So Long 2006!!

Happy Birthday to Drewbie!!! He seems to think his birthday gets lost in the shuffle between Christmas and New Years so everyone make a mental note to tell him Happy Birthday (it's technically tomorrow but nobody's working tomorrow.... heck! Nobody's working today). With the reduction in work force this week, my 7:00 arrival gets the first VIP spot in the parking lot! Makes it look like I was here before 6:30 to get that spot!! Drew - you share your birthday with Tiger Woods (Tiger Woods Y'all!) AND LaBron James. And your buddy Kerry Collins who was the greatest quarterback ever for your Oakland Raiders. Oh, and Davy Jones (from the Monkees).

It's the wrap up of 2006. It's scary to think how long ago the "90's" were at this point and only getting worse. With 2007 on the horizon, I reflect at the things I have learned in 2006:

• 14 Hour Plane rides should be outlawed in the Human Bill of Rights
• The Book is always better than the movie (2006 examples of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Da Vinci Code, among others) .... I challenge you to find me one example to contradict this
  
• GroundHog Day might now be my favorite holiday of the year
• Award Show Season might be more official than "Winter" now adays
• A Shovel is probably not the best Valentine's Day Gift (no, I didn't ask for it back but thanks for all the support and suggestions that I should have gotten it back!)
• Rochester now has Jimmy Johns, and a Little Caesars, but still lacks a Hardees, a Rocky Rococo or Pizzario Uno - goals for 2007!
• NASCAR is still the longest sports season known to human kind
• I was not the official "Donkey Dong" from earlier in the year.
• Giving up Alcohol AND Caffeine for lent is a bad idea. Not sure how you pregnant women can handle it for that long!
• Cops hate me and refuse to give me a warning. I must not be wearing a low enough cut shirt or something!
• Chuck Norris' dog is trained to pick up his own poop because Chuck Norris does not take sh!t from anyone!
• Someone still thinks that Ashley (aka "TipDrill" has my phone number.... I do get some humorous calls now and then when they're not expecting a guy to answer her phone.
• Life is better with Cingular... just wish I could get my Answer Tones to work correctly
  
• Gas companies are the devil
• Even a change of most of his cabinet doesn't make Bush any less of an idiot
• Every song could use more cowbell!
• Disco is making a strong comeback! Wait for it.... wait for it....
• Many many babies born in 2006.... and I'm sure many many more in the next year (none for me!!)
  
• Living alone for the first time ever has its advantages... I still miss ya Adam!
• Elvis gets cooler every year that passes...
• I smell Shenanigans!!!
• It is very hard to be a Cyclone fan with years such as this one past.... only room to improve in 2007!
• Indian women are very pretty.... and hitting on Sid's sister in front of Sid is a lot of fun!
• Vegas and California are fun places to go visit. Vegas is a totally different place to visit when you're single vs being in a relationship!
• Goodbye and Thanks again to Andre Agassi for many memories and inspiration to me as a kid growing up wanting to be like him.
• Management causes a lot less free time in my life during the day. It also only gets easier with time.
• Christmas decorations and shopping starts earlier every year.... expect it to start shortly after Easter in 2007!
  
• Being Single is much less stressful than being in a relationship:) C'est la vie!

Happy New Years to everyone!!! I'll be back on here in 2007 for my annual New Years Resolutions (are you ready with yours?)

Song of the Day - For Drew, I will listen to Metallica today. Drew is one of the bigger Metallica fans I have ever known. He wanted to name his son "Lars" but Kristi didn't go for that one. I suggested "Hetfield" as a unique tribute in a name but that suggestion didn't make it too far either. We like "Joey" all the same!

Video of the Day - I watched Jackass 2 yesterday and it's even funnier than the first one. Part of that might also be because it's not on TV anymore so it's been a long while since I've seen the Jackass crew do their stupid stunts. It was pretty funny and there are a lot of snakes in there for those of you who don't like snakes (not me anymore!)

Webpage of the Day - Some random webpage with "50 Things We Know Now (That We Didn't Know This Time Last Year)". Interesting read if you're bored.

Lame Duck Work Week

I am back at work today... but there are maybe 10% of the people here as usual. Possibly less. It's only those of us who do not have enough vacation to take the entire time off. But it's always a good time to get caught up on work since there is less people to bug ya and not as many new things coming up. I have some things that I have put off till today so I should be busy at least this morning.

Christmas was fun at the Wisconsin Dells - but I did pick up a cold which is annoying, but that's life. I just have my bottle of cough syrup and package of cough drops to help get me through the day! Santa was good to all of us but more importantly the opportunity to be with my family over the holidays which is a rare occurrence for me. There is still leftover ham in my fridge which always makes me happy too!

President Ford passed away this week. I am too young to remember anything from that presidency other than I find it interesting that he is the only president to serve without actually being elected. He took over for Spiro Agnew who resigned his vice-presidency due to being charged with Tax Evasion. A year later Nixon resigned due the Watergate mess and Ford was the new president without ever running for the office. He lost to Carter when he actually did run in 1976.

Big night for the Big 12 in College Football Bowl Games - Kansas State, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma State all play.

Have a good Thursday!!!

Song of the Day - I was at the Sketchers store at the Dells and there was a worker who was singing Phil Collins that was being played over the music system on Tuesday. I was giving her crap for singing to Phil Collins and actually admitting that she was singing to Phil Collins (you should know my hatred for Phil by now). She replied that she was so extremely thankful to have something besides holiday music playing that she would sing to anything.... even Phil Collins. I hadn't considered that but I'm sure she's exactly right.

Video of the Day - I made the mistake of watching National Lampoon's Pledge This with Paris Hilton who proves yet again what a crappy actress she is. Don't bother renting that one.

Webpage of the Day - As Christmas winds down, we start to remove our Christmas lights.... this guy will probably take a week to take his down. An impressive Christmas Light Show!

364 More Days Till Christmas 2007

Happy Belated Christmas everyone!!!! But more importantly, Happy Kwanzaa!!! Kwanzaa is a 7 day observation starting on December 26th in which we honor this country's African American influence. It is interesting to read that the holiday has no African roots itself - It was first celebrated by founder Ron Karenga in 1966 in California. Karenga has received a lot of criticism from the Conservatives of this country - mainly due to his Marxism studies and beliefs. Read more about Ron Karenga and about Kwanzaa.

