swear my way to a working system.

Looks like I have to get it reloaded which is fine, I have almost everything backed up, just hate having to reinstall everything and set it back up.

So anyway - have a good weekend!

Run and Hide

We're on Red Alert!! Go home and lock your doors NOW!!! I need to review my contract to see if I get to go home when it's a red alert day. I forgot to dress up today too:( I guess it's just on trans-Atlantic flights, but I'm sure this is just the start of something wonderful (*sarcasm*).

On a serious note, this just further screws up our way of life.... call me a pessimist, but that's the reality of it. I know we have it well here compared to 95% of the world when you compare way of life, but it still sucks at times.

• Gas prices dropped $1 a barrel, but they'll still go up at the pump. What is "Gasoline futures" anyway? It's always about a $1 cheaper than the real average price but I don't think I'll ever see those prices again in my lifetime.
  
• Airlines already went up $10 per one-way trip, this will give them reason to go up even more and blame it on "fat people" like they usually do
• Interest rates are "on hold" for once before they'll go up again. Someone somewhere seems to think that our economy is doing well so we need to keep bumping up rates. They must use professional athletes as the basis for that opinion. They all have families to feed!
  
• Now Robin Williams is seeking treatment for alcoholism.... when will al-Qaida stop?!?!?!

The Twins take 2 of 3 in Detroit! That puts them a half game up on the dreaded White Sox for the wild card spot. Baseball is getting exciting now, even though the Braves are 6.5 games out of the wild card spot. Lets see if they make a charge or not. It's still great to see the Twinkies playing so well!

Iowa State football - early pre-season prediction.... 9 and 3 with a Big 12 North Championship (FINALLY!). More analysis and details to come in the next 21 days.

And with kickoff in 3 weeks, that means tailgating plans are already under way! Pitzen, you need to look into one of these for this season. Along with your gas powered blender that we all think you should have bought a couple of years ago! A motorized cooler to ride around on and keep your beer cold!! Or just have Jamie build one - but then you'll get a clutch and 5 speeds and eventually a speeding ticket.

Song of the Day - I seriously hate Rochester Radio.... 106.9 is the only non-classical station I can tolerate for more than 3 songs in a row, but even that starts frustrating me.... case in point: The other day I heard the introduction to Color Me Badd's I Want to Sex You Up, you all know how that goes.... "Do the Ah Tick Tock you don't stop" then a bunch of weird oooohing that I guess was cool in the early 1990s. So at first I thought it was a joke, like then they would cut out and play something a little more recent... but then it kept going and going. What the ?!?!?! so for lack of nothing else, you all get to have that crappy song going through your head today. How many actually have that song in their collection somewhere?

Video of the Day Again, thanks to Chondra for today's suggestion..... The Hamster Dance!! Watch the whole thing, even if the music starts getting annoying:)

Webpage of the Day - I thought this was pretty cool - how to make shadow puppets. I can do the inch worm and the pathetic looking dog, but here are more including an elephant and a turtle.

22 More Days Till Kickoff!

I guess I haven't talked much about my cousin Josh's wedding yet.... What a great time in Ohio though! There was a great deal of effective planning as guests stayed at the Hampton Inn, right next door to where both the rehearsal dinner and the reception on Saturday were held. So the only driving that was required was for us to go to the actual wedding. It was a Catholic Mass in a non-air-conditioned Cathedral... but again, the planning came through! They took the two sides of the programs and glued them together with a small wooden stick in the middle to form a fan that people could use during the service. Not that it helped a ton, but it helped a little bit. "A" for the idea!

9 bridesmaids and 9 groomsmen.... so a HUGE wedding party. Simple colors of black and white which kept it very elegant, plus allowed the girls to wear their dress again someday, not just add to their collection of bridesmaid dresses that can't be worn ever again.

Great food the whole weekend. And open bar the whole time... so the alcohol was flowing well for everyone. Remember, we had a whole 100 feet to walk to get back to our hotels afterwards! Hazel caught the bouquet (she wasn't really trying, just ended up at her feet), and the guy playing the role of "Annoying Drunk Guy that barely looked 21" caught the garter.... so he had to put it on Hazel. Before he proceeded I reminded him that she was my girlfriend and if he tried anything he'd have to answer to me which I think sobered him up a little.

