Friday Before Christmas

Things are as crazy back in Rochester as ever. Snow is on the way as per the theme of December 2007! The stockings are hung by the chimney.... nevermind.

So on this Friday before Christmas, with all the panic to get those last second Christmas gifts - wrap them and put the pretty little bows on them - finishing those Christmas cookies or Christmas meal preparation - loading up on egg nog or other favorite holiday "beverage"...... we tend to miss the fun things in life. So today I hope to help remind you of the laughter that makes the season bright.

Remember the Noah taking photo of himself every day for 6 years video? (If not, GO HERE Well Sunday's Simpson's episode saw a Simpson remake of this! Remember that imitation is the greatest form of flattery... or something like that.



Love the acne part with the increasing numbers of Oxy! Showing how The Simpsons is still the greatest show on Television!!! And if you can tolerate the music, here's a better "daily photo video" that shows a much more drastic change to the video's star!

Want to see the newest thing coming soon to cars?? The Disappearing Car Door!!



A pretty sweet video of animated ping pong balls playing the song heard....



And if you're looking for some last second Christmas gifts for me.... Get me a set of the Knee Defenders! Product to use on the airplane to prevent the idiot in front of you from reclining his chair. If they work, they'd easily be worth the $15!

Of course a game for you to enjoy all weekend! Not Holiday related, but try to take pictures of Superman flying. Challenging at first but easily beatable.

Have a good weekend! GO VIKINGS!!! And go fantasy football team hopefully pulling me out a 3rd place finish (I lost last week).

DA-BULLS

Here are some pictures from Sarah and I visiting the Bulls (they lost)... was pretty freakin' sweet though!

Sarah took the one of the cheerleaders! I wasn't going to stop her!

On The 7th Day Before Christmas.....

One week and counting... what am I counting you may wonder?? Well it's Christmas morning, but not due to Santa Clause reasons - it's because that's when my flight to Florida for a week in the Sun leaves!!

A wonderful weekend with the Girlfriend and friends in La Crosse/Madison. The concerts went well with a surprisingly large audience in attendance on Saturday night. I usually don't enjoy Christmas Concerts due to the SAME music pretty much played every year. This year's program seemed less painful than in years past so I didn't have a totally whore-ific experience for December 2007! (yes, i spelled it wrong on purpose.... think about it). Next concert is Groundhog's Day in February, I will enjoy the time off.

I'm in Chicago enjoying some time with my hot girlfriend. She is now an owner of her first Coach purse (a real one... what kind of bad boyfriend would buy his girlfriend a fake Coach purse!) and I am now the owner of a kick ass digital picture frame for my desk at work and a pretty sweet Garmin GPS system. I'm still learning the ins and outs the GPS system - but the picture frame has wireless capabilities built in so I can download pictures from my Kodak account, or transfer pictures from my laptop all done over wireless! Pretty cool stuff!

Best present though was Sarah scoring us some Bulls vs Lakers Tickets for TONIGHT here at the United Center!!! I know this matchup would have been better back in the 1990s, but it's still neat to be going to my first Bulls Game! I've been on the floor of the United Center (for U2 concerts) where Jordan and Pippen hit 1000s of shots - plus been in the upper deck for yet another U2 concert - AND been to a BlackHawks game (St. Patty's day many years ago with a free Green hat)... but never a Bulls game. I'm pretty pumped! Sarah and I went to look for a Bulls hat to wear, but all of the NBA hats we saw were what I would call "gangsta" style! What happened to the day of normal hats? So no hat tonight unless I see one at the game. And for the 99.9% of you who don't follow the NBA in the post-Jordan era.... the Bulls are 8-13 (4th from last in the East but still 6 games AHEAD of the Timberwolves overall) and the hated Lakers are 14-9 (4th in the West) with the biggest Ball Hog in the NBA!

Speaking of big wins though, the Vikings made me proud last night to have won against the Bears and continue the miracle turn around season that it has been! GO VIKINGS!!!

Anyway, I'll be back in Rochester tomorrow sometime - pray for NO MORE SNOW!!!

Link of an interesting movie on the Earth and resources: http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Don't Go Away Mad, JUST GO AWAY!

First off, apologies to my friend and #1 Brett Favre fan (pictures on the web to prove it!)- Maureen. I don't see the attraction, but then again people gave me crap for my Britney obsession. If she thinks Brett's all that and a bag of chips (when was the last time you heard THAT expression?), then so be it. I still don't like the Packers and I still look for a Vikings victory this upcoming postseason! I'll focus my dislike on the team and not the player.

BTW - the title for today has nothing to do with that, but rather this to follow:

So my thought for today is to gather a list of names, individuals, or even groups that I feel would be better off NOT getting any more publicity for next year. Call it an extension of yesterday's Santa wish list, or just quit publishing hourly updates to it all.

• Barry Bonds.... and the entire Steroid controversy in MLB. Does anyone really respect the overpaid athlete of this century anyway?
• Paris, Lindsay, Nicole.... any of them that walk around carrying a little dog like it's cool. It's not! Get a real job because you SUCK at acting, and your singing albums are only getting worse!
  
• Britney, Britney's kids (the only ones probably more sick of all this than we are), K-Fed ("dad of the year" in comparison), Britney's emotional condition..... you get the picture
• Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie - I admire her desire to create a better life for some less fortunate children of the world... but do we really need to give them all the photographers and headlines?
  
• Pam Anderson and her short term marriages to anyone in a rock band.
• The idiot males who find it necessary to cheat on their HOT wives/girlfriends... included are the idiots associated with cheating on Jessica Alba, Eva Longoria....
  
• Michael Vick.... enough already, let him go to jail in peace!
• The song "Hey there Delilah" by Plain White Tees.... song sucked the first 1000 times it was on
• Lead Paint in toys. No, it's not right but don't freak out so much about it happening!! The world is NOT ending! Quit watching Fox News and you'll realize that the world is NOT coming to an end!!
• War with Iraq, Iran, North Korea, whoever the "axis of evil" of the month is for Bush!
• Nut cases in general that by dwelling on the evil they bring to the world, you give them the fame they desire. Includes public shootings, people doing evil things to their children and others..... need to seriously address this as it continues to show the drop in the overall mental health of our country.
• Rising gas prices.... if $25 per barrel was enough for oil giants to break even a few years ago, then what kind of profits are they getting at $100 per barrel? Blows my mind!

Holiday concert in La Crosse this weekend, hopefully the snow holds off since we have enough to make it feel like Christmas. We're performing music from La Boutique (by Rossini arranged by Respighi) with some local ballet being performed with us on stage, L'Arsienne Suite by Bizet, and tons of recognizable (and non-recognizable) Christmas music! No bass solos yet again:(

Haiku of the Day
Playing bass like THIS
Is pretty kick ass, but no
I can't play like that!

Entertainment of the Day - Finally saw the FINALE of Pirates of the Caribbean.... kind of forgot what happened in #2 other than the dude with the squid like beard but THANKS to Wikipedia, I was updated just enough to follow. Lots of pirates, lots of sword fighting, lots of confusing plot twists.... Enjoyable, but still not my thing. Sappy at the end but that's just me.

Weblink of the Day - Despite getting lost on YouTube this morning looking for Edgar Meyer clips (there's more than I thought there would be!), Best Pictures of 2007 for you to enjoy!

Dear Santa,

Hiya BigMan! Thanks for the great response to my list last year. I realize that my list is late this year, but with the beauty of the Internet (I hear it's a series of tubes), I can get this letter to you in the matter of nano-seconds. What operating system you running now a days up at the North Pole? If you're using Windows Vista, then I'm afraid you might not get my email till after Christmas as you continue to get the damn thing working.

Here is my list for you, hope it's again not too much to ask for - I'm a humble person but like everyone, I like presents!

• A work free Christmas vacation.... I know, even you can't deliver that
• A Vikings playoff run with an included win AT LAMBEAU (think Jan 9, 2005)
• More jail time for the princesses of Hollywood.... good thing they don't have to try to get a REAL job where official jail record is a required question.
• My own personal yacht.... I don't want a huge house or fancy cars in life - but a yacht would be pretty friggin' sweet!
• A helper monkey. Someone to clean the house while I'm gone during the day, plus I can train him to cook and play catch!
• A manatee sighting while we're in Florida over Christmas!
• A new president (preferably one that rhymes with Brogama.... not a lot rhymes with "Obama") - I know you can't deliver on this till January, 2009 but please make our time until that date go faster and with fewer (a LOT fewer) wars!
• Alternative energy source.... there's this thing called "solar" that could be the answer if the world would only focus on it for a while. Think of what we could figure out by focusing the smart people on that rather than nuclear testing.
• No more problems with my teeth! Root canals are NOT fun despite the contrary opinions.
• Less commercials on the radio... may have to look into XM Radio at this rate as the political campaign commercials only increase till November:(
  

And most importantly

• A full year of happiness with my new hot girlfriend Sarah!!

Good luck traveling, we have lots of snow already - Please do NOT bring any sleds to my bowling team as only bad things happen with those things.

Haiku of the Day
Emergency Room
Last two times I've been sledding
Once for me, Once not

Entertainment of the Day - Snoop Dogg is always a good way to brighten a bad day, but back to movies.... I watched the new Die Hard this past weekend. I am surprised at how the continued episodes in the life of John McClane still entertain with lots of action and newer appropriate technological plots to ruin the world. The only part I didn't fully enjoy was the airplane part, a little unrealistic in that part. It also has the kid from the Apple/Mac commercials.