Christmas has come and passed..... I am still in Wisconsin at the Dells enjoying the huge water park with my family. It's been a lot of fun and great exercise climbing 4 flights of stairs every time you want to go on one of the big rides. They've added a whole new addition since I was here last in February making this place very huge! We're at the Great Wolf Lodge - I encourage anyone coming this way for a vacation to stay here... you won't be disappointed.

My Christmas dinner turned out very well! I made a ham, my famous garlic mashed potatoes, corn casserole, rolls, Jen's wonderful salad (thanks again for letting me continue to steal it!), and store bought pie! Just not enough time to make a pie this year. Now come the end-of-the-year sales at the neighboring outlet mall!

Unfortunately - the world lost James Brown yesterday morning. The Godfather of Soul was 73 years old but still had that magic element to make us all want to dance. I will remember him for his unique movie roles in The Blues Brothers (The Reverand), Rocky IV, and my favorite role - himself in Undercover Brother. Your useless knowledge of the day is that James Brown had his natural eyebrows replaced with tatoos. Another useless fact is that James Brown has never had a #1 hit on the Billboard chart.... but he has had 52 songs make the chart.

Have a wonderful week - sorry for those that have to work today but thanks for keeping the world turning!!!

Happy Winter!!

Today is the celebration of Winter Solstice meaning it's the first day of Winter! It also means it's traditionally the shortest day of the year. BUT - I see now that in 2006, the Solstice is actually at 12:22 am tomorrow morning. Since I won't be blogging in the middle of the night, I thought I'd celebrate today.

I've learned through watching my favorite Engineering an Empire on the History Channel - the importance of the Winter Solstice to many of the ancient cultures. The Mayans had calculated today as the sun's southernmost track through the sky. They would build their temples to have a specific window for the Winter Solstice, and for the Summer Solstice (sun in the northernmost track through the sky).

I've also had the opportunity to visit Newgrange in Ireland which is a prehistoric site (pre-Stonehenge) that is believed to be a tomb. The tiny door way into the tomb is so strategically placed to pay honor to the Winter Solstice and the gods associated with it. The path into the inner cross section of the tomb is on a slight incline. So every year on this day, the morning sun shines into the window above the door (the sun gets its own enterance into the tomb) and lights up the entire tomb area, no electricity required. So they were able to have ceremonies honoring their recent dead every year on this date. It was pretty amazing to realize that this engineering feat was built around 3000BC. It has been redone to make it more safe and secure, but most of the original tomb is still intact. Newgrange predates the Pyramids of Giza by 500 years. For anyone visiting Ireland - definitely a must see!!!

Today also marks my last day of working till next week. I will continue to blog.... some... next week while on Vacation. I'll post something tomorrow as well - from home in my slippers! I have all of my shopping for other people finished - now to pick up some new shoes for myself.

Tonight is the big Packers/Vikings football game. In honor of the event, I am wearing my Vikings jersey. Don't think I've worn this in 3-4 years now. There are too many folks wearing the ugly green and yellow so I am trying to do my part of offsetting this tragedy. Go Vikings - for no other reason than there's nothing worse than a Packer fan after they win BOTH games in one year. Although this year it's like bragging that your turtle was faster than the other turtle in a foot race.

And it is the season.... now we have the return of the Komodo Dragon Savior with the announcement that a Virgin Komodo Dragon is expecting! Wonder if there was an angel involved? But Flora is prego, with no guys taking the credit at this point. I have a feeling this is more likely to turn into an episode for Jerry Springer than it is Robert Schuller. I like Flora and have nothing against her, but it's so easy to deny it now a days. You should hear what the other female Komodo Dragons are saying about her when she's not around. She's like the England Komodo Bicycle....

Song of the Day - Jen has today's suggestion. She understands my frustration with the over played Holiday Channel Christmas music.... but she suggests going back to the original classic versions of these carols before they were "modernized". Nat King Cole, Sinatra, Bing Crosby.... She might be right - so today I honor these guys.

Video of the Day - I watched Lady in the Water which is the latest "thriller" by M. Night Shamalamadingdong. I thought the movie was well done, and the acting was pretty good and convincing.... but the plot itself was just STRANGE! I liked it and it's probably worth a viewing, but when it was over, I kind of scratched my head and asked "what was that all about"? His movies are progressively getting worse and worse. And unfortunately, there is no "I didn't see THAT coming" like his other movies. Or not one that I caught.

Webpage of the Day - For you latte drinkers.... Latte Art! I used to dump a handful of marshmallows in my hot chocolate and then swirl them around. Nothing this fancy though! By the time the artist is finished your latte is room temperature!!!

5 Days Left

Happy Birthday to my Grandma Pat! Grandma is a huge Nebraska Cornhusker fan (I love her anyways) and was the reason I was able to see in person, my Cyclones get trounced in Lincoln every other year for football. She also has the house that always has something cooking so walking in for the first time on a visit is always such a pleasant smell. It is partly from her that I have my strong desire to always cook (sorry Mom, I don't think that desire is from you.... I do have my ability to make dinner reservations from you though!!)

So like Football, my Cyclones were a 1st half team last night against THE Ohio State in basketball. I think I get sued if I leave "THE" off of OSU. It's another long season so far after a good start. Not sure how we'll do in the Big 12 this year. We're usually good for one upset somewhere along the line.

Bush is having a news conference today - nothing says "ruin Christmas" to me more than Dub-ya. Our status in Iraq has been changed from "absolutely we're winning" to yesterday's comment of "we're not winning, we're not losing". Not sure how to take that. Remember, I'm a binary person most of the time meaning if it's not a 1, it's a 0. I guess I kind of see the same thing in Sports - even with a tie score, someone has the momentum and one team is "winning" while the other is "losing". In a war? My thoughts that if nobody is "winning" and nobody is "losing" - there's either a strategy problem, or the definition of what the heck we're trying to accomplish is lost. Especially when this thing has gone on for 3+ years since we initially "won". Someone please explain all of this to me.

And in case anyone was wondering - JoJo turns 16 today and can drive a car. If her driving skillz are anything like her acting skillz..... STAY OFF THE ROADS!!