Here's a picture of my brother and I that I thought was kind of funny. We couldn't stop laughing during the speeches at the rehearsal dinner for one reason or another. That's the way brothers are is the only explanation I can give.....



And a picture of Hazel and I with the Bride and Groom:



The TrailBlazer is happy once again! First they replaced the water pump... which was indeed what fixed the fan and vibrating problem. Then yesterday they updated some code that tells the clutch fan... positioning... or something.... checking the specs on the endline for the.... rotary... girder... I'm retarded.

Rain on the way in Rochester right now. Golf tonight (3 more weeks including tonight! Then bowling starts for the next 50 weeks).

Drew's Song of the Day - Today is for Drew... "Metallica" was his request. I remember the first time I saw the video for The Unforgiven with the old guy trying to climb the wall or whatever. I was too young to understand and now that I'm pushing the end of my days under 30.... I still don't understand it. Enter Sandman is a classic too in my mind, albeit overplayed. I can always listen to One or King Nothing too.....

Video of the Day - this was kind of cool... Ivan Pacheco does some fun things on a marching snare drum.

Webpage of the Day - An interesting satellite look at Beirut before and after the "military offensive" by Israel. I still pray for a better solution in the area.....

Don't Let Your Mogwai Near Bright Light

ESPECIALLY SUNLIGHT.... Don't get your Mogwai wet, and most importantly, don't feed your Mogwai after midnight. I was never sure when that meant you could start feeding the Mogwai again.... 6am? 7am? Are they all on East Coast Time or do I use GMT (UTC now a days)? That is like the rule in Iowa (and most states) where you can't buy liquor at a store after 2am. When can I start buying it again? 4am? Technically noon is after 2am but I seem to be able to buy it just fine at noon. Ahh.... good ol' Gizmo!

Happy Belated Birthday to Eddie! He's the Oscar Meyer Weiner guy!

I extend a new welcome to the new blog titled: Eschew Obfuscation. It's being heralded by the NY Times as "One of the funniest new blogs to hit the web in centuries!" There was more there but I only read headlines. Chad is my best friend from High School who now lives in New York City and provides hours and hours of entertainment. Read at your own risk.

And if you were still wondering about That Girl Emily whom I referred to a couple of weeks ago. It came to a pretty lame ending last week. It was a definite viral advertising campaign for a Private Investigator that has a new show on Court TV. Lame... I was hoping for something a little better than that.

There's a lot of talk about this Landis guy. He's the dude that won the Tour de France but now they say he failed two tests on a single day for "raised testosterone levels". I have a few questions for both sides of the argument that I need to ask... as you will see, I am undecided as to whether he is guilty or not at this stage.

1. To the Tour Officials.... why would only one day be accelerated and no traces found the other days?
2. To Landis.... did you see some hot girls in the crowd that day that might have lead to raised testosterone levels? Or did you go to the gym that morning? I know I feel like I have "raised testosterone levels" after I go to the gym.
3. To the Tour Officials..... who are you trying to get to win this thing? You obviously don't want an American winning it - wouldn't it be easier to just drop a Frenchman off about a mile from the finish line and hope nobody notices?

This whole thing is a mess - but I do wonder if an athelete would juice up (as is common in every sport now a days) and if he doesn't get caught, he can win... if caught, he writes a book worth millions to someone out there and still has money. That's my conspiracy theory of the day and I'm sticking to it.

And finally - the house of JonBenét Ramsey is up for sale again. The USA Today asks - Would you live in a death house? It's an interesting read to see what happened to some of the locations of key famous tragedies such as Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, OJ, and of course the Ramsey house. There's a webpage if you want to see more on celebrity deaths.... http://www.findadeath.com

Song of the Day - I am not sure if I've ever had REM be the SOTD but I honestly have Nightswimming running through my head for some reason this morning. It's one of their best songs (off of Automatic for the People).