Weblink of the Day - My favorite holiday song and my favorite version of all time. With cattle prod goodness!!

Reflections on Santa

So last year I asked for some things from Santa and here's how I fared:

• ISU victory in football (and now basketball just for good measure) - CHECK!!
• Prince tickets in Vegas - Prince in Minneapolis will do - CHECK!!
• No harddrive or computer crashes - CHECK!!
• No more Pussy Cat Dolls - CHECK!!
• More White House resignations - CHECK CHECK!!
• New iPod (old one just couldn't get fixed) - CHECK!!
• New conductor for La Crosse Symphony - ON IT'S WAY!!
• New CD from Beastie Boys - CHECK!!

So not bad, still waiting for:

• Exit strategy from Iraq - won't get that till after the next elections.
• New Studio CDs from Garbage and U2
• Lower Gas Prices.... giving up on this one
• No cowbell and no hula-hoop either.
• And no date with Britney... found someone even better though!
• Vicinity reunion.... will they ever reunite to please their Rochester Fans!?!?!?!?!
  

Pretty good if I do say so! Santa must like me. I'll have to work on my list for 2007 and send it out tomorrow. I know I'm behind, been that kind of month.

Call me a Grinch, but I'm already sick of the Holiday Music everywhere you go - mainly because it's the same stuff over and over again. My Christmas/Holiday albums that I pull out this time of year?

• Neil Diamond "Christmas Album" (Volume 1 and 2) - Neil's still kick ass
• John Denver and the Muppets - before Kermit's voice changed
• Wynton Marsalis "Cresent City Christmas Card "- the jazz album that I seem to be the only one who likes it
• Take 6 "He is Christmas" - good stuff yo!
• Empire Brass "Joy to the World"
• Elvis "Elvis Christmas Songs" - of course, you need some Elvis!!
  

Still wondering how to get a Wii this year? Good luck! Don't worry, they're still as fun as last year when they were hard to find! And more fun games are on the way (including Mario Kart for Wii).

Anyway - have a good day! Lots of ice in the midwest, we just got some snow up here in Minnesota with more on the way..... definitely a White Christmas.

Haiku of the Day -
Hating the excess
Snow, work, commercials, music...
I know, I'm a Grinch!

Entertainment of the Day - Movie #2 from this weekend - Superbad. Yes, this movie is pretty funny. Yes, the movie can at times be "over the top" with it's crude humor. Better than Knocked Up but not nearly as good as 40 Year Old Virgin. Just one man's opinion. Lots of F-bombs and sexually suggestive commentary throughout!

Weblink of the Day - A cute video that reminds me of my mornings with Mojo when he lived with me!

Keeping You Distracted Since 2005

Happy Birthday to Pitzen (not Titzen) - it was yesterday....

I finished my trim work Saturday - pretty easy stuff to do given the right equipment! So I think my house "upgrades" are finally done for now, with some minor framing to do yet. Otherwise, the house is finally at full "show and tell" status.

More snow this past weekend which kept the annoying crowds to a minimum on Saturday night while I tried to do some Christmas shopping. I was able to watch a nice long day of football on Sunday.... always a good thing!

And as the 7th seed in the Fantasy Football playoffs, I took out the #2 seed, 133-74!!! A win next week will guarantee some money!

And with all that extra time this weekend, here's what I found while surfing the web (all aimed at delaying your "work" for Monday morning):

Christmas Carol quiz, how well do you know the lyrics to the Holiday songs you are hearing all over as you shop??? I only scored a 78% on the quiz! Guess I'm used to playing the songs, not actually singing them. That and I've been known to make up my own lyrics from time to time to make them more humorous!

How well do you know your sugar cereals from the past 20 years (or more)? I pulled out an 80 on this one which goes to show that I either ate too much sugar cereal as a kid (not really the case) or I watched too many commercials during my cartoon years that always focus on cereal it seems.

Funny commercial for Skittles (my all time favorite candy) that I keep watching over and over and continuing to laugh!!



For those who still remember Kellie Pickler (American Idol/Idiot with an IQ of maybe 20). Here's a video to make you cringe to know she's making millions of dollars yet is MUCH dumber than a 5th grader:



And my favorite find from the weekend.... a horrific pageant entry involving dancing and Star Wars played on the trumpet. Too bad they use her full name so she'll never be able to run and hide! Love the choreography!!



Haiku of the Day
Concert this weekend
Holiday music again:(
A performing whore

Entertainment of the Day - Another nice thing about slow weekends is the ability to get caught up on movies. First off was Ocean's 13 which was a huge improvement over Ocean's 12. Pretty good flick overall and much more reminiscent of the first one. I still think Bernie Mac is the best of all of them:)

Weblink of the Day - Wondering what cartoons I watched growing up (and still have a tendency to watch the animated stuff), here is one person's analysis of the theme songs to 15 cartoons. Funny how when compared, He-man and Transformers did have horrible intros. And I think DuckTails was so popular based on the theme song!

Friday Friday Friday!!

And a blog today makes 5 BLOGS THIS WEEK!!!! Been a while since that's happened!

Couple of other License plates that were found after yesterday's discussion:

BRRRRR: "car loans to get you through the winter"
CABNFVR: "car loans to get you oot and aboot" (again making fun of northern accent)
HAFPIPE: "car loans for your sick 1080" (I like this one.... 1080 is a move done with the half pipe in X-games - 3 full revolutions or 360 degrees x 3! Not sure I would do this one with a car though!)
HOTDISH: "car loans for your sweetie pie" (they call it a hot dish up here, not a casserole like it was in Iowa)
LEFSA: "car loans for Grandma" (not a big fan of Lefse, and not sure why they spelled it wrong. Thankfully my Grandmas don't make lefse)
LUTEFSK: "car loans for Grandpa" (I don't like fish)
SNOBYRD: "loans for your great escape" (for the people flying south for the winter... smart people)
UFFDA: "loans for Scandahoovians" (common saying up here)
WLDTHNG: "loans for all the hockey fans" (Minnesota Wild)

Ok - enough of that. After some more snow (more on the way this weekend), the Brews Brothers took 5 of 7 last night from the arch enemies (Shooters) in the weird green shirts.

Bonus from yesterday is that my Trail Blazer is once again happy with me. She got new brake pads and rotors all around, new fuel pressure regulator (was leaking gas... no wonder I thought I was smelling gas in the past few weeks), replaced front sway bar pivot links (the rattle I've had in the front for 2+ years), changed front differential (had metal shavings in it!!)... after all that he called to tell me it was done but that they had to keep jumping it to get it started due to a bad battery. 100k miles on original battery (5 years almost on the dot), so I had a new one of those thrown in as well. So yeah, she's happy again! I don't believe in a lot of superstitions, but I do believe that cars have a spirit of some sorts that if you keep them happy, they'll return the favor! Kind of like a car karma or something.

The playoffs have begun in Fantasy Football. I'm the 7th seed and have a tough matchup this weekend. Hoping for a poor showing by Dallas (my opponent has both Romo and Owens!) and a miracle Sunday for the rest of my team! Will know on Monday if I am done for the season or not. College football is on hold till the bowl games, and some interesting NFL matchups this weekend with Pittsburgh and New England the biggest attention grabber. Good weekend to get caught up around the house and on some new movies!

Haiku of the Day
White Christmas this year
As long as it doesn't stop
My Florida flight

Entertainment of the Day - I suggested THIS VIDEO but Pat suggested THIS VIDEO.... see which one you like more. And you'll have no doubt which one of us is cooler!!

Weblink of the Day - Looking for that last second Holiday present for your loved one? Something that says "I love you and Christmas isn't the same without you?"... try one of these Star Wars tattoos that say "I'm crazy and want everyone to know it". Or some rhino poop..... seriously!

Say What?

Think Bank (formally Think Credit Union and formally IBM Mid American Credit Union) has way too much money on their hands. As do most banks around the US!! With 20% interest on credit cards, and most Americans carrying a decent chunk on credit cards, no wonder Think Bank has money to not only change their name (requires new signs, new business cards, new everything) as well as build a couple hundred more bank offices (new staff, new building). Why would Rochesteronians want more restaurants, or more fun places when we can just have more Banks built up in this town!! Do people actually use banks anymore? Not sure how considering they're only open 9-4 Monday - Friday. But that's another rant waiting to happen.....

The one thing I will give Think: with all their money, they have indeed come up with a clever advertising campaign. They're using license plates on billboards all over town to get people thinking about new car loans, new house loans, taking more money out of the bank systems. They're also increasing accidents I'm sure as the plates aren't as easy as one would think.

MN NICE: "Car loans if you want. If not, that's OK too" ---(Minnesota Nice)
KC BBQ: "Car loans for those with a sophisticated palette" --- (Kansas City BBQ)
WNDYCTY: "Car loans that won't blow your budget" --- (Windy City)
Then they get tricky:
B W C A W: "Car loans for adventures, not the adventurous" --- (Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness... I had to ask on that one)
4CSTSNO: "Should I get all wheel drive?" --- (Forecast Snow)
DALOOT: "Car loans for our friends up north" (Daluth with a northern accent)
AUN GO4 --- from memory, but I'm close (Golden Gophers... MN Golden Gophers and Au is the symbol for Gold)
72PTFLP --- 72 Petaflop Blue Gene system made here at IBM Rochester.... fastest computer in the world
GOTVINS (some comment about baseball) --- Go Twins, but I never understood why the W was replaced by a V..... is there some accent thing involved? This one is on 52 going north just past the Broadway exit.
FE2O3 (some comment about a new car) --- This one was the one I saw yesterday (next to ATM by the corner cafe for the IBMers here on site). I finally figured it out!! Fe2 O3 is the chemical name for Iron Oxide which is in a solid condition, just like RUST... thus why you should get a new car loan! I feel pretty smart on that one.