Song of the Day - This morning was "worst songs of the 80s" at the RAC. Included were We Built This City (Starship), Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Cindi Lauper), and Oh Sheila (Prince). Yes, I love Prince but I really do not like that song.

Video of the Day - Five minutes of amazing pool trick shots. You have to have a lot of free time to figure out shots like these.... I still don't understand how you stack pool balls though - that alone peaked my interest.

Webpage of the Day - I still like the Santa kick game from yesterday. Here's a non-Holiday game to play (or maybe some of you think this should belong with the Holidays). Shoot away at the moving target. Probably a lot easier with a real mouse instead of just the laptop joystick.

Christmas Past (no Ghosts)

I was reflecting on my "post college" Christmas that I have experienced (since 2000) and I realize that I have had anything but a Traditional Christmas. So this morning, I'll take you through the years. I graduated from Iowa State in 2000, so this is only a summary from that point till now:

2000 - My first year with IBM. The product I was working on was released to the world and I was asked if I wanted to fly to Ireland to support the manufacturing effort for this product. So of course I jumped on the opportunity and flew to Dublin in early December for the month. I spent Christmas Day working with two others from Rochester that were there to keep me company:) We left the plant around 5pm to go back to our hotels and I made spaghetti for my Christmas Dinner. Nothing is open on Christmas Day in Ireland so pre-arrangements to have spaghetti were made. I did get a free shirt from work that year for working Christmas Day. You take the free stuff when you can!

2001 - Most likely my worst Christmas ever. This was the year I spent a lot of time in Austin, TX and Poughkeepsie, NY for work. Again, the project I was working on was released worldwide in December. I was working in NY for 2 weeks with plans of coming back to Iowa on the 24th to celebrate Christmas, then return to NY on the 26th. Instead I was "asked" to go to Montpelier, France for that final week. So I ended up flying from NY to Paris (via Philadelphia) on Christmas Day. I spent 3.5 hours in the Philadelphia airport talking to family on my cell phone before boarding an overbooked plane to Paris (I was sitting in coach). I had a Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich as my Christmas dinner. NOTE: The only good thing on this day was flying parallel to Manhattan on Christmas Morning and seeing NYC so peaceful for once.

2002 - After my refusal to return to France ever again, I was this time asked to return to Dublin for support. I jumped all over the opportunity to return to my motherland (I think I'm maybe 5% Irish but that place sure feels like home to me!!). We had a successful week leading up to Christmas that we were actually given the day off! A Rochester friend and coworker was there with his family on assignment and had the 3 of us whom were visiting from Rochester over for a Christmas Dinner! A much more pleasant feast than spaghetti or Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich.

2003 - No international travel this year. But this was the crap year for work. I drove home on the 24th, then back to work on the 26th. This was also the year that I worked till about 6pm on New Year's Eve, drove to Ames to celebrate New Years with my college friends for the first time, had way too much of that cheap strawberry wine (THANKS JILL!!!), woke up at 6am and drove back to Rochester. I was back at work by 10am - worked till midnight that night. I don't like working on a hangover.

2004 - My first "Traditional" Christmas. My folks and I drove to see my brother and his family in Kentucky. Through the snow in Indiana!!! It was a white Christmas, with pleasant smiles and cheers Christmas Morning from my nephews once they saw that Santa had visited us. This was also the time I realized that little ones like boxes and $4 storage totes almost as much as they do the fancy toys that come with those boxes and totes. I made a huge Christmas Dinner for everyone - we ate, drank, and were very merry! A very memorable Christmas for sure!!

2005 - Last year I returned to my traveling ways and went to Shenzhen, China.... the armpit of the world! My travel experiences and postings are on the right for those who missed them last year. I spent Christmas Day NOT going to Hong Kong as was originally planned - but rather hanging out with my friend Tony. We had gone out on Christmas Eve for a wonderful (and rather expensive) meal by the river with music and singing... then to the "V" - club in Shenzhen where it was $20 to get in. We celebrated midnight with singing, party hats, noisemakers, streamers, and of course a countdown!!! It felt more like a New Year's Eve celebration, but was fun none the less. Christmas Day had another great meal and movie watching. Unfortunately Christmas was also when I left my camera in the back seat of a cab at 2am. It has since been replaced.

2006 - I will now be 3 for 7 with staying in the US for Christmas Day. But my family and I are meeting at the Wisconsin Dells for a few days of water park adventures. I am in charge yet again for Christmas Dinner. Full menu planned of course!

Song of the Day - For some reason I have Bel Biv DeVoe's Poisonrunning through my head. I don't remember the last time I heard that song, but yes - I did own the tape! One of maybe 20 tapes I did own. That was so 1980s!!!

Video of the Day - I watched Winter Passing which was one of the stranger movies I have seen lately, but still pretty good. Zooey SomethingSomething (the girl from Elf) is the daughter for two writers and returns home to see her dad (Ed Harris) after her mother dies. She finds Will Ferrell (the reason I rented it) and some other lady living with her dad in the house that she grew up in. Zooey has issues (has to in order to make it a movie) since both of her parents cared more about their writing than the family so the movie is about her reconnecting with her dad. What's more important? Selling her dad out to make easy money for drugs, or reconnecting with her pops??? Say no to drugs!!

Webpage of the Day - Another addictive game for the mouse.... You kick Santa to try to collect things... there are mushroom pads to bounce off of, but also wells to fall in, and snowmen to slow you down. The hint I recently discovered is after you send Santa a flyin' (use the mouse to determine angle and the power level), you can "fart" up to two times per turn to send you upwards at any time during flight. This helps if you're fast enough to click before landing in a well. 1940 was my highest score last night.

Twas the Week Before Christmas

Twas the Week before Christmas, and all through the work place,
Half the folks here are stirring, working at a rigorous pace!
Vacations being used, disappearing for Christmas Break,
I wish I had more days to use for goodness sake!
With dreams of Santa and more elves to do the work,
Unfortunately it will be behind my desk that I shall have to lurk.
My presents are bought and wrapped, I'm too cheap to buy bows,
They want almost a buck a piece for one of those!
The Holiday radio channel is already getting quite old,
Especially the commercials where "No interest" or "Free wrapping" is sold!
There's no snow on the ground, to make Christmas feel near,
Global Warming? Maybe... we had way too much earlier in the year.
Chances of Snow Thursday and Friday, is what I now read,
With my new kicka$$ tires, more snow is what I only need!
There's Football on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day as well!
My dad's gonna hate me watching so much football, that much I can tell!
So much to do at work, before the holiday can officially start,
There's agendas to plan and meetings to run... As manager, just playing my part.
Of course there's bowling on Thursday, Go Brews Bros!
Pocket Rockets are the enemy... BEAT THOSE HO'S!!
Now we come to the end of my poem for Monday Morn,
Have a great week - Pat, quit surfing for Porn!