Video of the Day - I watched the new DVD movie The Benchwarmers which had funny moments, but was just strange overall. And as much as I hate Napoleon Dynamite, the same guy is in this movie and plays the EXACT SAME STUPID CHARACTER. So I did not enjoy that aspect of the film. It's short thankfully so you get your laughs over with. David Spade also seems to be going nowhere with his career anymore.

Webpage of the Day - Top 10 Video Games that teach you valuable skills for life.... #1 - Carmen Sandiego!! I never did catch that #@)$*#@$.... gave up before I was far enough along to catch her.

Back in MN

We're home from a long weekend of driving around the midwest. But the wedding was well worth it.

I'm playing catchup today, but I'll share some pictures with you this week from the wedding. Including pictures of the nephews that are always fun to be around.

Gas prices going up AGAIN today - pipeline problems for BP. BP will take their sweet time fixing it since they don't want to cut into their record profits for this quarter. It's easier to just jack up the price of gasoline! I'm predicting gas hits the $3.24 mark by the end of today in Rochester (still at $3.09 this morning as it was all weekend).

Have a good Monday - sorry for the short blog!

Last But Not Least... Ohio

We take I-80/I-90 into Ohio. From there we go south a bit and our final destination is Tiffin, Ohio.

Ohio.... not fully Midwest, not fully New England, not fully part of the South. The state with a torn identity.

Capital is Columbus.... largest Metro population is..... Columbus!! That was news to me! It boasts two of the more widely known cities of Cleveland and Cincinnati, but who actually knew that Columbus was the largest city?

Ohio is the Iroquois word for "Good River" - referring to the Ohio River that forms the Southern Border. Ranks 7th for population, 34th in Area, and was the 17th state admitted to the Union. Ohio will always be known as the "2004 Presidential Election's version of Florida" where controversy over shadowed the Election itself.

(shortened version since we leave in the morning and I'm on my way to bed soon):

State Animal: White Tailed Deer (repeat)
State Bird: Cardinal (also a repeat)
State Tree: Buckeye (shocker!)
State Drink: Tomato Juice... no vodka, just the tomato juice.
State Rock Song: "Hang On Sloopy"
State Insect: Ladybug Beetle.... are those the things that don't ever die in the fall in Iowa and Minnesota?? They're not quite Ladybugs and not quite beetles? Just checking.

Have a good weekend y'all..... Enjoy the non-100 degree days!

GaryIndianaGaryIndianaGaryIndiana.....

That's from Music Man for those that were wondering. The only words to the song are Gary Indiana said about 20,000,000 times.

Two shots Out of Bounds and three putts rimmed out - so there's 7 strokes that shouldn't have been there. I'm happy though with my game.

From I-80, once we get around Chicago and the Mob - we enter Indiana. The "Unknown Time Zone" state... the "Pi=3.14" State. How come all the bad rumors link back to Indiana? All they want to do is play basketball.

Indiana means literally "Land of the Indians" It ranks 38th in Area, but 15th in Population. It was also the 19th state to join the Union.

Indiana is divided physically by the Wabash River running from the NE (by Ohio) to the SW (by Illinois). To the south, the border between Indiana and Kentucky is mapped by the Ohio River. Northern Indiana is farmland, southern Indiana is a mixture of farmland and forest.

Indiana is 86% White - with a majority of them being German-American and 82% of Indiana is Christian (62% Protestant).

A large percentage of Indiana's income is from Manufacturing. The NW part of Indiana is the largest steel producing area in the country.

Indiana has been a Red State since 1968 when it comes to voting for the president. It's polls are always the first to close on Election Day and is almost always the first state to be declared a win for the Evil Republican Empire.

Indiana has many Universities to boast - Indiana University, Indiana State, Purdue, Ball State (you always wondered where they were from I bet), Holy Cross College, Saint Joseph's College, Valparaiso, and of course the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.

2006 was a monumental year in which Indiana passed a bill to start officially observing Daylight Savings like the rest of the country.

Famous People from Indiana: Larry Bird, Jim Davis (Garfield cartoons), Benjamin Harrison and William Henry Harrison - both US Presidents..... did you know we had two Presidents named Harrison????, Michael Jackson, Bobby Knight, David Letterman, Cole Porter, John Mellencamp, and everyone's favorite Axl Rose!!!