Which other ones am I missing? There really are a lot of them and some are trickier than others.

My other thought for the day is to ask for prayers for the Omaha mall shootings. It still baffles and saddens me when I see these tragedies, and to happen in the MidWest which at times seems shielded from things... but not this. It reminds me that I feel our mental health as a country is worsening. With the economic issues, the business challenges that continue to apply pressure on the American work force, the influences of TV and society in general, the additional stress that continues to rise on all Americans..... No real way to address this, but I wish someone would. Anyway, enough soap box for today.

Haiku of the Day
A prayer of thanks
for safety and protection
from all the evils.....

Entertainment of the Day - A men's A Capella group singing a funny holiday song for your amusement/entertainment.

Weblink of the Day - A simple fish shooting game... yeah, you heard me right

Singing in the Snow

It's crappy outside here in Rochester. Well, better this morning than last night - but it's definitely white with a lot of snow outside. Roads are slick, idiots are driving like they forgot how to drive in snow..... either going 20mph faster than everyone else or 20mph slower than everyone else. It was enough snow to cancel rehearsal last night in La Crosse - which along with our normal no-Thursday rehearsal for the December concert (easier music for the Holidays).... we are performing next weekend with only 2 rehearsals!!! This should be fun and exciting!

So with my evening off last night, I did what every person that gets snowed in does.... stained some trim and watched Hairspray. It's the latest musical movie in the current musical movie craze. Overall, it was ok - but John Travolta was pretty funny, and Christopher Walken again showed himself as one of the most versatile actors in Hollywood!!

But after it was over, I was trying to recall how many musical movies there have been lately.... I think the resurgence started with Chicago (which I really didn't like) and obviously the amazing impact of Dreamgirls last year! There is definitely a new market from movie musicals that hasn't been seen since the 50s and 60s (think of original productions of Bye Bye Birdie, Oklahoma, etc.).

My favorites through the years? Well since I'm both a fan of music, movies, as well as having an appreciation for musicals (insert smart ass comment here Patrick....), here are my favorites:

Old School Movies

• West Side Story - Still one of my favorite movies with tremendous music by Bernstein. I can appreciate the great dancing in there ("MAMBO") as well as the tragic Romeo & Juliet-esque storyline.
• Guys and Dolls - Marlon Brando (when he was a chick magnet... not the "Scary" Brando of post-Godfather fame) and Frank Sinatra make this a quality flick.
• Music Man - "Trouble right here in River City.... with a capital T, rhymes with P which stands for pool...." some of the strangest lyrics but it also is the basis for one of the greatest Simpson Episodes (think Monorail)

The Acid Trip Era

• Have to start with Pink Floyd's: The Wall - Still not sure I fully understand this movie but then again, I haven't tried watching it high or on acid... maybe something to do this weekend?? Good music though
• Tommy by The Who. Who? Yes! Great music and the incredibly beautiful Ann Margaret who in this movie was a real knock out! (Later of Grumpy Old Men fame). This would be my suggestion of a movie needing a remake for anyone reading who has influence. Could still use half the original cast (Tina Turner, Eric Clapton, Jack Nicholson, Elton John) if you wanted to.
  
• Jesus Christ Superstar - Some of the greatest music in there and the movie version has some great performers (and dancing).

The Middle Years of the 80s (not much to get excited about):

• Little Shop of Horrors - With Steve Martin and Rick Moranis.... pretty funny

Modern "Hollywood Editing" Era

• I did enjoy the movie version of The Phantom of the Opera - Andrew Lloyd Webber's version of course. I am still not comfortable with the altered version (which has become standard based on the version I saw in Vegas) but it has some great special effects that wouldn't have been possible in the 80s when it was written
• Dreamgirls - I did think this was very well done, plus Beyonce is HOT HOT HOT!
  

Feel like I'm missing one or two, but anyways... there's my list for your enjoyment!

Starting to Feel Like Christmas

I think I'm finally getting in the Holiday Spirit.... with all the snow and ice, with the decorations around town in full swing, and of course hearing Holiday music everywhere you go.

Now that the Holidays are on their way, if you're not in the Holiday spirit yet, hopefully the following links will help get you in the mood:

• Santa and his Reindeer interactive site... still a well done webpage with hours of fun!! Well at least I enjoy it for hours and hours!
• Holiday Lights Video #1
• Holiday Lights Video #2
• Holiday Lights Video #3
• Holiday Lights Video #4
• White Trash Christmas - still something humorous about this one
• Santa and Reindeer singing White Christmas
• and possibly the greatest one - DING FRIES ARE DONE!!!

Anyway - hope this helps get you all in the spirit!! 21 Shopping days left!!!

Reflections of the Weekend Past

In six parts

1. Special Birthday
My great-grandmother turns 99 YEARS OLD today!!! Happy Birthday Granny!!! That's an amazing accomplishment and equally amazing that I still have a great grandmother alive while I have just turned 30!

2. Iowa
Went to Cedar Rapids to hang with the girlfriend and parental units. We had a great weekend enjoying the lights of Iowa City (one had a couple hundred Santas, the other had lights synced to music... BOTH were well done), the snow/ice of Saturday (ok, that wasn't so enjoyable), and the company of family! The weather conditions did limit the crowds at the outlet mall in Williamsburg on Sunday which was fine by me!

3. Weather
The snow I can handle... the ice that coated pretty much most of Iowa and southern Minnesota was a pain in the butt. The roads were ok yesterday driving home, some blowing snow between Waterloo and Spring Valley on Hwy 63, but otherwise it was tolerable. What was NOT tolerable was falling on the ice on my driveway on the way to get the mail upon my return. I laid there on my back for about a minute, part to estimate the damage done to my aging body (I decided I could wiggle everything with only a little pain so nothing was broken other than my pride), but also part to develop a strategy to stand up and return to the safe zone of my garage. The strategy was to roll in circles till I could use the snow I just shoveled out of the way of my garage as traction for my shitty shoes. It worked, but I remain pretty sore as of this morning.

4. College Football
What a joke of a season that ends up with LSU (2 losses) and Ohio State (shitty conference) ending up in the National Title Game. I don't feel either team is playing the best right now (the only regularly followed sport that doesn't reward the teams who are playing well at the end of the season) and am kind of surprised that Illinois is in the BCS, while Missouri who was #1 as of Saturday afternoon, is NOT! Note that Missouri beat BOTH Illinois (week 1) and Kansas (last weekend) this season. Will anyone actually watch LSU vs OSU? Will anyone watching actually care who wins? Undefeated Hawaii gets no BCS bowl even though their conference was probably just as tough as the Big 10 this past year.

5. Holiday Shopping
I have been receiving 2x the emails of "specials" from my regular subscriptions - and about 4x the junk mail catalogs. Thankfully I have a large recycling tote that is on the way into my house so the stuff never even makes it through the door! But I have read (and heard from folks) that the Wii is yet again becoming hard to find for the Holidays..... glad I have mine!

6. Wii
Speaking of Wii - both Super Mario Brothers 3 (think of the flying Mario with the Raccoon tail) as well as Double Dribble (with the extreme close up slow motion of the dunks) are out for the Virtual Console. Yet another 2 reasons I don't have a desire to leave the house now! Still waiting on Contra (greatest game ever) and Blades of Steel (with fighting goodness) and then I'll be a little more content with the selections!!

Haiku of the Day
Snow and ice falling
Making travel a pain now
THANK YOU FOUR WHEEL DRIVE!!!

Entertainment of the Day - I watched License to Wed last week that was a movie I hadn't heard of till it was out on DVD. Robin Williams, Mandy Moore, the guy who plays Jim on The Office, and about half of the rest of the crew from The Office. Pretty funny movie actually. Check it out if you need a good laugh.

Weblink of the Day - To stimulate your brains this morning (when you all probably want to go back to sleep), try clicking on the color of the word (not the color spelled out in the word) on the options at the bottom of the screen. Gets faster and faster as you go - don't blink!!! Song is pretty annoying so you may want to turn down the volume!!

Music of the 90s

In finding music for Sarah's reunion last week - I had a good laugh at some of the music I was finding in my archives. My mission was to find 3 hours worth of music that spanned 1993-1997. While not exact, I did what I considered a good job. Here's some of the highlights (with my usual commentary):

• Beck, "Loser" and "Where it's At" - Never has the thought of two turn tables and a microphone been so cool!
  
• ButtHole Surfers, "Pepper" - Classified as White Guy Rap, but not nearly as good as the Beastie Boys.
• Jamiroquai, "Virtual Insanity" - Remember the MTV Awards with the walkways built into the stage? That was cool.... for 1990s
• Warren G, "Regulate" - The development of R&B as seen here
• Sublime, "What I got" - should have found more Sublime stuff to play, they were pretty good
• TLC, "Waterfalls" - she made me play this one
• Oasis, "Wonderwall" - as much as we hate Oasis now, we all enjoyed the song when it was first played
• Snoop Dogg, "Snoop Doggy Dogg" and "Gin N' Juice" - every day is better with a little Snoop. Could have filled a whole day with Snoop contributions!
• Soul Asylum, "Runaway Train" - One of the songs/genre of the 1990s I wasn't too fond of.
• Soul Coughing, "Circles" - Obviously having the word "Soul" in your band name was a requirement at some point
• Marcy Playground, "Sex and Candy" - Title alone gets your attention... it says "we have your two favorite things" and could only have been topped by calling the song "Sex, Candy, and Steak done medium well while watching girls on trampolines". Trampolines is hard to rhyme with though.
• Toadies, "Possum Kingdom" - still on my list of "favorite songs" of all time. Probably on my top 5... just throwing it out there.
  