Song of the Day - In the spirit of Christmas, I shall open my windows and listen for every who in Whoville singing while holding hands.

Video of the Day - For some reason I forgot to readjust my queue from Netflix and I ended up with only one movie to watch this weekend..... Little Man with the Wayans Brothers and yes, this movie was just as dumb as it looks. My favorite part of the movie though was watching one of the "extras" that explains how they made the effect of Marlon's head onto the little body. Otherwise, don't waste your time.

Webpage of the Day - For the Simpsons fans... Some of the voice actors doing a couple of Mo's Tavern phone calls.

Family Guy Fun

Congrats to Belly Itcher on the birth of another daughter!

It's one of those days so far.... trying to get out of here early from work but everything seems to be going wrong already at 7am. I can't even open a can of pop without the tab breaking off and then I'm left with an unopened can of pop and no easy way of getting it open.

But to cheer me up (and anyone else having a bad morning) - I turn to Family Guy. I love Family Guy because of its randomness... something I try to model in my every day life! They will have multiple references to pop culture (and a lot of it 80s from when I was growing up). You have to be quick or know what the references are from. Some of the ones I was finding yesterday are below:

Peter Working at Burger King
Peanut Butter Jelly Time
Kicked in the Nuts TV Show
Kool-Aid Man
Stewie doing Rocket-Man
Take On Me
and bringing back memories.... GI JOE!!!

OK - gotta run... have a great weekend!!!

On The 2nd Day of Christmas....

I'm officially down 10+ pounds in my "Post-Hazel" era. Don't get too excited... just means I'm back to my pre-Vegas/California/Management weight. Something about the extra stress of management that had me eating more candy throughout the day. Those days are gone though. So I'm back on track to get to my goal hopefully by the end of 2007. Plenty of more weight to go but it's getting easier to get up at 5:15 in the mornings to go work out.

I saw a commercial this morning on TV while at the RAC (they have no DVR there so I'm forced to watch commercials as I listen to The Peppers, Evanescence, and Justin Timberlake.... quite the mix don't ya think?). I am upset that I didn't get a call to star in the commercial as it's the story of my life. The commercial is for Men's Warehouse and has a rather tall gentleman in awkward situations in life. He stands up on the airplane and hits his head (happens to me every time), he hits his head on a TV monitor in the store (happened to me in China to the point where I fell over and the workers at the store had no idea what to do), and other situations where he is just plain too tall. Then it shows him comfortably getting fitted for a suit at Men's Warehouse. I do admit that I use them for suits for this purpose. I think I bought my Tux there as well. And some XXL gloves, a coat, some shirts.... it's good for us tall people. Not much else in Rochester for abnormal people such as me.

Speaking of chickens.... There have been some comments concerning my "stolen" Weblog Finalist jpg on the right (your other right). No, I haven't been officially nominated for any awards - I just was out looking around and stole it like a good blogger would!

But this got me thinking.... what categories would I want to be nominated for? I don't have a huge national following (although I'm still running about 50+ views a day which is awesome!! THANK YOU!!!) plus I only do this on a 20-minutes-a-day basis. Sounds like an info-mercial. Most of the nominations are full-time folks that have a full day to write. Imagine the damage I could do if I had 12 hours+ to come up with a blog every day!!

My nominated categories... if they existed:

• Blog That Hates Bush the Most!!
• Best Liberal View on Life in a Conservative Town
• Best waste of 5 minutes every morning before getting coffee
• Best Updates on the Brews Brothers (I would win this as I'm the only source of Brews Brothers news)
• Best Die-Hard Cyclone Blog Who Continues To Get Kicked When He's Down
• Best Use of Randomness
• Best Constant Dedication To Britney No Matter What Stupid Things She Does
• Most Published Criticism Towards a Certain Conductor in La Crosse

Song of the Day - I'm at my peak with Christmas Music. Granted I've had the Holiday Music Channel on the radio in the car for well over a week, but the songs are starting to repeat. I also want to note that my recent criticism to Harry Connick Jr and his crappy Christmas Albums was directed at the two specific Christmas CDs. He also recorded the soundtrack to When Harry Met Sally which is holiday-esque. There are a few Holiday songs, but otherwise it's an AWESOME CD. He should have stuck to that and not tried so hard on the other 2 since then.

Video of the Day - Another movie I watched this past weekend was Apocalypse Now Redux (which is the "Director's Cut" to the original 1979 movie. It's 3.5 hours long but it goes very quickly. I don't remember having ever seen it before, but knew basically what it was about. But nothing really prepares you for the increasing level of insanity as Martin Sheen and crew continue to go up the river into Cambodia. It's worth the time spent (unlike King Kong) and is a pretty scary depiction of war and what it can do. I'd be interested in hearing/reading thoughts from folks that served in Vietnam as to how realistic that movie is.

Webpage of the Day - Here's one that will make you laugh. An instructional video (in an Asian language that I don't understand) on potty training. Here I've been doing it wrong all of these years... I need to have confetti falling from the ceiling when I am finished using the bathroom!!!

Partridge in a Pear Tree

So I'm still hung up on this 12 days of Christmas thing. I'm going to go with it starting today since the 12th day would be Christmas Eve. Yes, that's Adam logic but it works for me. I did some reading trying to figure out why a Partridge and why a Pear Tree. I'm thinking if I gave someone that I was dating a Partridge in a Pear Tree for a Christmas present, I'd be in trouble. Kind of like giving someone a shovel for Valentine's Day. And for the record, I did not ask for the shovel back - but thanks for all the suggested advice that I should have!

For $15, you can find a Partridge at your local bird store (doesn't everyone have one of those?). Or you might be able to shop online for a Partridge - I'm sure it will come via carrier pigeon. Partridges are actually part of the pheasant family.... so why a Partridge? Keep on reading....