State Bird: Cardinal
State Flower: Peony
State Tree: Tulip Tree
State Motto: "We'll get them next year"

Um..... that's more than you'll ever need to know about Indiana.

Song of the Day - I had some good workout music this morning which inspired me to my "halfway point" in running... I'm now at 1.5 miles in about 15 and 1/2 minutes... still trying to get back to my 5K (3.1 miles) in 30 minutes. I'm well on my way. As for the music, Shostakovich's 5th Symphony is good to work out to. I'm probably the only person that likes to listen to Classical Music when I work out. Oh well - whatever works is what I'm going with!

Video of the Day - There were a lot of movies with Indiana ties.... included are of course Hoosiers, A League of Their Own, Rain Man, Natural Born Killers, Blue Chips (think of Nick Nolte and Shaq), A Christmas Story, and of course my favorite and pick for the VOTD: RU-DY, RU-DY, RU-DY!!!!! It was that role that wrapped up the decision to make him into Sam, the loyal Hobbitt in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

Webpage of the Day - New Russian car that looks pretty sweet.... enjoy!

Illinois (the "s" is silent)

It's storming still outside here in Rochester. Lots of bright lights and loud noises all night. So far my oversized rain gauge says we're almost at 2 inches of rain.

After driving through the corn and beans.... past the World's Largest Truckstop in Walcott (wave to Angie's house) - we enter Illinois.... Named after the native Illiniwek people. Illiniwek means "tribe of superior men..... women go wash dishes". Illinois was the 21st state admitted to the Union, ranks #25 in Area, but ranks 5th in population. There must be a lot of people flocking to Galena or something.

Illinois is known as the "Land of Lincoln" because it's good for dumping all of our pennies that nobody wants. That and Abraham Lincoln spent most of his life here too. How do you think he financed his campaign? Had to use a few million of those pennies!!

Illinois is much more diverse in ethniticity than our previous states with only 66% White, 14% Hispanic, and 15.1% Black. There is a high number of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, Mexican-Americans, and of course everybody's favorite Polish-Americans.

Eddie's from Illinois. He's Polish-American. One of the few people I know that is 100% of any ethniticity. I'm a mutt.

Other facts:

• Chicago Pile-1 was home to the world's first artificial self-sustaining nuclear (not "nucular") chain reaction in the world's first nuclear reactor. Built on a squash court on the University of Chicago's campus.
• Illinois ranks 1st for states for Nuclear Power production.
• Chicago Cubs have the most dedicated fans to such a poor team. They traded Maddux to the Dodgers just before the deadline on Monday.
• I'll buy anyone a pop if they can name the team name of the Major League Soccer Chicago team without looking it up.
• Ronald Reagan attended Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois. It was there that he perfected his acting skills to become president.
• Oprah lives in Illinois.... so did Hugh Hefner... glad there was no correlation between the two!
• I think Barack Obama (Junior US Senator) should be the next president of the United States... just my opinion though.
• Did I mention that Eddie's from Illinois?

State Animal: White-tailed Deer (that Eddie shoots)
State Bird: Cardinal
State Dance: Square Dance.... now that's funny
State Fish: Bluegill
State Flower: Purple Violet.... isn't that like saying "red red"?
State Insect: Monarch Butterfly
State Nickname: The Prarie State
State Snack: Popcorn
State Tree: White Oak

We take I-80/I-90 from D-port all the way through Illinois (hopefully traffic in Chicago isn't too bad.... lots of tollways to pay for though.

Song of the Day - I like it when it rains, or at least low cloud cover... it means I can pick up Cities 93x which is heavy rock! Don't get to hear any music like that in Rochester unfortunately. HURAAAAAY BEER!

Video of the Day - With Illinois today, I have to bring out the classic Blues Brothers in which they wreck more cop cars than any other movie. Now with the heavy emphasis on Computer Graphics (computers are SOOOOOO over rated), they can create car wrecks with computers.... not possible during the days of the Blues Brothers. A side note though for VOTD: Beverly Hills Cops movies are much better on Showtime than on Comedy Central. No commercials and they don't have the cheezy edits of all the swear words. Advice to live by right there!