• Tupac, "Dear Mama", "California Love" - to be fair, should have had some B.I.G. on here as well but Tupac's death in the 90s (or supposed death... could be on an island with Elvis and Jimmy Hoffa) was a key importance to the development of attention to the whole East Coast vs West Coast.
• Wreckx N Effect, "Rump Shaker" - haha, gotta have this one!
• Fatboy Slim, "Praise You" - The song that never seems to end!
  
• Of course we get the Jock Jams in here.... Think "Hip Hop Hooray", "Pump up the Volume", "R U Ready", "TOOTSIE ROLL", and "Whoomp There It Is".... LOVE IT!!!
• Then the country (I had help with these): Shanai, Dixie Chicks, Kenny Chesney, Garth, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, and my favorite - Brooks N Funn!!! Unfortunately, Country started getting more and more air play in the 90s:(

So just a taste of what we may have forgotten in the past 10 years! At what point is music considered "oldies" or "classic" for the relative stations? I'm already hearing 80s hair bands played as "classic" rock.... soon it will include the stuff from the 90s. More than anything, I realized that there was definitely a lull of good music from 1991-1994 time frame.

Haiku of the Day
"Got two turn tables"
(A cool name and a top hit)
"And a microphone"

Entertainment of the Day - I checked out 1408 this weekend. It's the scary movie with John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson based on the Stephen King short story. This is one of the few examples where I felt the movie was almost better than the story. It's a "short" story which is actually faster to read than to watch the movie - but I liked the development of the characters in the movie that was lacking in the story. I did not care for the alter in ending for the movie... and I'll leave it at that. Lots of junk jumping out during the movie if that's what you're looking for.

Weblink of the Day - We were all told, "don't play with your food"... but what about PLAYING YOUR FOOD?!?!? As in an acoustical arrangement of vegetables played as music. Interesting concept. (May take a moment or 10 to load)

Giving Thanks (a week late)

Things I am thankful for this year:

• Codeine and cough syrup
• Owning 59/60ths of my Trailblazer... where's the "last payment waived" program?
  
• Heated seats in said Trailblazer
• My DVR which can fast-forward through all the political ads that will haunt us for the next year
  
• The support of all of my friends and family in my year (years) long weight loss mission. I fell off the past couple of months but am back on track
  
• Re-Finding my favorite pen in La Crosse after a month of not having it... this is the same one I stole from Mayo this summer.
• Only 14 or so more months left of Dub-ya
• The ability to pay at the pump.... and also Self Checkouts
  
• My millions (AND MILLIONS) of readers who continue to come back here even though I don't get anything posted here daily anymore
• Of course, a BIG thanks for the Cyclone victory over Iowa in football this Fall. Babysteps to the BCS... Babysteps to the BCS...
• Meeting Sarah, along with the unusual way it happened but "fate" ended up saving a misprinted email.
• Electricity.... seriously, do you realize how boring life would be without it?
• Lowes and new South Target.... oh yeah, AND DICK'S!!!
• New CDs from U2, Garbage, Chili Peppers, and Greenday coming in 2008
• The return and quick exit of Ricky Williams Monday night
  

Things I am not as thankful for this year:

• Gas prices getting out of control and it's the "off peak" season right now.... prepare yourself for the worst next summer
• Bush continuing to screw up our country on his way out
  
• Idiots who still have no clue how to drive on a 6 lane Highway 52 in Rochester
• Commercials for drugs due to Male erectile dysfunction which seem to ALWAYS be on TV.
• The rest of the Cyclone football season which seems to be in line with the first part of our basketball season....
  

There's snow on the way today, and Saturday.... and Sunday.... welcome to Winter!

Haiku of the Day
Looking for snowflakes
Outside my office window
Don't be so jealous!!!

Entertainment of the Day - I finally sat down and watched Shrek 3 this weekend..... it was just ok. Not nearly as good as 1 or 2, but I'm sure still enjoyable by the little ones. As usual, a few funny moments and one liners, and probably worth your 90 minutes if you enjoyed the first two movies. Wonder how many more they will make (they are currently in 3 year cycles so look for Shrek 4 in 2010).

Weblink of the Day - Draw a path (with basic physics in mind) for Santa to get all the presents!!!

Holiday Rush Is On!

2 weeks worth of cough syrup and cough drops: $30
Trip to the Doctor yesterday: $110
Cough syrup WITH CODEINE: $0.49 after insurance pay
The first good night's sleep in 2 weeks thanks to the codeine: PRICELESS

Happy Fifth Birthday to my nephew Al! He's now the COOLEST 5 year old that I know. Yeah, probably the only 5 year old I know right now, but that's besides the point.... Unfortunately, his present is still stuck in Amazon.com world - I will be calling them after this to complain that it's been on order for 2 weeks and still not shipped:(

As for the rest of my world? I'm still sporting a lovely cough but after the recent drug acquisition, I'm optimistic that it's going to be gone in a couple more days tops! I had a lovely Thanksgiving, but have been spending my days and nights coughing. Storm Lake was a great place to spend Thanksgiving with Sarah's family. My folks joined us for 2 days of food and lots of Nintendo Wii of course. My mom isn't very good at the swimming events but we did take 1st in the 4x100 relay!

Went to my second 10 year reunion (neither one were my own) and this one was actually a lot of fun! It was neat to meet a lot of Sarah's high school friends and "gain approval"! Like I was worried about that;) When we were finding music for her reunion from 1993-1997, it reminded me of two things... 1) Music in the early 90s (pre-Nirvana Teen Spirit) SUCKED and 2) I'm getting OLD - this because music that she was saying was part of her senior prom made me realize I was a sophomore in college when that same song was popular. Plus we had videos on display that were a riot to watch and compare people now to. Sarah included!!!

As for Thanksgiving... I guess I really never took the time to say Thanks for all that I should be thankful for. Mainly because I was NOT thankful for my cold. Maybe tomorrow's blog!

Sports Thoughts - Kansas played like the Kansas i was expecting but only in the 4th Quarter. So now Missouri is the only hope of a return of National Championship to the Big 12. And if they fall against Oklahoma (the Sooners are pissed after losing to Texas Tech 2 weeks ago), then Ohio State sneaks in which will MAKE ME MAD!!! Big 10 is crappy, plus without a championship game - they sneak in without being tested. Missouri on the other hand has to play Oklahoma for the 2nd time this year after losing the first battle by 10 points. And the Vikings look pretty tough the past 2 weeks. Still need a new quarterback (Donovan McNabb will NOT be returning to Philly next year in my opinion... pick HIM up!!) but looking good on Defense. Plus I won again this week in Fantasy so now I'm 5-7 on the year.

Haiku of the Day
Happy Birthday Al
Hoping for cake and presents
What else when you're 5?

Entertainment of the Day - Kevin DuBrow of Quiet Riot was found dead yesterday... you remember them, "COME ON FEEL THE NOISE" and if you're still having troubles - here's the video!!

Weblink of the Day - A shooting game that's actually kind of addictive. Once you set it up, it gets more fun. Buy the free gun and free bullets to start.

2 Days to go

It's Tuesday - Turkey Day is only 2 days away, as is more NFL football for those that enjoy sleeping on the couch in front of the TV while listening to John Madden talk crazy talk about how the Defensive Tackles remind him of his childhood turkey dinners. It is funny to hear how much more senile Madden gets from year to year.

I'm not so thankful for my cold that kept me up most of the night. I hate getting colds. Not sure which annoys me more, getting a cold or hearing Christmas music well before Thanksgiving!

Here's an article that really bothered me to read. All parents of kids using MySpace should read and realize that your kids are smarter than you when it comes to computers. It's bothering to see that there are parents out there who are still trying to be their child's best friend instead of their parent and disciplinary. Unfortunately, this story ends with a girl committing suicide. Do you really know what your kids are doing when they're online????

Tired of baseball yet? It's only the off season! But the good news is that Tom Glavine is returning to Atlanta to finish out his career! Now to get Maddux back in Atlanta!! I'd take him back.

Anyway - one more blog before Turkey Day!!! Have a good Tuesday!

Haiku of the Day
Turkey Says Gobble
But I do the gobbling
Once the bird is cooked

Entertainment of the Day - So I watched Knocked Up this weekend. It's the same crew as The 40 Year Old Virgin without Steve Carrell.... and it wasn't nearly as funny as the 40 Year Virgin!! Worth seeing? Maybe... Worth clearing your calendar to go see? NO!

Weblink of the Day - And speaking of watching too many movies, here's a quiz to see how many of the mainstream movies of the past 20 years you've seen.... I scored an 85% on my test, which just shows I've seen almost all of the movies.

A Thankful Monday

As usual on Monday, I'm swamped with meetings at work.... so a quick one today to get your week off to hopefully a good start:

• A Cyclone loss, but a somewhat decent finish to the season. Countdown to next season has begun. An Iowa loss on Saturday to Western Michigan (in Iowa City even!!!) makes the day all the better.
• Jimmie Johnson won pretty easily the NASCAR Cup - he now becomes even more disliked by the NASCAR community as we all hope for someone else to win it. Hopefully the days of Junior finishing #40 or worse are over now that he's coming to the good side! Goal for 2008 season: NO BACKFLIPS!!!
• I got my butt kicked in Fantasy Football thanks to the fact that it was Brady vs Manning Take 2 - Manning scored me a whopping 1 point and Brady pulled the other guy 35 points.
  