For about $100 you can buy a Pear tree at your local garden store (a little more common than bird stores). Another thing that you can order via the internet... you can find anything on the internet! Pear trees give off delicious pears.

So now what I can find on the "meaning" of this... there are a lot of references to religion when discussing the true meaning of the 12 days of Christmas. Here's one that I rather enjoy about folklore:

In Middle English pertriche "partridge," was derived from Perdix, one of Athene's sacred kings, thrown in the seas from a tower, and carried to heaven in the form of a bird by his goddess. He was the partridge, she the pear tree. Athena was worshipped in Boeotia as Once, the Pear Tree, mother of all pear trees. Perdix, whose name originally meant "the Lost One," was a form of Vishnu-Narayana, called Lord of the Pear Trees in his holy city of Badrinath in the Himalayas (from badri, "pear tree"). The pear tree had a feminine-masculine significance through Eurasia. It was also sacred to Hera, whose oldest image at Heraeum in Mycenae was made of pear wood. European peasants considered the pear a favorite "life-tree" for a girl. In Russia pears were used as protective charms for cows. It seems that when the partridge in a pear tree was made into a Christmas carol the symbol of Christ was substituted for Perdix.

So there's your educational lesson for the day. No, I don't recognize EVERYTHING in that paragraph, but I recognize enough to consider it worthy of posting:)

Actually, in reading more, there are 12 days beginning on the night of Christmas (12/25) and ending on the day of 01/06 (day of Epiphany). In the Middle Ages this period was one of continuous feasting and merrymaking which climaxed on the 12th Night... the traditional end of the Christmas season. So kind of like a Christmas Mardi Gras. I'm up for celebrating this year... anyone else?????

Song of the Day - I've been listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers when working out in the mornings this week. Not sure why I enjoy them during that time so much but it's really helped motivate me this week. Takes a lot to motivate me to get up at 5:30 and go run in the mornings, but the Peppers and Stadium Arcadium is a start.

Video of the Day - I watched the new Miami Vice this past weekend. It was pretty good (apart from Colin Farrell trying to play the white trash role of K-Fed with his weird hair cut and mustache). I guess I don't remember enough of the 80s series with Don Johnson and "the other guy" to compare it to. They did keep the focus on the Ferrari which I love (F430 Spider). I should add that to my Christmas list this year....

Webpage of the Day - If you wondered what the definition of "bad robber" was.... here you go. Thanks Wyatt!

Happy Independence Day (in Kenya)

Bad day so far.... long story. If you wish, insert American Idol song here - CAUSE YOU HAD A BAD DAY!!!!

Few things on my mind. We are 13 days till Christmas, so does that mean that tomorrow begins the "12 Days of Christmas"? Or does that start on Christmas Morning and last for 12 days? I've never fully understood that song. And how many of you "love bird" couples out there actually get your "true love" presents for 12 days? Most of you are probably lucky to get 12 days a year with presents!! 1) Birthday 2) Valentine's Day 3) Christmas 4) Anniversary 5) Easter? (we're beginning our descent) 6) Columbus Day? 7) I'll throw in a one time "Just Because" 8) um..... yeah.

Speaking of relationships.... I found this article this morning about "What's the diference between flirting and cheating"? I find it interesting and I know that the differences between men and women will heat up any discussion on the topics. I usually play the conservative side with most definitions of "cheating" but now that I'm single.... it doesn't matter!!! I'd be interested to hear the differences in opinions out there.

In the sports world.... NFL is winding down and it's still a toss up in my opinion as to who will win it all. Chicago looked good last night, but once they play a "real" team from the AFC, things will be different. San Diego was fun to watch on Sunday and we'll see them again next weekend on TV (which is rare). I also am curious if the Minnesota Timberwolves will make a stab at grabbing Allen Iverson form the 76ers. He is demanding a trade, but I'm not sure if the T-Wolves have anyone to trade with. It would be a great potential combo of KG and AI. I've never liked AI but if he brings his winning ways to the Target Center, I can learn to like.

American Idol coming in January... waiting is the hardest part! Especially since some of you are STILL singing the Bad Day song.

Ricky Bobby is out on DVD today. I'll snag it on my way home!

Song of the Day -Elvis Christmas CD is pretty darn good. Thanks Christine!!

Video of the Day - This is interesting - A side by side by side comparison of the same game played on Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360. Definitely shows the advantages of the graphic focused consoles, but is it worth 3x the price??? I was surprised with how well the Wii held it's own against the 360.

Webpage of the Day - Modified vehicles that you don't see every day while driving around town. I always wanted to do something cool like this to the ol' Saturn before I put her to sleep. That would have been funny.

In The Holiday Mood Now

So with 2 weeks left before Christmas, I am finally in the Holiday Spirit. "Why?" you ask....

This past weekend was the bi-annual performance of the Grand Avenue Baptist Church Symphonic Orchestra (or GABCSC for anyone wondering) in Ames under the baton of Maestro Johnson. It's a great time to be with friends from college, play with little ones, and perform a holiday service. So after a weekend's worth of holiday music, I now have a week's worth of rehearsals for our Holiday Concert this weekend in La Crosse.... so I've been surrounded by holiday music. The performance went well and I look forward to our next gathering at Easter!

So what type of Christmas Music does someone with such awesome musical tastes (as I do) listen to???? I actually do not have a ton of Holiday CDs, but I do enjoy the following on a yearly basis:

• Luciano Pavarotti and Boys Choir - this is a wonderful classical Christmas including his well known rendition of "O Holy Night". For those that enjoy opera, you'll like this one. Back when Luciano was in his prime.
• John Denver and the Muppets - a favorite of mine when I was a kid. I have the CD now but it is missing some of the best songs off of the LP. Yes, I do know what an LP is but I didn't enjoy it. With the CD, I can no longer hear Animal yell "RUN RUN REINDEER".
• Take 6 - Acapella Christmas by one of the more talented acapella groups ever. They actually have 2 Holiday CDs (at least) but the first one is much better in my opinion.
• Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops - Another Classical Christmas, but Arthur Fiedler was responsible for bringing Symphonic Pop music to its popularity. This Christmas CD has a lot of songs you will hear on the Christmas Radio stations in your area this time of year. Fun stuff to play every now and then as well.
• South Park Christmas - Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo.... plus a couple of songs paying tribute to Kyle and his Jewish celebrations this time of year!
• Wynton Marsalis Christmas - This is for the folks that enjoy good jazz. But that's about it. It's a very modern Jazz CD that happens to be performed using Christmas Themes, but not something you would throw in for a sing-along.
• And my newest acquisition... A Charlie Brown Christmas. Straight from the movie we've all seen as kids and as adults. You can picture the kids faces looking straight in the sky and singing "Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooh"!