Webpage of the Day - As bad as this sounds for one's body (especially those of us on the 5 year diet)..... but it looks so good!!! A new stacker from Burger King!!! I wonder if it will be on the 99 cent value menu????

On to Iowa

The nasty temperatures have returned to the "normal 80s" for now. I suffered some form of heat stroke yesterday and spent the night chugging water and Gatorade - doing as little as possible.

The next state to travel through this weekend is the wonderful state of Iowa. There is an unwritten rule about Iowa that I think most of us live by - you can only make fun of Iowa if you lived there. If you make fun of it just because you think you're cool, it's not funny and we get really defensive. At least that's me anyways....

Iowa was the 29th state admitted to the Union, it's the 26th largest state by area, and 30th largest state by population. The name Iowa is from the Native American Iowa tribe. You can probably see them at the Mesquakie Bingo and Casino in Tama. Is that place open again? The Capital is Des Moines, largest city is Des Moines - there are 99 counties in Iowa.... each one listed on a license plate from that state. The east border of Iowa is the Mississippi River and the West border of Iowa is the Missouri River... most of it. There's a small chunk North of Sewer Chitty that isn't river. Despite what my mother says.... Iowa is flat and boring to look at when you drive through it. That's my opinion but I doubt I'd have trouble finding people to agree with me. Most of the states this week won't be much better.

Joliet and Marquette are believed to be the first Europeans to visit Iowa. They described it as "flat and boring to paddle a canoe through". Hmmm..... Iowa also had a higher percentage of soldiers serve in the US Civil war per capita than any other state in the Union. Iowa has a discount on ethanol gasoline so we make sure we fill up before we leave the state and go into the overpriced Illinois on our way East. Iowa also has the 3rd largest wind power economy, after California and Texas... interesting.

Iowa is 92.6% white - mostly of Northern European origin - heavy on the Germans. Females made up almost 51% of the population (YEAH!!). Iowa is 50% Protestant, 23% Roman Catholic, and the rest "other".

More Facts:

• Iowa holds the first presidential caucus every 4 years.
• Des Moines has more people in the Metro area (522,000+) than the entire state of Wyoming!
• Iowa historically places in the top 5 for state rankings on the ACT and SAT scores.
  
• There are three main Universities in Iowa.... Iowa State University in Ames (THE CYCLONES), Northern Iowa University in Cedar Falls (The Panthers) and The University of Iowa in Iowa City (The Squawkeyes).
  
• Most of the people I know have lived in Iowa, or make fun of me for being from Iowa
• I was not born in Iowa
• There are no Major League Professional Sports Teams in Iowa to note.
• Famous people from Iowa include Johnny Carson, Tom Arnold, Buffalo Bill (not the dude from Silence of the Lambs), Herbert Hoover, Ashton Kutcher, Donna Reed, Grant Wood, the Wright Brothers, Elijah Wood, John Wayne....
• Wheeler is from Davenport.... he wanted me to give props to D-port!

State Nickname: The Cyclone State (it's my blog)
State Bird: Eastern Goldfinch
State Flower: Wild Rose
State Tree: The Mighty Oak
State Rock: Geode
State Insect: Honey Bee

From Minnesota, we drive down Highway 63 to Waterloo area, with a sneaky bypass to I-380. Take that to Marion to the home of Mom and Pops. Friday morning we take yet another sneaky bypass to I-80 east of Iowa City and drive East till we get to Illinois.

Song of the Day - The Interstate 80 Iowa song!!! It is pretty accurate and pretty funny. Apologies to Wyatt that I know was hoping that the song of the day would be Bryan Adams and Summer of '69.

Video of the Day - Many movies were filmed in Iowa believe it or not... ones that you've probably seen even! Field of Dreams of course, Bridges of Madison County (no, I've never seen it.. but been in a wedding in Madison County), Twister, Michael, Children of the Corn, The Puppet Masters, Starman, Terms of Endearment. There ya go - I'm sure you've all seen at least one of those.

Webpage of the Day - Still one of my favorite articles about Iowa.... Something not right with this image.