• If you haven't had your fix yet of Spinal Tap, here's one to consider..... This one goes to E-le-ven!! Quoted many times during our concert cycle this past weekend in La Crosse!
• An old performance by U2 of "Stories for Boys" that is interesting to watch
• 25 most baffling toys - With shopping season officially opening this Friday for you nutcases, here are some popular toys to keep your eye open for!!
• Yes, I saw the 3-4 hours of snow falling in La Crosse Saturday morning as is typical in Minnesota/Wisconsin... Welcome to Winter!!!

Haiku of the Day-
Shortened week is here!!!
Snow is falling, as is temp...
NO SLEDDING THIS YEAR!!!

Entertainment of the Day - I watched Spiderman 3 this past weekend. Not very good in my mind. They're starting to do the retraction of old plots that I don't particularly care for. Plus I still think Toby is a bad actor! I'm sure they'll continue with more of these for the $$ they bring in, but where do you go from here? Bring back more characters from the dead I guess. Also interesting that Danny Elfman did NOT do the music for this movie as he did the first 2.

Weblink of the Day - If you have a "case of the MOON-days", then here's an Office Space based game to play. Stay away from Lundberg and collect TPS reports and staplers along the way!

FRIDAY!!!

Happy Birthday Jamie (Boy)!! The joy about still living in Central Iowa is having the ability to go to Hickory Park on your birthday for free dessert! Don't worry, there are birthdays of mine that I've been tempted to drive the 2.5 hours to Ames to get free ice cream! Anyway - hopefully Boy celebrates this weekend with a Cyclone victory as well!

And speaking of Iowa State winning.... final game of the season - at stake? EVERYTHING!!! Kansas is #3 in the nation (although after Oregon losing to Arizona last night, Kansas is already in the #2 slot) so ISU can gain the respect of the nation (and the favor of a LOT of teams waiting to get into the BCS title game) by beating Kansas. They beat us in Ames last year 41-10, so payback is a B***H! And I wasn't spelling "booth" just now! Plus I think Iowa State has an 0-72 record or something against top 5 teams, so a chance to fix that!! Plus, we've beaten all the other teams that have the letters "H-A-W-K" in their name this year!!! Final score? IOWA STATE 128 Kansas 6. I'll give them two field goals. Game is on ABC for those interested in watching on Saturday! Follows the Michigan/Ohio State Game.

Barry's going to jail... hopefully serves a longer sentence than LiLo did yesterday.

Other Predictions:

• OSU and Michigan - doesn't matter since neither will be in the Championship game!!
  
• Final NASCAR race of the year.... but back in February! Only season longer than bowling is NASCAR season. As commented last year by me, I still find it interesting that this Sunday will be the only time in sports that the winner of the event, is not the happiest person at the event. You don't have to win the race Saturday to win the overall championship! Doesn't happen that way anywhere else. Let's hope for a Jimmie wreck on lap 1
• No real good NFL games to note, but I'll still be watching I'm sure.
  
• A-Rod will sign with the Yankees, the number of people who hate A-Rod will increase exponentially, the Yankees will still miss the playoffs!
• Last night's episode of The Office may be my favorite yet - prediction that it'll only get funnier.
  

Concerts tonight and Saturday night in La Crosse. We have a GUEST CONDUCTOR and the Orchestra sounds AMAZING!! We play much better under someone at the podium who has skill. We're playing a quick violin concerto piece, a Jazz Trio with Orchestra piece based on the old Capreol Suite that I remember playing in High School (arranged by our guest conductor who is also a jazz pianist)... it's really a neat piece that I am sure the audience will enjoy. Then we finish off with Brahms 4. A standard symphony, but remember - I don't really care for Brahms. Not enough space in today's blog to explain that one.

Anyway - Have a great weekend!!

Random Stuff

• Blame whoever, but it's finally happened..... Santas told that "ho ho ho" is offensive to women who have to "work" for a living. Or something like that.
• Best of Rochester voting is now available.... makes one hungry by doing the voting - also exposes that Rochester is pretty pathetic when it comes to restaurants!!
• The "BigShow-less" Single in the City issue is out.... I'm not as "magazine pretty" as the people who made the issue so I'm better off not in it anyways. Jennifer Hoff (of local Fox newscasting fame... not to be confused with Fox News Channel) is even selected - how can you compete with that?
• Time lapsed photos of this past weekend's Vikings/Packers game. Pretty neat to watch from before the game to well after the game. Look for all the cheering of the Vikings fans - oh wait, there were no Viking fans there and even if they were - nothing to cheer about!
• In honor of "The Office" on tonight, your favorite clips involving Todd Packer!! Too funny!
• Air Guitar World Championships from 2007... when are the Air Drumer World Championships and how do I sign up????
  

Haiku of the Day
Best of Rochester
why not try an issue of
WORST of Rochester???

Entertainment of the Day - Now I have the Offspring going through my head... guess there could be worse things!

Weblink of the Day - An addictive yet annoying clicking game.... pay attention!

My Brother Jeremy

Happy Birthday to my favorite Brother! He's older.... but is he wiser? A question that can never be effectively answered! I've asked mom similar questions... she just laughs and gives the standard "you're both my favorite" or whatever mom's are obligated to answer. I'll keep asking though!

The big exciting news in Rochester is that Dick's Sporting Goods is now open! They've been in their new home by the New Target South for a couple of weeks, but this past weekend was my first time getting there. It's not nearly as big as the one I visited while in Raleigh, but it's still nice to have a sports focussed store other than SportMart.

But as you walk around, you realize how much fun you can have with the name of the store. So today I give you a list of comments overheard while walking around the store this past weekend:

• "I'm glad we stopped in to look at Dick's"
• "We've been waiting forever for Dick's and now that I've seen Dick's, I'm pretty impressed"
• "I was hoping that Dick's would be larger than it was"
  
• "Dick's is a good alternative to other things out there for our kids"
  
• "You can't go wrong with Dick's"
• "The people with Dick's were very aggressive"
  
• "I like to get a good start on the Holiday Shopping Season by a nice cup of cocoa and Dick's"
• "I wonder if Dick's has the ability to expand?"
• "Where can I find a bowling ball?" "The best balls are at the back of Dick's"
  

And with that lovely turn for the worst.... Are you tired of the presidential hoopla yet? I know that the Caucuses start in 2 months or less, but still - I'm already tired of the commercials. Think of how bad it will slowly get over the next 12 months. Also, compare with how many political adds you see (especially if you get a broadcast from the state of Iowa who has the first caucus) versus how many adds for Christmas stuff you see... it's frightening!!!

And yes, the "Christmas Music" season started the day after Halloween this year. If that seems early, it is.... nevermind the fact that Thanksgiving is as early as it can possibly be this year (4th Thursday which is the 22nd in 2007 - the absolute earliest it can be) so the "prime Holiday shopping" will be extended as long as possible.

Other than the obvious signs of a recession and stocks tumbling worse and worse (not to mention gas), it's a great time to be alive!!

Haiku of the Day
Being the younger
Sucks for most of one's lifetime
Till later in life!!!

Entertainment of the Day - My brother did request today's song of the day... he asked if everyone could listen to Coldplay like he does!

Weblink of the Day - A cool perspective test.... do you see the girl rotating clockwise or counter-clockwise? How many can make her switch back and forth like I can? Your left eye leads to your right brain (clockwise) and right eye to left brain (counter clockwise) - so start with that hint to see if you can make her switch.

Veteran's Day Wrap

So to make a long explanation short - there's no great excuse for not blogging most of last week. And today we're playing catch up with some random thoughts:

• Sarah enjoyed her first time to Rochester! We had a fun weekend enjoying the fall weather. She loved meeting everyone she could while she was here - I even think she's an honorary Brews Brothers after being part of the LARGEST FAN NIGHT EVER for bowling league. Plus she saw my 405 series Thursday night and a 7-0 shlacking by the Brews Bros!
• We went to the Pompeii exhibit at the Science Museum in St. Paul yesterday. It was a neat showing of some history I hadn't realized. Due to the city being hit by a volcano in the first century, a lot of items were preserved extremely well, including art and even the molds of human beings where you can see their expressions as they were covered in the lava. Pretty cool stuff. The IMAX showing of Greece was pretty nice as well, I need to get one of those theaters for home viewing pleasure!!
• Sarah and I picked up the new Mario/Sonic Olympic game which is a lot of fun! Lots of running and "exercise" for some of the events. There are 20+ events, plus a lot of minigames that I found last night. I still haven't opened up all the events, but it's fun to play with a group of folks. Some events are a little complicated, but after a run through or two, you get the hang of it. I still suck at the archery though. A good "group" game which is what I was looking for!
• More importantly, CYCLONES WIN!!! CYCLONES WIN!!! And a weird win at that. The refs actually helped us with this win! Who hits a 55 yard field goal in Ames???? Luckily it didn't count and a winning streak of 2 is now here for the boys in Cardinal and Gold!!! Keep going!!! Up next is yet another game against a top 5 opponent, but for the first time ever, it's not Nebraska, Oklahoma, or Texas..... Kansas is still undefeated and at #3 - so another chance at an upset for the Clones! It's also the final game of the season, so a last chance at a "respectable" 4-8!
  
• I won again at Fantasy Football yesterday.... I already have the win secured against Krabby with 2 more folks to play tonight.