Note the lack of Insane Clown Posse (ICP) and their rendition of "Santa's a Fat B***h", there is no Harry Connick Jr, Wham missed the list, Kenny G, or Yanni. Only good stuff on my list!

Even though there was no ISU victory Friday night (nor was the game on TV in Rochester.... stupid Rudolph that is on EVERY YEAR), it didn't ruin my weekend. Christmas came early with the announcement that Prince will be performing at halftime of the Super Bowl this year. Sweeeeet! Vikings victory yesterday giving up a measly -3 yards rushing. Wow.... not sure how that ranks, but that's pretty darn impressive in the NFL.

Song of the Day - I am in need of the Elvis Christmas CD. A purchase for later today I believe.

Video of the Day - another great Christmas song (and this time you can enjoy the great video) is from Run DMC - Christmas in Hollis.

Webpage of the Day - in a non-Holiday related link.... this is a pretty cool stop motion video (meaning they take picture after picture after picture, then link them all together). Must have taken a very long time. Cute and creative!

17 Days till Christmas

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PITZEN (insert any of his various nicknames here)!! Our friend from Iowa who made a wrong turn at Albuquerque and ended up moving to California! We miss ya bubba but have a great birthday anyway! Pitzen is paying for my cab ride from the airport to the hotel when we go to Mexico in April! That was so nice of him to offer to pay for that since his plane ticket was almost $100 cheaper than mine!

Somewhere today, Jim Morrison is celebrating his 63rd birthday. On an island with Elvis and Jimmy Hoffa!

Brews Brothers had a surprise "position round" matchup against the much hated Lightning Dinks. We already swept them 7-0 earlier in the year. Started out rough, but another Brews Bros victory 5-2. That takes us to 12-2 for the season against them, plus we're ahead of them in the standings! Life is good!

Only prediction of the weekend is for the Heisman on Saturday that I am pretty confident will go to Ohio State's Troy Smith. He was pretty key all year and I don't think anyone else has had regular high performances to keep them in the running. But I've seen other surprises before. Just as long as they don't show the highlights when they talked to Troy Davis.

Q: "Hey Troy, coming from Florida, how do you survive those Iowa Winters?"
Troy: "I got me a big coat.... I put it on when I go outside" (Grin to show off gold tooth)
Q: "Troy, your little brother Darren is coming to Ames next year, what do you think about that?"
Troy: "Big 8 better look out" (NOTE: The Big 8 was no more from this point forward but that was more than we came to expect from Mr. Davis.... #28!)

Ah... the pride of Iowa State!

A few more fun webpages for you to enjoy if you get bored at work today, or want to start the weekend early:

• From my Grams.... A Holiday Song that is actually very funny. The animation allows you to enjoy it a little more, but the song itself makes me laugh!
• A useful page (found by the Birthday Boy) that lists many different beers by cost for the amount of alcohol. If you're into that sort of thing!
• And probably one of my favorite finds as of late... the 50 best commercials of the 80s!!! This will bring back some memories (both good and bad) for everyone (that is of age of course). Bookmark this page, it's well worth going through in detail when you have time. Sure, there's some unnecessary fowl language in the comments, but ignore that and just watch the videos.

Have a great weekend!

GO CYCLONES!! BEAT THE SQUAWKEYES!!

Do You Believe in Angels?

Every so often in the history of the world, something comes along that proves changes the world and moves our evolution further and further in its development. These are the things we study in history class. There is the evolution of the wheel, the first thought of riding a horse to go faster. Invention of numbering systems, discovery of electricity, the first automobile and even the first nerds with their PCs of the 80s. But again, we use our brains to develop an amazing device that will change the way we live and breathe..... the DVR!!! Digital Video Recorder (sometimes referred to as "Ti-Vo").

Why such an amazing development? It is with this amazing gadget that I was able to catch up on my missed programming which included Tuesday Night's Victoria's Secret Fashion Show!!! I hope you didn't miss it. Justin Timberlake sang the "Angels" out on the walkway and I fell in love instantly (not with Justin). Then they move into Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus for the catwalk music.... did someone redo this song or was this a mix just for the program?

My real question is... how many people actually watch for the fashion? I will be the first to admit that I was primarily watching for... the interviews:) Just kidding. I'm male and I'll admit that it was sexy to watch. Not sure I see the value add of a girl wearing a graduate cap with lingerie and angel wings! And what do you do with a 30 foot "Pink" Dog when you're done with the show?

Did anyone know that I was in a fashion show once? SERIOUSLY!!! I was maybe 8 or 9 and i remember being the only boy in some fashion show. You will seriously need to talk to my mom as to how I got in there or what it was for or what I wore. I just remember being in a fashion show. I know none of you believe me but that's ok. Not sure it'd go over too well with me being on the runway now. I'm not opposed to the idea, but I think it'd be a hard ticket to sell!

And today is proof why they will never have a lingerie fashion show for VS in Minnesota.... IT'S WAY TOO COLD!! 4 degrees (non-windchill) when I went to work out this morning. Per the TV it was about -17 degrees (F and yes that is a "negative" sign in front of the one) with the wind chill that is pretty nasty for December. Only gets colder for the next 3 months. Remember, Winter doesn't start for another 2 weeks!!!

One more thing to share.... they have these new exercise bikes at the RAC now that have a TV screen that shows a videogame-esque picture of where you're riding. If you're up for hills, you get to see hills. If you are insane and want to do mountains, it shows you mountains. It's a neat and different way to make time go faster I'm sure. I'm waiting for them to add those to the elliptical machines to make it look like I'm going cross country skiing!