Haiku of the Day
It's Veterans Day...
I have to work, but some don't
Next week is better

Entertainment of the Day - I watched I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry this past weekend. Sarah found it a good movie to sleep through, I thought it was ok - some very funny parts, but overall just an average movie. The most interesting part was seeing the guest appearances, including Dave Matthews!

Weblink of the Day - Have you heard Richard Cheese yet? He does lounge covers of a bunch of popular songs... like this one, he does Baby Got Back in a style that will make you laugh... I have a bunch of other stuff of his, courtesy Kahnman!

Bad TV

Forgot to wish The Pat a Happy Birthday yesterday.... so Happy Belated Birthday today!

Today is "Sarah arrives in Rochester" Day!!! She'll be here this evening and staying through the weekend. Just in time for the nice cold standard-Minnesota weather. Remember we had our 8 inches of snow last year on November 10th here in Rochester....

A link was sent out recently calling the "Top 25 worst TV shows" courtesy of a writer at the Chicago Tribune. Shows on their list include BJ and the Bear, Joanie Loves Chachi, Mr. Belvedere (didn't everyone watch Mr. Belvedere?), Beauty and the Beast (I remember this one and didn't think it did that badly to be on for 3 years), Jerry Springer Show (something that became a pop cultural icon couldn't be that bad), Barney & Friends (XFL (Does anyone remember anything other than "He Hate Me"?), and the new series Cavemen.

My List? Well I'm glad you asked:

1 - The Bachelor. I love the part where the girls cry because the guy they met 10 minutes earlier didn't give them a flower
2 - Tyra Banks talk show.... seriously, who thought this was a good idea?
3 - Fox News - It's so biased, it's not even close to "news", it's probably just as easy to go read The Onion on a daily basis. More accurate and less biased.
4 - Real World - After 20 seasons, it's getting old watching poor college students live in a dream house and be unable to live with other sexually attractive people.
5 - What's the "My Sweet 16" or whatever show on MTV that shows spoiled kids who are the problem with our society... anything that exposes the growing desire of teenage girls to become a socialite as their occupation.
6 - Fox coverage of the World Series....
7 - Long list of Fox shows.... including (in random order) - Wanda at Large, That 80s Show, Martin, Married by America, My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss, Temptation Island (I know, lots of good looking women, but it was bad TV), The Swan, and Nanny 911.
8 - Competition Spinoffs (only Idol will be even remotely successful)- America's Top Model, America's Got Talent, Phenomenon.....
9 - CBS NFL pre-game coverage.
10 - Does anyone else remember the gameshow on USA from around 2000-2001 that was "Strip Poker"? And yes, it was just that, 2 guys vs 2 girls and if you lost a hand, you had to pull something off till you were down to "barely" anything.... yeah, that show didn't last long I don't think.

I'm sure there are many others I have missed.... like tonight's Country Music Awards show!!

So better late than never is my rule!

Tuesday with Snow in the Forecast

Today is random thought AND random link day!!! So let's get started

An ISU victory this past Saturday. That would make us an UNDEFEATED 2-0 when playing on the Versus Channel! They should broadcast every game for us. Even the announcers said that the Cyclones seem to play better when on the Vs. network. Turnovers actually went in favor of the Cyclones, and we weren't killed with penalties for the first time in a while. My favorite moment, bringing in Austen Arnaud, the freshman QB and future of ISU football, who had a great day passing. Let's get him some more snaps against Colorado!!! Another plus is the 2nd win helps get the Cyclones off of the ESPN bottom 10 list. Rising to the top on that list? NOTRE DAME!!!

Vikings game was also fun to watch - 2 records set in that game.... you can tell your grandchildren that you saw the absolute longest play in NFL history. Nobody can go longer than 109.75 yards and 300 yards rushing is also hard to beat. For those interested, I did win my Fantasy Football matchup 122-47!! Last place is no longer reachable for me! I do think the award for ugliest uniforms goes to Pittsburgh for last night's crappy outfits. They won easily so maybe the opposition was distracted so bad they didn't play right.

Sarah arrives tomorrow evening! Just in time for the snow.... yes, we had snow flurries last night as I was leaving the RAC. Sad, but it's the truth - welcome to Minnesota in November!

Random links for you to enjoy today:

• Corn Maze that might take you more than 10 minutes to get through. More like 3 hours! Reminds me of the gigantic maze in The Shining.... Still something weird about a corn maze in California though!
• A typing test to gauge your speed with a basic minute long test. I scored 77 WPM on the "zebra" test. And if anyone was wondering, Mr. Fink scored 99 WPM (not surprisingly).
• A fun daily read... "Overheard in Minneapolis" (also links on this page to other major cities in the US). Interesting things overheard around town and documented for all to enjoy!
• And a fun game of baseball to keep you entertained if you're having a slow day... not that it ever happens

Have a great Tuesday!

Haiku of the Day
Yes, Snow is Falling
Not much of a surprise though
It's Minnesota!!!

Entertainment of the Day - I watched the "other" part of Grindhouse but this was the Robert Rodriguez one, Planet Terror which got much more publicity than the Tarantino one. I honestly thought it sucked!! Was not very entertaining and I was glad when it was over. Very disappointed.

Weblink of the Day - I've been sitting on this one for a little while, but it's a cool picture of some coffee beans with a guy's head in there somewhere. Can you find it?????

Ready for the Weekend

A bad showing by the Brews Brothers last night keeps the team in the bottom.... 1 or 2 teams. 2nd Half Team!

Karen's back on The Office!!! I thought the show was better with her on there (for obvious reasons). And just for reference, I checked and it's about 3 hour drive to get from Scranton to Utica, NY. So yeah, round trip would be 6 hours... include time to destroy a printer, lose a cell phone.... you see where I'm going with this.

Prediction Day:

• Iowa State is on Versus Channel against the Kansas State Pedophiles.... 11:30 central time kick off! Probably the best chance at a Big 12 victory this year. Cyclones 28, Purple Guys 20
• Kansas and Missouri continue their Big12 dream seasons...
  
• Hope for a Wisconsin victory over Ohio State - need a better BCS championship game than OSU and Boston College!
• Sunday will be Super Bowl 41.5 with Indianapolis (who I like on paper) taking on New England. Is Harrison playing in this game? I call Indy at home over New England. Should be an awesome match up though - don't count out the Super Bowl Champs who are undefeated btw.
• My Fantasy team is having a Vikings-like season.... but I'm not in last place! I think I have a shot this week even with some talent having a bye week.... hope for good offensive points from Cleveland. Vikings play San Diego at noon on CBS!?!?!?

Can't think of anything else to comment on this morning... HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

Enter Stage Right - November

And another Halloween has passed. Next holiday is Thanksgiving but you'd never know it by all the Christmas decorations out already. I even saw a countdown of 50-some days till Christmas! I enjoy November - I love the weather (cool but not cold), the prime of the football season, the 4 day holiday, the lack of it not being end of quarter at work, and the early shopping specials around the malls.

I am anxiously awaiting daylight savings this weekend.... this whole sun coming up at 8am thing is annoying. I know that it will set at 5pm now, but that's the trade off. Those of us who try to get up in the morning could use the sun earlier! Plus we get an extra hour of sleep on Saturday night!

Speaking of Halloween - didn't see too many people dressed up yesterday. Some people dress up as an extreme nerd, but it's honestly not as far off from their daily attire. The one that got me laughing was of course The Pat who went as Dwight from The Office:









And to continue adding to any boredom you have today, check out the following links:

Bunch of Mario pictures from people with a sense of creativity!

Halloween Masks... and not the cheapies you pick up at Wal-Mart!! I personally like the Pennywise one!

Interesting art made with Oranges.... where do you get green oranges?

And that's a wrap.... see ya tomorrow! GO BREWS BROTHERS!!!

Haiku of the Day
My Bowling Team sucks!
No longer last, but not far...
Struggling as of late!!

Entertainment of the Day - So probably the highlight of today's blog.... I watched Reign Over Me last night. Adam Sandler (in a serious role) plays a man who lost his wife and three daughters in one of the 9/11 flights. It's years later and his life is not the same since he has blocked out a large part of his life that reminds him of his lost loved ones. He runs into his old college roommate (Don Cheadle) who has a plain boring life as a dentist. Together they reconnect and find help along the path of recovery. It's an amazing movie that built the emotion up over about 80 minutes of the movie. Then it just unloads in large quantities.... beware. It's well done and very emotional due to how I still am amazed at what happened on 9/11.

Weblink of the Day - Here's a weird web trick. Go to google images and do a search on anything (my link does a search on Rochester, MN). Once you get the results, cut and paste the following into the address link and hit enter...

javascript:R=0; x1=.1; y1=.05; x2=.25; y2=.24; x3=1.6; y3=.24; x4=300; y4=200; x5=300; y5=200; DI= document.images; DIL=DI.length; function A(){for(i=0; i<DIL; i++){DIS=DI[ i ].style; DIS.position='absolute'; DIS.left=Math.sin(R*x1+i*x2+x3)*x4+x5; DIS.top=Math.cos(R*y1+i*y2+y3)*y4+y5}R++}setInterval('A()',5 ); void(0)

You'll see some dancing images. Neat little javascript! Enjoy!!!

Happy Halloween/Birthday!!!

Happy Halloween! And no costume for me today - I haven't done the costume at work thing ever for some odd reason. I know, doesn't sound very much like me.

And Happy Birthday to my cousin Cari! And my buddy Nate! So many Halloween Birthdays....

But all is not happy today as the world lost Robert Goulet yesterday. Sure, he only became a house hold name thanks to Will Ferrell, but still - he was entertaining.

As for Halloween, I like to watch horror flicks.... I've spent time in the past year trying to catch up with all the slasher 80s movies that we all remember not too well. Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, and even Hellraiser (about half way through them). But what are my favorite horror flicks?

10. What Lies Beneath - An unusual one, but I'll admit to hitting "mute" on the stereo when I watched this one during the scenes where you KNOW something's going to jump out at you. Didn't make it any less scary.
9. I'll put a place holder for the "gory" movies such as Saw, Saw II (I was 5 minutes into Saw 3 and realized I had had enough of this gory crap), Hostel.... they can be scary, but the over the top realistic gory stuff is just not worth it sometimes. I did enjoy the first two of the Saw flicks.
8. Halloween - The Original... although the new one by Rob Zombie looked pretty well done. Need to go find that while I'm thinking about it.
7. Scream - Yeah, I liked the trilogy from Wes Craven, just hated Courtney Cox and David Arquette. They were a cultural thing too as they brought back Edvard Munch's painting The Scream. Saw someone weird dressed like this at the zoo on Sunday. Too bad they weren't behind a cage.
6. Friday the 13th - Part 1 only! Something about the end where Jason makes his first appearance that makes the movie worth watching!!
5. Silence of the Lambs - I know, not really a "horror" flick but it had it's moments. The acting and wonderful plot take this one up on the list.
4. The Ring - the new one.... another movie I started watching at about 11pm and when the "thing" comes out of the TV and it's completely black in the basement of your rental house on 19th street (it got really dark in there) - you'll freak when you see that for the first time.
3. The Shining - Jack Nicholson at his finest acting. Something about twins saying "come play with us" at midnight in a dark room that gets your body awake.
2. The Exorcist - A classic movie with the unforgettable random devel mask in the middle of the movie... what was that about? (here's a clip... ignore the first 30 seconds or so, it was the best I could find)
1. The Blair Witch Project - Why this one? Because the entire movie you're waiting for something to jump out at you and it never does! It was awesome to watch in the theatre and observe all the people around you watching it for the first time Still one of the best well done projects/movies with regards to the desired effect. But The Blair Witch Project 2 might rate at the top of my "worst sequel" list.... even worse than Blues Brothers 2000

Apologies to the "classics" that by the time I was old enough to watch scary movies, they were no longer scary because they wre black and white!

Too bad that Stephen King books don't always make great movies. It was one of the scariest books I've ever read (and still one of my favorites) but it was ruined when they pulled John Ritter and Harry Anderson to star in the "made for TV" version. As a reference: Stephen King books made into movies are pretty well done (Green Mile, Misery, Shawshank Redemption, The Shining).... books made for TV movies are worth staying away from (It, The Stand, Rose Madder).

And in case you missed it: NBC announced it will do a spin-off of “The Office,” a la ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy/Private Practice.” The big difference? The “Office” spin-off will star characters yet to be introduced on the show.

Interesting...... FYI - Iowa State game on Versus channel on Saturday!!!

Haiku of the Day
A Scary Movie
Good for any time of year
I know Jen hates them!!

Entertainment of the Day - Another scary story that I love is Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven.... and to enjoy it even more, watch the version by Homer and Bart of The Simpsons - actually well done!! James Earl Jones is Da Man!!

Weblink of the Day - And the yearly Homestar Runner Halloween toon!! Harder to figure out the costumes this year, but still well done! Make sure you click on the characters at the end for further interaction!

Lights... Camera.... ACTION

So I read an article that lists the 25 greatest Action Heros. I've seen most of the movies, but don't necessarily agree with the order. Especially since Die Hard came in at number one. "What would be your list, Adam" you ask? Well thanks for asking!

25. Samuel L Jackson in Snakes on a Plane
24. Sly in the Rocky Movies. Just ignore the last couple ones.
23. Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Bill Paxton and Michael Biehn in Tombstone.
22. Harrison Ford in Air Force One. Who wouldn't vote for a president candidate who can say "get off my plane" so well!
21. Harrison Ford in Star Wars. Two best words spoken by a man after hearing "I love you"... "I Know"
20. Bruce Willis in Die Hard movies.
19. Jason Statham in Transporter movies.
18. Mickey Rourke in Sin City. Being surrounded by Jessica Alba and Brittany Murphy helps!
17. Arnold in Predator. "I'M HERE.... COME AND GET ME"
16. Bruce Campbell in Army of Darkness. Not only good action, but funny too! "Good.... Bad.... I'm the guy with the gun!"
15. Sly in Rambo films.
14. Mel Gibson in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. Two men enter, one man leaves.
13. Sigourney Weaver in Aliens. Aliens 3 was still one of my least favorite movies ever!
12. Antonio Bandaras in Desperado. Any hero that gets Selma Hayek is a winner in my book!
11. Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
10. Matt Damon in the Jason Bourne movies. He's much better without crappy Ben Affleck hanging around
9. Ed Norton and Brad Pitt in Fight Club. Not sure who to give the spot to so gave it to both... they're the same person! oops.. spoiler!
8. Sean Connery in Goldfinger. Yeah, he's a badass and this one's probably the best!
7. Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry - how did he get missed?
6. Uma Therman in Kill Bill. Probably the best fight sequences in that movie.
5. Sean Connery in Hunt for Red October. "One ping and one ping only". Apologies to his role in The Rock which could also get a nod for this list.
4. Arnold in Terminator... Terminators....
3. Russell Crowe in Gladiator. Greatest moment, when he takes his mask off after the first match and says "loyal servant to the true emperor. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next."
2. Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon.... he's much underrated!
1. Optimus Prime!!! Yeah, can you tell Transformers just came out on DVD?

There's my thoughts... any comments? Anyone I missed?

Haiku of the Day
Halloween is here
Bring out the slasher movies
Who still dresses up?

Entertainment of the Day - New Britney CD out today for all of you still standing in line for it! I know how many of you are huge fans, i just don't understand it though! (Britney - CALL ME!)

Weblink of the Day - An interesting explanation why a cut by the Feds tomorrow will affect gas prices (negatively of course)!

Baseball Is Finished.....

A wonderful weekend in Chicago with the beautiful Sarah! We visited the Chicago Art Institute, the Lincoln Park Zoo, some friends of hers, some friends of mine, Wrigley Field, John Hancock Tower, Millennium Park..... to name a little bit of what we did this weekend. Pictures of our experiences all week! This week should be "normal" with no plans to travel, no rehearsals, and no hardcore plans for this weekend.

Well that was an uneventful World Series! Would not have guessed that Boston would have won so easily, but that's why they play the game. At least baseball is finished before November (barely). Boston now jumps higher on the list of teams to cheer against - still not as hated as the Yankees - due to their overspending on a yearly basis for the top players. Some thoughts on baseball before we put it on the back burner till April:

• Does A-rod need more money for next year? At what point are baseball salaries considered "out of control"?
• Does Bud Selig ever smile? Does he really have a purpose?
• Since basketball has been exposed as having referees betting on the games, has anyone looked into baseball? Since there's no instant replay in place, what's to keep an umpire from swinging the calls?
• At what point does baseball save itself and its image by installing a salary cap?
• Does anyone really want Barry Bonds to play next year?
• Is there any station worse for the World Series than FOX? Joe Buck is disliked by just about everyone, Tim McCarver is growing more and more senile every year, and Jeanne Zelasko annoys me.
  
• What do a Mama Bear on the pill and the World Series have in common? NO CUBS!!
• Braves have some $$ available next year with Andruw leaving, get some pitchers who actually play the entire season!!
• Why do the post-season awards take so long to hand out? MVP announcements won't be till Christmas. And the post-season performance doesn't have anything to do with the voting (supposedly)! Hockey awards take in the playoffs as part of the voting (as it should be), NBA announces right before the championship series... gotta love the inconsistency!
• For the record - of the past 4 World Series played, only 1 game has been won by the losing team (and only 10 games in the past 10 years)! Boston 4 Rockies 0, Cardinals 4 Tigers 1, White Sox 4 Astros 0, and Boston 4 Cardinals 0. Hoping that changes next year!

I lost again in Fantasy Football.... well, I need a miracle performance by Green Bay tonight (like 52-0, all running Touchdowns and 6 field goals) to win. Not very good at this stuff I guess.

Iowa State had a decent showing on Saturday, but still lost! On paper, we had a better game in most every category - and that's great for us playing on the road against a good Missouri team. And since the Big12 North is playing pretty well this year, doubt any more wins are in our future with games against Colorado, KSU, and Kansas.

Haiku of the Day
Chi-town.... Illinois
Leave late to avoid traffic!!
A five hour drive

Entertainment of the Day - Watched Office Space this weekend.... too dang funny and too darn close to what I work in (as do most of us). Still some of my favorite sound clips to play throughout my work day.

Weblink of the Day - Anyone looking for new tattoo ideas? Here's one that will get you noticed! Simpsons Treehouse of Horror part 1,000 or something is on this Sunday!!

A Special Birthday

Happy Birthday to my favorite girlfriend... SARAH!!!! Everybody can join me in sending her birthday wishes as she reads regularly. I'll also be visiting her later tonight in Chicago for the weekend so I can tell her in person!!

On the way in this morning, I am still amazed at how many people smoke. At least 1/2 the people I passed on Hwy 52 this morning had the window cracked so they could blow the smoke out and ash out the window. I have my window cracked to get fresh air (never too cold for me) but do people still have the desire to carry on with their pointless habit of smoking? It's no longer to "look cool", so what is it for? Plus smoking inside a building is now outlawed in Minnesota or something like that.