Song of the Day - I have some new holiday ring back tones that are "kind of" working on my cell phone. So call away and enjoy them... if it doesn't work, call back at a later time. I'm trying to work with Cingular to figure out why they aren't working ALL the time. I'm just starting to get into the holiday music spirit. And no, Alvin and the Chipmunks had nothing to do with it. Maybe it was the Hippopotamus for Christmas song???

Video of the Day - In the holiday spirit, I'll share one of my yearly favorites... White Trash Christmas!!!

Webpage of the Day - Another holiday favorite link. Santa and his Reindeer sing/play/tap for you! Click on each one to hear a separate addition to the song. Clicking on Santa controls the Symphonic accompaniment! Enjoy!

Dear Santa,

I've been a good boy this year. I have eaten my vegetables, been nice to my mom and dad (they give their word, no need to ask them directly), done my chores on a regular basis (or paid someone else to do them)..... here is my wishlist for this Christmas:

• With a new football season for Iowa State, I would like for once to feel the thrill of a victory that takes us to the Big 12 Title Game! I have suffered through so many defeats in ridiculous situations where we should have won (remember 1st and goal on the 3 yard line?) but I continue to feel the heart break. I would like nothing more than to see Chizik revitalize the program and take us to a status of Big 12 title game.
• Along with that.... a victory over Iowa next year in Ames. Man I hate them Hawkeyes!
  
• Prince Tickets in Las Vegas. Backstage pass would be pretty sweet too!
• A Cowbell. You can't ever have too much cowbell right?
• No Harddrive or computer crashes in 2007. Don't remember the last calendar year that I went without a crash. My laptop is all I have left!!!
• Me, I want a Hula-hoop
• Lower Gas Prices... but I know that even you aren't powerful enough to stop the evil Oil Empires.
• No more songs by the Pussy Cat Dolls. Don't care if they are "pretty" in that slutty sort of way.... I think their songs are annoying and much overplayed.
• On that note - how about a new radio station in Rochester? One that lets me play my awesome music for all of Rochester (and Minnesota) to enjoy! Or just one that plays hard rock.
• More White House resignations! We're on a roll right now, keep the momentum going!
• A victory over Iowa in Basketball this Saturday. ISU is 0-2 for in-state rivals right now with one to go... the most important one.
• A College Football Playoff System, or basically the death of the BCS which again proves it doesn't work.
• A date with Britney (CALL ME!)
  
• At least one person who reads this blog to have caught the reference earlier to Alvin and the Chipmunks.
• New Studio CDs in 2007 from Garbage, U2, Beastie Boys, or Harry Connick, Jr. That'd be pretty sweet! Tours to follow of course;)
• A Vicinity Reunion Tour..... Doesn't everyone in Rochester want this? COME ON GUYS!! DO IT FOR THE FANS!!!
• Snoop Dogg's Freedo.......-mizzle
• An Exit Strategy from Iraq. Or just admission that someone up high in the chain screwed up (note I don't expect everything on this list... but I can have wishfull thinking can't I?)
• No more Christmas CDs from Harry Connick, Jr. Sorry, but these are easily his worst albums and I'd hate to have people think all of his stuff is this bad.
• My iPod to start working again. Or just a new one if you're buying!
• Hurry up and start the new season of American Idol already! Will you be auditioning?
• A new conductor for the La Crosse Symphony (more on that later)
• Phone number of the cute brunette that has been at the RAC on the treadmill the last couple of times I've been there. I'm sure she's asking you for my number, feel free to give it to her!
• I still want a Hula-Hoop
  
• Peace on Earth! Seriously.... that would be pretty amazing and exciting!

Sincerely yours,

Adam

WORD of the Day -this is new for today only.... today's word is incompetent. The definition is "lacking qualification or ability; incapable". Let me use it in a couple of sentences for you:

1. Our conductor in La Crosse is incompetent.
2. When our conductor raises her baton to conduct a piece, she shows off how incompetent she really is, musically.
3. I have to sit for 3 hours at rehearsal and my dominating thought is only one of how incompetent our director is and it shows.
   

Video of the Day - I watched Edison Force this weekend which is the movie with about 200 stars but the biggest name is the premier of Justin Timberlake. He wasn't too bad, but he'll always have to play characters that are under the age of 20. It was the "other" movie I watched with Kevin Spacey. It's the typical movie you'd expect with him, Morgan Freeman (he doesn't drive anyone in this movie from what I remember), and LL Cool J.

Webpage of the Day - So being a nerd part time working on computers, I do find links like today's WOTD pretty funny. Modified PCs by people with too much time on their hands. Given enough time and energy (and some cash), you could pretty much turn anything into a PC.

Getting Colder Yet:(

Life is all about making due with the situation you're given. Right? What's the expression.... Life gives you limes, you make a margarita? Or is it life gives you oranges, you make a screwdriver (tall - double shot)? That's what I'm all about... being the optimist and making the best in a bad situation. Like today - It is incredibly freakin' cold outside!! But since the air is thinner, I get much better reception of the radio stations out of the cities! So I was able to enjoy the cool music (no pun intended) of 93.x!! Just wish I could catch that station every day.

Speaking of bad situation, yesterday I finally gave in and bought new tires for the mighty Trail Blazer. After 78,500 miles on the original tires, I realized that I was no longer safe in the snow of Minnesota. It's not too bad when I'm in town, but now with rehearsals and driving between La Crosse over the next 2 weeks, I figured I better change. The new tires are very nice and the ride is very smooth! I used some recommendations from friends and went to Sam's Club for my tires and I was very pleased. Their installation is $9 per tire and then it's free lifetime balances, rotations, etc. Only down side is that you can't make an appointment so going in there is a chance you'll be there for a while. And there's only so much "wandering" around Wal-Mart and Sam's Club that I can do (as was evident yesterday for an hour). It was too cold to walk anywhere else.

So back to the cold weather, I'm still convinced that Rochester is the coldest place on earth. Not only are the temperatures crappy, but the wind is too strong here and makes for some nasty wind chill temperatures. I remember hearing once that we're one of the windiest cities on the continental US (even more than Chicago!). Alaska takes the cake when you include all 50 states.