And I was sent a picture from my buddy Mikey who was in NY with me. We were still laughing at the $5 bottle of water discussion while we were in class for that week. Well he found the same bottle of water at a much different price:















No 25 cents off coupon in my room in NY:(

Alright - I'm off to get some more work completed so I can get out of here at a "normal" time. Have a great Wednesday!!!

Haiku of the Day
Birthday for Sarah!!
Yet another year older
Still younger than me

Entertainment of the Day - I watched Grindhouse: Death Trap (The Tarantino directed one) and it was typical Tarantino. Interesting way he does things, unusual plot, one of the "actresses" plays herself (she's a real life stunt woman... which comes out as part of the plot), an unusual music selection to go on the soundtrack, and at the end you're kind of left scratching your head wondering what you just watched. Don't get me wrong, I love Tarantino flicks - but this one is far from my favorite.

Weblink of the Day - I'm a huge fan of Tommy by The Who... and here's an interesting clip of Billy Idol singing the role of Cousin Kevin. He actually fits the part very well!

Couple of Random Thoughts

World Series starts tomorrow... I'm excited but then again, I always enjoy watching the World Series, no matter who's playing. I know a lot of folks hate baseball calling it boring or slow, but try to watch the World Series.... so much tension on every pitch! Listen to the home crowd when their team hits a home run. The Super Bowl doesn't have near the excitement from the crowd (mainly because it's a neutral site filled with celebrities and non-die hards). Not the case with the World Series. I know the ratings will be low since it's Colorado in the final match up this season, but I'll still be watching. The only bad thing about the World Series is that Joe Buck calls the games on Fox (with his toupee.... seriously, anyone else wonder if that thing's real??). And Fox sucks for baseball coverage. And since Fox covers the games, my TV viewing for Sunday evenings takes a 2 week break (Family Guy, Simpsons, American Dad).

Thanks for all the assistance yesterday - I finally found a method of getting DVDs to my iPod. Final size of SuperTroopers - 435 MB and it looks great on my iPod!!! Let me know if you want to know the FREE method of getting it on there. Requires DVD Decrypter and this Jodix Free Converter. Neither one is "trial" basis or leaves a watermark on my video either! Next up, U2 Vertigo concert....

Fires in California are kind of scary. Don't have these problems in Minnesota during Monsoon season!!! We're just trying to stay afloat over here!

Peyton didn't score enough touchdowns last night (one more may have done it) so I'm now 2-5 in my Fantasy league... but I'm optimistic this week with some good matchups! Pretty pathetic when my high scorer from last week was my kicker (Josh Brown of Seattle). Interesting that there's a football game being played in London between Miami and the NY Giants. Also interesting that the flight from NY to London is actually shorter than NY to San Diego or Seattle.

In case you were wondering.... Canada is not considered "America v2.0 to the North" in IBM's terms. My "Univeral All" access doesn't work at IBM Canada (confirmed last month while in Toronto) and now I find out that I can't send packages internally like I would to the rest of the US sites. Oh well, just an extra step to get things there.

Sarah's birthday tomorrow! No shovels (I'll save that for Valentine's Day) and I actually think I did well this year:) I'll be there tomorrow night late so we'll see how well she thinks I did for presents.

Haiku of the Day
Fires in Cali
Brian is safe as can be!!
"Burn Mother F***er....."

BURN!!! (Yeah, I had the Bloodhound Gang playing this past weekend)

Entertainment of the Day - I FINALLY watched Aqua Teen Hunger Force Something Something The Movie. If you're a fan of ATHF, it's pretty funny. If you've never even heard of it, don't bother watching it and starting with the movie. Appearances by the Mooninites and Oglethorp/Emory are pretty funny!

Weblink of the Day - Beer Pong Madness.... this guy has some good skills!

Weekend Wrap

The concert cycle for October is complete. No huge problems (one scary moment where our cue from our conductor was wrong but we figured it out a measure later). The music was an interesting collection but was enjoyed by those who attended. Next concerts are November 16th and 17th in case anyone's interested. We're playing Brahms 4 on that one with a guest conductor from Israel.

My Cyclones weren't embarrassed this week for once! The defense actually showed up but the offense continued to struggle. That would make it 13 points the last 3 weeks now:( But Iowa lost, so a successful weekend still! Note the continued lack of respect to Kansas (at 12th yet undefeated), but hopefully there will still be losses to Boston College and Ohio State this year.... further expose the BCS for being bad for college football. Did you catch the amazing TD catch to give LSU a win? Wow....

The days of glory are gone temporarily for Iowa State... I miss the days of watching this ("THE RUN")!!! Or the Cyclone comeback in 2002 against Iowa....

Boston is off to the World Series... at least it's not the Yankees!! But hopefully the baseball fans of the world will come together to cheer on Colorado who are almost 1/3 the budget that the Red Sox are spending on their team. You have to root for the cheaper team in baseball:)

Still trying to figure out a FREE way of converting my DVDs to my iPod... any ideas out there?

And I'm finally caught up on all of the Fall season of my shows (watched three episodes of American Dad yesterday since the only football game showing was Tampa Bay and Detroit!?!?!). If you're bored, check out the video game of American Dad vs Family Guy!!! Peter's got the best moves that I've found so far!

Anyway, when is Daylight savings? This whole thing where the sun doesn't come up till 8am is rediculous!!!

Haiku of the Day
Boston beats Cleveland
World Series starts on Wednesday
Just in time for SNOW!!!!!

Entertainment of the Day - I watched Evan Almighty yesterday which is the sequel to Bruce Almighty (the one they show on USA/TNT every other day....). It's actually pretty good, although a little bit cheezy. There are definitely some funny moments and some quality moments that cause one to reflect. I remember all the religious groups being upset at the first one (as they probably were at the sequel) but honestly, there's a good religious message to be found for those paying attention. My favorite part of Evan's talk with God (I guess I don't picture God looking like Morgan Freeman... maybe more like Beyonce, but that's a separate discussion). "God" asks Evan:

Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?

Think about it:)

Weblink of the Day - And the funniest video you will see all week... GUARANTEED!!!! Instead of youtube... it's GodTube... and instead of your usual Baby Got Back (think Sir Mix A Lot), it's.... BABY GOT BOOK!!! Seriously, you have to watch and enjoy. It's actually scary how well it's done!

Don't Feed Them After Midnight

AND NEVER GET THEM WET!!!!

You can all sleep better - after many years of prayer, letters to your senators, millions of signatures on a petition, and billion person march.... TACO BELL IS OPENING ANOTHER STORE IN MEXICO!!! 15 years after the last expansion into Mexico, we have finally won the battle and there is fast food mexican available innnnnnnnnnn MEXICO!!! DUH!!! What better place to open a Mexican restaurant than in Mexico itself? Why not? This is the new "American Way". There are New York Style Pizzarias in New York, Chicago Hot Dog stands in Chicago, California.... um.... gun stores.... in California, and Minnesota restaurants that sell Minnesota Wild Rice soup! So let's keep those letters and petitions coming so maybe we'll start opening China Ones and China Stars in China! Or a Benihana Japanese Steak House in Japan! Or maybe even a Subway in the Subway of Moscow!!! Ok, that last one wasn't very good.

I also give up on Wall Street.... looks like making money and showing year to year growth is enough to take stock down almost 4 points. Don't understand that one bit.

Not sure what I've done lately to get some bad karma, but I've heard two different NKOTB songs two different times on two different radio stations this past week. Hangin Tough and Step by Step.... videos linked there for your viewing pleasure!! Just curious how the boy bands of the 80s differ in "coolness" from the boy bands of the 90s, and now in the 2000s..... they all sucked at the time, as they suck now.

I've caught up on most of my shows that premiered while I was in NY. Family Guy Star Wars episode was a classic and a great start to the new season. I am caught up on My Name is Earl (Earl works his karma while in prison for a crime he didn't commit.... an interesting twist to the usual plot of the show that I think they'll do well with), The Office, and Simpsons. BTW - for you fans of The Office, I think the barbershop serenade last week by using the speakerphones was one of the funniest moments from that show so far.... anyway. I'm enjoying the shows so far, but come January, we add American Idol back into the TV watching mix!!

Concert in La Crosse this weekend. We're playing a compilation of songs written for The Lord of the Rings, playing Respighi's Pines of Rome (or Pini di Roma for the Italian enthusiasts), Faure's Pavane, Wagner's Overture to Rienzi, and Haydn Trumpet Concerto. Yeah, a weird mix of music that covers Baroque/Classical era, Romantic, Modern, and even MOVIE era (I think that's the newest era of Classical music) but it actually works well together somehow. In the Pines of Rome, there is a part written for bird sounds in the 3rd movement. Some symphonies use a recording to pull off this part, but in rehearsal last week, a couple of us were whistling bird noises at the correct time. It was decided to use this in rehearsal... so now I'm covering two different parts for this concert!! It's about 20 seconds worth and it's subtle. No, I'm not nervous. Here's a Wikipedia description of the 4 different movements that will be played.

Haiku of the Day
Waiting for someone
New to lead our Symphony
8 more concerts left!!

Entertainment of the Day - I've said before that the best ABBA song is Take a Chance and that was the best part of last week's The Office.... never would have considered it a serenading song though but hey, it worked well! But that's a song that gets stuck in your head very easily! Still going through mine today.

Weblink of the Day - 30 second bunnies have released Kill Bill Volumes 1 AND 2!!! 2 movies in 30 seconds for your enjoyment!