My other thought for this morning goes back to my Wii. I have over 30 "Miis" created now (the little people that show up in the games as you play them... they really serve no good purpose other than entertainment). I went through and created all 4 of the members of U2 and I think I did a fairly good job. Santa is in there, as are some other surprises. It's kind of funny to go through the creation and make these characters. Only problem is that I am having trouble finding other people that have their Wiis online and I can connect to. Send me an email if you're interested. The two people I know that have a Wii at home, one still has it in the box, one doesn't have high speed internet....

Song of the Day - They're sneaking in the Holiday music at the RAC this morning. Christmas songs don't make me want to run faster or longer for some reason. So I finally charged up my iPod Shuffle (the original version) and was listening to some good tunage from Evanescence this morning during my run. The last track ("Good Enough) on their new album The Open Door is pretty darn good. It's another one of their haunting ballads that they kind of showed with "My Immortal". The chord progression is pretty amazing and the modulation between major and minor throughout the song allows it to walk the fine line between "hope and despair" that she is going for in her lyrics as well. Pretty good stuff!

Video of the Day - I finally sat down last night and watched the new Superman movie. I was curious how this was going to work with new people as the same characters from previous movies. And the fact that it wasn't a "remake". So I thought that most of it was legit and convinced me that nothing was separate about this movie. I thought Brandon Routh (from Norwalk, IOWA!!!) did a pretty darn good job and Kevin Spacey is kick ass in every movie. I wasn't sure about the method of how he gets out of jail, but whatever. I thought Kate Bosworth (Lois Lane) was very cute, but didn't make a good Lois Lane. The Lois that I remember was dumb and selfish, Kate's Lois was just cute... and not really the best actress. I did not see the "twist" in the plotline coming... wasn't really looking for it but it adds for an interesting element. So overall I was happy with it. Plus KUMAR was in the movie... how cool is that?

Webpage of the Day - I have a large list of these for the week (for once). Today you can play Sober Santa... or not so Sober Santa! I had a 442 but that took a lot of concentration! Good luck, don't kill Santa! Use the arrow keys on the keyboard to move Santa around and collect the alcohol. Do not touch the traintracks or get electricuted!

Monday Ramblings

So before I go on, I will be the first to admit that I was pretty worthless this past weekend. After reading today's blog, most of you will make the same conclusion. I'm not in denial!

I'm a Wii "Pro" at WiiSports (the free game that came with it). Funny thing is, I have beaten the system and am at the pro level (1000 points) without leaving the couch. There are still arm movements required in the new technique, but not nearly as much as initially thought. The competition is a lot more challenging as you move up on the skill level with the game. Tennis they start adding a lot of spin (and speed)... Baseball they actually don't swing on every pitch that I throw them and the computer also refuses to throw me strikes knowing I'm going to hit it out of the ball park if it does.... Bowling doesn't really add any challenges, but you have to maintain a 180+ average to keep at the Pro level. Then there's golf..... which I love because all of the holes are throw back holes from the original Golf game (starring Mario of course) that I played a TON as a kid. It's neat to play the same holes with a little more interaction.

So yes, I did more than play video games this weekend! I rearranged my bedroom (including a new TV Stand) and watched a lot of football. Beginning with USC/UCLA! Wow, didn't see that one coming. I was also glad to see Oklahoma beat Nebraska because the BCS has enough issues - trying to fit Nebraska as the lone Big 12 representative wouldn't help the situation this year. I am disappointed in the OSU/Florida National Title game... who honestly cares? Michigan was screwed! How many times in the pros does a team beat someone two times in the regular season, but loses in the playoffs when it matters most? Also the element of a neutral field should be exciting for two teams such as Ohio State and Michigan. Anyways. Yesterday I watched the pathetic Viking/Bears game. I thought I was watching a high school game it was so bad.

I also practiced a little bit since rehearsals for our Christmas Concert in La Crosse begin this week. This is the one concert of the year where I am vocal about being a musical prostitute. I don't enjoy playing the holiday music (bass parts suck on 99% of holiday music) but I do show up in order to receive my pay check. In other words, there's no enjoyment out of it - just do the duty and collect the money. It's vastly different than the upcoming performance in Ames this Sunday! That's a lot of fun and I look forward to our 2 times a year gathering to make music!

3 weeks of Christmas shopping remain!

Song of the Day - Snoop was arrested again last week after a performance on the Tonight Show. What does everyone have against Snoop? So the man likes to light up (or other things but we'll stick with that).... does that make him a bad person? Consider this my announcement of entering the "Free Snoop" campaign!

Video of the Day - In the holiday spirit, I watched The Family Stone which has lots of famous people..... Ok, so I watched it to see Rachel McAdams who is just as hot in this movie as every other movie she's in. It's pretty sappy but some of you may enjoy it. Typical family though at Christmas where the "TV Family" imagery of carol singing and warm baked cookies are replaced with "Real World Family" yelling and fast food!

Webpage of the Day - This weekend of course also allowed me to catch up on my web reading. I found this video of a very experienced person using Paint (the pathetic Windows program that all of us laugh at after having used Photoshop) to draw quite the amazing picture of a car. The NIN music is pretty sweet as well! Dude has SKILLZ!!

Some Random Readings

Today is the start of December!! And it still feels like it outside!

My Great Grandmother turns 98 years young this weekend! Yes, you heard me correctly that I still have a Great Grandmother who is alive:) It is actually quite amazing to think that she has many great-GREAT-grandkids now (5 generations of us causing trouble around the world). Happy birthday Granny Nettie!!

Brews Brothers did NOT do so well last night in Bowling.

Some random links for you to enjoy today:

1. How to fold your crisp dollar bill into a shirt. I did it with a 20 yesterday and it actually looks kind of cool! Impress your friends (as I did!)
2. A list of the top 10 hottest Disney Animated Characters. I think Arial got the shaft with a low ranking, but we'll see what the official BCS rankings have in store when they come out!
3. And if you're going to have a list of "hot" Disney Characters.... can't leave out the women of 8-bit NES (Nintendo Entertainment System for the less informed). I do remember most of these games and it's also not a coincidence that Arial made this list (as well as did Jessica Rabbit). WARNING: Some non-PG rated language on this link.
4. Volkswagen has been bringing cars to Yuppies for a long time now (you know who you all are!)... now they can bring state of the art sleds to your kids in winter!!
5. Christmas Vacation has been reenacted by everyone's favorite Bunnies (in 30 seconds)!!

Have a great weekend!